Paul Rai
@PaulSRai
Followers
635
Following
34K
Media
2K
Statuses
11K
Awards Editor/Critic @therollingtape• Avid movie & awards lover • Creative Writer • Book Lover • Letterboxd for in-depth reviews/ratings: https://t.co/2jz9vxQYSB
Joined July 2010
I’m not an Oscar voter—decided to see TO LESLIE because of the sudden hype and wow, Andrea Riseborough is exceptional in this small indie gem from Michael Morris. It’s now criminal in retrospect this performance hasn’t been talked about all season. Give her an Oscar Nomination.
13
29
511
Best Adapted Screenplay Nominee: CLINT BENTLEY & GREG KWEDAR for TRAIN DREAMS #thegothams2025
0
11
36
MOTHER ANN LEE IS IN!
0
0
2
Here’s the start of the Wagner Moura Best Actor campaign!
0
2
12
Obvs we have a whole hell of an awards season to go through, but picture it: Ariana Grande joining the ranks of Bing Crosby and Paul Newman of actors who received 2 nominations for playing the same character and winning for one of them. Cynthia Erivo could achieve a similar feat.
@MendezMovieRPT @KouryMalaki Yeah I have Grande winning. She benefits from 4 films with 8 contenders vying for a nom, let alone a win. Grande feels like a natural default “Yeah, I loved her in WICKED” setting. If FOR GOOD can’t win the same tech wins from last year, Grande is a great way to acknowledge it.
0
2
15
SIRAT grabs you by the collar and drags you through the dirt, blasting a throbbing electronic anthem in your face. The images are crisp and luscious, the vibes are palpable and compelling, and the energy has a zest and vigor that keeps you glued. ★★★★ https://t.co/CIWvw4dQGB
0
0
0
In his first review from Philly Film Festival, @PaulSRai review’s THE PRESIDENTS CAKE, “a poignant, often absurdly sad loss of innocence and direction that leaves people in the ruins of a destitute war” https://t.co/0uzaGvlXdC
0
1
2
I enjoyed the first two acts, as they’re more aligned with the sub genre of people executing orders and following procedures until they reckon with the notion they have no control over the situation. Third act deflates the tension and reduces the moral quandaries.
0
0
0
A HOUSE OF DYNAMITE contains an incredible linear 100-minute Bigelow film of fragmented levels of gov and failed steps & processes loosing grasp with the impending cloud of nuclear reality amidst the three separate, narratively confounding vignettes. First act is intensely potent
1
0
0
TRAIN DREAMS is a pensive, beautiful poetic ode to American transformation thru a simple life that feels part of a collective natural history. Joel Egerton imbues immense, passionate sincerity. Adolpho Veloso’s cinematography is breathtaking and sweeping. Loved Dessner’s score.
3
27
264
I LOVED Kennedy’s understated work in BLUE MOON. Especially his screen chemistry, as he matches Hawke’s performance by his sheer unassuming presence, listening and engaging Hart’s disposition with concise, quiet intelligent retorts that even marvels the self-involved Hart.
Patrick Kennedy as E.B. White is quietly indispensable in BLUE MOON.
0
0
7
SOUND OF FALLING tracks a visually arresting cycle violence and disturbance affecting women across generations of social norms. It’s patient, exacting, and supremely rich; Masha Shilinski boxes her characters (and us) in the suffocating, claustrophobic 4:3 frames of conformity.
0
0
0
IT WAS JUST AN ACCIDENT is an astonishing morality play of reverberating trauma changing your physical and psychological impulses for some semblance of justice and closure. Jafar Panahi’s direction is sublime and unobtrusive—shots linger on, as characters grasp for some catharsis
0
1
5
LITTLE AMÉLIE OR THE CHARACTER OF RAIN is like a warm, pastel-colored blanket from your parents’ closest, reminiscent of the wide-eyed innocence and magical curiosity for the natural world, wonderfully displayed through a toddler’s eyes. I wanted to keep living in this film.
4
7
53
THE SECRET AGENT is an involving, sprawling, lived-in political thriller, as Kleber Mendonça Filho preserves the collective rich, haunting past of 1970s Brazilian political history and culture via vivid picturesque images and a magnetic, sexy, soulful performance by Wagner Moura.
2
41
511
One of Scorsese’s masterpieces. An UNFORGIVEN-style anti-gangster film untangling the messy, bloody historical web of fatalistic American crime and corrupt politics, centered on an aging, pathetic hitman reminiscing his days of glory, as he slowly slips into a quiet, lonely death
Nominated for the Academy Award for: Best Picture Best Director Best Supporting Actor x 2 Best Adapted Screenplay Best Cinematography Best Editing Best Visual Effects Best Production Design Best Costume Design
0
0
0