Really excited to share my Best Movies of 2021 roundup! It's a little different from my last one, and the others that usually roam around this time of year, but I hope you enjoy it :)
Vampire Weekend had a chance to do the funniest thing ever during the eclipse and they did it by playing their song for Twilight: Eclipse live. Which Ezra thought was the second film of the franchise ππ.
I have a bunny named Jigsaw. I call her:
- Jiggy
- My Girl
- My Baby Girl
- Hey Girl
- Cutie
I also have a bunny named Hannibal. I call him:
- My Little Cannibal
- Cannibal Bunny
- Little One
- Itty Bitty One
- Tiny Baby
Where TITANE was made with women in mind and their fears of toxic masculinity, LAST NIGHT IN SOHO felt like it was manufactured out of a factory that thinks women are afraid of all men around every corner. Wild that I saw these two films in 24 hours of each other.
Last week, a random guy who pre-determined Birds of Prey would suck b/c itβs βnot sexyβ appeared on my timeline.
This week, a random guy who is Mad that Parasite won the Oscars is appearing on my timeline.
Please stop retweeting these men so they appear on my timeline. Thanks.
I have very very very exciting news: My v first Alamo Drafthouse series is happening in May!! Inspired by Euphoria and my love for all things grungy, glittery, and dirty, I programmed 4 films that define the Indie Sleaze era, to me:
Just saw a tweet that says SKINAMARINK doesn't utilize jump scares, and I'm confused, because I don't think we watched the same movie.
(also: want to just add that jump scares ARE NOT BAD)
Fear Street: 1994 is like Scream meets Trick r Treat with a lot of Fear Street lore, but also a dash of Christopher Pike (Janiak's movie is *packed* sex and drugs, and I relate that to Pike more than Fear Street). The last 30 minutes or so really nailed it for me, I am obsessed~
- Went to vet school in France
- Bonded with my roomie
- Got hazed by the older students
- Bonded with my sister when she gave me a bikini wax
- Bikini wax hurt, so I kicked her, causing her to cut off her own finger
- Nibbled on said finger
- Oops, became a cannibal!
Sorry, as someone whose favorite movie is The Silence of the Lambs and who studied it in a horror class in college, fuck off with your lazy "I just watched it yesterday" opinion.
Iβm so excited to be on the jury for
@fantasticfest
this year π€ Itβs a huge honor. Iβve been attending the fest since 2008, when I had to skip college for a week to attend. It feels like a big deal, and I feel so grown up & fancy. About to watch my first jury film AFTER BLJE π.
I am gutted. I fell in love with him in Parasite, and this year is when I started fully embracing him as one of favorite actors. His performance in My Mister alone is so nuanced and special. This is the first celeb death in a while to affect me.
Give me an underrated horror movie that you love. I'm updating my watchlist because I have seen too many horror movies and the past few nights I have just wasted time browsing Letterboxd to no avail.
When the Pattinson/Stewart acting discourse pops up again, I think of how one of the last straws with my ex was when I took him to Personal Shopper and he saw KS and said, βThis is going to suck.β When it was over I asked if he liked it and he said, βNo, KS was in it.β π
Alright, people yelling about a Parasite TV series:
1. Things could be much worse.
2. HBO did Watchmen. We all loved that.
3. HBO also works with Exec Prod. Adam McKay on Succession, a show we all love.
4. Bong Joon Ho has another film in the works.
5. Chiiiiiiiiiill.
Everyone on Film Twitter (not at Cannes): I am so jealous I wasn't there to see Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, I die for Tarantino.
Me: I hate every single human who sees Parasite before me because Bong Joon-ho and Kang-ho Song are MY MEN.
Any critic who is saying they wished they had requested more screeners before the SX cancellation either have an insane amount of privilege they donβt realize they have, or donβt realize that watching that screener post-SX and still reviewing it could potentially harm the film.
The way Jenna Ortega will conquer 2022... I can't wait. Loved her in The Fallout, loved her in Scream, and she's in Ti West's return to film, X! ++ Studio 666 with Dave Grohl and Tim Burton's Wednesday!! She's Gen Z's real Scream Queen π€.
Woke up at 3:30am to my tiniest bunny thumping so loud I could hear him upstairs. He refused to stop for many minutes. Hannibal still wonβt tell me whatβs up. A man of mystery.
What's the most amazing a human being has ever looked in a movie? For me I think it's gotta be this. Every scene she appears my hands are clasped over my mouth.
Probably will delete this, but the issue with modern film fandom and criticism is that we try to champion too much, so the actual good movies fall through the cracks and arenβt championed enough.
Today Spiral hits theaters and I wanted to share a picture of my lovely bunny Jigsaw who I did not get enough time with in this life. Me and Hannibal miss you my little Jiggy, and when I think of Saw, I think of you β€οΈ.
For May I programmed a series at Alamo that focuses on Asian American female leads - Plus One, Always Be My Maybe, Hustlers, and Driveways π₯°! Come out βΌοΈ
Weβre commemorating AAPI Heritage Month by showcasing some of our favorite leading ladies in our AAPI Female Voices series which features Maya Erskine, Constance Wu, Hong Chau, and Ali Wong in films that empower them as actresses. Get your tickets at .
One thing about the Cruella discourse that I don't understand is how everyone is calling it an origin story, when it's more in line with Wicked's sense of re-packaging and remixing. I'm at a total loss.
Golden Globes Voting Discussions, I assume:
On MINARI: Hm, I know it's set in middle America, but like, not enough English, am I right?
On EMILY IN PARIS: Wow, what an American piece of high art. 11/10 stars. Oui Oui we love Paris!
Apparently this is a controversial take, but no, I do not think you need to be a fan of horror to critique something. I think you need to be knowledgable about film.
This does not excuse poor writing, though. That piece can be bad, and we can have non-fans write on horror.
Happy birthday to Park Chan-wook π€ A man mostly known for his violence, but is undervalued for his ability to show tenderness towards humanity and their relationships. What a master of the craft.
Yesterday I got to interview Park Chan-wook for Alamo (!!!), and I asked him what three South Korean films are essential watches. His answer was π―, and maybe you will find out too when you go see Decision to Leave π₯°.
Earlier this year Austin Chronicle restructured its culture section and therefore cut freelance reviewers. SXSW was my likely my last spin as film critic. Iβve loved my decade+ career (I was nominated Best Critic in ATX 3x!), but Iβve come to terms with it ending. π«ΆπΌ
freelance journalism is so fundamentally broken right now. you can consistently do innovative stuff and still barely make enough to get by. to make it work, you either have financial security and it's therefore a hobby, or you have to hustle so hard it makes you ill
I'm tired of critics struggling to separate Portrait of a Lady on Fire and Ammonite from each other. Does this happen to all period-set hetero romances? (the answer is no)
This weekend was so wonderful for movie lovers, and then I saw people talking about the Bechdel test in 2023 like it actually means anything and felt tired again.
Nia DaCosta has curated a double feature series that takes moviegoers on a journey through cinematic parallels. Each of DaCostaβs selections explores a unique pair of films that share distinct DNA in styles, themes, and characters.
π:
Maybe instead of talking about a horror magazine, you can all talk about how women were repeatedly abused on sets (some who even left the film industry because of it), and talk about the culture the horror community still tolerates for some terrible reason.
If you are a film critic/maker/lover coming to Austin for SXSW *please* let me know because my 30th bday is during SXSW this year and I might celebrate a little and would like crazy film people with me :).
Just pointing out this is a Drafthouse Recommends title, and everyone at
@alamodrafthouse
has worked very hard marketing this film in tandem with Focus Features. π₯° When it expands to your city, go see it!!
Sean Wangβs βDΓDI (εΌεΌ)β opens with $200k from 5 theaters at the domestic box office, a per theater average of $40K.
One of the biggest per theater averages of 2024.
I've been *so excited* to share this piece for weeks. I interviewed both Tony Hawk and dir. Sam Jones for the upcoming SXSW premier of Tony Hawk: Until the Wheels Fall Off. It's a full page (!!) in the
@AustinChronicle
this week:
Support women making movies this weekend. Rent Miss Juneteenth ($6.99). And after that, rent Babyteeth ($5.99). You can do this for under $20, which is cheaper than that new Blumhouse movie.
For the month of October, I programmed a Korean Noir series for Alamo Drafthouse that you can go to if you're in Austin, LA, NYC, Denver, and Raleigh π₯°β¨ MEMORIES OF MURDER is already selling like wild fire π₯