Ben "Jammin'" Verschoor
@benverschoor.bsky.social
Professional Dilettante. Pretends to release things under Pyrexia Productions. Co-host of the Mise en Screen podcast. Writes film and other media criticism at
http://cinema-purgatorio.ghost.io
http://cinema-purgatorio.ghost.io
Pinned
"I disapprove of you destroying the country, but I will defend to the death your ability to do it" ~ Voltaire, probably
HB496 passed Subcommittee #3, 6 to 1. Onward, to the main Counties Cities and Towns committee, which meets at 9am! Make those calls if you can!
I haven't posted much about my anti-data center activism, but one of our big priorities in the Virginia legislative session is getting a subcommittee and (fingers crossed) a full committee vote tomorrow. If you live in VA and you see this before work tomorrow, leave a comment in support of HB496.
House of Delegates Speak
hodspeak.house.virginia.gov
January 23, 2026 at 1:23 PM
HB496 passed Subcommittee #3, 6 to 1. Onward, to the main Counties Cities and Towns committee, which meets at 9am! Make those calls if you can!
I haven't posted much about my anti-data center activism, but one of our big priorities in the Virginia legislative session is getting a subcommittee and (fingers crossed) a full committee vote tomorrow. If you live in VA and you see this before work tomorrow, leave a comment in support of HB496.
House of Delegates Speak
hodspeak.house.virginia.gov
January 23, 2026 at 5:53 AM
I haven't posted much about my anti-data center activism, but one of our big priorities in the Virginia legislative session is getting a subcommittee and (fingers crossed) a full committee vote tomorrow. If you live in VA and you see this before work tomorrow, leave a comment in support of HB496.
I posted this as a joke in the SWVA DCTA Discord the other day, now I have to make this happen
January 22, 2026 at 9:55 PM
I posted this as a joke in the SWVA DCTA Discord the other day, now I have to make this happen
Tired: In Eddington, Ari Aster predicted how the fight against data centers crosses partisan lines.
Wired: In Beau is Afraid, Ari Aster predicted U.S. military activity in Caracas
Wired: In Beau is Afraid, Ari Aster predicted U.S. military activity in Caracas
January 22, 2026 at 9:34 PM
Tired: In Eddington, Ari Aster predicted how the fight against data centers crosses partisan lines.
Wired: In Beau is Afraid, Ari Aster predicted U.S. military activity in Caracas
Wired: In Beau is Afraid, Ari Aster predicted U.S. military activity in Caracas
Reposted by Ben "Jammin'" Verschoor
This week @benverschoor.bsky.social and I lay a lot of love on No Other Choice but first we go off the deep end talking about the baffling and boring adaptations of Atlas Shrugged.
miseenscreen.libsyn.com/episode-28-n...
miseenscreen.libsyn.com/episode-28-n...
Mise en Screen: Episode 28: No Other Choice
No Other Choice is a 2025 dark comedy directed by Park Chan-wook, written by Park Chan-wook, Lee Kyoung-mi, Don McKellar, and Lee Ja-hye. It is adapted from 1997 novel The Axe by Donald ...
miseenscreen.libsyn.com
January 22, 2026 at 2:56 PM
This week @benverschoor.bsky.social and I lay a lot of love on No Other Choice but first we go off the deep end talking about the baffling and boring adaptations of Atlas Shrugged.
miseenscreen.libsyn.com/episode-28-n...
miseenscreen.libsyn.com/episode-28-n...
I picked Chris Rock's movie Top Five, which is so 2014 it hurts. If you show it to a Gen Z/Alpha kid, they will not believe that the Obama zeitgeist actually happened
It's stand-up comedy week on Mise en Screen, as @number8axel.bsky.social and I look at Is This Thing On? and two movies about comedy that aged in very different and surprising ways.
Mise en Screen: Episode 27: Is This Thing On?
Is This Thing On? is a 2025 comedy-drama directed by Bradley Cooper, written by Cooper, Will Arnett, and Mark Chappell, starring Will Arnett and Laura Dern as Alex and Tess Novak, a couple whose marri...
miseenscreen.libsyn.com
January 17, 2026 at 11:47 PM
I picked Chris Rock's movie Top Five, which is so 2014 it hurts. If you show it to a Gen Z/Alpha kid, they will not believe that the Obama zeitgeist actually happened
My mother has for decades now driven a hundred miles (that's two hours to us city folk!) to the city to see movies, because the nearest theater 40 minutes away is usually stuck playing the legacy sequel of the week on its single screen.
"You’re not going to get in the car and go to the next town to see a movie," says Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos
Ted Sarandos commits to 45-day theatrical windows, believes theaters are for city folk
Ted Sarandos commits to 45-day theatrical windows, believes theaters are for city folk
www.avclub.com
January 17, 2026 at 12:33 AM
My mother has for decades now driven a hundred miles (that's two hours to us city folk!) to the city to see movies, because the nearest theater 40 minutes away is usually stuck playing the legacy sequel of the week on its single screen.
Missing him
Weather Report 5/11/20
YouTube video by DAVID LYNCH THEATER
www.youtube.com
January 16, 2026 at 2:18 PM
Missing him
It's stand-up comedy week on Mise en Screen, as @number8axel.bsky.social and I look at Is This Thing On? and two movies about comedy that aged in very different and surprising ways.
Mise en Screen: Episode 27: Is This Thing On?
Is This Thing On? is a 2025 comedy-drama directed by Bradley Cooper, written by Cooper, Will Arnett, and Mark Chappell, starring Will Arnett and Laura Dern as Alex and Tess Novak, a couple whose marri...
miseenscreen.libsyn.com
January 15, 2026 at 2:48 PM
It's stand-up comedy week on Mise en Screen, as @number8axel.bsky.social and I look at Is This Thing On? and two movies about comedy that aged in very different and surprising ways.
Reposted by Ben "Jammin'" Verschoor
I posted this when we hit the Joseph Campbell part of my MFA program.
January 12, 2026 at 12:50 AM
I posted this when we hit the Joseph Campbell part of my MFA program.
Reposted by Ben "Jammin'" Verschoor
I was talking with Melanie and Casey yesterday about how sometimes a person just ... shifts from their regular self into a person who is willing to do anything, risk anything to stop an injustice from taking place in front of them.
There's a switch, and when it gets flipped, everything changes.
There's a switch, and when it gets flipped, everything changes.
Everybody should watch this and see this woman, who has a baby in her arms and is thrust into basically a standoff, develop courage in real time.
From the minnesota community on Reddit: ST. PAUL, MN: A sobbing resident calls 911 as federal agents force their way into her home to chase down a DoorDash driver who was just trying to deliver food.
Explore this post and more from the minnesota community
www.reddit.com
January 11, 2026 at 11:59 PM
I was talking with Melanie and Casey yesterday about how sometimes a person just ... shifts from their regular self into a person who is willing to do anything, risk anything to stop an injustice from taking place in front of them.
There's a switch, and when it gets flipped, everything changes.
There's a switch, and when it gets flipped, everything changes.
Reposted by Ben "Jammin'" Verschoor
Sorry it took me this long to get here, folks
January 11, 2026 at 5:11 PM
Sorry it took me this long to get here, folks
Hugh Jackman is fine in Song Sung Blue, but watch the original documentary and tell me Mike Sardina isn't actually Joaquin Phoenix
This week @number8axel.bsky.social and I covered (covered) Song Sung Blue. I also forced him to watch another movie involving a Neil Diamond tribute act. Cominayeah-haaaahh!!
Mise en Screen: Episode 26: Song Sung Blue
Song Sung Blue is a biographical film about the married musical artist duo Lightning and Thunder, Mike and Claire Sardina, a Neil Diamond tribute act, though they refer to it as “interpretation,” whil...
miseenscreen.libsyn.com
January 11, 2026 at 11:23 PM
Hugh Jackman is fine in Song Sung Blue, but watch the original documentary and tell me Mike Sardina isn't actually Joaquin Phoenix
Reposted by Ben "Jammin'" Verschoor
I used this as an opportunity to watch Amadeus, a film that really does convince one that Squidward and SpongeBob were based on Salieri and Mozart's relationship in it.
This week @number8axel.bsky.social and I covered (covered) Song Sung Blue. I also forced him to watch another movie involving a Neil Diamond tribute act. Cominayeah-haaaahh!!
Mise en Screen: Episode 26: Song Sung Blue
Song Sung Blue is a biographical film about the married musical artist duo Lightning and Thunder, Mike and Claire Sardina, a Neil Diamond tribute act, though they refer to it as “interpretation,” whil...
miseenscreen.libsyn.com
January 11, 2026 at 10:09 PM
I used this as an opportunity to watch Amadeus, a film that really does convince one that Squidward and SpongeBob were based on Salieri and Mozart's relationship in it.
Reposted by Ben "Jammin'" Verschoor
I think, every so often, about how the student protesters in South Korea figured out there was a finite supply of tear gas, and then staged retreating marches that caused police to burn off most of it, before the big "bring your auntie and kids" marches that ultimately toppled the dictatorship.
September 18, 2025 at 5:03 AM
I think, every so often, about how the student protesters in South Korea figured out there was a finite supply of tear gas, and then staged retreating marches that caused police to burn off most of it, before the big "bring your auntie and kids" marches that ultimately toppled the dictatorship.
Reposted by Ben "Jammin'" Verschoor
Thankfully we wash our mouths of 2000s comedy with one of the best biopics on one of the best musical artists that also helps launch a talk about what responsibility films have when rendering the lives of real individuals.
This week @number8axel.bsky.social and I covered (covered) Song Sung Blue. I also forced him to watch another movie involving a Neil Diamond tribute act. Cominayeah-haaaahh!!
Mise en Screen: Episode 26: Song Sung Blue
Song Sung Blue is a biographical film about the married musical artist duo Lightning and Thunder, Mike and Claire Sardina, a Neil Diamond tribute act, though they refer to it as “interpretation,” whil...
miseenscreen.libsyn.com
January 8, 2026 at 4:08 PM
Thankfully we wash our mouths of 2000s comedy with one of the best biopics on one of the best musical artists that also helps launch a talk about what responsibility films have when rendering the lives of real individuals.
This week @number8axel.bsky.social and I covered (covered) Song Sung Blue. I also forced him to watch another movie involving a Neil Diamond tribute act. Cominayeah-haaaahh!!
Mise en Screen: Episode 26: Song Sung Blue
Song Sung Blue is a biographical film about the married musical artist duo Lightning and Thunder, Mike and Claire Sardina, a Neil Diamond tribute act, though they refer to it as “interpretation,” whil...
miseenscreen.libsyn.com
January 8, 2026 at 4:00 PM
This week @number8axel.bsky.social and I covered (covered) Song Sung Blue. I also forced him to watch another movie involving a Neil Diamond tribute act. Cominayeah-haaaahh!!
Genuinely strange that the Safdies split up to pursue their individual creative interests and ended up making in so many ways the same movie
A teaser for @benverschoor.bsky.social and I's talk about Marty Supreme going up tomorrow, in which we realize the Safdie brothers two films of the year are alike in many more ways than you'd suspect.
youtube.com/shorts/1iTua...
youtube.com/shorts/1iTua...
YouTube
Share your videos with friends, family, and the world
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January 6, 2026 at 6:31 PM
Genuinely strange that the Safdies split up to pursue their individual creative interests and ended up making in so many ways the same movie
Got this bad boy in the mail yesterday. Thanks!
January 6, 2026 at 6:03 PM
Got this bad boy in the mail yesterday. Thanks!
Reposted by Ben "Jammin'" Verschoor
Reposted by Ben "Jammin'" Verschoor
It is time to close out the year with a bang as @benverschoor.bsky.social and I talk about Marty Supreme
miseenscreen.libsyn.com/episode-25-m...
miseenscreen.libsyn.com/episode-25-m...
Mise en Screen: Episode 25: Marty Supreme
Marty Supreme is a 2025 sports comedy-drama film directed, written, produced, and edited by Josh Safdie, with Ronald Bronstein co-writer, co-producer- and co-editor. In this film we follow Marty Mause...
miseenscreen.libsyn.com
January 2, 2026 at 10:08 PM
It is time to close out the year with a bang as @benverschoor.bsky.social and I talk about Marty Supreme
miseenscreen.libsyn.com/episode-25-m...
miseenscreen.libsyn.com/episode-25-m...
Reposted by Ben "Jammin'" Verschoor
I was wondering what Mamdani's first executive order would be, and I'm not disappointed by this.
He has wiped off the books EVERY Eric Adams executive order issued on or after September 26, 2024, the day Adams was indicted on federal bribery charges.
He has wiped off the books EVERY Eric Adams executive order issued on or after September 26, 2024, the day Adams was indicted on federal bribery charges.
January 1, 2026 at 11:07 PM
I was wondering what Mamdani's first executive order would be, and I'm not disappointed by this.
He has wiped off the books EVERY Eric Adams executive order issued on or after September 26, 2024, the day Adams was indicted on federal bribery charges.
He has wiped off the books EVERY Eric Adams executive order issued on or after September 26, 2024, the day Adams was indicted on federal bribery charges.
Reposted by Ben "Jammin'" Verschoor
A teaser for @benverschoor.bsky.social and I's talk about Marty Supreme going up tomorrow, in which we realize the Safdie brothers two films of the year are alike in many more ways than you'd suspect.
youtube.com/shorts/1iTua...
youtube.com/shorts/1iTua...
YouTube
Share your videos with friends, family, and the world
youtube.com
January 1, 2026 at 6:45 PM
A teaser for @benverschoor.bsky.social and I's talk about Marty Supreme going up tomorrow, in which we realize the Safdie brothers two films of the year are alike in many more ways than you'd suspect.
youtube.com/shorts/1iTua...
youtube.com/shorts/1iTua...
Reposted by Ben "Jammin'" Verschoor
We start the new year with a 2025 catch up in which @benverschoor.bsky.social and I talk about 19 films in under two hours! We start with two bad movies we sought out and the rest are ones we missed or discovered while looking into this past year.
miseenscreen.libsyn.com/episode-24-2...
miseenscreen.libsyn.com/episode-24-2...
Mise en Screen: Episode 24: 2025 Catch Up
In this episode we discuss a litany of films we watched to fill in the gaps of 2025 releases, full spoilers for all films discussed. Time Stamps: (5:49) Broken Church (19:36) Star Trek Section ...
miseenscreen.libsyn.com
January 1, 2026 at 4:16 PM
We start the new year with a 2025 catch up in which @benverschoor.bsky.social and I talk about 19 films in under two hours! We start with two bad movies we sought out and the rest are ones we missed or discovered while looking into this past year.
miseenscreen.libsyn.com/episode-24-2...
miseenscreen.libsyn.com/episode-24-2...
Reposted by Ben "Jammin'" Verschoor
