Paul Gallagher

Paul Gallagher Pro

Indie cinema programmer, husband, father, lover of peanut butter, coffee and Tintin books.

Favorite films

  • Almost Famous
  • North by Northwest
  • The Grand Budapest Hotel
  • E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial

Recent activity

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  • That Thing You Do!

  • Mission: Impossible – Fallout

    ★★★★★

  • Wild Strawberries

  • Make It to Munich

Recent reviews

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  • That Thing You Do!

    That Thing You Do!

    Never noted until this watch that this was produced by Jonathan Demme and shot by his regular cinematographer Tak Fujimoto. Very wise choice of collaborators for your debut, Tom Hanks! Not to take away from Hanks's consistently great choices as writer and director here - this is such a smart, funny and entertaining watch. Tom Everett Scott is perfectly cast, and if he actually played those drum parts he's also an awesome drummer.
    And that song!

  • Mission: Impossible – Fallout

    Mission: Impossible – Fallout

    ★★★★★

    First time watching this since 2018 - it's the best isn't it?
    I love the way the car/bike chase in Paris is shot - so many Hitchcock reverse dolly zooms!
    There isn't really a moment here that doesn't work, but even still, once that helicopter chase finale kicks off things go to a whole 'nuther level of amazing. I think Cruise's performance in that cockpit - considering that he's actually piloting the helicopter while hitting all those killer comedic beats - is Oscar-worthy stuff.

Popular reviews

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  • Pacifiction

    Pacifiction

    There's a scene in this where our main character sits in his car and monologues, seemingly endlessly, to the man sitting next to him, who is desperately fighting to stay awake. Watching this film, I was that man.

  • Not Another Happy Ending

    Not Another Happy Ending

    ★★

    "Sometimes love needs a rewrite" says the tagline. So do some movies, and this is one of them.

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