Farran Smith Nehme 🇱🇧
@selfstyledsiren.bsky.social
Film critic; NSFC, NYFCC. Bylines at Criterion, Sight & Sound, Noir City, my own Substack, and wherever fine film geeks are found. https://selfstyledsiren.substack.com/
Progressive candidate Abdul El-Sayed narrowly beat four-term congresswoman Haley Stevens to win the Democratic Senate nomination in Michigan.
Progressive Candidate Wins Michigan Democratic Senate Nomination
Moderate Democrats see the race as a chance to try to slow a groundswell of Democratic socialist victories.
on.wsj.com
Vittore Grubicy de Dragon Symphonie crépusculaire, 1894 Milan, Civico Museo d'Arte Contemporanea
Speaking of characters out of a murder mystery! Must read story of a Hollywood fabulist. Great journalism from Farran, hunting down what this man kept hidden.
Farran Smith Nehme 🇱🇧@selfstyledsiren.bsky.social · 2d agoAt my substack, no paywall for now: The Man Who Would Be Dorléac. open.substack.com/pub/selfstyl...
Your gob will utterly be smacked by this amazing essay of sleuthing (and exposure) by the great @selfstyledsiren.bsky.social.
The Man Who Would Be Dorléac
Costumes weren't the only things he created
open.substack.com
Apparently the latest phonus balonus AI tell is the hyphen in a construction like "ten-year plan," and ya wanna know what? This is just g.d. stupid.
For this week's POP STYLE OPINIONFEST, we tackle the rhetoric surrounding Ariana Grande's health & our responsibilities as writers of celeb content, the horror of a Met Gala devoted to John Galliano, and for funsies, the incest-heavy latest HOUSE OF THE DRAGON tomandlorenzo.com/2026/08/pop-...
Pop Style Opinionfest: Should We Talk About Ariana Grande? - Tom + Lorenzo
Yes, it's everyone's favorite kind of podcast: two middle-aged men sit down to talk about a woman's body and also anti-semitism! Everyone join in on this
tomandlorenzo.com
I still love long phone calls with friends; I send thank-you notes (albeit by email); my daily task list is handwritten.
Black Aziz Anansi@blackazizanansi.blacksky.app · 2w agoWhat's your old person trait?
“I came to bear witness to the great wrong that's being done to people who came here for a better life and had the rug pulled out from under them. It doesn't make humanitarian sense. It doesn't make economic sense. It's purely for ideology.” www.wvxu.org/local-news/2...
Hundreds show support for Haitians attending ICE meetings in Cincinnati
People gathered outside the Cincinnati ICE field office Sunday for a vigil and to show solidarity with Haitian immigrants being summoned to meetings with federal officials.
wvxu.org
Bet you didn't know that Thornton Wilder was such a babe.
"awfully adjectival"
[a partway book report]
open.substack.com
Yesterday marked James Baldwin’s birthday and the beginning of Black August. In his honor, we remember his enduring words: “I am anti-Zionist. I don’t believe [Zionists] have the right, after 3,000 years, to reclaim the land with western bombs and guns.”
If you recall Jean-Pierre Dorléac venomous tweets on Twitter about Classic Hollywood stars, Farran's deep dive into his past will be a welcome cup of tea. There's no paywall at the moment, so read it now. Or even better, sign up for her Substack so you can support her work.
Farran Smith Nehme 🇱🇧@selfstyledsiren.bsky.social · 2d agoAt my substack, no paywall for now: The Man Who Would Be Dorléac. open.substack.com/pub/selfstyl...
A top 5 screening of my life was Tsai Ming-liang introducing The Wild, Wild Rose and then hanging out and talking about his childhood love of Hong Kong musicals for nearly an hour.
Dylan Cheung@dylancheung.bsky.social · 2d agoIt's been reported that Grace Chang, Hong Kong's preeminent Mandarin screen diva of the 50s, passed away this afternoon, one day shy of her 93rd birthday. Watch Mambo Girl and The Wild, Wild Rose to see her at the height of her powers.
At my substack, no paywall for now: The Man Who Would Be Dorléac. open.substack.com/pub/selfstyl...
The Man Who Would Be Dorléac
Costumes weren't the only things he created
open.substack.com
🧵Central to Ripon Cathedral is the magnificent Great East Window, a towering medieval masterpiece revived in the 18th century. The tracery dates to the 13th century and the glass was themed on the Trinity. The original glass was largely damaged in the civil war. In the 18th century it was
Remembering the great Beatrice Straight, talented Oscar/Tony-winning & Emmy-nominated actress, on her 112nd birthday, acclaimed for her roles in PATTERNS, THE NUN'S STORY, NETWORK, POLTERGEIST, ROUTE 66, BEACON HILL, THE DAIN CURSE, KING'S CROSSING, FAERIE TALE THEATRE, ST. ELSEWHERE, and more.
Monty Roberts, a celebrated horse trainer and best-selling author, whose humane, nonviolent methods for training wild and untamed horses were adopted by several generations of equestrian professionals, died on Friday at his home in Solvang, Calif. He was 91.
Monty Roberts, Horse Trainer Who Preached Kindness, Dies at 91
His approach was in contrast to centuries of conventional wisdom and won the enthusiastic approval of Queen Elizabeth II, with whom he became friends.
nyti.ms
Happy Helen Morgan's birthday! [photographed by Carl Van Vechten, 1932]
Ernest Dowson, Poet, Novelist, Short Story Writer, #BornOnThisDay in 1867, in Lee, London “They are not long, the days of wine and roses: Out of a misty dream Our path emerges for a while, then closes Within a dream.”
Abdul El-Sayed was on MSNBC this morning where the hosts noted he was polling 54-39 against Stevens before they of course went in asking if he hates Jews and also if him winning would be disrespectful to the Black voters in MI when so many Black officials who don’t live there endorsed Stevens
Lovely to see George Cukor's THE PHILADELPHIA STORY (1940) on the big screen at the Garden Cinema yesterday. Delightful in every respect, but what really stood out for me this time was Ruth Hussey's fab performance as the photographer Liz Imbrie. She's sharp, knowing & wonderfully humane. #FilmSky
Just finished: @isaacbutler.bsky.social 's The Method. An invaluable cultural history that is of great interest to anyone who loves film or the theater.
I usually say I want to know what became of Judge Crater. So this time I’ll ask to find out what happened to Jonbenet Ramsay.
G. Willow Wilson@gwillow.me · 6d agoWhat's your personal great white whale of an unsolved mystery? The thing you desperately hope is solved before you die because you need to know the answer? Mine is the Isabella Stewart Gardener Museum heist. Where the hell are the Rembrandts. I need the full story
Indeed it should not work like this, but it does seem worth noting that sometimes it does.
Jason Bailey@jasondashbailey.com · 5d agoAnd, less than an hour after posting this, there is an apology email and an invoice being generated. It just.... should not work like this, ya know
I've seen a lot of fellow writers post stories about getting shafted. Most don't name the outlet, and I don't blame them one bit. Times are terrible. You could still wind up needing a gig from the place. So I deeply admire Jason for having the guts to name Vulture and give the details.
Jason Bailey@jasondashbailey.com · 5d agoWell, it’s invoicing day, and since they’re really apparently not going to pay me for something I wrote for them two months ago, I guess today is the day to post about how @vulture.com fucks over its film freelancers. Long (sorry) thread, with receipts:
People in their 20s, 30s and early 40s outnumbered the middle aged/seniors crowd at the 70mm screenings of Lawrence of Arabia and 2001: A Space Odyssey I attended a few weeks ago. Ten years ago, same theater and same film format for Lawrence, it was vice versa.
Saw this at William K. Everson's Film History class at NYU in the late '70's. First silent film that I loved and appreciated.
