One Battle After Another
A really good movie and a really great moment.
Hey now, welcome to OPE!, the newsletter by writer and music journalist Brady Gerber (me). Once a week, I talk about one specific “thing.” I also have a podcast where I’m reading James Joyce’s Finnegans Wake one sentence at a time, and a blog analyzing each week’s Billboard Hot 100 updates. Follow me on X, Bluesky, or Threads for song recommendations; I find all three silly. Follow me on Instagram for memes. All typos are intentional.
Well, hello there. How are you?
One Battle After Another.
What an awesome movie.
What an awesome time at the movies.
I’m hot and cold on Paul Thomas Anderson—I’ve seen The Master dozens of times and still think only half of it is coherent—but this was the PTA movie I loved the most on first watch.
We’ll see if this movie will stand the test of time.
I saw it last week and am seeing it again today; I think it will.
The entire cast deserves Oscar nominations.
Weirdly, his funniest movie?
One of the best California movies ever made—which is more interesting and weird if you live here and catch what PTA is showing. (This movie doesn’t take place in SoCal.)
Go see it in an IMAX if you can.
Sean Penn on Hot Ones, please.
This week’s link worth clicking:
Jake Baldino is one of my favorite gaming YouTubers. He’s more of a gaming journalist and critic who happens to be on YouTube than being just a “gaming YouTuber,” if you know what I mean. I appreciated his recent breakdown of the blockbuster EA buyout news and its implications.
And that’s it.
See you next time.
With love and all the other good things,
-b
Original OPE! logo by Claire Kuang. Words and cartoons by yours truly. My views don’t reflect my clients or the publications and brands I work with. Want to yell at me or tell me that I’m great? Here’s my website.
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