Favorite films

Recent reviews

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  Conclave 2024

  ★★★★★ Watched 10 Nov 2024

  I know it's a bit ridiculous and probably not at all accurate to how a Papal Conclave would work, but damn I enjoyed this film. This is everything a movie should be, thrilling and suspenseful, gorgeous cinematography and set design, great acting all around, a perfect theme in the score (reminds me of the effective use of a simple recurring theme in Berger's previous film All Quiet On The Western Front), and clear ideas the film is wrestling with while…

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  Poor Things 2023

  ★★★★★ Rewatched 18 Jul 2024

  Viewing context: Watched this at home via streaming service with my girlfriend, who likes Lanthimos films but had not seen Poor Things before. She really liked it, too, and this was a good follow-up to our recent viewing of The Lobster.

Popular reviews

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  I'll Crush Y'all 2023

  ★★★★ Watched 28 Sep 2023

  This was a really fun movie that's basically just a series of intense, brutal, inventive fight scenes between a boxer guy (and occasional other allies) and the hordes of bad guys who are trying to invade his recently-deceased father's home to get at something his father had hidden away without his knowledge. It's actually more complicated than that, with a fun series of plot machinations where his brother and brother's girlfriend leave a bag of money they've stolen at the…

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  Old Joy 2006

  ★★★★ Rewatched 14 May 2024

  A short, sweet story of two old guy friends who have clearly diverged in their life paths and attempt to reconnect one last time, but can't really figure a way to communicate with each other. It's a good film about Old Portland and New Portland through the lens of two men who represent those two aspects of the city. Will Oldham's performance is especially good.

  Viewing context: Watched this on Bluray projected in the Movie Madness screening room, as part…