Favorite films

Recent reviews

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  Captain America: Civil War 2016

  Rewatched 24 Nov 2023 4

  Had this on in the background as I did work on the computer, frequently getting distracted by how genuinely emotive Civil War's ethical conflict is. Visually, this could be a bit more distinct and a lot of the iconography melts into the grey, but the interplaying morality and ego are gutting.

  Strong convictions can implode everything in your orbit, especially when they're mixed with complicated personal motivations. Watching this tonight, it's obvious how much pathos and charisma have evaporated from much of recent Marvel.

  It's dangerous to believe you're right, maybe more so when you actually are.

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  Napoleon 2023

  Watched 22 Nov 2023 3

  I'm hesitant to form any 'true' opinions until the (likely) better director's cut, but the theatrical version of Napoleon is largely a disappointing failure. Scott frames the film's major battles with such brutal scope—they're directed as well as any large moment in his career, but essentially everything else is empty of affect or purpose.

  Without any pre-knowledge of the time period, it's impossible to follow any socio-political machinations; there's no interest in Napoleon as a ruler or frankly, as a…

Popular reviews

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  Glass 2019

  Watched 18 Jan 2019 5

  A pure synthesis of Shyamalan's formal, thematic, and emotional style—a trilogy bow and a career crescendo; anger and compassion in a perfect helix, crisscrossed into jagged catharsis. Shyamalan is an auteur of overflowing empathy and immaculate craft, and Glass is a heart beating with the passion of destined purpose. This film is reflexive and revolutionary—a self-affirmation and a rallying beacon for we the discarded.

  Uses comic mythology as confirmation that superhumanity exists in kindness and community, that the broken are…

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  Transformers: Dark of the Moon 2011

  Added 8

  HOLY.

  Michael Bay's digital and destructive ballet, his analysis of our post-9/11 fears and paranoia, and his most formally elegant and stunning command of style and annihilation.

  What strikes me the most across the Transformers films so far is how deeply rooted they are in dismantling history; everything we think we know is an elaborate lie that inevitably causes great tragedy. And this leads to Bay's exploration of America's consciousness in a decade warped by a constant war where we…