I wrote about how the genre of "true crime" smugly validates our own moral superiority and enacts rituals of public humiliation. And I wrote about trying to avoid these traps when I created my own podcast, Passenger Seat.
Tom Joudrey
@tomjoudrey.bsky.social
Writer. Journalist. Culture + Film critic.🏳️🌈🎬
On the eve of the centennial celebrations marked for June 1, here's a piece on the changing perceptions of #MarilynMonroe in today's @bostonglobe.com Ideas section. #MM100 #FilmSky #MovieSky
My podcast—Passenger Seat—just dropped! It’s a true crime story about a brazen kidnapping, the collateral damage wrought by addiction, and how the best intentions can curdle into tragedy. Spotify link in comments but available everywhere. I hope you’ll check it out!
I’m seeing Jürgen Habermas has died at the age of 96. His excoriation of crypto normative premises in the work of post-structuralists like Foucault will be a big part of his legacy.
I wrote about Gus Van Sant, the new queer cinema, and the stalking of immigrants for @lwlies.com lwlies.com/in-praise-of...
The disturbing prescience of Mala Noche
Forty years ago, Gus Van Sant’s breakout film captured the terror and violence inflicted on immigrants in the United States. Lead actor Tim Streeter…
lwlies.com
What’s in the 📦? I wrote about the hidden allegory in Se7en for the BBC. www.bbc.co.uk/culture/arti...
'The blight seeped into your soul': How Seven reflected fears in the US in the 1980s
David Fincher's thriller began with its screenwriter's view of the urban decay and religious conservatism of the Reagan era. But it also predicted our obsession with true crime today.
bbc.co.uk
I grew up on an apple orchard in rural Ohio, and most of the people who came to pick apples were lovely. Some weren’t. Naturally, I wrote about the ones who weren’t. slate.com/life/2025/09...
I Grew Up on an Apple Orchard. Oh, the Horrors I’ve Seen During You-Pick Season.
Oh, the horrors I've seen.
slate.com
For the BBC, I wrote about the divisive legacy of Requiem for a Dream, 25 years on. www.bbc.com/culture/arti...
'Slumming in a vision of hell': Why Requiem for a Dream is still so divisive, 25 years after its release
Darren Aronofsky's radical drug-addiction drama was highly acclaimed and angrily slated when it came out in 2000. Today, this Hubert Selby Jr adaptation is no less contentious.
bbc.com
30 years ago, a film adaptation of a bestselling Stephen King novel was released, and it featured what was then a genuinely shocking twist: being a bitch isn’t a crime. I wrote about DOLORES CLAIBORNE for its 30th anniversary. ⬇️
Democracy dies in darkness. We just didn’t know Jeff Bezos would be the one turning off the f-ing lights.
Can this hellish month be the nail in the coffin of the idea that the billionaire class will “save” us—that, against all evidence, arsonists make the best firefighters?
AMADEUS at 40.🎻 www.bbc.com/culture/arti...
'An unmistakable stab at the USSR': Could Amadeus be the most misunderstood Oscar winner ever?
Released 40 years ago this month, Miloš Forman's best picture-winning Amadeus is often accused of historical inaccuracies – but the film's critics could be missing the point.
bbc.com
Seinfeld was wrong. THE ENGLISH PATIENT is a masterpiece. And you betcha it deserved that Oscar over Fargo. www.bostonglobe.com/2021/11/11/o...
In defense of ‘The English Patient,’ a masterpiece of anti-imperialism - The Boston Globe
First hailed, later mocked, the Oscar-winning epic deserves credit for subverting its own genre.
bostonglobe.com
Just arrived from The Other Place—looking forward to checking this 🆕 place out!
