Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

“Loving your country does not mean lying about its history.”

Come on, man.

Proof that we need a blogger ethics panel.

If senate republicans had any shame, they’d die of it.

My years-long effort to drive family and friends away has really paid off this year.

There are some who say that there are too many strawmen arguments on this blog.

They were going to turn on one another at some point. It was inevitable.

Radicalized white males who support Trump are pitching a tent in the abyss.

Anne Laurie is a fucking hero in so many ways. ~ Betty Cracker

People are weird.

Peak wingnut was a lie.

There is no right way to do the wrong thing.

Historically it was a little unusual for the president to be an incoherent babbling moron.

You would normally have to try pretty hard to self-incriminate this badly.

Giving in to doom is how authoritarians win.

Their boy Ron is an empty plastic cup that will never know pudding.

Is it irresponsible to speculate? It is irresponsible not to.

Compromise? There is no middle ground between a firefighter and an arsonist.

Weird. Rome has an American Pope and America has a Russian President.

There are no moderate republicans – only extremists and cowards.

When you’re in more danger from the IDF than from Russian shelling, that’s really bad.

Following reporting rules is only for the little people, apparently.

How any woman could possibly vote for this smug smarmy piece of misogynistic crap is beyond understanding.

Just because you believe it, that does not make it true.

You are here: Home / Archives for TV & Movies / Movies

Movies

On Robert Redford: The Good Die Young

by | 44 Comments

This post is in: ,

Y’all notice how we’re not having the whole “don’t speak ill of the dead,” conversation about Robert Redford…?

It’s because he was an actual good man that left a positive mark on the world.

Far as I can tell, Robert Redford was:
* successful at everything he tried
* genuinely intelligent & insightful
* desired by women
* envied by men
* an absolute mensch to everyone he dealt with
* a tireless, lifelong philanthropist
… and he died peacefully in his sleep.

10/10 life. No notes.

— David Roberts (@volts.wtf) September 16, 2025 at 3:50 PM

As it was explained to me, that saying originally meant that A good person always dies too soon — no matter their calendar age.

RIP to Robert Redford, whose performance as Death in The Twilight Zone led to one of the show's most beautiful endings.

[image or embed]

— Dave Capdevielle (@cadaverdave.com) September 16, 2025 at 7:02 PM


 
Mr. Charles P. Pierce, at Esquire — “This Lesser-Known Robert Redford Film Is as Relevant Today as Ever”:

… One of the lesser-known films on his CV is The Candidate, a shrewd examination of the birth of mass-media politics in the 1970s. In it, Redford portrays Bill McKay, the activist son of a crafty former California governor, who runs against a veteran senator. As the campaign grinds on, we see the process sanding down the sharp edges of the young McKay until, in the final scene of the film, on the night he has scored his upset win, McKay looks up at his campaign guru, played by Peter Boyle, and says, “What do we do now?” I’m not sure, 50-odd years on, that we know the answer to that yet.

In the best of his films, Redford played off his looks as a working stiff, albeit in very specialized jobs. In All the President’s Men, his Bob Woodward was a grunt on the metro desk of The Washington Post. In The Sting, he was a workaday grifter forced into a high-level con. In Three Days of the Condor, he worked for the CIA, but only as an analyst who read books until an internal plot turned him into a natural field agent. He was an everyman in his own distinct way, and he gave an honest day’s work. That’s not a bad way to be remembered.

===

‘One of the lions has passed’: Meryl Streep leads tributes to Robert Redford– as it happened www.theguardian.com/film/live/20…

[image or embed]

— carpenter22.bsky.social (@carpenter22.bsky.social) September 16, 2025 at 4:42 PM

===

Julie Francella, at her SubStack The Fire I Keep, on “The Trailblazer Who Made Room for Others”:

show full post on front page

On Robert Redford: <em>The Good Die Young</em>Post + Comments (44)

Cancel Culture in Miami Beach

by | 91 Comments

This post is in: , ,

The mayor of Miami Beach wants to terminate a lease and end funding for an independent theater that’s screening this year’s best feature documentary Oscar winner, No Other Land. The Miami Herald:

Last week, in a letter to O Cinema CEO Vivian Marthell, [Miami Beach Mayor Steven] Meiner urged the theater to cancel scheduled screenings of the film, citing critiques from Israeli and German government officials. According to Meiner’s newsletter, Marthell initially responded that the theater would not show the film. “Due to the concerns of antisemitic rhetoric, we have decided to withdraw the film from our programming,” Marthell wrote in a letter to Meiner on March 6. “This film has exposed a rift which makes us unable to do the thing we’ve always sought out to do which is to foster thoughtful conversations about cinematic works.”

The next day, however, the O Cinema CEO reversed course. Marthell confirmed to the Miami Herald on Friday that the film would continue with its scheduled screenings. After receiving media attention for the film controversy, the theater sold out screenings and added two more dates later in March. “But let me be clear: our decision to screen NO OTHER LAND is not a declaration of political alignment. It is, however, a bold reaffirmation of our fundamental belief that every voice deserves to be heard, even, and perhaps especially, when it challenges us,” Marthell said in an email to the Herald late last week.

Well, not in Miami Beach. According to the article, city commissioners share the mayor’s view of the film.

“A religious Jew was voted as Mayor, along with a Zionist city council. Unlike other cities, we have zero tolerance for pro Hamas/ terrorist propaganda,” [Miami Beach City Commissioner David] Suarez wrote in a text message to the Herald. “The City of Miami Beach will continue to stand up for our Jewish population, home to holocaust survivors, and while most people use ‘Never Again’ as a platitude, we mean it.”

At least one of the commissioners, Kristen Rosen Gonzalez, agrees in principle but believes canceling the theater’s lease and funding would subject the city to lawsuits that she suspects it would lose.

The Herald notes the two directors who accepted the Oscar for No Other Land are Palestinian activist Basel Adra and Israeli journalist Yuval Abraham. From the speech:

“We made this film, Palestinians and Israelis, because together our voices are stronger,” Abraham said from the Oscars stage. “We see each other in the atrocious destruction of Gaza and its people, which must end, in the Israeli hostages brutally taken in the crime of October 7, which must be freed. When I look at Basel, I see my brother, but we are unequal.”

I haven’t seen No Other Land. The only Oscar nominated film I’ve seen so far this year was Conclave. I am not now and never have been a Catholic, but for some reason, I find movies and TV shows about Vatican intrigue fascinating. (The Young Pope and The New Pope on Max are both excellent!)

I wondered briefly what would happen if Catholic officials tried to punish a publicly subsidized theater for screening Conclave since it portrays the Catholic Church in a less-than-flattering light. Then I remembered reading about something similar that used to happen a lot in Massachusetts decades ago, only the targets were books, magazines, plays, songs, etc., that were considered lewd or otherwise offensive.

It was a cultural phenomenon known as “Banned in Boston,” and it didn’t go quite the way city officials hoped. The Warren Court had to sort that bunch out. I don’t know if the Roberts Court is up to the task.

Open thread.

Cancel Culture in Miami BeachPost + Comments (91)

Diversionary Open Thread: Do You Like Gladiator Movies, Timmy?…

by | 46 Comments

This post is in: ,

(Lowkey Robinson’s impression here is damned good!)

I am not, generally, much of a Swords & Sandals fan, but I have a great weakness for Denzel Washington, so I’m looking forward to GLADIATOR II. Which I’ll probably end up streaming, because the Spousal Unit is already huffing about ‘gross historical inaccuracy’…

A sensible person does not demand authenticity from a wide-screen epi twenty years in the making, and yet the arguments are already generating publicity for Ridley Scott…

show full post on front page

Diversionary Open Thread: <em>Do You Like Gladiator Movies, Timmy?…</em>Post + Comments (46)

Saturday Morning Open Thread: Entertainment Notes

by | 163 Comments

This post is in: , , ,

The world has indeed changed, because I can remember a Cannes Festival era when the phrase “a tribute to George Lucas” would’ve caused actual physical violence to break out amongst the judges…

The 77th Cannes Film Festival draws to a close Saturday with the presentation of its top award, the Palme d’Or, along with an honorary tribute for George Lucas.

The closing ceremony is set to begin at 6:45 p.m. local time, 12:45 p.m. U.S. Eastern time. It will be streamed live on Brut internationally and air on France 2 within France…

During the brief awards ceremony, Lucas will be given an honorary Palme d’Or. During the festival, Cannes gave the same tribute to Meryl Streep and the Japanese anime factory Studio Ghibli.

Me, I’d give an award to Xin, just on general principles…

… Swiss comedy “Dog on Trial” premiered in the Un Certain Regard section, directed by and starring Laetitia Dosch. Based on a real case, the French-language film tells the story of a defense lawyer who takes on Cosmos, an aggressive dog facing legal action, as a client.

The titular dog is played by Kodi, a griffon, who Dosch says is really the star of the movie. It was important to her that Kodi had his name on the credits and the film poster and would be by her side in Cannes. A comedy-drama with a feminist outlook, “Dog on Trial” is about exploitation, Dosch says — and she has an offbeat theory as to what women and dogs have in common.

“Dogs come from wolves and we have been sculpting dogs for 40,000 years to become our perfect friends full of love,” she explains in an interview. “We castrate them also, so they can be peaceful all of the time, so we manipulate them to fit and to be exactly what we need. So, if I replace the word ‘dog’ by ‘women’ and I say the same sentence, it also makes sense.”

Kodi, however, did not get the memo. He spent the interview humping Dosch’s leg and licking her face, sending her earring cascading through the slatted flooring and earning him an eviction from the interview. He was kept away from subsequent red carpet appearances…

Also competing in Un Certain Regard — which curates a lineup of original and daring films — is another dog-centered drama, “Gou Zhen” (“Black Dog”) from the Chinese director Guan Hu. In it, Taiwanese superstar Eddie Peng plays Lang, who’s charged with removing stray dogs from his hometown on government orders ahead of the Olympic Games. One particular dog has a profound impact on Lang — and, as it turns out, on the actor himself.

Peng built up such a bond with his canine co-star Xin, a Jack Russell-greyhound cross, that he adopted her after filming ended and credits her for changing his outlook on life.

show full post on front page

Saturday Morning Open Thread: Entertainment NotesPost + Comments (163)

Open Thread: May the Fourth…

by | 138 Comments

This post is in: , ,

Okay, I loathed the first movie, and have never paid much attention to the Star Wars multiverse since. But I’m old enough now to take pleasure in seeing other people enjoy sharing what they love, so: May the Fourth Be with Us All!

Open Thread: May the Fourth…Post + Comments (138)

Thursday Evening Open Thread: The Wisdom of Our Elders

by | 48 Comments

This post is in: , ,

Happy 91st birthday, Michael Caine…



(This is also Cole bait — nothing like a fresh post from me to attract the Blogmaster Bigfoot!)

Thursday Evening Open Thread: The Wisdom of Our EldersPost + Comments (48)

Monday Morning Open Thread: Ready for Another Week

by | 198 Comments

This post is in: , , , ,

show full post on front page

Monday Morning Open Thread: Ready for Another WeekPost + Comments (198)