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Black Bag (2025)
It takes a spy to hunt a spy.
Filmmaker(s): Steven Soderbergh

When intelligence agent Kathryn Woodhouse is suspected of betraying the nation, her husband – also a legendary agent – faces the ultimate test of whether to be loyal to his marriage, or his country.

Section 39 am designating this as the first ‘four’ of 2025. I allow myself only two films from a year that have this recommendation. They are the films that I think either changed filmdom, or changed me and it is rare that a mainstream film...


Published July 28, 2025
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The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar (2023)
Filmmaker(s): Wes Anderson

A rich man learns about a guru who can see without using his eyes. He sets out to master the skill in order to cheat at gambling.

Shifting of Equalities have all watched as Wes moved more and more toward where he finds his soul as a storyteller — a constant movement toward what we have here, powerful enough to earn a place on my list of ‘fours’. Depending on when you...


Published December 3, 2024
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Lola (2022)
Making history will never be the same again
Filmmaker(s): Andrew Legge

Sussex, England, 1938. Shortly before the outbreak of World War II, Thomasina and Martha Hanbury, two ingenious sisters, create LOLA, a miraculous machine.

Retroactive Reinterpretation you should know this comment is written after a long break from lucidly watching serious movies, as my current movie time is often guided to mainstream films. I am giving this film a four, because it is one of the two from 2022...


Published October 22, 2024
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Darkest Hour (2017)
Never never never surrender
Filmmaker(s): Joe Wright

In May 1940, the fate of World War II hangs on Winston Churchill, who must decide whether to negotiate with Adolf Hitler or fight on knowing that it could mean the end of the British Empire.

Tunnels, Crossings a scene in this, where Churchill takes ‘the tube’ so that he can meet the citizens. It is the turning point in this story where he is emboldened to fight the Germans agains the odds. It is — if to be lived —...


Published January 29, 2025
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Kubo and the Two Strings (2016)
The quest begins
Filmmaker(s): Travis Knight

Kubo mesmerizes the people in his village with his magical gift for spinning wild tales with origami. When he accidentally summons an evil spirit seeking vengeance, Kubo is forced to go on a quest to solve the mystery of his fallen samurai father and his mystical weaponry, as well as discover his own magical powers.

Gently Weeps film hit a sweet spot for me. It merges essential Shintoism, magic and origami in a story about storytelling, four subjects of deep interest for me. This is orgasmic level engagement, this mix. I need to see it again in 3D to see...


Published May 13, 2022
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Moana (2016)
The ocean is calling.
Filmmaker(s): Ron Clements, John Musker

In Ancient Polynesia, when a terrible curse incurred by Maui reaches an impetuous Chieftain's daughter's island, she answers the Ocean's call to seek out the demigod to set things right.

Disney within Disney was expecting a standard, manufactured Disney Princess item. What I encountered was a powerful embodiment of myth in a young woman, with the notable exceptions of the coconut pirate and glittery crab sequences. These were conceived and directed by others. I suppose...


Published November 19, 2023
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The Tree of Life (2011)
Nothing stands still.
Filmmaker(s): Terrence Malick

The impressionistic story of a Texas family in the 1950s. The film follows the life journey of the eldest son, Jack, through the innocence of childhood to his disillusioned adult years as he tries to reconcile a complicated relationship with his father. Jack finds himself a lost soul in the modern world, seeking answers to the origins and meaning of life while questioning the existence of faith.

Connected Paths been studying Chinese calligraphy in the context of the cinematic life. 1300 years ago, Chinese poet-theorists had the notion that layered expression, perhaps with four layers or more, was the purest expression possible. The first of these layers come with the ideograms: you...


Published February 10, 2024
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Inception (2010)
Your mind is the scene of the crime.
Filmmaker(s): Christopher Nolan

Cobb, a skilled thief who commits corporate espionage by infiltrating the subconscious of his targets is offered a chance to regain his old life as payment for a task considered to be impossible: "inception", the implantation of another person's idea into a target's subconscious.

Insides of Emma (The Fall of Angels) I watch a movie, all sorts of machinery kicks in. I am aware of only some of that, and can massage and train only a bit of it — of what I see of myself. This machinery is...


Published May 13, 2022
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Black Swan (2010)
Perfection is not just about control. It's also about letting go.
Filmmaker(s): Darren Aronofsky

A journey through the psyche of a young ballerina whose starring role as the duplicitous swan queen turns out to be a part for which she becomes frighteningly perfect.

The Math I encountered “Pi,” I was profoundly upset. It happened again with “Beautiful Mind” and “Good Will,” other films about mathematical imagination. How, I wondered, could something as inherently cinematic as the mathematical imagination be so clumsily handled? How is it that the only...


Published January 19, 2024
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Room in Rome (2010)
A night of passion that will change their lives.
Filmmaker(s): Julio Medem

A hotel room in the center of Rome serves as the setting for Alba and Natasha, two sexy and recently acquainted women, to have a physical adventure that touches their very souls.

Maps, Mirrors there is a spoiler alert on this comment and I urge you to take it seriously. You must see this, then come back. The comment below talks about structure, as my comments usually do. The structure should not be apparent to you before you...


Published November 30, 2024
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