Co-host of Cookie Pocket, accessible at the link in my bio.
My reviews reflect my opinions at the time of writing.
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The Brutalist 2024
This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.
Thematically vague and shallow, the significant majority of The Brutalist felt artificial to me. Artificiality is not a negative per se in a movie, but Brady Corbet’s goal seemed to be realism. Most of the actors are giving severely inauthentic performances, Guy Pearce the chief offender, and Felicity Jones and Raffey Cassidy badly fail to pass as Jewish. I’m baffled by those citing Pearce as an awards contender, and his most cravenly written scene certainly did not do him any favors.…
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Wicked 2024
A friend from my high school theater days implored me to see this, wondering if my “inner theater kid or pretentious movie critic” would win out. It’s a good question. The former won the day, largely because of Ariana Grande.
Every review of this should start and end with Grande and Erivo, but especially Grande. She is stunningly brilliant, at embodying the character, at singing live, and at being hilarious. I’m struggling to think of a recent performance I enjoyed…
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A Brighter Summer Day 1991
Yang tells a story mostly worthy of the “epic” label ascribed by its length, with powerful textual exploration of the importance of honesty, even when a dishonest apology would solve your problems. However, a basis in a true story and occasionally abrupt violence hampers the movie’s structure and an audience’s capacity to sympathize for its charactersThe source and inspiration of the title A Brighter Summer Day was portrayed wonderfully. I admittedly found this a lot less engrossing or moving than Yi…
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Opus 2025
Derisive reviews casting this as a pale echo of Midsommar, The Menu, and/or Get Out made me nervous, but I had fun seeing this with a friend. Edebiri and Malkovich are both singular performers, and the prologue for Ecton’s character did well to distinguish Opus from other societal commentaries. The ending probably drags a bit, and some moments meant to be shocking were predictable, but I ultimately enjoyed most of what was presented. Importantly, Moretti’s music is pretty enticing, cleverly written by real musicians to resemble successful pop music across decades. Moretti’s cult of personality is convincingly rendered without too closely resembling real-world examples as such.
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Barbie 2023
Disarmingly and surprisingly funny with an almost exhausting frequency, especially in the first half hour. I was laughing so often and so loudly that I probably annoyed those sitting around me. Ryan Gosling is hysterical. Gerwig and Baumbach are extremely canny in ways that almost never induce cringe.
The stylistic excess here feels comparable to Scott Pilgrim, and the toy world/real world connection is loosely similar to The LEGO Movie, but there is praiseworthy thematic work being done as well.…
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Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip 2015
Two minutes in I knew I had made a horrible, horrible mistake, but there was no other choice for Covid cinema. Watch this if you hate yourself, I guess.
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