About
Cinema Purgatorio is a weekly newsletter of film and cultural criticism and review. Why Purgatory and not Paradise? I mean, have you seen what’s playing? (I kid, that’s why you’re here!)
Amid the sea of content angling for your attention, it can be hard to commit two hours or more to watching a movie, especially in theaters. I won't tell you what you should or shouldn't see, but I will hopefully give you something to consider. Some would regard today’s media a hellscape, but hell implies fatalism, a belief that nothing will get better. And while savage reviews are great fun to read and write, to only ever bemoan the state of the arts risks becoming a shtick, a formula that is the antithesis of critical engagement. Hell and Purgatory both contain grueling punishments, but the latter promises an end, with Paradise to follow.
To that end, I try to keep my mind open to what a film has to offer. Particularly for those with a particular reputation, I try to evaluate the movie rather than whatever discourse it finds itself a part of, and give it a fair chance. Some movies are never-ending torture, sure, but there is always the possibility of something that surprises you: a performance that saves a film, a film that saves a life. You'll never know if you don't take the plunge. It's only by going through Hell that you'll come up to see the stars.
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With a subscription you’ll receive a review of a movie new in theaters every Monday, and once a month you’ll get a longer essay covering a larger topic—a retrospective of a favorite, a film series, a new-to-me classic, or some curiosity that I just had to chase down. I may well write more, but that is the baseline.
If you want to pay for a subscription, thank you! I'm still getting set up with Stripe and not currently offering anything extra to paid subscribers, but I will consider it in the future.
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