Selena Film Notes
Film Reviews • Video Works • Essays

Selena Film Notes

A compact home for long-form film reviews, Vimeo-hosted shorts, and visual essays. I write about cinema with an editorial eye and a personal voice.

Latest reviews

Yi Yi
Written 2026-01-12 · 2000

Yi Yi

Edward Yang’s *Yi Yi* is a sprawling, intimate epic that, as the user beautifully articulates, makes us feel as though “since movies were invented, we have lived three times as long.” This film is a profound meditatio...

Wendy and Lucy
Written 2026-01-02 · 2008

Wendy and Lucy

Kelly Reichardt's *Wendy and Lucy* is a minimalist masterpiece that, despite its modest scale, offers a profound meditation on poverty, displacement, and the fragility of human connection in contemporary America. The...

The Worst Person in the World
Written 2025-12-24 · 2021

The Worst Person in the World

Joachim Trier’s *The Worst Person in the World* is a poignant and often humorous exploration of modern existential angst, perfectly encapsulated by the user’s opening question: “Are we living in the worst of eras?” Th...

The Turin Horse
Written 2025-12-13 · 2011

The Turin Horse

Béla Tarr's final film, *The Turin Horse*, is a bleak and haunting meditation on the end of the world, on the collapse of civilization and the inevitability of decay. The film is inspired by the true story of philosop...

The Seventh Seal
Written 2025-12-01 · 1957

The Seventh Seal

Ingmar Bergman's *The Seventh Seal* is a masterpiece of existential cinema, a profound meditation on faith, death, and the search for meaning in a world that may be fundamentally devoid of it. The film follows a knigh...

The Mastermind
Written 2025-11-18 · 2025

The Mastermind

Kelly Reichardt’s *The Mastermind* is a film that subverts expectations, presenting what the user aptly describes as perhaps the “quietest, clumsiest ‘heist film’ I have ever seen.” The title itself is a masterful str...

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