If not precisely in the Deleuzean sense, than the botanical one Deleuze metaphorizes out of: as Wiki tells us, ‘If a rhizome is separated into pieces, each piece may be able to give rise to a new plant.’

For nearly two years — which is to say, since I first became a regular reader of Shadowplay — I’ve been telling academic colleagues, cinephile friends, and (certain rare, particularly sharp) students, that David Cairns writes, on this blog and other venues he links to on this blog, with a zig-zag perceptual/conceptual logic that produces the most illuminating English-language film criticism of our time.

This is, in effect if not intent, Nawyecka criticism: “man says he’s going one way, means to go t’other,’”

This is criticism that merits comparison to Manny Farber and Serge Daney.

And if ever I need a single piece to substantiate my claims, today’s post would be it.

Hat’s off to you, David.

Now, having produced in effect what turns out to be the only fan letter I’ve ever written, I want to say that I wish you did not call Shadowplay ‘the willfully eccentric film blog.’

I don’t recall the reasons that I first checked Shadowplay out, but when I did it was at a time when you’d posted something on Jesus Franco; although I’m a Francophile in many respects, I’m not one when it comes to that Spanish filmmaker, so my reaction to my first visit here was: ‘willfully eccentric’ + Jess Franco post = focus on cult films I’m not especially fond of.

But my more substantive objection is that ‘willfully eccentric’ suggests that you’re forcing yourself to be so, as though you were up to the same thing here that Beethoven was with his op 135 string quartet: “Es muß sein!”

But I dunno, maybe you are.

In any case, “effortlessly eccentric,” “organically eccentric” — these square more closely with my experience of what you do here.

How about “skewed views”? Or “cinemanamorphosis”?

OK, I’ll shut up now.

2001 is a pretty good open text for projecting your own interpretations on. Kubrick in general seems well suited to this, especially as his career progresses.