The ramblings of a wannabe cineaste. Join me as I dissect the art of storytelling in films, comics, TV shows, and video games.
O'GRADY FILM

Review: A Page of Madness
Why wasn’t I notified that A Page of Madness is currently streaming on Prime Video? This essential work of Japanese silent cinema has...
Review - John Wick: Chapter 4
[The following review contains MINOR SPOILERS; YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!] John Wick: Chapter 4 opens with Laurence Fishburne’s delightfully...
Review: Scream VI
[The following review contains MAJOR SPOILERS; YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!] The Scream formula is nothing if not dependable. At this point,...
Review: Death Shadows
[The following review contains MINOR SPOILERS; YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!] The Criterion Channel’s synopsis of Hideo Gosha’s Death Shadow’s...
Review: Yes, Madam!
[The following review contains SPOILERS; YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!] A Cynthia Rothrock vehicle is currently featured on the front page of the...
Review: AKUTAGAWA
AKUTAGAWA opens with the construction of a puppet. As the eponymous author writes feverishly, pausing only to puff on his cigarette and...
Review: An Ostrich Told Me the World is Fake and I Think I Believe It
[The following review contains MINOR SPOILERS; YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!] In An Ostrich Told Me the World is Fake and I Think I Believe...
Review: A Tale of Sorrow and Sadness
Nearly a decade after being fired by Nikkatsu for his “incomprehensible” style, Seijun Suzuki returned to the studio system to direct A...
Review: The Whale
[The following review contains MAJOR SPOILERS; YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!] Like we discussed yesterday, I really want you all to focus on...
Review - Phantom of the Mall: Eric’s Revenge
[The following review contains SPOILERS; YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!] Gaston Leroux’s The Phantom of the Opera has been adapted to other media...
Skinamarink: Alone in the Dark
Under certain circumstances, even the most familiar of spaces can seem utterly terrifying. When you’re trapped in your own home for weeks...
Review: Broker
Like The Shape of Water and First Reformed, Broker is a cinematic Rosetta Stone, clarifying the central themes that pervade Hirokazu...
Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio: Jackbooted Jackasses
[The following essay contains MAJOR SPOILERS; YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!] Traditionally, adaptations of Pinocchio revolve around naughty...
Review: Violent Night
Violent Night shouldn’t be nearly as good as it is. How can a film best summarized as “Die Hard, but starring the real Santa Claus” be...
Review: Violent Streets
[The following review contains SPOILERS; YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!] Based solely on the list of Hideo Gosha titles available on the Criterion...
Review: April Story
[The following review contains MINOR SPOILERS; YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!] In the opening scene of Shunji Iwai’s April Story, a college-bound...
Review: All About Lily Chou-Chou
The protagonist of Shunji Iwai’s All About Lily Chou-Chou frequently claims that the eponymous (fictional) musician draws inspiration...
Review: Fireworks, Should We See It from the Side or the Bottom?
As I watched Japan Society’s recent screening of Fireworks, Should We See It from the Side or the Bottom?, I gradually realized that I...
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever - Silent Gods, Unfathomable Grief
[The following essay contains MAJOR SPOILERS; YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.] Early on in Ryan Coogler’s Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Angela...





















