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Paul Cote

@paul-the-cote.bsky.social
114 followers 133 following 51 posts

PhD. Principal Lecturer at University of Maryland, College Park. He/him. Focuses in Cinema, Film Music, animation, children’s media

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Paul Cote @paul-the-cote.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Hey DC/MD/Virginia folks: tomorrow (9/22) at noon, I’ll be giving a Henson Week talk in the University of Maryland on unproduced Muppet screenplays, including the legendary “Into the Jaws of the Demons of Death: the Cheapest Muppet Movie Ever Made.” Full info in picture: be there and/or be square!
Activity: "They Call this Editing. I Call it Cheating!" Script Drafts from the Greatest (and Cheapest) Muppet Movies (N)ever Made"

Audience: UMD Students, Faculty, and Staff

Time: 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM

Location: Piano Room within the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center

Description: Paul Cote, Principal Lecturer for the English Department, will be discussing one of the most famous unproduced screenplays, "The Cheapest Muppet Movie Ever Made," as well as other Henson-related scripts.
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Zane's Video @zanesimon.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
A legend. RIP Gerrit Graham.
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the babahuck @tylerhuckabee.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
rip annie dillard
One of the things I know about writing is this: spend it all, shoot it, play it, lose it, all, right away, every time. Do not hoard what seems good for a later place in the book or for another book; give it, give it all, give it now. The impulse to save something good for a better place later is the signal to spend it now. Something more will arise for later, something better. These things fill from behind, from beneath, like well water. Similarly, the impulse to keep to yourself what you have learned is not only shameful, it is destructive. Anything you do not give freely and abundantly becomes lost to you. You open your safe and find ashes.
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Zane's Video @zanesimon.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
Getting to be that time... Site is about 75% of the way to where I want it (still some product descriptions and formatting to do), but I'm going to be converting all my social media over to my new business going forward. zanesvideostore.com
zanesvideostore.com
Zane's Video
Zane's Video
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Paul Cote @paul-the-cote.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
Everything Rachel writes is great, but this piece really is extraordinary, some her absolute best work. While the circumstances behind her releasing it this way are … *strains to find a diplomatic word* … “frustrating,” I’m glad that everyone else finally gets to read the essay.
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Rachel Vorona Cote @rvoronacote.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
Before Emerald Fennell's adaptation of "Wuthering Heights" was released, an editor commissioned an essay from me on it. It was later killed. For months, I wasn't sure what, if anything, to do with it. Today I decided to publish it in my newsletter: cornflakevictorians.substack.com/p/how-do-you...
cornflakevictorians.substack.com
How do you solve a problem like Nelly Dean?
(This is an essay on “Wuthering Heights” that was previously intended for publication elsewhere)
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grant @grantpardee.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
"Tiny Tim, who DESERVED to die,"
Gonzo in Muppet Christmas Carol delivering the line "And Tiny Tim, who did NOT die"
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Dan of the Year @downwithdan.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
"this edible ain't shit" two hours later:
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Paul Cote @paul-the-cote.bsky.social · 02/08/2026
Here me out:
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Paul Cote @paul-the-cote.bsky.social · 30/07/2026
Beautiful new piece from Rachel that also ended up serving one of my long-in-the-making goals: finally getting her to read Watership Down.
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Rachel Vorona Cote @rvoronacote.bsky.social · 30/07/2026
My latest piece for @theatlantic.com is about animal narrators in fiction, with particular attention to Paul Yoon's extraordinary new novel, Etna, which Homer and/or Nolan heads will be happy to learn is another version of The Odyssey. Here's a gift link: www.theatlantic.com/books/2026/0...
theatlantic.com
Why Animal Narrators Are All the Rage
A new novel helps explain why so many storytellers enlist animal narrators to explore humanity.
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Helena Fitzgerald @hellafitzgerald.bsky.social · 22/07/2026
for the great @oaklandreviewofbooks.org, I wrote about the On the Calculation of Volume novels, why I find them so bizarrely compelling, and what it might have to do with our favorite new american proverb www.oaklandreviewofbooks.org/maybe-it-wil...
oaklandreviewofbooks.org
Maybe it will happen today
Solvej Balle monitors the situation.
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the babahuck @tylerhuckabee.bsky.social · 13/07/2026
RIP
Sam Neill on why 'The Piano' (1993) is an important movie in cinema history: 

"I don't think I can overestimate how important 'The Paino' is for me in hindsight. it sits on my funny old CV like a medal on my chest. It wasn't my film. It Jane Campion's. I wasn't the star of the film. That was Holly Hunter. But there is honour to be found in the second fiddle. Or fopurth. No one notices you much, you don't get nominated for things. But you served. I was there in an important feminist film. I was there on the front line in an important New Zealand film. Neither of those labels does the film justice. It's a work of art. And look, that tiny little figure in the fabric—see down there on the right—that's me. It's a film that will always have a place in cinema history. And I served in it."

("Did I ever Tell You This: A Memeoir", Sam Neill)
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Paul Cote @paul-the-cote.bsky.social · 02/07/2026
Every single answer I’ve seen is the correct one, but also, Who Framed Roger Rabbit?
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Joe Berkowitz @joeberkowitz.bsky.social · 29/06/2026
A.I. Artificial Intelligence came out 25 years ago today. I wrote about the one scene in the movie that most accurately predicted The Way Things Are now.
fastcompany.com
25 years ago, this scene from Steven Spielberg’s ‘A.I.’ predicted the collapse of objective reality
The sci-fi epic depicted a futuristic world where digital oracles tell information-seekers exactly what they want to hear. Sound familiar?
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C. Robert Cargill @crobertcargill.bsky.social · 26/06/2026
There is a very real argument being made in Hollywood that AI democratizes filmmaking, making it available to outsiders. In truth, the cost of effective generative AI is cost prohibitive to all but corporations, leading to no improvement in quality at the cost of jobs both above and below the line.
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Rachel Vorona Cote @rvoronacote.bsky.social · 02/06/2026
Maggie O’Farrell’s new novel, Land, is her most ambitious to date: sprawling, mystical, and filled with wonder at the vastness of Irish history. I reviewed it for @vulture.com: www.vulture.com/article/magg...
vulture.com
Maggie O’Farrell Goes Maximalist
The Hamnet author’s new novel, Land, is her most ambitious work to date.
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Vulture @vulture.com · 02/06/2026
The ‘Hamnet’ author’s new novel, ‘Land,’ about an Irish family in the aftermath of the Great Hunger, is sweeping in its ambition, writes Rachel Vorona Cote.
vulture.com
Maggie O’Farrell Goes Maximalist
The ‘Hamnet’ author’s new novel, ‘Land,’ about an Irish family in the aftermath of the Great Hunger, is sweeping in its ambition, writes Rachel Vorona Cote.
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Paul Cote @paul-the-cote.bsky.social · 29/05/2026
We didn’t know how good we had it:
Colonel Blimp, infuriated because a young whipersnaper has started their war game right in the middle of his Turkish bath.Diabolik, driving diaboliklyPopeye, squinting because he is what he is.Dick Tracy hanging out with all of his best pals.
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Paul Cote @paul-the-cote.bsky.social · 29/05/2026
“I’ve had enough of your aggravation: I’m gonna steal the Death Star plans / Saturday night’s all right for fighting…”
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Mark Harris @markharris.bsky.social · 26/05/2026
For many reasons, my piece about Bob Fosse's 1974 film LENNY is the most challenging Criterion essay I've ever been asked to write. The Blu-ray is out now and looks just stunning. Here's the essay. www.criterion.com/current/post...
criterion.com
Lenny: High-Wire Act
Featuring a quasi-documentary format that was innovative for its time, Bob Fosse’s complex portrait of stand-up comedian Lenny Bruce is a gesture of postmortem outreach from one prickly, jagged-edged ...
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Alexander Chee @alexanderchee.bsky.social · 22/05/2026
Ramzi is fundraising for himself and his family in Gaza if you can help. chuffed.org/project/1319...
chuffed.org
Help ramzi from Gaza
My name is Ramzi from Gaza, I am 20 years old. My house was destroyed and we are living the most difficult days of our lives. My family consists of 4 members and we suffer every day. We have been disp...
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Paul Cote @paul-the-cote.bsky.social · 21/05/2026
Introduce yourself with 10 bands you’ve seen live: The National Aimee Mann Pulp Roxy Music St. Vincent Yeah Yeah Yeahs Interpol B.B. King Flogging Molly Nick Cave/Grinderman
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Marisa Kabas @marisakabas.bsky.social · 21/05/2026
NEW — My first true foray into AI haterdom is about how those of us not convinced by AI’s inevitability are a real constituency worthy of a voice. Give it a read:
thehandbasket.co
Hating AI is good, actually
LinkedIn may be awash with boosters, but shunning AI is the human choice.
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KJ Charles @kjcharleswriter.com · 18/05/2026
I am once again begging, praying, weeping for lists of written instructions rather than videos. I do not want to watch your two minute video in the hope of catching the two seconds where you whizz past what goddamn menu the thing is under. Write. It. Down.
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Dana Stevens @thehighsign.bsky.social · 16/05/2026
This @joshgondelman.bsky.social spoof of looksmaxxing is ... an actual masterpiece of humor writing?
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Asheesh Kapur Siddique @asheeshks.org · 05/05/2026
JCK is wrong & this article is ridiculous, but universities need to emphasize what makes higher education different than AI / tech companies, and the answer to that question is that which they have marginalized for decades: curiosity-driven, rather than market-driven knowledge.
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Paul Cote @paul-the-cote.bsky.social · 01/05/2026
My 10 Favorite Films (Today), off the top of my head, one per director It’s Such a Beautiful Day F for Fake The Muppet Christmas Carol The Dark Crystal Duck, You Sucker! Wings of Desire The Company of Wolves Brazil Ed Wood Moonrise Kingdom
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Moira Donegan @moiradonegan.bsky.social · 24/04/2026
Trying to remember that viral tweet from years ago—lodged in my brain like a dormant virus in my spinal chord—that was like “it is cultural appropriation for women to write about Marilyn Monroe if they’re not hot.”
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Rachel Vorona Cote @rvoronacote.bsky.social · 17/04/2026
Loved having this convo! Buffy ~FOREVER~
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Scott Lynch @scottlynch78.bsky.social · 01/04/2026
moby-dick, his eyes enormous: from hell's heart you STAB at moby? for hate's sake you spit your last BREATH at moby? oh! oh! the great shroud of the sea for ahab! the great shroud of the sea rolling on as it rolled five thousand years ago!!!!
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Abra / Jessica Conwell, Carmella Creeper's Gender Doula🏳️‍⚧️ 🇲🇽🌼 @pairofclaws.bsky.social · 24/03/2026
"For the love of God, Montresor!"
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Rachel Vorona Cote @rvoronacote.bsky.social · 26/02/2026
I wrote about Claire Baglin’s seething debut novella for @thenation.com and spend considerable time interrogating how literature depicts working class labor (especially amid so many books/tv series/films set in the corporate workplace). I hope you’ll read! 🍟 www.thenation.com/article/cult...
thenation.com
Has Contemporary Fiction Ignored the Working Class?
Claire Baglin’s bracing On the Clock gives its readers a close look at work behind the fry station, and in the process asks what experiences are missing from mainstream letters.
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Chris Scott @iamchrisscott.bsky.social · 16/02/2026
A Presidents’ Day poem from me, at Michigan City Review of Books. Enjoy. mcrb.neocities.org/timetraveler
Time Traveler
by Chris Scott

Thomas Jefferson was suddenly transported
Into the passenger seat of my little blue Corolla
Speeding through present day Virginia
At 75 miles per hour
Past the exit to Monticello
He just screamed
And screamed
And screamed
And screamed
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Mike Schuster @mcs212.bsky.social · 07/02/2026
Breaking: Tragedy at the Winter Olympics
Image of the Yeti in the skiing Windows game SkiFree eating the player
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Danielle Froom 🏳️‍🌈 @danifroom.bsky.social · 06/02/2026
"I need AI to make art, human art is only for the rich and privileged-"
Iron Man meme, edited, Obadiah Stane yelling, "Your ancestors made timeless art in a cave! With berries and ash!"
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Paul Cote @paul-the-cote.bsky.social · 28/01/2026
Robin Williams as Popeye
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Rachel Vorona Cote @rvoronacote.bsky.social · 15/01/2026
Regarding the below — the brilliant @caitjgibson.bsky.social reported out a devastating, yet galvanizing story on the mothers in Renée Good’s community. The worst thing we could do is stop fighting. Gift link: wapo.st/3YGqcnb
wapo.st
‘She was a mom’: Renée Good’s killing amplifies the stakes for parents
In the wake of the Minnesota shooting by an ICE officer, parents grapple with the risk calculus of activism: “I’m much more scared of what happens if we don’t fight back.”
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ceej @ceej.online · 10/01/2026
do you guys hear that bell tolling? wonder who it’s for. it’s so loud lmao
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Rachel Vorona Cote @rvoronacote.bsky.social · 05/01/2026
Second piece of 2026! For @theatlantic.com, I wrote about Kay Cicellis’s brilliant, brutal short story trilogy, The Way to Colonos, which consists of three modern retellings of Sophoclean tragedies. This one is for all the Greek mythology girlies. ❤️ Gift link: www.theatlantic.com/books/2026/0...
theatlantic.com
Why Authors Can’t Let Go of Greek Myths
The fascination with these stories reflects an existential interest in what in life is inevitable, and what we can control.
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Rachel Vorona Cote @rvoronacote.bsky.social · 04/01/2026
Here’s my first piece of 2026! For @washingtonpost.com’s Book World, I had the pleasure of reviewing Trina Moyles’ fascinating, deeply sensitive memoir, Black Bear: A Story of Siblinghood and Survival, which recontextualizes humanity in a compelling way. Gift link: wapo.st/3L1SDc5
wapo.st
Review | A woman’s life among black bears taught her a lot about being human
Trina Moyles’s memoir, “Black Bear,” examines her experiences in wilderness and her contentious relationship with her brother.
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Amber Sparks @ambersparks.bsky.social · 24/12/2025
This so perfectly articulates the best thing about this movie: Mary. “It’s a Wonderful Life is, in part, the story of someone becoming, kicking and screaming, against all intentions and desires, a big man. Mary sees the big man in George from the first, because she is a big woman.”
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Paul Cote @paul-the-cote.bsky.social · 31/10/2025
It’s actually Frankenberry’s Cereal. Frankenberry is the name of the scientist, not the cereal.
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Paul Cote @paul-the-cote.bsky.social · 06/09/2025
Going to start pronouncing Silksong “SILK-sung” the way Brando pronounces Krypton “KRYP-tun.”
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Josh Gondelman @joshgondelman.bsky.social · 08/08/2025
Do all those hustle culture guys whose schedule is like… Wake up at 4am. Eat a tiny meal. Exercise for 15 minutes. Tiny snack. 10 minute nap. Splash around in a bowl of water. Get dressed in practical clothes already laid out. …realize that’s the same agenda as a literal baby?
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Rachel Vorona Cote @rvoronacote.bsky.social · 23/07/2025
“Laugh, so they’ll know you’re one of them. Laugh, or he’ll kill you. Laugh, and maybe you won’t be next.” A real gut punch, from @petridishes.bsky.social
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Rachel Vorona Cote @rvoronacote.bsky.social · 15/07/2025
For @theatlantic.com, I wrote about Linn Ullmann’s new novel, Girl, 1983, a fascinating work of autofiction that pushes us to consider how what we forget might be as important to storytelling as what we (think we) remember. Gift link here: www.theatlantic.com/books/archiv...
theatlantic.com
What We Gain by Forgetting
In Linn Ullmann’s memoiristic fiction, the erosion of memories is a feature, not a bug.
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Caitlin Gibson @caitjgibson.bsky.social · 10/07/2025
Marah Maher had just begun her final year of high school when the war started. Now she is part of a generation of pediatric amputees from Gaza, grieving her family and longing to go home as she learns to walk again in the United States. Gift link below - thank you for reading. wapo.st/40cgCcS
wapo.st
For this teen from Gaza, her legs are the least of what she’s lost
Part of a generation of young amputees, Marah Maher is learning to walk again. Every step brings her closer to an unimaginable future.
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Josh Gondelman @joshgondelman.bsky.social · 29/06/2025
I do kind of miss when the news was just on the news and not a bunch of other places where people got mad at you for not also being the news.
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Paul Cote @paul-the-cote.bsky.social · 28/06/2025
My hypothetical NYT Top 10 Films of the 2000s. Limited myself to 1 per director. Honorable mentions to Ryuichi Sakamoto: Opus, Ennio, Persepolis, Pan’s Labyrinth, Royal Tenenbaums, A.I., New World, Inglorious Basterds, In the Mood for Love, All or Nothing, and Tale of Princess Kagura
List of films and their corresponding posters: It’s Such a Beautiful Day, Moonrise Kingdom, There Will be Blood, The Boy and the World, The Fellowship of the Ring, The Green Knight, The Fabelmans, The Boy and the Heron, The Tree of Life, and Bright Star
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