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Pig 2021
I wrote about my favorite 21 movies of 2021, grouping them into thematic trios on my website — read the full article here! Pig moved me more than any other film this year, so it’s firmly held the #1 spot since I saw it in July. And here’s my roughly-ranked list of the same movies, plus a few more. Thanks to everyone who read my work this year — it’s been a wild ride and I’m excited to see what 2022 has in store
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The Lion King 1994
Over the last several months, my brother and I rewatched every Walt Disney Animation Studios movie in chronological order. I ranked them all to celebrate Raya’s release.
Read my full article here! And let me know your personal faves in the comments!
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Top Gun: Maverick 2022
About twenty minutes into Top Gun: Maverick, a disheveled Tom Cruise is surprised to find himself in the most generic American diner imaginable. It’s filled with featureless white bread normal people who gaze upon his tattered otherworldly figure with amazement and disgust. Cruise can no longer walk among mere mortals, for his perfectionist movie star ego is writing checks that relatability can’t cash. It’s been so long since he resembled a regular person that he can’t pretend to be one…
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Rolling Thunder Revue: A Bob Dylan Story by Martin Scorsese 2019
Despite its focus on a much shorter chapter of Bob Dylan’s career, Scorsese’s second doc on the singer feels a little less streamlined and coherent than No Direction Home. But it’s still an insightful snapshot into a unique moment in American popular culture, particularly when it foregrounds the interpersonal drama between massive personalities. The bittersweet confrontation between Dylan and Joan Baez is so tender and personal that it seems invasive to have it captured on film.
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Do the Right Thing 1989
If you don’t think Sal is a racist, you should probably rewatch this movie. His climactic use of racial slurs can’t be chalked up to a lapse of judgement. He repeatedly clarifies that he only tolerates black people because they haven’t done anything bad to him, and because they provide his livelihood. His respect for the black community is entirely conditional and transaction-based — as soon as his “terms” of respect (essentially not having any major negative encounters with any…
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The New Mutants 2020
Despite a great cast and an intriguing premise, The New Mutants is a lifeless gallery of clichés from both the superhero and horror genres. Combine It and X-Men, then strip that combination of anything remotely worthwhile, and you get this movie. The paper-thin characters don’t even have interesting powers, save for Anya Taylor-Joy’s Magik, who has a strange combination of several abilities that make absolutely no sense together. And there’s basically no story to speak of. Nothing happens for 90 minutes and…