Aaron Ostroff

Writer and filmmaker.

Keep calm and fight for democracy 🗽

[Pelagia @Ljiljana1972]

RIP David Lynch you would have loved this.

[Luke @qLxke_]

when you think about it this is the most marty supreme thing that could’ve happened

[Brian Allen @allenanalysis]

The most important Oscar speech tonight wasn’t about film.

The director of “Mr. Nobody Against Putin” just said this from the stage:

“You lose your country through countless small acts of complicity. When we act complicit when a government murders people on the streets. When oligarchs take over the media and control how we produce and consume it. We all face a moral choice. But even a nobody is more powerful than you think.”

He was talking about Russia.

The audience knew he was talking about America too.
Elon Musk owns the platform you’re reading this on.

David Ellison is buying CNN — Pete Hegseth said it will be “far better” when he does.

The DOGE deposition videos were removed from YouTube.

The Epstein files are sealed.
The Pentagon won’t release a casualty count.
Countless small acts of complicity.

That’s how you lose it.
A nobody is more powerful than you think.

Never stop connecting the dots.

[Shadow Knight @shadowknightdk]

the cinematography of ryan coogler's sinners by autumn durald

[mateo. @CountMateo]

We’ve all been waiting for this Spielberg

[The Cinéprism @TheCineprism]

"Beautiful, ain’t it? Just… beautiful."

🎬 Train Dreams (2025)

[♡ @taesdawn26]

imagine making a lifetime’s worth of masterpieces and still getting snubbed every awards season. park chan-wook, you’ll always be a winner in my heart.

[Zak @zakfilm]

Directors that never won a directing Oscar.

Alfred Hitchcock
Stanley Kubrick
Orson Welles
Sidney Limut
Akira Kurosawa
Robert Altman
Ingmar Bergman
David Lynch
Chantal Akerman
Andrei Tarkovsky

[Cinema Tweets @CinemaTweets1]

One Battle After Another (🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟) deserves to win the #Oscar for Best Picture. On the eve of the 98th Academy Awards, I wanted to revisit the best film of 2025. And upon my latest rewatch, I’ve never felt more confident in stating that not only is this the best film of ‘25 & not only does this deserve Best Picture, it’s one of the best films of the decade & one of the best films of the century. There are many storylines going into this Sunday’s Oscars. But in my opinion, there is no storyline bigger than Paul Thomas Anderson. Sunday deserves to be his night- his moment. This isn’t a lifetime achievement award: it’s PTA literally earning recognition that he deserves.

Robert Duvall’s passing- along with the likes of Robert Redford & Gene Hackman and so many others- has forced me to question my faith in the future of cinema. I’ve spent a lot of moments thinking about whether the best of filmmaking & movies is behind us. And it’s not just all the massive figures in cinema that we’re losing & who can never, ever be replaced, it’s also the obvious forces of nature like AI & increasing competition that’s made me skeptical about whether movies can still impact me the way they have up to this point. Enter One Battle After Another.

I really mean it when I say that this film was so good & so exceptional, it helped restore my faith in the future of cinema. Rewatching this movie, there are so many things I could gush about: the performances from a cast that couldn’t be better, including Leo, Del Toro, Taylor, and Penn. A story that feels impossibly relevant & incredibly engaging. A score that I found to be breathtaking. A script that I don’t think could be better. All of those things could be the focus of this review. But the only thing on my mind right now is Paul Thomas Anderson’s filmmaking.

The moment Bob Ferguson is sitting on his couch, smoking a Lebowski-esque joint in his robe only to receive a call from the French 75 activating him back to duty, is just one slice of filmmaking from this movie that I’ll never forget. The way PTA brings us into Ferguson’s paranoia. It is both hilarious yet totally immersive. For a few moments, you feel like you’re sitting on Bob’s couch. You feel a rush of blood go through you as if you are the one receiving the phone call. The slow camera pan around Ferguson to show us how utterly helpless he really is…only to pan to the front door, which is blown down by none other than Colonel Lockjaw. This entire sequence- this entire transition- is as good of filmmaking as I can remember. I say this as someone who devotes almost all of his free time to watching films. I say this as someone who cannot get enough of ‘70s filmmaking. However he did it, whatever he did…Paul Thomas Anderson captured that magic.

It’s impossible not to marvel at PTA’s audacity. Not just in this film, but throughout his entire career. Whether it be There Will Be Blood, Boogie Nights, Magnolia, you name it, PTA’s built a name off taking risks. And the risks he takes throughout One Battle After Another are tremendous. This is including & especially the last third of the film, which involves a vertical car chase that will be remembered as long as cinema is alive. All of the creative decisions PTA makes in this film- the casting of Chase Infiniti, the use of non-actors, the needle-drops, the long tracking shots of Penn, the liberties he took with the actual source material- they’re all creative decisions executed to total perfection. I wouldn’t change a single thing about this movie.

2025 was a great year for film. The list of quality films is long. But at the very top of that list is One Battle After Another.

[PotatoMcWhiskey @PotatoMcWhiskey]

"we ended diversity, equity and inclusion in America" the rapist murderer pedophile dictator said pedophilicly to thunderous applause

[Flash @YellowFlashGuy]

Fire this dumb bitch already

[Joe Biden @JoeBiden]

Donald Trump is the worst president we've ever had.

[Admiral Mike Franken @FrankenforIowa]

Ten years from now no one will admit voting for Trump in 2024.

[Secular Talk ([email protected]) @KyleKulinski]

It's not only abolish ICE it's lock them up

[Ryan Grim @ryangrim]

To be clear about what this depicts: An immigration officer threw a woman onto the ground. Alex Pretti, a registered nurse on scene as a legal observer, is filming and goes to help the woman up. He is then pepper sprayed and thrown to the ground for no discernible reason. Many officer surround and assault him; one removes his firearm, which police say appears to have been legally registered. They then execute him with a hail of bullets.

They are, objectively speaking, both cowards and criminals, while Pretti is what we teach people an American ought to be.

[Governor Tim Walz @GovTimWalz]

Two days ago it was Elissa Slotkin. Last week it was Jerome Powell. Before that, Mark Kelly. Weaponizing the justice system against your opponents is an authoritarian tactic.

The only person not being investigated for the shooting of Renee Good is the federal agent who shot her.

[David Austin Walsh @DavidAstinWalsh]

My pet theory is that the Democrats crushing the midterms will be irrelevant if they are unwilling to dismantle MAGA's defacto secret police agency.

[Anonymous @YourAnonNews]

Trump showed the world who he really is, and now most of the USA hates his guts. He knows his time is short, even Republicans are talking about impeaching him.
It won't be enough, they must impeach the entire administration. Vance will continue to break the law too.

[davey @jerseyh0mo]

2016: “you’re overreacting”
2017: “you’re overreacting”
2018: “you’re overreacting”
2019: “you’re overreacting”
2020: “you’re overreacting”
2021: “you’re overreacting”
2022: “you’re overreacting”
2023: “you’re overreacting”
2024: “you’re overreacting”
2025: “you’re overreacting”

The road to fascism is filled with people telling you that you’re overreacting.