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The Projector: Pardon the Intermission (Patreon)

Published:
2022-03-14 20:46:45
Imported:
2022-03

Content

by Keith Phipps

Hi everyone. I want to start by apologizing for the intermittent appearance of this newsletter this year. Without laying all my troubles on you, I have an elderly mother with health problems and that’s been taking me out of the city on a fairly regular basis since December. That’s also why I haven’t been on the podcast as much these days. Dealing with this situation and trying to keep a full-time freelance career going and contributing to the podcast when I can and trying to promote a book and taking care of my family here in Chicago has been a lot and I’ve had trouble making time for this. That’s not really fair to you, however, and I’m going to do my best to change that going forward.

I will say this: I’ve found movies sustaining through it all. One bit of normalcy has come from being able to duck into movies, whether out of professional obligation or just because. So let’s talk about that a bit, because I’m sure I’m not alone. There have been times when I’ve found it impossible to focus on movies during crises but also moments when they’ve been just about the only thing that puts a crises in perspective. There was a moment, after I lost the job I’d been at for 15 years, when I started to wonder, well, have I wasted my time? Is there something else I should be doing? Then I went to see 2001: A Space Odyssey and came out with a different perspective. (It’s no accident that I made that era of science fiction an area of focus at The Dissolve.)

What about you? We’re trying to keep the comments section of this newsletter lively, so I’ll put it to you: How have movies, or moviegoing, helped inspire you during difficult times? And I’ll be back with a more normal newsletter soon.

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Comments

Patrick Crumlish

Keith, you dont owe us anything. You have to look after yourself and your family first and always. My mom is ill also and I know what it is like trying to juggle all those balls. Take care.

Josh Hammond

This may be a weird one, but Kill Bill Vol 2 has been one that's stuck with me over the years. Personally, Budd's thoughts on guilt and penance spoke to me when I was going through a very bad (but very self-induced) breakup. Professionally, I used the three-inch punch to help me focus and power through a tough stretch where I wasn't performing the way I wanted to. Something tells me that's not quite what Tarantino had in mind with either scene, but what are you gonna do when something speaks to you?

Ed C.

On Wednesday, it will be five years since my mother unexpectedly passed away. The funeral was in my tiny hometown. The day after the funeral, I convinced a bunch of family members who were in town to all go see a movie at the dinky little two-screen cinema that was my hometown’s only movie theater. We saw Kong: Skull Island, which was an absolute hoot. There were about a dozen of us and we were nearly the only people in the cinema. It definitely put smiles on our faces after some depressing and exhausting days. Maybe a year later, I saw Kong: Skull Island again, this time in 70MM at the Music Box. Obviously it looked and sounded better, but no viewing will ever top the first one.

Greg Pace

Like a lot of post-college adults, I find sustaining a normal job creatively stifling. I’m able to make some time to be creative myself, but often movies alone grant me the creative and intellectual stimulation I need.

Jesse

I'll echo the sentiment: family is more important than content and that book is like your baby, so do whatever you have to do to take care of it. We'll still be here. Speaking of babies, I was unemployed when our son was born so I stayed home with him when my wife went back to work. I handled night bottle feeds so she could sleep and I was staying up past 2am most nights. Movies kept me company and awake (mostly). He dozed through some classics and a fair amount of schlock while I fed him. I took movies out from the library ten at a time. I won't lie - I dozed off during some subtitled Criterions that I largely don't remember and will have to revisit. It was a hard time, but a special time, and movies helped tremendously.

Jonathan Anderson

Real life always has to come first. You never have to apologize for that as far as I'm concerned.