criticalrambler.bsky.social
@criticalrambler.bsky.social
Reposted by criticalrambler.bsky.social
I think we’ve got better and more culturally-varied street food than I could have imagined, cool jackets galore, and drugs that make us think we’re really fast and strong before they kill us.
we're getting all the downsides of cyberpunk (social alienation, ruthless hyper capitalism, digital mass surveillance state) but none of the promised upsides (cheap street food, cool jackets, super drugs that make you really fast and strong before they kill you)
January 20, 2026 at 10:02 PM
I think we’ve got better and more culturally-varied street food than I could have imagined, cool jackets galore, and drugs that make us think we’re really fast and strong before they kill us.
Reposted by criticalrambler.bsky.social
The only times I’ve ever had a tab of ChatGPT open were to do extended research into ChatGPT itself.
It is simply not good enough for any purposes other than looking at the ways in which it is bad.
It is simply not good enough for any purposes other than looking at the ways in which it is bad.
RT if you've never had a tab of ChatGPT open 'just to do quick research'
January 14, 2026 at 5:47 PM
The only times I’ve ever had a tab of ChatGPT open were to do extended research into ChatGPT itself.
It is simply not good enough for any purposes other than looking at the ways in which it is bad.
It is simply not good enough for any purposes other than looking at the ways in which it is bad.
Reposted by criticalrambler.bsky.social
It really bothers me that I don't know the connotations of foreign names. Some random person in a foreign movie could have a name that's the Korean equivalent of "Melvin" or the Italian version of "Karen" and I won't ever know and it kills me
January 14, 2026 at 4:32 AM
It really bothers me that I don't know the connotations of foreign names. Some random person in a foreign movie could have a name that's the Korean equivalent of "Melvin" or the Italian version of "Karen" and I won't ever know and it kills me
Reposted by criticalrambler.bsky.social
I realized that the hive mind in Pluribus and vampirism in Sinners (a sort of hive mind) both kinda represent the homogenizing force of cultural colonialism. I think the big key difference is each work's distinct perspective - one on Black community & the other an upper-middle-class queer woman.
January 12, 2026 at 7:08 AM
I realized that the hive mind in Pluribus and vampirism in Sinners (a sort of hive mind) both kinda represent the homogenizing force of cultural colonialism. I think the big key difference is each work's distinct perspective - one on Black community & the other an upper-middle-class queer woman.
AI shows the Barthes model of "Death of the author" is monstrous. Send tweet
January 10, 2026 at 12:53 PM
AI shows the Barthes model of "Death of the author" is monstrous. Send tweet
Reposted by criticalrambler.bsky.social
In America you drop your kid off at school, get your brains blown out on the ride home, then the Vice President drops everything for a week to call you a terrorist, to slander your family, to protect the circumstances that led to your death so they can do it again. It is government by Alex Jones.
January 9, 2026 at 7:24 PM
In America you drop your kid off at school, get your brains blown out on the ride home, then the Vice President drops everything for a week to call you a terrorist, to slander your family, to protect the circumstances that led to your death so they can do it again. It is government by Alex Jones.
Reposted by criticalrambler.bsky.social
I don’t expect to ever get a Hugo nomination, little yet a win. But I suspect that if I do get one it’ll be this year, for Cuddled Little Vice, and I’d be lying if I said that wouldn’t make me an extremely happy little nerd.
www.eruditorumpress.com/blog/the-cud...
www.eruditorumpress.com/blog/the-cud...
January 8, 2026 at 3:01 PM
I don’t expect to ever get a Hugo nomination, little yet a win. But I suspect that if I do get one it’ll be this year, for Cuddled Little Vice, and I’d be lying if I said that wouldn’t make me an extremely happy little nerd.
www.eruditorumpress.com/blog/the-cud...
www.eruditorumpress.com/blog/the-cud...
Reposted by criticalrambler.bsky.social
In a strange position where I think there are massive, massive social harms to the proliferation of AI (misinfo, deepfakes, predatory 'companions', surveillance, labour rights) but also feel the mainstream arguments against it range from unconvincing (water) to actively harmful (copyright; "soul")
January 6, 2026 at 7:52 PM
In a strange position where I think there are massive, massive social harms to the proliferation of AI (misinfo, deepfakes, predatory 'companions', surveillance, labour rights) but also feel the mainstream arguments against it range from unconvincing (water) to actively harmful (copyright; "soul")
Reposted by criticalrambler.bsky.social
The Polar Express (2004)
November 26, 2025 at 4:05 PM
The Polar Express (2004)
Reposted by criticalrambler.bsky.social
It's okay to be surprised and outraged by stuff Trump does. It doesn't make you a naive palooka or bourgeois reformist scum.
January 4, 2026 at 9:23 AM
It's okay to be surprised and outraged by stuff Trump does. It doesn't make you a naive palooka or bourgeois reformist scum.
Reposted by criticalrambler.bsky.social
And once more Keir Starmer comes across as a man who watched Hamilton and thought Aaron Burr was the hero
January 3, 2026 at 6:11 PM
And once more Keir Starmer comes across as a man who watched Hamilton and thought Aaron Burr was the hero
Reposted by criticalrambler.bsky.social
wow, sorry. Deleting now. I didn’t know she was French
December 29, 2025 at 8:31 PM
wow, sorry. Deleting now. I didn’t know she was French
Reposted by criticalrambler.bsky.social
The shift from "sir this is a Wendy's" to "just put the fries in the bag" indicates a cultural rightward shift; whereas the former is making fun of someone by implying they're a customer doing too much, the latter is making fun of someone by implying they're a *worker* & should know their place
December 29, 2025 at 6:14 AM
The shift from "sir this is a Wendy's" to "just put the fries in the bag" indicates a cultural rightward shift; whereas the former is making fun of someone by implying they're a customer doing too much, the latter is making fun of someone by implying they're a *worker* & should know their place
Reposted by criticalrambler.bsky.social
People make fun of the names from Dune: Paul, Jessica and Duncan Idaho all seem weirdly out of place, but not enough is made of the fact that Frank Herbert was sat there going “I want a planet that’s Iraq-ish, Iraq-ish, *snaps fingers* Arrakis! And Paul’s family are traders… hmmm, Atreides!”
December 28, 2025 at 5:11 PM
People make fun of the names from Dune: Paul, Jessica and Duncan Idaho all seem weirdly out of place, but not enough is made of the fact that Frank Herbert was sat there going “I want a planet that’s Iraq-ish, Iraq-ish, *snaps fingers* Arrakis! And Paul’s family are traders… hmmm, Atreides!”
Reposted by criticalrambler.bsky.social
This feels like someone bet the director that he couldn't turn a 30 second spot for midbudget women's fashion into a tragic doomed romance laden with implicit generational trauma, and then that person lost *hard*
December 28, 2025 at 2:45 AM
This feels like someone bet the director that he couldn't turn a 30 second spot for midbudget women's fashion into a tragic doomed romance laden with implicit generational trauma, and then that person lost *hard*
Reposted by criticalrambler.bsky.social
Guillermo del Toro: "I've taken some liberties in adapting the Mary Shelly novel, I hope everyone understands."
Ishiro Honda: "Frankenstein the deathless will fight a burrowing dinosaur with a glowing horn and radiation breath, signifying mankind will never understand the monsters we create."
Ishiro Honda: "Frankenstein the deathless will fight a burrowing dinosaur with a glowing horn and radiation breath, signifying mankind will never understand the monsters we create."
December 28, 2025 at 2:12 AM
Guillermo del Toro: "I've taken some liberties in adapting the Mary Shelly novel, I hope everyone understands."
Ishiro Honda: "Frankenstein the deathless will fight a burrowing dinosaur with a glowing horn and radiation breath, signifying mankind will never understand the monsters we create."
Ishiro Honda: "Frankenstein the deathless will fight a burrowing dinosaur with a glowing horn and radiation breath, signifying mankind will never understand the monsters we create."
Christmas movie discourse is getting stale. Time to take it to exciting new places:
One Battle After Another is a Christmas movie
One Battle After Another is a Christmas movie
December 28, 2025 at 12:05 AM
Christmas movie discourse is getting stale. Time to take it to exciting new places:
One Battle After Another is a Christmas movie
One Battle After Another is a Christmas movie
Reposted by criticalrambler.bsky.social
Reposted by criticalrambler.bsky.social
The debate about Avatar "having no cultural impact" is kind of a smokescreen for the actual argument which is that Avatar is "boring" and "bad" and "has terrible characters, worldbuilding, plotting and dialogue"
December 27, 2025 at 7:28 AM
The debate about Avatar "having no cultural impact" is kind of a smokescreen for the actual argument which is that Avatar is "boring" and "bad" and "has terrible characters, worldbuilding, plotting and dialogue"
Reposted by criticalrambler.bsky.social
You can tell that LotR was written by an academic because Gandalf disappears for like 20 years doing research to answer a single question.
December 26, 2025 at 12:40 AM
You can tell that LotR was written by an academic because Gandalf disappears for like 20 years doing research to answer a single question.
Reposted by criticalrambler.bsky.social
Wait is Campbell just 20th century Jordan Peterson
December 24, 2025 at 1:27 AM
Wait is Campbell just 20th century Jordan Peterson
Reposted by criticalrambler.bsky.social
Just write what you know. If you just write "what you know", you've got three words, and no matter how many times you repeat it, it's still going to be a crappy story.
what is your least favorite piece of writing advice and why? 👀
December 25, 2025 at 6:23 PM
Just write what you know. If you just write "what you know", you've got three words, and no matter how many times you repeat it, it's still going to be a crappy story.
Reposted by criticalrambler.bsky.social
DIE HARD alternate ending where Al Powell after rediscovering his bloodlust looks in the rearview mirror like the end of TAXI DRIVER.
December 25, 2025 at 6:19 PM
DIE HARD alternate ending where Al Powell after rediscovering his bloodlust looks in the rearview mirror like the end of TAXI DRIVER.
Reposted by criticalrambler.bsky.social
This and It’s a Wonderful Life came out within days of each other and have really similar themes and are both incredibly beautiful.
Tonight on TCM #TCM
A MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH (1946)
A British fantasy romantic drama film written, produced and directed by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger. One of the best! Highly recommended.
A MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH (1946)
A British fantasy romantic drama film written, produced and directed by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger. One of the best! Highly recommended.
December 25, 2025 at 8:40 PM
This and It’s a Wonderful Life came out within days of each other and have really similar themes and are both incredibly beautiful.