Darren Mooney
@darrenmooney.bsky.social
As seen/read/heard at: Second Wind | The 250 | Irish Independent | NewsTalk | Q102 | Polygon | The Escapist. He/Him.
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Is Hollywood Ready for a Generation of YouTube Filmmakers? | The Backdrop
YouTube video by Second Wind
youtu.be
For @SecondWindGroup.com, I discussed the arrival of YouTubers like the Philippous, Chris Stuckmann and Kogonada into mainstream filmmaking.
What happens when directors arrive from new media? What does Hollywood want from them? What do they want from it?
WATCH: youtu.be/h5sFC7m4KoE?...
What happens when directors arrive from new media? What does Hollywood want from them? What do they want from it?
WATCH: youtu.be/h5sFC7m4KoE?...
November 10, 2025 at 8:11 PM
#NowWatching A Surprise Film at ODEON
a blurry picture of a group of people in front of a wall that says ' iron ' on it
ALT: a blurry picture of a group of people in front of a wall that says ' iron ' on it
media.tenor.com
November 8, 2025 at 6:58 PM
#NowWatching A Surprise Film at ODEON
Thinking about “Predator: Badlands” and - just as with “Prey” - how cool it is the movie has its own distinct soundscape.
As easy as it would have been to just recycle Alan Silvestri’s iconic score for the original, Sarah Schachner and Benjamin Wallfisch give it its own sound.
As easy as it would have been to just recycle Alan Silvestri’s iconic score for the original, Sarah Schachner and Benjamin Wallfisch give it its own sound.
a poster for predator badlands shows a warrior
ALT: a poster for predator badlands shows a warrior
media.tenor.com
November 8, 2025 at 1:48 PM
Thinking about “Predator: Badlands” and - just as with “Prey” - how cool it is the movie has its own distinct soundscape.
As easy as it would have been to just recycle Alan Silvestri’s iconic score for the original, Sarah Schachner and Benjamin Wallfisch give it its own sound.
As easy as it would have been to just recycle Alan Silvestri’s iconic score for the original, Sarah Schachner and Benjamin Wallfisch give it its own sound.
Really enjoyed my rewatch of #PredatorBadlands.
Really impressed at how well it understands what the essence of a “Predator” movie is, and what it means to put a Predator at the heart of that, letting them be the hero of their own little Vietnam movie.
A really great time.
Really impressed at how well it understands what the essence of a “Predator” movie is, and what it means to put a Predator at the heart of that, letting them be the hero of their own little Vietnam movie.
A really great time.
a poster for predator badlands shows a woman with white eyes and scratches on her face
ALT: a poster for predator badlands shows a woman with white eyes and scratches on her face
media.tenor.com
November 8, 2025 at 12:42 AM
Really enjoyed my rewatch of #PredatorBadlands.
Really impressed at how well it understands what the essence of a “Predator” movie is, and what it means to put a Predator at the heart of that, letting them be the hero of their own little Vietnam movie.
A really great time.
Really impressed at how well it understands what the essence of a “Predator” movie is, and what it means to put a Predator at the heart of that, letting them be the hero of their own little Vietnam movie.
A really great time.
This is not the point, but why is it “H2SH” and not “HU2H?
November 8, 2025 at 12:12 AM
This is not the point, but why is it “H2SH” and not “HU2H?
This is not the point, but why is it “H2SH” and not “HU2H?
November 8, 2025 at 12:11 AM
This is not the point, but why is it “H2SH” and not “HU2H?
I find myself growing less patient with the strange insular takes from hardcore fandoms about whether given media “is or is not [franchise] movie.”
Because it is always the dumbest shallowest nonsense, and you end up having to play, “Is this take bad faith or just illiterate?”
Because it is always the dumbest shallowest nonsense, and you end up having to play, “Is this take bad faith or just illiterate?”
a poster for predator badlands shows a warrior
ALT: a poster for predator badlands shows a warrior
media.tenor.com
November 7, 2025 at 7:04 PM
I find myself growing less patient with the strange insular takes from hardcore fandoms about whether given media “is or is not [franchise] movie.”
Because it is always the dumbest shallowest nonsense, and you end up having to play, “Is this take bad faith or just illiterate?”
Because it is always the dumbest shallowest nonsense, and you end up having to play, “Is this take bad faith or just illiterate?”
I wrote a little bit at @SecondWindGroup.com about how “Predator: Badlands” demonstrates Dan Trachtenberg’s abiding understanding of the “Predator” franchise.
It is, like the best #Predator films, a Vietnam-inflected action movie about colonialism.
READ: www.patreon.com/posts/column...
It is, like the best #Predator films, a Vietnam-inflected action movie about colonialism.
READ: www.patreon.com/posts/column...
November 7, 2025 at 6:57 PM
I wrote a little bit at @SecondWindGroup.com about how “Predator: Badlands” demonstrates Dan Trachtenberg’s abiding understanding of the “Predator” franchise.
It is, like the best #Predator films, a Vietnam-inflected action movie about colonialism.
READ: www.patreon.com/posts/column...
It is, like the best #Predator films, a Vietnam-inflected action movie about colonialism.
READ: www.patreon.com/posts/column...
“Predator: Badlands” is in theatres today, and it’s wild that Dan Trachtenberg can now safely boast that he’s directed two of the top three (and three of the top five) “Predator” movies.
It’s good fun, I’m booked in again to see it this evening.
It’s good fun, I’m booked in again to see it this evening.
a movie poster for predator badlands with a close up of a predator
ALT: a movie poster for predator badlands with a close up of a predator
media.tenor.com
November 7, 2025 at 5:59 PM
“Predator: Badlands” is in theatres today, and it’s wild that Dan Trachtenberg can now safely boast that he’s directed two of the top three (and three of the top five) “Predator” movies.
It’s good fun, I’m booked in again to see it this evening.
It’s good fun, I’m booked in again to see it this evening.
Well, this is bleak.
Netflix shelved Zach Cregger's "The Flood" rather than give it a proper theatrical release.
www.thewrap.com/zach-cregger...
Netflix shelved Zach Cregger's "The Flood" rather than give it a proper theatrical release.
www.thewrap.com/zach-cregger...
Zach Cregger Sci-Fi Movie 'The Flood' Stalled at Netflix Over Lack of Theatrical Commitment | Exclusive
Zach Cregger's sci-fi movie “The Flood” has stalled at Netflix over the streamer's refusal to give the film a major theatrical component.
www.thewrap.com
November 7, 2025 at 11:18 AM
Well, this is bleak.
Netflix shelved Zach Cregger's "The Flood" rather than give it a proper theatrical release.
www.thewrap.com/zach-cregger...
Netflix shelved Zach Cregger's "The Flood" rather than give it a proper theatrical release.
www.thewrap.com/zach-cregger...
Reposted by Darren Mooney
I watched 218 episodes of a show for an excuse to read a book.
𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯.
@darrenmooney.bsky.social
𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯.
@darrenmooney.bsky.social
November 2, 2025 at 1:11 PM
I watched 218 episodes of a show for an excuse to read a book.
𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯.
@darrenmooney.bsky.social
𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯.
@darrenmooney.bsky.social
"Predator: Badlands" is on par to gross as much as "TRON: Ares" in its opening weekend, despite costing half as much.
It is perhaps proof that the best strategy with these films to make good films and let critics see them, as opposed to relying on influencers to sell them.
It is perhaps proof that the best strategy with these films to make good films and let critics see them, as opposed to relying on influencers to sell them.
a movie poster for predator badlands with a close up of a predator
ALT: a movie poster for predator badlands with a close up of a predator
media.tenor.com
November 7, 2025 at 10:36 AM
"Predator: Badlands" is on par to gross as much as "TRON: Ares" in its opening weekend, despite costing half as much.
It is perhaps proof that the best strategy with these films to make good films and let critics see them, as opposed to relying on influencers to sell them.
It is perhaps proof that the best strategy with these films to make good films and let critics see them, as opposed to relying on influencers to sell them.
Reposted by Darren Mooney
I think about this every time I see a Minion, because they made it VERY clear that if the Minions weren’t trapped in a cave in the 1940s, they would have been working for the Nazis. And people just… let that slide.
Every once in a while, I think about how careful the “Minions” movie was to clarify that the Minions weren’t doing anything - anything at all, why would you ask? - during the 1940s.
November 7, 2025 at 7:06 AM
I think about this every time I see a Minion, because they made it VERY clear that if the Minions weren’t trapped in a cave in the 1940s, they would have been working for the Nazis. And people just… let that slide.
“Pluribus” is Vince Gilligan’s “The Leftovers.”
Bleakly comic, deeply moving, profoundly sad. It’s a meditation on the loneliness - and perhaps the selfishness - of grief.
It had me in pieces. Incredible stuff.
Bleakly comic, deeply moving, profoundly sad. It’s a meditation on the loneliness - and perhaps the selfishness - of grief.
It had me in pieces. Incredible stuff.
November 7, 2025 at 7:31 AM
“Pluribus” is Vince Gilligan’s “The Leftovers.”
Bleakly comic, deeply moving, profoundly sad. It’s a meditation on the loneliness - and perhaps the selfishness - of grief.
It had me in pieces. Incredible stuff.
Bleakly comic, deeply moving, profoundly sad. It’s a meditation on the loneliness - and perhaps the selfishness - of grief.
It had me in pieces. Incredible stuff.
Every once in a while, I think about how careful the “Minions” movie was to clarify that the Minions weren’t doing anything - anything at all, why would you ask? - during the 1940s.
November 6, 2025 at 11:38 PM
Every once in a while, I think about how careful the “Minions” movie was to clarify that the Minions weren’t doing anything - anything at all, why would you ask? - during the 1940s.
Just updating my rough draft of a list of the best films of 2025, and for a year with a so-so summer blockbuster slate and a fairly weak awards slate, it's actually been a pretty great year for movies overall.
a man sits at a table holding a mug
ALT: a man sits at a table holding a mug
media.tenor.com
November 6, 2025 at 10:40 PM
Just updating my rough draft of a list of the best films of 2025, and for a year with a so-so summer blockbuster slate and a fairly weak awards slate, it's actually been a pretty great year for movies overall.
Goodness, you know what's great? The second season of Chris Carter's "Millennium."
a man and a woman standing next to a red jeep
ALT: a man and a woman standing next to a red jeep
media.tenor.com
November 6, 2025 at 9:57 PM
Goodness, you know what's great? The second season of Chris Carter's "Millennium."
I really enjoyed "Death by Lightning", the new miniseries on Netflix about two men forgotten by history: President Garfield and the man who killed him.
It feels, like a lot of recent historical biopics, like a work in conversation with the "Great Man" logic of such stories.
It feels, like a lot of recent historical biopics, like a work in conversation with the "Great Man" logic of such stories.
November 6, 2025 at 9:22 PM
I really enjoyed "Death by Lightning", the new miniseries on Netflix about two men forgotten by history: President Garfield and the man who killed him.
It feels, like a lot of recent historical biopics, like a work in conversation with the "Great Man" logic of such stories.
It feels, like a lot of recent historical biopics, like a work in conversation with the "Great Man" logic of such stories.
I wrote about Glen Powell’s “Chad Powers” for @SecondWindGroup.com, a fairly generic middle-of-the-road sitcom that takes a huge, bold swing in its final ten minutes.
Becoming a timely interrogation of familiar redemption narratives.
READ: www.patreon.com/posts/column...
Becoming a timely interrogation of familiar redemption narratives.
READ: www.patreon.com/posts/column...
November 6, 2025 at 12:21 AM
I wrote about Glen Powell’s “Chad Powers” for @SecondWindGroup.com, a fairly generic middle-of-the-road sitcom that takes a huge, bold swing in its final ten minutes.
Becoming a timely interrogation of familiar redemption narratives.
READ: www.patreon.com/posts/column...
Becoming a timely interrogation of familiar redemption narratives.
READ: www.patreon.com/posts/column...
Revisiting “Alien: Earth” and really enjoying Timothy Olyphant playing Kersch as a perpetually exhausted babysitter.
November 5, 2025 at 11:33 PM
Revisiting “Alien: Earth” and really enjoying Timothy Olyphant playing Kersch as a perpetually exhausted babysitter.
Honestly, really thrilled that it was ultimately Elle Fanning who managed to bring that unhinged “The Great” energy into blockbuster cinema this year.
She great in “Badlands”, in a role that that has to do *a lot*, while still being one of the most fun performances of the year.
She great in “Badlands”, in a role that that has to do *a lot*, while still being one of the most fun performances of the year.
a movie poster for predator badlands shows a blonde woman
ALT: a movie poster for predator badlands shows a blonde woman
media.tenor.com
November 5, 2025 at 11:07 PM
Honestly, really thrilled that it was ultimately Elle Fanning who managed to bring that unhinged “The Great” energy into blockbuster cinema this year.
She great in “Badlands”, in a role that that has to do *a lot*, while still being one of the most fun performances of the year.
She great in “Badlands”, in a role that that has to do *a lot*, while still being one of the most fun performances of the year.
I really enjoyed Yorgos Lanthimos’ “Bugonia”, a film that asks, “Is that an alien or are you just alienated?”
Some quick thoughts about the film on the bus ride home.
boxd.it/bC6y6z
Some quick thoughts about the film on the bus ride home.
boxd.it/bC6y6z
A ★★★★ review of Bugonia (2025)
“You stupid ape.” “I’m not a stupid ape. I’m not.” Bugonia is, in some ways, about the challenge of determining if a person is an alien in a Yorgos Lanthimos movie where everybody speaks like an alien...
boxd.it
November 5, 2025 at 8:42 PM
I really enjoyed Yorgos Lanthimos’ “Bugonia”, a film that asks, “Is that an alien or are you just alienated?”
Some quick thoughts about the film on the bus ride home.
boxd.it/bC6y6z
Some quick thoughts about the film on the bus ride home.
boxd.it/bC6y6z
