Here I will have a blog reviewing films. There will be a short explanation of my thoughts as well as a rating out of 100, 100 being the best movie I have ever seen, and 1 being the worst. I will also provide a rubric below.
68/100
Novocaine (2025), directed by Dan Berk and Robert Olsen, is an incredibly fun and campy spin on the now-classic and slightly overdone John Wick-style thriller. Jack Quaid does a spectacular job playing the awkward, self-conscious main character that is impossible not to root for. Additionally, Ray Nicholson follows in his father’s footsteps and does a great job portraying a psychopathic bank robber with no real morals. I really enjoyed this movie, especially because of the direct contrast between the antagonist and the protagonist, with the protagonist being unable to feel anything physically and the antagonist being unable to feel anything emotionally. All that being said, I think this was a little too gory for me, and there were a few distracting moments in the writing and cinematography.
83/100
The Brutalist, directed by Brady Corbet, is a touching story about the falsity of the American Dream. This wonderful film is a whopping 215 minutes, with an intermission about an hour and 45 minutes into it. While we follow the same story in both halves of this film, the first and second halves are definitely completely different films. With beautiful cinematography by Lol Crawley and nearly jaw-dropping acting from Adrien Brody, this film holds its own against the other Best Picture nominees and is a strong contender for the win. That being said, while the first half of this picture is undeniably great, I did feel that the story somewhat fell off in the second half.
64/100
The Substance directed by Coralie Fargeat is an interesting story about narcissism and self hatred shown through the lens of an aging Hollywood superstar. While there are many interesting visuals and character choices throughout the film, I found that it relied too heavily on gross visuals, nudity, and overly sexual visuals to keep the interest of the audience. Moreover, I felt as though the first and second acts were well made, but in the third act this story completely fell apart.
92/100
Paul Thomas Anderson’s 2007 drama There Will Be Blood is a truly wonderful film-watching experience with many fabulous moments. While there are many great aspects to this like the cinematography, score, and set design, the true spectacle of There Will Be Blood for me lies in the acting, directing, and writing, creating memorable moments to look back on finishing this movie. Specifically, I think that the writing of scenes like the famous “I’ve abandoned my child” scene and the “Drainage” scene are true highlights of Anderson’s spectacular writing.
If you want to watch this movie at home, which I highly recommend you do, you can watch it on Paramount+ here:
79/100
A Complete Unknown directed by James Mangold is a wonderful tribute to a wonderful artist. While Timothée Chalamet as Bob Dylan is the standout performance, Ed Norton as Pete Seeger and Boyd Holbrook as Johnny Cash are also spectacular. I also want to mention the beautiful set design by the film’s crew. From Dylan’s apartment to the look of Greenwich Village to the Newport Folk Festival, it’s all simply awe inducing. That being said, I did find that the film relied too heavily on Dylan’s music and much of the character development felt rushed.