The Observer.

In a big mood for movies. This go-round: "Oldboy," "8 ½," "Infernal Affairs," "Chungking Express."

I’ve already been spectacularly successful at my goal of finding happiness and more creativity and time better spent by abandoning all news (started the day after the election). Add the death of a beloved dog and the perfect solo getaway in the Portland Pied-à-Terre, plus this newfound zeal for Letterboxd and just watching movies in a dark room becomes pretty fruitful.

I have been beating back sadness and using hygge to hide from the cold (including a couple of days of rare snow) to ensconce myself in front of the screen.

All of these combined forces worked to help me overcome Meander Sampling, which I talked a lot about here:

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The Observer.

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Instead, I just watched, almost without thought, since I’d recently put a lot of work into figuring out how to best use Letterboxd for me and have a self-vetted list of movies that I could just pick from without too much time-wasting on mental wrangling.

I also got into that here, a little lower down in the post, in case you missed it:

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True Culture, No False Gods.

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I picked four for this installment:

Have no fears about major or even mid-major spoilers. That’s not the point or intention at all, here. Just thoughts and emotions — what did you think, what did you feel — and maybe in turn it sparks some memories for discussion in you, or a first-time watch or even an eager rewatch. The point is always just to curate ideas.

• “Chungking Express.” (Max, Criterion Channel.) In 1994, when this film came out, I was onto my second stint as a music critic, both at newspapers. There are all sorts of reason why we don’t see films and I realize now that it often doesn’t matter when you watch, just that you eventually do watch and let that bit of culture into your life. I was initially going to watch Wong Kar-Wai’s “In the Mood For Love” first, since I had already marked that on my HBO/Max app as something to watch in the future (which is strange since I haven’t been watching much of HBO/Max at all lately). But a last second urge to watch the Letterboxd-linked trailer about “Chungking Express” overcame me and there it was — some Hong Kong-styled cinematic shoot-em-ups and chases and yes, that fits the mood. Of course, if you’ve seen the film that’s barely what happens and not at all the point, if there is a point — Wong’s films are known for eschewing traditional plotting and hitting you with other vibes. And “Chungking Express” absolutely did connect — I loved its quirkiness, it’s comedy, it’s take on “finding” anything after the first allure of attraction. And wow, Faye Wong. I went down a very long Faye Wong information rabbit hole after this movie. And of course I love her, just like I loved Audrey Tautou in “Amelie.” Wong Kar-Wai connected those dots, and I do believe there’s a line between these movies, just for me.