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I'm not on this episode, but Scott is so give it a listen!

My #1 gripe about podcasts I otherwise like - and this is very common - is a massive discrepancy between the volume levels of the participants. One person is in your ear, one person is in the room, one person is down the hall. Please please please wear headphones and use equalization.

Maybe, but they've restricted replies. "Coolest" has different variants; Hesei resembles a heavy metal cover, so cool in one way, but late Showa resembles Cookie Monster, so cool in a different way.

I assume John Constantine worked hard to put that thing where it is, and you should probably leave it be.

Happy 72nd birthday to Poison Ivy Rorschach, lead guitarist/producer/songwriter for The Cramps, born 20 February, 1953. Seldom seen since her retirement after the death of her soulmate, Lux Interior, in 2009. I hope she is doing well, wherever she is.

RIP Frederick Wiseman. Maybe now Shirley Clarke's 1964 film The Cool World will finally be re-released (he produced it and suppressed its home media release for some reason).

I didn't know Jan well at the time, we were in the same Chemistry class, but I was watching the cops come closer with clubs and shields while skinheads threw bottles, when she came up and said "Pearce, we have to get our of here." I've never stopped being grateful. Haven't seen her for decades now.

Last night I watched Friday the 13th Part 2. First time I saw it was when I was 17, late night at my friend Verity's house, right after a different friend, Jan, helped me escape in her VW bug from a party that was being broken up by the riot police. Being a teenager in the Hutt was a time and a half

This was right under your post in my timeline

bsky.app/profile/jera...

Ever since I consciously started reading more books, my social media scrolling and podcast listening have dropped off dramatically without my even making an effort in those directions. It's been very pleasant.

As George Clinton said, "Gaga googa ga ga googa, ga ga goo ga ga."

If what you say is true, the Shaolin and the Wu Tang could be dangerous!

When the Beasties say "like a pinch on the neck of Mr. Spock" in Intergalactic, the phrasing implies that it's Spocks neck being pinched rather than him applying the pinch.

No particular reason for saying this today, but when it comes to a man's terrible behaviour, "not held accountable by a court of law" is very different to "innocent."

I have anecdotally heard that every cinema in Wellington was offered and declined it. Hoyts has it playing in several NZ cities and there's one independent Auckland cinema that took it. Hope it's being similarly frozen out there.

Satoshi Kon talks about how Requiem for a Dream took from his film Perfect Blue (1997)

Aw bless

"Judith Collins appointed President of the Law Commission" doesn't seem like much to celebrate

A wee reminder that they handed out $6M for the Michelin Man #nzpol

It's a rare podcast appearance by me, alongside the most excellent Scott Murphy, talking about Sam Peckinpah's first great film, Ride the High Country! I really enjoyed this chat.

Hot jiggity

Photo of Revy Photoshopped onto a transgender flag She's pointing back and looking shocked

Repost if you support trans people and think we're neato

Accelerating though my to-read and to-watch lists in 2026, just in case there's no 2027

There's a (possibly apocryphal) story about someone handing Ernst Lubitsch a blank sheet of paper and saying, "Let's see you put the Lubitsch Touch on THAT!" I think about it every time I see a reference to something like "Sidney Lumet's Network" or "Arthur Hiller's The Hospital."

People are so used to thinking of directors as sole authors of movies that it's common for them to get credit for even the characters and core ideas like this. Meanwhile, the person who wrote both of these movies and the original only gets mentioned once in passing.

There are two people in my team called Alice, and whenever someone refers to one as "Alice C" I have to restrain myself from saying, "What about Alice D?"

Anyway, I'm back on here. Hi. Read any good books lately?

Damn right

Just a reminder that in New Zealand, copyright lapses for sound recordings and films 50 years after they are first made available to the public. So that's anything released here 1975 or earlier. Jaws, for example.

The front cover of the NZ Hoyts vhs release of Freaked

The back cover of the NZ Hoyts vhs release of Freaked.

Just spotted a copy at Aro Street Video in Wellington. Turns out it was a specifically New Zealand release rather than an Australian import, that's rare! It puts Freaked in the same category as William Friedkin's Rampage, Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2, and Death Bed: The Bed That Eats.

Thank you! The Australian VHS must have been from the same source, that's how I saw it about fifteen times way back when.