Philip Trostler

Philip Trostler Patron

I was there to push people beyond what's expected of them.

Favorite films

  • Inside Llewyn Davis
  • Billy Liar
  • Rushmore
  • Whiplash

Recent activity

All
  • The Bourne Identity

    ★★★★

  • Duplicity

    ★★★½

  • Michael Clayton

    ★★★★

  • West Side Story

    ★★★½

Recent reviews

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  • The Bourne Identity

    The Bourne Identity

    ★★★★

    A rollicking, yet dark, steely twist on the super spy, that works to illuminating how unsettling a James Bond/Captain America skillset would be in real life. Somehow, the shadowy black ops forces are even scarier.

    Overall, a great sense of pacing, with Damon and Potente's journey bouncing them between brutal cityscapes and the calming French countryside, building believable chemistry all the while.

    Would have fully worked as a standalone look into this world. Haven't revisited the followups in a very long time; hope they are able to add to rather than diminish what Liman, Damon and Gilroy were able to do here.

  • Duplicity

    Duplicity

    ★★★½

    Not nearly as interesting as it thinks it is, but I can't deny that I was invested.

Popular reviews

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  • Hereditary

    Hereditary

    ½

    Worst movie I've ever seen, with the critical raves making this a more extreme failure than any low-rent comedy.

    From the beginning I thought Toni Collette was playing things a little overly mannered; little did I know where this was going. This is a poorly marketed horror parody, not a "slow burn masterpiece". Comparing this to something like THE WITCH shows a complete lack of standards.

    HEREDITARY riffs off at least two of the most praised horror films of all…

  • Stalker

    Stalker

    ½

    Bergman beats Tarkovsky up and takes his lunch money.

    The gulf between my interest in a film's concept and my enjoyment of the film itself has never been wider.