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I just finished playing the brilliant Horizon Zero Dawn and followed it up by jumping straight into the sequel, Forbidden West.

Excellent exploration and intense action mixed together with a deep story about what happens post-post-apocalypse.

I hope it won’t end up having told the story of our real-life future, but there are so many parallels.

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Title Card: Boogie Nights (1997)

The title card for the film, Boogie Nights.

Boogie Nights was written and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson. It was released in 1997.

The film was produced by Paul Thomas Anderson, Lloyd Levin, John S. Lyons, and JoAnne Sellar, along with Lawrence Gordon Productions and Ghoulardi Film Company.

This was the first P.T. Anderson film I ever saw and what an introduction that was! 🎞

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My wife and I finally finished the tv show, Castle, last night. It took us nearly two years to get through those 173 episodes.

Save for the final few minutes of the last episode, it was pretty great. I’d recommend it to anyone who likes fun procedurals.

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Discovery Closes $43 Billion Acquisition of AT&T’s WarnerMedia ↗

Discovery completed its $43 billion acquisition of WarnerMedia from AT&T on Friday to form new company Warner Bros. Discovery, Variety has confirmed.

WarnerMedia owns HBO, HBO Max, CNN, Warner Bros., DC Films, New Line Cinema, TBS, TNT, TruTV, Cartoon Network/Adult Swim, Turner Sports and Rooster Teeth, among other brands, and is part owner of the CW Network along with Paramount.

Discovery is the parent of Discovery Plus, Discovery Channel, HGTV, Food Network, TLC, Investigation Discovery, Travel Channel, Turbo/Velocity, Animal Planet, Science Channel and OWN (Oprah Winfrey Network).

What’s going to happen now will be, to say the least, mysterious and interesting. Here’s hoping that they can keep everything in their respective lanes. I don’t care to see a bunch of gritty, HBO-style reality shows.

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Title Card: Shaun of the Dead (2004)

The title card for the film, Shaun of the Dead.

Shaun of the Dead was written by Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg and was directed by Edgar Wright. It was released in 2004.

The film was produced by Nira Park, along with WT2 Productions, Big Talk Productions, Inside Track 2, and FilmFour.

The titles were designed by Oscar Wright.

My first introduction to Edgar Wright’s films and probably still the most memorable for me. 🎞

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After seeing three people make the same moving violation while out driving today I’m left to wonder if people are worse drivers now because of the pandemic or had I not been paying attention until lately?

Either way, it feels less safe than ever to drive.

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I have found the greatest music video ever made:

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Letterboxd Diaries—March 2022

Total movies watched: 31.

Favorite movie(s) of the month: a tough, five-way tie between Election; The Good, the Bad, the Weird; Drive My Car; Spider-Man: No Way Home; and The Worst Person in the World.

What can I say? I watched a lot of great movies this month.

Least favorite movie of the month: Waiting…

Be sure to follow me on Letterboxd! 🎥

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Title Card: Phantom Thread (2017)

The title card for the film, Phantom Thread.

Phantom Thread was written and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson. It was released in 2017. The main titles were done by David Midgen.

The film was produced by Paul Thomas Anderson, Megan Ellison, Daniel Lupi, and JoAnne Sellar, along with Annapurna Pictures, Ghoulardi Film Company, JoAnne Sellar Productions, and Perfect World Pictures.

I saw this one at a pre-release screening out in Los Angeles and was able to meet P.T. Anderson after the movie. It was an awesome experience. 🎞

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I’ve written enough criticisms about the Oscars recently.1 On to happier things!

Congratulations to CODA for its momentous wins.

Congrats to Greig Fraser on his overdue cinematography win for Dune.

Congrats to Questlove, et al. for Summer of Soul (…or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised). They (and everyone else) deserved a moment that wasn’t overshadowed.

Congrats to Japan and Ryusuke Hamaguchi for their win with the incredible Drive My Car.

Some great films and talented artists were honored last night.

  1. All still very valid after seeing the broadcast last night. ↩︎

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Title Card: The 39 Steps (1935)

The title card for the film, The 39 Steps.

The 39 Steps was written by Charles Bennett and Ian Hay and was directed by Alfred Hitchcock. It was released in 1935.

The film was produced by Michael Balcon, along with Gaumont British Picture Corporation. 🎞

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I’ve collected my movie theater ticket stubs since 2001. A whole 21 years! I haven’t counted them all yet, but it’s easily several hundred tickets.

I used to pile them into a small black box, but they started overflowing. I’ve given myself a nice project: Organize and affix them to pages in a binder for a nicer presentation. It’s been delightful to travel back in time and relive all those memories of theater visits gone by.

I’ve also used this as an opportunity to log all those movies into my Letterboxd account. I think that thing is now as comprehensive as I can make it.

What started as a passive habit is turning into something way more interactive and personal. I like this little hobby.

UPDATE: I counted them all. There are 551 tickets.

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‘Dune’ DP Greig Fraser Wins American Society of Cinematographers’ Feature Race ↗

Big congratulations to Greig Fraser for this win. His work on Dune was beyond stellar; this award was well-earned.

I’ve loved his unique and affecting work for a long time. I’m glad to see him getting more of the recognition he deserves. He’s also flying high on the success of The Batman these days.

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Oscars: American Cinema Editors Urges Academy to Not “Reduce” Telecast to “Variety Spectacle” ↗

Add the editors to the towering mountain of people and collectives objecting to the Academy’s boneheaded decision to prerecord the awards presentation for eight categories.1

From the letter signed and presented by the ACE board of directors:

We believe that true fans of the Oscars don’t want to see an evening celebrating the highest honor in our industry reduced to a buzzy variety spectacle.

That’s certainly how I feel. The artists have always been the highlights of the show for me. I’m immeasurably less enthusiastic about the too-long musical numbers and “comedy” sketches. Let me see the stars in their fancy clothes!

What’s particularly galling to me about this course of action the Academy is taking is how careless it appears to be. The shine of the Oscars show has been wearing off for a long time, but their recent decisions have been tarnishing their reputation.

Case in point, during the upcoming show, there will be a live performance of the song “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” from the Disney film, Encanto. This song has been something of a phenomenon and live song performances are nothing new during the show. However, the only Encanto song that was nominated for Best Original Song is “Dos Oruguitas.”

Apparently, there’s not enough time to give recognition to the eight snubbed categories equal to all the others, but there’s more than enough time for a song that wasn’t even nominated.

This all paints the picture of an organization that understands it’s floundering, but has absolutely no idea how to save itself.

  1. Animated short, documentary short, film editing, live-action short, makeup and hairstyling, original score, production design, and sound. ↩︎

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Title Card: Funny Face (1957)

The title card for the film, Funny Face.

Funny Face was written by Leonard Gershe and was directed by Stanley Donen. It was released in 1957.

The film was produced by Roger Edens, along with Paramount Pictures.

Like many musicals of the time, this film is joyful, exuberant, heartfelt, and silly. 🎞

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NEW PROJECT:

Devote to memory every major winning lottery number in case one day I happen to wake up years in the past or experience some sort of Groundhog Day-type scenario.

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I love Letterboxd, but the quality of the discourse and criticism can be, let’s just say, lacking.

It’s almost strange how much better it gets the more you start blocking people. (Although, I guess the same can be said of all online social services.)

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Title Card: Animaniacs (1993–1998)

The title card for the tv show, Animaniacs.

Animaniacs was created by Tom Ruegger. It premiered on Fox Kids in 1993 before moving to Kids’ WB! in 1995.

The show was executive produced by Tom Ruegger and Steven Spielberg, along with Warner Bros. Animation and Amblin Entertainment.

The opening titles are iconic and always worth watching. 🎞

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I haven’t seen all of the Oscar-nominated films yet,1 but I did just finish watching all of the Best Picture nominees.

At this point, I’m expecting Belfast or The Power of the Dog to win the top prize. They’re the clear Oscar bait of the bunch. What I would like to see win is Drive My Car. That was a beautiful film and I don’t expect it to leave my thoughts for a long time.

It seems like it’ll be a shoo-in for Best International Film, though.

  1. There’s a greater than zero chance that I won’t; the short films and docs can be tough to find. ↩︎

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Title Card: Breathless (1960)

The title card for the film, Breathless.

Breathless was written and directed by Jean-Luc Godard. It was released in 1960 and the French title is À bout de souffle.

The film was produced by Georges de Beauregard, along with Les Films Impéria.

Breathless blew my young mind when I saw it in my 20s and it continues to be an influential work of independent film art. 🎞