FILM CRITICISM

CURRENT WRITING

Coming Soon…

PAST WRITING

Counting Down the Best Movies of 2024

‘Megalopolis’ is the best and worst movie of the year

‘Anora’ is a masterful Cinderella story gone sour

‘The Substance’ is one of the more en(gross)ing films this year

Donald Trump biopic ‘The Apprentice’ falls short

‘Civil War’ brings all-too-real chaos to the silver screen

What are the top 10 movies of 2023?

‘The Killer’ aims to thrill

Why ‘Bottoms’ is the top movie of 2023

‘Beau Is Afraid’ must be seen to be believed

We bought a shoe: the relevance of ‘Air’

“Dungeons and Dragons” gets the big screen treatment

Women behind the lens: recent film recommendations

‘Ratatouille’ 15th anniversary: a generational classic

The haunting resonance of ‘Till’

VIDEO ESSAYS

ESSAYS

Visions of the Self/Society through the Silver Screen (Award-Winner)

Andrei Tarkovsky Career Retrospective

The Individual vs. The Cosmos in The Dark Side of the Moon

SOCIAL MEDIA

Jones has written film criticism on Instagram (@film_fanatic44) since 2017, sharing reviews on new releases, classic films and annual best-of lists.
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Jones also writes consistently via Letterboxd (@film_fanatic44). Here, you can see his complete film diary.
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Joachim Trier’s ‘The Shining.’

The construction of the Overlook Hotel and of Trier’s film are comprised of disparately arranged components. A mélange of asynchronous design choices and anachronistic historical aestheti

I am in the process of changing my review format and output, or how my reviews will be published moving forward (so this, we’ll say, snapshot format, is a little unorthodox to my usual more sweeping reviews). But I had to set down my thoughts o

It was a surprise to many that Ari Aster, the once-horror director turned provocateur would aim to foreground 2020s American politics in his latest feature, but almost no surprise when the film was so adversely received following its Cannes premiere;

Materialists.

Or “The Materialists,” as every person said at the surprisingly crowded box office last night. On the one hand, a very ✨chaaaaaarming ✨motion picture. On the other hand, everyone involved in this movie should be put on a go

Last month I graduated college, earning my BFA in Film Production from the University of Mississippi.

Four long treacherous years, where I learned a lot about how to both be a filmmaker and be a human being, and, as you can suspect, I’m still

1942 - 2025 💔

When I was twelve years old, I encountered the two most totemic creative voices of my life to this point, the figures who would shape my fundamental understanding of what it means to be both an artist and a human being. The first bein

“A Tom Cruise Production”
I defy anyone with red blood in their veins to not be viscerally thrilled and emotionally moved by the cinematic bravura of Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning (the eighth, and most ambitious film, in the s

My #1 Favorite Film of 2024 (and, perhaps, the decade so far). A film that met me at the perfect time in my life and spoke to me in a completely unexpected and profound manner. And the conversation hasn’t let up.

“Can you stop?” &l