Alex Fields
@afields9.bsky.social
Socialist, Appalachian, union steward, I write about formalist/experimental film and horror. they/them
Film noir was “a kind of modernism in the popular cinema: it used unorthodox narration; it resisted sentiment and censorship; it reveled in the ‘social fantastic’; it demonstrated the ambiguity of human motives; and it made commodity culture seem like a wasteland.”
November 19, 2025 at 10:20 PM
Film noir was “a kind of modernism in the popular cinema: it used unorthodox narration; it resisted sentiment and censorship; it reveled in the ‘social fantastic’; it demonstrated the ambiguity of human motives; and it made commodity culture seem like a wasteland.”
Opened Twitter to make a post about how we shouldn’t spend all our time on Twitter and now I’m trying to figure out what to do with all my time today since Twitter is down
November 18, 2025 at 12:44 PM
Opened Twitter to make a post about how we shouldn’t spend all our time on Twitter and now I’m trying to figure out what to do with all my time today since Twitter is down
If there are experimental films from the last year or so you think I should see please comment or DM with suggestions
November 13, 2025 at 2:19 AM
If there are experimental films from the last year or so you think I should see please comment or DM with suggestions
I wrote about the third edition of one of the best local/regional film fests around
inreviewonline.com/2025/11/12/f...
inreviewonline.com/2025/11/12/f...
Film Fest Knox 2025 | In Review Online
A new film festival coverage piece on the 2025 Knox Film Fest for film review site In Review Online.
inreviewonline.com
November 12, 2025 at 4:48 PM
I wrote about the third edition of one of the best local/regional film fests around
inreviewonline.com/2025/11/12/f...
inreviewonline.com/2025/11/12/f...
I wrote briefly about this year’s Light Matter experimental film program
November 7, 2025 at 4:40 PM
I wrote briefly about this year’s Light Matter experimental film program
BREAKING: Mayor-elect Mamdani to rebrand New York as New Amsterdam
“People just like it better that way,” a spokesperson says
“People just like it better that way,” a spokesperson says
November 7, 2025 at 12:32 AM
BREAKING: Mayor-elect Mamdani to rebrand New York as New Amsterdam
“People just like it better that way,” a spokesperson says
“People just like it better that way,” a spokesperson says
Far and away the best fiddle-accordion duo album I’ve heard this year, and that would probably still be true if I had heard any others
November 6, 2025 at 9:46 PM
Far and away the best fiddle-accordion duo album I’ve heard this year, and that would probably still be true if I had heard any others
On that note here are ten films screening at the fest this weekend that I recommend:
November 6, 2025 at 5:56 PM
On that note here are ten films screening at the fest this weekend that I recommend:
Dick Cheney has died, and as a result top Democratic officials are scrambling to rework their 2028 election strategy
November 4, 2025 at 2:40 PM
Dick Cheney has died, and as a result top Democratic officials are scrambling to rework their 2028 election strategy
manufacturer said this Chain Saw would make me a Man but instead I was castrated by deindustrialization and the disintegrating nuclear family. One star
October 15, 2025 at 11:27 PM
manufacturer said this Chain Saw would make me a Man but instead I was castrated by deindustrialization and the disintegrating nuclear family. One star
Happy October—here’s a list of 100 avant-garde horror films I recommend, and links to watch the large majority of them.
100 Avant-Garde Horror Films
(and where to see them)
notreconciled.substack.com
October 1, 2025 at 11:34 AM
Happy October—here’s a list of 100 avant-garde horror films I recommend, and links to watch the large majority of them.
we made a pumpkin-caramelized onion risotto with fried sage and hazelnuts
September 29, 2025 at 10:01 PM
we made a pumpkin-caramelized onion risotto with fried sage and hazelnuts
much respect to this guy hamming it up with a Donald Pleasance impression for a Librivox recording of Freud lectures
September 19, 2025 at 11:58 AM
much respect to this guy hamming it up with a Donald Pleasance impression for a Librivox recording of Freud lectures
I wrote about Rhayne Vermette’s feature film Levers which just premiered at Toronto and will be at NYFF next month. My “analysis” feels wholly inadequate, but that’s appropriate for such a willfully hazy work. It’s really good.
notreconciled.substack.com/p/levers-rha...
notreconciled.substack.com/p/levers-rha...
Levers (Rhayne Vermette, 2025)
The images in Levers seem to belong to a narrative film, but you’d be hard pressed to discern the narrative.
notreconciled.substack.com
September 16, 2025 at 1:04 AM
I wrote about Rhayne Vermette’s feature film Levers which just premiered at Toronto and will be at NYFF next month. My “analysis” feels wholly inadequate, but that’s appropriate for such a willfully hazy work. It’s really good.
notreconciled.substack.com/p/levers-rha...
notreconciled.substack.com/p/levers-rha...
I wrote about Basma Alsharif’s latest film, which is one of the best of the year
Morgenkreis (Basma Alsharif, 2025)
I’ve been a fan of Basma Alsharif’s work since I saw her first film, We Began By Measuring Distance, however many years ago.
notreconciled.substack.com
September 14, 2025 at 5:35 PM
I wrote about Basma Alsharif’s latest film, which is one of the best of the year
I wrote about the films in the second Wavelengths program as part of this dispatch
inreviewonline.com/2025/09/11/t...
inreviewonline.com/2025/09/11/t...
TIFF 2025 — Dispatch 3: The Currents, Honey Bunch, Blue Heron | In Review Online
A new festival coverage dispatch from the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival from film review site In Review Online.
inreviewonline.com
September 11, 2025 at 7:51 PM
I wrote about the films in the second Wavelengths program as part of this dispatch
inreviewonline.com/2025/09/11/t...
inreviewonline.com/2025/09/11/t...
Reposted by Alex Fields
@afields9.bsky.social, @joshuapeinado.bsky.social and I took several passes at Crossroads 2025. Ch-check it out. inreviewonline.com/2025/09/01/c...
Crossroads Film Festival 2025: We Become Traces in History | In Review Online
A new festival coverage piece on the 2025 Crossroads Film Festival for film review site In Review Online.
inreviewonline.com
September 2, 2025 at 10:05 PM
@afields9.bsky.social, @joshuapeinado.bsky.social and I took several passes at Crossroads 2025. Ch-check it out. inreviewonline.com/2025/09/01/c...
Is there a worthwhile “best horror films” critics poll out there or should I conduct one before October
August 18, 2025 at 1:59 PM
Is there a worthwhile “best horror films” critics poll out there or should I conduct one before October
anyone have access to a digital version of any of these books?
Pontormo & Rosso: Diverging Paths of Mannerism
Noa Turel - Living Pictures
David Ekserdjian - Parmigianino
Lucy Davis - Rubens: The Two Great Landscapes
Nina Athanassoglou-Kallmyer - Theodore Gericault
Pontormo & Rosso: Diverging Paths of Mannerism
Noa Turel - Living Pictures
David Ekserdjian - Parmigianino
Lucy Davis - Rubens: The Two Great Landscapes
Nina Athanassoglou-Kallmyer - Theodore Gericault
August 8, 2025 at 9:19 PM
anyone have access to a digital version of any of these books?
Pontormo & Rosso: Diverging Paths of Mannerism
Noa Turel - Living Pictures
David Ekserdjian - Parmigianino
Lucy Davis - Rubens: The Two Great Landscapes
Nina Athanassoglou-Kallmyer - Theodore Gericault
Pontormo & Rosso: Diverging Paths of Mannerism
Noa Turel - Living Pictures
David Ekserdjian - Parmigianino
Lucy Davis - Rubens: The Two Great Landscapes
Nina Athanassoglou-Kallmyer - Theodore Gericault
Michael Baxandall describes a form of cultural knowledge that was lost for over four centuries after the Italian Renaissance, until the films of Straub-Huillet:
June 15, 2025 at 12:40 AM
Michael Baxandall describes a form of cultural knowledge that was lost for over four centuries after the Italian Renaissance, until the films of Straub-Huillet:
I have not been keeping up with festivals or screeners the last few months, and I’m interested in anyone’s short lists of the best avant garde films of the year so far so I can prioritize catch up
June 7, 2025 at 5:08 PM
I have not been keeping up with festivals or screeners the last few months, and I’m interested in anyone’s short lists of the best avant garde films of the year so far so I can prioritize catch up
It’s ironic that Kant specifically uses wine as an example of a merely agreeable/interested liking as opposed to beauty/aesthetic judgment, because the Critique of Judgment is the best book ever written about wine
May 20, 2025 at 4:51 PM
It’s ironic that Kant specifically uses wine as an example of a merely agreeable/interested liking as opposed to beauty/aesthetic judgment, because the Critique of Judgment is the best book ever written about wine
Emerson on social media: “their every post chagrins us”
May 14, 2025 at 5:03 PM
Emerson on social media: “their every post chagrins us”