Collage of documentary outtakes by Kirsten Johnson. Incredibly subtle and tender, still haunts me a year after watching.
Related Recs
Staying at the Roxy in NY (formerly the Tribeca Grand) is akin to being on an elegant cruise in Manhattan. It’s my home away from home in the city. Everything is there: from live jazz in the massive atrium lobby with the glass elevator zipping up and down and the divine food and drinks (I recommend the lobster roll and a mescal cocktail) in recessed leather booths shaped like teacups, to the gorgeous red velvet theater below - which offers the best films on screen in Manhattan - curated by the brilliant Illyse Singer. After attending a killer film and fascinating Q&A, retreat to the Django, the speakeasy next door, which stays open til 4AM and is often where the hottest underground music acts play… What else could you ask for?Â
Jan 16, 2025
I have another indie theater that I prefer because it’s cozier, has better vibes, is much closer to me, and everybody who works there is genuinely passionate about film. It’s not really anything special visually but it’s a beautiful institution and it’s so fun to be there ❤️
But this one is an old art deco theatre designed by architect John Eberson (he designed Loew’s Paradise in the Bronx and the Paradise Theatre in Chicago)! It’s pretty run down/poorly managed and staffed but it’s a gorgeous building and definitely worth visiting. Not my photos but included for illustrative purposes!!
Nov 14, 2024
Buckle up, kkelmyss.
There are two film formats still projected in theaters today: 35mm and 70mm (aka 65mm).
35mm was repurposed from Kodak's 135 photographic film standard. Instead of running the film horizontally behind the lens, it was run vertically. This enabled more exposures per foot of film at less resolution. But as cinema grew in popularity, the desire for cleaner images and higher resolutions also grew. Larger exposure area was necessary to achieve this.
Cinerama was a cumbersome, yet impressive, short-lived solution. This standard required three synchronized 35mm cinema cameras to record the movie and three synchronized 35mm projectors to display the three separate film reels as one large-format ultra-wide image. Insane and beautiful.
VistaVision was a simpler solution. It simply rotated the 35mm film 90 degrees and ran it horizontally behind the lens like still cameras. This significantly increased the exposure area and thus the resolution. VistaVison was only relevant for about 10 years but laid the groundwork for future innovation. The format was famously used by ILM for its renowned special effects, starting with Star Wars. And was resurrected last year to film The Brutalist.
70mm was the straight forward answer to increasing exposure area—just make the film bigger. This standard was run vertically past the lens like standard 35mm and offered nearly double the resolution. 65mm film is actually used for shooting and the finished movie is transferred to 70mm film for projecting. The terms are used interchangeably because they both contribute the finished product. Lawrence of Arabia is a notable film shot using 70mm to accommodate its ultra-wide vistas.
IMAX 70mm took inspiration from VistaVision. It rotates 70mm film 90 degrees and runs it horizontally behind the lens further increasing the exposure area and putting it within spitting distance of medium format photography. These are big-ass exposures. It's dramatically more expensive to shoot and project movies in this format. But it produces a gorgeous high-resolution image. And gives Christopher Nolan a huge hardon.
Acquisition formats vary for movies. But when it comes to projection, there are predominantly only two film formats today. You're most likely to find a standard 35mm projector at your local independent theater. IMAX 70mm is the other and it's even rarer. Standard 70mm projection rarer still.
Feb 11, 2025
Top Recs from @evilbeck
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I’m taking a class on this mf. I know he’s probably talked about way too much but he is such a fascinating combo of being deeply introspective and then wildly funny. The way he writes about sleep and memory and longing is real as fuck. I’ll probably be sick of him by the end of this semester because it’s thousands of pages of reading but for now I am in love.
Feb 5, 2024
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Physical letters aren't just for corny love notes and eviction notices! They can be a really good way of communicating things that are too long for texting but too personal to say aloud. I feel like the convenience of texting can be deceptively dishonest, it’s often more genuine to let something bleed out on a page. It also just feels cool as fuck to write one, I like to imagine I’m some aristocrat main character in a period piece. Maybe light a candle if you want to be extra pretentious.
Jan 27, 2024
I was terribly allergic to Cronenberg until I saw Dead Ringers and now I’m giving his movies a chance. While he’s famous for body horror I think his best stuff is actually his movies that aren’t in that genre. This is probably my favorite mafia movie and features the absolute most badass fight scene.
Jan 31, 2024