Big Ears 2026!

 I covered the 2026 Big Ears Music Festival in Knoxville, Tennessee, this year, and had a lovely time. Artists I saw and talk about include: Tunde Adebimpe, Laurie Anderson, The Blind Boys of Alabama, Kunal Gunjal, Praveen Narayan, Perfume Genius, Saraswati Ranganathan, Swaminithan Selvaganesh, So Percussion, Selvaganesh Vinakrayam, (and the now-disgraced) Reggie Watts (which we obviously did not know at the time).

At the movies: Scream 7.

 I got into everything that's going on with Scream 7. All of it.

Nirvanna The Band The Show The Movie

 

A talk with editor/programmer/trusted friend Zack Hall about the magic of Nirvanna The Band the Show The Movie. Funnily enough, I Twin Peaksed the experience and started with this sequel/prequel before the rest of the extant material. It worked.

The 2025 Jim Ridley Film Poll

 Every year, I assemble a bunch of critics, filmmakers, artists, theorists, and assorted aesthetes to collab on a poll about the year in cinema. It tends to be awesome, and I thus present the latest installment.

At the movies: The Testament of Ann Lee.

 

A transcendent work of art that you really ought to see in a theatre, if you can. A fascinating work about the history of religion and women's voices therein. One of the greats of the decade.

My 2025 Year-End Film Superlatives.

 Y'all should know how much I love a good list. And these are my thoughts on the year in film (and physical media).

At the movies: Avatar: Fire and Ash.

 

Occasionally, I disagree with the headlines that my outlet sometimes selects. The word 'delight' is at odds, I think, with what I've written, but I did ultimately enjoy most of the experience (3D is awesome, HFR is terrible).