Seth Barry Watter
@sbwatter.bsky.social
new york, ny | author of The Human Figure on Film (SUNY, 2023) and of articles on film, media, the human sciences, psychiatry
scholarly writing here: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Seth-Watter
scholarly writing here: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Seth-Watter
A curious inclusion here of Kodak perforations, possibly to underscore the "hole" in experience opened up by huffing.
December 2, 2025 at 8:28 PM
A curious inclusion here of Kodak perforations, possibly to underscore the "hole" in experience opened up by huffing.
I know nothing about the filmmaker, Herbert Danska, apparently best known for a 1971 documentary about The Last Poets. The many images of rooftop kite-flying remind me a bit of Bigger Thomas' dreams of flying airplanes in Native Son.
December 2, 2025 at 8:28 PM
I know nothing about the filmmaker, Herbert Danska, apparently best known for a 1971 documentary about The Last Poets. The many images of rooftop kite-flying remind me a bit of Bigger Thomas' dreams of flying airplanes in Native Son.
It's also funny how this film wants the audience to believe that a guy this jacked would be making music on a setup like this one:
December 2, 2025 at 12:26 AM
It's also funny how this film wants the audience to believe that a guy this jacked would be making music on a setup like this one:
Love Letters (1983)
December 1, 2025 at 3:51 AM
Love Letters (1983)
While everyone else is enjoying Noirvember, I'm still basically in the throes of a long October. (from I Walked With a Zombie)
November 23, 2025 at 10:54 PM
While everyone else is enjoying Noirvember, I'm still basically in the throes of a long October. (from I Walked With a Zombie)
I would throw Jack Elam in there too, although he might ultimately be more associated with the western.
November 23, 2025 at 4:55 PM
I would throw Jack Elam in there too, although he might ultimately be more associated with the western.
Remember when Michael Rapaport was really funny in Spike Lee's Bamboozled? If there's anything I've learned from Facebook reels recently, those days are long over
November 21, 2025 at 2:53 PM
Remember when Michael Rapaport was really funny in Spike Lee's Bamboozled? If there's anything I've learned from Facebook reels recently, those days are long over
I just saw that the great Japanese actor Tatsuya Nakadai has passed away. Ichikawa's Conflagration, while a mediocre film, has one of Nakadai's finest performances as the disabled student Togari. His halting, twisted walk in the schoolyard has to be one of the most striking entrances in cinema.
November 11, 2025 at 12:14 PM
I just saw that the great Japanese actor Tatsuya Nakadai has passed away. Ichikawa's Conflagration, while a mediocre film, has one of Nakadai's finest performances as the disabled student Togari. His halting, twisted walk in the schoolyard has to be one of the most striking entrances in cinema.
If I had to live in any American city other than New York, I'm starting to think it should be Baltimore
November 10, 2025 at 9:08 PM
If I had to live in any American city other than New York, I'm starting to think it should be Baltimore
Because the two really do belong together
November 8, 2025 at 12:54 PM
Because the two really do belong together
This is already impossible to find in Manhattan. A colleague appears to have bought the last copy at the nearest Gristedes (appropriately enough, one of the businesses that has vowed to leave New York if Mamdani won the election)
November 5, 2025 at 6:33 PM
This is already impossible to find in Manhattan. A colleague appears to have bought the last copy at the nearest Gristedes (appropriately enough, one of the businesses that has vowed to leave New York if Mamdani won the election)
Recreationally, that is
November 5, 2025 at 6:24 PM
Recreationally, that is
For anyone in or around the College Park area, I'll be speaking on the topic of "Research and Surveillance in a Total Institution" at the University of Maryland on this Friday November 7, 1pm; details below
November 5, 2025 at 12:45 PM
For anyone in or around the College Park area, I'll be speaking on the topic of "Research and Surveillance in a Total Institution" at the University of Maryland on this Friday November 7, 1pm; details below
A new queer classic?
October 26, 2025 at 9:18 PM
A new queer classic?
Also these from Kunihiko Kasahara
October 23, 2025 at 6:14 PM
Also these from Kunihiko Kasahara
We're all set for Halloween here with some origami models courtesy of Oriol Esteve and Jo Nakashima
October 23, 2025 at 6:14 PM
We're all set for Halloween here with some origami models courtesy of Oriol Esteve and Jo Nakashima
If Marie Antoinette were queen, we'd be eating cake
October 23, 2025 at 3:43 PM
If Marie Antoinette were queen, we'd be eating cake
What my daughter brought home from the library yesterday
October 21, 2025 at 7:01 PM
What my daughter brought home from the library yesterday
This may be the best title of a book ever. Imagine if all titles were equally descriptive: "Academic Monograph with Tedious Descriptions of Gothic Architecture." "Collection of Previously Published Essays with No Unity Among Them or Discernible Point."
September 24, 2025 at 3:38 PM
This may be the best title of a book ever. Imagine if all titles were equally descriptive: "Academic Monograph with Tedious Descriptions of Gothic Architecture." "Collection of Previously Published Essays with No Unity Among Them or Discernible Point."
Really sad to hear that Bluestockings is closing for good. It was one of the first places I started going to in New York, 20 years ago. Indeed some of these bookmarks are starting show their age, much like me.
September 22, 2025 at 9:55 PM
Really sad to hear that Bluestockings is closing for good. It was one of the first places I started going to in New York, 20 years ago. Indeed some of these bookmarks are starting show their age, much like me.
Just a reminder that there is still time (10/1) to apply to SCMSSP's parallel conference, to be held "both virtually (online) and, simultaneously, in person in/from
Chicago (exact physical location TBA) during the same dates as SCMS March 26-29, 2026.... contingent upon agreement not to attend SCMS"
Chicago (exact physical location TBA) during the same dates as SCMS March 26-29, 2026.... contingent upon agreement not to attend SCMS"
September 22, 2025 at 4:56 PM
Just a reminder that there is still time (10/1) to apply to SCMSSP's parallel conference, to be held "both virtually (online) and, simultaneously, in person in/from
Chicago (exact physical location TBA) during the same dates as SCMS March 26-29, 2026.... contingent upon agreement not to attend SCMS"
Chicago (exact physical location TBA) during the same dates as SCMS March 26-29, 2026.... contingent upon agreement not to attend SCMS"
Whenever I think of Robert Redford, I think of this scene in Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore:
Bea: Listen, I wonder what kind of build he's got on him.
Alice: Did you ever see his feet?
Bea: Feet?
Alice: I heard one time that's supposed to be an indication.
Bea: Listen, I wonder what kind of build he's got on him.
Alice: Did you ever see his feet?
Bea: Feet?
Alice: I heard one time that's supposed to be an indication.
September 17, 2025 at 1:17 AM
Whenever I think of Robert Redford, I think of this scene in Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore:
Bea: Listen, I wonder what kind of build he's got on him.
Alice: Did you ever see his feet?
Bea: Feet?
Alice: I heard one time that's supposed to be an indication.
Bea: Listen, I wonder what kind of build he's got on him.
Alice: Did you ever see his feet?
Bea: Feet?
Alice: I heard one time that's supposed to be an indication.
Plants gesturing like people; people gesturing like plants.
September 15, 2025 at 1:50 PM
Plants gesturing like people; people gesturing like plants.
Not even origami is safe from transphobia. (From a book published in 2001.)
September 14, 2025 at 3:25 PM
Not even origami is safe from transphobia. (From a book published in 2001.)