This review may contain spoilers.

When you find someone you love so much, it’s easy to clam up. To become wooden. To have dry lips. To actually tremble at the thought of reaching out your hand to them. In Carol’s early moments, Therese is literally stunned by Carol in this way. Clearly she’s attracted. But she can’t make a move – how could she in her presence? Carol recognizes this and guides her gently along by the shoulder. She makes the moves and Therese follows willingly.

The grammar of the film makes this tension so insanely palpable. The soft focus on the even softer fur of Carol’s coat. The way we watch her fingers depress the buttons on the dashboard. How loud every small sound is in the room with her. Everything works together to beckon Therese to follow.

In the end, Therese doesn’t follow. She rejects Carol’s propositions. Instead, she approaches Carol on her own terms, each on level footing, with an endless sunrise ahead.

Criterion added a slew of films to its streaming site for Sony Pictures Classics’ 30th anniversary. There are a few in here I’ve seen but a lot more I’ve been waiting to see. On my watchlist:

• Persepolis
• Run Lola Run
• Orlando
• Paprika
• Volver

If I get around to watching them (which is tough as a new parent working full-time and going into the holidays), I’ll be logging them on my Letterboxd account. (I wonder if there’s a Letterboxd → Micro.blog crossposting tool?)

If you aren’t yet acquainted with Big Thief and by extension Adrianne Lenker, I suggest you have some acquaintin’ to do. They make delightful music that walks the line between folk & rock & electronic & country & most of the subgenres within. Their latest album has been on my rotation all year. Plus it has the dorkiest cover.

When I first heard them I was like “Yeah whatever, you’re sort of pitchy.” But now they’re one of the few bands I call myself a fan of.

A few of my favorites:

• Mary. A quiet storybook hymn. Best enjoyed with headphones in a dark room.
• Shark Smile. Contains the most wonderful “woo!”
• No Reason. Listen for the sing-along chorus. Stick around for the sick flute solo.
• Two Hands. Clappity clap clap. Great percussion.
• Time Escaping. Bonkers track.
• Terminal Paradise. Really great build.
• Red Moon. Leans hard into hoedown mode. That link is a video of them recording it live.

And a handful from Adrianne:

• from. Just haunting. Get’s the full band treatment also.
• not a lot, just forever. Really sweet love song. Makes me swoon.
• forwards beckon rebound. Showcases Adrianne’s rhythmic fingerpicking.

Watched on Thursday November 17, 2022.

I was born too late to know the height of blogs in the mid-00s. However I have seen Julie & Julia and I do have delusions of grandeur. So here I am. Where once I simply tweeted my thoughts into the abyss, I shall now blog them furiously into an even abyssier abyss. I’ll probably regret it 👍

Hoping to blog about all sorts of things. Whatever’s interesting to me, I guess. I imagine it’ll mostly revolve around video editing, which I do for a living. I also enjoy taking photos for fun, but I wouldn’t say I’m a photographer. Similarly, I’ve recently been making a simple app for the Playdate called The Drawing Board, but I’m definitely not a developer. I love hearing developers talk tho, and love using beautiful apps. Currently, I’m typing this in Ulysses, which I haven’t cracked open since college. It’s refreshing. :)

See ya ✌️

Watched on Tuesday November 8, 2022.

Watched on Sunday October 30, 2022.