Willow Catelyn Maclay
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willowcatelyn.bsky.social
Willow Catelyn Maclay
@willowcatelyn.bsky.social
17K followers 720 following 4.9K posts
Film Critic (Film Comment, Reverse Shot, etc). GALECA.

Co-Author of CORPSES, FOOLS AND MONSTERS
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willowcatelyn.bsky.social
Willow Catelyn Maclay @willowcatelyn.bsky.social · Oct 17
Every time there's a Twitter purge, I share the link to my book. I co-authored "Corpses, Fools and Monsters" and it is about transness in cinema. People seem to like it!

www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/725695...
Corpses, Fools and Monsters by Willow Maclay, Caden Gardner: 9781914420580 | PenguinRandomHouse.com: Books
A radical history of transness in cinema, and an exploration of the political possibilities of its future. In the history of cinema, trans people are usually murdered, made into a joke, or viewed as ...
www.penguinrandomhouse.com
Reposted by Willow Catelyn Maclay
notnotnuanced.bsky.social
so excited for my pal @carolineavenue.bsky.social

filmmakermagazine.com/133253-carol...
Caroline Golum’s Revelations of Divine Love Finds a North American Distributor in Several Futures—Take a First Look at Exclusive Photos
Several Futures announces today that it has acquired North American distribution for Revelations of Divine Love, New York-based filmmaker Caroline Golum’s sophomore film. Following her 2017 debut A…
filmmakermagazine.com
February 9, 2026 at 8:54 PM
willowcatelyn.bsky.social
The greatest adaptation of Wuthering Heights is the Red Dress Version of Kate Bush's song. The second best is the Skeleton Graveyard version. The third best is the White Dress version. The 1939 film is fourth.
February 9, 2026 at 8:13 PM
willowcatelyn.bsky.social
30 minutes left to vote in this if you'd like. ELLE and SILENCE are tied.
willowcatelyn.bsky.social Willow Catelyn Maclay @willowcatelyn.bsky.social · 3h
There's a few hours left in my reader's choice poll to decide the film from 2016 I'll be covering this month. It's pretty close between SILENCE, CERTAIN WOMEN, MOONLIGHT, ELLE and THE HANDMAIDEN

www.patreon.com/posts/patron...
a still image of Isabelle Huppert from ELLE
February 9, 2026 at 8:05 PM
willowcatelyn.bsky.social
There's a few hours left in my reader's choice poll to decide the film from 2016 I'll be covering this month. It's pretty close between SILENCE, CERTAIN WOMEN, MOONLIGHT, ELLE and THE HANDMAIDEN

www.patreon.com/posts/patron...
a still image of Isabelle Huppert from ELLE
February 9, 2026 at 5:24 PM
willowcatelyn.bsky.social
I'm running a Larry Fessenden series for my horror column this month, and first up is HABIT. I'm quite excited to dive into more of his movies. I liked this one a lot. It's available on Shudder

www.patreon.com/posts/monste...
a 16mm still image from Larry Fessenden's HABIT. A blustery dusk New York, obviously cold, and Fessenden (Sam) stands on a street corner wearing a black winter coat as cars zoom by. Larry Fessenden summed up his love for the classic archetypes of horror when he said that he loved looking for new truths in old clichés. He’s made a Frankenstein movie (Depraved), a werewolf picture (Blackout), and a vampire tale (Habit), and he’s one of those rare disciples of genre, like Abel Ferrara, or George A. Romero, or Kinji Fukasaku, who doesn’t cooperate with the easily discernible qualities of genre mechanics. To put it more bluntly: he gives credence to the necessity of genre by uncoupling it from the public consciousness of what it means by re-routing it to what it means for him in a contemporary and personal sense. He has a passion for what can be found inside of the old-fashioned devices he wishes to expound upon, and in Habit, his lens is low-to-the-ground, hip and modern for its time. Habit is like a great Indie rock version of a vampire movie, whose d.i.y. credentials evoke the bare-bones slacker riff-less jangle of an open, bleeding heart. He’s anything but ironic, or condescending. He pushes himself into the Gothic tendrils of the old pictures, and of the sadness of Boris Karloff, and of a ship like the Demeter arriving in the fog, underneath the world trade center, and he finds average, everyday, universal pains and epiphanies through the guise of a bloodsucking romance. We follow bartender Sam (Fessenden) as he dwells in the news of the sudden, and recent passing of his archaeologist father, but by taking one look at him, scruffy, bedraggled, with loose-limbs, and whisky on his breath, it’s clear that things haven’t been going well for a long time. His old girlfriend Liza (Heather Woodbury) has recently moved out after hitting her limit of taking care of him. She’s well-put together, with boho-chic, and judging by the murals that Sam transports from his place to hers, she’s a painter who has worked at honing her art. The only thing that we see Sam working on is becoming a better alcoholic. He’s a lovably familiar fuck-up, easy to root, as he smiles with a visibly missing front tooth, and as we watch him gently take care of his white cat, dubbed with the cute, ironic name “Mud”. We see him telling his friends Rae (Patricia Coleman) and Nick (Aaron Beall) that he’s “committing suicide on the instalment plan”. It sounds like something Bill Hicks might say, and they laugh it off, but they know that things have gotten bad. All of these qualities of his are unconsciously felt from the first frame, and that is a credit to Fessenden’s careful, intimate form—shot on 16mm—guerrilla style on the streets of New York. Fessenden suggests more than he shows, but his withholding isn’t endemic to a goal of high-art, as we frequently see today in horror. It’s rooted more clearly in quotidian observation, and through an accumulation of provocative mise-en-scene. Fessenden said when filming that he was always in pursuit of crumbling Gothic buildings, or a certain color painted on a wall on a shop, or the occult-ish possibilities of junk taverns scattered on the streets of the East end of 90s New York. He described the location work as finding the “line’s on a persons face.”. He wanted the scum, because the scum would tell us more about Sam.
February 9, 2026 at 5:02 PM
willowcatelyn.bsky.social
A very cool moment from AEW's fans in Vegas. For context, the challenger Brodie Lee wore a t-shirt a few months ago with "Abolish ICE" emblazoned on the front & he has always been very vocal about his beliefs. His tag team partner is also an amazing and beloved luchador named Bandido, Bandido rules
atrupar.com Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 4d
Wow! What sounded like the entire AEW Dynamite audience in Las Vegas tonight chanted "Fuck ICE! Fuck ICE!" in unison before the main event
February 9, 2026 at 4:13 PM
Reposted by Willow Catelyn Maclay
danschindel.bsky.social
Thrilled to be part of the latest @reverseshot.bsky.social symposium with a piece on Snow White and Disney's multiplane camera reverseshot.org/symposiums/e...
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
When it comes to cinematic technological advances, the question is always how we use the tools we've been gifted or cursed with.
reverseshot.org
February 3, 2026 at 5:50 PM
willowcatelyn.bsky.social
For anyone wondering, I have since blown up my fantasy team in the hopes of making things work as we head into the final stretch of the season. I have lost AD and PG, but I somehow convinced a member of this league to trade me Jalen Duren for Mikal Bridges. Double Team VHS Tape may survive just yet
willowcatelyn.bsky.social Willow Catelyn Maclay @willowcatelyn.bsky.social · Jan 10
Anthony Davis's hands have exploded and has sent my beautiful, beloved fantasy basketball team "Double Team VHS tape" into disarray. We will continue playing "Gold Soundz" from the boombox in the team locker room for the foreseeable future.
willowcatelyn.bsky.social Willow Catelyn Maclay @willowcatelyn.bsky.social · Jan 5
My beautiful, beloved fantasy basketball team "Double Team VHS tape" have lost and our 4 week winning streak is over. We will be playing "Gold Soundz" on a boombox in the team locker room until morale improves.
February 8, 2026 at 7:39 PM
Reposted by Willow Catelyn Maclay
willowcatelyn.bsky.social
KERMIT KERMIT KERMIT KERMIT KERMIT KERMIT KERMIT
This is Kermit! God's favorite orange tabby tuxedo cat. He is laying on a cat blanket, and he is sooooooooooooo sleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeepy
January 22, 2026 at 8:55 PM
Reposted by Willow Catelyn Maclay
horrornonna.com
If you grab the recent Arrow blu of HOUSE WITH LAUGHING WINDOWS that I was lucky enough to help curate critical extras for, you get my + @joshnelsonfilm.bsky.social's audio commentary, essays from @willowcatelyn.bsky.social @antbit.projectedfigures.com + @bavalamp.bsky.social and lots, lots more!
February 6, 2026 at 9:31 PM
willowcatelyn.bsky.social
The problem with so many movies today is that they do not kick ass. More movies should kick ass. They should be like this
afistfuloftitles.bsky.social A Fistful of Titles @afistfuloftitles.bsky.social · Aug 24
KOZURE ÔKAMI : KO O KASHI UDE KASHI TSUKAMATSURU / LONE WOLF AND CUB : SWORD OF VENGEANCE
Kenji Misumi
1972
February 6, 2026 at 4:39 PM
Reposted by Willow Catelyn Maclay
thecurbau.bsky.social
@willowcatelyn.bsky.social - www.patreon.com/willowcately... - Willow's work is on patreon and is equally essential reading. Some free pieces, but paid preferred.
Get more from Willow Catelyn Maclay on Patreon
creating Film Criticism
www.patreon.com
February 6, 2026 at 3:08 AM
Reposted by Willow Catelyn Maclay
willowcatelyn.bsky.social
This is the third essay in my four part series on Diane Keaton as a dramatic actress. I wrote about REDS, her openness, her legibility, & her willingness to show us every facet of how her character was feeling. She was rare among the withholding New Hollywood actors

www.patreon.com/posts/149773...
For as much as I love writing about acting, and watching great actors, there will always be something mysterious and beautiful about the craft that will remain secretive. This is likewise true of what makes learning about a person so captivating. There is always something hidden. But in the case of Diane Keaton, she’s one of those actors who is so legible, and borderline neurotic in how far she is willing to go to please the viewer, that she bolsters a relationship between us and her characters that allows us to feel like we are getting to know her by proxy. This is truest of her in comedies, but I tend to give her work as a dramatist the benefit of the doubt, because even when she is feeling through a role, and trying to find the character, it feels like I am in the same pursuit in my willingness to understand what she’s doing. I’m always eager to see Keaton’s face communicate to us all of the exquisite complications of being a person. This is true of any actor, but watching Keaton felt like a privilege, because she gave her full emotional range to the camera, and for a time in the early 80s, she was trying to push herself further. She was modern through and through with a style that was knowingly post-women’s liberation, and she made her period pieces catch up to the freedom of how she wanted to express herself. As characters in period pieces, such as Reds, she couldn’t accurately stifle her desires to the degree necessary to blend in and this tension gave her work a sociopolitical edge, because she could not be taken for granted as a wife in this era of her career. This is recurring for her as a theme in Reds, Annie Hall, Mrs. Soffel, and from a slightly skewed place in Looking for Mr. Goodbar. This is one reason why I’ve always felt she was so wasted in The Godfather. She was able to manifest genuine tragedy whenever she was given anything of note to do in that picture, such as Michael (Al Pacino) closing the door on her, with her face crumbling, piece-by-piec a still from REDS of Diane Keaton in an art museum.
February 2, 2026 at 6:56 PM
Reposted by Willow Catelyn Maclay
tjamesdobbin.bsky.social
If you've ever wanted to read a 7000 word piece on the theatrical short animation industry's final hit character, Pink Panther, today's your lucky day. I watched 100 cartoons, and went long on this Friz Freleng and Hawley Pratt series from the '60s and '70s.
The Pink Panther (1964-1977)
More than two months ago, friend and Box Office Gross podcaster Brian Schmid asked me if I had interest in discussing any of the Top 50 Highest Grossing Films of 2006 on the show. I pretty quickly …
strawberrypenguin.ca
February 2, 2026 at 4:21 PM
Reposted by Willow Catelyn Maclay
zackpaslay.bsky.social
Got sick but also got all of this. Merry Christmas to me!
Criterion Blu-rays of Bull Durham, Desert Hearts, Pickup on South Street, The Furies, The Fugitive Kind, The Breaking Point, and Compensation. Standard Blu-rays of Queen Christina, the Peanuts Ultimate TV Specials Collection, and One-Way Passage. 4K Blu-Ray Set of Batman, Batman Returns, Batman Forever, and Batman & Robin. The books A Complicated Passion: The Life and Work of Agnès Varda by Carrie Rickey, Corpses, Fools, and Monsters by Caden Mark Gardner (hi friend!) and Willow Caitlin Maclay, and Sick and Dirty: Hollywood’s Gay Golden Age and the Making of Modern Queerness by Michael Koresky
December 25, 2025 at 9:51 PM
Reposted by Willow Catelyn Maclay
jbcurio.bsky.social
From the vaults: a look at the Toronto bathhouse raids, which took place 45 years ago today. #TOHistory

jamiebradburnwriting.wordpress.com/2021/02/05/r...
Raiding the Bathhouses
Originally published on Torontoist on June 26, 2011. “On the rampage: Demonstrators taunted police in a late-night march Friday comparing the raid of four Toronto steam baths to the persecuti…
jamiebradburnwriting.wordpress.com
February 5, 2026 at 5:22 PM
willowcatelyn.bsky.social
Check this out if you want to hear me do an impression of Millie, the bullpen vixen, *and* get into the specifics of why Kevin Costner is hot, specifically, in 1988, and then almost never again. Also I guess I talk about Baseball and why it's the most cinematic sport.
petevolk.bsky.social Pete Volk @petevolk.bsky.social · 5d
🚨new episode out, with @willowcatelyn.bsky.social! Willow and I talk about Bull Durham, maybe the sexiest sports movie ever made. i had a blast recording this one -- listen now!

www.patreon.com/posts/bull-d...
In Bull Durham, Susan Sarandon watches Kevin Costner in the batting cages
February 5, 2026 at 5:47 PM
willowcatelyn.bsky.social
Every article arguing for Trans Women in sports is lowkey funny because the writer has to figure out a nice way to say that we suck at ball and that is *good*. It's like an onion article, "Trans Woman Power Forward breaks ground by averaging 3points and 2 rebounds per game."
February 4, 2026 at 4:29 PM
Reposted by Willow Catelyn Maclay
willowcatelyn.bsky.social
This is maybe the most fun I've ever had recording a podcast. BULL DURHAM is a magical film. Check it out
petevolk.bsky.social Pete Volk @petevolk.bsky.social · 5d
🚨new episode out, with @willowcatelyn.bsky.social! Willow and I talk about Bull Durham, maybe the sexiest sports movie ever made. i had a blast recording this one -- listen now!

www.patreon.com/posts/bull-d...
In Bull Durham, Susan Sarandon watches Kevin Costner in the batting cages
February 4, 2026 at 3:29 PM
Reposted by Willow Catelyn Maclay
petevolk.bsky.social
🚨new episode out, with @willowcatelyn.bsky.social! Willow and I talk about Bull Durham, maybe the sexiest sports movie ever made. i had a blast recording this one -- listen now!

www.patreon.com/posts/bull-d...
In Bull Durham, Susan Sarandon watches Kevin Costner in the batting cages
February 4, 2026 at 3:24 PM
willowcatelyn.bsky.social
This is maybe the most fun I've ever had recording a podcast. BULL DURHAM is a magical film. Check it out
petevolk.bsky.social Pete Volk @petevolk.bsky.social · 5d
🚨new episode out, with @willowcatelyn.bsky.social! Willow and I talk about Bull Durham, maybe the sexiest sports movie ever made. i had a blast recording this one -- listen now!

www.patreon.com/posts/bull-d...
In Bull Durham, Susan Sarandon watches Kevin Costner in the batting cages
February 4, 2026 at 3:29 PM
willowcatelyn.bsky.social
"have desires met"

We love it when the trade deadline gets sexy don't we?
shamsbot.bsky.social Shams Charania Tweets @shamsbot.bsky.social · 6d
Bulls and Pistons have desires met here in a young and veteran guards to Chicago and a sharpshooter goes to Detroit. Minnesota creates significant tax savings and roster space as they pursue a Milwaukee star this week.
February 3, 2026 at 7:56 PM
willowcatelyn.bsky.social
Well the blizzard dumped 50cm of snow on top of us which means we will not have walkable sidewalks here until April lmao
February 3, 2026 at 7:46 PM
Reposted by Willow Catelyn Maclay
ravineangel.bsky.social
come see me read and do q&a with @weard.moe! it’s the hometown show! the girls are live and in action!
littlepuss.net LittlePuss Press @littlepuss.net · 13d
And if you're in Vancouver, mark your calendar for February 7th, where @bookwarehouse.bsky.social will be holding a launch event with @ravineangel.bsky.social !!
February 2, 2026 at 3:31 PM
willowcatelyn.bsky.social
If Beavis and Butthead were middle aged dolls
February 3, 2026 at 2:54 PM