Letterboxd 5019o Kyle

Blue Ruin 6r5624 2013 - ★★★½

Tue, 20 May 2025 07:09:03 +1200

4v291o

I'm very impressed by the reliability of the 1993 Pontiac Bonneville.

Blue Ruin is a grim revenge story that leans on "shoot first, ask questions later, and do the answers really matter anymore." Violence begets violence.

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Love Hurts 351g2w 2025 - ★★★

Sun, 18 May 2025 02:40:49 +1200

An office Valentine's Day Party sounds like a HR nightmare.

Love Hurts is overly-earnest with a cliche plot, but is redeemed by some fun and creative action choreography. Especially liked the use of cookie cutters as makeshift brass knuckles.

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Empire of the Sun 6325h 1987 - ★★★★

Sun, 18 May 2025 02:38:55 +1200

When I saw Empire of the Sun as a kid, I couldn't imagine being seperated from my parents.

Now that I've seen it as a parent, I can't imagine being sperate from my kid.

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Another Simple Favor 4j1x45 2025 - ★★

Thu, 15 May 2025 06:05:56 +1200

Unoriginal and tedious. Whereas the original lived in a trashy yet campy space, Another Simple Favor is a retread of similar plot points with less engaging characters. So much of the movie references the original that I'm surprised Anna Kendrick didn't turn to the camera and say, "Here we go again..." with an eyeroll.

At least Blake Lively had some awesome outfits. I want to buy my wife that gigantic hat.

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Wolfwalkers 4j164s 2020 - ★★★★½

Sun, 11 May 2025 15:54:53 +1200

From the lushness of the forest to the straight lines of the city, the visual storytelling is incredible in Wolfwalkers. A truly great use of the animation medium.

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Spawn 5c6r4u 1997 - ★★½

Fri, 9 May 2025 02:00:22 +1200

Soundtrack > Movie

The plot is convoluted, the action is boring, and the CG is downright bad (even for 1997). However, fun to watch Martin Sheen chew scenery and John Leguizamo is GREAT as Violator.

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Thunderbolts* 166k35 2025 - ★★★★ (contains spoilers)

Wed, 7 May 2025 06:01:07 +1200

This review may contain spoilers.

Really, we just gotta hug it out. Everything will be okay.

Discussed in full on episode #679 of the Cinereelists video podcast.

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Diary of a Wimpy Kid 3n53l Dog Days, 2012 - ★★★

Wed, 7 May 2025 05:57:03 +1200

Watched on Monday May 5, 2025.

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The Avengers 2t2431 2012 - ★★★★½

Tue, 6 May 2025 08:36:05 +1200

Aww, they're all such babies!

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Stardust 1ai6z 2007 - ★★★½

Sat, 3 May 2025 13:48:59 +1200

If you want to see Michelle Pfeiffer as a Hag Witch and Robert De Niro as an effeminate Sky Pirate Captain, then do i have a movie for you!

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Sinners 5z1711 2025 - ★★★★

Sat, 3 May 2025 03:06:40 +1200

Sinners is cinematic. It's big, beautiful, and colorful. Ryan Coogler tells a story that only covers 24 hours, but the seeds of this story were planted generations ago. Michael B. Jordan is great as the SmokeStack twins and gives each character their own personality. It doesn't hurt that he has a great ing cast to boot. Sinners is the kind of movie I only imagine gets better with each viewing.

Discussed in full on episode #678 of the Cinereelists video podcast.

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Hi 28a62 Mom!, 1970 - ★★★½

Sat, 3 May 2025 02:55:40 +1200

What a strange yet creative film. Hi, Mom! is a dark satire on voyeurism and race set in late-60's New York (with DeNiro playing a proto-Travis Bickle). Brian DePalma blends his scenes with handheld "shot" by periphery characters to create an early found footage feel. The "Be Black, Baby!" is especially inventive and novel.

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Havoc 3v1u3b 2025 - ★★

Wed, 30 Apr 2025 15:44:01 +1200

Havoc is the direct-to-streaming nonsense you would expect. The action scenes are one-note, the lighting is dark (with the exception of a decent club scene), the plotting is convoluted, and the actors don't know if they should be hammy or serious. I expected better from Gareth Evans.

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Mission 1h3df Impossible – Rogue Nation, 2015 - ★★★★

Mon, 28 Apr 2025 15:56:41 +1200

Watched on Friday April 25, 2025.

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The Lord of the Rings 6k5t4j The Return of the King, 2003 - ★★★★½

Sun, 20 Apr 2025 02:37:40 +1200

The first time I saw The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King in theaters, I honestly thought the movie was going to end with Sam and Frodo reminiscing about the Shire as Mt. Doom erupts around them. Boy was I wrong.

I enjoy this movie more and more with each rewatch. It really is a cinematic achievement that concludes an epic story without ever feeling overstuffed, even over 4+ hours.

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The Secret of Kells 6m6s1b 2009 - ★★★★

Fri, 18 Apr 2025 13:23:17 +1200

Tomm Moore and Nora Twomey are some of my favorite working animators. Their worlds are colorful and expressive, blending Man, Nature, and Folk Mysticism.

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Warfare 665k3b 2025 - ★★★★

Wed, 16 Apr 2025 12:45:37 +1200

Everyone's a hero. No one is a hero.

A minute-by-minute, cinema verite retelling of an operation that goes south and the soldiers trying to keep their comrades (and themselves) alive. Warfare is blunt, visceral, and brutal, punctuated startling gunshots and explosions meant to strip any "coolness" from combat.

Discussed in full on episode #676 of the Cinereelists video podcast.

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Hook 6k1p71 1991 - ★★★

Sat, 12 Apr 2025 15:48:35 +1200

Hook is such a strange movie. I really enjoy all the performances, but the world building feels off and the story doesn't seem to know what to do with "what if Peter Pan grew up."

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A Minecraft Movie 6b481a 2025 - ★★½

Tue, 8 Apr 2025 15:49:39 +1200

It's absurd. It's colorful. It's basic. Jack Black is doing everything at 11 (which seems to work).

Side note: Why is this moving attracting the worst theater-goers? The constant commentary from the audience was so annoying.

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The Saint 2q4c2a 1997 - ★★★

Sun, 6 Apr 2025 15:37:13 +1200

Gets messy at times, especially the final 30 minutes, but it’s sure damn fun watching Val Kilmer play all those different characters.

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Mr. Nobody 475y2b 2009 - ★

Fri, 4 Apr 2025 17:21:18 +1300

Temu The Fountain.

Mr. Nobody thinks it's epic and significant, but it's actually just pretentious cliched horseshit.

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Presence 4z3r2i 2024 - ★★★

Sat, 29 Mar 2025 03:25:46 +1300

I appreciate the novelty and craftmanship of Presence. A haunted house story told through the perspective of the ghost, Presence cleverly uses long takes and a fish eye lens to put the viewer in the ghost's (mostly) ive POV. Unfortunately, the characters and story felt a bit thin. This may be an issue of only interacting with these characters in their home, but at even 85 minutes, Presence felt like it would be better told as a short.

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Black Bag 1o2o5k 2025 - ★★★★

Thu, 27 Mar 2025 04:50:53 +1300

Black Bag is my kind of spy movie. It's not about action, it's about information. Black Bag captures this element of spy craft; characters using information (or lack thereof) to leverage others and find truth.

I love how the movie opened and closed with a dinner party attended by all the key players. Felt very much out of the Agatha Christie playbook.

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Wicked 5j1j2 2024 - ★★★½

Tue, 25 Mar 2025 02:18:38 +1300

Ok, I enjoyed Wicked more than I expected. Songs are good, costumes/set design is great, and Ariana Grande/Cynthia Erivo absolutely killed it.

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Mission 1h3df Impossible – Ghost Protocol, 2011 - ★★★★½

Sat, 22 Mar 2025 16:56:44 +1300

when Hollywood really wanted to make Jeremy Renner the next big action star?

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The Quiet Earth 2mra 1985 - ★★★★

Wed, 19 Mar 2025 14:35:26 +1300

Come for the sweet 1980's supercomputers, stay for Bruno Lawrence's great performance as the last man on Earth.

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The Day the Earth Blew Up 402h6u A Looney Tunes Movie, 2024 - ★★★½

Tue, 18 Mar 2025 05:25:18 +1300

A fun throwback movie to the era of Looney Tunes and 2D hand-drawn animation. I especially appreciated the homages to The Thing and Invasion of the Body Snatchers in this *checks notes* children's movie.

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Boyz n the Hood 5x4a57 1991 - ★★★★

Sun, 16 Mar 2025 06:14:15 +1300

Had no idea a young Lauryn Hill AND Jennifer Love Hewitt were in this.

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The Gorge 1655l 2025 - ★★★

Fri, 14 Mar 2025 12:41:30 +1300

Alex Garland would like his aesthetic back please.

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3 Idiots 2n46n 2009 - ★★½

Tue, 11 Mar 2025 11:34:54 +1300

3 Idiots did not connect with me. I've enjoyed other Bollywood films in the past, but this one felt hammy, overacted, and saccharine. Even the songs were forgettable.

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The Brutalist d6e2s 2024 - ★★★★½

Tue, 11 Mar 2025 05:03:16 +1300

Even at 3+ hours long, I did not feel the length of The Brutalist. Adrien Brody absolutely disappears into the role and gives an incredible performance. Brady Corbet's direction is beautiful and just toes the line of being "artsy" without being pretentious (case in point the poster scene). The Brutalist's final message is "it's not the journey, but the destination", and although the events of the movie come into focus once we reach said destination, the journey to get there felt even more important.

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Mickey 17 296tq 2025 - ★★★

Tue, 11 Mar 2025 04:41:13 +1300

More like Mickey 17 minutes too long.

Mickey 17 could have been a great movie. There are a lot of compelling ideas at play: Cloning, capitalisms, populism, colonization, alien intelligence, and all the ethical dilemmas that accompany them. Unfortunately, the movie wants to attempt ALL those ideas, but leaves each one half-baked. Bong Joon-Ho is a great director and has proven that movie after movie for the past (almost) 20 years. He's even explored these topics before, but this time, bit off more than he could chew.

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Unbreakable 2i2k57 2000 - ★★★★

Mon, 10 Mar 2025 16:05:55 +1300

Peak-era Samuel L. Jackson.

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Sister Act 1x595y 1992 - ★★★½

Sun, 9 Mar 2025 03:05:30 +1300

Harvey Keital is in this? No way.

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A Real Pain 5y656i 2024 - ★★★★

Sun, 2 Mar 2025 19:46:15 +1300

We all know a Benji in real life. Kieren Culkin does a great job of walking the line between making Benji both lovable and insufferable.

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Flow 1c6h3c 2024 - ★★★★

Sun, 2 Mar 2025 04:45:42 +1300

There’s a lot of impressive elements to Flow, but what really stood out to me was the design of the animals. Each character moved and behaved with such unique personality.

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Captain America 694p6 Brave New World, 2025 - ★★

Fri, 28 Feb 2025 05:16:08 +1300

Captain America: Brave New World is a tired re-tread of much better MCU movies. The action is bland, the plot is lukewarm, and the main bad guy is boring/lazy as "so smart he planned it all." I like Anthony Mackie as the next Captain America and the implication of filling those shoes (both in universe and in reality), but he deserved a much better movie.

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The Lord of the Rings 6k5t4j The Two Towers, 2002 - ★★★★½

Sat, 22 Feb 2025 20:44:00 +1300

Andy Serkis should have won an Oscar for Gollum.

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Raiders of the Lost Ark 4o6k6q 1981 - ★★★★★

Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:48:55 +1300

Watched on Friday February 21, 2025.

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Emilia Pérez 25bi 2024 - ★★½

Wed, 19 Feb 2025 06:04:55 +1300

I went into Emilia Pérez fairly blind to its larger controversies. I knew the basic plot, as well as the recent controversy surrounding Karla Sofía Gascón's past tweets, but was not aware of the Trans and Mexican community's reaction to the movie.

As a movie, Emilia Pérez held my attention. All 3 actresses are strong and I found the story unique. Unfortunately, most of the characters are underwritten and I don't see the titular character as the redemptive hero the movie wants her to be.

As a musical, Emilia Pérez is a failure. Aside from a couple of performances, most of the songs fall flat and lack the showmanship I expect from a musical.

I completely understand the the criticism from the Trans and Mexican communities for this movie. Being an ignorant cis-gendered white American, I didn't pick up on all the retrograde portrayals and bad accents in this movie, but there were even moments to me that didn't sit right.

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Thelma 122i3v 2024 - ★★★★

Sun, 16 Feb 2025 12:18:53 +1300

Watched on Friday February 14, 2025.

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The Count of Monte Cristo 2x4e3i 2024 - ★★★★

Thu, 13 Feb 2025 14:33:30 +1300

The Count of Monte Cristo is my favorite book, so I'm a little weary of any adaptation of Dumas' extraordinary work. It's a tale of slow revenge, decades in the making, that does not always transfer well to film.

Thankfully, I found Alexandre de La Patellière/Matthieu Delaporte's adaptation to be a success. Like all adaptations, they made some changes from the source (some bothered me more than others), but they captured the essence of the story. Edmond Dantes is a man driven by one thing: revenge. Throw in some beautiful cinematography shot in opulent French palaces and you have triumphant adapation.

Discussed in full on episode #667 of the Cinereelists video podcast.

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Dog Man 114v1v 2025 - ★★★½

Sun, 2 Feb 2025 15:42:59 +1300

As far as adaptations go, Dog Man is pretty faithful to Dav Pilkey’s books. The humor, the look, the irreverence; it’s all there.

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The Wild Robot 6w211 2024 - ★★★★

Sun, 2 Feb 2025 15:41:17 +1300

Watched on Saturday February 1, 2025.

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Miss Bala 676v2z 2011 - ★★★★

Fri, 31 Jan 2025 16:22:29 +1300

Well that was harrowing.

Stephanie Sigman's performance and some great tracking shots create real tension and unease in this downer of a crime thriller.

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UHF 2pg52 1989 - ★★★½

Fri, 31 Jan 2025 04:25:53 +1300

Michael Richards' greatest work. Period.

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The NeverEnding Story i36m 1984 - ★★★½

Wed, 29 Jan 2025 05:26:20 +1300

Although I have not seen The NeverEnding Story in some 30-odd years, I must've watched it a ton as a kid. Every scene sparked an "Oh yeah, I this!" response. The creature puppets are especially impressive and made me nostalgic for a pre-digital era.

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Jumanji h5q6q Welcome to the Jungle, 2017 - ★★★½

Sat, 25 Jan 2025 15:55:26 +1300

Probably the best acting we'll ever see from The Rock.

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Trap 1q3n1a 2024 - ★★½

Sat, 25 Jan 2025 15:54:51 +1300

Is this a movie or M. Night's attempt to launch his daughter's music career?

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2025 ranked (as I see them) 601k5g

Sun, 2 Feb 2025 15:44:47 +1300

Sinners

Warfare

Black Bag

Thunderbolts*

The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie

Dog Man

...plus 4 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

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Top 10 Last 10 1u4919 New Films

Tue, 15 May 2018 02:23:06 +1200

Inspired by the Cinereelists podcast. I rank each of the last 10 films I've seen against each other. When I watch a new film, the least recently watched one will leave the list (regardless of rank) and the new film will be ranked accordingly. This list only applies to first-time watches, no rewatches. Check out the companion list of Top 10 Last 10: Rewatches.

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Top 10 Last 10 1u4919 Re-watches

Thu, 6 Dec 2018 17:34:48 +1300

Inspired by the Cinereelists podcast. I rank each of the last 10 films I've rewatched against each other. When I rewatch a film, the least recently rewatched one will leave the list (regardless of rank) and the new film will be ranked accordingly. Check out the companion list of Top 10 Last 10: New Films.

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