Joel Mayward

Joel Mayward Patron

Favorite films

  • Mad Max: Fury Road
  • Ordet
  • The Fits
  • Mulholland Drive

Recent activity

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  • A Fistful of Dollars

    ★★★★

  • Superman

    ★★★

  • To Die For

    ★★★

  • Welcome to Mooseport

    ★½

Pinned reviews

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  • Twin Peaks: The Return

    Twin Peaks: The Return

    ★★★★★

    This is a mystery.
    This is a drama.
    This is a thriller.
    This is a soap opera.
    This is a fantasy.
    This is film noir.
    This is supernatural horror.
    This is a comedy.
    This is a musical.
    This is philosophy.
    This is theology.
    This is cinema.

  • A Hidden Life

    A Hidden Life

    ★★★★★

    "A Hidden Life is both the most Christian and the most political of Terrence Malick’s films. At 173 minutes, it’s also the longest, surpassing The Thin Red Line by three minutes. While some may balk at the expansive running time, Malick makes every minute count in this real-life story about Austrian conscientious objector Franz Jägerstätter, portrayed here by August Diehl. The film was originally titled Radegund, the name of the edenic mountain village where Franz and his beloved wife, Fani…

Recent reviews

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  • A Fistful of Dollars

    A Fistful of Dollars

    ★★★★

    I believe it’s called a “spaghetti Western” because the fake blood is made of marinara sauce.

  • Superman

    Superman

    ★★★

    That John Williams score does a lot of heavy lifting to elevate this to bearable levels for me.

Popular reviews

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  • Bonhoeffer: Pastor. Spy. Assassin

    Bonhoeffer: Pastor. Spy. Assassin

    ★½

    Is it historically accurate?
    No.
    But is it a well-crafted and entertaining film?
    Also no.
    Then surely it must be a preachy faith-based movie openly promoting Christian nationalism?
    Strangely enough, no. At least not as badly as the marketing from Angel Studios made it seem (e.g., there is no “Pastor. Spy. Assassin.” in the on-screen movie title, which makes me think that was just a promotional ploy for a certain evangelical audience).

    It’s just…fine. But “fine” isn’t good enough for…

  • The Canyons

    The Canyons

    There's a banal, harshly lit overlong scene where two characters are having a conversation in a cafe on Sunset Blvd when a UPS truck looms large enough in the window to make you think it's about to crash right into the building. But it doesn't—it's just a random UPS van driving by. And it's the most interesting moment in this entire film.