Excellent. In comparison to the similar The Pacific, it coheres more as a show, probably because it is mostly based on a single book, rather than overlapping first-person narratives. It is also more free in its storytelling, sometimes jumping back and forth in time, and spending some episodes following specific individuals. The Pacific does this a bit, particularly with its episode on John Basilone, but not to the same degree. Both series go to great lengths to put you in…

An "exploitation" movie that takes the time to develop mood and location in its exploration of masculine loneliness gone very, very wrong. Though it can't escape its budget limitations, the craft goes well beyond what you might expect. The score stands out, by Basil Poledouris who would go on to score many mainstream projects (Blue Lagoon, the Conans, Starship Troopers) and win an Emmy for Lonesome Dove just eight years later. Our murderer is a cameraman for porn loops, though…

More than any movie in the past few years -- probably not since seeing, ironically enough, Aniara, have I had a head so involuntarily full of a movie. Baker's The Florida Project was equally evocative. Roger Ebert called movies emphathy machines, and that is what Sean Baker has done: create opportunities for emphathy, not judgement, not sympathy. We are figuring out the situation along with Ani/Anora, but we are just watching, while she has to act. How does one act…