Stephen Berg
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stephenberg2.bsky.social
Stephen Berg
@stephenberg2.bsky.social
280 followers 420 following 1.2K posts
Better than a sharp stick in the eye.
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I know there's a lot of love for Strange Days, so I wanted to point out that it's showing in 35mm at BAM later this month. #filmsky
Strange Days Fri. Nov 21 at 7pm Tue. Nov 25 at 7pm Bassett plays a bodyguard and driver for an ex-cop in Kathryn Bigelow's cyber-punk thriller. Screening in 35mm
November 10, 2025 at 11:19 PM
stephenberg2.bsky.social
He's got my vote!
Picture of Brad Lander with accompanying text: "Brad Lander at the victory party and, folks, he has the custom one-of-one 'GOOD FUCKING RIDDANCE' shirt."
November 5, 2025 at 4:39 AM
stephenberg2.bsky.social
Today would have been the birthday of fantastic photographer Walker Evans. Seriously, look him up if you're not familiar.
Photo of three workmen loading a truck with a sign made of giant letters reading DAMAGED.
November 3, 2025 at 10:39 PM
stephenberg2.bsky.social
Dunno what this is doing on MUBI, of all places, but it's certainly worth your time if'n you have that service. #filmsky
Popeye steering a boat, with the text: POPEYE THE SAILOR MEETS SINDBAD THE SAILOR Dave Fleischer, 1936 Adapted to the screen by Fleischer Studios, Popeye was able to surpass Walt Disney’s Mickey Mouse at the 1930s box office and still remains an ingenious animated series. The only episode in the series to receive a nomination at the Academy Awards, this short is an adventurous feat of animation.
October 30, 2025 at 6:10 PM
stephenberg2.bsky.social
Seen online:
Corey Robin If you're supporting Mamdani, this stat from the weekend of early voting should get you off of your tuchus: "As of the second day of early voting, City Council districts in the Upper East and Upper West Sides have the highest turnout.” The Upper East Side and Upper West Side were areas of strong Cuomo support during the primary back in June, so we've got to get all those people in Brooklyn and Queens who are supporting Mamdani out to vote, now. Also, the article says the highest turnout so far has been among Boomers and Gen Xers. Again, the olds—and I include myself in that category—are Cuomo Country. So, again, get off your tuchus and make sure everyone you know who is younger than I am votes for Mamdani. Now! And don't be shy about sharing this because the initial news is not great. We have more than a week before actual Election Day, and plenty of time to get the votes that we know are out there.
October 27, 2025 at 9:38 PM
stephenberg2.bsky.social
Just look at all the Werner Herzogs on The Criterion Channel starting in November!
FEATURING: Signs of Life (1968), Even Dwarfs Started Small (1970), Fata Morgana (1971), Land of Silence And Darkness (1971), Aguirre, the Wrath of God (1972), The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser (1974), The Great Ecstasy of Woodcarver Steiner (1974), Heart of Glass (1976), How Much Wood Would a Woodchuck Chuck? (1976), Stroszek (1977), Nosferatu the Vampyre (1979), Woyzeck (1979), God’s Angry Man (1981), Huie’s Sermon (1981), Fitzcarraldo (1982), Ballad of the Little Soldier (1984), Where the Green Ants Dream (1984), The Dark Glow of the Mountains (1985), Cobra Verde (1987), Herdsmen of the Sun (1989), Echoes from a Somber Empire (1990), Lessons of Darkness (1992), Little Dieter Needs to Fly (1997), My Best Fiend (1999), Wheel of Time (2003), Grizzly Man (2005), The Wild Blue Yonder (2005), Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans (2009)*, My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done (2009) COMING JANUARY 1: Queen of the Desert (2015)
October 16, 2025 at 6:27 PM
stephenberg2.bsky.social
Billboard that used to be up in Brooklyn. #booksky
Drawing of a bald tattooed guy with a goatee reading a book to a child on his lap. They are in a room, surrounded by piles of books. A banner saying READ MORE BOOKS is on the wall behind them.
October 13, 2025 at 5:16 PM
stephenberg2.bsky.social
The mighty Thelonius Monk's birthday today.
Photo of Thelonius Monk, with his hands on the keyboard reflected in the lenses of his sunglasses.
October 10, 2025 at 8:07 PM
stephenberg2.bsky.social
“He had never liked October. Ever since he had first lay in the autumn leaves before his grandmother's house many years ago and heard the wind and saw the empty trees. It had made him cry, without a reason. And a little of that sadness returned each year to him. It always went away with spring. "But, it was a little different tonight. There was a feeling of autumn coming to last a million years. "There would be no spring." ― from "The October Game" by Ray Bradbury
October 2, 2025 at 4:04 AM
stephenberg2.bsky.social
Tom Waits' "Rain Dogs" was released 40 years ago today. What a tracklist:
The cover of "Rain Dogs" with this tracklist: 01. Singapore 02. Clap Hands 03. Cemetery Polka 04. Jockey Full of Bourbon 05. Tango Till They're Sore 06. Big Black Mariah 07. Diamonds & Gold 08. Hang Down Your Head 09. Time 10. Rain Dogs 11. Midtown 12. Ninth & Hennepin 13. Gun Street Girl 14. Union Square 15. Blind Love 16. Walking Spanish 17. Downtown Train 18. Bride of a Rain Dog 19. Anywhere I Lay My Head
September 30, 2025 at 10:24 PM
stephenberg2.bsky.social
The hands of pianist Glenn Gould.
The hands of pianist Glenn Gould. He’s wearing fingerless wool gloves.
September 28, 2025 at 5:51 PM
stephenberg2.bsky.social
OMG, Colbert brought back the "real" Stephen Colbert tonight. I fear his show won't even last till it's supposed to come off the air.
Stephen Colbert as Stephen Colbert, holding his finger to his lips. Text on-screen reads THE WORD and Shhhhhh!
September 19, 2025 at 4:05 AM
stephenberg2.bsky.social
Would have been Peter Falk's birthday today. I am convinced he was the Buddha. Here he is with Bruno Ganz in "Wings of Desire."
Peter Falk and Bruno Ganz in Wings of Desire, with the caption of Falk saying, "To smoke, to have coffee...and if you do it together, it's fantastic."
September 16, 2025 at 8:34 PM
stephenberg2.bsky.social
Image of a Village Voice cover showing a hand holding a postcard showing the Twin Towers. The postcard is held up against the NYC skyline, superimposing where the towers used to be. The caption at the top reads "Wish You Were Here."
September 11, 2025 at 6:59 PM
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This Be The Verse By Philip Larkin They fuck you up, your mum and dad. They may not mean to, but they do. They fill you with the faults they had And add some extra, just for you. But they were fucked up in their turn By fools in old-style hats and coats, Who half the time were soppy-stern And half at one another’s throats. Man hands on misery to man. It deepens like a coastal shelf. Get out as early as you can, And don’t have any kids yourself.
September 3, 2025 at 5:25 PM
stephenberg2.bsky.social
Happy Labor Day.
Sally Field in "Norma Rae," holding up a sign that reads "UNION."
September 1, 2025 at 7:30 PM
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4K restoration of "Diva" now playing at NYC's IFC Center. To open in a few other cities soon. www.rialtopictures.com/catalogue/diva
August 22, 2025 at 10:55 PM
stephenberg2.bsky.social
An old favorite:
A needlepoint of a bird with the words "birdwatching goes both ways."
August 22, 2025 at 6:40 PM
stephenberg2.bsky.social
Happy would-have-been birthday, Joe Strummer!
Graffiti on a wall reading "Il Futuro Non e Scritto."
August 21, 2025 at 7:03 PM
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One of their new ones featured here, "Sanctuary":
Lyrics to "Sanctuary": Lightly pound the tin plate hearts, shining with regret Miles and climates we passed through, like friends we never met I am taking you home, now I am leading you on Looking down from the hills on somewhere that we might belong Jesus on a chain-link fence hanging in the sun Rusty iron with cactus blooms in the wilderness In the blood of Christ Mountains, shoes for tiny feet At the end of the road we stumble on sanctuary This dead land is our monument rising up and round Dusty dry to brush the sky and shade the sacrеd ground And our eyes and feet follow one tiny shining hand Through a crack in thе earth, down to the Rio Grande
August 12, 2025 at 8:23 PM
stephenberg2.bsky.social
From Facebook:
Facebook post that reads: Real discussion that just happened: CNN: Hey Dave it's CNN. Could you come on to talk about the death of Hulk Hogan? Me: Sure! CNN: What would you want to cover? Me: Let's see.... Hulk Hogan was a racist anti-union scab and a liar. He hated unions, Black people, and the truth and that's why he loved Donald Trump. He also covered up for rapist and sex trafficker Vince McMahon, the husband of the current Education Secretary. Both McMahons, terrible human beings, will no doubt be front and center mourning his death. And, wildly, TODAY is the ten year anniversary of the public release of recorded tapes where he went on an n-word laded tirade. I guess that's what clinched his speaking spot at the RNC. That's his legacy and that's what I would discuss.... So what time do you want me at the studio? CNN: OK Great! Well.... so we'll keep looking but thanks for taking to time to talk. Me: Ok good to talk. One last thing: he really led a horrifying life -a real American scumbag - and I hope your reporting reflects tha- [phone goes click] So long, Terry. You made some iconic memories and then shit all over them. I'm sure CNN will cover the first part.
July 24, 2025 at 5:12 PM
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RIP Ozzy.
Ozzy Osbourne in a Black Sabbath T-shirt, with his pants down, sitting on a toilet with a drink in one hand and a cigarette in the other. He's got wide eyes and a manic smile.
July 22, 2025 at 7:33 PM
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Illustration by Aïda Amer.
Illustration of an American flag. The stars are a chain link fence and the stripes are barbed wire.
July 5, 2025 at 4:13 AM
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Flag, Epstein Furniture, Holyoke, Massachusetts, 2000, by Mitch Epstein
July 4, 2025 at 3:52 AM
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Cold Water Directed by Olivier Assayas • 1994 • France An acclaimed early work by Olivier Assayas, the long-unavailable, deeply felt coming-of-age drama COLD WATER can at last be seen in the United States. Drawing from his own youthful experiences, Assayas revisits the outskirts of Paris in the early 1970s, telling the story of teenage lovers Gilles (Cyprien Fouquet) and Christine (Virginie Ledoyen), whose rebellions against family and society threaten to tear them apart. The visceral realism of the movie’s narrative and the near experimentalism of its camera work come together effortlessly thanks in part to a rock soundtrack that vividly evokes the period. COLD WATER, whose centerpiece is one of the most memorable party sequences ever committed to film, is a heartbreaking immersion in the emotional tumult of being young.
June 11, 2025 at 9:57 PM