i think i've exhausted one phase of my relationship with cinema

back in the day, in one of my philosophy classes, we were given a list of films organized by different areas of philosophy. i started borrowing two films a week from the university's film center and worked my way through that list. that's how i discovered directors like kieslowski, tarkovsky, bergman, richard linklater, michel gondry, david lynch, kubrick, wim wenders, truffaut, jim jarmusch, lars von trier, gus van sant, and many others. somehow, cinema felt more philosophical than the philosophy texts i was reading. films opened up entirely new ways of thinking and seeing the world. i've been watching films ever since, but now, after all these years, i feel like i've reached a point of saturation. maybe the greatest cinema belongs to the past. or maybe i've simply seen too much. or both. these days, i rarely feel drawn to new films or series. most of them feel familiar, as if they're endlessly recycling the same ideas, stories, and aesthetics. even the ones that are well made often…