For Letterboxd, I interviewed my all-time favorite director Paul Schrader about lonely men filling out journals in lamp-lit rooms, what makes him cry, the film that almost killed him, that Pickpocket ending and plenty more.
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Sound of Metal 2019
I’ve talked before on here about how my autoimmune disease — that still gives me a lot of limitations today, especially during the pandemic — was once so severe that I spent several years more or less unable to get out of bed. But I haven’t talked much, if ever, about the year or so before it got to that point. The time where I was getting sick constantly, but still trying to pretend that everything was normal.
My body…
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Heaven's Gate 1980
52 films I will watch in 2023: #33
When they use the term “epic”, they are referring to Heaven’s Gate and only Heaven’s Gate.
An overwhelming experience of pure cinema. Sound and image used in equal measure to overcome the viewer in emotion, in engagement with this place and these people. Immaculately constructed sets that transport you seamlessly to this time and place. Rich arcs drawn out for characters across years, as we understand this microcosm of society and the…
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Black Widow 1987
52 films I will watch in 2023: #32
“I’ll tell you two things about me: I’m very rich. And I’m very wealthy.”
Excellent Saturday morning feature, just a fun little piece of camp thrills that squares Debra Winger’s fed against Theresa Russell’s man-eating serial killer. Plus a cavalcade of fantastic supporting players, most of whom show up for fairly brief appearances: Diane freaking Ladd, Lois Smith, James Hong, Terry O’Quinn, David Mamet(???). Best of all is my main man Dennis…
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Triangle of Sadness 2022
First section is okay, just not particularly fresh or insightful. “Rich people are evil narcissistic idiots” — yeah bro, I know. And?
Second section is just this rinsed and repeated, followed up by an excruciatingly long gross-out comedy sequence that‘s about as sharp and tactful as I had come to expect after the low-hanging fruit we got leading up to it.
Third section is one of the most interminable slogs I’ve seen in a while. A man completely running out…
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Don't Look Up 2021
The Other Guys is a sharper, more well-rounded satire than any of McKay’s last three movies. Can’t believe the man who created one of the true comedic masterpieces of the 21st century would turn into maybe the most annoying filmmaker working today. Felt actively angry the entire two and a half hours of this, and certainly not in the way McKay wants you to be. It reeks with that smug "I'm so much smarter than everyone" humor of Vice, similarly…
