Joel Mathis

I like how they obviously weren't battling but helping each other get in position to make the jump.

I recognize others might have the same complaint about me.

A ★★★★½ review of Architecton (2024) The slowest of slow cinema. "Ozymandias" as a visual tone poem. Humanity's place in geologic time. Creation as destruction. Destruction as creation. A vision of the world in which humanity has left it...

If I like a movie, if it has provoked me in some way, probably the thing I should do is not go looking at its @letterboxd.social reviews because they're all so fucking glib. boxd.it/aAZtrB

What gives me hope is there are still people willing to not be content.

yesterday while sitting in union square park, a guy with a mic and camera came up and said “hello, i’m going around asking people what gives them hope.” i said “ok, not on camera.” before i could get another word out, he walked away. it’s only hopeful if it’s content, i guess.

The American Dream's closing gate Fewer young Americans are on track to have a house, job and marriage than in past decades.

Even Axios is sounding dour. flip.it/X8MDdQ

Sydney Sweeney’s Republican voter registration revealed amid jeans ad controversy Revelation comes amid public fixation on American Eagle’s ad featuring the star and a pun about her genes

It’s ridiculous that anybody chased this down. But also: I have registered as a Republican because I live in a red state and primary voting is important here! It tells you nothing about my politics. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

This is nuts.

The universalism proclaimed in Paul’s letter to the Galatians, that “there is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female,” can only be ignored or distorted beyond recognition in order to make such a nationalism a viable form of Christian practice and belief.

phantomheresy.substack.com/p/a-christia...

I am in a group now hosted in another country so we can discuss SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH safely. Think about that.

Putin Widens Effort to Control Russia’s Internet

I'm thinking more lately about how to preserve and transmit knowledge outside of "official" channels, how it might be difficult but necessary sometime in the not-distant future.

Anyway: Smartphones might not be it.

www.nytimes.com/2025/08/03/w...

Donald Trump:

Great crowd @libertyhall.bsky.social #filmsky

Paul Ingrassia (lawyer) - Wikipedia

The guy Trump picked to lead the office that’s now investigating Jack Smith:

— said Niki Haley is ineligible to be president
— has neo-Nazi ties
— was Andrew Tate’s lawyer
— 2x Claremont fellow
— wrote for Gateway Pundit
— called for Pence to be hanged
— called for secession after 2020 election

Roger just wants to spend more time in Florida, his home state.

Imagine advocating so vigorously to give up your chamber’s advise and consent role. #ksleg

Salvy looks like a grandfather dressed up for Old Timers Day in this pic.

GOP spent the Biden years telling us he was the new Jimmy Carter.

Change a word in a movie title to something medical:

Things to do in Denver When You’re Septic

Hit me up. Reminder: I am broken now! It's noticeable!

Missed the opportunity to finally meet you. I was across 10th Street at the Lawrence Arts Center's secondary location, seeing a movie.

It's on my Criterion watchlist, but haven't done it yet. SO MUCH TO WATCH. We started C&C partly to commit to stuff instead of being stunned into inaction by Criterion Channel's abundance.

That might break my heart.

My one piece of advice to men who want to date women Shut up. That's it. That's the advice.

joelmmathis.substack.com/p/my-one-pie...

(Raises hand.)

My teen son loves him some YouTube, so I've had a few talks with him about why Andrew Tate is a monster and not to do the Andrew Tate thing.

July was:

Splendor in the Grass
Beyond the Visible – Hilma af Klint
July Rhapsody
Basquiat

I'll stop now.

We actually curate the month's list at the beginning of the month from the "what's new" list, so here's what we're doing in August:

Encounters of the Spooky Kind - The Criterion Channel Directed by Sammo Hung • 1980 • Hong Kong Starring Sammo Hung, Paul Chung Fat, Wu Ma The great Sammo Hung wrote, directed, and stars in this outrageously entertaining Hong Kong cinema landmark—one of...

www.criterionchannel.com/encounters-o...

You've probably seen me say this before, but we recently started Crockpot & Criterion, a Monday night gathering in which movie friends come over and we watch something from the "new this month" list that most of the group hasn't seen.

It's fun. It's community. It's movie nerd heaven.

The BLS firing is a textbook example of how personalist authoritarianism causes policy nightmares. It's like Trump is trying to prove why liberal democratic guardrails aren't some kind of luxury, but essential for good governance