Day One
A little bit each day of _______
Dear “Person Reading this Email or Webpage in 2026 or Thereafter,”
I want you to know that the movie Black Bag is free to watch on Amazon Prime right now. You can probably also watch it on other streaming platforms.
Have you ever watched 7 minutes of a movie and stopped, because it is so well done, so rich and chocolatey, you decide, “I need to stop this here because I need to process what I’ve just witnessed”?
Well, I have. Sometimes, something is so rich you just have to take a break and breathe deep and say, “Woah.”
Or you can say, “Wow.”
Or you can say, “Whew.”
Sometimes you might say, “Mmmm.”
If you are daring, and you want to experience something little by little, rather than all at once, and you want to sit and breathe and process for a bit rather than rush onto the next thing, watch the first 7 minutes of the movie Black Bag today. (I think it may be cheap to buy it, too.)
(I am not getting any money for advertising this movie, or anything.)
(I am just a lover of art and I love sharing what I love.)
What do you notice? What stands out to you when you watch?
For me, it is the lighting. There is such lovely lighting in this film. The colors feel like you are in a French bistro. A French bistro in a life where the volume of life is turned up kind of high.
Look at the way the gentleman carefully cooks, as well. In his low-lit kitchen.
And then there are Kathryn’s (Cate Blanchett’s) cheekbones. And her thick but not-too-thick hair. And the way she stands tall.
And the members of this couple in the movie, don’t raise their voices, but they know how to play every key and note on the metaphorical piano of life, of emotion.
Michael Fassbender, as George, has something palpable in his hands—I can feel it. I think warmth pulses through those hands. You can feel the fullness of his life-energy just underneath his collared shirt.
Something about this film pulses and throbs, and I can’t keep watching before telling you all about it, too.
How much credit do we give the writer David Koepp for all of that, and how much credit do we give the director, Steven Soderbergh?
I don’t know. 50/50? 40/60? 30/70?
Whose name do you recognize more?
Where would a director be without a writer to start the whole thing? But then again, how much does the writer have to do with the lighting?
It’s hard to know once something is complete, because it all comes together like a big symphony.
But when there are awards to be won, or someone is given the name for something—well….
People get a name for doing something in this world, usually. And your name kind of means everything while you’re alive, does it not?
Take a look.
Take a deep look.
Veneer-io,
Ms. Wonderful
P.S. Day Two, watch the next 7 minutes of the film! Break it up into manageable pieces, it’s so well-made!
Saturday Vinyl
Silence
Read my other Black Bag post here.
(I have watched this movie a few times. It’s just so gooooood.)