Posts by Craigen Z Oster

February 10, 2023 | Modern Film Review

Killing Yourself to Live: a read on Brandon Cronenberg's Infinity Pool

Craigen Z Oster

This final image crushed me. It was a forewarning of what identity destruction can lead to if we
don’t truly understand ourselves to begin with.

January 9, 2023 | Modern Film Review

Painting a Picture of a Human Being or: Thinking About Lydia Tár As If She Were Myself

Craigen Z Oster

I first saw Todd Field’s Tár in a packed theatre in Bloomfield Township, Michigan with a crowd
of mostly middle-aged and above upper to upper-middle class New Yorker-tote-bag liberal types.
During the first 20 or so minutes of the film I found myself annoyed, fidgeting in my seat and
groaning as I sat through the titular EGOT winner’s conversation with Adam Gopnick.