One of the impetus for a new list in developing— Sneaky Favorites, a collection of imperfect gems. Either, imperfect because I think I under-appreciated them, or the inverse, where I think subjectively they rule but are objectively imperfect.
This little, tense film is a joy from start to finish. The provincial town is my favorite kind of setting, and I furthermore appreciated how its tiny scale makes the script read a bit like a stage play. The titular Yuma County (one…
Brutalism: Architecture at the service of the brutalized.
The Brutalist impeccably builds its own scale. It refuses to confine itself to one single social critique, and doesn’t do anything explicitly—leaving everything to subtext rather than proselytizing. Two months later, I remember being most struck by its refusal to bow to us—watching The Brutalist is exhausting because as an audience we’re given a responsibility to watch it. We’re called to be emotionally mature, empathetic, and historically informed. We’re required to look deeper, more intensely;…
I caught Poor Things technically as part of the Venice Film Festival, except at a satellite theatre on the main island (not Lido) that essentially screened the Competition films for locals, using no marketing whatsoever but filling theatres just by virtue of this being a regular thing. I was able to watch with about 10 friends so I got a good amount of opinions. 10 September 2023
Every one of us walked out of Poor Things convinced we had just observed…
2023 Ranked
Past Lives is a film that’s haunted me a bit during the last few days. The events in my life have zero overlap with any of these characters’, and so there’s no real reason I should have found such resonance between their lives and mine. and this especially when I found myself to be so dissimilar to the blunt, straightforward (in a really good, transparent way) tone that Celine Song, through the character of Nora, presents. It’s quickly clear…
