Ben

So incredibly, uncannily excited for this show on Saturday! Ticket link in bio. You can attend live or stream or watch on demand. Options for your busy schedule! It's a staged version of a pilot script that @bnacker @hara3461 + I wrote about the making of the Spider-man musical, "Turn Off The Dark." And what a cast! Ben Feldman (Superstore; Long Story Short) Randall Park (WandaVision; Always Be My Maybe) Alan Ruck (Ferris Bueller’s Day Off; Succession) Mireille Enos (For All Mankind; The Killing) Iman Vellani (Miss Marvel) Melissa Benoist (Supergirl; The Waterfront) Gabriel Luna (The Last of Us; Agents of SHIELD) Amy Hill (Magnum PI; Ballard) Demi Adejuyigbe (Dropout) Craig Cackowski (The Pitt) Sydney Steinberg (UCB, comedy) Cyrina Fiallo (High Potential) Tom Choi (Squid Game) Live scoring by Adam Blau (Dead to Me) Puppetry! Actual staging! Don't miss this one.

Jaws exhibit @academymuseum is fun! #bengardnershead

I read 38 books this year, down a few from 2024. And I made poorer reading choices, unfortunately. Not a ton stuck with me or got me excited. There were, however, some VERY strong exceptions! -I loved You Are Here by @davidnichollswriter . Funny and melancholy, like a walk in the rainy English countryside. -Also hilarious, but also harrowing and human, is @lauriewoolever 's exceptional memoir Care & Feeding. Go buy it now. -News of the World by @paulettejiles is the kind of tenderly written, character-driven western I'm always seeking -Danzy Senna's Colored Television is full of messy people in a messy industry (TV) and is hilarious and too real -best entertainment book I read was Ken Kwapis's What I Really Want to Do Is Direct (which is what I really want to do this year). Well written, funny, and full of extremely practical advice and terrific anecdotes. -I read @kashanacauley 's The Payback in two days over the holidays. Brilliantly voiced, funny, clever. I'm a fan. -I'd never read The Haunting of Hill House until this year! It’s only 95 pages but time bends when you read it. Chapters take days, they’re so dense. Really wild how scary it is considering it was published in 1959 and stories weren’t scary until The Exorcist movie.

Happy new year! I watched 275 movies in 2025 which is way down from the year previous but… it’s too many. Don’t do that. What’s wrong with me. My top 4 of 2025 are, as of now (with many more to get to): Sinners, One Battle After Another, Song Sung Blue, and Sorry Baby. My top first time watches of 2025 are: Michael Clayton, House, Paper Moon, and My Night at Maud’s. My top actor of the year is Tom Cruise because I got a PS5 and started watching 4k movies and my first ones were the Mission Impossibles and Top Gun: Maverick (I also revisited Jerry Maguire which was better than I remembered and Magnolia which was worse, though Tom is great). My top director was Wes Craven because I rewatched some Screams and Elm Streets for something I’m working on. I saw New Nightmare in the theater and it was amazing. The oldest movie I watched was Sherlock Jr (1924) which played in the cinema with music by REM behind it, which was a lot of fun. Anyway, I’m gonna try to watch fewer movies in 2026 because this is ridiculous. I love you @letterboxd .

I made this rather labor intensive peanut butter and Concord grape jelly pie today.

It's always so easy to have these conversations when I'm a fan of the show and the person. Enjoy this double-header episode of The Writers Panel with @jenstatsky and @instadan360 wherever you get your podcasts.

Regained some pizza mojo after a few months of (literal) misfires. Thanks in part to @groundupgrain 00 flour (sent by @jeff_lac & @lena_moss ) and good Sunday company. Made 2 regular pepp, a @juliealac Special (green pepper + onion), and a Chicken Fajita Pie w pickled jalapeños.

An incredible way to experience music @lacma ’s new building last night. @kamasiwashington primed the space for art with musicians spaced around the enormous space, playing in concert. This is the only way I’m listening to music from now on. Adding rooms to our place, Winchester House style

As a superfan of both The Pitt and @sbaidwan , I am thrilled to have her answer my 6 Questions in today's Re:Writing. Simran's our live Zoom Q&A guest this Saturday! Details in the newsletter. Link in bio.

Chicago fun times.

The only bearable way to travel on Western. @ciclavia

Strong turnout, Glendale. This was 40 minutes before the official start. #handsoff2025