Dear friend,

2025 is taking its toll on me. The beginning of the year is usually a very busy period for work-related reasons, but usually by mid-February things go back to a normal rhythm. This time, work and non-work commitments are piling up still, unrelated issues coming up one after the other and taking a lot of my energies.
All in all, objectively there is no big deal.
But you’ll have to forgive me if this post comes in quite late, and is probably a bit more disconnected than usual.

Hereditary, written and directed by Ari Aster, US, 2018 - ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (previously: ⭐⭐⭐⭐)

Of my first time watching Ari Aster’s debut film, I remember being surprised at the events happening, maybe a bit confused, but not very scared. This time, being alone in the room and with earpods on, it was a completely different experience, thrilling and immersive. Hereditary’s effectiveness is based on its sound design as much as its visuals, be it Milly Shapiro’s clucking noises, Toni Collette’s anguished screams or just the oppressive, pulsing soundtrack.
This film is so good, that it gave me a sense of fulfilment and happiness for a whole day.

Diary of a Chambermaid, directed by Luis Buñuel, co-written with Jean-Claude Carrière, based on Octave Mirbeau’s novel, France, 1964 - ⭐⭐⭐½

While focussing on my digital home video collection, I’ve decided to revisit the Buñuel boxset, starting with a film I haven’t seen before. Much darker than I imagined it would be, it includes some humour, some fetish, some horrible people, the criticism against the Catholic church, but very little surrealism. The only slightly bizarre part is the last scene, but I understand that if one was familiar with the Renoir adaptation of the same book - and Buñuel personal history - that scene would also be very clear.

We’re All Going to the World’s Fair, written and directed by Jane Schoenbrun, US, 2021 - ⭐⭐⭐

Another film that has been on my watchlist for some time. It doesn’t include as many World’s fairs as I would have thought: instead, it’s a low-budget streamed footage creepypasta story with inspiration from Paranormal Activity, a couple of simple but well-executed chilling moments, and enough ambiguity to linger in your mind for some time after it’s ended.
One of those films that make me wonder, a few days after watching it, whether the rating should be a bit higher.

The Faculty, directed by Robert Rodriguez, written by Kevin Williamson, David Wechter and Bruce Kimmel, US, 1998 - ⭐⭐⭐

Another late-nineties teen horror, this is one I had never watched yet. Impossible not to call it Sci-fi-Scream, as its characters start openly discussing Invasion of the Body Snatchers and other films halfway through, and it’s clear from the start that this is a riff on that story. And of course it’s produced by Dimension Films.
Not a masterpiece by any means, despite being penned by Kevin Williamson and directed by Robert Rodriguez at what I would consider to be the best point in their respective film careers (right after Scream 2 and From Dusk till Dawn).
The script even cheekily mentions the writer’s previous heroines, Neve Campbell and Jennifer Love Hewitt.
None of them here, but such an impressive cast: Josh Hartnett, Elijah Wood, Clea DuVall, Jordana Brewster, Famke Janssen, Piper Laurie, Robert ‘T-1000’ Patrick. And, ok, Usher and Jon Stewart. And since these were the years they were, there had to be an appearance by Harry Ain’t It Cool News Knowles.

Being There, directed by Hal Ashby, written by Jerzy Kosiński and Robert C. Jones, based on Kosiński’s novel, US, 1979 - ⭐⭐⭐⭐

I remember hearing about Oltre il giardino (‘beyond the garden’ - the Italian title for this film) a long time ago, especially in praise of Peter Sellers’ last great film role. Then the Criterion closet videos kept mentioning the film. It was time to watch it.
As for other stories where a ‘simple-minded’ person is misunderstood by society as a mysterious genius, I don’t share the enthusiasm of most people (should I rewatch Forrest Gump? I very much hated it the first time). On the other hand, this makes it clear that its intentions are satirical, so a lot of the characters’ behaviours are more acceptable.
But that doesn’t mean that the film gives me the sense of levity that many people describe. That’s only the last scene, which I definitely enjoyed.
As a side note, the Chance character is clearly the inspiration for ‘Dougie’ in Twin Peaks: The Return, so that’s an additional positive note (Kyle MacLachlan explicitly says this in his Criterion closet video, but I had completely forgotten).