xakktastic

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Favorite films

Recent reviews

The Holdovers 2023

★★★★½ Watched 27 Dec 2023

Treads familiar territory and tropes, but with characters and writing that elevate the situations with honest realism. It's an excellent exercise in character-driven film-making, but there are beautiful details to be found everywhere. The way the movie is shot, for example, looks like it's actually taking place in the 1970s instead of just MADE to look like it. The main trio all deliver outstanding performances and we get a product that is deeply sentimental without becoming saccharine.
The Candidate 1972

★★★★ Watched 19 Feb 2024

Banging my head against the wall as these same talking points dominate American political discourse 50 years later.

Popular reviews

The King of Comedy 1982

★★★★½ Watched 02 Jan 2013

Perhaps even more relevant now, decades after its release, this is a unique insight into American obsession with celebrity. De Niro is, as Pupkin would say, dynamite. His dual performance as a desperate, yet overly confident stand-up looking to reach the big-time is so akwardly brilliant that you can barely stand to watch it sometimes. The ending manifests in a way that most viewers won't predict, but seems perfectly plausible. In fact, it says more about our culture than Pupkin himself.
Dune: Part Two 2024

★★★★ Watched 23 Mar 2024

The technical wizardry is on grand display here and the movie is masterfully made. I enjoyed it. But there's something missing in the narrative and character development that keeps me from connecting with the film as emotionally as I would hope. I liken it to listening to technical metal music; I respect it and enjoy it sometimes, but I'll always prefer something a little sloppier that makes me feel something. I like these Dune films... I just don't think I'll ever love them.

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