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: The Legend & Butterfly
[The following review contains MAJOR SPOILERS; YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!] Near the end of The Legend & Butterfly—a lavish period epic...
Review: Single8
I went into Single8 hoping that it would recapture the magic of It’s a Summer Film!—which remains one of the best movies I’ve ever seen...
Review: The First Slam Dunk
This one was kind of a cheat. The Japan Cuts screening of The First Slam Dunk sold out almost immediately after tickets became available...
Review: I Am What I Am
I Am What I Am is the exact sort of pleasant surprise that defines Japan Cuts for me. The synopsis on the festival website led me to...
Review: Short Cuts Program 1 (Japan Cuts 2023)
After taking last year off due to COVID-related concerns, Japan Cuts has finally returned to NYC! Since I’m feeling a bit out of...
Review: Barbie
[The following review contains SPOILERS; YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!] Greta Gerwig’s Barbie opens with an extended montage depicting an average...
Review: Oppenheimer
[The following review contains MINOR SPOILERS; YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!] How should a director approach depicting the concept of “genius?”...
Review: Past Lives
[The following review contains MAJOR SPOILERS; YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!] When childhood sweethearts Na Young and Hae Sung first part ways at...
Review - Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One
[The following review contains SPOILERS; YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!] Objective. Obstacle. Solution. Complication. Rinse and repeat until the...
Review: The Last of Sheila
[The following review contains MAJOR SPOILERS; YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!] A great mystery requires a certain degree of misdirection. The Last...
Hadestown: Mythology Remixed
[The following essay contains MAJOR SPOILERS; YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!] Hadestown is a brilliant reinterpretation of the Greek myth of...
Review: The Dead Zone
[The following review contains MINOR SPOILERS; YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!] Does a film truly need to slavishly adhere to a traditional...
Review: Asteroid City
[The following review contains MAJOR SPOILERS; YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!] Asteroid City isn’t just the quintessential Wes Anderson film; it’s...
The Poetry of Death: Jisei and Kore-eda’s After Life
Recently, I read an exquisitely curated collection of jisei—Japanese death poetry. It was a thoroughly engrossing volume, offering unique...
Review: Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence
[The following review contains SPOILERS; YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!] What is “bravery?” Is it dying for one’s cause without hesitation, even...
Review: Withnail and I
[The following review contains SPOILERS; YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!] In Withnail and I, the characters are defined by their environment; the...
Across the Spider-Verse and the Art of Purposeful Fan Service
[The following essay contains MAJOR SPOILERS; YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!] Modern blockbusters—especially those belonging to the increasingly...
Informal Pitch: A Paul Schrader Biopic in the Style of a Paul Schrader Script
INT. EMPTY ROOM - NIGHT The room is featureless and almost completely bare. A BED, meticulously made, in one corner (it hasn’t been slept...
Review - Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
[The following review contains MAJOR SPOILERS; YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!] Five year ago, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse argued that...





















