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Watched on Monday June 2, 2025.

Watched on Saturday May 31, 2025.

Watched on Thursday May 29, 2025.

Watched on Sunday April 13, 2025.

there's slice of life, and then there's the whole damn cake.

the four hours of A Bright Summer Day deliberately build a space and a time with the fidelity of a memory.

it's beautiful to behold: frames within frames within frames — through windows, doorways, and mosquito nets, we observe the goings on of this greek chorus of characters. massive crowds are staged just-so; long tracking shots thoughtfully reorient the audience between fraying narratives. some moments capture the delicate overlap between 3 different arcs as they coalesce on a single street corner. no soundtrack to speak of; just life.

an insightful rumination on unmoored identity in the aftermath of generational survival. a horror story about a world ran by bureaucrats. a classic coming-of-disillusionment tale.

no man is an island on this island.

Watched on Saturday March 22, 2025.

Watched on Thursday March 20, 2025.

Watched on Thursday October 17, 2024.

Watched on Tuesday February 4, 2025.

Watched on Monday July 29, 2024.

Watched on Tuesday March 5, 2024.

i feel like my experience may have hinged heavily on watching Herzog's 1979 version recently, but i adored this as a exploration / interpretation of a familiar narrative (though i wonder if my experience would've changed if this was my "first" nosferatu watch)

on a technical level, this is Eggers' finest piece of filmmaking; the way the camera moves as an ethereal observer across space/time really brings you under the film/antagonist's mesmeric power

acting was great across the board, but LR Depp especially stood out to me; facial and bodily performance that edged into butoh; a sense of terror and power and desire and duty all fighting through her psyche all at once; an (ittedly shockingly) worthy successor to Isabelle Adjani's iconic 1979 performance

Skarsgard is also obviously iconic; a force on nature in a literal sense, less a character but more so biblical plague; "all [he is] is an appetite"

a breath-stealing dark dream, and another beautiful example of Eggers' commitment to realizing period-piece paranoias as tangible, literal realities to wrestle with

a film about immigration, architecture, survival, spirituality, addiction, achievement, guilt, artistry, obsession, camaraderie, capitalism, isolation, co-dependency, community, xenophobia, love, surrender, sex, and sacrifice — the things we build, and the things we break.

oftentimes, the word "epic" is used in filmmaking to describe things like Dune or 1917. something that portrays action, fantasy, or spectacle at a grand scale.

but The Brutalist is epic in the scope of what it explores; what it expresses. does it perfectly succeed in every single one of the conversations it broaches? i’m not sure, but i do know that it felt like its reach never exceeded its grasp. it felt vast yet intentional; sweeping strokes in a mural seen from high up.

Brody, Pierce, and Jones are extravagant in the films leading roles; profound subtlety of performance gives way to earned eruptions and transcensions; each of them a deeply believable force of a nature.

film bros have gushed over it being shot in VistaVision, and ultimately for good reason. the film is breathtaking to behold. from crowded ferries to immense quarries to palatial expanses, everything is so lush and lived in and felt so heightened, and yet so real. rays of light at dawn were buttery in 70mm; it literally felt warming to the watch.

it's also incredible to listen to, too. Yuck-alum Daniel Blumberg crafts one of the most beautiful scores i've heard in recent memories — so powerful the film begins with a dedicated overture to its main theme. its motifs are explored with booming brass maximalism, the ring of singing lone pianos, wailing spiraled out saxophones, and more surprising expansions across time. it elicited chills usually reserved for concert halls.

as an experience, it begs and pleads to be seen in a theater. with its aforementioned overture, an intermission, and a beefy runtime (of which it earns every minute), it truly felt like a "night out at the theater." the electric energy amongst everyone during the break at the halfway point was like nothing i've felt at the cinema in a long, long time.

The Brutalist is a film that made me say "I didn't know they made them like this anymore." because, frankly, they don’t.

is it perfect? not completely. the film takes some big swings — huge swings — not every one of which landed for me. but its ambition, its honesty, and its commitment to its story and its characters and its themes let me trust the film to take me where it wanted to go. and it took me there.

a profound triumph. a true achievement. a monument to why we make.

my favorite film of 2024, sliding in at the last second — and perhaps may favorite since the pandemic. i already can’t wait to see it again.

(a final note: the first week of every year is always the absolute busiest time at my job, and 100% don’t have time to write this review right now. but i simply can’t stop thinking about this film, and i need this jumble of thoughts and feelings to go somewhere so i can actually get work done. so, yeah, i had to write this review — i didn’t have any other choice.)

like a poorly paced series of Mad TV sketches that overstay their welcome, with a sudden male fantasy romance u-turn halfway through

mawkish and awkward, too self assured of it's own charm and banking on a chemistry between its leads that feels hokey and hollow

Glen Powell dawns so many quirky personas in this film, but the one he embodies the most is the one where he plays... the same cocky machismo archetype he plays in every other movie he's in

falls prey to Netflix production syndrome, with some of the worst score / music direction / sound design i've heard in a while; at points almost YouTube-like

not as funny as it thinks it is; not as romantic as it thinks it is; not as sexy as it thinks it is

altogether, potentially the straightest film i've ever seen

(heartbreaking, since i generally adore Linklater)

Watched on Thursday December 19, 2024.

Watched on Wednesday October 30, 2024.

Watched on Tuesday August 27, 2024.

Watched on Wednesday August 28, 2024.

Watched on Sunday May 12, 2024.

“if [our child] is a girl, we’ll name her Sunnyhope. if it’s a boy, we’ll name him… Francis.”

this was perhaps the line of dialogue that truly broke me in the otherworldly indulgent self-insert fanfiction of this overburdened opus of a film

okay, look: making a sweeping work about postmodern ideals is well and good, but what makes that kind of art interesting is how those ideals collide with reality and human adversity. i guess when you’re a director whose net worth is $400M+ and you’re a universally lauded auteur with an infinite ive income stream from your vineyard, adversity might look like — i don’t know — not being proactively invited by world leaders to reshape society to your whims?

honestly, the largest external struggles our brave protagonist contends with is a statutory rape charge that is swiftly disproven (???), and considering his casting choices with LaBeouf— yeesh.

it’s a film that is assured of its own importance; you can sense that Coppola sees his audience as a huddle of shadow-gazing mongrels in Plato’s cave, and that this film will finally rip them out of their self-imposed stupor. but when grandstanding so much, what does it really have to say?

i suppose that reinvention require questioning and meaningfully dismantling our long-held institutions and beliefs. which is true. but the idea that one lone genius knows what’s best for everyone, against their one will, just reeks of Rand to me. also, literally in the “Q&A” portion of the film, Driver basically says that he’s “just asking questions” (which is hard for me to separate from Rogan brocast dog whistles.)

let’s talk about the material movie though. some of the performances are actually… pretty interesting! i’ll give it that. actors are making CHOICES here, big choices, bold choices, some choices i’ve never seen before — which i appreciate! Driver does a brilliant job at holding it all together, and Plaza is a gas to watch as she basically acts in a totally separate John Waters movie.

parts of the filmcraft itself are fascinating, too. individual self-contained montages or sequences work great (like the circus segment), because it serves a narrative, emotional, or thematic purpose. however, the film just struggles to go from scene to scene, to tie together all the threads it yanks at.

the aesthetics itself range from romantically imaginative to Spy Kids-fare. in some ways, Coppola is fundamentally trying to make a German expressionist film — but the wrinkle here is that those were silent movies, and this film is burdened with spoken dialogue. so, so much dialogue, ripped out of the Death Stranding school of storytelling (pacing and all).

a lot of this story also revolves around love. love as a source of inspiration, of redemption, of salvation. however, the film fails to be able to render it onscreen in any meaningful way. Emmanuel’s relationship with Driver is one of love interest and mentee, where she constantly is in awe of his genius and does whatever she can to ensure its unconstraint. i guess that’s what love may look like to this director — worship at his altar, lauding of his brilliance, enabling of his vision.

the film asserts that true change requires true sacrifice — but Driver’s character never has to give up anything throughout the course of the film.

maybe that’s the assumption that permeates so much of this movie for me. “what will everyone else give up to make my future come true?"

a rollicking exploration of our miserly relationships with our own bodies, and other people's bodies, in turn

audacious, hilarious, gross to the gills, The Substance cements director Fargeat in the same stylish and merciless subset of french provocateurs as Ducournau, Noé, etc.

as subtle as a punch to the throat, the film screams it's central themes non-stop, underpinned with killer slapstick editing and rave-inducing sound design

adore the soundtrack, and the recent industry-wide push for euro-house-as-film-score turning the AMC into a club for 2 hours

Demi Moore gives her best performance ever (particularly in the heart piercing "getting ready for the date" sequence), was amazing to see her commit so fearlessly, especially when swimming in a see of blood pukey prosthetics

Qualley continues her slate of daring roles and nails the selfish cherub succubus vibe; Quaid is grotesquery made flesh (his mouth oftentimes is framed literally like a puckering anus)

the two sides of Liz and Sue are forced to fight each other for scarcity of opportunity, even though "they are one" (as the customer service voice loves to repeat); a brutal representation of the ways that women are pitted against each other for survival in the workplace, in their industry, etc.

the final ascendence was delightful, and a tender metaphor for the cage of the body as you age; despite the reality of its ravages, a weeping youthful flame in you wants to sputter "i'm still here"

had a few nits, mainly about runtime (20min longer than it needed to be), and repetition (hit some of the same notes over a few too many times for me, and featured a few unnecessary flashbacks)

altogether though, it's an iconic nasty party of a film, and i LOVE that something this bold, thoughtful, and stylishly shlocky is in the spotlight right now

watched this right after my mom had ed away, and it destroyed me in the way that was just about due.
a beautiful, seminal, meditative work spanning his career, it feels like Miyazaki himself is simultaneously mahito, the grand uncle, and a few other characters along the way as he grapples with his own past, his ancestors' pasts, his guilt, and his descendent's (and this world's) future.
less a cut-and-dry narrative, and more of fantastical dreamscape, i know a few people that had trouble "holding on to the plot." i guess, to me, it felt like i never questioned the narrative thrust of a given scene, and if you surrender yourself to the kaleidoscope, you realize that it might just be what "life flashing before your eyes" would look like for a master animator.
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bonus: if your mom recently died, no one can tell you your opinion about this film is wrong 👼

Watched on Wednesday March 6, 2024.

what do you call dysphoria when you don't have a word for it yet? when you can't even think in those yet?
maybe it's something like a disassociation, a detachment, being a citizen in an unreality where you deeply know something is inherently wrong.

what happens when a show that meant so much to you turns out to be pretty shallow on the rewatch? were all the stories you and your closest friends obsessed over nonexistent? did they exist because you told them to each other? what does it mean when you pulled a meaning out of a plot that wasn't ever there?

what's the story you still tell yourself?
what's the story you can't it to yourself?

TV Glow is less a horror film, and more an indie drama about a specific, quiet kind of terror that seeps in at the seams and will never leave if you try to ignore it. a testament of why trans creative voices are so essential and revitalizing.

haunted me for a week, in a good way, like a poem.

i film i liked (but hope i'd love), Monkey Man still remains a feat in the face of perseverance: once you learn about the broken camera cranes, reduced budgets, injuries, and that so much of it was shot on iphones and gopros, it does truly become something of a miracle.
its best moments are joy-inducing: from the warmth and unexpected inclusivity of the trans temple guardians, to the slapstick desperation of the most coherent action sequences (Dev gnawing a knife into a man's throat), to the musical interweaving into training montage during a rice-bag-punching sequence — when the movie sings, it's a dream.
throughout though, i struggled a lot with pacing, cause and effect, clear character motivations, and the use of combat to express narrative/character.
all that said, as a first time director, and in the face of so much adversity, i do think that this film is still that something of a miracle. (and a reminder why some much needed variance in protagonist, set, and setting and breathe so much inherent life into the genre.)

Watched on Sunday March 31, 2024.

Watched on Sunday March 3, 2024.

a brutally straightforward film about the banality of evil, where both the banality and the evil are on steroids

so many of our society's greatest sins are due to the dumbest things: a person gunning for a promotion, a raise, or a little recognition, while working in a corrupt system or at a corrupt company

Glazer has so much bite as a filmmaker; his restraint is remarkable until he just can't TAKE IT anymore; and the film explodes in full color bleeds and thermal camming; awesome shrieks of modernity sparkle in an otherwise intentionally sedate film

the cast being outspoken about the themes' reflection in the horrors happening to Palestinians in Gaza right now speaks volumes for the agonizing urgency of this film too

never again, never again, never again

Watched on Tuesday February 20, 2024.

ittedly watched this because of the recent dialogue on this film in the wake of the videogame Helldivers II

(i haven't watched this since age 8 in a basement of other elementary boys, where most of it was spent rewinding the shower the sequence over and over)

but holy hell did this viewing WOW me

a hilarious future-fascist infomercial for the wars of the future; the slippery slope of the protagonist from loverboy to war machine was a wild, raucous ride as the film explores our culpability in the american colonial expire across the globe (primarily reflecting on its timely sins in the middle east)

the playful, over-the-top performances an irresistably charming; the way you can't help but become invested in the love quadrangle and war at large is a perfect showcase to how "you are not immune to propaganda" {insert garfield photo}

hilarious commercial cutaways make the intent of this film clear, continuously reminding you to snap out of it (the v/o reading of "would you like to know more?" cracked me up every time)

also, amazing creature designs and animation by the visionary Phil Tippett

can't believe how smitten i was with this movie; what weird, wonderful, searing, biting, giggling, choking on blood, all-in satire this was! and unique in its timing too; there's no way you could get this made after 9/11

"it's still all there" — one of the leads recites mistily, as he appraises the first sip from a bottle of champagne that was shipped across the world and spent most of its years shipwrecked under the atlantic

no matter the hardships endured, life still has its rich flavor if your palette's open to it

a beautiful reflection and celebration of the miracle of living, feeling, being, experiencing, savoring things — together

food porn for the ages, but so much more; the culinary craft on display is otherworldly, and presented as a mystery or puzzle to solve — "what is this weird cooking instrument? what are they doing with it? or they're making THAT?! *that's* how it's made? no way!!"

but also just how it's tied in; the meaning and narrative thrust of a given meal never needs to be explained; it's all clear in the context of the story

a potentially straightforward plot is given so much weight through the soft implosive poetry in the performances from the two leads; their love is so palpable and dimensional

minimal exposition makes this film feels so lived-in; zero musical score makes the symphony of the kitchen and the whispers of their garden come alive

so many smart writing/editing decisions in this film; it never tells you more than it needs to; i can literally only think of a single superfluous line of dialogue

a triumph; a feast; a celebration

what a gift, it is, for us to savor life together

i recently lost one of my parents, and made it through 90% of the movie without crying, and thought that i had simply become numb to synthesized trauma for the rest of my life

then, near the end of the film, they introduce someone on a dock at sunset, and i fell to pieces

a hear wrenching film, but sparkling with so many moments of love and levity

the contrast between the harrowing stakes of wrestling matches against the goofiness of the production and personas on display made this miraculous tension

everyone's great, but Zac Efron is incredible; shocked that he didn't get a nom

so much scope, but so tightly told; an immensely impressive adaptation

last thing: the photograph at the end broke me wide open

written within an inch of its life, HTBUAP's tight runtime reflects the urgency of its titular heist, and the urgency of the existential global threat fueling it

literally no minute wasted, impeccably paced with gut-punch funny editing, and anxiety-inducing driving electronic score and wrenching sound design

the greek chorus of the crew each gets their own spotlight and backstory, where you can understand what brings such a diverse cast into such a desperate caper (mirroring the broad coalition affected and required for an effective climate movement)

the dope grimy DIY aesthetics are captured lushly on whatever celluloid they're tinkering with

performances are generally great and grounded (outside of the cartoonish crustpunk couple, but hey, they were fun)

all-in-all an incredibly executed thriller (personally wish it could nod a bit more towards the environmentalist realities to invoke a more emotional reaction, but y'know, at this point, maybe it's just preaching to the choir idk)

there's a difference between a "slow burn" and a "glacial circle of the drain"

it's a well-realized as a love letter to a microgenre of british horror history, but it unfortunately didn't hold up for me on its own outside of the nods to the classics it references

honestly every compelling moment (and literally 80%+ percent of the dialogue) is in the trailer

pretty gutted; really wanted to like this

i've always seen this show up on "best documentaries of all time" lists, and finally got a chance to see why

an intimate portrait of two kids with the same dream, thrust into an "amazing opportunity" rife with conditions, burdened with the myriad hopes and delusions of the chorus of adults around them

following William and Arthur so closely across a 4+ year timespan made every shot, every miss, every foul, and every brutal life hurdle feel so urgent; you have such a sense of how much is at stake

you also get a sense of the profound predation of the academic sports industrial complex, and the casualties and lives irreparably affected in its wake

a three hour documentary may seem intimidating, but it absolutely flies by; i cracked up, i cried, i literally pumped my fist and screamed at the tv

i see why this is always on those "best of" lists; essential viewing, and prime example of the form

after watching this again i'm actually bumping it up to a full 5 stars because what else could i possibly want from a movie??????

yuasa is back at it again with his manic & masterful tint of animated psychedelia — but bringing it to notably softer, kinder story than i've ever seen from him before

making a medieval noh rock opera sounds sick as hell on paper, and i can confirm that it delivers

avu-chan absolutely STUNS as the voice of the titular character, manifesting wails & warbles & falsettos that literally made me tear up from their sheer vocal & emotive power; i haven't had that kind of response to pure talent in a minute

the story is simple but sweeping, and the bond between the two leads is charming, even if it could be developed a lil more

the main thing keeping me from 5 stars is simply that some of the songs are long, and i mean LONG — so long that they rely on some noticeable & dsitracting animation repetitions to complete their screentime (there's one particular song that is an 8 bar repeat that last dang near 10 total min across the movie that i found myself getting a little bored during). when you make a musical, your movie lives and dies by the music, so that was a little challenging.

outside of that hiccup, i tremendously enjoyed INU-OH; an incredibly unique telling of a captivating traditional story

Watched on Wednesday November 15, 2023.

my favorite film of the year by a mile, and one of the most vulnerable and grounded and enchanting romance films i've ever seen

it elevates beyond the tropes of a normal love triangle with a deep and exploratory empathy for all of its protagonists, from both the audience POV, but also for the characters with each other (as best they can)

to me, less a story about the pain of lost love, and more a story about the mourning of past versions of yourself, relinquished outside of your control

Yoo and Magaro are exceptional, but Lee is breathtaking as the nucleus of this film, exuding so march charm, strength, vivre, clarity, and depth; the audience can't help but fall in love with her a little bit too

the cinematography is understated but sweeping, going in and out of intimate moments as characters become to the only 2 people on earth, to grand vista shots as their worlds expand together

also want to shout out the truly magical score by Grizzly Bear alum Daniel Rossen

all-in-all, a show-stopping freshman film from Celine Song, and to me, one of the greatest, truest films i've ever seen about love and within and without

a brimming love letter to a unique nook of filmmaking, transcending homage to be its own unique and aggressively charming character study about hurt people trying (and oftentimes, failing) to care for each other

aesthetically cozy beyond measure, with gentle but beautiful cinematography and needle drops that accentuate each scene like a sip of warm soup (obligatory xmas watch in years to come)

Giamatti is nothing short of a force of nature in this movie, giving so much gut busting and irritating bravado and empathetic emotional weight with every emotional implosion and exhausted sigh and disgusted stare

Randolph also crushes it as the school chef, adding so much chemistry against Paul and weaving her own tragic journey (which the film has the good sense to let breathe), but one that she *refuses* to be tragic

Sessa and kids do a solid job with a few inconsistencies; my one big note was that it took too long for Sessa's character to really open up / get less "one note"; some dynamics kept repeating themselves even after it felt like the story had progressed past their need (but also, his character's supposed to be 17, so maybe that makes sense? just kept forgetting cause he definitely looked 25 lol)

a mesmerizing meditation, taking its time to reveal the world and its characters and their fundamental emotions through slow strokes in the sand

a whispered hymn about the ways we know other people, they ways we never know other people; the ways we know ourselves, and the ways we'll never know ourselves

we all speak our own private language
the best we can do is articulate our own as clearly as we can
we all love and want to be loved differently
and as always, the only way out is through

first 10min and last 10min are god-tier filmmaking; amazing to see how much imagination and BITE martie still has at 80

gladstone gives a mesmerizing sedate performance; touchstone example for “eye acting”

maybe the standout element is robbie robertson blistering score; a searing amalgamation of indigenous percussion and screaming psychedelic; really rips the whole production into a different gear

beautiful, infuriating, and honestly simply a fun and fascinating watch (coulda been 20-30min shorter tho tbh)

coen brother sensibilities channeled through late 80s gleeful pessimistic aesthetica 

“i’m gonna kick your butt” is repeated about a dozen times in this movie, and is the perfect encapsulation of its depiction of violence and consequence

quintuplet heist sequence was a delight featuring pee wee playhouse set design

trailer park fight scene may be personal highlight; cartoonish to the point of devolving into an abstract cloud with fists and feet sticking out

Watched on Wednesday March 1, 2023.

unrelentingly & unforgivably gruesome as the whole cast clearly has the time of their life bawling & writhing & wriggling & warbling

legitimately breathtaking/gasp-inducing physical performances & delightfully buck nasty practicals (both series trademarks)

top tier 420 watch with group behind us geeking out from start to finish made for optimum viewing xperience

some of the best horror filmmaking hinges in the blurry tension between knowing what's real and what's not

some of the scariest or most confusing moments as a teen on the internet are when you can't tell if something's real, or is a bit, or is photoshopped, or is a creepypasta, or is real could it be real no way man but it looked real i know it's not probably but i can't stop thinking about it

Watched on Thursday April 13, 2023.

Watched on Tuesday April 11, 2023.

Watched on Sunday March 26, 2023.

Watched on Sunday April 2, 2023.

• Godland
• Night of the Kings
• Kwaidan
• Police Story 3: Super Cop
• PlayTime
• They Shoot Horses, Don't They?
• Thunder Road
• Monster
• Birth
• The Boxer's Omen

...plus 3 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

• Krisha
• Promare
• All That Jazz
• Gymkata
• Thunder Road
• Love Lies Bleeding
• The Umbrellas of Cherbourg
• Weathering with You
• Night of the Kings
• Police Story 3: Super Cop

...plus 9 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.