Brian Collins
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bdcollins95.bsky.social
Brian Collins
@bdcollins95.bsky.social
Messy bisexual, genre fiction fan, movie snob, reluctant blogger, they/them. Hosts Science Fiction & Fantasy Remembrance.
#466. Él

Buñuel really likes to shit on male insecurity across his movies, but Él might be the scariest and least funny example of the bunch. Here he connects dots (problematically, but interestingly) between toxic masculinity and untreated mental illness.
November 29, 2025 at 12:31 AM
#465. How Green Was My Valley

The beginning of this movie: Mining for coal sounds kinda cool, actually.
The end of this movie: Never mind.
November 27, 2025 at 3:09 AM
#464. Hard Boiled

Might be better than sex, not gonna lie.
November 26, 2025 at 3:48 AM
#463. Spirit in the Dark - Aretha Franklin

Recorded in the midst of Franklin's first marriage failing, this is basically her divorce album. But despite the songs often being about good-for-nothing men and relationships gone bad, it's not dour. In fact, it kinda rocks.
November 26, 2025 at 12:38 AM
#462. Self-Portrait in a Convex Mirror - John Ashbery

Might be at the exact midpoint between being accessible and showing a real power to evoke, in poems that sometimes read like prose passages.
November 25, 2025 at 4:58 PM
#461. Interiors

I told my friend at one point during this that the best part of Interiors is that Woody Allen is not in it. This was a bit of a truth Permian extinction for both of us.
November 25, 2025 at 4:57 PM
#460. You Must Believe in Spring - Bill Evans

Despite sending himself to an early grave through years of drinking and hard drugs, there's something still oddly life-affirming about Evans's music.
November 25, 2025 at 4:57 PM
#459. The Roaring Twenties

The tragedy of trying to be a decent person in an inherently exploitative business.
November 25, 2025 at 4:57 PM
#458. Jazz Impressions of Japan - The Dave Brubeck Quartet

A bit orientalist, but not as much as I had feared. This is more of an atmospheric record than Time Out, with less emphasis on drums.
November 25, 2025 at 4:55 PM
#457. Police Story 2

A lot more Police and a lot more Story!
November 25, 2025 at 4:54 PM
#456. The Way Some People Die - Ross Macdonald

On the one hand the Chandler influence is apparent, but also Archer is more melancholy than Marlowe and I'd say this is bleaker than any of the Marlowe novels I've read. Would recommend!
November 25, 2025 at 4:54 PM
#455. 'Round About Midnight

Very meat-and-potatoes hard bop jazz record, which means it's the kind of album to make you wanna play the piano while smoking a joint.
November 25, 2025 at 4:53 PM
#454. Scarface (1932)

My big takeaway is that I should watch a few more Paul Muni movies, because bro does things with his face and voice here that should've nabbed him an Oscar nomination. Tony Camonte is a caricature and yet somehow you kinda pity him at the end.
November 25, 2025 at 4:53 PM
#453. The Maltese Falcon (1941, rewatch)

Not even my favorite film noir to star Bogart, but this is still really impressive as a directorial debut. John Huston shows that sometimes being a nepo baby ain't bad.
November 25, 2025 at 4:53 PM
#452. The High Window - Raymond Chandler

Mrs. Murdock has to be one of the most hateful old bitches in literature. Anyway, this was really funny, maybe the funniest of the Marlowe novels so far, or at least the one with the most jokes.
November 25, 2025 at 4:52 PM
#451. Arcane (season 2)

Some of the most breathtaking animation ever created, and yet the soundtrack is still ass.
November 25, 2025 at 4:52 PM
#450. The Public Enemy (1931)

Listen, when you live by the sword you can expect to also die by the sword.
November 25, 2025 at 4:51 PM
Like forget the Coppolas, we've got three generations of Oscar winners with the Hustons.
November 17, 2025 at 10:55 PM
Same goes for Anjelica Huston ofc.
November 17, 2025 at 10:54 PM