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Watched on Thursday May 22, 2025.

Watched on Wednesday May 21, 2025.

Watched on Tuesday May 20, 2025.

Watched on Monday May 19, 2025.

“It is like you are alive, but not really, as if you are yourself, but not really anymore.”

The crunch of footfall in the icy snow, a mountain forest waterfall, music at night for which the whole village gathers, fresh cow’s milk, stolen kisses in a barn, wildflowers in a bride’s hair, and love growing between a soldier and village girl at the end of the Second World War. Pietro, a shy Sicilian, carries an injured local man home from battle and is treated as a hero. Lucia, the oldest daughter of a schoolteacher, falls for him, hard. When Pietro and Lucia come together it is the spark for events both terrible and wonderful. For those who come back from war hold secrets.

“Don’t be sad or your eyes won’t shine.”

Filmed in natural light and with ambient sound, Vermiglio is beautiful and full of deep emotional impact. While women are expected to adhere to traditional roles in the village, there are journeys, both inward and into the outside world, that they can take to unexpected places and more open horizons. The choices for women aren’t as narrow as we might think, nor insignificant compared to men. Vermiglio presents fresh, unique, female-driven, and surprising insights into this film genre. Journeys to other landscapes and cultures really open your eyes to new wonders. Just as the characters in Vermiglio underwent deep emotional transformations, watching this ethereal and powerful film did this for me.

“None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe themselves free.”

Laszlo, an architect, flees Hungary in the wake of World War II and attempts to rebuild his life in America. Pain as well as pleasure are on the horizon as he realigns his work, love, and soul in a new country.

The alluring images, immersive sound, actors in top form, enticing themes, and witty dialogue of The Brutalist combine to dazzle the senses (the film won Oscars for the images, sound, and acting of Adrien Brody). It kept me guessing and enthralled throughout its over three-hour length with scenes descending into the ethereal marble quarries of Carrara, Italy, ambient sounds of people talking and glasses clinking, seductive piano music, crackling neon lights of New York, close-ups of intriguing faces, haunting heroin dens, and more.

Some of the most interesting aspects of The Brutalist include its deep conversations and themes. Certain events really shape our lives, for example. Our lives are like two-hour films in how they go from one highlight to another over the course of existence. Certain events have big impacts upon our characters.

Laszlo reacts ively (at least outwardly) to some major provocations. In this I recognize that he, like me, prefers to prove his worth and ideals, rather than fight with someone about them. Laszlo is challenged in this. “If you resent your persecution,” taunts his boss “then why do you make yourself an easy target.” While Laszlo prefers to prove his worth, he should be more careful about who is the judge.

Laszlo’s wife and love, Erzsébet, is worthy of this trust. “We have a new life and language, and can start again,” she says. Even from far away Erzsébet knows everything that happened to him and all he’s done.

In life, work, and love there are bound to be upheavals, yet we endure the erosion of our true selves by the kind of people, practices, and places we associate ourselves with.

For a country that once prided itself in freedom, we are increasingly failing in this regard.

Watched on Friday May 9, 2025.

Watched on Wednesday May 7, 2025.

Watched on Tuesday May 6, 2025.

Watched on Saturday May 3, 2025.

Watched on Friday May 2, 2025.

Watched on Wednesday April 30, 2025.

Watched on Tuesday April 29, 2025.

Watched on Saturday April 26, 2025.

Watched on Friday April 25, 2025.

Watched on Wednesday April 23, 2025.

Watched on Monday April 21, 2025.

Watched on Tuesday April 15, 2025.

Watched on Sunday April 13, 2025.

Watched on Saturday April 12, 2025.

Watched on Friday April 11, 2025.

Watched on Wednesday April 9, 2025.

Watched on Sunday April 6, 2025.

Watched on Saturday April 5, 2025.

Watched on Tuesday April 1, 2025.

Watched on Sunday March 30, 2025.

Watched on Saturday March 29, 2025.

Watched on Wednesday March 26, 2025.

Watched on Sunday March 23, 2025.

Watched on Sunday March 23, 2025.

Watched on Friday March 21, 2025.

Watched on Thursday March 20, 2025.

Watched on Wednesday March 19, 2025.

Watched on Tuesday March 18, 2025.

Watched on Sunday March 16, 2025.

Watched on Saturday March 15, 2025.

Watched on Friday March 14, 2025.

Watched on Friday March 14, 2025.

Watched on Wednesday March 12, 2025.

Villeneuve, Brolin, Blunt, Benicio del Toro, Deakins, . . . running on all cylinders here and at the top of their game. Ten years ago I made the correct decision to rate this five stars.

Watched on Sunday March 9, 2025.

Watched on Saturday March 8, 2025.

Watched on Friday March 7, 2025.

Watched on Thursday March 6, 2025.

Watched on Wednesday March 5, 2025.

Watched on Sunday March 2, 2025.

Watched on Thursday February 27, 2025.

Watched on Tuesday February 25, 2025.

Watched on Monday February 24, 2025.

Watched on Saturday February 22, 2025.

War is not just about battles and military operations. These are my favorites for showing the larger aspects of war, fighting, and killing.

1. Incendies
2. Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind
3. In the Crosswind
4. A Woman in Berlin
5. The Pearl Button
6. Castle in the Sky
7. Nostalgia for the Light
8. Horizon
9. The Wind Rises
10. La Llorona

...plus 44 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

A hero from Muncie, Indiana, a bus driving poet, cowboy lovers, mistaken identities, and other favorites from and about the United States.

1. Drive
2. Nocturnal Animals
3. No Country for Old Men
4. The Big Lebowski
5. Fargo
6. The Hudsucker Proxy
7. Pulp Fiction
8. Black Swan
9. O Brother, Where Art Thou?
10. Paterson

...plus 99 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

"Sometimes people need stories more than food to stay alive." - Barry Lopez

International and independent films provide unique perspectives on the world & our inner selves.

My lifetime favorites are here, ranked.

1. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
2. Incendies
3. Princess Mononoke
4. The Skin I Live In
5. Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind
6. Enter the Void
7. Drive
8. The Tribe
9. The Red Turtle
10. No Country for Old Men

...plus 422 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

Favorites from the last ten years.

“I begin to trace a new path that will take me back to you.” - Invisible Life

1. The Red Turtle
2. Nocturnal Animals
3. The Pearl Button
4. Paterson
5. Sicario
6. La Llorona
7. The Handmaiden
8. Beanpole
9. Invisible Life
10. Moonlight

...plus 182 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

Assassins, spirits, rebels, lovers, fighters, witches, and other strong female leads, good and bad, in these favorite films from around the world.

1. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
2. Incendies
3. Princess Mononoke
4. Enter the Void
5. Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind
6. In the Crosswind
7. The Tribe
8. A Woman in Berlin
9. Tales from Earthsea
10. The Hudsucker Proxy

...plus 158 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

Films that opened my eyes to suffering and cruelty, yet also resilience and beauty.

1. Incendies
2. In the Crosswind
3. A Woman in Berlin
4. The Pearl Button
5. Lust, Caution
6. Nostalgia for the Light
7. La Llorona
8. Horizon
9. The Wind Rises
10. Beanpole

...plus 81 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

This list of favorite bromances from around the world includes characters who both love and hate each other.

Nathaniel Hawthorne observed “it is a curious subject of observation and inquiry, whether hatred and love be not the same thing at bottom. Each, in its utmost development, supposes a high degree of intimacy and heart-knowledge; each renders one individual dependent for the food of his affections and spiritual life upon another; each leaves the ionate lover, or the no less ionate hater, forlorn and desolate by the withdrawal of his object.”

So true!

1. The Skin I Live In
2. No Country for Old Men
3. Wild Tales
4. Tales from Earthsea
5. The Big Lebowski
6. The Damned United
7. O Brother, Where Art Thou?
8. Sicario
9. Brokeback Mountain
10. Moonlight

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

A zealous police lieutenant beating thugs to a pulp, overconfident SWAT team going into a trap, the five palm exploding heart technique, and more in my favorite martial arts films from around the world.

I visited spots in China where Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, my all-time favorite movie, was filmed.

1. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
2. The Assassin
3. Kill Bill: Vol. 2
4. Kill Bill: Vol. 1
5. The Raid
6. Valhalla Rising
7. The Matrix
8. Only God Forgives
9. Shadow
10. V for Vendetta

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

Truth is stranger than (science) fiction.

Mist rises from the mountains and ancient forests of gigantic cedars. Rainstorms, shadows, clouds and rivers appear to rush over you as they on screen. The landscape character is revealed in the variable light of the sun and moon. The incredible attention to detail is evident in eyes that sparkle in the night, light and ripples on water, wind on grass, haunting bird songs, different shades of stone, the flash of gunpowder, a night sky filled with stars, and more in my list of science fiction and fantasy favorites from around the world.

There is artistic beauty here that is timeless and dazzling to the senses.

1. Princess Mononoke
2. Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind
3. The Red Turtle
4. Castle in the Sky
5. Tales from Earthsea
6. Ghost in the Shell
7. Howl's Moving Castle
8. Kiki's Delivery Service
9. Blade Runner
10. The Matrix

...plus 56 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

Humans melded with chicken genes, people at the end of their rope, a bowling showdown, the rise and fall of an atypical CEO, the lone rider of the Apocalypse, and more in my favorite comedy films from around the world.

1. The Big Lebowski
2. Wild Tales
3. The Hudsucker Proxy
4. Mental
5. Raising Arizona
6. O Brother, Where Art Thou?
7. Men & Chicken
8. The Ferpect Crime
9. The Death of Stalin
10. Kung Fu Hustle

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

Forbidden love, honor killings, stolen babies, violent militias, refugees, prison, torture, massacres, assassinations, countries caught in chains of anger, conflagrations that are keys to understanding ourselves, and more in this list of my favorite films from and about and French speaking countries.

1. Incendies
2. Enter the Void
3. Portrait of a Lady on Fire
4. Marona's Fantastic Tale
5. Monsieur Lazhar
6. Earwig
7. Frantz
8. Climax
9. Love
10. I've Loved You So Long

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

Very overly protective dads, losing control of emotions, lots of ghosts, sexy aliens, and more in these favorite Spanish language films.

1. The Skin I Live In
2. Wild Tales
3. The Pearl Button
4. La Llorona
5. Nostalgia for the Light
6. Horizon
7. Embrace of the Serpent
8. Roma
9. Magical Girl
10. Ema

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

Years ago at the Japanese embassy in Washington DC, I saw an ment for Princess Mononoke. I encouraged my fiancé to come. It was our first Miyazaki film and I was stunned by its insight, wisdom, artistry and beauty. It touched on some of my basic beliefs about human nature, love and the environment. A recent trip to Japan and the remote island of Yakushima (used as a model for scenes in the film) deepened my appreciation for Princess Mononoke.

The characters and stories in these films and graphic novels are fantasies, but in many ways they are so much more real than life. Truth is stranger than fiction.

This is a list of my favorite films based on graphic novels from around the world.

1. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
2. Princess Mononoke
3. Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind
4. Sin City
5. Ghost in the Shell
6. From Up on Poppy Hill
7. V for Vendetta
8. Whisper of the Heart
9. Holy Spider
10. Persepolis

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

A robot programmed to be the perfect partner, Russian soldiers in Berlin, one of the best film endings I've seen, and more in the list of my favorite films from and about German speaking countries.

1. A Woman in Berlin
2. Rose
3. Phoenix
4. Enemy at the Gates
5. Corsage
6. Toni Erdmann
7. Frantz
8. The Protector
9. Son of Saul
10. Jojo Rabbit

...plus 7 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

Favorite films from and about Canada.

1. Incendies
2. Monsieur Lazhar
3. The Captive
4. Black Robe
5. The Fountain
6. A Journey
7. Starbuck
8. Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner
9. Falcon Lake
10. Maria Chapdelaine

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

I first witnessed an anime film at the Japanese embassy in Washington DC a couple decades ago. It was Princess Mononoke. What a world of wonder, depth of feeling, and artistry that it opened my eyes to. I never imagined films could be so transformative and exhilarating.

What follows is a list of my favorite animation and anime films from around the world.

1. Princess Mononoke
2. Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind
3. The Red Turtle
4. Tales from Earthsea
5. Castle in the Sky
6. Howl's Moving Castle
7. Kiki's Delivery Service
8. The Wind Rises
9. Ghost in the Shell
10. Grave of the Fireflies

...plus 44 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

It is one thing to have your heart broken, but to love someone deeply and get absolutely nothing in return, this is something else entirely.

What follows are favorite films where one or more characters gives up everything for the object of their affection and gets nada, nothing, donut, zilch, not even a peck on their cheek, in return for their devotion.

1. Lust, Caution
2. Titane
3. Cut Snake
4. Dogs Don't Wear Pants
5. The Power of the Dog
6. American Beauty

I reviewed 27 films from 22 countries at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival.

I began attending the festival in 2007 and love it immensely.

"Sometimes people need stories more than food to stay alive." - Barry Lopez

1. Horizon
2. The Penguin Lessons
3. The Seed of the Sacred Fig
4. Santosh
5. Pedro Páramo
6. The Legend of the Vagabond Queen of Lagos
7. Emilia Pérez
8. Dead Talents Society
9. The Salt Path
10. The Wolves Always Come at Night

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

Prisons, courtrooms, and systems of justice and punishment are fascinating. Here are favorites on these subjects from around the world.

1. Incendies
2. The Skin I Live In
3. In the Crosswind
4. The Pearl Button
5. La Llorona
6. Nostalgia for the Light
7. Dredd
8. Santosh
9. The Missing Picture
10. Brawl in Cell Block 99

...plus 7 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

Justice for Latin America; favorite films about its violent past and present.

those who disappeared, bring justice to perps, and understand such things can happen anywhere.

1. The Pearl Button
2. Nostalgia for the Light
3. La Llorona
4. Horizon
5. Sicario
6. Roma
7. The Penguin Lessons
8. Heli
9. Sin Nombre
10. Killing Jesus

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

Typical sports films involve teams rising from the bottom to the top. Favorites here include authentic, exhilarating, and real experiences, a mixed bag of characters, and other compelling stories that are truer to life and the human experience.

"I am surrounded by vultures and all I want to do is score a goal." - Heleno

1. The Damned United
2. Heleno
3. A River Runs Through It
4. The Wrestler
5. Shaolin Soccer
6. Million Dollar Baby
7. Foxcatcher
8. Bend It Like Beckham
9. The Rocket
10. Whip It

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

Hockey players who sing, a street musician hoping to live large, and other favorite musicals from around the world.

1. Once
2. La La Land
3. Moulin Rouge!
4. Begin Again
5. Les Misérables
6. The Sound of Music
7. The Nightmare Before Christmas
8. Coco
9. Score: A Hockey Musical

People struggling in the shadows.

Favorites from or about the Slavic world. Most are very dark and brooding.

1. The Tribe
2. In the Crosswind
3. A Woman in Berlin
4. Leviathan
5. Beanpole
6. In the Fog
7. Rose
8. Enemy at the Gates
9. Twilight Portrait
10. Ida

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

Humanity is both terrible and beautiful.

Favorites from or about Scandinavia.

1. Valhalla Rising
2. Melancholia
3. Border
4. What Will People Say
5. Godland
6. Dogs Don't Wear Pants
7. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
8. Men & Chicken
9. Thelma
10. Compartment No. 6

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

Amazing films from around the world that are mostly or completely silent, or that utilize alternative communication channels. Some films involve characters who are mute or cultures that do not share the same language.

1. Enter the Void
2. The Red Turtle
3. The Tribe
4. In the Crosswind
5. Valhalla Rising
6. The Artist
7. Arrival
8. The Piano
9. The Shape of Water
10. The Quiet Girl

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

This list includes one of the best scenes ever, in Late Autumn, where the main characters go on a date and mouth the words that they imagine others saying as the characters observe them from their seats.

There are other such treasures on this list of my favorites from and about Korea.

"There is no absolute evil or good" - Concrete Utopia

1. The Handmaiden
2. Late Autumn
3. Parasite
4. The Housemaid
5. Snowpiercer
6. Concrete Utopia
7. Burning
8. Okja
9. The Yellow Sea

Fresh fallen snow in a girl’s sable hair, radiant mountains all along the horizon, flickering streetlights of a small town, ancient Roman columns, stunningly deep and beautiful artwork, ominous dark cliffs, mesmerizing photographic portraits, ethereal colors of twilight, and more in my favorite films from and about Turkey.

“Everything beautiful in the world gets stuck before it reaches us,” - About Dry Grasses

1. Snow and the Bear
2. About Dry Grasses
3. The Reeds
4. Winter Sleep
5. Clair Obscur
6. The Wild Pear Tree
7. Frenzy
8. Sibel

"I begin to trace a new path that will take me back to you," - Invisible Life

Selling your body for the cause, alien sex toys, making love to a car, and more in these favorite erotic films from around the world.

1. Enter the Void
2. The Tribe
3. Sleeping Beauty
4. Black Swan
5. Lust, Caution
6. Brokeback Mountain
7. Melancholia
8. Twilight Portrait
9. The Handmaiden
10. Beanpole

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

People losing control of themselves, a current of energy and new life that is pulsing through our existence, people digging in the desert for remains of their loved ones, an overconfident Indonesian SWAT team entering a drug den, and more in my favorite films from the southern hemisphere.

1. Wild Tales
2. The Pearl Button
3. Nostalgia for the Light
4. Sleeping Beauty
5. The Raid
6. Embrace of the Serpent
7. Ema
8. Invisible Life
9. Heleno
10. Mental

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

The emerald sheen of a bamboo forest, lovers beneath a vivid desert sky strewn with shooting stars, mountain waterfalls, fantastic stories from ancient China, and other moments from the most remarkable films seen in my life from and about China.

Ganbei!

1. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
2. Lust, Caution
3. A Touch of Sin
4. The Assassin
5. In the Mood for Love
6. Ash Is Purest White
7. Shadow
8. Raise the Red Lantern
9. 2046
10. Hero

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

The ancient cedar forests and waterfalls of Yakushima, eyes that sparkle in the night, light and ripples on water, wind on grass, different shades of stone, the night sky filled with stars, and more in my favorite film locations and designs, real and imaginary.

1. Princess Mononoke

   I visited the ancient cedar forests, waterfalls, streams, and cliffs of Yakushima, a remote Island off the southwest coast of Kyushu in Japan, and it is thrilling to behold and hike through. Yakushima is where the artists for Princess Mononoke went for inspiration to draw the film.

2. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

   I went to the village of Huangshan (opening scene for the film as well as one of the fight scenes).

3. The Red Turtle
4. Castle in the Sky
5. Tales from Earthsea
6. Nostalgia for the Light
7. Howl's Moving Castle
8. In the Mood for Love
9. Horizon
10. The Assassin

...plus 38 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

In wildness is the preservation of the world; favorite films from around the world about nature, wildness, and animals.

Approaching rain the only sound, stars and moonlight reflected in the calm sea, the comforting and rhythmic wash of waves at night, the endless shades and patterns of color and sunlight in water, emotions conveyed in just a glance, and more.

The way these illuminating and ethereal films capture the senses makes me wish to linger in each frame.

1. Princess Mononoke
2. Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind
3. The Red Turtle
4. Castle in the Sky
5. Tales from Earthsea
6. Embrace of the Serpent
7. The Salt of the Earth
8. Song of the Sea
9. The Penguin Lessons
10. Border

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

Luminous light blue sea, colorful wildflowers, reflections in windows, the glow of streetlamps, shadows, fashionable clothes, the way the wind moves tree branches, moonlight, the emerald sheen of a bamboo forest, lovers beneath a vivid desert sky strewn with shooting stars, mountain waterfalls, and more in my favorite films from and about Asia.

1. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
2. Princess Mononoke
3. Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind
4. Castle in the Sky
5. Tales from Earthsea
6. Lust, Caution
7. The Wind Rises
8. The Handmaiden
9. A Touch of Sin
10. Howl's Moving Castle

...plus 90 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

People digging in the desert for remains of their loved ones, countries that don't acknowledge the past or present, the testimony of a woman who lost her parents, drawings from the Chacabuco concentration camp merge with images of galaxies and supernovas, and talk of a current of energy and new life that is pulsing through our existence; this and other powerful stuff in my favorite films by and about indigenous people from around the world.

1. The Pearl Button
2. La Llorona
3. The Dead Lands
4. Embrace of the Serpent
5. Sweet Country
6. Black Robe
7. Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner
8. Cinderella Moon
9. Hold the Dark
10. Mekko

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

Favorite political films from around the world.

1. La Llorona
2. Where to Invade Next
3. Lincoln
4. Il Divo
5. The Death of Stalin
6. My Internship in Canada
7. Gangs of New York
8. Pacifiction
9. Loro
10. Sicko

It started with Lust, Caution in 2007 when I was the absolute last person in the rush line to be itted to see the film. The theater was packed and I was hooked. I attended the Toronto International Film Festival every year since that time (except during Covid year 2020).

Attending the Toronto International Film Festival is like travel, art, and story-telling combined. By watching these films from around the world I understand other people and cultures better, and my heart grows.

What follows are my favorite films that I've seen in Toronto and at the festival over the years from 2007 until now, all five or four and a half stars.

1. Enter the Void
2. Drive
3. The Tribe
4. The Red Turtle
5. Wild Tales
6. Nocturnal Animals
7. In the Crosswind
8. Paterson
9. The Assassin
10. Lust, Caution

...plus 128 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

I saw 33 films from 21 countries at the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival.

I attended the festival every year since 2007 (except the covid year of 2020).

The 2022 films are ranked below by how much I enjoyed each one. I reviewed them all.

1. Snow and the Bear
2. Holy Spider
3. Empire of Light
4. Godland
5. Corsage
6. Catherine Called Birdy
7. Falcon Lake
8. Daughter of Rage
9. Aftersun
10. The Water

...plus 23 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

I saw 29 films from 21 countries at the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival.

The films are ranked below by how much I enjoyed each one. I reviewed them all.

I attended the festival every year since 2007 (except the covid year of 2020).

1. The Boy and the Heron
2. About Dry Grasses
3. The Reeds
4. Boy Kills World
5. Sweet Dreams
6. City of Wind
7. Shadow of Fire
8. The Rye Horn
9. The Peasants
10. The Dead Don't Hurt

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