Movie Clip O’ the Day: Marriage Story

Picture it: The Internet, 2026.

I’m knee-deep in a version of Facebook comment hell that I may or may not have had a hand in creating. Men are all over the place crying about women like me who support Lindsay Clancy. As a woman who is following the case rather closely, I’m having trouble understanding where the outrage is stemming from. After a handful of exchanges and a little research, it hit me:

A lot of men—most, it seems—want to be looked at revered as The Good Guy™ (including but not limited to: The Good Dad™, The Good Husband™, The Successful Provider™). And that’s great, but far fewer of them are willing to put in the amount of effort it takes to earn that title. And who ends up picking up the slack the majority of the time? That’s right, ladies and gentlemen: the woman.

The Good Guy™ thinks he should win at life by default. He feels (say it with me) en-ti-tled to winning while simultaneously only putting in the minimum effort. The Good Guy™ is the deadbeat dad who blames the woman currently raising his child or children for the fact that he never sees those kids or pays child support. He’s the manchild who, the moment he gets home from work, manages to forget how to function as an independent adult. He needs his meals made and served for him. He is incapable of making a medical appointment for himself. He knows no one's birthday and never buys a gift, and yet his name is always on the card. Others lean into “providing” so hard that they become “workaholics” and subsequently absent partners and parents. All the while, in every one of those examples, the woman is usually doing all the work to keep it together—to get from today to tomorrow successfully.

 What no one seems to care about is what happens to the person who absorbs all that invisible labor. If he’s a deadbeat, she’s working multiple jobs to make ends meet. If he’s a manchild, she’s busy taking him to doctor’s appointments, managing his medications, serving him all his meals while also managing his extracurriculars and work commitments. Sound familiar? Yeah, because she does the same for her other kids. And that last woman, she’s doing everything, getting spread way too thin, and she’s got no one to talk to about it. Worst part? No matter how she handles any one of these situations, she’s going to get dragged through the mud and ridiculed for it. Is this fair? No. Has this been normalized? Yes.

Now, about that worst part: All of the above assumes the woman even wanted to be a mother to begin with. If she didn’t and she has the misfortune of residing in a state where abortion is not legal, she’s forced to at least become an incubator, surrendering control of her own body for the better part of a year. And while society venerates motherhood and mothers superficially, very few recognize the work it actually takes to raise another human being in 2026. Mental health is critical until it’s a new mom struggling with postpartum depression. New moms should be taken care of, coddled even, right? That’s valid until she asks someone to watch her baby because she needs a shower so badly. Given what I’ve outlined above about all those supposed good guys out there, no matter which way you cut it, new moms are carrying a lot. Even with a good, present, and empathetic partner, she’d still be struggling and that’s NORMAL.

So I guess a lot of what I’m trying to say comes down to this: When we see someone drowning in a pool, we don’t stop to contemplate which decision got them into this predicament; we help. At least that’s what a person who has developed empathy would do (i.e. an actual, certified Good Guy™). When a woman asks for help, you connect her to real medical professionals with good track records and reputations. You go this extra mile because you intend to help and not do harm. When a mom tells you she’s afraid she’ll hurt her kids, you don’t leave her alone with the kids. You step in and you protect the children. That last part should be ringing in your ears because everyone’s ALWAYS CRYING about “protect the children.”

 I wrote all this just to echo the words of the great Maya Angelou:

When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time.

Believe the words that are coming out of their mouth in real time.

And with that, I give you today’s Movie Clip O’ the Day: Marriage Story

Movie Clip O’ the Day: The Shining

I’m in a zillion movie groups online. If you’re in one, I’m probably in it right now, lurking, waiting.

Anyway, I was in one of my zillion movie groups recently when someone posted a devastating meme. It was dark—inappropriate, really—but I chuckled anyway.

Then something struck me. I felt dirty for laughing, and I wasn’t sure why, so instead of clicking away, I clicked back over and took another look. I read it again, and then it sunk in:

The joke is fucked up, but it is kind of funny in a hyper-morbid way. I’ll give it that. HOWEVER, it’s using a woman and her mental health as part of the punchline—and for what? To perpetuate something that not only isn’t the norm, but feels like a lie?

So, I figured it was my job, nay, duty to speak up. There aren’t a lot of women in these groups and there aren’t a lot of women critics. There’s just not a lot of space for women to speak up in film circles. So I figured why not go in for the troll—I mean correction?

The original post was about coming home after a long day to find that your wife had a bad day and then killed the whole family. The comment was attached to a series of stills from Shutter Island. Soak it in, chuckle if you have to. I did. Then let it sink in. My immediate thought was, “Wait a minute. Family annihilation—especially these familicide murder-suicide cases—is overwhelmingly committed by men, in the U.S. at least. I’m positive I saw a statistic that said it was over 90% men that did this.” And so off I went to verify. And I was right:

Men Who Murder Their Families: What the Research Tells Us

NIJ hosts a forum to discuss the problem and the warning signs that foreshadow these events.

After verifying, I did what any opinionated woman would do: I rolled up my sleeves and left a reply on the original post—something smarmy but light because this is a joke, after all.

“Weird since it’s usually the men that annihilate their families.”

I knew what I was doing. I knew the woman-haters would come out full force. I was ready.

The carnage was quick and severe. Instantly, I was being told I was an idiot. Men started stating their dissatisfaction with the female gender left and right. One dude brought up abortion. Another guy brought up Lindsay Clancy, at least I think he was talking about her. He kept mentioning some nefarious case but never gave it a name. I finally asked if he was talking about the Clancy case. I don’t think he ever responded, but 45 other men replied, spitting all manner of ire and venom against women. How could we, as women, support a monster like Lindsey Clancy? “At least the men aren’t a thousand deep outside a courthouse right now supporting a murderer,” they cried.

For a while, I was responding because, how could I not? A sleepy post made in bad taste could have died in obscurity, but I had popped into the comments to see what the men would do if I pointed out the hypocritical misogyny of the post. They did exactly what I expected.

I got bored. The whole thing quickly devolved into an internet woman-hating ritual of defensiveness, whataboutisms, and men repeating themselves at me while my notifications went nuts for days.

They managed to stomp all the fun out of my little exercise, and so I popped in one last time to point out that they had gotten extremely emotional over a reply that stated one verifiable fact. Not a one among these men could bring themselves to accept the reality of that statistic.

And so I tapped out, applauded the efforts of so many, wished them well, and suggested they watch something good this weekend. After all, we are in a movie group together.

I suggested The Shining.

None of them understood the reference. None of the riled replies in the movie group caught the reference.

Welp, at least we know what’s fueling that male loneliness epidemic, right? Silver linings, people.

Without further ado, today’s Movie Clip O’ the Day:

A man attempting to annihilate his entire family while on the job.

Movie Clip O’ the Day: Minority Report

One time, I posted on the internet somewhere that one of my worst fears was living in a world where the mall scene from Minority Report had become reality. That was several years ago before Meta glasses, the dawn of dynamic pricing, and Flock cameras all over the place.

Recently, I was digging through my old text messages on my phone, looking for an address I’d sent someone I actually know in real life. I was scrolling for what felt like twenty minutes, and I couldn’t find the text thread, my friend, nada. Annoyed because I know a total of like 20 people, tops, and I actively text three of them ever, I started to wonder aloud how I could have so many text messages in one phone. Slowly, I began to realize that I was having trouble finding the address because so many personalized ads had been zapped directly into my goddamn cell phone.

And that’s when it hit me: it’s too late. I’m already in the mall scene from Minority Report, we all are. Don’t believe me? Look for yourself.

Movie Clip O’ the Day: Batman Returns

Today’s Movie Clip O’ the Day comes from Batman Returns because someone online mentioned it just now and instantly I thought of this one scene that pops into my head regularly.

When a neighbor or stranger says hello to me while I’m out walking around, 9 times out of 10, I’m going to reply with, “Hello there.” And when I do, in my mind I’ll see a flash of Selina Kyle busting out the T and the O on the hot pink neon sign that hangs in her apartment.

The good movies really do stick with you in weird ways. And I don’t know about you Miss Kitty, but I love that.

Movie Clip O’ the Day: Defending Your Life

Today’s Movie Clip O’ the Day comes from Defending Your Life because last week I was talking to my friend for the first time in a minute and I wanted to relate something in our conversation to a scene in that movie. However, I realized before saying anything that I wasn’t sure if she’d ever seen the movie, so I figured I’d ask before getting into it. As it turns out, she hadn’t seen Defending Your LIfe. Learning someone hasn’t seen a movie I love dearly is always a shock to me, I don’t know why. At the same time, it also presents an exciting opportunity for me to sell the movie and try to get this person to watch it for the first time with me. I love doing that, watching their reactions or lack thereof and then judging accordingly. Unfortunately, even if I were able to convince my friend to watch this with me, it would be a little tricky to set it up because she lives in Madrid and I live in California.

I’m feeling compelled to send her a copy of the movie so she can get the full effect. That’s better than a bunch of YT clips, right? Or maybe we can do a watch party. Wait. Can you do international watch parties when your time zones are super different? I guess we’d need to be on the same streaming platform for that as well. Feels like a lot of stars that need aligning for a movie night. While I love that she’s living her best life in Spain, I miss when we used to live in the same area. But, life is too short not to hang out with the people that mean something to you even if it’s done virtually.

Appreciate when you have your friends nearby, man. Life is beautiful and weird. People scatter. Remember to hang on to the good ones.

Defending Your Life (1991)

In an afterlife way-station resembling a major city, the lives of the recently deceased are examined in a court-like setting.

-IMDB

Movie Clip O’ the Day: Call Me By Your Name

Today’s Movie Clip O’ the Day comes from Call Me By Your Name because pristine advice doesn’t have to come from your real dad. It can come from anywhere anytime, like for example Mr. Pearlman (Michael Stuhlbarg) in the clip below. So keep your eyes & ears open because you never know when you’re going to be hit with the kind of wisdom that’ll reach deep into your chest and rip out your heart just to show you how to properly care for it.

A bunch of movie related social media accounts shared snippets of this scene yesterday since it was Father’s Day and this is one hell of a father-son moment. However, none of the posts that I saw included the whole thing. There’s a lot to take in with this scene, so I searched for the best clip I could find.

You know, it’s too bad everyone doesn’t get this kind of moment of guidance from someone they trust and respect growing up, we’d live in a completely different world if we did.

Call Me By Your Name (2017)

In 1980s Italy, romance blossoms between a seventeen-year-old student and the older man hired as his father's research assistant.

-IMDB

Movie Clip O’ the Day: Before Sunrise

Today’s Movie Clip O’ the Day comes from Before Sunrise because Jesse and Céline met 28 years ago on this day. Twenty eight years ago I got to be a fly on the wall and absorb every word of their 24-hour conversation. All those years ago, I knew instantly that I would count this movie among my favorites. I never anticipated that 28 years later, it would still top the list. Good movies give me life, just like good conversation.

Before Sunrise (1995)

A young man and woman meet on a train in Europe, and wind up spending one evening together in Vienna. Unfortunately, both know that this will probably be their only night together.

-IMDB

Movie Clip O’ the Day: Goodfellas

Today’s Movie Clip O’ the Day comes from Goodfellas because we lost Ray Liotta this week, and of course I was going to share a clip from this movie in his honor.

I read something just now on the bird app about Goodfellas that made me both happy and sad simultaneously. Since it’s movie related, I figured I’d share.

Reconsider Cinema @coenesqued2

Ray Liotta and Lorraine Bracco will forever enter through the kitchen in “The Copa Shot.” One of cinema’s touchstone moments for its technical achievement in serving as the magic doorway into Henry Hill’s exclusive world. Scorsese has the couple walk in a circle to achieve depth.

Touchstone moment is right. The Copa scene is beautiful and incredibly effective. The music, the dialogue, the lighting and warmth, it’s all perfect. You’re spiraling into this world alongside Karen. And you’re equally as excited to see where it takes you.

I love the Copa scene, so yes to everything in the original tweet but at the same time: Goddamnit, Ray.

Ray Liotta

December 18, 1954 - May 26, 2022

Movie Clip O’ the Day: If These Walls Could Talk

Trigger Warning: It’s about abortion and this clip gets graphic.

You still with me? It’s a lot I know, but considering what’s going on out there with the Supreme Court of the United States, I felt this particular movie was entirely too relevant for me not to share. Today’s Movie Clip O’ the Day comes from If These Walls Could Talk because we keep telling ourselves “never again.” We keep saying we’ll “never forget” and yet our absent minded asses keep slipping.

If you’re old like me, you’ll remember when If These Walls Could Talk came out. Abortion was just as controversial then as it is now. It’s never been something we could talk about openly so when this came out I was floored. I remember watching it and thinking how relieved I was to live during a time when a person’s right to choose was protected. I didn’t anticipate seeing the end to that era in my lifetime. I guess complacency got the better of me but then it’s not like the law means a whole hell of a lot these days. All I know is we can’t let the complacency win. Fuck that.

If These Walls Could Talk (1996)

If These Walls Could Talk is a 1996 American television film, broadcast on HBO. It follows the plights of three different women and their experiences with abortion. Each of the three stories takes place in the same house, 22 years apart: 1952, 1974, and 1996. All three segments were co-written by Nancy Savoca. Savoca directed the first and second segment while Cher directed the third. The women's experiences in each vignette are designed to demonstrate the popular views of society on the issue in each of the given decades.

Movie Clip O’ the Day: Road Trip

Today’s Movie Clip O’ the Day comes from Road Trip because being prepared isn’t always enough. Most of the time you’re still going to need a bit of luck to get by. It’s actually incredibly aggravating how much rests on chance.

Road Trip (2000)

Four college buddies embark on a road trip to retrieve an illicit tape mistakenly mailed to a female friend.