Alan Mattli
@alanmattli.bsky.social
Film critic for Filmbulletin. By-lines in Maximum Cinema, Swissinfo, Filmexplorer, MUBI Notebook, and Filmmaker Magazine. University of Zurich American literature post-doc. Loves cats. Will rate your Werner Herzog impression. Any pronouns.
Reposted by Alan Mattli
remarkable how much contempt this white house has for the nation’s historical and artistic treasures
VOA's headquarters, 'the Sistine Chapel of the New Deal,' faces possible destruction as part of the Trump administration's drive for "maximum value for the federal real estate footprint." wapo.st/4a5NCsq
The stunning art trove hidden in a D.C. building marked by Trump for disposal
Packed with frescoes, paintings and reliefs, the federal government’s Cohen Building has been called “the Sistine Chapel of the New Deal.” Advocates fear these works could be at risk.
wapo.st
January 22, 2026 at 3:00 PM
remarkable how much contempt this white house has for the nation’s historical and artistic treasures
Reposted by Alan Mattli
Anyway, Joseph Kosinski has now directed more Best Picture nominees than David Lynch did, and that’s why the Oscars, as much as they delight and entertain us nerds every year, should never be taken to heart.
January 22, 2026 at 2:48 PM
Anyway, Joseph Kosinski has now directed more Best Picture nominees than David Lynch did, and that’s why the Oscars, as much as they delight and entertain us nerds every year, should never be taken to heart.
Reposted by Alan Mattli
state-sponsored child trafficking
This picture making the rounds on reddit, Columbia Heights. I'm not OK.
January 21, 2026 at 11:25 PM
state-sponsored child trafficking
Reposted by Alan Mattli
If you’re a grown ass man in full tactical gear asking a child to show you ID or proof of citizenship you failed at life. Utterly & completely failed. Loser.
January 21, 2026 at 9:20 PM
If you’re a grown ass man in full tactical gear asking a child to show you ID or proof of citizenship you failed at life. Utterly & completely failed. Loser.
"I'd say he eats more like a duck."
X's product head has multiple brushes with death from failing to chew
January 22, 2026 at 10:00 AM
"I'd say he eats more like a duck."
Reposted by Alan Mattli
The extremist lurch of the GOP is in many ways the only political story of the last 30 years and for the most part all media has done is pretend the opposite is true.
Read this excellent piece.
Buckle is right. Liberalism is alive and well -- in fact, more popular & more activist than any time since Reagan.
Liberals did not become fascists. Conservatives became fascists.
Liberalism did not die. The center-right died so the far-right might live.
Buckle is right. Liberalism is alive and well -- in fact, more popular & more activist than any time since Reagan.
Liberals did not become fascists. Conservatives became fascists.
Liberalism did not die. The center-right died so the far-right might live.
January 20, 2026 at 3:55 PM
The extremist lurch of the GOP is in many ways the only political story of the last 30 years and for the most part all media has done is pretend the opposite is true.
Reposted by Alan Mattli
Fuck this garbage. Think of all the talented artists in Glasgow who you could have chosen from to get a payday from this gig instead of the money being handed over to a slop merchant.
NEW: Glasgow City Council has just approved a massive AI-generated mural to be painted in the city centre.
The illustration of Scottish elements inexplicably contains a bald eagle.
The planner says those upset about it are "keyboard warriors" who should "calm down"
The illustration of Scottish elements inexplicably contains a bald eagle.
The planner says those upset about it are "keyboard warriors" who should "calm down"
January 20, 2026 at 1:24 PM
Fuck this garbage. Think of all the talented artists in Glasgow who you could have chosen from to get a payday from this gig instead of the money being handed over to a slop merchant.
Defending AI slop by calling its critics terminally online "keyboard warriors" betrays a spectacular lack of self-awareness, good god.
NEW: Glasgow City Council has just approved a massive AI-generated mural to be painted in the city centre.
The illustration of Scottish elements inexplicably contains a bald eagle.
The planner says those upset about it are "keyboard warriors" who should "calm down"
The illustration of Scottish elements inexplicably contains a bald eagle.
The planner says those upset about it are "keyboard warriors" who should "calm down"
January 20, 2026 at 2:24 PM
Defending AI slop by calling its critics terminally online "keyboard warriors" betrays a spectacular lack of self-awareness, good god.
Reposted by Alan Mattli
the people who were scolded relentlessly for celebrating this moment nine years ago have been completely vindicated. punching a nazi in the face now polls higher than any member of congress.
(source: i made it up but it feels very true in my heart)
(source: i made it up but it feels very true in my heart)
Well, it’s the 9th anniversary of this today. No special reason for mentioning it now, obviously
January 20, 2026 at 11:03 AM
the people who were scolded relentlessly for celebrating this moment nine years ago have been completely vindicated. punching a nazi in the face now polls higher than any member of congress.
(source: i made it up but it feels very true in my heart)
(source: i made it up but it feels very true in my heart)
This LRB review by Tom Johnson is such an eloquent rebuttal to a certain kind of airport book/popular historiography that seems to only want to flatten history into a variation on "People in the past! They're just like us! Immutable human nature! Nothing ever changes!"
January 16, 2026 at 3:23 PM
This LRB review by Tom Johnson is such an eloquent rebuttal to a certain kind of airport book/popular historiography that seems to only want to flatten history into a variation on "People in the past! They're just like us! Immutable human nature! Nothing ever changes!"
Reposted by Alan Mattli
As always, the gulf between the bald reality of the situation and the seeming lack of urgency among Democratic leadership in Washington is crazy-making.
January 14, 2026 at 2:58 PM
As always, the gulf between the bald reality of the situation and the seeming lack of urgency among Democratic leadership in Washington is crazy-making.
Reposted by Alan Mattli
Banning social media for kids may be good or bad but that guy is a comically obvious bullshit artist with entire books full of trite lessons extrapolated from anecdotes that are themselves barely half-true.
January 14, 2026 at 7:31 AM
Banning social media for kids may be good or bad but that guy is a comically obvious bullshit artist with entire books full of trite lessons extrapolated from anecdotes that are themselves barely half-true.
Reposted by Alan Mattli
Every obsessive critic of "wokeness" embodies the actual qualities that they attribute to "wokeness." In this case, the mentality that any obstacle you encounter is discrimination bsky.app/profile/park...
There’s a certain kind of aging provocateur who can’t imagine losing on the merits, so every loss becomes proof of discrimination.
Like... dude, you lost to Ricky Gervais. I don't think it was about "wokeness." variety.com/2026/awards/...
Like... dude, you lost to Ricky Gervais. I don't think it was about "wokeness." variety.com/2026/awards/...
January 14, 2026 at 12:55 PM
Every obsessive critic of "wokeness" embodies the actual qualities that they attribute to "wokeness." In this case, the mentality that any obstacle you encounter is discrimination bsky.app/profile/park...
Reposted by Alan Mattli
Why does this article even exist given its own third and fourth paragraphs
January 14, 2026 at 4:37 AM
Why does this article even exist given its own third and fourth paragraphs
Reposted by Alan Mattli
Unarmed woman executed by state may have been on committee to fight against unarmed women being executed by the state
The woman killed by an ICE agent in Minneapolis last week served on the board of her son’s school, which linked to documents encouraging parents to monitor ICE and directing them to training. https://cnn.it/49yoNEa
January 14, 2026 at 4:17 AM
Unarmed woman executed by state may have been on committee to fight against unarmed women being executed by the state
Neu von mir für Filmbulletin: www.filmbulletin.ch/articles/eur...
Eureka: Die Entdeckung der Langsamkeit
Eine sehr, sehr langsame Wanderung durch verschiedene Facetten indigener Identität: Lisandro Alonsos Film wird nicht allen gefallen, aber es lohnt sich, sich ihm zu öffnen.
www.filmbulletin.ch
January 13, 2026 at 5:36 PM
Neu von mir für Filmbulletin: www.filmbulletin.ch/articles/eur...
Ich weiss, es ist verlockend, sich als Medium als kritische Gegenstimme zum Mainstream zu verkaufen, aber je mehr Publikationen genau das machen, desto weniger glaubwürdig wird dieses widerständlerische Cosplay. Ihr seid der abgenickte Mainstream, meine Lieben.
January 13, 2026 at 8:49 AM
Ich weiss, es ist verlockend, sich als Medium als kritische Gegenstimme zum Mainstream zu verkaufen, aber je mehr Publikationen genau das machen, desto weniger glaubwürdig wird dieses widerständlerische Cosplay. Ihr seid der abgenickte Mainstream, meine Lieben.
I am so glad that my investment in the Oscars as a marker of cinematic quality has waned enough that I largely don't feel the need to engage with awards season contenders like this anymore.
January 12, 2026 at 10:37 PM
I am so glad that my investment in the Oscars as a marker of cinematic quality has waned enough that I largely don't feel the need to engage with awards season contenders like this anymore.
Reposted by Alan Mattli
Is it just me, the history addict who thinks about history 24/7, or does this slogan remind you of something from the past as well?
January 12, 2026 at 8:26 PM
Is it just me, the history addict who thinks about history 24/7, or does this slogan remind you of something from the past as well?
Reposted by Alan Mattli
once again shoutout to every dipshit who insisted it was hysterical to talk about trump and white supremacy in the same breath www.rawstory.com/trump-267487...
Trump appalls with attack on Civil Rights Act: 'White people very badly treated'
Critics pounced on President Donald Trump Monday after he complained to the New York Times that the Civil Rights Act – the landmark 1964 legislation that outlawed racial discrimination – was “unfair i...
www.rawstory.com
January 12, 2026 at 2:51 PM
once again shoutout to every dipshit who insisted it was hysterical to talk about trump and white supremacy in the same breath www.rawstory.com/trump-267487...
Reposted by Alan Mattli
The animating force at the heart of US conservatism currently is incandescent rage at the mere idea of women's autonomy and independence. An image of a smiling woman who looks insufficiently deferential for their tastes riles them up enough to tear up the social contract.
this is all it’s really about for them. Not domestic policy, not “economic anxiety”, just an endless desire to punish stand-ins for the Mommy who forced them take a bath, even if it tanks their own quality of life.
January 12, 2026 at 7:17 AM
The animating force at the heart of US conservatism currently is incandescent rage at the mere idea of women's autonomy and independence. An image of a smiling woman who looks insufficiently deferential for their tastes riles them up enough to tear up the social contract.
Neu von mir für Filmbulletin: www.filmbulletin.ch/articles/ren...
Intimität auf Abruf: Rental Family
Die Japanerin Hikari drückt in ihrer Mietfamilien-Tragikomödie auf die Tränendrüse, punktet aber mit kultureller Spezifität und starker Schauspieler:innen-Führung.
www.filmbulletin.ch
January 12, 2026 at 10:49 AM
Neu von mir für Filmbulletin: www.filmbulletin.ch/articles/ren...
Reposted by Alan Mattli
once again we are all tapping the sign
January 9, 2026 at 11:45 PM
once again we are all tapping the sign
Reposted by Alan Mattli
There are no rules, they don’t actually care about respect, decorum, bipartisanship or debate, and only pretend to do so to browbeat you into submission. Nothing is going to change until more people realise that and respond accordingly; including to the media and politicians who have failed them.
January 9, 2026 at 12:25 PM
There are no rules, they don’t actually care about respect, decorum, bipartisanship or debate, and only pretend to do so to browbeat you into submission. Nothing is going to change until more people realise that and respond accordingly; including to the media and politicians who have failed them.
Reposted by Alan Mattli
sad news, but hire Vadim! one of the best in the business
Some news: I'm being laid off! After 11+ years and 48 issues, Friday will be my last day. I'm 100% looking for work and definitely not married to being in film. I have many transferable corporate/organizational skills. Email is first dot last at gmail
January 8, 2026 at 7:13 PM
sad news, but hire Vadim! one of the best in the business