Friday, Aug 8, 2025

So I went to the IMAX last night and saw Weapons, the new film from Barbarian director Zach Cregger. It was fine. Just like... I mean, it was good. It was a good movie, but it wasn't what I wanted or expected based on what I'd heard going into it. Which was, weirdly, to hear as little about the movie as possible going in. That's what tripped me up. That little warning gave me the impression that I should expect some mind blowing shit, and it just wasn't. I can't fault the movie for not blowing my mind, but jeeze, the hype machine went a little overboard on this one.

Here's my Letterbxd review:

It's going to be hard to talk about what bothered me about this movie and what kept it from being a 5-star banger and made it more of a 3-star movie without spoiling it. Let's say that the premise was interesting, the acting was fantastic, the writing was solid, but damn am I tired of what turned to be going on. I won't say what it was, but it was something I've seen a lot of lately, and I'm BORED of it.

Julia Garner continues to be fascinating, as one of Hollywood's top ghosts working right now. Playing, as usual, a morally complicated person who makes terrible choices. Josh Brolin did his usual thing, being handsome and rugged.

You know, it was fine. I liked it. I did. I enjoyed watching it. I guess I just expected something a little more significant. It felt... fine.

Joe Humphrey’s reviews of Weapons

Joe Humphrey’s reviews of Weapons

Letterboxd

Just a picture of Willow to clean the old pallet there.

So this is my second real newsletter and I'm kind of excited about it. I want to start making a concerted effort to reach out to people and maintain a line of communication, even if it's just one-way for now.

Got a new website and online store on the way. I took my Etsy store down for a bit, because it had become pretty bulky and unwieldy, so I took that opportunity to migrate over to Squarespace, which seems awesome so far. I'll have my books, art prints, and personal information there, and I'll keep my blogs and updates here. So that works out pretty good! I expect to have this site up within a few days. I'll send along an email when it's ready!

Lemme tell you something, TikTok pissed me off the other day. I made a promo video for my upcoming novella Gut Feeling. I used stock footage that I paid for, and I posted a video of a woman lying on a deck chair next to a pool, with an animated "coming soon" graphic and the title of the book. It wasn't much, but it was something. Certainly as interesting as most of the stuff I see on TikTok, which is to say not particularly, but it served a purpose.

TikTok blocked it, saying it was boring. They said it didn't meet the standards of quality. I appealed it, and they came back and agreed with themselves that I suck and they shouldn't show my videos. So that's how that went.

It wasn't much, but here it is.

It's THERE, it just isn't in anyone's feed. They have to go to my page and find it. So if you wanna do that, I'd appreciate it, because I like having people on my TikTok.

Alright, that's gonna do it for Friday. I hope everyone is doing well, and I should have something else for you in a few days!

Thanks!

Joe

PS

As always, books are here:
https://joehumphrey.online/bloodletting/