Ratatouille was the first movie I ever loved - and it is likely the blueprint for the person I am today.
It was my obsession as a 7 year old, that age where my sense of self finally began to crystalize into something reflecting the me I am today. I was enchanted seeing it in theaters, and devoured whatever ancillary Ratatouille media I could find. Disney Insider magazines, Playstation 2 games, novelizations, and comics galore; there was a long spell…
On my first day in Portland, I saw The Green Ray.
It’s a strange way to start a vacation, but my travels were strange from the outset. I was to be sent away for 9 days in the Pacific Northwest for 3 days at a conference. It was to be my first time traveling alone, my first time in that part of the world, my first time playing the part of a professional – and I…
The Holdovers makes its intent clear about 3 minutes in; more than just a 70s homage, it is Payne attempting to truly make this period his own. It's why the script, though endearingly writerly, is still ultimately modern at its core and at least somewhat derivative at heart. So too is the cinematography, embracing shallow focus and modern framing within sets and post-production that so earnestly and lushly transports you to the school.
All of this is to say that…
Admirable but thin, especially when its increasing formal insistence distracts from the brutal efficacy of its (fundamentally strong) script. Choosing to present the interrogation in "real time" allows for the banality of the scenario to come to life, painfully awkward niceties the scalpel used to cut Reality's testimony to shreds. Ultimately, though, the movie becomes less about the lurching awkwardness of an agency designed to enforce the law (and observing the humans that make that possible) and more about Reality…
There was a time in my life where I longed to die.
Wake up, go to class, go to work, go to bed. Wash, rinse, repeat. The tedium, the monotony, a mask to help me confront the crushing loneliness I felt at the time. Wake up, go to class, go to work, go to bed. Wash, rinse, repeat. I wanted to heal the hole in my heart, but no matter how often I reached out, I only seemed to be…
