The Dead Don’t Die (2019)

Love Jarmusch and all his friends (swinton, murray, etc etc) and they’re so fun to watch, but it’s baffling how bad the writing is in this silly zombie movie. 

Notorious (1946)

I think Ingrid Bergman really outshines everyone else in this classic old Hitchcock, so to that extent it’s delightful, and it has all the best Hitchcock subtleties and clues; like most of his movies I’m not always the most captivated by the plot itself but this one is a lot better than North by Northwest. 

The Quick and the Dead (1995)

It’s sad that the talents of such great actors were wasted on this cartoonish silliness. 

Drive-Away Dolls (2024)

A fun lark that I had to watch because Ethan Coen, and it’s nice but unpolished; it could never live up to the true Coen classics but it has a little of that old magic. 

Lilith’s Brood by Octavia Butler

A unique adventure in literature; a startling philosophical investigation cloaked in sci-fi; a straightforward, unsurprising story that will somehow sneakily have you pondering deep questions years later… I guess what I appreciate most about Butler and this trilogy is just how different it all is, and how it never tries to be like anything else. 

Mickey 17 (2025)

Compared to the impeccable Parasite, Bong Joon Ho creates a new film totally different in setting and style and yet totally similar in pace and wackiness, absolutely delightful and political, a true celebration of the average midwit dude, and yet maybe not meant to be read into too deeply.

Eephus (2024)

Not really a movie designed for me, since I’m not a big fan of baseball or related endeavors, but this was a poignant look at a small slice of a small town in a big small moment, and as such it felt really real. 

Novocaine (2025)

It’s a mediocre action movie and perfect for scrolling through if that’s what your brain requires (and it gets kinda macabre by the end in a cool practical effects way), and also another mass media example of ex-special forces troops becoming criminals. 

Seeing Like a State by James C. Scott

This historical treatise has a lot of notoriety but I found it unnecessarily dense, and ultimately flawed, in that its focus on states and state power ignores a related discussion of capitalist power, such that altho there is a useful perspective to glean here about how a drive for social legibility can transform a society, I wouldn't recommend the book overall.

The Goat (1921)

This Buster Keaton short has some classic moments and also makes no sense and is stressful but also I enjoyed every bit of it. 

The Feral Detective by Jonathan Lethem

A very Lethem book (obliquely) about the obama-trump transition, and about class differences when you’re a too-clever new yorker; comes off a bit dated now but it’s also arresting and special. 

Character Limit by Kate Conger and Ryan Mac

It’s fun to read all about Musk’s slow motion train wreck of a purchase (rip twitter) but on the other hand (and it pains me to admit this), the authors’ not-so-subtle anti-musk bias leads them to gloss over technical details that would’ve added fascinating color to the story. 

Apple in China by Patrick McGee

Sobering look at the history of the company and the country makes a compelling bear case for Apple in the coming years; altho a galaxy brain take might be that Tim Cook has been actively plotting the American downfall and the rise of Chinese Communism. 

Cat’s Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut

This old classic hardly needs a review, I’ll just say on my second time through that it is impeccable and deep, and left me unsatisfied and antsy (as I think it was intended to). 

House of Huawei by Eva Dou

Impeccably written and edited and researched, this approachable history of the famous Chinese telecom takes 2/3rds of its length to get interesting, but pays off mightily with a very nuanced and deep understanding of this important geopolitical situation. 

Babel-17 by Samuel R. Delaney

I love this strange, poetic book because I'm a linguistics nerd and this is a linguistic nerd's idea of heaven, but also I must warn that it's pretty roughly written.