Xan Brooks
@xanbrooks.bsky.social
Novelist, journalist. THE CATCHERS (https://tinyurl.com/TheCatchers2024)
Only Paul Thomas Anderson at the critics' circle awards last night (from 1hr.12mins). Good heavens, um thanks, I'm in a state of total shock
www.youtube.com/watch?v=WXZE...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=WXZE...
46th London Critics' Circle Film awards
YouTube video by Critics' Circle Film Section
www.youtube.com
February 2, 2026 at 1:50 PM
Only Paul Thomas Anderson at the critics' circle awards last night (from 1hr.12mins). Good heavens, um thanks, I'm in a state of total shock
www.youtube.com/watch?v=WXZE...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=WXZE...
This looks kind of fabulous: an ICE-age parable, set in the dustblown wild west, starring Alex Cox as a courtly scoundrel/saint who buys the souls of dead Mexican workers. Here's @peterbradshaw1.bsky.social's review from Rotterdam www.theguardian.com/film/2026/fe...
Dead Souls review – Alex Cox rides into sunset with anti-Trump spaghetti western
The Repo Man director relocates Gogol’s surreal novella to the old west in what he says will be his final film
www.theguardian.com
February 2, 2026 at 10:27 AM
This looks kind of fabulous: an ICE-age parable, set in the dustblown wild west, starring Alex Cox as a courtly scoundrel/saint who buys the souls of dead Mexican workers. Here's @peterbradshaw1.bsky.social's review from Rotterdam www.theguardian.com/film/2026/fe...
This week's @the-independent.com column, on the Oscar-nominated films that speak up while their makers remain mostly silent
www.independent.co.uk/arts-enterta...
www.independent.co.uk/arts-enterta...
This year’s Oscar nominees are furiously political – so why are their stars silent?
‘One Battle After Another’, ‘Bugonia’ and the forthcoming ‘The Secret Agent’ strike overt parallels to modern politics and the ongoing clown show of Donald Trump’s second term. But few have been sayin...
www.independent.co.uk
February 2, 2026 at 10:10 AM
This week's @the-independent.com column, on the Oscar-nominated films that speak up while their makers remain mostly silent
www.independent.co.uk/arts-enterta...
www.independent.co.uk/arts-enterta...
Dog, meet manger www.nytimes.com/2026/02/01/u...
Trump Says Kennedy Center Will Close for 2-Year Reconstruction Project
www.nytimes.com
February 2, 2026 at 5:37 AM
Dog, meet manger www.nytimes.com/2026/02/01/u...
See Melania & almost die www.theguardian.com/film/2026/ja...
Melania review – Trump film is a gilded trash remake of The Zone of Interest
Dispiriting, deadly and unrevealing – there is a decent documentary to be made about the former model from Slovenia, but this one is unredeemable
www.theguardian.com
January 30, 2026 at 6:29 PM
See Melania & almost die www.theguardian.com/film/2026/ja...
Packed house ahead of the first public showing of Melania
January 30, 2026 at 12:47 PM
Packed house ahead of the first public showing of Melania
Reposted by Xan Brooks
This is mind-bending. The Minnesota GOP Governor wannabe who volunteered as the 1st ICE murderer's legal counsel just DROPPED OUT of the governor's race (and seemingly the party) because he can't stomach the 2ND ICE murder www.startribune.com/chris-madel-...
Chris Madel ends GOP bid for governor, says he can’t support federal ‘retribution’ against Minnesota
His exit comes as some other Republicans have started to distance themselves from the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown in the state.
www.startribune.com
January 26, 2026 at 2:47 PM
This is mind-bending. The Minnesota GOP Governor wannabe who volunteered as the 1st ICE murderer's legal counsel just DROPPED OUT of the governor's race (and seemingly the party) because he can't stomach the 2ND ICE murder www.startribune.com/chris-madel-...
Fine, bleak, clear-eyed M Gessen piece on America’s new era of state terror www.nytimes.com/2026/01/24/o...
Opinion | State Terror Has Arrived
www.nytimes.com
January 25, 2026 at 11:51 AM
Fine, bleak, clear-eyed M Gessen piece on America’s new era of state terror www.nytimes.com/2026/01/24/o...
General strike & economic boycott. Break this government. Bring it down
🚨BREAKING: THOUSANDS of Minneapolis protesters are out near the scene where immigration agents killed ANOTHER person this morning.
"F*ck ICE, F*ck ICE!" LIVE NOW⬇️
"F*ck ICE, F*ck ICE!" LIVE NOW⬇️
January 24, 2026 at 9:44 PM
General strike & economic boycott. Break this government. Bring it down
Carney’s speech is the most articulate, shrewd & consequential assessment we’ve had so far. Full transcript here Globalnews.ca globalnews.ca/news/1162087...
Global News | Breaking, Latest News and Video for Canada
Globalnews.ca – Watch and read Canada’s Breaking news plus Business, Health, Politics and World News
Globalnews.ca
January 21, 2026 at 8:24 AM
Carney’s speech is the most articulate, shrewd & consequential assessment we’ve had so far. Full transcript here Globalnews.ca globalnews.ca/news/1162087...
My @the-independent.com column on The Chronology of Water, Kristen Stewart's directing debut, which is altogether precious in both senses of the word
www.independent.co.uk/arts-enterta...
www.independent.co.uk/arts-enterta...
Kristen Stewart’s directorial debut is pretentious and faintly magnificent
The one-time teen idol has never taken the easy route in her stardom, and her first feature film behind the camera – next month’s ‘The Chronology of Water’ – is an appropriately awkward, non-commercia...
www.independent.co.uk
January 19, 2026 at 12:09 PM
My @the-independent.com column on The Chronology of Water, Kristen Stewart's directing debut, which is altogether precious in both senses of the word
www.independent.co.uk/arts-enterta...
www.independent.co.uk/arts-enterta...
My audience with head-spinning multi-hyphenate Alejandro Jodorowsky: actor, director, shaman, comic-book writer, psychotherapist, poet (over Zoom, but still)
www.theguardian.com/culture/2026...
www.theguardian.com/culture/2026...
‘Soon I will die. And I will go with a great orgasm’: the last rites of Alejandro Jodorowsky
The Chilean film-maker’s psychedelic work earned him the title ‘king of the midnight movie’, and a fan in John Lennon. Now the 96-year-old is ready for the end – but first there is more living to do
www.theguardian.com
January 16, 2026 at 4:13 PM
My audience with head-spinning multi-hyphenate Alejandro Jodorowsky: actor, director, shaman, comic-book writer, psychotherapist, poet (over Zoom, but still)
www.theguardian.com/culture/2026...
www.theguardian.com/culture/2026...
Reposted by Xan Brooks
The child porn AI bot built by his billionaire donor being integrated into the war machine by this idiot is the distillation of all Trump stories
U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth announced the integration of Elon Musk's xAI platform, Grok, into military networks as part of a new "AI acceleration strategy" during a visit to SpaceX.
January 13, 2026 at 5:06 AM
The child porn AI bot built by his billionaire donor being integrated into the war machine by this idiot is the distillation of all Trump stories
Bela Tarr, 1955-2026
I interviewed him once & he smoked so much that the bar staff intervened & swore so hard that the translator refused to translate. Which is to say that he was as tough, hazardous & uncompromising as his films. Gone in a puff of smoke, hopefully raising hell someplace else
I interviewed him once & he smoked so much that the bar staff intervened & swore so hard that the translator refused to translate. Which is to say that he was as tough, hazardous & uncompromising as his films. Gone in a puff of smoke, hopefully raising hell someplace else
January 6, 2026 at 11:43 AM
Bela Tarr, 1955-2026
I interviewed him once & he smoked so much that the bar staff intervened & swore so hard that the translator refused to translate. Which is to say that he was as tough, hazardous & uncompromising as his films. Gone in a puff of smoke, hopefully raising hell someplace else
I interviewed him once & he smoked so much that the bar staff intervened & swore so hard that the translator refused to translate. Which is to say that he was as tough, hazardous & uncompromising as his films. Gone in a puff of smoke, hopefully raising hell someplace else
Nice to write a tribute to an aged Hollywood legend which isn't an obituary. Happy 100th birthday Dick Van Dyke, and yes I realise I got the Chitty toy reference wrong thanks for your concern
www.theguardian.com/film/2025/de...
www.theguardian.com/film/2025/de...
Elastic limbs, fantastical accents and crackling sexual chemistry: Dick Van Dyke turns 100
The goofy star of Mary Poppins becomes a centenarian on Saturday. And what a precocious performer he has proved, sustaining scrappy mischief through seven decades of mainstream entertainment
www.theguardian.com
December 13, 2025 at 8:35 AM
Nice to write a tribute to an aged Hollywood legend which isn't an obituary. Happy 100th birthday Dick Van Dyke, and yes I realise I got the Chitty toy reference wrong thanks for your concern
www.theguardian.com/film/2025/de...
www.theguardian.com/film/2025/de...
My piece on Cover-Up, Seymour Hersh & the state of modern-day journalism
www.theguardian.com/film/2025/de...
www.theguardian.com/film/2025/de...
‘He’s a son of a bitch – but he’s usually right’: why did Seymour Hersh quit the film about his earth-shattering exposés?
He is the prickly, hotheaded journalist who uncovered the My Lai massacre in Vietnam and torture at Abu Ghraib prison. Finishing Cover-Up, a film about his astonishing life and countless scoops, was n...
www.theguardian.com
December 8, 2025 at 8:57 AM
My piece on Cover-Up, Seymour Hersh & the state of modern-day journalism
www.theguardian.com/film/2025/de...
www.theguardian.com/film/2025/de...
Column for @the-independent.com, on the evergreen Sunset Boulevard & the rot on the Hollywood fringes www.independent.co.uk/arts-enterta...
Hollywood is poison – and few films understand its horrors like Sunset Boulevard
Seventy-five years after its release, Billy Wilder’s melodramatic satire on celebrity culture and faded stardom – starring Gloria Swanson as its grotesque heroine – retains its tragic grandeur, writes...
www.independent.co.uk
December 8, 2025 at 8:03 AM
Column for @the-independent.com, on the evergreen Sunset Boulevard & the rot on the Hollywood fringes www.independent.co.uk/arts-enterta...
Martin Parr, gone far too soon. I interviewed him a few years back, just after lockdown when he was undergoing chemo & he was sharp & combative & relishing his new role as a disabled photographer, a mobility-scooting drive-by shooter amid the British crowds. RIP.
www.theguardian.com/artanddesign...
www.theguardian.com/artanddesign...
‘I didn’t really watch any tennis’: how Martin Parr captured the Grand Slam’s real champions
The photographer toured the four tournaments shooting thrilled fans instead of sweaty stars. He talks about why street photography is becoming impossible – and life after his cancer diagnosis
www.theguardian.com
December 7, 2025 at 3:10 PM
Martin Parr, gone far too soon. I interviewed him a few years back, just after lockdown when he was undergoing chemo & he was sharp & combative & relishing his new role as a disabled photographer, a mobility-scooting drive-by shooter amid the British crowds. RIP.
www.theguardian.com/artanddesign...
www.theguardian.com/artanddesign...
Train Dreams is a stone cold masterpiece - one of the century’s great books www.nytimes.com/2025/12/02/m...
The Dark Secrets of the Writer Behind ‘Train Dreams’
www.nytimes.com
December 2, 2025 at 9:40 PM
Train Dreams is a stone cold masterpiece - one of the century’s great books www.nytimes.com/2025/12/02/m...
At some point soon a journalist is going to lose patience & react as one would normally react when a bullying moron tries to shout you down - & they'll deserve every Pulitzer prize they can carry
“You’re a stupid person” — Trump lashes out at a reporter who presses him on the fact that the suspected DC shooter was actually thoroughly vetted before he was let in the US from Afghanistan
November 28, 2025 at 9:10 AM
At some point soon a journalist is going to lose patience & react as one would normally react when a bullying moron tries to shout you down - & they'll deserve every Pulitzer prize they can carry
I hesitate to bill this as an interview given that it basically involved sitting on a couch, listening to Hawke & Linklater chat & occasionally pitching in. But I wrote it up afterwards, so that officially counts as work www.theguardian.com/film/2025/no...
‘Our underachieving careers make the friendship easier’: Ethan Hawke and Richard Linklater on Blue Moon and their 32-year friendship
As they launch their 10th film together, the actor and director look back on how their stellar careers have progressed in tandem, through co-stars’ addictions and Hollywood pressures
www.theguardian.com
November 28, 2025 at 7:41 AM
I hesitate to bill this as an interview given that it basically involved sitting on a couch, listening to Hawke & Linklater chat & occasionally pitching in. But I wrote it up afterwards, so that officially counts as work www.theguardian.com/film/2025/no...
Sublime character actor who landed in a film like a pinch of peyote & made everything weirder, hazardous, better. RIP www.vulture.com/article/cult...
Cult Actor Udo Kier Dies at 81
Kier worked with everyone — from Andy Warhol to Gus Van Sant to Madonna.
www.vulture.com
November 24, 2025 at 7:55 AM
Sublime character actor who landed in a film like a pinch of peyote & made everything weirder, hazardous, better. RIP www.vulture.com/article/cult...