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Perfectly captures the vibes of an endless baseball game, of a low-key outdoor hangout, of a lovely fall day turning into a chilly night, of a hobby you use to escape the doldrums of your real life for a few hours. A little on the nose at times, but never in a grating way. Glad I never looked up what the title meant before hearing it explained in the movie. The theater I saw this at was echo-y in a way that made some of the more tossed-off dialogue hard to hear, but I definitely wouldn't mind revisiting this to catch all the auditorial details scribbled in the margins and hang out with these guys again.

This review may contain spoilers.

Ya know, there's something to be said about finding a good formula and mostly sticking to it. That's been the magic of going through these movies, how they're essentially Mad Libs plots: inciting mass casualty incidents are premonition'ed, the premonitioner realizes that Death is coming for them in elaborately ugly ways and they try to fight it, interpersonal drama between the survivors complicates matters. And almost every time (4 is really the only exception) they succeed in making a grossly engrossing picture.

This new one messes with the formula more than any of the previous five, but in a way that is pleasantly surprising in how still fits within the formula of the series, since it tackles the question of "what if someone saves more than just a few people?" and goes from there. But the Mad Libbed portions of the series still work quite well, with a fun family ensemble that sells the interpersonal drama and some incredible deaths that had me and my friend gasping and covering our mouths on several occasions. But most importantly it has an amazing opening incident, which so effectively sets up a sweet young couple that it had me getting emotional at the proposal scene before the epic bloodbath, all anchored by a really good performance from Brec Bassinger. It also manages to set up a pitch perfect farewell to Tony Todd that explains his whole without ever feeling cheap.

Not sure if this quite tops 3 for my favorite, but it certainly comes close.

Doesn't hold up quite as well on second viewing as I hoped, mostly because everything between the Rome chase and final extended train sequence drags on a bit, and the added backstory for Ethan to Make Things Personal feels really tacked on, and it's still half a movie despite being 163 minutes long. But the action still kicks butt, and I'm always gonna be a sucker for a good train sequence.

Not my worst moviegoing experience this decade, but maybe the most vapid. Some of the photography is fun (if heavy on the spinning) and I do enjoy The Weeknd's music, but it has all the depth of a slightly extended 10 minute music video at 10 times the length and ultimately adds up to a bunch of nothing. Jenna and Barry do what they can. Abel has maybe the funniest delivery of "shut the fuck up" I've ever heard, which I know has gone viral but hits really hard after 65 minutes without a single joke.

A rather miraculous balancing of tones, capturing the exciting rush of adolescence and how wildly stupid and impulsive everyone is who goes through it, while sparing a reasonable amount of empathy for every character. Incredible and rightly iconic cast too; I was always skeptical of the hype around Sean Penn because he’s always been the self-serious scumbag thespian but Spicoli really is That Guy, man.

Didn't get a chance to see this in the winter when it first made the rounds, but my local movie palace - 1,000 seats big, but usually only fills up 5-10% at most these days - hosted a special screening so I decided to finally check it out. Was surprised but heartened to show up and find it half-packed tonight with over 500 people. Very encouraging to see such a clear-eyed and engaging portrayal of these horrors reaching so many people. This ongoing genocide is too vast for any one documentary to tackle, but this does an excellent job telling one specific story that makes it a little easier to comprehend larger atrocities that are ongoing.

Easily Wes's messiest movie, but possibly his most beautiful. The animation looks unlike almost any other animated film (even Wes's own Fantastic Mr. Fox), the score is a contender for Desplat's best, and it's the rare celebrity voice cast that works because they're pouring so much into every line read - Bryan Cranston has a monologue about the best meal he ever ate that rivals any of his biggest moments as Walter White.

Never got around to this one when it was released after the reaction was so underwhelming, kinda happy I waited to check it out until long after the This Had Oscar Buzz cloud around it had dissipated. It's not fully functional, weirdly low-key for a movie with a lot of righteous anti-war anger and a performance as big and loud as Cranston's. But the central trio have good chemistry with each other that carries it through those rough patches, with a couple of exceptional moments in the final stretch (the cell phone store scene and Cicily Tyson's scene specifically).

This review may contain spoilers.

Lazily reactionary/Qanon-adjacent in a way that often took me out of the movie - even beyond the "it's child slavery!"/evil tech company plot there's some random "participation trophy" and "safe space" lines that feel shoe-horned in to make the Fox News dads in the audience chuckle and nod - but fun and functional. The fights had me going "ooh!" and "oof!" a good number of times, and since I skipped the trailers all of the twists and escalations caught me off guard in the best of ways. Hartnett continues his impressive career second act, Charithra Chandran is cool and charming, and I spent much of the movie going "who is this fun evil ladyboss?" only to gasp when Katee Sackhoff's name popped up in the end credits.

Really stupid and unearned sequel setup ending though, wtf.

A full course meal of a movie. Thrills, chills, laughs, suspense, sex, romance, brotherly love, creature violence, gangster violence, all beautifully shot and scored to some damn good music. What more could you want?

While I think there's a little too much "Ethan Hunt is the only person capable of saving the world" hero worship throughout this one (it's the main connective tissue of what little plot there is), the action and suspense sequences are so enthralling and relentless that I ultimately don't mind it that much. The pre-credits hospital sequence is the best pre-credits moment of the entire series.

Popcorn filmmakers going this serious is usually a recipe for disaster, but Spielberg's superpower isn't in always giving the audience what they want to feel, but making them feel exactly what they need to feel, even if that's not pleasing in the moment. Here, he knows what the audience needs to feel, particularly in the first 2-2.5 hours, is a feeling of sheer helplessness of history happening around you with no way out that keeps your soul intact. And that helplessness is what makes the final hour feel so earned, that after everything Oskar takes as much control as he can of his situation to do his small part of good in a world falling apart, even if it means losing his fortunes and freedom. Filmmakers love to tell narratives of One Person Making a Difference, but this is one of the few such films that fully earns the victory at the end.

Maybe the sturdiest film to come out of the MCU since Endgame, which is a minor miracle considering it's following Brave New World's formula of "pick up the loose threads of several unremarkable Marvel projects and tie them into a single narrative." It helps that the film is much more focused than these movies have been lately, patiently tracking how our ragtag group of characters come together and how their own personal and shared journeys makes them the most well-equipped people to tackle the third act threat. That sounds like bare basic superhero shit, but this universe keeps getting so lost in the weeds that the moments of the Thunderbolts each saving civilians feels like a breath of fresh air. Also helps to anchor the film around Florence Pugh, one of our best young movie stars even with a goofy Russian accent.

This review may contain spoilers.

Was a little skeptical of the people who called this a return to form, but man they really recovered nicely from all the missteps of the fourth one to get back to the "solid enough" baseline of the first three. Does a good job with all the basics of the series (the Lasik eye surgery scene, eesh), but also finds a good wrinkle in having someone go crazy and think that killing someone can spare them, an idea I'm surprised it took them five movies to get to, and pays it off well in the Chekhov's Kitchen finale. Also gotta it that I let out a massive gasp at the Secret Prequel reveal at the end.

The Burj Khalifa sequence is still tops, but the opera sequence in this is a solid runner-up for my favorite set-piece of the entire series. Also still in awe of how much Rebecca Ferguson commands the screen in this, especially when she was practically an unknown at the time.

Not hard to see why this has been so divisive, but I'm always gonna be a sucker for anything with as much earnest yearning as Cronenberg pours into this film, especially the way he filters it through our modern relationship to technology and the ways we try to utilize it to satiate that yearning, all with a refreshingly non-reactionary eye. Early contender for best film about living in the 2020s, right down to Guy Pearce's outsized Russia/China paranoia.

My previous entries from post-Force Awakens and pre-Rise of Skywalker watches pretty much cover my thoughts on the movie, which still stands as an emotional, stilted, inert, beautiful mess...and yet I somehow neglected to shout out John Williams, quite handedly the MVP of this movie, putting in spectacular work. I will also say on this watch, I did come away slightly more positive overall, thanks to

A) watching it three months into a government istration whose unchecked baby steps towards fascism make the Jedi's inept inability to stop Palpatine distressingly more believable (not to mention Anakin essentially being one of Elon's Gen Z minions), and

B) seeing it with an amped but respectful crowd that clearly had a deep love for the movie, whose applause of Hayden Christensen's pre-movie intro made me weirdly emotional when I started thinking back to all the shit he went through 20-23 years ago over these movies. I still have my issues with his performance, but I can't help but respect him for making it through all the nastiness he faced to receive that kind of reception from a full crowd.

For the first 30-40 minutes I was half-watching this from the kitchen while cooking dinner and listening to the Blank Check commentary before settling down to watch & listen with dinner itself. Even under those circumstances I still got a little misty when Alan Rickman finally earnestly delivers "By Grabthar's hammer..." David Mamet is not right about a lot of things anymore but he is right about this having a perfect screenplay.

Haven't seen the Ang Lee original so I don't know how this holds up to it, but I found it to be a rather charming and sweet dramedy about the families we're born into and make for ourselves in one way or another, and surprisingly deft in handling the complicated dynamics that arise between these characters. The whole cast is great, with the central four having particularly good chemistry with one another, but Youn Yuh-jung really stole the whole thing for me, instantly taking hold of the film once she lands in Seattle and giving me my first good movie cry of the year in her final scene with Min.

This review may contain spoilers.

Perilously trekked into the state of Indiana to see this in IMAX 70mm, something I have never experienced before despite all the hype around it, and it was well worth every minute of the six hour round trip drive. I being a little worried about the aspect ratio changes when I first saw them in the IMAX trailers, but man Coogler uses those 1.43:1 moments perfectly, taking in every extra inch and millimeter it can of the southern sky or vampire ass-kicking or musical number - so, so happy I did not have the "I Lied to You" number spoiled before seeing this, because man my jaw dropped when past, present, and future all started coming together.

Luckily, the rest of the film managed to live up to the hype too. Coogler might be the best popcorn director to emerge from the millennial generation thus far, and it's great to see him finally flex those muscles outside of an established franchise and within something so specific. I particularly appreciated how patient the first act is, setting up this entire world and the people within it - speaking of, what a cast, from veterans like Lindo to emerging stars like Jordan and Steinfeld to fresher faces Mosaku and Caton. I also love how Coogler really takes in the grand opening, lets you experience the joy of it in a way that you totally believe that Sammy would still look back on it with a bittersweet fondness 60 years later (speaking of, I like the decision to make that coda a mid-credits scene even though it's so much meatier than that makes it sound; really puts an emphasis on it being more of an epilogue or coda than the true climax of the story, and allows for that lovely transition to Buddy Guy performing).

A weird satirical object, modestly ambitious in its scope and mostly clear-eyed in its targets (the American military industrial complex and the politicians that enable it) but poor Moore just does not have the chops to tell a story in a scripted film, on the page or behind the camera. He assembled a stacked cast (including John Candy in his final role!), but they're all playing flat caricatures mostly delivering obvious liberal jokes, not helped by weirdly low-energy direction that hampers the attempts at bigger flights of fancy like the big hockey riot. Biggest laughs were probably from Steven Wright and the "Born in the U.S.A." singalong.

Unlike the first two sequels I don't think I ever saw any trailers or TV spots for this, so I basically went into this viewing completely blind other than knowing its reception was significantly worse than the rest of the series...and within minutes the reason for that reception became quite clear. Everything is off. The main characters immediately suck. Death's hand feels a lot heavier than it should, especially for the Opening Incident. Then said Opening Incident is way too busy, not to mention chock-full of bad CGI and even worse 3D gags. And then the movie doubles down on all of these poor decisions for the rest of the movie to increasingly unsatisfying results.

I had wondered if I was overrating the first three movies slightly, but this immediately made me realize just how much those movies actually cares about its characters, even when it gleefully sends them to nasty ends. The lack of caring this movie has for its characters is actually probably best exemplified by the decision to make the aforementioned Incident into a pre-credits cold open, and an Act 1 conclusion like the first three did, which allowed time to set up its main characters and make you care a little for them and even some of the Incident victims. Here, it's just something the movie needs to get through before sending its uninspiring protagonists to the slaughter.

Damn, Harold Lloyd had jokes. While this doesn’t reach the inventive peaks of Keaton or the melancholy highs of Chaplin, it’s remarkably dense with fun slapstick and farcical hijinks. There’s even laughs to be found in the title cards, or the fact that this college’s football team is so pathetic they can’t score a single touchdown until our hapless hero is tapped in. A very fun and funny time.

Effective in the moment, particularly its big jump-scare moments that are perfectly out-of-nowhere and overwhelming in their blunt nastiness. Solid ensemble with good camaraderie, although I'm not sure anyone really left an impression other than Melton and Quinn. Probably won’t stick with me much, which is a little disappointing as someone that's normally a sucker for single-location thrillers like this.

Easy to see how this was David Lynch's only bonafide hit with the Oscars, and also how it went 0 for 8 with them in the end. On the surface it's a very Social Issues story, with its downtrodden subject being taken in by a kindly audience surrogate character, the kind of story they fall for all the time. But Lynch is remarkably unvarnished and un-sappy in portraying both the prejudice John Merrick faces and the double-edged sword of the salvation that Frederick tries to provide, and is ultimately a lot less pat-on-the-back-y than these stories tend to be in Hollywood cinema. But that all makes for a rather rich, honest, and moving film. Beautifully made, too; I'm glad I caught it in a theater where I could appreciate the detailed sound design.

Mel Brooks’ crudest and cruelest film, although those are fitting tones for a movie that purports to cover the history of this crude, cruel world. Has plenty of solid dumb laughs. I had only seen this once before nearly 20 years ago, and forgot how the climax of the Roman story hinges on a big blunt joke (literally).

One of my final Buster blindspots; little surprised it slipped past me when I was Keaton/Chaplin-crazy in 2004-05 - maybe Netflix didn't have a copy of the DVD? Anyway, not sure anything in here is quite top tier Buster - he's not at his best in farcical plots, IMO - but it's consistently entertaining, and the final fight nicely ties everything together. Also dug the bit neat the beginning with the duck on the pond, maybe the only time I've seen a movie have fun with the way ducks dive.

Depending on the day, I could probably argue that the 18 minute stretch of this from The General being stolen to Johnny Gray hiding in the woods is the best 18 minute stretch of any movie ever made.

Probably Keaton’s meanest movie, considering that the entire final act is one giant epic “single ladies be crazy” set piece. But…man, what a set piece.

Bahahaha that was fun. A solid step up from the first two, largely thanks to Mary Elizabeth Winstead (easy to see why she's had the best career of all the high school characters in these first three movies), a fun "these photos foreshadow their real deaths!" plot thread, and the death set pieces all upping the ante even further in build-up, fake-outs, and nasty pay-offs (the tanning beds! the hardware store! the Tricentennial finale!). It also reminded me that I once thought how "Turn Around, Look at Me" would a good ironic needle-drop in a horror film, shoulda known someone had beaten me to it.

A nice relationship dramedy! A little aggravating at times with how emotionally pent up its central character can be, but that specific character flaw ends up being well-explored, and ultimately pays off well on both on the romantic and family sides of the story. Wonderful cast too, particularly Zarna Garg as the family matriarch (in her debut film role?!).

I had only watched this once before, on VHS in 1996/97 with my family when I was 6ish, and I don't think I'm exaggerating when I say it was the most a movie has ever terrified me. Now, movies can freak me out and jumpscare me, but actually rattle me? Not often. And yet, nearly 30 years later I clearly ed young Alan getting sucked into the game, the dead-eyed monkeys showing up in the kitchen, the cheating boy turning into a monkey, the evil hunter, and something in the final act that had me running behind a wall for a few minutes before I calmed down.

Revisiting it now as an adult, it was significantly less terrifying, pretty quaint honestly, but I can see why it got under my skin. It was probably one of the first times I watched a live-action film with so much CGI, so it was a lot of imagery I had not seen before, even if it's all quite dated-looking now. It's also a rather bleak film, telling the story of 1) a bullied unloved kid who gets isolated for 26 years in the jungle, 2) his traumatized friend who witnessed his disappearance, and 3/4) two sad kids whose parents are dead, leaving them in the care of an uninterested aunt. It even ends on two damaged adults transported back to their preteen bodies who now just...have to live with 26 extra years of hard life as children? The film's only relief from the scary imagery and heavy story is Robin Williams antics, which are...hit-and-miss here.

But despite the weird mix of tones, I had a pretty fun time revisiting this? I think Joe Johnston brings a lot of life to this, and wobbly CGI aside he has a pretty good handle on how and when to use the effects throughout the film. And not to get too nostalgia-brained, but it's also just dark in a way that children's entertainment rarely is anymore; are there any new G/PG films that could send a kid hiding behind the nearest wall, waiting to see if it'll be safe to come back and watch how it all ends?

Watched with Blank Check commentary. Had a good laugh when Griffin said that Tom Hardy in this looked like Dr. Evil "if Greg Berlanti tried to make a serious sexy Austin Powers CW show." Still handedly my least favorite Star Trek movie. Thank goodness the Picard show gave the cast something a lot closer to closure than whatever this was.

So I held off on sharing my test screening thought from last fall on here until I caught it in theaters as I wasn’t sure how different the theatrical cut may be from the version I saw, or how well it’d hold up without the element of surprise I had (especially after seeing the trailer like two dozen times in theaters). Having finally caught it again:

A) I’m pretty sure it’s 99% the same? I’d honestly be shocked if it were any different aside from some normal post-production tweaks here and there.

B) It held up quite well! Still got a few good laughs at me (I appreciate just how bad Nathan is at being an action hero, right down to his inability to convincingly deliver a badass quote) and plenty of winces (I forgot about the thumb and arm brakes!). Quaid and Midthunder also have such remarkable chemistry in the first act, I’d love to see them again in something where they get to share the screen a little more.

This review may contain spoilers.

(The following is what I wrote in my Notes app when I caught a test screening in October with an NDA, which I assume has long expired now)

Got to attend my first test screening for a movie tonight, knowing only the logline (guy who can’t feel pain needs to take on bank robbers) and that it started Jack Quaid, and that felt like it could be a recipe for a fun enough time…sure enough I had a blast. Some unorganized thoughts:

-The movie takes its time getting to that logline by setting up the romance with Midthunder (who I did not recognize but was immediately compelling), and it’s one of the sweeter romances in a Hollywood release in recent memory, immediately locking me into Nate’s emotional plight and mission. 

-The action is loads of fun, constantly finding fun new conceits to run with involving Nate’s condition, and I hope the movie’s marketing manages to keep a lid a lid on at least some of those moments - I gasped out loud at multiple moments when I realized where they were going, particularly at the shattered glass and deep-fried gun moments

-Walsh and Gabriel are fun in their roles, even if they’re underwritten. I tried to not be too harsh on them in the notes even though their scenes seemed necessary

-Was not sure how I felt at the halfway reveal about Midthunder being in on the bank job, but the movie managed to thread that needle surprisingly well, letting the characters only a little off the hook for their actions.

-feel like I overused the word “fun” here, but it really is a blast of a time, the kind of high concept that writes itself so easily I’m surprised I haven’t seen it used before. In my post-screening reactions my only real criticisms were directed towards the lighting, which was very for-streaming dingy and ruined a few visual gags. Hoping that’s just a post production issue that will be fixed, but most of the movie seemed surprisingly finished for what was apparently its very first screening (or do they tell all test audiences that to make us feel special?)

Was great to finally watch this and learn how exactly this movie pulls off one of the most simultaneously simple-yet-complicated movie pitches of all time: "two characters swap faces for...Reasons." Turns out all you need is a talented action director bringing together two special actors at the height of their movie star powers to help convincingly sell the sweatiest sci-fi-lite plot of all time. Oh, and Joan Allen coming in clutch in the third act goes a long way too.

Was cautiously pumped for this after having a blast with Beekeeper, but unfortunately Statham and Ayer mostly fail to replicate their recipe of bozo fun here. It's just as reactionary and right-wing-coded as that film, but since the topic here is human trafficking the tone is significantly more dour and down-to-earth and, as a result, significantly duller (I wonder how much co-writer Stallone is to blame for that?). Statham elevates the material, but he can only do so much. The most fun part of the film was probably trying to figure out if they actually filmed in Chicago - they did not, unfortunately, although as a former Joliet resident I did appreciate it getting its biggest movie shout-out since, man, The Blues Brothers?

Not sure there’s a more joyous shot in all of cinema than that crane shot on Kelly as he swings around with his umbrella in the street during the titular number. Its strongest competition may be another half-dozen shots from this film.

Some fun family rivalry/Help! My Son Is a Nerd antics for the first 55 minutes that is immediately elevated by the final 15 minutes with some incredible natural disaster effects and stunt work that still stands strong along any other action sequence from the century since this was made (even beyond the rightly iconic wall fall). Perfect final shot too.

How did I take so long to get around to this beautiful specimen of '90s action excess? Thrilling, relentless, achingly sincere in the silliest of ways, with a cast and script as subtle as a shotgun. I miss when Nicolas Cage in a action film brought about results as novel as his performance here.

Watched with the Blank Check commentary, which did drive home how much this movie does not work for anyone that did not first watch it as an impressionable Star Trek-obsessed 8-year-old who then rewatched it endlessly on VHS in the following years. Luckily for me...

Finds a good way to escalate everything from the original, from the rightly iconic opening sequence to the increasingly convoluted build-ups and fake-outs and surprise kills to the elaboration on the lore of Death's Design and how it works and can be undermined. Not all of it hits, and the last act is kinda underwhelming (poor Clear :( ) but it's a fun, mean ride.

Has the vibe of one of those 90-minute - well, 60-70 minutes w/o commercials - Cartoon Network/Kids WB "movies" that's closer to three episodes of a show where they really have to work overtime to stretch the plot and character arcs across that time. At an actual 90 minutes this feel particularly padded at times, but Porky and Daffy (and Petunia!) are all such charming lead characters that I never minded much. Didn't get a lot of big laughs out of me but plenty of chuckles, and it's quite wonderfully animated. A fun time!

This review may contain spoilers.

Somehow forgot the first rule of any con/heist movie - there needs to be one last big con that turns everything on its head - and was completely genuinely caught off-guard by the big twist of who really was The Jackal. Guess I can also blame that on being just as charmed by Glenne Headey as our titular Scoundrels (btw, love the way they're both credited at the beginning).

Also gotta note I went 2/2 today with watching movies where one of the co-leads take a quick trip to Zurich.

This review may contain spoilers.

Less action-leaning spy movies tend to be a mixed bag for me, mainly because like many crime sagas it takes a lot for me to want to keep up with the crazy plot machinations. But when you make the decision to frame those plot machinations within the story of three suspicious, messy couples? Now you've got my attention. Also helps to bring in six fully capable actors, and then center two of our most charismatically steely movie stars as the one couple that actually has their shit together. Koepp and Soderbergh also nail every little "oh shit" reveal moment, from the opening dinner scene to the final "game" that brings everything full circle, so that I feel like I could explain the final solution to the story with...75% accuracy? That's high for me with these kind of films.

Banger score from David Holmes too!

This review may contain spoilers.

Despite knowing the final line of the movie - and always thinking it sounded a little clunky - I never knew that it's not actually spoken, but simply written out before Dreyfuss walks away. A really perfect note to end such a lovely film on.

Love how this has the vibe of a German expressionist hangout movie, with incredibly striking and dynamic imagery in every other shot while also devoting a solid 5-10% of its runtime to a buncha dudes working up the courage to clean themselves up to impress a pretty lady staying in their house.

Really dug how the first half-hour of this is (appropriately) dread-filled and heavy, before managing to move towards a funner, goofier tone as Death reveals its "design," leveling the scales in increasingly silly Rube Goldberg-y manners (when the teacher bumps into the record player so "Rocky Mountain High" can start over...perfect). Was planning on pacing myself with watching these movies for the first time until the new one opens in May, but honestly after this one it's a bit tempting to tear through the rest of them (or at least jump right into 2 because I wanna know why Ali Larter seems to be the only one returning).

It doesn't quite have the relentless pacing of Airplane!, and has a little more mugging and double-taking than I like from this kind of gag comedy. But that's me being nitpick-y - this still has a remarkably high batting average for how many jokes it's throwing out scene-to-scene. I think my favorite gags are every gag involving a car (Frank hitting someone/something every time he goes to park, the driver's ed student) and every gag involving OJ getting horribly injured (and not just because it's OJ).

This review may contain spoilers.

Never comes close to the comedic or emotional highs of the first two movies, largely because the slapstick hijinks feel more forced and the stakes never feel as high as the first two despite everyone being in more life-or-death situations here. But as a jungle adventure story it's pretty fun (it scratches the itch I was hoping Jungle Cruise would a few years ago), and it does as great a job as the first two with the antagonist casting, bringing Banderas and Colman in to ham it up and have a ball (I particularly enjoyed how they don't even attempt to hide Colman's villain turn from the get-go so she can have fun being really bad at hiding her suspiciousness).

Going by U.S. release date; list only includes movies I've hearted this year.

1. Sinners
2. Eephus
3. Black Bag
4. The Shrouds
5. Mickey 17
6. The Colors Within
7. One of Them Days

1. Fast Times at Ridgemont High
2. To Be or Not to Be
3. Eraserhead
4. Face/Off
5. Con Air
6. The Freshman
7. The Elephant Man
8. Stand by Me
9. Die Hard With a Vengeance
10. Battling Butler

...plus 13 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

Everything on this list gets an 8.5/10 or higher from me

1. I Saw the TV Glow
2. Hundreds of Beavers
3. Anora
4. Evil Does Not Exist
5. Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga
6. Janet Planet
7. A Different Man
8. Hit Man
9. Hard Truths
10. Queer

...plus 34 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

1. Before Sunset
2. Before Sunrise
3. Boyhood
4. Before Midnight
5. School of Rock
6. Everybody Wants Some!!
7. Apollo 10½: A Space Age Childhood
8. Hit Man
9. Bernie
10. Waking Life

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

1. Oppenheimer
2. Elvis
3. Past Lives
4. The Fabelmans
5. I Saw the TV Glow
6. Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret.
7. Hundreds of Beavers
8. Barb & Star Go to Vista Del Mar
9. Sinners
10. Red Rocket

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

1. Star Wars
2. The Empire Strikes Back
3. Star Wars: The Last Jedi
4. Return of the Jedi
5. Star Wars: The Force Awakens
6. Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith
7. Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
8. Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace
9. Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones
10. Solo: A Star Wars Story

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

For filmmakers with vast filmographies, Spielberg is probably the one I'm most caught up on, but that's mostly because I already had a head start on his movies from the time before I was actively seeking out auteurs, plus I've managed to keep up with his more recent output (Munich is the only one since A.I. that I haven't seen in the theater). That said, I'm surprised that

I left off Schindler's List, which I watched in 30-40 minute intervals in an English 102 class over the course of 3 weeks. Someday I'll watch the whole movie uninterrupted.

1. A.I. Artificial Intelligence
2. Raiders of the Lost Ark
3. Jaws
4. Catch Me If You Can
5. The Fabelmans
6. Close Encounters of the Third Kind
7. War of the Worlds
8. E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
9. Schindler's List
10. Minority Report

...plus 19 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

1. Black Panther
2. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
3. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
4. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness
5. Avengers: Endgame
6. The Avengers
7. Iron Man 3
8. Avengers: Age of Ultron
9. Iron Man
10. Guardians of the Galaxy

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

Only ranking the films I have watched this decade

1. The General
2. Sherlock Jr.
3. One Week
4. Steamboat Bill, Jr.
5. Our Hospitality
6. Seven Chances
7. The Navigator
8. College
9. Battling Butler
10. Go West

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

1. Blazing Saddles
2. Young Frankenstein
3. The Producers
4. The Twelve Chairs
5. Spaceballs
6. History of the World: Part I
7. Robin Hood: Men in Tights
8. High Anxiety
9. Life Stinks
10. Dracula: Dead and Loving It

The most genuinely divisive films on this site.

List roughly ordered by movies with the lowest most popular rating percentage; notes include that highest rating and their percentage

• Southland Tales

  3/4 stars - 15%

• Skinamarink

  3/4 stars - 16%

• The Cat in the Hat

  3 stars - 16%

• Freddy Got Fingered

  5 stars - 17%

• AGGRO DR1FT

  4 stars - 17%

• The Brown Bunny

  4 stars - 17%

• Nefarious

  3 stars - 17%

• Megalopolis

  2 stars - 17%

• Escape from Tomorrow

  2 stars - 17%

• Mortuary

  3 stars - 18%

...plus 34 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

1. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
2. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
3. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
4. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
5. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
6. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
7. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1
8. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

The first year in which I started trying to seriously follow all of the major films, largely thanks to Netflix allowing me to rent R-rated films that I had an interest in and my befriending of many serious cinephiles online that made me want to up my game beyond just catching whatever was #1 at the box office. This list goes by U.S. release.

1. Before Sunset
2. Spider-Man 2
3. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
4. The Incredibles
5. Moolaadé
6. Mean Girls
7. Shaun of the Dead
8. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
9. Maria Full of Grace
10. Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy

...plus 6 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

1. Romy and Michele's High School Reunion
2. Gentlemen Prefer Blondes
3. Out of Sight
4. Koyaanisqatsi
5. The Hudsucker Proxy
6. A Shot in the Dark
7. Secret Honor
8. Upgrade
9. A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors
10. Set It Up

...plus 19 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

• Puss in Boots: The Last Wish
• Babygirl

1. Nope
2. The Witch
3. Us
4. The Lighthouse
5. Nosferatu
6. Hereditary
7. Get Out
8. Midsommar
9. The Northman
10. Beau Is Afraid

• Skyfall
• Straw Dogs
• A Nightmare on Elm Street
• You're Next
• Nobody
• Halloween
• The Lost Boys
• Violent Night
• Predator
• Small Soldiers

...plus 8 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

Began this this when I did chronological run-through of the entire Disney canon in the summer of 2020; now I'm just adding the new releases as I see them and adjusting rankings post-rewatch if I feel the need.

1. Beauty and the Beast
2. Pinocchio
3. The Emperor's New Groove
4. Moana
5. Sleeping Beauty
6. Bambi
7. One Hundred and One Dalmatians
8. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
9. Mulan
10. Fantasia

...plus 52 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

• The First Omen
• Alien: Romulus

I worked at Family Video November 2016 to April 2019, and in that time I got to choose what movies to put on while I was working, if I opt out of playing the in-store DVD program (which I basically always did except for a couple times our RM visited). Instead of logging those films (since I'm not really watching them the majority of the time), I kept track of them here.

The rules were basically that if we don't want to play that in-store DVD program, we're suppose to stick mainly to new releases that are light, family friendly (only action-y PG-13 films), and preferably have music (being new usually means we have multiple copies, so customers can rent it if they like what they see). Early on I mostly stuck to older favorites, films that I know so well that having them in the background isn't too distracting.

After a while I tried expanding my horizons of what I played in order to increase the size of this list, and also so I didn't play the same shit too often (unlike a certain employee that ONLY played Sing for like, a month straight, like wtf). After going full-time though it became hard to avoid repeating stuff, since there are only so many decent G-to-light-PG-13 movies to play. So there were of course films I gravitated towards playing more than others, mainly because I liked them, also because sometimes I could get customers to comment on or ask about the movie playing, which was honestly one of my favorite parts of working there. Some of those films:

-Akeelah and the Bee
-Babe
-Back to the Future
-Beauty and the Beast (1991, obvs)
-George of the Jungle
-Isle of Dogs (I didn't even love this film, but customers always seemed fascinated by it when it played; also that score slaps so hard)
-Paddington 2
-Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (before the disc got damaged)
-all of the Star Warses, particularly Last Jedi when it was released

• 101 Dalmatians
• 2001: A Space Odyssey
• Addams Family Values
• The Addams Family
• The Adventures of Tintin
• After Earth
• Akeelah and the Bee
• Aladdin
• Alice in Wonderland
• All the President's Men

...plus 338 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

1. Terminator 2: Judgment Day
2. The Terminator
3. Avatar: The Way of Water
4. Titanic
5. True Lies
6. Aliens
7. Avatar
8. The Abyss

• The Dark Knight
• Batman
• Batman Begins
• Batman Returns
• Batman: Mask of the Phantasm
• The Dark Knight Rises
• The Batman
• Batman
• Batman & Robin
• Batman Forever

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

• Between the Temples
• Megalopolis

1. Ed Wood
2. Sleepy Hollow
3. Beetlejuice
4. Edward Scissorhands
5. Batman Returns
6. Mars Attacks!
7. Pee-wee's Big Adventure
8. Beetlejuice Beetlejuice
9. Big Fish
10. Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

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

• Saltburn
• Dìdi (弟弟)

Not seen: Praying with Anger, Wide Awake, Lady in the Water, The Last Airbender

1. Old
2. The Sixth Sense
3. Trap
4. Unbreakable
5. The Happening
6. Signs
7. The Village
8. Knock at the Cabin
9. Split
10. Glass

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

• MaXXXine
• Fly Me to the Moon

• Lightyear
• The Flash

I went through the entire Pixar filmography at the end of 2020, so that's what all of the pre-2021 movies rankings are based on. Now adding in each new release, will readjust other movies when re-watched.

1. Ratatouille
2. The Incredibles
3. Inside Out
4. Up
5. Turning Red
6. WALL·E
7. Toy Story
8. Monsters, Inc.
9. Soul
10. Luca

...plus 18 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

1. Planet of the Apes
2. Conquest of the Planet of the Apes
3. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
4. Escape from the Planet of the Apes
5. War for the Planet of the Apes
6. Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes
7. Rise of the Planet of the Apes
8. Beneath the Planet of the Apes
9. Battle for the Planet of the Apes
10. Planet of the Apes

• Before Sunset
• Spider-Man 2

• Hundreds of Beavers
• Edge of Tomorrow
• Scott Pilgrim vs. the World

Going off of U.S. commercial release date. Only includes movies I rated 8.5 or higher.

1. Oppenheimer
2. Past Lives
3. Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret.
4. Asteroid City
5. Killers of the Flower Moon
6. Godzilla Minus One
7. The Boy and the Heron
8. John Wick: Chapter 4
9. Godland
10. Barbie

...plus 35 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

• Before Sunrise
• Problemista

1. Christine
2. Moana
3. Arrival
4. Everybody Wants Some!!
5. Manchester by the Sea
6. The Nice Guys
7. The Witch
8. Hell or High Water
9. The Eyes of My Mother
10. Green Room

...plus 20 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

• Little Women
• Dune: Part Two

1. The Florida Project
2. Star Wars: The Last Jedi
3. Lady Bird
4. John Wick: Chapter 2
5. Blade Runner 2049
6. Dunkirk
7. Phantom Thread
8. Baby Driver
9. The Square
10. Lucky

...plus 20 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

Going off of US release date; only includes releases with 8.5 or higher rating

1. Women Talking
2. Elvis
3. The Fabelmans
4. RRR
5. Nope
6. Avatar: The Way of Water
7. Turning Red
8. Decision to Leave
9. Apollo 10½: A Space Age Childhood
10. TÁR

...plus 35 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

• The Dark Knight Rises
• Blade Runner 2049

Limiting one movie per animation studio to spread the wealth.

1. Spirited Away
2. Fantastic Mr. Fox
3. Ratatouille
4. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
5. Moana
6. Rango
7. Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit
8. ParaNorman
9. Wolfwalkers
10. Flee

• Amarcord
• Blazing Saddles
• Fanny and Alexander
• Amadeus
• Rain Man
• Willow
• Dances with Wolves
• The Nutty Professor
• Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me
• South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut

...plus 17 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

• A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night
• Home Alone
• Home Alone 2: Lost in New York
• Home Alone 3

• Lonesome
• The Crowd
• The Clock
• Christmas in Connecticut
• The Train
• Sweet Charity
• My Brilliant Career
• Nobody's Fool
• Lovely & Amazing
• The Saddest Music in the World

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

Does not include 2022 or 2023 US releases (using the US qualifier to throw Evil Does Not Exist on here since it doesn't open here until 2024)

1. A Face in the Crowd
2. The Magnificent Ambersons
3. Evil Does Not Exist
4. The King of Comedy
5. The Train
6. The Verdict
7. Phoenix
8. In the Mouth of Madness
9. Devil in a Blue Dress
10. The Last Waltz

...plus 27 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

• Austin Powers in Goldmember
• Spy Kids 2: The Island of Lost Dreams

All films that scored an 8.5 or better from myself.

1. First Reformed
2. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
3. Paddington 2
4. Revenge
5. Can You Ever Forgive Me?
6. Leave No Trace
7. Widows
8. Eighth Grade
9. Roma
10. Hereditary

...plus 24 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

1. The Grand Budapest Hotel
2. Fantastic Mr. Fox
3. Asteroid City
4. Moonrise Kingdom
5. The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar
6. The French Dispatch
7. The Swan
8. The Royal Tenenbaums
9. The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou
10. The Darjeeling Limited

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

Films that I rated 85/100 or higher, going by U.S. release, since doing it any other way feels weird to me.

1. The Tree of Life
2. Margaret
3. Bridesmaids
4. Rango
5. Martha Marcy May Marlene
6. A Separation
7. Hugo
8. Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol
9. Drive
10. Tomboy

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

• Arrival
• Oppenheimer

1. Mad Max: Fury Road
2. Inside Out
3. Mistress America
4. The Diary of a Teenage Girl
5. Phoenix
6. Room
7. Spotlight
8. Mustang
9. The Duke of Burgundy
10. It Follows

...plus 22 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.