mrmcbrien

mrmcbrien

Favorite films

  • Dune: Part Two
  • Tenet
  • Persona
  • La La Land

Recent activity

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  • Shallow Grave

    ★★★★

  • Él

    ★★★★

  • Mickey 17

    ★★★

  • The Last Showgirl

    ★★★½

Recent reviews

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  • Shallow Grave

    Shallow Grave

    ★★★★

    The intro to this film is wildly gripping: a camera whirs around the streets of London as techno music plays and a melancholy monologue is done as a voice over, warning you that even trust in your friends can be a sin. While the premise was trope-y (gang of friends discover cache of cash and struggle with the fallout), the performances, pacing, and sense of place were anything but. Thrill ride.

  • Él

    Él

    ★★★★

    Really something special from 50s — engaging and thrilling and covering topics I would have to imagine were incredibly taboo at the time: domestic violence, emotional abuse, paranoia, schizophrenia.

Popular reviews

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  • Blink Twice

    Blink Twice

    ★½

    If I told you this movie was about Slater King, billionaire tech boy, who has resigned from his stressful role as CEO of a venture-backed startup to relax and recuperate on his private island that has been converted into an ominous palace for drug-filled, forget-me-not frolicking -- then I would have introduced this movie in a less ham-fisted way than it actually began.

    While there were some enjoyable moments (a short list that can be included entirely within a reasonable-length…

  • The Godfather

    The Godfather

    ★★★★★

    We all know someone named "Michael" from Long Island who's like this.

    As with *Dune: Part 2* (and perhaps I am sensing the whisperings of some philosophy of film here), I was transfixed by the images on the screen. Coppola dazzled with shots that are wonderfully aesthetic. What is *Haystacks* compared to the wide shot of the family leaving the church after the baptism? What is *The Death of Marat* compared to Michael Corleone fleeing the restaurant in the Bronx?…

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