Field Notes
The Movement of Meaning
Film, to me, is about how something looks, moves and breathes over time. The films I return to aren’t confined to one genre. They capture chaos and control, intimacy and scale, obsession and restraint, sometimes all at once.
Some reflect the weight of impossible choices, like Interstellar and Avengers: Infinity War. Others lean into excess and unraveling, like The Wolf of Wall Street, Uncut Gems, and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. Some feel grounded in something more human, like La La Land, the closeness of friendship in Snack Shack or the stillness and connection found in Bones and All.
There are stories shaped by legacy and consequence, like Killers of the Flower Moon and Les Misérables, and others driven by resilience, loyalty and the pull to keep going, like Top Gun: Maverick and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2.
Some are expansive. Some are controlled. Others unravel completely. But all of them understand something essential about being human.
Avengers: Infinity War
Bones and All
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2
Interstellar
Killers of the Flower Moon
La La Land
Les Misérables
Snack Shack
Top Gun: Maverick
Uncut Gems
The Wolf of Wall Street
The Weight of Words
Books, to me, feel more reflective and patient.
They create space to sit with a feeling, to move through it and return to it, until it begins to take shape. The ones I come back to are studies of emotion, memory and connection. They don’t demand attention. They earn it over time.
Some explore the language of feeling itself, like Atlas of the Heart, giving structure to emotions we often struggle to name. Others hold the ache of love and timing, like The Seven Year Slip, People We Meet on Vacation and The Unhoneymooners.
Some carry a deeper sense of longing and loss, like The Fault in Our Stars and Where the Crawdads Sing. Others reflect identity and illusion, like The Great Gatsby.
And then there are stories that feel more atmospheric and distant, but just as human, like Our Wives Under the Sea.
Even in lighter moments, like Beach Read and Meant to Be, there’s still an undercurrent of reflection on love, expectation and the lives we imagine for ourselves.
Atlas of the Heart
Beach Read
The Fault in Our Stars
The Great Gatsby
Meant to Be
Our Wives Under the Sea
People We Meet on Vacation
The Seven Year Slip
The Unhoneymooners
Where the Crawdads Sing
My Story