Favorite films

Pinned reviews

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  Nomadland 2020

  ★★★★★ Watched 30 Apr 2021

  Springsteen-esque.
  AMDb 8.8 / 10

  Whoever said this was like the film version of a Springsteen song totally nailed it. Utterly beautiful - both expansive and intimate, intense and subdued, full of socio-political commentary. Frances McDormand holds the whole thing together, whilst Zhao binds the whole thing together.

  Three especially wonderful things:

  ♥️ the use of Einaudi and Arnalds' music is perfect

  ♥️ the capture of natural light in this film is staggering and only enhances the poetry

  ♥️ Swankie…

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  Before Sunrise 1995

  ★★★★★ Rewatched 27 Jun 2020

  A masterful demonstration of time and the shifting meaning of a moment.

  This gets better every time I watch it. I'm now realising the extraordinary articulation and maturity this film has when it comes to the passage of time and connection. It's weighty and feels so real. It absolutely nails the giddy heights of being on the cusp of something. Celine, Jesse and Vienna are so alive, so genuine. The three combine to form a master portrait of the insecurity…

Recent reviews

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  Don't Worry Darling 2022

  ★★★ Watched 01 Mar 2025

  A tedious thrill

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  La Dolce Villa 2025

  ★★ Watched 23 Feb 2025

  "Viewers enjoyed the scenery" 👌

Popular reviews

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  Holiday Inn 1942

  ★★½ Watched 21 Dec 2020 3

  Once great, now full of issues.
  AMDb 6.6 / 10

  They don't make them like this anymore... When was the last time someone used 'blackface' in a film? Robert Downey Jr in Tropic Thunder maybe? The Abraham song is incredibly dated and offensive, both in term of the lyrics and the alarming blackface makeup and costumes. It is quite jarring when that scene pops up. And then there's a fair few issues of consent and misogyny. No doubt a great…

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  Never Look Away 2018

  ★½ Watched 22 Jun 2020

  Patronising and self-obsessed melodrama.

  Art is meant to be about interpretation. Please von Donnersmarck, be more subtle. Let us interpret. I don't need repeated lines, overlaid images, corners of rooms, red marks on forms, or bus horns. These repeated symbols are the sort of subtleties I expect from a film after several viewings, not all lingering on screen on a pedestal for 3 hours the first time around.

  With a TV miniseries (or soap-opera) feel, it focusses on sentimental and…