There is a scene in Portrait of a Lady on Fire where my heart tried to crawl out of my throat and escape the room. It screamed out in agony.

It was less than a second. The moment immediately afterward showed me a character who was fully self-aware. Someone who knew what was happening. And knew what would happen soon.

There is a quote from Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) that has stuck with me. Joel and Clementine…

I'd seen two Haneke films prior to watching The Piano Teacher and I'm glad I did. It is more complicated and nuanced than it might first appear. Having already seen Cache (2005) and Funny Games (2007) helped me lean into the dissonance presented in The Piano Teacher.

While both Cache and Funny Games mess with the format and language of film, The Piano Teacher does not. The cinematography, characterization, dialogue and sound are all played straight. It is excellent filmmaking…

Ginger Snaps was so much better than I expected it would be. It's got loads of flaws but they're easy to look past because the relational drama between Ginger and B is utterly compelling.

It's a tragedy, through and through. Ginger doesn't necessarily deserve her fate. But that doesn't compel B to go down with her -- childhood promises or not.

I have a soft spot for movies about siblings (or found families) from dysfunctional childhoods scrambling for survival (for…

I've never been the biggest fan of whodunit movies. This is more of a "did someone do it?" film which is somehow even less interesting to me.

I couldn't handle the courtroom drama in this. I'm not sure if that's how French court proceedings actually work but virtually nothing about the arguments presented by the prosecution (or the defense) are logical or sane. They make a bit deal out of how little actual evidence there is in the trial. But…

I don't remember who recommended I watch The Masters of Time but it's a great example of 80s things that hasn't aged well. The animation is stilted and awkward. The story is all over the place and it's not clear why we're even watching this particular story until the last 20 minutes or so.

Admittedly, there are a few clever ideas scattered amongst the mess. The premise of a child taking orders from a magic box named Mike was enough…

Besides Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction was the Tarantino I was most eager to revisit. I've seen a lot of nonlinear movies but they generally suck. Pulp Fiction was one of maybe five that I held up as an example of this aspect helping tell its story.

On this rewatch, I specifically paid mind to the narrative structure. The verdict is that it still works. It doesn't work as well as I remembered -- but it's in the good enough territory.…