Mar 4, 2023 2 min read

43: This Is Only A Test

I'm at True/False Film Festival this weekend. It's been a busy week, as you can see from the What I... sections below, and this weekend is full of screenings, so I'll be keeping it short and sweet here.

True/False is the documentary film festival in the United States; this year is its 20th, and the theme is "This Is A Test." The films and artwork featured in this year's festival are explorations of experimentation, failure, and evolution, all revolving around human identity and what it means to be alive. So far I've seen a handful of movies, with the standouts being Red Herring (in which the director turns his camera on his family after he receives a terminal diagnosis) and Xaraasi Xanne (which traces the history behind a decolonialist farming collective in Mali). I'll be seeing more this weekend, and I'll be writing about them all for Bright Wall/Dark Room. Stay tuned.

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What I wrote:

For Tor.com's Close Reads column, I took a look at the way Rian Johnson integrates technology into his latest murder mystery stories (Knives Out, Glass Onion, and yes, Poker Face) to reveal truths about his characters and the way they present themselves to the world. This was a really fun essay to write!

What I talked about:

I returned this week to the excellent Eye of the Duck podcast to talk about Steven Soderbergh's 2002 version of Solaris, which features my all-time favorite George Clooney performance. I love this movie, and I was so happy to talk about it with Adam and Dom.

I also swung by Veterans of Culture Wars podcast to talk about the upcoming Oscars with hosts Zach and Dave and fellow guest Jeffrey Overstreet. This one's a two-parter–we also talked about our favorite movies of last year, which will be hitting podcast feeds next week.

And finally, for Seeing and Believing podcast, Kevin and I reviewed Creed III, and Kevin introduced me to Scorsese's Raging Bull. Scorsese's good at making religious movies! This episode's a banger!