Last year I started renting DVDs from the library in an effort to be more mindful about my media diet (a perhaps futile effort, but an effort nonetheless!). Even though one of my favorite pastimes is scrolling for hours through B and C-tier streaming services and watching completely inane and obscure movies, I’m well aware it’s actively bad for my brain. So, to combat this—and to indulge my nostalgia for the Blockbuster Video era—I’ve been committing to one movie at a time by renting it physically. I’m fortunate enough to live in New York City, so I have access to a wealth of physical media for free. Obvious statement, but the library rules—consider the library!

This past winter, I was in the mood to rewatch a film I think is both brilliant and cozy: Inside Llewyn Davis by the Coen Brothers. The Coens have such a vast and impressive filmography that I don’t think most people would consider it one of their best films. But for my money, it’s probably in my personal favorite top three of their works, and I couldn’t recommend it enough. It’s introspective, beautifully shot, and features fantastic folk music.

An added bonus of renting a physical copy was that my library had the Criterion Collection version of the DVD—full of bonus features (if you're into that kind of thing), including a documentary of an Inside Llewyn Davis tribute concert: Another Place, Another Time. Oscar Isaac, an actor with a seemingly bottomless well of charisma, plays the titular Llewyn Davis and he also appears in the doc to show off his pipes. It seems cosmically unfair that someone can be so good at so many things.

The cover photo of this post is a shot from the film where Llewyn and his fellow outcast tourmates stop at a diner. It’s one of my favorite shots in any film. From the first time I saw it, I thought of it as a fascinating symbol of both isolation but and respite—an uncanny and liminal space. The rest of the film is full of beautiful shots that evoke similar feelings of ennui, making it a perfect winter watch. Does that make it a "Christmas" movie? Sure. Is that one of the more tedious things to debate about a film? Also yes. Despite how tedious this kind of debate is, would I passionately argue that, despite how disturbed and unsettling it is, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, another masterpiece, is a Christmas movie? Absolutely! But that’s a post for another place, another time.

P.S. Support your local library!

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