Some films change every time you rewatch them — not because they shift, but because you do. The mark of a great film is that it can meet you again — and offer more. Not just because your perspective has changed, but because the film is rich enough to hold what you couldn’t yet see. This year marks the tenth anniversary of Andrew Haigh’s 45 Years — and we’re celebrating it on the podcast because it’s one of the best films of the century. I’ve watched it at least once a year over the past...
10 days ago • 1 min read
Hello Reader, This week on the podcast, I’m digging into Celine Song’s new film, Materialists, which asks: Is love enough when money is tight? It’s got plenty going for it (that cast! that blocking!), but also tiptoes around the class and money dynamics it sets up. In this episode, I get into where it works, where it falls short, and how it stacks up next to films and shows that explore similar territory (Gossip Girl, Mansfield Park, and more). A few spoilers ahead, especially when I get into...
17 days ago • 1 min read
Hello Reader, What do a British political thriller, an Indigenous Canadian documentary, and a queer South African drama have in common? Honestly… I wasn’t sure at first either. I programmed them inside Reel Ruminators because they were different: crossing genres, continents, and perspectives. And yet, in hindsight, I realized they were all circling some of the same big questions. Watching and thinking about one film changed how I watched and thought about the others. And I have an inkling...
24 days ago • 1 min read
Hello Reader, This June, you’re invited to watch a story about identity and family — where politics show up in relationships, not speeches. Nothing traumatic happens on screen. Instead, you get duty and ritual, love and relationships — and the kind of arguments you only have with the people who know you best. Why I chose it: It’s short — just 1h36m, easy to fit in It’s feel-good and thoughtful — goes down easy, stays with you It’s not streamable in North America — but the director has...
29 days ago • 1 min read
Hello Reader, Welcome to your June edition of The Globetrotting Watchlist. This month, we’re focusing on Palestinian cinema — films that grapple with occupation, resistance, and identity, often under impossible constraints. Inside Reel Ruminators, I’ve programmed a Palestinian film you can’t stream anywhere else in North America. It’s a rare find, and a powerful one — so I wanted to build a broader cinematic lens around it here. In this newsletter, you’ll find a selection of publicly...
about 1 month ago • 7 min read
Hi Reader, What makes the Langley vault sequence so memorable? The gum bomb? The characters who only have a couple of scenes? What other film wrings this much tension from a floppy disk and a drop of sweat? Ep. 174: Mission Impossible (1996) with Angelo Muredda This week on the podcast, fellow film critic Angelo Muredda joins me to dig into why the original Mission: Impossible still stands apart. Not just because it was directed by Brian De Palma, but because of the elegance of its...
about 1 month ago • 1 min read
Hello Reader, We talk a lot about endings. (Did it stick the landing?) We sometimes talk about openings. But put them together, and you unlock something about the film. That’s what this week’s episode is all about. Last week, I talked about Jane Austen Wrecked My Life as a whole: what makes it one of the best films of 2025. This week, I’m zooming in on how it begins and ends. Because in a film this thoughtful, those bookends carry serious weight. It’s not just about how the story opens and...
about 1 month ago • 1 min read
Hello Reader, We just wrapped the second live Reel Ruminators convo for this month’s film — a special extra we added for May — and both were so rich in different ways. In the first session, we dug into a scene that’s just three minutes long — but it absolutely knocked me out. The sound design. The tenderness. The way it holds so much in so little time. Whether or not it came up again in the second convo (you’ll see!), that’s part of what makes this experience so meaningful — the chance to...
about 1 month ago • 1 min read
Hello Reader, I didn't expect to watch Jane Austen Wrecked My Life three times last week. But I did. I couldn't help myself. The first time was to jog my memory so I could record this week's podcast. The second was because it brought me such ecstatic joy that I wanted to relive it. The third was to obsess over the details in writer-director Laura Piani's exquisite filmmaking. Why does this film fill me with glee and laughter? (It's definitely the verbal wit. But it's the visual wit, too.) How...
about 2 months ago • 2 min read
