The Moya View
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THE SECRET AGENT: A CARNIVAL OF MEMORY, MISDIRECTION, AND MOURA’S MELANCHOLIC MISCHIEF
Kleber Mendonça Filho’s The Secret Agent blends political intrigue, family memory, and lyrical humor into a vibrant portrait of resistance. Wagner Moura delivers a moving dual performance in a story that celebrates remembrance amid the shifting shadows of Brazil’s past.
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A Child’s Memory Poem
This poem began as a memory fragment—an image of a child improvising sanctuary for slugs and snails during a rainy weekend with her father. I wanted to explore how care, grief, and survival manifest through small gestures: a cracked fishbowl, a wilted lettuce leaf, a library book. The poem resists sentimentality and instead leans into…
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“Send Help”: Sam Raimi’s Island of Gendered Mayhem and Corporate Punchlines
Sam Raimi’s Send Help blends horror, satire, and romantic chaos as Rachel McAdams transforms Linda Liddle into a corporate avenger forged by island survival. The film delivers a comedic exploration of gender roles, ambition, and the wild lengths required to seize power.
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If I Had Legs I’d Kick You: Tides That Carry and Tides That Keep
Mary Bronstein’s If I Had Legs I’d Kick You follows Rose Byrne through a season of exhaustion, devotion, and fragile hope. This intimate drama captures a mother’s struggle with luminous honesty and a lyric sense of survival.
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Sundance 2026: A MAN MEASURES HIS WORTH IN SHADOW AND LIGHT
A proud family man faces rising financial strain in Visar Morina’s Shame and Money, carried by a grounded performance from Astrit Kabashi. The film explores dignity, support, and the fragile balance between pride and survival.
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Sundance 2026: TELL ME EVERYTHING FINDS A TENDER, STORM‑LIT GRACE
A tender coming‑of‑age drama set against the rising tide of the 1980s, Tell Me Everything follows young Boaz as he uncovers a life‑altering truth about his father. Moshe Rosenthal guides Assi Cohen, Mor Dimri, and Yair Mazor through a story of healing, courage, and the slow rebuilding of trust.
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Sundance 2026: My Friend’s House Is Here: A House Made of Light and Defiance
A lyrical drama set in Tehran’s underground art scene, The Friend’s House is Here follows two women who build a sanctuary of creativity and sisterhood. The film blends intimate performances with striking visuals, offering a story of shared courage and artistic devotion.
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Sundance 2026: Steering Toward Herself: Lady
Lady follows a Lagos taxi driver whose life expands when she befriends a group of free‑spirited women. Jessica Gabriel’s Ujah leads the film with warmth and quiet strength, guided by Olive Nwosu’s tender direction.
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The Wrecking Crew: The Wrecking Crew: Brothers, Births, and the Bright Pulse of Hawaii
The Wrecking Crew blends action, romance, and family drama as Jason Momoa and Dave Bautista uncover a conspiracy in Hawaii. Angel Manuel Soto guides the film with warmth, giving its double‑birth storyline and romantic arcs a sincere glow.
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Sundance 2026: How to Divorce During the War: Love in the Shadow of Sirens
A couple in Vilnius faces the end of their marriage just as the world shifts around them. How to Divorce During the War blends intimate drama with the urgency of history, carried by moving performances from Marius Repšys and Zygimantė Elena Jakštaitė.
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Influencers and the Echo of a Self‑Made Myth
Influencers delivers a haunting, stylish tale of identity, longing, and the strange intimacy of online life. Cassandra Naud’s mesmerizing performance anchors a story that blends thriller energy with a surprising emotional undercurrent.
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Sundance 2026: Josephine Moves Through Fear With a Soft, Steady Glow
Josephine follows an eight‑year‑old girl as she searches for safety after witnessing a crime in Golden Gate Park. Beth de Araújo guides the story with lyric warmth, supported by heartfelt performances from Hunter Bold, Gemma Chan, Jimmy Dahroug, and Channing Tatum.
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Before My Memory Began
Before My Memory Began” comes from the earliest story I was ever told about myself—a moment I cannot remember but have carried as if I lived it. The poem moves between a beach scene and a hospital room, two images that have followed me for years. I wrote it to examine how memory is inherited,…
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Sundance 2026: A Ribbon, a Rivalry, and a Song: Reviewing The Musical
The Musical blends rivalry, romance, and schoolhouse spectacle into a warm, spirited story led by Nevada Jose. Director Giselle Bonilla shapes the film with humor and heart, creating a lively portrait of ambition and artistic renewal.
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Sundance 2026: Union County Finds Grace in the Hard Work of Healing
Union County follows Cody Parsons through a county‑mandated drug court program in rural Ohio, offering a tender portrait of recovery and community. With heartfelt performances from Will Poulter, Noah Centineo, and Elise Kibler, the film carries a gentle sense of hope.
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Sundance 2026:Hot Water: A Road West Filled With Steam, Memory, and Small Revelations
Hot Water follows a mother and son on a westward road trip filled with diners, motels, and warm springs. Dale Dickey and Tedd Taskey bring heartfelt depth to Ramzi Bashour’s gentle, reflective drama.
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Sundance 2026: Carousel: A Soft‑Turning Story of Return and Renewal
Carousel brings Chris Pine and Jenny Slate together in a tender story of return, memory, and renewed affection. Rachel Lambert guides the film with a soft, lyrical touch that highlights the beauty of second chances.
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Sundance 2026: “Echoes in a Schoolhouse: Run Amok Finds Its Strange, Stirring Pulse”
Run Amok blends musical invention with emotional reflection as Meg stages a reenactment of her high school’s past. Patrick Wilson, Molly Ringwald, and Elizabeth Marvel bring depth and warmth to NB Mager’s bold, lyrical film.
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A Tender Tangle: The Threesome Finds Fresh Light in Love’s Most Complicated Geometry
The Threesome delivers a heartfelt, emotionally rich spin on the romantic comedy, guided by Zoey Deutch’s radiant performance and Chad Hartigan’s gentle direction. Its sincere approach to pregnancy and love gives the film a warm, memorable glow.
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A Flame That Lifts: Soul on Fire
tender and inspiring portrait of John O’Leary’s journey, Soul on Fire shines through Joel Courtney’s heartfelt performance and Sean McNamara’s steady direction. The film offers a warm celebration of resilience, family, and the sparks that shape a life.
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Sundance 2026: Crossing Paths in Bedford Park”
Bedford Park brings Jefferson White and director Stephanie Ahn together for a tender story of renewal and unexpected connection. The film blends emotional depth with graceful performances, offering a warm, reflective viewing experience.
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Sundance 2026: “A Door Opens in the Heat: Take Me Home and the Shape of a New Beginning”
Take Me Home follows Anna, a Korean adoptee caring for her aging parents, as a Florida heat wave reshapes her life. Ali Ahn leads Liz Sargent’s tender, imaginative film with grace and emotional clarity.
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Mercy and the Measure of a Life: A Film That Breathes Through Its Questions
Mercy delivers a gripping, emotionally rich vision of future justice as Detective Christopher Raven races to prove his innocence before an AI judge he once championed. Chris Pratt and Rebecca Ferguson lead a powerful ensemble in a film that blends urgency, tenderness, and philosophical depth.
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Sundance 2026: Ha‑Chan, Shake Your Booty! Finds Grace in Recovery and Rhythm
tender, dance‑driven drama, Ha‑Chan, Shake Your Booty! follows Haru’s return to the ballroom world after a life‑shifting loss. With Damián Alcázar guiding the film’s emotional center, the story glows with renewal, rhythm, and gentle charm.
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Sundance 2026: CHASING SUMMER FINDS GRACE IN THE RUINS
Chasing Summer follows Jamie, played by Iliza Shlesinger, as she returns to her Texas hometown and stumbles into a season of renewal shaped by old flames and unexpected friendships. Josephine Decker’s direction brings a warm, lyrical touch to this story of rediscovery.
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Sentimental Value: A Soft Light on the Lives We Carry
Sentimental Value glows with tenderness as Joachim Trier explores family, art, and the stories that shape us. Elle Fanning brings a radiant presence to a film that celebrates healing through creativity.
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Sundance 2026: Summer Roads and Returning Shadows: Hold Onto Me Finds a Tender Pulse
Hold Onto Me follows 11‑year‑old Iris as her carefree summer shifts with the unexpected return of her father, Aris. Christos Passalis leads a tender ensemble under Myrsini Aristidou’s warm and attentive direction.
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Sundance 2026: Maps of the Heart: Extra Geography Finds Its Own Bright Drift
Extra Geography follows two girls at an English boarding school as they navigate friendship, desire, and a summer assignment that reshapes their understanding of love. Marni Duggan leads a bright ensemble under Molly Manners’ warm direction.
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A Thing I Do Instead of Sleep
This poem emerged from a sleepless night and a remembered sound—an owl’s hoot imagined against the silence of a hospital corridor. It’s a sonic elegy, a gesture toward the moment my mother’s voice carried the weight of my deafness.
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Late January Arrives
“January Arrives” emerged from a moment of stillness fractured by motion—a hare vanishing into snow, my dog’s bark echoing through the cold. I wrote this poem to honor the tension between presence and disappearance, between the human gaze and the animal trace. I wanted to create a lyric that holds without reaching, that observes without…
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People We Meet on Vacation: A SUMMER OF RETURNING TO EACH OTHER
People We Meet on Vacation follows Poppy and Alex as they rediscover their bond across years of shared trips, missed chances, and heartfelt reunions. Emily Bader and Tom Blyth bring a warm, lived‑in chemistry to Brett Haley’s gentle, mixed‑to‑positive romance.
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Sillage
This poem began with a scent memory that returned without warning. I followed the physical details—the hand raised, the barrier door, the trace of fuel—until the moment revealed its shape. The poem stays close to gesture and environment because that’s where the truth of the scene lived. The theme grew from the tension between presence…
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K-pop Demon Hunters: A Song That Glows Through Shadows
K‑Pop Demon Hunters blends fantasy, music, and heartfelt character drama as Huntrix battles demons with the power of song. Arden Cho leads a spirited ensemble in a story that celebrates courage, identity, and the shimmering force of unity.
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Twinless Finds Its Strange, Tender Pulse in the Space Between Brothers
Twinless blends grief, desire, and uneasy friendship into a story carried by Dylan O’Brien’s layered dual performance. James Sweeney guides the film with a tender touch, allowing its strangest moments to bloom into something unexpectedly human.
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THE RIP CUTS THROUGH MIAMI HEAT WITH GRIT AND STRANGE GRACE
The Rip delivers a tense Miami thriller powered by strong performances from Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, and a sharp ensemble. Joe Carnahan guides the story with heat, momentum, and a surprising softness beneath the gunfire.
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28 Years Later: THE BONE TEMPLE AND THE SHADOW OF GRACE
28 Years Later: The Bone Temple blends apocalyptic horror with a searching exploration of faith, morality, and redemption. Ralph Fiennes anchors Nia DaCosta’s ambitious vision, offering a story that expands the series’ mythology with emotional depth and spiritual resonance.
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One Battle After Another: The Revolution Will Be Graded.
Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another is a chaotic, comic, and politically charged action film that skewers both left and right extremism. With Leonardo DiCaprio leading a cast of revolutionaries and fascists, the film explores betrayal, ideology, and the loneliness of resistance. A manifesto in motion.
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Unpacking
“Unpacking” began as a meditation on domestic disorder and the rituals of aging, but quickly unfolded into a layered memory of childhood scatter and paternal absence. I wanted to explore how objects—laundry, drawers, pirate chests, suitcases—carry emotional weight across decades. The poem resists sentimentality and instead leans into the tactile: folding, spreading, shedding. It’s a…
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Stones
“Stones” emerged from a walk with my autistic brother, where the gravel beneath us felt like a ledger—each stone a record of what we’ve inherited and what we must carry. I wrote it to honor the physicality of memory and the way lineage shapes our future terrain. The poem resists sentimentality and abstraction, staying grounded…
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Die My Love: A Fire in the Field
Jennifer Lawrence delivers a fierce, intimate performance in Lynne Ramsay’s Die My Love, a story of desire, exhaustion, and a relationship stretched to its limits. The film blends emotional boldness with lyrical imagery, creating a portrait of motherhood and longing that lingers.
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Together: Two Become Strange
A gentle, surreal horror satire, Together follows Alison Brie and Dave Franco as lovers drawn into a mythic form of union that reshapes their bodies and their bond. Michael Shanks guides the film with a playful spirit, blending intimacy, humor, and eerie mythology.
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Avatar: Fire and Ash Finds Beauty in Repetition
Avatar: Fire and Ash blends sweeping spectacle with a story of family, grief, and renewal as Jake Sully and Neytiri face new threats across Pandora’s oceans and volcanic frontiers. James Cameron delivers a visually radiant chapter that revisits familiar themes with warmth and scale.
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Marty Supreme Serves Spin, Swagger, and a Surprising Amount of Soul**
Josh Safdie’s Marty Supreme delivers a vibrant, comic portrait of Timothée Chalamet as a table‑tennis prodigy chasing fame, mastery, and meaning across continents. The film blends athletic spectacle with a sharp character study of confidence, desire, and the many forms of power.
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Song Sung Blue Finds Harmony in Love, Tribute, and Thunderbolts of Cheese
Craig Brewer’s Song Sung Blue blends tribute‑act charm with heartfelt family drama, carried by Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson’s warm, lively chemistry. The film celebrates Neil Diamond’s music, the art of imitation, and the enduring strength of love and partnership.
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Queens of the Dead” — Sequins, Screams, and Social Commentary Shuffle in Chaotic Harmony
A wild blend of drag pageantry and undead mayhem, Queens of the Dead delivers camp spectacle with affectionate nods to George Romero. Jaquel Spivey leads a vibrant ensemble through a warehouse apocalypse filled with humor, heart, and high‑heeled heroics.
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Bugonia: A Hymn of Bees, Bodies, and the Beautiful Terror of Being Human
Bugonia blends cosmic myth, ecological warning, and human longing into a luminous, bittersweet tale led by Emma Stone’s mesmerizing performance. Yorgos Lanthimos crafts a story where bees, bodies, and alien intelligence shape a vision of the world’s final breath and its fragile rebirth.
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Goodbye June: A Winter Song of Love, Loss, and Returning Home
Kate Winslet’s Goodbye June offers a luminous, bittersweet portrait of a family gathering around a mother’s final Christmas. With heartfelt performances from Toni Collette, Andrea Riseborough, Johnny Flynn, Timothy Spall, and Helen Mirren, the film becomes a moving study of love, memory, and the bonds that endure.
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Anaconda: The Indie Jungle Joyride We Deserve
Tom Gormican’s Anaconda delivers a wildly funny, self‑aware adventure that turns indie filmmaking into a jungle carnival. Jack Black and Paul Rudd lead a spirited ensemble through a story filled with ambition, friendship, and one very enthusiastic anaconda.
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Hamnet: A Son in the Air: Chloe Zhao’s Hamnet and the Birth of Shakespeare’s Grief
Chloé Zhao’s Hamnet offers a radiant reimagining of Shakespeare’s family life and the origins of Hamlet. Jessie Buckley and Paul Mescal lead a cast that brings Stratford and London to vivid, emotional life. The film becomes a moving portrait of love, lineage, and the creation of art from the deepest human experiences.
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Snapdragon Fields
This poem began as a way to face the presence a parent leaves behind after death. I wasn’t trying to summon anything. I was trying to name the interruptions that still arrive without warning. The poem grew from that tension—how the past steps into the present, how memory can feel like a visitor who won’t…
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Girl Taken: A Kidnap Thriller That Trips Over Its Own Feet (With Enthusiasm
Girl Taken follows a runaway teen whose ride with a family friend turns into a fight for survival, while her mother races to track her down. Erica Durance anchors the film with steady resolve, supported by Eric Hicks and Kennedy Rowe. The thriller offers a light, easygoing take on abduction drama, delivering tension with a…
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Ella McCay and the Art of Staying Upright in a Tilted World
Ella McCay is a lively political comedy that follows a young governor navigating scandal, family turmoil, and the thrill of public service. Emma Mackey leads a stellar ensemble, with Jamie Lee Curtis shining as the aunt who keeps the family orbit steady. James L. Brooks delivers a warm, hopeful portrait of leadership, love, and the…
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Wake Up Dead Man” Delivers a Holy Whodunnit With Heavenly Style
Wake Up Dead Man delivers a lively, heartfelt mystery filled with humor, spiritual intrigue, and standout performances. Daniel Craig’s Benoit Blanc shines as he navigates a labyrinth of faith, deception, and resurrection theatrics. Rian Johnson crafts a story that celebrates both the joy of a great puzzle and the resilience of a community seeking renewal.
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Bone Confession
Bone Confession began as a way to name the physical weight I carry from the people I’ve lost and the ones I couldn’t help. The poem grew from a single pulse in the wrist into a record of how the body stores memory—through objects, breath, and the small actions that prove we’re still here. I…
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Griffin in Summer: A Playwright, a Pool, and Plenty of Drama
Griffin in Summer blends teenage ambition with suburban drama in Nicholas Colia’s playful coming-of-age film. Everett Blunck leads a spirited cast as Griffin Nafly, a 14-year-old playwright chasing Broadway dreams. The movie charms with its mix of comic energy, heartfelt friendship, and youthful mischief.
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My Secret Santa: Alexandra Breckenridge Delivers Cheer in a Ski‑Resort Mrs. Doubtfire
Alexandra Breckenridge stars in My Secret Santa, a holiday comedy directed by Mike Rohi that borrows heavily from Mrs. Doubtfire. While the film leans on familiar tropes—single mom in disguise, a rebellious love interest, and predictable rom-com beats—the cast delivers enough warmth to keep it watchable. It’s not a Christmas classic, but it’s a decent…
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Reverb
Reverb” emerged from a moment of quiet recognition—when I realized I was speaking in my mother’s cadence, carrying her grief as if it were my own. The poem is built as a series of couplets that echo generational sorrow without resolving it. I wanted the rhythm to waver, to enact the instability of grief itself.…
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Undo
“Undone” emerged from my lifelong reckoning with memory and survival. After losing family members in a tragic accident, I found myself haunted by the idea of reversal—not just of time, but of blame, grief, and the unintelligible aftermath. The poem imagines a world where trauma rewinds: collisions un-happen, blood disappears, and the dead return to…
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Jay Kelly: Clooney’s Jay Kelly Finds Fame, Family, and a Comic Pause Button
George Clooney shines in Noah Baumbach’s Jay Kelly, a comic yet heartfelt portrait of an actor wrestling with fame, family, and the roles we play in life. This review explores how the film balances humor with reflection, offering a slightly mixed but warmly positive take on its themes of identity and connection.
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Transcription
soundtrack and images transform into words. I wanted to capture how memory and imagination build a foundation—bright doors, roofs wide as sky—out of fragments of fear and joy. The theme is resilience: the act of immersing nightmares in dreams until something sacred emerges.
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Oh. What. Fun.: Holiday Moms Deserve the Spotlight, and Michelle Pfeiffer Delivers It With Sparkle
Michelle Pfeiffer shines in Oh. What. Fun., a holiday comedy directed by Michael Showalter that finally gives mothers the spotlight in Christmas storytelling. With a star-studded cast and a festive comic tone, the film celebrates the unseen labor that makes the season sparkle.
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Getting There
“Getting There” emerged from the rhythm of my mornings—each act of survival measured, each gesture a hinge between mortality and renewal. I wrote it after noticing how my routines—feeding the dog, checking blood sugar, making coffee—had become a kind of metronome, ticking the sacred rhythm of the day. The poem honors that rhythm and the…
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Prometheus’ Last Day
Prometheus’ Last Day began as a meditation on endurance—what it means to rot without rescue. I wanted to strip the myth of Prometheus down to its final gesture: not defiance, but surrender. The poem resists metaphor and dramatization, choosing anatomical precision and ethical collapse.
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Mourning Mom
This poem emerged from a moment of speculative grief—imagining my mother’s aging voice as a thread I never got to follow. I wanted to write an elegy that refused sentimentality, that honored absence without ornament. The poem’s structure mirrors that ethic: short stanzas, pared-back language, and a final line that lands without flourish.
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Left Handed Girl: A Song of Gentle Courage
This in-depth review of Left Handed Girl celebrates Janet Tsai’s radiant performance and Shih King Tsohu’s tender direction. The film earns an A grade for its warmth, childlike wonder, and luminous ensemble cast. It is a cinematic embrace of individuality, courage, and joy, leaving the viewer with lasting brightness.
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Oh, Hi: Love, Chains, and Pancakes
This review of Sophie Brooks’ Oh, Hi celebrates its comic romance and inventive storytelling. Molly Gordon and Logan Lerman deliver performances filled with charm and consequence, supported by a lively ensemble. With its playful tone and heartfelt resolution, the film earns an A-, a grade that reflects its joyful embrace of love’s contradictions.
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J’s Sky
“J’s Sky” emerged from the final moments I shared with someone I loved deeply. I wrote it in the hush that followed her passing, where grief had no metaphor—only gesture. The poem resists sentimentality and instead ritualizes consequence through pared-down language and elemental imagery. The sky becomes a container for ash, not answers. I wanted…
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Jingle Bell Heist: Diamonds, DNA, and Deck the Halls
This review of Jingle Bell Heist celebrates Olivia Holt’s standout performance and Michael Fimognari’s stylish direction. With clever twists, festive flair, and a comic tone, the film earns an B+ for its joyful blend of crime and Christmas. A holiday caper that sparkles with heart and humor, it’s a seasonal treat worth revisiting.
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Zootopia 2: Scales, Fur, and the Song of Belonging
This review of Zootopia 2 celebrates its poetic storytelling, comic brilliance, and heartfelt performances. Jason Bateman and Ginnifer Goodwin shine as Nick and Judy, while directors Jared Bush and Byron Howard expand the city’s mythos with elegance. Awarded a glowing A, the film is a triumph of harmony, humor, and consequence.
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Peace Lily
Peace Lily began as a quiet observation of my wife’s improbable success with a single plant. Over time, it became a ritual ledger—tracking seasonal displacement, artificial substitutions, and the endurance of living things. The poem’s triadic structure echoes the trinity of life, labor, and love. Its humor is understated, its gestures symbolic: the copper penny…
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This Should Not Be
This Should Not Be” emerged from a moment of ethical rupture—the unbearable knowledge that someone I loved lived in terror until her death. The poem is not a lament but a ritualized protest. I wanted to write something that refused sentimentality and instead enacted consequence. The repetition of “inscrutable” is deliberate—it marks her being trapped…
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Blue Sun Palace”: A Prayer in the Half-Light of Queens
This review explores Blue Sun Palace as a lyrical, gritty portrait of Chinese immigrants in Queens. Constance Tsang’s debut feature honors silence, longing, and the sacred rituals of connection. With Lee Kang-sheng’s quiet brilliance and Tsang’s poetic direction, the film becomes a prayer etched in light.
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One Drop
One Drop emerged from a moment of ritual reflection—when memory of language felt like water evaporating into something divine and unreachable. The poem is a meditation on muffled fluency, divine thirst, and the act of waiting. It’s not a lament but a ritual of scarcity, where prayer becomes a gesture of hope and consequence. I…
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Train Dreams: A Life Hammered Into Timber and Smoke
This review of Train Dreams, directed by Clint Bentley and starring Joel Edgerton, explores the film’s lyric grit and enduring power. The story of Robert Grainier unfolds across eight decades, marked by labor, loss, and haunting visions. Awarded an A, the film stands as a profound meditation on memory, resilience, and connection.
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Rental Family: Brendan Fraser’s Joyful Connections
This review of Rental Family, directed by Hikari and starring Brendan Fraser, celebrates its heartfelt performances and layered storytelling. The film earns an A for its exploration of connection, ritual, and chosen bonds. With humor and sincerity, the review highlights the cast’s strengths and the director’s compassionate vision.
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Wicked for Good: The Emerald Curtain Falls, Yet Glimmers Remain
John M. Chu’s Wicked for Good reimagines Oz with grandeur and consequence, balancing Baum’s charm, Maguire’s revisionism, and the 1939 film’s mythic aura. Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande anchor a tale of friendship, deception, and resistance, where the themes of animal equality and authoritarian power resonate with modern echoes. This review explores how effectively the…
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In Our Dreams: The Sandman’s Children and the Fractured Marriage
Step into the haunting dreamworld of In Your Dreams, where siblings Stevie and Elliot confront the Sandman to save their parents’ fractured marriage. Directed by Erik Benson and Alexander Woo, this Grimm-inspired drama balances charm and darkness, offering a tale of wishes, fears, and the fragile bonds that hold families together.
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The Empty Chair
This poem originated from the ritual of watching films with someone I loved, and the chair she occupied became a consecrated site after her passing. Each line mimics a film frame rate—24 letters per line—so the poem itself becomes a reel of memory. Commas and dashes act as cuts, splicing grief into cinematic rhythm. The…
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Jane Austen Wrecked My Life, But Left Me Smiling Anyway
Camille Rutherford shines in Laura Piani’s Jane Austen Wrecked My Life, a witty, slightly chaotic parody-romance that pokes fun at Austen’s tropes while delivering its own tender payoff
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The Running Man: Powell Runs, Wright Winks, Capitalism Trips Over Its Own Sneakers
Edgar Wright’s The Running Man turns Glenn Powell into a hunted everyman in a dystopian game show where capitalism and media manipulation collide. The chase thrills, the satire bites, and the spectacle occasionally stumbles—but it’s a ride worth taking.
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Now You See Me, Now You Don’t: The Diamond Heist That Almost Slips Through Its Own Fingers
Ruben Fleischer’s Now You See Me Now You Don’t delivers a prankish mix of spectacle and snark, with Woody Harrelson and the Four Horsemen pulling off a diamond heist that’s equal parts clever and clumsy. Our review breaks down what dazzles and what disappears.
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Nouvelle Vague: Breathless, Blue Moon, and the Long Shadow of the New Wave: Godard, Linklater, and Truffaut
Jean-Luc Godard’s Breathless shattered cinematic rules with style and rupture, while Richard Linklater’s Nouvelle Vague and earlier Blue Moon reflect on memory, myth, and endurance. In this essay, I explore how Linklater stands as Truffaut’s American heir, why he chose to dramatize Godard—his opposite—and why I remain a devoted Truffaut fan and a reluctant admirer…
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Breathless and The 400 Blows: Cinema as Style, Cinema as Memory
Jean-Luc Godard’s Breathless shattered cinematic rules with its jump cuts and noir echoes, while François Truffaut’s The 400 Blows grounded cinema in memory and lived experience. In this reflection, I explore how these two films shaped my own movie mania—why I remain a devoted Truffaut fan and a reluctant admirer of Godard.
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Nuremberg: The Weight of Judgement
James Vanderbilt’s Nurenberg, starring Russell Crowe and Rami Malek, revisits the historic tribunal that sought justice after the Holocaust. Both courtroom drama and history lesson, the film wrestles with the weight of judgment, offering a mixed yet powerful portrayal of survival, denial, and consequence.
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The Unholy Trinity: Pierce Brosnan, Samuel L. Jackson, and Brandon Lessard forge a brutal, bruised Western in Richard Gray’s The Unholy Trinity—flawed, but fiercely alive.
Pierce Brosnan and Samuel L. Jackson lead a brutal, morally tangled Western in The Unholy Trinity. My review explores how Richard Gray’s frontier tale wrestles with legacy, betrayal, and survival.
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Birds and Milkweed
Birds and Milkweeds emerged from a moment of listening—pressing my ear to my wife’s chest and imagining wings. The poem enacts the illusion of flight that love offers, and the beauty that remains after we fall. Butterflies and milkweed form a memento mori—not of grief, but of transformation. I wanted to write a poem that…
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The Cut: Orlando Bloom’s unnamed fighter claws toward redemption in Sean Ellis’s brutal boxing drama, where the real opponent is the body itself.
Orlando Bloom’s unnamed fighter descends into obsession and bodily sacrifice in Sean Ellis’s The Cut—a brutal, poetic boxing drama that trades punches for pain and glory for hunger.
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Frankenstein: “Frankenstein Forgives: Del Toro’s Resurrection of Grief, Grace, and Consequence”
Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein resurrects more than a myth—it revives grief, grace, and consequence. This review explores the film’s brutal lyricism, its philosophical weight, and the Creature’s journey toward recognition and survival. A monster who forgives. A story that breathes.
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Predator: Badlands is a brutal, inventive survival tale that reimagines the franchise through blood, betrayal, and bond.
Dan Trachtenberg’s Predator: Badlands reimagines the franchise as a brutal survival tale, with Elle Fanning delivering a dual performance that anchors a story of betrayal, adaptation, and chosen kinship. Read my full review.
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Author Notes
“Author Notes” emerged from a refusal of wanting to answer the the question game—If you were an animal, which would you be? It demands a transformation I do not want to indulge in. It neglects experience and demands transformation. Instead I indulged with the possibilities of Harold’s Purple Crayon. I imagined writing it with my…
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Watch the Skies: “Forever Young, Forever Searching”
Victor Danell’s Watch the Skies blends alien conspiracy with familial longing in a Swedish sci-fi adventure that dares to ask: what if the truth we seek in the stars is really about those we’ve lost on Earth?
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Familiar Touch: A tactile portrayal of Alzheimer’s, anchored by Kathleen Chalfant’s quietly devastating performance.
Sarah Friedland’s “Familiar Touch,” starring Kathleen Chalfant, offers a lyrical and unsentimental portrait of Alzheimer’s, where identity flickers through gesture, and care becomes a quiet act of preservation.
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Finalities
Finalities emerged from a moment of ritual clarity after my mother’s passing. I wanted to honor not just her memory, but the gestures others made to restore her—clipping her hair, dressing her in youth, renaming her Elsi. It stages mourning as a quiet choreography of speculative grace. It’s about the transformation of a woman into…
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For My Older Brother
“For My Brother” came from a quiet moment my brother and I shared, shaped by past pain and recovery. The poem uses body and thought as symbols, with the slash mark showing how deep wounds can leave lasting marks. I wrote it to honor his survival and the work he had done to heal.
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Treatise to My Old Magnificent Maples and Sweetgums
Treatise to My Old Magnificent Maples and Sweetgums began as a procedural elegy—an archive of leaf blowing, tarp dragging, and displacement. My autistic brother and I enacted these rituals season after season, until the house, the trees, and the basement were lost. The poem resists metaphor and sentimentality. It trusts objects, gestures, and consequence. The…
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Blue Moon: Ethan Hawke’s Lorenz Hart is a haunted, dazzling presence in Richard Linklater’s Blue Moon—a film that sings, stumbles, and ultimately lingers like a last refrain.
Ethan Hawke delivers a career-best turn as lyricist Lorenz Hart in Richard Linklater’s Blue Moon, a bittersweet, one-night elegy of lost love, artistic rupture, and the songs that outlast the men who wrote them.
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Shelby Oaks: The Ritual Beneath the Oaks
Shelby Oaks, Sarah Durn, Crud Stuckmann, horror movie review, occult horror, demonic ritual, hellhounds, Tarion demon, Riley Brennan, Mia Brennan, Robin Bartlett, Shelby Oaks ending explained, Shelby Oaks plot summary, Shelby Oaks cast, Shelby Oaks film analysis
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A House of Dynamite: Command Fractures and Countdown Ethics
Kathryn Bigelow’s A House of Dynamite delivers a tense, morally fraught nuclear strike drama led by Idris Elba as a President forced to choose between retaliation and restraint. Our review explores what works, what falters, and why the film’s title detonates with meaning.
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Shadows and Ghosts and Angels
This poem emerged from a real CT scan I underwent—an experience that felt both absurd and sacred. I wanted to capture the paradox of being scanned for tumors while feeling the warmth of contrast dye and hearing the machine’s screech. The poem resists sentimentality and dramatization. It’s a meditation on diagnostic ritual, the bureaucratic anticlimax…
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Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere: Deliver Me From the River’s Edge
Scott Cooper’s Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere is a moody, lyrical portrait of Bruce Springsteen’s haunted Nebraska era, starring Jeremy Allen White in a quietly powerful performance. It’s a film that trades legend for loneliness and delivers a moving meditation on artistic transformation
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