Immensely excited to have my first piece up at BRUISER. Give it a read!

Pumped to have a short story in Hobart today. Read ‘Oak Wilt’: www.hobartpulp.com/web_features...

2025 Year-End Wrap-Up: The Things I Liked I am living in a post-list era. At least not ranked lists. I just wanted to take the holiday season to share some things I loved this year. Maybe you'll discover something new!

I wrote about some movies, books and music I really liked this year. Unranked, or course. draper.substack.com/p/2025-year-...

Ha! I post my pieces here, don’t really browse. Doesn’t have the same joie de vivre (yet).

'One Battle After Another': An Enduring Hallmark of the Times Paul Thomas Anderson adapts a tale of modern politics and vast conspiracies as a vehicle to tell another story of love, resilience and fatherhood in his grandest and most accessible film to date.

I organized my thoughts on ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER. A hopeful if even more dystopian alternate reality, fatherhood and the idea that those who carry out the deeds of the elite will never truly be a part of them. Read: draper.substack.com/p/one-battle...

'Weapons' Review: The Spine-Chilling Truth of Reality Zach Cregger's horror epic, 'Weapons', works on multiple levels, but gets its true point across when the supernatural allegories fall into the background.

WEAPONS review: Maybe it's because I'm not a horror guy at heart, but WEAPONS is at its best when the supernatural fades away and distills the chilling truth— reality is much more frightening than the absurd. open.substack.com/pub/draper/p...

The diagnostic retrospective of 'Eddington' Ari Aster's fourth film takes big swings and is not without its flaws, but is the director's most resonant work to date.

I liked EDDINGTON, a flawed but ambitious and resonant movie that gets to the heart of the unique strain of American tech brainrot accelerated by a worldwide pandemic. Read: draper.substack.com/p/the-diagno...

It’s alright! It’s okay! There’s something to live for— Jesus told me so!

Waste Land [Jameson Draper] by Jameson Draper —————— If I remember correctly, it was the last day of spring, one that is summer in everything but name. In Maryland, summer starts in early M…

I wrote a short story and it doubles as an anti-research chemical PSA. pixelatedshroud.wordpress.com/2025/06/30/w...

Missed the Bluesky post— but I wrote about “Don’t Worry Baby” in here! Check it out.

America, as told by Cinema #3: 'Nashville' Robert Altman's most ambitious film is not just about country music but America's idolatry and populism in the face of our declining collective hubris.

For the third installment of my 'America, as told by Cinema' series on my blog, I wrote about what might be the best American movie ever. draper.substack.com/p/america-as...

America, as told by Cinema #2: 'Wanda' Barbara Loden's only directorial effort is quiet poetry on the physical independence and intellectual subordination of women in the United States.

For my second installment in the series I wrote about a movie that's timeless and essential to the American story, Barbara Loden's WANDA. draper.substack.com/p/america-as...

America, as told by Cinema #1: 'Inherent Vice' Paul Thomas Anderson's nostalgic adaptation laments American decay by way of pot-smoking private investigators, reformed hippies, street-level cops, CIA snitches and the faceless hand of fascism.

Read the first installment of my American film series. This one's about INHERENT VICE, its nostalgic portrayal of 20th century American decay and how PTA improved upon the source material with his signature romanticism. draper.substack.com/p/america-as...

Honestly still better than the Camden dogs they let sit under the fake heat lamps for hours

This is what late spring nights are all about

Strolled up to the Os game and @jamdraper.bsky.social had a bag of 8 precooked dogs and the fellas were arguing a lot the 100 men vs. 1 gorilla. Strong start to the evening

Walt Whitman, 1846.

Happy Opening Day.

It Holds Up: Modern Baseball – 'You're Gonna Miss It All' - The Alternative Jameson reflects on Modern Baseball's opus 'You're Gonna Miss It All,' a record that sounds just as good today as it did on release

I wrote about my favorite emo album (and the only one I ever really loved): www.getalternative.com/it-holds-up-...

Apparently not. Didn’t even know this was a thing

Journal Dispatch: Afternoon at the Park Transcribed from my journal, March 10th, 2025

I go outside to feel better, and it usually works. At least somewhat. My new journal transcription on Substack: draper.substack.com/p/journal-di...

A ★★★★★ review of Rap World (2024) “Some of the best nights of my life were being high in parking lots.” The texture of this film is a full spectrum cyber dreamscape of the halcyon days, seen through the attention deficit eye of late-e...

"Some of the best nights of my life were being high in parking lots." boxd.it/8WVupb

My favorite part of Matsumoto's work is its singularity. I think it's rare for filmmakers to develop an entirely new visual language, which he did.

"It's not for you that this rain falls."

The Weavers of Nishijin (Toshio Matsumoto, 1961) YouTube video by Nihil Reich

Been watching Toshio Matsumoto's shorts all day. The FUNERAL PARADE OF ROSES Blu-ray comes with them. I most enjoy THE WEAVERS OF NISHIJIN, a short documentary about the slow death of the textile industry and the dark side of society's sacred garments: exploitative labor. youtu.be/X2GBZiMlC8s?...

A ★★★★★ review of Fanny and Alexander (1984) A baroque masterpiece that empowers imagination, laments the loss of innocence, bows to art, and bends reality, this might be the greatest movie of all time, and I don't say that lightly. I've spent 2...

I watched the 312-minute cut and never wanted it to end. GOAT talk letterboxd.com/jamdraper/fi...

Do you guys think Bantam Books would honor this coupon? It’s only been expired 50 years.

It’s up there. Another one that comes to mind is D’Angelo’s Black Messiah. I come back to it often.

A ★★★★★ review of Vertigo (1958) This review may contain spoilers. Visit the page to bypass this warning and read the review.

I watched a very lowkey movie last night that nobody's ever heard of. Then I reviewed it. VERTIGO: boxd.it/8FkwXR

“They were in love. Fuck the war.”

Finally reading (struggling?) through Gravity’s Rainbow.

This weird thing happens to me with Pynchon— it seems I barely get what’s going on, yet the passages are seared in my mind for days after reading. It sticks to the subconscious in a way that I haven’t experienced with any other writer.

Great read.

"A book could fix a man, but it’s not the only way to, and it’s not a sure thing."