Farran Smith Nehme
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selfstyledsiren.bsky.social
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/
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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....
Pithy, scathing, and funny, as one expects from my bunny friend Glenn. But my favorite sentence is: “The ‘Nordic Noir’ series on the Criterion Collection is lit, I recommend every title.” Too true! open.substack.com/pub/glennken...
We Saw "Hamnet"
And now cinema is over for us.
open.substack.com
January 25, 2026 at 8:01 PM
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Carroll Gardens Brooklyn - 11:27 AM
January 25, 2026 at 4:27 PM
I never get tired of photos of New York in the Great Blizzard of 1947—26 inches in Central Park, making today's storm look like a picnic. This is a lone pedestrian making their way through a peaceful Times Square, showing the Pepsico sign and a marquee for "The Voice of the Turtle" at left.
January 25, 2026 at 3:04 PM
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The nursing subreddit changed their pic to one of Alex
January 25, 2026 at 4:14 AM
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No matter the quality of the nurse the one thing I’d do is never, ever cross them
The nursing subreddit changed their pic to one of Alex
January 25, 2026 at 4:34 AM
There goes my respect for Ellen von Unwerth.
January 25, 2026 at 4:11 AM
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January 25, 2026 at 3:13 AM
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James Maher ~ Winter night, Central Park
January 25, 2026 at 3:15 AM
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The World Cup in the US must be boycotted by foreign nations. Outside financial pressure is the only thing the thugs in suits (as opposed to the thugs in camo) will respond to.
January 24, 2026 at 7:30 PM
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People are definitely setting up a barricade of trash cans and this couch, in the middle of the street where ICE is.

"That's my couch," said a woman standing nearby. "It's been on my porch for four years because it won't fit up the stairs. My neighbor will be pleased it's gone now."
January 24, 2026 at 6:18 PM
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Lovely to see Godard’s A BOUT DE SOUFFLE on the big screen today. A first-time watch for my friend, the nth time for me. ‘Jean-Paul Belmondo in a hat’ should be a genre in its own right!

#FilmSky
January 24, 2026 at 5:51 PM
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OMG. This year there will again be a Veuve Cliquot ‘26 #TempusFugit #TCMParty #Casablanca
January 24, 2026 at 3:27 AM
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An adorable Tufted Titmouse perches on a lichen covered branch while waiting for peanuts to be offered.
January 23, 2026 at 10:44 PM
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It’s Ann’s birthday tomorrow.

(cc @selfstyledsiren.bsky.social. Because, quite frankly, who else would I cc.)

🎥 Guy Green
January 23, 2026 at 9:58 PM
My fellow New Yorkers, it's a snowstorm, not the siege of Stalingrad. Local butcher's case was practically empty; I literally got the last lamb they had save for two sad little rib chops. www.nytimes.com/live/2026/01...
Update from Sara Hylton
www.nytimes.com
January 23, 2026 at 9:45 PM
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“Television: A medium. So called because it's neither rare nor well done.”

-Ernie Kovacs #BOTD

Ernie Kovacs And Edie Adams play with a guillotine
January 23, 2026 at 3:28 PM
One of my most favorite Manet paintings.
Victorine Meurent in pink silk, with parrot. Love monocle she fingers (look at me!), & peeled lemon at base of parrot's perch is so 17th-century Dutch! 1866 by Edouard Manet, born OTD in 1832.
January 23, 2026 at 4:30 PM
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"Come at me!' indeed. Alright D'Artagnan
January 23, 2026 at 2:17 PM
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Hollywood, I'm BEGGING you at this point.

PLEASE use professional voice actors for animated movies, not the celebrity ones (least of all ones who aren't even that good in live-action stuff).
Wow this cast is STACKED
January 23, 2026 at 2:32 PM
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Whether you're getting snow or ice this weekend, make sure you get to the book, I mean grocery, store. 🤓❄️
January 23, 2026 at 2:07 PM
Fellow New Yorkers, here's a description of how this storm is likely to play out, with caveats. Long story short, lots of snow but will probably change over to sleet by Sunday night and it’s gonna be colder than the box office for “Melania.” www.patreon.com/posts/148869...
Winter Storm Watch: Significant snowfall expected in NYC from Sunday into Monday | New York Metro Weather
Get more from New York Metro Weather on Patreon
www.patreon.com
January 23, 2026 at 2:01 PM
Good morning! My essay "Captain Blood: A Pirate Is Born," from the booklet for the CAPTAIN BLOOD 4K, is up at the
@criterion.bsky.social website. Feast your eyes on young Errol (c. 1938) and have a read. www.criterion.com/current/post...
January 23, 2026 at 1:42 PM
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January 23, 2026 at 1:34 PM
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In advance of this weekend: George Bellows, "A Morning Snow—Hudson River," 1910 www.brooklynmuseum.org/objects/1051
January 23, 2026 at 1:34 PM
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1/22/69: Claude Chabrol's Hitchcock-inflected La Femme Infidele
w/Stéphane Audran, Bouquet & Ronet
Part of CC's stunning "2nd wave" - From Us: brightlightsfilm.com/claude-chabr...
More:
@davekehr.bsky.social: chicagoreader.com/film-tv/la-f...
Sarris raves: news.google.com/newspapers?i...
January 22, 2026 at 3:31 PM