Zach Zahos

My Slice of the 21st Century Mercifully brief reflections on The New York Times' "100 Best Movies of the 21st Century" list, plus The Official MTWZ Ballot.

If you'd like to indulge one more/last NYT movie ballot, then I have the newsletter for you.

The Latest: The World Drops Dead, April-May Movie Round-Up Praise for Brandon Colvin's new live-action/animated double bill, along with short takes on a bunch of movies I have seen since April.

On Brandon Colvin’s THE WORLD DROPS DEAD. substack-proxy.glitch.me/articles/zza...

Repetition and Recursion: Larry Gottheim's Entanglement & Chants and Dances for Hand Ahead of an extensive Museum of Modern Art retrospective, republished notes on two recent video works by American avant-garde filmmaker Larry Gottheim.

Ahead of his career-spanning retrospective beginning at MoMA this week, notes on two recent challenging and rewarding video works by avant-garde legend Larry Gottheim. zzahos.substack.com/p/repetition...

At Milestone Films, Passing the Torch, but Keeping the Flame Alive

My friends Amy and Dennis built @milestonefilms.bsky.social into the "small but mighty" outfit it is today. So proud of their decision to entrust @mayascade.bsky.social with that legacy and, needless to say, excited for Milestone's next generation! www.nytimes.com/2025/05/06/m...

I can’t fathom the mechanism to enact such a tariff so I’m leaning “Won’t happen” myself. But at the same time concerned a smaller fish, vindictive/grandstanding import quota could result.

Yep, I thought his wording made the focus on runaway production extremely clear (rather than on, like, the latest Sorrentino).

I agree with Peter (though naturally I'm concerned what this means for imports, too).

Love, Links, Archives: Sharing the Wendy Clarke Collection Throughout the Love Tapes, Wendy invited participants into a small booth where they talked for three minutes about what love meant to them. The people who shared their views and experiences represent ...

An invaluable, inexhaustible new resource just dropped (not a moment too soon): the WCFTR's newly digitized and searchable collection of Wendy Clarke's video art, including 250+ "Love Tapes." Read about and access it all for free here: wcftr.commarts.wisc.edu/index.php/20...

Back Street (1932): The Case of John M. Stahl From 2019: Histories (industrial, critical, personal) of a favorite Hollywood melodrama and the underrated auteur behind it. Plus: a poll!

zzahos.substack.com/p/back-stree...

Image of Irene Dunne from the film Back Street with descriptive text over it.

Back Street (1932): The Case of John M. Stahl. (Link in reply.)

My fellow boutique blu-ray nuts, there’s a mission-critical poll atop this piece that you won’t want to miss…

Wrapping Up the 2025 Wisconsin Film Festival Reflections on Starship Troopers, an infamous Rolling Stones doc, and other WFF 2025 selections.

Over at the Substack, closing thoughts on the wonderful 2025
Wisconsin Film Festival, with special attention paid to revival screenings of STARSHIP TROOPERS and one notorious, hard-to-see Rolling Stones doc. zzahos.substack.com/p/wrapping-u...

Movie Time With Zach resumes coverage of the Wisconsin Film Festival (which begins tomorrow!) with some admiring words for Albert Serra’s bullfighting doc AFTERNOONS OF SOLITUDE. Post free until end of the fest: zzahos.substack.com/p/wff-2025-a...

WFF 2025: Debut, or, Objects of the Field of Debris as Currently Catalogued Preview coverage of the 2025 Wisconsin Film Festival begins with a look at Julian Castronovo's excellent experimental feature, a "Wisconsin's Own" highlight.

This week at the Substack, I’m spotlighting Julian Castronovo’s DEBUT…, an experimental (and WI-connected) highlight of next month’s Wisconsin Film Festival. open.substack.com/pub/zzahos/p...

Something positive/non-political: I don't think I had ever seen the Josef von Sternberg/Marlene Dietrich collaboration Morocco (1930) until today, and the last five minutes is one of the greatest stretches of filmmaking I've ever seen in an early talkie. You can feel filmmaking leap into its future.

On Mickey 17, In the Lost Lands, Mayhem, and more of "The Latest." zzahos.substack.com/p/the-latest...

The Music of Something Wild (1986) From 2017: An appreciation of Jonathan Demme's anarcho-screwball classic and the globetrotting soundtrack that gives it shape.

Today at Movie Time With Zach: On the world music soundtrack that structures and enlivens Jonathan Demme's SOMETHING WILD. open.substack.com/pub/zzahos/p...

Shot of bookshelf from 2024 film MATT AND MARA.

With more "Movie Time With Zach" (MTWZ) content coming up this week, sharing again my Top 10 Films of 2024 list, featuring write-ups of MATT AND MARA, PROBLEMISTA, THE WILD ROBOT, and more. zzahos.substack.com/p/top-10-fil...

Bonus: 25 Favorite Albums of 2024 A three-way race yields to an inevitable #1, followed by some less predictable selections.

Getting one last 2024 list out of my system. zzahos.substack.com/p/bonus-25-f...

From Colin to Marcello’s digressive, cartoon-obsessed Oscar pundit on SNL last night: “You call yourself ‘The Movie Guy,’ but it seems like you’re more interested in talking about SpongeBob.”

February 2025 first views:
Shanghai Blues (1984)
By the Stream (2024)
Desperate Living (1977)
Universal Language (2024)
Pacifiction (2022)
Cecil B. Demented (2000)
Mr. Klein (1976)

Top 10 Films of 2024 A belated list of beloved 2024 theatrical releases. Plus: 10 honorable mentions.

Just before the wire (Oscar Sunday), I have published a list of favorite 2024 films over at Substack. Spoiler: MATT AND MARA is #1. zzahos.substack.com/p/top-10-fil...

It's "Movie Time With Zach" My declaration of Substacking principles.

Introducing "Movie Time With Zach." Yet another cinephile's Substack, except this one also covers academia, RHOSLC, Jon Lovitz, and much more. Come read what I'm up to, and join the (free!) mailing rolls, below! zzahos.substack.com/p/its-movie-...

Thrilled to see a newly restored (and music-rights-cleared!) Killer of Sheep, the crown jewel of Milestone Films' catalog, coming to Criterion 4K/Blu-ray this May. www.criterion.com/films/34233-...

Lost & Found: Jean Béranger’s “Lafcadio” (1948) Zachary Zahos In the course of an average day, archivists at the Wisconsin Center for Film and Theater Research handle one-of-a-kind materials, whose historical value draws researchers from across the...

More research on LAFCADIO, the lost, queer French avant-garde film recently rediscovered at the WCFTR—plus a clip of the opening ~2.5 minutes! wcftr.commarts.wisc.edu/index.php/20...

YouTube video by LadyGagaVEVO Lady Gaga - Abracadabra (Official Music Video)

I love Lady Gaga. youtu.be/vBynw9Isr28?...

January 2025 (terrible month in which I saw some good films):
Artemide’s Knee (2008)
Flowers of Shanghai (1998)
Soft Fiction (1979)
Last Summer (2023)
Nickel Boys (2024)
The Sugarland Express (1974)
Chameleon Street (1989)
DumbLand (2001)
Hard Truths (2024)
No Other Land (24)

please do not ignore this news

YouTube video by Tube Cody Defying Gravity | Synchronized Roller Coasters (Wicked)

This silly Roller Coaster Tycoon Wicked parody—in its worrisome effort and excessive length, taking more than half its runtime to pay off—reminds me of internet creativity circa mid-2010s or earlier. And so I love it. youtu.be/gNty2y0DQN8?...

Apropos of nothing, wishing Jacques Pépin a happy Sunday.

The Re-discovery of LAFCADIO The following notes on Lafcadio were written by Dr. Zach Zahos, Public History Fellow at the WCFTR and alumnus of the department of Communication Arts at UW-Madison. On Sunday, January 26, Lafcadio wi...

Even more exciting: the WCFTR team has uncovered a seemingly lost short film! And it's sad and queer! I share details on Jean Béranger's LAFCADIO (1948), below, ahead of its UW-Cinematheque screening, w/Bresson's PICKPOCKET, this Sunday @chazenartuw.bsky.social. cinema.wisc.edu/2025/01/24/t...