Charles PM

Sigourney as a 14-year-old alien? Still comedy bordering on camp

Avatar: Fire and Ash is very much another Avatar film (gorgeous, ridiculous, too long), but also a v good reminder of how well Jemaine Clement is aging

Amazon Data Center Linked to Cluster of Rare Cancers A sprawling data center in eastern Oregon has been linked to a huge rise in rare cancers, muscle conditions, and miscarriages.

🚨 BREAKING news: Amazon Data Center Linked to Cluster of Rare Cancers.

"The historical precedent here is Flint, Michigan."

futurism.com/artificial-i...

Yes, the show’s been gone forever and people might need a bit of a refresher. But it sucks to see studios embracing the idea that everyone needs to be spoon fed plot because getting caught up is “homework” nobody wants to do

Rewatched a bunch of s1 writing this and it’s wild how the show started with the kids having very believable conversations about who gets to be which Ghostbuster, and now it’s like “wow, remember last year when it snowed demon ash and the town got all torn up by extradimensional energy??”

Stranger Things 5 is...fine and gets right to giving hardcore fans more twists to get excited about. But this thing where TV characters speak almost exclusively in recap-y exposition — which isn’t unique to this show — is getting a little out of hand. My review:

Hell yeah!

Happy turkey day from me and King Itis✨

This is the correct take. Stewing in white supremacist propaganda is bad for your thinking. And if think you are so savvy that it won’t impact you, you are the exact kind of mark they are slowly converting (I’m looking at you, centrist pundits).

Yes, the show’s been gone forever and people might need a bit of a refresher. But it sucks to see studios embracing the idea that everyone needs to be spoon fed plot because getting caught up is “homework” nobody wants to do

Rewatched a bunch of s1 writing this and it’s wild how the show started with the kids having very believable conversations about who gets to be which Ghostbuster, and now it’s like “wow, remember last year when it snowed demon ash and the town got all torn up by extradimensional energy??”

Stranger Things 5 is...fine and gets right to giving hardcore fans more twists to get excited about. But this thing where TV characters speak almost exclusively in recap-y exposition — which isn’t unique to this show — is getting a little out of hand. My review:

He’s right and and I support this aspect of the socialist agenda

A Pokémon Go screenshot of a shiny Galatians Zapdos

A Pokémon Go screenshot of a shiny Galatians Zapdos

Looks like chocobo's back on the menu, boys✨

NEW: JD Vance’s Top Donor Suggests Pope Leo XIV is Antichrist In a leaked lecture, Peter Thiel says he’s urged Vance to ignore the pope on moral questions — and simply pray for him.

At least he's being specific

when its definitely not a hostage situation

Wrote about how the hype around Stranger Things 5 feels pretty subdued compared to past seasons and why Netflix is probably ok with that

A classique

First time I ever thought “oh, kangaroos can kill you”

share a 90s movie you think deserves more love

The EIC of Semafor is trying to out-argue Chotiner and it is going as well as you might expect

Does he not have any friends or family that can snatch that phone out of his hands

Isaac Chotiner: "You would have to be brain-dead to read this piece and not immediately wonder who is funding Semafor Gulf." Quote post of Ben Smith saying: "Fascinating @msergie piece on covering a monarchy" about a Semafor article on Saudi Arabia's crown prince Smith responds to Chotiner: "That's a hell of an allegation/implication, Isaac. To figure out the literal answer to your question, you'd either have to look and see who the sponsors are in the email (I haven't checked today!) or read our publicly disclosed list of investors. I believe you're trying to imply that it's the Saudi government? Have you read more of our coverage, or just this tweet? My impression — correct me if I'm wrong — is that you're working on zero information and smearing us in general, and an experienced journalist @msergie whose work I suspect you're totally unfamiliar with in particular." Chotiner responds:"I’m not making any allegation. I’m making a simple point about how an average reader—myself included—might respond after reading this ridiculous piece"

Ben Smith: "Just asking questions! Come on. You genuinely know better. Or read Mohammed's long career of work covering the Gulf and the Syrian war before you imply he's some kind of stooge." Noah Kulwin: "The point is not about who funds your reporting/if your colleague is a “stooge”. Isaac’s comment is that the reporting is so bad so as to make a reader wonder who is funding it" Smith: A reader, sure. A journalist who can do very basic homework, kind of lame. Chotiner: "You are right, I’ll do some homework now by perusing Jay Solomon Semafor pieces, and reading Jason Greenblatt Semafor columns. In the meantime, I will formally say that I am making no accusation and was just astonished at how inane the piece was"

Chotiner quote-posts with "I see Semafor loves running column after column by this guy (https://semafor.com/author/faisal-j-abbas), who also publishes pro-Saudi conspiracies about the murder of Jamal Khashoggi https://arabnews.com/node/1386291" Ben Smith's post says "I hope I'm not overreacting, but it makes me crazy when people I think of as reporters do this "just asking questions" stuff. Feel free to report it out by googling/asking me/reading our various scoops and reports about the region — these two just now" and links to two Semafor articles

Chotiner quote posts Ben Smith: "You might have heard that the UAE is helping destroy Sudan, but at the next Semafor event, all is well." Screenshot says "Held at Abu Dhabi Finance Week, Semafor will spotlight insights from the Global Findex 2025 report and the Global Digital Connectivity Tracker, translating global research into actionable, locally relevant conversations. As the third stop on The Next 3 Billion Tour, this edition explores how the Gulf's growing investments in Africa can accelerate digital connectivity and financial inclusion. With Abu Dhabi's focus on sustainable finance, digital transformation, and cross-border collaboration, it offers a strong platform to examine how technology and capital can work together to expand access and opportunity." Ben Smith's post says "Just asking questions! Come on. You genuinely know better. Or read Mohammed's long career of work covering the Gulf and the Syrian war before you imply he's some kind of stooge."

A new kind of rapid Chotining. Please appreciate the alt-text.

Randall Flagg screening his calls cause all Pennywise wants to talk about is Howdy Doody and Cracker Jacks

Joked about it before but Welcome to Derry really makes it easier to think of Pennywise as a flop that other eldritch monsters make fun of cause he settled down in a podunk town to hang out with kids

Viola Ford Fletcher, the oldest living survivor of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, has died Viola Ford Fletcher, the oldest living survivor of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, has died. She was 111 years old.

Breaking: Viola Ford Fletcher, the oldest living survivor of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, has died. She was 111 years old

Love to get my news from Daddy*

*a 26-year-old

It’s probably not great the vast majority of American journalists and other media zeitgeist people are letting their brains marinate in this toxic sludge

i just reviewed 50+ applications for an arts award and most of them were written by chatgpt. And then the other reviewers said they put them into Gemini to rank them. At a certain point, if everyone is giving their thinking entirely over to AI, why are we even bothering with any of this anymore?

“I’m never leaving this site,” and it’s a pool full of the most rancid piss imaginable

Got out some thoughts about Sora, gen AI nostalgia videos, and how the idea that this kind of content is the future of entertainment is an insult to people's intelligence