Favorite films

Recent reviews

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  Contagion 2011

  ★★★★★ Watched 29 Mar 2025

  I don’t understand how this film isn’t more universally praised.

  Soderbergh acts as the virus here - moving ruthlessly and with a genetically perfected precision through the story of a catastrophic pandemic. His lingering on surfaces and exchanges to show us the constant threat. The smash cut from Kate Winslett’s last heroic act to the shot of her corpse. His masterful cutting between storylines that always feels like we’re compiling data and moving (albeit sometimes hopelessly) forward. It’s masterful work.…

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  Den of Thieves 2: Pantera 2025

  ★★½ Watched 28 Mar 2025

  David Chen used the analogy that “Ocean’s 11 is to Ocean’s 12
as
Den of Thieves is to Den of Thieves 2: Pantera.”

  I can’t think of a better review. I really admire the artistry, intent, and commitment here.

  I also like the idea of creating a more gritty, grounded, and muscular Heat meets Fast and Furious franchise.

  Unfortunately, this struck me as overlong and meandering. It really suffers from a couple of the more exciting cast members perishing in the last entry,…

Popular reviews

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  Snow White 2025

  ★★★ Watched 21 Mar 2025

  Rather than “totally serviceable” or “total trainwreck” is shifts between the two, even elevating to “surprisingly good,” especially when Rachel Ziegler is on screen.

  “Whistle While You Work” was the highlight for me. I also really enjoyed Snow White’s interaction with the forest bandits, in what felt like a real outdoor location, (gasp!).

  There’s definitely a version of the movie where those bandits are a substitute for the Seven Dwarves, because there’s an uncanny valley between the realism with the bandits and the complete digital whimsy of the Dwarves, their work in the mine, and their home.

  Also, I bet Gal Gadot thought she nailed this.

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  The Electric State 2025

  ★★ Watched 14 Mar 2025

  This era of mega-budget movie will be remembered as the time we jumped the shark and started actually making the movies Ben Stiller parodied in the Tropic Thunder trailers.

  The Russos are 0-for when it comes to making me care about characters I don’t have a preexisting relationship with. We’ll see how that works out with a less desirable roster in the next couple Avengers films.

  I was willing to go with this for a while, and there are a few nuggets here, but everything is done in the most dull way possible.

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