Reposted by Blake SimonsThe Film Stage @thefilmstage.com · 24/09/2026Ha-chan, Shake Your Booty! is a true crowdpleaser that carries the rarest maturity about sex, love, grief, and allowing yourself to take life one step at a time. Read @blakethinks.bsky.social's Critic's Pick review: thefilmstage.com/sundance-rev... 0125
Reposted by Blake SimonsShannon Mattern @shannonmattern.bsky.social · 16/09/2026I *hate* this "digital divide" framing for AI; even libraries marshal it to justify their "AI literacy classes," ensuring all have "access" for self-actualization and economic opportunity. Maybe instead some folks are sufficiently literate, and they're instead choosing *principled refusal*. 9690165
Reposted by Blake SimonsLost In Cult @lostincult.co.uk · 15/09/2026Over 40 years of cutting edge cinema. Introducing our (Post)[Culture] premiere, Archive: Shinya Tsukamoto 🎞️ 400 pages. Limited extras. Signed by Tsukamoto himself. Only 500 signed copies available! 🔗🔻 315446
Reposted by Blake SimonsSteven Sloss 🛸 @stevensloss.bsky.social · 26/08/2026Takao Okawara's GODZILLA 2000: MILLENNIUM, the film that kicked off Godzilla's Millennium-era and ushered the King of the Monsters into the 21st century, recieves its long-awaited UK premiere at the Barbican on 30 Aug (encore screening on 22 Sep) 🧬 🎟️: www.barbican.org.uk/whats-on/202... 073
Reposted by Blake SimonsJustin Decloux @declouxj.bsky.social · 27/08/2026I was today year's old when I learned there was an Expendables-esque film that came out featuring a ton of retired Nikkatsu Roman Porno actresses called Fujin Volleyball: Mama's Attack (2003) 2273
Blake Simons @blakethinks.bsky.social · 26/08/2026Over at @lwlies.com, I reviewed CASTRATION MOVIE III.II, a trans film with something for everyonelwlies.comCastration Movie Chapter iii.ii: Junior Ghosts – Premorphic Drift…Louise Weard’s sprawling trans anthology gets its most accessible entry yet with Chapter iii.ii, a bracingly honest, handheld study of a fractured… 031
Reposted by Blake SimonsLittle White Lies @lwlies.com · 25/08/2026Louise Weard’s sprawling trans anthology gets its most accessible entry yet with Chapter iii.ii, a bracingly honest, handheld study of a fractured relationship. Castration Movie Chapter iii.ii review: lwlies.com/reviews/cast...lwlies.comCastration Movie Chapter iii.ii: Junior Ghosts – Premorphic Drift…Louise Weard’s sprawling trans anthology gets its most accessible entry yet with Chapter iii.ii, a bracingly honest, handheld study of a fractured… 063
Reposted by Blake SimonsSight and Sound magazine @sightsoundmag.bsky.social · 20/08/2026“Wise, kind, and playful about sex and cinema, Schoenbrun’s elastic, open-hearted feature wants us to get out of our heads and enjoy the ride” Blake Simons reviews Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma, in UK cinemas tomorrow. www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-so...bfi.org.ukTeenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma reviewThe American director’s third narrative feature explores the relationship between the spectator and the spectated with a meta story of a young director who has been tasked with reviving a cult horror ... 0135
Reposted by Blake SimonsJosh Slater-Williams @jslaterwilliams.bsky.social · 19/08/2026Waiting for one of the coolest interviews I've ever done to be published this week 121
Reposted by Blake Simonspriscilla page @priscillapage.bsky.social · 19/08/2026followers/mutuals who've worked in physical media: have you ever heard of a blu-ray label paying their contributors with *just* a contributor blu copy, not actual $? is this a thing? I don't want to be messy about it but I was just informed after I wrote and submitted an essay and it feels...bad 241348
Reposted by Blake SimonsBeijingPalmer @beijingpalmer.bsky.social · 17/08/2026the entire Chinese internet has embraced what's basically a work of outsider art; a terribly animated film about a cow's dream made by a mother-son team and distributed by a former interior decoration company. It's now made millions at the box office. 131990589
Blake Simons @blakethinks.bsky.social · 30/07/2026Toei is 70! Happy birthday Toei! Coincidentally, they've launched a new in-house animation production brand, Eterna. I spoke with them about it for @cartoonbrew.bsky.socialcartoonbrew.comToei’s ETERNA Animation Debuts With ‘Foxing: Kitsuné-Tsuki’Director Takeru Shinozuka and producer Yoshihide Moriyama discuss Toei’s new label for original filmmaking and developing new anime talent. 041
Blake Simons @blakethinks.bsky.social · 30/07/2026I spoke with Suzu Hirose, in a career-spanning interview for @japantimes.co.jp She reflects on working with Hirokazu Kore-eda, Lee Sang-il, Shunji Iwai, and Hideki Noda; the differences between stage and screen acting; and the power of period dramasjapantimes.co.jpSuzu Hirose is ready to ‘step into the unknown’The 28-year-old actor looks back on her formative experiences with some of the most acclaimed contemporary Japanese directors. 062
Reposted by Blake SimonsAlan Allport @alanallport.bsky.social · 28/07/2026If your Python be Palin Or Idle, clean sailin’ If your Python be Cleese Or Gilliam, jeez. 116947
Reposted by Blake SimonsEMILY WILSON @emilyrcwilson.bsky.social · 27/07/202612. Beyond anything about the film as a film, it was a terrible and entirely unnecessary choice to film the Trojan Horse sequence in occupied Dakhla, Western Sahara, without the consent of the indigenous population. 232969380
Reposted by Blake SimonsEMILY WILSON @emilyrcwilson.bsky.social · 27/07/202610. Whatever one thinks of the film as a work of art, it's doing some good in the world, by generating big conversations, bringing new audiences to the cinema, and new readers to ancient literature. I hope it helps save the humanities. 122342172
Reposted by Blake SimonsJayce @jayceb.bsky.social · 21/07/2026The fact that he’s so dripped out lmao 22310
Reposted by Blake Simonschrista lee @ohpoorpup.bsky.social · 21/07/2026The more you explore the history of anime, manga, Japanese games history, the more you are confronted with the fact that MANY of the forms’ most potent innovations sprang out of and could not have existed without pornography. It’s integral to and inextricable from these histories 4743581268
Blake Simons @blakethinks.bsky.social · 08/07/2026I spoke with John Waters for the BFI We discussed Italian dubbing, trans representation, Criterion canonisation, and the death of exploitation cinemabfi.org.ukJohn Waters on restoring Hairspray and Desperate Living: “The mistakes are part of the charm”His biggest popular success and one of his darkest comedies are arriving in the Criterion Collection at the same time. We spoke to Waters to hear why “The very fact that Desperate Living is in 4K is f... 173
Blake Simons @blakethinks.bsky.social · 08/07/2026I found out in the early hours of the morning that Tony Rayns has passed away. I first saw him speak when he introed Mountains May Depart at BFI LFF 2015. The tectonic plates of my brain shifted that evening. Tony was massively inspiring to what I do, how I do it, and why I do it. Rest in peace. 030
Reposted by Blake SimonsJosh Slater-Williams @jslaterwilliams.bsky.social · 04/07/2026Close enough, welcome back Yukio Mishima 1185
Reposted by Blake SimonsRose Schmits @roseschmits.bsky.social · 02/07/2026Head of the EHRC really did just say Phrenology will help solve the issue of transgenders in society 36701188
Reposted by Blake SimonsJulian Singleton 🎃👻 @juliansingleton.bsky.social · 01/07/2026Are you a film critic who... - Has lived in Austin for 6+ months? - Write 2+ reviews of 300+ words (or 5+ original minutes of video) per month for a non-personal outlet? - Have been publishing for 6+ months? Come apply to be an @atxfilmcritics.bsky.social member! Open through 7/31 😁static.klipy.comJr NTR's Mass Action in RRRALT: Jr NTR's Mass Action in RRR 21011
Blake Simons @blakethinks.bsky.social · 01/07/2026In 2014, Nagisa Isogai graduated with THE LUST OF ANGELS, a striking genre riposte to the normalisation of train gropers Nine years later, she returned with POLAR NIGHT, a sapphic drama about a vampire art teacher and the women in her orbit I spoke with her for the Substack:desperatelyseekingsubtitles.substack.comLeave a Trace: Nagisa Isogai on ‘Polar Night’ and ‘The Lust of Angels’An anthropologist of colliding emotions explores her distinct and defiant cinema 012
Reposted by Blake Simonsjuan barquin @woahitsjuanito.bsky.social · 29/06/2026Was just informed by @snydel.bsky.social that Ordinary Life, which I wrote about here and was previously unavailable, is now streaming until July 22nd on Festival Scope, courtesy of Annecy!festivalscope.comFestival Scope | Annecy International Animation Film Festival for Film Lovers<br> Explore a curated selection of films from the 2025 edition! <br><br> ###### → Free ###### → 23 June - 23 July ###### → Available in selected countries ###### → Limited Tickets <br><br><br><br> [<... 042
Reposted by Blake SimonsAdam Roberts @adamroberts.bsky.social · 25/06/2026oh my god this is my marriage 10580129
Blake Simons @blakethinks.bsky.social · 25/06/2026For @japantimes.co.jp, I spoke with Yukiko Sode, Yukino Kishii, and Tadanobu Asano about adapting Mieko Kawakami's ALL THE LOVERS IN THE NIGHT to the silver screenjapantimes.co.jp‘All the Lovers in the Night’ film adaptation brings ‘unstable beauty’ to the screenDuring the Cannes Film Festival, director Yukiko Sode and actors Yukino Kishii and Tadanobu Asano reflected on the process of bringing Mieko Kawakami’s novel to life. 011
Blake Simons @blakethinks.bsky.social · 25/06/2026A little bit of Annecy from me: I spoke with WE ARE ALIENS filmmaker Kohei Kadowaki for @cartoonbrew.bsky.social His debut is a visceral hybrid of rotoscoped and traditional animation. We discuss structural rhythm; blending the personal and universal; similarities to Kore-eda's Monster; and morecartoonbrew.com'We Are Aliens' Director Kohei Kadowaki On Mixing TechniquesKohei Kadowaki discusses blending rotoscoping with traditional animation, crafting emotional realism, and the influences behind his debut feature. 021
Reposted by Blake SimonsAngie Han @ajhan.bsky.social · 20/06/2026with all due respect to Leviticus (a very good movie!) the biggest scare of all was realizing that I am now “Mia Wasikowska is old enough to play the mom of a teen” years old 4648
Reposted by Blake SimonsRob Dunson, Collateral Beautician @wormsgreenrealm.bsky.social · 18/06/2026it's so fucked up that during one of the best moments in Disclosure Day I kept thinking about this 081
Reposted by Blake SimonsAaron Gerow @dengerow.bsky.social · 18/06/2026News is finally out that the one-of-a-kind film artist Kanai Katsu passed away on April 22. He was a pioneering indie filmmaker, so we were proud to bring him to Yale in 2009 to show Mujin retto and Good-Bye. RIP. www.sankei.com/article/2026... 063
Reposted by Blake Simonspixelatedboat aka “mr bluesky” @pixelatedboat.bsky.social · 17/06/2026Hollywood agencies are searching JAV Titles for short stories and ideas that could be turned into movies following the success of 'Backrooms' 181338297
Reposted by Blake SimonsJyoti Mishra @jyotimishra.bsky.social · 17/06/2026Well, that was a fucking ride. 141145403577
Reposted by Blake SimonsDan @ufovictim.bsky.social · 14/06/2026🚨 Your blokes are doing fuck all! 🚨 Activate your blokes to keep them hearty. 🚨 To activate a bloke, right-click and assign them to a pint. 61293593
Blake Simons @blakethinks.bsky.social · 16/06/2026In a lengthy new interview for the Substack, I spoke with Shōgun star Shinnosuke Abe about MIRRORLIAR FILMS, a Japanese short film anthology project you ought to know about.desperatelyseekingsubtitles.substack.comShort, Sweet, and Steady: Shinnosuke Abe talks MIRRORLIAR FILMSThe Shōgun star discusses MIRRORLIAR, the Japanese film industry’s short film secret weapon 022
Reposted by Blake SimonsBlue Heron Farm @blueheronfarm.bsky.social · 15/06/2026My salads bring all the boys to the yard 229528
Reposted by Blake SimonsLouise Weard @weard.moe · 12/06/2026tl;dr Castration Movie Chapter iii.ii Junior Ghosts—Premorphic Drift; a fragmentary passage is its own movie as a sort of Castration Movie Part 2.5 and Anthology iii. Year of the Hyaena is its own unique movie coming in 2027. 2366
Reposted by Blake Simons𝔾𝕆ℝ𝔸ℕ @gorangligovic.bsky.social · 06/06/2026Love following gaming news. My other interests include deep paper cuts and drinking troughfuls of dysentery water 10794147
Reposted by Blake SimonsWillow Catelyn Maclay @willowcatelyn.bsky.social · 05/06/2026We were interviewed by Criterion about the New Trans Cinema movement and our series highlighting trans filmmakers that we programmed on the Criterion Channel. www.criterion.com/current/post...criterion.comCharting the Rise of Trans Filmmaking with Caden Mark Gardner and Willow MaclayThe curators of a showcase of trans directors now playing on the Criterion Channel discuss the work of these trailblazing artists, who have brought new layers of nuance and insight to cinematic depict... 018073
Blake Simons @blakethinks.bsky.social · 05/06/2026For @japantimes.co.jp, I unpacked Japan's Country of Honour moment at this year's Cannes Film Festival, speaking with the leading lights of the industry. Online below, and in today's paperjapantimes.co.jpJapan’s Cannes moment signals a new global pushTao Okamoto made history at Cannes, while Japanese filmmakers and producers looked ahead, embracing collaboration as the future of the industry. 011