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Austin Danger Podcast #155. One of those movies where I’m sitting there with my head in my hands wondering what the hell Kenzo’s gonna think. To Faverau’s credit, he’s trying to capture a vibe, and I think he nails it. But at what cost?
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Austin Danger Podcast #TBA. Definitely the DARJEELING LIMITED of this era of Anderson. Make of that what you will!
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The best Miyazaki film for many reasons, but mostly because it lacks many of the superficial things people look for in his work while retaining the same magic. The magic is there! It’s there in the real world! Wake up!
Gotta say tho, I don’t usually watch dubs and I had to switch back to Japanese halfway through. I think it’s a thematic thing, yknow? Feels weird to watch this movie in English.
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Austin Danger Podcast #154. Perfect Touchstone Pictures picture.
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Weird that this movie tries to bite off so much more than it can chew, especially considering it was shot and edited with all the flair of a director trying to get to the bank before it closes. But certainly anyone who has seen one of these Disney live-action remakes before knows the score.
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Beyond the beyond. Need a 90 hour version.
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100th movie of the year, another great time seeing a classic on 35mm @ MOMI. Outside of the Final Reckoning inspo, not a lot of talk around this one. I bet next year, Cinematographe puts it out in 4K, and 50 people will claim they’ve known all along. Climbing out of the woodwork to claim Waldo Pepper.
As for the movie itself, I was quite taken! Feels like it’s aspiring to quite a bit. Doesn’t hit it all but those plane stunts are mind blowing. There’s a lot of talk these days about how technology, particularly social media on smartphones, is melting our brains and making us all crazy. Fair enough. But if the alternative entertainment is wingwalking… maybe that’s OK.
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The biplane scene was already unbelievable but in IMAX I was losing my mind. No amount of flashy aspect ratio shift can change the plot, but I had a much better time wading through it the second time. I want to say “too many characters, too little time”… but the movie’s 3 hours long.
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Austin Danger Podcast #153. “At Last” by Etta James plays as I log this film. It’s been playing an awful lot in my mind working on the pod this year! Not to give too much away, but my big revelation here is how… obvious this movie is. They dive deep into the details to make you feel smart. Then, things go sideways. You’re screaming, covering your eyes. You don’t care so much about ribosomes. Spielberg sends the bowling ball of entertainment right down the middle — STRIKE!
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While the two big set pieces are incredible, you can feel the gears on the “make it up as we go along” machine finally start to rust. I’d kill to see what the script looked like before Dead Reckoning came out.
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Shoutout to the woman in front of me who googled “what is the point of Regal RPX movies.” I had a great time, but found myself asking the same question. They serve Pepsi. What more can I say?
As for the movie itself, what an unbelievable send-off for Tony Todd. Extremely stupid fun well within the tradition of the franchise. There were a few unexpected parallels between this and MI: DEAD RECKONING, but “reawaken my paralyzing fear of heights” was not on the menu for today.
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Better than I ed. Better than Fallout? Perhaps. Perhaps.
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Always a fun time with my pals in the Bat and Spider discord! The movie itself, who could say?
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Hits different after going back and watching Buster Keaton. You can feel an urge to entertain in the bedrock of this picture. They ask, "Did you like that? Was that fun? Just wait," and what lies in store around the corner is somehow even more exciting. The first big reveal alone, come on.
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The funniest movie I've seen all year, an amazing parody of Final Destination. So convincing as satire that Sterling K Brown was beginning to give Leslie Neilsen for a moment.
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Amazing night at the Roxy with John Bedford Lloyd in person. After over a decade of enjoying the Youtube video “Worst Line Reading Ever,” I can happily report the full feature lives up to the hype. It’s been a long time since I’ve been so dumbfounded by a movie. My jaw hit the floor early and stayed there.
Huge shoutout to the mighty Penn Jillette.
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Austin Danger Podcast #152 - After a turbulent couple of weeks for Kev, it's time to Return. Forever. And Robin. For Val. And Joel. And the waiters at the restaurant who led Jim Carrey to Tommy Lee Jones' table one fateful night. TLJ hugged Jim, held him close, and said, "I hate you. I really don’t like you. I cannot sanction your buffoonery."
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For a movie called “Clown in the Cornfield,” there’s a ton in here about generation, the rise and fall of “traditional values,” what that even means, and of course, what dedication to an outmoded status quo can do to a community. Felt like a legacy sequel with no predecessor— paging TCM2022! Wake up!
Loved playing with these themes in my head while being so entertained by the dumb fun slasher stuff! I SEE YOU WILL SASSO!
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Paul Rudd still has the juice.
There’s a lot of talk about “I Think You Should Leave” in these reviews and while it’s valid— Tim Robinson is doing Tim Robinson here on a grand scale — to be quick to draw that comparison misses the forest from the trees. Everybody in this movie is doing their own surreal thing, and it makes for such a beautiful symphony. Especially Connor O’Malley!!!!!
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"Listen to the words he used. 'Who's going to take over THE WORLD when I die?' Feels like that to some of us sometimes, doesn't it?"
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Gets better every time. This watch I became obsessed with the angle of Luther’s hat. Alec Baldwin funnier than ever.
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“Don't you see? This is where I was supposed to be in the first place, not that stupid race. I was meant to see this movie.”
Mission Final Destination Impossible rolls on. Heard this was the worst of the series but I had a total blast until the weak ending. Rowan Atkinson and Rube Goldberg holding hands drenched in sweat thinking about these nightmare contraptions of death. Wouldn’t you be jealous?
I’ve been thinking of doing some research on why horror movies between ~2003-2008 were so brown and grayish brown. Once I’m done with whatever that turns into, something tells me this tumultuous RealD era (let’s call it ~2008-2012ish) is just as juicy.
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The best Disney+ Marvel series so far. I had a lot of fun and appreciated the depth/themes/whatever, but found myself struggling to stay awake once the action calmed down, especially when characters recited their backstories over and over. Maybe that's just me, I haven't slept well in weeks. Stressful time to be Kev rn.
Most importantly, the most beautiful woman in the world, Geraldine Viswanathan, showed up WAY more than I expected and rocked the house. Way to go, Geraldine!!! She adds so much to the many scenes with Julia Louis-Dreyfus. Poor Julia has slightly improved from her confounding work in a confounding storyline in the office-istration portion of BLACK PANTHER: WAKANDA FOREVER, but has still not escaped the beartrap that is the legacy of Selina Meyer.
PS: Before the movie, they showed a Fantastic Four-themed IMAX countdown that honestly scared the hell out of me. It felt menacing in a way that's difficult to describe. Comes off weird when I type it out. It felt like a member of your family was just offscreen with a gun pointed at them. "Please," they plead, "for the love of god, get excited for Fantastic Four!" But there was no full trailer for the film attached. You just had to imagine it as a giant number 4 spun around the screen.
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My boss' phone ringtone is 'Rollercoaster,' and I took today off, so I was deeply triggered during the incredible tanning bed scene. The dual-coffin match cut will haunt my nightmares forever.
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Austin Danger Podcast #151. Can’t wait for Kenzo to watch this unhinged theatrical version. ADP is built for scenes like the Deacon’s wacky googly eye, Kevin reaching for/rejecting a boob, campy Atoll forge work set to Peter Gunn and, of course, the opening Austin Powers pre-homage (onscreen pee).
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The new audio mix in IMAX is so good that I started getting annoyed at some dude singing along in the row behind us. That dude? Roger Waters from the speaker on the other side of the room.
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“…can we find the pregnant woman now, please?”
Big ups to Scott for pairing FINAL DESTINATION and MISSION IMPOSSIBLE (as, of course, MISSION FINAL, DESTINATION IMPOSSIBLE.) I hadn’t seen the FD franchise before, but the similarities to MI are fascinating: the clear (heh) “things” you have to have in every movie, the Keatonesque physical comedy, the escalation. This is the kind of movie where an elevator door opens to show a guy holding a bin of prosthetic hook-hands and a smile crosses my face, my heart rate skyrocketing. Pure entertainment.
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Tom wandering around the Vatican disguised as a priest for 2 seconds is my CONCLAVE.
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70mm #261. It's all been leading to this.
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Austin Danger Podcast #150. Can’t believe Darth Vader killed a dude over Zoom. Has that ever been done again in Star Wars? It’s a testament to just how legendary/perfect/great/wowowow/etc this film remains that I’m thinking about stuff like this. It’s gonna be one of those weeks. Peace and love to Austin Naysh for hanging with us for over three incredible years and counting!
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So many movies these days are just one thing, or one thing with a wacky twist. SINNERS is all of those “one things”, and more, and ABOVE ALL OF THOSE THINGS, wildly entertaining in that special way you’ve been missing. There’s even room for a big-swing Artsy Technique that left my jaw on the floor. The only thing it doesn’t do is leave you wanting more. How refreshing it feels to be left so satisfied. A feast, a triumph, Delroy Lindo Oscar campaign started five years ago but let’s pick it up again.
It’s gonna be a great year. Can we it that A MINECRAFT MOVIE was actually funny and enjoyable now?
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Brilliant songs, story all wrong.
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Final Mission: Destination Impossible Week 2 and the event is off to a great start. Right from the start, when the main character’s crazy bedroom posters included PECKER, I knew I was in for a treat.
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Austin Danger Podcast #149. Words can’t express just how much I love Gary, Mary, Walter, and even Tex Richman. The adventures, the lovely songs, their love, loss, and redemption. But what's with the losers moping around all the time? I think they were on TV in the 70s or something? I don't know. These guys, who we're supposed to believe are worthy of the name of this film, spend most of the runtime feeling sorry for themselves. The film has to stop dead in its tracks to explain to us (tell, not show) why they matter. On the surface, THE MUPPETS is cute enough. A totally fun time, 3.5-star deal. But this core issue makes it the most frustrating movie I've ever seen. Disney had one last chance to make the Muppets matter, and instead had Bobin and co. produce a film about why some old bullshit nobody cares about matters to THEM. Talk about a 'me party'!
The main characters of a movie called "The Muppets" are Jason Segel, Amy Adams, and "Oh, I guess they had to replace Scooter. Wait, Scooter's over there? Huh?" The only song Bret wrote to be sung by only classic Muppets is Kermit wanking about how he lost his friends.
Give me a fucking break.
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A movie based on Minecraft was going to happen whether filmbro Twitter likes it or not. What a gift that Jared Hess got to make it! Hess’ trademark brand of weirdness is on full display here, and I couldn’t get enough. I howled at almost every line. It’s been an emotionally fraught couple of months for me and this was just what I needed.
As the movie rolled on I thought back to all of the crappy kids movies I dragged my dad to over the years. (For whatever this is worth, most of the time, they were significantly worse than this.) These trips to the movies made me the film lover I am today. I thought about the kids in Minecraft movie screenings all over the world, some of whom will fall in love with movies just like I did. After a post credit reveal I didn’t understand, a kid gasped and screamed “there should be a second part!!!” Tears in my eyes. My heart feels so full.
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Watched on Wednesday April 9, 2025.
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Austin Danger Podcast #148/Final Mission: Destination Impossible Week 2. Loved seeing William Mapother here- maybe one of our most underrated actors?
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Watched this in solidarity with week 1 of dear friend Scott’s brilliant dual-journey screening series FINAL MISSION: DESTINATION IMPOSSIBLE. Bummed I missed it IRL, but the good news is I’ve now seen this enough times to declare: perfect movie.
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Austin Danger Podcast #147. On opening day, I thought, “Wow, what a bold new vision from Matt Reeves.”
Tonight, three years on, I thought, “When Bruce Wayne looks into the eyes of the mayor’s son he doesn’t just see himself as a child. The audience is seeing a mirror to Bruce’s politics. How is the world’s greatest detective (he’ll get there eventually, he’s clearly new to this) so blind to the real world? How do you get so obsessed with cosplay and outrageous James Bondian social contracts with cartoon characters that you don’t even see the evil that is allowed to exist because you’re engaging in that childishness? This is a movie about a guy who gets infected by the Woke Mind Virus and becomes the hero a broken city deserves in the process. By allowing this meta-narrative to coexist alongside scenes like “Wow, Catwoman’s wearing a WIG??,” “is that John fucking Tuttoro???” and “da fuckin penguin goes AHHHH” Reeves reminds us that yes, he’s the genius behind Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, he’s really that good, he’s got the juice almost no one else has. A triumph? That’s just the beginning.”
Things… have changed for me a bit in the past three years. To say the least! More on Monday.
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Allegedly I saw this movie in 2022 but my now-deleted, dumb review only talked about the first 15 minutes and I had no memory of any of it. Weird! So this MOMI screening felt like a first watch, which I was thankful for because this movie is beautiful and deserves to be seen on the big screen. Longest movie ever made but when Hitch flexes on Vistavision your jaw drops to the floor. You wake up. You lean forward again and reengage.
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Watched on Saturday March 29, 2025.
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When "good enough" just isn't good enough.
I caught this at a test screening last spring. While the SFX wasn't done, the vision of this project was clear: cookie-cutter eat the rich revenge 'fantasy' story that felt played out years ago, infuriatingly basic cartoon villains, Paul Rudd playing himself, Jenna Ortega playing no one in particular—an A24-head's worst nightmare. Speaks to a trend winding through the studio's recent output that I think is a net positive (a shift in focus from "weird" movies into "normal people" movies), but this one couldn't beat the "Walmart a24" allegations.
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Austin Danger Podcast #146 featuring dear friend, 70mm co-host, artist extraordinaire and Lucasfilm Insider Danny Haas. The third movie in the series features the rescue of the hero’s father. The father is played by a legend in the same genre as the movie series. The father is in the same line of work but he and the hero are estranged because of seeming abandonment. The father and son are implied or revealed to have slept with the same woman. Am I talking about LAST CRUSADE or AUSTIN POWERS IN GOLDMEMBER? The answer and more next week on ADP.
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Amazing night at MOMI seeing Scorsese’s personal 35mm print. Marty and screenwriter Jay Cocks did an awesome Q&A afterward. Still swimming in the meaning I drew from this film on this watch— mainly around Jim Broadbent’s comic-relief Boss Tweed, and how the factions of the poor were pitted against each other time and time again by the ruling class. Can we think of any other time in America where this was the case?
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Movie Night Extravaganza #271. Still as brilliant, gripping, incisive, etc etc as it was a year and a half ago. Did she do it? Doesn’t matter. The real trial is going on behind your eyes. Looking forward to chatting about this Tuesday night on YouTube, and later in a podcatcher near you!
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We’re at the “definition of insanity” point with the cursed genre of live-action Disney remakes, and honestly, I wasn’t gonna write anything, but something needs to be said. I find it impossible to believe that a group of producers at Disney heard the demos for these Pasek and Paul songs and thought “Okay, this is acceptable, let’s bring in the orchestra.” These are dreadful, formless tunes. When I got the “good musical” chills down my spine during fucking “Whistle While You Work” it felt like an albatross.
Rachel innocent, charming as ever, as Snow Woke. The movie has clearly been chopped to bits- fascinating to try and figure out what the original plan was. I had more fun than I expected!
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Not just one of the best shows of the year, but a tremendous four-act piece of theatre. The one-take trick allows the Netflix crowd to have a piece of that special feeling when someone upstage has to wash some veggies or something. Trapped like a wounded animal in the background of the scene, the actor must perform the mundanities or else the show falls apart. Slightly different vibe here, though. Instead of the comfort of your theatre seat, you’re along for the ride. Every long hallway, longer drive, blood test, questioning session, awkward trip to the store— you’re almost a part of the scenes. In the way it dares Netflix s to put the second screen away and really tune in, the “oner” technique is a brilliant fit for a series about (without saying too much here) how multiple generations’ lives have been changed forever by the march of what has been sold to us as “technological progress.”
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Austin Danger Podcast #145. The most fun I’ve had watching a movie in a while. Jon Voight’s performance alone, good lord. Thank god he’s coming in to save Hollywood from Woke! Thank you President Trump!
]]>Movies I loved in 2025 that did not come out in 2025.
- Cannibal! The Musical
- The Shawshank Redemption
- Better Man
- The Hours
- I'm Still Here
- Tommy Boy
- Welcome to the Dollhouse
- Palindromes
- Tough Guys Don't Dance
- Follow That Bird
...plus 1 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>Since I’m already making Best New and Best Old lists, I figured, why not make it a trilogy? As much as I love exploring new things, I feel a need to try embracing the rewatch this year. Let’s see how it goes.
- Citizen Kane
Kicked the year off in style. I had such a great time watching this that I think I’m going to make it a New Year’s Day tradition. What better movie to kick off another year, when the heart and mind are at their most aspirational? Especially in (CURRENT YEAR).
- Monkeybone
- Nickel Boys
- Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story
- Parasite
- Jackie Brown
- Dredd
- The Player
- Happiness
- Gangs of New York
...plus 4 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>I chose to accept.
]]>I've been trying not to make too many movie-watching promises these days. But I had to participate in the 70mm BORNEY.
- Candyman
- Scent of a Woman
- A Few Good Men
- The Last of the Mohicans
- Cool World
- Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth
- Encino Man
- Toys
- In the Soup
- Hoffa
...plus 2 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>My favorite movies I watched in 2024 that did not come out in 2024.
- The Incredible Shrinking Man
- The Pied Piper
- Stone Cold
- The Devils
- One from the Heart
- My Bloody Valentine
- Yentl
- Brief Encounter
- The Fountain
- Ghostwatch
...plus 15 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>This list will never be completed lol but it's worth a shot?
- The Wild Robot
- His Three Daughters
- Smile 2
- Heretic
- The Piano Lesson
- Moana 2
- September 5
- The Order
- Sonic the Hedgehog 3
- Mufasa: The Lion King
...plus 13 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>When I appeared on the ELVIS (2022) episode of Escape Hatch, I came up with a name for the kinds of weird movies I like: THE FREAK BEAT. What makes a Freak Beat movie?
1. The movie needs to express a strong vision.
2. The movie has to be either maligned or forgotten for one reason or another. Box office bomb? Critical dud? Everyone else hates it? Nobody else has ever heard of it? All qualifiable.
3. I have to have seen, and AT LEAST like, the movie. This is the one people always forget, but it is the most important.
4. Other than these, there are no rules, it’s the fucking FREAK BEAT baby!!!!!
Feel free to give suggestions in the comments, but keep in mind there’s nuance here. Just as an example, I feel the need to specifically say: John Waters and David Lynch, who I love, are two of the most obsessed-over directors of all time and have no place here.
Peace and Love!
- Southland Tales
… wait, is the Donnie Darko guy CHRISTIAN?!
- Batman Forever
This is the film that began my love of camp and weird shit. It explains so much about my personality that going back to it as an adult blows my mind.
- Babylon
This gorgeous meditation on “why we do what we do” starts with an elephant shitting on your face and proceeds into the ultimate Andy Kaufman-esque “vibe test,” an orgiastic bacchanal designed to make you feel the horniest you have ever been, AND never want to have sex again, at the same time. Then it goes on for another TWO AND A HALF HOURS!!! If that’s not Freak Beat worthy, I don’t know what is!
- Alligator
- Cloud Atlas
- Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday
- King Kong
- Elvis
- Masters of the Universe
- Jupiter Ascending
...plus 2 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>70mm is inarguably the greatest movie podcast on the internet. This is a list of the movies that all three hosts (our old pal Slim, artist Danny Haas, spiritual adviser, poet, and Mr. Movie Insider Protolexus) all gave the coveted "5-banger" rating.
Updated 2/23 but please @ me in the VHS Village if I'm missing anything
- 1917
- Arrival
- The Empire Strikes Back
- Malcolm X
- Raiders of the Lost Ark
- Roma
- Harakiri
- The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
- The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
- Jurassic Park
...plus 8 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>These are movies about that specifically American feeling of opportunity. The feeling that comes with watching the blood orange sun come up on your backyard, paper in hand. Coffee's ready. Maybe you'll make pancakes. Perhaps you'll scramble an egg. It's up to you. It's Breakfast in America.
Tony Scott, Michael Bay stuff. You know what I mean.
]]>I lost my first draft of this in a brutal "iPad refreshed my Chrome page" accident. Desperately hoping I can maintain at least the enthusiasm to make the list. Stuffing the list with things I want to watch in Q1 2024, or are already seeing in the last week of 2023, to gain momentum. Sending the list to people to pretend that will work for ability.
It's Criterion Challenge season!
- Le Bonheur
1. Spine #351-450
WATCHED DECEMBER 25, 2023
- Eating Raoul
2. Spine #601-700
- Come and See
3. Watch a film with a rating of 4.3 or higher
- Enter the Dragon
4. First film in your watchlist
- Brief Encounter
5. Most Recently Added Film in Your Watchlist
- A Brighter Summer Day
6. Longest runtime in your watchlist
WATCHED JANUARY 1, 2024 - Funny Games
7. Most popular film in your watchlist LOLLLLL
- The Housemaid
8. Martin Scorsese's World Cinema Project
- Riki-Oh: The Story of Ricky
9. Criterion Staff Picks
- Secrets & Lies
10. New York Film Festival Favorites
...plus 42 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>My favorite stuff I watched for the first time in 2023... from before awards season 2022.
- A Knight's Tale
- Yi Yi
- The King of Comedy
- Opening Night
- The Tree of Life
- After Hours
- Cube
- Vanilla Sky
- Memoria
- Dirty Dancing
...plus 40 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>By request, an ongoing list of some of the longest movies of all time. This label could be positive or negative. Depends on the movie!
]]>Did somebody say, “contemplating your Catholic guilt, your duty to societal norms/your illicit organization, and/or the greed and soullessness of man while stirring ma’s gravy on a Sunday afternoon, The Rolling Stones playing on the radio, memories of days past projected back in your mind at double-speed like a Buster Keaton short, punctuated by sharp and gruesome displays of violence”? How about “whatever the fuck is going on in Hugo”?
On the road to KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON, I’ll be finally filling my gaps in Marty’s filmography, ranking them along the way. me, won’t you?
- The King of Comedy
- GoodFellas
- After Hours
- The Wolf of Wall Street
- The Last Temptation of Christ
- Raging Bull
- Taxi Driver
- The Aviator
- Silence
- Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore
...plus 15 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>One of the more interesting trends in cinema this year is "one great idea" - oversized stories about things you don't expect. Somebody comes across something or invents something, and the story changes the world.
Do you know of a 2023 release that qualifies? Let me know in the comments. Please keep in mind: the idea has to be the main focus, not any one person. Biopics need not apply, but it must be a true story.
]]>This is a list of the movies I am most excited to talk about on Austin Danger Podcast. I created this list basically to publicly say “I’m so excited to talk about STAR WARS: EPISODE 1: THE PHANTOM MENACE on ADP.” Not sorry.
- Batman Returns
- Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace
- Cry-Baby
- The Incredibles
- Toy Story
- Back to the Future
- Who Framed Roger Rabbit
- The Adam Project
- Masters of the Universe
- The Muppets
...plus 7 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>- The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou
- The Grand Budapest Hotel
- The Royal Tenenbaums
- Asteroid City
- The French Dispatch
- Fantastic Mr. Fox
- Moonrise Kingdom
- Bottle Rocket
- Rushmore
- The Darjeeling Limited
...plus 1 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>Blind buys in Shrink Wrap and here I am renting on Vudu. The shame.
- Doctor Sleep
- For Men Only: The Stories of Del Close
- Flash Gordon
- Phantom of the Paradise
- Ninja III: The Domination
- Miller's Crossing
- Bigger Than Life
- Independence Day
- Men in Black 3
- Thelma & Louise
...plus 30 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>Movies very obviously shot in a giant warehouse. Not literally -- there is a very telltale feel to movies made in this manner. These generally came about in the wake of Tim Burton's BATMAN, and kind of feel like BATMAN, too.
]]>I took a cinema studies class in high school and it changed my life. Not a complete list as I've forgotten a few of them clearly.
- Duck Soup
- Modern Times
- The Philadelphia Story
- Citizen Kane
- Casablanca
- On the Waterfront
- Some Like It Hot
- Psycho
- The Graduate
- Fargo
...plus 3 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>All-time bestie McKenzie put together an all-time list for the best movie community on the internet. This is my ballot, with extensive and personal notes forthcoming. Peace and love!
]]>A living document of the stuff I loved the most in 2022 that did not come out in 2022. I've removed all 2022 releases and put the best of them into their own list.
Locked on 12/31/22.
- Ace in the Hole
- Fangs
- Matinee
- The Worst Person in the World
- The Red Shoes
- Amadeus
- Michael Clayton
- Ran
- Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives
- New Nightmare
...plus 64 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>This is an *unranked* list of my favorite movies of 2022. These movies came out in 2022, I saw them, I logged them on Letterboxd, the works. I have also included superlatives for fun! I have chosen to leave this list unranked because I could make a solid case for most of these films to be #1.
Note: Despite the best efforts of the distributor, THE WORST PERSON IN THE WORLD and PETITE MAMAN came out in 2021. I am not confident they would be on this list anyway!
Note 2: None of this should be considered "the law" for anything, but especially any 2022-themed Austin Danger Podcast celebrations that may occur in the first quarter of 2023. Thank you!
- White Noise
KEV'S FAVORITE MOVIE OF 2022
BEST EXISTENTIAL CRISIS
MOST ALIENATING FILM OF THE YEAR
BEST USE OF THE LEGENDARY DON CHEADLE OF THE YEARNoah Baumbach's COVID panic attack manifested as a faithful-almost-to-a-fault adaption of Don Delillo's postmodern masterpiece. Everything that has alienated critics/confounded Netflix's marketing team in this film is done so on purpose: the shifting tones through the three parts, the walls of noise, the random non-sequiturs the characters spew if only just to cover the brief pauses in conversation, those frightening imperfections of reality. In a time when things feel more uncertain than ever, I sat in the theater with my hands behind my head like the CINEMA PARADISO guy as I watched the Gladneys try to cope with all the same things. Cinema.
- Elvis
WORST ELVIS BIOPIC OF THE YEAR
BEST PSYCHADELIC FEVER DREAM APPROXIMATING MAJOR EVENTS IN THE LIFE OF ELVIS PRESLEY OF THE YEAR
WEIRDEST CHOICE OF THE YEAR (Tom Hanks' accent)
WORST/BEST LINE OF DIALOGUE OF THE YEAR ("I ain't ever gonna let us get back to a place again where Daddy gets in trouble with the law to put food on the table." - Austin Butler's ELVIS)What can I possibly say at this point about ELVIS that I haven't said in four hours of podcasts and many reviews on here? Luhrmann's definitive statement on 20th-century popular culture is a kaleidoscopic ice cream headache that takes place not alongside the King but through the eyes of the man who packaged and sold him to us. It's loud and colorful, and like most other movies on this list it was made to be experienced on the biggest, loudest screen you can find. At home when your cell phone is just right there on the coffee table, your pets are running around, maybe you have to take care of your kid or something -- it becomes a different, worse movie. But I love it all the same.
- Nope
BEST SELF-CONSCIOUS SPECTACLE OF THE YEAR
BEST MONKEY OF THE YEAR
BEST JACKET OF THE YEAR (Steven Yeun's red "UFO" jacket)
BEST JOKE ABOUT CHRIS KATTAN OF THE YEAR
TOP GUN: MAVERICK/AVATAR: THE WAY OF WATER AWARD FOR BEST NON-TOP GUN/AVATAR THEATRICAL EXPERIENCE OF THE YEARJordan Peele's literary blockbuster about our addiction to horror and spectacle shook me to my core on opening weekend but really opened itself up on a second viewing. Must be seen in the largest, loudest format you can handle.
- Everything Everywhere All at Once
MOST OVERHYPED MOVIE OF THE YEAR
MOST GENUINE MOVIE OF THE YEAR (Indie Division)
MITZI FABELMAN MEMORIAL AWARD FOR STRONGEST AMBLIN VIBES OF THE YEARI had the good fortune of seeing Daniels' eye-opening, heartwarming, charming masterpiece a few weeks before it whipped a certain kind of moviegoer into a violent frenzy. Lucky me -- without any expectations, this is a total winner. I laughed, I cried, the whole thing. Underneath the random humor, the film speaks directly to its primary audience about many of the things they're feeling right now. Along the way they were introduced to the mighy Stephanie Hsu -- and how about the comeback of Ke Huy Quan?? What a combo.
When I came home from that first viewing, I turned on the Academy Awards. Wanda Sykes was wandering around the Academy Museum, goofing around like an idiot. I was immediately dismayed: how could a board that allows their biggest night to go on like this honor a film I found so fresh, so imaginative, so full of heart? It remains to be seen.
- TÁR
MOST CANCELLED CHARACTER OF 2022
BEST SONG OF 2022 (Apartment For Sale, Lydia Tar) (tie with Naatu Naatu, RRR)
BEST SIDEWAYS GLANCE OF THE YEAR (Hoss/Merlant tie)
BEST USE OF THE LEGENDARY ALAN CORDUNER OF 2022
BEST USE OF JARGON
LOL @ RICHARD BRODY. NO AWARD, JUST LOL @ RICHARD BRODYThe twisting, turning, stomach-churning mysteries of the fall of Lydia Tar have been well documented elsewhere, but I think my favorite part of this movie is the way the world is built out for you almost immediately. By placing you at a 92Y discussion with the New Yorker's Adam Gopnik, Field throws you head first into the pool, and you'll either swim, or sink to the bottom. I respect this gatekeeping move so much -- to engage with Lydia Tar, I imagine, would be like putting yourself in a similar line of fire. And no spoilers here, but doesn't it all seem like total bullshit? Self-important, inflated nonsense? Feels like that'd be on purpose. Hmm!
- Avatar: The Way of Water
BEST SPECTACLE
NICOLE KIDMAN AWARD FOR "WHY WE GO TO THE MOVIES"
MOST GENUINE MOVIE OF THE YEAR (Blockbuster division)
BEST AND ONLY 3D MOVIE OF THE YEARLook, idk man, either you fuck with it or you don't. And I fuck with it.
- RRR
MOST WRONG I HAVE EVER BEEN ABOUT GOING TO A MOVIE EVER
BEST SONG (Naatu Naatu, tied with TAR's "Apartment for Sale")
BEST WAY TO INTRODUCE SOMEONE TO SOMETHING OF 2022 (Movie nerds to Tollywood film)On the rainy April afternoon I saw RRR, on the 1500th floor of AMC Empire 25, I did not want to go. I was feeling kind of down and didn't think I was in the mood for a three-hour movie about anything, much less a genre I've never really engaged with at all. But what felt like a dense trip to the movies ended up hoisting me into the air high above Times Square for what felt like twenty minutes. They didn't even run the intermission at my screening, it was maybe a five second card and then right back into the action, and I didn't even care. Bless Punished Bheem, easily the greatest action hero in ages.
In retrospect (and much like EEAAO) I'm so glad I saw it then, on some random screen, weeks before the hype swept the nation. But it's been such a blessing to see everyone fall in love with this tremendous epic.
- After Yang
BEST ABUSE OF A RULES LOOPHOLE (This is a 2022 movie because Wikipedia said so)
CANDLE IN THE WIND AWARD FOR BEST EXERCISE IN GRIEFKogonada's sublime AFTER YANG manages, in just 96 minutes, to wrestle with so many oft-unspoken aspects of grief. Most of all, the stories you never heard because he'd never let you hear. The lives they lived outside of you.
The movie is now my shining example of great "lo-fi sci-fi," a low-budget film that uses the genre of science fiction to talk about real life. And although I had an awesome year, few films were more "real life" than AFTER YANG.
Fucking tearing up thinking about this now. God damn it.
- Top Gun: Maverick
MOST I WAS WRONG ABOUT A MOVIE IN 2022
BEST PRACTICAL STUNTS, NON-PRANKMy truth: I did not want to love TOP GUN: MAVERICK. Despite nuclear hype in my movie-loving communities and even growing new appreciation for the original, I was already to dump all over this thing. But then the first shot faded up. The reprise of the original theme. The almost shot-for-shot remake of the original opening credit sequence. Then, Tom's initial stunt, a faux-orbital flight. My jaw was on the floor.
Stunts aside, there's a human angle to this film that "you don't see much of anymore" -- while I wish there was more of it, the time we are able to spend with the kids is great. Miles Teller and Glen Powell (both tremendous standouts even against Tom) have chemistry so powerful that it almost rivals Bheem and Raju. Almost. And speaking of chemistry, how about Tom and Jennifer Connelly! Wow!
And then there's Val. I'd short out my laptop's keyboard AND ruin the movie if I continued any further, but I'll just say that if the rest of the movie was somehow a disaster, I'd still put it on this list for this scene alone. Wept like a baby.
One last thing: great job, Jon Hamm. Great job.
- Babylon
BEST "SOUTHLAND TALES" (public nervous breakdown by a visionary director) OF THE YEAR
BEST FINALE OF THE YEARA few weeks before this movie came out we covered LA LA LAND on Austin Danger Podcast. I hate LA LA LAND - it's cloying, it's simple, and it says nothing of substance. It's a musical whose songs are terrible. Everything I wanted in that film is abundant in BABYLON: at the end of the silent era, Chazelle's Hollywood is a nightmarish, thumping bacchanal with something to say. At the end of this film, after three hours of rises and falls of Scorcesean proportions, Chazelle takes you out of the narrative to boldly ask you "Well, what do you think? Was any of this worth it? Is anything I've done, any of my cohorts in this business have done, worth it?"
I'm not sure his answer is yes. It's an otherwise great movie, but that finale is why this movie is on the list.
...plus 20 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>Movies that feel like they take place in fully-realized lived-in worlds that you can't have full access to because you're in the movie version of a book that doesn't exist.
]]>I've been given crap time and time again for calling whatever movie I talk about on a podcast "one of the greatest movies of all time." I find this unfair, so in protest, and proof that the list has some limits, here's a list of movies I consider to be among the greatest of all time, in no order but probably chronological order.
Warning: this is a completely subjective list and quite a few of these are considered bad or worse outside of the confines of this list. Fortunately, we're online, and I can do whatever I want.
- The Big Lebowski
If it weren't an all-timer on its own merits, what this movie meant to my relationship with my father late in his life will always place this one #1 with a bullet.
- The Room
A humid nightmare, THE ROOM places the viewer through the lens of Tommy Wiseau, a man with too much money and time on his hands, as he attempts to navigate what he believes to be "the whourald" but is probably a simulation.
- Cloud Atlas
- Sunset Boulevard
- Terminator 2: Judgment Day
The greatest action movie of all time. An operatic extravaganza of violence wrapped around a story about parents and children amidst the end of the world.
- Citizen Kane
- The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou
My first "artsy movie." Sue me.
- The Royal Tenenbaums
- O Brother, Where Art Thou?
- Real Life
...plus 18 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>THE ADAM PROJECT. THE ADAM PROJECT. THE ADAM PROJECT.
...plus 2 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>Trying something different this Halloween: a REVERSE list! What am I intending to watch? How much of it did I get to? It's a MYSTERY!
- Scream
- The Funhouse
- Mary Shelley's Frankenstein
- Scream 2
- Near Dark
- The Curse of Frankenstein
- Death Becomes Her
- Halloween
- Hellraiser
- Werewolf by Night
...plus 26 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>Ranking the Star Wars films
- The Empire Strikes Back
- Star Wars
- Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
- Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith
- Return of the Jedi
- Star Wars: The Force Awakens
- Star Wars: The Last Jedi
- Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace
- Solo: A Star Wars Story
- Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones
...plus 1 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>- The Incredibles
- Toy Story
- Monsters, Inc.
- Ratatouille
- WALL·E
- Finding Nemo
- Coco
- Turning Red
- Up
- Inside Out
...plus 9 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>Movies where obstructions in the road of life are cleared by a check, in one form or another.
WIP- submissions welcome
The Adam Project
]]>A journey paying tribute to movies about what insurance companies call 'acts of God.'
- Earthquake
- The Poseidon Adventure
- Rollercoaster
- King Kong
- Geostorm
- San Andreas
- Independence Day
- 2012
- The Swarm
- Deep Impact
...plus 41 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>- New Nightmare
- Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives
- Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter
- Friday the 13th Part III
- A Nightmare on Elm Street
- Friday the 13th
- A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors
- A Nightmare on Elm Street Part 2: Freddy's Revenge
- Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday
- Jason X
...plus 8 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>I got carried away, but that doesn't mean I'm sorry about it. Tried to keep it to what you would consider a "movie" -- YouTube stuff, Pee-Wee's Christmas Special, Beatles docs all out.
- Fangs
I discovered this film only recently thanks to Dale of the Bat & Spider podcast. It's an extremely strange horror film about a man's quest for revenge when his weekly routine is taken away from him. Honestly? Relatable up to the snake fetish play, but no shame on that here.
- Alligator
Given that this is dropping on 4K within weeks, this won't qualify for this list for very long. But if you've seen it, and basked in the glory of the Robert Forster male pattern baldness running gag, you know what's good. Shout-out to a very out-of-place Michael Gazzo.
- Real Life
Brooks' most biting and, to me, funniest satire, probably only at 9300 logged because it was only on the Criterion Channel for such a short time. Until CC wakes up and puts it out on bluray, I think it's worth going out of your way to see this brutal satire.
- Original Cast Album: Company
THE BEATLES: GET BACK for Musical Theater heads. So much valuable wonderful footage here, and the extras on the Criterion disc are priceless. Watch it for Elaine Stritch screaming at her own playback alone.
- Topsy-Turvy
Mike Leigh's brilliant, epic retelling of the creation of Gilbert and Sullivan's THE MIKADO is rich and wonderful and woefully underrated by everyone I have ever met. LB, too, at 8.7k logs. Too many amazing scenes to list.
- The Sweatbox
Part of Sting's agreement to write the songs for Disney's KINGDOM OF THE SUN was that his wife would get to make a documentary, to be included on the DVD. Well, the movie ended up getting called THE EMPEROR'S NEW GROOVE, and you can see Sting get fired by Disney on the phone in this film. Worth tracking down, although if it got pulled from wherever I found it last year, it'll be hard to find. God bless Roger Allers.
- Best of the Best
Criminally underrated martial arts classic. Eric Roberts gives the performance of his career and James Earl Jones works so much harder than he has to.
- New York Ninja
As seen on RedLetterMedia and heard on Bat & Spider, Vinegar Syndrome's production of NEW YORK NINJA was the story of 2021, and one of my ten favorite films of last year. Discovered with no soundtrack, notes, or script, the VS team had to stitch together a plot based on the raw footage and it shows. But even so, what fun!
- Knightriders
I was absolutely staggered by this when I watched it along with the guys at Bat & Spider. Criminally underrated because it's a non-horror George Romero movie, this epic (read as: very long) about art, friendship, and the open road will not be soon forgotten by those who vibed with it.
- Zoot Suit
Shout-out to Ismael in the 70mm Discord for recommending this great film, Luis Valdez's excellent adaptation of his play. A young Edward James Olmos, fresh off BLADE RUNNER, serves as the narrator and one-man Greek chorus as he takes us through the Zoot Suit riots. Daniel Valdez and Tyne Daly also shine.
Coming soon to Bluray from Kino Lorber, too.
- Southland Tales
- Blade II
- The Night of the Hunter
- Paddington 2
- King of New York
- The Insider
- Portrait of a Lady on Fire
- Casino
- A Hidden Life
- The Mummy
...plus 43 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>For next week's episode of Rank Kings.
]]>yo adrian
]]>One Ranking of "Halloween" films, approved by Austin Powers.
]]>Organized by Andy Stone in the 70mm Discord, it's a brand-new October tradish.
]]>Movies that make you stand up, point at the screen, and yell GOOD LORD, WHAT IS HAPPENING IN THERE?
As featured on the Ammonite Movie Nite podcast.
]]>Welcome.. to Journassic Park.
Inspired by the recent discussion of "Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom" in the 70mm Discord, Journassic Park is a celebration of one of the best films, and one of the most inconsistent franchises, of all time.
Dare you clone and rank em? Live your truth. Be brave. Embrace Chaos Theory.
The official 70mm 1oE™ list template. A list of your favorite from popular series.
Have you wanted to understand yourself on a deeper level? You meet someone new but don't know how to engage. You wanna get into the nitty gritty but are unsure of the first step? Welcome to the first step. You whip out your 1oE list and you have conversation for hours. This is how deep meaningful friendship is born: seeing where hearts align and the catastrophic disagreements begin.
Copy this description and craft your list of favorites. This is YOUR favorites, not what you consider to be "best". Be brave!
side note: if you do not have a favorite/ haven't seen them put a movie with title that shows that (i.e. "No")
1. Star Wars
2. Star Trek
3. Alien
4. Planet of the Apes
5. Indiana Jones
6. Terminator
7. Pixar
8. Disney Animation Studios
9. Dreamworks Animation
10. Don Bluth Animated Films
11. Studio Ghibli
12. Mission Impossible
13. Middle Earth
14. Harry Potter
15. Batman
16. DC Cinematic Universe
17. Marvel Cinematic Universe
18. X-Men
19. Spider-Man
20. The Fast and the Furious
21. Pirates of the Caribbean
22. Back to the Future
23. Rocky
24. Twilight
25. James Bond
- The Empire Strikes Back
- Star Trek
- Alien
- Planet of the Apes
- Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
- Terminator 2: Judgment Day
- The Incredibles
- Beauty and the Beast
- Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie
- Anastasia
...plus 15 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.
]]>Movies About the Beatles (Or Featuring Their Music) in Which No Beatles Appear
]]>