Reviews and Musings

These are reviewettes: short writings that are not long enough to be official reviews, but are composed within a couple hours of completing a film, just like my standard reviews. These are presented in order from newest to oldest and grouped together by the year that the film was first watched. All films are rated on a scale from Worthless to 4 Stars. 2019- Sorcerer (1977) 2.5 Stars -- It’s interesting watching the second adaptation of a novel directly after the first, espec

This recalling of my decision to watch the film and a brief review of it were quickly written after completing the film during my senior year of college. My overall rating for the film was 4 stars out of a possible 4. It was the 256th feature-length film to receive my highest rating distinction. Since it is the morning of the 91st Oscars, I thought it would be fitting to watch one of the Best Picture winners I had yet to see before heading into work today. A random number gen

This short review condemning The Devils and lamenting that its controversial content was not presented with the same care as another infamous 1970s film was written after watching the movie on Halloween of my senior year of college. My overall rating for the film was Worthless, which is depicted as a dollar sign with an 'X' through it. As with another personal favorite of celebrated film critic Mark Kermode, Brazil (1985), The Devils is a movie that squanders the brilliant ac

This reflection, largely focusing on the second of half of the film and its famous ending, was written after watching the film during the summer between my junior and senior years of college. My overall rating for the film was 4 stars out of a possible 4. It was the 248th feature-length film to receive my highest rating distinction. I was troubled by the third quarter of this film. The first part of the second part, if you will. It does not flow like the rest of the film. The

This very brief analysis of Still Life, sitting 15 words above the maximum length for Blurbs (reviewettes), was written after watching the film during the summer between my junior and senior years of college. My overall rating for the film was 4 stars out of a possible 4. It was the 242nd feature-length film to receive my highest rating distinction. Perhaps the greatest genius of Still Life is how it changes from one story to the other and completely abandons the first for an

This short analysis of The Leopard, particularly focusing on its grand ball sequence, was written after watching the film during the summer between my junior and senior years of college. My overall rating for the film was 4 stars out of a possible 4. It was the 241st feature-length film to receive my highest rating distinction. The Leopard may tail off a bit towards the end with the grand ball of the final hour-plus of the film. This sequence feels more like a spectacle than

This bulleted list of observations from watching Aguirre, the Wrath of God were written while and after watching the film during the summer between my junior and senior years of college. Following the bulleted list is a blurb-sized stream of consciousness review of further observations I made about the film upon rewatching it for a scholarly film discussion in 2020. My overall rating for the film was 4 stars out of a possible 4. It was the 240th feature-length film to receive

This review/personal analysis hybrid of Crash was the final extended writing I composed post-filmwatching during my junior year at college -- papers for my film classes not withstanding. My overall rating for the film was 3.5 stars out of a possible 4. On my scale, 3.5 stars qualifies as "very good". The music was off-putting, but it fit. The screenplay was off-putting, but it fit. Every performance was phenomenal, apart from Holly Hunter’s, which was more a distraction than

This review/recounting of a filmwatching experience hybrid was written about an hour after my friends and I got back from seeing Thor: Ragnarok in theatres right before the fall break of my junior year at college. My overall rating for the movie was 3 stars out of a possible 4. On my scale, 3 stars qualifies as "good." What can I say? All of the Thor-led movies are enjoyable and worth someone’s time. Sure, I might be a little biased since Thor is my favorite superhero, but I

This recounting of my filmwatching experience and imagined reverie about having a potential discussion on To Live with its director Zhang Yimou were jotted down shortly after completing the film during the summer between my sophomore and junior years of college. My overall rating for the film was 4 stars out of a possible 4. It was the 228th feature-length film to receive my highest rating distinction. This time, I promise I just have a couple quick notes. My youngest brother

This stream of consciousness review and personal appreciation (from the point of view of a then-aspiring filmmaker) was written after watching Cléo de 5 à 7 during the summer between my sophomore and junior years of college. My overall rating for the film was 3.5 stars out of 4. On my scale, 3.5 stars qualifies as "very good." This is one of the most fascinating character studies that I have ever seen. Countless times in the film, singer Cléo (played brilliantly by Corinne Ma

This interpretation and dissection of The Exterminating Angel was written about an hour after completing the film and rewatching its final 20-ish minutes during the summer between my sophomore and junior years of college. My overall rating for the film was 4 stars out of a possible 4. It was the 225th feature-length film to receive my highest rating distinction. Here is how I see this film. I should probably clarify that I mean, “Here is my interpretation of this film.” I wan

This personal appreciation of L'Avventura was the final extended writing I composed post-filmwatching during my sophomore year at college -- film class papers notwithstanding. My overall rating was 4 stars out of a possible 4. It was the 223rd film to receive my highest rating distinction I absolutely loved this film. Though I must say: this was not what I expected. I knew the basic plot and read the reports of the film being booed after its premiere at Cannes for its slow pa

This review was written about an hour after finishing Carrie during the spring semester of my sophomore year at college. My overall rating was 2 stars out of a possible 4. On my scale, 2 stars qualifies as "okay/average." I did not like this movie. Now maybe that’s not a surprise to some, since I find horror to be one of the more immature narrative film genres, despite it being one of the oldest genres in cinema. I talked out what I liked and did not like with my roommate, so

This structured stream of consciousness reflection/review was written in the immediate aftermath of completing Arrival during the spring semester of my sophomore year at college. In preparation for that year's 89th Academy Awards, I saw all 9 Best Picture nominees: Arrival was the final nominee watched. My overall rating for the film is 4 stars out of a possible 4. It was the 220th film to receive my highest rating distinction. I just don’t know where to start. I have just fi

This review I wrote after watching La La Land during the spring semester of my sophomore year at college. In preparation for that year's 89th Academy Awards, I saw all 9 Best Picture nominees: La La Land was the seventh nominee watched. My overall rating for the film was 3.5 stars out of a possible 4. On my scale, 3.5 stars qualifies as "very good." 2016 has been a terrific year for Classic Hollywood. I realize that this must sound truly bizarre, seeing that Hollywood’s Golde

This review was written shortly after completing Manchester by the Sea during the spring semester of my sophomore year at college. In preparation for that year's 89th Academy Awards, I saw all 9 Best Picture nominees: Manchester by the Sea was the sixth nominee watched. My overall rating for the film was 2 stars out of a possible 4. On my scale, 2 stars qualifies as "okay/average." Oh my God this dragged on! I truly suffered during this film. I went into this with stupid hope

This is a stream of consciousness review I wrote after watching Hell or High Water during the spring semester of my sophomore year at college. More specifically, it details the path I traveled when deciding upon this film's star rating. In preparation for that year's 89th Academy Awards, I saw all 9 Best Picture nominees: Hell or High Water was the fifth nominee watched. My overall rating for the film was 3.5 stars out of a possible 4. On my scale, 3.5 stars qualifies as "ver

This is a stream of consciousness-inspired short review I wrote after completing Hacksaw Ridge during the spring semester of my sophomore year at college. In preparation for that year's 89th Academy Awards, I saw all 9 Best Picture nominees: Hacksaw Ridge was the second nominee watched. My overall rating for the movie was 3 stars out of a possible 4. On my scale, 3 stars qualifies as "good." Hacksaw Ridge does a tremendous job of making it feel like you have been transport

This review was composed a few hours after seeing Moonlight during the spring semester of my sophomore year at college. In preparation for that year's 89th Academy Awards, I saw all 9 Best Picture nominees, with Moonlight being the first film watched. My overall rating for the film was 4 stars out of a possible 4. It was the 219th film to receive my highest rating distinction. This film really made me think. To help put this statement into perspective, allow me to present to