Brianland

Casting a Spell . . One Battle After Another is rightly being hailed as a masterpiece for the ages. I saw it on both opening night and closing night in Toronto on different IMAX screens, plus six more times in between at various other theaters. Months before it opened, I saw the photo of Leo […]

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Best Movies Watched in 2025 . Since people seem to love year-end lists — from critics’ picks to people’s own music streaming results — Sky suggested I make one for the best movies I watched this year.  Never did one of these before, but thought I could share some highlights that might lead some to […]

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Art Is My God   Late on election night November 2024 as the nightmare of America’s choice of ugly over decent became clear, I wrote in my notes — “spend every minute in the world of art.”  And that’s what I’ve done ever since. You can’t control elections — like you can’t control sports.  I […]

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The PTA Movie We’ve Been Waiting For Since Boogie Nights . . Fifteen minutes into Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another I jotted the note — “The movie we’ve been waiting for since Boogie Nights!”  Sumpthin else I wrote down a couple of times (and thought many more) – “Great cinematic storytelling!”  Words like […]

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  I recently stumbled on a Paul Thomas Anderson (PTA) interview about Boogie Nights from 1997 and began revisiting of his work. I’ve now seen all of his nine written-&-directed films, most more than once, and he’s certainly up there with the greatest of the active mid-career contemporary filmmakers. Since Boogie Nights he’s been compared […]

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