Favorite films

Recent reviews

• 

  Rush Hour 3 2007

  ★½ Rewatched 02 Mar 2025

  I'm not kidding when I say that, upon rewatching this in late Feb 2025, I had forgotten it almost immediately.

  Some of it is coming back to me some days later:

  - Hiroyuki Sanada is a great actor.

  - Max von Sydow is a hack, and I love him.

  - Chris Tucker is a letch.

  And, finally, there is a relatively solid final showdown on the Eiffel Tower, which essentially closes the loop on Alec Eiffel's illustrious architectural career.

  Rush Hour should be remembered for its first film. All else should be forgotten.

• 

  Jarhead 2005

  ★★★ Watched 21 Mar 2025

  Do not weep, maiden, for war is kind.
  Because your lover threw wild hands toward the sky
  And the affrighted steed ran on alone,
  Do not weep.
  War is kind.

  Hoarse, booming drums of the regiment,
  Little souls who thirst for fight,
  These men were born to drill and die.
  The unexplained glory flies above them,
  Great is the battle-god, great, and his kingdom—
  A field where a thousand corpses lie.
  Stephen Crane
  -

  If I recall, Faulkner wrote his…

Popular reviews

• 

  The Banshees of Inisherin 2022

  ½ Watched 02 Jan 2023

  Nihilistic maudlin garbage masquerading as folksy, earthy character-driven art.

  MM uses absurdism and idiosyncratic 'dry' humor as a save against actually committing to real, human and HUMANE drama.

  He kills people and animals and brings all creatures low to make his half-points, jerking off his audience using a lotion called Smarty-Pants-Symbolism Lube (TM).

  Fun.

• 

  Conclave 2024

  ★ Watched 30 Nov 2024

  A political thriller that is almost interesting, and certainly beautiful and well acted.

  Unfortunately for you, the players are all straw men, representing Hollywood-ized extremes, increased by orders of magnitude to the point of absurdity. By the last act, you'd be laughing if you weren't so sick to your stomach. This film is, unintentionally, a satire of modern Hollywood tropes. A perfect companion piece to the American remake of Speak No Evil.

  As such, this is as much Harry Potter…