Favorite films

Recent reviews

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  The Birth of a Nation 1915

  Watched 29 Jan 2023

  Necessary viewing to understand the historical continuity of U.S. conservative worldview from before the nation's founding through the Civil War, and up to today, a worldview which matches this movie to such a degree as to be indistinguishable.

  An atrocity. A vile thing. An open celebration of white supremacy, slavery, the Confederacy, and the KKK.

  Zero stars.

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  La Dolce Vita 1960

  ★★★½ Watched 05 Jun 2021

  Repetitive and repetitive, but not without significant charms. A series of beautiful moments with nowhere to go. Overall strengths of the artists involved carried me throughout its (surprisingly long) runtime but this one didn't grab me until the final sequence.

Popular reviews

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  The Hateful Eight 2015

  ★½ Watched 13 Oct 2019 2

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

  Jody: OK, gang, legendary bounty hunter John Ruth has in his custody my sister, a known member of our very famous gang of outlaws, named after me, Jody Domingre.

  Gang: Check.

  Jody: Her last name is Domigrue.

  Gang: Really?

  Jody: Ruth thinks that's her name. Maybe he made a mistake?

  Gang: Even though she's a member of a famous gang of outlaws that's named after her legendary outlaw of a brother, and he's a bounty hunter with a seeming encyclopedic…

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  The Third Man 1949

  ★★★★★ Rewatched 07 Sep 2020

  In my opinion, a masterpiece.

  Every shot pops, every scene tells. One of the best scores ever (and one of the most counter-intuitive; I presume you could have chosen 100 different directors without another one deciding "I've got it—100% zither music!").

  The cat. The foot. The light. The smirk. Best slow-burn reveal in film history?