Film & Television
Reviews, essays, and other coverage of movies and TV shows
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How Ruben Östlund Tracks the Ripples of a Moment in Triangle of Sadness and Force Majeure
Video essay examining how Ruben Östlund tracks the ripples of a seemingly insignificant moment in “Triangle of Sadness” and “Force Majeure.” Östlund won the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival for “The Square” in 2017 then again in 2022 for “Triangle of Sadness,” which was also nominated for multiple Oscars and BAFTAs Read more
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The Father (2020) vs. The Son (2022)
Florian Zeller’s two movies The Father (2020) and The Son (2022) are similar in many ways but at polar opposite ends of the quality spectrum. In this double review of both movies, let’s break down why The Father is a great film and why The Son is a failure. “The Father” = 8.5/10 “The Son”… Read more
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The Psycho Sequels Deserve More Respect
Alfred Hitchcock left huge shoes to fill with his timeless “Psycho,” so the decades-later sequels were bound to be met with a rocky reception, but I’m here to tell you that “Psycho II” and “Psycho III” are far better than you may have been led to believe, and “Psycho IV” isn’t that bad either. Read more
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The Man Who Invented Independent Filmmaking
A tribute to and a showcase of the remarkable talents and accomplishments of John Cassavetes, a successful actor who used the money he made from appearing in movies to self-finance his own films independently. Truly one of the most important filmmakers of all time. Read more
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The Top 100 Best Action Movies Ever Made
The full list is available below the video and on Letterboxd. Read more
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Randy Quaid’s Star Whackers Documentary is the Worst Thing I’ve Ever Seen
Randy Quaid used to be a talented actor at the start of his career, as exemplified by his phenomenal performance in The Last Detail. Unfortunately, he got sucked down the conspiracy theorist rabbit hole and lost his mind along with all his acting ability and common sense. His Star Whackers “documentary” is genuinely the worst… Read more
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Jump Scares Suck (Except When They Don’t)
Jump scares are always terrible (except for the good ones). This video looks at jump scares from all angles and attempts to break down why they work or don’t work, why they’re so common, how to make them better, and also provides more in-depth breakdowns for a few specific movies and jump scares including The… Read more
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The Face of Another is Essential Cinema
The Face of Another is a 1966 Japanese drama, thriller with horror elements from director Hiroshi Teshigahara and author Kobo Abe and starring the incredible Tatsuya Nakadai, RIP. This video is part of my Essential Cinema series examining what I consider to be some of the best films ever made. 10/10 Read more
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The Best Films of 2023
At the time I made my 2023 recap video, I had only seen eight or so films released in 2023, so I instead ranked best films released any time that I watched for the first time in 2023. You can find that video below, but now that I’ve seen way, way, way more films released… Read more
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Red Rooms is a New Kind of Horror Movie
Grey joined me to review Pascal Plante’s new courtroom drama, thriller, horror hybrid “Red Rooms” starring Juliette Gariépy and Laurie Babin. One of my favorite films of 2023. Sam’s score = 9/10 Grey’s Score = 9/10 Read more
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