Courtney Howard
@lulamaybelle.bsky.social
🍅meter-approved film critic/ journo.
Member: LA Film Critics Association, Critics Choice Association
Writer: Variety, The AV Club, FreshFiction.tv.
Never met a dachshund I haven’t liked.
Member: LA Film Critics Association, Critics Choice Association
Writer: Variety, The AV Club, FreshFiction.tv.
Never met a dachshund I haven’t liked.
#TheChronologyOfWater: There’s no one better than filmmaker Kristen Stewart & star Imogen Poots to balance the harsh, devastating & visceral overtones of Lydia Yuknavitch’s prickly memoir with kinetic insight, raw honesty & precise technical acuity. Bold, daring & affecting.
November 29, 2025 at 11:39 PM
#TheChronologyOfWater: There’s no one better than filmmaker Kristen Stewart & star Imogen Poots to balance the harsh, devastating & visceral overtones of Lydia Yuknavitch’s prickly memoir with kinetic insight, raw honesty & precise technical acuity. Bold, daring & affecting.
Revisiting #AvatarTheWayOfWater and sobbing all over again when Payakan saves Lo’ak and they become best friends. 🥹😭
November 29, 2025 at 6:35 AM
Revisiting #AvatarTheWayOfWater and sobbing all over again when Payakan saves Lo’ak and they become best friends. 🥹😭
happy who abandoned snoopy in the vestibule day
November 27, 2025 at 8:04 AM
happy who abandoned snoopy in the vestibule day
#GoodbyeJune: Congrats, ScarJo! Kate Winslet made a worse directorial debut than you this year.
November 26, 2025 at 5:37 AM
#GoodbyeJune: Congrats, ScarJo! Kate Winslet made a worse directorial debut than you this year.
I dug Edward Berger’s BALLAD OF A SMALL PLAYER - a tale of fatal instincts & harsh consequences. The 2nd half moves with laser-focus. A sweaty, squirrelly & sickly Collin Farrell delivers a taut performance. Tilda Swinton & Fala Chen enter, each just jumping off the top rope.
November 25, 2025 at 10:54 PM
I dug Edward Berger’s BALLAD OF A SMALL PLAYER - a tale of fatal instincts & harsh consequences. The 2nd half moves with laser-focus. A sweaty, squirrelly & sickly Collin Farrell delivers a taut performance. Tilda Swinton & Fala Chen enter, each just jumping off the top rope.
Vanity Fair has a great hour-long video interview with James Cameron, where he talks about all his films. Love hearing his conversations with Leonardo DiCaprio about his initial trepidation playing Jack in TITANIC.
“It’s about holding the center.”
“It’s about holding the center.”
November 25, 2025 at 3:21 AM
Vanity Fair has a great hour-long video interview with James Cameron, where he talks about all his films. Love hearing his conversations with Leonardo DiCaprio about his initial trepidation playing Jack in TITANIC.
“It’s about holding the center.”
“It’s about holding the center.”
Udo Kier was a legend who always gave nothing less than a memorable performance in whatever film he was in. One of my favorites of his is SWAN SONG where he delivers all the emotional notes with vibrancy & vulnerability. He’s also terrific as a bitchy wedding planner in MELANCHOLIA. #RIPUdoKier
November 24, 2025 at 3:31 AM
Udo Kier was a legend who always gave nothing less than a memorable performance in whatever film he was in. One of my favorites of his is SWAN SONG where he delivers all the emotional notes with vibrancy & vulnerability. He’s also terrific as a bitchy wedding planner in MELANCHOLIA. #RIPUdoKier
SPRINGSTEEN: DELIVER ME FROM NOWHERE: This movie is very much “Bruce Springsteen has to think about his whole life before he plays.” A movie full of cosplay. 👎👎
November 23, 2025 at 5:10 AM
SPRINGSTEEN: DELIVER ME FROM NOWHERE: This movie is very much “Bruce Springsteen has to think about his whole life before he plays.” A movie full of cosplay. 👎👎
Y’all are laughing at Elphaba’s “sex cardigan” as if Anthropologie isn’t currently planning to sell that thing for $140 and people will buy it. #WickedForGood
November 22, 2025 at 11:13 PM
Y’all are laughing at Elphaba’s “sex cardigan” as if Anthropologie isn’t currently planning to sell that thing for $140 and people will buy it. #WickedForGood
It’s the most wonderful time of the year when Warner Brothers Studios install their ginormous FYC posters. These are all the perfect stills from the scenes that struck a resonant chord: Fathers & daughters… & kooky, sinister relatives.
@warnerbrospictures.bsky.social
@warnerbrospictures.bsky.social
November 22, 2025 at 7:41 PM
It’s the most wonderful time of the year when Warner Brothers Studios install their ginormous FYC posters. These are all the perfect stills from the scenes that struck a resonant chord: Fathers & daughters… & kooky, sinister relatives.
@warnerbrospictures.bsky.social
@warnerbrospictures.bsky.social
Mamoru Hosoda’s #Scarlet / #ScarletMovie has a helluva Act 1 (hot dayum does it!) and certainly is gorgeously animated throughout. However, the middle meanders when the gender-swapped spin on Shakespeare needed to be tighter. Contains solid sentiments on forgiveness vs. revenge.
November 22, 2025 at 4:57 PM
Mamoru Hosoda’s #Scarlet / #ScarletMovie has a helluva Act 1 (hot dayum does it!) and certainly is gorgeously animated throughout. However, the middle meanders when the gender-swapped spin on Shakespeare needed to be tighter. Contains solid sentiments on forgiveness vs. revenge.
#TrainDreams is now on #Netflix - and it’s one of this year’s best films. It’s a perfect film, housing a deeply layered, guttingly poignant score that’s rapturous on vinyl. I dropped the needle on Nic Cave’s title track & began sobbing. Composer Bryce Dessner outdid himself.
November 21, 2025 at 7:23 PM
#TrainDreams is now on #Netflix - and it’s one of this year’s best films. It’s a perfect film, housing a deeply layered, guttingly poignant score that’s rapturous on vinyl. I dropped the needle on Nic Cave’s title track & began sobbing. Composer Bryce Dessner outdid himself.
Every item in the #JayKelly FYC box is perfect for my film loving heart. The cozy All My Memories Are Movies sweatshirt is exactly how I mark my memories - Adam Sandler movies, specifically. Nicholas Britell’s vibrant score sounds lavish on wax. Screaming over the IYKYK blu disc photo.
November 20, 2025 at 8:07 PM
Every item in the #JayKelly FYC box is perfect for my film loving heart. The cozy All My Memories Are Movies sweatshirt is exactly how I mark my memories - Adam Sandler movies, specifically. Nicholas Britell’s vibrant score sounds lavish on wax. Screaming over the IYKYK blu disc photo.
James L. Brooks’ #EllaMcCay has an exceptional cast finessing unfocused, subpar material. Feels like the script kept changing as they shot, where many scenes negate themselves. Undercooked conflicts, contrived scenarios w/ tissue paper thin connections & poorly drawn characters.
November 19, 2025 at 10:47 PM
James L. Brooks’ #EllaMcCay has an exceptional cast finessing unfocused, subpar material. Feels like the script kept changing as they shot, where many scenes negate themselves. Undercooked conflicts, contrived scenarios w/ tissue paper thin connections & poorly drawn characters.
#Arco: Wonderful world-building, animation and story that touches the heart. Plus, great voice acting from the kids who voiced Arco and Iris.
@neon-rated.bsky.social
@neon-rated.bsky.social
November 19, 2025 at 6:50 PM
#Arco: Wonderful world-building, animation and story that touches the heart. Plus, great voice acting from the kids who voiced Arco and Iris.
@neon-rated.bsky.social
@neon-rated.bsky.social
BIG DAY for cinema at the Academy Museum Theaters on February 27, 2026! They’re playing Baz Luhrmann’s MOULIN ROUGE on 35mm AND Christopher Nolan’s INTERSTELLAR on 70mm.
November 19, 2025 at 4:20 AM
BIG DAY for cinema at the Academy Museum Theaters on February 27, 2026! They’re playing Baz Luhrmann’s MOULIN ROUGE on 35mm AND Christopher Nolan’s INTERSTELLAR on 70mm.
Wowie Wow! Each year, I’m completely blown away by @neon-rated.bsky.social’s end of the year screener bundle packaging. They’ve topped themselves, once again. Hats off to their designers. It’s their most personalized yet, containing handwritten director’s statement’s & signatures
November 18, 2025 at 8:56 PM
Wowie Wow! Each year, I’m completely blown away by @neon-rated.bsky.social’s end of the year screener bundle packaging. They’ve topped themselves, once again. Hats off to their designers. It’s their most personalized yet, containing handwritten director’s statement’s & signatures
Audiences watching #WickedForGood leading to Jonathan Bailey and Cynthia Erivo’s version of “As Long As You’re Mine” (which even Stephen Schwartz agreed with me is hot)
November 18, 2025 at 6:54 PM
Audiences watching #WickedForGood leading to Jonathan Bailey and Cynthia Erivo’s version of “As Long As You’re Mine” (which even Stephen Schwartz agreed with me is hot)
At the LA premiere of #WakeUpDeadMan at the Academy Museum Theater. I grabbed the Josh O’Connor popcorn box for obvious reasons (it’s Josh O’Connor!).
November 18, 2025 at 2:56 AM
At the LA premiere of #WakeUpDeadMan at the Academy Museum Theater. I grabbed the Josh O’Connor popcorn box for obvious reasons (it’s Josh O’Connor!).
#WickedForGood (3rd time!) in IMAX leveled me. Every tactile detail in its craftsmanship (from the wardrobe textures to the yellow brick road) is rapturous, bewitching & spellbinding. Cynthia Erivo & Ariana Grande’s nuanced vulnerability envelops our eyes, ears & emotions. 💚💖
November 17, 2025 at 7:04 PM
#WickedForGood (3rd time!) in IMAX leveled me. Every tactile detail in its craftsmanship (from the wardrobe textures to the yellow brick road) is rapturous, bewitching & spellbinding. Cynthia Erivo & Ariana Grande’s nuanced vulnerability envelops our eyes, ears & emotions. 💚💖
#SoundtrackSunday: Jonny Greenwood’s #OneBattleAfterAnother score is one of the best of the year. Excited to house the jet black vinyl in my collection. Sounds pristine on wax. There’s no frills on this edition: the music is the star. Love that the inner gatefold is the road.
November 16, 2025 at 8:25 PM
#SoundtrackSunday: Jonny Greenwood’s #OneBattleAfterAnother score is one of the best of the year. Excited to house the jet black vinyl in my collection. Sounds pristine on wax. There’s no frills on this edition: the music is the star. Love that the inner gatefold is the road.
#AfterTheHunt: I can’t believe people flew all the way to Venice to screen this film, whereas I feel completely validated in not leaving my house to watch. Nobody acts like a human in this movie. One of the worst “prestige” titles of the year. Costume designer, innocent.
November 16, 2025 at 6:37 AM
#AfterTheHunt: I can’t believe people flew all the way to Venice to screen this film, whereas I feel completely validated in not leaving my house to watch. Nobody acts like a human in this movie. One of the worst “prestige” titles of the year. Costume designer, innocent.
Gwyneth Paltrow speaking about returning to the Silver Screen in #MartySupreme - jumping at the chance to work with filmmaker Josh Safdie and finding a poignancy & agency within her character - is so important to me. She’s terrific in this film. A guiding force.
November 15, 2025 at 6:22 PM
Gwyneth Paltrow speaking about returning to the Silver Screen in #MartySupreme - jumping at the chance to work with filmmaker Josh Safdie and finding a poignancy & agency within her character - is so important to me. She’s terrific in this film. A guiding force.