Kevin McLenithan
@mclengthyname.bsky.social
Editor by day. Film critic by night. Internet Puddleglum 24/7.
When @rianjohnson.bsky.social makes a murder mystery specifically for Seeing & Believing: open.substack.com/pub/seeingan...
Wake Up Dead Man
Rian Johnson gets it.
open.substack.com
November 28, 2025 at 6:15 PM
When @rianjohnson.bsky.social makes a murder mystery specifically for Seeing & Believing: open.substack.com/pub/seeingan...
I highly recommend bringing back the word "quisling" to describe Republicans and their supporters. It denotes basically the same concept as "traitor," but the word has such caustic undertones (suggestive of sniveling, rat-faced cowardice) that it is much more stinging as an epithet.
November 28, 2025 at 4:22 PM
I highly recommend bringing back the word "quisling" to describe Republicans and their supporters. It denotes basically the same concept as "traitor," but the word has such caustic undertones (suggestive of sniveling, rat-faced cowardice) that it is much more stinging as an epithet.
Reposted by Kevin McLenithan
I literally recorded a podcast episode about "comfort food movies" in which I picked SHATTERED GLASS as mine
should we do a group watch of shattered glass as therapy
November 27, 2025 at 2:42 AM
I literally recorded a podcast episode about "comfort food movies" in which I picked SHATTERED GLASS as mine
Reposted by Kevin McLenithan
Now playing (04:05 PM PST):
"Museum Hours" (2012)
By Jem Cohen
Runtime: 107 min.
"Museum Hours" (2012)
By Jem Cohen
Runtime: 107 min.
November 26, 2025 at 12:05 AM
Now playing (04:05 PM PST):
"Museum Hours" (2012)
By Jem Cohen
Runtime: 107 min.
"Museum Hours" (2012)
By Jem Cohen
Runtime: 107 min.
Give me Guillermo del Toro's gosh dang Lovecraft adaptation already!!
If you were a despotic president, what movie would you force Hollywood to make? I want to see Quentin's Star Trek movie or maybe Kill Bill Vol 3.
November 25, 2025 at 11:17 PM
Give me Guillermo del Toro's gosh dang Lovecraft adaptation already!!
The emotions I feel when I read about how aggravated these pigs got when running headfirst into the courageous defiance of Chicagoans is probably as close as I'll ever come again to patriotism
November 22, 2025 at 8:41 PM
The emotions I feel when I read about how aggravated these pigs got when running headfirst into the courageous defiance of Chicagoans is probably as close as I'll ever come again to patriotism
Reposted by Kevin McLenithan
Reposted by Kevin McLenithan
THREAD: Judge Ellis is the first federal judge to review extensive body cam video of DHS's actions in Chicago. She finds that DHS *repeatedly* misled the public and made claims that were disproven by agents' own videos.
I'll go through some of the most egregious ones here.
I'll go through some of the most egregious ones here.
![II. Credibility
The Court next addresses the credibility of the parties’ evidence and witnesses. After reviewing all the evidence submitted to the Court and listening to the testimony elicited at the preliminary injunction hearing, during depositions, and in other court proceedings, the Court finds Defendants’ evidence simply not credible. [FN 6]
Plaintiffs submitted a mountain of evidence, providing the Court with over eighty declarations, numerous videos and articles, and other evidence. Defendants did not rebut anything that Plaintiffs set forth in their declarations or testimony, even with BWC footage.
[FN 6] In another case considering some of the same evidence presented to this Court, another court in this district also found that the perceptions of certain of Defendants’ declarants, such as Hott and Parra, were not reliable. See Illinois v. Trump, No. 25-cv-12174, 2025 WL 2886645, at *5 (N.D. Ill. Oct. 10, 2025) (noting a “troubling trend of Defendants’ declarants equating protests with riots and a lack of appreciation for the wide spectrum that exists between citizens who are observing, questioning, and criticizing their government, and those who are obstructing, assaulting, or doing violence”), motion to stay denied in part, 155 F.4th 929 (7th Cir. 2025).](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:2vtbmhmrwzbqcfv4we4uxzzt/bafkreifpyry2il5toxbr3iejgrsxs6kmnwve75qwnhebfp44ieyjrfpsdu@jpeg)
November 20, 2025 at 11:04 PM
THREAD: Judge Ellis is the first federal judge to review extensive body cam video of DHS's actions in Chicago. She finds that DHS *repeatedly* misled the public and made claims that were disproven by agents' own videos.
I'll go through some of the most egregious ones here.
I'll go through some of the most egregious ones here.
Reposted by Kevin McLenithan
“I want their morale as low as possible because a team with low morale is ineffective.”
Meet the veteran who chases ICE on a scooter
Meet the veteran who chases ICE on a scooter
Meet the veteran who chases ICE on a scooter
Clifford “Buzz” Grambo patrols the streets of Baltimore to keep his neighbors safe—and make federal agents uncomfortable.
www.motherjones.com
November 20, 2025 at 2:00 PM
“I want their morale as low as possible because a team with low morale is ineffective.”
Meet the veteran who chases ICE on a scooter
Meet the veteran who chases ICE on a scooter
Reposted by Kevin McLenithan
"you have to read to the end" and then it's just 80 paragraphs of this
November 18, 2025 at 2:26 AM
"you have to read to the end" and then it's just 80 paragraphs of this
Reposted by Kevin McLenithan
Gen AI could never make The Godfather, but it could also never make Troll 2.
November 18, 2025 at 4:22 AM
Gen AI could never make The Godfather, but it could also never make Troll 2.
This kind of stuff doesn't make it to print unless your editor hates your guts. Or, as Nuzzi would put it, "hates the area behind my belly button"
Not even going to get in to the weeds of how self-pitying Nuzzi's "I Did A Shit With My Clothes On: A Survivor's Tale" press tour is, OR that she landed another six-figure salary at a legacy publication ten months later.
Look at this prose. If my mag got sent this, we'd have the writer arrested.
Look at this prose. If my mag got sent this, we'd have the writer arrested.
November 17, 2025 at 4:37 PM
This kind of stuff doesn't make it to print unless your editor hates your guts. Or, as Nuzzi would put it, "hates the area behind my belly button"
Genuine Q: do the NYT editors actually ... edit? As in, is somebody evaluating the text and revising or rejecting as necessary?
Admittedly, I know the publishing industry better than journalism, but surely whoever writes a headline has to show it to a second person before going to print ... right?
Admittedly, I know the publishing industry better than journalism, but surely whoever writes a headline has to show it to a second person before going to print ... right?
November 16, 2025 at 7:08 PM
Genuine Q: do the NYT editors actually ... edit? As in, is somebody evaluating the text and revising or rejecting as necessary?
Admittedly, I know the publishing industry better than journalism, but surely whoever writes a headline has to show it to a second person before going to print ... right?
Admittedly, I know the publishing industry better than journalism, but surely whoever writes a headline has to show it to a second person before going to print ... right?
"May experience less tear gas use" has to be an all-timer for the Journalistic Passive Voice Hall of Fame
Chicago may experience less tear gas use as Operation Midway Blitz winds down. Cold and wet weather reduce effectiveness, while wind adds unpredictability.
Wind, cold temps can change the impact of tear gas and pepper balls, experts say
chicago.suntimes.com
November 15, 2025 at 6:20 PM
"May experience less tear gas use" has to be an all-timer for the Journalistic Passive Voice Hall of Fame
I always knew my poorly dressed, noodle-armed lifestyle would pay off one day
Tim Miller makes a plea for more straight, woke influencers: "This is a message for hot straight men with muscles who work out, and who are also woke. We just need you to just do a little bit of commentary."
November 15, 2025 at 4:11 PM
I always knew my poorly dressed, noodle-armed lifestyle would pay off one day
Ben and Sam for the 2048 presidential ticket
I am so proud of these guys and the selfless courage they’ve shown.
Their family is a blessing and a witness at @advocatewheaton.bsky.social
www.chicagotribune.com/2025/11/14/c...
Their family is a blessing and a witness at @advocatewheaton.bsky.social
www.chicagotribune.com/2025/11/14/c...
West Chicago brothers are on the front lines against ‘Operation Midway Blitz.’ And they’re only teenagers.
The wave of youth activists who have been galvanized into action by “Operation Midway Blitz” follow a long tradition paved around the world by young activists.
www.chicagotribune.com
November 14, 2025 at 3:35 PM
Ben and Sam for the 2048 presidential ticket
Reposted by Kevin McLenithan
this whole paragraph is an exercise in the pose of knowingness, and illustration of how making being "more reasonable than the extremists" the whole core of your intellect leads inexorably to believing in nothing at all
This paragraph especially!
If I understand him right, he's saying "moral clarity it good" and the right has been utterly immoral so it might sound weird to criticize moral clarity. HOWEVER, because the left is bad [unspecified reasons], "moral clarity is an obstacle to insight." ???
If I understand him right, he's saying "moral clarity it good" and the right has been utterly immoral so it might sound weird to criticize moral clarity. HOWEVER, because the left is bad [unspecified reasons], "moral clarity is an obstacle to insight." ???
November 13, 2025 at 10:29 PM
this whole paragraph is an exercise in the pose of knowingness, and illustration of how making being "more reasonable than the extremists" the whole core of your intellect leads inexorably to believing in nothing at all
Here's how good Kelly Reichardt is: this film is one of the new millennium's most subtle, insightful onscreen portrayals of male friendship.
All the political pundits bemoaning how nobody cares to empathetically explore the complexities of contemporary masculinity need to get on her level.
All the political pundits bemoaning how nobody cares to empathetically explore the complexities of contemporary masculinity need to get on her level.
Now playing (07:50 AM PST):
"Old Joy" (2006)
By Kelly Reichardt
Runtime: 74 min.
"Old Joy" (2006)
By Kelly Reichardt
Runtime: 74 min.
November 12, 2025 at 4:10 PM
Here's how good Kelly Reichardt is: this film is one of the new millennium's most subtle, insightful onscreen portrayals of male friendship.
All the political pundits bemoaning how nobody cares to empathetically explore the complexities of contemporary masculinity need to get on her level.
All the political pundits bemoaning how nobody cares to empathetically explore the complexities of contemporary masculinity need to get on her level.
Reposted by Kevin McLenithan
reached back into my Cracked toolbox to write about six things I’ve learned during the ICE invasion of Chicago
www.lazyandentitled.org?p=162657790
www.lazyandentitled.org?p=162657790
6 Things You Learn Fighting ICE – Lazy & Entitled
www.lazyandentitled.org
November 12, 2025 at 1:55 PM
reached back into my Cracked toolbox to write about six things I’ve learned during the ICE invasion of Chicago
www.lazyandentitled.org?p=162657790
www.lazyandentitled.org?p=162657790
Reposted by Kevin McLenithan
I’m saddened to hear of the death of Homayoun Ershadi, who gave one of the great performances in one of the greatest films, Taste of Cherry. english.alarabiya.net/amp/life-sty...
Iranian actor Ershadi dies at 78 after battle with cancer
Iranian actor Homayoun Ershadi died at 78 on Tuesday after a battle with cancer, state news agency IRNA reported.Ershadi rose to international fame with
english.alarabiya.net
November 11, 2025 at 2:32 PM
I’m saddened to hear of the death of Homayoun Ershadi, who gave one of the great performances in one of the greatest films, Taste of Cherry. english.alarabiya.net/amp/life-sty...
Going to preface this by noting it's not a prognostication (I'm lucky if I can predict a movie plot twist), but:
The Mamdani campaign + last night's Senate vote would make a very tidy chapter in a future history book about the final collapse of the DNC
The Mamdani campaign + last night's Senate vote would make a very tidy chapter in a future history book about the final collapse of the DNC
November 10, 2025 at 6:15 PM
Going to preface this by noting it's not a prognostication (I'm lucky if I can predict a movie plot twist), but:
The Mamdani campaign + last night's Senate vote would make a very tidy chapter in a future history book about the final collapse of the DNC
The Mamdani campaign + last night's Senate vote would make a very tidy chapter in a future history book about the final collapse of the DNC
Reposted by Kevin McLenithan
This week on the newsletter: a double feature!
Train Dreams | Predator: Badlands
Two searches for belonging from very different angles.
seeingandbelieving.substack.com
November 9, 2025 at 4:59 PM
This week on the newsletter: a double feature!
Reposted by Kevin McLenithan
This is officially one of the strangest pictures in American history, and I do not doubt that it will be considered iconic a hundred years from now.
100% serious here.
100% serious here.
November 6, 2025 at 8:39 PM
This is officially one of the strangest pictures in American history, and I do not doubt that it will be considered iconic a hundred years from now.
100% serious here.
100% serious here.