Support Movie Enthusiast While I Look for Work!

It's time for a membership drive

Readers, hello!

Last month the good-governance nonprofit where I worked as a full-time UX designer was hit by a huge loss in government contracts. Consequently, I was laid off along with 25% of staff. I had been at the organization for 7 years so my severance will cover me for a few weeks, but I anticipate being back on the job search for the long haul, whether that means 3 months or 12 (hopefully not 12).

To help me cover some day-to-day costs in the near term and to work toward a longer-term cushion against any future interruptions to my work, I’m introducing a simple paid subscription tier to Movie Enthusiast. The benefits:

• Access to all back issues of the newsletter—starting today, posts older than 12 months are behind a paywall.

• Untimely reviews not tied to the monthly Monday publication schedule—these will be takes on older or stranger films that don’t have any particular news hook, or aren’t worth expanding into a longer essay. Reviews of current movies and recent restorations will still be part of the free subscription level.

Since I have more time on my hands in the near future, I’m putting more work into a few longer-than-usual posts. In the upcoming free editions of Movie Enthusiast you can look forward to:

• A trio of takes on my experience rewatching Rohmer movies in a reading group (coming this month)

• Reviews of all the spring hits—Mickey 17, Eephus, On Becoming a Guinea Fowl, Black Bag, and Compensation

• A review of Deleuze’s 2-volume cinema series

• An essay on Robert Beavers and David Markopoulos, including references to the latter’s difficult-to-track-down volume of collected writings

As always I appreciate your continued readership of this weirdly rather old newsletter (it turned 9 this year!). As I try to secure steady income for the long term, I would be especially grateful for your paying support of my work.

Lastly, while you’re here:

• Please consider giving to the emergency legal fund for Mahmoud Khalil and his family, who need the money much more urgently than I do.

• If you or someone you know is looking for a UX designer, see my portfolio and reach out!