Dustin Kensrue of Thrice picks 4 movies to pair with ‘Horizons/West’
In Pairings, artists and creators pick the movies that complement their latest work.
Dustin Kensrue is the lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist in the rock band Thrice, whose new album Horizons/West is out now wherever you get your music!
We asked Dustin to pick a few movies that pair well with Horizons/West.
Groundhog Day (1993)
This is one of my top 3 films of all time. I watch it religiously every year with my family on, you guessed, Groundhog Day. Every time I watch it I walk away refreshed and reinvigorated. Especially as I’ve dug more into learning about Taoist and Zen philosophy I’ve been able to really appreciate the themes of letting go of our expectations, projections and demands on the world. These themes are woven throughout the new record, but especially come to the foreground on the first track, “Blackout.”
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
I love the way this movie explores the push and pull of joy and pain in relationships. There’s something about the theme and the way I juxtapose quickly flashing images in “Albatross” that reminds me of this film a lot.
Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022)
Is life meaningless? This very strange and beautiful movie dares to wrestle with the question. In certain ways it is very much akin to Groundhog Day in the sense that the solution to the “problem” of life is not something outside of it. It is in the here and the now, the seemingly ordinary (but really miraculous) nature of the life that is everywhere and always bursting with beauty and playfulness and joy and goodness in the midst of grief and pain and absurdity. This is a thread woven throughout Horizons/West.
Children of Men (2006)
I remember walking out of this movie when it came out and being so surprised that almost everyone I went with hated the film. I loved it then and still do. There is something about the way the slow, subtle, patient way that it gives birth to hope in a hopeless seeming situation. The commitment to maintain our love, our humanity, in the midst of a brutal authoritarian regime is (hopefully) reminiscent of what I try to achieve in the song “Vesper Light.”