I gave up writing essays because the TCM stuff has been reduced to newsletter posts and other offers are access media crap for little money. I'd take an offer from the Times but I don't use AI or steal so I guess I won't wait by the phone.

This short passage from Night Flight perfectly describes how I feel each morning when I wake up.

My favorite section on the TCM category of HBOMax is the "Just Added, Leaving Soon" section.
You've got to be quick to see the movies in this section.

For the record, they are

Love Me Do
I Feel Fine
Paperback Writer
We Can Work It Out
Hello Goodbye

I can see Hello Goodbye being a slim possibility in contention for lesser played Beatles songs, maybe, but I Feel Fine?!?!! I FEEL FINE!?!?!?!!

This had me curious since there is not a single unreleased album only song by the Beatles that has been forgotten, much less a number one hit, and sure enough, these are five classics that the writer desperately wants to convince himself are forgotten. They are not.

This is the viewpoint of a catastrophically stupid human being. You cannot turn around someone this staggeringly dumb. So, yeah, I'm glad Robert Reich thinks America is roaring back but, Jesus, is that some pie in the sky thinking.

I knew this post of mine would get little love because, Christ have mercy, do people love to believe that the country is ready to stand up together, that even maga folks are coming around. Jfc. These Trump voters think he's great and they always will. You cannot sway them.

[makes jerking off gesture]

Oh. Does Bill like sandwiches?

Oh! Well, yeah, okay. That's fine, I guess.

Whatever backstabber. Having lunch in DC without me. Fair weather friend!

I have a semi zip. It's pretty amazing.

I'm glad I could facilitate this fresh argument between you two.

[hacks Bill's account, unmutes me]
Where'd you guys have lunch? And why wasn't I invited?

I don't believe for a second we are roaring. Trump's approval is 39%. People love to exclaim how low that is but of registered voters, that's 67 million people. That's practically everyone who voted for him still supporting him. I'm 10 years into hearing how Trump is finally done and I'm exhausted.

I watched Boogie Nights again last week for the first time in years and despite how good to great everyone is in it, there's an argument to be made that Alfred Molina gives the greatest performance out of everyone.

[Muted insult]

It's like you put me on a highway and showed me a sign

[Replies with best put down ever but Bill can't see it because he has me muted]

Unmute me Ryan!
*shakes fist in air*

Dammit!

I watched The Outer Limits episode The Forms of Things Unknown yesterday (dp Conrad Hall) and it was, without question, one of the best lit and photographed episodes of a television show I have ever seen. Screenshots cannot do justice to how expertly Hall works the camera.

I got four Jacks at the airport duty free thinking that would mellow me out a bit before the flight and since they are the actually bottled whiskey, knew they wouldn't be watered down. Should've gotten eight.

I look at Laura and say, "Hey, I'm not getting less tolerance, I'm just having five shot drinks at home."
Also explains why the rye needs replacing so often. These are the kinds of revelations that, when expressed, get you lots of side eyes.

Making drinks at home, I always remark how I get buzzed so much faster now as I age. When I don't get equally buzzed at a bar, I assume the drinks are watered down. Then, last week, we're at the airport and I get four mini bottles and down 'em. Nothing. I'm just mixing really strong drinks at home.

Easy and cheap cgi animation gave lesser documentarians a false belief that it made their documentaries more interesting when, of course, what makes a documentary interesting is good subject matter and interesting subjects.

Also, just two weeks ago, i watched the Prairie Trilogy by John Hanson and Rob Nilsson on Criterion. Three short docs made between 1977 and 1980, grainy 16mm bw, following and listening to Henry Martinson talk about his early 20th century socialist activities. Highly recommend.

The downfall began when Ross McElwee and Michael Moore decided they were more interesting than anything they were "documenting." CGI sequences and drone shots put the final nail in the coffin.

Les Blank and the Maysles/Maysles/Zwerin triumvirate remain my favorites. Barbara Kopple another great.

In 2026, every single time some asshole tries to tell you you have to accept a self-evidently false assertion as something you're required to debate, reply "fuck you." And block them.

Not a cell phone in sight. Just people living in the moment.