Matthew

Matthew Patron

345Films

2This year

34Following

48Followers

"Relating a person to the whole world: that is the meaning of cinema." - Andrei Tarkovsky.

Ecstatic Truth > Accountants Truth

Belfast, Ireland

Favorite films

  • Andrei Rublev
  • Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors
  • Aguirre, the Wrath of God
  • The Witch

Recent activity

All
  • Dance First

    ★½

  • Gladiator II

    ★★½

  • Get Away

    ★

  • Alien: Romulus

    ★★

Recent reviews

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  • Dance First

    Dance First 2023

    ★½ Added

    Astoundingly boring biopic, which is both a shame and actually somewhat remarkable given the fascinating life and incredible mind of its subject matter. The performances are mostly…fine, if far from spectacular (Gabriel Byrne as older Beckett, Fionn O’Shea as young Beckett, and Aiden Gillen as James Joyce), but it feels as if there is some hesitation…with a plodding script that doesn’t offer the actors much to work with. Just a frustratingly shallow effort, which captures nothing of the absurdity and…

  • Gladiator II

    Gladiator II 2024

    ★★½ Added

    I would love to have loved this, but just can’t help but feel it was a pale rehash of the first film. The original is a sword-and-sandals epic on par with anything that came out in the heyday of that genre. Gladiator II tries to amp up the violence and spectacle - including CGI monkeys that look more like something out of I Am Legend, great white sharks in the colosseum, etc. - but there’s just no spark to proceedings.…

Popular reviews

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  • The Profession of Arms

    The Profession of Arms 2001

    ★★★★½ Added

    An absolutely outstanding film from Ermanno Olmi. I had already seen what Olmi is capable of in The Tree of Wooden Clogs (1978), one of my favourite films. I previously watched The Legend of the Holy Drinker (1988) as well which, while nowhere as good as the former film, certainly had it's moments. With The Tree of Wooden Clogs Olmi's sensitivity to the past was clearly apparent. He possesses an aptitude for recreating history in a manner which is factually…

  • Mandala

    Mandala 1981

    ★★★★★ Added

    I thought it was wonderful. It follows the stories of two monks and there different perspectives/struggles to find meaning in the world, their attempts to overcome nihilism - one is a younger monk who is trying to follow a strict, conventional lifestyle for a Buddhist monk, while the older one is a "corrupted monk", who was 'excommunicated' for sleeping with a girl and who is now a wandering alcoholic. Though the film is not as clear cut as this might…

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