Favorite films

Recent reviews

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  Svengali 1931

  ★★ Watched 02 Oct 2023

  So antisemitic I wouldn't be surprised if it was part of the Nazi propaganda program. The titular Svengali is a greedy, manipulative, hypnotic Jewish caricature who takes away a blonde white model from a gentile. Svengali is the big bad who only uses her for her beauty and leads her to a life of degeneration, while the sweet gentile would've always shown her love. Outside of the global composition of hatred, there are many smaller scenes where Svengali is discussed…

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  Dominion: Prequel to The Exorcist 2005

  ★★★ Watched 02 Oct 2023

  Theatrical Cut

  Paul Schrader's Dominion: Prequel to The Exorcist works under virtually the same script as Exorcist: The beginning and is guilty of the same sins. I won't dwell on the white/Gentile savior complex here as I covered it enough in my review of The Beginning. I will say that Schrader's touch at least lessens the horrid quality of the script. I don't think one could save the voyeuristic writing inherent to the white archaeologist storyline. But at least it…

Popular reviews

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  Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse 2023

  ★★★★★ Watched 01 Jun 2023 3

  I expected Across the Spider-Verse to be as visually entrancing as its predecessor. In fact, when I saw comparisons to the Wachowski Sisters filmography, I assumed people were referring to the maximalist, kinetic editing and visual style, which was part of the equation. But what really blew me  away about the film was its anti-normative narrative themes, which pushes against the conventional storytelling model that has put superhero narratives in a creative choke hold, and in turn hurt mainstream film itself.…

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  Saw X 2023

  ★★★★ Watched 28 Sep 2023

  I will say I’m surprised other critics are loving this as much as I did. It’s a classic Saw joint so I’m fully on board with the 4D chess, nu metal edits, and John’s mental gymnastics. But I think beyond that ppl seem to be as attracted to John falling for a scam. Like Saw VI Greutert makes great use of the abuses of the medical system, this time attacking sketchy Mexican surgeries. What I find most interesting about this is…