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- Forty lessons from a 40-year-old — and more movie notes
Forty lessons from a 40-year-old — and more movie notes
And that was that
Henry T. Casey
January 01, 2025
Surprise, surprise, taking a couple of months off of publishing this newsletter means I’ve returned with a giant edition for y’all. As much as I wanted to make this monthly, I’ve learned to accept that it’s ready when it’s ready.
This is a three-parter, with some life lessons in the first section. Then, I’ve got my movie diary for the last three months. At the end, I’ve got my own version of a best movies of the year list, which also includes some other lists of movies.
1. Here’s 40 things I’ve learned in 40 years
A fair bit’s happened since the last time I emailed you, including that time I turned 40. So, I’m taking this opportunity to finally do the thing I’ve wanted to do and make a list of ideas I’ve picked up over the years that matches my years. I’ve tried to think back to important lessons of my younger years, so let’s agree that the most obvious stuff in here are those things.
“To live amid uncertainty is inevitable. To acknowledge it is to live as a grown-up.” – Karen Joy Fowler (from the introduction for the 10th anniversary release of Jeff VanderMeer’s Annihilation).
I shouldn’t be as concerned about keeping up with the big cultural events, a habit that was boldened by my years covering streaming movies and TV shows. One thing that made me rethink all of this was seeing the Taylor Swift concert movie in theaters and being bored by a lot of it.
“I’m not ready yet” is an acceptable reason, but it does require you confront the idea of getting ready.
You can’t derive value from how long a movie or video game is, but how much time you enjoyed it. A Balatro run is pretty short, for example, but I’ve found it as enjoyable as any game I’ve played in years.
It doesn’t matter how you read or write, just that you do it as often as your own edification demands.
YouTube Premium is the best streaming service.
If you put time into something, promote it as much as your self allows. Sure, some do this to excess, but so many people don’t even come close.
Your mileage may vary.
This also pertains to jeans, which are supposed to hang on your hips naturally, without a belt. Not all hips can probably support this, but some can.
Some things take time, others require you to figure out what’s going on so you don’t get stuck in a limbo. Figuring out the difference is massively important.
Similarly, I’ve learned to stop just inhaling my food. “Chew and savor” may be obvious to some, but I’m happy to know it.
Airplane Mode is the friend I never knew I had.
I’m not just wearing a face mask to keep myself safe in crowded public spaces, I don’t know if I’ve got some bug that’s asymptomatic — so, yes, this is as much for me as it is for you. And since public service workers are pushed by bosses to unmask (for some supposed want to encourage customers to feel safe), I’m especially doing it for them.
If they want to, they will. Because they can. And they have.
Things end, and they will. It’s OK.
If you don’t like tofu, there’s a good chance you need to try someone else’s take on it.
You gotta brush and floss your teeth often and correctly, and popcorn is basically an attack on your gums. A delicious attack, but a declaration of war nonetheless.
Improvement takes time, and it’s on you to accept that you can’t speed-run life.
If you don’t stick up for yourself, others might not realize they should defend you either.
Get your ears cleaned out every once in a while, by a real professional. Do not rely on the dropper that puts liquid in your ears to fizz the gunk out.
Good habits prove you can make more good habits. They reinforce the thought you aren’t limited to who you were.
Breaking a good habit once in a while is allowed when you know you’ll be back at it.
Just because people act like they know what they’re doing, with confidence, doesn’t mean they’re not just liars who are trying to make something out of nothing.
Forgive yourself.
I need to edit my first drafts for at least an hour.
The people you look up to have the same problems you do.
You like what you like. If it isn’t hurting anyone, who cares? It’s not hurting you, right?
Some arguments are not worth it. Especially when they’re online.
It sucks to be the person everyone is trying to ignore. Don’t poke that bear.
The freelance and independent life is not for me, and so I want to support all of the independent writers and publishers I can.
Your happiness is worth putting in time, because you (I hope) deserve happiness.
Those lockdown years purchases you’re not making the most of don’t need to be anvils hanging over you. Treasure them or sell them.
Instrumental music is great for getting work done, but a close second is The Talking Heads film “Stop Making Sense.”
Pizza is pizza is pizza, and pizza is good — unless it’s DiGiorno’s which is actually bad.
Change/wash your sheets once a week, you filthy animals.
Wednesday and Thursday are great for getting around the house chores done, so you exit the week comfortably.
Power cycle (turn them off then on) your laptops, phones and other gadgets that you never shut down often (like your TV) at least once a week, to just reset the settings that will lead to bugs.
Make your own ice cream by burying peanut M&Ms inside of another flavor, and re-freezing it. Sure, the result has super-hard M&Ms, but this is worth trying at least once.
Grab an umbrella if the forecast calls for it. You’ll never regret being the one person who has an umbrella.
The numbers don’t lie, but they can be rigged.
The movies I saw from July through December 2024
2. About the movies I saw from Oct. to Dec. 2024
So, instead of a loose sort where I put the stuff I liked the least in the front and the most at the end, this time I’m breaking it down into three groups. First up, we’ve got films I wouldn’t encourage people to see. Then, films I think you might want to consider. Lastly, the movies that have me raving.
Eh, your mileage may vary
Interstella 5555: The 5tory of The 5ecret 5tar 5ystem (2003)
Daft Punk’s animated feature length music video is the exact kind of thing that doesn’t really click with AI upscaling that melts the original down throughout the film. This film is literally about the record industry kidnapping alien musicians and spraying them to hide their truth. A movie that corrodes the original art is too obviously counter to that, no? The case for preservation of the arts starts with the fact that someone with power over Daft Punk’s library encouraged this AI upscaling slop. Honestly, the kind of project that encourages piracy of the “correct” version.
That said, a healthy reminder that “Discovery” still rules.
4K upscaling remaster @ the lower Manhattan Alamo
Days of Thunder (1990)
I don’t know where my idea for a Nicole Kidman playlist came from, though a recent episode of Anne Helen Petersen’s Culture Study podcast gave me the baseline list of films to consider, which included this film — one of Kidman’s first prominent roles. Here, she plays Dr. Claire Lewicki, one of the many women in cinematic history unfortunately tasked with romancing a character portrayed by Tom Cruise. Not especially revelatory, but proof that Cruise’s zero-for-infinity win-loss record with on-screen romance goes pretty far back.
via Paramount+
Megalopolis (2024)
The silliest movie of the year, if only because it makes me think Francis Ford Coppola is all hot and sweaty for Elon Musk — who I sensed is supposed to be referenced in Adam Driver’s character.
@ the Roxy Cinema in NYC, currently available via digital rental/purchase
Wizard People, Dear Reader (2004)
This was the last thing I expected to watch, but these last months had their own share of surprises. It’s basically a comedically dubbed version of the first Harry Potter film, done by Brad Neely, a multi-hyphenate who I remembered from the funny slideshow animated video “George Washington.”
Anyway, it’s pretty decent — but yeah I get that this isn’t on most peoples’ watch lists. You either want the original thing or you don’t want to do stuff involving JKR. Since this is a bootleg and unofficial, it’s sort of the inbetween thing that could work for some. The copy on YouTube is unwatchably low-res, so your best bet is meeting someone who has it on disc.
via DVD
Venom: The Last Dance (2024)
While a lot of this movie is blah, because the supporting cast just doesn’t have anything going for it, the Eddie Brock/Venom friendship is still amusing enough. Plus, it’s got veteran character actor Rhys Ifans! Also, oddly, one for the Ted Lasso fans, thanks to Juno Temple and Christo Fernández.
@ the Brooklyn Alamo, currently available via digital rental/purchase
Reality+ (2014)
A short film from Coralie Fargeat (“The Substance”) that’s basically a great mini Black Mirror episode. The gimmick is you can basically sign up for a service where you customize your appearance and everything, and all of the other people who sign up for the service will see you like that too. Goes awry in ways you may and may not expect.
via Mubi
Speak No Evil (2024)
Made for people who love James McAvoy being creepy, as well as all the dozens of us who loved the AMC series “Halt and Catch Fire” — because it’s a Mackenzie Davis & Scoot McNairy reunion.
@ the lower Manhattan Alamo, streaming now on Peacock
Armand (2024)
I’m not a parent, but this movie starts off as a parents’ worst nightmare, and packs tons of tension. Unfortunately, it throws all its potential away with a few scenes that were preposterously drawn out, some odd dream sequences and an underwhelming twist.
@ the IFC Center
Heretic (2024)
What it’s like to have a colleague who spends time arguing with people on r/religion for fun (or at least that’s what I assume it’s like), and is obsessed with using pop culture to get people interested in religious debate. Fun until it fizzles in the final stages.
@ the lower Manhattan Alamo, currently available via digital rental/purchase
Revenge (2017)
“The Substance” director Coralie Fargeat’s previous feature-length film “Revenge” is a super-stylized revenge flick where abuse of a woman is met with graphic retaliation. You watch this movie for the action and the visuals, and not much else.
via Mubi
Worth considering
Smile 2 (2024)
Between this and “Trap,” I really need to have a conversation with whomever told horror directors about The Eras Tour.
Overall, impressively done and put together, I can’t argue with that. I will note that the dance rehearsal sequences kept taking me out of the movie, and I’m not sure why. Some people I know and trust adored it, I was just … not as present.
@ the lower Manhattan Alamo, streaming now on Paramount+
Bird (2024)
The thing about this year’s movies is that I kept seeing echoes of one of my favorites of the year, “La Chimera” (technically a 2023 release, but, you know). “Bird” is the most recent film to scratch at that itch, as it often gives the walking-dreaming vibe — or at least it does up until those painfully violent scenes. I’m not one to typically blanche at those moments, but this film’s tonal shifts really unnerved me.
via Mubi
A Real Pain (2024)
A victim of its release year, because it really felt like Kieran Culkin’s Benji would have had something to blurt out about Gaza. That said, this one often times felt like it was made for the stage or HBO, not a big screen — as it’s much more concerned with dialogue than visuals (Villeneuve has a point). But the wide-angle architectural shots near the end pull it out.
@ the Brooklyn Alamo, currently available via digital rental/purchase
La Dolce Vita (1960)
Just like “Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour,” La Dolce Vita reminded me that I probably shouldn’t always go see things out of a need to understand a canon.
And while Fellini’s film is even longer than the too-long Swift concert film, “La Dolce Vita” does more to earn that epic runtime. Gorgeously shot, with Mastroianni perfecting the art of playing a miserable journalist.
in 35mm @ the Metrograph, streaming for free on Plex
The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964)
Camp of the most middle-brow fashion, Jacques Demy’s romance is a musical where everyone is singing but there are no songs. The cinematic equivalent of the French macaron cookies: the colors are gorgeous, the contents are sweet (until bittersweet), but the whole thing isn’t exactly leaving you feeling full.
4K restoration @ Film Forum, streaming now on Max
Eyes Wide Shut (1999)
I went into Stanley Kubrick’s final film expecting a revelation, because I’d long ago written it off as something missable. Instead, it’s managed to endure, especially with how it’s become one of these alternative Christmas movies theaters screen in late December.
It met my expectations by being a predictable piece of the Tom Cruise’s cinematic sexuality canon. Women want him, straight men hate him, gay men want him, and he has chemistry with nobody.
Instead, what really surprised me were the comedic elements, because wow this is a funny movie when I didn’t expect it to be. Maybe people in 1999 were too taken aback by Kubrick’s death to interrogate it properly, or I was too young to hear of it as anything other than “that weird horny movie where there’s a sex cult and people say Fidelio.”
But from the Nicole Kidman monologue to how utterly silly Tom Cruise is throughout this thing, “Eyes Wide Shut” constantly feels like it’s daring you to chuckle. This all undermined the psychological thriller aspects I was expecting, as did the appearance of a very young Leelee Sobiesky.
@ the lower Manhattan Alamo, currently available via digital rental/purchase
Anora (2024)
Huge expectations are a good movie’s arch nemesis. I won’t pretend to understand the politics of director Sean Baker — though I will always look askance at white dudes obsessed with sex workers — but I will applaud star Mikey Madison for capturing an angry energy that feels completely natural. Mark Eydelshteyn does well with his depiction of video game-addicted maleness, but it’s Yura Borisov’s who gets the most-significant male role as Igor, the frustrated yearner.
A shaggy dog-esque story (and one that I felt a little in need of an edit), but still an engaging movie.
@ the Angelika, currently available via digital rental/purchase
Good One (2024)
If you don’t want a film that’s as energetic and screaming as Anora, but still want one that isn’t afraid to leave you in a funk as you walk away from it, this young-and-old adults drama about parenthood might be worth checking out. Sam (Lily Collias) is 17 and agreed to go backpacking with her dad and his friend — whose teen was supposed to join them all.
Well shot and full of simmering frustration that refuses to go away.
@ the Metrograph, currently available via digital rental/purchase
It’s Not Me (2024)
Filmmaker Leos Carax’s 42-minute filming diary entry is a revisitation of his career and the world he’s lived through. I don’t know enough of his works as you’d expect, but I got the right email at the right time to say “hey, check this out,” and so I did. A good kind of dreamy musings thing, but probably hits harder if you know Carax’s work.
@ the IFC Center, currently available via digital rental/purchase
Conclave (2024)
What can I say about “Conclave” other than Stanley Tucci seemingly playing himself amidst Ralph Fiennes and a sea of bad cardinals is as palatable as you might think? The twist at the end was great.
via Peacock on Christmas Eve
Glad I saw
Hundreds of Beavers (2022)
The best silly movie I can remember seeing in ages, because it puts one man’s fight to survive in a world where animals are ruining his life through the lens of silent movie slapstick and Rube Goldbergian rules. By the end of it, you’re kinda watching a live-action version of the final level of a Mario game where everything the plumber’s learned is tested.
@ the IFC Center, streaming now for free on Hoopla, and free with ads on Roku Channel, Pluto, Freevee
The Wild Robot (2024)
One of a string of fantastic kids movies I saw this past year, “The Wild Robot” offers a beautiful visual style and a story that had me overcome with emotion. Also, one of those voice acting casts where you’ll only recognize two people — then marvel at the credits when you see how many others you like are also in it.
@ NYC’s Regal Union Square, currently available via digital rental/purchase
Paddington 2 (2017)
If you, like me, had somehow avoided this, I’m worried to say that the hype might have gotten away on “Paddington 2.” It’s not a bad movie by any means, though. It’s pretty great. Especially if you want more Wes Anderson movies that don’t have that director’s signature parenting issues, and would enjoy a villainous Hugh Grant.
That said, there’s a bit of transphobia hiding in plain sight, just like with the first Paddington. Some folks will pass these scenes off as standard for a certain kind of British comedy, and that folks shouldn’t be so touchy. Were this movie made a few years earlier, I wouldn’t disagree. Really hope “Paddington In Peru” doesn’t suffer from this.
via Prime Video
The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992)
A classic that needs to be seen every so often. Michael Caine is a treasure.
@ the Metrograph — streaming now on Disney+
Carol (2015)
You either think Carol is a Christmas movie, or you either:
haven’t seen it
don’t care about the “What is a Christmas movie?” debate
aren’t a movie geek who lives near a theater that screens it every holiday season
Otherwise, you’re like me and you watched it again on Christmas week.
If you get the rare opportunity to see Carol in 35mm, take it. It was shot in 16mm and Todd Haynes imbued it with colors and moments that look perfect when shown on a flawed (aren’t we all?) reel. Thank you Leigh Reich for getting me to go out for this.
in 35mm @ the Metrograph
Jeanne Dielman, 23, quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles (1976)
Having seen “Jeanne Dielman” before, this repeat viewing was a touch more casual. I wasn’t glued to my phone while it blasted on the TV, but there was something going on where Akerman’s work felt like a part of my apartment.
@ home via Blu-ray, streaming now on Max
Nosferatu (2024)
Eggers hits moods like few others, and this dread-fueled Gorey-bomb really does the trick. I think I’d have liked it more had I gone in knowing it would be very light on the “scary” side of things, as it’s got little in the way of jump-scares. Nonetheless, the cast did well, though Orlok’s moustache undercuts Bill Skarsgård’s performance.
in 35mm @ the Brooklyn Alamo
Babygirl (2024)
Went in with low expectations — because wow I’d heard every single kind of opinion — and left impressed by everyone. Except the person who thought the “Father Figure” montage was necessary.
Kidman elevated herself with this one, Banderas reminded us of his fury and Dickinson… that kid’s got something. Love how little they gave us of his character’s backstory.
@ the Brooklyn Alamo
The Substance (2024)
I don’t want to say a movie was my favorite film of the year, but god damn I loved The Substance — so much that I’ve seen it three times already. Sure, it’s referential as heck, but it’s funnier than I expected, the gore is great, the performances are strong, and the vantage point shots bring you deeper into a film in a very peculiar version of our current world.
I meant to write something bigger about this one, but life got in the way. Just the kind of amazing ride of a film that I adore.
saw a second and third times at the Brooklyn Alamo, streaming now on Mubi
Food and Country (2023)
The pandemic hit everyone hard, but the food and food service industries got a big kick to the teeth — and while you might remember those times from when you lived through it, Laura Gabbert’s documentary starring Ruth Reichl provides a surprising ton of detail about what it was like in the moment. Don’t worry if you see Skype call footage in the trailer, that’s not the bulk of this film.
A huge reminder that a unified public is needed, and that as much as you might think socialism has no chance in America … a big change is definitely needed to how power is structured in this country. And it makes this point with a lot of intimate footage shot throughout the pandemic — shot of people from a range of backgrounds, I kept thinking one thing:
God damnit, we’re more alike than we are not, and we need to act like that.
@ the IFC Center, currently available via digital rental/purchase
The Brutalist (2024)
Recency bias be damned: Brady Corbet’s immigrant story starring Adrien Brody was an instant favorite as it earned each of its 215 minutes. Not sure if this film’s particular color profile could have been found without VistaVision, but the film looked fantastic.
I need to see it again, and I’m happy the ending didn’t ruin it all for me like it did with some people.
in 70mm @ Village East by Angelika
Nickel Boys (2024)
It’s frustrating how a lot of the best films all get run out to the theaters in December (so they’re fresh in the minds of awards voters), because I worry RaMell Ross’ adaptation of Colson Whitehead’s novel of the same name (well, it’s “The Nickel Boys”) is going to get lost in the shuffle under “The Brutalist.”
Because holy hell this is a movie that needs to be seen, talked about and rewatched. Based on an actual hell-on-earth reform school, Nickel Boys follows two young Black men through their vantage points, and does stuff with point of view that I cannot remember being sustained for as long on as big a screen.
Critics threw praise at how Ross tells this story through their eyes, but the director told our audience at a Q&A that he didn’t invent anything, nodding to how POV storytelling has been going on with social media. But the way he’s done something amazing with scale and cast is very much worth seeing.
in 35mm @ the Angelika
Movies I saw from January through May 2024
3. Movies of the year
So, once you’ve seen what you can or want from the above, here’s my list of the 2024 movies that I am happiest to have seen. As you can probably tell, this is loosely sorted from most to least favorite. The titles at the top I adored, and those near the bottom I was more glad I was able to see them or happy that they were made.
Nickel Boys
The Brutalist
The Substance
Perfect Days
La Chimera
Dune Part Two
A Quiet Place Day One
Love Lies Bleeding
I Saw The TV Glow
Food and Country
Babygirl
Red Rooms
Dìdi
Nosferatu
Cuckoo
Kinds of Kindness
Robot Dreams
The Wild Robot
Do Not Expect Too Much From The End of The World
How to Have Sex
Hundreds of Beavers
Challengers
Anora
Drive Away Dolls
Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga
In a Violent Nature
The People's Joker
Lisa Frankenstein
She is Conann
And then there are some movies that technically came out in 2023, but I didn’t get to see until 2024:
The Boy and The Heron
Zone of Interest
Anatomy of a Fall
Fallen Leaves
Monster
Some older movies I saw this year for the first time, and loved:
Jodorowsky’s Dune
Before Sunset
Personal Shopper
Tampopo
Variety
The Thing
Wings of Desire
Possession
Bound
Oh, and yes there are movies from this year I still have on my list to see:
Janet Planet
Juror #2
Nightbitch
The Beast
Rap World
Last Summer
Evil Does Not Exist
A Different Man
The Last Showgirl
Green Border
A Traveler’s Needs
Rebel Ridge
Oh, Canada
All We Imagine as Light
Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl
Flow
The Order
Sonic: The Hedgehog 3
Thelma
Sing Sing