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Velvet Crowe

velvet_crowe
Member Since
03 Jun 2010
N/A
TCI
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3253
ratings
2440
Films
129
Shorts
678
TV Series
6
TV Episodes
1209
Games
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0
collections
21
Recent ratings
3224
Minireviews
854
Starred reviews
See all TCIs
2440
Films
129
Shorts
678
TV Series
6
TV Episodes
1209
Games
See all ratings
21
Recent ratings
3224
Minireviews
854
Starred reviews
Bio: Former journalist, invested in humanities, fitness, and consuming garbage. Probably one of the few Criticker users who actually read comics and plays competitive video games. Subtlety is overrated. https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/176986912-drew https://twitter.com/DrewStr56396515
Recent Ratings
94 99%
Close-Up (1990) - Rated 04 Nov 2026
This is a film where the proverb "imitation is the sincerest form of flattery" is expressed without condemnation. The abstract perpetuates a meditation about truth and representation, asking ourselves what the line of filmmaking is on the realities it wants to depict. But fundamentally, it's more about finding a form of self-actualization by means of imitation and exploring the dimensions of how this can be justified. The conclusion the film comes to about the humanity of imitation is beautiful.
74 79%
Coffee and Cigarettes (2003) - Rated 29 Oct 2026
I'm more interested in its style than I am its narrative conceit. These shorts are about capturing a personality and it's cool to see an attempt at a uniform vibe within a variety of different contexts. It's kind of funny how many of these short stories are so mundane relative to each other, but I think what I like about that is how this is conveying a sense that any topic can have a similar vibe of mundanity within the right context, even if perhaps this idea is not interesting moment to moment
65 66%
Trainspotting (1996) - Rated 29 Oct 2026
I dunno, I came out of this thinking it's not hitting much I find engaging. I do think its hook about how drug addiction can tie into social connections to others is a good bit but I found the psuedo-intellectual philosophy tiring to listen to. Don't think it ever landed any strong dramatic beat with me. But man, I will admit the drugged up scenes are cool. Really dig the whole bit about the baby hallucinations and the parents role in that scene, think the style made me appreicate it a bit.
37 28%
Kids (1995) - Rated 29 Oct 2026
There are definitely kids who act and think this way, I was a teen in the 00's I get it. But the movie comes off like there isn't more it wants to say than "yes, there are kids who are like this!" And it's so caught up on this point that it falls into boring redundancy. Yes kids like this exist, but there's far more complexity to them than being sex obsessed dumbasses and it gets eyerolling that the film only seems to care about gawking at this sort of depravity than dwelling on its context.
86 95%
Night on Earth (1991) - Rated 28 Oct 2026
This is such a cool compilation that I think any one of these stories could hold its own as a full movie. A lot has been said about this movie showing warmth with a layer of darkness underneath but I think where that shines for me is moreso how cab drivers have different levels of contentment with their status in life. The LA driver is pretty happy to be something mundane whereas the one in Paris carries a lot more baggage with doing their. It's both charming and emotionally effective.
84 93%
Blue Spring (2001) - Rated 26 Oct 2026
I think what I love about this is that it makes the delinquent life pathetic. That everyone seeking that image is actually a poser wanting an in group to fit in as their life goals fall apart. That acting tough is really just a cry for social connection. I think the movie gets cheeseball with how overly poetic a group of delinquents are written but the movie still lands on portraying their lifestlye as pathetic, and possibly pretentious. Just love the editing too, the waiting scene was so cool.
61 61%
Dead Man's Chest (1965) - Rated 25 Oct 2026
I think the most appealing thing to me in this is how it's directed and edited. But it's also not consistently interesting. Some scenes are incredible, love the one where we get a close up on the lead's face to express anxiety. But most of the time the camerawork is pretty standard and I struggle to think of anything narratively this did that had me engaged. Kill soundtrack though, honestly that alone hit the vibe better than anything.
58 57%
A Touch of Zen (1971) - Rated 24 Oct 2026
Maybe it's because I was watching this in a bad quality rip but god this was kinda boring? I think it does some real cool choreography by making use of lighting but the forest scenes didn't really excite and good god is the characterization and general drama boring as hell.
76 82%
The Little Prince and the Eight-Headed Dragon (1963) - Rated 23 Oct 2026
It's not caught up in the minutiae of the mythology it's playing with and combines a bunch of stories into exciting setpieces. I'm not too sold on all of this being built up as some coming-of-age story for Susanoo especially since the movie took out his volatile characterization and toned down the extremes of its stories, since it's obvious none of what it's adapting is catering to that theme. But if you're willing to not dwell on that, this is solid set piece oriented adventure.
77 84%
The Little Prince (1974) - Rated 19 Oct 2026
A lot of the random song pieces suck but this manages to be infinitely charming despite that due to a mix of really cool editing and setpieces. I also like the conceit it plays on, about a child trying to understand real world complexities but the adults around him being dismissive of this due to his age. Honestly wish the whole movie was just the part where he planet hopped since the pilot character was very boring, but man this has so much personality I can't bring myself to hate it.