Favorite films

Pinned reviews

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  Harakiri 1962

  ★★★★★ Watched 04 Dec 2023

  I suppose then I have no choice. 

  The closest I’ve ever seen to a neorealist samurai film — in that it provides the same dread as a De Sica film does. What works so well about Italian Neorealism is there is desperation, but there is always also hope. There is sincerity and good in the hearts of the characters, even those who do horrible and disgraceful things — which makes when they do those things so painful to watch. The…

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  All That Heaven Allows 1955

  ★★★★★ Rewatched 27 Nov 2023 2

  I find that a lot of people when they hear a film described as a “melodrama” instantly assume it’s of poor quality. There is a stain attributed to the term in our modern perspective — that things will be sappy, over acted and over emphasized, that it will be too silly to take seriously, that it won’t be “realistic” (whatever that means). “Melodrama” has come to be a stand in for “Netflix original Hallmark flick”. I think that’s a tragedy…

Recent reviews

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  The Human Condition I: No Greater Love 1959

  ★★★★★ Watched 05 Dec 2023

  - What does a man who lives in a cage dream of most?
  - Freedom, I suppose. 
  - Ha! Freedom? You must be a poet, aren’t you?

  I’m going to refrain from making big statements until I’ve finished all three parts, as they seem to be as much one film as War And Peace is. That being said, I have to point out the framing and blocking in this film. It’s inspiring. Particularly how the environment and landscape are used to inform…

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  Monty Python and the Holy Grail 1975

  ★★★★★ Rewatched 03 Dec 2023

  My local historical movie theater finally reopened after being forced to close from COVID, and I’m so happy this was the first thing I got to see there. Sometimes I convince myself that this is slightly overrated because everyone quotes it constantly till it gets old, but THEN I rewatch it and am reminded that it really is the greatest. Hilarious, clever, silly as all hell. And I’ll admit it, after all these years the credits gag got me again. It’s a bit more convincing on the big screen.

Popular reviews

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  The Last Picture Show 1971

  ★★★★★ Watched 30 Aug 2021 6

  I grew up in a small town, about 6,000 people. And it was the biggest town in the county, if you can believe that. It’s a unique experience growing up in such a small rural place, especially in modern times in the US is rapidly moving more and more towards cities. Rural life is becoming a thing of the past. In and out with the wind. The end times. 

  The town I grew up in had one main street (called…

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  Leviathan 2012

  ★★★★★ Rewatched 25 Jul 2021

  There’s a moment in this film where you’re in a basin of dead fish (stick with me), and they are sloshing around lifeless and cold, guts spilling, eyes bulging, fish mid-devouring other fish in their final moments, stuffed with each others’ helpless carcasses on display in the wet sludge. And all of a sudden, out of nowhere, one of them moves. Flaps it’s tail. I know it’s coming, I’ve seen this film three times now, and I swear I jump…