soraya roberts

@sorayaroberts.bsky.social

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culture writer. contributing @defector.bsky.social. sorayaroberts.com.
IN MY HUMBLE OPINION: MY SO-CALLED LIFE (ECW, 2016).

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"I can’t stop thinking about the fact that in 1995 it was possible to land a so-called 'micro-tight' budget of $6 million (in today’s money) to shoot a meandering movie in 35 days on location in Knoxville, Tenn., about a guy finding his first gray hair."

'Box Of Moonlight' Is A Gem From The '90s Indie Boom | Defectordefector.com I can’t stop thinking about the fact that in 1995 it was possible to land a so-called “micro-tight” budget of $6 million (in today’s money) to shoot a meandering movie in 35 days on location in Knoxvi...

i wrote about the embarrassing number of times i read/watch/listen to things -- in this case, caroline polachek's "starburned and unkissed" from I SAW THE TV GLOW.

How Many Times Is Too Many Times? | Defectordefector.com I don’t know how music critics do this—I feel an immense impulse to just link to the song I’m about to talk about in order to save myself the anguish—but I am going to try to describe in mere words ho...

“trent reznor and atticus ross are not just turning a game into music, they are sublimating the emotions of the players inside that game.” yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah, i also wrote about CHALLENGERS.

You Can't Not Surrender To The 'Challengers' Soundtrack | Defectordefector.com Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah. Yeah, that’s 10 yeahs. And, yeah, that’s how Challengers makes you feel. That song, the third on the film’s soundtrack, is scored entirely by Trent R...

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oh hey, i spoke with Ethan Hawke!

Ethan Hawke's conversation with Defector: defector.com/ethan-hawke-...

Ethan Hawke Wants To Make Movies That Begin At The End | Defectordefector.com Ethan Hawke has lived his life in the movie business. Most know him for his performances in front of the camera in movies like Dead Poets Society, Reality Bites, the Before Trilogy, Gattaca, Training ...

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“With TIFF it’s like, ‘You should be grateful to be working in a job that you’re passionate about.’” ICYMI my longform reported feature on the TIFF LIGHTBOX dropped yesterday.

How Did TIFF’s Lightbox Become Its Money Pit?canadianbusiness.com The outlook was bright for the Toronto International Film Festival when the arts organization opened its sparkly King Street hub 24 years ago. What happened?

“With TIFF it’s like, ‘You should be grateful to be working in a job that you’re passionate about.’” ICYMI my longform reported feature on the TIFF LIGHTBOX dropped yesterday.

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so you read and loved @sorayaroberts.bsky.social's righteous screed about Toronto's mismanaged arts institutions now read her investigation into the mismanagement of TIFF, an organization struggling under the weight of its flagship headquarters

“I was warned by friends in the film community that no one would talk to me about TIFF. I spoke to 10 people for this piece. Among the 17 others I contacted, most did not respond.” My feature on the TIFF Lightbox has dropped.

ICYMI i wrote about how the thing i avoided (the black and white) turned out to RIPLEY's superpower.

"'Ripley' is a show that I would have been satisfied to watch with no sound at all, my eyes alone entirely filled to the brim." defector.com/ripley-turns...

'Ripley' Turns Black And White To Color | Defectordefector.com I didn’t watch Ripley at first. The black and white was a barrier (I know, but shut up, I was not alone). I have no trouble with black and white photography, so why black and white film? Perhaps becau...

wrote about RIPLEY and how it isn't just hitting because it's so exquisitely made, but because it stands out in a streaming landscape in which so much is so badly made.

was asked by @thelocal.bsky.social to write about the crumbling arts industry in toronto and tbf the institutions are all kind of telling on themselves, having basically standardized overpriced executive incompetence.

Having departed Hot Docs just over a year ago, I can say Soraya is enormously perceptive as to the causes of the collapse. A shame it’s taken such dire circumstances to invite wider scrutiny, but this piece is essential reading for anyone hoping to understand Toronto’s arts crisis.

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so you want to make an indie movie in Toronto i wrote about Canada’s own Kazik Radwanski, and how he put together his latest feature Matt and Mara, from financing with critics prizes and securing locations to taking it to market thelocal.to/kazik-radwan...

How to Make a Toronto Indie Movie | The Localthelocal.to Kazik Radwanski is part of a cohort of local filmmakers changing Toronto’s cinematic identity. With his latest film, Matt and Mara, he’s trying to reach an international audience.

“I think, in general, people are open to more personal work. That it’s less of a radical thing. That they see value in something being specific or truthful, which is a nice feeling.” ❤️

100% used my love for this film as an excuse to talk to the guy behind it. (not enough people spoke to evan morgan the first time around!!!)

love that @sorayaroberts.bsky.social interviewed Evan Morgan, director of The Kid Detective, a great movie people should seek out

'The Kid Detective' Is Too Good To Be Forgotten | Defectordefector.com I was not expecting to dive into the case of The Kid Detective. I wasn’t even aware there was one. All I knew was that I had never heard of the film until February 2021 (three months after its release...

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More of this, please: features written about good movies just because they're good movies (and not because it's tagged to an anniversary or a death). Great stuff from @defector.bsky.social and @sorayaroberts.bsky.social on The Kid Detective, a movie whose ending broke my heart.

“when people use this term ‘lynchian’, i think what they’re often talking about is a particular experience of design, of interiority, of space.” my feature @financialtimes.com on david lynch’s new creation - a “thinking room” - and interior design across his work.

How David Lynch will wow the Milan furniture fairt.co The cult filmmaker has created an installation called the Thinking Room. Here’s how it was conceived

if one more person praises ny mag or the cut i am going to punch a wall, that place is toxic as hell.

latest @defector.bsky.social column is about the multiple female subversions in LOVE LIES BLEEDING.

In 'Love Lies Bleeding,' The Body Scores | Defectort.co The first time Lou watches Jackie strut through Crater gym in Love Lies Bleeding, is the first time the camera watches Jackie strut through Crater gym, is the first time I watched Jackie strut through...

“the fact is, it doesn’t matter who it is, if you hold someone up like a god enough of the time, they will inevitably forget how to be human some of the time.” ICYMI my latest @defector.bsky.social is on jonathan van ness and rupaul behaving badly.

Of Course My Favorite TV Host Is An Asshole | Defectordefector.com I’m not sure that anyone was that surprised to hear that RuPaul Charles can be off-puttingly aloof on set, or that Jonathan Van Ness is a serious diva. In my many years of watching RuPaul’s Drag Race,...

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Keep thinking about how Glazer’s hands were shaking, like he knew saying something as relatively measured, but still necessary, as he did was of course going to get him dragged to hell.

"When films like The Zone of Interest and Oppenheimer win top prizes, one wonders at the intention. Is it simply a matter of self-delusion?" www.welcometohellworld.com/look-what-we...

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wrote about CGI for @defector.bsky.social defector.com/good-bad-or-...

Good, Bad, Or Invisible, CGI Makes Movies Unreal | Defectordefector.com In one of cinema’s earliest recordings, Auguste Lumière and his wife Marguerite are seen feeding their baby daughter Andrée. The footage, shot by Louis Lumiére, lasts only about 40 seconds or so. Pres...

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i've got an idea for a politically informed post-Oscars reaction piece—situating the broadcast in the context of a world in crisis—that i'm currently pitching around if you're an editor who'd be interested in that, or maybe know one, do let me know

actively looking for a lit agent (have a book project an editor wants me to write) -- if you are one who likes my work and will support what i want to write in any way you can, hmu: sorayaroberts at gmail.

wrote about DEADLOCH and why pretty much every australian show that makes it over here is a cult classic.

Australians Just Have More Fun (On TV) | Defectordefector.com I laughed the most at the exact same line the first and second time I watched Deadloch. It appears in the second episode of the Australian show that was for a long time known to its creators as “Funny...

wrote about it @defector.bsky.social.

It's A Great Time To Be A Plagiarist | Defectordefector.com Generally, I don’t take YouTube seriously as a critical medium, but the number of people who do makes it a little hard to ignore. The paltry amount of money that used to go to cultural criticism in th...

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Loved this piece. Love Soraya’s writing and love the freedom Defector gives its writers. I remember playing football as a kid and the technique was the hardest, most frustrating part. Then I played flag football in my early 30s and my entire physical relationship with the sport had changed

i do ballet now. again.

Ballet Brought Me Back To My Body | Defectordefector.com Everything hurt after my first ballet class: my arms, my feet, my legs, my thighs, my butt. Everything. It made me think about how many muscles I have been neglecting for the past three decades. And h...

the biggest co-sign of all co-signs. @coreyatad.com is the stealth editor to end all editors.

btw, if you need a freelancer and have some assignments to dole out or pitches you're looking for on a specific subject, my email is in the bio and while i've never edited professionally, @sorayaroberts.bsky.social can attest to my basic skills, so if you need someone to do some editing work...

i do ballet now. again.

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a wonderful piece of writing about beefcakes in their underwear, by @sorayaroberts.bsky.social www.nytimes.com/2024/01/20/m...

The Lascivious, Decades-Long History Behind That Calvin Klein Adwww.nytimes.com Jeremy Allen White joins the pantheon of underwear gods, balancing heroics with sleaze.

i wrote about it.

The Lascivious, Decades-Long History Behind That Calvin Klein Adt.co Jeremy Allen White joins the pantheon of underwear gods, balancing heroics with sleaze.