130: September 2025

I blinked, and September is over. Going to TIFF was a whirlwind experience, and I'm so glad I was able to do it. I've thought about it in the past, but never seriously. Thanks to a generous grant from Rotten Tomatoes and the encouragement from my editor Kevin over at Seeing & Believing, I was able to attend. After what's felt like a relatively mid summer for movies, TIFF was a balm. I liked quite a few movies from the festival, and I came back excited for the end of the year.

I'll be attending the Chicago International Film Festival this upcoming month as well. If you're in town and going to any screenings, please say hi!

What I wrote:

For Seeing & Believing, I of course covered the Toronto International Film Festival. In-depth reviews of some of these films are to come, but if you'd like first impressions of Hamnet and Wake Up Dead Man, among others, you can find that coverage here.

I also reviewed Highest 2 Lowest, A Big Bold Beautiful Journey, and One Battle After Another for Seeing & Believing.

For Bright Wall/Dark Room's Teachers issue, I wrote a Double Feature column about Magic Mike and Road House (1989). When I pitched this idea to my editor, he first replied, "Oh wow," and then told me he's always wanted to get a piece about Road House up on BW/DR. So I wrote it! It was a fun piece to write!

What I talked about:

The fine folks over at The Fear of God podcast had me and my friend Joe George on to talk about Final Destination 2, which I've dubbed "Intrusive Thoughts: The Movie!" As always, fun conversation with some good pals.