Letterboxd — Your life in film

Now out of it it really is iconic and deranged behavior to watch this twice in two weeks. And with this watch, I really felt trapped inside the apartment with Jeanne. It's hard to wax poetic about a cinema going experience that is so singular, but I really think this film is so different from anything I've seen before. Even if you can see Akerman's filmmaking influence on so much of slow cinema and family dramas, the contained anguish that…

Felt so compelled to catch this in IMAX to amplify that euphoric feeling watching it earlier this week and... it's better on a rewatch. For the past couple of years, I have had this intense personal pushback against theatrical superhero content that I had championed and adored in the heydays of the MCU. I had felt angry at the convergence of market monopolization and the tapping out of any distinct creative vision or effort in making these movies. Spider-Man: Across…

The quickest a 2.5 hours has felt all year. I had worries going into Across the Spider-verse that it would be held down by frenetic multiverse jumping, but I’m glad that Callahan, Lord, and Miller understands that multiverse jumping tends to dampen the storytelling impact. 

Added time in each universe allows for us to also admire the distinct and visually inventive animated worlds on display here. The opening of the film with Gwen narrating as we see both Miles’ and…

Completely blown over. Cinema in one of its stylistic essences is about presenting a pattern, and then breaking it to add meaning. Jeanne Dielman presents a pattern so dense and so full. The pattern is not stylistic. Rather it’s Jeanne’s day to day life. Her regimented day to day is in service of her son; caring for him in ways that he is aware of (cooking his dinner, fixing his shoes), and in ways that he is not (engaging in…

Enjoyed most of this! Am a big Chloe x Halle fan and was not going to pass up on seeing this opening weekend, albeit solo with a theater full of chatty families. It's been a very long time since I've seen the original but those big musical moments (the first Part of Your World Reprise and Kiss the Girl being personal favorites) were able to stir up really special nostalgic feelings for me.

The story beats all worked for me…

Big improvement from the previous Godard I saw. I think this is fun while also serving as a biting commentary on... well I guess everything. Godard's anger at the world is rendered quite light and inconsequential in this one. And I think in this way the tongue in cheek-ness of the approach makes what is trying to be said have a deeper meaning.

Stylistically, his play with ridiculous long takes in this one is such a joy to experience. So…

Ok yeah, I definitely sobered the fuck up for this. Honestly was incredibly intolerable for me. I feel like Godard fucking trapped me in this apartment with the absolute worst young adults you could ever come across and Clockwork Orange style forced me to watch them drone on for hours on end about Maoism. No, thank you.

It's not even expansive enough to pique interest. I feel like Godard works for me when he's making art about stuff that can't…

Coming soon on Deep Cut

On second watch it is still an astounding piece of work from Ricky Lee and Marilou Diaz-Abaya. The quartet of performances in the film are all truly incredible. The way the script and edit move around their lives is such a hard line to walk but is done so cleanly here. Fiercely political, but not a politicization that stems from anger, but from compassion towards our main characters.

Sylvia's storyline is one that will always…

Ever since finishing Dennis Lim's book on Tale of Cinema, I've begun to view Hong's movies in a different light. There are so many insightful observations and ways to reframe Hong's oeuvre and preoccupations. One of the biggest takeaways from the book is how Lim says Hong views and communicates through diagrams. Characters can be shapes, moving through change and evolving, even warping into different multiverses.

At the start of the film, Haewon's mother leaves her to move to Canada.…

Texturally feels akin to the true birth of magic at the movies. The silent era and Tsui's movies both showcase visibly constructed genius in front and within the camera made even more believable by a vehement commitment to story and spectacle by directors and performers. The colored lighting, all those practical effects, the fluid camerawork, and the musical motifs. It all comes together to form this frenetic, pulsating energy, and a truly unbeatable cinematic experience.

Not even getting to the…