Jameson Draper
@jamdraper.bsky.social
writer, enjoyer of gin and good books, michigan native, maryland resident. @jamdraper on twitter, @draper on substack.
I organized my thoughts on ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER. A hopeful if even more dystopian alternate reality, fatherhood and the idea that those who carry out the deeds of the elite will never truly be a part of them. Read: draper.substack.com/p/one-battle...
'One Battle After Another': An Enduring Hallmark of the Times
Paul Thomas Anderson adapts a tale of modern politics and vast conspiracies as a vehicle to tell another story of love, resilience and fatherhood in his grandest and most accessible film to date.
draper.substack.com
September 28, 2025 at 1:40 PM
I organized my thoughts on ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER. A hopeful if even more dystopian alternate reality, fatherhood and the idea that those who carry out the deeds of the elite will never truly be a part of them. Read: draper.substack.com/p/one-battle...
WEAPONS review: Maybe it's because I'm not a horror guy at heart, but WEAPONS is at its best when the supernatural fades away and distills the chilling truth— reality is much more frightening than the absurd. open.substack.com/pub/draper/p...
'Weapons' Review: The Spine-Chilling Truth of Reality
Zach Cregger's horror epic, 'Weapons', works on multiple levels, but gets its true point across when the supernatural allegories fall into the background.
open.substack.com
August 14, 2025 at 3:01 PM
WEAPONS review: Maybe it's because I'm not a horror guy at heart, but WEAPONS is at its best when the supernatural fades away and distills the chilling truth— reality is much more frightening than the absurd. open.substack.com/pub/draper/p...
I liked EDDINGTON, a flawed but ambitious and resonant movie that gets to the heart of the unique strain of American tech brainrot accelerated by a worldwide pandemic. Read: draper.substack.com/p/the-diagno...
The diagnostic retrospective of 'Eddington'
Ari Aster's fourth film takes big swings and is not without its flaws, but is the director's most resonant work to date.
draper.substack.com
July 25, 2025 at 1:45 PM
I liked EDDINGTON, a flawed but ambitious and resonant movie that gets to the heart of the unique strain of American tech brainrot accelerated by a worldwide pandemic. Read: draper.substack.com/p/the-diagno...
It’s alright! It’s okay! There’s something to live for— Jesus told me so!
New today on the podcast feed: Jameson Draper joins @ethanwarren.bsky.social to discuss the perfection of American Movie on a new Eye of the Beholder www.buzzsprout.com/2389600/epis...
July 16, 2025 at 3:55 PM
It’s alright! It’s okay! There’s something to live for— Jesus told me so!
I wrote a short story and it doubles as an anti-research chemical PSA. pixelatedshroud.wordpress.com/2025/06/30/w...
Waste Land [Jameson Draper]
by Jameson Draper —————— If I remember correctly, it was the last day of spring, one that is summer in everything but name. In Maryland, summer starts in early M…
pixelatedshroud.wordpress.com
July 11, 2025 at 7:12 PM
I wrote a short story and it doubles as an anti-research chemical PSA. pixelatedshroud.wordpress.com/2025/06/30/w...
Missed the Bluesky post— but I wrote about “Don’t Worry Baby” in here! Check it out.
Yesterday, the news broke that Beach Boys founder Brian Wilson had passed away. And so, we've briefly revived our newsletter to commemorate Brian and asked various cast members & friends of the pod to write about their favorite Brian/Beach Boys tune!
Our Favorite Brian Wilson/Beach Boys Tunes
RIP Brian Wilson, one of the greatest to ever do it.
softsounds.substack.com
June 18, 2025 at 6:39 PM
Missed the Bluesky post— but I wrote about “Don’t Worry Baby” in here! Check it out.
For the third installment of my 'America, as told by Cinema' series on my blog, I wrote about what might be the best American movie ever. draper.substack.com/p/america-as...
America, as told by Cinema #3: 'Nashville'
Robert Altman's most ambitious film is not just about country music but America's idolatry and populism in the face of our declining collective hubris.
draper.substack.com
June 3, 2025 at 7:36 PM
For the third installment of my 'America, as told by Cinema' series on my blog, I wrote about what might be the best American movie ever. draper.substack.com/p/america-as...
For my second installment in the series I wrote about a movie that's timeless and essential to the American story, Barbara Loden's WANDA. draper.substack.com/p/america-as...
America, as told by Cinema #2: 'Wanda'
Barbara Loden's only directorial effort is quiet poetry on the physical independence and intellectual subordination of women in the United States.
draper.substack.com
May 9, 2025 at 4:50 PM
For my second installment in the series I wrote about a movie that's timeless and essential to the American story, Barbara Loden's WANDA. draper.substack.com/p/america-as...
Read the first installment of my American film series. This one's about INHERENT VICE, its nostalgic portrayal of 20th century American decay and how PTA improved upon the source material with his signature romanticism. draper.substack.com/p/america-as...
America, as told by Cinema #1: 'Inherent Vice'
Paul Thomas Anderson's nostalgic adaptation laments American decay by way of pot-smoking private investigators, reformed hippies, street-level cops, CIA snitches and the faceless hand of fascism.
draper.substack.com
April 30, 2025 at 6:13 PM
Read the first installment of my American film series. This one's about INHERENT VICE, its nostalgic portrayal of 20th century American decay and how PTA improved upon the source material with his signature romanticism. draper.substack.com/p/america-as...
Reposted by Jameson Draper
Strolled up to the Os game and @jamdraper.bsky.social had a bag of 8 precooked dogs and the fellas were arguing a lot the 100 men vs. 1 gorilla. Strong start to the evening
April 28, 2025 at 11:12 PM
Strolled up to the Os game and @jamdraper.bsky.social had a bag of 8 precooked dogs and the fellas were arguing a lot the 100 men vs. 1 gorilla. Strong start to the evening
Walt Whitman, 1846.
Happy Opening Day.
Happy Opening Day.
March 27, 2025 at 4:58 PM
Walt Whitman, 1846.
Happy Opening Day.
Happy Opening Day.
I wrote about my favorite emo album (and the only one I ever really loved): www.getalternative.com/it-holds-up-...
It Holds Up: Modern Baseball – 'You're Gonna Miss It All' - The Alternative
Jameson reflects on Modern Baseball's opus 'You're Gonna Miss It All,' a record that sounds just as good today as it did on release
www.getalternative.com
March 20, 2025 at 4:00 PM
I wrote about my favorite emo album (and the only one I ever really loved): www.getalternative.com/it-holds-up-...
I go outside to feel better, and it usually works. At least somewhat. My new journal transcription on Substack: draper.substack.com/p/journal-di...
Journal Dispatch: Afternoon at the Park
Transcribed from my journal, March 10th, 2025
draper.substack.com
March 11, 2025 at 3:22 PM
I go outside to feel better, and it usually works. At least somewhat. My new journal transcription on Substack: draper.substack.com/p/journal-di...
"Some of the best nights of my life were being high in parking lots." boxd.it/8WVupb
A ★★★★★ review of Rap World (2024)
“Some of the best nights of my life were being high in parking lots.” The texture of this film is a full spectrum cyber dreamscape of the halcyon days, seen through the attention deficit eye of late-e...
boxd.it
February 25, 2025 at 10:56 PM
"Some of the best nights of my life were being high in parking lots." boxd.it/8WVupb
Been watching Toshio Matsumoto's shorts all day. The FUNERAL PARADE OF ROSES Blu-ray comes with them. I most enjoy THE WEAVERS OF NISHIJIN, a short documentary about the slow death of the textile industry and the dark side of society's sacred garments: exploitative labor. youtu.be/X2GBZiMlC8s?...
The Weavers of Nishijin (Toshio Matsumoto, 1961)
YouTube video by Nihil Reich
youtu.be
February 20, 2025 at 9:32 PM
Been watching Toshio Matsumoto's shorts all day. The FUNERAL PARADE OF ROSES Blu-ray comes with them. I most enjoy THE WEAVERS OF NISHIJIN, a short documentary about the slow death of the textile industry and the dark side of society's sacred garments: exploitative labor. youtu.be/X2GBZiMlC8s?...
I watched the 312-minute cut and never wanted it to end. GOAT talk letterboxd.com/jamdraper/fi...
A ★★★★★ review of Fanny and Alexander (1984)
A baroque masterpiece that empowers imagination, laments the loss of innocence, bows to art, and bends reality, this might be the greatest movie of all time, and I don't say that lightly. I've spent 2...
letterboxd.com
February 7, 2025 at 10:33 PM
I watched the 312-minute cut and never wanted it to end. GOAT talk letterboxd.com/jamdraper/fi...
Do you guys think Bantam Books would honor this coupon? It’s only been expired 50 years.
February 7, 2025 at 3:27 PM
Do you guys think Bantam Books would honor this coupon? It’s only been expired 50 years.
I watched a very lowkey movie last night that nobody's ever heard of. Then I reviewed it. VERTIGO: boxd.it/8FkwXR
A ★★★★★ review of Vertigo (1958)
This review may contain spoilers. Visit the page to bypass this warning and read the review.
boxd.it
January 29, 2025 at 11:17 PM
I watched a very lowkey movie last night that nobody's ever heard of. Then I reviewed it. VERTIGO: boxd.it/8FkwXR
Finally reading (struggling?) through Gravity’s Rainbow.
This weird thing happens to me with Pynchon— it seems I barely get what’s going on, yet the passages are seared in my mind for days after reading. It sticks to the subconscious in a way that I haven’t experienced with any other writer.
This weird thing happens to me with Pynchon— it seems I barely get what’s going on, yet the passages are seared in my mind for days after reading. It sticks to the subconscious in a way that I haven’t experienced with any other writer.
January 24, 2025 at 6:20 PM
Finally reading (struggling?) through Gravity’s Rainbow.
This weird thing happens to me with Pynchon— it seems I barely get what’s going on, yet the passages are seared in my mind for days after reading. It sticks to the subconscious in a way that I haven’t experienced with any other writer.
This weird thing happens to me with Pynchon— it seems I barely get what’s going on, yet the passages are seared in my mind for days after reading. It sticks to the subconscious in a way that I haven’t experienced with any other writer.
Great read.
"A book could fix a man, but it’s not the only way to, and it’s not a sure thing."
"A book could fix a man, but it’s not the only way to, and it’s not a sure thing."
Good lunch read: lithub.com/men-have-big...
Men Have Bigger Problems Than Not Reading Novels
Perhaps predictably, the men-aren’t-reading discourse has made the jump into 2025. The perennial conversation has taken on new weight this year, though, as we begin to be governed by the worst of m…
lithub.com
January 24, 2025 at 5:45 PM
Great read.
"A book could fix a man, but it’s not the only way to, and it’s not a sure thing."
"A book could fix a man, but it’s not the only way to, and it’s not a sure thing."
If you look through my Bluesky profile, you'll see I've been thinking much about David Lynch this week. He came to mind while I watched STAGECOACH (maybe because of his appearance as John Ford in THE FABLEMANS?)
Anyway, I see a direct line from Ford to Lynch in moviemaking. Read: boxd.it/8AmZp9
Anyway, I see a direct line from Ford to Lynch in moviemaking. Read: boxd.it/8AmZp9
A ★★★★★ review of Stagecoach (1939)
“Well, they’re saved from the blessings of civilization.” A near perfect movie that juxtaposes the ambition of the American dream on the frontier with the sordid path we took to get there. For a long ...
boxd.it
January 24, 2025 at 5:43 PM
If you look through my Bluesky profile, you'll see I've been thinking much about David Lynch this week. He came to mind while I watched STAGECOACH (maybe because of his appearance as John Ford in THE FABLEMANS?)
Anyway, I see a direct line from Ford to Lynch in moviemaking. Read: boxd.it/8AmZp9
Anyway, I see a direct line from Ford to Lynch in moviemaking. Read: boxd.it/8AmZp9
In light of his death I watched the David Lynch movie I’ve been meaning to get to and… wow. I feel like it’s the perfect final feature film for his career. You gotta know the rules to break ‘em, and he lived that out for three straight hours. INLAND EMPIRE review: boxd.it/8z44Cb
A ★★★★★ review of Inland Empire (2006)
"Some men change. Well, they don't change - they reveal. They reveal themselves over time, you know?" Famous for his cryptic films (a descriptor I find reductive), INLAND EMPIRE is admittedly the most...
boxd.it
January 21, 2025 at 7:20 PM
In light of his death I watched the David Lynch movie I’ve been meaning to get to and… wow. I feel like it’s the perfect final feature film for his career. You gotta know the rules to break ‘em, and he lived that out for three straight hours. INLAND EMPIRE review: boxd.it/8z44Cb
I wrote very quickly about David Lynch's death, and using his own philosophy on life and death to cope with him leaving us. Rest in peace, legend. open.substack.com/pub/draper/p...
David Lynch and the Morality Question
Using Lynch's own philosophy to cope with his death.
open.substack.com
January 16, 2025 at 9:20 PM
I wrote very quickly about David Lynch's death, and using his own philosophy on life and death to cope with him leaving us. Rest in peace, legend. open.substack.com/pub/draper/p...
New Substack on the tumultuous start to 2025 and working to be better intrinsically despite the chaos all around us. open.substack.com/pub/draper/p...
On resolutions and wildfires
With each new year comes greater calamities— are personal goals and resolutions rendered meaningless?
open.substack.com
January 8, 2025 at 7:19 PM
New Substack on the tumultuous start to 2025 and working to be better intrinsically despite the chaos all around us. open.substack.com/pub/draper/p...
Unless it’s your stated goal to analyze each sentence from a higher academia perspective, I think annotating books is really dumb.
i don’t think there’s a magic bubble of literary incuriosity surrounding the United States so much as the way they make you read books in school sucks and makes a lot of people hate reading books
January 7, 2025 at 7:16 PM
Unless it’s your stated goal to analyze each sentence from a higher academia perspective, I think annotating books is really dumb.