Favorite films

Pinned reviews

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  Marcel the Shell with Shoes On 2021

  ★★★★½ Rewatched 06 Jan 2023

  My first review of Marcel the Shell with Shoes On is the first time I've ever had one of my Letterboxd reviews take off. This has felt ironic considering the nature of what Marcel is saying about internet culture and what separates an audience from a community, but the writing I do on this site has always been for myself, first and foremost. I feel lucky to have witnessed such a beautiful exchange about art that was so important to…

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  The Fabelmans 2022

  ★★★★ Watched 10 Nov 2022

  There’s a moment in The Fabelmans where Sammy Fabelman picks up a sheet of music and notices light shining through the hole that was punctured by his mother’s heel moments before. We see his face, caught by discovery, and move on. Several scenes later, Spielberg finally tells us the discovery Sammy made: a moment of inspiration turned to cinematic innovation, like a magician revealing his secrets after leaving us wondering how the trick was done.

  When I was younger, I…

Recent reviews

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  The Park 2023

  ★½ Watched 18 Mar 2023

  I admire the genre ambition, and some of the broad narrative strokes are interesting, but nearly all of the execution falls below what’s needed to make this premise even slightly believable, and the screenplay certainly isn’t doing these young actors any favors.

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  The Magician's Elephant 2023

  ★★ Watched 17 Mar 2023

  The animation style and screenplay really drag down what could have otherwise been a spectacular darkly whimsical fantasy. Imagine if Laika had adapted this source material for stop motion! I’m going to listen to the audiobook of Kate DiCamillo’s original children’s book, as I imagine her work deserved significantly better.

Popular reviews

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  Marcel the Shell with Shoes On 2021

  ★★★★½ Watched 18 Jun 2022 9

  During the Q&A, a little girl asked Dean, with a completely earnest sense of curiosity: 
  “Did you make Marcel or did you find him?”

  To which Dean responded:
  “A little bit of both.” 

  —

  She believed Marcel was real even if she knew he wasn’t.

  Stories and creativity can save the world ☺️

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  Actual People 2021

  ★★★ Watched 22 May 2022 2

  I love that I’ve reached the point where people my age, and younger, are making films that I’m learning about organically. Especially when it’s something at this scale, which feels totally achievable for anyone who wants to make films, but looks and sounds clean enough that it’s not distracting. 

  I was often impressed by the style of Kit Zauhar’s mumblecore dialogue, even if the content didn’t always feel naturalistic in a film that otherwise presents itself as such. I feel…