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Cameron Beyl, creator of The Directors Series has developed an impressive and epic (yet accessable) ongoing series of video essays examing the careers of the Coen Brothers (3.5 hrs in 7 parts), Stanley Kubrick (3 hrs in 5 parts), David Fincher (4 hrs in 5 parts), Paul Thomas Anderson (2.5 hrs in 5 parts), and Christopher Nolan (3.5 hrs in 4 parts.) In addition to the video essays there are many (too many to count) short articles covering everything from Captain Eo to Rob Zombie's CSI: Miami episode, "L.A." (h/t Open Culture)
posted by Room 641-A at 5:40 PM PST - 14 comments

Sriracha is a rescue kitty with cerebellar hypoplasia. She soon met Batman, a rescue piglet who also lived at Rancho Relaxo [FB]. Batman comforted Sriracha during her occasional seizures. They became best friends. Unfortunately, Batman died from a congenital condition. Fortunately, Rancho Relaxo soon rescued Batman’s big brother Dragonlord. It was True Love. Sriracha was recently adopted [Instagram], but Dragonlord soon found another Best Feline Forever: Raisin. [via]
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 3:00 PM PST - 13 comments

Northern Ontario Moose vs Wolf. It begins with a serene autumn scene of a Moose standing alone in a still Northern Lake.
posted by saucysault at 1:10 PM PST - 60 comments

One night, early in the season, I asked Jamie how long he thought I could last. “Out there,” I said, gesturing toward the TV. “Alone.”

A short memoir by Emily Lackey.
posted by Rumple at 1:07 PM PST - 9 comments

Science fiction author Julian May has passed away at age 86: "In Memoriam: Julian May" from the SFWA; "May the Force Be With Her," a profile related to her First Fandom Hall of Fame Award; Chicon II / TASFIC entry at Fancyclopedia 3 ("Julian May was the first female chairman of a Worldcon"); "Julian May," her entry in The Encyclopedia of SF; her ISFDB entry; interviews with May from 1982 and 2015. Perhaps best known for her Saga of Pliocene Exile (a brief appreciation; B&N retrospective; TVTropes entry), May's first SF story sales are available online ("Dune Roller" Astounding, Dec. 1951, with illustrations by May; "Star of Wonder," Thrilling Wonder Stories, Feb. 1953) along with several letters to Astounding: 1, 2, and 3.
posted by Wobbuffet at 11:09 AM PST - 51 comments

Big-budget, single-player gaming isn’t dead (yet) [Ars Technica] “Yesterday's news that EA is shutting down Visceral Games is bad news for fans of franchises like Dead Space and for the studio's unnamed Star Wars project. But the abrupt shutdown has also caused a bit of an existential crisis to creep into the game industry chatter regarding the future of big-budget, single-player, story-driven gaming in general. [...] Looking around at the most popular games these days, it's not hard to see the market shift Söderlund is talking about. From Hearthstone and Overwatch, to Playerunknown's Battlegrounds and Rocket League, to Dota 2 and League of Legends, to Clash of Clans and Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Siege, and on and on, the games getting the most player attention (and money) today tend to be never-ending online competitions.” [more inside]
posted by Fizz at 10:46 AM PST - 77 comments

It's October, month of horror! Unrelatedly, Doki Doki Literature Club! (steam) is a cute (and free) Visual Novel, roughly 2-4 hours long, where you can join a Literature Club, write poetry and make new friends! Some tips: it's much better played blind, it has a somewhat slow start, and it's not over until you've seen the credits. Oh, and it's definitely not suitable for children or those who are easily disturbed.
posted by Memo at 8:56 AM PST - 16 comments

A man travels from New York to Florida. There’s no reason for Midwestern Girl to be in this story, but there she is in Virginia at a rest stop, gas pump in her hand. Iowa, the man says, looking at her car’s tags. You’re a long way from home.
Am I? she wonders.
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 7:46 AM PST - 63 comments

Cat Whitney posts a collection of photos and brief descriptions [twitter thread] of her favorite spooooooky plants and fungi.
posted by moonmilk at 7:43 AM PST - 18 comments

Cricket is rotting away. Everything worthwhile about it is being destroyed
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 4:48 AM PST - 55 comments