Zach Zahos
@zzahos.bsky.social
Occasional film-related posts here. For more: https://zzahos.substack.com/
If you'd like to indulge one more/last NYT movie ballot, then I have the newsletter for you.
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.
zzahos.substack.com
June 30, 2025 at 6:59 PM
If you'd like to indulge one more/last NYT movie ballot, then I have the newsletter for you.
On Brandon Colvin’s THE WORLD DROPS DEAD. substack-proxy.glitch.me/articles/zza...
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.
substack-proxy.glitch.me
June 6, 2025 at 3:48 PM
On Brandon Colvin’s THE WORLD DROPS DEAD. substack-proxy.glitch.me/articles/zza...
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...
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.
zzahos.substack.com
May 12, 2025 at 4:56 PM
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...
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...
At Milestone Films, Passing the Torch, but Keeping the Flame Alive
www.nytimes.com
May 6, 2025 at 3:26 PM
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 agree with Peter (though naturally I'm concerned what this means for imports, too).
We won’t know anything about the “tariff on foreign made films” until we actually see any EO (and is likely against the congressional law on IP anyways) but I think people are severely misunderstanding this as an attack on foreign films rather than major American films made abroad.
May 5, 2025 at 5:18 PM
I agree with Peter (though naturally I'm concerned what this means for imports, too).
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...
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 ...
wcftr.commarts.wisc.edu
April 18, 2025 at 2:51 PM
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. (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…
My fellow boutique blu-ray nuts, there’s a mission-critical poll atop this piece that you won’t want to miss…
April 17, 2025 at 1:24 PM
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…
My fellow boutique blu-ray nuts, there’s a mission-critical poll atop this piece that you won’t want to miss…
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...
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...
Wrapping Up the 2025 Wisconsin Film Festival
Reflections on Starship Troopers, an infamous Rolling Stones doc, and other WFF 2025 selections.
zzahos.substack.com
April 14, 2025 at 1:51 PM
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...
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...
April 2, 2025 at 1:05 PM
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...
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...
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.
open.substack.com
March 18, 2025 at 1:58 PM
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...
Reposted by Zach Zahos
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.
March 12, 2025 at 2:35 AM
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...
March 11, 2025 at 8:33 PM
On Mickey 17, In the Lost Lands, Mayhem, and more of "The Latest." zzahos.substack.com/p/the-latest...
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...
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.
open.substack.com
March 6, 2025 at 2:50 PM
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...
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...
March 4, 2025 at 5:06 PM
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...
Getting one last 2024 list out of my system. zzahos.substack.com/p/bonus-25-f...
Bonus: 25 Favorite Albums of 2024
A three-way race yields to an inevitable #1, followed by some less predictable selections.
zzahos.substack.com
March 2, 2025 at 7:42 PM
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.”
March 2, 2025 at 3:03 PM
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)
Shanghai Blues (1984)
By the Stream (2024)
Desperate Living (1977)
Universal Language (2024)
Pacifiction (2022)
Cecil B. Demented (2000)
Mr. Klein (1976)
March 1, 2025 at 4:21 AM
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)
Shanghai Blues (1984)
By the Stream (2024)
Desperate Living (1977)
Universal Language (2024)
Pacifiction (2022)
Cecil B. Demented (2000)
Mr. Klein (1976)
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...
Top 10 Films of 2024
A belated list of beloved 2024 theatrical releases. Plus: 10 honorable mentions.
zzahos.substack.com
February 28, 2025 at 4:10 PM
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...
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-...
It's "Movie Time With Zach"
My declaration of Substacking principles.
zzahos.substack.com
February 26, 2025 at 4:56 PM
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-...
Killer of Sheep
A quiet revelation of American independent filmmaking, Charles Burnett’s lyrical debut feature unfolds as a mosaic of Black life in the Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles, where Stan (Henry Gayle Sande...
www.criterion.com
February 14, 2025 at 5:03 PM
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-...
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...
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...
wcftr.commarts.wisc.edu
February 7, 2025 at 5:28 PM
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...
I love Lady Gaga. youtu.be/vBynw9Isr28?...
Lady Gaga - Abracadabra (Official Music Video)
YouTube video by LadyGagaVEVO
youtu.be
February 3, 2025 at 4:27 AM
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)
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)
January 31, 2025 at 7:21 PM
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)
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)
Reposted by Zach Zahos
please do not ignore this news
Politico is reporting they may ban schools receiving federal funding from allowing kids to be trans as soon as today. Also opens door to investigations into schools that disregard the directive
www.politico.com/news/2025/01...
www.politico.com/news/2025/01...
Trump to issue orders on K-12 ‘indoctrination,’ school choice and campus protests
The order will also reinstate the 1776 Commission that Trump created during his first term in office to promote patriotic education.
www.politico.com
January 29, 2025 at 7:48 PM
please do not ignore this news
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?...
Defying Gravity | Synchronized Roller Coasters (Wicked)
YouTube video by Tube Cody
youtu.be
January 27, 2025 at 4:27 AM
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?...