> ## Content Index
> Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.helluvabird.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further.

# Hell of a Week - Nov. 9, 2026
- URL: https://www.helluvabird.com/hell-of-a-week-nov-9-2026/
- Published: 2026-11-09T20:01:09.000Z
- Updated: 2026-11-09T20:01:09.000Z
- Description: Catching up on some non-newsletter things I've been up to.
- Author: Connor Tapp

### Some things I made

I held out as long as I possibly could, but I have started posting on TikTok. If you would like to watch me talk about JD Vance's feeble attempt to distance himself from America's war against Iran, you can do that [here](https://www.tiktok.com/@hellofabird/video/7705054166858648845?lang=en&ref=helluvabird.com).

If you would like to watch me talk about why it's important to at least make a show of challenging Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries for their leadership roles, you can do that [here](https://www.tiktok.com/@hellofabird/video/7705538223426129165?lang=en&ref=helluvabird.com). If you'd like to watch someone else go into great detail about the administrative work required by those roles, [click here](https://www.tiktok.com/@campaigndispatch/video/7704856943055228174?lang=en&ref=helluvabird.com).

### Some things I watched

*Wildwood* (3.5 stars): I think if I'd realized going in that *Wildwood* was directed by Travis Knight (*Masters of the Universe*) my expectations would have been more appropriately calibrated. The animation is every bit as stunning as it appears in the trailers. And for a film that looks this good and took 10 years of painstaking labor, I understand the reluctance to kill your darlings. Nevertheless, far too many were spared, and the coherence and pacing of the story suffer for it.

*Fantastic Mr. Fox* (4 stars): It had been at least a year since we'd shown this to our eight-year-old, and I thought it would be an interesting moment to revisit it in the aftermath of taking him to see *Wildwood* (which was kind of a mistake, by the way – some pretty intense shit goes down, and one family walked out 10 minutes in). *FMF* is so much fun! And quite the foil for *Wildwood* from a pacing perspective. I do have some concerns about how Mr. Fox's arc is ultimately resolved (or isn't), but in fairness, I did nod off for a few minutes in the third act (not the movie's fault; there's just an iron law of physics that when I watch a movie in our living room recliner, I will fall asleep).

*Portrait of a Lady on Fire* (5 stars): I missed this when it came out but have been ambiently aware of people regarding it highly. Cut to Saturday night, when Annie and I had an unexpected opportunity for a date night fall into our lap. *Wild Horse Nine* had not yet reached Youngstown, so we settled for a one-night-only screening of *Portrait* at our local Regal. I expected to enjoy it, but I did not expect to be utterly gobsmacked. The kind of movie that's so good it raises your expectations for all other movies.

*Predator* (3.5 stars): Watching this the day after the election, one of the things that stuck out to me was how diverse the cast is. You have an Austrian immigrant, two black men, two Hispanics, a Native American, and two white guys. It's a DEI brochure! And the white guys are the first to die! Suck it, Pete Hegseth. I will save the rest of my opinions for when Drew and I talk about it on *Hey Brother*.

### Some things I have fallen behind on

Speaking of which, Drew and I took a one-week pause in recording new episodes of Hey Brother, and I have fallen much more behind than that in my editing of those recordings. We did not hit our overly ambitious goal of watching and podcasting about 31 horror movies within the month of October, but we're still going to hit all 31 ... at a leisurely pace. Call it our very own Long Halloween.

If you'd like to experience our already-posted episodes, here's what's out so far:

- [Resident Evil (2026)](https://open.spotify.com/episode/2fXAizyi4JqeVxhWupSt9o?si=9svlOrZXRpqU5m0xNpME%5Fg&ref=helluvabird.com)
- [Halloween (1978)](https://open.spotify.com/episode/1jBfoHnvP2LiJxTRNeStce?si=YdPzF5zwTxWixuo7xRG8fw&ref=helluvabird.com)
- [The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974)](https://open.spotify.com/episode/3tt2or1QSBd9KYBDuIxvWh?si=XjHdBQQQQX2ogipvUTPUEA&ref=helluvabird.com)
- [Other Mommy](https://open.spotify.com/episode/3I1iT7PbB2T0B18TMJtbyW?si=qtsZgIY%5FSJa0jailrcDkBg&ref=helluvabird.com)
- [The Blair Witch Project](https://open.spotify.com/episode/2OQKBdOJoV1ivoCfYs9sQz?si=ws2lCRYETXOAJm2jw-%5FfCQ&ref=helluvabird.com)

In the can, but not yet released:

- Friday the 13th Part 2
- Freddy vs. Jason
- Scream
- Alien
- Obsession

Still to be recorded:

- Predator
- Sphere
- The Thing
- The Birds
- Rosemary's Baby
- The Shining
- The Rocky Horror Picture Show
- Weapons
- Audition
- It Follows
- Smile
- The Sixth Sense
- The Babadook
- Nope
- Us
- Dead Ringers
- The Ring
- What Lies Beneath
- Manhunter
- Dawn of the Dead
- The Cabin in the Woods