Average Joe

It's like when tech billionaires invoke sci-fi stories, and people say, "he doesn't even understand that story's dystopian," but yes, they do get that! They simply embrace the dystopia, market it as inevitable, and want you to understand yourself as a winner or loser in that context—on their terms.

A ★★★ review of Stingaree (1934) Watching this movie was like watching a really good episode of the 1950s Zorro TV show. The hero even has a theme song, played at various points in the movie. It's a fun adventure story with a charism...

Stingaree (1934) is a fun adventure story that spends just enough time on the hero, leaving plenty of space for the female lead to take center stage. #MovieReview #FilmSky
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A ★★★★½ review of Smarty (1934) This is a movie about a woman who knows what she wants and is willing to do what it takes to get it. It's also funny as hell. Vicki (Joan Blondell) is the driver of everything in the story. She's the ...

Smarty (1934) is an often misunderstood movie. It's about a woman who wants rough sex from her husband, but doesn't want to tell him that directly. She wants him to figure it out himself. And therein lies the tale (and hilarity). #MovieReview #FilmSky
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The Crown Prince.
bsky.app/profile/chad...

Ooh, maybe a doubleheader!

Will those with power ever listen?

This Union's In A State! Trump's Speech, summarized

If you're looking for a good summary, go to Apple News or something idk

If you're looking for a summary written/recorded while slightly crossfaded and very tired: got you covered

A ★★★½ review of Murder at the Vanities (1934) It's hard to imagine anything more pre-Code than this one. Sure, there's scantily clad women, but also the tough and skilled PI is a woman, cops aren't respected and are shown as being unworthy of res...

Murder at the Vanities (1934) offers up a murder mystery intertwined with a stage show that doesn't measure up to that of the 1933 Busby Berkeley trifecta. It's still a good movie, though. #MovieReview #FilmSky
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A ★★★★★ review of Twentieth Century (1934) This is a fun story with another great performance by John Barrymore. Not to slight Carole Lombard; they both must have had a blast performing in all the ways that actors aren't supposed to. Totally o...

Twentieth Century (1934) is astonishingly delightful. #MovieReview #FilmSky

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A ★★½ review of Manhattan Melodrama (1934) The movie presents an interesting thought experiment, but there's just not much covering the machinery that's set in motion to grind out the story. That's probably why they needed three very charismat...

Manhattan Melodrama (1934) has very charismatic lead actors, but it's not enough to distract from the gears that are grinding out the story are in plain view the whole time. Ridiculous setup, obvious conclusion, but some fun along the way. #MovieReview #FilmSky
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The thing that annoys me the most about the fear of “attacks” federal agents face for their families is not literal - what they actually fear is social exclusion and ostracization. They were afforded privileges of existing among decent people and now they are left with only themselves when truthful.

A ★★★★½ review of Finishing School (1934) This movie shows how the wealthy transfer their core values to their children, while exposing that the most important of those core values is "do whatever you want, just don't get caught." Another imp...

Finishing School (1934) is a late pre-Code that delivers on the era's promise of stories that speak realistically about society's ills. It's also a strong dramatic tale with engaging characters. And just the right amount of humor. #MovieReview #FilmSky
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American authoritarians are hobbled because they cannot understand care, cannot recreate it, and are suspicious of it.

Their alliances are built on fear and fear is fragile.

They are also afraid of people who will help others AND oppose authoritarian goals.

Won't You Be My Neighbor? Woke Antifa's Secret Weapon

Authoritarians cannot understand regular people because they themselves are cowards

Fear motivates them, so they assume it motivates everyone. They can't imagine risking their lives for a stranger, for free

It's why they've beat a public retreat in Minneapolis, and it's how we'll ultimately win

Cartoon: The 'SAVE our dictatorship' Act Follow me on Bluesky or Mastodon Related |� GOP's new voter suppression bill won't SAVE ...

New comic on the "SAVE America" Act which would lead to massive voter suppression www.dailykos.com/stories/2026...

Yup

Activists Are Fighting ICE Even Though It Could Get Them Killed. Here’s Why. ICE is still trying to subjugate Minneapolis. It's still failing.

"Maybe all we do is frustrate," Star said. "Give someone one more day with their daughter or their dad.

"But if you lost your dad, or you lost your daughter, you would give anything to have one more day with them. And that’s what we can do.”

My latest for Slate

A ★½ review of A Modern Hero (1934) This movie suffers from the lack of a sympathetic character. Obviously the main character is intended to be a cautionary tale, but the movie would have been more compelling with some character to root...

A Modern Hero (1934) is a disappointing effort from G.W. Pabst and Richard Barthelmess. #MovieReview #FilmSky
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Cartoon: 'Polarization' Follow me on Bluesky or Mastodon Related |� Trump reportedly wants to give right-wing media $100M to recruit ...

The term "polarization" implies a false equivalence between violent movements and vulnerable people trying to defend themselves. www.dailykos.com/stories/2026...

A ★★★ review of You're Telling Me! (1934) The story -- which is just the basic structure used in many WC Fields films, but this time there's princess -- holds up. Most of the comedy holds up. But there are about 10 minutes total of the film t...

You're Telling Me! (1934) takes the basic structure used in other WC Fields films and adds a princess. And it mostly works! #MovieReview #FilmSky
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A ★★★★ review of Heat Lightning (1934) Over the course of 24 hours a variety of people come to Olga's gas station. The movie does a great job of sketching out their lives with just enough to let our imaginations fill in the gaps. The entir...

Heat Lightning (1934) features well-drawn characters, great acting, and a compelling story. Even though the basic plot has been replicated countless times in the years since, the movie holds up very well. #MovieReview #FilmSky
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Classic.
Plus,some 1930's lore. Got to get the book Tal references.

Make No Mistake About Trump's Minnesota 'De-Escalation' Reading the corporate media over the past few days, you might come away with the impression that national (and international) outrage over state-sanctioned terror and killings of civilians in the stre...

I wrote about the media largely buying the administration’s PR spin: “The claim that someone like Homan would represent a pivot or a more conciliatory approach is only reasonable if you’ve neglected to do even a cursory google search. There’s little meaningful daylight between him and Bovino”

Crackdown Writing through history and heartbreak.

"Headlines call it a 'crackdown' on immigration and a 'clash' between the government and 'protesters,' when in reality it’s murderous occupying forces being confronted by people who just want to live free of their violence."

Hell yeah.

A ★★ review of I've Got Your Number (1934) Other than having an unlikable protagonist, the movie's fine. Unfortunately that's a fatal flaw unless it's handled really well. Which in this case it is not. Pat O'Brien plays Terry, a telephone repa...

I've Got Your Number (1934) features some decent comedy and a reasonable crime story, but it's weighed down by its fatal flaw: an unlikable protagonist. #MovieReview #FilmSky
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The Lost Patrol (1934) A World War I British Army patrol is crossing the Mesopotamian desert when their commanding officer, the only one who knows their destination, is killed by the bullet of unseen bandits. The patrol's s...

The Lost Patrol (1934) still holds up, but I did find myself having to cut it some slack due to its age and how many times the same sort of scenario has played out on screens large and small since it was released 90+ years ago. #MovieReview #FilmSky
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Minneapolis Execution Another person dead at the hands of ICE

The cruelty of it. Cold-blooded. Never in my life. What are we to do in the face of such evil?

Dispatches from a truck stop in the middle of goddamn nowhere