Favorite films

Recent reviews

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  Cruella 2021

  ★★★ Watched 19 May 2021

  I'm so glad I chose to see it on the big screen. (My first trip to the theater since March 2020!) The film is visually splendid without over-relying on gummy CGI - instead, it's all about the bodacious costuming. (The clothes, makeup, and hair are already a shoo-in for awards season.) It’s a punky, Dickensian, 70s East London heist movie with strong "Devil Wears Prada" overtones. I dug the emotional dynamics, but most importantly, its theme of how fashion creates…

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  The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie 1969

  ★★★½ Watched 09 Mar 2023

  Definitely thought this was going to be one of those sappy "unconventional inspiring teacher" movies - until I realized Maggie Smith's character is a creepy, manipulative groomer.

Popular reviews

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  Nosferatu 2024

  ★★ Watched 29 Nov 2024

  Going against most critics to say I found this incredibly dull and lacking in any tension. Yes, the visuals and vibes are grotesquely stunning. Yes, Lily-Rose Depp is a masterful scream queen. Yes, the eroticism between the demonic vampire and the innocent? damsel is pretty jarring. But the entire movie is “He’s coming! 😱 He’s coming! 😱 He’s coming! 😱 He’s here 😐” Forget foreshadowing, it conspicuously telegraphs every single move before it happens. There are no surprises.

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  The Brutalist 2024

  ★★★★ Watched 04 Nov 2024

  Currently my No. 1 movie of the year. It’s not an easy watch, but it is an astonishing one. Adrien Brody plays a Hungarian architect who emigrates to America after the Holocaust. He ends up becoming the play thing of a rich patron (Guy Pearce, never better) who uses him for his artistry and discards him for his foreignness and Jewishness. The film is long (there’s an old school intermission and everything) but it I was enraptured the entire time.…

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