Favorite films

Recent reviews

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  The Substance 2024

  Watched 23 Mar 2025

  75, Not Not Cinema, Body horror is not one of my primary genres, so I'm not the target audience for The Substance, but I felt the film was pretty good and can say it certainly was an experience. It is very gross, thematically pointed, and has a distinct visual style. All of that makes it the type of film that stands out from other films, but in terms of my feelings toward it, I don't have strong ones either way.

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  Black Bag 2025

  Watched 16 Mar 2025

  80, Not Not Cinema, Black Bag is a sleek, engaging, fun, and surprisingly funny espionage thriller. I really enjoyed my viewing. It isn't the dour and methodical espionage of A Most Wanted Man, or the more overtly comedic world of Duplicity, but it lands somewhere in between them in just the right mixture.

  Black Bag is tight but never feels rushed, and the plotting is satisfying, although not groundbreaking. The only negative thing I have to say about Black Bag…

Popular reviews

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  A Real Pain 2024

  Watched 14 Nov 2024

  93, Almost Cinema, A Real Pain is a very moving piece. It oscillates between moments of humor, bittersweetness, and aptly, real pain. I found myself very touched throughout, and even when the laughter was mixed with tears, I appreciated it. The overall bittersweetness, especially in the film's conclusion—which I believe leaves room for both literal and metaphorical readings—very much appealed to my sensibilities. A Real Pain is not about solving the characters' pain. We see, through the juxtaposition of a…

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  A Different Man 2024

  Watched 09 Mar 2025

  80, Almost Cinema, Much like Sebastian Stan's leading character, A Different Man is one thing internally, but another externally. A blend of Woody Allen-esque self-consciousness and naturalism, body horror, surrealist oddity, and tragedy, it takes a simple message—“it's not who we are on the outside but who we are on the inside that defines us”—and flips how we expect to see that lesson taught. And while it is slow, and I do think it gets a bit too crazy at…