Justin LaLiberty
@jlalibs.com
Film archivist, programmer, writer, collector etc
Director of Operations at OCN Distribution, Curator of Cinématographe, Producer at Vinegar Syndrome
Words at Screen Slate and Letterboxd, mostly
https://letterboxd.com/jlalibs/
Director of Operations at OCN Distribution, Curator of Cinématographe, Producer at Vinegar Syndrome
Words at Screen Slate and Letterboxd, mostly
https://letterboxd.com/jlalibs/
Pinned
Justin LaLiberty
@jlalibs.com
· Nov 11
This was my pinned image on the other site for two years, following the death of Godard, and it still captures who I am and what I care about more than anything else so it’s here too. For posterity.
I worked in movie theaters for nearly twenty years in various roles, often on Christmas Eve or Christmas, and I loved seeing people pack the house for the holiday. Families, couples, people flying solo who might not have anywhere else to go. Cinemas are a great common denominator. Go see a movie!
December 25, 2025 at 7:01 PM
I worked in movie theaters for nearly twenty years in various roles, often on Christmas Eve or Christmas, and I loved seeing people pack the house for the holiday. Families, couples, people flying solo who might not have anywhere else to go. Cinemas are a great common denominator. Go see a movie!
Would love to know what the historical armor accuracy folk think about the costuming for BEOWULF ‘99 starting Christopher Lambert.
December 23, 2025 at 7:08 PM
Would love to know what the historical armor accuracy folk think about the costuming for BEOWULF ‘99 starting Christopher Lambert.
Reminder that if your family is looking to stream IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE this week on Amazon, or other apps, there are three versions that pop up: the black and white OG, the horrid looking colorized version and an abridged cut that chops 20+ minutes out.
You know which is the right one!
You know which is the right one!
December 23, 2025 at 12:58 AM
Reminder that if your family is looking to stream IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE this week on Amazon, or other apps, there are three versions that pop up: the black and white OG, the horrid looking colorized version and an abridged cut that chops 20+ minutes out.
You know which is the right one!
You know which is the right one!
Here’s the thing: this release all around looks great and I’m beyond stoked to have PERFECT BLUE in 4K as it has been one of my most wanted upgrades for years. However, at a $70+ price point (which I’m happy to pay for quality), I think it’s fair for collectors to expect a black 4K UHD case inside.
December 22, 2025 at 8:22 PM
Here’s the thing: this release all around looks great and I’m beyond stoked to have PERFECT BLUE in 4K as it has been one of my most wanted upgrades for years. However, at a $70+ price point (which I’m happy to pay for quality), I think it’s fair for collectors to expect a black 4K UHD case inside.
I celebrated my 40th birthday yesterday by inviting a bunch of my favorite people to watch two secret 16mm prints with me in Queens. I would do this every day, if I could.
Share movies with your friends and family and support your local art house and microcinema by renting a theater if you can.
Share movies with your friends and family and support your local art house and microcinema by renting a theater if you can.
December 22, 2025 at 12:53 AM
I celebrated my 40th birthday yesterday by inviting a bunch of my favorite people to watch two secret 16mm prints with me in Queens. I would do this every day, if I could.
Share movies with your friends and family and support your local art house and microcinema by renting a theater if you can.
Share movies with your friends and family and support your local art house and microcinema by renting a theater if you can.
A child that was maybe ten years old stood up after our Avatar: Fire and Ash screening and said to their parent “that was the best three hours of my life” — same, kid, same
Can’t wait to see it again, never doubt James Cameron
Can’t wait to see it again, never doubt James Cameron
December 19, 2025 at 3:05 AM
A child that was maybe ten years old stood up after our Avatar: Fire and Ash screening and said to their parent “that was the best three hours of my life” — same, kid, same
Can’t wait to see it again, never doubt James Cameron
Can’t wait to see it again, never doubt James Cameron
Latest batch of new discs, including a couple that I’ve been waiting for years to get a good upgrade. This might be the last big stack before the new year.
December 18, 2025 at 1:34 PM
Latest batch of new discs, including a couple that I’ve been waiting for years to get a good upgrade. This might be the last big stack before the new year.
“That flexibility does more than keep the lights on. It lowers the stakes enough to allow for programming risk: forgotten archival selections, arthouse programming, and films with no clear commercial upside can thrive at this level.”
Support your local microcinema!
Support your local microcinema!
Are You Ready for the Golden Age of Microcinemas?
If movie theaters cease to be, cinephiles will build community on a smaller scale or underground. AGFA theatrical sales director Bret Berg interview.
www.indiewire.com
December 17, 2025 at 1:31 PM
“That flexibility does more than keep the lights on. It lowers the stakes enough to allow for programming risk: forgotten archival selections, arthouse programming, and films with no clear commercial upside can thrive at this level.”
Support your local microcinema!
Support your local microcinema!
Scorsese will get all the hype but for my money, this is the real highlight in the new Criterion announcements. One of the great action films, from any country, now available on 4K UHD. What a time to be alive.
December 15, 2025 at 7:01 PM
Scorsese will get all the hype but for my money, this is the real highlight in the new Criterion announcements. One of the great action films, from any country, now available on 4K UHD. What a time to be alive.
Even in a recent interview, Rob Reiner was very clearly one of the funniest people to ever live.
December 15, 2025 at 12:44 PM
Even in a recent interview, Rob Reiner was very clearly one of the funniest people to ever live.
Saw this book in a bookstore today and the title feels… prescient.
December 14, 2025 at 5:37 AM
Saw this book in a bookstore today and the title feels… prescient.
Feels like Green Book is the obvious, and correct, answer here.
Late night question for the gang: what’s your LEAST favorite Best Picture winner that’s not Crash?
December 14, 2025 at 5:34 AM
Feels like Green Book is the obvious, and correct, answer here.
Gonna make this short and sweet because I’m fed up: fuck AI
December 12, 2025 at 10:11 PM
Gonna make this short and sweet because I’m fed up: fuck AI
These AI people are straight up trying to liken Sora IP slop with the advent of sync sound in cinema. Just an all around despairing time to work in this industry and care about movies.
December 11, 2025 at 9:07 PM
These AI people are straight up trying to liken Sora IP slop with the advent of sync sound in cinema. Just an all around despairing time to work in this industry and care about movies.
I get it, watching Nuzzi fail is exciting. But, on the flip side, equating a sale of 1200 books as an outright failure is a shitty rubric when many small presses could only dream of selling that many units in a week. I’d rather see pubs trashing her book than claiming 1200 books sold is bad in 2025.
Olivia Nuzzi’s Much-Hyped Book—With RFK Revelation—Sells Just Over 1,000 Copies
“American Canto,” one of the most hyped political books of the year, flopped in bookstores.
www.forbes.com
December 11, 2025 at 3:27 PM
I get it, watching Nuzzi fail is exciting. But, on the flip side, equating a sale of 1200 books as an outright failure is a shitty rubric when many small presses could only dream of selling that many units in a week. I’d rather see pubs trashing her book than claiming 1200 books sold is bad in 2025.
Christmas came early from @limitedrungames.com some of the best physical media purveyors out there
December 11, 2025 at 12:06 AM
Christmas came early from @limitedrungames.com some of the best physical media purveyors out there
AI has gone from being a tool for the lazy to a de facto means of production for creative direction that a cast and crew of humans would turn their backs on. All of these ads seem to mistake cynicism and surreality for good humor, but it’s relentlessly ugly both aesthetically and spiritually.
McDonald's has released an AI-generated Christmas ad
The studio behind it says they 'hardly slept' for several weeks while writing AI prompts and refining the shots — 'AI didn't make this film. We did'
Comments have been turned off on YouTube
The studio behind it says they 'hardly slept' for several weeks while writing AI prompts and refining the shots — 'AI didn't make this film. We did'
Comments have been turned off on YouTube
December 9, 2025 at 1:09 PM
AI has gone from being a tool for the lazy to a de facto means of production for creative direction that a cast and crew of humans would turn their backs on. All of these ads seem to mistake cynicism and surreality for good humor, but it’s relentlessly ugly both aesthetically and spiritually.
All of this money spent on this study and not a single mention of things that might keep people away: disruptive audience behavior, increasingly poor technical presentation, every shrinking theatrical windows (or day and date indies). I love theaters, and go multiple times a week, but it’s grim.
How Can Movie Theaters Fill More Seats Again? A Bain Report Shares Suggestions
"Audiences haven’t abandoned theaters; they need a more compelling reason to go," the consultancy highlights, sharing suggestions for how to bring fans back to the cinema in the post-COVID era.
www.hollywoodreporter.com
December 9, 2025 at 1:04 PM
All of this money spent on this study and not a single mention of things that might keep people away: disruptive audience behavior, increasingly poor technical presentation, every shrinking theatrical windows (or day and date indies). I love theaters, and go multiple times a week, but it’s grim.
Probably a surprise to no one but @secondsightfilms.bsky.social killed it on this POSSESSION release
December 9, 2025 at 2:02 AM
Probably a surprise to no one but @secondsightfilms.bsky.social killed it on this POSSESSION release
I’m not sold on a lot of HAMNET but the climax made me long for true democratic art, the very idea of a shared communal experience with your neighbors; an idea and ideal that seems to be all but lost in an age where everything is increasingly owned by billionaires or trillionaires. We doth protest.
December 9, 2025 at 12:11 AM
I’m not sold on a lot of HAMNET but the climax made me long for true democratic art, the very idea of a shared communal experience with your neighbors; an idea and ideal that seems to be all but lost in an age where everything is increasingly owned by billionaires or trillionaires. We doth protest.
The prophecy was real
December 8, 2025 at 2:14 AM
The prophecy was real
That WB themselves has the highest amount of disc representation in my collection out of any of the major studios is a testament to how they have handled physical media over the years, particularly with the Warner Archive collection. I can’t fathom how many wouldn’t make it to disc under Netflix.
December 8, 2025 at 1:02 AM
That WB themselves has the highest amount of disc representation in my collection out of any of the major studios is a testament to how they have handled physical media over the years, particularly with the Warner Archive collection. I can’t fathom how many wouldn’t make it to disc under Netflix.
If anyone needs me, I’m writing National Treasure 3
December 7, 2025 at 1:34 PM
If anyone needs me, I’m writing National Treasure 3
When we talk about physical media, we are often only taking about personal collections but a big part of shunning the current digital ecosystem is supporting your local library. Not just for print books and periodicals but for movies, games and other medias too. Get. A. Library. Card.
December 6, 2025 at 9:12 PM
When we talk about physical media, we are often only taking about personal collections but a big part of shunning the current digital ecosystem is supporting your local library. Not just for print books and periodicals but for movies, games and other medias too. Get. A. Library. Card.
Looney Tunes: Back In Action really was ahead of its time.
December 6, 2025 at 5:24 PM
Looney Tunes: Back In Action really was ahead of its time.