March is Women’s History Month, and there is no better time to watch some outstanding films made by women directors. Directors like Agnès Varda, Julie Dash, or Chantal Ackerman might not be household names, but they have made an indelible imprint on hundreds of films and filmmakers that came after them. From the feminist psychedelia of Daises to the anti-colonialist, coming-of-age drama Chocolat, these are eleven films directed by women internationally you might not have heard of but would not want to miss.
Read moreBest Albums for the Best Record Collection
My friend started a record collection and asked me which albums I thought should be in it, so I have compiled a list my favorite albums from the 1950s through the 2010s. The albums in this list are records I like to listen to on the whole, not just individual songs. I have listened to around 3000 albums, and this list has about 500 of them.
Read moreSplit Screen Cinema
Over many years of studying film, I have collected over 500 instances of visual influences, homages, and rip-offs in movies and art, and I will continually update them here.
Read moreRevisiting “Harold and Maude”
Rather than a simple black comedy, Harold and Maude is arguably one of the best satires to come out of the New Hollywood genre. Ashby’s direction, Colin Higgins’s narrative, and Bud Cort and Ruth Gordon’s acting “weave a gentle spell,” as film critic Matt Zoller Seitz put it, by providing the audience with “a romance, a tragedy, a satire, a paean to eccentricity, a philosophical statement, and a ‘trip’ film whose music montages seem to roll in like waves.” It is in that spirit that Harold and Maude deserves to be revisited, not just as a quirky, low-budget Hollywood offshoot, but as a serious work of cinema.
Read moreBest Films of the 2000s (So Far)
Here is a list of my favorite films from 2000 to 2030. As of now, I have seen over 1200 movies from the 2000s, and this list has about 400 of them, with about 100 of them being worthy of “great film” status. I have watched over 3300 films across all genres and countries from the start of cinema to the present. If the film is in bold, that means I think it is one of the best films of the twenty-first century so far and belongs in a “must-see” category. As for everything else, a movie made the list if I believe it meets one of the following criteria: quality writing, acting, and directing that may not be “high art” but at least it is not the typical Hollywood schlock; interesting artistically or thematically, even if it does not come together as best as one could hope; solidly funny, delightfully weird, or at least just does something interesting for a change.
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