Radioactive is the story of Marie Curie's scientific career and personal life with her husband Pierre. The film highlights the struggle as Marie fights for her place in the scientific community and in history. The film stars Rosamund Pike, Sam Riley, Simon Russell Beale, Sian Brooke, Aneurin Barnard, Katherine Parkinson, Drew Jacoby, and Anya Taylor-Joy. It is directed by Marjane Satrapi and is written by Jack Thorne. The film is streaming exclusively on Amazon Prime. What I love about Marjane Satrapi's style is her ability to create films that are grounded, but surprise with fantastical elements. She and cinematographer Anthony Dodd Mantle create some phantasmagoric imagery worthy of the br
First Cow is the story of Cookie Figowitz, an orphan dreamer, who has made his way from the settled East to the Oregon Territory in hopes of saving up for his dream. Cookie comes across another dreamer, King Lu, a Chinese immigrant, in the forest and the two men strike up a bond of friendship. Though, in order to make their dreams come true they need milk and the only way to get it is by stealing it from a man no one steals from and gets away with it. The film stars Joe Magaro, Orion Lee, Rene Auberjonois, Ewen Bremner, Gary Farmer, Scott Shepherd, Lily Gladstone, Jared Kasowski, Mitchell Saddleback, Alia Shawkat, and Toby Jones. It is directed by Kelly Reichardt and written by Reichardt and
Palm Springs is a film about an ordinary day in which an ordinary wedding will take place. Niles is the boyfriend of bridesmaid Misty. Perfectly ordinary, but slightly off. Niles seems aloof and able to predict actions and when he mingles with maid of honor Sarah, he takes her to a secluded spot to have sex. Though, when the night takes a strange turn and Sarah follows Niles into a cave with a strange glowing light, she is thrust into the time loop that Niles has found himself stuck in. The two form a bond as Sarah tries to figure out a way to break the loop. The film stars Andy Samberg, Cristin Milioti, Meredith Hagner, Camila Mendes, Tyler Hoechlin, Chris Pang, Dale Dickey, Jacqueline Obra
Sonny: Is there any special country you wanna go to? Sal: Wyoming. Sonny: Sal, Wyoming's not a country. I remember seeing Dog Day Afternoon in one of my first big pushes at the film canon. I think my plan was to watch the five nominees for Best Picture each year between 1970 and that present (2008, maybe). I did pretty good with that for a while, but I think after The Deer Hunter (Best Picture winner for 1978), I picked certain films out rather than drowning in some of the mediocrity that has been lauded in the past. Yet, out of that original binge, Dog Day Afternoon loomed quite large. It took several viewings, several readings of articles about Sidney Lumet (director of two films on this s
The Old Guard is about a group of immortal warriors who take on black ops jobs that do good in the world. They've been doing it so long that they're very good at it, but not good enough not to get caught in an age of constant surveillance. A pharmaceutical company obtains the footage of their resurrection and hunts them down to unlock the secret of their power. All while the first new recruit in over two hundred years awakens after her "death." The film stars Charlize Theron, Kiki Layne, Matthias Schoenaerts, Marwan Kenzari, Luca Marinelli, Van Veronica Ngo, Harry Melling, Joey Ansah, and Chiwetel Ejiofor. It is directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood and written by Greg Rucka. The film is streami
"In the old days, if someone had a secret they didn't want to share... you know what they did?... They went up a mountain, found a tree, carved a hole in it, and whispered the secret into the hole. Then they covered it with mud. And leave the secret there forever." - Mr. Chow In 2003 when I decided to dedicate my life to watching movies and maybe one day making them, I knew I had to see as many as possible. I decided that in 2004 I would see every film produced... It didn't happen, but as I scoured the internet for trailers, I stumbled across three that caught my fancy. One was for Infernal Affairs (the film The Departed is based off of), another was for House of Flying Daggers, and the thir
"Shit, I cry so much sometimes I feel like I'm gonna turn into drops." - Chiron I was lucky enough to see Moonlight in its theatrical run. I loved the trailer and was more excited to see this film than any other in the fall of 2016. It's a memorable screening for me for two reasons. The first is that someone in that audience had a glass jar of something. How do I know? Part way through the film, there was a loud crash, then the sound of a hundred spherical objects cascading down the hard floor of the slanted auditorium. Was it marbles, ball bearings, gum balls, Skittles, some other spherical candy? I have no idea, but that was the most bizarre thing that has ever happened for me in a theate
"You?" - A Blind Girl I knew next to nothing about silent film. I knew that the first few decades of film was silence and I knew that the first sound films had a bit of a "tinny" quality to them. It of course made me want to avoid each of them because, "What's a movie without sound and what's sound without the incredible sound quality of now?" Then, in that same film studies class, I was introduced to City Lights. The sheer genius of silent filmmakers is not only in their ingenuity with how to convey nearly all of the story visually, but to make us laugh, cry, and fear as well. I remember being utterly awestruck at the artistry of the humor and the genuine pathos of the characters. I've neve
"No, sir, it's very unfair, especially to your wife." - C.C. Baxter I'm a crusher. I crush on people hard and often. I see someone interesting on the street or out in the world (pre-COVID-19 of course), I've already gone through the courtship, marriage, first fight, makeup, and anniversaries in my head in the 15 seconds of a glance. It's always worse when it's someone I work with because then I have to see them every time I work. If I actually tell them I'm crushing on them, there's a shift, a monumental change in our dynamic. I choose to keep it platonic more often than not because that's the safe bet. Maybe I was meant to be an insurance man like C.C. Baxter. I feel like Baxter sees Fran,
"Listen to me. We're... This kid on trial here... his type, well, don't you know about them? There's a, there's a danger here. These people are dangerous. They're wild. Listen to me. Listen." -Juror #10 I was a person who used to dismiss old movies, movies made before the glory of the '70s. I often thought them too out of touch, too backward in their thinking, too tame. In the film studies class I took in college, my eyes were opened to some great older films and I needed some place to start with the rest of my studies. I settled on a podcast called Battleship Pretension, named after the famous Russian film Battleship Potemkin (1925). These guys were a little older than me and had been throu
"Whoa" - Neo There are dozens and dozens of famous quotes I could have picked from The Matrix. I picked the one that most accurately describes 12 year old Li'l Zachy's reaction to seeing it for the first time. It wasn't my first R rated film, but I consider it my first because it's the one that's stuck with me the longest. My real first was likely The Peacemaker (1997), but I can't remember when it was that that one entered my life. I'd like to forget it ever did, but that's not how my memory works. The Matrix was one of those movies I knew my parents would disapprove of because of the R rating, but when my friend Colin asked if I wanted to see it, I didn't hesitate to say yes. I immediately
"Too many guys think I'm a concept, or I complete them, or I'm gonna make them alive. But I'm just a fucked-up girl who's lookin' for my own peace of mind; don't assign me yours." -Clementine The first time I saw this movie, I said I loved it because it's a weird movie that everyone in my age group says they love. I saw it a few times after that, but it didn't really sink in. It suddenly began to make so much sense when I saw it as part of a film studies class I took in college. I even wrote about it for my last paper of the class, discussing the use of time and memory. I used it for another paper in college when I compared it with Jane Austen's Persuasion. After I finally had my heart broke
"A boy's best friend is his mother." -Norman Bates High school was the first time I had friends I wanted to do things with. I liked hanging out and being with people I felt completely comfortable around. They knew I was a burgeoning cinephile and we'd often go to the movies, but there was a very big hole in my repertoire and that was horror, thrillers, suspense, and Hitchcock. One night I was invited to go to a midnight show of Psycho. It was at The Grand Cinema in Tacoma (Please, let The Grand survive COVID-19) and I was nervous the whole ride there. I remember Amanda and Adam were the ringleaders of the outing and they knew I was very nervous for the experience. They gently ribbed me about
"You know that movie, Young Frankenstein? Scared the hell out of me." - Homer Simpson in "Homer vs. Patty and Selma" on The Simpsons. "Hello, handsome." -Fredrick Frankenstein (It's pronounced Fronkensteen) It's hard to pinpoint my love of Mel Brooks. I have a feeling this film first came into my life after the family trip to London in which we took in a production of The Producers musical. I was hooked and suddenly in a present at a long forgotten holiday was the DVD copy of this movie (the same copy I watch today!). From first frame to last, this is my favorite comedy and it's the one film that encouraged me to seek out horror comedy and then dip my toe ever so gently into horror (more on
"Tourner autour (Turn around)" - Héloïse When I was in high school, we took a trip to San Francisco. It was a combined Dad's birthday, my birthday, and father's day trip at the end of that June. These were long days with tons of walking and so when we could, we'd get on the streetcar and have a seat. The weekdays had many people, but as we neared the weekend, people would pack into the car and there would be a lot of jostling. I was utterly exhausted one of these evenings and as I completely zoned out in my seat, my hand left the pole I'd been clinging to. At a jolt, I was awakened and I grabbed at the pole, accidentally wrapping my hand around someone else's. I let go and looked up in apolo