Bryan Alistair Charles

A still from Chantal Akerman's 2000 film LA CAPTIVE.

slow coming together at the seaside etc.; thought maybe it should be like an hour longer (maybe still swooning over Jeanne Dielman??)--but there is so much to admire I want to go back and engage with it on its own terms

Last night I watched Chantal Akerman's La Captive. This one I will definitely have to see again. I could not separate it from my #Proust readings-- wondered if it really worked in a contemporary (as of 2000) setting; if casual viewers would "get" it really without lengthy Albertine context,

Last four watched #lastfourwatched are

La Captive, 2000
Jeanne Dielman, 1975
EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert, 2025
How to Make a Killing, 2026

(the Elvis movie left me giddy--I am a fan--Bono poem at end the only misstep but by then I was on too much of a high!)

Watched JEANNE DIELMAN in two sittings. First night was a matter of adjusting to its rhythms & pace--next day found myself thinking about it all day, eager to get back to it & watched second half last night with rapt attention. Conclusion left me breathless. Can't wait to see it again!

Ha, when I saw Pink I cracked up thinking Billy was somewhere seething..

BC has dialed back this kinda stuff in his recent "play this hits" phase. but he has been a conspiracy nut for years. Went on Alex Jones a couple of times babbling about how "they" are coming after him etc. Anyway, one of my favorite bands, his run through 98 is unimpeachable.

I am going to try to make it to this!

True. But I always go early, often around 11AM. Very occasionally there's a movie with a big crowd that connects, everyone really into it, like Sinners. More often...it's me alone in the rabid-animal horror thriller.

Also ... no, I did not die at the Glen Powell movie ( I like him but would not want to go out like that!) It turned out a young kid had pulled the alarm.

It was fun! Really appealing actors--Sam Rockwell doing pretty much what he does best--in super timely story of tech addiction and AI. Sharp direction and well paced.

For the third time this year I was alone in a movie theater.
First was Primate.
Then Good Luck, Have Fun, Don't Die.
Then Fri. 1:30 pm showing of How to Make a Killing.

An hour plus into latter a fire alarm went off. After all clear I returned to empty auditorium.
The movie was pretty good!

Prove this place is good for culture and post a good book cover. #Proust #Proustsky

Interesting.. I agree about the actors, especially Leung, but will have to think on finale and in fact all of s4 for a bit. I came late to Industry, watched it all recently, and was jarred by change in tone & esp. Yasmin's arc. Plus I am a huge Rob stan !

So beautiful! .. Back when one would sit & just read record sleeves endlessly I remember seeing "A song by Pylon" in DLO notes & the song was so haunting and I thought: I must seek out this band... of course it was harder then.
But I found Pylon. Which opened up whole new avenues & worlds.

all the tech and "advances" in the intervening
decades I swear nothing looks better--COOLER!--than the practical effects and action of The Terminator and Aliens.
Terminator in particular is one of the great moviegoing experiences of my life, seared into my mind, and forever a top-five film.
Cheers!

the franchise. (Odd side note: we were watching The Terminator when my wife was in labor April 2015. Had to turn the movie off finally and go to the hospital and we had our daughter.)
I can't believe it's been 42 years! (Maybe sometimes you have the same thought?)
But even with

in the theater (now 12 or almost) and remember very well the feeling of not being able to catch my breath it was so relentless. And Paxton my god (RIP), right away we all were saying his lines. And I taped Aliens and watched it endlessly too. have seen it many more times than any other film
in

& taped it to my wall.
Begged my parents to take me. Which they did. Eastowne 5 Kalamazoo MI. I sat several rows ahead.
Movie mesmerized & overwhelmed me. Blew my young mind away.
When we got a VCR later it was the first movie I taped and I watched it endlessly..
And of course I saw Aliens

Terminator was an absolute life changer.
I was 10. Don't know why it was on my radar, maybe just trailer or Leonard Maltin rave on Entertainment Tonight.
Anyway even before I saw it was semi obsessed.
Clipped the ad from the paper with Arnold with beams behind him & CSM 101 in sunglasses

A dog named Sir Anthony licking his chops after inhaling a pup cup.

Sir Anthony after inhaling a pup cup.
#tongueouttuesday

âme soeur 😍 🐾

I am certainly used to poky :) But to drop out entirely after an enthusiastic reception of the piece and a fruitful exchange seemed so bizarre that I eventually wondered if the editor had been in an accident.

I am a fan of your work btw. Loved ACITSC.
So psyched you blurbed Grace K's new novel!

Last year the now-departed managing editor accepted a piece I wrote for print/web. We had an email exchange and a phone call. The managing editor then ghosted me. Further emails and finally even a follow up voicemail went unanswered. after that I wondered what the hell was going on there...

Ahhh! Like this? Thank you for the info!

Yes! And I did not include László K's The Melancholy of Resistance, which Brad led me to...

I don't have letterboxd but #lastfourwatched are:
Train Dreams (2025)
Hard to Handle (1933)
Withering Heights (2026)
Drugstore Cowboy (1989)

A Hermes 3000 typewriter.

Hermes 3000 keys with various accent marks such as a tilde, cedilla, and umlaut.

A short typewritten sentence by Proust.

A typed mark whose meaning is unknown to the author of this post.

I picked up (yet another) Hermes 3000.
This one had keys like I had never seen before, QWERTY but with various other diacritical marks--does anyone know what the mark that's like an o with a line under (last photo) is meant to indicate?

Three books: Monsieur Teste, the third volume of Chateaubriand's Memoirs from Beyond the Grave, and Proust and the Sense of Time.

Picked these up at the great @ebbooksellers.bsky.social last night. A must-visit if you are anywhere in the Bay really.
Monsieur Teste translated by @avecsesdoigts.bsky.social une traductrice formidable !
@nyrb-imprints.bsky.social

The Family Ties board game atop an issue of the New York Review of Books.

Hours of fun

I agree with you... But the surprising thing to me was how little chemistry Robbie/Elordi had.