Editor’s note: To give you a chance to get to know our writers better, we’ve asked them to respond to some questions. Here’s Cortlyn Kelly. Read her work here.
1. Where did you grow up, and what was it like?
Bouncing between Chicago and Wisconsin, my upbringing was always quite Midwestern: lots of cheese, lots of “opes,” and very sports-centric. Movies have always been a staple for my family; Marcus Cinemas and the Lake Theater in Oak Park, IL were our mainstays. Although I was a competitive athlete for most of my life, education and the arts were heavily prevalent in my upbringing—lots of museum visits, no matter where we were. As an only child, all of the attention was on me; it was great to be so genuinely supported, and the pressure also taught me how to work hard for what I want.
2. Was anyone else in your family into movies? If so, what effect did they have on your moviegoing tastes?
Absolutely. While they wouldn’t quite refer to themselves as cinephiles, my maternal grandparents are very into the movies. My bompa (grandfather) often quizzes me about many movies from the ’50s that I have yet to see, and my dear nana instituted holiday-movie nights from an early age. Growing up, I was one of the spoiled kids who had the privilege of having a television in my room, and we always had a movie playing on our family TV, too.
3. What’s the first movie you remember seeing, and what impression did it make on you?
My first vivid memory at the movies was with my father for “The Incredibles”–I spilled my Buncha Crunch all over the floor, and he explicitly told me I would not be getting another box. The movie was still phenomenal, and unfortunately, to this day, I am still quite a messy eater.
4. What’s the first movie that made you think, “Hey, some people made this. It didn’t just exist. There’s a human personality behind it.”
“La La Land” was the first movie I ever saw alone in theaters. I was 18 years old, and, as mentioned, being an only child pushed me to do a lot, alone, from an early age. While the movie may be corny to some due to the Oscars fiasco, I will never forget how dazzled and dreamy it made me feel. And not having known it was a musical, it was evident from the opening sequence that this was truly a production and a grand effort from all involved. It was the first time I really experienced a score having a significant impact on my emotions, and to this day, Mia & Sebastian’s theme song lulls me to sleep every night. Prior to this, I remember my father showing me “Hotel Rwanda” at a young age, and that was the first time I understood that there are realities that I may never live but can still know about intimately because of movies.
5. What’s the first movie you ever walked out of?
When I was in middle school, my friends and I walked out of “One Day” (2011). At the time we were so angsty, and years later, I came around to watching it in full. I have not walked out of a movie since.
6. What’s the funniest film you’ve ever seen?
It’s easy to make me laugh. I am not confident in these films being the funniest, but they’re the ones I can quote repeatedly and still laugh just as hard as the first time: “21 Jump Street,” “Easy A,” and “Hitch.”
7. What’s the saddest film you’ve ever seen?
I think “Bridge to Terabithia” or “Seven Pounds” were the first movies to make me blubber like a baby. Other films that have left a hole in my heart would be: “Still Alice,” “Dead Poets Society,” and the Netflix series “When They See Us.”
8. What’s the scariest film you’ve ever seen?
To keep it real, I jump a little when the sound gets too loud, so my barometer for being frightened is quite low. My high school softball team and I would watch films like “The Collector” and “Sinister,” and anything that involves devil-like possession is going to get me. “The Lovely Bones” also stuck in my psyche for a long while; I started walking home from school a bit faster.
9. What’s the most romantic film you’ve ever seen?
Romance is perhaps my favorite genre; I find many movies romantic even if they aren’t classified formally as such. “Moneyball,” “In the Mood for Love,” “Lover’s Rock,” “The Age of Innocence,” and “Love Jones.” A romantic subplot sometimes doesn’t make sense in some movies, but the exploration of love is never a waste to me.
10. What’s the first television show you ever saw that made you think television could be more than entertainment?
I’ve always segmented television series as more causal viewing or having an informational purpose—I grew up with the news, SportsCenter, and sometimes David Letterman when I would stay at my nana’s. I suppose it was always more than entertainment, but it wasn’t until the Netflix binge-model that I began to watch shows more seriously, for entertainment, like “The Blacklist,” “How to Get Away with Murder,” and “Gilmore Girls.” My most rewatched series include “The Last Dance,” “Broad City,” “The L Word,” and “Sex and the City.”
11. What book do you think about or revisit the most?
Books that have blown me away in the last six months include I Who Have Never Known Men, and Madonna in a Fur Coat. I don’t quite have my niche in film criticism carved out yet, but I take special interest in book to film adaptations. Some of my favorite books to be adapted are “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?” Dune: Messiah, The Notebook, and Devil in a Blue Dress.
12. What album or recording artist have you listened to the most, and why?
According to my Spotify statistics, Beyoncé and Future dominate my listening hours. An album (or a few) that I can be caught listened to often: RENAISSANCE, When I Get Home, Plastic Hearts, good kid m.A.A.d city, CINEMA, Discovery, and Mama’s Gun.
I am a strong believer in albums as an art form, especially now more than ever in the age of snippets and sound bites. What keeps me coming back to each of these is their sense of a complete story, smooth transitions, and can get me singing, or dancing, along with my whole soul.
13. Is there a movie that you think is great, or powerful, or perfect, but that you never especially want to see again, and why?
Such a good yet difficult question. My most recent viewing of the “Interstellar” rerelease in 70MM IMAX was so uniquely special, I am unsure if I can watch the movie again in any other way. Chicago, where I am based, does not have the technology (yet) to showcase movies in this way, so traveling through space and time to experience the film as Nolan intended was almost too perfect to replicate.
14. What movie have you seen more times than any other?
As a child, I used to watch the same movie on repeat for weeks—films like “Hercules,” “A Bug’s Life,” and “Sleeping Beauty.” As an adult, “Love Jones,” “Howl’s Moving Castle,” and “When Harry Met Sally,” are viewed at least once per year.
15. What was your first R-rated movie, and did you like it?
Truthfully, I cannot recall. Likely some 2010s comedy or drama!
16. What’s the most visually beautiful film you’ve ever seen?
Almost anything I’ve seen projected on celluloid—“Nope” and “The Searchers” on 70MM are both standouts. I love the Wild West.
17. Who are your favorite leading men, past and present?
Gene Kelly, Denzel Washington, Keanu Reeves, Samuel L. Jackson, Robert Pattinson–charisma and commitment is always going to do it for me. Less frequently a leading man in most movies, but Jeffrey Wright always brings a smile to face, too.
18. Who are your favorite leading ladies, past and present?
Bette Davis, Nicole Kidman, Regina King, Emma Stone, and Rachel McAdams. I’d be remiss to not mention Viola Davis and Angela Bassett, and in general look forward to seeing more woman of color land leading roles.
19. Who’s your favorite modern filmmaker?
Denis Villeneuve, Damien Chazelle, and Jordan Peele have never done me wrong. I love the Wachowski sisters and Gina Prince-Bythewood, too. Rest In Peace, David Lynch!
20. Who’s your least favorite modern filmmaker?
Noah Baumbach. No further comment.
21. What film do you love that most people seem to hate?
This may sound a bit out of touch for a cultural critic and film fan, but I don’t pay much mind to what people hate—there is too much good art out there to focus on the bad or what people perceive as bad. Even when I absolutely adore a film, or anything, I welcome contradictions—the best part about movies is that it can reach us all in such a different way.
22. What film do you hate that most people love?
“Hate” is not quite the word I would use, but “Django: Unchained” is not my cuppa tea.
23. Tell me about a moviegoing experience you will never forget—not just because of the movie, but because of the circumstances in which you saw it.
In most recent years, I saw “Twilight” with a sold-out crowd at Music Box Theater as a part of their rated Q programming. While I loved the franchise regardless, seeing it in this setting completely recontextualized the film as camp, as a cultural staple for what it was like to be a tween in 2008.
I also must admit that I gained my movie-going muscles in college by frequenting Marvel’s motion-pictures. After seeing the premiere of “Avengers: Infinity War,” I drove home alone and devastated; riding in silence from the shock. I acknowledge and accept that the MCU is not what it once was, but I am forever appreciative for how it’s part of my butterfly effect towards true cinephilia.
24. What aspect of modern theatrical moviegoing do you like least?
I despise having my ticket on my phone; it’s comparable to scanning a QR code to look at a menu. I detest how cold it can be. Sure, air conditioning is a great modern invention, but does it need to feel like “Ice Age” at the cinema?
25. What aspect of moviegoing during your childhood do you miss the most?
This may be a given, but I really miss my parents paying for my tickets and snacks. As a work around to this adulthood conundrum, I ask for gift cards to my favorite movie theaters. Cell phones also weren’t nearly as common; I miss everyone respecting the one, giant screen in front of us.
26. Have you ever damaged a friendship, or thought twice about a relationship, because you disagreed about whether a movie was good or bad?
No friends lost, but I’ve absolutely stopped dating someone because they “don’t like movies” or they “wait for it to hit streaming.” Luckily, my lover and I convene at the cinema often; I hope forever.
27. What movies have you dreamed about?
I dream mostly of movies unmade, surreal films with plot holes. Movies that make their way into my subconscious are films like “La Chimera,” or anything in the science fiction, sometimes thriller, realm.
28. What concession stand item can you not live without?
Popcorn and Buncha Crunch–with a hot tea if I’m at a hip, independent cinema.
