Artemis

I'm a bisexual anti-capitalist, artist, & aspiring propagandist. We're not free until we're *all* free.

Guillermo del Toro fan account. Anarchist pep-talks are provided free of charge. Solidarity forever!

Profile pic & banner are images of GI Robot from Creature Commandos

#nobot

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Last Notes

2026-08-19 18:04:53 UTC

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I just sent an email to Tony Evers' campaign office & sent a letter to their mailing address saying "Tony has been acting as a representative of the Crowley campaign, so can any of YOU explain to me why the Crowley campaign cannot be reached using the contact info on his website? You're fundraising for him, so you should be able to help me."
I also mailed a letter to the Crowley campaign yesterday. I presume someone IS handling their physical mail, because there could be checks in there.

2026-08-19 17:31:19 UTC

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I gotta know.
Are they just ignoring people like me who sound grumpy or is it actually true that no one is checking voicemail/email for his campaign?
This is the official contact info on his official campaign website.

2026-08-19 13:34:15 UTC

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Armies depend on logistics & supply. Navies specifically maybe even more so (if that's possible).
Wars are won or lost depending on a military's ability to fucking maintain supply lines. It's not the only factor, but if you can't supply your troops with food, necessities, & equipment, you cannot sustain long-term conflict.

2026-08-19 13:27:15 UTC

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So instead of using these bases to launch & support an invasion, they let them get blown to shit, & now the US doesn't have the capability to launch a full-scale military offensive even if they wanted to.
No one wants to admit what the "underdog" did to the big ol' scary US military, but the US military has been exposed like this in the region this whole time.

2026-08-19 13:27:14 UTC

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The military bases in the region are not defensive in nature. The expectation with Iran has always seemed to be that the IR would strike first & provide justification for an immediate, overwhelming response. The bases wouldn't have remained exposed after that basically because we would be staging a full scale invasion.
These bases exist to supply & make it possible for the US military to launch offensives in the region.

2026-08-19 13:27:14 UTC

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They weren't made to be defended because the US was likely planning to take the fight into the country the moment hostilities started.
But then the US hit first (& I don't know why they thought it would be the other way: for all the anti-American sentiments within the IR, their leadership was never foolish enough to START a war that would justify the US & its allies fucking destroying them), & shit didn't work out that way.

2026-08-19 13:18:27 UTC

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Remember: 5th Fleet Headquarters is within the Gulf. Even if it hadn't been severely damaged, they wouldn't be able to resupply Navy vessels, but that is FAR from the only logistical hub in the region that was hit with drone/missile strikes.
They CAN'T fucking supply these ships & they CAN'T let sailors get rest & respite anywhere. The options in this region of the world are extremely limited for them.
And Trump & Hegseth caused this completely predictable crisis.

2026-08-19 13:13:35 UTC

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Trump & Hegseth started a war in a region where the US military's logistical supply was extremely vulnerable & exposed, & in the process the US military's ability to operate in that region was *significantly* degraded by enemy attacks. 6 months later, they haven't recovered.
The magnitude of this blunder STILL has not been made clear to the general public.
But when the US Navy is struggling to FEED the troops aboard their ships, something has gone horribly wrong for them.

2026-08-19 13:13:35 UTC

Way back in March I was saying Iran did unbelievable damage to US military infrastructure in the Gulf region.
Everything going on with the USS Abraham Lincoln is proof that the US Navy is currently unable to properly function in the Gulf Region. That's why Navy sailors & Marines are suffering awful conditions on their ships.

2026-08-12 14:34:57 UTC

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"But but optics!"
Shut tf up about optics. The Democratic Socialist candidate just lost BECAUSE people wouldn't shut up about optics.
Playing the "optics" game is admitting defeat.

2026-08-12 14:33:23 UTC

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If AOC & Bernie Sanders want to distance themselves from a candidate because once upon a time when she didn't so carefully control her messaging she *rightly* identified that we still celebrate colonialist violence & genocide in this country & that the police are oppressive & prisons are horrible, I feel like that tells you a LOT about THEM, doesn't it?

2026-08-12 13:54:28 UTC

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Apparently "progressives" on the national stage are patting themselves on the back that they didn't endorse a losing candidate. It would seem they are obsessed with building a narrative in which every "failure" is treated as proof we cannot succeed. So apparently any time the outcome isn't guaranteed, they want to stay away to avoid being "tainted" by the loss.
What the fuck is that? Why the fuck are they focused so heavily on what things "look like" that they aren't willing to fight to win?

2026-08-12 13:50:50 UTC

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Don't let news reports write this story for you.
The main reason I am not crushed is that I constantly remind myself that only direct action, *direct* challenges to power & profit, can get us where we need to go.
But another reason not to be crushed is that this simply WASN'T a crushing loss. A LOT of fucking people wanted this. A LOT of people believed we could do better for each other.
So let's do better for each other, with or without elected officials.

2026-08-12 13:41:00 UTC

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0.4% of all votes decided this.
Yet the story is a decisive victory for the establishment & "moderate" candidates.
Do you really think your votes, which you are told represent your "voice", are being taken seriously?
Elections seem to me to largely be not about what anyone WANTS, but about what story they can be used to tell.
If Hong had won this by 0.4% instead of Crowley you better believe the story would have been that she "underperformed" & that it proved she's not "electable".

2026-08-11 15:14:39 UTC

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Someone replied to this with the fictional idea that Democrats must win over Republican voters, & um... One of my questions is HOW?
How does a Democrat win over Republican voters? What can they offer that would not only get that person to decide NOT to vote Republican but ALSO get them to come out & vote Democrat?
What is there to offer that would make that happen? Being "not as scary" as actually left-wing Democrats won't get someone to cross party lines & vote for you.

2026-08-11 12:54:52 UTC

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It's bad logic. The one thing doesn't follow from the other.
The mere presence of Republican voters doesn't tell you *anything* about what Democratic voters want.
You can't just say "it's a 'purple' state so left-wing candidates can't win," because that is conflating separate things.
I don't know what will happen in the general election. Literally nobody does. I can tell you though: Democrats need Democratic voters to like the candidate. Republicans won't be voting for them.

2026-08-11 12:47:21 UTC

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The Democratic establishment would rather LOSE than run left-wing candidates. So they are telling us a LIE that if there are *any* conservative voters in the electorate, then every candidate must lean right if they want to win.
They want you to believe that if you have Republican neighbors, then Democrats can't help you, because they HAVE to please those Republicans. The EXISTENCE of the right is all the justification they need.

2026-08-11 12:43:21 UTC

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I live in Wisconsin, a state where a bunch of Republican donors came in & cooked up a strategy for a Republican takeover that destroyed our infrastructure & public services, demolished an excellent school system, & has allowed corporations to do untold amounts of damage to our communities.
Perhaps those of us in favor of public services are going to be LESS inclined to be "moderate" due to our anger at this devastation. Why would anyone assume that would make us lean right?

2026-08-11 12:37:17 UTC

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"Left/Right" framing is a bit simplistic, but let's say you live in a state where one group of people wants to kill public services & infrastructure & allow corporations to abuse us all & one group of people would like some public services & some protection from the abusive behavior of corporations.
Why would you assume that the existence of Group A means that Group B doesn't want very many public services nor very strict controls on corporations? How does that follow?

2026-08-11 12:22:05 UTC

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It doesn't matter how Republicans feel about the candidate. If the Democratic candidate for governor in Wisconsin can energize & mobilize voters, they have a very, very good chance of winning at the moment, especially when Republicans are running a candidate who doesn't have much to offer in the way of energizing his base.
The "you need to be moderate because there are a lot of Republicans here" thing doesn't make a goddamn lick of sense. It's manipulation.

2026-08-11 12:19:14 UTC

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The question about "electability" is not about convincing voters on "the other side". We know that's not how elections within this current system are won.
So why TF is the news media wringing their hands & saying she's too far left for a "purple" state? It isn't the "red" voters she needs.
Is the assumption that if there are a lot of people voting for the political right in a state, then the left wing people must all be right-leaning? They're pushing a narrative based on a flimsy premise.

2026-08-11 12:01:44 UTC

Wisconsin residents, one last time: today is Primary day. Take a moment out of your day & cast a vote for Francesca Hong for the Democratic nominee for governor.
It's worth a shot.
#Wisconsin #WisconsinPolitics

2026-08-05 17:04:06 UTC

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So many people cross a threshold after which they just fucking despise people younger than them, thinking they are worthless, lazy, & badly-behaved.
The wild thing about it to me is that this is a continuous process: we experience the alienation when we are young & then turn back around & do it to the generations after us.
Ironically, it's a repeating pattern passed down from generation to generation. It's also unhealthy as fuck & creates unbelievable resentment on all sides.

2026-08-05 16:59:17 UTC

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Anyway: age divides are yet another way to divide & isolate us.
It's beneficial to anyone trying to control a population if we distrust & are angry with each other. It is beneficial to them if you have no access to the past & if you slowly become cut off from the present over time.
There is slice of MAGA fueled by anger at young people. Makes you think perhaps all those "avocado toast" articles were MEANT to create that anger, because it's one way to get votes & create division & strife.

2026-08-05 16:52:44 UTC

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The Who song "My Generation" is fucking hilarious to me, because it is perennial. Any young person can listen to that song & fucking relate despite the fact it was released 60 years ago. 😂

2026-08-05 16:49:30 UTC

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I do think it is important how we interact with each other in this area:
It can be very discouraging to young people to feel like they are being told they are ignorant & useless by people showing up to say "well, *I've* known this for decades," as if a 20 year old should be ashamed that they are learning something for the 1st time.
But you will also see "shut up, older person. What do you know? That was then, this is now." This is now, sure, but you can learn some shit from what happened THEN.

2026-08-05 16:49:30 UTC

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As a Millennial, I got a front row seat to a feverish performance of "young people today suck at everything". Being angry about "kids today" is a tale as old as time, but it still isn't fucking helpful.
I try really fucking hard not to reflexively pass judgement on people younger than me for behavior or attitudes I simply don't understand. I don't think it does anything good to get mad at younger people for being shaped by & responding to a world so different from what you yourself experienced.

2026-08-05 15:55:03 UTC

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Humans are born, age, & then die. Endless cycle. Same thing again & again.
The best thing we can do with that is share our knowledge & experience with each other.
You're going to die some day, so you better HOPE that the youth do have some knowledge & understanding. The world doesn't die with you. It goes on. We go on. We keep reaching for better futures. It takes all of us all of our lives.
Getting arrogant like you know it all doesn't move us forward. There is always something new to learn.

2026-08-05 13:50:49 UTC

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You need to get comfortable with breaking the rules.
Obviously you should make good choices & consider what the consequences of your actions will be.
But there are a surprising number of forms of disobedience for which there won't necessarily be any major direct consequences. We live in authoritarian bureaucracies: not everything you disobey will be a law. A lot of it is rules & procedures that nobody really knows why they are there in the first place & there is no enforcement mechanism).

2026-08-05 13:43:56 UTC

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God. I just love it when someone displaces their discomfort with a thing onto the people they consider "less privileged".
"No, really, it's my concern for THEM that makes me a rule follower."
Nah.

2026-08-05 13:41:34 UTC

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@nprofile…4rxj
You disagree? You don't believe that marginalized communities regularly practice disobedience towards the oppressive systems they are being persecuted by?

2026-08-05 13:39:59 UTC

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That's the point: obedience is what they need. So we're just going to obey? We're just going to say "well, they have the power to hurt us, so we'll do whatever they want."
If we make obedience our general practice, they will walk us to the gas chambers & politely ask us to get in.

2026-08-05 13:39:59 UTC

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Middle class folks: let's not transpose OUR discomfort with disobedience onto the "less privileged". Let's not use the plight of the oppressed as an excuse for being rule followers.
It doesn't even make any fucking sense. "Don't tell people to disobey. The oppressor doesn't like it when you disobey."

2026-08-05 13:34:08 UTC

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So let's be clear: when I tell you to disobey authority on the regular, it is not my own galaxy-brained idea, fresh out of my own head.
It is not a concept born from my privilege. It's something I'm learning from people who live it.
I mean...think about it. Ask Palestinians if they disobey. Ask poor Black folks. Ask unhoused people. Under oppression, disobedience is necessary.

2026-08-05 13:26:10 UTC

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It's funny to be told "easy for you to say. Less privileged people might get in trouble," when my real concern with saying this shit is that someone might think that *I* am taking credit for the strategies of resistance that are just normal, everyday life for communities experienced with extreme oppression.

2026-08-05 13:19:48 UTC

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If you live in a society that is trying to exterminate you, you disobey for survival. Constantly.
I'm the fucking middle class white lady telling you shit that communities of oppressed people already fucking know & live. I'm the one who isn't native to this type of disobedience. I'm the one who is still learning.
Boots Riley titled his recent film "I Love Boosters" to celebrate how "Boosters" (shoplifters) lift up their poor communities by giving them access to things denied to them.

2026-08-05 13:15:23 UTC

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Jesus. That IS what they meant. They think disobedience is a privilege.
Watch a Boots Riley movie, please. Fucking do something that will make you understand that poor, marginalized communities are fucking *experts* at disobedience.

2026-08-05 13:10:51 UTC

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And I certainly won't be letting anyone make the claim that disobedience is a luxury for the privileged.
It is not. Disobedience is a common way that marginalized people resist their oppression on the daily. Disobedience is an essential part of survival in a world where the "authorities" would rather you didn't exist. Privileged folks are usually by far the most uncomfortable with casual, habitual disobedience.

2026-08-05 13:06:08 UTC

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I just love when people get mad at something I wrote for things I didn't say.

2026-08-05 13:05:27 UTC

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I think I already got my first reply from someone assuming that I'm telling people to go out & do shit that will get them thrown in jail.
I didn't fucking say that, now did I?
Y'all, if you're a grown adult, it's your own goddamn responsibility to make choices for yourself. I don't think I need to include the caveat that disobeying "authorities" often comes with consequences. That's literally WHY people are afraid to disobey.
I just said that you should practice the discipline of disobeying.

2026-08-05 12:56:40 UTC

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Authoritarian followers are so fearful of everything that they desperately cling to authority figures who will "create order" by punishing disobedience & difference.
You don't want any part of that. You don't want to become a fearful rule-follower who abdicates their own moral responsibility & agency. Disobedience is a discipline. It's something you can practice & get good at.

2026-08-05 12:49:14 UTC

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I highly recommend some disobedience today.
Authoritarianism is one of the most destructive forces I have ever seen, so it's important to practice disobedience & not be fearful. Make sure that you disobey at least a little today just to exercise the muscle.

2026-08-05 12:39:54 UTC

Something I love about the "good people disobey bad laws" pin I have on my purse is that if someone sees it & gets offended by what they believe I'm trying to say, they can't argue with me about it.
It would be very hard to get far in a conversation trying to make the case that "good people should obey bad laws".
I think it's a good mental seed to plant. It's not telling anyone what to do. It's just gently pointing out that disobedience is a virtue sometimes.

2026-07-30 18:26:49 UTC

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So yeah, I guess if I want to feel seen, I am going to have to make myself seen.
I wonder how I could push this in visual art.
My therapist has said I should consider writing a memoir, & I certainly would like to explore that idea, but I've been getting into painting & the like, & I'm curious what I might be able to convey that way, what resonances could I create that I feel would speak about these personal experiences that are relatively rare & very, very specific.

2026-07-30 18:03:28 UTC

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And really, my family managed to be outliers no matter where we were & whom we were amongst. We never seemed to be quite in alignment, always just out of step. A little too happy or too serious or too intellectual or too relaxed or too rigid. Too gentle. Too rough. Too friendly. Too aloof. Never quite the right shape for any place we found ourselves. Not *quite*.
So even inside of that culture, I still felt adrift.

2026-07-30 14:52:58 UTC

I've mentioned Robert Eggers' The Northman as an example of what I wish a movie like The Odyssey could be. What's interesting about that is that it's helped me work through some of my mixed feelings about Eggers' work.
There is part of me that wonders, when watching a film like The Northman which doesn't seem to project modern morality onto its subject, whether I should be frustrated with Eggers for not offering more explicit critique. Is he abdicating responsibility as an artist?

2026-07-28 21:02:03 UTC

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You know, I've found with talking about my own life, mental health, & emotional struggles that the more specific I am to my experience, the more likely someone is to tell me that something I wrote was significant or meaningful in a very personal way to them.
I do not think avoiding specificity makes something universally accessible. It frequently means that you're creating something that can't really speak to anyone. There's a paradox here: it's the specificity that speaks clearly to people.

2026-07-28 20:55:10 UTC

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I don't just interact with art for pleasure, though I certainly take a lot of pleasure in things like excellent films.
I depend on art to help me with the difficult process of expanding my understanding of the world which surrounds me & the way in which people experience it.
That requires specificity & authenticity, more so even than artistic skill (as important as that can be).

2026-07-28 20:47:21 UTC

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Give me something to gnaw on! I'm not watching a 3 hour movie because I wanted something that will go down easy!
If I'm giving you 3 hours of my time, the least you could do is show me something specific which you have noticed about the world.

2026-07-28 13:32:27 UTC

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Instead of thousands of extras which you never really see (maybe you get a sense of this on IMAX, but from our theater-going experience, it NEVER felt like there was such a large crowd of people, EVER), it sure seems like some of that money could have been diverted to production design that would have actually brought a world to life.

2026-07-28 13:32:27 UTC

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I think of Hayao Miyazaki's obsession with the buildings in his movies (I've got a book just on the architecture in Studio Ghibli films)—how they need to tell specifics about those who inhabit them. The little details aren't flourishes just to make things look nice: they carry the content of the story. They define characters & places, so that we really *understand* them.
For truly dense, rich storytelling in a visual medium, the visual details are absolutely essential.

2026-07-28 13:32:26 UTC

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This is why I got pissy about The Odyssey costumes & sets. It's like Nolan doesn't care about some of the MOST powerful tools filmmakers have for making a story feel real & substantial. The objects people use, the clothes they wear, the dwellings they inhabit, all convey a sense of time & place. They tell you both about cultures & about individuals.

2026-07-26 19:00:12 UTC

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If you wish you were an artist, become an artist.
You can use any medium. Just make a thing. Then make another thing. And another thing. And another.
And just like that: you are an artist.
Create things. It's good for you. You'll get better over time, but honestly, even if you don't... you're still making stuff!

2026-07-26 18:45:39 UTC

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Genuinely, I am amazed that I did this.
I learned to get out of my head & just create things without perfectionism or fear of "not knowing what I'm doing." That's really what this little book represents: creativity without judgement.
And now it can serve as a permanent record of the start of that journey (because it's never going to be over).

2026-07-26 18:37:04 UTC

In progress on the final pages of this little sketchbook.
There are 3 or 4 other pages I need to return to finalize, but once I finish these two, the book is full!
This book (80 sheets) represents a 7 month journey of creativity & expression: acrylic markers & paints, tempera paint sticks, watercolor, ink, colored pencil & collage.
#MakingArt
https://cdn.masto.host/dicecamp/media_attachments/files/116/987/725/341/718/476/original/9a008f694b0ba942.jpg

2026-07-24 18:10:37 UTC

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The good side is that thinking about this may get me to finally read that new translation of Homer's Odyssey (by Emily Wilson) that came out a few years back.
I am all about translations that bring life & vitality to ancient texts. It's exceptionally hard to do, but it is incredible when someone achieves that. I've heard great things about this one.

2026-07-24 16:42:01 UTC

My thoughts on adaptation have evolved a lot since I was younger.
I used to be a real literalist, hung up on "look at the plot points that got changed!"
I now think of adaptations more as works of art in conversation with what they are "adapting".

2026-07-24 14:26:32 UTC

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I dunno.
I just don't get it.
I didn't really see anything I could admire.
Plot: not great. Characters: wooden. Dialogue: stilted. Production design: bland & uninspired. Casting: absurdly white. Acting: by the book. Visuals: shots are far too short to breathe. Themes: shallow & half-baked. Fight scenes: undercut by Nolan's fast, loose editing. Monsters & magic: not fucking interesting.

2026-07-24 14:16:03 UTC

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Tbh, I think it's the "looking closer", that is keeping me from understanding what other people see in it.
My guess is this movie is more enjoyable the less you think about it.
But if that's the case, then why try to put high-minded themes in it? If it's not a movie you should think about, then just have fun with it & call it good.

2026-07-24 14:13:41 UTC

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I don't even like Tom Cruise (he's a fucking monster), but if for some reason a fucking bland white A-list movie star HAD to be Odysseus, why not Cruise? Damon hasn't got the wildness of Odysseus in him. Not even a little.

2026-07-24 14:00:33 UTC

Truly I believe that Nolan is the peak of bourgeois cinema. His films are comfortable for the wealthy & powerful.

2026-07-24 13:24:58 UTC

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What sort of place is Calypso's island? Well, there's a beach & then the interior scenes are some sort of cave or hovel. It's hard to believe that eating lotus leaves was enough to make Odysseus forget about being comfortable or enjoying life, but as far as I could tell it was fucking boring on Calypso's island, & I say "fucking boring" but I'll tell you, there was no fucking.

2026-07-24 13:23:05 UTC

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I never got a sense of place or time.
What sort of a place is Ithaca? I don't know, all we ever see is the docks, the palace, & a swineherd's hut. There is no sense of this as a real, living breathing place where the work of human survival goes on.
What sort of place is Troy? It's got big gates & some big buildings that fall over. There is no sense of how large it is either geographically or in population. There is no sense of how these people live.

2026-07-24 13:23:05 UTC

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This movie needed *impact*. This movie needed *power*. Maybe it has that in IMAX, but take the giant extremely bright screen & loud speakers out of it, & what you are left with is nothing special.

2026-07-24 13:23:05 UTC

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If this had just been an adventure film, then perhaps it would be ok that it's basically only R rated because the characters swear a couple times.
But it's not just an adventure film. This is Chris Nolan's "great" adaptation of an epic poem, an ancient tale told so stunningly that people keep coming back to it.

2026-07-24 13:15:11 UTC

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Make monsters monstrous again!
I'm really, truly bothered that there was not a single moment when watching this movie that made me squirm in my seat or want to cover my eyes. Not a single goddamn thing that was depicted in this movie ever made me feel even the least bit uncomfortable.
What is the point of an Odyssey that is only "larger than life" by the size of the screen in the theater?

2026-07-24 13:12:14 UTC

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I don't think del Toro would have wanted to make this film, so I'll spare you what I think he could have brought to it.
Before we saw it though, Spouse said he thought that Sam Raimi would be a better director for an adaptation of Homer's Odyssey than Chris Nolan. After we saw it, I told him he's right. This film needed a director with horror sensibilities & a sense of humor.

2026-07-24 13:08:53 UTC

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This film needed to be wild, violent, funny, tragic, & deeply disconcerting to deserve the title of The Odyssey, & it was not.
O Brother Where Art Thou remains a much better telling of The Odyssey than this. Mind you, it doesn't really go for Themes & a Message the way Nolan does in this, but maybe that's because Homer's Odyssey isn't a fucking modern narrative anyway. I think the Coen brothers, nihilists that they are, are much better suited to tell Homer's tale than Nolan is.

2026-07-24 13:04:39 UTC

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Before watching this film, I kept hearing that it was about regret & that this is Nolan's mature contemplation on the subject.
It is not a mature contemplation of anything. Nolan put some Themes in there, but they don't develop into anything. There is neither insight nor emotional immediacy.
Per his usual style this film suggests ideas that Nolan doesn't actually want to go deep with & explore.

2026-07-24 12:55:47 UTC

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I don't know why Nolan appears to have been trying to put this regret at the center of the story, when it's weightless regret. Odysseus wouldn't change places with the people he got killed along the way. He's not thinking "they should have lived & I should have died."
He's thinking, "bummer."

2026-07-24 12:52:18 UTC

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I think this message of "regret" is absolutely perfect for anyone who wants to avoid taking any responsibility for their guilt.
I'm serious. This is the perfect encapsulation of the sort of self-indulgent feelings of "guilt" that allow certain people to let themselves off the hook for the destruction they've wrought, because they "feel bad about it".

2026-07-24 12:49:52 UTC

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The whole "we destroyed civilization" thing seemed a) overblown & b) oligarch-coded.
Nolan's Odyssey is the story of a great & powerful man looking at all the people he got killed & all the brutality he facilitated (with somehow no blood or gore) & going "whoopsie" after the fact, but not like "I would do something different" or "I want to repair my mistakes". No, just like "I'm going to sail off & do my own thing now. Good luck, world!"

2026-07-24 12:44:24 UTC

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Homer's Odysseus is fucking fascinating. He's bigger than life. He's brutal. He's deceitful. He's constantly scheming.
Damon plays something so incredibly tame by comparison.
Y'all, Homer's Odyssey may be an ancient poem but it (unlike the Iliad) is also pretty much a rollicking good time. It's lively, exciting, & often funny. This movie does not deserve to be called "the" Odyssey.

2026-07-24 12:33:18 UTC

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For a three hour movie, it's amazing how little characterization the main character the story is NAMED AFTER gets.

2026-07-24 12:30:07 UTC

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Tiny moment that made me go "this is not Odysseus": Damon asks his men how many sheep are in the cave.
You're telling me genius, observant, sharp as a tack Odysseus didn't count the sheep himself? It just felt weird. There might have been an opportunity to show us how closely he pays attention, how he's constantly planning & scheming, but nah.
This Odysseus is a middle manager, not a devious schemer. It's dull & disappointing. Homer's Odysseus is something much more fascinating.

2026-07-24 12:26:39 UTC

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Personal annoyance: my favorite fucking part of the Cyclops narrative in Homer's Odyssey is that Odysseus tells him his name is "no one," so after his eye is put out, he runs around screaming "no one did this to me!"
Not in Nolan's film. Nolan's film desperately needed humor. Damon's Odysseus doesn't come across as clever, let alone devious.

2026-07-24 11:50:19 UTC

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Ok, & let's just say it: Zendaya was not playing Athena.
The goddess Athena is terrifying, awe-inspiring, & severe. Zendaya was a friendly, pretty figment of Odysseus' imagination.

2026-07-24 11:46:26 UTC

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Another filmmaker might have made Odysseus' great bow feel significant & imposing to give impact to the moment Odysseus strings it, but nah. It's just there. Likewise when he shoots it through the axes. That seems like it should be a moment to savor cinematically, but it happens very quick & we're done with it. Again, the Wishbone episode gave that scene more impact.

2026-07-24 11:46:25 UTC

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It's striking me how the only "object" of any interest in the movie is the wooden horse. Other than that, the camera has no interest in anything that isn't living & breathing.
Actually the camera doesn't seem to have much interest in ANYTHING, including people.

2026-07-24 11:46:25 UTC

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Nolan's storytelling is very plodding & pragmatic. He uses dialogue exposition for everything we need to know, so that we never need to infer anything from what we see or read between the lines in the conversations between characters.
Everything sits on the surface. There is nothing underneath. No subtext, no subtlety.
There is very little camera movement, & the shots are very brief. We never get to look at an image & take it in. It's on to the next thing.

2026-07-24 11:36:52 UTC

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There was a Wishbone episode that did a better version of Odysseus showing up at home, revealing himself, & killing the suitors.
I'm not even kidding. That scene from that show stuck with me in a way that nothing from this movie ever will. It had more gravitas with a Jack Russell terrier.

2026-07-24 11:34:08 UTC

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I'll have more to say, but my first thought is that this movie could very easily become something more impactful with a little real brutality. A willingness to depict things that are harsh & ugly would have gone a long way
Apparently it's R rated, but I can't imagine what for. There's very little blood, & when we do see blood, we don't see where it is coming from. There is NO sex. We see one flashback with Penelope & Odysseus in bed, but that's it.

2026-07-24 11:34:08 UTC

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Calypso says she fell in love with Odysseus, but they appear to be roommates who sometimes hold hands when walking on the beach.

2026-07-24 11:28:38 UTC

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I think the framing device of Odysseus recounting stuff back to Calypso is part of what dulls the impact. This device is "clever" Nolan shit to allow for a non-linear narrative, but it steals immediacy from what should be a viscerally terrifying & exhilarating journey.

2026-07-24 11:28:37 UTC

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I got really, really tired of watching Odysseus & his men sprint back to the beach, chased by one thing or another. It is not interesting to see what is effectively the same scene over & over, just with a different threat.
The whole movie felt weightless. Things happen, people die, but none of it has an impact.

2026-07-24 11:24:32 UTC

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The sacking of Troy likewise. We're supposed to feel the brutality, but without gore & with very, very little blood, there is no impact.
This is not the main criticism I expected to come away with, but this absolutely kills it for me.
This is like The Odyssey for kids. Or it would be if it wasn't so long & repetitive.

2026-07-24 11:24:31 UTC

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The Cyclops is showing eating people, but we don't see their bodies torn in half, we don't see their blood dripping down its chin, & it is a PROBLEM for me. There's no horror to these scenes. It's just "whoops! There goes a guy."
Nolan uses squishy sounds when something which *should* be gory happens, so that the audience knows it's icky & gross, but he won't show it.
In this bloodless movie, people are brutally killed often, but it will never once make you feel uncomfortable.

2026-07-24 11:24:31 UTC

We went to see The Odyssey in 35mm just as Chris Nolan did NOT intend his film to be seen, & indeed, when not in IMAX, the image is muddy & dull. There's not much to see. This is more of an IMAX event than a movie.
But I was surprised by what struck me the most: this movie is in desperate need of gore (it barely shows blood!).
Nolan tries to emphasize the horrors of war, tries to make the Cyclops dreadful, etc. & is stymied at every turn by his own squeamishness.

2026-07-21 14:42:44 UTC

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I do however believe that Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey is primarily intended as marketing for IMAX.
I want to know how much IMAX stock that man owns.

2026-07-21 14:40:32 UTC

Don't get me wrong: IMAX is a cool technology. Those gigantic heavy reels of film... I'm learning a bit about the mechanics of assembling IMAX prints & IMAX projection, & I blame no one for geeking out about the amazing tech of it all. Film is fucking cool. That's just facts.

2026-07-20 14:34:23 UTC

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Annoyed when Nolan namechecks his "friend" Guillermo del Toro in Odyssey promo interviews (are they friends or are they Hollywood "friends"?) & says he learned from him that "a monster is never just a monster."
That it sounds to me like when someone is pretending they have some meaningful connection with someone who is well revered, because to say you "learned" such a generic thing from the guy suggests you are neither closely connected to him nor a particular fan of his work.

2026-07-20 14:23:59 UTC

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So when I point out I find his films a bit shallow & fundamentally conservative, his style simultaneously overcomplicated & rather lazy, & his plots & character bland it's not because you can't love a film that has areas of weakness.
There is nothing wrong with that. Art need not be perfect. That's actually a lie that alienates you from your creativity.
I point out that the hype is false because I dislike the industry it fucking celebrates & detest the fucking self-congratulation of it all.

2026-07-20 14:17:16 UTC

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That would be less a "defense" of art & more an assault on art I don't care for.
But for me this comes back to the film industry as a business & as a network for the accumulation of power & influence.
Chris Nolan films are not for me, but I don't take issue with viewers finding enjoyment. I take issue with a narrative that comes from a much more motivated place, from people with every reason to tell themselves that this guy may be the greatest director of all time.

2026-07-20 11:18:11 UTC

Saw someone saying that in Inception, Christopher Nolan took the wild & weird great collective unconscious & turned it into a corporate training seminar, & I can't stop thinking about it.
Because it's true. Nolan's films often take absolutely *wild* concepts, but they never get weird with them.

2026-07-17 20:08:15 UTC

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@nprofile…8r6m
Here's the big one:
>"But my immediate reaction was... I asked, did she know who it was? No. What colour were they? She said it was a black person. I went up and down areas with a cosh, hoping I'd be approached by somebody - I'm ashamed to say that - and I did it for maybe a week, hoping some [uses air quotes with fingers] 'black bastard' would come out of a pub and have a go at me about something, you know? So that I could kill him."
https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-47117177

2026-07-17 19:56:57 UTC

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He will not change his "artistic vision" one smidge just so some schmuck in small-town Iowa can experience it.
His art is for those who can access & afford it.

2026-07-17 19:54:27 UTC

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People laugh about the unintelligibility of Nolan's dialogue in places like it's a technical "whoopsie," but it's not.
He knows he's doing it. He's fine with it. It's what he *wants* to do.
It is deliberate, & the effects are unequally distributed across a class divide.

2026-07-17 19:49:58 UTC

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He's not concerned with whether or not you can understand the dialogue in his films if you are not in a theater with high-quality sound.
If this is an artistic choice, then one of the things it says is "I don't make art for peasants."

2026-07-17 19:46:36 UTC

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I mentioned that his choices feel very elitist.
This quote from a 2017 interview with IndieWire fucking upsets me.
On the one hand you could say "he's an artist! He just wants to make the absolute best art he can!"
But it speaks to who he sees as the audience for his art, & it's not poor schmucks in a cheap theater.
https://cdn.masto.host/dicecamp/media_attachments/files/116/937/037/956/403/860/original/c66e52e65885156e.png

2026-07-17 18:57:23 UTC

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"The Odyssey is Nolan's most ambitious film yet."
I dunno, I don't think he's ever made a more ambitious film than Memento.