BOE Temporary Relocation

 On Friday we had a glitch in our usual Breakfast of Excellence schedule. As is well-documented, we always meet for breakfast at 8:00 at the TASTee Grill, but when we arrived all four tables are spoken for. We waited for a bit, but eventually had to track down an alternative option. This made us all sad, because we love to give the TASTee Grill as much business (and love) as we can (plus, they have great food). We settled at some new place, which exists, along with a bank, in the skeleton of the old Pizzeria Uno. It was a bit off-setting because it's right on the edge of the neighborhood where I lived when Jen and I were together, and we ate dozens of meals there over the years. However, it was more bittersweet because I'm going to miss these guys so much. I will definitely not be counting down the diminishing BOEs with CFL players, as I'm in a state of denial about the passing of this most beloved of traditions.

From left to right: John, Sandy, Kevin, Erik, and Kelly. It was a nice meal, although paying two separate times for a refill on coffee ensures that we will not return (truthfully, what variety of savagery is making someone pay twice for coffee?; I mean, if you order two lattes, then I think the separate cost is justified, but paying separately for a second coffee?). 

Movies in 2026 113

 

Dune (Denis Villeneuve, 2021)

The 113th film of the year was an unexpected treat, not simply because it wasn't a film that I was planning to watch, but, more importantly, because my son asked me I wanted to come down to his and Ali's place to watch Denis Villeneuve's Dune. Last year, as part of my year of reading things I don't normally read, I knocked off the first two novels Frank Herbert's Dune series. I remember liking the first one a fair bit, and the second one much less (at least not enough to inspire me to continue in the series). I thought Villeneuve's effort was a worthy one, and we're already making plans for watch the second installment soon. We had this passing but also tangible moment when we realized that it would be impossible for us to watch the third film in the theaters next December. Highly recommended - that is, spending as much time as possible with your son at every age.

Movies in 2026 112

 

Return to Reason (Man Ray, 2023)

Yesterday, thanks to the Criterion Channel, I watched Man Ray's Return to Reason, which is actually a compilation of four of his short surrealist pieces from the 1920s. The 2023 version was a product of Jim Jarmusch and Carter Logan, both big fans of the original works, and this includes a new soundtrack. I enjoyed the four films, although I was also thinking that surrealism is one of those things that, here we are a century out from Man's work, would not have the same impact for the new viewer. It's not simply because surrealism has been so immersed (and in the process cheapened) into popular culture, but also because life itself in the age of the internet and smart phones and AI has simply become surreal. You should definitely check it out.

4

 Another week gone, and only two more weeks of the regular semester to go. I've officially lost the battle of the No Going Away Parties campaign, as two parties are now on the agenda. It's strange to think that by the end of this month I will be done with teaching - and my book will be finished (being published, obviously, will remain an ongoing mission, but having the great mass of it complete is going to feel wonderful/strange) - and then the summer and a very different life opens up. My main two goals, once May rolls around, are to devote hours a day to Italian - and to get back to the gym and the pool and long walks - as I begin to refashion myself into a new entity.

Thanks to Keon Hatcher for loaning me his #4 for the Countdown. In many ways his story is also a classic CFL story. Hatcher was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and played at Arkansas, but went undrafted by any NFL team. As an undrafted free agent, he spent a few years bouncing back and forth between the Oakland Raiders (twice), Detroit Lions, Green Bay Packers (twice), and New York Jets. His career NFL statistics: 1 catch for 8 yards. In 2021 he headed north, and has been with the BC Lions ever since, including being a CFL All-Star in 2023 and 2025. Now, he's playing all the time, catching passes from the CFL's best QB (Nathan Roarke), and enjoying a lot of success. You have to love his story.

Oh, and I love the metaphor of this picture - 4 days left, but zero closing in fast.

Movies in 2026 111

 

RoboCop (Paul Verhoeven, 1987)

One of the many wonderful things about the Criterion Channel is when they go rogue - or bonkers - and have unexpected (inexplicable) collections (1970s drive-in horror, snow westerns, etc.). Currently they are featuring a collection of films that they, back in the early days, that is, when they were only the Criterion Collection and before the advent of the Criterion Channel, had permission to print DVDs with cool extra features and commentaries (they created the commentary track on DVDs). One of them is, again unexpectedly and inexplicably, Paul Verhoeven's RoboCop. I always forget how subversive RoboCop is, as are many of Verhoeven's movies. I didn't realize that Peter Weller, who plays the titular character, later earned his PhD in Renaissance art. I had forgotten that Ray Wise, who would shortly after this achieve lasting cultural fame as Laura Palmer's father Leland in Twin Peaks. I also had this memory that my son, when he was a wee lad, had a RoboCop video game (maybe just a handheld? - where maybe he was fighting Aliens?), although he has no memory of it. 

Movies in 2026 110

 

Pictures of Ghosts, (Kleber Mendonca Filho, 2023)

Recently I watched Kleber Mendonca Filho's Bacurau (2019) and Neighboring Sounds (2012) - thank you to the Criterion Channel for both. What I had not realized is that I had previous watched another of his films, Aquarius (2016), but it was several years ago and I hadn't put the pieces together yet. So far I've really liked every one of his films, including the one I just watched the other night: the documentary Pictures of Ghosts (2023). The documentary focuses on his hometown of Recife, so I guess this fits in well with one of this week's other films, My Winnipeg (although it was not part of a grand design). I think it was called Pictures of Ghosts for a couple reasons, the first being a spectral image that he inadvertently captured on film. The film opens with a reflection on the history of his mother's apartment, which I recognized from Neighboring Sounds (and he slides in scenes from that film, and others, into more personal shots - including the ghost. The rest of the film is dedicated to a heartfelt and poignant reflection on three movie houses from Recife and their eventual passing. Highly recommended. Hopefully his latest film, 2025's The Secret Agent, eventually makes its way to Criterion, although I suppose I could track it down on Prime.

Movies in 2026 109

 

Resurrection, (Bi Gan, 2025)

Guy Maddin's Only Dream Things oddly works very well as a precursor for the next film, although clearly that was not my plan. I just finished Bi Gan's 2025 film Resurrection. The Criterion Channel has started featuring films fresh out of the theaters (not Vermont theaters, sadly, but theaters in larger and more intellectually vibrant markets in New York and LA). They always start off with a specific date and time when you can begin to stream it, almost giving it a feeling of being in the theater with thousands of other film nerds across the world. However, after that you can watch it at any time. I've done both, although I have to admit that I really like syncing up that first viewing when I can. I discovered Bi Gan late last year, on the Criterion Channel, not surprisingly, and absolutely loved his first two films: Kaili Blues (2015) and Long Day's Journey Into Night (2018). He's known for including an extended - literally somewhere between forty-five minutes and an hour - single, uninterrupted take, which dominates the second half of his movies. It's extraordinary, and speaks to his incredible imagination and cinematic chops. Having said all that, I definitely did not like Resurrection as much as his earlier two full-length films. It's staggeringly brilliant filmmaking, and features another long sequence at the end which beggars the imagination. However, the central theme is so opaquely delivered - or Bi Gan didn't feel that it needed one (which is fine, obviously) - that the film ends up depending entirely upon the cinematography. You end up not caring about the characters at all because you simply don't know anything about the characters. It's extremist instrumentalist filmmaking, which tends to work well in short art installations like Maddin's piece, but which borders on tedium in a two and a half hour movie. I'll definitely watch anything from Bi Gan, and I need to track down his earlier work, but in the end, while I was impressed by the technical wizardry of Resurrection, it simply left me cold. I absolutely felt a connection to the characters in his first two films, but every actor in Resurrection simply felt like prop to anchor a camera shot.