Saw them in Chicago recently, and the place was absolutely electric.

Same here, Alissa. Back in the day, it felt like we were writing for an audience that came for the music but was open to learning about film that might not otherwise have been on their radar, a fun stance to take in a review or essay.

So glad to hear this. We’ll see her in a couple of weeks in Chicago.

They hatched this whole plan… in the oval office.

And by the way I hadn’t made that connection between Ballast and The Brutalist until now either.

I wonder what Lance Hammer is up to.

Amazing! Is this a paper log, like a notebook?

Brian, sometime I need to ask you about your record keeping system. By the way, where is Ex Libris? Or are you excluding the Little Roxie?

I had Jenny Nicholson’s Star Wars hotel review playing at my desk, split over a couple of days, and I’m still amazed at how thorough and entertaining it is. And tough-but-fair!

And by the way, The Flick is very readable if you haven’t had the chance to see it performed. You’ll need to imagine the long stretches of dialog-free sweeping, and all the sounds that are familiar to anybody who spent many hours in a multiplex.

As a kid I don’t remember that slowdown at all and may even have been grateful for the pause. That stretch when approaching the wizard was understandably terrifying.

I was back in the Bay Area for work a couple of weeks ago, steps from the Stanford, but sadly it was between calendars.

I did rewatch that film at home with the family recently. It’s so brisk and basic, only dragging around “King of the Forest.” Those ruby slippers on yellow brick look fantastic.

That’s cool. I’ve been enjoying her new album.

I wonder what she’d have to say about Chris Marker.

I’ve been clawing my way back toward a 702-puzzle peak after forgetting to do the crossword earlier this year. I’ll reset to zero today. It’s truly the lowest stakes imaginable for me, but here’s hoping it demonstrates support on the other end.

Oh I don’t know what arrangement they have, just noticing that it’s a similar joint promotion with a similar format. I bet they give them some freebies, though.

Amoeba has done those “What’s in my bag?” videos for years, also fun.