nksaunders.space

Off-sky

Clouded out.

When the dome is closed, I spend most of my time with The Creatures (pictured below) who live with me and my partner, Brittany. You'll often find us watching movies. I de-stress by cooking an elaborate meal and cleaning the kitchen. I play the violin (too infrequently), but more often I cover my favorite sad songs on guitar.

The creatures

Marty
MartyBreed: just a little guy.
Rya
RyaLikes: scaring Marty. Dislikes: being near Marty.

Films

Alongside my BS in Physics & Astronomy, I earned a BA in Cinema Studies. Film history fascinates me, I believe movies give you the clearest indication of what occupies people's minds in a given place and time.
Here, you can find my current favorites. Movies I can't get out of my head. Below, I list my top 10 films for each decade (back to the 1920s).
Disclaimer: my taste is subjective and sometimes bad. I just like watching movies.

Current Favorites

  1. Poster for The Apartment (1960) The Apartment (1960) dir. Billy Wilder
  2. Poster for Perfect Blue (1997) Perfect Blue (1997) dir. Satoshi Kon
  3. Poster for In the Mood for Love (2000) In the Mood for Love (2000) dir. Wong Kar-Wai
  4. Poster for Midnight Run (1988) Midnight Run (1988) dir. Martin Brest

Top ten by decade

2020s
  1. Past Lives (2023) dir. Celine Song
  2. Killers of the Flower Moon (2023) dir. Martin Scorsese
  3. The Holdovers (2023) dir. Alexander Payne
  4. Oppenheimer (2023) dir. Chrisopher Nolan
  5. One Battle After Another (2025) dir. Paul Thomas Anderson
  6. Anora (2024) dir. Sean Baker
  7. Challengers (2024) dir. Luca Guadagnino
  8. Palm Springs (2020) dir. Max Barbakow
  9. Dune Part Two (2024) dir. Denis Villeneuve
  10. Hundreds of Beavers (2022) dir. Mike Cheslik
2010s
  1. Parasite (2019) dir. Bong Joon Ho
  2. The Master (2012) dir. Paul Thomas Anderson
  3. Hereditary (2018) dir. Ari Aster
  4. Minding the Gap (2018) dir. Bing Liu
  5. Interstellar (2014) dir. Christopher Nolan
  6. Embrace of the Serpent (2015) dir. Ciro Guerra
  7. Boy (2010) dir. Taika Waititi
  8. Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019) dir. Céline Sciamma
  9. Uncut Gems (2019) dir. Safdie Brothers
  10. The Lighthouse (2019) dir. Robert Eggers
2000s
  1. In the Mood for Love (2000) dir. Wong Kar-Wai
  2. There Will Be Blood (2007) dir. Paul Thomas Anderson
  3. Memories of Murder (2003) dir. Bong Joon Ho
  4. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003) dir. Peter Jackson
  5. House of Flying Daggers (2004) dir. Zhang Yimou
  6. Spirited Away (2001) dir. Hayao Miyazaki
  7. No Country for Old Men (2007) dir. The Coen Brothers
  8. Burn After Reading (2009) dir. The Coen Brothers
  9. Amélie (2001) dir. Jean-Pierre Jeunet
  10. In Bruges (2008) dir. Martin McDonagh
1990s
  1. Chungking Express (1994) dir. Wong Kar-Wai
  2. Perfect Blue (1997) dir. Satoshi Kon
  3. The Big Lebowski (1998) dir. Joel Coen
  4. Dreams (1990) dir. Akira Kurosawa
  5. Close-Up (1990) dir. Abbas Kiarostami
  6. La Haine (1995) dir. Matheiu Kassovitz
  7. Fargo (1996) dir. Joel Coen
  8. Once Upon a Time in China (1991) dir. Tsui Hark
  9. Fallen Angels (1995) dir. Wong Kar-Wai
  10. Rushmore (1998) dir. Wes Anderson
1980s
  1. When Harry Met Sally... (1989) dir. Rob Reiner
  2. Midnight Run (1988) dir. Martin Brest
  3. Withnail and I (1987) dir. Bruce Robinson
  4. The Princess Bride (1987) dir. Rob Reiner
  5. Police Story (1985) dir. Jackie Chan
  6. Come and See (1985) dir. Elem Klimov
  7. The Thing (1982) dir. John Carpenter
  8. Ran (1985) dir. Akira Kurosawa
  9. The Shining (1980) dir. Stanley Kubrik
  10. My Neighbor Totoro (1988) dir. Hayao Miyazaki
1970s
  1. Dog Day Afternoon (1975) dir. Sidney Lumet
  2. Jeanne Dielman, 23, quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles (1975) dir. Chantal Akerman
  3. House (1977) dir. Nobuhiko Obayashi
  4. The Exorcist (1973) dir. William Friedkin
  5. Fantastic Planet (1973) dir. René Laloux
  6. Stalker (1979) dir. Andrei Tarkovsky
  7. The Godfather (1972) dir. Francis Ford Coppola
  8. Eraserhead (1977) dir. David Lynch
  9. Drunken Master (1978) dir. Yuen Woo-ping
  10. Alien (1979) dir. Ridley Scott
1960s
  1. The Apartment (1960) dir. Billy Wilder
  2. PlayTime (1967) dir. Jacques Tati
  3. Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964) dir. Stanley Kubrick
  4. Pierrot le Fou (1965) dir. Jean-Luc Godard
  5. The Battle of Algiers (1966) dir. Gillo Pontecorvo
  6. Dragon Inn (1967) dir. King Hu
  7. Psycho (1960) dir. Alfred Hitchcock
  8. Vivre Sa Vie (1962) dir. Jean-Luc Godard
  9. Symbiopsychotaxiplasm: Take One (1968) dir. William Greaves
  10. La Jetée (1962) dir. Chris Marker
1950s
  1. Rear Window (1954) dir. Alfred Hitchcock
  2. Sunset Boulevard (1950) dir. Billy Wilder
  3. In a Lonely Place (1950) dir. Nicholas Ray
  4. Sabrina (1954) dir. Billy Wilder
  5. Rashomon (1950) dir. Akira Kurosawa
  6. Los Olvidados (1950) dir. Luis Buñuel
  7. Seven Samurai (1954) dir. Akira Kurosawa
  8. An Affair to Remember (1957) dir. Leo McCarey
  9. The 400 Blows (1959) dir. François Truffaut
  10. The African Queen (1951) dir. John Huston
1940s
  1. Casablanca (1942) dir. Michael Curtiz
  2. Mildred Pierce (1945) dir. Michael Curtiz
  3. The Big Sleep (1946) dir. Howard Hawks
  4. The Maltese Falcon (1941) dir. John Huston
  5. Bicycle Thieves (1948) dir. Vittorio De Sica
  6. The Shop Around the Corner (1940) dir. Ernst Lubitsch
  7. Citizen Kane (1941) dir. Orson Welles
  8. Double Indemnity (1944) dir. Billy Wilder
  9. It's a Wonderful Life (1946) dir. Frank Capra
  10. I Married a Witch (1942) dir. René Clair
1930s
  1. City Lights (1931) dir. Charlie Chaplin
  2. The Rules of the Game (1939) dir. Jean Renoir
  3. Stella Dallas (1937) dir. King Vidor
  4. Modern Times (1936) dir. Charlie Chaplin
  5. M (1931) dir. Fritz Lang
  6. The Public Enemy (1931) dir. William A. Wellman
  7. Baby Face (1933) dir. Alfred E. Green
  8. Shanghai Express (1932) dir. Josef von Sternberg
  9. Stagecoach (1939) dir. John Ford
  10. ¡Que Viva Mexico! (1932) dir. Sergei Eisenstein
1920s
  1. Sherlock Jr. (1924) dir. Buster Keaton
  2. The Cameraman (1928) dir. Edward Sedgwick, Buster Keaton
  3. The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928) dir. Carl Theodor Dreyer
  4. The Kid (1921) dir. Charlie Chaplin
  5. Man with a Movie Camera (1929) dir. Dziga Vertov
  6. Battleship Potemkin (1925) dir. Sergei Eisenstein
  7. The Epic of Everest (1924) dir. John Baptist Lucius Noel
  8. Safety Last! (1923) dir. Fred C. Newmeyer, Sam Taylor
  9. Un Chien Andalou (1929) dir. Luis Buñuel
  10. Cœur fidèle (1923) dir. Jean Epstein
Bonus: So Bad It's Good
  1. Vampire's Kiss (1988) dir. Robert Bierman·
  2. The Room (2003) dir. Tommy Wiseau
  3. Troll 2 (1990) dir. Claudio Fragasso
  4. Samurai Cop (1991) dir. Amir Shervan
  5. Fateful Findings (2012) dir. Neil Breen
  6. Miami Connection (1987) dir. Y.K. Kim, Richard Park Wu-sang
  7. Voyage of the Rock Aliens (1984) dir. James Fargo
  8. Con Air (1997) dir. Simon West·
  9. Teen Witch (1989) dir. Dorian Walker
  10. Face/Off (1997) dir. John Woo·

Posters from TMDB. This site uses the TMDB API but is not endorsed or certified by TMDB.

From the kitchen

Halloween focaccia
Halloween focaccia
Satay chicken bowl
Satay chicken bowl
Kimchi jjigae
Kimchi jjigae
Confit garlic focaccia
Confit garlic focaccia
Homemade dips
Homemade dips
Caramelized pork bowl
Caramelized pork bowl
Kakuni and ramen
Kakuni and ramen
Butternut squash soup
Butternut squash soup
Honey garlic chicken
Honey garlic chicken