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: Pokemon Detective Pikachu
A little bit of world-building goes a long way. I’ll be brutally honest: Pokemon Detective Pikachu won’t be winning any screenwriting...
Review: Shadow
Caught a late-night screening of Shadow at IFC Center. This wuxia thriller is set during China’s Three Kingdoms period; thus, its plot...
Avengers: Endgame - Sacrifice
[The following essay contains MAJOR SPOILERS for both Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame. Continue reading at your own risk.]...
Review: The Tragedy of Bushido and Only She Knows
Caught the final two screenings of Japan Society’s “Other New Wave” retrospective: The Tragedy of Bushido: Unlike last night’s The...
Review: The Samurai Vagabonds
Caught a screening of The Samurai Vagabonds—which, contrary to its title, is not a period film, but a modern-day (well, circa 1960)...
Game of Thrones: A Song of Sin and Redemption
[SPOILERS for all seasons of Game of Thrones below. You have been warned.] It’s an undeniable fact that Game of Thrones has changed after...
Review: SHAZAM!
Armchair pop culture analysts drone on and on about “superhero fatigue,” but the current abundance of material isn’t the primary cause of...
Review: The Hunchback of Notre Dame
Watched Universal’s 1923 adaptation of The Hunchback of Notre Dame on Kanopy (for obvious reasons). I’d already seen excerpts of this...
Review: Grass
Forgive this brief moment of self-indulgence, but if there’s one lesson I learned as a film student that bears repeating, it’s that...
Review: Antiporno
How does one begin to describe a movie like Antiporno? Well, it certainly helps to have a basic understanding of Roman Porno, a more...
Review: House By the Cemetery
How the hell did I miss the news that House By the Cemetery had finally hit Kanopy? It was never listed among the new releases; thank...
Review: Long Day's Journey into Night
Ventured out to Metrograph to catch a screening of Long Day’s Journey into Night. The initial setup of this Chinese cinematic tone poem...
Review: Vital
Logged on to Kanopy to watch Vital, a Japanese love story with a dark twist (hardly shocking, considering it was directed by Shinya...
Review: Penguin Highway
Went to Village East Cinema to catch a screening of Penguin Highway, one of the most unique animated coming-of-age stories I’ve ever...
Review: The Fate of Lee Khan and The End of Love
Celebrated the completion of a pilot I’ve been working on with an Asian cinema double feature: The Fate of Lee Khan: The films of Chinese...
Review: The Beach Bum
[The following review contains SPOILERS! You have been warned.] My recent binge of Harmony Korine’s filmography has been leading up to...
Review: Double Suicide
A married merchant falls in love with a courtesan. Meddling family members conspire to tear them apart. Unable to find happiness in...
Review: The Amazing Spider-Man Annual #1
Steve Ditko has developed a reputation within the comic book community as a bit of a curmudgeon, but nobody–fan, professional, or...
Review: Julien Donkey-Boy
Continuing my long-overdue binge of Harmony Korine’s body of work, I ventured out to Metrograph for a late-night screening of Julien...



















