Poll + random drawing results (Patreon)

Sorry, I couldn't think of a "clever" title encompassing these three films. Close race this week in the request poll, and the result surprised me: The Sacrifice got 51% of the vote, beating out Ace in the Hole (which I'd actually pulled from my stack of unwatched Criterion Blus, so confident was I of its victory—without ever checking to see which one was ahead, to be clear). As previously noted, it's the only Tarkovsky I still haven't seen; y'all were a little late pulling the trigger, as it left the Criterion Channel 17 days ago, but I note that it's still on Kanopy (at least via my library). 

Over in the monthly random drawing, an algorithm selected one request that had just been withdrawn this week (Bush Mama) and one request that had just been revived this week after a period of dormancy (The Curse of the Cat People). The latter can be digitally rented, and is also apparently available on TCM for those who have that. Bush Mama might be trickier to find, but worst case there's a (pretty low-res) copy on YouTube. I've never seen anything by Haile Gerima—Sankofa's the only other title I even know by name—so am very curious. Lots of terrific requests in the mix, always, for which I'm grateful. (And I'll definitely revisit the Wilder at some point no matter what.)

Finally, some good personal-finance news (for those who didn't see me mention it on Twitter a while back): California did in fact pass a bill eliminating the ludicrous 35-article cap for freelancers that a previous bill had instituted, thereby freeing me up to resume regular work for the A.V. Club. Got two Borderline Films reviews (Afterschool and The Nest) front and center as we speak, with more already assigned. Still, it's primarily your support here that pays my bills, and as always I can't think each of you enough. I wanna end each of these missives à la Ralph to Alice: Baby [collectively], you're the greatest.