“But I'm tryin', Ringo. I'm tryin' real hard to be the shepherd.”

The lives of two professional hitmen, a ruthless gangster boss, her sexy, devil-may-care wife, a noble boxer, and a pair of impulsive small-time robbers intersects in a larger-than-life antithesis to the ordinary. Everything about Pulp Fiction defies convention, captivating audiences for decades after and more. It’s one of cinema’s greatest classics, and for good reasons—many of which I will thoroughly explore over the next seven paragraphs (my longest…

“There are legends of people with the gift of making music so true it conjure spirits from the past—and the future.”

South America, 1932 — the notoriously feared twin brothers, Smoke and Stack, return to their roots in the Mississippi Delta in pursuit of starting the hottest juke t in town. They reconnect with families, friends, and past lovers, and stumble upon an evil force of unfathomable power that shatters their understanding of life and death. Sinners stylishly intersects with…

“In death there are no accidents, no coincidences, no mishaps, and no escapes.”

Death stars as the chilling, villainous force in this wickedly delightful start to one of the most iconic horror franchises of all time. Final Destination follows teenager Alex Browning, whose sudden premonition saved the lives of his fellow friends out of a tragic plane crash—only to trigger a terrifying aftermath that proves no living being could ever cheat death. 25 years after its release, James Wong’s concoction…

“Say ‘Auf Wiedersehen’ to your Nazi balls!”

Upon a rewatch, Inglourious Basterds starts to reveal itself to me as more of a hodgepodge of phenomenal set pieces, than it is one cohesive masterpiece. It paints a picture of Tarantino as a director seemingly more interested in perfecting sequences than in building a unified, fulfilling movie. As a result, each masterful moment starts to feel like a standalone ion project, loosely tied with one or two relevances to the broader story.…

“Look for the blood and the smoke.”

At first glance, Warfare appears to be the kind of exercise-in-saying-nothing war movie that many claim Garland’s previous work to be. A showcase of the battlefield that just starts and ends, in an attempt of showing the horrors of war we all know and expect. But, upon further reflection—in a hauntingly similar fashion to how Civil War traversed my mind—I realized that this initial impression diminished what Garland and Mendoza actually accomplished in…

"I liked you for who you are; and who you are is a person who leaves."

In Past Lives, emerging writer & director Celine Song showcases immediate fine craftsmanship of her work, wonderfully emphasizing the beauty of human connections while reflecting on the past, present, and the realm of ‘what ifs’. Bolstered by an exceptional technical execution & talented cast, Past Lives emerges as one of the most gentle, heart-wrenching & impactful cinematic achievements of the year.

It’s always rewarding to come across…