Favorite films

Recent reviews

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  Elvis 2022

  ★★★ Watched 26 Jun 2022

  Baz Luhrmann’s exuberant, hagiographic pop opera is colorful, adoring, and built around a superb performance by Austin Butler. 

  Using rhythmic editing, dynamic montages, split-screens (some recalling memorable sequences from 1970’s ELVIS: THAT’S THE WAY IT IS), and expressive manipulations of the soundtrack, Luhrmann manages to create an impressively immersive experience. But strangely, as glittering and sensual as much of the film is, it never quite reaches the swooning, ecstatic heights of some of the director’s earlier successes like MOULIN ROUGE.…

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  Crimes of the Future 2022

  ★★★★ Watched 18 Jun 2022

  Same title but this is not a remake of Cronenberg’s hard-to-see short feature from 1970, once infamously described by critic Kim Newman as “more fun to read about in synopsis than watch.” This new film certainly has its creepy pleasures and fascinations but is more of a reflective mood piece than a satisfying story. Cronenberg introduces a slight noir framework and conjures able performances from his committed cast, but the interesting central conceit — that, in this bleak future, surgery…

Popular reviews

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  Godzilla 2014

  ★★★ Watched 02 Jun 2014

  Neo-kaiju gets so much right & really nails horror elements. Too bad its military lead is as dead-eyed as the MUTOs.

  twitter.com/followfocus/status/474072835170635776

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  Mad Max: Fury Road 2015

  ★★★★ Watched 16 May 2015

  I disagree with people who seem to be considering MM:FR a "feminist" film. I don't think close scrutiny of the movie leads to that conclusion.

  The women largely represent traditional feminine roles centered around sexuality, fertility, maternity, etc. And the movie includes that deeply problematic narrative trope of a female character having been "raped to enlightenment."

  That said, I enjoyed the film's operatic feel. It unfolds in a highly stylized, if bleak, visual world with the extended action sequences functioning…