Jonathan Lack
@jonathanlack.bsky.social
I'm critic, scholar, and podcaster Jonathan R. Lack, PhD. Follow my writing at https://www.jonathanlack.com. Links to podcasts and other socials at http://linktr.ee/jonathanrlack
Mamdani is going to implement Char Aznable law. New Yorkers will be required to do something extremely wicked.
November 9, 2025 at 3:20 AM
Mamdani is going to implement Char Aznable law. New Yorkers will be required to do something extremely wicked.
November Criterion sale means at last my Wes Anderson collection is complete again (now with some 4K discs!). Amazing cover art on both of these, and there are full large posters of both inside (separate from the liner notes!). The Isle of Dogs one is by Katsuhiro Otomo! Excited to hang them up.
November 7, 2025 at 7:06 PM
November Criterion sale means at last my Wes Anderson collection is complete again (now with some 4K discs!). Amazing cover art on both of these, and there are full large posters of both inside (separate from the liner notes!). The Isle of Dogs one is by Katsuhiro Otomo! Excited to hang them up.
My SHIN GODZILLA 4K set arrived from the Godzilla store. This is a recreation of the Japanese 4K deluxe set, and it’s super cool to have. My favorite part so far is the insert that very precisely lists the extremely granular changes made between theaters and home video.
November 7, 2025 at 4:17 PM
My SHIN GODZILLA 4K set arrived from the Godzilla store. This is a recreation of the Japanese 4K deluxe set, and it’s super cool to have. My favorite part so far is the insert that very precisely lists the extremely granular changes made between theaters and home video.
Colorado has an absurd state constitution that requires all taxes be put to a vote, which means it's extremely hard to raise revenue. But measures LL and MM directly aimed at the wealthy, with clear ballot language explaining who would pay. Both passed in a landslide - there's a clear lesson here!
November 5, 2025 at 9:38 PM
Colorado has an absurd state constitution that requires all taxes be put to a vote, which means it's extremely hard to raise revenue. But measures LL and MM directly aimed at the wealthy, with clear ballot language explaining who would pay. Both passed in a landslide - there's a clear lesson here!
The margin of victory in Virginia and NJ are much much bigger than any polls were predicting. NJ was polling within a couple of points and Virginia was high single digits. In reality NJ is 12-13 points and Virginia ~15. Some of the biggest polling misses in favor of Dems in the Trump era.
November 5, 2025 at 4:13 AM
The margin of victory in Virginia and NJ are much much bigger than any polls were predicting. NJ was polling within a couple of points and Virginia was high single digits. In reality NJ is 12-13 points and Virginia ~15. Some of the biggest polling misses in favor of Dems in the Trump era.
—Wants a Nobel Prize
—Also wants people to suffer
—Wants to add outrageous taxes for no reason
Power from CHAINSAW MAN has the same politics as Trump
—Also wants people to suffer
—Wants to add outrageous taxes for no reason
Power from CHAINSAW MAN has the same politics as Trump
November 3, 2025 at 6:56 PM
—Wants a Nobel Prize
—Also wants people to suffer
—Wants to add outrageous taxes for no reason
Power from CHAINSAW MAN has the same politics as Trump
—Also wants people to suffer
—Wants to add outrageous taxes for no reason
Power from CHAINSAW MAN has the same politics as Trump
Was trying to find when we last had a World Series game 7 go to extra innings, and wound up with the most spectacular, hilariously wrong AI overview of all time.
This is the first AI generated work I would happily call “art.”
This is the first AI generated work I would happily call “art.”
November 2, 2025 at 4:05 AM
Was trying to find when we last had a World Series game 7 go to extra innings, and wound up with the most spectacular, hilariously wrong AI overview of all time.
This is the first AI generated work I would happily call “art.”
This is the first AI generated work I would happily call “art.”
Another special episode of Japanimation Station's Kyoto Vacation coming your way tomorrow night, with our full review of the Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid movie, A LONELY DRAGON WANTS TO BE LOVED!
(Yes, we recorded this a week ago, and then I got too busy to finish editing it until today. Sigh.)
(Yes, we recorded this a week ago, and then I got too busy to finish editing it until today. Sigh.)
November 1, 2025 at 9:32 PM
Another special episode of Japanimation Station's Kyoto Vacation coming your way tomorrow night, with our full review of the Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid movie, A LONELY DRAGON WANTS TO BE LOVED!
(Yes, we recorded this a week ago, and then I got too busy to finish editing it until today. Sigh.)
(Yes, we recorded this a week ago, and then I got too busy to finish editing it until today. Sigh.)
Awesome Halloween surprise: my local Drafthouse got GDT’s FRANKENSTEIN, which means I get to see it the way God intended and not on Netflix. Yay! On their extra big screen no less. I am very excited.
October 31, 2025 at 5:53 PM
Awesome Halloween surprise: my local Drafthouse got GDT’s FRANKENSTEIN, which means I get to see it the way God intended and not on Netflix. Yay! On their extra big screen no less. I am very excited.
Here's an example of how AI and film studies are incompatible: I googled "movies with objective point of view," and it gave me a wholly incorrect answer, first referencing 2 films that are entirely subjective 1st-person, then listing one of the most famously 'narrated' (thus subjective) films ever.
October 30, 2025 at 11:21 PM
Here's an example of how AI and film studies are incompatible: I googled "movies with objective point of view," and it gave me a wholly incorrect answer, first referencing 2 films that are entirely subjective 1st-person, then listing one of the most famously 'narrated' (thus subjective) films ever.
Picked up the DRAGON QUEST I+II remake, easily one of my most anticipated games of the year. Switch 2 release is a key card (boo), but it does have some nice reversible cover art.
October 30, 2025 at 6:06 PM
Picked up the DRAGON QUEST I+II remake, easily one of my most anticipated games of the year. Switch 2 release is a key card (boo), but it does have some nice reversible cover art.
Finally (FINALLY!!!!) left Xfinity Mobile. It's over. I'm free.
The worst consumer service I have ever interacted with. Every headache I've ever had from any other company (including the normal wi-fi side of Xfinity) pales in comparison to their awful, shitty, terrible, no good cell phone plan.
The worst consumer service I have ever interacted with. Every headache I've ever had from any other company (including the normal wi-fi side of Xfinity) pales in comparison to their awful, shitty, terrible, no good cell phone plan.
October 29, 2025 at 9:03 PM
Finally (FINALLY!!!!) left Xfinity Mobile. It's over. I'm free.
The worst consumer service I have ever interacted with. Every headache I've ever had from any other company (including the normal wi-fi side of Xfinity) pales in comparison to their awful, shitty, terrible, no good cell phone plan.
The worst consumer service I have ever interacted with. Every headache I've ever had from any other company (including the normal wi-fi side of Xfinity) pales in comparison to their awful, shitty, terrible, no good cell phone plan.
"lol no one will want a Switch 2, the future is clearly PC handhelds"
October 28, 2025 at 2:41 PM
"lol no one will want a Switch 2, the future is clearly PC handhelds"
I was extremely devastated to miss Lorde’s Red Rocks show last week, but she’s coming back to America for one show in LA in May and I successfully nabbed tickets for that this morning. Luckily flights from Denver to LAX are cheap. This’ll be my reward/incentive for finishing the academic year.
October 27, 2025 at 5:16 PM
I was extremely devastated to miss Lorde’s Red Rocks show last week, but she’s coming back to America for one show in LA in May and I successfully nabbed tickets for that this morning. Luckily flights from Denver to LAX are cheap. This’ll be my reward/incentive for finishing the academic year.
So I got the new Springsteen NEBRASKA set in, and listened to the 'Electric Nebraska' tracks. It's a cool historical document to have, but I see why Bruce held off on releasing these for so long: The tracks just don't work. At all. They make you appreciate the actual album all the more strongly.
October 25, 2025 at 4:15 AM
So I got the new Springsteen NEBRASKA set in, and listened to the 'Electric Nebraska' tracks. It's a cool historical document to have, but I see why Bruce held off on releasing these for so long: The tracks just don't work. At all. They make you appreciate the actual album all the more strongly.
This Dodgers game is the closest reality has ever come to the Looney Tunes short where Bugs Bunny single-handedly wins a baseball game against the entire other team. Shohei is the real life Bugs.
October 18, 2025 at 3:13 AM
This Dodgers game is the closest reality has ever come to the Looney Tunes short where Bugs Bunny single-handedly wins a baseball game against the entire other team. Shohei is the real life Bugs.
Hilarious how impressive the score summary is while still not telling the full story. The phrase “Ohtani homered” three times, plus MIL staying at 0, which is *also* Ohtani’s doing as pitcher. What a fucking night.
October 18, 2025 at 3:03 AM
Hilarious how impressive the score summary is while still not telling the full story. The phrase “Ohtani homered” three times, plus MIL staying at 0, which is *also* Ohtani’s doing as pitcher. What a fucking night.
So Epstein allies can’t be Princes with purely ceremonial power, but they can be President of the United States. Got it.
Glad to see we officially have even less accountability than the British royal family. Fucking hell. What a depressing thought.
Glad to see we officially have even less accountability than the British royal family. Fucking hell. What a depressing thought.
October 17, 2025 at 6:51 PM
So Epstein allies can’t be Princes with purely ceremonial power, but they can be President of the United States. Got it.
Glad to see we officially have even less accountability than the British royal family. Fucking hell. What a depressing thought.
Glad to see we officially have even less accountability than the British royal family. Fucking hell. What a depressing thought.
Listened to it a few more times, and yeah, LIFE OF A SHOWGIRL is Taylor’s worst album. By a pretty fair margin, honestly. And this isn’t a recency bias thing for me - if I rank everything, I think both her best and worst work mainly came in the last ~6 years.
October 6, 2025 at 11:08 PM
Listened to it a few more times, and yeah, LIFE OF A SHOWGIRL is Taylor’s worst album. By a pretty fair margin, honestly. And this isn’t a recency bias thing for me - if I rank everything, I think both her best and worst work mainly came in the last ~6 years.
YES!!!!
Got my first win in HADES II. Felt so fucking good I had trouble concentrating on the very cool story stuff that happens after.
Took me about 15 hours to get here, but that’s probably half what it took in the first game. Tho this one has a lot more going on, including a whole other path.
Got my first win in HADES II. Felt so fucking good I had trouble concentrating on the very cool story stuff that happens after.
Took me about 15 hours to get here, but that’s probably half what it took in the first game. Tho this one has a lot more going on, including a whole other path.
October 5, 2025 at 5:13 AM
YES!!!!
Got my first win in HADES II. Felt so fucking good I had trouble concentrating on the very cool story stuff that happens after.
Took me about 15 hours to get here, but that’s probably half what it took in the first game. Tho this one has a lot more going on, including a whole other path.
Got my first win in HADES II. Felt so fucking good I had trouble concentrating on the very cool story stuff that happens after.
Took me about 15 hours to get here, but that’s probably half what it took in the first game. Tho this one has a lot more going on, including a whole other path.
At the Taylor Swift movie thing, and the best part so far is they’re just playing her music and showing album pics instead of the usual loud commercial preroll. Also promising no trailers. Can we get Taylor Swift to bully AMC into doing this for everything please?
October 3, 2025 at 6:52 PM
At the Taylor Swift movie thing, and the best part so far is they’re just playing her music and showing album pics instead of the usual loud commercial preroll. Also promising no trailers. Can we get Taylor Swift to bully AMC into doing this for everything please?
It's also completely inaccurate. "Wrote me a song saying it makes you sick to see my face."
Uh, no she didn't. That's not what it says. At all. The song is about feeling irrationally insecure next to someone like Taylor - which means it isn't actually about Taylor.
Uh, no she didn't. That's not what it says. At all. The song is about feeling irrationally insecure next to someone like Taylor - which means it isn't actually about Taylor.
October 2, 2025 at 4:49 PM
It's also completely inaccurate. "Wrote me a song saying it makes you sick to see my face."
Uh, no she didn't. That's not what it says. At all. The song is about feeling irrationally insecure next to someone like Taylor - which means it isn't actually about Taylor.
Uh, no she didn't. That's not what it says. At all. The song is about feeling irrationally insecure next to someone like Taylor - which means it isn't actually about Taylor.
This entire affair has been a potent object lesson in how calling Trump’s bluff actually works (and in the power of public pressure). Much of what these bastards are doing is evil and dangerous, but our power to fight back is much much greater than many of us (myself included) have assumed.
September 26, 2025 at 9:56 PM
This entire affair has been a potent object lesson in how calling Trump’s bluff actually works (and in the power of public pressure). Much of what these bastards are doing is evil and dangerous, but our power to fight back is much much greater than many of us (myself included) have assumed.
Wholly inconsequential complaint, but the new dock icon for Final Cut Pro in MacOS 26 is distractingly bad. They've closed the clapboard and flattened the 3D effect, so it looks like a cheap knockoff. Unless you zoom in like I have here, it's actually hard to tell it's even a clapboard anymore.
September 25, 2025 at 3:18 PM
Wholly inconsequential complaint, but the new dock icon for Final Cut Pro in MacOS 26 is distractingly bad. They've closed the clapboard and flattened the 3D effect, so it looks like a cheap knockoff. Unless you zoom in like I have here, it's actually hard to tell it's even a clapboard anymore.
Looks like the English title is indeed Yakuza 3, and not using “Like a Dragon.” You could say this is keeping the Kiryu games separate from the Ichiban games…except Man Who Erased His Name was called “Like a Dragon” (and Kiryu is in Infinite Wealth). Interesting!
September 24, 2025 at 3:25 AM
Looks like the English title is indeed Yakuza 3, and not using “Like a Dragon.” You could say this is keeping the Kiryu games separate from the Ichiban games…except Man Who Erased His Name was called “Like a Dragon” (and Kiryu is in Infinite Wealth). Interesting!