Be a foreigner with very few friends in town. Stumble across a violent crime in progress. Immediately touch everything as you fruitlessly...

[WARNING: The following essay contains MAJOR SPOILERS for 13 Assassins, Skyfall, Django Unchained, and Avengers: Endgame.] What defines a...

[Back in the summer of 2015, my brother and I visited Japan. While there, I sent our parents (almost) daily emails to keep them...

[The following observations were originally posted to my Twitter account on August 22, 2020. However, as the character limit is no longer...

A film’s setting shouldn’t simply lie flat on the screen; it is, after all, a character in and of itself, and must therefore be imbued...

[ The following observations were originally posted to my Twitter account. The text is reproduced here with minor edits for clarity. ] I...

[The following analysis contains MAJOR SPOILERS; you have been warned!] Contrary to their ostensible purpose—i.e., to depict an accurate...

[The following post is not a review of The Last of Us Part II. Because I have not yet finished the game, I cannot offer a full, complete,...

Shot/reverse shot is about as basic as film language gets: one character speaks; a second responds, back and forth in perfectly matched...

As has become my custom of late, I would like to elaborate on my favorite scene in Ride Your Wave. Unfortunately, because it occurs near...

[The following essay contains MAJOR SPOILERS for No Country for Old Men and The Bad Sleep Well; you have been warned!] Spoiler alert: In...

Hypothesis: Michael Crichton’s Westworld had an enormous impact on the trajectory of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s career. Exhibit A: Yul...

[The following essay contains SPOILERS; you have been warned!] Both fans and critics of Netflix’s recent adaptation of Andrzej...

[WARNING: MAJOR STAR WARS SPOILERS BELOW!] Return of the Jedi’s controversial revelation that Leia was actually Luke’s twin sister all...

[The following essay contains MAJOR SPOILERS for Sam Mendes’ 1917; YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!] While Sam Mendes’ 1917 has earned...

[The following essay may contain MINOR SPOILERS for Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, Captain Marvel, Avengers: Infinity War, and...

I’m an unapologetic fan of The Phantom Menace (though I must confess that I used to be a bit embarrassed to admit it). In the past, I...

[The following essay contains MAJOR SPOILERS for Spider-Man: Homecoming, The Wolverine, and Avengers: Endgame; you have been warned!]...

[The following post contains MAJOR SPOILERS and a whole lot of FANBOY WHINING; consider yourself warned!] The Rise of Skywalker improves...

Not to get excessively sentimental or philosophical, but I had a rather profound epiphany today—triggered by, of all things, a video...