Episode 5: Movie jukebox #1
Manuela and Elena discuss four films they saw together during an intensive week of movie-going in Paris
In lieu of another edition of Psycho., the Animus advice column for cinephiles, this weekend I am releasing the next episode of The French Dispatch. Some of you may remember this podcast investigating the myth and reality of French cinephilia, recorded with Manuela as she was spending a month in Paris and giving us a guided tour of some of the best cinemas that the City of Light has to offer. After her solo time in Paris, I joined her there together with Paul for a week, and this episode is the first part of our report from an intensive week of movie-going.
Expect less discussion about cinemas and more about the films themselves this time around — though other attendees do make dramatic appearances from time to time. Here, Manuela and I talk about four of the 13 films we saw that week in December. While Manuela was brought to tears by Lars von Trier’s Melancholia (2011), I was practically nodding in agreement with its vision (“This would actually be an amazing way for the world to end”). Sidney Lumet’s Running on Empty (1988) was the most “conventional” and one of the most emotional films we saw during our trip, though that was in no way a bad thing. Revisiting David Lynch’s Lost Highway (1997) was a visceral treat, but reactions were mixed on Woody Allen’s Manhattan (1979) on Christmas day.
More movie talk in future episodes: The Big Lebowski, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, The Last Days of Disco and Apocalypse Now among others…
If you have any questions or comments for Manuela or me, you can reach out on Instagram at @animus_mag, on BlueSky at @animusmagazine.bsky.social, or by email at contact@animusmagazine.com.
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–Elena
