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Marya E. Gates

Tomatometer-approved critic
Biography:

Marya E. Gates is a freelance film and culture writer based in Los Angeles and Chicago. She studied Comparative Literature at U.C. Berkeley, and also has an overpriced and underused MFA in Film Production. Before pivoting to writing full time, she worked in social media marketing for Warner Archive Collection, Rotten Tomatoes, Turner Classic Movies, FilmStruck, and Netflix.

Reviews

Movies TV Shows
THE BRIDE! (2026) 58% EDIT “I’m sure it will be a clarion call for a certain kind of straight white woman. For me, though, the results are muddled, whether by studio interference or Gyllenhaal’s own lack of scope within her own feminism.” – Cool People Have Feelings, Too. (Substack) Mar 6, 2026 Full Review EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert (2025) 96% EDIT “A wonderful peek into the process behind and work that went into these live shows. I’m all shook up. ” – Cool People Have Feelings, Too. (Substack) Mar 3, 2026 Full Review Yellow Letters (2026) 79% EDIT “Pointedly about the rise of fascism in Germany, but could be about the rise of fascism everywhere at the moment and the pressure artists face to choose working/paying their bills over their ethics” – Cool People Have Feelings, Too. (Substack) Mar 3, 2026 Full Review The Blood Countess (2026) 82% EDIT “The result is a wonderful film that has comedy, maximalism, fashion, style, eroticism, queerness, and a climax at Prater to boot! Needless to say, Ottinger still has IT, and we should once again all feel blessed.” – Cool People Have Feelings, Too. (Substack) Mar 3, 2026 Full Review Mouse (2026) 100% EDIT “These filmmakers are on another level when it comes to making grounded, emotionally complex dramas about grief. ” – Cool People Have Feelings, Too. (Substack) Mar 3, 2026 Full Review Say Amen, Somebody (1982) 92% EDIT “The cinematography, partially shot by the great Ed Lachman, is sone of the most gorgeous I have ever seen in a documentary. ” – Cool People Have Feelings, Too. (Substack) Mar 3, 2026 Full Review All to Play For (2023) 86% EDIT “You might think you know where this film is headed, but it absolutely had an ending that I was no expecting at all. ” – Cool People Have Feelings, Too. (Substack) Mar 3, 2026 Full Review Undercard (2025) 47% EDIT “Sykes adds humor and an unexpected layer of pathos to the whole thing, while DP Ana M. Amortegui captures the vibrancy of Liberty City’s lively neighborhoods with a loving touch, giving the movie a lived-in touch that elevates it above its rote trappings.” – Cool People Have Feelings, Too. (Substack) Mar 3, 2026 Full Review André Is an Idiot (2025) 95% 4/4 EDIT “With this project, André creates space, through his frank humor and endless curiosity, to really talk about death with a rare and candid honesty. ” – RogerEbert.com Mar 3, 2026 Full Review Somersault (2004) 85% EDIT “A visceral exploration of neglect, connection, identity, shame, isolation, sexuality, and love in all its many forms. ” – Cool People Have Feelings, Too. (Substack) Feb 20, 2026 Full Review The Dreadful (2026) 39% 2/4 EDIT “I just wish it were a medieval tapestry that worked as a whole, rather than just in fits and starts.” – RogerEbert.com Feb 20, 2026 Full Review Wuthering Heights (2026) 58% EDIT “Like her previous films, Fennell has proven herself to be a lover of maximalism, of artificiality, of feelings first filmmaking.” – Cool People Have Feelings, Too. (Substack) Feb 13, 2026 Full Review Alhelm: Martin Luther King in Palestine (2012) EDIT “The film can feel a bit dated at times, especially given everything that has happened in the last few years, but its got a lot of heart and truly show the power that art has to both heal wounds, bring people together, and also change minds. ” – Cool People Have Feelings, Too. (Substack) Feb 13, 2026 Full Review Spirits of Rebellion: Black Cinema at UCLA (2016) EDIT “Although this film is very lo-fi, it is a rich text that explores the film movement known as the L.A. Rebellion” – Cool People Have Feelings, Too. (Substack) Feb 13, 2026 Full Review Marjoe (1972) EDIT “A marvel of a film.” – Cool People Have Feelings, Too. (Substack) Feb 13, 2026 Full Review Jimpa (2025) 55% EDIT “ The aim here is clearly to look at intergenerational conflicts and connections, but the results is largely a jumble that could have used a sharper focus” – Cool People Have Feelings, Too. (Substack) Feb 13, 2026 Full Review Speed Sisters (2015) 92% EDIT “While the film can be at times a little too breezy, it is nevertheless and interesting peek into a little seen slice of life in Palestine.” – Cool People Have Feelings, Too. (Substack) Jan 30, 2026 Full Review Moses the Black (2026) 23% EDIT “Is it good? Um, no not really. Is it unique? Yes. ” – Cool People Have Feelings, Too. (Substack) Jan 30, 2026 Full Review Natchez (2025) 97% EDIT “For much of this film I was like "these white people are crazy."” – Cool People Have Feelings, Too. (Substack) Jan 30, 2026 Full Review Foragers (2022) EDIT “Using a mixture of fiction, documentary and archival footage, Manna’s film shows [how] various laws created under the guise of environmental protection. . .have led not only towards prosecution, but also a loss of cultural heritage and knowledge.” – Cool People Have Feelings, Too. (Substack) Jan 30, 2026 Full Review The Devil Is Busy (2024) EDIT “While it’s a chilling film that should hopefully lead towards reform, Gandbhir is also able to use the footage to paint a moving portrait of the vibrant community that was let down by system that should have prevented this tragedy.” – Cool People Have Feelings, Too. (Substack) Jan 30, 2026 Full Review H Is for Hawk (2025) 80% EDIT “Foy gives a committed performance and I would be lying if I said the flashback scenes with her and Gleeson didn’t make cry.” – Cool People Have Feelings, Too. (Substack) Jan 30, 2026 Full Review Leila Khaled: Hijacker (2006) EDIT “Slowly, through through these conversations, Makboul begins to see the ways in which she has been raised to see history through a bias lens.” – Cool People Have Feelings, Too. (Substack) Jan 30, 2026 Full Review Seeds (2025) 97% EDIT “Poetic. . .captures rural Black agrarian life in the United States like nothing I’ve ever seen before.” – Cool People Have Feelings, Too. (Substack) Jan 30, 2026 Full Review Sound of Falling (2025) 94% EDIT “This is a film that is meant to be felt, meant to lead you towards transformation, and I think can best appreciated by going into it knowing as little about it as possible, so that you give yourself over to its singular rhythm fully. ” – Cool People Have Feelings, Too. (Substack) Jan 30, 2026 Full Review
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