Favorite films

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Pinned reviews

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  Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit 1993

  ★★★★★ Watched by Eric J 22 Oct 2017

  It’s not flawless - the first 36 minutes feel aimless, with reunions, cheap jokes, and low-stakes complications.  It feels like it’s shaping up to be another lazy sequel.  

  BUT THEN Sister Mary Clarence hears that the school’s fate is in jeopardy, and she walks into her classroom and throws down the gauntlet with her iconic “This is a brand new day” speech.  It’s a watershed moment in the film.  It is impossible to overstate the implications of what Sister…

Recent reviews

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  Arab Blues 2019

  ★★★ Watched by Eric J 23 Oct 2021

  I liked the music but the plot felt pretty low-stakes.  The lead actress was good but everyone else seemed pretty cartoony, so it was hard to really get invested in the relationships or conflict.  It was interesting just in seeing a glimpse into life in Tunisia, but not sure how realistic it was.  The ending felt rushed, too.

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  Genesis 2018

  ★★★½ Watched by Eric J 21 Oct 2021

  I really like the first half of this and was interested to see where it would go but I was confused by the last part.  The acting is great, the direction is really compassionate and tender, and the soundtrack is outstanding.  You really get drawn in and feel for the lead characters - they’re all vulnerable and unsure of themselves, and they seem like good kids.  But yeah, maybe I need to rewatch it - the last third or so of the plot just didn’t make much sense to me.

Popular reviews

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  Apples 2020

  ★★★★½ Rewatched by Eric J 21 Oct 2020 4

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

  Upon a re-watch, it seems that this film is less about memory loss and more about the intentional construction of individual identity. What makes this film compelling is how it draws a line from trauma and pain to self-doubt and the desire for personal reinvention projects.

  The “scientists” who are “helping” him learn how to live are really idiots.  The tasks that they recommend to him are just dumb, silly things, and many of them are actually dangerous and self-destructive.…

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  Sweat 2020

  ★★★★ Watched by Eric J 25 Oct 2020

  Great acting from Magdalena Kolésnik.  There are many scenes that require her to communicate quite a lot of various subtleties without any dialogue and she makes it look easy.  She’s so believable in the role that it feels like a documentary.  Her range of emotional expression is so wide and turns on a dime without ever missing a step.  The plot is relatively straightforward and serves to sketch out a remarkably complex character. I’m not sure that the film had…