Honey I Shrunk The Watchlist! 2023 Challenge
Challenge #31 - Watch a foreign film
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Life is Beautiful, co-written, directed by and starring Roberto Benigni, picked up 7 Oscar nominations the year it was released with wins for best actor and foreign language film and they were definitely well deserved. From the story to the acting to the visuals, this film succeeds on all levels.

Guido (Benigni) is full of life and eternally optimistic. He’s the perfect husband (I love…

Honey I Shrunk The Watchlist! 2023 Challenge
Challenge #35 - Watch the film I’ve been putting off watchIng
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Paco Cabezas’ Mr. Right is farfetched and kind of ridiculous but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t find it quite charming. Despite thinking certain bits of Max Landis’ script were just dumb the cast and corresponding characters elevate the film, making it an enjoyable watch.

First I’ll get the negative out of the way. Francis (Sam Rockwell) being a skilled…

Honey I Shrunk The Watchlist! 2023 Challenge
Challenge #29 - Watch a film recommended to me
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“And this parade? Who is it really for? For Jack? One more campaign stop along the way to the grave?”

Pablo Larrain’s Jackie is probably on the lower end of a 3.5 rating but it’s impressive enough to classify as good. With nuanced direction and a powerful Oscar-nominated performance from Natalie Portman, this film is mostly a successful look at the aftermath of President…

Honey I Shrunk The Watchlist! 2023 Challenge
Challenge #27 - Watch the film I’ve been anticipating most
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Gabriela Cowperthwaite’s Our Friend is based on an article written by Matt Teague (portrayed by Casey Affleck in the film) depicting his wife’s long battle with cancer and the best friend who was there throughout it all. Despite the annoyance of a nonlinear timeline, this is a bittersweet tearjerker celebrating life and friendship.

I’m a big fan of Jason Segel and he’s good…

Horroctober 2023

Honey I Shrunk The Watchlist! 2023 Challenge
Challenge #23 Watch a film from your favorite drama 
Watchlist Challenge

Wow! What a film. Sang-ho Yeon’s Train to Busan is one of the best zombie flicks I’ve ever seen. For a multitude of reasons, this film is an easy recommendation and here are some reasons why:

Mood - This is a 2-hr adrenaline rush. Between the score and the setups this is a ‘on the edge of your seat’ type of film.…

Honey I Shrunk The Watchlist! 2023 Challenge
Challenge #25 - Watch the film with the most beautiful poster
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I’m not the biggest fan of coming-of-age films so I’m happy to report that Lone Scherfig’s An Education mostly worked for me. Carey Mulligan steals the show with a layered performance, the costumes and hair are gorgeous and the film’s themes are hard-hitting making this one of the better films in its sub genre.

I really like how Jenny (Mulligan) transforms along…

Honey I Shrunk The Watchlist! 2023 Challenge
Challenge #28 -  Watch a film from before I was born
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Talk about taxicab confessions…

I gotta say, I’m disappointed with Brian De Palma’s Dressed to Kill. Of the 7 previous De Palma films I’ve watched, I’ve given 6 four stars or better, so imagine my surprise to be handing out a 3.0. While it’s technically well-made (as usual), the script and the lack of tension (for most of the film) leaves…

Honey I Shrunk The Watchlist! 2023 Challenge
Challenge #21 - Watch the film released earliest on your watchlist 
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William Wyler’s Wuthering Heights is one of many adaptations of the Emily Brontë novel. The difference is this 1939 film was nominated for 7 Oscars, with one win for cinematography (well-deserved). Despite solid acting, I do find this to be inferior to the Tom Hardy adaptation despite the liberties it took with the source material.

I went in expecting to be…

Honey I Shrunk The Watchlist! 2023 Challenge
Challenge #19 - Watch the film that’s least popular on your watchlist 
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“Do what? Go where?”
“The heart of darkness” 
“Where’s that?”
“New Jersey”

3 stars for Michael Keaton’s eyebrows! Roger Young’s The Squeeze is not a good film. However, despite some of terrible acting and the weak script, Michael Keaton as he always does, makes this a able watch.

While I love Keaton when he’s showing off his dramatic acting chops, I…

Honey I Shrunk The Watchlist! 2023 Challenge
Challenge #18 - Watch a film that stars one of my favorite actresses: Mia Goth
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Horror and Mia Goth, two things I love, even more so together. I wish I could say I loved Gore Verbinski’s A Cure for Wellness since it’s got both but I unfortunately can’t. While it has an interesting plot and a great (ethereal) score, it suffers from an an unreasonably lengthy runtime and way too much ambiguity. 

I…

Honey I Shrunk The Watchlist! 2023 Challenge
Challenge #17- Watch a film that stars one of my favorite actors: Michael Keaton
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“We’ve got two stories here. We got a story about degenerate clergy, and we’ve got a story about a bunch of lawyers turning child abuse into a cottage industry. Now which story do you want us to write ‘cause we’re writing one of ‘em.“

Tom McCarthy is 2 for 2 in my book, first with Stillwater and now…

Honey I Shrunk The Watchlist! 2023 Challenge
Challenge #16 - Watch a film from a director I’ve never seen anything from
https://boxd.it/jA8i2

Alright so apparently Nate Parker isn’t a stand up citizen but the negative reviews circulating American Skin are clearly a case of people not being able to separate art from the artist because this film is not only excellent but important. Written, directed by and starring Parker, this film handles a sensitive topic with precision and features stellar acting…