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Culture

Films, books &
music.

What I watch, read, and listen to.

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Films

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Books

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Tracks

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48 of 48 films

1

In the Mood for Love

Wong Kar-wai · 2000

Romance

Cannes Best Actor, BAFTA nomination

The most beautiful film ever made. Longing, restraint, and the tragedy of timing.

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2

Past Lives

Celine Song · 2023

Romance

Oscar nomination, Gotham Award

In-yun. The paths we take and the ones we don't.

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3

Minari

Lee Isaac Chung · 2020

Drama

Oscar Best Supporting Actress, Golden Globe

The American Dream through a Korean-American family. Water celery and perseverance.

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4

If Beale Street Could Talk

Barry Jenkins · 2018

Drama

Oscar Best Supporting Actress

Baldwin's prose brought to life. Love as resistance.

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5

The Brutalist

Brady Corbet · 2024

Drama

Venice Silver Lion

Architecture as art and obsession. The immigrant experience and creative vision.

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6

American Fiction

Cord Jefferson · 2023

Comedy/Drama

Oscar Best Adapted Screenplay

Sharp satire on race and publishing. Percival Everett's wit.

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7

The Substance

Coralie Fargeat · 2024

Horror

Cannes Best Screenplay

Body horror and beauty standards. Grotesque and unforgettable.

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8

Interstellar

Christopher Nolan · 2014

Sci-Fi

Oscar Best Visual Effects

Love transcends time and space. Hans Zimmer's organ.

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9

Parasite

Bong Joon-ho · 2019

Thriller

Oscar Best Picture, Palme d'Or

Class warfare as a genre-defying masterpiece.

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10

Burning

Lee Chang-dong · 2018

Drama/Thriller

FIPRESCI Prize at Cannes

Slow-burning mystery. Murakami adapted to devastating effect.

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11

Phantom Thread

Paul Thomas Anderson · 2017

Drama/Romance

Oscar Best Costume Design

Fashion, control, and twisted love. DDL's final performance.

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12

Moonlight

Barry Jenkins · 2016

Drama

Oscar Best Picture

Identity, masculinity, and tenderness. Three chapters of becoming.

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13

The Shape of Water

Guillermo del Toro · 2017

Fantasy/Romance

Oscar Best Picture, Best Director

Cold War fairy tale. Del Toro's love letter to monsters and outsiders.

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14

Spotlight

Tom McCarthy · 2015

Drama

Oscar Best Picture, Best Original Screenplay

Journalism as it should be. The Boston Globe exposes systemic abuse.

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15

Birdman

Alejandro González Iñárritu · 2014

Comedy/Drama

Oscar Best Picture, Best Director

One continuous shot. Keaton's comeback about comebacks.

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16

Argo

Ben Affleck · 2012

Thriller

Oscar Best Picture

Fake movie, real rescue. Hollywood saves the day.

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17

12 Years a Slave

Steve McQueen · 2013

Drama

Oscar Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay

Solomon Northup's memoir. Unflinching and essential.

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18

The Lobster

Yorgos Lanthimos · 2015

Comedy/Drama

Cannes Jury Prize

Find a partner or become an animal. Lanthimos at his most absurd.

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19

Poor Things

Yorgos Lanthimos · 2023

Comedy/Drama

Oscar Best Actress, Venice Golden Lion

Frankenstein meets feminist awakening. Maximalist and joyful.

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20

The Favourite

Yorgos Lanthimos · 2018

Comedy/Drama

Oscar Best Actress, BAFTA Best Film

Queen Anne's court. Three women, zero trust, seventeen rabbits.

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21

The Big Short

Adam McKay · 2015

Comedy/Drama

Oscar Best Adapted Screenplay

The 2008 crash explained with celebrity cameos and rage.

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22

Little Women

Greta Gerwig · 2019

Drama

Oscar Best Costume Design

Gerwig's structural genius. The March sisters, non-linearly.

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23

The Pianist

Roman Polanski · 2002

Drama

Oscar Best Actor, Best Director, Palme d'Or

Szpilman's survival. Brody's gaunt, devastating performance.

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24

Bottle Rocket

Wes Anderson · 1996

Comedy/Crime

Sundance premiere

Where it all began. The Wilson brothers rob a bookstore.

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25

Rushmore

Wes Anderson · 1998

Comedy/Drama

Independent Spirit Award

Max Fischer's extracurriculars. Murray's career revival starts here.

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26

The Royal Tenenbaums

Wes Anderson · 2001

Comedy/Drama

Oscar nomination Best Original Screenplay

Prodigies grown up and broken. Needle drops and raccoon coats.

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27

The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou

Wes Anderson · 2004

Comedy/Adventure

Technical Grand Prize

Jacques Cousteau meets midlife crisis. Portuguese Bowie covers.

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28

The Darjeeling Limited

Wes Anderson · 2007

Comedy/Drama

Venice Film Festival

Three brothers, one train, too much baggage. India in pastels.

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29

Fantastic Mr. Fox

Wes Anderson · 2009

Animation/Comedy

Oscar nomination Best Animated Feature

Stop-motion Roald Dahl. Different, but cussing good.

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30

Moonrise Kingdom

Wes Anderson · 2012

Comedy/Drama

Oscar nomination Best Original Screenplay

Two kids, one island, scout camp chaos. Pure and strange.

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31

The Grand Budapest Hotel

Wes Anderson · 2014

Comedy/Drama

Oscar Best Production Design, Best Costume Design

Gustave H. and Zero. Anderson's most beloved, for good reason.

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32

Isle of Dogs

Wes Anderson · 2018

Animation/Comedy

Berlin Silver Bear for Best Director

Japanese dystopia, exiled dogs. Stop-motion political fable.

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33

The French Dispatch

Wes Anderson · 2021

Comedy/Drama

Cannes Film Festival

New Yorker magazine as film. Three stories, maximum Anderson.

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34

Asteroid City

Wes Anderson · 2023

Comedy/Drama

Cannes Film Festival

Desert, aliens, grief. A play within a film within a broadcast.

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35

Following

Christopher Nolan · 1998

Thriller

Nolan's debut feature

$6000 budget, shot on weekends. The DNA of everything after.

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36

Memento

Christopher Nolan · 2000

Thriller

Oscar nomination Best Original Screenplay

Reverse chronology. Can you trust your own memory?

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37

Insomnia

Christopher Nolan · 2002

Thriller

Nolan's first studio film

Alaska, no darkness, no sleep. Williams against type.

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38

Batman Begins

Christopher Nolan · 2005

Action/Drama

Revitalized superhero genre

Why do we fall? The grounded Batman we needed.

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39

The Prestige

Christopher Nolan · 2006

Mystery/Drama

Oscar nominations

Rival magicians. Are you watching closely?

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40

The Dark Knight

Christopher Nolan · 2008

Action/Crime

Oscar Best Supporting Actor (Ledger)

Ledger's Joker. Chaos as ideology. A superhero crime epic.

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41

Inception

Christopher Nolan · 2010

Sci-Fi/Action

Oscar Best Cinematography, Best Visual Effects

Dreams within dreams. The spinning top never stops.

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42

The Dark Knight Rises

Christopher Nolan · 2012

Action/Drama

Box office success

Bane's voice, broken Batman. The trilogy ends.

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43

Dunkirk

Christopher Nolan · 2017

War/Drama

Oscar Best Film Editing, Best Sound Mixing

Three timelines, pure survival. Zimmer's ticking clock.

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44

Tenet

Christopher Nolan · 2020

Sci-Fi/Action

Oscar Best Visual Effects

Time inversion. Don't try to understand it, feel it.

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45

Oppenheimer

Christopher Nolan · 2023

Drama/Biography

Oscar Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor

The father of the atomic bomb. Three hours of dread.

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46

Whiplash

Damien Chazelle · 2014

Drama

Oscar Best Supporting Actor, Best Film Editing

Not quite my tempo. J.K. Simmons as a jazz tyrant.

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47

Hereditary

Ari Aster · 2018

Horror

Sundance Film Festival

Family trauma as horror. That dinner scene. That car scene.

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48

The Farewell

Lulu Wang · 2019

Drama/Comedy

Golden Globe Best Actress

Based on an actual lie. East meets West through a fake wedding.

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