Chin

..which TOTALLY immersed me with its boldly, unapologetically FEMINIST, rage- and joy-filled energy..!!

..GUSHING over this film while acknowledging that it will try the patience of MANY viewers. There are faint echoes of Sin City and Brick and, even, mother! (all films I ALSO loved), but really, Gyllenhaal's greatest accomplishment, for me, is that The Bride! is, ultimately, an idiosyncratic vision..

..MANY of my buttons, floated SO MANY of my boats..!!

And the non-traditional, almost IMPRESSIONISTIC storytelling in what is, after all, a blockbustery film, EXCITED me. The dialogue - much of which is, like so MUCH of the film - BRIMMING with artifice, was nevertheless pitch-perfect.

I'm..

..was MASTERFUL. Choice after choice of hers felt INSPIRED to me. From the WONDERFULLY exuberant musical interludes, the GORGEOUS, comic book-infused look of everything to the sheer AUDACITY of the musical, linguistic, technological, sartorial, behavioural anachronisms.. this film just pushed SO..

..endearing as Frank(enstein's Monster.) Probably my FAVOURITE portrayal of the character..!! (I had a soft spot for Jacob Elordi in Guillermo del Toro's otherwise HORRENDOUS Frankenstein, but I thought Bale's performance was EVEN better and the PERFECT foil for Buckley's.)

Gyllenhaal's direction..

..MANY ways felt MODELLED on my erstwhile friend..!!

So, yes, this was personally FASCINATING for me in a way that it might NOT be for EVERYONE..!

But, despite being the GREATEST asset of this film, Buckley wasn't the ONLY one. Christian Bale - whom I've RARELY liked in the past - was INCREDIBLY..

..phrase, expressions, behaviours that rang VERY true. EVEN more so, for me, because the character of the Bride reminded me UNCANNILY of someone I've known irl recently..!!

Not that I make a habit of fraternising with reanimated, murderous corpses, you understand.. but Buckley's performance, in..

..that DEMANDS a batshit, wholly committed, SINGULAR performance. And that is EXACTLY what Buckley gives us.

On the surface, it's possible it might seem like a one-note turn to many. And, in fact, that is EXACTLY what I was expecting to encounter. But I saw PLENTY of subtleties in it. Turns of..

..saying that Buckley's central performance is BARNSTORMINGLY good. She and her compatriot Saoirse Ronan are, in my eyes, the best celeb-actors of their generation. I ALWAYS look forward to their performances and am pretty much NEVER disappointed by 'em.

So it is in The Bride! A batshit film..

The movie poster of The Bride!, featuring a close-up of Jessie Buckley in signature black lipstick and black splotch on her right cheek, looking side-eyed at the viewer. Christian Bale's Frank - whose stitched-together look is Boris Karloffian, nuzzles lovingly into his bride's face.

The Bride on an operating table, with a spaghetti junction of cables hooked into her chest, just above her heart.

The Bride screaming in what looks like rage and/or agony.

The Bride hanging out of a car window with left arm outstretched, screaming with joyful abandon.

Just back from watching The Bride! (Dir. Maggie Gyllenhaal.)

So far, it's my FAVOURITE movie of the year..!! (SLIGHTLY better than the other Jessie Buckley-starrer Hamnet, which I ADORED, but which had its weaknesses.)

For me, The Bride! was damn-near PERFECT..!!

It pretty much goes without..

A must read for music students and teachers, or anyone who uses LLM for research. I was aware of its hallucinations, but the distortions in the "analysis" it provides are quite chilling. Leah's answers in the comments about why that is are also worth checking out.

My friend has an Irish wolfhound and when I stayed at his a couple of Christmasses ago, it jumped onto my bed and I understood what it must feel like a horse to jump on you

How has this country not exploded in utter fury?

You can buy 500g of salt and vinegar seasoning for a tenner. It's a much better topping for porridge than honey or half a banana. Going to work on porridge that tastes of crisps makes me feel like a little boy all over again. My wife prefers American Ranch on hers.

It's been 6 days now, and I still haven't seen anyone say this very obvious thing.

Maybe we can hook them up with single cream..??

welcome to the world’s shortest podcast

Technocrat capitalists don’t realize that AI sounds obsequious, because their wealth already alienates them from accountability. This is how actual people already talk to them.

let’s-a fucking go

Hand-Taxi Expert Jens completes a thorough inspection before accepting today’s ride!

Pace of global warming has nearly doubled since 2015, reveals study - Carbon Brief An acceleration in human-caused global warming could see the Paris Agreement’s 1.5C limit breached before...

I'm not suggesting this is an open secret within the climate science community, but it's remarkable how little impact this sort of research is generating. Because if the rate of warming really has *doubled* then you can kiss goodbye to 2°C. www.carbonbrief.org/pace-of-glob...

Deborah Friedell · Short Cuts: Versions of Melania The enduring liberal fantasy that Melania Trump is unwilling, trapped, in need of rescue, #FreeMelania, has never...

‘The enduring liberal fantasy that Melania Trump is unwilling, trapped, in need of rescue, #FreeMelania, has never squared with the most rigorous reporting about her.’

@deborahfriedell.bsky.social on Trump’s First Lady.

www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...

A cream Shiba Inu stands on a park bench on the Brooklyn promenade. It’s overcast.

Georgie surveys her queendom

Holy fucking shit. 'If Trump says we won then we won' is even further down the hole than the Orwell quote people always dig up about eyes and ears. He attacked Iran so he could win another fake award. That's it. That's the whole thing. That's wild

As we all remember the marchers in Selma tomorrow, let's also remember the era when we had a Supreme Court that cared about building up our democracy. We had a Court like that once; we can't give up on the fight to get one once again.

Stoic Kristi Noem Bears Firing With Stiff Upper Lip, Chin, Cheeks, Forehead

Stoic Kristi Noem Bears Firing With Stiff Upper Lip, Chin, Cheeks, Forehead

Mountains..?

Look, it's just purely a coincidence that Donald Trump started a war just days before the release of FBI 302s of interviews of a victims claiming he raped her when she was 13 years old.

Mother put her hands over her face and completely disappeared. This degenerate nihilistic storytelling is killing our culture. Oh! But wait! Mother has returned! This redemptive hopeful storytelling is leading us to utopia!

The American political class is utterly delusional, adrift in a dream of normality, unable to process the actual reality of events on the ground, where the US just launched a completely unprovoked war against a massive country, murdered its leadership, and demanded its conversion to a vassal state.