Favorite films

Recent reviews

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  In a Violent Nature 2024

  Watched 11 Jun 2024

  Boy howdy.
  IN A VIOLENT NATURE is exactly what they say it is: 1) an art-house style riff on the "killing teens in the woods" slasher flick and 2) an utter revelation. I don't know that I've ever experienced such a mix of visceral thrill and aesthetic alertness at the cinema. An hour or so after leaving the moviehouse, I'm still a bit wobbly. See it (in the theatre if possible) if you're an afficionado of the horrific pleasures of the "final girl" genre.

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  Challengers 2024

  Watched 11 May 2024

  I'd been flipflopping on whether or not to see this one, since even before the strike delayed its premiere. I finally opted to see it because (A) I needed to fill a block of time in midtown; (B) it was the only screening that fit neatly in my schedule; and (C) because the generally positive responses of the folks I follow on here. My verdict? I enjoyed this film much more than I expected. I found the structural conceit --…

Popular reviews

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  Saltburn 2023

  Watched 07 Dec 2023 2

  This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.

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  The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas 1982

  Rewatched 25 Jun 2012

  A creaky movie adaptation of a creakier stage piece. Still, three "tentpole" numbers (the opening, the Aggie song & "Hard Candy Christmas") make me glad this film adaptation exists. And though they don't have much chemistry, Dolly and Burt are at the height of their effortless screen charisma which elevates the otherwise dumb romance between them, and Charles Durning's musical dexterity is worth remembering. (Dom Deluise, unfortunately, infuses a sloppy sourness to the enterprise that serves no one.) But those main ensemble numbers are the reason I return again and again to this otherwise negligible early 1980s-misfire.