Dance & Nostalgia
Finding of Rick Moranis story and his stepping away from Hollywood, Spike Jonze’s creativity in ads, Steven Soderbergh and AI in filmmaking, and a music find with Two Lanes
I’m a few steps away from releasing a project that has been taking most of my time for the last several weeks, so this one will be a bit more concise than usual. Still, I wanted to share a few things that stayed with me from the last few days.
On time
This past week I watched Strange Brew, which sent me down a small Rick Moranis rabbit hole. Seeing him there made me curious about what had happened to him, because one of the movies I watched again and again as a kid was Honey, We Shrunk Ourselves. Definitely not a film I would put on a pedestal now, but it is tied to that whole period of my childhood nostalgia.
So I ended up watching this video about Moranis and was surprised to hear his story. After his wife passed away, he more or less stepped away from acting and the whole industry to focus on his family and live a quieter life. In a world where relevance and popularity are often considered the gold standard, there is something very special about someone who simply chooses to walk away. It’s a great reminder that we each get to define what a meaningful life looks like on our own terms. I got lots of respect for Rick after learning about the whole thing.
On Jonze
I’m a big fan of Spike Jonze. Even though we have not gotten a feature from him in a long time, I still like seeing those smaller commercial projects where his voice comes through.
This past week I watched this new campaign, and it reminded me of how good he is at making human movement feel playful and expressive.
It also reminded me (and made look up once more) the ad with Christopher Walken and the one with Margaret Qualley.
He has returned to that dance-based format more than once, but each piece still feels fresh and creative
Now, one interesting aspect I’ve noticed here is the reaction to the latest ad. I’ve seen a lot of people commenting with the that AI could never come up with something like this. Man… I really do not care whether AI was used somewhere in the process, whether for brainstorming, references, testing ideas, or not at all. What matters is that you can still feel Jonze’s taste in it. You can still feel decisions. You can still feel a creative hand shaping the work.
On Soderbergh
Talking about AI and creativity, I was also surprised to see Steven Soderbergh being very open about using AI in an upcoming film. I read this Variety piece and my feeds are full of backlash around his project and statements. Lots of creatives are still treating this subject in such a rigid way, as if using AI in any part of a process immediately cancels out authorship or creative intent. Tools do not erase perspective.
In the words of Soderbergh:
“I’m just not threatened by it. I’m only scared of things I don’t understand. So I felt obligated to engage with it, to figure out what it is and what it can do.”
“My job is to deliver a good movie, period. And this tool showed up at a moment when I needed it. I don’t think it’s the solution to everything, and I don’t think it’s the death of everything.
On music
Thanks to the YouTube algorithm, I found a band a few days ago that I have really been enjoying: Two Lanes. If you are into minimal, neoclassical, or electronic music, check out this collaboration with Malte Marten and also Malte Marten himself.
On Cinema
The Chronology of Water (2025). A lot of laughter that begins in tears, and a lot of tears that begin in laughter. A character-driven film that moves in waves, rising and falling, each turn adding another layer of complexity to a point of view I found very compelling. Beautiful, painful, poetic. And of course, I can’t complain about the immersive imagery and voiceover, very much à la Malick. Synopsis: Plagued by an abusive childhood, a woman finds escape in competitive swimming, toxic relationships, and addiction before ultimately finding her voice through writing.
Jeune Femme (2017). The energy of the lead character is infectious; it carries the entire film. A truly vivid and complex portrait. I was totally rooting for Paula by the end. Synopsis: Broke, with nothing but her cat to her name and doors closing in her face, Paula is back in Paris after a long absence. As she meets different people along the way, there is one thing she knows for sure: she’s determined to make a new start and she’ll do it with style and panache.
Ravenous (1999). Unexpectedly brilliant. It’s refreshing to see a straightforward narrative that doesn’t lean on jump scares to keep you hooked. The soundtrack choices are also surprisingly unusual, but they pay off; it’s a bold, unique film that really comes together in the end. Synopsis: After arriving at his new, remote Army outpost, Capt. John Boyd and his regiment aid a wounded frontiersman who recounts a horrifying tale of a wagon train murdered by its supposed guide – a vicious U.S. Army colonel gone rogue. Fearing the worst, the regiment heads out into the wilderness to verify the gruesome claims.
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