Matt Mansfield
@mattmansfield.bsky.social
cinema, mostly
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watched Jun Ichikawa's Kaisha monogatari: Memories of You (1988) this afternoon, a lovely film about lost time and the sad anonymity of a decades-long corporate career coming to an end — and how, sometimes, the joy of starting a jazz band with the boys is enough to make up for everything else.
November 18, 2025 at 3:30 PM
watched Jun Ichikawa's Kaisha monogatari: Memories of You (1988) this afternoon, a lovely film about lost time and the sad anonymity of a decades-long corporate career coming to an end — and how, sometimes, the joy of starting a jazz band with the boys is enough to make up for everything else.
I spent a few days at the Viennale a couple of weeks ago and I've (finally) written about some of the films I saw — a good festival! thistheaterishaunted.blogspot.com/2025/11/vien...
November 7, 2025 at 4:50 PM
I spent a few days at the Viennale a couple of weeks ago and I've (finally) written about some of the films I saw — a good festival! thistheaterishaunted.blogspot.com/2025/11/vien...
the two-year anniversary issue of Strange Days has just been sent to subscribers — on Annie Ernaux, Claire Simon, and Yasunari Kawabata. Read it here if the algorithm makes it visible, subscribe if you haven't already etc thistheaterishaunted.substack.com/p/strange-da...
Strange Days #25
October 2025 | Turbulence
thistheaterishaunted.substack.com
November 4, 2025 at 8:08 PM
the two-year anniversary issue of Strange Days has just been sent to subscribers — on Annie Ernaux, Claire Simon, and Yasunari Kawabata. Read it here if the algorithm makes it visible, subscribe if you haven't already etc thistheaterishaunted.substack.com/p/strange-da...
The Vanishing is such an evil movie
October 31, 2025 at 5:29 PM
The Vanishing is such an evil movie
Vienna is a fun city to watch movies in, I gotta say. Good festival! 16 films in 5 days, five great cinemas, lots of good food / coffee, only a mild sense of fear and danger when attempting to cross roads. Hard to fault it!
October 28, 2025 at 11:28 AM
Vienna is a fun city to watch movies in, I gotta say. Good festival! 16 films in 5 days, five great cinemas, lots of good food / coffee, only a mild sense of fear and danger when attempting to cross roads. Hard to fault it!
wrote about the four films I managed to see at this year's London Film Festival (all of which are fascinating in very different ways) thistheaterishaunted.blogspot.com/2025/10/lond...
October 20, 2025 at 5:50 PM
wrote about the four films I managed to see at this year's London Film Festival (all of which are fascinating in very different ways) thistheaterishaunted.blogspot.com/2025/10/lond...
it's amazing how much the theatricality of The Fence works in its favour, just two horrendous men standing in spotlights and monologuing deafly to an audience, only for it all to fall apart when the lights come up.
October 18, 2025 at 9:05 PM
it's amazing how much the theatricality of The Fence works in its favour, just two horrendous men standing in spotlights and monologuing deafly to an audience, only for it all to fall apart when the lights come up.
i've written some capsules on the three Sho Miyake films I've been able to track down and watch over the past week or so — an excellent filmmaker! thistheaterishaunted.blogspot.com/2025/09/sho-...
September 21, 2025 at 4:46 PM
i've written some capsules on the three Sho Miyake films I've been able to track down and watch over the past week or so — an excellent filmmaker! thistheaterishaunted.blogspot.com/2025/09/sho-...
The Housemaid (Kim Ki-young, 1960)
August 16, 2025 at 12:03 PM
The Housemaid (Kim Ki-young, 1960)
watched Rosa la rose, fille publique (1986) tonight, which is such a great, beautiful, devastatingly sad movie, and the best thing I've seen all year — need to see more Vecchiali ASAP
August 15, 2025 at 8:06 PM
watched Rosa la rose, fille publique (1986) tonight, which is such a great, beautiful, devastatingly sad movie, and the best thing I've seen all year — need to see more Vecchiali ASAP
i have never pre-ordered anything faster in my life
UK: Considered one of the most vital and celebrated bodies of work in cinema history, RADICAL JAPAN: CINEMA AND STATE presents 9 films by the great Nagisa Oshima over 7 discs
This world premiere release showcases 7 features, an experimental short and the filmmaker’s 1995 doc plus a 160-page book
This world premiere release showcases 7 features, an experimental short and the filmmaker’s 1995 doc plus a 160-page book
August 8, 2025 at 10:38 AM
i have never pre-ordered anything faster in my life
v late to this, but caroline 2 is such a great, strange album that i haven't been able to stop listening to all day caroline.bandcamp.com/album/caroli...
caroline 2, by caroline
8 track album
caroline.bandcamp.com
August 4, 2025 at 2:13 PM
v late to this, but caroline 2 is such a great, strange album that i haven't been able to stop listening to all day caroline.bandcamp.com/album/caroli...
stormy skies on a gloomy saturday morning is maybe the ideal backdrop to say that the new Alex G album is really very good
July 19, 2025 at 10:26 AM
stormy skies on a gloomy saturday morning is maybe the ideal backdrop to say that the new Alex G album is really very good
wrote about Death Stranding 2 and Paul Auster and Test Match Special for this month's letter, pls enjoy thistheaterishaunted.substack.com/p/strange-da...
Strange Days #21
June 2025 | Heavy Loads
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July 6, 2025 at 5:34 PM
wrote about Death Stranding 2 and Paul Auster and Test Match Special for this month's letter, pls enjoy thistheaterishaunted.substack.com/p/strange-da...
i think the music opinion i am most disappointed in myself for holding (but will continue to hold it anyway) is that i really like The 1975 in spite of the many reasons not to (i am watching Glastonbury on iPlayer on my sofa with a hangover and a berocca and this headline set is going down a treat)
June 29, 2025 at 2:29 PM
i think the music opinion i am most disappointed in myself for holding (but will continue to hold it anyway) is that i really like The 1975 in spite of the many reasons not to (i am watching Glastonbury on iPlayer on my sofa with a hangover and a berocca and this headline set is going down a treat)
having fun with lists again
June 23, 2025 at 9:16 PM
having fun with lists again
missing Haruomi Hosono in London because I'm going to see The Maple State in London, or the old me defeating the new me once again
June 19, 2025 at 7:57 AM
missing Haruomi Hosono in London because I'm going to see The Maple State in London, or the old me defeating the new me once again
beat Persona 3 Reload tonight, hard to be rational about something that demands 100+ hours of time but i thought it was a pretty spectacular game about the value of time + using it wisely (will be playing something much shorter next)
May 26, 2025 at 9:56 PM
beat Persona 3 Reload tonight, hard to be rational about something that demands 100+ hours of time but i thought it was a pretty spectacular game about the value of time + using it wisely (will be playing something much shorter next)
instagram keeps pushing me slow asmr adjacent videos of people walking around cities very quietly and you better believe i am watching every single one of them from start to finish
April 22, 2025 at 6:39 PM
instagram keeps pushing me slow asmr adjacent videos of people walking around cities very quietly and you better believe i am watching every single one of them from start to finish
hadn't listened to Blonde for a while, but threw it on today and it's still so so good — wild that it's been nearly a decade since it came out
April 16, 2025 at 2:38 PM
hadn't listened to Blonde for a while, but threw it on today and it's still so so good — wild that it's been nearly a decade since it came out
I spent the best part of a decade resisting the work of Seijun Suzuki because Tokyo Drifter screengrabs popped up a little too often on Tumblr back in the day, but I just watched Youth of the Beast and had a great time — which begs an obvious question: what are his best movies?
April 13, 2025 at 6:44 PM
I spent the best part of a decade resisting the work of Seijun Suzuki because Tokyo Drifter screengrabs popped up a little too often on Tumblr back in the day, but I just watched Youth of the Beast and had a great time — which begs an obvious question: what are his best movies?
Radiance are doing it again (Rosa La Rose! The Beast To Die!). Coincidentally, I wrote about two of their previous releases in this month's letter (the hit rate is v v strong) thistheaterishaunted.substack.com/p/strange-da...
Strange Days #18
March 2025 | Taking Notes
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April 9, 2025 at 10:30 AM
Radiance are doing it again (Rosa La Rose! The Beast To Die!). Coincidentally, I wrote about two of their previous releases in this month's letter (the hit rate is v v strong) thistheaterishaunted.substack.com/p/strange-da...
maybe says a lot about how i'm feeling about nintendo these days but i'm more excited about the prospect of gamecube games on the switch 2 than basically anything else
April 2, 2025 at 2:49 PM
maybe says a lot about how i'm feeling about nintendo these days but i'm more excited about the prospect of gamecube games on the switch 2 than basically anything else
having just reacquainted myself with it, i'm happy to report that last year's Balance and Composure album is v v good
March 25, 2025 at 2:14 PM
having just reacquainted myself with it, i'm happy to report that last year's Balance and Composure album is v v good