Step Into the Deep
The Chronology of Water
Dear Friends,
Perhaps you’ve noticed I haven’t included movie reviews in recent newsletters. I’m still conflicted about how to write them because it’s not a space I find myself drawn to. I wrote when I started the newsletter that I’d rather leave film reviews, criticism and commentary to those for whom it is their focus. That remains the case. I’m also grappling with how much time to devote to this weekly film project generally.
Still, though, I’m seeing all these films, shouldn’t I relay some thoughts about them? I think so. My new plan is to send out a monthly recap of the movies I saw the prior month with a few thoughts and recommendations. Look for January’s recap soon.
As I pondered this question about reviews, I also found myself wanting to go in a more personal direction. 2026 is the year I’m moving from writing and thinking to planning and making films. This newsletter is the first time I’ve shared writing publicly. I feel like I’ve been wading into a pool and I’ve slowly gone waist deep. I’ve acclimated to the temperature. Now I’m reaching that edge where the bottom drops off into the deep end. To move ahead, the only option is to swim; and there’s fear there, hesitation and discomfort facing a new unknown.
Then also, outside my personal journey spins the maelstrom of the world around us. Every day I ask the question, from the comfort of my home, my life, how am I to live as humanity collapses? On the spectrum of suffering and ease I’ve landed on a very comfortable end. Life throws many wrenches at us over time, unavoidably, and yet these days I witness brutal, sustained terror purposefully brought down on so many people all over the world. How am I supposed to fight that terror to make the world safer and more just for more people, such that they can enjoy the same degree of life without fear as I have enjoyed, largely due to the lottery of my birth? Does this writing help? Will making films change anything?
Next week I’m looking forward to seeing what I believe is an important film: Kristen Stewart’s feature directorial debut The Chronology of Water. It’s playing all week at the Roxy Cinema and we’ll attend the Wednesday (Feb 11) 7 o’clock showing. (By the way, the Roxy is a unique theater with the cozy feel of a personal screening room; if you haven’t been this is a good time to check it out.) I know The Chronology of Water is based on a memoir that Stewart was determined to make into a film as soon as she read it. Generally positive comments about the film have filtered down to me since its premiere last May at Cannes. I recently read Kristen quoted as saying industry people now listen to her in a way they didn’t when she was “just an actor” – as if only now that she directs does she “have a brain.” I’ve actually seen almost none of the movies Stewart has been in, including the Twilight films, so on some level for me she’s more of a celebrity figure than an artist. I’m really looking forward to what she brings to the screen from her new position behind the camera. Her movie is not going to change the world, but it is a step in the right direction. We all must take that step.
To the pleasure of films and the discussions they spark,
Josh