Wow. Who knew FRANKENSTEIN was a work of Romanticism and really a critique of crappy dudes and deadbeat dads? Just everybody who actually read the book.
Ivory tower escapee, classic movie blogger, LEGO nerd, writer and co-editor of various stuff, most recently SPACE, THE FEMINIST FRONTIER: ESSAYS ON SEX AND GENDER IN STAR TREK (McFarland 2024). She/her.
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Wow. Who knew FRANKENSTEIN was a work of Romanticism and really a critique of crappy dudes and deadbeat dads? Just everybody who actually read the book.
I’m loving the lineup on TCM today! #PeterLorre #MadLove @tcmtv.bsky.social @tcmparty.bsky.social
MAD LOVE is a wild movie. I love how bonkers Peter Lorre is in that one.
A solid rec, even though I have seen it many times!
Preston Sturges!
NEWS: CVS, the largest pharmacy chain in the country, is currently not offering Covid vaccines in 16 states and DC — even to people who meet the new FDA criteria — because the CDC hasn't signed off and isn't expected to do so (if it does so) for at least three weeks.
Boudica out there have her own geological layer.
![r/ArtefactPorn u/Fuckoff555. 2d Top 1% Poster After she was publicly flogged and her daughters raped by Roman soldiers, Queen Boudica of the Iceni destroyed 3 entire cities. Londinium burned with such ferocity that a blackened scorch-layer still runs under modern London, named by archaeologists the 'Boudican Destruction Horizon' [2080x2810]](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:w6h6dprbvdrbaidpnbjhj7yi/bafkreibb4hct6mthpcwduzl7i55oabo4wu5vn7eiqcafxrhhysbbr3awi4@jpeg "Click to view full size")
US regulators approved Pfizer’s updated COVID-19 shot but with limits that could complicate access for millions of American adults and children.
I don't qualify, even though I do a ton of volunteer work with seniors. Time to buy more masks and reconsider my activities for the winter (although my "required to be in the office full time" spouse is the most likely to make me ill).
"The way in which digital transactions are structured...is partly why #physicalmedia is kind-of-sort-of cool again. DVDs offer the ability, now and forever, to bypass the complicated web of licenses that leave fans unable to access their favorite titles." www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/bus...
Thanks for this! We had more than 2000 people at the last protest I attended (yes, in AL). People here are doing everything they can. I'd also like for people to stop telling me to move - like I haven't been trying to make that happen for a decade. It's not that easy.
turns out the thing most of us learned as kids is still true: stand up to bullies and they usually back down — but give them what they want and they’ll *always* be back for more
100% true! When I was bullied daily in jr. high, my mother said, "Just ignore them and they'll get tired of it." It went on for weeks. You know what finally worked? I marched up to that guy and punched him right in the face. He never bothered me again.
Cat People (Putting Out Fire) and/or Magic Dance
New on my column at @classicmoviehub.bsky.social - Looking back at 50 years of JAWS and my enduring love for the film. #filmsky
That also sounds very appealing some days.
They won't even let us opt out of it, which infuriates me. I want it blocked, turned off, gone. I keep thinking about getting a dumb phone as that seems to be the only way to get away from it.
Weekend LEGO project - taking this rather blah sea serpent model from the 3-in-1 Medieval Dragon Creator set and making her into a fabulous gigantic leafy sea dragon. Pics when I'm done with her, but she'll be at the club's library show next month.
Claire Bloom and Julie Harris in THE HAUNTING (Robert Wise, 1963)
Love this movie - great to see @jasondashbailey.com spotlight its many charms.
Been there, done that! Sometimes accompanied by an urge to burn said house to the ground and fake my own death.
If you want to continue the broader Starfleet/empire conversation from “What is Starfleet?”, the Women at Warp back catalogue has you covered. Here’s a playlist thread of our episodes touching on the topic of colonialism and empire in Star Trek. 👇 #StarTrek #SNW
Not going to argue with obnoxious twits. You're just going to get blocked.
A lot of us will be looking into that if/when AL does the same thing. AL is very much a "hold my beer" state when it comes to terrible legislation.
I assume X has the $$$ to implement verification that Bluesky doesn't have, given the absurd wealth of its current ruler. I quit that one a while back myself.
A lot of the comments are making jokes, but those of us in red states (hi from Alabama) could disappear from this space as our state houses rush to follow Mississippi's example since they're being allowed to go ahead with it.
Accurate, although a sane country wouldn't have allowed a monstrous con man to become President the first time, much less twice.
I'm late to getting around to read SPACE OPERA (2018) by @catvalente.bsky.social but it's so extremely timely to be reading it in 2025 that I sometimes have to stop and reread a passage out loud to myself. The story of the Flus is brilliantly, horrifically familiar right now. #booksky
I have been having the best time finding movies to watch on @kanopy.com - lots of great classics and more recent movies. You can access it through your public library, so it's perfect for folks looking to cut their spending on streaming services.
Tough choice with so many to consider! FORBIDDEN PLANET (1956) and THE BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN (1935) are both terrific, and I can't ignore THE INVISIBLE MAN (1933), either.
As we continue our Double Trouble in August: Monsters & Aliens campaign, please tell us your favorite film featuring a mad scientist. Here are some of our favorites: letterboxd.com/kanopy/list/...
New on the blog - I get to interview @sparkytopia.com about the classic movie monsters who inspire some of their adorable animal art.
The Lost Boys The Princess Bride Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (Gen Xer gotta Gen X, after all...)
When I was teaching a 4/4 load the sciatica pain from standing all day on concrete floors was relentless. I can walk all day and be fine, but standing, especially on concrete, is brutal. Academics ought to be like Aldi cashiers and just sit down. We'd last longer.
AI is a bubble that can't burst fast enough. Keep shunning it, complaining about it, and refusing to use it.
As inept as the aliens were in Ed Wood's magnum opus, none of them ever left "Plan 9" in a hotel printer. (L-R) Criswell #BOTD w/ John "Bunny" Breckinridge, Joanna Lee, and Dudley Manlove in PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE (1959). #FilmSky
My kid is playing Umamusume: Pretty Horse Derby, so I obviously had to make them watch YOU NEVER CAN TELL (1951), in which Joyce Holden plays a reincarnated race horse named Golden Harvest.
New on the blog - while MYSTERY STREET (1950) has several flaws, it uses forensic crime-solving in interesting ways, and it features a scene-stealing performance from Elsa Lanchester. #filmsky
"When caught between two evils I generally pick the one I've never tried before." -Mae West #BOTD Mae West and Marlene Dietrich, 1939
Ugh! Sorry about the extra "the" in that last post - I keep trying to type with a needy cat on my lap, and it's going about how you might expect.
I still have this recurring nightmare where they make me go back and do the the senior year of high school I skipped or they'll revoke all of my later degrees.
New on the blog - if you need more Nazi punching in your entertainment (and who doesn't?), you'll get plenty with DESPERATE JOURNEY (1942). It's a lot more fun than the title makes it sound. #filmsky
I called the cops and moved the next week, so in the respect I fared much better than Janet Leigh. The landlord later went to jail for a bunch of different (money related) crimes.
Years ago, my landlord unlocked my apt door and let himself in to stand there watching me shower before he finally stuck his hand in and turned off the water (then made up an excuse). I didn't even scream. I just stood there paralyzed with shock, so I know exactly how PSYCHO would turn out for me.
Okay, so I didn't title the next film series for the lifetime learners "Punching Nazis," but I DID title it "Close Encounters with the Third Reich," and we're gonna see some serious Nazi punching in CASABLANCA, DESPERATE JOURNEY, LIFEBOAT, and THE STRANGER.
THAT is the perfect name for it.
I'm not liking all the bad stuff, but I like that you have a beautiful new book coming out. The world needs knowledge more than ever BECAUSE of everything that's happening. Small things can be powerful, too.
Absolutely not! They were weird choices. I just happened to be teaching a Hitchcock series at the retirement community and also writing my Classic Movie Hub column on TO CATCH A THIEF, so the titles were on my mental radar.
"If your books were uploaded to LibGen/fed into the LLMs, add your name to the potential class action lawsuit by tomorrow." Details: LibDem database: www.theatlantic.com/technology/a... Attorney form: www.lieffcabraser.com/anthropic-au... (This information comes via a reliable Discord source.)
Didn't find any of my work, but I did find a bunch of my sister's research. I guess they were more interested in childhood education theory than popular culture studies.
I was deeply amused to see that theme pop up - sometimes I have no idea what the words are supposed to be (sports themes, argh), but I breezed through that one. My whole family does Connections every day just so we can all complain about it.
1. Tallulah Bankhead (Lifeboat) 2. Jessie Royce Landis (TCaT)) 3. Ray Milland (Dial M..) 4. Thelma Ritter (Rear Window) 5. Claude Rains (Notorious) 6. Teresa Wright (Shadow) 7. Judith Anderson (Rebecca) 8. Anthony Perkins (Psycho) 9. Leopoldine Konstantin (Notorious) 10. Robert Walker (SoaT)
Kino Lorber has become my physical media go-to favorite. They have so much interesting stuff, and they have really good sales, too. I'll have to add PITFALL to my shopping list.
I mean, look at that! I'll never make any money as a writer (and I've written SO MUCH STUFF), but I'm chuffed to bits about things like this.
Having an entry on Memory Alpha checks off a bucket list item I didn't even know I had. #booksky #treksky
This is the feeling I have every morning when I read the news. Florence gets it.
I bought this game today and am already obsessed with it. Where are my fellow English major/cozy gamers? Biggest problem is knowing the books so well you overthink the recommendations (YES, that book has a political message!).
This video has been around a long time, but it's what I immediately thought about when I read that Pete Hegseth doesn't think women should be able to vote. Don't let the patriarchy strip the rights our grandmothers fought to achieve.
Feeling like my co-editor and I manifested the existence of the SNW Henson puppet episode. We should only use our powers for good. #booksky
New on the blog - BAD DAY AT BLACK ROCK (1955) is so timely you'd think it was being written about 2025, but it's set in 1945 and was released in 1955. Currently streaming on The Criterion Channel. #filmsky
We had a professor like that at my alma mater (a women's college), who looked like Clark Kent - not necessarily a drawback - but made all the students swoon with his readings of Dante in Italian.
"Hot psychotic Uncle Claude" is a phrase that makes me feel seen. I have trouble not rooting for him even in THE INVISIBLE MAN, and I can't actually SEE him in that one.
I mean, how can you not love Puppystein's Monster? You can also get Count Catcula, the Werebear, or (my favorite) the mummified King Tutankhanyan.
@threadless.bsky.social is running another sitewide sale, which means you could get a $13 shirt with awesome art by my super-talented, hard-working artist kid, @sparkytopia.com (including some inspired by classic movie monsters!). sparkytopia.threadless.com
Normally I'm opposed to holiday creep, but I'm also in the "every day is Halloween" camp, so I'm conflicted here.
First trailer for 'Rental Family' starring Brendan Fraser It follows a struggling actor living in Tokyo who is hired as a token white guy by a Japanese rental company
"Government cheese" is a phrase I haven't heard since my grandmother died back in 1992. Lots of her siblings (she had 17 of them) in rural Alabama got it, and she was obsessed with it. Thanks for stirring that memory of her.
Forgot to add alt text for the promotional poster - A man (Spencer Tracy) stands on a railroad track in a desert setting. Images below the title show a man (Robert Ryan) holding a gun and a woman (Anne Francis).
Tonight's movie - BAD DAY AT BLACK ROCK (1955). Really wish I could find a physical copy of this one for my lifetime learners, but at least it's streaming on Criterion.
Tonight's movie - the delightfully camp PSYCHO BEACH PARTY (2000), thanks to its arrival on the Criterion Channel. #filmsky
Evil down to the marrow of his bones, and so are all those who enable him. The things they are stealing from us and our children can never be restored.
Devastating. We'll never be able to repair all the damage he has done.
Ooh, Green Teeth is on my list and I already bought a copy so I'll probably get to it this month. Glad to see you gave it four stars!
Just finished reading EVEN THOUGH I KNEW THE END by @clpolk.com and it was so, so good. Perfect blend of classic noir style and supernatural/urban fantasy elements. If you're craving a sapphic fantasy version THE BIG SLEEP this is it. #booksky
Really loved that the Lucille Ball inspired character on SNW's latest episode was named in honor of Ida Lupino.
To each his or her own - I love the musical episode. It's one of my favorites so far, along with the Lower Decks crossover and M'Benga's fairy tale. Have rewatched all of those multiple times just for the joy of them.
NEW! Don't lose your stuffing — check out the puppet-tastic first tease for #StarTrek #StrangeNewWorlds Season 4, coming in 2026 blog.trekcore.com/2025/07/sdcc...
The teaser for the puppet episode of Strange New Worlds is a very weird way to see my two academic publication topics collide. Also, I'm SUPER excited about it and can't wait to see the episode. I love goofy Trek (which explains my devotion to LD and SNW).
Nichelle Nichols (December 28, 1932 – July 30, 2022)
This, too, is resistance. Every morning I read the news and then have to pull myself together to get through all the things I still have to accomplish. Good things help.
I read the NYT list of 100 Best Movies and thought about the modern movies I actually love. I make no claim to them being the best, so don't @ me about my picks. You can have your own favorites! #filmsky
Hangover Square (John Brahm, 1945) DoP: Joseph LaShelle #BOTD Laird Cregar
Krypto is still the world's best dog... to me :) #superman
I think some people have trouble seeing fascism as anything other than 1940s Germany. But I think 'people going to a comic convention needing to have a plan in case the government's goons show up to disappear people' is a pretty good demonstration of what it can look like in 2025.
"Don't be bullies" is the easiest, most universally appealing, natural-gateway message on trans rights for Democratic politicians. It's not everything that needs to be said, but it's an ideal first step, and the number of Democrats who refuse to take it or who turn it into a "Yes but" is enraging.
Been too busy with real life stuff for much social media, but I'm currently reading HOW TO SOLVE YOUR OWN MURDER by @kristenperrin.bsky.social and am really enjoying it. #booksky
“Superman is too woke!” Literally the first page of the first ever appearance of Superman:
Took advantage of the sale at @bookshop.org to order a couple of paperbacks - as much as I enjoy the immediate gratification of ebooks I feel the need for physical media these days.
The news is terrible and the heat relentless, but my cucumbers are amazing this year.
You are cordially invited to our Anti-Prime Sale, where every purchase will financially support bookstores, NOT billionaires 🥳
Spent the holiday re-watching JAWS (and the first sequel, JAWS 2), and it's amazing to me that any Gen Xers survived to adulthood if those movies accurately reflect the standard of parenting we got in the 1970s.
I admit that I enjoy a fruity Jello salad (I prefer orange to lime), but one Southern staple I really can't stand is collard greens. I'm also unwilling to eat poke salad, and most other cooked greens in general. They're just gross.
Diana Lynn in "The Miracle of Morgan's Creek" - BOTD
She steals every scene she's in - an absolute delight.
Whenever I think about my list, I sing a few bars of "I've Got a Little List" from THE MIKADO, and I do find that cheers me up.
I enjoyed imagining the dinosaurs were eating some very specific people. I've got a list.
Not only does this bill strip healthcare from millions of people, steal our money for billionaires, and explode the deficit by trillions. It also gives $170 billion to the regime’s deportation efforts. More ICE. More kidnappings. More concentration camps. Their evil has no limits—this is fascism.
When you jam your bill through overnight… When you are forced to cancel town halls… When you need to wear masks to hide your actions… You know the people aren’t on your side—and now, you’ve lost us forever. We will remember this day. We will remember your names. We will remember you as traitors.
It appears that the United States is going to celebrate its Semiquincentennial Anniversary by burning itself to the ground and then salting the earth. Glory!