Ice storm warnings are flashing from just east of El Paso all the way up to Maine. Meanwhile, in Minneapolis, where it is always cold in January, an Ice storm of a more visceral nature continues. But from that blast from nature came Rick Moody’s novel, The Ice Storm, and Ang Lee’s film, hailed by Brian De Palma as the film of the 1990s. This latest gargantuan weather event seems like a providential opening to the country’s 250th year and a bleak political atmosphere that feels inescapable. “Maybe the ice storm was a blessing in disguise.”

Source: The Irish Times January 24, 2026 14:54 UTC