Screenwriter, film critic, filmmaker.
I also write for The Film Experience and Films Gone Wild.
Favorite films
Recent activity
AllRecent reviews
More-
Cha Cha Real Smooth 2022
A fine example of a Sundance dramedy occasionally undone by a lack of stakes, a too-perfect protagonist, and a centerpiece romance with only two possible endings, neither of them particularly novel. Actor/Writer/Director Cooper Raiff simultaneously oozes charisma and supreme punchability, his gawky frame, wide eyes, and toothy grin either endearing or grating depending on the context. Dakota Johnson delivers what might be her best performance to date as a single mother of an autistic teen daughter, a young woman struggling…
-
The Man From Toronto 2022
A funny, diverting buddy comedy in a world bereft of them, The Man From Toronto is beat-for-beat exactly what you might expect, with few surprises at all. And yet, as is often the case, the buddy comedy lives or dies on its stars, and Kevin Hart and Woody Harrelson make a good team eventually. Pat Hughes is the very definition of journeyman director, his centerpiece "one-take" fight scene including more stitching and less formal discipline than other more iconic examples.…
Popular reviews
More-
Midsommar 2019
Ari Aster’s sophomore effort Midsommar is not so much a horror film in the modern sense of the word. It’s not made for theme park thrills or excited giggles following a quick fright. It’s a horror film in the traditional sense of the word, it’s meant to horrify and disturb and, surprisingly, make you laugh. Midsommar is a horrifying essay on human nature, relationships, and anxiety, and it’s wickedly funny too.
Anxiety’s an asshole, especially on vacation. I would know,…
-
Annabelle Comes Home 2019
James Wan’s Ed & Lorraine Warren films are, financially speaking, the only successful cinematic universe outside of Marvel. Based on the infamous Warren files, they dig into real cases taken by the demonology experts. Annabelle Comes Home, the seventh (!) inspired by said files, is a fun house-of-horrors sleepover for Warren enthusiasts, even if it can’t quite scare the bajeezus out of you.
Franchise stalwart Gary Dauberman directs with occasional Wan-like panache, utilizing 70’s tunes and still moments to evoke period…
