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BLOW OUT: A love letter to Vertigo & voyeurism

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By Sarah Jester Ever get the feeling you’re being watched? Okay, ever peer into the apartment across the street to catch a glimpse of the neighbors’ evening routine? Eye the sidewalk down below from your comfortable perch as a melodramatic tableau unfolds? You are a voyeur. Through these practices, you regularly exchange validation, entertainment, and answers with strangers and companions alike. You just might not know what questions you’re unconsciously asking them. Cinema is pure, unadulterated voyeurism. Film directors are some of the most voyeuristic individuals alive. As a result, there’s no shortage of films about voyeurism. Famously, Hitchcock concerned himself with depicting voyeurs of all kinds -- both sympathetic and villainous. Whether it’s a retired policeman, an injured photographer, or a chillingly cold housekeeper, someone is always watching . If Hitchcock is the patron saint of cinematic voyeurism, Brian De Palma is one of his most devout worshippers. Take 1981’s Blow O...
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QUEER: Bond, the later years

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By Sarah Jester 3/4 stars Luca Guadagnino had a banner year. This summer, he swept up the world in a boundary-pushing and undeniably sexy love triangle on the tennis court, only to bring our walls crashing down this December via a Call Me By Your Name meets Naked Lunch tableau.  Image credit: MUBI Queer stars Daniel Craig as William Lee and newcomer Drew Starkey as Eugene Allerton, plus support from a nearly unrecognizable Jason Schwartzmann as Lee’s longtime friend Joe Guidry. The James Bond veteran delivers a career-best performance in Guadagnino’s adaptation of William S. Burroughs’ semi-autobiographical novella. As a lifetime Bond fan, I’m well-versed in Craig’s long-running portrayal of the pinnacle of male fitness and heterosexuality. His metamorphosis into gay expat junkie Lee is nothing short of shocking. Opposite him, Starkey is haunting as Eugene, a former Navyman. It’s addiction at first sight for Lee—the kind of inextricable affair he won’t shake until his dying days. T...
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A tale of two “Nosferatus”

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By Sarah Jester Room for one more onboard the Demeter? 2024 was a monumental year for Nosferatu fans. Not one but two adaptations of the classic vampire tale have graced the silver screen: Robert Eggers’ Nosferatu and the first of film programmer Josh Frank’s newly launched “Silents Synced” series, Nosferatu X Radiohead . Both draw on F.W. Murnau’s 1922 silent classic Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror , the unauthorized adaptation of Bram Stoker's Dracula. Murnau lightly edits the 1897 epistolary horror, renaming the titular villain Count Orlok, later referred to as Nosferatu. What does "nosferatu" mean? Romanian interpretations point towards “vampire” or “undead.” Other etymological experts look to the Greek term “nosophoros,” or “disease-bearing.” One thing’s for certain—both Max Schreck and Bill Skarsgård have the undead, disease-bearing vampiric sauce . What follows are two very different accounts of the same story. ** As a fan of Herzog’s 1979 Nosferatu the Vampyre ,...
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MORRICONE MADNESS: Ennio (2021)

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By Sarah Jester Ennio : 2.5/4 stars 4 years after Ennio Morricone’s passing and 3 years after its European festival run, Guiseppe Tornatore’s Ennio finally hit American screens. Yes, Tornatore of Cinema Paradiso fame. It’s a sprawling homage and unrelenting tribute to one of the most prolific and talented film composers that ever lived. Ennio Morricone. Credit: Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Let’s backtrack for a moment. Prolific is perhaps the greatest understatement of the century. Morricone scored over 400 films and television shows, not to mention more than 100 classical pieces. His musical impact is equal to his output. Ennio boasts glowing soundbites from the likes of silver screen superstars Clint Eastwood, Dario Argento, and Wong Kar-wai; legendary musicians Quincy Jones (RIP), Bruce Springsteen, and Joan Baez; and fellow lauded composers John Williams and Hans Zimmer. Morricone passed in 2020 at 91 years old. I’m grateful to Tornatore for his heavenly timing in capturing these ...
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2024, Box’d

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By Sarah Jester It’s been an interesting year! It’s been an interesting year. Some might say that it’s been an interesting year. The most consistent part of my year was the act of sitting down to watch a movie. In January, I told myself that I would watch 200 films by December 31, 2024, and I’m well on my way to surpassing that number. Today is Monday, November 25, 2024, and I’ve watched 191 movies this year. I have several roommates and I know they’re thanking their lucky stars that they have their own TVs in their rooms, ‘cause I hogged the living room screen.  What's the point of embarking on such a mission? Movies make my world go around. This has not always been the case. I have a Kaufman father and an equal parts Hitchcock/Hallmark mother. We would watch Vertigo , Raising Arizona , and The Sound of Music on a regular basis every year. And I hated it. When I was around ten years old, my papa gave me an old Star Wars box set that included a "making-of" doc. And that ...
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