When forced to choose between who’s going to win tonight between the Christmas Adventurers Club or vampires, all hail St. Nick

Also, if I wasn’t a coward I think I would have put Sentimental Value at #1. But since I just watched it last night and Sinners and One Battle After Another are all-time greats, I’m too chicken to do it. Booooooooo

This was a bit of an odd year for the best picture category– there wasn’t a single nominee I didn’t like (though I would have swapped out F1 and Frankenstein for Weapons and Eddington), but there’s a pretty big dropoff between #3 and 4.

Oscars are tonight! As always, here’s the 100% correct ranking of this year’s best picture nominees with links to my (300 character or less) reviews:

10.F1
9. Frankenstein
8. Hamnet
7. Bugonia
6. Train Dreams
5. Marty Supreme
4. The Secret Agent
3. Sentimental Value
2. Sinners
1.One Battle After Another

This was a bit of an odd year-- there wasn't a single nominee I didn't like (though I would have swapped out F1 and Frankenstein for Weapons and Eddington), but there's a pretty big dropoff between #3 and 4.

Also, if I wasn't a coward I think I would have put Sentimental Value #1. But since I just watched it last night and Sinners and One Battle After Another are all-time greats, I'm too chicken to do it. Booooooooo

When forced to choose between who's going to win tonight between the Christmas Adventurers Club or vampires, all hail St. Nick

1. One Battle After Another
2. Sinners
3. Sentimental Value
4. The Secret Agent
5. Marty Supreme
6. Train Dreams
7. Bugonia
8. Hamnet
9. Frankenstein
10. F1

Sentimental Value: Woof. Kind of sucks that we don’t get to choose the things we hold dear

Woof. Kind of sucks that we don't get to choose the things we hold dear

Kiki’s Delivery Service: took the kids to see the 4K IMAX re-release. Been years since I’ve seen it– absolutely gorgeous. Jude says Totoro was better, Vale says they’re tied. JiJi a big hit (as expected)

took the kids to see the 4K IMAX re-release. Been years since I've seen it-- absolutely gorgeous. Jude says Totoro was better, Vale says they're tied. JiJi a big hit (as expected)

Train Dreams: …so it goes. Life carries on, but it’s a crooked, arduous path. Forwards is not always the way we’d choose, but forwards is always the way we go

...so it goes. Life carries on, but it's a crooked, arduous path. Forwards is not always the way we'd choose, but forwards is always the way we go

Hamnet: I’m going to let my buddy, Stanley Kubrick, review this one for me:

There are certain areas of feeling and reality–or unreality or innermost yearning, whatever you want to call it–which are notably inaccessible to words. Music can get into these areas. Painting can get into them. Non-verbal forms of expression can. But words are a terrible straitjacket. It’s interesting how many prisoners of that straitjacket resent its being loosened or taken off. There’s a side to the human personality that somehow senses that wherever the cosmic truth may lie, it doesn’t lie in A, B, C, D. It lies somewhere in the mysterious, unknowable aspects of thought and life and experience.

I'm going to let my buddy, Stanley Kubrick, review this one for me:

"There are certain areas of feeling and reality--or unreality or innermost yearning, whatever you want to call it--which are notably inaccessible to words. Music can get into these areas. Painting can get into them. Non-verbal forms of expression can. But words are a terrible straitjacket. It's interesting how many prisoners of that straitjacket resent its being loosened or taken off. There's a side to the human personality that somehow senses that wherever the cosmic truth may lie, it doesn't lie in A, B, C, D. It lies somewhere in the mysterious, unknowable aspects of thought and life and experience."

Currently Reading

Currently Reading: God, Human, Animal, Machine by Meghan O’Gieblyn 📚

Currently Watching

• A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms Season 1
• The American Revolution Season 1
• Hacks, Season 3
• Shrinking, Season 1

Currently In Queue

• Hamnet
• Train Dreams
• Sentimental Value
• Jay Kelly
• The Phoenician Scheme
• Black Bag
• Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes

Currently Listening

Currently Planning

• Been too busy planning trips to blog about them!

Concurrently

• Working my way through the best picture Oscar noms. As usual, they’re ranging from pretty good to great. Kind of a down year, though. Right now I’d only put One Battle After Another (and maybe Sinners) in that top tier.

Finished in February:

Frankenstein: As always with del Toro, the monsters are never the literal ones. Kindness and understanding are the antidote if only we can fathom it

[The Secret Agent](https://letterboxd.com/film/the-secret-agent-2025/): one of my favorite genre of movies: should be boring but never is

I’m still a struggling a bit with pulling it all together, but it’s something to do with how things that appear as one have a duality: north/south Brazil, the cat’s face, real/fake names, two jobs (dentist/teacher, agent/researcher), half up front/half after, pre/post-google, same actor playing father/son. The list goes on. jordon.me

Wicked: for Good: it’s the second act of Wicked. Hard to fix the problems when you’re starting from that

Previously, in Current Things…

February 2026
January 2026
December 2025
November 2025
October 2025
September 2025
August 2025
July 2025
June 2025
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April 2025
March 2025
February 2025
January 2025
December 2024
November 2024
October 2024
September 2024
August 2024
July 2024
June 2024
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April 2024
March 2024
February 2024
January 2024
December 2023
November 2023
October 2023
September 2023
August 2023
July 2023
June 2023
May 2023
April 2023
March 2023
February 2023
January 2023
December 2022
November 2022

As always with del Toro, the monsters are never the literal ones. Kindness and understanding are the antidote if only we can fathom it

one of my favorite genre of movies: should be boring but never is

I'm still a struggling a bit with pulling it all together, but it's something to do with how things that appear as one have a duality: north/south Brazil, the cat's face, real/fake names, two jobs (dentist/teacher, agent/researcher), half up front/half after, pre/post-google, same actor playing father/son. The list goes on.

it's the second act of Wicked. Hard to fix the problems when you're starting from that

Apropos of nothing, just read this article and replace “sports” with “local” or “international” and you’ll get the gist.

Hard to call your self a news outlet when you’re only reporting the e and 3/8 of an s.

Currently Reading

Currently Reading: God, Human, Animal, Machine by Meghan O’Gieblyn 📚

Currently Watching

• A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms Season 1
• The American Revolution Season 1
• Hacks, Season 3
• Shrinking, Season 1

Currently In Queue

• Hamnet
• The Secret Agent
• Train Dreams
• Sentimental Value
• Jay Kelly
• Frankenstein
• The Phoenician Scheme
• Black Bag
• Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes

Currently Listening

Currently Planning

• Been too busy planning trips to blog about them!

Concurrently

• Oscar Noms are up and they look pretty good to me. Surprised F1 got in there: it’s a fun movie and I try to be happy that the academy sometimes nominates fun movies.

Finished in January:

Stranger Things Season 5 Watched out of obligation and felt like one every second of it. I’ve never been too high on this show, but it’s a textbook case of a story not evolving with its actors. It clings far too much to what worked in the past and feels pretty stale because of it.

Marty Supreme: Presumably one day we won’t be able to make our own luck. But today is not that day

Bugonia: the logic may be wrong, but the facts are not

F1: There aren’t any square pegs in round holes, but you never mind that there’s no friction. from a different era in all the best ways.

Wake Up Dead Man: Not as fun as the others in this series, but the most thematically resonant to me. The faint outline of where the cross used to hang at the front of the church nails what this movie is going for

Previously, in Current Things…

January 2026
December 2025
November 2025
October 2025
September 2025
August 2025
July 2025
June 2025
May 2025
April 2025
March 2025
February 2025
January 2025
December 2024
November 2024
October 2024
September 2024
August 2024
July 2024
June 2024
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April 2024
March 2024
February 2024
January 2024
December 2023
November 2023
October 2023
September 2023
August 2023
July 2023
June 2023
May 2023
April 2023
March 2023
February 2023
January 2023
December 2022
November 2022

Stranger Things Season 5 Watched out of obligation and felt like one every second of it. I’ve never been too high on this show, but it’s a textbook case of a story not evolving with its actors. It clings far too much to what worked in the past and feels pretty stale because of it.

I hope you’ve already had a chance to watch this speech by Canadian PM Mark Carney. If not please take the time.

This is coming from a former banker–a banker! Be skeptical of predicted disruptions to the status quo. But if things are about to change, this is how it starts.

Currently Reading: God, Human, Animal, Machine by Meghan O’Gieblyn 📚

Marty Supreme: Presumably one day we won’t be able to make our own luck. But today is not that day

Presumably one day we won't be able to make our own luck. But today is not that day