By My Lights: a super-sized surprise package for the 2nd week of January
Typos. Seitz on Anderson. World Party. Favorite writers share lists of favorites. Strong voices on Conclave, Homestead. Good poems. My latest moviegoing. A personal update. And freewriting.
It doesn’t seem right to begin this week’s post with words about anything other than the wildfires raging through Los Angeles.
But what words can make a difference here? If you have evacuated, if you have lost a home or some other place precious to you, if you have family who are in jeopardy… know that you are on my mind and in my prayers.
I pray that my small gestures make some difference for the good.
I pray that God will awaken conscience in American leadership that will make of this occasion of extraordinary generosity and service. (I believe that you can do this, Lord. Help my unbelief.)
If I can offer encouragement for you via correspondence or help highlight resources or needs that you want to bring to everyone’s attention, send me a message.
Typo Regrets
What's the worst typo you’ve ever posted in public and then discovered it long after the fact?
I reviewed Sean Wang's wonderful coming-of-age film Didi here on Substack last August. It’s a film about a boy named Chris.
I just reread it and found this line:
Didi dares to let Christ make terrible decisions and treat others (particularly his sister Vivian) badly.
Oof.
Forgive me, Lord Jesus. I know that you have never made a terrible decision or treated others badly. Do you have a sister named Vivian?
And now, of course, I’m worried about two possibilities: Either my readers just couldn’t be bothered to bring this error to my attention… or nobody read my Didi review!
Good News for fans of Jim Jarmusch Fans, Paul Thomas Anderson Fans, Wes Anderson Fans, Kogonada, Chloe Zhao, and so many more visionaries!
I could hardly sleep last night, my mind reeling with all that I learned from the latest update at Criterion. David Hudson, in his exciting and ambitious Criterion preview of the coming year at the movies, reports this:
Shot in New Jersey, Dublin, and Paris and featuring Cate Blanchett, Vicky Krieps, Adam Driver, Mayim Bialik, Tom Waits, and Charlotte Rampling as estranged family members, Jim Jarmusch’s Father, Mother, Sister, Brother will be “a very subtle film,” says the director. “It’s very quiet.”
I’m listening!
Hudson also reveals this:
PTA’s tenth feature may or may not be called The Battle of Baktan Cross … and may or may not draw from Thomas Pynchon’s 1990 novel Vineland. What we do know is that PTA has been working with his biggest budget yet, that the film will likely screen in IMAX theaters, and that the cast headed by Leonardo DiCaprio features Regina Hall, Sean Penn, Alana Haim, Teyana Taylor, Wood Harris, Benicio del Toro, Shayna McHayle, and Chase Infiniti.
And on the subject of the other major Anderson:
For The Phoenician Scheme, Wes Anderson has once again loaded up on star power: Benicio del Toro, Michael Cera, Bill Murray, Riz Ahmed, Tom Hanks, Benedict Cumberbatch, Scarlett Johansson, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Mathieu Amalric, Rupert Friend, Willem Dafoe, and Bryan Cranston. The Phoenician Scheme will likely be a tale of espionage hinging on a father-daughter relationship.
Read the lengthy, surprise-packed report here!
More Good News for Wes Anderson Fans
Self-Care: Used Record Stores!
One New Year’s Resolution I’m making so that I can invest in strong mental health: I’m going to spend more time browsing used record stores, trying out records I’m unfamiliar with, and filling in gaps in my vinyl collection (especially those that represent the years I switched to buying CDs).
This week I found a treasure for a bargain price: the first World Party album: Private Revolution. It has a song that sounds like it was written specifically for me to sing at the top of my lungs as I try to navigate the next four years: “Ship of Fools.”
When I was a freshman at Seattle Pacific University in 1989, my roommate and I wrapped our dorm room door in black paper and wrote out all of the lyrics to this song on it in white chalk. We later learned that this was so upsetting to some of our fellow students that they had a prayer meeting about us.
Now I feel like painting these lyrics on my car.
Read the lyrics here — or, better yet, just sing along.
Some Year-End Favorites Lists
I’ll be working on my Favorite Films of 2024 list until Oscar weekend. My annual Favorite Recordings of the Year posts are coming soon. In the meantime, I’m reading all kinds of lists by listeners, viewers, and writers whose perspectives are consistently meaningful and illuminating for me.
Here are a few recent highlights:
Josh Hurst’s list of albums has several titles that you’re going to find on mine as well. (I just haven’t quite figured out how to rank them yet.)
Jason Morehead of Opus presents his favorite songs of 2024.
Sarah Welch-Larson, whose book about the Alien franchise and theology is such an achievement, is here with her annual list. And, yes, you’re getting a preview here of several that will be on my big list (although only
Here’s Ken Priebe’s two-part list full of highlights you won’t find ranked elsewhere. (And, yes, you’ll find some of these on my upcoming list as well!)
Some Recommended Reading
I approached Edward Berger’s film Conclave warily, as the trailer made it seem like one of those films about Catholicism and Christian faith that exposes all manner of ignorance about both. The film, as I expected, calibrated for suspenseful entertainment. But I was pleasantly surprised and even moved by it, nevertheless.
I don’t know why it took me so long to discover Houston Coley’s extraordinary essay about it. (I thought I was following him on Letterboxd already, and was alarmed to discover that I had somehow lost that connection. When I clicked “Follow” again, I found a lot of good reading to catch up on.)
I recommend this review only to those who have seen the film, as Coley discusses the whole movie, with particular attention to its controversial and ambitious conclusion.
I really, really don’t want to go see Homestead, another movie that smells to me like right-wing propaganda. And now that the reliably insightful Jemar Tisby has posted a review that confirms my suspicions, I’m grateful. Now I know not to go anywhere near it.
The great David Dark, whose wisdom has brought me such clarity on so many complex matters, is still holding up a bright light here on Substack. Those who draw near will learn to see things more clearly.
One of my favorite poets, Tania Runyan, has a poem to start the year with. And it’s fantastic.
She also recommends someone else’s poem here, and this one moves me too.
How to Respond to an Anti-Vaxxer or an Anti-Masker:
A Short, Perfect Lesson
Let the new year of moviegoing begin!
Here are some notes on things I’ve recently seen but haven’t had opportunities to review yet:
River (directed by Junta Yamaguchi)
This week, I found such joy and relief in the fleeting 86-minute amusement-park ride called River — so much so that I watched it twice. (I had to share it with Anne. I suspected that she would love it, especially for its absurd last-minute dive into Doctor Who-ish sci-fi.) It’s funny, it’s fast-paced, it’s relentlessly clever, and I don’t think I need to warn anybody about anything—except that you shouldn’t watch trailers or read any synopsis. All you need to know is that it’s a zany comedy set in a Japanese hotel where something supernaturally strange is happening that threatens to drive all of the guests, staff, and neighbors insane. If you can avoid any spoilers about the film’s constant surprises, you’ll have a much better time.
Caution: Avoid watching it on Amazon Prime. On that streaming platform, the subtitles fall out of step with the dialogue before the film is halfway done, and eventually it becomes impossible to follow. I gave up on it there, re-started it on Hoopla, and found that the subtitles aligned perfectly.
Nosferatu (directed by Robert Eggers)
I met a couple of friends (both former students) for the late night ordeal of Robert Eggers’s Nosferatu. And I’m preparing a full review of it for you which I hope to post soon.
For now, I’ll just say that I still think The Vourdalak is 2024's best film in this genre about families torn about by demonic bloodsuckers. If you haven't seen it yet, check it out. It's darkly and delightfully hilarious.
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Still ahead…
- notes on Juror #2, Do Not Expect Too Much from the End of the World, and September 5;
- and my latest personal update about what’s happening at home, at work, and beyond.