First Watch: My Cinematic Viewing Series of Acclaimed Films and Filmmakers
Follow along on this journey to the center of the cinematic universe with me. Or catch up when the algorithm brings us together.
So, here’s the backstory. I’ve loved watching movies ever since I can remember. My grandpa used to take me to the movie theater what feels like every week in my memory, but probably was something like a couple of times a year until I became “too cool” to go to the movies with him (a.k.a. an annoying little teenage brat).
Update: This is better now; I’m no longer an evil witch going through those days. We still catch a movie now and then together — our most recent trip was to see Nope, and we had a blast.
Now that I’m an adult, I’ve resurfaced my cinephile love, but much like consuming other media, I’ve come to realize there are A LOT of fantastic movies I’ve never seen. I’m really dragging myself here, but I’ve only seen one Paul Thomas Anderson film (Licorice Pizza), and I’ll be honest, I think I only heard about it because I’m a gigantic HAIM fan and saw that Alana was starring in the film; not to mention, for the longest time, my head canon told me that Quentin Tarantino and Clint Eastwood were the same person (???), I’m not sure why, but I just pictured an Quentin Tarantino as some very old dude who’s made a lot of films.
There are many, many more embarrassing thoughts I had in regards to cinematic knowledge, but I will spare myself the pain and undoubted judgement.
I’m sure you’re wondering, Well if you’re this much of a dumbass, why are you going to publicly admit to being both a movie-lover and a poser at the same time? My answer: I DON’T KNOW, but I want to talk about movies and I don’t have a lot people in my life willing to listen to me ramble.
So…what is this series?
Quite literally, this is going to be a log of my unprofessional opinons and thoughts about each film. The idea is that I’ll chose a filmmaker and feature their works in one long log that I update as I watch them.
I haven’t completely thought this series through, I think that much is clear, but obviously I won’t be watching every single released film from filmmakers with a ton of releases through the decades. There are select, acclaimed movies that I need to catch up on, and so that is the intended plan.
Though there are countless filmmakers out there with Critically-Acclaimed status, I’m starting with those I have an interest in (some for no apparent reason other than popularity or the fact that they’re female), such as:
Sofia Coppola
Greta Gerwig
Paul Thomas Anderson
Quentin Tarantino
Christopher Nolan
…and many, many, many (😅) more.
Not to mention, there will likely be reviews on specific movies, without a special highlight of the filmmaker’s other works, because there are a lot of fantastic films I’ve only just watched this year. The first one off the top of my head is Scott Pilgrim vs. The World. I don’t know who directed it, I don’t even know who wrote the graphic novel it’s based on, but I know this film is incredible and I had been missing out for the last ten years until I finally watched it.
Recommendations…always open!
Please note that I’m wildly aware there are a myriad of fantastic filmmakers without the “hype” behind them, and I am happy to take recommendations of filmmakers to check out — I’m especially happy to watch movies made by queer and/or POC creators. Bonus points for anything sapphic.
