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35mm. From the booth.

35mm. From the booth.

35mm. From the booth.

35mm. From the booth.

Powerhouse filmmaking in every regard.

Awesome pressure cooker of a western that lives in no small debt to The Treasure Of The Sierra Madre.

35mm. From the booth.

35mm. From the booth.

35mm. From the booth.

Tyler Durden up in here.

35mm. From the booth.

35mm. From the booth.

This review may contain spoilers.

The psychedelic/body horror is really neat, but there’s something about the relationship drama that doesn’t quite work in harmony with it. It almost does, but not quite. For most viewers who have seen Cronenberg’s The Fly, that film will certainly come to mind. And I think the simple creative choice that film makes that separates it into a more compelling tier of horror filmmaking is merely the portrayal of its protagonist. Goldblum’s Seth Brundle is ambitious, and perhaps even arrogant, but those qualities in him only serve to stoke his insecurities, which propels him deeper into the rabbit hole of his dangerous scientific experiments, which unfolds the tragedy of that film. Here, we have William Hurt playing Eddie Jessup, also ambitious, but arrogant in a much more acute way. He’s a braggart who yells and argues against any kind of disagreement, be they from his colleagues or even his partner. He rambles off (granted, interesting) pseudo-philosophical dialogue about the self and god and humanity to his colleagues like he’s the first person to ever consider these things and like he’s special for doing so. On the one hand, it’s a strong creative choice by director Russell, because it works for the believability of the choices and actions we see Jessup making throughout the film, as well as the point being made about the deliberately in-the-background children and family being neglected or ignored. But on the other hand, it severely handicaps the human drama of the whole film, which is precisely the X factor that makes The Fly work so well. At no point in that film are we, the audience, begging in our minds for Geena Davis to get the hell away from the lunatic protagonist and leave him to the mess he’s made for himself, but the same cannot be said of Altered States, where any sane or reasonable person would and should distance themselves from this asshole way early in the film. His wife’s devotion to him really only exists for the sake of keeping the story moving.

This movie is good, but it’s not a tragedy like The Fly. It’s more like, yeah, he fucked around and found out, and then the filmmakers try to tack on a positive ending that just doesn’t belong.

Watched on Friday May 16, 2025.

Watched on Friday May 16, 2025.

35mm. From the booth.

35mm. From the booth.

35mm. From the booth.

35mm. From the booth.

Watched on Monday May 12, 2025.

Watched on Monday May 12, 2025.

Watched on Monday May 12, 2025.

Watched on Monday May 12, 2025.

Watched on Monday May 12, 2025.

35mm. From the booth.

35mm. From the booth.

35mm. From the booth.

35mm. From the booth.

35mm. From the booth.

35mm. From the booth.

35mm. From the booth.

35mm. From the booth.

35mm. From the booth.

35mm. From the booth.

35mm. From the booth.

35mm. From the booth.

35mm. From the booth.

35mm. From the booth.

35mm. From the booth.

35mm. From the booth.

35mm. From the booth.

35mm. From the booth.

70mm. From the booth.

35mm. From the booth.

Watched on Tuesday April 29, 2025.

Watched on Sunday April 27, 2025.

Watched on Sunday April 27, 2025.

Watched on Sunday April 27, 2025.

35mm. From the booth.

70mm. From the booth.

Took running this several times for me to be able to piece it together, which I know isn’t the ideal way to experience a film, but at least it was with a gorgeous 70mm print each time!

35mm. From the booth.

• Rebel Ridge
• Blue Ruin
• Green Room
• Murder Party
• Hold the Dark
• Return to Horror High

• Le Cercle Rouge
• Le Samouraï
• Army of Shadows
• Le Deuxième Souffle
• A Cop
• Le Doulos
• Bob le Flambeur
• The Silence of the Sea
• Léon Morin, Priest
• Magnet of Doom

...plus 1 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

1. 2001: A Space Odyssey
2. Harakiri
3. The Maltese Falcon
4. Pulp Fiction
5. Kwaidan
6. Magnolia
7. Mulholland Drive
8. Kagemusha
9. Double Indemnity
10. Le Cercle Rouge

...plus 25 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

• The Lighthouse
• The Northman
• Nosferatu
• The Witch

• Harakiri
• Kwaidan
• Kagemusha
• Samurai Rebellion
• Ran
• Throne of Blood
• Kuroneko
• Lady Snowblood
• Goyokin
• Inn of Evil

...plus 39 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

• Fargo
• A Serious Man
• No Country for Old Men
• The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
• The Big Lebowski
• Miller's Crossing
• The Man Who Wasn't There
• Blood Simple
• The Hudsucker Proxy
• Barton Fink

...plus 8 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

• Lost in Translation
• Marie Antoinette
• The Virgin Suicides
• The Bling Ring
• Somewhere
• On the Rocks
• The Beguiled

• Pulp Fiction
• Reservoir Dogs
• Kill Bill: Vol. 1
• Kill Bill: Vol. 2
• Jackie Brown
• Django Unchained
• Inglourious Basterds
• Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood
• The Hateful Eight
• Death Proof

• Magnolia
• Boogie Nights
• There Will Be Blood
• Punch-Drunk Love
• The Master
• Hard Eight
• Licorice Pizza
• Inherent Vice
• Phantom Thread

This is my Kubrick ranking. There are many like it but this one is mine.

• 2001: A Space Odyssey
• Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb
• The Killing
• Paths of Glory
• Full Metal Jacket
• The Shining
• Barry Lyndon
• Spartacus
• Eyes Wide Shut
• A Clockwork Orange

...plus 2 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

• Charade
• Diabolique
• Night Train to Munich
• High and Low
• Niagara
• Peeping Tom

• Twin Peaks
• Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me
• Mulholland Drive
• Blue Velvet
• The Straight Story
• Lost Highway
• The Elephant Man
• Inland Empire
• Eraserhead
• Wild at Heart

...plus 1 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

• Her
• Adaptation.
• Where the Wild Things Are
• Being John Malkovich