Scott A. MacKenzie
5thborderstate.bsky.social
Scott A. MacKenzie
@5thborderstate.bsky.social
Canadian historian of the American Civil War, author of The Fifth Border State: Slavery, Emancipation, and the Formation of West Virginia 1829-1872 (WVU Press, 2023), remover of mattress tags. Big #hatm fan.
Final Thoughts: House of Dynamite depicts the last 20 minutes before a nuclear war. Three sets of U.S. decision makers grapple with how to deal with an imminent attack. The tension never wanes in this well-cast movie. Yet it seems out of place today - it is better suited to the 1980s #hatm
November 10, 2025 at 2:46 AM
I sort of like how there's no conclusion to the movie: no resolution means the tension never flags. #hatm
November 10, 2025 at 2:43 AM
If this facility is being filled up, the s just got real. #hatm
November 10, 2025 at 2:43 AM
Here's the thing, Mr. President: We literally don't have a minute. #hatm
November 10, 2025 at 2:40 AM
Well, SECDEF's daughter is in Chicago, so he might as well go out this way. #hatm
November 10, 2025 at 2:38 AM
Surely the President spent his transition period being briefed on this situation. Moreover, these football officers are also trained to deal with politicians. #hatm
November 10, 2025 at 2:36 AM
Imagine being the U.S. military planners who have to come up with options for the President - all of which involve the deaths of millions and altering the history of the world. No pressure. #hatm
November 10, 2025 at 2:31 AM
Ah the Lincoln bust. there's a line in the movie 2010: "The President addressed a joint session of Congress [about Central American tensions]. He invoked Lincoln. Whenever someone's going to get us into trouble, they always quote Lincoln." #hatm
November 10, 2025 at 2:30 AM
I have had to call a family member about an emergency once - when I rushed to the hospital to have my appendix out.

Now I see what President Bush had to go through on 9/11. Trying to make sense out of a chaotic situation about which he could do little. #hatm
November 10, 2025 at 2:28 AM
I listened to a podcast this week about the making of Alien: Resurrection. The crew prepared for a long day of 200 takes of Sigourney Weaver missing a basketball shot. She got it on the first. Everyone was shocked, especially Ron Pearlman. #hatm
a woman holds a basketball in a dark room
ALT: a woman holds a basketball in a dark room
media.tenor.com
November 10, 2025 at 2:23 AM
We last heard this song, in a very truncated form, at the end of Miami Vice. #hatm
November 10, 2025 at 2:21 AM
I'd watch Idris Elba in anything. What he should make is a play based on Nelson Mandela's phone conversations with Queen Elizabeth (played by Helen Mirren, his Hobbes and Shaw co-star.). In real life, NM and QE spoke for hours. She helped him end Apartheid peacefully. #hatm
November 10, 2025 at 2:19 AM
I once saw President Clinton's motorcade drive by me in Washington. #hatm
November 10, 2025 at 2:18 AM
If only #hatm could do Chernobyl - that was a great job. Jared Harris was great in it, as was Stellan Skarsgard.
November 10, 2025 at 2:15 AM
Yes, there's always a military officer with the "nuclear football" near the President at all times just in case of this kind of event. Imagine having that job. #hatm
November 10, 2025 at 2:14 AM
This film shot in DC, Kenya, and Gettysburg. Pretty good budget for a Netflix film. #hatm
November 10, 2025 at 2:14 AM
There are no pictures of the interior of a B-2 - very classified - but there's a toilet and a microwave behind the seats. Some crew have brought a camp bed. I once heard there was a husband and wife crew. Imagine all the stereotypes flying around that cockpit. #hatm
November 10, 2025 at 2:12 AM
How should one react with a nuclear war looming? I think the military people have been conditioned to contain their emotions. The politicians, on the other hand, aren't. #hatm
November 10, 2025 at 2:10 AM
This movie reminds me of the 1983 video game War Games, based on the movie. #hatm

youtu.be/zoEeY4uY7hQ?...
WarGames - ColecoVision
YouTube video by ed1475
youtu.be
November 10, 2025 at 2:01 AM
I wonder if those Secret Service officers would use their weapons in the White House. This isn't a Olympus Has Fallen scenario. #hatm
November 10, 2025 at 1:54 AM
In a way, this film is what U.S. leaders were doing when the captain and XO of the USS Alabama duked it out in Crimson Tide. #hatm
November 10, 2025 at 1:52 AM
I kinda like the multiple perspectives non-linear way this movie presents the narrative. I mean its no Do The Right Thing, but it works. #hatm
November 10, 2025 at 1:45 AM
Mom is absolutely right! This is no park! It's the graveyard for tens of thousands. This is my picture of Cemetery Ridge. The white statue in the background is where the rebel advance began. The statue in the foreground is where the Union soldiers stood. It was a bloodbath. #hatm
November 10, 2025 at 1:43 AM
All right! Some War of Southern Aggression scenes!!! :)

I was in Gettysburg two weeks ago. Always great. #hatm
November 10, 2025 at 1:40 AM
I heard one commentator say that you couldn't use a cell phone in those White House bunkers because of all the electronic interference. #hatm
November 10, 2025 at 1:37 AM