Favorite films

Recent reviews

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  Anuja 2024

  ★★★★ Watched 13 Mar 2025

  finely poised affecting sentiments-dilemma

• 

  The Only Girl in the Orchestra 2023

  ★★★½ Watched 12 Mar 2025

  what a distinctive life-story --enjoyed this

Popular reviews

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  The Man I Love 1946

  ★★★★ Watched 04 Nov 2024

  The Man I Love (1946)* dir. Raoul Walsh
  Slight-minor plot spoilers ahead in terms of the film's tone and arc.

  Distinctive because Ida Lupino is so assured in her role of ‘torch singer’ Petey Brown who shows brave commitment-devotion to family (though of course this is ideologically valued-'proper' as facet of redeeming her unmarried way of life) and more important because she doesn’t lose her edge and hard-won sense of what’s at stake even as she is vulnerable to love…

• 

  Days of Heaven 1978

  ★★★★ Watched 20 Feb 2024

  Days of Heaven (1978)* dir. Terrence Malick
  Gorgeous, stunning images from two great cinematographers, music-sound mix of Ennio Morricone’s composition-score, “live’ musical performance, some Leo Kotke, and other moments of ambient sound without dialogue with strong performances in a love triangle with voice-over narration from the young Linda Manz to nearly mute the tragic tones and arc of this compelling film.
  See extended perceptive commentary by Adrian Martin
  www.criterion.com/current/posts/555-days-of-heaven-on-earth-as-it-is-in-heaven
  and also Roger Ebert’s review:
  www.rogerebert.com/reviews/great-movie-days-of-heaven-1978