robertmays

robertmays

Favorite films

  • The Color of Money
  • Before Sunset
  • True Romance
  • The Social Network

Recent activity

All
  • Black Bag

    ★★★★½

  • The Substance

    ★★★½

  • The Beekeeper

    ★★★

  • A Quiet Place: Day One

    ★★★½

Recent reviews

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  • Nickel Boys

    Nickel Boys

    ★★★★½

    I've never seen anything like it. The way the movie is shot and the story is told create an intimacy that's hard to describe. At one point, a character describes pouring a bunch of cinnamon into shitty oatmeal, and you taste cinnamon in shitty oatmeal. You feel the skin of an orange in your hand, or your feel hitting cold pool water on a hot summer day. The movie climbs into the characters, so it climbs into you. You feel it in your guts. And the whole endeavor leaves them wrenched. It's a daring, monumental achievement.

  • Saturday Night

    Saturday Night

    ★★★

    This movie did not need to exist, but it's a fine way to spend two hours if you're scrolling through a streamer and have reached the "Just pick something" stage with your spouse. For me, it was instantly forgettable with a couple small exceptions. I'm intrigued by what Nicholas Braun is doing here as Andy Kaufman and Jim Henson. It's a worthwhile post-Cousin Greg entry, and I'm curious about where he goes from here. Rachel Sennott's performance as Rosie Shuster…

Popular reviews

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  • Dune: Part Two

    Dune: Part Two

    ★★★★

    My first thought walking out of the theater was, "I can't wait to see it again." The amount of incredible shots Villeneuve packed into 165 minutes makes this the sort of movie that'll get richer with every subsequent viewing. Constructing an epic on this scale while still showing this type of care for every sequence and every moment is what sets him apart from other filmmakers attempting to operate on this level. Every set piece is beautiful, and designed with…

  • Past Lives

    Past Lives

    ★★★★½

    Had been meaning to rewatch this, and decided to fire it up during the plane ride home from the Super Bowl. It was my favorite movie of 2023 on first watch, and I might've enjoyed it even more the second time. The penultimate scene in the bar, into that final moment on the street is my favorite stretch of any movie in a long time. Maybe it was the lack of oxygen or my frayed sanity following 8 days in…