Free Movie Friday: Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (1927)

Posted on by bernardovillela

It’s not just the answer to a trivia question (What was the first film awarded Best Picture?), Sunrise is now in the public domain, freely available to watch, and quite good. If you’re familiar with Murnau, it’s likely not your favorite of his films, but as one of the emblematic directors of German Expressionism to come to Hollywood and debut with this is a legendary feat of its own.

Birthday Movie 2026

Posted on by bernardovillela

I’ve tried to go to the movies on my birthday. More often than not I’ve succeeded. This year warranted a post of its own. Once I hear that Coyote vs. Acme was opening on 8/28 I was hopeful that I’d be able to catch an early Thursday screening on my birthday proper. It’s a film that has had a long road to finally hitting screens and that already earned its (human) star a BAM Award for his fight to see it released.

Having finally gotten to see it, I am so, so thankful that Will Forte fought so hard and that Ketchup Entertainment stepped in to salvage something else Warner Bros. was ready to toss into the trash and set ablaze. I highly recommend it. It’s not just nostalgia or Easter Eggs that make it work, it’s a brilliant concept, cleverly executed and genuinely funny. Go out and see it.

Shameless Self-Promotion: My Book is Out and a Gift of Poetry

Posted on by bernardovillela

As mentioned in my last Shameless Self-Promotion post, today August 15th, 2026, marks the release of my first collection of poetry The Prismatic Menagerie.

You can buy the book at the link above. But I thought I’d share the gift of some cinematic observations in poetic form I’m calling…

Films Theories

1.

Is this comedy tongue-in-cheek
or does it just not open its
mouth when it speaks?

2.

How much non-diegetic content
must I consume before I am
ready to digest this film?

3.

Why do some executives
think we want screen-life movies,
so lacking in cinema and vitality?

4.

And why do YouTubers bring
us films that make even cynics
believe in the art-from again?

5.

He only watches Christopher Nolan’s
movies microscopically and believes
he understands all movies can and should be.

6.

When I see a movie
I hope someone else watches it
I don’t want A.I. to ingest and vomit
it back out onto my TV.

7.

Mae West said “I only like two kinds
of men: domestic and imported.”
I feel the same way about movies…
and men.

8.

Why are you so obsessed with
what is and isn’t canon
in a Cannonball Run reboot?

9.

The camera in a German
Expressionist film is a dog’s head
it tilts when things are unsettled.