Viewing Journal

Observations both whole and stillborn on televisions shows, films, movies from my viewing experience.

  • On Film, Movies, Cinema

Reflections on “Benny’s Video” (1992): Image, Sound, Reality, Parental Neglect

The televisual void has sucked away all vestiges of reality from lived experience: Benny makes videos to capture what is…

9 months ago
  • On Film, Movies, Cinema

“The Seventh Continent” (1989) by Michael Haneke

"The Seventh Continent" is Australia, where Georges, Anna, and Eva are going to live, right after they annihilate all vestiges…

9 months ago
  • On Film, Movies, Cinema

2 Missing Details in Richard Linklater’s Epic Before Trilogy

The Before Trilogy is an elegant, conversational set of romantic films, notably missing some important details.

2 years ago
  • Viewing Journal

Peter Weir’s “The Plumber” (1979) Leaves Uncertain

In 1979 one of Peter Weir's early films, "The Plumber," saw theatrical release. Little indicated his future.

2 years ago
  • On Film, Movies, Cinema

Stanley Kubrick’s “The Killing” (1956): Misanthropy Run Amok

"The Killing" makes murder a spectacle, something beautiful, peopled with a group of ne'er-do-wells whose destruction we will undoubtedly enjoy.

3 years ago
  • Reading Journal

Cynthia Ozick’s “Trust”: Exegesis | Tom Hanks on Jimmy Kimmel Live

Ruminations on Cynthia Ozick's knotty, profound prose counterposed to some armchair commentary on Tom Hanks' eminently forgettable appearance on the…

3 years ago
  • On Film, Movies, Cinema

Denis Villeneuve’s “Incendies” (2010): Seeking Expiation

In Denis Villeneuve's 2010 film "Incendies" siblings seek a brother and father never known to deliver letters from their recently…

3 years ago
  • On Film, Movies, Cinema

René Clément’s “Forbidden Games” (1952): Mourning as Indifference

"Forbidden Games" (1952) tells a story of how children, uninitiated in the rituals of mourning, recognize the loss of those…

3 years ago
  • On Film, Movies, Cinema

“Collateral” (2004): Notes on Michael Mann and Modern Urban Space

Notes on the debt to "Miami Vice," the treatment of urban space, and stylistic gunplay in Michael Mann's 2004 film…

3 years ago
  • Viewing Journal

Joseph Losey’s “Accident” (1967): Elliptical yet fascinating

"Accident" narrates the sexual and professional tensions between an Oxford philosophy professor, his colleague, and his students, in events leading…

4 years ago