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Marshall Shaffer

@marshallshaffer.bsky.social

290 followers 220 following 340 posts

Freelance writer frequently seen on The Playlist, Decider, Slant Magazine, Slashfilm, and Crooked Marquee. We'll get along. (he/him) https://marshallandthemovies.substack.com/

marshallandthemovies.substack.com

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Marshall Shaffer @marshallshaffer.bsky.social · Nov 14

Welcome, new friends. marshallandthemovies.substack.com

Marshall and the Movies | Marshall Shaffer | Substack

Marshall Shaffer talks you through the movies you should watch, twice a week. Click to read Marshall and the Movies, by Marshall Shaffer, a Substack publication with hundreds of subscribers.

marshallandthemovies.substack.com

Reposted by Marshall Shaffer

Crooked Marquee @crooked-marquee.bsky.social · 19h

“With two decades of distance from ‘Elizabethtown,’ it’s now pretty clear Orlando Bloom is the key element holding the film back,” @marshallshaffer.bsky.social writes. “He’s a vacuum of charisma.”

crookedmarquee.com

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Marshall Shaffer @marshallshaffer.bsky.social · 3h

"I couldn’t be less interested in presenting myself! I’m interested in discovering other things that aren’t familiar to me."

Kelly Reichardt becomes my first three-time interviewee for THE MASTERMIND, which is out starting Friday.

For @slantmagazine.com: www.slantmagazine.com/film/kelly-r...

Kelly Reichardt on 'The Mastermind' and the Art of the Aftermath

Kelly Reichardt discusses her collaboration process with her actors, the political climate of an era, and more.

www.slantmagazine.com

Marshall Shaffer @marshallshaffer.bsky.social · 23h

Wrote this as well!

Crooked Marquee @crooked-marquee.bsky.social · 1d

‘Elizabethtown’ may be best remembered for inspiring the term "Manic Pixie Dream Girl," but its legacy should also include being the first of 20 years of failed launches for a generation of leading men like Orlando Bloom: crookedmarquee.com/20-years-of-...

Marshall Shaffer @marshallshaffer.bsky.social · 1d

An honor doesn't even begin to encompass my experience of getting to interview Jafar Panahi, a true compass pointing toward the light of free expression in these dark times, about his Palme d'Or-winning IT WAS JUST AN ACCIDENT.

For @slantmagazine.com: www.slantmagazine.com/film/jafar-p...

Jafar Panahi on 'It Was Just an Accident' and the Sound of Violence

Jafar Panahi discusses the role of sound in 'It Was Just an Accident,' what the word "accident" means to him, and more.

www.slantmagazine.com

Reposted by Marshall Shaffer

Slant @slantmagazine.com · 2d

BLUE MOON, writes @marshallshaffer.bsky.social, captures the death of an artist as only Richard Linklater could by fixating on a moment perpendicular to Lorenz Hart’s passing. In NY/LA theaters this Friday.

'Blue Moon' Review: Richard Linklater's Biopic Waxes Lyrical

'Blue Moon' proves the immortal genius of Rodgers by embodying both the Hart and Hammerstein models of artistic engagement within the film.

www.slantmagazine.com

Marshall Shaffer @marshallshaffer.bsky.social · 2d

Columbus is in the Bad Place.

Happy Indigenous People’s Day: marshallandthemovies.substack.com/p/indigenous...

Indigenous Cinemas

An alternative celebration to today's holiday

marshallandthemovies.substack.com

Marshall Shaffer @marshallshaffer.bsky.social · 4d

A supposedly fun thing I … told myself I wouldn’t do again after 2019/20 but here we are again.

On being an NYFF main slate completist: marshallandthemovies.substack.com/p/i-watched-...

I Watched the Entire 2025 NYFF Main Slate

Lessons from this year's festival

marshallandthemovies.substack.com

Marshall Shaffer @marshallshaffer.bsky.social · 7d

It's been my performance of the year all year long, so it was a true honor to talk with Rose Byrne about her career-best work in IF I HAD LEGS I'D KICK YOU (out starting tomorrow). For @slantmagazine.com: www.slantmagazine.com/features/ros...

Rose Byrne on 'If I Had Legs I'd Kick You' and Building Her Mother of All Roles

Rose Byrne discusses working with Mary Bronstein, where she sees similarities between performing comedy and horror, and more.

www.slantmagazine.com

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Marshall Shaffer @marshallshaffer.bsky.social · 15d

Still the defining film of the 21st century (even without sound, as I report back in today's anniversary newsletter) marshallandthemovies.substack.com/p/the-social...

THE SOCIAL NETWORK: Mute Challenge

Appreciating Fincher's visuals for the 15th anniversary

marshallandthemovies.substack.com

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Marshall Shaffer @marshallshaffer.bsky.social · 20d

Today's Substack newsletter, inspired by PTA: marshallandthemovies.substack.com/p/the-gearsh...

PTA's Favorite Kind of Movie

Notes on the Gearshift Movie ⚙️

marshallandthemovies.substack.com

Marshall Shaffer @marshallshaffer.bsky.social · 20d

Thank you

Marshall Shaffer @marshallshaffer.bsky.social · 22d

That was certainly a buried lede in the headlines I read

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Reposted by Marshall Shaffer

MidCenturyCinema @midcenturycinema.bsky.social · 23d

9/23/63: Imgmar Bergman's The Silence
w/Ingrid Thulin, Gunnel Lindblom, Birger Malmsten
More:
@marshallshaffer.bsky.social / @vaguevisages.bsky.social: vaguevisages.com/2018/02/26/v...
Leo Braudy: www.criterion.com/current/post...
Ebert: rogerebert.com/reviews/the-...

The last in the Bergman trilogy about the silence of God movie review (1963) | Roger Ebert

Two women and a boy share a compartment on a train. It is an unhappy journey, and we sense tension and dislike between the women. The boy wanders out into the

rogerebert.com

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Marshall Shaffer @marshallshaffer.bsky.social · 28d

I read that in this voice

Reposted by Marshall Shaffer

Aisha Harris @aishaharris.bsky.social · Sep 14

You know awards are meaningless when INDUSTRY remains completely ignored by Emmys voters three seasons in

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Marshall Shaffer @marshallshaffer.bsky.social · Sep 12

THE HISTORY OF SOUND good 👇

Slant @slantmagazine.com · Sep 11

Oliver Hermanus's THE HISTORY OF SOUND movingly conjures the feeling of music’s creation of a suspended present tense. Read @marshallshaffer.bsky.social's review.

'The History of Sound' Review: The Music of Romance

The film is never better than when Oliver Hermanus conjures the feeling of music’s creation of a suspended present tense.

www.slantmagazine.com

Marshall Shaffer @marshallshaffer.bsky.social · Sep 11

Did a crappy job of posting individual links to my Venice Film Festival coverage on Bluesky, so here's a big omnibus of everything I published, rounded up on my Substack: marshallandthemovies.substack.com/p/venice-202...

Venice 2025: Some Other Choice

On my fourth year at the Venice Film Festival

marshallandthemovies.substack.com

Marshall Shaffer @marshallshaffer.bsky.social · Sep 6

I did have this thought immediately after too, ha

Reposted by Marshall Shaffer

Hannah Strong @hannahstrong.co.uk · Sep 6

If you'd like more thoughts on the fest from me, @rafiews.com and @marshallshaffer.bsky.social our Venice podcast episode is out now! shows.acast.com/truthandmovi...

Venice Film Festival Special 2025 | Truth & Movies: A Little White Lies Podcast

shows.acast.com

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Reposted by Marshall Shaffer

Crooked Marquee @crooked-marquee.bsky.social · Sep 4

Reporting from the 2025 Venice Film Festival, our correspondent @marshallshaffer.bsky.social found many selections engaging meaningfully with reality - both the painful present and the imagined past. #Venezia82 crookedmarquee.com/marshall-sha...

Reposted by Marshall Shaffer

Slant @slantmagazine.com · Sep 3

The title of DUSE may refer to Eleonora Duse, the great fin de siècle Italian stage actress, but the film isn’t just a portrait of the artist’s life. It's a trenchant examination of the value of art itself. Read @marshallshaffer.bsky.social's #Venezia82 review.

'Duse' Review: A Trenchantly Study of Art's Role in a Fascist State

The film kicks into high gear when the immovable object that is Eleonora Duse meets the unstoppable force of Sarah Bernhardt.

www.slantmagazine.com

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Reposted by Marshall Shaffer

Slant @slantmagazine.com · Aug 31

Lucrecia Martel's LANDMARKS is part courtroom drama, part ethnographic portrait, and fully fascinating. Read @marshallshaffer.bsky.social's #Venezia82 review.

'Landmarks' Review: Lucrecia Martel's Sobering Murder Investigation

'Landmarks' takes up its case against the centuries-old processes of dehumanization and disenfranchisement of a people.

www.slantmagazine.com

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Reposted by Marshall Shaffer

Slant @slantmagazine.com · Aug 27

Angus MacLachlan’s A LITTLE PRAYER patiently illustrates how places imprint themselves upon us and guide our actions. Read @marshallshaffer.bsky.social's review.

'A Little Prayer' Review: Angus MacLachlan's Family Drama Takes Us There

Writer-director Angus MacLachlan's 'A Little Prayer' patiently illustrates how places imprint themselves upon us and guide our actions.

www.slantmagazine.com

Marshall Shaffer @marshallshaffer.bsky.social · Aug 18

Support @bwdr.bsky.social, one of the last bastions of truly great long-form film writing that still exists.

Bright Wall/Dark Room @bwdr.bsky.social · Aug 17

Real talk (reel talk?):

BWDR recently lost a partnership that covered nearly half our operating budget, so things are suddenly very tough. If what we do has ever meant something to you, or you’ve ever thought about subscribing, now’s the time—it *truly* makes a difference.

Subscribe - Bright Wall/Dark Room

Subscribe for $29 a year Subscribe now to receive immediate access to each new essay we publish, plus our entire 135+ issue archive. Bright Wall/Dark Room is 100% independent, runs no ads, and strongl...

brightwalldarkroom.com

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Reposted by Marshall Shaffer

Peter Labuza @labuzamovies.com · Aug 15

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