Favorite films

Pinned reviews

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  The Zone of Interest 2023

  ★★★★½ Watched 07 Feb 2024

  The cost of Eden. A point that holds true for contemporary viewers (whom Glazer almost violently implicates) about as much as it did for the Hösses - we’ve just allowed modern technologies to put it at a further remove, obscuring the parts we play in global systems of exploitation to provide for what we assure ourselves is ‘the good life’. Hence - maybe - the pinhole of light; the monumentalization of atrocity puts history behind glass bars, at a safe…

Recent reviews

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  A Real Pain 2024

  ★★★½ Watched 09 Mar 2025

  simultaneously a little too subdued (the dynamic between Benji and David feels real, subtle and unspoken and in the end therefore somewhat unresolved/unchanged) and in select moments too big in contrast (the theatrical blow-out moments of capital-A Acting); but as far as such indie filmmaking fare goes it does feel genuine, and the performances are terrific. Culkin is, of course, the stand-out (supporting actor?); volatile and vulnerable and all-round excellent, relatable and recognizable as a portrait of mania, grief, depression, etc.

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  I'm Not a Robot 2023

  Watched 02 Mar 2025

  Brilliant premise, perfectly executed. Writing ‘Henry van Loon stars in an Oscar-winning film’ is insane.

Popular reviews

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  Girlfriends and Girlfriends 2022

  ★★ Watched 04 Feb 2023 4

  sorry, I thought this was bad and annoying - feels like a student film in the worst way (pretentious, masturbatory, poorly shot and poorly audio-recorded, etc.). my eyes are still recovering from rolling so far back into my head at every mention of Rohmer. particularly aggrieved at a moment here towards the end where the protagonist-writer-director, in excruciating detail, recaps literally all the film's plot points (which weren't that interesting to begin with) in a seemingly never-ending 'and then x happened and then y happened and then z happened' and I just wanted to leave the room so bad

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  The 4th Annual Live 'On Cinema' Oscar Special 2016

  Watched 28 Oct 2019 1

  Tim, after bringing out a CG rendering of a teenage version of his recently deceased year-old son: “I thought that was good - - that was healthy”

  
  
  

  
  (And because there are so many good quotes here, another favorite: “Just because you’re James Dean doesn’t mean I’m not gonna beat your ass”)