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My 27 movie A-Z film-a-thon is on full-swing. Read it here.

  • Sentimental Value (2025)
    Family ily estrangement, artistic legacy, and the limits of self-mythology. Sentimental Value (2025) review Sentimental Value is another deceptively slight movie about coping with tragic loss, but one that feels far more likely to linger. Stellan Skarsgård plays Gustav Borg, a Lars von Trier–like director who hasn’t made a film… Read more: Sentimental Value (2025)
  • Song Sung Blue (2025)
    A gentle love story about music, missed chances, and making the most of the time we have.Song Sun Blue (2025) review Song Sung Blue feels like exactly the kind of movie that would play the Heartland Film Festival, doesn’t it? Let me check… okay, it didn’t. But they gave it… Read more: Song Sung Blue (2025)
  • Train Dreams (2025)
    A somber meditation on solitude, memory, and the slow passing of a life. Train Dreams Train Dreams may be one of the most somber movies ever made. For comparison, I thought of films like Bringing Out the Dead, Palindromes, and Synecdoche, New York—all famously bleak works that offer little to… Read more: Train Dreams (2025)
  • Sorry, Baby (2025)
    Sorry, Baby existing at all may be one of the best things to come out of the MeToo movement. While the exposure of real monsters—like Bill Cosby and Danny Masterson—showed how power can be abused through drugs, fame, or violence, Sorry, Baby reminds us that none of that is required… Read more: Sorry, Baby (2025)
  • Frankenstein (2025)
    The look is right, but everything else feels off. Frankenstein is not Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, and it bears almost no resemblance to the golden-era films directed by James Whale. So what is it? A Marvel origin movie with literary set dressing. At one point, the creature approaches a ship frozen… Read more: Frankenstein (2025)
  • Blue Moon (2025)
    If you only see one movie before the 2026 Oscars, why not make it this one? Blue Moon (2025) Why would an obviously gay man living in New York City in the 1940s get utterly plastered in straight bars when gay bars existed—places where he could have had a drink,… Read more: Blue Moon (2025)
  • Recent Move Roundup: Part 3
    Two more reviews from the tail end of movie season. This turned out to be a surprisingly strong year for awards-caliber films. What made it especially encouraging is that many of the standouts came from filmmakers who seem genuinely interested in making movies that are both carefully constructed and emotionally… Read more: Recent Move Roundup: Part 3
  • Recent Movie Roundup: Part 2
    Talking Animals, Shakespeare, and Amazonian Aliens. At some point these stopped being short reviews and started turning into whatever this is. I’m fine with that. Here are the next three movies, in the order I watched them. Here you go: Zootopia 2 Zootopia 2 benefits enormously from revisiting Zootopia, which… Read more: Recent Movie Roundup: Part 2
  • Recent Movie Roundup: Part 1
    Life gets in the way sometimes… I am not retired from blog writing—I am just busy. I’ve been sick off and on, or at least sick enough that a good chunk of my “time off” disappeared into fevers and whatever mysterious bug was going around. Mostly, though, I’ve been cooking.… Read more: Recent Movie Roundup: Part 1
  • The Film-of-the-Week Horror Odyssey 2025: Summary and Thoughts
    A personal archeology of fear: what I unearthed in fifteen first-time horrors. I’m ending the project at 15 movies. My goal was 16, but the season is long over, and I’m itching to watch other movies. What have we learned? There was a French horror movie that was basically as… Read more: The Film-of-the-Week Horror Odyssey 2025: Summary and Thoughts
  • Day 15: Midsommar (2019)
    Goal: What is the one horror movie I would still like to watch before closing the book on this year’s project? — What I know about it: Basically nothing. For years I assumed it had something to do with ancient Roman elites — something about the poster gave me a… Read more: Day 15: Midsommar (2019)
  • Day 14: Ringu (1998)
    Goal: Watch a foreign-language horror movie I would otherwise skip. — What I know about it: I first saw The Ring on opening night in New York. Back then, I bought Entertainment Weekly’s Fall Movie Preview every year and kept a document on my computer with all my box-office opening… Read more: Day 14: Ringu (1998)
  • Day 13: Mandy (2018)
    Goal: Watch the midnight movie du jour. What I know about it: It sounds like a big hit, but it wasn’t. A violent rampage movie about Nicolas Cage taking revenge on a hippie cult. It made $1.8 million on a $6 million budget. It has a reputation for being strange,… Read more: Day 13: Mandy (2018)
  • Day 12: Cube (1997)
    Goal: Find a movie I never heard of until it started showing up on streaming trends. — What I know about it: To me, this movie is an oddity. It’s like one of those titles that shows up on How Did This Get Made? alongside Death Spa or Chopping Mall—except… Read more: Day 12: Cube (1997)
  • Day 11: The Lighthouse (2019)
    Goal: Find a horror movie that is supposed to be great, but you’re afraid you won’t like. What I knew before watching I recently saw the trailer. It seemed stylish in a way that could either work brilliantly or seem like it’s trying too hard. It was slow, avant-garde, and… Read more: Day 11: The Lighthouse (2019)
  • Day 10: World War Z (2013)
    Goal: Find a horror movie EVERYONE has seen (except me). — What I know about it: I read about 100 pages of the novel about 15 years ago. It was exciting, but I stopped because it seemed to be going nowhere. It was the same thing over and over: ten… Read more: Day 10: World War Z (2013)
  • Day 9: Eyes Without a Face (1960)
    Goal: Find the best reviewed horror movie I haven’t seen. What I know about it: I’m staying in a room with thin walls. While talking to my mom on the phone, I mentioned maybe watching a French film called Eyes Without a Face for her birthday. She seemed on the… Read more: Day 9: Eyes Without a Face (1960)
  • Day 8: Friday the 13th (1980)
    Goal: Find a horror classic I have no interest in, just to cross it off my list. What I know about it:I’ve seen bits and pieces of several Friday the 13th sequels. Every October, there’s usually a marathon, and I’ll turn it on for as long as I can stand.… Read more: Day 8: Friday the 13th (1980)
  • Day 7: Heretic (2024)
    Goal: Find the most notable current sleeper horror hit. — What I know about it: Next to nothing. It’s got a 90% on Rotten Tomatoes and a 71 on Metacritic. For this week’s theme, I wanted a movie that feels big but that I somehow know literally nothing about. It… Read more: Day 7: Heretic (2024)
  • Day 6: The Witches (1990)
    Goal: Find a horror movie I wish I’d seen as a kid. What I know about it: Based on a Roald Dahl book — which I never read — though I did start the graphic novel adaptation by Pénélope Bagieu. I loved that version. It felt like the perfect bedtime… Read more: Day 6: The Witches (1990)
  • Day 5: 28 Years Later (2025)
    Goal: Find a movie that everyone will watch for Halloween this year. 28 Years Later (2025) What I know about it: I saw 28 Days Later twice, 22 years ago. There was nothing else like it at the time, and it was great. I was a big George Romero fan… Read more: Day 5: 28 Years Later (2025)
  • Day 4: Eraserhead (1977)
    Goal: Find a horror movie I am embarrassed to have never seen. Eraserhead (1977) What I know about it:A black and white horror movie from the same guy that did Twin Peaks and Mulholland Dr. RIP. This has a very strange trailer that I can’t remember, and I saw it… Read more: Day 4: Eraserhead (1977)
  • Day 3: Paranormal Activity (2007)
    Goal: Find a horror movie that everybody loves. Paranormal Activity (2007) What I know about it:I just watched five seconds of the trailer. Oh no. This seems like a movie I tried to watch a couple of years ago called Amityville in Space (2022). I tried to watch along with… Read more: Day 3: Paranormal Activity (2007)
  • One Battle After Another (2025)
    Modern day America set in a slightly dystopian alternate reality? Could it work? When I first heard about this, I thought it had potential to be a disaster. Leonardo DiCaprio plays a down-on-his-luck American revolutionary whose daughter is kidnapped, so he must use the revolutionary system to get her back.… Read more: One Battle After Another (2025)
  • Day 2: Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954)
    Goal: Find a classic monster movie. I’m using “classic monster” loosely. Last year I saw Frankenstein, Dracula, and The Invisible Man. This year I considered Cat People and Them! — not traditional monsters, but they’d fit the idea. Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954) What I know about it: When… Read more: Day 2: Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954)
  • Day 1: Dead Calm (1989)
    Goal: Find a move that might actually scare me. For October, I came up with a system: every day I pick a new goal, call it a ‘theme-of-the-week,’ and then track down a movie to match. Day 1 Goal: find a movie that will actually scare me. Dead Calm (1989)… Read more: Day 1: Dead Calm (1989)
  • Mickey 17 (2025)
    Similar, but nothing familiar. One of my movie ideas 20 years ago was going to be an interstellar journey very similar to Mickey 17. It was about a machine that could clone a human mind, put it into a machine, and send it into space far, far away. These clones… Read more: Mickey 17 (2025)
  • Halloween 2025: The Film-of-the-Week Horror Odyssey
    My plunge into the best of what horror offers continues. Find the full list of movies here: https://avidavr.wordpress.com/halloween-2025-the-film-of-the-week-horror-odyssey/ In October 2024, I went overboard and tried to watch as many horror movies as possible. The final count was 47 — a number that feels almost absurd looking back. This year… Read more: Halloween 2025: The Film-of-the-Week Horror Odyssey
  • Superman (2025)
    Maybe if we gave him a cute dog, that would help? Superman has had a rough 21st century. We used to think he was the only superhero that mattered. Back in 1992, I read part of The Death of Superman and thought, Wow. This is some mega weird stuff. Can… Read more: Superman (2025)
  • Splitsville (2025)
    A surreal, funny, and slightly chaotic warm-up for future giant Michael Angelo Covino. Is it possible to be happy while you and your partner are clearly heading to splitsville? That’s the question at the heart of Michael Angelo Covino’s second feature, a film about four good people (well, three and… Read more: Splitsville (2025)
  • The Naked Gun (2025) movie review.
    Is this the Marx Brothers of the modern age? From the trailer: “What do you want, little girl?” “I’m not your little girl. I’m Liam Neeson in a little girl mask. Want to dance?” Cue Neeson enacting frontier justice — ripping off appendages and beating people with their own arms.… Read more: The Naked Gun (2025) movie review.
  • Weapons (2025) movie review
    Zach Creggor’s latest taps into many of the most expected small town fears. Early in the movie Arrival, the feeling of fear seemed very familiar. When Louise (Amy Adams) walks into her classroom to teach at her prestigious university, only a handful of students are present. Didn’t you hear? Alien… Read more: Weapons (2025) movie review
  • Wednesday, “Elderberry Wine” (2025)
    An alt-country ode to those who celebrate by trying to get along. The Title: What is elderberry wine? Elderberry wine is a bittersweet, earthy drink made from elderberries. If not made properly, it can taste slightly off—more like a medicinal tonic than a celebration drink. It has a lot of… Read more: Wednesday, “Elderberry Wine” (2025)
  • Bad Bunny, “DtMF” and DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS (2025)
    What is great about the new Bad Bunny album. You probably don’t know any Puerto Rican artists, and you’ve almost definitely never seen a Puerto Rican movie. You probably don’t know any Puerto Rican music either. The only Puerto Rican cultural work you’re likely familiar with is West Side Story… Read more: Bad Bunny, “DtMF” and DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS (2025)
  • Kendrick Lamar, “Not Like Us” (2024)- In depth lyrical analysis.
    A full breakdown of Kendrick’s Drake takedown track, 2024’s Record of the Year. Estimated reading time: 16 minutes. “Not Like Us” is the song of 2024. It dominated charts and won both Song and Record of the Year at the Grammys. Is served as Kendrick Lamar’s significant  return to the… Read more: Kendrick Lamar, “Not Like Us” (2024)- In depth lyrical analysis.
  • 17. Beastie Boys, “Sabotage” (1994)
    The Beastie Boys jokingly self-sabotage their album, become mostly known for rock somehow. In the early ’90s, the Beastie Boys had grown tired of fighting for the rights (of their songs), spending more time asking for forgiveness for their 1989 pastiche/masterpiece Paul’s Boutique. MCA, Ad-Rock, and Mike D actually knew… Read more: 17. Beastie Boys, “Sabotage” (1994)
  • 18. Red Hot Chili Peppers, “Under the Bridge” (1991)
    Anthony Kiedis’s private poem was, reluctantly, reimagined as a ballad and made the band megastars in the process News report: “Under the Bridge” is no longer RHCP’s most popular song. Its Spotify play count was recently overtaken by “Californication”, for some reason. That song is a great example of Anthony… Read more: 18. Red Hot Chili Peppers, “Under the Bridge” (1991)
  • Black Bag (2025) movie review
    Good scenes, but does it work? A ridiculously absurd collection of scenes that play like solid screenwriting exercises trapped inside a plot that makes absolutely no sense. I imagine David Koepp came up with the general premise—a female CIA operative manipulates everyone around her, and her husband, also an agent,… Read more: Black Bag (2025) movie review
  • 19. Pearl Jam, “Jeremy” (1991)
    The big break that made Kurt Cobain forever resent the neighbors riding on Nirvana’s coat tails. Music video is here. Age restricted, so it must be viewed on YouTube. https://youtu.be/MS91knuzoOA?si=zjNAsEJlBBkTNSKvThe most popular song by Pearl Jam in 2025 is not “Jeremy,” their big breakout that burned them out on music… Read more: 19. Pearl Jam, “Jeremy” (1991)
  • 20. Metallica, “Enter Sandman” (1991)
    The song Metallica never stopped promoting. The year Nirvana “changed music forever”, the album Metallica (1991) by Metallica was actually a bigger deal. The album sold more than Nevermind, and its legion of fans were arguably much more fervent. If James Hetfield had died in 1994 instead of Kurt, the… Read more: 20. Metallica, “Enter Sandman” (1991)
  • Zulu (1964)
    My 27 Movie A-Z Film-a-thon: Day 27. Zulu (1964) I’d like to think a great war movie could be made about the Battle of Rorke’s Drift—but Zulu (1964) isn’t it. In history videos on YouTube, Zulu warriors are always portrayed as one of the most fearsome and disturbingly ferocious forces… Read more: Zulu (1964)
  • Young Mr. Lincoln (1939)
    My 27 Movie A-Z Film-a-thon: Day 26. A box office bomb. This was the second film John Ford released that year, after Stagecoach, yet it had almost three times the budget. I watched Stagecoach recently, and this one is certainly the more memorable film. It portrays Lincoln as a bastion… Read more: Young Mr. Lincoln (1939)
  • 21. Nine Inch Nails, “Closer” (1994)
    Not a hit during its release, “Closer” was promoted as if it was one and still continues to grow in popularity. I know what you’re thinking. Half of you are saying, “How can this ubiquitous crowning achievement of one of the best bands of the ’90s not end up higher… Read more: 21. Nine Inch Nails, “Closer” (1994)
  • 22. Limp Bizkit, “Break Stuff” (1998)
    The “worst” song of a terrible genre becomes a kitsch classic. “It’s all about the he said, she said bull—shit.” Note: you should really listen to the explicit version of this song, but the video needs to be experienced as well. I get that the band actually had some amount… Read more: 22. Limp Bizkit, “Break Stuff” (1998)
  • X (2022)
    My 27 Movie A-Z Film-a-thon: Day 25. If someone made this movie as their final project for a class called “How to Make a Horror Movie,” it would probably squeak by with an A-. There’s nothing wrong with it, per se, but it doesn’t do anything new. It’s continuously interesting… Read more: X (2022)
  • Jungkook,”Seven” (2023)
    How was the most hilariously terrible song of the 2020s made? That is the version of the song this is about. But here is the (rather great) music video for the clean version: This is a very popular song right now. 2,345,597,911 streams on Spotify with 2+ million streams every… Read more: Jungkook,”Seven” (2023)
  • Wait Until Dark (1967)
    My 27 Movie A-Z Film-a-thon: Day 24. “I was the world’s champion blind lady today.” Audrey Hepburn plays Susy Hendrix, a remarkably chipper, recently blinded homemaker married to a photographer. Ahh, the irony—her husband is an artist, yet she’ll never see his work again. Wait Until Dark debuted as a… Read more: Wait Until Dark (1967)
  • The Vast of Night (2019)
    My 27 Movie A-Z Film-a-thon: Day 23. The Vast of Night is about two young people in 1950s New Mexico at the start of their careers. Fay is a nighttime telephone operator, and Everett is a radio DJ whose show often overlaps with her shift. The two exchange ideas about… Read more: The Vast of Night (2019)
  • Umberto D. (1952)
    My 27 Movie A-Z Film-a-thon: Day 22. The second most famous film by the director of Bicycle Thieves may not reach the same heights as that masterpiece, but Umberto D. is a sincere and modest minor tragedy—quiet, sad, and human. It’s the second film I’ve seen (after Make Way for… Read more: Umberto D. (1952)
  • Treasure Island (1950)
    My 27 Movie A-Z Film-a-thon: Day 21. “Aye aye, matey.” Why do people think this is what pirates sound like? That phrase pops up in Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean ride, but it actually traces back to Treasure Island—specifically this 1950 Disney movie. No one says “matey” in the original… Read more: Treasure Island (1950)
  • Serpico (1973)
    My 27 movie A-Z film-a-thon: day 20. Serpico (1973) Serpico is life summarized. If I could recommend it to one group, it’d be college-aged people considering law enforcement. This should be required viewing. It’s a true story — and it feels like one.The effect is sobering. Serpico isn’t a saint;… Read more: Serpico (1973)
  • Rio Bravo (1959)
    My 27 movie A-Z film-a-thon: day 19. Rio Bravo (1959) High Noon ranks among my favorite action movies, so I was curious about Rio Bravo, especially after hearing it described as Howard Hawks’s response to that classic. High Noon follows Sheriff Kane, abandoned by his town as he faces a… Read more: Rio Bravo (1959)
  • Quest for Fire (1981)
    My 27 movie A-Z film-a-thon: day 18. What an odd film. I’d never heard of it, despite it being a huge hit—$55 million at the box office (about $186 million today). Yet it looks like something made for European television. At least, the version I saw—Prime only had the pan… Read more: Quest for Fire (1981)
  • Paprika (2006)
    My 27 movie A-Z film-a-thon: Day 17. A colorful whir of technological bliss. It’s impossible to watch Paprika without thinking of Inception (2010). In Inception, Dominic Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio) enters people’s dreams to extract secrets from their subconscious. In Paprika, Dr. Atsuko Chiba does something similar, using a device called… Read more: Paprika (2006)
  • Onibaba (1964)
    My 27 movie A-Z film-a-thon’: day 16. Onibaba (1964) Onibaba: Demon Woman feels like a 1970s grindhouse movie — except it came out of Japan in 1964. Though “pink films” and exploitation movies had already been made since 1959, Onibaba isn’t a sex picture. It’s a folk-horror art film, and… Read more: Onibaba (1964)
  • No Way Out (1987)
    My 27 Movie A-Z Film-a-thon: Day 15. Day 15: N No Way Out (1987) Let’s get the elephant in the room out of the way: it is absolutely ridiculous that Kevin Costner walks around in a Navy uniform the entire movie. Yes, he’s a high-ranking officer, and Gene Hackman’s Secretary… Read more: No Way Out (1987)
  • Make Way for Tomorrow (1937)
    My 27 movie A-Z film-a-thon: Day 14 Day 14: M Make Way for Tomorrow (1937) A minor tragedy and heartfelt romance wrapped in one package, Make Way for Tomorrow is a little bit of Casablanca mixed with Tokyo Story. And yet it predates both. The setup is a little like… Read more: Make Way for Tomorrow (1937)
  • Living in Oblivion (1995)
    My 27 movie A-Z film-a-thon: Day 13. “I’m sorry, Nick. Something came up and I forgot to call. I feel like such an a__-hole.”“You’re only saying that because you’ve got Preparation H on your face.” There are stretches of Living in Oblivion that feel Oscar-worthy. The writing is so sharp,… Read more: Living in Oblivion (1995)
  • Kubo and the Two Strings (2016)
    My 27 movie A-Z film-a-thon: Day 12 This era of animated films contains many clunkers.Okay, that’s a little unfair. It doesn’t just apply to animated films, but to almost any large, big-budget or franchise movie from 2016 to 2019. Scripts from this time often offered nothing new—or if they did,… Read more: Kubo and the Two Strings (2016)
  • The Joy Luck Club (1993)
    My 27 movie A-Z film-a-thon: Day 11.5. I added another J entry, this time a request. I decided that both Johnny Guitar and the movie would have enough to write about to do them both. A beloved critical darling at the time of its release, The Joy Luck Club has… Read more: The Joy Luck Club (1993)
  • Johnny Guitar (1954)
    My 27 movie A-Z film-a-thon: day 11. Johnny Guitar is named after a sagely gunslinger (Sterling Hayden) who carries a guitar — sans case — on his back. But the movie is all about the women: Joan Crawford as Vienna, the mysteriously affluent saloon owner who can play the piano,… Read more: Johnny Guitar (1954)
  • In the Loop (2009)
    My 27 movie A-Z film-a-thon: day 10. I am watching a different movie every day that I otherwise wouldn’t get to for a long while. One for each letter of the alphabet. What I have watched so far: _13 Assassins (Takashi Miike, 2010) – 9/10 _All Dirt Roads Taste of… Read more: In the Loop (2009)
  • Happy as Lazzaro (2018)
    My 27 movies A-Z film-a-thon day 9. I am choosing a movie for each letter of the alphabet that I want to see but likely would not get to in years. So far, I have seen: _ 13 Assassins (Takashi Miike, 2010) – 9/10 _All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt… Read more: Happy as Lazzaro (2018)
  • Gomorrah (2008)
    My 27 movie A-Z film-a-thon: Day 8 This one felt real to me—the culture, the power dynamics, the hierarchy of command. I believe this is what the Mafia really is. There is no honor here. No sacred “Mafia code.” It all comes down to the bottom line: money, and no… Read more: Gomorrah (2008)
  • Fat City (1972)
    My 27 movie A-Z film-a-thon: day 7 Most sports movies are about the 0.1% who achieve something extraordinary. Fat City is about the other 99+. I’ve never really understood the sports mindset. I get being a casual fan. I get enjoying physical activity and the social element. But I don’t… Read more: Fat City (1972)
  • EO (2022)
    My 27 movie A-Z film-a-thon: Day 6 The idea is to watch and review 27 movies I would likely not have gotten to anytime soon. I am trying to knockout some well reviewed movies I am curious, but not overly excited, about. My journey so far has been: _ 13… Read more: EO (2022)
  • Darby O’Gill and the Little People (1959)
    My 27 movie A-Z film-a-thon: Day 5 My 27 movie A-Z film marathon, day 5. I am watching a movie for each letter of the alphabet I otherwise probably wouldn’t get to (anytime soon). So far, my journey is this: 13 Assassins (Takashi Miike, 2010) – 9/10 All Dirt Roads… Read more: Darby O’Gill and the Little People (1959)
  • Cold War (2018)
    My 27 movie A-Z film-a-thon: Day 4 Each day, I choose a movie that looked interesting but I was not planning on watching soon.So far, I have watched the following, with my rating. 13 Assassins (Takashi Miike, 2010) – 9/10 All Dirt Roads Are Made of Salt (Raven Jackson, 2023)… Read more: Cold War (2018)
  • Blow Out (1981)
    My 27 movie A-Z film-a-thon: Day 3 My 27 movie film-a-thon continues. What I have seen so far: 13 Assassins (Takashi Miike, 2010) – 9/10 All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt (Raven Jackson, 2023) – 7.5 In fear that my film-a-thon was getting a bit sleepy, I changed gears and… Read more: Blow Out (1981)
  • All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt (2023)
    My 27 movie A-Z film-a-thon, day 2. I am watching a movie for each letter of the alphabet I would otherwise not get to for a while.So far I have watched: 13 Assassins (Takashi Miike, 2010) – 9/10 — Days 2: A All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt (Raven Jackson,… Read more: All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt (2023)
  • 13 Assassins (2010)
    My 27 movie A-Z film-a-thon: day 1. I am watching 27 movies over the next two months that I otherwise would not have watched. All movies from my watchlist I was not planning on watching. I will post a little review for each one. Starting with # (Day 1) 13… Read more: 13 Assassins (2010)
  • Little Fish (2021)
    An incredibly ambitious piece of low budget filmmaking. The idea here is a good one: what if Alzheimer’s disease was something you could catch? Now, imagine giving that premise to Terence Malick to write and direct and you will have a basic idea of what Little Fish is like. The… Read more: Little Fish (2021)
  • We Don’t Deserve Dogs (2020)
    Mellon collies and the infinite sadness. This is a collection of interviews and stories from dog owners and admirers about the dogs in their communities or the pets that have changed their lives. The mood of the film aligns with its title — this is all very, very sad. Sad… Read more: We Don’t Deserve Dogs (2020)
  • Pavement, “Carrot Rope” (1999)
    Pavement’s final song. “Carrot Rope” was rather odd, even by Pavement-standards. The closing song on Pavement’s final album, Terror Twilight, seems to be an ode to the penis, and, on a cursory listen, it seems to be about making sexual advances to a child. This begs the question:  Why? Why… Read more: Pavement, “Carrot Rope” (1999)
  • Charli XCX, “360” (2024)
    A swirling buzzsaw boast song that forgets to actually boast about anything. The second single from BRAT — literally every critic’s #1 (or #2) album of the year — was brought up by a friend as something different, but fantastically so. Yet neither of us had any idea what the… Read more: Charli XCX, “360” (2024)
  • Addison Rae, “Diet Pepsi” (2024)
    Remember those days in your second car? Good times. “Diet Pepsi” might be the best somewhat-popular song of 2024 that you still don’t know. In a year where many young women have made the jump from casual artists to superstars (Charli XCX, Sabrina Carpenter, Chappell Roan), it’s nice to see… Read more: Addison Rae, “Diet Pepsi” (2024)
  • Amyl and the Sniffers, “Tiny Bikini” (2024)
    One for all the girls at punk rock shows. Amyl and The Sniffers are probably the best pure punk band making new music right now. They are known for their live performances. I have never seen them play, but I can imagine their unique vibe making for a memorable, energetic… Read more: Amyl and the Sniffers, “Tiny Bikini” (2024)
  • Grand Theft Hamlet (2025)
    Hmm. This is just the making of Grand Theft Hamlet. So, what is Grand Theft Hamlet? It’s a performance of Hamlet staged within Grand Theft Auto Online. Here is what that looks like: But what exactly is GTA Online? It’s an “open-world, action-adventure, multiplayer” sandbox game. That might sound like… Read more: Grand Theft Hamlet (2025)
  • Youth Lagoon, “Football” (2025)
    The tragic case of the wrong person becoming a generation’s voice. Full lyrics Make America Great. Again. Let’s be clear from the start: this song is about Donald Trump—or at least a powerful, Trump-like executive or political figure. It opens with the line, “Donnie dug a hole,” immediately evoking the… Read more: Youth Lagoon, “Football” (2025)
  • Scream (2022)
    Releasable, but not otherwise a cause for celebration. “Oh my God. They’re making a re-quel.”“A what?”“Or a Legacy-quel. Fans aren’t quite sure on the terminology.” That’s not a good sign. If the trend you’re referencing doesn’t even have a proper name, you might not want to hinge your entire script… Read more: Scream (2022)
  • Kinda Pregnant (2025)
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