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As far as I know, the proverb “For Want of a Nail” was originally written in the 1600s by the poet George Herbert. Benjamin Franklin, in the 1758 edition of “Poor Richard’s Almanack,” wrote …
As far as I know, th…
As far as I know, the proverb “For Want of a Nail” was originally written in the 1600s by the poet George Herbert. Benjamin Franklin, in the 1758 edition of “Poor Richard’s Almanack,” wrote a longer version: For want of a nail the shoe was lost; for want of a shoe the horse was lost; and for want of a horse the rider was lost, being overtaken and slain by the enemy, all for want of care about a horse-shoe nail. Back then, as now, that proverb reminds us that it’s the little things that can screw up everything. The things we take for granted can whipsaw back - hard…
Tim Brennan
June 1, 2026
I’ve come to a point where I largely don’t care about Star Wars. I should, since it looms large for me as a movie geek. Star Wars was the first movie I ever saw.* I thrilled to The Empire Strikes …
I’ve come to a poi…
I’ve come to a point where I largely don’t care about Star Wars. I should, since it looms large for me as a movie geek. Star Wars was the first movie I ever saw.* I thrilled to The Empire Strikes Back. I thought Return of the Jedi was…pretty good. For a while, that was it, and the Star Wars franchise was the crown jewel of franchises. In 1999, things changed. I stood in line to see The Phantom Menace** with a bunch of other mutants. The buzz in line was real. The excitement was real. Everything was gravy until the part where the actual movie started. As you may or may not know, The Ph…
Tim Brennan
May 25, 2026
One of the dominant stories in twenty-first century America is the story of the side hustle. Practically, it exists to give you a little extra income. Emotionally, though, the side hustle is the place…
One of the dominant …
One of the dominant stories in twenty-first century America is the story of the side hustle. Practically, it exists to give you a little extra income. Emotionally, though, the side hustle is the place where dreams can exist.* If you grind as an influencer, a content creator, a writer, or a crypto investor, you live in a world of possibility. The right thing could happen - maybe? possibly? - and that thing could launch you into the stratosphere. So why not go for it? Why not take a chance, one that could change your life? To my mind, that’s the core philosophy behind cryptocurrency, the id…
Tim Brennan
May 18, 2026
It’s one thing to make an independent film. Plenty of people have rustled up a screenplay, a camera, a ragtag group of actors and a dream. Those folks went without shooting permits, vast craft servi…
It’s one thing to …
It’s one thing to make an independent film. Plenty of people have rustled up a screenplay, a camera, a ragtag group of actors and a dream. Those folks went without shooting permits, vast craft service tables, and the endless financial resources of a major film studio. They ignored spouses, family, and friends polluting their heads with advice to “be practical.” They got out there, and goddammit, they made their movie. Unfortunately, you know what happens to a lot of those people and their movies afterwards? Nothing. Once they have a completed motion picture, they need to put it in t…
Tim Brennan
May 11, 2026
Sydney Pollack was quoted as saying, “There’s no question that a great script is absolutely essential, maybe the essential thing for a movie to succeed.” He’d know, considering he directed fil…
Sydney Pollack was q…
Sydney Pollack was quoted as saying, “There’s no question that a great script is absolutely essential, maybe the essential thing for a movie to succeed.” He’d know, considering he directed films like Tootsie, produced films like Michael Clayton, and acted in films like Changing Lanes. All films that, while they might not be unimpeachable masterpieces, are made with a high degree of quality and care. Those films I just mentioned enjoy a solid reputation due to the strength of their screenplays. And you know what? Screenwriting is hard. It’s hard because you need interesting charact…
Tim Brennan
May 4, 2026
Up until about a month ago, it looked like Eric Swalwell would be the next Governor of California. He’d served in the House of Representatives since 2012, and during each of his election cycles, he …
Up until about a mon…
Up until about a month ago, it looked like Eric Swalwell would be the next Governor of California. He’d served in the House of Representatives since 2012, and during each of his election cycles, he handily defeated every Republican challenger. Swalwell announced a Presidential run in 2019. He withdrew later, as his polling never broke one percent. My guess is, it didn’t matter too much to him. There would be other opportunities. Only there weren’t. He was, initially, anyway, the odds-on favorite to succeed Governor Gavin Newsom. Then, the dam broke, as reports emerged that Swalwell ha…
Tim Brennan
April 27, 2026
For better or worse, America is a gun culture. So much so that, to some degree or another, we all come into contact with them. I don’t own a gun, but I have fired them.* I’ve also had them pointed…
For better or worse,…
For better or worse, America is a gun culture. So much so that, to some degree or another, we all come into contact with them. I don’t own a gun, but I have fired them.* I’ve also had them pointed at me a few times, which is an experience I don’t recommend. I spent a number of years working in Wilton, Connecticut, which is a little bit South of Newtown. My son was only a year younger than those first graders in that classroom, a coincidence I’ve dwelled on. It’s estimated that there are somewhere in the neighborhood of 400 to 500 million privately owned firearms in America. Is tha…
Tim Brennan
April 20, 2026
A lifetime of watching movies has taught me many lessons. Among them are: If you are in the military, never tell the people you’re serving with that you can’t wait to get home to your family,…
A lifetime of watchi…
A lifetime of watching movies has taught me many lessons. Among them are: If you are in the military, never tell the people you’re serving with that you can’t wait to get home to your family, because you will be immediately killed. Mysterious loud noises are usually just a cat. Taking off your glasses makes you instantly fifty percent more attractive. If you meet someone and don’t like them, you’ll probably end up having sex with them. When people cough, it means they’re going to die soon. You can order “a beer” in a bar, and the bartender will never ask you w…
Tim Brennan
April 6, 2026
As a professional movie dork, sometimes I have a solid idea of what I’ll be reviewing a few weeks out. I’ll think, “This week I have a screening of a blockbuster, next week an indie drama, the w…
As a professional mo…
As a professional movie dork, sometimes I have a solid idea of what I’ll be reviewing a few weeks out. I’ll think, “This week I have a screening of a blockbuster, next week an indie drama, the week after that an action movie,” and so on. Other times, things get a little more cloudy. When stormy critic weather arrives,* I’ll usually get my wife’s take, since she’s also the one who proofs these things before you fine people have to suffer through them. So there I was at my desk, cat on my lap. I turned to my wife and said, “For this week, I can see a geopolitical drama, a low …
Tim Brennan
March 30, 2026
The irony is not lost on me that audiences gripe about Hollywood not taking risks, yet they cheer when a thing they love is brought back in a new form. We don’t like it when things end, even when th…
The irony is not los…
The irony is not lost on me that audiences gripe about Hollywood not taking risks, yet they cheer when a thing they love is brought back in a new form. We don’t like it when things end, even when they end in a perfectly satisfying manner. Case in point is 2019’s delightful horror/comedy Ready or Not. In that film, we meet Grace (Samara Weaving), a young woman preparing to be married. Her fiance’s family is fabulously wealthy, and they’ve made their money by creating a wealth of games. The Le Domas family has a tradition - when someone new marries into the family, the new member mu…
Tim Brennan
March 23, 2026
Often in films, we see people devastated by grief. A little later, we see the same people heroically pull themselves together and get on with it. Part of that has to do with the requirements of narrat…
Often in films, we s…
Often in films, we see people devastated by grief. A little later, we see the same people heroically pull themselves together and get on with it. Part of that has to do with the requirements of narrative, yet a larger part of that has to do with the belief that the grieving process is one where we feel sad for a bit, then shake it off. Not everyone responds that way. Grief is overwhelming, and I know a little something about that. When I was in college, my father died quite suddenly from a heart attack. A month later, Alzheimer’s finally took my grandmother. After that, things like going …
Tim Brennan
March 16, 2026
On my bookshelf, alongside Terry Pratchett novels and movie-related tomes, sits Andrew Chaikin’s “A Man on the Moon.” His book is a history of the U.S. space program that digs into what it took …
On my bookshelf, alo…
On my bookshelf, alongside Terry Pratchett novels and movie-related tomes, sits Andrew Chaikin’s “A Man on the Moon.” His book is a history of the U.S. space program that digs into what it took for us to send human beings to the lunar surface and bring them safely home. It’s an outstanding piece of nonfiction writing* that I wholeheartedly recommend. It’s ironic, considering that I, a goober who could barely pass high school science classes, am fascinated so deeply by space travel. Part of it is the unexpected practical applications that affect our daily lives. If you like memory …
Tim Brennan
March 9, 2026
What does it take to be a great basketball player? Not good, like a high school team or someone dominating in pickup. I mean great. A little research tells me it’s about more than high level athleti…
What does it take to…
What does it take to be a great basketball player? Not good, like a high school team or someone dominating in pickup. I mean great. A little research tells me it’s about more than high level athleticism. A great player needs willpower. Coachability. Determination. An understanding that the game is about far more than one person scoring a ton of points. But what happens when you have an athlete who possesses all those traits, hell, a whole team of them? What happens if that team does nearly everything right, and they still lose? A lot of athletes and teams can relate to that, the idea th…
Tim Brennan
March 2, 2026
On February 15 of this year, at the age of 95, Robert Duvall died. To say he had a good run is a gigantic understatement. Duvall was married four times, adored the tango, used his celebrity for good c…
On February 15 of th…
On February 15 of this year, at the age of 95, Robert Duvall died. To say he had a good run is a gigantic understatement. Duvall was married four times, adored the tango, used his celebrity for good causes such as helping women and children in Argentina, and by all accounts was a solidly good guy. As great as all that is, we’re here to focus on Duvall’s acting. He was one of the greats,* and not in a movie star, John Wayne kind of way, though Duvall worked with him. He wasn’t a method actor in the Robert De Niro kind of way, though Duvall worked with him, too. In fact, to give you an …
Tim Brennan
February 23, 2026
The multiverse has been having a moment lately, particularly in film. In popular culture, the MCU has dug into the concept big time with Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Fantastic Four, an…
The multiverse has b…
The multiverse has been having a moment lately, particularly in film. In popular culture, the MCU has dug into the concept big time with Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Fantastic Four, and most likely the upcoming Avengers: Doomsday. Everything Everywhere All At Once won seven Academy Awards. It’s an honest to goodness thing. The concept of multiverses is also a poorly understood thing, at least from a narrative perspective. It’s true that filmmakers can go batshit insane with multiple variants of the same character, or drop characters into increasingly bananas alternate di…
Tim Brennan
February 16, 2026
After Germany’s surrender in World War II, the Allied powers began a program of denazification. The plan was to fully remove elements of the Nazi party from Austrian and German society, and allow th…
After Germany’s su…
After Germany’s surrender in World War II, the Allied powers began a program of denazification. The plan was to fully remove elements of the Nazi party from Austrian and German society, and allow those countries to move forward in a positive, profitable, and presumably pro-American direction.* The process was expensive, time-consuming, and not entirely successful. But it was thought to be necessary to halt the rise of another Hitler. A similar concept was attempted after the Civil War. It was known as Reconstruction,** and for a little while it worked like gangbusters before it utterly fa…
Tim Brennan
February 9, 2026
In my professional life, such as it is, I’ve caught one huge break. I’m not someone who’s made a titanic amount of money, and can spend like a drunken Trump donor. I’m not someone who’s made…
In my professional l…
In my professional life, such as it is, I’ve caught one huge break. I’m not someone who’s made a titanic amount of money, and can spend like a drunken Trump donor. I’m not someone who’s made an indelible impact on culture, and will go down in the annals of human history. I’m not someone who’s amassed power and can influence the lives of thousands with the merest gesture. Despite all of that, I’ve never had an asshole boss. I’ve had bosses that were competent, bosses that were opportunistic, and bosses that were checked out. But I’ve never had one that was a delightful co…
Tim Brennan
February 2, 2026
It’s been said that all art is political, even art that’s a bit stupid. Your slobs versus snobs comedy Ghostbusters? That’s about how a group of small business owners can more effectively deal w…
It’s been said tha…
It’s been said that all art is political, even art that’s a bit stupid. Your slobs versus snobs comedy Ghostbusters? That’s about how a group of small business owners can more effectively deal with a crisis rather than the wicked EPA. Your dumb as toast disaster epic Armageddon? That’s about how in the face of…um…armageddon, American exceptionalism will save the day. I see comments all the time from people begging filmmakers to strictly create movies that are entertainment and nothing more. I’m not sure that’s possible, and there are two reasons for that. The first is that, …
Tim Brennan
January 26, 2026
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