Brandon Samora

Brandon Samora Patron

Favorite films

  • Vagabond
  • The Crow
  • Petite Maman
  • Harold and Maude

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  • To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar

    ★★★★

  • Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story

    ★★★★

  • Dottie Gets Spanked

    ★★★★

  • Assassins: A Film Concerning Rimbaud

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  • The Substance

    The Substance

    ★★★½

    The guiding principle of "The Substance" seems to be "more." More and more and more and more (and Demi Moore.) Take "The Picture of Dorian Gray," extend its endpoint to "Evil Dead,” “Carrie,” or “The Thing,” and add a heavy-handed helping of Kubrick, Cronenberg, and Lynch for good measure. The theme is spelled out in big bold letters. The object of envy hovers over every scene via a gigantic billboard with a Mona Lisa stare. The score is pulsating, bodies…

  • I Saw the TV Glow

    I Saw the TV Glow

    ★★★★½

    Shuffling out of the theater after my showing of "I Saw the TV Glow," I was confronted with a question similar to what Maddy and Owen experience in the film:

    "What do I do with what I just watched?"

    With age and experience, it becomes easier to describe the thoughts and feelings that art evokes. But then, a film like "I Saw the TV Glow" comes along and upends everything, sending you back into that uncertain mindset where meaning and…

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  • Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story

    Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story

    ★★★★

    Karen's soul feels like it's fighting to yell out from inside the plastic, motionless doll. A ghost story that never feels grim, but inevitable all the same.

  • Dottie Gets Spanked

    Dottie Gets Spanked

    ★★★★

    Oh, how this spoke to the sacred part of my childhood, enraptured by TV and absorbing images and stories that I didn't quite comprehend, but understood to be the most important thing.

    Pair this with "I Saw the TV Glow" for a helluva double feature.

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  • Oppenheimer

    Oppenheimer

    ★★★

    If this is Nolan's best film, it's also the most revealing about his world view: a world where words, puzzles, and tortured geniuses are paramount. To that end, the film is an exceptional characterization of Oppenheimer, a man navigating the labyrinth of logic and morality in the face of (the potential for) wanton destruction. He's a figure that Nolan and his particular artistry seem squarely a simpatico with. The result of this pairing is a film that offers plenty to…

  • Shiva Baby

    Shiva Baby

    ★★★★

    "Well thank god Sheila's coffee is always lukewarm, or you'd have third-degree burns, you know?"

    Claustrophobic, anxiety-inducing, and hilarious, Shiva Baby is a masterful exercise in tone. Every suffocating scene of judgmental voices and interrogative prying is met with perfect one-liners and punchlines that offer a nice breather from the mounting tension.

    It's hard to imagine someone not being sold on Rachel Sennott after watching this film.