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This is one of the few times I'm using the❤️ button for it's intended purpose. I've got to. This was not AMC Stubs A-List eligible, so I came out of pocket for full price tickets for a movie I own and have seen numerous times. I really wanted to see this on the big screen again, in a packed house, filled with those that connected to Dogma the way I do. I'm really happy I did.

Here is a link to my original review if you care. https://boxd.it/284e

Watched on Thursday June 5, 2025.

Even though the romantic subplot never quite works, Warren Beatty is very good here. He sells a wide-eyed innocence that goes over surprisingly well. Ever person he share his scenes with feels as drawn to Joe as we are, and that includes Julie Christie, we just needed a few extra scenes to make that one question believable. But it's Charles Grodin and Dyan Cannon gives us the right amount comedic dark energy to keep this from being cheaply sentimental. They are the perfect villainous duo.

I'd like to thank a lot of you for thoroughly lowering my expectations. I expected The Final Reckoning to be a bit of a dud. Instead it tops the last entry in of both spectacle and believability. At least The Entity's abilities do not seem completely supernatural this time around, and they found a way to pull Luther(Ving Rhames) out of the romantic comedy best friend role McQuarrie saddled him with in Fallout.
I don't love the " this?" Mission: Impossible series appreciation recap which dampens the big opening. Once the stakes are established though, The Final Reckoning goes hard, pushing through a litany of exposition in order to deliver verbal thrills along side the big setpieces... and those big setpieces took my breath away. The biplane finale is all the rage and rightfully so, but the submarine sequence, particularly the way they use water, absolutely blew my mind. And for those of us who have been there from the start(or bingewatched them over a weekend), that dedication pays off in so many satisfying ways.
But when all is said and done, it's Tom Cruise that wins this franchise. You can't fault this man's dedication to entertainment. He's our last movie star.

I actually love this a little bit more than I used to. At the time I felt Michael Bay's style was "coked up Tony Scott". Now I wish he showed this kind of restraint.
The Rock is beautifully executed excessive and over-the-top testosterone-fueled nonsense, but I now recognize that there is more craft and complexity here than I originally realized. Ed Harris in particular is going above the call of duty, giving a truly multifaceted performance. But ultimately it's all the practical big action setpieces. Real explosions. Real stuntwork. Big sets. It's all pretty amazing.

Watched on Saturday May 31, 2025.

Watched on Saturday May 31, 2025.

Turns out I've only seen bits and pieces of this flipping channels as a kid.
I wouldn't say Clue is a laugh riot, but it is lots of fun. It's the type of comedic murder mystery with a stacked cast I wish we got more of. Some of the humor doesn't quite land, and I'm not just talking about handsy Christopher Lloyd. I don't feel director Jonathan Lynn quite reaches the madcap energetic heights he's aiming for, but the slightly elevated tone he mostly settles into feels about right.

Watched on Friday May 30, 2025.

Watched on Thursday May 29, 2025.

My biggest gripe is they never properly establish the relationship between Craig(Tim Robinson) and his wife Tami(Kate Mara). We need some inkling of how this woman ever ended up with this dude, and stayed with him, especially since the relationship plays such a big part of the story. But Craig is such wonderfully cringey character, and writer/director Andrew DeYoung pushed all of my wrong buttons in all the right ways.
Friendship had me squirming, and gritting, and hiding my eyes. I really don't think I've experienced a dark comedy that got under my skin in quite the same way.

Watched on Tuesday May 27, 2025.

Originally, I wound up watching this after it's sequel Operation Condor. They were released out of order in United States long after their original release(s), but I ended up liking this first entry more.
Jackie Chan's riff on Indiana Jones is a lot of fun if you can get in tune with the comedy. Both Alan Tam and Lola Forner play off Jackie rather well, and I find Tam to be quite funny, which helps keep the spirits up in-between the big setpieces. And those fight sequences, especially the little wirework details, still wow me.
In Chan's canon Armour of God is really underrated.

This is nothing more than a half hearted attempt to take the Police Academy formula on the slopes. It finds laughs occasionally, but I mostly felt embarrassed by just how bad this material is.
On the bright side, the stunt work is pretty rad.

Once "Project Mayhem" goes into full swing Fight Club loses a step. I'm not saying it isn't good, IT IS, and it's often very funny, it's just not as brilliant as everything that comes before it.
But that final "shot" is definitely a cop out.

"Root strong..." was always my main childhood takeaway from The Karate Kid Part III, and it's easy to see why. Basically the only thing that works, besides Steve Yaconelli's beautifully lit cinematography, is everything involving the bonsai tree. I was more emotionally invest in that thing than anything about the central plot.
Okay, Teen Witch(Robyn Lively) isn't bad and there's some nice chemistry there, but the villians are ridiculous, the main villain is cartoonishly invested in destroying someone that he has no real connection to, and Daniel and Mr. Miyagi's reactions to the bad guys drove me up the wall. At some point just call the frickin' cops!
Ultimately Part III just a pale imitation of the original, but it leaves out the central root that made that movie so strong.

This should work, but Brian De Palma screws up the tone. George Gallo's screenplay is solid. A lot of this should be funny, but De Palma doesn't trust the material will play, going full screwball, dialing up numerous moments and sequences unnecessarily.
If this were more Midnight Run this could have been really great.

For something with this energy level it's always felt surprisingly slow, even at a lean 94. But Trainspotting is definitely one of those movies that hit at the right place and time.
Filled with colorful characters, including Ewan McGregor's star-making turn, and every scene packed with indelible images from Danny Boyle's uncompromising vision, this remains one of the most memorable and important movies of the 90's.

Watched on Wednesday May 21, 2025.

Watched on Tuesday May 20, 2025.

Wait-a-minute-wait-a-minute... it's,

The whole world's wild at heart and weird on top

not "'we're' on top"?
Well, I've been misquoting that for a long-ass time.

I don't think this is David Lynch's most thought out piece. You can feel him trying to jam in backstory and exposition through clunky editing, which is at odds with the dreamy/nightmarish elements that feel at home within this framework.
But when you step back and look at it as a whole, all those ill-fitting pieces congeal to make a beautiful mess.

How did this get made?!
It rules! That's how it got made!!!
My 1996 Top 10 sported three titles that were perfectly executed alien invasion sci-fi trash, and this was among those titles. I wouldn't call writer/director David Twohy "a craftsman", but he knows how to tell a story, and I love the way he lets this unfold. Some of those revelations made my knees bend backwards. Plus, Charlie Sheen is good here. You wouldn't think he could pull off playing a über-nerd, but his coked up energy helps sell the conspiratorial plot elements.
Special shoutout to DP Hiro Narita for composing one of my all-time favorite shots.

For a sex comedy, it's kind of adorable. Sam Morelos is very likable and easy to root for, striking up good chemistry with Chloe Fineman; although it's pretty clear both characters are an extention of writer/director Jillian Bell. They both occasionally deliver lines in Jillian's exact cadence. It's as if older Jillian is giving younger Jillian a pep talk. I'm a fan of Bell's, so this is more of an observation than a criticism, but Summer of 69 is clearly written in her voice.
As far as sex comedies go, this is fairly tame. If you jump into this expecting something rowdy, this might disappoint. This is a little more light, driven by the characters more than the concept. The Happy Madison-style conclusion didn't quite work. I found this to be enjoyable, but it's more of a "68 and I owe you one".

I was an Austin Powers early adopter. Could have been earlier but I chose to see the more dad-friendly free screening of Breakdown instead.
Anyway, I ended up seeing this multiple times theatrically, convincing my group of friends to give it a shot. Of course there was "medical" incentives involved. One of those times was the most "medicated" I'd ever been. A buddy and I went through a "Titanic" sized bucket of popcorn before the trailers even ended(thank god for the free refill), and I spent most that showing staring at the reflections on the ceiling.
So this first entry in the trilogy holds a special place for me, but it's not a perfect comedy. It's a little uneven, and it always has been. What makes it special is it's very catchy. Like a great novelty song, Mike Myers had us all nodding along to his tune. He had us all singing "Yeah, baby..." and "shagging" for years to come.
Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery is the earworm of comedy.

My IMDb blurb from 2008:

Some of the greatest dialogue I have ever heard

This remains true, and thank goodness. There's lots of "telling" not "showing", but it hardly matters when the babble sounds like this. And the story being told is incredible.

Watched on Friday May 16, 2025.

This will sound like a weird criticism, but these characters are too realistic. With the exception of Erik(Richard Harmon), the pierced tattoo artist with an attitude, everyone else feels like garden variety upper middle class everyday people. Even though the kills are pretty impressive on a technical level --- it's opening sequence is the best since the highway pile up in part 2 --- watching people that could be your friends and neighbors get hunted down by Death ends up being kind of a buzzkill. This needed more dumb blondes, asshole jocks, and horny dorks.
Even though I'm glad I caught this on the big screen for the spectacle, I can't see myself choosing to revisit Bloodlines for shits and giggles.

Director James Wong did a really great job crafting Death's design. It remains a really fun watch after all these years, hitting in almost all the right ways. Those "Ohhh shit!" moments still have me oh shittin'!

Okay, sure... Bullet Train did it better. But Fight or Flight gives us something similar on a fraction of the budget. I'm really happy I got to see this in a full theater. Some of the audience's reaction to the bloody mayhem was priceless. I personally could have done without the last weapon Lucas(Hartnett) wields, but I still had a lot of fun watching most of the carnage unfold.

It's a little too cutesy for my taste. There are some genuinely sweet moments, but most of them are downright sugary. And with some very dark violence in the mix, this never establishes a proper tone.
This feels more like a EuropaCorp production than a Joe Carnahan actioneer. There's a lot of violence delivered with a slight wink, but the choreography is all over the place, and the blend of cheap sentimentality had me rolling my eyes.
It's too bad Shadow Force doesn't really work. It's the type of mid-budget action movie I'd like to see make it to theaters more often. Unfortunately it's not the best example of what I'm looking for.

Only three stars, but a very satisfying three. There is definitely a junkiness to this that it's TV budget makes hard to avoid, and much of it is derivative and very predictable.
But Noah Wyle is very good in this role, and strikes up some sweet chemistry with his new co-star Gabrielle Anwar. Director Jonathan Frakes keeps things fun and brisk. I enjoy this more than a lot of the bigger budget movies it emulates.

This concludes my Roger Moore 007 rewatches (and one I'd never seen before). The verdict: I like most of them, but barely. Octopussy is a good example of what does and does not work in Moore's stretch in the franchise.
The big sets and outlandish action scenes work for and against it. The scope of these sequences are often very impressive, but the tongue-in-cheek humor often cuts into the excitement. Moore's unflappable demeanor rubs me the wrong way, and I could do without almost all of the dumb visual gags. This one has Bond get into a clown outfit, including full makeup in record time, which epitomizes my biggest issue with Moore's run. We can't really take any of this seriously. That tone could work at under a hundred minutes, but at over two hours it makes you feel the time ticking away.
But Octopussy does have it's charms. The airplane sequence is incredible, and the action scenes for the most part are enjoyable when they're not being undercut by silly puns. It's ultimately the 007 formula that pulls this through, even if the bomb plot is sort of confusing.

Watched on Saturday May 10, 2025.

Watched on Friday May 9, 2025.

The concept is kind of awesome, but I also knew going in that this could be a complete misfire. This may have benefited from my lowered expectations. This is not a "complete misfire". It's definitely botched in many regards, especially in of storytelling. I've never played the video game so I couldn't tell you what they get wrong, or if director David F. Sandberg even tries to deliver a satisfying adaptation; but what he puts on screen has a creepy, atmospheric look, and the onscreen kills are often sinister and shocking. Many of those kills made me wince, some made me laugh, but the combination of the two were my favorites.
Unfortunately there's this huge cheat in order to condense time that leaves us unsatisfied. I know we can't see all the kills, but the use of memory loss and a cellphone steps all over the concept, when all we really needed was a good montage.
Until Dawn has a lot of storytelling problems in regards to it's use of time. Some of the editing choices are puzzling. Sandberg can't figure out how to keep the momentum going. There's too much bickering and the characters make too many bad decisions, but ultimately there's enough here that works, especially in of production design and cheap thrills that made this a worthwhile trip to the theater.

Watched on Wednesday May 7, 2025.

Watched on Tuesday May 6, 2025.

This is a speculative fiction two-hander. Imagine a world where C.S. Lewis(Goode) and Seigmond Freud(Hopkins) meet up to discuss war, religion, and sex.
What Director Matt Brown and writer Mark St. Germain made is engaging enough in a BBC Original sort of way. The discussions and arguments are all very surface-level though. There is lots of sparring, but it's not unsparing enough. Brown seems afraid to really turn the screws, plugging in an unnecessary third character and multiple flashbacks to get us out of the room. All it really does is add twenty minutes and slows this down. This is at it's best when it's just these two circling each other, I just wish it got a rawer.

Watched on Monday May 5, 2025.

The trajectory of the relationships don't feel organic. It's a big puzzle with pieces missing. The simple details, reactions shots, or even what these characters are reacting to would help us emotionally connect to the often obtuse material. Instead it feels like first-time director Druga Chew-Bose didn't get the necessary coverage.
It's also not much of a sun soaked coming-of-age drama. Even though Cécile(Lily McInerny) is seemingly the central focus, she's overshadowed by four characters we'd rather get to know better. There is clearly a better way into this story and Chew-Bose couldn't find it.
It's beautifully shot and the score/soundtrack standout, but the rest left me cold.

I don't find them charming. I don't find this funny. It's standard jock humor; all cadence with basically no jokes. Beyond some familiar faces in thankless roles, nothing about this buddy comedy s.

This is loads of fun! Derivative as hell, but such a blast! This remarkable cast(Jane Curtain! Kyle MacLachlan!! Bob Newhart!!!... kicking ass?!?!), makes these adventure clichés go down oh so easy. But it's Noah Wyle in the lead as Flynn who gives this a breezy air that makes it so watchable.
I watched the "extended version" which felt a little long, particularly leading into the finale, but for the most part this is really enjoyable light entertainment.

It's interesting... I just don't think it's entirely successful. I had very similar issues with Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. I show up to Marvel movies for the escape, and this material is very dour.
Our lead, Yelena, is going through it. Florence Pugh is a good actor, but the character is dealing with depression, which doesn't give her a lot of room to bring that playful energy she's showcased previously. A lot of the humor doesn't connect in the first half because of the tone Yelena sets. Thank goodness for David Harbour as Shostakov. His presence livens up every scene and energizes the movie across the board.
What I find "interesting" is where this ends up going. We're introduced to a character named Bob, played beautifully by Lewis Pullman, and that character takes the theme of depression in a really unexpected direction. This is where Thunderbolts* earns those A24 stripes, telling a unique story, but not in a very Marvel-centric way. I do like this, but if I didn't go in with certain expectations I may have liked it more. Director Jake Schreier takes us down a dark corridor that's more emo than climatic, but it's also kind of fascinating. This is a solid B-, but this one might grow on me.

Havoc wasn't good back then, now it's f#€kin' embarrassing. This had me hiding my eyes, not just because it's so over-the-top, but it's also a reflection of "wannabe" behavior that absolutely existed in that era. I assume, to some extent, it still does.
It's biggest problem is there's not a single honest performance here. We have a collection of white actors attempting to emulate the rich white kids that emulate black culture, but it always feels like actors playing make believe. It's surface-level posturing without any real examinations of what leads these privileged teens into this behavior. There is something at it's core that is never explored.
Things turn for the worst once Mexican gang are introduced, and we're thrown into the world of exaggerated racist stereotypes. The "other-ism" is completely distasteful, and the trajectory of the story is just gross.
Even an actress as good as Anne Hathaway can't walk away from this mess unscathed. And I'm pretty sure Joseph Gordon Levitt somehow sabotaged my DVD which froze halfway through(I finished it on a streamer).
There's no burying this one, JGL.

Watched on Tuesday April 29, 2025.

My god... this is so busy. Yes it can be funny, and it's surprisingly touching, but it's hyperactivity numbed my mind.
Director Peter Hastings is at MOD Pizza here, and he's going absolutely crazy with the toppings. Even though this pie has a lot of flavor, and it looks good, ultimately all those toppings are piled too high and spilling over, leading to something that's more overwhelming than satisfying.

Watched on Monday April 28, 2025.

Watched on Sunday April 27, 2025.

Watched on Sunday April 27, 2025.

Watched on Saturday April 26, 2025.

Ranking the new and newish movies(2021 cutoff) I've watched this year.

1. Perfect Days
2. A Real Pain
3. Dune: Part Two
4. Civil War
5. Flow
6. Babygirl
7. The Color Purple
8. I Saw the TV Glow
9. Origin
10. Dìdi (弟弟)

...plus 194 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

It's that time of year again where I slice and dice my way through yet another stack of spooky and spooky-adjacent dvds and blu-rays, along with some theatrical and streaming titles.
My Halloween Hit List was the first thing I made on Letterboxd. This was before I logged every movie I watched because I hadn't figured out how to log movies.
Now I've tried to make this a tradition, but I can't stay on theme the way I use to. I've got to think about those around me, although I did get in 41 titles last year, so we'll see.
I'll continue to add titles to this list until the end of the month, along with the occasional sidenote. I'm not planning on tackling any franchises this year, but I might revisit some Tim Burton movies. I wonder how many I'll get to.

1. An American Werewolf in London

   I've always like to kick off October with a certified classic, and this one just so happens to be my all-time favorite horror movie.

2. Joy Ride 2: Dead Ahead
3. WolfCop
4. Azrael
5. Altered States
6. The Strangers: Chapter 1
7. Communion
8. Mon Mon Mon Monsters
9. Mommie Dearest

   I'm calling an audible here. Not a horror movie, but she's pretty monstrous.

10. You Might Be the Killer

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

1. Killers of the Flower Moon
2. Past Lives
3. The Holdovers
4. Anatomy of a Fall
5. American Fiction
6. Maestro
7. Oppenheimer
8. Poor Things
9. The Zone of Interest
10. Barbie

I didn't rack up the type of numbers I have in the past. I watched 301 new-to-me movies in 2023, and 115 previously viewed titles, tying my number from last year. I'm down 53 movies total from 2022, and a massive 93 titles from 2021.
Out of the 180 eligible titles I've watched in 2023, which is any feature I watched for the first time that was released after 2020, I gave 44 of them ★★★★ and up. That's a lot of must-see movies. And even though my enthusiasm for certain titles didn't line up with many in the Letterboxd community and vice versa, I'll always enjoy reading your opinions and sharing my thoughts.
Of the first-time watches that weren't eligible for this list, Doctor Zhivago is the only other feature I gave ★★★★★ besides Killers of the Flower Moon. I'd also like to send some love to Across 110th Street, After Life(and the other four Hirokazu Kore-eda movies I watched this year), The Age of Shadows, Death Rides a Horse, The Driver, Freebie and The Bean, Intolerance: Love's Struggle Throughout the Ages, Night and the City, Papillion(starring my 2023 actor of choice, Steve McQueen), Stop Making Sense, and Streets of Fire.
Without further ado, these are my Top 11 movies of 2023, expanded to 15 to for titles from the previous years. You can check out all 180 eligible movies ranked here.

1. Killers of the Flower Moon
2. Past Lives
3. The Holdovers
4. Air
5. Showing Up
6. Emily
7. BARDO, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths
8. Knock at the Cabin
9. Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret.
10. Aftersun

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

Some movies are worth revisiting. Some movies deserve recognition. Some movies demand to be ed.
I've spent most of my natural life semi-obsessed with movies, and I use the term "semi" as a defense mechanism. I watch a shit-ton of them. I keep track of them. I rank them. I even take note of the days I watched them. It's done almost exclusively for my benefit (or detriment).
Now here I am again, obsessing over a list that I only care about. Combing through a decade of lists, one thing is made clear: This is a semi-obsession worth semi-obsessing over.
I have sat through hours of incredible films from different genres, perspectives, and nations. As I have perused my Top 11 lists, and I have noticed that the movies that have stuck with me are not necessarily the ones that topped those lists. In one instance, it didn't even make my 11 for that year.
As I review, I tend to nitpick. It's just my way. My ratings reflect the flaws, not the overall picture. As time moves on and I reflect on the movies of this past ten years, I'm not thinking about how this one bit or this plot point didn't work. I'm not thinking about how something could have been trimmed or how this character could have been given more to do. Time proves that those flaws are not as important as the overall product.
So I asked myself, Why do certain movies that I have not seen in ages continue to resonate? Are the movies I choose to revisit more important than the one's I don't? Should I balance the list to reflect entertainment and artistic merits? Does this really make a difference to anyone else but me?
With that in mind, this is essentially one movie dork (me) pitting what he feels are the best against his favorites in a cinematic battle royale for a coveted spot on a arbitrary list, that I expanded to include the honor roll.
For anyone who cares about simply "the best", check out all my Top 11's over the decade.

1. Boyhood

   This was, without a doubt, my easiest choice. Richard Linklater has had a mid-to-late 80's Rob Reiner-style run. Just about everything he touches is gold. Most of his recent movies were in contention for this list, but I knew this would be at the top of it. The scope of the project, a movie filmed over twelve years that follows the growth of a boy into early manhood, is a feat, but it could have been simply reduced to a gimmick. It's the way Linklater shapes not only the central character, but the people that surround him that truly impresses. They are people, not characters. You see who they are and how they change. They just all feel so real.

   This is a genuine story about life.

2. Manchester by the Sea

   It guts me. Casey Affleck's incredible performance absolutely destroys me. By just adding this to my list I felt the reverberations of it's power, and this hit me while walking my dog.

   I was thinking about what I'm going to write here. I was thinking about that scene in the police station, and all of a sudden I find myself welling up. Keep in mind that I don't cry during movies, and I didn't cry during this one, but just thinking about that scene... what it meant, what it reveals, had me holding back tears.

   Kenneth Lonergan is a master. He knows how to get great performances, pull deeper emotional meaning out of small details, and can make a grown man attempt to hide tears from strangers.

3. Parasite

   It might be a little early in the game to have this up so high on the list. As I write this it's literally been two months to the day since I stepped out of that theater, but Bong Joon Ho's masterpiece has not left me since. The underline story about a poor family who con their way into jobs for a rich family, is a simple story. What it is saying about class dynamics, and how it builds off that concept is where the beef of the story lies.

   This is an unmatched achievement in conceptualization.

4. Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

   Three Billboards is mesmerizing, complex, and absolutely hilarious. The way it unflinchingly displays it's characters outward anger and ugliness without judgment, and giving them chances to course correct is practically an act of bravery. No one is without their flaws.

   Three Billboards is brilliant, and the backlash it received from audience who only like to see things in black and white; unforgiving people who would rather kick people to the curb, even fictional people, instead of showing them the errors of their ways, is beyond ridiculous.

   While a lot of people are trying to cancel it out, I've got Three Billboards back. Come into the gray area.

5. The Grey

   Director Joe Carnahan could have just phoned it in. He got Liam Neeson! He could have just turned in a straight up man verses nature actioneer, called it "Taken By Wolves", and doubled the box office.

   Instead, he made a testosterone-fueled survival story that's also introspective, and that really cares about it's characters. It has a ethereal quality during it's quieter, poetic moments. There is also pulse-pounding action, some very well staged set pieces, and a pack of giant, hungry wolves.

6. Scott Pilgrim vs. the World

   This came out the same summer as Inception. I would argue that Edgar Wright's direction was better than Christopher Nolan's. Why? Because if you handed the Inception screenplay to any capable sci-fi/action director, for example Ridley Scott, you'd end up with a similar result.

   Only one person could have directed "Scott Pilgrim vs. The World". Wright uses every weapon in his movie geek arsenal to create a singular vision that is equally hilarious and impressive. It would have been some generic, straight forward comedy in anyone else's hands. Wright crafted one of the most bizarre, memorable, and infinitely re-watchable studio comedies ever made. It will never be duplicated... it's simply impossible.

7. The End of the Tour

   Going in I didn't know who David Foster Wallace was, but Jason Segel's incredible performance, the decade's most overlooked, had me contemplating reading Infinite Jest, Wallace's 1,000+ page book (I didn't. Maybe if this were in my top 5). Instead I read Donald Margulies' adaptation of David Lipsky's book, and everything in that screenplay made it to the screen. The way the story unfolds, through the eyes of a journalist(Jesse Eisenberg), slowly reveals Wallace to be a sweet but a flawed, self-conscious man who can't quite figure out how to connect. It's sad. Here's a person who is deeply intelligent, introspective, fascinating --- you can't help but love this guy --- but he can't get out of his own head.

8. Melancholia

   I'd only seen it once, but it's stayed with me all this time. Kirsten Dunst gives an unforgettable performance, maybe the decade's best, but I also only gave it a 7 on IMDb, without explanation. So I wasn't sure why I gave it a middling score that wasn't even worthy of my honor role. All I knew up until I re-watched it this past month was the images stayed, the themes stayed.

   After the re-watch I really don't know what the f#%k I was thinking. This is brilliant cinema. It's as gorgeous as it is unrelenting.

9. Gravity

   The people who continue to dismiss "Gravity" never understood it to begin with. This is not just some big screen spectacle. It's the story that unfolds underneath this spectacular escape pic that gives it gravitas. Bullock delivers an incredibly nuanced performance that lets us understand her dilemma both in the world and in space. The way Alfonso Cuaron shapes the themes through visual cues---her "rebrith' is one of the best moments in cinema---is as impressive as all the moving components. It's the perfect combination of big budget sci-fi/action and cinematic art-house drama.

10. Your Sister's Sister

    Lynn Shelton's indie dramedy is as compelling, funny, and enthralling as the majority of the movies I have seen in my lifetime, and all it took was three great actors and a house.

    Full disclosure: I freaking love mumblecore movies. The small stories being told within these little indies tend to be more captivating and true to life then some of their studio counterparts, with bigger casts and lavish set decor.

    What makes Your Sister's Sister so worthwhile is the amount of drama Shelton draws out of a simple premise: Iris (Emily Blunt) invites her grieving friend Jack (Mark Duplass), who recently lost his brother, to stay at her families getaway home. When Jack arrives he finds Iris' sister Hannah (Rosemary DeWitt). That's when things get complicated.

    There is so much charm on display here, and it's rich with emotional complexity. These type of movies just make sense to me, i would be remiss to leave it off my list. I love them, but especially this one.

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

Ranking the new and newish movies (2020 official releases and beyond) I watched in 2023.

1. Killers of the Flower Moon
2. Past Lives
3. The Holdovers
4. Air
5. Showing Up
6. Emily
7. BARDO, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths
8. Knock at the Cabin
9. Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret.
10. Aftersun

...plus 170 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

• Zero Hour!
• Airplane!
• Airport
• Airport '77
• Turbulence
• Die Hard 2
• Pushing Tin
• Alive
• Fearless
• Executive Decision

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

I'm very curious to see where this year's batch heads. I've cobbled together a spirited collection of Halloween themed titles, many of which I won't get to. I'm not entirely sure which direction I want to go, so I think I might just play it by ear.

Anyway, like the last few years, I'll add titles to my hit list as I watch them until the end of October.

1. Talk to Me

   I usually like to kick Halloween month off with a certified classic, but I'm glad I finally got around to this future classic instead.

2. The Pope's Exorcist

   HDTGM episode. They're gonna have a field day.

3. Demon Seed

   I only watched this because I bought the poster at a local flea market a few months ago.

4. Satanic Panic

   I really hope this is the low point this season, but horror is always a crapshoot.

5. Exorcist II: The Heretic

   Filling in a big blind spot. It's not good, but it's not as bad as I expected it to be.

6. The Exorcist: Believer
7. Voice from the Stone
8. Freaks

   This is ittedly a bit of a cheat, but I went in blind with a different set of expectations.

9. Bats
10. Freaks

...plus 31 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

1. Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter
2. Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives
3. Friday
4. Friday the 13th Part 2
5. Friday the 13th
6. Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday
7. Friday After Next
8. Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan
9. Next Friday
10. Friday the 13th Part III

...plus 3 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

All the Halloween-related choices I can handle.

• The Shining

  10/1/19 On the big screen with a new 4K transfer. First time I've seen this in theaters, and I was impressed by what I picked up on: new sounds in the sound design, background details I never picked up on before, and the typos. I never noticed all the typos before.

• Devil

  10/2 Not perfect, but it's turning into a go to for October. It's an inventive and mean little horror flick that gets the job done in a swift 80 minutes. 

• Final Girl

  10/3 I'll give it a little leeway, they were trying something. What that was, I have no idea. 

• The Final Girls

  10/3 A part of my "the FINAL GIRLs" double feature, this one turned out to be a pleasant surprise. Exceeding my expectations by a wide margin, "The Final Girls" finds a way to blend cheap horror and low brow humor while impressively grounding this high concept highbreed emotionally. 

• Good Omens

  10/4 gonna call an audible and make this an October title with the demons and armageddon and antichrist and such. The narrative settles into it's backhalf, fleshing out it's leads journey in a satisfying way.

• Halloween

  10/4 It's so simple. There's really nothing to it if you think about it, but it is just so effective. That luminous dread that steadily builds throughout; "the boogeyman" lurking within the frame. The tension Carpenter creates is really all it needs.

• Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives

  10/5 My go-to Jason. This is actually the only one of the original series I own. The tongue-in-cheek material, the knowing side glances, and Police Academy sequel-level humor makes this entry worth occasionally revisiting. It's dumb, but so fun.

• Dreamcatcher

  10/6 It's a mess but the sort of mess I like. I get the criticism. I have many of my own. Where mine differs is I think Kasdan and company never meant for much of this to be taken seriously. It is 2000's answer to 1950's sci-fi horror.

• A Nightmare on Elm Street Part 2: Freddy's Revenge

  10/7 I probably hadn't sat through this since 86, but I still have the same problems. It's dull. Even though there are moments that have always stuck with me, generally this is a misfire. Just the idea of pulling this out of the dreamworld was a mistake, with a ridiculous finale that leads to a few solid unintentional laughs.

• Carrie

  10/8 I love the way it is structured. Our tension builds as Carrie lets her guard down. Spacek is phenomenal. 

...plus 26 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

These are the 1988 comedies that remain in the public consciousness and get positive universal attention. For example, I personally love Moon Over Parador, but no one is thinking about that shit besides me. I also left off the more divisive titles, even the one's I like (I'm looking at you, Earth Girls are Easy). And I would argue that the first twelve are certified bangers!

• The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!
• Midnight Run
• Bull Durham
• Beetlejuice
• A Fish Called Wanda
• Coming to America
• Married to the Mob
• Dirty Rotten Scoundrels
• Hairspray
• Big

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

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

I needed the escape more than I ever have.

This has been a really tough year for me personally. Putting those problems and a heartbreaking loss out of my mind for a few hours at a time has been therapeutic, even when some story elements occasionally creep in and crush me.
Gratefully, it's been a fantastic year at the movies. I watched 366 new-to-me movies, 120 previously viewed, for grand total of 486; understandably off from my record-breaking 2021.
Of the 197 qualifying movies I watched in 2022(released after 2019), I gave a whopping sixteen ★★★★½ or more.
So here is my Top 11+ of 2022, let out a bit to for films released in the previous year(s). You can find all of my 2022 rankings here. Isn't Letterboxd grand?!
As far as "Special Mentions" go i.e. the first-time watches that are just too damn old for this list, I'd like to show some love to Drunken Angel, The Tarnished Angel, An American in Paris, The Purple Rose of Cairo, Paddington 2, The Adventures of Robin Hood, All Quiet On the Western Front(1930), Death Line, Down to the Sea in Ships, Logan's Run, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, A New Leaf, Night Moves, Notorious, Pygmalion, Tigers Are Not Afraid, and Written On the Wind.

By the way, don't be afraid to let the people closest to you know how much you care. You'll never know when it's their time, or when it might be yours.

1. The Worst Person in the World
2. After Yang
3. Decision to Leave
4. Everything Everywhere All at Once
5. The Banshees of Inisherin
6. The Fabelmans
7. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
8. Language Lessons
9. Emily the Criminal
10. Marcel the Shell with Shoes On

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

Ranking the new and newish movies (2019 cutoff) I watched in 2022.

1. The Worst Person in the World
2. After Yang
3. Decision to Leave
4. Everything Everywhere All at Once
5. The Banshees of Inisherin
6. The Fabelmans
7. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
8. Language Lessons
9. Emily the Criminal
10. Marcel the Shell with Shoes On

...plus 187 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

I was all geared up for this year's season, with a bag full of goodies filled to the brim, but life's horrors have temporarily sucked the joy out film-watching.
This will be a rather unspirited collection, with a lot less movies than I expected to watch, and all my planned themes pushed to the side.
Life has been harsh, leaving a uncertain future ahead of me, but I've decided to go ahead and make the list anyway. I'm doing it more as a distraction. My heart's not into it.

• An American Werewolf in Paris

  The season got started with a whimper, with this shitty sequel to my all-time favorite horror movie.

• The Howling
• Howling II: Stirba - Werewolf Bitch
• Cursed

  The end of my mini werewolf run.

• Vampire's Kiss

  My mom's reaction to this, which she supposedly seemed disgusted by, but she stayed up to watch the whole thing anyway, brought me some temporary joy.

• Prom Night
• Split
• Pearl
• Hello Mary Lou: Prom Night II
• Halloween Ends

...plus 11 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

Avoid the trailers. Don't read the synopsis. Just see them before someone spoils them.
By the way, many of these recommendations are not for the squeamish.

• After Yang
• Everything Everywhere All at Once
• Caché
• Audition
• Never Let Me Go
• Blue Velvet
• Kiss Me Deadly
• Tusk
• Event Horizon
• The Sixth Sense

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

Whoa! I did it!! 365+ new/new-to-me movies, 368 to be exact (according to IMDb), and I did it without even trying. It took me by complete surprise. That blows away my previous record of 291 titles in 2008. When you add in my previously-viewed watches that comes to a whopping 509 movies (last year came in at 470).
I have to throw a lot of credit Letterboxd's way. This is my first full year using it. I ended up getting that "pro" upgrade (hurray for stats!), and it's definitely pretty addictive. I love logging the movies I watch and getting my thoughts down. I'm also so happy to be back in theaters, plugging in my opinions in their parking lots. I also avoided getting started on too many tv shows, which are time consuming, plus I can't log them here. That's a good thing. TV and film should remain separated (sort of like they do with the porn).
Anyway, here it is, my official Top 11 of 2021, let out to accommodate the movies that are listed as "2020" titles.
Special Mentions: The Great Waldo Pepper (1976, my only other 5 star movie), American Woman, Anything for Jackson, Bad Trip, Cliff Walkers, Cruella, Escape from Mogadishu, The French Dispatch, Ghostbusters: Afterlife, The Green Knight, Happily, Pig, Pinocchio, The Power of the Dog, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Together Together, Wrath of Man

1. Summer of Soul (...Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)
2. One Night in Miami...
3. The Card Counter
4. The Last Duel
5. Nomadland
6. Education
7. Riders of Justice
8. Licorice Pizza
9. Summertime
10. Lamb

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

This list will continue to grow throughout October. Most of the entries will be taken from the DVDs/Blu-rays I've accumulated, both new and old. From first time watches to certified classics, to offshoot titles that fit the theme.

1. Bram Stoker's Dracula

   10/1 I always forget how horny this is.
   I revisit this every four or five years. When I think back on it, it's always about the form. I always think about the costumes and sets and techniques Coppola pulled from the past, and how he implemented them. The way he uses the optical printer is particularly impressive. 
   Then, when I sit down to watch it, I'm surprised to find it gushing with sex. 
   I've always wondered why this got such mixed reviews. Maybe the critics of that time saw Coppola's Dracula as something tawdry, while I always walked away from this being thoroughly impressed by the incredible filmmaking. 

2. Lady of the Manor

   10/1 This co-stars a ghost played by Judy Greer, so this totally counts. Why that ghost can see her own reflection, I have no clue, but I digress...
   Although this could have used more forward momentum, it consistently does what a comedy is supposed to do. It never went too long without making me laugh. It's a pretty light comedy, and not everything lands, but it coasts along on it's charm and has an excellent lead performance from Melanie Lynskey.
   

3. Doctor Sleep

   10/2 (DIRECTORS CUT) It feels a little richer, especially when it comes to some of the extended one-on-one conversations, but those problems in the final stretch still remain. 

4. Friday the 13th

   10/3 I've decided to tackle the first five Friday the 13th movie this year, most of which I haven't seen since I was a kid.
   
   Friday the 13th still works. It has a good build, a few characters worth rooting for, and a twist that holds up even though it's an obvious cheat. That is clearly not the person we catch glimpses of. 
   It's not as effective as it once was. This use to scare the bejeezus out of me, but it's still pretty tense.

5. The Unholy

   10/3 It's filled to the brim with gobbledygook, which always drags these religious-based, horror fiascos down. Some good performances, and bad accents(Is Cary Elwes doing a Jon Voigt from Ray Donavan impression?), keeps this nonsense from being an outright disaster. 

6. The Signal

   10/4 One story, three segments told by three different directors. This could have been a mess, but it generally works. 
   The second segment is the odd duck, turning into a dark comedy. It doesn't quite fit within the framework of the story. The vibe is at odds with what comes before and after, but taken on it's own, it might be the best segment. The way they show us how "the signal" is scrabbling their minds, getting us to identify with what they're going through, is impressive. 

7. Shark Night 3D

   10/4 This is a zero star movie that I may have bumped up to a half star for the dog, and for some occasionally cool cinematography, that sometime involves the dog.
   Otherwise this is tough to sit through, even at 80 minutes. It's a snooze. It feels cheap. I'm surprised a studio backed this even for an easy buck.

8. The Addams Family 2

   10/5 This sequel has me questioning my taste. I see I gave the original a 6 on IMDb, and I somehow forgot to log it here. To be perfectly honest I don't much about the 2019 animated reboot. Based on my rating, I must have been in a very forgiving mood. I can see no possible way these characters made me laugh or smile the first time around. I watched it pre-pandemic, so I don't even have that to use as an excuse. 
   What I can say now with absolute certainty is The Addams Family 2 is blank stare unfunny. I didn't laugh. No one in the theater laughed... not even the kids. A little girl from the back of the theater said out loud, NO ONE'S LAUGHING! 
   We know, kid, we know.

9. Cold Skin

   10/6 I bought this based on the cover art, which makes it look like a zombie flick, so I was pretty shocked to see the Samuel Goldwyn title card pop up. I was surprised yet again to find out the movie they produced is a creature feature. 

   Cold Skin loses it's way often, but it ends up going in interesting directions. It survives on it's strengths, and it's weaknesses lead to some very bad laughs. 

   It's the three leads that keeps this from collapsing. Aura Garrido is especially good. Her silent, expressive performance gives the narrative a proper through line even when the material faulters.

10. The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari

    10/6I haven't revisited this since college. It's still captures the imagination. I love everything about it. Completely abstract yet still so immersive. 
    

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

The Marvel Cinematic Universe.

1. Iron Man 3
2. The Avengers
3. Eternals
4. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
5. Avengers: Infinity War
6. Captain America: Civil War
7. Doctor Strange
8. Iron Man
9. Captain America: The Winter Soldier
10. Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings

...plus 16 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

Picked mostly from a big ass stack of Halloween themed blurays and dvds, from old classics to new schlock and everything else in between.
I'll continue to add to this list throughout October.

1. The Exorcist

   10/1 Like last year, I wanted to kick off the list with a certified classic. The Exorcist was the right choice. It's lowdown dirty horror treated with the precision and care of a sweeping epic. That is why it's not only mentioned along side other horror films, but is an example of exemplary filmmaking. It truly transcends genre.  

2. Saw

   10/2 The plan was to cut my way through the Saw franchise this Halloween season. After rewatching the original I instantly regretted it. I hadn't seen it since theaters, so my memory of it was a little fuzzy. I thinking it was farfetched.

   Unfortunately that was an understatement, it's also completely preposterous. James Wan has improved a helluva lot. He's a much better director today, but here he doesn't seem to have a handle on his actors. He has an excellent cast giving their career worst performances, and adds too much obnoxious stylistic flare that does nothing to improve on the convoluted storyline. Not to mention, it's just an ugly movie. 

   I'm in for four more of these (I own a dvd five pack), I hope they get better.

3. Midnight Son

   10/2 I almost didn't pick this one up. The cover art makes it look like a glittery vampire knockoff. Thank goodness I looked up the Midnight Son Rotten Tomatoes score (96%). 
   This is way better than you would assume. Ultra low budget. No one has heard of it. But here it is, buried under a bunch of other low budget horror with better cover art. 
   Writer/director Scott Leberhecht found himself two excellent leads. Zak Kilberg and Maya Parish really sell this relationship, which Leberhecht does a phenomenal job developing. He's in no hurry to get these two together. Their relationship ebs and flows naturally, as does the rest of the story. Jo D. Jonz, another actor I'm unfamiliar with, has ridiculous amounts of charisma and menace, and does a good job throwing in some antagonist energy.
   This one is definitely gonna be the best piece of candy I found this Halloween season. A total unexpected surprise. 

4. May

   10/3 May is masterfully crafted by writer/director Lucky McGee, even though I wouldn't consider it the most enjoyable movie to sit through. This is not something I revisit, but I do think about it occasionally. McGee found such a unique tone, unlike any horror movie I seen since. It's hard to forget. It's creepy, and funny, and cringy, and gory, but it mostly disturbing... very disturbing, in a way that keeps us at arms length. I say this as a negative, but I can't deny that it's all done incredibly well. 
   Angela Bettis absolutely destroys as the central lead, and does give May a sweetness, but we are never on her side. She is beyond disturbed, and we're alway aware of how dangerous she is. We're always more concerned with the people surrounding May, not her, even though none of them are particularly nice. When the chips fall we're led into an odd place where we're observing instead of connecting. Maybe that emotional disconnect is purposeful? I don't know, but I can't say it's not well done.

5. I'll Take Your Dead

   10/3 The supernatural elements feel a little tacked on (maybe for marketing reasons?), but I'll Take Your Dead could stand on it's own as a pretty solid dramatic crime thriller. 
   
   It does have a few of those moments where the characters do exceptionally stupid things. Generally though, this is a well made, and surprisingly well acted with a very solid emotional payoff. 

6. Beyond the Gates

   10/4 They establish a decent premise, but spend the next forty minutes dancing around it (it's only 82 minutes). When they finally get to it, sadly we find out why: The premise is all they had.
   They spend all this time on a weak backstory instead of developing the game. The game is why we're here. It's so poorly executed and slapdash, and really disappointing. You hope they'll turn it around in the second half, but they never do.

   What I found Beyond the Gates is nothing worthwhile.

7. Club Dread

   10/5 Club Dread Is a little uneven, but when it's funny, it's really funny. Plus, it's a solid homage to the 80's era slasher flick, and actually better than most of those as well.

8. Suspiria

   10/6 This far superior Suspiria remake doesn't bury the lead. It's the first change they get right. The next: it's takes place at a dance academy, so this one has actual dance sequences, with (bonus!) incredible choreography and shot compositions. The score. The costume design. The make-up. The performances. All better. Only the set design doesn't quite measure up.
   
   Now don't get me wrong, I like the Argento's original, but that one is good for what it is. This version is only a few edits away from brilliance.
   

9. Tales from the Crypt: Demon Knight

   10/7 This is a title I return to every so often. Yes it's horror, but it's pretty lite horror, and sometimes that's what I'm in the mood for. It's not challenging. I wouldn't even call it scary. It's just a fun, brisk, and well-made schlock horror flick with a collection of some of the best character actors of that era. 
   
   Even though I'm only at 3 1/2 stars, I highly recommend it. It's very rewatchable. 

10. Saw II

    10/8 Saw II is a pleasant surprise. Even though I'd seen it, and liking it, I couldn't trust my memory after revisiting the shitshow original. 
    Fortunately, Saw II is not nearly as bad. Yes, like the original, there are plenty of annoying stylistic choices. There are also plenty of moments when horror movie characters make eye-rolling horror movie decisions. 
    Fortunately, this time around, a lot of what's happening is grounded in movie logic. It's still preposterous, but not in a way that pulls us out of the story. I would also say, for the most part, the cast is putting in solid performances, especially Wahlberg. 
    Saw II isn't grade-A shock horror, but I'll gladly except the B- material this one offers. 
    
    
    

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

Cobbled together from the second season of Unspooled.

1. The 400 Blows
2. Alien
3. When Harry Met Sally...
4. The Thing
5. Aliens
6. Raising Arizona
7. House Party
8. Chungking Express
9. Hoop Dreams
10. Tokyo Story

...plus 42 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

It’s been a wonky year for film watching. 2020 has wreaked havoc on the world, especially on the United States, and specifically on my Best of the Year list.
I’ve watched 275 new or new-to-me titles in 2020, but only 79 came out this year (before shuffling in the U.S. proper 2019 releases, which brings it to 107). That’s a big drop from last year, which was at 139 (before adding the 12 stragglers, but coming to a surprisingly similar 272 titles total). I've spent a lot of my quarantine filling in blindspots and revisiting classics. My previously-viewed number came to 195.
I spent December playing catch up. I watched 37! 2019/2020 releases this past month. Trying to get to as many of the biggies as I could, but sadly failing to get to a lot of them.
So here it is, my incomplete Top 11, let out a bit for movies from the past few years that I missed the first time around.
Special Mentions: David Byrne's American Utopia (would be #4, but it's not a movie), Midnight Son (2011 is too old for this list), The Kingmaker, The Souvenir, Summerland, The Wolf of Snow Hollow, Sorry We Missed You, The Trail of the Chicago 7, Vivarium, Palm Springs, The Assistant, Come As You Are, Bad Education, Borat 2, Sword of Trust, I'm Thinking of Ending Things, Ma Rainy's Black Bottom, Underwater

1. Soul
2. Portrait of a Lady on Fire
3. Kajillionaire
4. Sound of Metal
5. The Square
6. Run
7. I Lost My Body
8. The Gentlemen
9. Bacurau
10. The Two Popes

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

Movies I've watched during this coronavirius outbreak, so the first entry is fitting. I'll be adding to this list as the days where on.
I should probably get to The Aviator at some point.

• Outbreak

  3/13

• Captain America: The Winter Soldier

  3/14

• Upstream Color

  3/15

• Dune

  3/15 (extended cut)

• Small Town Crime

  3/16

• The Big Lebowski

  3/16

• Thieves' Highway

  3/17

• The Fall

  3/17

• Days of Heaven

  3/18

• Starcrash

  3/18

...plus 115 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

2019 didn't seem like a such an exceptional year at the movies, but looking back, this year's been pretty dope.

The first two-thirds of the year were pretty deceptive. Apollo 11, a documentary that blew my mind in glorious IMAX, stayed at the top of my list for a very long time. The other movies l adored without reservations: Ash Is Purest White, Under the Silver Lake, and Shoplifters were technically 2018 releases.

Thankfully, 2019 finished very strong, and in actuality was a strong year for me in general. Even though the 272 new or new movies to me weren't all the crème de la crème, I rated an whopping 76 movies an 8 or better on iMDB. Playing catch up on a lot of titles, including classics, helped.

This year, instead of doing a Top 11, I decided to apply the honor roll to my list. They're still in order, and since I always allow for entries from previous years, my traditional Top 11 ends at 15... maybe 16?... I don't know. This was the headache I was attempting to avoid by expanding the list.

Anyway, here you go. My Top 11, buried in my Top 15? 16? all apart of my Top 25 of 2019.

1. Parasite

   10/25/19

2. Apollo 11

   3/2 (in IMAX)

3. Hustlers

   9/12

4. Under the Silver Lake

   7/1

5. Shoplifters

   8/1

6. A Hidden Life

   12/24

7. The Irishman

   11/17 in theaters, the way God intended it to be seen.

8. Ash Is Purest White

   3/22

9. The Peanut Butter Falcon

   8/31

10. Long Shot

    4/15, 5/3, and 8/28

...plus 15 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

(copied and pasted from my original Facebook post)
This will be my least true list since I started these up some years back.
I’ve only watched 167 new movies this past year, and that includes comedy specials and a miniseries. Additionally, due to job constraints and the unfortunate demises of our local indie theaters, I have not been able to watch many award contenders during this seemingly artistically rich holiday season. So if you are wondering why this one or that one didn’t make the cut, the truth is I probably didn’t see them.
So here are my top movies, let out a bit once again to incorporate movies from previous years.
Honorable Mentions: Don’t Think Twice(2016), Genius(2016), Hachi: A Dog’s Tale(2009), The House, I Don’t Feel at Home in This World Anymore., The LEGO Batman Movie, Paterson(2016), Roman J. Israel, Esq., War of the Planet of the Apes

1. Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
2. 20th Century Women

   2016

3. Mudbound
4. Lady Bird
5. American Made
6. Baby Driver
7. Logan Lucky
8. Get Out
9. Silence

   2016

10. T2 Trainspotting

...plus 3 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

(copied and pasted from my original Facebook post)

My #1 spot was easy to come by this year. Of the 228 new movies I watched, “Manchester by the Sea” is the only one I gave a perfect 10 on IMdb. The rest of the list is comprised of generally great movies with minor blemishes. Trying to determine which blemish oozed the most pus, and how it coated the overall experience was a difficult task.
As usual, my Top 11 has bubbled out to 13 to accommodate a few titles from the prior year.
Honorable Mentions: 13th, 99 Homes(2015), A Bigger Splash, The Diary of a Teenage Girl(2015), Eye in the Sky, Hell Or High Water, Indignation, The Invitation, The Jungle Book, Kubo and the Two Strings, The Lobster, Trumbo(2015), War Dogs, Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, Zootopia

1. Manchester by the Sea
2. The Revenant

   2015

3. Everybody Wants Some!!
4. The Handmaiden
5. The Nice Guys
6. Blue Jay
7. Green Room
8. Moonlight
9. The Neon Demon
10. Show Me a Hero

    (2015 mini-series) Looking back, adding a mini-series was probably a mistake. It is, by all means, fantastic though.

...plus 3 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

(copied and pasted from my original Facebook post)

Of the 2015 movies I have seen my top 4 are very solid, it is the flicks that followed that led to some difficult choices. I watched so many great, worthwhile movies it was tough to figure out which are “better”. Heck, even paring back the “Honor Roll” to a somewhat acceptable length was a difficult task. But I battled through for, well, mostly for my own amusement.
So without further ado, here is my list. Again, my Top 11 has been stretched to 13 to accommodate releases from the previous year.

Honor Roll (Alphabetical Order): A Most Violent Year, Beasts of No Nation, Blue Ruin, Brooklyn, Creed, Creep, Focus, Love & Mercy, Spotlight, Straight Outta Compton, Stretch, The Two Faces of January, What We Do In the Shadows

1. The End of the Tour
2. Whiplash

   2014

3. Room
4. Mad Max: Fury Road
5. Sicario
6. The Homesman

   2014

7. Star Wars: The Force Awakens
8. Welcome to Me
9. The Hateful Eight

   Roadshow Edition

10. Bridge of Spies

...plus 3 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

(copied and pasted from my original Facebook post)

Usually I do a Top 11, but technically two of these titles were prior to 2013. Out of the 200+ new (or newish) movies I watched over the year, these are my favorites.
Honor Roll: The Bling Ring, Fruitvale Station, The Grandmaster, Inside Llewyn Davis, Iron Man 3, Nebraska, Oz the Great and Powerful, The Place Beyond the Pines, Short Term 12, Spring Breakers, Star Trek Into Darkness, Stoker

1. Gravity
2. Before Midnight
3. Amour

   2012

4. The Wolf of Wall Street
5. Margaret

   (extended cut, 2011)

6. Enough Said
7. The Way Way Back
8. Blue Jasmine
9. This Is the End
10. Upstream Color

...plus 3 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

(copied and pasted from my original Facebook post)

2014 hasn't been the best year in movies. Of the 200+ flicks I've seen this year, I found a lot to like, just not much to love. Many great movies graced our screens, but they were often flawed. ittedly, I'm a bit of a nitpicker.
Like last year's list, I've bubbled out my Top 11 to 13 to for releases from the previous year.

Honor Roll: Alan Partridge, All Is Bright, Frank, Joe, Lucy, Magic Magic, New World, The Past, The Rover, Valhalla Rising

1. Boyhood
2. Nightcrawler
3. The Hunt

   2013 release

4. Life Itself
5. Philomena

   2013

6. Gone Girl
7. Snowpiercer
8. Calvary
9. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
10. Locke

...plus 3 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

(copied and pasted from my original Facebook post)

1. Greenberg
2. The White Ribbon
3. The Social Network
4. Inception
5. Scott Pilgrim vs. the World
6. The Book of Eli
7. The Good, the Bad, the Weird
8. Never Let Me Go
9. Exit Through the Gift Shop
10. Black Swan

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

(copied and pasted from my original Facebook post) *except for the added note.
2011's Eleven Best Movies (that I've seen) and Rabbit Hole
Honor Role:
Young Adult, The Ides of March, The Muppets, X-Men: First Class, Beginners, In A Better World, Beats, Rhymes & Life: The Travels of A Tribe Called Quest, Cold Weather
*Looking back now, in 2019, there are a number of features that woulda, coulda, and shoulda made the honor role: The Guard, Melancholia and Martha Marcy May Marlene has three of the finest lead performances of the decade. This is the same year I discovered Dogtooth, Fish Tank, Lebanon, Tiny Furniture, Meek's Cutoff, The Chaser. Plus, flawed but brilliant movies from the masters came out like Hugo, The Skin I Live In, Midnight In Paris, and The Tree of Life.
Yup, 2011 it was a pretty awesome movie year for me.

1. Barney's Version
2. The Descendants
3. A Better Life
4. 13 Assassins
5. 50/50
6. Rabbit Hole
7. Shame
8. Rango
9. Drive
10. Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol

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

(copied and pasted from my original Facebook post)
So 2012 has turned out some of the best movies in years from both the studio and indie scene alike. Popcorn kept flying, minds kept expanding, and heartstrings were tugged.
But this is also a year I hit a new movie-watching low. I blame the death of Blockbuster, my hesitance to get behind Redbox, and my slow internet connection. So I missed a few and a few more are yet to be released (I‘m looking at you Amour and Zero Dark Thirty; Mr. Lincoln, I left you off for good reason). Also my top 4 is pretty solid, but those bottom seven were hard to come by. There were 10+ movies that were just as good, maybe even better, but it all comes down to personal taste.
Keeping that in mind, here is my Top 11 of 2012.

1. Moonrise Kingdom

   Wes Anderson outdoes himself, bringing us this sweet coming-of-age romance. Utilizing all those clever little bells-and-whistles that he has developed over the years and fine-tuning them to optimal affect (check out those pastels). He creates a strong sense of place, and one that is all his own. Filled with a game, star-studded cast that envelops these characters inside and out, you get drawn into this enchanting little world in the same way a child does fairytales. It’s the kind of magic that makes your heart swell.

2. Your Sister's Sister

   Plan, simple, and realistic thanks to natural and completely authentic performances. It’s about three ordinary people (played by Mark Duplass, Emily Blunt, and Rosemary DeWitt) connected by circumstance and what is revealed about themselves and to each other. This is a genuinely funny and unadulterated romantic comedy (you don’t see those often). It’s as if they caught subtle life-changing moments on a camcorder. This proves that film does not need to be big and glossy in order to shine. This is stripped down filmmaking at it’s very best.

3. Django Unchained

   Quentin Tarantino’s love of cinema shines as brightly as ever. Like always, he blatantly lifts ideas and concepts from past genres. Unlike most filmmakers though he’s not just simply paying homage, he’s elevating and expanding on those staples, making them his own. Here QT brings us a raw blaxploitation western that pulls no punches, walloping us with shocks of bone-crunching, blood-sloshing violence, and subjecting us to crisp yet uncompromising dialogue. Even while you wince it all seems to work simply because Tarantino wills it to. That is probably why each and every performance here is amazing, each shot is stunning, and every element falls into place. Django rides along his very best.

4. Life of Pi

   The way Ang Lee pulls this off is miraculous. As I read the book this past year I kept asking myself, How? Not only on a technical level, and my god, this is a technical achievement in itself, but also thematically, and conceptually, and all this in a PG-rated movie. How? Well, I don’t know why I would even bother questioning a master. This adaptation is just as brilliant as the book it is based on, with Lee and writer David Magee making all the right changes without compromising a thing. The seamless effects, Suraj Sharma wonderful central performance, the stunning 3D, and the pure artistry of it all is breathtaking. This is beyond a movie, it’s an experience.

5. Bernie

   Richard Linklater takes this dark true story, turns it into a somewhat light comedy, and then brings in the actual townsfolk to favorably commentate on the murderer (whom all seem to think he was more of a victim than the actual victim). Jack Black effortlessly melts into his title character. It’s such an remarkable turn. But it is Shirley MacLaine that shows up to remind us what a great actor she is. She has to play Marjorie just right without going overboard, and in a way where you have to understand Bernie and the townsfolk states of mind, otherwise all that proceeds crumbles. MacLaine is the glue that holds this fantastic flick together.

6. The Grey

   This was the first of many great movies to be released in 2012. An exercise in pure badassery. I love well-rounded action movies that toy with audiences expectations. I know there is a lot of haters out there that love to hate on The Grey, but seriously, you people can go get lost in the wilderness and eaten by wolves. Director Joe Carnahan takes a premise that could have been a perfectly acceptable man-vs.-beast story and turns it into thrilling fine art.

7. The Cabin in the Woods

   Gleeful movie geek joy. This is an absolute blast of a genre bender. If you haven’t seen it or even heard of it, consider yourself lucky. Grab this right now. It fits in the horror movie genre but it goes way beyond any expectation you would even think of having. Watch it blind. It will be the Space Mountain of movies for you. It’s quite the ride.

8. Argo

   Ben Affleck. Who would of thunk it? The guy who starred in numerous stinkers over the years jumps behind the camera and has somehow transformed into one of our best directors. To take such a serious true story and shape into a gut-wrenching, heroic, exciting, even funny! dramatic thriller that keeps you right at the edge of your seat; all while shaping it into a pure crowd-pleaser... That’s impressive. I saw this at an advanced screening where the audience broke into three rounds of applause. In this day and age, unless the screen is crowded with superheroes, you rarely experience that.

9. Goon

   The type of comedy you walk into hoping to find and seldom get. Sean William Scott plays Doug Glatt, a big-hearted, slow-witted brute hockey player hired to beat the living shit out of the opposing team. It’s a tricky role that Scott just nails, while Jay Baruchel and Evan Goldberg (Seth Rogen’s writing partner), along with director Michael Dowse somehow balance sweet poignancy and utter vulgarity. And it‘s very rewatchable. I’ve already seen it three times.

10. Beasts of the Southern Wild

    Lots of great stuff was released by old pros, but swimming in that sea of seniors, a young new talent emerges. Director Benh Zeitlin’s visual storytelling is mesmerizing and original and chalk-full of spirit, and he did this all while pulling one of the years most vibrant performances out of a 6 year old girl. Not to mention this dude is only 30 (the little prick). I have such high hopes. I’m looking forward to seeing what he gives us next.

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

It's been a very solid year at the movies. Thanks to Movie (R.I.P. Movie) and AMC Stub's A-List (Movie, I hardly knew ye) I've watched a lot of them. We're talking 252 movies that were new or new to me, and I still haven't gotten to all the ones I wanted to see.
For the first time in recent memory, the best of 2018's crop dropped earlier in the year, many in the summer, thanks to a bushel of indies and some very solid studio fare. Yet fantastic movies like Alpha, American Animals, Annihilation, A Royal Affair (2012), Blade of the Immortal (2017), Eighth Grade, Game Night, Juliet,Naked, The Mermaid (2016), The Oath, Personal Shopper (2016), Sorry To Bother You, Teen Titans Go To The Movies, and Tully didn't make it on to my Top 11+. There are a lot more worthy contenders that got cut from the honor roll. It's been that kind of year.

As I do every year, my Top 11 expanded to 15 in order to accommodate releases from the recent past.

I hope you like what you see. If you don't, well, it's probably you.

By the way, my inclusion of Downsizing is not an egregious error.

1. Leave No Trace
2. Can You Ever Forgive Me?
3. Stronger
4. First Reformed
5. Downsizing
6. Mandy
7. Ready Player One
8. Private Life
9. Roma
10. Blindspotting

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