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thebenkaye.bsky.social
ben kaye
@thebenkaye.bsky.social
350 followers 340 following 610 posts
what he’s typed will be a window into his madness | writes about movies, theatre | bylines: Cine-File, Chicago Reader, The Spool, Newcity Stage, possibly you????? | chicago-based (they/he) - thebenkaye.com https://benkayewords.org https://boxd.it
benkayewords.org
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wwsp.bsky.social
whitewolfsonicprincess @wwsp.bsky.social · 1d
#NoKings rally & protest in Fountain Square, Evanston, IL. October 18, 2025. Was it amazing, beautiful, inspiring? Yes. Indivisible Illinois!
No Kings Protest in Fountain Square, Evanston, IL. A cast of thousands!
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thebenkaye.bsky.social
ben kaye @thebenkaye.bsky.social · 1d
for those curious;
-FLOW
-BORN IN FLAMES
-CAIRO STATION
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Reposted by ben kaye
rincewind.run
Micah @rincewind.run · 1d
notice the general mood of the timeline? how everyone is in a good mood and there’s a lot less misery and dooming? how there’s a lot of “we’re going to beat these assholes”?

anyway that’s why these events are important
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thebenkaye.bsky.social
ben kaye @thebenkaye.bsky.social · 1d
movies.
me in the Criterion Mobile Closet.
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thebenkaye.bsky.social
ben kaye @thebenkaye.bsky.social · 1d
unsurprisingly, lotta Music Box hats and sweaters here.
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thebenkaye.bsky.social
ben kaye @thebenkaye.bsky.social · 1d
movie van day.
the Criterion Mobile Closet.
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Reposted by ben kaye
markharris.bsky.social
Mark Harris @markharris.bsky.social · 2d
How the NYT and the Democratic establishment screwed up on Zohran Mamdani: An absolutely blistering, genuinely big-picture essay from Frank Rich, who still has plenty of heat left over for Cuomo, Trump, Ackman, Hegseth, et al. nymag.com/intelligence...
Zohran Mamdani, the Power Breaker
Why the Democratic Party, the New York Times, and the donor class got Zohran Mamdani so wrong.
nymag.com
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thebenkaye.bsky.social
ben kaye @thebenkaye.bsky.social · 2d
and then some words on Rowan Haber's WE ARE PAT. happy festival, one and all!
When it comes to Pat Riley, the clownish, androgynous sketch comedy figure created by Julia Sweeney in the early 1990s for Saturday Night Live, it’s hard to find someone more obsessed with the character than director Rowan Haber. Don’t take my word for it, though; they practically admit as much in the opening moments of the incisive and absurd documentary WE ARE PAT, a work built upon both adoration and condemnation of a figure far more complex than meets the eye. Haber’s obsession with the character—beyond their impressive and extensive collection of Pat memorabilia—revolves around how incisive—or not incisive—Pat sits within larger conversations of gender. Is Pat a “nonbinary icon” as some might suggest, or are they just a dated finger-wag at the concept of androgyny altogether? The question of who is the subject of ridicule in the Pat sketches—Pat themselves, or the gender-panicked cis-people attempting to “solve” Pat’s gender—frequently arises throughout the documentary, with no true answer to be found, though not for lack of trying. For a documentary covering the legacy of an arguably dated SNL character featured in a dozen on-air sketches and a flop feature film, Haber gets some surprising mileage out of this cinematic autopsy of the character, amassing a room of trans and genderqueer artists to write and perform “new and improved” Pat sketches, interviewing a wide array of trans and nonbinary comedians (including the likes of Murray Hill, Ally Beardsley, River Butcher, Joey Soloway, and Molly Kearney, to name just a few) to discuss the past and present of trans comedy, and even talking with Sweeney about the development of the character and her own feelings of personal “gender oppression," notably pointing out how —withing the overbearing Boy’s Club of early ‘90’s SNL—it’s no coincidence that the only way a female comedian could break out was to create a character far removed from perceived femininity. You may be asking yourself; is this far too much intellec…
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thebenkaye.bsky.social
ben kaye @thebenkaye.bsky.social · 2d
some coverage for the Chicago International Film Festival over at @cinefilechicago.bsky.social !!! first up, on Annemarie Jacir's PALESTINE 36...
There’s a double-edged sword to the grandiose methodology of Annemarie Jacir’s often-bracing PALESTINE 36, a film that tackles unexplored territory through extremely well-trod means. Taking on the general structure of the Western Historical Epic, Jacir’s narrative portrayal of the early history of Palestinian rebellion against British Imperialism seems to follow in the footsteps of the most epically scaled work of filmmakers like David Lean, Ridley Scott, and Steven Spielberg, her camera navigating lush, sweeping scenery while following swaths of characters marching through the annals of history. It’s a tried-and-true means of using enormous tools to tell enormous stories, yet one worries that the cliches and trappings of these works threaten to flatten what is otherwise a genuinely compelling piece of history, here dividing our attention between soon-to-be revolutionaries, mothers protecting their children, reporters trying to stay afloat amidst a sea of Western propaganda, and politicians waffling between protecting their people and amassing power. Between these large stretches of historical fiction lie what appear to be digitally upscaled and colorized newsreel footage of Palestine as it truly existed in the early 1900s, though one wonders whether removing the shiny, digital gloss and letting the bare truth shine through might have made for a more honest and daring choice. Either way, the strengths of Jacir’s film, a genuinely entertaining piece of bravado, lie in its being able to contort this particular brand of motion picture around a tale blatantly opposing Western Imperialism, centering the Palestinian cause for self-determination within a narrative structure that has otherwise left them villainized or altogether absent. Most interestingly of all, in my eyes at least, the Jewish immigrants of PALESTINE 36—those cast away from Europe due to intense anti-Semitism and bigotry—primarily exist here as the British Empire likely saw them: silent pawns, relegated to…
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thebenkaye.bsky.social
ben kaye @thebenkaye.bsky.social · 2d
not saying anything new, but it warrants repeating; the fact that Schumer and Jeffries have still yet to endorse Mamdani (their party's official nominee!!!!!) is genuinely one of the greatest disgraces of the modern Democratic Party.
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thebenkaye.bsky.social
ben kaye @thebenkaye.bsky.social · 2d
going about my day, the phrase “all parades have a right to exist” bouncing around my brain, consuming all other thoughts.
junlper.beer onion person @junlper.beer · 2d
saw this clip of the NYC mayor debate and i had tears in my eyes, perhaps the most insane section of any debate ever
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thebenkaye.bsky.social
ben kaye @thebenkaye.bsky.social · 2d
it’s kind of a #MeToo/ Billionaires Suck thematic hodge podge.
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thebenkaye.bsky.social
ben kaye @thebenkaye.bsky.social · 2d
maybe Blink Twice?
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thebenkaye.bsky.social
ben kaye @thebenkaye.bsky.social · 3d
Broadway shows with tickets over $200 should be illegal.
zachweinersmith.bsky.social Zach Weinersmith @zachweinersmith.bsky.social · 3d
Do you have any extremely niche, but serious, ethical stances?
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thebenkaye.bsky.social
ben kaye @thebenkaye.bsky.social · 3d
i'm not saying the man is beyond criticism, but the absolute worst people on the planet are terrified of Zohran Mamdani getting elected, and that's gotta be worth something good.
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thebenkaye.bsky.social
ben kaye @thebenkaye.bsky.social · 3d
LMAO.
petersterne.com Peter Sterne @petersterne.com · 3d
“You lost your own primary. You were rejected by your own Democrats.” - Sliwa to Cuomo
thebenkaye.bsky.social
ben kaye @thebenkaye.bsky.social · 3d
*picks the one ad that isn’t about their campaign policies* what’s this guy’s deal???????
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Reposted by ben kaye
luckytran.com
Dr. Lucky Tran @luckytran.com · 4d
15 US states and territories have formed a new Public Health Alliance, which will counter the absence of federal leadership by tracking outbreaks, issuing guidance, buying vaccines and more.

Members of the new alliance include CA, CO, CT, DE, GU, HI, IL, MD, MA, NJ, NY, NC, OR, RI, WA.
Map: Governors Public Health Alliance * Guam is also a member of the alliance Updated October 15, 2025 Map: @luckytran • Created with Datawrapper
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thebenkaye.bsky.social
ben kaye @thebenkaye.bsky.social · 4d
it's Pat.
Reposted by ben kaye
thebenkaye.bsky.social
ben kaye @thebenkaye.bsky.social · 16d
quick look at my top films of the year before we dig into the big fall movies…
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Reposted by ben kaye
mattielubchansky.com
mattie lubchansky @mattielubchansky.com · 4d
weird phenomenon i keep encountering where “writers” correctly identify the soul-sucking danger that large language models pose to their craft, but for some reason have no problem using generative AI to make images. like….are you stupid!!!!
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thebenkaye.bsky.social
ben kaye @thebenkaye.bsky.social · 4d
cannot believe it timed out so well
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nytpitchbot.bsky.social
NY Times Pitchbot @nytpitchbot.bsky.social · 5d
Whether it's young Democrats expressing their support for DEI or young Republicans saying "I love Hitler,' both sides have expressed controversial opinions.
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Reposted by ben kaye
mehdirhasan.bsky.social
Mehdi Hasan @mehdirhasan.bsky.social · 5d
There is simply no equivalent, not even close, of this anywhere on the center or far left. There is no ‘both sides’ here, media.
murshedz.bsky.social Murshed Zaheed @murshedz.bsky.social · 5d
"Together, the messages reveal a culture where racist, antisemitic and violent rhetoric circulate freely — and where the Trump-era loosening of political norms has made such talk feel less taboo among those positioning themselves as the party’s next leaders."

Can't call them fascists?
‘I love Hitler’: Leaked messages expose Young Republicans’ racist chat
Thousands of private messages reveal young GOP leaders joking about gas chambers, slavery and rape.
www.politico.com
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thebenkaye.bsky.social
ben kaye @thebenkaye.bsky.social · 6d
not to try and be a Movie Magician over here, but I genuinely think if the movie was filmed on celluloid, and it had a different distributor, more people would be going nuts over KISS OF THE SPIDER WOMAN right now.
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