Favorite films

Recent reviews

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  Touch of Evil 1958

  ★★★½ Watched 21 Nov 2023

  Wow! Watching this at the tail end of noir viewing for the month really makes it smash through the screen to say: THIS IS A MOVIE! Quippy filmed stage plays make way for incredibly dynamic filmmaking, camerawork, lighting, sound and acting. Hard not to imagine the modern equivalent of this being filmed today through the yellow/brown "Narcos" filter and just being a droll copy of everything similar made since Traffic. So much character in this one though.

  Going to characterize this one as an instant classic that needs rewatching while not surrounded in a theater by a sea of RSV coughing.

  35mm “Noirvember” screening

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  Laura 1944

  ★★★½ Watched 14 Nov 2023

  A better than middling, bordering on middling, film to start my November viewing. Kind of surprised at my tepid response given the film's acclaim and reputation. I found it mostly predictable, trope-y, and emotionless -- hallmarks of most good noir films, of course, but it just played kind of flat. Some really remarkable shots and clever lighting more than make up for it, though.

  35mm “Noirvember” screening

Popular reviews

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  Asteroid City 2023

  ★★½ Watched 25 Jun 2023

  This is strictly a 2.5 star Wes Anderson film, which is bounds above most films you can see down at the AMC. I still believe he's one of our only modern auteurs, but this now makes two films in a row that exist in this "meta-" format that just don't have the teeth many of his others do. His best are all full of laughs (and there's plenty of that here) but also an underlying darkness and often you're chuckling…

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  Violent Night 2022

  ★★½ Watched 05 Dec 2022

  An undeniably fun moviegoing experience being boisterous little assholes in a completely empty theater, but at the end of the day it's still a film about Santa beating the shit out of people with a hammer.

  If our weird little cinema does end up going away per the wishes of the local arts goons, I will always remember the time I had to make myself a burrito in record time, PUT IT IN MY POCKET and sprint across the street to catch this one.

  Full discussion/recap coming soon on None Of This Is Reel: www.noneofthisisreel.com/