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/
https://selfstyledsiren.substack.com/
Pinned
I've been dying to tell people I wrote the essay for TROUBLE IN PARADISE, a true Lubitsch masterpiece, and now I can. It's hilarious, it's gorgeous, there's nothing like it, and spending time with Trouble last year soothed my soul. www.criterion.com/films/723-tr....
Reposted by Farran Smith Nehme
Aside from Laughton, Boland, and everyone else in the wonderful cast, I adore the "ditto boom" scene with Roland Young playing the drums accompanying Leila Hyams in a rendition of Pretty Baby. It just encapsulates everything that's amazing about Young.
January 28, 2026 at 4:32 PM
Aside from Laughton, Boland, and everyone else in the wonderful cast, I adore the "ditto boom" scene with Roland Young playing the drums accompanying Leila Hyams in a rendition of Pretty Baby. It just encapsulates everything that's amazing about Young.
Reposted by Farran Smith Nehme
#CaptainBlood (1935), one of my favourite films (and novels) and inspiration for my first novel, #SergiosExile, and elements of my latest, #TheCinemaOfCancelledStars, arrived on 4k today and @selfstyledsiren.bsky.social's excellent essay is worth the doubloons alone.
#FilmSky #BookSky
#FilmSky #BookSky
January 28, 2026 at 5:35 PM
#CaptainBlood (1935), one of my favourite films (and novels) and inspiration for my first novel, #SergiosExile, and elements of my latest, #TheCinemaOfCancelledStars, arrived on 4k today and @selfstyledsiren.bsky.social's excellent essay is worth the doubloons alone.
#FilmSky #BookSky
#FilmSky #BookSky
Reposted by Farran Smith Nehme
Reposted by Farran Smith Nehme
Tears of joy! SCOTLAND HAS JUST PASSED SWIFT BRICKS INTO LAW unanimously!
4 years of asking England & Scotland sorts it in a month led by ACE MARK RUSKELL MSP ♥️The RELIEF is unreal! Tell England to follow 🏴by emailing [email protected] now!WOOP!
4 years of asking England & Scotland sorts it in a month led by ACE MARK RUSKELL MSP ♥️The RELIEF is unreal! Tell England to follow 🏴by emailing [email protected] now!WOOP!
January 27, 2026 at 9:26 PM
Tears of joy! SCOTLAND HAS JUST PASSED SWIFT BRICKS INTO LAW unanimously!
4 years of asking England & Scotland sorts it in a month led by ACE MARK RUSKELL MSP ♥️The RELIEF is unreal! Tell England to follow 🏴by emailing [email protected] now!WOOP!
4 years of asking England & Scotland sorts it in a month led by ACE MARK RUSKELL MSP ♥️The RELIEF is unreal! Tell England to follow 🏴by emailing [email protected] now!WOOP!
I've reached the "Damn, I totally forgot I wrote that" stage of internet film writing. I found this while googling Mary Boland for her birthday. It's not bad, but the essay does make me sad. Like reading a letter you got years ago, from someone living in a faraway place. mubi.com/en/notebook/...
Leo McCarey's "Ruggles of Red Gap"
Farran Smith Nehme analyzes the comic—but entirely sincere—patriotism of Leo McCarey's "Ruggles of Red Gap" (1935).
mubi.com
January 28, 2026 at 2:36 PM
I've reached the "Damn, I totally forgot I wrote that" stage of internet film writing. I found this while googling Mary Boland for her birthday. It's not bad, but the essay does make me sad. Like reading a letter you got years ago, from someone living in a faraway place. mubi.com/en/notebook/...
Reposted by Farran Smith Nehme
Reposted by Farran Smith Nehme
We’ve got one of the great indie auteurs on our podcast @moviesthatmademe.bsky.social this week! Dead Man's Wire director Gus Van Sant runs down the movies that, well, made him with hosts @josholson.bsky.social & yours truly!
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/d...
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/d...
DEAD MAN'S WIRE director Gus Van Sant
Podcast Episode · The Movies That Made Me · 01/27/2026 · 1h 1m
podcasts.apple.com
January 28, 2026 at 2:03 AM
We’ve got one of the great indie auteurs on our podcast @moviesthatmademe.bsky.social this week! Dead Man's Wire director Gus Van Sant runs down the movies that, well, made him with hosts @josholson.bsky.social & yours truly!
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/d...
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/d...
Reposted by Farran Smith Nehme
Boulevard Saint-Denis, Argenteuil, in winter - 1875
https://botfrens.com/collections/41/contents/3109843
https://botfrens.com/collections/41/contents/3109843
January 28, 2026 at 4:42 AM
Boulevard Saint-Denis, Argenteuil, in winter - 1875
https://botfrens.com/collections/41/contents/3109843
https://botfrens.com/collections/41/contents/3109843
It's a three-cat night in Brooklyn, and I only got one cat.
January 28, 2026 at 12:16 AM
It's a three-cat night in Brooklyn, and I only got one cat.
Reposted by Farran Smith Nehme
A reminder that @ayannapressley.bsky.social's bill is necessary if we're ever going to get past all this. (Love my MA reps.)
There's no ICE accountability without ending qualified immunity.
They're murdering people. There won't be justice for the lives they've stolen, but there must be accountability.
My bill with @markey.senate.gov would ensure families can sue the agents murdering their loved ones.
They're murdering people. There won't be justice for the lives they've stolen, but there must be accountability.
My bill with @markey.senate.gov would ensure families can sue the agents murdering their loved ones.
January 27, 2026 at 11:56 PM
A reminder that @ayannapressley.bsky.social's bill is necessary if we're ever going to get past all this. (Love my MA reps.)
I'm a little in love with the way that guard (diplomat?) strides across the lobby to let the ICE agents know just how unwelcome they are.
1/27/2026 - Minneapolis
ICE just attempted an illegal entry into the ECUADORIAN CONSULATE to abduct someone
They did not have a warrant
ICE just attempted an illegal entry into the ECUADORIAN CONSULATE to abduct someone
They did not have a warrant
January 27, 2026 at 10:26 PM
I'm a little in love with the way that guard (diplomat?) strides across the lobby to let the ICE agents know just how unwelcome they are.
Charles Laughton was not the only great actor of Classic Hollywood to direct a film no one appreciated at the time. Here’s my essay from last year about Peter Lorre’s The Lost One—unique, ill-fated, and now darkly relevant.
open.substack.com/pub/selfstyl...
open.substack.com/pub/selfstyl...
The Lost One's Long Journey
After 75 years, Peter Lorre's sole film as director finds its dark moment at last
open.substack.com
January 27, 2026 at 8:36 PM
Charles Laughton was not the only great actor of Classic Hollywood to direct a film no one appreciated at the time. Here’s my essay from last year about Peter Lorre’s The Lost One—unique, ill-fated, and now darkly relevant.
open.substack.com/pub/selfstyl...
open.substack.com/pub/selfstyl...
Reposted by Farran Smith Nehme
William 'the Conqueror' Stancil >>> Walter 'Weasel Words' Kirn.
January 27, 2026 at 6:25 PM
William 'the Conqueror' Stancil >>> Walter 'Weasel Words' Kirn.
Reposted by Farran Smith Nehme
This pic was taken for Warner Brothers’ Kid Nightingale (1939) during Hurrell’s two year stint as the studios‘ head of portrait photography.
January 27, 2026 at 6:46 PM
This pic was taken for Warner Brothers’ Kid Nightingale (1939) during Hurrell’s two year stint as the studios‘ head of portrait photography.
Reposted by Farran Smith Nehme
Celebrate the Ingrid Thulin Centennial 🎂💯
A photo from the same 1965 session with Dennis Stock. Such style; so much cool!
A photo from the same 1965 session with Dennis Stock. Such style; so much cool!
January 27, 2026 at 6:18 PM
Celebrate the Ingrid Thulin Centennial 🎂💯
A photo from the same 1965 session with Dennis Stock. Such style; so much cool!
A photo from the same 1965 session with Dennis Stock. Such style; so much cool!
Reposted by Farran Smith Nehme
Ingrid Thulin by Loomis Dean
"No other woman actor - not even Liv Ullmann, Bibi Andersson, or Eva Dahlbeck - could express as much of Swedish director Ingmar Bergman's complex, often tortured view of womanhood as Thulin, who could match his intricacies step by step."
- Derek Malcolm
"No other woman actor - not even Liv Ullmann, Bibi Andersson, or Eva Dahlbeck - could express as much of Swedish director Ingmar Bergman's complex, often tortured view of womanhood as Thulin, who could match his intricacies step by step."
- Derek Malcolm
January 27, 2026 at 6:12 PM
Ingrid Thulin by Loomis Dean
"No other woman actor - not even Liv Ullmann, Bibi Andersson, or Eva Dahlbeck - could express as much of Swedish director Ingmar Bergman's complex, often tortured view of womanhood as Thulin, who could match his intricacies step by step."
- Derek Malcolm
"No other woman actor - not even Liv Ullmann, Bibi Andersson, or Eva Dahlbeck - could express as much of Swedish director Ingmar Bergman's complex, often tortured view of womanhood as Thulin, who could match his intricacies step by step."
- Derek Malcolm
Reposted by Farran Smith Nehme
For anyone who could do with kittens... 🐾🐾 and incidentally Gable & Lombard. (Credit: 1940, John Kobal Foundation)
January 27, 2026 at 6:02 PM
For anyone who could do with kittens... 🐾🐾 and incidentally Gable & Lombard. (Credit: 1940, John Kobal Foundation)
Reposted by Farran Smith Nehme
“This is a preschool you stupid motherf*ckers!”
(From Somali Snaps)
(From Somali Snaps)
January 27, 2026 at 5:08 PM
“This is a preschool you stupid motherf*ckers!”
(From Somali Snaps)
(From Somali Snaps)
Reposted by Farran Smith Nehme
"The musical is based on the memoirs of entertainer Rose Louise Hovick"
I think Gypsy Rose Lee would set the world on fire over that billing.
I think Gypsy Rose Lee would set the world on fire over that billing.
Japanese Revival of GYPSY Will Be Titled ROSE for 2026 Production
Japanese Revival of GYPSY Will Be Titled ROSE for 2026 Production
The upcoming Japanese revival of their 2023 production of Gypsy will be presented under a new title. When the production returns to the stage in 2026, it will be known in Japan as Rose.
www.broadwayworld.com
January 27, 2026 at 4:28 PM
"The musical is based on the memoirs of entertainer Rose Louise Hovick"
I think Gypsy Rose Lee would set the world on fire over that billing.
I think Gypsy Rose Lee would set the world on fire over that billing.
Even for her early days in Hollywood, when they were still deciding what to do with her, this is an atypical pose and get-up for Jane Wyman. Dig that gorgeous dress. Photo by the one and only George Hurrell.
January 27, 2026 at 4:00 PM
Even for her early days in Hollywood, when they were still deciding what to do with her, this is an atypical pose and get-up for Jane Wyman. Dig that gorgeous dress. Photo by the one and only George Hurrell.
Reposted by Farran Smith Nehme
1/ Probably my last gift WaPo article, and one that fills me with rage: wapo.st/4rjXAMQ #AI #theft #plagiarism #Anthropic #chatbots
How Silicon Valley built AI: Buying, scanning and discarding millions of books
Court filings reveal how AI companies raced to obtain more books to feed chatbots, including by buying, scanning and disposing of millions of titles.
wapo.st
January 27, 2026 at 1:50 PM
1/ Probably my last gift WaPo article, and one that fills me with rage: wapo.st/4rjXAMQ #AI #theft #plagiarism #Anthropic #chatbots
Reposted by Farran Smith Nehme
more of this please Catholic bishops and pastors
Newark’s Cardinal Tobin: Defund lawless ICE
[Catholic pastoral messaging in the Trump era]
greydanus.substack.com
January 27, 2026 at 1:33 PM
more of this please Catholic bishops and pastors
A Separate Peace was once a common book to read in high school (freshman year in my case). I remember being very moved by it, which certainly was not the case for everything we read.
I’ve got three books going right now. 2 I’m reading and this one I’m listening to. I read this book in high school, as I’m sure many people did. I liked it then and I do now. I’m more of a book reader than listener but every once in a while it’s nice to escape into another world this way.
#books
#books
January 27, 2026 at 1:55 PM
A Separate Peace was once a common book to read in high school (freshman year in my case). I remember being very moved by it, which certainly was not the case for everything we read.
Reposted by Farran Smith Nehme
All of Agatha Christie’s Poirot has just appeared on Netflix. I knew this week had to have at least one redeeming feature.
January 26, 2026 at 7:56 PM
All of Agatha Christie’s Poirot has just appeared on Netflix. I knew this week had to have at least one redeeming feature.
Reposted by Farran Smith Nehme
January 27, 2026 at 12:36 AM