5 Stars – Adagat

PTA Filmography Series Part 3: Magnolia

Posted on May 1, 2020May 27, 2020 by Adam

"The book says: We may be through with the past, but the past ain't through with us." - Jimmy Gator / Quiz Kid Donnie Smith / Narrator I'm pretty sure Anderson cringes at this movie. And I do too, honestly. The above quote can seem faux-deep when isolated and presented at the top of a semi-critical analysis like this one. It seems a bit trite. Overly melodrama...

Review – Roma

Posted on December 16, 2018December 17, 2018 by Adam

I tend to think a lot about what I think about movies. Or of music, or TV, or books. I have this impulse to categorize my enjoyment of a piece of art. To compare it to other things I have seen, and rate and rank it alongside other similar pieces of art. This can often be very enjoyable. It forces me to evaluate what I find important. But sometimes there’s a problem with th...

Micro Review (Re-watch) – Phantom Thread

Posted on April 14, 2018October 17, 2018 by Adam

I've watched this a few times now. I think I keep watching it because I expect to find its flaws. I expect to not like it as much as I think I do. But while I am watching it, I'm just so into it. It's a perfectly made movie. By that, I mean that I believe Paul Thomas Anderson achieved exactly what he wanted to. This is the exact movie that he wished to make. That's an almost im...

Micro Review (Re-watch) – Phantom Thread

Posted on March 28, 2018October 17, 2018 by Adam

It's a different experience, watching Phantom Thread for the second time. The first time you watch it, you really have no idea what you're getting yourself into. On the second watch, you THINK you know what you're getting into. But then it hits you that you can watch this movie any number of ways. It can be so many different things, depending on how you want to watch it. It fee...

Review – Phantom Thread

Posted on February 4, 2018October 17, 2018 by Adam

I think this might be brilliant. After finishing it, all I could do was think back over the course of the entire movie, picking it apart in my mind, trying to remember why something happened, or what something looked like, or how something sounded, what something might have tasted like. I feel like I not only HAVE to see this movie again, but I WANT to see it agai...

Review – Call Me By Your Name

Posted on January 27, 2018October 17, 2018 by Adam

This is a film that stimulates the senses. It takes place in Italy, in the summer, in 1983. You can feel the sweat beading on your neck and navel, you can hear the trickle of fountains and the chirping of birds, you can smell the apricots in the trees and the summer breeze skipping across the watering holes. This is a film that transports you into its atmosphere. It’s a fil...

Movie Rewatch – Dunkirk

Posted on January 26, 2018October 17, 2018 by Adam

I’ll keep this short and sweet. Upon re-watching Dunkirk, I now believe that it is a masterpiece. The first time you watch it, you’re on the edge of your seat the whole time. It’s breathtaking. And stressful. It’s a visceral experience – especially if you’re lucky enough to see it in the theater in widescreen. After I left the movie theater, the first time I saw it in the s...