Chris Klimek
@ctklimek.bsky.social
Semi-pro aesthete; less-pro athlete. Writing about theatre, movies, books, and ephemera wherever I'm welcome. Sweaty man, sweaty jokes.
Reposted by Chris Klimek
Just in time for the weekend, @wcp.bsky.social published its Top 10 movie list! If y'all don't mind me saying so, the picks me and @ctklimek.bsky.social made together ended up pretty dang solid.
City Paper's Top 10 films of 2025
2025's movies were built on the belief that confronting danger and trauma is the only way to make sense of it. Fitting.
washingtoncitypaper.com
December 12, 2025 at 8:38 PM
Just in time for the weekend, @wcp.bsky.social published its Top 10 movie list! If y'all don't mind me saying so, the picks me and @ctklimek.bsky.social made together ended up pretty dang solid.
My brain keeps saying AVATAR: FRANKLIN & BASH
December 9, 2025 at 5:57 PM
My brain keeps saying AVATAR: FRANKLIN & BASH
I wish I hadn’t dutifully mailed back all those Netflix DVDs
December 5, 2025 at 5:03 PM
I wish I hadn’t dutifully mailed back all those Netflix DVDs
Seems a little on-the-nose that JAY KELLY, on Netflix today, is accidentally an inferior version of SENTIMENTAL VALUE, which is still playing an arthouse near you, if you’re lucky.
(I know JAY KELLY had brief, perfunctory theatrical run but c’mon.)
washingtoncitypaper.com/article/7753...
(I know JAY KELLY had brief, perfunctory theatrical run but c’mon.)
washingtoncitypaper.com/article/7753...
Jay Kelly and the Champagne Problems Problem
Noah Baumbach’s dramedy starring George Clooney as a fading movie star gets by on sentimental value. Too bad it’s no Sentimental Value.
washingtoncitypaper.com
December 5, 2025 at 5:01 PM
Seems a little on-the-nose that JAY KELLY, on Netflix today, is accidentally an inferior version of SENTIMENTAL VALUE, which is still playing an arthouse near you, if you’re lucky.
(I know JAY KELLY had brief, perfunctory theatrical run but c’mon.)
washingtoncitypaper.com/article/7753...
(I know JAY KELLY had brief, perfunctory theatrical run but c’mon.)
washingtoncitypaper.com/article/7753...
Totally fine to cackle when Jeremy Allen White thumbs through a volume of Flannery O’Connor or catches BADLANDS on TV in the Springsteen biopic. I just wanna hear the same level of howling when Paul Mescal gazes into the moonlit Thames in HAMNET and is all “To be, or… dang, what comes next?”
November 24, 2025 at 5:57 PM
Totally fine to cackle when Jeremy Allen White thumbs through a volume of Flannery O’Connor or catches BADLANDS on TV in the Springsteen biopic. I just wanna hear the same level of howling when Paul Mescal gazes into the moonlit Thames in HAMNET and is all “To be, or… dang, what comes next?”
One week after PREDATOR: BADLANDS, the *other* sci-fi action flick that future governors Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jesse Ventura appeared in together in 1987 gets an update. The new RUNNING MAN isn’t quite full Stephen King, nor is it uncut Edgar Wright, but it’s close. Gift link.
wapo.st/47Vr0bQ
wapo.st/47Vr0bQ
Review | Starring Glen Powell, this ‘Running Man’ remake is built for speed
The latest adaptation of a dystopian Stephen King novel has the Wright stuff to be a bloody hoot.
wapo.st
November 13, 2025 at 4:03 PM
One week after PREDATOR: BADLANDS, the *other* sci-fi action flick that future governors Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jesse Ventura appeared in together in 1987 gets an update. The new RUNNING MAN isn’t quite full Stephen King, nor is it uncut Edgar Wright, but it’s close. Gift link.
wapo.st/47Vr0bQ
wapo.st/47Vr0bQ
I fear I’ve let you all down by not publishing a thinkpiece exploring What It All Means that both of the Schwarzenegger / Jesse Ventura movies from 1987, PREDATOR and THE RUNNING MAN, a sequel and a remake (respectively) hitting cinemas a week apart from one another 38 years later.
November 6, 2025 at 5:11 PM
I fear I’ve let you all down by not publishing a thinkpiece exploring What It All Means that both of the Schwarzenegger / Jesse Ventura movies from 1987, PREDATOR and THE RUNNING MAN, a sequel and a remake (respectively) hitting cinemas a week apart from one another 38 years later.
My new dentist just took a detour into punditry: “Things with the government are not really kosher right now.”
October 9, 2025 at 7:08 PM
My new dentist just took a detour into punditry: “Things with the government are not really kosher right now.”
Which of the ALIEN-ad’s “artificial persons” is the most human? I’m arguing it’s the one you barely recall. (RE: Call)
www.vulture.com/article/alie...
www.vulture.com/article/alie...
The Androids of the Alien-verse, Ranked by Their Humanity
Even artificial persons can have very real human flaws and frailties.
www.vulture.com
September 26, 2025 at 7:04 PM
Which of the ALIEN-ad’s “artificial persons” is the most human? I’m arguing it’s the one you barely recall. (RE: Call)
www.vulture.com/article/alie...
www.vulture.com/article/alie...
Ask Me About My Warrior Ethos
September 26, 2025 at 6:17 PM
Ask Me About My Warrior Ethos
I broke three (well-used, heavily worn) resistance bands in PT today!
You reach an age where this is as good as athletic braggadocio gets, folks. It’ll happen to you, God willing.
You reach an age where this is as good as athletic braggadocio gets, folks. It’ll happen to you, God willing.
August 27, 2025 at 8:01 PM
I broke three (well-used, heavily worn) resistance bands in PT today!
You reach an age where this is as good as athletic braggadocio gets, folks. It’ll happen to you, God willing.
You reach an age where this is as good as athletic braggadocio gets, folks. It’ll happen to you, God willing.
Delighted to see how orifice-forward the visual presentation of my latest ALIEN thingy turned out to be in the Paper of Record. The advanced degree in xenobiology I’ll be paying off for the rest of my life was a prolonged adolescence well-spent.
wapo.st/4mPmXDK
wapo.st/4mPmXDK
Analysis | There are decades of Alien lore. Here’s where the new series fits in.
With the release of the new FX series “Alien: Earth,” a sci-fi saga set in the 22nd century is trying to play catch-up to the 21st.
wapo.st
August 23, 2025 at 5:47 PM
Delighted to see how orifice-forward the visual presentation of my latest ALIEN thingy turned out to be in the Paper of Record. The advanced degree in xenobiology I’ll be paying off for the rest of my life was a prolonged adolescence well-spent.
wapo.st/4mPmXDK
wapo.st/4mPmXDK
Many a reluctant plus-one has sat through a mostly confounding, very long Tolkien or Rowling adaption, or Star War, or superhero saga over the last quarter century. That was my experience with the biggest movie of 2025, NE ZHA II. Astonishing design & animation tho.
wapo.st/460rttx
wapo.st/460rttx
Review | Animation’s all-time box office king is now in English. It may still confuse you.
“Ne Zha II” adapts a complex Chinese legend, helped by stunning visuals and a cast that includes Michelle Yeoh.
wapo.st
August 21, 2025 at 6:23 PM
Many a reluctant plus-one has sat through a mostly confounding, very long Tolkien or Rowling adaption, or Star War, or superhero saga over the last quarter century. That was my experience with the biggest movie of 2025, NE ZHA II. Astonishing design & animation tho.
wapo.st/460rttx
wapo.st/460rttx
Rest in peace, Terence Stamp. Got watch THE LIMEY if you’ve never seen it.
(This ain’t Stamp.)
youtu.be/XYMrYXOglj8?...
(This ain’t Stamp.)
youtu.be/XYMrYXOglj8?...
PATTON OSWALT in GENERAL ZOD - Superego
YouTube video by Nerdist
youtu.be
August 17, 2025 at 5:58 PM
Rest in peace, Terence Stamp. Got watch THE LIMEY if you’ve never seen it.
(This ain’t Stamp.)
youtu.be/XYMrYXOglj8?...
(This ain’t Stamp.)
youtu.be/XYMrYXOglj8?...
Just imagine if Republicans could be persuaded that 20 elementary school students and 6 teachers getting slaughtered with a legally purchased, legally owned weapon of war was as dire an “emergency” as one rich 19-year-old Musk sycophant getting his ass whupped by some bored punks.
August 16, 2025 at 12:39 AM
Just imagine if Republicans could be persuaded that 20 elementary school students and 6 teachers getting slaughtered with a legally purchased, legally owned weapon of war was as dire an “emergency” as one rich 19-year-old Musk sycophant getting his ass whupped by some bored punks.
In four days it’ll make 20 years since I moved to DC, now an occupied city. It’s a fact my neighborhood has a lot of violent crime. Jan. 6, 2021 is the only time I’ve ever felt scared to leave my home, or wished for the National Guard to be called up. Blessed are the hoagie-chuckers.
August 15, 2025 at 9:59 PM
In four days it’ll make 20 years since I moved to DC, now an occupied city. It’s a fact my neighborhood has a lot of violent crime. Jan. 6, 2021 is the only time I’ve ever felt scared to leave my home, or wished for the National Guard to be called up. Blessed are the hoagie-chuckers.
(Double) jawin’ about ALIEN: EARTH, an attempt to implant a feature-franchise embryo into a prestige TV host body, on today’s Pop Culture Happy Hour.
www.npr.org/2025/08/15/n...
www.npr.org/2025/08/15/n...
‘Alien: Earth’ is bursting with creepy imagery : Pop Culture Happy Hour
Alien: Earth is a new TV spinoff of the Alien movie franchise, and as one might expect, it has plenty of Facehuggers, chestbursters, and dark metal corridors. The show brings the infamous Xenomorph to...
www.npr.org
August 15, 2025 at 3:26 PM
(Double) jawin’ about ALIEN: EARTH, an attempt to implant a feature-franchise embryo into a prestige TV host body, on today’s Pop Culture Happy Hour.
www.npr.org/2025/08/15/n...
www.npr.org/2025/08/15/n...
I tried to take stock of how Clinton-era provocateurs Mike Judge and Trey Parker / Matt Stone (separately) deal with a satirical target whose more juvenile , crass, and insatiably attention seeking than they ever were or could ever be.
wapo.st/45AXW8v
wapo.st/45AXW8v
Analysis | ‘South Park’ and ‘King of the Hill’ take on the Trump era
The two ’90s-era animated comedies may be TV’s sharpest observers of the current political climate.
wapo.st
August 15, 2025 at 2:17 AM
I tried to take stock of how Clinton-era provocateurs Mike Judge and Trey Parker / Matt Stone (separately) deal with a satirical target whose more juvenile , crass, and insatiably attention seeking than they ever were or could ever be.
wapo.st/45AXW8v
wapo.st/45AXW8v
Hear, hear. OZ will remain one of the greatest films ever no matter what these jokers do to enhance/degrade it, but as someone who saw the U2 show at the Sphere 3x, I promise you the clips do not convey the visceral / sensory experience at all.
Whether or not that sounds good 2 U is your business.
Whether or not that sounds good 2 U is your business.
🧵Dessem is right. As a veteran of the colorization wars, I can assure you that these idiots have a short attention span. Archivists, programmers, scholars, critics, cinephiles— these are the keepers of the flame.
August 2, 2025 at 1:15 AM
Hear, hear. OZ will remain one of the greatest films ever no matter what these jokers do to enhance/degrade it, but as someone who saw the U2 show at the Sphere 3x, I promise you the clips do not convey the visceral / sensory experience at all.
Whether or not that sounds good 2 U is your business.
Whether or not that sounds good 2 U is your business.
Never got to write about it, but I saw the U2 ACHTUNG BABY show that opened the Sphere in Vegas three times between September of ‘23 and February of ‘24 and those really were among the most extraordinary of the 500-ish rock shows I’ve attended in my life. FWIW.
August 1, 2025 at 11:57 PM
Never got to write about it, but I saw the U2 ACHTUNG BABY show that opened the Sphere in Vegas three times between September of ‘23 and February of ‘24 and those really were among the most extraordinary of the 500-ish rock shows I’ve attended in my life. FWIW.
Took a pal to SUPERMAN last night and it was cool to see a movie that’s been out for 3 weeks in a near-full house in which I was not the only repeat customer. When the marketing blitz has run its course, the FOMO crowd has moved on, & people are just there b/c they like film and/or heard it’s good.
August 1, 2025 at 7:47 PM
Took a pal to SUPERMAN last night and it was cool to see a movie that’s been out for 3 weeks in a near-full house in which I was not the only repeat customer. When the marketing blitz has run its course, the FOMO crowd has moved on, & people are just there b/c they like film and/or heard it’s good.
Reposted by Chris Klimek
Gunn’s SUPERMAN? Doggy. The franchise Donner’s SUPERMAN launched 47 years earlier? Dodgy — but still preferable to the
Sturm und Drag of the Snyderverse, even though I like the non-genocidal parts of MAN OF STEEL. Anyway, here’s a history. Didn’t have room for the Donner Cut, sorry.
wapo.st/44M1yFx
Sturm und Drag of the Snyderverse, even though I like the non-genocidal parts of MAN OF STEEL. Anyway, here’s a history. Didn’t have room for the Donner Cut, sorry.
wapo.st/44M1yFx
For Superman, sequels are kryptonite
James Gunn’s upbeat new blockbuster is an attempt to reboot a superhero with a dodgy screen history.
wapo.st
July 25, 2025 at 2:21 PM
Gunn’s SUPERMAN? Doggy. The franchise Donner’s SUPERMAN launched 47 years earlier? Dodgy — but still preferable to the
Sturm und Drag of the Snyderverse, even though I like the non-genocidal parts of MAN OF STEEL. Anyway, here’s a history. Didn’t have room for the Donner Cut, sorry.
wapo.st/44M1yFx
Sturm und Drag of the Snyderverse, even though I like the non-genocidal parts of MAN OF STEEL. Anyway, here’s a history. Didn’t have room for the Donner Cut, sorry.
wapo.st/44M1yFx
Gunn’s SUPERMAN? Doggy. The franchise Donner’s SUPERMAN launched 47 years earlier? Dodgy — but still preferable to the
Sturm und Drag of the Snyderverse, even though I like the non-genocidal parts of MAN OF STEEL. Anyway, here’s a history. Didn’t have room for the Donner Cut, sorry.
wapo.st/44M1yFx
Sturm und Drag of the Snyderverse, even though I like the non-genocidal parts of MAN OF STEEL. Anyway, here’s a history. Didn’t have room for the Donner Cut, sorry.
wapo.st/44M1yFx
For Superman, sequels are kryptonite
James Gunn’s upbeat new blockbuster is an attempt to reboot a superhero with a dodgy screen history.
wapo.st
July 25, 2025 at 2:21 PM
Gunn’s SUPERMAN? Doggy. The franchise Donner’s SUPERMAN launched 47 years earlier? Dodgy — but still preferable to the
Sturm und Drag of the Snyderverse, even though I like the non-genocidal parts of MAN OF STEEL. Anyway, here’s a history. Didn’t have room for the Donner Cut, sorry.
wapo.st/44M1yFx
Sturm und Drag of the Snyderverse, even though I like the non-genocidal parts of MAN OF STEEL. Anyway, here’s a history. Didn’t have room for the Donner Cut, sorry.
wapo.st/44M1yFx
Me on FIRST STEPS: When it comes to putting the First Family of Marvel Comics in the movies, the fourth time’s the charm.
Review | Finally, the Fantastic Four get the movie they (and we) deserve
In ‘The Fantastic Four: First Steps,’ Marvel Studios does right by its founding superfamily.
wapo.st
July 23, 2025 at 3:58 PM
Me on FIRST STEPS: When it comes to putting the First Family of Marvel Comics in the movies, the fourth time’s the charm.
I filled in for @scotttobias.bsky.social to talk SUPERMAN ‘78 with @genevievekoski.bsky.social, @kphipps3000.bsky.social and @tasharobinson.bsky.social on The Next Picture Show, and at no point did any one of us exclaim “Great Scott!”
Negligence. Malpractice. Calumny.
overcast.fm/+AAFjDyk8rXA
Negligence. Malpractice. Calumny.
overcast.fm/+AAFjDyk8rXA
#484: Men of Steel, Pt. 1 — Superman (1978) — The Next Picture Show
James Gunn’s new SUPERMAN begins from the assumption that audiences already have a working knowledge of the Man of Steel’s origin story, his super-skill set, and his romance with Lois Lane. Gunn’s fil...
overcast.fm
July 23, 2025 at 5:04 AM
I filled in for @scotttobias.bsky.social to talk SUPERMAN ‘78 with @genevievekoski.bsky.social, @kphipps3000.bsky.social and @tasharobinson.bsky.social on The Next Picture Show, and at no point did any one of us exclaim “Great Scott!”
Negligence. Malpractice. Calumny.
overcast.fm/+AAFjDyk8rXA
Negligence. Malpractice. Calumny.
overcast.fm/+AAFjDyk8rXA