How music and art can capture the essence of time

S1: It's time for Midday Edition on Kpbs. Today is our weekly arts and culture show. We'll talk with local composers , artists and movie critics. I'm Jade Hindman. Here's to conversations that keep you informed , inspired , and make you think. Artist Tatiana Ortiz Rubio joins us to talk about her art , inspiration and a soon to debut musical composition , Exploring Time.

S2: It is about time. It's about time explored through many different ways , which is what I like all the paradoxes , all the complexities that can't be answered.

S1: Then movie critics Beth Accomando and Yazdi run down their top ten movies ahead of the 96 Academy Award nominations. That's ahead on Midday Edition. This Saturday , chamber music nonprofit Camerata will present In Search of Time at UC San Diego's Park and Market in Downtown. It's a concert experience that explores the meaning of time through classic and contemporary compositions , as well as poetry and visual art. The concert will also feature the world premiere of composer Stefan Swift's Sunstone , which is inspired by artist Tatiana Ortiz. Rubio's charcoal murals , plus a new piece that will be on view for one night only. Other artists , including Crossborder artist Hugo Crosthwaite , will also be there to talk about their own creative process. Kpbs Arts producer and editor Julia Dixon Evans sat down with Ortiz Rubio and Camerata artistic director Beth Ross Buckley to talk about the Sunstone composition and how art allows us to reflect on the concept of time. Take a listen.

S3: So , Tatiana , before we start talking about the composition , I want to learn more about your process as an artist.

S2: And it was more of an intuitive beginning. I decided to start drawing on walls , drawing clouds. As I worked on that , I realized I was focusing all my inquiries on what was time. What did time mean ? At a human level ? Personal level ? What did it mean now ? How did that change now with this change in my life ? What did it mean for my daughter ? What did it mean in a larger perspective ? What was time ? So I began an exploration through physics. I started reading astrophysics all the way to also exploring it through poetry , through my own work , through my own poetic , I guess , exploration , through drawing. And that's that's how it began. It began through more of an intuitive place. And then I began to truly study it more purposefully. And this specific piece came about from a shared love of a poem by Octavio Paz called Sunstone , one of his first poems that got , uh , some fame. And it is about time. It's about time explored through many different ways , which is what I like all the paradoxes , all the complexities that can't be answered.

S3: And one of the things I really love about your work is the way that you play with white space , the negative space , almost when you work with charcoal , the clouds in particular don't use the white at all. Can you talk about your approach to clouds and how that all plays into it ? Sure.

S2: Um , I don't really know why clouds became what I work with. Um , I think it was sort of an excuse to just delve into exploring light and dark , these opposites to explore mark making. Although , of course , clouds are a great symbol for something that is in constant change that you can't ever truly define , that you can't put a finite thing to. It's always in transition , which is what the experience of time and the present moment is. And so I just have always gone through that. But they have slowly become more abstract as I've kept exploring them and using them in my work. I think it could have been almost anything in nature , because time is present in in anything , right ? It's so visible. And so I think it was it was really the first thing that I , I held on to and started just manipulating that I could just invent. And it was all about shadow and light , about these opposites , about my own experience of confusion with what time is. The more I learned about it through what physicists understand and and through philosophy , it's almost at the the edge of the questioning is is time relative at a at an atomic level ? Is it even relevant ? Is it even , you know , real ? And so I guess I explore it through these marks. I don't really plan these pieces out too much. Yeah. And I think that's why I also love charcoal , because it allows me to be very honest with the way I work layering. It's a very , a very nude way of working where I'm exposing every decision. And that's why I love drawing. It's just completely exposed every part of my process.

S3: I was hoping we could listen to a bit of Stefan Swiss composition Sunstone. This will be a world premiere , so we have a sneak peek from the composers Midi version of the song.

S4: They got together and talked about time and decided that the joint inspiration would be Sunstone , the poetry that we were just talking about. And it got Stefan in a whole new direction from any music I've ever heard him compose before. And he was very inspired by the Aztecs and listen to recordings , and that music is very flute based , and I happen to be the flutist. So the biggest benefactor , I get to play a lot of the themes on alto flute , which is the instrument that Stefan decided , you know , kind of match the Indian flute , the , the best. And so what you heard was Midi , but it was alto flute. And in the piece , in the opening , you hear that white space in the music , just like you were talking about Tatiana's art. So we , we go through lots of movements and offering and for directions and appearances of different gods. And then the epilogue is called Arriving Forever in reference to time. And so it's a it's a very emotional work. It's my pianist kind of says it reminds her of Philip Glass work , where it just moves along and carries you along emotionally. So I think everyone's going to really enjoy it. But it's nothing like Stefan has ever written , which is the excitement of commissioning new work.

S3: And Tatiana , you were talking a little bit about the poem by Octavio Paz. That poem , Piedra de Sol , was written in 1957. What can you tell us about this poem and how it influenced the composition and and also how it holds up , how it's endured ? Sure.

S2: So it has endured because as any great masterpiece , it can endure time and culture and any of those changes because it speaks to a human level. It speaks beyond any of those differences that we can create in our cultures or societies. And specifically , this one speaks about something that from the moment we had consciousness , we were aware of time passing. We were aware of time ending , of this inevitable end that we all have , that nature has. And it speaks about love and it speaks about death. It just speaks about all the experience of humanity beginning and ending in the same way. So it's this it's this poem about everything. It's a poem about life. And so I , I find it inspiring for almost any topic , for almost any moment of my life. It's something I go back to , to contemplate , to think on , to remind myself that things can. They don't endure in a way that can be something comforting , uh , and sometimes not. But a good reminder. And in my work , that's it just connects directly to how I experience it as well. So that's why I shared that with Stefan on that first conversation we had. Because even though I've written about my work and and I shared my ideas and images , I always go back to this as a source. So I wanted him to read it as well. And so it was wonderful to connect through Octavio Paz , who is from Mexico , like me , who was also a poet , very much interested in understanding Mexican culture. And so what Stefan does of researching traditional indigenous sound , marrying it with Western instruments , I find a beautiful because that's what Mexican culture is. It's this mix of , I wouldn't say marriage because that's a that would imply something , uh , that was through love , but it wasn't. It was a conquest. And it was a dramatic. But Mexico came out of that mix of the indigenous and the Spanish. And so it Stefan became interested in our history and our culture and , and not just in the poem and not just in the concept of time , but truly everything of where I'm coming from and I. I , I and just very excited and thankful for the work that that he has created.

S1: Coming up , how live music can catch the essence of time.

S4: The beauty of a live performance is there. It is in the present. You want to be present , you experience and then it's gone. So we can record it. But it's not the same as that.

S1: You're listening to Kpbs Midday Edition. Welcome back. You're listening to Kpbs Midday Edition. I'm Jade Hindman , Kpbs arts producer and editor Julia Dixon. Evans continues the conversation with artist Tatiana Ortiz Rubio and Beth Ross Buckley , the artistic director of chamber music nonprofit Camerata , about the upcoming In Search of Time concert , which will take place at UC San Diego's Park and Market this Saturday. Tatiana.

S3: Tatiana. You'll also be unveiling a new piece of work at the concert. It's it's a large , awe inspiring 12 by four foot charcoal mural. Could you describe it for us a little bit before the audience gets the opportunity to see it ? Sure.

S2: So the work I did until I got the full musical composition by Stefan. So that was wonderful because I really had to listen to it many times to get into what he was feeling , not just the poem by bass , but also how he reacted to it. So it's it's a dialogue between the three of us. Truly , we force pass into our collaboration. So it's a dialogue. I am responding to his work as he is responding to mine , as we are responding to bus. And as I listen , trying to think of how I could express this , I was , um , at the beach with my children , and I kept looking at all these different forms of water moving in the sand , how the water had affected the rocks , the clouds , the ocean. And I went back to the poem and reread. And there's so many moments when water is mentioned , this idea of the eternal returning of of a river or a fountain or a cloud. And so that's , that's really where it started. And then it really became a more intuitive process of just playing around with , with my drawings and my charcoal and the material. And the reason I made it into this format of a very long piece is because I wanted it to be both linear , but breaking with my composition , I was breaking the linear format of the canvas , so I was trying to force the I in a constant state of movement inside the image. Yet it is linear because that is how we experience time , right ? We have a beginning , a present , and an end. Yet we're trying to break that and explore in a cyclical way , through the music and through the the poem.

S3: Beth , I wanted to ask you how these different concepts of time , you know , like the fleeting , more ephemeral moments that we have in our lives or bigger things like timelessness and memory , how those manifest in the music.

S4: I don't know if I can pinpoint it , but I think it's what is beautiful in music and listening to live music. Is it ? It's a fleeting moment. Um , yes. We can have recordings and music comes in , you know , different ways that we can relisten to. But the beauty of a live performance is there. It is in the present. You want to be present , you experience , and then it's gone so we can record it. But it's not the same as that beautiful moment when you were there in the midst of the sound.

S2: I would also like to say that one of the reasons I loved that Beth invited me to do this is because I've always admired music , and I'm in awe of it because you need time as a material. We need the experience of time and entropy for memory to be in place in a human mind , in order to connect each note in that moment and make it into the melody it is. If we don't have memory , we can't connect those notes that are coming. And as we're listening , and then at the end , it makes sense in our brains as a melody. So I find that magical. And it's only because we as humans understand time is linear. And so I love having being able to work with with a composer and musicians like yourself.

S4: But yeah. Thank you. And and honestly , when I met you , I met you at Bread and Salt many years ago. We we Camerata performed at Bread and Salt. And you were in residency and I went back and you had on your mask and you were working , and it was so magical. I just fell in love with your clouds. And I started following you. And I'd say you're the one who got me interested in reading about time. So that's how we all affect each other , but I , I remembered that I thought , someday I want to work again with Tatiana. And and it happened.

S3: I love that. Beth , can you tell us about some of the other pieces of music in the program ? Sure.

S4: The very first piece in the program is impressions de la Puna Bahena Cetera , which is for flute and string quartet , and it complements our new commission just beautifully. It has folk music in it , and it's beautiful. And we'll set up the commission. And then another piece that we're doing is the The Kenia Suite by Villalobos for cello and piano. Very , very beautiful. And then not music , but we will be hearing from Hugo Crosthwaite and he will be telling us about his artistic endeavors. And then we move into the commission.

S3:

S2: I see my piece in a way reflecting that sound. So I don't really expect any specific , you know , interpretation. Whatever you know , any viewer takes from it is good with me. I just like the idea of having people fall in love with the concept of time , because at the end of the day , I find it. Something that reminds us of the essential. Even in a world where there's so many things happening right now. Um. Both maybe personal level for people or globally. Um , I just think that reminding ourselves of this basic thing we all share , this precious thing , which is that we all have these moments , like right now , being able to be thankful. Yeah , that's that's the reason I come back to this concept.

S4: I love that , and I think it kind of comes back to , um , the Cammarata. Our tagline is we make music that moves you. And what I've always thought is when you add art or another , like dance , another art to the concert , you are amplifying the feelings. So the music and the art will combine and be even bigger because of each other. It will make the experience bigger for the audience and I think really reach them. And a lot of my mission is to make music that moves you and to create an experience for the audience of community. And , and I , we like to say that everybody leaves feeling better than when they came in. And I think that's because the music and the art moves you and brings people together.

S1: And that was Kpbs arts producer and editor Julia Dixon Evans , speaking with artists Tatiana Ortiz Rubio and Beth Ross Buckley , the artistic director of chamber music nonprofit Camerata in Search of Time , will take place at UC San Diego's Park and Market in downtown this Saturday , starting at 7:30 p.m.. Coming up , movie critics Yazdi and Beth Accomando share their list of best movies ahead of the 96 Academy Award nominations. You're listening to Kpbs Midday Edition. Welcome back. You're listening to Kpbs Midday Edition. I'm Jade Hindman. The 96 Academy Award nominations will be announced on Tuesday , but today we have our midday movie critics here to run down their top ten films from 2023. Once again , we have Kpbs , Cinema Junkie , Beth Accomando , and movie Wallace's podcaster Yazdi. Welcome to you both.

S5: Thank you.

S6: Thank you Jade.

S1: Glad to have you both here. So first of all , let me have each of you explain what you were looking for in the films that made your top ten. Sure.

S7: Sure. For me , I feel like since the pandemic , I have been more eager to put films on my list that are not safe , that break rules , that try to say something different or do something different , or display just any kind of audacity to them. So I'm always looking to highlight that on my list. And then also films that maybe slipped under the radar people didn't get a chance to see or just didn't get the attention that I felt they deserved. So I'm kind of leaning more towards steering away from the bigger films that might be on a lot of other lists , and just trying to find these smaller gems that I just had a more personal connection to.

S1:

S6: And I picked those films which spoke the most to me. Turned something within my emotional circuitry , kind of , you know , triggered a response in me in spite of myself. And then , like Beth , I also tried to highlight those films that need more , championing , more recognition. Uh , Oppenheimer , at this moment in time , doesn't need any more beating of the drums , so it's not on my list.

S1: I agree that one is everywhere. So , Yazdi , let's start at the bottom of your list with number ten.

S6: So at number ten on my list , I have the movie The Holdovers , which is like a warm hug in front of the fireplace. A wonderful movie you can recommend to anyone and counting up from there. It is followed by the bracing Pakistani film , which was actually in contention for nomination for Best Foreign Film , but was released only in 2023. Is the movie Joyland at number eight is Martin Scorseses Killers of the Flower Moon. At number seven is the film monster from the Japanese director Hirokazu Kore eda , and we spoke about that at last month's segment. And then coming in at number six is the animated film The Boy and the heron. All right.

S1: And the Boy in the hair , and is actually that's still in cinemas.

S6: This movie is autobiographical. Some of his later films are tilting towards that , but it's in many ways not a film for kids. It's a film for adults. It deals with a boy who is trying his best to handle grief following the death of his mom. So the plot is very elliptical , but you see the same themes that you have from this director before about fantasy worlds into which , you know , little kids can escape into. It's just absolutely stunning to watch. And this is one of those movies that , again , doesn't give you all the answers and leaves you thinking about your own relationship with with grief and with fitting in with the rest of the world. And like many of his films , the score for this one , which is magnificent , has been done by Joe Hisashi. And here's a clip. Well.

S1: Well.

S7: And you know , it's a film that delivers exactly what you expect it to. You see the trailer or you see the first ten minutes , you know what you're going to get. But at this moment in time , a film that focuses almost entirely on script and character and performance feels audacious because we're so inundated with special effects and fast cutting and , you know , just trying to draw people off their couches and give them this kind of cinematic experience that we forget that good cinema is also just about falling in love with characters and watching these actors do incredible things. So that is at my number ten spot. And then I have Brandon Cronenberg's creepy Infinity Pool at number nine. This is David Cronenberg's son , and the fruit has not fallen far from the tree on this. But what's interesting is he's also unique. He is not imitating his father or replicating his father's work. It just feels thematically linked. But his films are great , and here I'm having a little bit of a cheat , but I'm going to include the streaming shows The Last of Us and Dead Ringers. And at number six , I'm putting the Hitchcockian French film anatomy of a.

S8: Fall are.

S1:

S8: So I don't.

S7: Actually watch a lot of streaming shows. I have to confess , because there are real time suck. You have to devote 10 hours or 6 hours to it. These two , however , really got my attention. They were brilliant , they were rewarding , and I feel like the line between streaming shows and feature films is kind of blurring on a certain level. You have directors who are working in both , and so these were just so exceptional that I felt I wanted to highlight them. The Last of Us is based on a video game that was hailed as one of the best , not just in terms of gameplay , but also in terms of story. And the streaming show , I think , captures both the action and the horror , as well as the emotional wallop that it packs every now and then. And here's a scene between Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey. They've been forced to travel together in this kind of dystopian future , where the cordyceps virus has jumped from plants to humans.

S9: Back in Kansas City , you asked me about the first time I killed someone. When I got bit in the mall , I wasn't on my own. My best friend was there and she got bit too. We didn't know what to do , and she says , you can just wait it out , be all poetic and just lose our minds together. And then she did. And I had to. Her name was Riley and she was the first to die. And then it was Tess and then Sam. That's not on you , I know it. Look , sometimes things.

S10: Don't work out the way we hope. You can feel like. Like you've come to an end and you don't know what to do next. But if you just keep going. You find something new to fight for.

S1: And Dead Ringers is a remake of the David Cronenberg film that seems to be a surprising pick for you.

S7: Yes , remakes are generally not something I enjoy , and David Cronenberg is a beloved filmmaker of mine , so I , I honestly went into this thoroughly expecting to hate it. So the fact that I fell in love with it almost immediately , I think , goes to just how good this was , and it shows exactly why and how you should do a remake. And basically what you need to do is you have to have a new vision for it. So this did a gender swap on the Cronenberg film , which was about twin male gynecologists , and it gives the body horror a very feminine spin. And here's a scene with Rachel Weiss , who plays the twin sisters who are both ObGyn doctors in the streaming show Dead Ringers. Elliot.

S9: Elliot.

S11: Beverly I can't keep doing this. Elliot. Doing what ? Delivering babies by opening a bathing center so we can do literally just that until the end of time. Non-Stop baby , you know what I mean ? Do it all way. Total control birthing center.

S12: La la la la.

S13: Hey , you guys have , like , exactly the same face. Yeah.

S1: And Yazdi , let's move on to your top five with an Indian film called the 12th fail. Tell me about. That.

S6: That. Yes. So there were many great Indian films released this year , but 12th Fail came out of nowhere. It's a film which is almost like Dickens set in India. It tells the story of a little kid who grows up in the most destitute of states in a small , small village in India , and he makes up his mind that he is going to do what it takes to become the highest civil servant level officer within the Indian government. And it's based on a true story , and the entire film is about this particular man's pursuit relentlessly to get at this ambition where corruption and greed and nepotism is , is , you know , they're everywhere to kind of pull him down. And I just love how how good the film is and how the film itself has a very quiet , simple determination and telling the story. I don't know , it felt to me like I was watching like an Indian adaptation of Oliver Twist. I love that film. And here is a sort of a theme song from the film called restart , which again comments on , you know , fall a hundred times , but every time restart , restart. Stop.

UU: Stop. Start. Stop stop stop stop stop stop stop. These are. These are. These are. These are.

S14: I have not seen that.

S7: I'm going to have to check that out.

S1: All right. And at number four , you have a film Beth has on her list and that you championed on an earlier show , anatomy of a fall. But at number three , you have a film we have not had a chance to mention , and that is all of us strangers. And here's the trailer. Hello. Hi.

S15: Hi. So you're looking at me from the street ? I'm assuming you're not with anyone. I've never seen you with anyone. Does it. Mom and dad ? Yeah.

S16:

S17: They died just before I was 12. I'm trying to write about them at the moment.

UU: How's it going ? Strangely.

S16:

S1:

S6: And they strangely haven't aged at all and are now at the same age that he currently is. How could this be ? What is this film ? Is it a melancholic mystery about the afterlife ? Is it a meditation on how we handle grief ? Is that existential science fiction , or is it just a loose device to have these marvellous actors work miracles ? Whatever it is ? I adore it , and it sits resolutely in my brain , bouncing about sculpting theories and begging for some kind of an explanation that I actually hope never comes. It's a wistful , aching , restless movie that I think is going to stand the test of time and bet.

S1: That , number five , you have the animated film Spider-Man across the Spider-Verse. Let's hear a clip of Miles Morales and Gwen Stacy swinging through the city.

UU: Wait wait wait. Hold on. The Mona Lisa lives an elite society with all the best spider people in it. Okay , so there's this lady just.

S18: Drew a motorcycle. Motorcycle ? Gosh , I'm learning.

S8: So much from her.

S18: Yeah , I've learned a lot of stuff , too. I've leveled up my whole thing. Oh , yeah. Follow me. Let's see that.

S7: Let's go ride the needle. Oh , my. All right. I just loved this film. And I loved how audacious the animation was. It was pushing the envelope kind of at every turn. It was constantly surprising. It was beautiful and then sometimes ragged on the edges. And sometimes just the color palette had an emotional impact on you. This film is the sequel to Spider-Man into the Spider-Verse , and these two films are hands down my favorite Marvel movies of all. They manage to get the action , they managed to get the character development , and they really have a surprising emotional impact. I mean , you really care for these characters and their relationships and it moves you and you don't expect it. So I'm just so happy that this film has been made , and I am thrilled to include it here on my list.

S6: This movie was 12th on my list. And by the way , 11th was Infinity Pool , which , you know , there have been so many good horror movies and I'm glad you are recognizing it because this is just incredible. It's almost so much more than horror. It's an excellent script , so. Seriously.

S8: Seriously.

S7: Managed to sneak in more films.

S1: Because again , it's hard to narrow them all down.

S8: It's hard to narrow it down. Oh no , I try.

S1: Well , as we get to the top of your list , we have some overlap here.

S6: And at number one is past lives. Let me talk first about poor things. Pound for pound , this is the most inventive , dazzling , risky , gorgeous film released in 2023. And nominally , it's just a gender reversed Frankenstein story. But I think no other film this year comes close , and it's daring in its frankness and in its embrace of the odd and the beautiful. I just have so much love for this film. And then the number one film for me is Past Lives. This is a movie that I saw , I think first in February , and it's a little independent film. It's a co-production between South Korea and the United States. Very delicate , gentle , understated film. And that movie just would not leave me alone. It's deeply wise. It's heartbreaking. It's kind. It speaks about immigration. It speaks about the one that got away , and it speaks about the state of the marriage. And , you know , it's the only movie this year that I've gone in and watched three times in the theater , because I just couldn't get enough of it. I think it's second only to maybe In the Mood for love and its evocation of unrequited love and that aching pain that comes with it.

S8: And it's. Impressive.

S7: Impressive. This is a debut for the director , and it's so assured , because part of what's so interesting about it is the structure. I mean , if you , you know , Yazdi kind of gave us the the plot , but what makes it so interesting is the way it unfolds through flashbacks and jumping around in time. And it's very assured for a young filmmaker.

S1: And it's so complicated. I think for a lot of filmmakers to do that , to jump from time period to time period and make it make sense.

S7: And continence too. Yeah.

S8: In this one. Yeah , yeah.

S1: So Beth , let's find out your top for sure.

S7: So both Yazdi and I have a. Of the same films here , but my top four is a slightly different order , so I have past lives at number four , but I completely appreciate the beauty of this film. It's so delicate on a certain level and yet so powerful in other ways. And when the ending comes , like the emotional hit you get is so surprising because you don't realize how much you've had invested in these characters. And then I have monster ranking a little bit higher than Yazdi at number three. And this is also an incredibly delicate , beautifully constructed film. It's taking three different perspectives to kind of weave a story and basically tell you like until you have all the information , maybe you shouldn't be so quick to judge. And it's just an exceptional film. And Corita is an amazing director and he works incredibly well with children. So at number two , this is a very heartfelt and deeply personal film for me. And this is Godzilla Minus one. And you know , Godzilla is 70 this year. I'm doing a film series at digital cinema celebrating his 70th birthday. This is the most recent film from Toho Studios , and he just roars into cinemas. This film is epic , but it also has great intimate detail and wonderful storytelling , and it's the closest , I think , thematically and tonally to the very first Godzilla film from 1954 , which had a sense of the real horror of what Godzilla's destructive powers could be , and that horror is linked to the U.S. having dropped two atomic bombs on Japan. So this film , if you haven't seen it , I think it's still got a few more days in the theater. Go see it. It it really has scale that you need to appreciate in a movie theater.

S6: And it also has kind of an old fashioned sensibility about how the different characters are developed. You know , they're all very archaic. You know , they're very I don't know , they remind you of earlier films. Yeah.

S7: Yeah. It's like an old studio film where you had like this stable of actors who could fill out these character roles with really great detail.

S19: Gojira minus one.

S7: Finally , I have poor things at number one , slightly higher than Yazdi , and I have to say that this is the female empowerment film that Barbie couldn't even imagine , couldn't even dream of. This is a film that never lectures you. It never has to use the word patriarchy. No one has to give Emma Stone's Bella permission or approval to do anything that she does. She just goes out on her own as this kind of newborn child and takes control of her life. And it was fabulous. And as Yazdi said , this is the most audacious , clever , creative , original film to come out this year. And I just loved how it was not merely about a woman coming up against male patriarchy. It was about a person refusing to live within the confines of polite society. Polite society comes up quite frequently in this , and she's just like , no , why ? Why do I have to follow these rules ? Like who set them and why do I need to follow them ? And this director , Yorgos Lanthimos , is just amazing. His films always tend to be disturbing and unsettling , and this one actually had some joy also. And that was a lovely surprise.

S1: Okay , so I have to know , like one of my favorite movies streaming movies was Netflix. Leave the world behind. Did you all see that ? Yes.

S8: Okay. So listen , I.

S1: Know , okay , it's not the best artistic work , but man , what did you take away from it is what I want to know.

S7: As somebody who loves horror , dealing with post-apocalyptic and dystopian worlds is something that , you know , I have seen frequently and am quite prepared for , generally speaking , in the zombie apocalypse form. But , you know , I mean , I think the film was good in the way that it suggested how the world could change in this almost quiet sort of way. Like , you're not you're barely even noticing. And I liked how it showed our complete dependence on things like our cell phones and technology and the internet , and how quickly we can become suspicious of others when , like , some of these things are failing us. Right.

S8: Right.

S1:

S6: Man. Chamberlain's film , which came out earlier this year , also dealt with the same thing. And I think it does a reasonably good job commenting on how , you know , all of our protections kind of come off in a crisis , right ? We lose , um , our desire not to be racist. We lose our desire not to be openly offensive , and all of those things kind of come to the fore.

S1: I think we're able to put a bow on it for yourselves. The ending with that ending. Yeah.

S8: You know , it's.

S7: Funny , there was a film that came out recently called Don't Look Up , which was also. About.

S8: About.

S7: To the end of the world. And there was a point at which I was , you know , people are crying about the end of the world and all this. And there was a point at which , being a misanthrope , I looked at it and I was going like , man , we need to just start over. Like humanity has failed. We need to just wipe the slate clean and let another species come in and give it a shot. And I don't know why you're crying. Just go with it and like , that's fine. And so there's a part of me that when the end of the world comes in these movies , there's a part of me that just goes like , it's okay.

S1: Oh , gosh. Well , thank you both for highlighting the best of last year. On Tuesday , you can find out what the Oscars are picking as the best of 2023 , and you can find these ten best lists , as well as other highlights from 2023 at kpbs.org/cinema Junkie. Once again , I've been speaking with Kpbs , Cinema Junkie , Beth Accomando and podcaster Yazdi. Pathology of movie , Wallace Beth and Yazdi , thank you so much for joining us.

S5: Thank you , thank you.

S1: That's our show for today. Thanks for joining us. Be sure to catch Evening Edition tonight at five for in-depth reporting on San Diego issues. The roundtable is here tomorrow at noon. I'd like to thank the Midday Edition team producers Giuliana Domingo , Andrew Brack and Brooke Ruth , and assistants Ariana Clay and Laura McCaffrey , art segment contributors Julia Dixon Evans and Beth Accomando , technical producers Rebecca Chacon and Ben Read Lask. Our theme music is from San Diego's own Surefire Soul Ensemble. Don't forget you can download the Midday Edition podcast wherever you listen. I'm your host , Jade Hindman. I'll see you back here Tuesday. Have a great weekend , everyone.