Part of The LibraryLad Challenge 2025
11/26
No. 3: Recent releases

Many fun parts that don’t add up to a particularly interesting whole. I guess the decision to make all the characters “hateful” makes it hard to know whose story we are following, or to care who ends up on top. 

For a story so steeped in the American Civil
War and foundational racism it’s surprisingly difficult to understand what, if anything, it’s trying to say. It’s a gorgeously photographed and enjoyably bonkers movie, but too nihilistic to mean much in the end.

Part of The LibraryLad Challenge 2025
10/26
No. 14: Letterboxd Top 250

I always enjoy watching con artist duos at work, and father-daughter pairing, Ryan and Tatum O’Neal, do it brilliantly. There are so many shades to Tatum’s performance; the tough-as-nails, seen-too-much child whose innocence seems lost, and yet there it is, irrepressible, bubbling up and spilling out in the most delightful ways.

Ryan brings an affable screwball charm that feels like a blueprint for later Ryans (Reynolds in particular) and helps deliver a charming, light-hearted film.

Part of The LibraryLad Challenge 2025
5/26
No. 4: Recent releases

Punishing asceticism and isolation drives young Anya Taylor-Joy to mischief in 17th Century Massachusetts.

A scathing critique of the extremist religious mindset whose insistence on unattainable perfection opens the door to the devil. The Witch is an atmospheric and convincing depiction of the horrors of Puritan life that makes for a stressful, unpleasant movie-watching experience.