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

Informal Pitch: A Raunchy College Comedy Set in the Star Trek Universe
Premise: Before embarking upon their legendary expedition to discover strange new worlds, the iconic crew of the Enterprise must conquer...
Review - Antrum: The Deadliest Film Ever Made
[The following review contains MINOR SPOILERS; YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!] The first time I watched The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, I felt...
Review: In a Violent Nature
[The following review contains MINOR SPOILERS; YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!] In a Violent Nature revolves around a novel enough premise: what if...
Review: Children of the Great Buddha
[The following review contains MINOR SPOILERS; YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!] The opening scenes of Children of the Great Buddha don’t really...
Review: The Sentimental Idiot
[The following review contains SPOILERS; YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!] The Sentimental Idiot is a major departure from the other Hiroshi Shimizu...
Review: Tomorrow There Will Be Fine Weather
[The following review contains MINOR SPOILERS; YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!] Hiroshi Shimizu’s Tomorrow There Will Be Fine Weather is a...
Mother’s Day Movie Recommendation: No Blood Relation
Happy Mother’s Day! If you’re in the mood to celebrate the occasion with a movie screening, allow me to suggest Mikio Naruse’s No Blood...
Review: Killer’s Mission
[The following review contains MINOR SPOILERS; YOU HAVE BEEN WANRED!] Unlike Angel’s Egg and Tokyo: The Last Megalopolis, Toei’s Bounty...
Review: I Saw the TV Glow
[The following review contains MINOR SPOILERS; YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!] It’s tempting to reduce I Saw the TV Glow to its obvious stylistic...
Review: Evil Does Not Exist
[The following review contains MINOR SPOILERS; YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!] What I admire most about director Ryusuke Hamaguchi is the clarity...
Review: Dreadnaught
[The following review contains MINOR SPOILERS; YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!] Although the Criterion Channel’s description neglects to advertise...
Review - The Art of the Benshi: Program IV
When I previously wrote about benshi—the live narrators that would contextualize (and, on occasion, totally reinterpret) the silent...
Review: Ken (The Sword)
[The following review contains MAJOR SPOILERS; YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!] Kenji Misumi’s Ken (or The Sword, if you prefer translated titles)...
Review: Kenji Misumi’s Yotsuya Kaidan (1959)
[The following review contains MAJOR SPOILERS; YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!] Yotsuya Kaidan is Japan’s most popular and frequently adapted ghost...
Review: Demon Pond
[The following review contains MINOR SPOILERS; YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!] At times, Masahiro Shinoda’s Demon Pond feels like two different...
Review: Perfect Days
Perfect Days is a film about cherishing small pleasures. It’s about ordinary people living ordinary lives. It’s about the soothing...
Review: Winchester ‘73
Winchester ‘73 features an intriguing narrative gimmick. While the overarching plot is a bog-standard revenge thriller—with Jimmy...
Review: Re-Animator
[The following review contains SPOILERS; YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!] Stuart Gordon’s Re-Animator (an extremely loose adaptation of a...
Review: Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny
[The following review contains SPOILERS; YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!] Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny is all about the inexorable march...



















