Working on a theory that the final line of Eyes Wide Shut is the apotheosis of a certain perverse tendency in cinema to expose the stupidity of "closure." The perversity lies in the fact that we've all collectively agreed to participate in this masquerade -- for the sake of our relationships and our own mental health. Movies allow us to indulge in the illusion, to take narrative pleasure from it. When Bill and Alice agree they need to fuck, the…
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Undercurrent 1946
The script is a mess and Minnelli doesn't manage the shifts in tone very well, but it turns out I have a massive crush on middle-aged Katharine Hepburn.
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Why Does Herr R. Run Amok? 1970
Fassbinder uses the same trick over and over again throughout this film. A sequence begins in closeup or in a two shot. There's a conversation. And then, gradually, the camera pulls back to reveal one or two other people who serve as an audience. It's their presence that generates the tension, the awkwardness, the anxiety. This is Fassbinder's FACES -- a story told in reaction shots.
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Support the Girls 2018
I worked a dozen shit retail jobs in my teens and 20s, and more than two decades later I still notice every "How Hiring" sign in every store and restaurant I enter. It's impossible to shake off that training -- of looking for the next, slightly better opportunity. I'm glad to have that in me, and I'm also glad I was eventually able to leave behind that hustle, because managers like Lisa are the hardest working people I've ever known.…
