Favorite films

Recent reviews

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  Matt and Mara 2024

  Watched 16 Mar 2025

  Good, sad romance. The majority of the movie is made up very tight close ups. Working from Mara’s POV, it matches the constraint that she feels in her daily life from a number of sources—her disinterested husband, her stagnant writing career, her corny students—until an old friend comes back into her life and for a moment opens things up.

  Also, I’m happy to learn that Matt Johnson works as an actor outside of his own work.

• 

  McCabe & Mrs. Miller 1971

  Watched 12 Mar 2025

  Take The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean and Shoot the Piano Player, toss it in a blender, and voila.

  I enjoyed it.

Popular reviews

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  The Substance 2024

  Watched 23 Sep 2024

  Of course French people made this.

  I can be honest; they got me with sell of the Demi Moore/Market Qualley in one pieces. I’m a mark! Then they punished me for it.

  Ridiculous movie that constantly teeter totters between disgusting and hilarious. Visually, it’s like if David Cronenberg made one of those live-action Dr. Seuss movies. The expressionist funhouse perspective, the intense color saturation, the absurd writing (possibly an effect of translating the screenplay from French), Dennis Quaid: all these elements can’t make up for the fact that the movie ultimately lacks substance. How ironic.

  p.s. Climax of the movie was a lot of fun

• 

  The Crowd 1928

  ★★★★★ Watched 05 Aug 2022 1

  This movie has the most heart of any movie I’ve ever seen. I saw it at the opening of Film at Lincoln Center’s King Vidor retrospective. A pianist did a live accompaniment to the movie. I got caught up in it and cried for most of the end. I’m wiped out after it. 

  I really needed this movie today; it made me walk slower afterwards. I’ll make an exception and give this movie stars.

  I’m very grateful I got to see this movie and hope it gets restored. More people ought to see it.

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