Sean Patrick
Bio
Hello, my name is Sean Patrick He/Him, and I am a film critic and podcast host for the I Hate Critics Movie Review Podcast I am a voting member of the Critics Choice Association, the group behind the annual Critics Choice Awards.
Stories (1986)
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Classic Movie Review: Celebrate Blob-fest with 'The Blob'
It’s been more than 60 years since audiences mobbed the theaters to see The Blob starring Steve McQueen and 60 years on, The Blob remains one incredibly fun flick. This naked propaganda piece about the slow spread of the Red Menace remains a glorious piece of nostalgia and a genuinely clever piece of filmmaking that combines the best kind of camp with the best kind of star power.
By Sean Patrick4 years ago in Horror
Documentary Review: Misguided 'Rondo and Bob' Goes Big and Comes Up Short
Rondo and Bob is a strange documentary. The film purports to tell the story of Robert (Bob) Burns, the legendary propmaster and set designer for the horror classic, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and his obsession with forgotten monster movie star, Rondo Hatton. What we actually get is a confounding series of re-enactments of each man’s life and a few disconnected talking head segments about Burns’ strange life.
By Sean Patrick4 years ago in Geeks
Dreams Within Dreams in Bunuel's The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie
Dreams within dreams within dreams, that’s Luis Bunuel’s 1972 feature film, The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie. Normally, when a filmmaker uses the trope of ‘it was all a dream’ I get annoyed. But the elegant and deconstuctionist way that Bunuel employs the trope makes it work. The dream within a dream within a dream structure in The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie enhances the storytelling while taking the trope and turning it into a charming running gag.
By Sean Patrick4 years ago in Geeks
Movie Review The Naked Honesty of 'Good Luck to You Leo Grande'
Good Luck to You Leo Grande is the kind of movie that causes you to evaluate yourself, where you are in life, and how you feel about yourself. It’s also a delightful comedy about an older woman and the sex worker she hires to try and break out of her shell. Myself, I was drawn to the more introspective side of things but if you watch this movie just for the delight of Emma Thompson and her magnetic chemistry with newcomer Daryl McCormack, that works just as well.
By Sean Patrick4 years ago in Geeks
Conditioning Behavior: The Slow Motion Death of YouTuber Nikocado Avocado
Recently in my YouTube recommendations I was recommended a video by a channel called Cruel World Happy Mind. In January of this year the channel published a video called “How Nikocado Avocado Destroyed His Life.” Prior to watching this video, I had no idea who Nikocado Avocado was. After watching this video I am fascinated by him as a phenomenon and what it says about our culture of clout and fame.
By Sean Patrick4 years ago in Psyche
Illusion Versus Reality in Martin Scorsese's Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore. Top Story - June 2022.
The central conflict of Martin Scorsese’s 1974 drama, Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, is a conflict between illusion and reality. The film is about the fictional life we create for ourselves as a protective case against harsh reality. It’s not just Alice who does this, we all do it to some extent. Life can be hard and re-framing negatives to positives can be helpful even as a self-deception. For Alice, the self-deceptions multiply in order to justify the choices she made in her life.
By Sean Patrick4 years ago in Geeks
Classic Movie Review: 'Welcome to the Dollhouse' Be Nice to Dawn Weiner
Junior High and High School Suck! That’s the theses of director Todd Solondz via his second feature film effort, Welcome to the Dollhouse. Solondz set out to make a darker version of the kind of High School movie that had been around for years but always felt a little fake or a little too sunny and optimistic. Solondz’s vision of Junior High, via main character Dawn Wiener, played by Heather Mattarazzo, was one in which the dangers of High School could be literal dangers as threats and taunts can turn to actual, potential, violence.
By Sean Patrick4 years ago in Geeks
So You've Invited the Main Character from a Romantic Comedy to your Wedding. Top Story - June 2022.
Chekhov once said of guns in movies "You can't introduce a gun in the first act without having it go off in the third." The same could be said of wedding dresses. You can't introduce a wedding dress in the first act of a movie without the dress being worn at a wedding in the third act. And when that wedding dress in question isn’t worn by the main character in the movie, that wedding dress 'going off' often means an embarrassing catastrophe followed by an emotional redemption.
By Sean Patrick4 years ago in Geeks
Movie Review: 'Acid Test' is a Terrific Coming of Age Riot Grrl Tale
Acid Test is a coming of age drama set in 1992. It’s about a teenager on the brink of a future that includes Harvard, a good job, and a career. Of course, she begins to question this path and that question provides the plot of the movie. It’s a journey of self discovery that will take the main character, Jenny, played by Juliana Destefano, from straight A student to Riot Grrrl feminist willing to experiment with psychedelics as an escape from her troubles.
By Sean Patrick4 years ago in Geeks
Classic Movie Review: The Film Foundation Restoration Screening Room Presents 'La Strada'
On June 13th, 2022, Martin Scorsese and The Film Foundation Restoration Screening Room hosted a free online screening of Federico Fellini’s remarkable 1954 romantic tragedy, La Strada. It’s the second free online restoration screening for Scorsese and The Film Foundation and they are going to be doing this once a month for anyone who loves classic films fully restored to their glory by The Film Foundation. And thanks to The Film Foundation, La Strada is another Fellini movie off of my bucket list of classics.
By Sean Patrick4 years ago in Geeks
Movie Review: 'Cha Cha Real Smooth' is One of My Favorite Movies This Year'
Cha Cha Real Smooth is a sweet, smart and insightful comedy about what makes us, us. It’s a film about learning about yourself, knowing yourself, and understanding yourself and others. That’s a rather broad idea but under the clever and caring direction of Cooper Raiff it never feels broad, it feels specific to the terrific characters that he and his remarkable cast have created. It’s a lived in and warm and curious story with a wealth of empathy and a dollop of heartache.
By Sean Patrick4 years ago in Geeks
One Edit in Ozu's 'Tokyo Story' Tells You all You Need to Know
It’s a very simple, basic notion of transition in film. And yet, it’s still quite brilliant when you think about it. I’m talking about one edit in the 1953 movie, Tokyo Story by director Yasujiro Ozu. The edit comes at approximately 6 minutes and 40 seconds into the film. In the scene prior to the edit, an elderly Japanese couple is packing bags that they will take with them when they travel to see their grown children in the big city. The scene is gentle and pleasant, beautifully underscored by Takanobu Saito’s elegant score.
By Sean Patrick4 years ago in Geeks
