Farran Smith Nehme
@selfstyledsiren.bsky.social
Film critic; NSFC, NYFCC. Bylines at Criterion, Sight & Sound, Noir City, my own Substack, and wherever fine film geeks are found.
https://selfstyledsiren.substack.com/
https://selfstyledsiren.substack.com/
Pinned
I've been dying to tell people I wrote the essay for TROUBLE IN PARADISE, a true Lubitsch masterpiece, and now I can. It's hilarious, it's gorgeous, there's nothing like it, and spending time with Trouble last year soothed my soul. www.criterion.com/films/723-tr....
Elizabeth Taylor, 17 years old, meets Gloria Swanson in 1949. I like the feeling of genuine warmth in this photo.
February 12, 2026 at 6:51 PM
Elizabeth Taylor, 17 years old, meets Gloria Swanson in 1949. I like the feeling of genuine warmth in this photo.
Reposted by Farran Smith Nehme
Christ on the Cross Between the Two Thieves https://www.wikiart.org/en/peter-paul-rubens/christ-on-the-cross-between-the-two-thieves-1620
February 12, 2026 at 6:05 PM
Christ on the Cross Between the Two Thieves https://www.wikiart.org/en/peter-paul-rubens/christ-on-the-cross-between-the-two-thieves-1620
Reposted by Farran Smith Nehme
Maison Renaissance située sur la place au Sud de l'église à #Sarzeau (#Morbihan) Maison Renaissance comprenant une lucarne en gran...
Suite 👉 https://monumentum.fr/monument-historique/pa00091731/sarzeau-maison-renaissance-situee-sur-la-place-au-sud-de-leglise
Suite 👉 https://monumentum.fr/monument-historique/pa00091731/sarzeau-maison-renaissance-situee-sur-la-place-au-sud-de-leglise
February 12, 2026 at 4:07 PM
Maison Renaissance située sur la place au Sud de l'église à #Sarzeau (#Morbihan) Maison Renaissance comprenant une lucarne en gran...
Suite 👉 https://monumentum.fr/monument-historique/pa00091731/sarzeau-maison-renaissance-situee-sur-la-place-au-sud-de-leglise
Suite 👉 https://monumentum.fr/monument-historique/pa00091731/sarzeau-maison-renaissance-situee-sur-la-place-au-sud-de-leglise
"Every true crime story that has attracted the emotional engagement of the American public since, including [Nancy Guthrie], has followed the media playbook from the Lindbergh case." Riveting look back at the Lindbergh kidnapping. www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/m...
Crime of the Century: The Case That Changed How Media Covers Kidnappings
Long before the Guthrie frenzy, the kidnap-murder of the twenty-month-old son of aviator Charles A. Lindbergh transformed journalism and created an unsettling 24/7 media playbook on true crime stories...
www.hollywoodreporter.com
February 12, 2026 at 4:07 PM
"Every true crime story that has attracted the emotional engagement of the American public since, including [Nancy Guthrie], has followed the media playbook from the Lindbergh case." Riveting look back at the Lindbergh kidnapping. www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/m...
Reposted by Farran Smith Nehme
Someone just shouted [subtitled] "A medic for The Cannibal!" and if that isn't the title of an unmade 70s giallo I don't know what is.
I'm watching a forthcoming Polish crime drama and have my bingo card at the ready.
I’m watching a Polish crime drama on Netflix. The police are corrupt, the mayor is in the pocket of the mob, nothing works, everyone smokes too much, there’s something horrible buried in the woods and the guilt of the nation’s past hangs over everyone like a rotting shroud. Five stars.
February 12, 2026 at 2:43 PM
Someone just shouted [subtitled] "A medic for The Cannibal!" and if that isn't the title of an unmade 70s giallo I don't know what is.
It looks magical, yes? An oak like that could help you cast a spell, I'm sure of it.
Big-bellied oak - alive since the time of William the Conqueror in the 11th century! Currently still standing in Savernake Forest! 🌳
February 12, 2026 at 1:45 PM
It looks magical, yes? An oak like that could help you cast a spell, I'm sure of it.
Reposted by Farran Smith Nehme
Happy William A. Wellman Wednesday (here on Carole Lombard’s lap while Fredric March thirdwheels on the set of Nothing Sacred, 1937). From Photoplay, January 1938
February 11, 2026 at 6:41 PM
Happy William A. Wellman Wednesday (here on Carole Lombard’s lap while Fredric March thirdwheels on the set of Nothing Sacred, 1937). From Photoplay, January 1938
Reposted by Farran Smith Nehme
Garvin was great in most everything she did, but on her birthday I’m choosing to celebrate how delightfully despicable she is as Mabel Normand’s snobby, gold-digging competition in the Laurel-written Raggedy Rose (1926), which triumphs over its terribly neglected quality.
February 11, 2026 at 6:09 PM
Garvin was great in most everything she did, but on her birthday I’m choosing to celebrate how delightfully despicable she is as Mabel Normand’s snobby, gold-digging competition in the Laurel-written Raggedy Rose (1926), which triumphs over its terribly neglected quality.
Reposted by Farran Smith Nehme
It perfectly encapsulates what Twitter has become that the main topic of conversation there this morning is this AI-written post by Matt Shumer, an AI hype man who’d been busted previously for lying about what his company’s product can do.
Surely, the author of the “AI is an existential threat to the economy and your wellbeing, and the only solution is to use more AI immediately, please” has no financial incentive in making people believe that. Now to take a big sip of my coffee and check out his bio…
February 11, 2026 at 3:52 PM
It perfectly encapsulates what Twitter has become that the main topic of conversation there this morning is this AI-written post by Matt Shumer, an AI hype man who’d been busted previously for lying about what his company’s product can do.
Reposted by Farran Smith Nehme
It’s Joseph L.’s birthday tomorrow.
February 10, 2026 at 11:02 PM
It’s Joseph L.’s birthday tomorrow.
Gary Cooper goes Full Hayseed in a color publicity portrait for his Oscar-winning title role in SERGEANT YORK (1941).
Not a favorite film of mine, but one I should revisit to see how it plays now. Anything from Howard Hawks is worth revisiting.
Not a favorite film of mine, but one I should revisit to see how it plays now. Anything from Howard Hawks is worth revisiting.
February 11, 2026 at 2:45 PM
Gary Cooper goes Full Hayseed in a color publicity portrait for his Oscar-winning title role in SERGEANT YORK (1941).
Not a favorite film of mine, but one I should revisit to see how it plays now. Anything from Howard Hawks is worth revisiting.
Not a favorite film of mine, but one I should revisit to see how it plays now. Anything from Howard Hawks is worth revisiting.
I thought about this! Claude Rains. Charming by all accounts, catnip to the ladies, and "the one who got away" to Bette Davis, which has to say a lot. Plus, I get to hear that voice.
February 11, 2026 at 1:44 PM
I thought about this! Claude Rains. Charming by all accounts, catnip to the ladies, and "the one who got away" to Bette Davis, which has to say a lot. Plus, I get to hear that voice.
Reposted by Farran Smith Nehme
Monet sometimes painted reflections first—upside down—then added the object above.
Critic Séverin Faust called it a “new logic of vision.” 🔄
Critic Séverin Faust called it a “new logic of vision.” 🔄
February 11, 2026 at 12:35 PM
Monet sometimes painted reflections first—upside down—then added the object above.
Critic Séverin Faust called it a “new logic of vision.” 🔄
Critic Séverin Faust called it a “new logic of vision.” 🔄
Post a tree you photographed
February 11, 2026 at 3:42 AM
Post a tree you photographed
This is delightful. Spielberg's choice is one of the greats but not one I'd have ever guessed.
This year's Oscar nominees tell us which actor or actress from the Golden Age they would bring to the Academy Awards ceremony as their date. #31DaysOfOscar
February 11, 2026 at 3:31 AM
This is delightful. Spielberg's choice is one of the greats but not one I'd have ever guessed.
Reposted by Farran Smith Nehme
Attention all you dames, mugs, and birds… join us for a very special #FilmNoirClub live watch with special guest @eddiemuller.bsky.social. Hope everyone can join us!
#FilmNoir
#FilmNoir
Eddie, I prepared some basic artwork to get us going, although I know @jauntworksstudio.bsky.social will be creating something far nicer. Feel free to give my name @tommykrasker.bsky.social to your social platforms, so I can answer any questions, and you can just show up and enjoy. Thank you again!
February 11, 2026 at 2:31 AM
Attention all you dames, mugs, and birds… join us for a very special #FilmNoirClub live watch with special guest @eddiemuller.bsky.social. Hope everyone can join us!
#FilmNoir
#FilmNoir
Reposted by Farran Smith Nehme
Eddie, this is phenomenal. Thank you! Let’s set a watchalong of RIDE THE PINK HORSE for Saturday, February 21st at 8 PM EST.
Let me chat with the other Film Noir Club moderators, in particular to determine the best available stream, and I’ll get back to you with final details within 24 hours. 😊
Let me chat with the other Film Noir Club moderators, in particular to determine the best available stream, and I’ll get back to you with final details within 24 hours. 😊
February 10, 2026 at 1:36 AM
Eddie, this is phenomenal. Thank you! Let’s set a watchalong of RIDE THE PINK HORSE for Saturday, February 21st at 8 PM EST.
Let me chat with the other Film Noir Club moderators, in particular to determine the best available stream, and I’ll get back to you with final details within 24 hours. 😊
Let me chat with the other Film Noir Club moderators, in particular to determine the best available stream, and I’ll get back to you with final details within 24 hours. 😊
Reposted by Farran Smith Nehme
Having just sliced a bagel into two perfectly equal halves, I'm reminded of the time I asked, when one hasn't managed that and one half is notably thicker, which half one eats first, and @nigella.bsky.social suggested "The half with less blood on it."
February 10, 2026 at 10:41 PM
Having just sliced a bagel into two perfectly equal halves, I'm reminded of the time I asked, when one hasn't managed that and one half is notably thicker, which half one eats first, and @nigella.bsky.social suggested "The half with less blood on it."
Reposted by Farran Smith Nehme
Portrait of an Army Doctor by Albert Gleizes, 1914
https://botfrens.com/collections/212/contents/137603
https://botfrens.com/collections/212/contents/137603
February 10, 2026 at 9:32 PM
Portrait of an Army Doctor by Albert Gleizes, 1914
https://botfrens.com/collections/212/contents/137603
https://botfrens.com/collections/212/contents/137603
Reposted by Farran Smith Nehme
Joan Crawford dancing up a storm in OUR DANCING DAUGHTERS (1928)
Directed by Harry Beaumont - BOTD in 1888
Directed by Harry Beaumont - BOTD in 1888
February 10, 2026 at 8:14 PM
Joan Crawford dancing up a storm in OUR DANCING DAUGHTERS (1928)
Directed by Harry Beaumont - BOTD in 1888
Directed by Harry Beaumont - BOTD in 1888
Reposted by Farran Smith Nehme
The Death of Book World - What the closing of the Washington Post’s books section means for readers.
By Becca Rothfeld
www.newyorker.com/books/page-t...
By Becca Rothfeld
www.newyorker.com/books/page-t...
The End of Books Coverage at the Washington Post
Becca Rothfeld, a former critic at the Washington Post, on the death of the paper’s books section.
www.newyorker.com
February 10, 2026 at 4:23 PM
The Death of Book World - What the closing of the Washington Post’s books section means for readers.
By Becca Rothfeld
www.newyorker.com/books/page-t...
By Becca Rothfeld
www.newyorker.com/books/page-t...
If I may add to @dean.bsky.social's excellent thread on Leontyne Price: This shows her in the sensational Act II of "Tosca," broadcast on NBC in 1955—Price's dazzling introduction to a worldwide audience. She sang it in English, and her Cavaradossi was David Poleri.
February 10, 2026 at 4:12 PM
If I may add to @dean.bsky.social's excellent thread on Leontyne Price: This shows her in the sensational Act II of "Tosca," broadcast on NBC in 1955—Price's dazzling introduction to a worldwide audience. She sang it in English, and her Cavaradossi was David Poleri.
The greatest. Nothing to do but bow.
Happy birthday Leontyne Price! 🎂
📷 Jack Mitchell, 1982
"One of the things about this extraordinary instrument that I have is the blackness in it, the natural flavor. It’s something extra."
"Vissi d'arte" from Act II of Puccini's Tosca:
youtube.com/watch?app=de...
📷 Jack Mitchell, 1982
"One of the things about this extraordinary instrument that I have is the blackness in it, the natural flavor. It’s something extra."
"Vissi d'arte" from Act II of Puccini's Tosca:
youtube.com/watch?app=de...
February 10, 2026 at 3:15 PM
The greatest. Nothing to do but bow.
Business media are predicting this jobs number will be *epochally* terrible. Anyone can see the administration's flunkies are shaking in their Gucci loafers.
Peter Navarro: "The jobs report comes out tomorrow. We have to revise our expectations down significantly for what a monthly job number should look like ... Wall Street has to adjust for the fact that we're deporting millions of illegals out of the job market."
February 10, 2026 at 3:14 PM
Business media are predicting this jobs number will be *epochally* terrible. Anyone can see the administration's flunkies are shaking in their Gucci loafers.