Barbara VanDenburgh
@babsvan.bsky.social
Poor, obscure, plain, and little. Writer, critic. Former books editor at USA TODAY. Let’s talk movies https://boxd.it/lA7b
2026 watch #9: Jurassic Park. Dr. Alan Grant was the first crush on an adult man I ever had, and I would like to commend 11-year-old me on her exceptional taste. Anyway, gun to my head, Spielberg’s best, most culturally enduring film.
January 20, 2026 at 4:09 AM
2026 watch #9: Jurassic Park. Dr. Alan Grant was the first crush on an adult man I ever had, and I would like to commend 11-year-old me on her exceptional taste. Anyway, gun to my head, Spielberg’s best, most culturally enduring film.
Nothing that going to see Jurassic Park on the big screen for the hundredth time won’t fix.
January 20, 2026 at 1:29 AM
Nothing that going to see Jurassic Park on the big screen for the hundredth time won’t fix.
2026 watch #8: The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. At the risk of unbearable earnestness: We have been telling these stories forever, of darkness vs. light, of good vs. evil, because the battle is never over. But it also isn't lost. I do not believe this darkness will endure.
January 18, 2026 at 6:36 AM
2026 watch #8: The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. At the risk of unbearable earnestness: We have been telling these stories forever, of darkness vs. light, of good vs. evil, because the battle is never over. But it also isn't lost. I do not believe this darkness will endure.
Bright Star (2009, Jane Campion), like literally on the verge of weeping just looking at that still.
January 18, 2026 at 12:27 AM
Bright Star (2009, Jane Campion), like literally on the verge of weeping just looking at that still.
On the verge of going on a Park Chan-wook bender after this week
January 16, 2026 at 5:33 PM
On the verge of going on a Park Chan-wook bender after this week
2026 watch #7: Reality Bites. God help me, I would still pick Troy, which is why I have to be single.
January 15, 2026 at 7:15 PM
2026 watch #7: Reality Bites. God help me, I would still pick Troy, which is why I have to be single.
2026 watch #6: Dead Man's Wire. The first film from director Gus Van Sant in a hot minute, based on the true story of Tony Kiritsis holding a man hostage with a trip-wire hooked to a shotgun and the media circus that followed. It may be discount bin Dog Day Afternoon, but still a fun hang.
January 15, 2026 at 6:42 PM
2026 watch #6: Dead Man's Wire. The first film from director Gus Van Sant in a hot minute, based on the true story of Tony Kiritsis holding a man hostage with a trip-wire hooked to a shotgun and the media circus that followed. It may be discount bin Dog Day Afternoon, but still a fun hang.
2026 watch #5: Oldboy. I got a real sensitive friend, has to Google movies before watching them, can't handle a whiff of violence. A shitty friend somehow got her to go into Oldboy blind, and it made her throw up. She's still traumatized. And you know what? That's legit, this is still bugfuck crazy.
January 14, 2026 at 9:45 PM
2026 watch #5: Oldboy. I got a real sensitive friend, has to Google movies before watching them, can't handle a whiff of violence. A shitty friend somehow got her to go into Oldboy blind, and it made her throw up. She's still traumatized. And you know what? That's legit, this is still bugfuck crazy.
Introduce yourself with:
1 movie
1 book
1 TV show
1 album
1 movie
1 book
1 TV show
1 album
January 14, 2026 at 1:47 AM
Introduce yourself with:
1 movie
1 book
1 TV show
1 album
1 movie
1 book
1 TV show
1 album
Cannot recommend enough doing a year-long read of Lonesome Dove with your friends and then hosting a miniseries watch party
January 12, 2026 at 12:45 AM
Cannot recommend enough doing a year-long read of Lonesome Dove with your friends and then hosting a miniseries watch party
Good, fired-up crowd in front of the ICE facility in downtown Phoenix. Chinga la Migra, they will lose.
January 9, 2026 at 3:19 AM
Good, fired-up crowd in front of the ICE facility in downtown Phoenix. Chinga la Migra, they will lose.
2026 watch #4: No Other Choice. Park Chan-wook. Dark as hell satirical black comedy cut through with Looney Tunes antics as an out-of-work man gets increasingly desperate to eliminate his competition. Tonally unhinged and bit too goofily madcap for my taste, but of course it's a good time.
January 8, 2026 at 6:35 PM
2026 watch #4: No Other Choice. Park Chan-wook. Dark as hell satirical black comedy cut through with Looney Tunes antics as an out-of-work man gets increasingly desperate to eliminate his competition. Tonally unhinged and bit too goofily madcap for my taste, but of course it's a good time.
2026 watch #3: The Dead. A fine, elegiac film, John Huston's last. An object lesson on the limitations of adaptation when the source material is perfect, because even at its loveliest, in doesn't even glancingly approach the transcendence of Joyce's story.
January 7, 2026 at 5:51 PM
2026 watch #3: The Dead. A fine, elegiac film, John Huston's last. An object lesson on the limitations of adaptation when the source material is perfect, because even at its loveliest, in doesn't even glancingly approach the transcendence of Joyce's story.
First Film / Last Film
January 4, 2026 at 5:53 PM
First Film / Last Film
2026 watch #2: The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. Love to hang with my boys, here at the end of things.
January 4, 2026 at 5:18 PM
2026 watch #2: The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. Love to hang with my boys, here at the end of things.
2026 watch #1: Phantom Thread. I’m just a girl looking for a hungry boy to gently poison into adoring submission.
January 3, 2026 at 5:06 AM
2026 watch #1: Phantom Thread. I’m just a girl looking for a hungry boy to gently poison into adoring submission.
That’s damn right
January 3, 2026 at 4:07 AM
That’s damn right
I never put up crazy numbers, I gotta let movies breathe a bit, but this is about 50 more than last year when my brain was feeling especially broken.
January 3, 2026 at 4:07 AM
I never put up crazy numbers, I gotta let movies breathe a bit, but this is about 50 more than last year when my brain was feeling especially broken.
First read of 2026:
January 2, 2026 at 8:30 PM
First read of 2026:
Going into 2026 like…
January 1, 2026 at 7:42 AM
Going into 2026 like…
2025 was a year of survival and I don’t have much to tout in the way of accomplishments (beyond surviving), but I did check a lot of films off my watchlist. Here are my top 20 first-time watches, a couple of which rewired my brain (how had I never seen All That Jazz!??)
January 1, 2026 at 1:05 AM
2025 was a year of survival and I don’t have much to tout in the way of accomplishments (beyond surviving), but I did check a lot of films off my watchlist. Here are my top 20 first-time watches, a couple of which rewired my brain (how had I never seen All That Jazz!??)