Favorite films

Recent reviews

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  The Hating Game 2021

  ★½ Watched 28 Apr 2024

  Not even amusing enough to be good dinner background.

  40/100 - Bad

• 

  Shame 1968

  ★★★★ Watched 22 Apr 2024

  Marriage under the duress of social and political upheaval, the kind of stress that burdens a man beyond the already necessary burdens of humanity, and brings him to an impasse that even faith cannot seem to resolve.

  84/100 - Great.

Popular reviews

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  Distant Voices, Still Lives 1988

  ★★★★★ Rewatched 02 Jun 2016 2

  Having now watched this an unprecedented 3 times in 3 days, I confidently add it to my 100s. Apologies to Pauline Kael, with whom I respect but complete disagree with on the idea of one-time viewings. Developing attachment to a film upon multiple viewings due to a stronger appreciation of aesthetic expression is not a fault of objective film criticism, it is a sign of the complexity and significance of the film and viewer relationship. Like with music, familiarity of…

• 

  Pompeii 2014

  ★★★★★ Watched 03 May 2016 1

  Review Posted at Aesthetics of the Mind

  Abstract:

  Paul W.S. Anderson rejects history and unapologetically creates a fictional story which constantly makes reference to its own artificiality. Affective images (emotionally affecting stills), saturated colours, and the hyperbolization of reality are features of its imaginative aesthetic, of a unique and auteur-driven vision of a fictional world: an artificial play which generates much genuine human emotion. Love is its content, from the love of Milo and Cassia to the brotherhood of Milo…