Favorite films

Pinned reviews

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  Matinee 1993

  ★★★★★ Rewatched 06 Mar 2025

  Shameless self-promotion: I have an essay about this film and what it means to me out now from Broad Sound, alongside words from some extremely talented people.

  Order your copy here.

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  The Straight Story 1999

  ★★★★★ Watched 28 May 2023 1

  Edifying.

  Counting this as a first-time watch. The first time I saw this, I was 8 years old and it had just been released. I only remember the opening scene where we hear (but don’t see) Alvin fall.

  Everyone calls this Lynch’s most accessible (which is true) but that doesn’t mean it’s not extremely Lynchian. The wide shots and extreme close-ups, the score, the pace of the editing, the maximalist emotions borne out of everyday events — all there from…

Recent reviews

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  Black Bag 2025

  ★★★★½ Watched 17 Mar 2025

  We need to come up with a better word for “satisfying,” because this scratched an itch in my filmic brain that I forgot was even there. Sodey’s on a hot streak this year, man. A fun, sleek, stylish, hot movie for adults about how marriage is you two against the world, and fuck everyone else. AND it does all of that in 94 minutes.

  Another thing I think is really cool is that the first fisheye oner feels like a…

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  Wild at Heart 1990

  ★★★★½ Watched 16 Mar 2025

  “Don’t turn away from love.”
  
  “There’s not a day that goes by that I don’t think about ‘The Wizard of Oz.’” — David Lynch

  Life is hell when you’re away from the one you love.

Popular reviews

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  The Brutalist 2024

  ★★★ Watched 19 Jan 2025 2

  First act is incredible, some of the best filmmaking I’ve ever seen.
  Second act is “I know writers who use subtext and they’re all cowards” personified. I get the metaphor, but damn.

  Epilogue ties it all together nicely, with a cheeky needle-drop.

  Absolutely beautiful cinematography, amazing score (I got chills when the brass hit as we see the Statue of Liberty in the overture), brilliant performances from Brody, Pearce, Jones (and Alwyn[?!]). But man, walked into this ready to love…

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  Conclave 2024

  ★★★★ Watched 28 Oct 2024

  I mean it did telegraph from the beginning how good the late pope was at chess.

  Not subtle at all, but this is a fun political thriller where Stanley Tucci wears a mitre, a papal front runner can’t stop vaping, and Ralph Fiennes is metaphorically answering every “can I be mean for a second?” text with “well, I’m not supposed to hear it, but give me all the details!”

  The bits about Fiennes coming to terms with his doubt and…