Hamnet (2025)

Rotten Tomatoes

Hamnet (2025): It's not a Shakespeare biopic. Its fiction that uses Shakespeare to tell a story about parental grief. Grief hangs heavily over the whole movie. But eventually Chloé Zhao uses a Shakespearean tragedy to wring a few drops of catharsis out of tragedy. Heartbreaking. Brilliant. A-

Peacock

POTD: No Means No

From 2025 06 03 Oaxaca

Today's photo-of-the-day is of graffiti in Oaxaca, Mexico. I am not an expert on Mexican political movements, but when I see "8M" alongside phrases like "Fuimos todas," "No es no," and "Oaxaca feminicida," I think it signals that the graffiti is connected to the feminist mobilizations that take place annually in Mexico on International Womens Day, March 8 (shorthand: "8M"). The graffiti says the protests were large ("We all went"), they were against violence against women ("feminicida") and they signaled demands for justice, safety, and equality. I might be male, I might be American, but I'm feeling solidarity as I read this cry for justice in a foreign land.

P.S. Today is March 8 all over the world.

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"Read the foreign words.
The meaning crosses borders.
Justice has no flag."
— h/t ChatGPT

POTD: Volcan La Malanche

From 2025 06 03 Oaxaca

Today's photo-of-the-day is of La Malinche volcano in Mexico, outside Puebla, if you can call any volcano "outside" a city if it presents this view to the neighborhoods at the foot of the mountain. I personally find it scary, but it's probably less likely that a resident of Puebla will die in a volcanic explosion in their lifetime than a resident of, say, Richardson, Texas, will die from a tornado. I wouldn't be reassured by Wikipedia calling it an "inactive" volcano. That plume of smoke suggests to me that could change at any time.

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"They say 'inactive,'
yet smoke braids the morning air
as summit exhales."
— h/t ChatGPT

The Secret Agent (2025)

Rotten Tomatoes

The Secret Agent (2025): Portuguese. Political thriller set in Brazil in 1977 during the military dictatorship. Tension is already in the opening scene in a desert gas station, builds constantly but leisurely, until it's broken with violence in last few minutes. Too many characters to keep straight. B-

Hulu

Council Recap: Short-Term Rentals

The Richardson City Council met March 2, 2026, with two business items on the agenda. First, the council reviewed the city's regulations for short-term rentals (STRs).

Second, the council held the 2025 annual review of the police department. Given that courts have at multiple times ruled that ICE actions have been unlawful or unconstitutional, Richardson should be credited for not participating in those unlawful activities. In any case, there were no public speakers on the topic of the RPD annual review. Not anticipating any news, I didn't even attend that portion of the meeting. Consider that a win for the city. ;-) That leaves STRs for me to cover.