This is your life, and it’s a five-hour autopsy of a soul. Welcome to Batang West Side (2001). Or West Side Avenue, if you prefer your subtitles with a side of existential exhaustion. Lav Diaz doesn’t want you…
Lost Reel Posts
This is your life, and it’s a fever dream flickering in black and white. You think you’re sitting down to watch a crime thriller. You’re looking for a plot. You want the dots to connect,…
This is your life, and it’s being spent in the mud of a jungle, trying to rewrite history with a rifle you barely know how to use. You’re watching The Moonhunter (2001)—or 14 Tula, Songkram Prachachon if you want…
This is your life, and it’s being measured out in the twitch of a trigger finger. You’re watching Gunman (1983)—known locally as Mue Puen—and you’re realizing that the “hero” of this story isn’t a hero at all. He’s…
This is your life, and it’s being held together by a rusty safety pin and the cold, wet sensation of a dead animal. You think you know Alice in Wonderland. You’re picturing the tea parties, the…
This is your life, and it’s being rewired by a television antenna. You’re watching Bye Bye Brasil (1980), and the air is thick with the smell of cheap gasoline, sweat, and the death of a dream. Carlos…
This is your life, and it’s being re-engineered by an insect. You’re staring at the screen, and for the first time, you realize the ants aren’t the side characters in your story. They’re the protagonists…
This is your life, and it’s being lived in a living room, by a 31-year-old man who refuses to leave. Welcome to Abel (1986). It’s Alex van Warmerdam’s debut, a Dutch black comedy that smells like stale…