If you haven’t already, you should start familiarizing yourself with the multi-talented, expert level movie lover Karsten Runquist. This 22-year old is best known for his incredibly detailed and informative YouTube videos, all of which are dedicated to discussing film and television. His 331K subscribers tune into his frequent uploads that range anywhere from ‘Spongebob’s Darkest Episode’ to ‘Why Adam Sandler is a Good Actor’ to ‘I saw the Dora Movie so You Didn’t Have To.’
Karsten first fell in love with cinema when he spontaneously watched American Beauty one night while in high school. Despite this film not aging relatively well, it was the first movie Karsten was absolutely hypnotized by for its beautiful shots and challenging plot. “This was the first time a film really hit me.”
Since that night, Karsten has been continually expanding his fascination and knowledge for film, most notably by watching an abundance of them. Now, Karsten reviews each movie he watches on his Letterboxd account, which has accumulated to over 1,170.
In addition, he hosts Karstcast Moviecast, a podcast where he and Jeff Borislow team up together to converse their passion and reviews towards recent movies they’ve seen. The duo currently have 73 episodes, and will continue to make more.
Karsten expanded his education by attending DePaul, a film school in Chicago, IL. He graduated this year with his BFA in Film & TV and a concentration in editing, to which he has certainly used those skills to expand his platforms, as well as create different film projects. The movie fanatic is currently working on many different short films and projects. He very recently released Rhubarb, a four-minute short film about a keychain falling into the lives of four different individuals.
Karsten has deeply embedded himself into the cinematic universe and is working to share his passion for film and television on his multiple different platforms and projects. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but when it comes to movies, trusting in Karsten comes naturally, as his knowledge about all-things-movies is extremely reliable.
SHEESH! chatted with Karsten to further understand his insight and interest in film and television.
SHEESH!: What makes a movie good to you?
KARSTEN RUNQUIST: “The way a film is structured and how it paces itself is huge to me. Obviously, a great score and cinematography is all great, but the way it all comes together to be a build in a way. The ending is huge for me. It sticks out to me if you can’t stop thinking about a way a movie ends. Like Marriage Story is a great example of this because the soundtrack and the score, with the weird ending and the performances – it just all builds into that argument scene, which really sits with you.”
SHEESH: Who is your favourite director?
KARSTEN RUNQUIST: “Yorgos Lanthimos is so good. He did The Lobster, Killing of a Sacred Deer and The Favourite. There are so few directors working today that have such a distinct style that isn’t imitating Wes Anderson or Quentin Tarantino. He’s just got his own thing entirely that he does so well and I love it.”
SHEESH!: Why is Synecdoche, New York your favourite movie?
KARSTEN RUNQUIST: “I have a complicated relationship with Synecdoche, New York – it’s ambitious and unlike anything I’ve ever seen. Now that I’m older, it’s definitely something I appreciate a little bit more than my previous favourite – Fantastic Mr. Fox. It takes a couple watches to realize a movie is your favourite, but Synecdoche, when I finished it, it hit something differently in me and it immediately became my favourite movie I had ever seen.”
SHEESH!: Where is a good place to start for someone who is beginning to watch movies?
KARSTEN RUNQUIST: “I know it’s kind of jokey to say this, but A24 does so much as far as accessibility. They distribute and produce a lot of films for either brand new directors or well-known established filmmakers. They make them pretty modernized and accessible. At least for me, getting into what they’ve done. I discovered them the same way a lot of people have, with Moonlight and Lady Bird, and it went on from there. They have introduced me to a lot of different styles and film makers by watching their stuff. If someone isn’t familiar with A24, watch some of their films, because most of the time they’re pretty good, and from there explore more of the directors’ work. For example, they just put out First Cow directed by Kelly Reichardt and she’s really well-known and respected in the film community, but definitely not in a mainstream level. Because A24 put out her film, people can watch that and then if they like that possibly watch more of Kelly’s movies. She’s got a great filmography.
My favourite A24 movie is Moonlight, as far as its style and everything it was doing. First Reformed is also up there.”
SHEESH! What are your favourite television shows?
KARSTEN RUNQUIST: “I recommend BoJack Horseman on Netflix. It’s a hard hitting drama, disguised as a cartoon. It’s super funny. It’s hard not to enjoy it.
Barry, Bill Hader’s show on HBO. It’s shot really well. It’s really entertaining.
Fleabag is my last recommendation. It’s really good.”
SHEESH!: What is the best film festival you have attended?
KARSTEN RUNQUIST: “I went to TIFF, Cannes and Sundance Film Festival. Usually you would think Sundance or Cannes are the best, they were both great don’t get me wrong, but TIFF was just unbelievable. I love the city, I love how the festival is run. I saw some of the best movies there. I got to see Parasite, Knives Out and The Lighthouse. I really loved my time there.”
SHEESH!: Despite not very much coming out, what is the best movie you’ve seen this year?
KARSTEN RUNQUIST: “Bad Education. A Hugh Jackman movie, which was on HBO. I thought it was such a great movie. It’s super tight and sharp and witty. It really reminded me of Fargo. People didn’t pay much attention to it, but I really liked it.
The French Dispatch, Wes Anderson’s new movie, was supposed to come out this summer. It got postponed to my birthday in October, but now they have completely put it off the schedule, so now we don’t know when we’re going to see it.”
Film and television allow individuals to step inside a realm where everything is peaceful for a moment in time. Dive deeper into your own cinematic universe by tuning into Karsten’s multi-platform film and television themed content.
