Otis Wheeler
@owheeler.bsky.social
Here to write things that don’t matter in a place no one looks. Poptimism, vulgar auteurism and sabermetrics are the same.
Reposted by Otis Wheeler
65 years ago on Nov. 14, little Ruby Bridges was escorted into an all-white elementary school in New Orleans. Norman Rockwell, renowned for blissful depictions of Americana, did this remarkable painting for Look magazine. Printed as a double page, over-size spread, it's his masterpiece.
November 15, 2025 at 3:02 PM
65 years ago on Nov. 14, little Ruby Bridges was escorted into an all-white elementary school in New Orleans. Norman Rockwell, renowned for blissful depictions of Americana, did this remarkable painting for Look magazine. Printed as a double page, over-size spread, it's his masterpiece.
Reposted by Otis Wheeler
Some inspiring words on cinema in the streaming era from the Pope.
Yes, THAT Pope.
Yes, THAT Pope.
November 15, 2025 at 4:26 PM
Some inspiring words on cinema in the streaming era from the Pope.
Yes, THAT Pope.
Yes, THAT Pope.
My mom watched S01 as it aired but I was 9 & only caught snippets. As soon as I could drive, I rented the whole series on VHS from a video store 30 minutes away, and rewatched parts of it when it came out on DVD. Notoriously, the pilot wasn’t included in either release, so I didn’t see it until 2014
I was lucky enough to watch #TwinPeaks in the order it came out but for many, the first two seasons were hard to come by so #FireWalkWithMe was their introduction.
Not until the show hit Netflix and released on DVD did it take off again.
How did you first find "Twin Peaks"?
Not until the show hit Netflix and released on DVD did it take off again.
How did you first find "Twin Peaks"?
a sign on the side of a road welcomes people to twin peaks
ALT: a sign on the side of a road welcomes people to twin peaks
media.tenor.com
November 14, 2025 at 9:56 PM
My mom watched S01 as it aired but I was 9 & only caught snippets. As soon as I could drive, I rented the whole series on VHS from a video store 30 minutes away, and rewatched parts of it when it came out on DVD. Notoriously, the pilot wasn’t included in either release, so I didn’t see it until 2014
PTU: rich, funny, theatrical, mannerist. The first Johnnie To movie I didn’t just admire but loved, with arguably the defining role for Lam Suet, the greatest supporting actor since Walter Brennan. Endlessly rewatchable.
November 8, 2025 at 7:33 AM
PTU: rich, funny, theatrical, mannerist. The first Johnnie To movie I didn’t just admire but loved, with arguably the defining role for Lam Suet, the greatest supporting actor since Walter Brennan. Endlessly rewatchable.
The Fishing Place (2024, Rob Tregenza) eluded me as narrative but the photography sure hits
November 7, 2025 at 6:07 AM
The Fishing Place (2024, Rob Tregenza) eluded me as narrative but the photography sure hits
I’m two ★★★★ Letterboxd logs of late Linklater or Assayas away from admitting I like the movie equivalent of soft rock
November 5, 2025 at 10:02 PM
I’m two ★★★★ Letterboxd logs of late Linklater or Assayas away from admitting I like the movie equivalent of soft rock
The most confusing things to me about dating are when they've never heard of cross-contamination, and when they don't believe clicking on a trackpad with your thumb is a thing. Plus everything else
October 29, 2025 at 2:50 AM
The most confusing things to me about dating are when they've never heard of cross-contamination, and when they don't believe clicking on a trackpad with your thumb is a thing. Plus everything else
Sorry to post this at 9pm when Bluesky is tumbleweeds but everyone should know that Abel Ferrara narrates his new memoir on audiobook. He even pronounces the words
www.audible.com/pd/Scene-Aud...
www.audible.com/pd/Scene-Aud...
Scene
Check out this great listen on Audible.com. A kaleidoscopic memoir by acclaimed filmmaker Abel Ferrara, director of the cult classic films Bad Lieutenant, King of New York, and Dangerous Game, offerin...
www.audible.com
October 24, 2025 at 1:14 AM
Sorry to post this at 9pm when Bluesky is tumbleweeds but everyone should know that Abel Ferrara narrates his new memoir on audiobook. He even pronounces the words
www.audible.com/pd/Scene-Aud...
www.audible.com/pd/Scene-Aud...
History's littered with beautiful ideas for movies that never got made—Soderbergh's conclusion to Star Wars is the latest—but Abel Ferrara saying on Conan in '96 that he wants to do "Cheers with a little T&A" and ACTUALLY DOING IT 10 yrs later kinda makes up for all of them
youtu.be/aY7yyhjOXWw?...
youtu.be/aY7yyhjOXWw?...
Abel Ferrara On "Late Night With Conan O'Brien" 10/23/96 | Late Night with Conan O’Brien
YouTube video by Conan O'Brien
youtu.be
October 23, 2025 at 6:06 PM
History's littered with beautiful ideas for movies that never got made—Soderbergh's conclusion to Star Wars is the latest—but Abel Ferrara saying on Conan in '96 that he wants to do "Cheers with a little T&A" and ACTUALLY DOING IT 10 yrs later kinda makes up for all of them
youtu.be/aY7yyhjOXWw?...
youtu.be/aY7yyhjOXWw?...
Reposted by Otis Wheeler
Parents, please check your kids’ candy this Halloween. I’ve just found an ancient metal whistle with the inscription “QUIS EST ISTE QUI VENIT" inside a Snickers bar. I blew it and heard a note of infinite distance, and now I’m haunted by a figure in pale, fluttering draperies. Be safe.
October 22, 2025 at 8:13 PM
Parents, please check your kids’ candy this Halloween. I’ve just found an ancient metal whistle with the inscription “QUIS EST ISTE QUI VENIT" inside a Snickers bar. I blew it and heard a note of infinite distance, and now I’m haunted by a figure in pale, fluttering draperies. Be safe.
"I haven't thought much about parades tbh" such an iconic answer that Cuomo immediately tries to pilfer it
saw this clip of the NYC mayor debate and i had tears in my eyes, perhaps the most insane section of any debate ever
October 17, 2025 at 8:15 PM
"I haven't thought much about parades tbh" such an iconic answer that Cuomo immediately tries to pilfer it
In order to watch Emergency Kisses, a Philippe Garrel movie I'd never seen, in 1080p, I had to subscribe to UniversCiné, rent the movie, dl English subtitles, convert the subs from 25fps to 24, find a website that could overlay SRT on streaming video, and correct for drift. I just love streaming
October 17, 2025 at 7:40 PM
In order to watch Emergency Kisses, a Philippe Garrel movie I'd never seen, in 1080p, I had to subscribe to UniversCiné, rent the movie, dl English subtitles, convert the subs from 25fps to 24, find a website that could overlay SRT on streaming video, and correct for drift. I just love streaming
The bonsai-trimming episode in Safdie's remake of The Smashing Machine is a highlight but the way it pales next to its wordless counterpart from Hyams' original speaks to the dangers of transposing work from a minor to a major key
October 6, 2025 at 4:42 AM
The bonsai-trimming episode in Safdie's remake of The Smashing Machine is a highlight but the way it pales next to its wordless counterpart from Hyams' original speaks to the dangers of transposing work from a minor to a major key
This Clint bio is readable as summary, worthless as judgment. Why aren’t biographies written by critics, instead of hacks? We need more bios by people like Tag Gallagher, Bernard Eisenschitz, and Dan Nadel, less by journalists who purport to have taste and lack imagination
September 29, 2025 at 7:11 PM
This Clint bio is readable as summary, worthless as judgment. Why aren’t biographies written by critics, instead of hacks? We need more bios by people like Tag Gallagher, Bernard Eisenschitz, and Dan Nadel, less by journalists who purport to have taste and lack imagination
If Sergio Leone were alive today, he’d still only be a year older than Clint Eastwood
September 22, 2025 at 2:36 PM
If Sergio Leone were alive today, he’d still only be a year older than Clint Eastwood
Please everyone stop befouling this good news with frames from Don’t Look Up
Martin Scorsese will next direct WHAT HAPPENS AT NIGHT, an adaptation of Peter Cameron‘s 2020 horror mystery novel.
Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Lawrence are set to star.
Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Lawrence are set to star.
Martin Scorsese to Adapt Horror Novel ‘What Happens at Night’ with Leonardo DiCaprio & Jennifer Lawrence
Martin Scorsese will next direct What Happens at Night, an adaptation of Peter Cameron‘s 2020 horror mystery novel, Deadline reports. Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Lawrence are set to star in the fil...
bloody-disgusting.com
September 21, 2025 at 4:55 PM
Please everyone stop befouling this good news with frames from Don’t Look Up
Reposted by Otis Wheeler
At any given moment I am thinking about these photos of Sally Eilers filming Walls of Gold in 1933.
September 11, 2025 at 12:16 AM
At any given moment I am thinking about these photos of Sally Eilers filming Walls of Gold in 1933.
“If I face a film that just delivers the message without leaving me the freedom to form my own perspective, I stay outside.”
For Drunk for Life, we continue our series of @critikat.bsky.social translations with an interview with Cahiers critic Alice Leroy.
drunkforlife.substack.com/p/translatio...
drunkforlife.substack.com/p/translatio...
Translation - Critical Perspectives #4 - Alice Leroy, The Object and the Problem
An interview with the critic Alice Leroy
drunkforlife.substack.com
September 9, 2025 at 11:53 PM
“If I face a film that just delivers the message without leaving me the freedom to form my own perspective, I stay outside.”
The Tracking Shot in Kapo but it’s just about Mike Figgis making Megadoc
September 9, 2025 at 5:23 PM
The Tracking Shot in Kapo but it’s just about Mike Figgis making Megadoc
This past week's p0ptimism discourse has been thoughtful and these posts from Frank are especially articulate. One angle I haven't seen this round is, what did p0ptimism mean to you?
As a teen in the 90s, I didn't know I was nb, queer or neurodivergent. /1
As a teen in the 90s, I didn't know I was nb, queer or neurodivergent. /1
I don't *deeply* disagree with what you're all saying, but we need to understand the concern of someone who cares about whether someone writes their own song, not dismiss it. We often don't feel like the authors of our own lives, and we want our stars to demonstrate an integrity we've lost. /1
September 6, 2025 at 3:21 PM
This past week's p0ptimism discourse has been thoughtful and these posts from Frank are especially articulate. One angle I haven't seen this round is, what did p0ptimism mean to you?
As a teen in the 90s, I didn't know I was nb, queer or neurodivergent. /1
As a teen in the 90s, I didn't know I was nb, queer or neurodivergent. /1
Really enjoyed the Generation Taylor ep of Switched on Pop for giving me vocab to talk about Swift's songwriting: minimal (stepwise) melodies w/perfect prosody, T Drops (a minor 2nd into a descending 5th etc). And for talking about Maisie Peters out loud. That's a first. What next, Claire Rosinkranz
August 30, 2025 at 3:52 PM
Really enjoyed the Generation Taylor ep of Switched on Pop for giving me vocab to talk about Swift's songwriting: minimal (stepwise) melodies w/perfect prosody, T Drops (a minor 2nd into a descending 5th etc). And for talking about Maisie Peters out loud. That's a first. What next, Claire Rosinkranz
Forget whether or not critics are mean enough anymore, what about Borges via Pierre Menard:
“Censure and praise are sentimental operations which have nothing to do literary criticism.”
“Censure and praise are sentimental operations which have nothing to do literary criticism.”
August 29, 2025 at 1:35 PM
Forget whether or not critics are mean enough anymore, what about Borges via Pierre Menard:
“Censure and praise are sentimental operations which have nothing to do literary criticism.”
“Censure and praise are sentimental operations which have nothing to do literary criticism.”
New Jen Cohen is rich, discursive, a lovely bummer. What a gift it is that old friends like Michael Stipe, Patti Smith and Guy Picciotti are in a position to help him get pictures like this* made.
*as if anyone is making pictures like this, as if Robert Kramer had grown up with Dischord and lived
*as if anyone is making pictures like this, as if Robert Kramer had grown up with Dischord and lived
August 26, 2025 at 5:20 PM
New Jen Cohen is rich, discursive, a lovely bummer. What a gift it is that old friends like Michael Stipe, Patti Smith and Guy Picciotti are in a position to help him get pictures like this* made.
*as if anyone is making pictures like this, as if Robert Kramer had grown up with Dischord and lived
*as if anyone is making pictures like this, as if Robert Kramer had grown up with Dischord and lived
I think we can all agree James Gray was better before he went prestige but returning to his roots to make a story about brothers tangling with Russian Mafia in Queens–w/Driver, Teller & ScarJo–is the most excited I’ve been for one of his movies in a minute
August 20, 2025 at 5:23 PM
I think we can all agree James Gray was better before he went prestige but returning to his roots to make a story about brothers tangling with Russian Mafia in Queens–w/Driver, Teller & ScarJo–is the most excited I’ve been for one of his movies in a minute
Unpopular (?) opinion(s): Fay Grim is the great Parker Posey movie. Dutch angles are funny
August 17, 2025 at 3:03 PM
Unpopular (?) opinion(s): Fay Grim is the great Parker Posey movie. Dutch angles are funny