Thoughts, Recent Work, and Other Nice Things, Part 3

I’ve been making it a point lately to watch some movies that have been on my “to-watch” list for a while now.

Here are the ones I just finished recently:

• Perfect Blue (1997, directed by Satoshi Kon)

  • You ever see Black Swan? How about Requiem for a Dream? Let’s just say Darren Aronofsky took some notes. 9.5/10

• Anomalisa (2015, directed by Charlie Kaufman and Duke Johnson)

  • This one is gonna stick with me for a while. Can’t say I loved watching it, but I’m glad I did. Charlie Kaufman will do that to ya, I suppose. 8.7/10

Here’s a nice headshot of Brandon that I took last Saturday:

The Sigma 85mm F/1.4 Art lens is absolutely otherworldly. If you’re a fellow photographer, I can’t recommend it highly enough. Tack sharp wide open and looks clean throughout the aperture spectrum. Ok, back to the movies…

• Licorice Pizza (2021, directed by Paul Thomas Anderson)

  • I really enjoyed this one. Bradley Cooper had me DYING. PTA’s range never ceases to amaze me. 8.5/10

• The Darjeeling Limited (2007, directed by Wes Anderson)

  • Not my favorite Wes Anderson movie but it had its moments. 6.7/10

• Rushmore (1998, directed by Wes Anderson)

  • “Were you in the shit?” “Yeah, I was in the shit.” 9/10

• The Breakfast Club (1985, directed by John Hughs. I know, how am I just now seeing this movie?)

  • Outdated social norms aside, I like how dialogue driven this one is. Judd Nelson is worth the price of entry alone. 7/10

• Garden State (2004, directed by Zach Braff)

  • Wasn’t expecting to like this one as much as I did. I think Braff pulled off a really delicate high-wire act that could’ve gone horribly wrong—and in his directorial debut, too! Soundtrack is great as well. 8.2/10

• French Dispatch (2021, directed by Wes Anderson)

  • Wes does the vignette thing extremely well. I thoroughly enjoyed it. The Moses Rosenthaler vignette is my fave. 9.2/10

• Boogie Nights (1997, directed by Paul Thomas Anderson)

  • Talk about a pebble in the shoe… Friggin PTA, man. One of the saddest movies I’ve ever seen. 8.9/10

So that’s what I’ve been up to lately. Let’s wrap this up with a few photos: