BILL RYAN
@faceyouhate.bsky.social
Pinned
In the Years Preceding the Reality War
On "The Kingdom of This World" by Alejo Carpentier, and "The Infernal Desire Machines of Doctor Hoffman" by Angela Carter
billryan64.substack.com
My new free Reading Project post is up. In this one I go long on two great ones, THE KINGDOM OF THIS WORLD by Alejo Carpentier, and THE INFERNAL DESIRE MACHINES OF DOCTOR HOFFMAN. #booksky
billryan64.substack.com/p/in-the-yea...
billryan64.substack.com/p/in-the-yea...
Reposted by BILL RYAN
wait a second we don't have a bike
November 16, 2025 at 5:04 AM
wait a second we don't have a bike
ANTICHRIST
AMERICAN SNIPER
KILLER JOE
DRAGGED ACROSS CONCRETE
OLEANNA
EDMOND
STAR 80
RAMPAGE (Friedkin)
BAD LIEUTENANT
LAST TEMPTATION OF CHRIST
PLEASURE PARTY
SERIE NOIRE
FRENZY
SZARAMANKA
but #1 in this hard to define category for me would have to be Peckinpah's STRAW DOGS. #1 with a bullet.
AMERICAN SNIPER
KILLER JOE
DRAGGED ACROSS CONCRETE
OLEANNA
EDMOND
STAR 80
RAMPAGE (Friedkin)
BAD LIEUTENANT
LAST TEMPTATION OF CHRIST
PLEASURE PARTY
SERIE NOIRE
FRENZY
SZARAMANKA
but #1 in this hard to define category for me would have to be Peckinpah's STRAW DOGS. #1 with a bullet.
So because my friend Austin is having a bad day because of some holier than thou assholes who can't seem to understand film and art is subjective, I want to know what some of your favorite problematic movies are. I'm talking about movies that if you were asked on a first date what movies you love...
November 16, 2025 at 8:37 PM
ANTICHRIST
AMERICAN SNIPER
KILLER JOE
DRAGGED ACROSS CONCRETE
OLEANNA
EDMOND
STAR 80
RAMPAGE (Friedkin)
BAD LIEUTENANT
LAST TEMPTATION OF CHRIST
PLEASURE PARTY
SERIE NOIRE
FRENZY
SZARAMANKA
but #1 in this hard to define category for me would have to be Peckinpah's STRAW DOGS. #1 with a bullet.
AMERICAN SNIPER
KILLER JOE
DRAGGED ACROSS CONCRETE
OLEANNA
EDMOND
STAR 80
RAMPAGE (Friedkin)
BAD LIEUTENANT
LAST TEMPTATION OF CHRIST
PLEASURE PARTY
SERIE NOIRE
FRENZY
SZARAMANKA
but #1 in this hard to define category for me would have to be Peckinpah's STRAW DOGS. #1 with a bullet.
Thinking ahead to later tonight, and how much I enjoy going to sleep.
November 16, 2025 at 7:07 PM
Thinking ahead to later tonight, and how much I enjoy going to sleep.
The two books for my next exclusive-to-paid subscribers Reading Project post have been announced. Call your neighbors!
billryan64.substack.com/p/next-books...
billryan64.substack.com/p/next-books...
Next Books for Upcoming Paid Subscriber Post!
See below!
billryan64.substack.com
November 16, 2025 at 6:32 PM
The two books for my next exclusive-to-paid subscribers Reading Project post have been announced. Call your neighbors!
billryan64.substack.com/p/next-books...
billryan64.substack.com/p/next-books...
Reposted by BILL RYAN
People say Cancel Culture is real and then you see Lydia Tár being invited to meet the Pope. 🙄
November 15, 2025 at 4:29 PM
People say Cancel Culture is real and then you see Lydia Tár being invited to meet the Pope. 🙄
It's, let's say, somewhat troubling to me that the last 20 years or so point to David Cronenberg and J.G. Ballard being the two artists most attuned to our modern global frequency. Not good!
November 16, 2025 at 3:06 PM
It's, let's say, somewhat troubling to me that the last 20 years or so point to David Cronenberg and J.G. Ballard being the two artists most attuned to our modern global frequency. Not good!
Reposted by BILL RYAN
The best day ever. It’s official. Also, our celebrant was Count Indigo. Isn’t that amazing?
Yesterday, three years and one day after our first date, I officially became Mrs @andrewmale.bsky.social in a day overflowing with love and joy. We could not be happier.
November 16, 2025 at 11:35 AM
The best day ever. It’s official. Also, our celebrant was Count Indigo. Isn’t that amazing?
A typo in this paragraph suggests an alternate reality in which Ballard's first novel dwelt upon horrors best undreamt.
November 15, 2025 at 9:14 PM
A typo in this paragraph suggests an alternate reality in which Ballard's first novel dwelt upon horrors best undreamt.
as someone who used to shoot pool ALL THE FUCKING TIME (without ever managing to get that good at it) I am in danger of falling under the spell of pool movies that aren't THE HUSTLER or THE COLOR OF MONEY
November 15, 2025 at 8:03 PM
as someone who used to shoot pool ALL THE FUCKING TIME (without ever managing to get that good at it) I am in danger of falling under the spell of pool movies that aren't THE HUSTLER or THE COLOR OF MONEY
Happy birthday to J. G. Ballard, a writer whose fiction could inspire great and equally quintessential films by both Stephen Spielberg and David Cronenberg, and the man behind some of the uniquely unsettling reading experiences I've ever had.
November 15, 2025 at 4:12 PM
Happy birthday to J. G. Ballard, a writer whose fiction could inspire great and equally quintessential films by both Stephen Spielberg and David Cronenberg, and the man behind some of the uniquely unsettling reading experiences I've ever had.
Jennifer Fox's THE TALE does something pretty brilliant: An adult Laura Dern's memory of what she looked like at 13 is portrayed by one actress, but then, when she sees a photo of herself at 13, and how young she really looked, the younger actress in the photo replaces the version from her memory.
November 15, 2025 at 2:59 PM
Jennifer Fox's THE TALE does something pretty brilliant: An adult Laura Dern's memory of what she looked like at 13 is portrayed by one actress, but then, when she sees a photo of herself at 13, and how young she really looked, the younger actress in the photo replaces the version from her memory.
I will say this: I've always been a kind of reactionary skeptic of the whole "Meryl Streep is the greatest actor alive" but in this, to play such an outsized personality with such a distinct speaking voice & not make it mere impersonation, or unbearable, is quite something.
For no particular reason, I have that JULIE & JULIA movie playing in the background, and a problem I have with most food movies is that the makers always seem to assume that watching someone lick food goo off their fingers is appealing, or appetizing, rather than revolting.
November 15, 2025 at 2:31 PM
I will say this: I've always been a kind of reactionary skeptic of the whole "Meryl Streep is the greatest actor alive" but in this, to play such an outsized personality with such a distinct speaking voice & not make it mere impersonation, or unbearable, is quite something.
Reposted by BILL RYAN
I've been enjoying @faceyouhate.bsky.social's literary dispatches, the most recent one is about Angela Carter & Alejo Carpentier. If you like reading good writing about books you probably haven't read yet, you should sign up.
billryan64.substack.com/p/in-the-yea...
billryan64.substack.com/p/in-the-yea...
In the Years Preceding the Reality War
On "The Kingdom of This World" by Alejo Carpentier, and "The Infernal Desire Machines of Doctor Hoffman" by Angela Carter
billryan64.substack.com
November 15, 2025 at 2:24 PM
I've been enjoying @faceyouhate.bsky.social's literary dispatches, the most recent one is about Angela Carter & Alejo Carpentier. If you like reading good writing about books you probably haven't read yet, you should sign up.
billryan64.substack.com/p/in-the-yea...
billryan64.substack.com/p/in-the-yea...
head's up that my 2nd favorite film of the year is available on VOD now and you should see it
November 15, 2025 at 1:47 PM
head's up that my 2nd favorite film of the year is available on VOD now and you should see it
For no particular reason, I have that JULIE & JULIA movie playing in the background, and a problem I have with most food movies is that the makers always seem to assume that watching someone lick food goo off their fingers is appealing, or appetizing, rather than revolting.
November 15, 2025 at 1:25 PM
For no particular reason, I have that JULIE & JULIA movie playing in the background, and a problem I have with most food movies is that the makers always seem to assume that watching someone lick food goo off their fingers is appealing, or appetizing, rather than revolting.
Reposted by BILL RYAN
It gets dark early now and the country is raked by rain, so if you're the protagonist in an M John Harrison novel now is the right time of year to take a slow train to an unfamiliar town to check on an old friend who hasn't been doing so well
November 15, 2025 at 12:31 PM
It gets dark early now and the country is raked by rain, so if you're the protagonist in an M John Harrison novel now is the right time of year to take a slow train to an unfamiliar town to check on an old friend who hasn't been doing so well
Not me. I will no longer remain calm on these matters.
From the piece about the Olivia Nuzzi book.
I am trying to remain calm.
I am trying to remain calm.
November 14, 2025 at 6:34 PM
Not me. I will no longer remain calm on these matters.
[me, someone who unashamedly liked PAST LIVES now that MATERIALISTS is free to stream][can't find shrug/indifference-related gif that it wouldn't be embarrassing to post so what is even the joke at this point]
November 14, 2025 at 5:32 PM
[me, someone who unashamedly liked PAST LIVES now that MATERIALISTS is free to stream][can't find shrug/indifference-related gif that it wouldn't be embarrassing to post so what is even the joke at this point]
Reposted by BILL RYAN
"O'Connor once spoke about how, when giving a talk, she was asked 'Why do you write?' and replied, 'Because I’m good at it'. She 'at once felt a considerable disapproval in the atmosphere' — but she was spot on."
Me on three story collections by Cynan Jones, Tim MacGabhann and Flannery O'Connor:
Me on three story collections by Cynan Jones, Tim MacGabhann and Flannery O'Connor:
From Celtic fringe to Bible belt | John Self | The Critic Magazine
When is a short story not a short story? Last month, one chapter of a novel won the BBC National Short Story Award, as a stand-alone work of fiction
thecritic.co.uk
November 14, 2025 at 4:18 PM
"O'Connor once spoke about how, when giving a talk, she was asked 'Why do you write?' and replied, 'Because I’m good at it'. She 'at once felt a considerable disapproval in the atmosphere' — but she was spot on."
Me on three story collections by Cynan Jones, Tim MacGabhann and Flannery O'Connor:
Me on three story collections by Cynan Jones, Tim MacGabhann and Flannery O'Connor:
I've been suspended for reasons at least as stupid as that. The lesson to be learned is a very old one that we all claimed to have learned, which is that social media is a terrible thing, and we're all stupid for using it.
BlueSky is a bad site used by good people. That describes most social media sites. But BlueSky is egregiously unethical. Any of you can be disappeared for baseless reasons. I've been on social media for 17 years and never been suspended. BlueSky is the first place to do so – over Johnny Cash lyrics.
November 14, 2025 at 4:36 PM
I've been suspended for reasons at least as stupid as that. The lesson to be learned is a very old one that we all claimed to have learned, which is that social media is a terrible thing, and we're all stupid for using it.
9??? whatever, Lou Reed
going to bed at 9pm
What do you like now that 16 year old you would hate you for?
November 14, 2025 at 4:26 PM
9??? whatever, Lou Reed
well that's a relief
November 14, 2025 at 3:34 PM
well that's a relief
Reposted by BILL RYAN
FREE TO ALL! I go (very) long on Alejo Carpentier's THE KINGDOM OF THIS WORLD and Angela Carter's THE INFERNAL DESIRE MACHINES OF DOCTOR HOFFMAN. It's worth your time, and financially you don't lose a nickel!
billryan64.substack.com/p/in-the-yea...
billryan64.substack.com/p/in-the-yea...
November 13, 2025 at 10:34 PM
FREE TO ALL! I go (very) long on Alejo Carpentier's THE KINGDOM OF THIS WORLD and Angela Carter's THE INFERNAL DESIRE MACHINES OF DOCTOR HOFFMAN. It's worth your time, and financially you don't lose a nickel!
billryan64.substack.com/p/in-the-yea...
billryan64.substack.com/p/in-the-yea...
Reposted by BILL RYAN
getting a text in the middle of the night and it's just my loathsome vizier saying "Your enemies lie in wait, my lord!!" what am I supposed to do with that. its four in the morning
November 14, 2025 at 4:06 AM
getting a text in the middle of the night and it's just my loathsome vizier saying "Your enemies lie in wait, my lord!!" what am I supposed to do with that. its four in the morning