So rich in theme and visual texture. It has lot on its mind about parental identity and interfaith experience and solidarity. And its photography captures the anxiety and desperation that comes when grief clashes with forces both within and beyond our control.

Mahershala Ali's character Latif is so specifically drawn and the story engine is unique and nuanced. The world he inhabits is equal parts seedy and warmly familar, where danger is never far away but neither is community.

The big find, however, is Adia, who plays Latif's daughter Fatiha. She brings a brightness to the proceedings that's very needed but never out of place.

Between the craft work (sets and costumes) that were able to be used for SINNERS and the training and rapport Ali was able to do and build with Bassam Tariq for this film, the MCU Blade reboot never taking off is probably the best thing to happen to mainstream Black American film in ages. Can't wait to see what Tariq, Ali and Adia do next.

Definitely check it out.

I have a ticket to Behemoth! for closing night of the Chicago International Film Festival on Sunday, October 25. Offering for what I paid ($42). DM me if interested.

Unfortunately, my wife and I double-booked things and she’s already solo-parenting a bunch over the next week while I hit up other screenings!

Still trying to wrap my head around the scene where Nathan shows Elizabeth Holmes Abbott and Costello's "Who's on First?" Afterward, he asks if she thinks it's funny, and she says yes. Then he asks if she understands the joke—that "Who" is the name of the first baseman, which creates all the confusion—and she says she doesn't understand that at all.

I don't know what to make of this. Does she really not understand the joke? Because even if she's autistic, as some people have speculated, the information is all there. But if she does understand it, why pretend otherwise? Why would she deliberately make herself look stupid?

My theory is that she's initially just telling Nathan what she thinks he wants to hear, which is why she agrees that the sketch is funny. But when he starts explaining the joke and asking whether she understands it, she realizes he's making a larger point about her own communication style and the Theranos joke. Rather than engage with that point, she plays dumb to shut down the conversation.

I also wonder if this relates to her relationships with men like Sunny Balwani and Billy Evans. She seems drawn to men who will support her personally and professionally, and I wonder whether playing dumb is sometimes a way of avoiding accountability while letting someone else take responsibility for explaining or defending her behavior.

I am exhausted lol.

Found this to be extremely disappointing. I consider Mamet one of the most brilliant writers of his generation, you would not know it from reading this. This came out in 2023 so I can only assume somewhere along the way his noodle got cooked. Been on a run of reading a bunch of Hollywood/film books lately and this was a tough one to get through.

Saw it’s on the schedule but the date has passed, and last ep they said You Can See Everything was up next. Do they sometimes skip episodes for whatever reason or is it still likely to come up later? Asking as I was looking forward to hearing an in depth discussion about it.

You Can See Everything.

That movie delivered on the trailer and beyond. Blown away.

Stathamheads

It's time to lock in

Where is the episode? Said it would be posted yesterday on 10/14.

Am I dead? Is this hell?