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Sam Adams

@samadams.bsky.social

36K followers 870 following 5.2K posts

Culture writer at Slate, published in LA Times, Rolling Stone, Entertainment Weekly, Variety, THR, and points south. Member: New York Film Critics Circle, National Society of Film Critics, WGA East

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Sam Adams @samadams.bsky.social · Dec 19

This was my first full year as a staff writer at Slate, and it gave me a chance to try some new things, improve some old ones, and have a lot of fun. Here are some of the things I'm proudest of.

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Sam Adams @samadams.bsky.social · 5m

“Lots of good stuff here!”

Sam Adams @samadams.bsky.social · 11h

I used my review of The Chair Company to get at just what is going on with its deliberately flat, almost amateurish performances. Consider it my contribution to the burgeoning field of Tim Robinson Studies. slate.com/culture/2025...

The actor who plays the part doesn’t seem to have any previous screen credits, which might account for the off-kilter delivery, but even the series’ seasoned pros, like Lake Bell and Lou Diamond Phillips, who plays Ron’s glad-handing boss, seem to have been coached to act as if they don’t know how to act. Robinson is a singular performer with an awfully narrow range, which he periodically pushes himself beyond for the sake of comedic unease. (You don’t see a man crying; you see an actor trying to play one, and wince at how far he is from pulling it off.) But it’s not just a matter of making the other actors lower themselves to his level. Their flat, almost rote line readings keep us in Ron’s permanently baffled shoes, unable to comprehend what they’re doing or why they’re doing it. And that makes the whole world feel like one big conspiracy, a place where people carry on as if their behavior makes sense when it’s clear that they’re all out of their minds.

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Sam Adams @samadams.bsky.social · 18h

It’s literally not reposting if there’s no link. The rest of your post is just making up things I didn’t say and getting mad at them. Have fun arguing with no one.

Sam Adams @samadams.bsky.social · 18h

lol I thought that too. Like “hey boss, I’ve got one where a few hairs are out of place, is that enough?”

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Sam Adams @samadams.bsky.social · 19h

That’s why it’s a screenshot and not a link. But pretending that a major news network will just go away if we ignore it is not the play.

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Sam Adams @samadams.bsky.social · 19h

(obvious the real issue here is giving air time to Bari’s clown-shit blogger and the perennial gripes of handful of NYPD malcontents)

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Sam Adams @samadams.bsky.social · 19h

getting Zohran Mamdani’s last name wrong is, like mispronouncing Kamala Harris’, what the linguist Geoffrey Nunberg calls a thinko, not a typo—a “mistake” rooted in social and political coding

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Sam Adams @samadams.bsky.social · 19h

welcome to the new era of CBS News, where brave truth-telling takes precedence over spelling Zohran Mamdani’s name correctly

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Sam Adams @samadams.bsky.social · 19h

the guy who puts your name on the list at Villa di Roma

Katelyn Boo-urns @katelynburns.com · 22h

name an italian more worthy of an american holiday than columbus

Sam Adams @samadams.bsky.social · 1d

One good thing.

Gints Zilbalodis @gintszilbalodis.bsky.social · 1d

Finished the script for Limbo today :)

Sam Adams @samadams.bsky.social · 1d

*has*

The New York Times @nytimes.com · 1d

Katie Porter is the leading Democratic candidate to become California’s next governor, but her behavior in two viral videos have hurt her early campaign efforts. Other candidates’ teams are scrambling to take advantage.

Katie Porter Videos Give California Rivals a New Opening

Viral videos showing caustic behavior have blunted her momentum in the California governor’s race. Other campaigns are scrambling to take advantage.

nyti.ms

Sam Adams @samadams.bsky.social · 1d

I wrote about The Chair Company, and why the weirder and more grating Tim Robinson’s projects become, the more I like them.

HBO’s Great New Show Is a Masterpiece of Cringe Comedy

Tim Robinson’s new series is part I Think You Should Leave, part Twin Peaks.

slate.com

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Sam Adams @samadams.bsky.social · 1d

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the Mountain Goats @themountaingoats.bsky.social · 1d

so, this weekend the great Dr. Demento did his final show. I could write a lot about the importance of his show to me & my friends when we were 12 and 13. there's more to it than "he played funny stuff" and "his show is where @alyankovic.bsky.social got his start." 1/3

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Sam Adams @samadams.bsky.social · 1d

Charlie Kirk? The free-speech advocate?

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Sam Adams @samadams.bsky.social · 1d

“review or editorial consideration?”

Natasha Simonova @philistella.bsky.social · 1d

In honor of spooky month, share a 4 word horror story that only someone in your profession would understand:

New library catalogue website.

🏰meg⚔️ @Birthright Audiobook! @impavid.us · 4d

In honor of spooky month, share a 4 word horror story that only someone in your profession would understand

I'll go first: Six page commercial lease.

Reposted by Sam Adams

Nitish Pahwa @nitishpahwa.com · 1d

this was before my time but Slate once did a whole tribute week to Stevie Wonder with delightful entries from @aishaharris.bsky.social, @matoswk.bsky.social, @samadams.bsky.social, @thehighsign.bsky.social, and @sethstevenson.bsky.social among many others slate.com/culture/wond...

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Mark Harris @markharris.bsky.social · 2d

By the way: Isn't it time somebody released (or leaked) Tilda, the HBO pilot that starred Diane Keaton as a Nikki Finke-like gossip columnist? Also with, I believe, Elliot Page, Wes Bentley, Jason Patric, Sanaa Lathan. 2011, many cooks inc. Bill Condon, at least two versions.

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Mark Harris @markharris.bsky.social · 2d

There are so many Diane Keaton performances to remember, but a lot of people haven't seen Reds, and A) my God, see it, it is a masterpiece and B) her performance as Louise Bryant is one of the bravest, toughest, least sympathy-courting pieces of work by an American actress in the last 50 years.

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Isaac! At the Butler! @isaacbutler.bsky.social · 2d

Few actors exemplify the delightful wildness and mess that was the hallmark of Meisner technique better than Diane Keaton. What an incredible actor and career. impossible to imagine Reds, Godfather II, or Annie Hall, three of the best American films of the new Hollywood era, without her. RIP!

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Sam Adams @samadams.bsky.social · 2d

“Icon” is overused, but … Icon.

Diane Keaton, Famed for Roles in 'Father of the Bride,' 'First Wives Club' and More, Dies at 79 (Exclusive)

Diane Keaton has died at age 79. Keaton was best known for roles in movies like 'Annie Hall,' 'The First Wives Club,' 'Something's Gotta Give' and 'The Godfather.'

people.com

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Sam Adams @samadams.bsky.social · 2d

Holy shit.

36 Years Later, DC Will Finally Publish a Controversial Canceled Comic Where Swamp Thing Meets Jesus Christ | NYCC 2025 - IGN

In 1989, DC canceled a Swamp Thing comic that would have seen the noble hero meet Jesus Christ. Now, 36 years later, that controversial story will finally see the light of day.

www.ign.com

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Sam Adams @samadams.bsky.social · 2d

given that the party that controls all three houses of government is spending every day plotting attacks on an organization that does not exist it seems like the idea moment to release a consumer app that can generate nearly undetectable video deepfakes

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Sam Adams @samadams.bsky.social · 3d

if someone in your family started talking like this you would take away their car keys

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 3d

Trump: "Portland, I mean -- every time I look at that place it's burning down. There are fires all over the place. When a store -- there are very few of them left -- but when a store owner rebuilds a store they build it out of plywood. They don't put up storefronts anymore. They just put wood up."

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hannah gais @hannahgais.bsky.social · 3d

Those are three people in inflatable frog suits.

@MrAndyNgo
Now that the local and national press have started to cover the Portland ICE area round-the-clock in reaction to the President, Antifa have devised a plan where they are encouraging one another to come in animal costumes.

The costumes serve the function of masking the violent extremism to make the direct action appear like a family-friendly gathering on camera, and to whitewash the past ultraviolence.

In 2019, Antifa devised a similar plot by giving out free "milkshakes" at a protest. But they couldn't contain their bloodthirst and nearly killed me when they saw me. In 2020, they mobilized a fake "Wall of Moms" where female Antifa supporters and members wore yellow shirts to act as human body shields while violent rioters behind them hurled projectile weapons.

photo of three people in inflatable frog costumes

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