Reviews and Musings

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

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. 2017- Andrei Rublev (1966) 1 Star -- It may be cinema's greatest tragedy that perhaps the most beautifully filmed epic is als

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

This stream of consciousness marveling over Big Trouble in Little China was jotted down shortly after completing the movie during the spring semester of my sophomore year at college. My overall rating for the movie is 3 stars out of a possible 4. On my scale, 3 stars qualifies as "good." Oh! My! GOD! This movie is awesome!! So here’s the scenario: it’s a Friday afternoon, I have just taken a French exam, I have had a very shitty week, and I need something fun to watch while

This review was written after seeing The Age of Innocence during the spring semester of my sophomore year at college. My overall rating for the film was 3 stars out of a possible 4. On my scale, 3 stars qualifies as "good." This is quite a strange and peculiar film. Not in the sense as Mirror (1975) where you have no idea “[c’est] quoi ce bordel” is happening. Also not in the sense of Brazil (1985), which should leave you questioning everything that the humorless Python and

This is a loose review (or structured stream of consciousness review, depending on how you wish to look at it) I wrote after watching Thelma & Louise on Halloween during my sophomore year of college for my Philosophy and Film (PHL 324) class. My overall rating was 3 stars out of a possible 4. On my scale, 3 stars qualifies as "good." Have you ever been stuck on a movie between two ratings? So stuck that you feel like you may go to jail if you don’t assign the correct rating?

This review/text correspondence hybrid was written within an hour after watching Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind for my Philosophy and Film (PHL 324) class during the fall 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." Just a quick note: This review will be different than others. This is not a warning, just a friendly bit of information before you read. This review WILL BE sh

This review/personal recounting of a filmwatching experience hybrid was written a couple hours after seeing The Accountant in theatres with four college friends during the fall semester of our sophomore year. My overall rating was 2.5 stars out of a possible 4. On my scale, 2.5 stars qualifies as "decent." This is the first Rated R [live action] film I saw in theatres that was not four stars. I had previously seen Argo (2012), Silver Linings Playbook (2012), American Hustle

This review/personal recounting of a filmwatching experience hybrid was written after watching The Castle of Cagliostro with one of my college roommates during the fall semester of our sophomore year. My overall rating was 3 stars out of a possible 4. On my scale, 3 stars qualifies as "good." This is definitely one of the most entertaining movies I have ever seen, and I would even venture out and say that I love this film. My roommate said something after the film, more or le

This review was written after seeing Rome, Open City during the fall semester of my sophomore year at college. 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." This was a very good film. For one thing, it has resurrected my opinion of the Italian Neorealist movement. I won’t go on another Bicycle Thieves bashing, but this film really does give me hope that Vittorio de Sica’s “masterpiece” is really just a flu

This is a stream of consciousness review I wrote about 30 minutes after completing Ordet during the summer between my freshman and sophomore years of college. My overall rating for the film was 4 stars out of a possible 4. It was the 213th film to receive my highest rating distinction. This writing will not be as long as the others, mainly because this is a religious drama, and dissecting religion, as opposed to film, is not my strong suit. This film was very intriguing to m