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Don’t if I’ve seen this in full, certainly not in the last ten years. The story makes absolutely no sense. Really feels like it was made to sell toys. Just not that engaging or exciting from an adult perspective. Sure this will feel like a masterpiece when the live action one comes out.

Watched on Monday April 21, 2025.

Watched on Saturday March 22, 2025.

It’s wonderful to see big budget sci-fi from someone who knows how to make real movies! Even though it has its shortcomings (Ruffalo’s imitation of Trump and Kai’s character really needed some rewrites), I loved the silliness of the story and Pattinson’s excellent performance. A great time at the movies.

Immediately canonized as one of the greatest animated films ever made. A step forward for digital animation in many ways, mainly for the camera which operates unlike any I have seen, adding so much more to immersion than the realistic CG of American films. One of those “life is beautiful” type of films that just accomplishes everything it sets out to do… almost like those early Pixar shorts that really demonstrate the beauty of simple situations but simultaneously expanded into an epic adventure.

Watched on Saturday March 1, 2025.

Will definitely go down as one of the best musical biopics of the decade. It’s refreshing to see these be made by people who still how to make a real movie. The only thing holding this back even slightly is my lack of knowledge on Bob Dylan’s work, but this makes me more interested in exploring it.

A massive zero to hero moment for Edward Berger, who directed the hell out of this. Super thrilling and fascinating to see God’s children play this game of chess to gain the lead seat at the table. Must watch considering current events as well of course…

Hate to say PTA is the GOAT every time I log his films but like literally what else is there to say? Maybe the DI is a bit dated and could use a restoration but honestly who cares when the material is this monumental. Very few perfect movies exist, but this is one of them.

Beautiful loving Latino families are the one thing that will kill the corrupt government. What a stunning film on every level.

Watched on Thursday February 6, 2025.

I’m convinced Pablo Larrain’s films are like stale bags of chips. They might look great, smell delicious, but biting into them is just not enjoyable. His streak of deeply unmoving work continues with Maria. It’s truly unfortunate because like Spencer, this has so much potential to be great. All of the pieces are there and it even begins to warm up on me towards the end but the center of it all is a misunderstanding of the cinematic language.

I working my first job when I was 16 at a movie theater, when a man came up to me who had burn deformities that were some of the strongest I had ever seen. His skin looked like it was melting off and as someone who has a severe trypophobia, I couldn’t even look at him in his face. My peripheral vision did not care though, as I felt sick serving him. It’s a memory I go back to and feel awful about, as I can’t imagine what it must feel like to be in that situation. Maybe I understand just a bit more by watching A Different Man, though, as this completely blew me away on every level. What a tragic depiction of deformity that never feels pitiful in the slightest. Having people be so interested in what makes you different can be nauseating for those who live as themselves and I found this film’s commentary on that absolutely refreshing. It’s the anti-Hollywood version of the play that the awful playwright Renate Reinsve plays in the film, and in a glorious meta fashion, the film adaptation that is in the works towards the end of the runtime. A must see for so many reasons, mainly Sebastian Stan who absolutely owned 2024 with The Apprentice and this!

The expat life can be such an empty one, frolicking in other lands searching for meaning anywhere but oneself. Those with no understanding of their own purpose must go to some mysterious place, whether it’s physical or metaphysical. A real danger when you are alone in this world. The best Luca of the year, for sure.

Every American should be watching this, no matter what side of the political spectrum you land on. It’s more of a fascinating character study than political analysis, anyway. Really wonderful film.

Sometimes a wind blows
And the mysteries of love
Come clear.

R.I.P. to one of the greatest to ever do it. A man who truly encapsulated what being an artist means. While there’s other films of his that I may favor to this one, there is no other that celebrates life itself more than Blue Velvet. The darkness of this world can come back over and over, but we will always have truly good people to combat against evil. Humanity can be horrid, but when the stars align, there is nothing more beautiful.

A film so unconcerned with appeasing general audiences, Emilia Pérez is one of the most original films of the decade that will certainly spin the heads of those who watch it. That’s not to say it’s messily edited, however, as the pace of this is completely unmatched, cycling through musical sequences like a dealer shuffling through a set of cards. You get one thrilling scene after another whimsical one, with the performances bringing out the best of the colorful filmmaking. Audiard may be accused of failing to accurately represent a certain group, but this is a privilege that the film itself acknowledges as is a misguided way to approach the work. We go on making mistakes that may change the lives of others in rightfully dramatic ways, yet Emilia Perez must realize the price of her actions. To act as if it was truly another person behind those missteps is an insult to the life you have been granted and a lack of respect for yourself in this regard will catch up to you in a brutal fashion. Trying to change oneself is a blasphemous form of reincarnation, however accepting one’s flaws and the consequences for such will result in the revelation of one’s true self.

Pretty much a non-movie for most of the runtime. Has a few interesting ideas but never manages to execute them in any meaningful way. This just reeks of actor-directed indie film syndrome…

Was expecting this to be a lot more hopefully unrealistic than it actually was. It certainly falls into those traps through the writing, and maybe Domingo and Maclin are too good for the scripts they’re reading but thankfully they’re able to display so much heart and manhood on the screen that it makes up for most of the shortcomings. Modern analysis of masculinity often steers toward femininity, but Sing Sing offers a more self reflective approach to it all that I really find refreshing. Again, it’s a bit inauthentic with some dialogue but by the end it won me over.

This review may contain spoilers.

Robert Eggers has officially ran out of party tricks. With each film he has fallen deeper into cinematic monotony and shows his weaknesses viewing cinema from a theatre perspective. His interpretation of the 1922 classic feels other worldly, but in a way that feels cheap and inauthentic. The backdrops of 19th century are so clearly trying to impress the audience but feel so visually stale due to the obvious visual effects used. It’s disappointing how a film that came out over 100 years ago manages to look more hauntingly real than a film that came out less than a week ago. It also has so many confusing alterations that do very little for me, such as the changes in the way that plague is treated. In the original, Thomas and the other main characters are far more involved in this aspect and how it travels to the town is done in a much more realistic and interesting way. Here the dude just goes to some boat we don’t even know much about? Why even include this aspect if it’s going to be this butchered? Lily Rose Depp is completely miscast as well. She (and the guy who plays Knock) are the only ones that are actually bad in the film, thankfully. Eggers tries so hard to make her imitate what Anya Taylor Joy would’ve done if she was able to film this but she just doesn’t have it in her. The possession scenes are just awful. RIP to my boy Knock. In the original he’s this legitimately terrifying but also endearing crackhead who climbs roofs and gets stones thrown at him and here he is just gross… And don’t get me started on gay porn stache Orlock… What the fuck were they thinking with that??? I really can’t think of a single thing that this does better at than the original. I don’t mean to compare the two so much but that’s sort of par for the course with a remake. There’s definitely fun scares, some legitimately hilarious moments that most people won’t catch onto, and a fantastic ensemble apart from Depp and lame Knock, but I just don’t think this works on any meaningful level. Stagnancy continues to creep onto Eggers’ work in a way that I feel that even his biggest fans will come to see for what it is soon enough.

While it left me a bit cold upon the credits rolling, The Brutalist is a film that I just have to revisit at some point soon. It blows most other period pieces these days out of the water with its Vista Vision cinematography and gorgeous production value. This is only the means which Corbet uses to tell his epic, however, as the journey itself is (unlike stated by Zsofia) completely captivating on its own. The themes and story archetype may have been done to death on screen, but never in this way. The relationship between Laszlo and Harrison has such a fascinating dynamic that highlights the American immigrant experience in both bombastically obvious and completely subtle ways. “I find our conversations intellectually stimulating.” With an atypical accent, different language or unique culture we are doomed to be looked at as some sort of zoo animal in some capacity. No matter if we are a panhandler on the street or the world’s greatest architect. Welcome to America.

95 min restored version. Drags a bit in the middle but it becomes another beast in those final 10 mins.

Devastatingly beautiful on every level. Life is a treasure that we must hold so deeply while we have it.

Wonderful adaptation for modern audiences. Quite an underrated one amongst cinephiles and I’m not sure why to be honest. The production value here alone is outstanding with some great writing and an all timer performance by Jim Carrey to go with it. Forgot how enjoyable this is!

A revelation in 15/70. Even the emotional climax that hasn’t worked for me before simply does substantially more on a gigantic, beautiful flickering screen. Such a gorgeous original print at City Walk as well.

Watched on Saturday December 7, 2024.

Would be a much better movie if it didn’t look like a PS3 cutscene for a third of the runtime. Big downgrade in visuals from In the Heights. Still a fairly enjoyable musical. Hope the next one is good.

Watched on Saturday November 30, 2024.

Watched on Friday November 29, 2024.

Watched on Thursday November 28, 2024.

Watched on Sunday November 24, 2024.

Baker’s latest has somehow broken into the mainstream, maybe unfairly tampering my expectations that this would somehow be a much different film than he’s previously made. Not that this would be my preferred route, especially considering that his films since 2004’s Take Out have been some of the most exciting indie movies to be released in their respective years. Anora is very much a Sean Baker picture though, in all of the best and worst ways. With by far the most magical first act of 2024, I was fully expecting to call this the definitive Gen Z film and the best film of the year. Anora is unfortunately just not able to keep this pace up, with many of its Looney Toons comedy sequences in the second act attempting to crescendo, but for an unacceptable length. The revelations that take place toward the end could make this section of the film more interesting on a second watch though. Still, I can’t help but feel that there is some compromising going on here and that everything Baker has been working toward for his entire career still might need a few more films to flourish into a masterpiece.

Reeks of self importance, is edited like a TikTok, and has no meaningful reason to be LEGOs. No thank you.

Watched on Thursday October 31, 2024.

Probably the biggest fuck you in 21st century populist cinema? What other way to follow up one of the most widely divisive and discussed blockbusters ever made with a $200m courtroom musical that straight up insults the people who hated the original and the people who loved it all the same. The first film is so misunderstood by everyone including its fans, so having this be the response to its reception is really a stroke of genius on Todd Phillips’ part. He could have so easily taken the route of The Joker causing mayhem and destruction, going full comic book slop mode, but instead he’s giving us a hilariously self aware meta analysis on the predecessor. Maybe the only thing holding this back for me is the lack of exponential increase in technical skill from Phillips as a director. He’s certainly very good, but I don’t think he is operating at the level that the material sometimes calls for. Nevertheless, general audiences and film dweebs alike will despise it, but they just wouldn’t get it…

Watched on Sunday October 6, 2024.

Watched on Sunday September 8, 2024.

Pretty much just a remake of the first movie but does everything so much worse. Like seriously I’m not sure how they managed to take away all of the magic of the first movie and replace it with stagnation in every corner. The theater scene was pretty generational in 4DX though.

I’ve been very apprehensive about 4DX since I first heard about it considering how much it seems like a cheap gimmick but I have to say I’m pretty impressed with the experience for the most part. I’ll probably never go out of my way to drive an hour to see the average blockbuster here but maybe for select films that really take advantage of the technology it would be worth it. The effects were matched very well with the films and never felt overbearing or underutilized. Pretty much a theme park ride which I think makes sense for the disaster genre.

Apart from that, this is easily one of my favorite blockbusters of the 90s. The earnestness here is severely lacking in modern movies (including its successor unfortunately). Such a fun and romantic time.

Far and away the best film in the trilogy. Even though this is really the only one that isn’t a horror film, the horror elements it does have are far more interesting than anything in X or Pearl. From a filmmaking and story perspective, this is also the only one that left me fully satisfied. There’s definitely some issues with it but I think it does a lot to benefit the entire trilogy overall.

Watched on Sunday August 18, 2024.

Watched on Sunday August 18, 2024.

Watched on Saturday August 10, 2024.

Watched on Sunday August 4, 2024.

Watched on Sunday August 4, 2024.

Watched on Saturday August 3, 2024.

Watched on Saturday August 3, 2024.

Full Podcast Discussion (Our Working Title Ep. 3)

The most devastating moment of cinema has arrived—the machine has become self aware. Instead of these films being a trashy escape from reality, Deadpool himself has aided in the acknowledgment of their own worthlessness in a way that appears self-deprecating on the surface, but is an utter facade.

Elio handling a book while eating a juicy ass fruit and then folding a page as a bookmark pissed me the hell off man

Longlegs (2024) - Our Working Title Ep. 2 

Didn’t really love a particular way they went about the final act which poorly collides with the quite interesting filmmaking throughout, (that overhead space with the cinematography was ultimately a party trick, though) but I thoroughly enjoyed this! It’s great to see general audiences enjoying this pretty slow paced but still thrilling horror film centered around a likely autistic woman trying to uncover the truth behind this creepy case. The anxiety portrayed here is also done in an interesting way as not all people who suffer from anxiety need to have a dramatic 3 minute moment to themselves with another character consoling them—sometimes you gotta get shit done while your heart pounds through your chest.

1. Mission: Impossible – Fallout
2. Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning
3. Mission: Impossible
4. Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation
5. Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol
6. Mission: Impossible III
7. Mission: Impossible II

• Ikiru
• Ran
• High and Low
• Rashomon
• Dreams
• Sinners
• Junun
• Anima
• Cigarettes & Coffee
• HAIM / Valentine

...plus 4 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

1. One Battle After Another
2. Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning
3. Avatar: Fire and Ash
4. Alpha
5. Mickey 17
6. Frankenstein
7. The Phoenician Scheme
8. F1 The Movie
9. The Smashing Machine
10. Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery

1. Mickey 17

1. Dune: Part Two
2. Flow
3. Joker: Folie à Deux
4. Emilia Pérez
5. A Different Man
6. I'm Still Here
7. The Brutalist
8. Conclave
9. A Complete Unknown
10. Anora

...plus 25 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

• The Seed of the Sacred Fig
• Megalopolis
• Moana 2
• Mufasa: The Lion King
• Saturday Night
• The Beast

1. Oppenheimer
2. The Dark Knight
3. Inception
4. Interstellar
5. The Dark Knight Rises
6. Tenet
7. Dunkirk
8. Batman Begins
9. Following

1. Red Rocket
2. The Florida Project
3. Anora
4. Take Out

The best year of cinema in a good while. Four masterpieces in my opinion, all worthy of the top position.

1. BARDO, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths
2. Top Gun: Maverick
3. TÁR
4. Aftersun
5. Nope
6. Avatar: The Way of Water
7. Decision to Leave
8. Bones and All
9. The Batman
10. The Fabelmans

...plus 29 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

• Tangerine
• Touch of Evil
• Paprika
• Kinds of Kindness
• AGGRO DR1FT

Ranking is a banal task, so much of this could be rearranged on a given day as is typical with these types of lists.

1. Mulholland Drive
2. Y Tu Mamá También
3. The Social Network
4. Fantastic Mr. Fox
5. Pulp Fiction
6. Chungking Express
7. 2001: A Space Odyssey
8. City Lights
9. Licorice Pizza
10. Roma

...plus 40 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

1. Licorice Pizza
2. Titane
3. Dune
4. The Power of the Dog
5. Actors
6. The Worst Person in the World
7. Judas and the Black Messiah
8. C'mon C'mon
9. Red Rocket
10. Nightmare Alley

...plus 33 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

• I Saw the TV Glow
• X-Men
• X2
• X-Men: The Last Stand
• X-Men Origins: Wolverine
• X-Men: First Class
• The Wolverine
• X-Men: Days of Future Past
• X-Men: Apocalypse
• Logan

...plus 5 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

1. Mad Max: Fury Road
2. Mad Max 2
3. Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga
4. Mad Max
5. Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome

1. The Social Network
2. Se7en
3. The Killer
4. Zodiac
5. Gone Girl
6. Fight Club

1. Mulholland Drive
2. Inland Empire
3. Blue Velvet
4. Lost Highway
5. Eraserhead
6. Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me
7. Dune

1. Oppenheimer
2. The Boy and the Heron
3. The Zone of Interest
4. The Killer
5. Asteroid City
6. Killers of the Flower Moon
7. Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning
8. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
9. Anatomy of a Fall
10. May December

...plus 21 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

1. Dune: Part Two
2. Joker: Folie à Deux
3. Challengers
4. Megalopolis
5. Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga
6. Anora
7. Nosferatu
8. Queer
9. Hit Man
10. I Saw the TV Glow

1. 2001: A Space Odyssey
2. Barry Lyndon
3. The Shining
4. Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb
5. Paths of Glory
6. A Clockwork Orange
7. Eyes Wide Shut

1. Licorice Pizza
2. BARDO, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths
3. Oppenheimer
4. Top Gun: Maverick
5. TÁR
6. Aftersun
7. The Boy and the Heron
8. Nope
9. Titane
10. The Zone of Interest

1. Spirited Away
2. The Wind Rises
3. The Boy and the Heron
4. Kiki's Delivery Service
5. Ponyo
6. Princess Mononoke
7. Howl's Moving Castle
8. My Neighbor Totoro

• El Conde
• Talk to Me
• Anyone But You
• The Color Purple
• Ferrari
• Godzilla Minus One
• The Zone of Interest
• Blue Beetle
• Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget
• Dream Scenario

...plus 10 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

• August 32nd on Earth
• Maelström
• Polytechnique
• Incendies
• Prisoners
• Enemy
• Sicario
• The Protagonists
• Melissa P.
• I Am Love

...plus 12 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

1. Raging Bull
2. After Hours
3. GoodFellas
4. The Departed
5. The Wolf of Wall Street
6. Killers of the Flower Moon
7. Bringing Out the Dead
8. Taxi Driver
9. Mean Streets
10. Casino

...plus 2 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

The greatest alive.

1. Licorice Pizza
2. Phantom Thread
3. Punch-Drunk Love
4. There Will Be Blood
5. The Master
6. Boogie Nights
7. Inherent Vice
8. Hard Eight
9. Magnolia

• The Evil Dead
• The Exorcist
• Child's Play 2
• Child's Play 3
• Scream 3
• The Creator
• Anatomy of a Fall
• Killers of the Flower Moon

• Lupin the Third: The Castle of Cagliostro
• Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind
• Castle in the Sky
• Kiki's Delivery Service
• Porco Rosso
• Princess Mononoke
• Ponyo
• The Wind Rises
• The Boy and the Heron
• Who's That Knocking at My Door

...plus 14 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

Some were boring while some were watched under unideal conditions.

• Godzilla
• 8½
• The Double Life of Véronique
• Venom
• Belfast
• s Ha

• The Last Waltz
• The King of Comedy
• The Color of Money
• Casino
• Bringing Out the Dead
• The Aviator
• Hugo
• Fight Club
• Mank
• The Creator

Filmographies:

Christopher Nolan
Greta Gerwig
Martin Scorsese
Denis Villeneuve

• Raiders of the Lost Ark
• Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
• Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
• Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
• Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny
• John Wick
• John Wick: Chapter 2
• John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum
• John Wick: Chapter 4
• Following

...plus 32 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

1. Fantastic Mr. Fox
2. Asteroid City
3. The Grand Budapest Hotel
4. The Royal Tenenbaums
5. The French Dispatch
6. Moonrise Kingdom
7. The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou
8. Bottle Rocket

1. Pulp Fiction
2. Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood
3. Inglourious Basterds
4. Django Unchained
5. The Hateful Eight
6. Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair
7. Reservoir Dogs
8. Death Proof
9. Jackie Brown

1. BARDO, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths
2. The Revenant
3. Amores Perros
4. Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)

1. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
2. Guardians of the Galaxy
3. The Suicide Squad
4. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2

Haven’t seen / don’t Hulk and below

1. Avengers: Infinity War
2. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
3. Guardians of the Galaxy
4. Spider-Man: No Way Home
5. Black Panther
6. Iron Man
7. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
8. Spider-Man: Homecoming
9. Avengers: Endgame
10. Spider-Man: Far From Home

...plus 14 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

1. Avatar: The Way of Water
2. Terminator 2: Judgment Day
3. The Terminator
4. Avatar
5. Titanic

1. Hereditary
2. Midsommar
3. Beau Is Afraid

1. Fargo
2. The Tragedy of Macbeth
3. Blood Simple
4. No Country for Old Men

1. Scream
2. Scream
3. Scream VI
4. Scream 2

• John Wick
• John Wick: Chapter 2
• John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum
• John Wick: Chapter 4
• The Super Mario Bros. Movie
• Air
• Japón
• Sunset Boulevard
• The Double Life of Véronique
• The Seventh Seal

...plus 1 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

1. Before Sunrise
2. Dazed and Confused
3. Before Sunset
4. Before Midnight

• 2001: A Space Odyssey
• Chungking Express
• City Lights
• Do the Right Thing
• Fantastic Mr. Fox
• Mulholland Drive
• Pulp Fiction
• The Red Shoes
• The Social Network
• Y Tu Mamá También

1. Parasite
2. Memories of Murder

1. Killers of the Flower Moon
2. Dune: Part Two
3. The Boy and the Heron
4. Oppenheimer
5. The Killer
6. Asteroid City
7. Beau Is Afraid
8. Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning
9. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
10. Barbie

1. Whiplash
2. La La Land
3. Babylon

1. Nightmare Alley
2. Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio
3. Cronos

1. Jurassic Park
2. Jaws
3. The Fabelmans
4. Schindler's List
5. West Side Story
6. The Lost World: Jurassic Park

1. Ratatouille
2. Toy Story 3
3. Finding Nemo
4. Coco
5. WALL·E
6. The Incredibles
7. Toy Story
8. Toy Story 4
9. Up
10. Monsters, Inc.

...plus 9 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

1. Chungking Express
2. Fallen Angels
3. In the Mood for Love
4. As Tears Go By
5. Days of Being Wild

1. Y Tu Mamá También
2. Roma
3. Gravity