HEAVEN IS FOR REAL (2014) When Colton Burpo (played here by cherubic newcomer Connor Corum) was four years old, his appendix ruptured and he nearly died. On the operating table he experienced what he describes as Heaven. Not only did he go there, he met his great grandfather, as well
Quick one today. Go watch one of my favorite films of 2025, Jia Zhangke's "Caught By the Tides." Assembled from two decades of footage (alternate takes, scenes from earlier films, and b-roll) from his earlier films, it's a beautiful, not-fully-linear story
Roberto Minervini knows it’s bad here, and how we got here, and he’s not even from here. An Italian writer-director who’s lived in the United States for quite some time, much of it spent working in Texas, he makes films that defies easy categorization, including early
Arrival 6:10am. Two large pools on the roof of a recently-built facility located right behind a library, glamorously adjacent to an upscale seafood restaurant where someone once tried to start shit with Jamie Foxx. I park in the multilevel structure – three murals on the exterior from Kenny Scharf,
I woke up with this on my mind, so you get to think about it, too. I was a devoted AMERICAN BANDSTAND and SOUL TRAIN kid, so I was watching in real time when Public Image Limited appeared on AB in 1980. It was one of the first instances that
If you have the Criterion Channel, I'd advise you to get into the Axelle Ropert quartet of films right now, as they disappear from that streamer after July 31, 2025. Ropert is a French film critic/filmmaker and her work fully realizes the small moments of human relationships.
This newsletter is called SLUGGISH. The name was chosen after a variety of other options that were even worse. When I began writing professionally, editors hired me to write about music, art, fashion, film, television, and food. That was fun. I wrote about The Spice Girls, wrestling, doom metal, porn
Something starts today. I'll let you know exactly what when I figure it out.