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Johnny Loftus

@johnnyloftus.bsky.social
214 followers 137 following 93 posts

Writer, Chicagoan. No AI ever. Interests include reading, 🍕; being a nice person.

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Johnny Loftus @johnnyloftus.bsky.social · 22/08/2026
The nine dollars I spent at Tape World on Finley Avenue in the summer of 1992 had a good run of cool jams.
An old of tape of mine, Sonic Youth ‘Dirty’, disintegrated.
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Johnny Loftus @johnnyloftus.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
Someday Reacher will block out the sun in your town while stomping dudes like it's an A-Team episode in 1985. But for Season 4, he's doing all that in Philadelphia. Happy to be Reacher-capping the Big Cheesesteak's exploits once again for @deciderdotcom.bsky.social. decider.com/2026/08/12/r...
decider.com
‘Reacher’ Season 4 Episode 1 recap: Shot, chaser
Reacher’s in it now. (Again.)
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Johnny Loftus @johnnyloftus.bsky.social · 09/08/2026
Sunday listening. With an emphatic (stuck-on) note from a previous owner.
An LP copy of Billy Hart, Enchance (Horizon/A&M, 1977) A close-up of a very protective previous owner’s system, which included applying adhesive Post-It notes to album covers?
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Johnny Loftus @johnnyloftus.bsky.social · 25/07/2026
Cleaned out my storage unit; here are a few highlights from the “Ancient Tech” bin.
A Flip video device, a microcassette recorder, and a really old iPhone.
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Johnny Loftus @johnnyloftus.bsky.social · 04/07/2026
Had some Hag on, and 70s Willie, but on the 4th of July, when it came time to make bacon, I had to throw on JJ Cale. In this house, “Clyde” is a Founding Father. “Misery loves company, his old dog sings harmony; Tambourine tied to his tail…”
Naturally (JJ Cale; Shelter Records 1971)

Artwork depicts a raccoon in top hat and tails w/ a walking stick and companion dog.
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Johnny Loftus @johnnyloftus.bsky.social · 16/05/2026
Blasting down the Blue Line where it gets really fast, on that old, loud, elevated stretch between Logan and California, the car’s little half windows were open. On a perfect weather day in Chicago, the train packed, it felt like having the crash doors open on a Huey.
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Johnny Loftus @johnnyloftus.bsky.social · 14/04/2026
Beautiful Weather = Loud Music today in Chicago. Probably the best jam-from-car moment I heard was a guy cranking Miley's "Wrecking Ball" at a light. "I never meant to start a war; I just wanted you to let me in." There are so many wars right now. Things felt sunny/solved in that fleeting moment.
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Johnny Loftus @johnnyloftus.bsky.social · 06/04/2026
Benetti is fucking brilliant on these Sunday night games. Somehow makes two analysts better. Another version of the medium he just steps into and owns. ⚾️⚾️⚾️
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Johnny Loftus @johnnyloftus.bsky.social · 04/04/2026
Here at Jeff’s Red Hots, they just put Heart “Alone” into Sabrina Carpenter, and we’re all eating dogs with everything plus sauerkraut. Nothing can stop us.
A Chicago dog w/ everything, Jeff’s Red Hots-style (add kraut).
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Johnny Loftus @johnnyloftus.bsky.social · 04/04/2026
Alright, I have a player copy of ‘Rebel Yell,’ probably a “Nice Price” sticker at one point. But after writing about this entertaining doc @deciderdotcom.bsky.social for I’m hitting crates this weekend for Idol. Flesh! For fantasy. decider.com/2026/04/02/b...
decider.com
Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Billy Idol Should Be Dead’ on Hulu, a documentary about the singer, his success, and his life of excess
In the midnight hour babe, MORE MORE MORE! Billy Idol Should be Dead proves the singer lived this mantra.
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Johnny Loftus @johnnyloftus.bsky.social · 01/03/2026
Of interest with Man on the Run is how cool Paul and Linda looked throughout the 1970s. If it was 2026 when Macca left the Beatles and fled into zippered sweater solitude, his beard definitely would have had its own Instagram. decider.com/2026/02/28/p...
decider.com
Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Man on the Run’ on Prime Video, a documentary about when Paul McCartney’s post-Beatles life gave him Wings
Paul McCartney of today narrates Man on the Run, which considers the Paul of the past as he built Wings and moved past the Beatles.
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Johnny Loftus @johnnyloftus.bsky.social · 15/01/2026
As a person who swears by written notes, obsesses over them being "clean," and hates having to cross out a mistake/misspelling, covering THE PITT and its firehose of medical terms/weird disease names presents particular challenges. Let's just say "Dr. Strikethrough" is always on call.
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Johnny Loftus @johnnyloftus.bsky.social · 09/01/2026
After Season 1 I'd think about characters on THE PITT like they were past coworkers, or people I knew in a different city. "I wonder how it's going with Whitaker crashing at Santos' place," etc. Anyway I'm insane. Hyped to be 'capping S2 for @deciderdotcom.bsky.social . decider.com/2026/01/08/t...
decider.com
‘The Pitt’ Season 2 Episode 1 Recap: Captain Crunch Flying Squirrel Socks
“I love boba!”
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Johnny Loftus @johnnyloftus.bsky.social · 24/12/2025
A train station bar is random by design, especially on a holiday. So I appreciate the bartender who did not deviate from her playlist of 80s metal deep cuts. Faster Pussycat, Britney Fox, a FireHouse cut I’d never heard, a lesser Poison Bic ballad; the Crue w/ “Kickstart,” just for a holiday jolt.
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Johnny Loftus @johnnyloftus.bsky.social · 14/11/2025
You should chase away the bullshit this weekend w/ 'Last Samurai Standing,' a thrilling, thoughtful action series set in 19th c. Japan, where a noble samurai has a few things left to prove to the jerk-offs running his country. Wrote about it @deciderdotcom.bsky.social: decider.com/2025/11/13/l...
decider.com
Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Last Samurai Standing’ on Netflix, a limited series where the last of Japan’s legendary warriors must battle to survive
In modernizing 19th century Japan, as the samurai are getting canceled, one warrior decides the only way to survive is to fight his way through.
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Johnny Loftus @johnnyloftus.bsky.social · 13/08/2025
I’m recapping ‘Alien: Earth’ for @deciderdotcom.bsky.social, which is awesome because this show is scary and stylish and weird and a great place to escape to, even if its future is still full of rich dipshits. Also: Sabbath and Tool and other exquisitely curated jams. decider.com/2025/08/12/a...
decider.com
‘Alien: Earth’ Episode 1 Recap: Cool If We Crash Here?
The first few scenes are committed to bringing its franchise’s past into its present.
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Johnny Loftus @johnnyloftus.bsky.social · 03/08/2025
While I detest in all its forms the in-game interview w/ coaches/players, I’d pay extra for a feature that opened a (listen-only) mic whenever players were talking at first base.
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Johnny Loftus @johnnyloftus.bsky.social · 22/07/2025
I feel like for FOUNDATION S3 — what year is it in this show? Wellllll… — basically everybody, even Asimov heads, must be watching only for its flowing river of impenetrability. My sense of what’s happening? Vague. But! Space drugs, mind-control pirates, and “something casting shadows in the math.”
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Johnny Loftus @johnnyloftus.bsky.social · 10/07/2025
Was able to dart in and grab an extra ice cube from the tray while my freezer's door was closing, extricate my arm without disturbing its motion. 🏆 (Feel like I deserve to take the rest of the day off)
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Johnny Loftus @johnnyloftus.bsky.social · 09/06/2025
Sly was so cool, and his music will forever be powerfully danceable. Questlove's recent Sly doc is also totally brilliant. decider.com/2025/03/25/q...
decider.com
Stream It Or Skip It: 'Sly Lives! (aka The Burden of Black Genius)' on Hulu, a thoughtful Questlove-directed doc about the leader of Sly and The Family Stone
Questlove directs Sly Lives! (aka The Burden of Black Genius), a doc about Sly Stone that finds wider import in what it meant when he became a kind of Black Elvis.
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Johnny Loftus @johnnyloftus.bsky.social · 06/06/2025
Like 20 years ago, I rested a coffee on the roof of a car before climbing in. Drove away and it went flying. “Never again!” I swore about roof-resting things. Anyway, I just rested my computer on a car’s roof and drove away 💀
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Johnny Loftus @johnnyloftus.bsky.social · 31/05/2025
Nothing but anecdotal data on this, but TV used to have more bar fights. Nice to see a few pool cues meet cheekbones in the latest ep of DUSTER. Took a drag on a recap: decider.com/2025/05/30/d...
decider.com
‘Duster’ Episode 3 recap: Slippin’ into darkness
“Follow the numbers.”
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Johnny Loftus @johnnyloftus.bsky.social · 24/05/2025
DUSTER is cruising away from all noise and bullshit at 275hp. I mean, in the second episode, 70s Josh Holloway is out here robbing Elvis. ‘Capped it for @deciderdotcom.bsky.social: decider.com/2025/05/23/d...
decider.com
‘Duster’ Episode 2 recap: Too late to turn back now
Duster continues to have a whole lot of fun with its take on the 1970s.
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Reposted by Johnny Loftus
Mark Graham @unclegrambo.bsky.social · 19/05/2025
DUSTER is one of my fave pilots in some time. Thrilled to have the former Metro Wheelman himself, @johnnyloftus.bsky.social, recapping the exploits of Josh Holloway's wheelman over at @deciderdotcom.bsky.social. Fire up your 8 tracks and punch your gas pedals, hombres! decider.com/2025/05/16/d...
decider.com
‘Duster’ Episode 1 recap: You don’t mess around with Jim
This thing feels as much like a riff on real life as it does a tribute to how the ’70s used to look on TV.
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Johnny Loftus @johnnyloftus.bsky.social · 02/05/2025
'100 Foot Wave' makes being an infinitesimal speck of dust -- one human against a zillion tons of surging water -- look both insane and totally cool. And as a proud Midwestern flatlander, surfing to me just seems beautiful and impossible. Maybe like life? Wrote about it: decider.com/2025/05/01/1...
decider.com
Stream It Or Skip It: ‘100 Foot Wave’ Season 3 on HBO, where Garret McNamara and his fellow big wave surfers keep chasing the dream
What about a 500-foot wave? A thousand? If it’s out there, the athletes profiled in 100 Foot Wave will surf it.
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Johnny Loftus @johnnyloftus.bsky.social · 28/04/2025
Haven’t seen much of Etoile, but the show’s first episode does feature a fantastic intro of Lou de Laage as Cheyenne, rogue prima ballerina. And hey, solidarity w/ Cheyenne, too. In real life, lots of the forces and people harming our society deserve to get zinged w/ a solid line like this.
Cheyenne shouts at her former shipmates who tried to have her arrested
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Johnny Loftus @johnnyloftus.bsky.social · 11/04/2025
One burning question I have after the PITT season finale: do they keep that cooler for the post-shift park beers in the trauma unit somewhere? Anyways, time keeps on ticking into this incredible show's future, which I can't wait to watch. decider.com/2025/04/10/t...
decider.com
‘The Pitt’ Season Finale recap: Goodbyes are the Pitt’s
“To the Pitt crew.”
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Johnny Loftus @johnnyloftus.bsky.social · 05/04/2025
Do you ever buy a couple random records, bring ‘em home, and when you slot them in, you look at the artist they’re next to alphabetically, the little genre dynamic that represents, or the interesting typefaces aligned, and say out loud to no one, “Oh shit, that’s a good one”? It’s a nice quiet win.
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Johnny Loftus @johnnyloftus.bsky.social · 30/03/2025
The rock show this weekend was packed. A six-piece band blowing up the spot. Which is why it was hard for everyone to hear me while I shouted in their ears about the brilliance of THE PITT and Dr. Robby reaching his breaking point.
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Johnny Loftus @johnnyloftus.bsky.social · 28/03/2025
As Dr Abbott, Shawn Hatosy is rocketing to the top of my Pitt staff power rankings. But after this latest episode, I’m mostly just sobbing along w/ Robby. This show is putting us through it! Wrote a recap: decider.com/2025/03/27/t...
decider.com
‘The Pitt’ Episode 13 recap: “7:00-8:00 P.M.”
No clowning around.
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Johnny Loftus @johnnyloftus.bsky.social · 21/03/2025
The level The Pitt is working at...it's like if I was any other medical drama on TV, I'd probably say "It's over. Pack it up. We're gonna re-tool our format. Maybe 'scandals and animals.' There's no way we can compete with what The Pitt is doing." Wrote about it: decider.com/2025/03/20/t...
decider.com
'The Pitt' Episode 12 recap: Really real-time
There is blood everywhere in the Pitt, and tension bunched in everyone’s features.
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Johnny Loftus @johnnyloftus.bsky.social · 14/03/2025
Our world is crazy. So maybe escaping into The Pitt, where their emergency department regularly shatters, is a kind of self-treatment. All I know is that it's so crazy gripping, I feel like I work there now. decider.com/2025/03/13/t...
decider.com
‘The Pitt’ Episode 11 recap: Shit’s gonna explode
Still overworked, but now understaffed, The Pitt’s trauma team carries on.
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Reposted by Johnny Loftus
Ann Powers @annkpowers.bsky.social · 04/03/2025
This piece is about Gaga, but it's really about resistance, outrage and hanging on to yourself when others call you a monster www.npr.org/2025/03/03/n...
npr.org
Pop needs freaks. Thankfully, Lady Gaga is back
The sometimes-transgressive pop star has a new album, Mayhem, that seems poised to recapture the confrontational darkness of her early work. There's more than one reason to hope it's true.
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Johnny Loftus @johnnyloftus.bsky.social · 27/02/2025
Hackmania, my Gene Hackman movie marathon this weekend, will include The Package (a double-tribute, as it was one of my dad's fave GH performances), The Conversation, Night Moves, Enemy of the State, and The Quick and the Dead.
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Johnny Loftus @johnnyloftus.bsky.social · 02/02/2025
Fired up a rewatch of ANDOR. The tyranny alive in BBY 5, how the series uses grime and the “used universe” aesthetic, the urgency of its writing — feel like it all feels way way amplified this time around.
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Johnny Loftus @johnnyloftus.bsky.social · 28/01/2025
Currently balancing reading Onyx Storm with a re-read of Persuader, the novel season 3 of Reacher is based on. So now I keep thinking a pedantic huge guy w/ fluid ethics is gonna suddenly reveal his signet, or maybe get into a fist fight with a dragon.
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Johnny Loftus @johnnyloftus.bsky.social · 14/01/2025
Shea Whigham is so great in American Primeval. Always the realest guy on screen. Fact is, Whigham is so great in Primeval, so real, that he made me miss all over again the unconscionably-canceled Perry Mason, where he was also the most real guy ever.
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Johnny Loftus @johnnyloftus.bsky.social · 06/01/2025
The Cut Copy bop “Take Me Over,” heard on this day in the subterranean wilds of the Chicago Pedway System. Latent cosmic energy from Pitchfork 2011??
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Johnny Loftus @johnnyloftus.bsky.social · 05/01/2025
I don’t know what I was doing in my life up until now that was so important that I didn’t catch up with Dickinson. Latest ever on this but: it is fantastic and acutely funny.
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Johnny Loftus @johnnyloftus.bsky.social · 23/12/2024
The season finale of Prophecy was an on-ramp to even more crazy Dune-ing. Palace coups and Sisterhood schisms. “CHOOOOOSE!” Wrote a ‘cap: decider.com/2024/12/22/d...
decider.com
‘Dune: Prophecy’ Episode 6 Recap (Finale): “The High-Handed Enemy”
“The path to our enemy begins here.”
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Johnny Loftus @johnnyloftus.bsky.social · 20/12/2024
My 2024 award for Best Swashbuckling goes to The Three Musketeers: D'Artagnan, an incredibly fun French film with a built-in instant sequel. Adventure! Romance! Swordfighting! Incredible hats! Plus Eva Green, Vicky Krieps, and Vincent Cassel. Swashbuckling. It's the only thing that will save us.
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Johnny Loftus @johnnyloftus.bsky.social · 16/12/2024
Dua Lipa's set where she's accompanied by classical musicians is very classy and fun, and I'm not just saying that because I witnessed the viral popularity of K-Tel's 'Hooked on Classics' in 1981. decider.com/2024/12/15/a...
decider.com
Stream It Or Skip It: 'An Evening With Dua Lipa' on CBS, Where The Pop Star Makes Orchestral Maneuvers In the Dark
Here’s where the strings come in. As An Evening With Dua Lipa stresses, we all fam in the clerb. Even classical musicians.
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Johnny Loftus @johnnyloftus.bsky.social · 11/12/2024
Is that a theremin’s zippy purr on the Skeleton Crew soundtrack? Into it.
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Johnny Loftus @johnnyloftus.bsky.social · 07/12/2024
When I was working on this piece, I heard a neighbor outside on the landing outside my place. “He’s listening to Ace of Base again.” Yes, yes I was. Those laserbeam keys, those harmonies that invade the ear— 90s radio rose up in here. decider.com/2024/12/05/a...
decider.com
Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Ace of Base: All That She Wants’ on Viaplay, a docuseries tracking the swedish pop act’s '90s rise and resulting fall
“Bewwww-bee-koo-bee-bewww, bee-koo-bee-koo-bee-koo” – Ace of Base: All That She Wants re-sticks the group’s jams in your skull.
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Johnny Loftus @johnnyloftus.bsky.social · 04/12/2024
The robot is accurate. I parked my 2024 houseboat at “Right Back to It” back in March when Waxahatchee’s Tiger Blood hit. “You just settle in/Like a song with no end” indeed…
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Johnny Loftus @johnnyloftus.bsky.social · 03/12/2024
Stark’s piece speculating on “the golden at-bat” concept has me thinking again of my most gonzo ⚾️idea — either manager gets one chance a game to insert a second live ball into play. www.nytimes.com/athletic/596...
nytimes.com
The Golden At-Bat rule could give MLB a new shine. But is it worth it?
What if a team could choose one at-bat to send its best hitter to the plate even if it wasn’t that guy’s turn to hit? MLB could test it out.
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Johnny Loftus @johnnyloftus.bsky.social · 30/11/2024
Yacht Rock doc good! A breeze, like. Wrote about it: decider.com/2024/11/29/y...
decider.com
Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Yacht Rock: A Dockumentary’ on HBO, celebrating the irony and ecstasy of 1970s smooth rock
Yacht Rock: A Dockumentary explores how there’s more to loving 70s AM pop than just wearing a captain’s hat and fake mustache.
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Johnny Loftus @johnnyloftus.bsky.social · 22/11/2024
It's been a week and I'm still thinking about The Substance. Like what if someone slipped you the Substance without your knowledge, and you woke up with three eyeballs in one socket. But also, I just really want to see a floor plan of Elisabeth/Sue's apartment.
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Johnny Loftus @johnnyloftus.bsky.social · 20/11/2024
Think if somebody slipped me one of these, I’d definitely watch the video presentation, and call the number. Chances are good I’d even make it to the lockbox phase. I’m too curious.
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Johnny Loftus @johnnyloftus.bsky.social · 18/11/2024
All I'm saying is that Dune: Prophecy is the kind of dense, escapist sci-fi that we could all probably use right about now. I'm recapping it over at Decider. decider.com/2024/11/18/d...
decider.com
‘Dune: Prophecy’ Episode 1 recap: “The Hidden Hand”
Don’t get too attached to Pruwet.
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