The Best Stuff I Consumed - 2023
Movies It was a fruitful movie-watching year for me, partly because I had a lot of long flights on United Airlines, which has a...
Ken Ilgunas
Dec 19, 2023
To be consumed: UFOs, Caribou, and Killer Angels
Films Past Lives (2023, US & South Korea) - Just go ahead and give this the Oscar for Best Picture. It’s a beautiful movie about romantic...
Ken Ilgunas
Dec 7, 2023
To be consumed: Problematic movies about problematic men
Elena (2011, Russian) - I can’t seem to write one of these newsletters without mentioning an Andrey Zvyagintsev film. Zvyagintsev’s Elena...
Ken Ilgunas
Nov 5, 2023
Institutionalize Me!
I wasn’t aware that my life was institutionless until my friend, Jonathan, pointed it out. “I kept thinking of Yuval Levin’s important...
Ken Ilgunas
Oct 12, 2023
What to Consume: Russian Rot and How to Blow Up a Pipeline
Movies The Return (2003), Leviathan (2014), and Loveless (2017) These are all Russian movies by director Andrey Zvyagintsev. These films...
Ken Ilgunas
Sep 28, 2023
Mission Impossible kinda sucks, so consume this stuff instead…
Films Daughters of the Dust (1991, USA) This is one of the most surprising movies I’ve ever watched. It's about a group of...
Ken Ilgunas
Jul 26, 2023
On being dull
“You’re boring!” In high school, a fellow student said this to me. “You never have anything to say!” he added. Some girls in the class...
Ken Ilgunas
Jul 13, 2023
The most invigorating month of my life
It all started in 2021 when I got a strange email from a survival show called "Alone," inviting me to apply to be one of ten contestants...
Ken Ilgunas
May 24, 2023
Two Months of Consumption: Why We Need Daredevils and the Problem with Pixar
Movies I’ve watched 18 movies in 62 days. If it was up to me, I’d be watching a movie a night, but two a week is not bad for a house...
Ken Ilgunas
Feb 8, 2023
Must Great Be Bleak?
Every ten years, the British Film Institute (BFI) revises its list of the greatest 100 movies ever. A month ago, the BFI published its...
Ken Ilgunas
Jan 18, 2023
My favorite films, books, and shows - 2022
Movies The White Ribbon (Germany, 2009) - Director Michael Haneke may be making the case that Germany’s descent into 20th Century...
Ken Ilgunas
Jan 7, 2023
When will I stop watching football?
Every half an hour I check for updates on Bills’ safety Damar Hamlin. Watching Hamlin collapse after a hard but routine hit — and seeing...
Ken Ilgunas
Jan 4, 2023