Letterboxd — Your life in film

The Matrix franchise has never been a series that I've been passionate about. While I think the 1st film is brilliant & a game-changer. The two sequels, while still having some really great parts, were also deeply flawed with a lot of forced & pretentious exposition about their own world & ideas that made those films boring & almost insufferable to get through.

So before I went into the new film I revisited the original trilogy so I could prepare for this one, and…

Yes, I too am shocked that a film by my favorite director wasn't a winner for me. There wasn't anything that was truly awful, but this also wasn't Paul Thomas Anderson's top-tier best work. A lot of "Licorice Pizza" felt a little too basic. It was written & acted well, but nothing really blew me away in terms of an emotional & personal connection that I've been able to usually find in his previous films. I also struggled with what the film…

As a Steven Spielberg film, this is one of his top ones for sure as this had the high-energy fun & pure entertainment value that is undeniably Spielberg. As a musical film however, the style of it did feel a bit dated & passe compared to modern musicals. And while I've got nothing against the songs as they are, without question, iconic & legendary. The songs in this film felt more like nostalgia instead of a reinvention of the wheel to at least…

A film that, on paper, could have & should have been amazing ultimately comes off completely underwhelming. Performance-wise everyone is fine and as usual Mahershala Ali is the highlight. But even with the acting and the film's visually interesting environments, none of that could save the film from a story that felt very sub-par. I would have loved the film more if it had something deeper to say, but even when the movie tries to do that, it wasn't able to…

While I haven't loved the last two Spider-Man films & especially Tom Holland's version of the character, this one just worked for me & I finally clicked with Holland as Spider-Man. Not since "Spider-Man 2" has a live-action Spider-Man film just captured my attention & reminded me why I love Spider-Man as a character. This is probably the most emotional of all the Spider-Man films in the way it focuses on Peter Parker's mistakes & how they make things worse. Making him ultimately decide…

Wes Anderson's "The French Dispatch" is a love letter to journalists as well as a showcase of the always engrossing style & craftsmanship found in Anderson's films. Having been a big fan of Wes Anderson's work for a while, I knew on some level that I would enjoy this and what I got was another winner of a film & the fifth consecutive Wes Anderson film that I have given a perfect rating.

While I will say that this isn't Anderson's 100%…

Denis Villeneuve's "Dune" is a refreshing & absorbing sci-fi epic that is a reminder that when the genre is done right, we can get something that is truly special & a game-changer. While the film starts off slow & there were a few parts that didn't exactly work. The more it progressed the more engaging the whole thing became. I really enjoyed the world they established, the scale of the whole thing and how it felt massive & lively, and all the little details…

A question that is often asked is "Why would anyone climb the highest mountains where the chances of survival are low & if you do accomplish it what then?". This film looks at this question through two characters with completely different reasons that drive them. "The Summit of the Gods" is one of the most mesmerizing films with a really great story that goes deep into a character's psyche along with some of the best animation I've ever seen.

Based on…

Clint Eastwood's "Cry Macho" is a passable film that only serves as a reminder that the great actor & director that Clint Eastwood once was has long passed. While Eastwood is still able to direct a competently well-made film with no glaring technical faults, a lot of the emotional impact & human element found in his other films seemed very empty & non-existent in "Cry Macho".

Clint Eastwood's performance here, even though he's trying, was literally like watching an old man fumble around…

One of the biggest fears a lot of people have is running out of time & feeling like we haven't achieved what we wanted out of life. Whether pursuing our dreams or having a family, something that says we lived a fulfilling life. I have often felt like I haven't achieved what I wanted out of life & my dream career yet, where time is just ticking away and I feel like I'm wasting it. This aspect Is what I deeply connected…