Favorite films

Recent reviews

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  Valley Girl 1983

  ★★ Watched 20 Mar 2025

  No other scene has been more maligned than punk rock. Proof that Hollywood (save for Alex Cox and Penelope Spheeris) couldn’t accurately depict punks. What they listened to, how they dressed, what they stood for. Nic is doing his best and he’s really the only reason to watch this. But goddamnit I just want to shake the filmmakers and say “the Plimsouls aren’t punk rock, Modern English isn’t punk rock.” 

  God I sound like an angry old man shaking my cane. 

  Whatever. Soundtrack sucks. Randy and Fred’s wardrobe sucks. I really liked the red jumpsuit Julie’s friend was wearing at the beginning party.

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  Legally Blonde 2001

  ★★★ Watched 17 Mar 2025

  This is just too damn charming to not make you smile. Even if it is with a smirk and an eye roll.

Popular reviews

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  Witness 1985

  ★★★½ Watched 15 Mar 2025

  80’s movies just don’t have the sauce. This is a pretty good movie and yet the whole time I’m struggling to quite lock in with any one character or idea. 

  I find this to be the rule rather than the exception in 80’s movies. I struggle to exactly explain or understand what it is that I’m picking up on. It seems to be a lack of authenticity? Maybe? A preoccupation with the least compelling aspects of a story? I really…

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  Conclave 2024

  ★★★★★ Watched 10 Mar 2025

  Give me one of these every day and twice on Sunday (Amen.) I love when a film knows what it is. This knows what it is. It’s not exceptional and it makes no attempt to convince you it is. It’s quietly beautiful. A tight, barn-burner of a script, packed to the gills with talent making a meal of of their roles, and a true devotion to mis-en-scene through well-researched, physical sets.

  This is why I love movies. To peer through the keyhole into worlds I’d never be a part of and reveal the empathetic humanity therein.

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