I Guess I'll Write About Movies Now

To paraphrase a recent meme, "If I had a nickel for every time a painter decided to write and direct a movie about another visual artist's emotional and artistic struggles, I'd have two nickels. Which isn't a lot, but it's strange that it happened twice." It takes a certain amount of chutzpah a visual artist to write and direct a movie about a visual artist, so much so that I can only think of the two instances: 1996's  Basquiat , written and directed by Julian Schnabel, a man who has no shortage of chutzpah; and 2024's Exhibiting Forgiveness , from Titus Kaphar, whose chutzpah level is still being determined. Kaphar's exploration of art and artistry centers on a young(ish) black artist, André Holland's Terrell, who finds success with a wealthy, white audience, while still deeply entangled in the emotional minefield that is his family. The film is beautifully shot and edited, slowly peeling back the layers of Terrell's childhood trauma whil...

I saw 74 movies in the theater this year, most of them starting in March, and I’m hoping to up that number in 2025. Ranking them seems like an activity with diminishing returns, so I’ve grouped them into seven scientific-ish categories and organized them in alphabetical order. This was a great year for movies, and I was pleasantly surprised more often than not. There were some serious gaps in what I was able to make it to see, and I’m hoping that Oscar nominations bring some of 2024’s darlings back to the big screen (looking at you, Anora and Challengers ). Getting out into the theater to take these in, even when I was the only person in the auditorium, made me feel more connected to movies than I have in a long time, and it made the art form feel more special and relevant and important than they ever do on my TV at home. Anyway, here’s my year of movies. Feel free to come at me about any of it. Surprisingly good and I hope you see them American Fiction Babes Cuckoo Drive-Away Dolls E...