Movie Enthusiast Issue 68: Cannes 2019 In Review
The best way to experience the Cannes Film Festival is not to go. You’ll have a chance to see all the movies anyway—even all four and a half hours of the new...
Movie Enthusiast Issue 67: Thoughts on Q1 2019 New Movies; adieu à Agnès Varda; Cannes preview
Watching Everybody Knows (2018) I have to assume that the title refers to the audience, in that the twist about Javier Bardem being the father of Penélope...
Movie Enthusiast Issue 66: How to Make a Movie When You’re Banned by Law from Filmmaking
Watching 3 Faces (2018) Every winter the Smithsonian’s Freer|Sackler Galleries and the AFI Silver host the DC Iranian Film Festival. Because of the...
Movie Enthusiast Issue 65: Sundance and Berlin Recap
One of the theories behind this newsletter is that it’s much more fun to get your news about movies from someone who spends way more time thinking about...
Movie Enthusiast Issue 64: Experimental Film
Listening Michael Sicinski, is one of my favorite film critics who’s slightly outside of the critical establishment (emphasis on the slightly). This...
Movie Enthusiast Issue 63: My Favorite Films of 2018; The Markatos Oscars; Reviewing Monrovia, Indiana
Watching If you follow me on Twitter you’ve probably already seen, but I reviewed Frederick Wiseman’s Monrovia, Indiana for The American Interest. Of the 5...
Movie Enthusiast Issue 62: I watched like a dozen new movies in the last two weeks and now I have to write about as many of them as I can
Watching The AFI Silver European Union Showcase is running through the end of this week, so besides all the end-of-year awards contenders I’ve been keeping...
Movie Enthusiast Issue 61: The Great Post-Thanksgiving Movie Dump (feat. Wisemanpalooza, Widows)
Watching High School (1968) Frederick Wiseman’s second feature took him to a high school in Philadelphia. Because of the era, there are lots of items of gee-...
Movie Enthusiast Issue 60: New York Film Festival, Some Stars Are Born, First Man, and more
Writing For The Weekly Standard I wrote about my visit to New York Film Festival—my first time ever going! I saw seven movies total but two of them were duds...
Movie Enthusiast Issue 59: Madeline’s Madeline, The Wild Pear Tree, 20 Pioneering Women in Film
Watching In the last month I’ve seen two of the best movies of 2018! Now I need to figure out how to convince you of the soundness of my judgment… Madeline’s...
Movie Enthusiast Issue 58: BlacKkKlansman, Bergman Centennial V, Farewell to the Village Voice
Watching BlacKkKlansman (2018) Spoilers ahoy! This feels like a fraught movie to have opinions on, so here goes nothing! I would say I fall somewhere in the...
Movie Enthusiast Issue 57: Sorry to Bother You! Bergman Centennial IV, 14 Hours of Experimental Argentinian Filmmaking If You Want It
Watching The Black Power Mixtape (1967–1975) (2011) It’s always been fascinating to me to discover how the rest of the world keeps tabs on American race...
Movie Enthusiast Issue 56: Fall Festival Preview, Joans of Arc, Eighth Grade, Bergman Centennial III
Watching Eighth Grade (2018) One of my coworkers and I saw this movie on the same night in the same theater at different screenings (I passed her on her way...
Movie Enthusiast Issue 55: French New Wave Diaries IV, Bergman Centennial II, RIP Claude Lanzmann
Watching The Virgin Spring (1960) By my own admission I am not the biggest fan of filmed adaptations of medieval folklore. This one I actually warmed to!...
Movie Enthusiast Issue 54: The Bergman Centennial Begins
Watching Mrs. Hyde (2017) Some movies are unclassifiable because they do startling new things with style and genre. Some are unclassifiable because they just...
Movie Enthusiast Issue 53: The Love Witch, Ocean’s 8, Incredibles 2, Kate Bush, and more!
Welcome back after a rather long and unplanned hiatus! As I adjust to my new work schedule, I am trying to figure out where writing fits into my life. This...
Movie Enthusiast Issue 52: French New Wave Diaries III; On evil films
Paris Belongs to Us (1961) Directed by Jacques Rivette Jacques Rivette served as the editor-in-chief of Cahiers du cinéma from 1963–1965. He assumed this...
Movie Enthusiast Issue 51: French New Wave Diaries II; Cannes Update
My mission to close all the gaps in my knowledge of the major films and filmmakers of the French New Wave continues this week with three more films! Lola...
Movie Enthusiast Issue 50: French New Wave Diaries I
Last time I mentioned that I’d be filling in the gaps of my knowledge of the French New Wave this spring. Over the next few months, I’ll be holding myself to...
Movie Enthusiast Issue 49: Cannes 2018 Preview; A Wrinkle in Time; Hong Sang-soo and Kim Min-hee in the news (again)
In just under a month, the organizers of the Cannes Film Festival will announce which movies will be competing for the Palme d’Or! This is always my favorite...