76 Posts

Film

When I started this blog in 2016, I made a master list of all the films directed by women that I wanted to write about; after many years, I've only made the tiniest dent.

Film Lindsay Pugh

'My Old Ass' (2024) is light on Aubrey Plaza, heavy on the fleeting nature of youth

Quick summary: During an 18th birthday mushroom trip, Elliott (Maisy Stella) meets her 39-year-old self (Aubrey Plaza) and receives valuable advice: wear your retainer, be nicer to your family, and avoid a guy named Chad (Percy Hynes White). Does young Elliott listen to her future self? Take one look at
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Film Lindsay Pugh

'Anaïs in Love' is an elder millennial fever dream

Quick summary: Anaïs (Anaïs Demoustier), a French Frances Halladay contemporary with a smidge of Miriam Maisel, is a whirling tornado of raw emotion. She’s working on a Ph.D. thesis about 17th century descriptions of passion but, ironically, doesn’t seem very passionate about it. After breaking up with
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Film Lindsay Pugh

Past and future collide in Mattie Do's 'The Long Walk'

Quick summary: Fifty years after witnessing the death of a young woman (Noutnapha Soydala), a nameless old man (Yannawoutthi Chanthalungsy) is still haunted by her spirit. When he realizes she possesses the ability to transport him back in time, he visits his younger self in an attempt to mitigate his
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Essay Lindsay Pugh

'Butter on the Latch' explores the persistent trauma of sexual assault

This post includes spoilers for "Butter on the Latch." This is meant to be more of an in-depth analysis of the film's exploration of sexual trauma (as opposed to a review), so it's probably going to be useless/boring if you haven't
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Film Lindsay Pugh

'Promising Young Woman' is all style, no substance

Vibe: "Promising Young Woman" (2020) is a fast-paced revenge film with thriller and romantic comedy elements thrown in for good measure. It's beautiful to look at and never boring, but ultimately disappointing once you think about it more deeply and realize how little it actually has
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Film Meg Ringler

Clea DuVall's 'Happiest Season' isn’t perfect. And I’m glad for that.

Vibe: “Happiest Season” (2020) is like all of my favorite holiday treats: Mostly sweet, sometimes stomach churning, and made without a cookie cutter. Best time to watch: When you’re looking to turn off your brain but not too much, in the mood for a rom-com sans the normal amount
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Film Lindsay Pugh

'Mouthpiece' (2018) by Patricia Rozema

Vibe: I avoided watching "Mouthpiece" for a while because I knew that it would crush me. Anything about mother/daughter relationships always sends me into a weird existential spiral that is hard to shake. Especially for someone who doesn't want children, it's hard to
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Interview Lindsay Pugh

Interview with Miranda Manziano on 'Velour' (2020)

After I graduated from college in 2011, I spent the summer housesitting for a professor who was in Greece. Much of my job involved trying (and failing) to prevent his old Black Lab from eating things she shouldn't, like crayons and kitty litter, and driving to the pet
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Interview Lindsay Pugh

Interview with Sonejuhi Sinha on 'Stray Dolls' (2019)

I've been watching a lot of older movies in quarantine, so I was happy to have the excuse to take a break and dive into something new. I started "Stray Dolls" with zero expectations and came out the other side pleasantly surprised. It takes some of
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Essay Lindsay Pugh

"It's Always Been Movies... Since First We Met So Many Years Ago."

I'm going to be honest: I am not doing great. My husband, an anesthesiologist in his final year of residency, will spend at least three weeks in the hospital's COVID-19 unit starting Monday. If anything happened to him, I don't know what I would
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Year in Review Lindsay Pugh

2019 Film & TV Favorites

I obviously intended to put this together much sooner, but the end of February is better than never. This has been one of the best years for film in recent memory. This is the fourth "best of" list that I've put together and the only one
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Film Lindsay Pugh

'Atlantics' (2019) by Mati Diop

Vibe: I had a hard time writing an opening line for this section. Everything I came up with made me sound like a teen stoner. The gist of those failed sentiments is that with the ocean as a constant backdrop, "Atlantics" takes on a beautiful, rhythmic energy --
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