Favorite films

Recent reviews

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  Blink Twice 2024

  ★★★ Watched 21 Mar 2025

  [55/100]

  I liked the high-concept premise of this film one, and a lot of the design and music choices that gave it a striking and memorable style. Other aspects were less successful, especially the set-up period on the island, where the swirl of the drug-induced escapades registered to me as amateurish and confusing, and really just did not land at all. Even outside of these moments, a lot of the editing seemed noticeably sloppy. But it got back on track in the second half, and winded up being pretty satisfying overall. 

  *Streaming via Amazon Prima*

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  Trap 2024

  ★★ Watched 20 Mar 2025

  [38/100]

  As much as I remain a big Shyamalan fan overall, I continue to have pretty mixed-to-unfavorable reactions to most of the movies during this respectability renaissance he’s been having. This one showcases a lot of his skills, particularly his always strong and thoughtful visual style, which here incorporates a lot of cool emphasis on watching things (or being watched) from distant perspectives. But it also falters in many of the ways he often can - an over-conceived script that…

Popular reviews

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  Out of the Past 1947

  ★★ Rewatched 12 Jul 2015

  On second viewing, OUT OF THE PAST still didn't do too much for me. It's got beautiful, atmospheric location shooting, cool noir dialgoue, wonderful use of lighting, and two of my favorite actors in Mitchum and Douglas. But I find it very hard to keep up, as the story seems to twist and turn a million times without any meaningful milestones. Mitchum's unphased reaction to everything that happens is suave but it also saps the movie of feeling. I found it cerebral rather than moody, and too internalized to make a more universal statement about memory/personal history/the past.

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  The Warriors 1979

  ★★★★ Watched 07 Mar 2013

  This was a true B-movie in the best way possible. The whole thing was like a cartoon world come to life - goofy gangs in their hilarious costumes trying to prevent the cowboy-vested Warriors from making their way back home to Coney Island. What I really loved was the use of space. It was extremely atmospheric, and the settings were wonderfully fleshed out, like the levels of a video game. Each scene, the Warriors encounter a new location, like a…