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Tag Archives: short films
January 2025 Viewing Diary
Glengarry Glen Ross (1992; d. James Foley) I saw this one in the theatre back in the day. There’s a revival coming up on Broadway and Bill Burr is going to be in it. It’s kind of perfect! He’ll be … Continue reading
Posted in Monthly Viewing Diary, Movies, Television
Tagged A Streetcar Named Desire, Al Pacino, art, Bill Pullman, David Lynch, David Mamet, documentary, drama, dystopia, Elia Kazan, Gary Cooper, heist movies, Jack Lemmon, Karl Malden, Kristen Stewart, Kristen Wiig, Marlene Dietrich, Marlon Brando, Mulholland Drive, Patricia Arquette, short films, Tennessee Williams, Twin Peaks, Vivien Leigh
14 Comments
2024 National Society of Film Critics Awards
In my second year as a member of the NSFC, we met this morning at Elinor Bunim in Lincoln Center and voted on this year’s films. These things can be pretty grueling – and today was no different – just … Continue reading
Posted in Actors, Directors, Movies
Tagged documentary, England, India, literary adaptation, Palestine, Radu Jude, Romania, short films, women directors
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“There is no other way to break the frozen cinematic conventions than through a complete derangement of the official cinematic senses.” — Jonas Mekas
When the avant-garde filmmaker (he referred to himself often as a “film diarist” died at the age of 96, the outpouring of tributes was overwhelming (and, in many cases, instructive. There was a lot I didn’t know.) My fellow NYFFC … Continue reading
June 2024 Viewing Diary
Sunset Boulevard (1950; d. Billy Wilder) I had so much fun discussing Sunset Boulevard with the audience after the screening at Jacob Burns Film Center. I’ll be doing another one in August, after Billy Wilder’s The Apartment. The audience was … Continue reading
Posted in Monthly Viewing Diary, Movies, Television
Tagged action movies, Billy Wilder, comedy, film noir, France, Glen Powell, Gloria Swanson, Meryl Streep, New Zealand, Richard Linklater, romantic comedy, romantic drama, short films, Steven Spielberg, Sunset Boulevard, Thomas J. Wright, Tom Cruise, Tom Hanks, war movies, William Holden, women directors
12 Comments
May 2024 Viewing Diary
Forward Fast (2024; d. Lorraine Sovern) I met Lorraine at the Florida Film Festival. Someone I was talking to at a party told me about her work and about this short film. He then pulled her over to our group … Continue reading
Posted in Monthly Viewing Diary, Movies, Television
Tagged action movies, Boris Karloff, comedy, documentary, drama, Germany, horror, Iran, Iranian film, Ireland, Italy, Mary Shelley, Mohammad Rasoulof, Pre-Code, Robert De Niro, Russia, Ryan Gosling, short films, Stalin, Tuesday Weld, women directors
7 Comments
December 2023/January-February 2024 Viewing Diary
The Golden Bachelor Watched – in great hilarity – with Karen and Allison during a raucous sleepover, and Carol pulled up on FaceTime. So we could watch together. The whole thing is so ridiculous. Maestro (2023; d. Bradley Cooper) I … Continue reading
Posted in Monthly Viewing Diary, Movies, Television
Tagged Al Pacino, Aline MacMahon, Battleship Potemkin, biopic, Charlie Chaplin, Chile, Denmark, documentary, drama, dystopia, England, France, Germany, Ireland, Juliette Binoche, Kazuo Ishiguro, literary adaptation, Michael Mann, North Korea, Paul Schrader, Pre-Code, Radu Jude, Ray Milland, Richard Pryor, Romania, romantic comedy, sci-fi, short films, Sidney Poitier, silent films, Spain, Sylvia Sidney, Tana French, true crime, William Wellman, Wim Wenders, women directors
41 Comments
November 2023 Viewing Diary
After Everything (2018; d. Hannah Marks, Joey Power) In early November, I holed up in a cozy little house in Connecticut with Allison and Carol. I had to work the whole time, which was a bummer but the night was … Continue reading
Posted in Monthly Viewing Diary, Movies, Television
Tagged animation, biopic, Chile, Christian Petzold, coming of age, David Fincher, documentary, drama, Elvis Presley, England, family, France, Germany, historical drama, Isabelle Adjani, Japan, Julianne Moore, July and Half of August, Mélanie Laurent, Mexico, Russia, short films, Sofia Coppola, South Korea, thrillers, Tilda Swinton, Ukraine, women directors
3 Comments
2023 films I loved, in no particular order
On my Substack, open to all: my Top whatever Films of 2023. Unranked. An eccentric sampling, featuring some of the usual suspects but, more importantly, pointing towards some lesser-known films which – for whatever reason – got lost in the … Continue reading
Posted in Movies
Tagged biopic, Christian Petzold, David Fincher, documentary, drama, Emily Bronte, England, France, Germany, historical drama, Little Richard, Martin Scorsese, newsletter, Robert De Niro, Romania, romantic drama, short films, Spain, thrillers, Ukraine, Wes Anderson, women directors
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Rest with Satan, Kenneth Anger
Kenneth Anger, experimental filmmaker and notorious figure – his trajectory emblematic of ’60s chaos, but influential far beyond the local time/place – author of the vicious Hollywood Babylon, a book referenced as though it’s the gospel truth, has died. He … Continue reading