The four films below are my most recent 5 star films. I only rate films I give five stars to.
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Veranito (Once Again) 2022
A special film. If you are interested in seeing it, send an email to the director/editor/writer Jhon, whom you can reach at - cruyffbedroom @ gmail
I'll share some notes that I wrote to Jhon after seeing the film. They might make more sense once you've seen the film.
I watched Veranito a couple nights ago and really enjoyed it! The collision of the real and fiction makes for many interesting dissonances. The narration brought us into the world of…
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Hail the Conquering Hero 1944
Despite my strong appreciation for this film, I feel the need to start with something that didn’t work for me and then work backward from there. During the scene in which preparations are being made for the ceremony, I was a bit surprised to see so much attention given to the supervision of the bands. I found myself a little annoyed with the cacophony and straight loudness of the scene. Then later we get to the punchline, which involves the…
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Cruising 1980
“Art frees us from all our sentiments, even good ones and justifies its amorality by returning to ethics what it had borrowed.” – Eric Rohmer
It’s impossible for me to discuss to this film without dealing with the shadow cast by the controversy over its depiction of a homosexual subculture. While watching early scenes in the West Village bar called The Cock Pit full of detached lateral tracking shots surveying aggressive displays of homosexuality, I wondered whether films have a…
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Sicario 2015
If I were to select any working director whose films are the opposite of what I think the cinema should be, the honor would likely go to Denis Villeneuve. Mr. Villeneuve excels in pulpy thrillers that pile contrivance upon contrivance to reveal “important” and “serious” takes on zeitgeisty issues ranging from cycles of violence in a Lebanon-ish Middle Eastern country in INCENDIES, Bush-era torture in PRISONERS and modern relationship ennui a la carte in ENEMY. The latest Villeneuve hot topic…
