Favorite films

Pinned reviews

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  The Boxing Cats 1894

  Watched 03 Dec 2021 2

  There are many great boxing films out there – some of my favorites include The Set-Up, Raging Bull and Rocky – but The Boxing Cats is one of the most overlooked. Surprisingly so, because it's also one of the most brutal. Now some people will think that I'm just being silly here, but when you realize that the gloves are the only reason why these cats haven't clawed each other's eyes out, the coldness of the photographer's gaze will begin to dawn on you.

  This is a difficult film, not for the faint of heart.

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  The Searchers 1956

  Rewatched 23 Feb 2023 1

  This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.

Recent reviews

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  Luther 1974

  Watched 03 Mar 2025

  Luther admittedly feels like a filmed play, partly because it was a play, and partly because all the sets (some of which are re-used throughout the film) all feel like they’re indoors. That said, the dialogue and performances in this film are phenomenal, as are the cinematography and blocking. It manages to feel theatrical and cinematic at the same time, like a stage play filmed by a cinematic auteur.

  Probably the film’s biggest strength is how it explores a specific…

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  Apocalypse Now 1979

  Rewatched 28 Feb 2025

  You all know how incredibly Apocalypse Now adapts Heart of Darkness into a Vietnam War film. What I want to talk about more is the exceptional editing. Francis Ford Coppola favors montages based on fades and especially cross dissolves. The opening montage illustrates how he layers pieces of film upon each other to create superimposed images. The effect is surreal. These edits have a calmness and fluidity that add to the film’s false sense of security. These montages show Coppola’s…

Popular reviews

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  Aguirre, the Wrath of God 1972

  Rewatched 19 Apr 2019 3

  Aguirre: The Wrath of God is a triumph for Werner Herzog. It follows a group of conquistadors as they descend into the depths of the Amazon, which is to say that they descend into the depths of insanity. I want to use this review to talk about two elements of the film which make it work so well: the cinematography and Kinski's performance.

  As Roger Ebert noted, Herzog has a brilliant pictorial eye. Throughout Aguirre: The Wrath of God, Herzog…

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  The Devil 1972

  Watched 17 Apr 2020 1

  Diabeł is about the moral corruption of the Polish countryside and how it drives one man to insanity and murder. Andrzej Żuławski's 1972 film is as manic as you'd expect, with a reckless narrative energy paired with frequent handheld camerawork, psychotic acting, and avant-garde music fueled by the electric guitar.

  Despite this, the locations are gorgeously shot. Many images leave an impression through the beauty of their composition. Diabeł is weird and disorienting, but it is also stunning to look…