I’m glad (and, given the kids, impressed) that you managed to! I’m not mystical about the theatrical experience, as you know, but Babylon probably benefited from it. (It’s kind of a pity anything came out alongside Avatar, because neither this nor PIB2 got a Dolby screening.)

Eggers is up there for me, though his movies are in a tonal register that Chazelle really only accessed for First Man, where the movies are pretty great but they’re not necessarily super-rewatchable good times. Like, I’ve owned The Lighthouse for like three years, dunno when I’m actually going to watch it again. How is The Northman somehow one’s most fun movie? If Makoto Shinkai counts as “last ten/fifteen years” (he kind of does), then he beats Chazelle, I suppose, but I can’t think of anyone else. I wish I did like Peele more, because I’m grudgingly glad that somebody besides Chris Nolan* is able to do original-IP blockbusters–I’m continually surprised the Shyamalan comparisons keep slipping off him like teflon.

*Like, man, I’m looking forward to it, but the idea that a Robert Oppenheimer biopic is going to be the event of the summer is so comically stupid and hubristic.

Robert Eggers comes to mind as being at a similar level, even though I feel like a naysayer on The Northman for simply being in “wow that’s good” territory instead of “holy f-ing f, best of the year” territory where many of my friends place it. I like Chazelle more anyways. There are a lot of Peele-heads out there, but I think both of us are a smidge more skeptical.

Man do I have to see Babylon. It’s almost out of theaters. It basically only ever showed at times that would interfere with kids’ bedtime or keep me up past midnight. (Then again with a 3 hour movie, that’s the majority of the day.)

I am coming to think that the only reason I don’t give Babylon full marks is because I didn’t give La La Land full marks, though, so maybe I should just rewatch La La Land and give it full marks. We’ve discussed its deficiencies as a dance musical before–they’re no Kelly and Caron! this is still somehow a sin to me–but I obviously want to just go nuts with Chazelle. Dude must be the most consistently great new director of the last ten/fifteen years, right?