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It’s a bit bloated, the kids in my theater were getting very restless in the second half when it slows down, but I think this has a real argument to be the best Disney Live Action remake.

Obviously, there are some who inherently won’t like it on principle and that’s fair, but if you aren’t totally opposed to these things, I think there’s a lot to love here.

Not every change was an improvement, but some really worked for me and I think the spirit of the original is super in tact. Very funny and extremely heartfelt with good performances, Billy Magnussen in particular stole the show.

Think they really nailed the Lilo and Nani dynamic and were able to flesh it out, which led to some of the bloating for kids, but for me, it really worked. I’ve seen criticism of the change to the ending that I can understand but I also think people are super simplifying it in a weird way.

There’s nothing that doesn’t work here. At all. It’s maybe the funniest Disney Animation movie. It’s incredibly heartfelt. The music is fantastic. The characters are great and so immediately well developed. One of the best in the studio’s history.

Pattinson’s accent adds like an easy full star to this. Obviously looks great because it’s Bong, but a huge step down from Parasite.

Watched on Sunday May 18, 2025.

I Love You Man meets Joker

A bunch of really funny ITYSL skits held together by a pretty loose story. When it’s not going for the huge laughs, it’s kinda boring, but whew when it is rolling, it is about as funny movie as there is in the last five years. 

Tim Robinson is doing his usual thing, but he is so good at it.

This got off to a bad start right away, when it establishes that it is February in Milwaukee, then one minute later the lead character goes outside and it looks like a beautiful summer day. Why set the movie in February in Wisconsin and then make the weather look like that? The setting wasn't essential to the plot or anything.

Anyway, the movie is mostly really bad. The action is fun when Quan is doing his thing and he's so inherently watchable that the movie moves along quickly (and thankfully is just 80 minutes).

Also, nice to see Lio Tipton, not sure I've seen them since Crazy, Stupid, Love.

Obviously not as bad as the incels say, but also not as bad as your average normal person will say either.

The new songs are inconsistent and the dwarves aren’t well realized visually.

That being said, I think it’s pretty well paced, it’s never boring. Also, Rachel Zegler continues to prove she is a special talent. Her singing voice is of course generational and her charisma has never been stronger. Plus, somehow she keeps a straight face while Gal Gadot is delivering her lines, which is Oscar worthy in itself.

It’s fine, totally average, probably one of the weaker overall live action remakes.

Get Zegler in some good projects please.

Watched on Tuesday May 13, 2025.

The best the MCU has been since Endgame and the most interesting it’s been since Black Panther. The metaphors are certainly heavy handed but it still worked. The best third act in the entire series.

It is very clear from the first scene that this will look and feel so different than anything we’ve seen before in the franchise. Darker and more visually rich, it looks like there are actual real locations and stunts here, because there were.  

Everyone brings their A-game, but Pugh and Pullman are standouts, giving two of the best Marvel performances ever. 

My only issue, I can’t hear Sebastian Stan’s voice without thinking of Orange fuck face ever since The Apprentice.

I love the original as a super stylish comedic thriller with really impressive crafts, strong performances from the three leads and mixes in just enough camp to make it really fun.

The sequel skips all that other stuff and goes directly to the camp. Every single actor is smirking their way through the 2 hour runtime (a bit long) and you can tell Feig was laughing the entire time he was writing and filming this. And you know what? It is still pretty fun. Clearly a messy step down, but this is a goofy comedy that knows what it is, and I was laughing along with it.

Watched on Monday April 21, 2025.

Really, really good, still around the top tier MCU.

Crafts are mostly amazing across the board, of course the VFX here aren’t some of the best in the franchise, but the cinematography, costumes and music really can’t be matched.

Comes alive once Killmonger takes over as the main villain. Klaw is a fun villain and Serkis does a great job, but it gets way more interesting as a movie around the halfway point. Michael B Jordan gives truly just one of the most magnetic performances of recent years. I do think he should’ve been in awards contention for it.

The rest of the performances are great, the cast is incredible, filled with some of the best actors of many generations. Takes on a lot with the loss of Chadwick, he’s so missed in the MCU and world of cinema in general.

Unironically one of the best movies of the last 20 years.

The way Coogler weaponizes nostalgia for actually impactful moments is incredible. Adonis shadow boxing to footage of his father. Waiting to just the right moment to drop the Rocky theme. The use of the Art Museum. The shorts. Rocky at the grave. Ugh it’s all so good.

He also creates his own iconic language though. Goransson’s theme, still his best work in my opinion, is already iconic. The Adonis and Bianca relationship is so good and is only better in retrospect with the sequels. The training montage might be the best in the series history.

Still amazing.

While this is certainly not as slick or polished as Coogler’s other work, it is arguably his most impactful film.

Gutting from the first moments, this is an incredible character study headlined by a phenomenal performance from Michael B. Jordan.

Directorial debuts rarely are better than this, not surprising for one of our great modern filmmakers.

Watched on Wednesday April 16, 2025.

Loved it for the first hour, kinda lost me after that. Still mostly good and kept me on the edge of my seat, but with less personality than most Landon films.

Watched on Monday April 7, 2025.

This shit absolutely rules.

Asks the bold question, what if a Verhoeven movie was made completely sincere? 

The Russo Brothers were entirely a terrible decision to direct this. I mean that could be said for any non-MCU thing, but here it’s especially true.

This movie needed filmmakers with a real sense of humor, the Arrested Development and Community days are long gone. The Russo’s are trying so hard to make the new ET, with a swelling at every tiny turn. For the most part laughable and definitely too long.

Unintentionally watched two Nebraska set movies in the same day

Watched on Tuesday March 4, 2025.

Watched on Tuesday March 4, 2025.

Watched on Monday March 3, 2025.

Watched on Sunday March 2, 2025.

Watched on Sunday March 2, 2025.

Watched on Saturday March 1, 2025.

Watched on Sunday February 23, 2025.

Live action shorts this year are actually quite good.

A little bit bloated but I thought most of this was really great.

Because of a work trip I missed the Oscar shorts in theaters so I’m just trying to catch up with what I can, and I am glad I missed this in theaters because I had to pause like 5 times in 15 minutes because of the stress.

Sincerely, fuck all of this. Impactful filmmaking though.

I don’t know, I must be the one who is crazy here because I came in with little expectations, and I really enjoyed it. Yes the first half is a bit of a jumbled mess but once it settles in I thought the tone was great and the action was a lot of fun. Well paced and performed and I think some better cinematography than many of the recent MCU releases.

I like it when these things actually feel like movies instead of an extended news package, and of the four I’ve seen this is certainly the most cinematic. That being said, it’s so dry and bland.

While there’s interesting stuff in place here, this leans into all the worst tropes of the shorts categories.

Absolutely brutal to view and gives a full picture of not only a police shooting, but how quickly they attempt to create their own story. Kinda beyond anything you can really rate or review other than saying it damn sure gets the point across.

Generally roughly 14-15 of the Oscar nominated shorts are in a competition to see who can be most depressing, so it is refreshing always to see something like this. For New York Times doc standards, this might be the best of their nominees that I’ve seen.

This cast has a magic to them, in that you fall in love with every character, no matter how minor or major the role is, within about two words out of their mouth. I mean, how can you not fall for this?

I’m not going to lie, it took me a bit to get used to on first watch. How could it not, it’s so staggeringly different than anything I’ve seen before and irably ambitious while still keeping the scale small.

Anyone who says there’s better cinematography this year, I just do not agree in any way shape or form with. This is hypnotic even in the moments where it’s uncomfortable to watch.

This review may contain spoilers.

Really tough movie to review because it obviously has a lot of baggage. I hope people realize though that the main characters are not portrayed as heroic figures here. They very clearly are portrayed as the group that was in over their heads and ultimately failed in front of the largest audience in history at the time. This really isn’t a movie about Israel-Palestine in any way shape or form, it’s a movie critical of the coverage. For some that is a turn off and I understand.

It is an interesting entry point to journalistic ethics for non-journalism nerds. Obviously these issues (minimizing harm, impacting the story, speed over accuracy) are journalism 101, but thought it framed it nicely for others.

Watched on Saturday January 11, 2025.

Watched on Thursday January 9, 2025.

“Yeah, she’s the one having sex with the ice sculpture, we’re all very fond of her.”

Watched on Tuesday January 7, 2025.

Showed to my dad today, hits so hard, he loved it too.

This isn’t the best movie in the franchise, that definitely goes to 5 and 7, but this is the absolute peak of the series.

Everything that’s great about the series clicks here. It’s funny and stupid, but just self serious enough to be amusing on an ironic level too. The action is big and ridiculous without feeling like it’s trying to one up itself. Hobbs isn’t as severe as five but he isnt a caricature yet. Maybe the best barbecue scene and the quickest overall pacing of any of these movies.

Minus half a star for Gina Carano.

Watched on Saturday December 28, 2024.

Watched on Saturday December 28, 2024.

Like Ford v Ferrari, there’s nothing groundbreaking about this movie, but also like Ford v Ferrari and many of Mangold’s films, it’s just a really entertaining, well paced, well put together film.

Chalamet is obviously great as always, Norton steals the show everytime he’s on screen and I will never complain about a meaty role for Dan Fogler. The real revelation though is Monica Barbaro, who was good in Top Gun: Maverick, but is completely dazzling here. She’s a star, buy stock now.

Genuinely kinda sad this got swallowed up by the competition in the Christmas release window, because it is really good.

Literally fast forwards through so many of the typical sports movie cliches, resulting in a phenomenally paced, never dull story.

Barry Jenkins is a great writer and delivers a solid screenplay, while Rachel Morrison shows off what she’s learned from working as a close collaborator with Ryan Coogler.

Performances really sell it though, Ryan Destiny gives a dynamic performance that rises above any stereotypes and new layers are consistently peeled back. Brian Tyree Henry is one of the best actors in the world and this is one of his best performances. He should be firmly in the best ing actor race.

Don’t miss this one.

Watched on Wednesday December 25, 2024.

The kid who talks to the van driver is so fucking funny and he’s in it for like barely a minute.

1. Sinners
2. Bugonia
3. Deliver Me from Nowhere
4. Wicked: For Good
5. Frankenstein
6. Sentimental Value
7. A Simple Accident
8. Avatar: Fire and Ash
9. One Battle After Another
10. Marty Supreme

1. Sinners
2. Thunderbolts*
3. Lilo & Stitch
4. Friendship
5. The Monkey
6. Another Simple Favor
7. Drop
8. Mickey 17
9. Captain America: Brave New World
10. One of Them Days

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

1. The King of Comedy
2. Casino
3. The Wolf of Wall Street
4. Silence
5. After Hours
6. Killers of the Flower Moon
7. The Color of Money
8. Taxi Driver
9. The Departed
10. GoodFellas

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

1. La La Land
2. Midsommar
3. Ed Wood
4. E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
5. Before Sunrise
6. Inside Out
7. The Shining
8. Casablanca
9. Pitch Perfect 2
10. Beauty and the Beast

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

1. Inside Out
2. Ratatouille
3. Toy Story 2
4. Monsters, Inc.
5. Coco
6. Up
7. Inside Out 2
8. Soul
9. Monsters University
10. Toy Story 4

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

1. Beauty and the Beast
2. Frozen
3. Brother Bear
4. Pinocchio
5. Alice in Wonderland
6. Lilo & Stitch
7. The Lion King
8. Moana
9. Aladdin
10. The Princess and the Frog

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

Not including anything pre-Alice when these remakes really took off. Also not including stuff like Sorcerers Apprentice which is a stretch.

1. Dumbo
2. The Little Mermaid
3. Cruella
4. Pete's Dragon
5. Cinderella
6. Aladdin
7. The Jungle Book
8. Beauty and the Beast
9. Christopher Robin
10. Peter Pan & Wendy

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

1. Last Christmas
2. A Simple Favor
3. Bridesmaids
4. Another Simple Favor
5. Spy
6. The Heat
7. Ghostbusters

1. Creed
2. Sinners
3. Fruitvale Station
4. Black Panther
5. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

1. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
2. Joker
3. The Dark Knight
4. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
5. Avengers: Endgame
6. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
7. The Batman
8. Scott Pilgrim vs. the World
9. The Suicide Squad
10. Spider-Man: No Way Home

...plus 97 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

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

1. Casablanca
2. Titanic
3. Moonlight
4. Rocky
5. Parasite
6. The Godfather Part II
7. The Godfather
8. Oppenheimer
9. All Quiet on the Western Front
10. Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)

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

1. Avengers: Endgame
2. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
3. Spider-Man: No Way Home
4. Hawkeye
5. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
6. Black Panther
7. Captain America: Civil War
8. Guardians of the Galaxy
9. Iron Man
10. The Avengers

1. Inside Out
2. Ratatouille
3. Toy Story 2
4. Monsters, Inc.
5. Up
6. Coco
7. Inside Out 2
8. Monsters University
9. Toy Story 4
10. Soul

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

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

1. Raiders of the Lost Ark
2. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
3. Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny
4. Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
5. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

1. West Side Story
2. Barbie
3. Avatar: The Way of Water
4. Anatomy of a Fall
5. Oppenheimer
6. The Zone of Interest
7. Top Gun: Maverick
8. American Fiction
9. The Fabelmans
10. The Substance

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

1. The Substance
2. The Brutalist
3. Dune: Part Two
4. Wicked
5. Anora
6. A Complete Unknown
7. Nickel Boys
8. I'm Still Here
9. Conclave
10. Emilia Pérez

Basically anything with Batman or Batman related things

1. Joker
2. The Batman
3. The Dark Knight
4. The Suicide Squad
5. Zack Snyder's Justice League
6. Batman Begins
7. Batman
8. Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice
9. The Dark Knight Rises
10. Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn)

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

1. Sing Sing
2. Challengers
3. A Real Pain
4. The Substance
5. Dune: Part Two
6. Inside Out 2
7. The Brutalist
8. Wicked
9. Anora
10. I Saw the TV Glow

1. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
2. Avengers: Endgame
3. Spider-Man: No Way Home
4. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
5. Captain America: Civil War
6. Guardians of the Galaxy
7. Thor: Ragnarok
8. Black Panther
9. Avengers: Infinity War
10. Captain America: The Winter Soldier

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

1. The Fabulous Four
2. Megalopolis
3. Unfrosted
4. The Watchers
5. Night Swim
6. Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire
7. A Family Affair
8. Kung Fu Panda 4
9. Emilia Pérez
10. Werewolves

One per movie, ranked by personal preference of performance. Performance in Notes.

1. Anora

   Mikey Madison

2. A Real Pain

   Kieran Culkin

3. Dune: Part Two

   Timothee Chalamet

4. Challengers

   Josh O'Connor

5. Am I OK?

   Dakota Johnson

6. The Substance

   Dennis Quaid

7. Trap

   Josh Hartnett

8. Saturday Night

   Gabriel LaBelle

9. Gladiator II

   Denzel Washington

10. Wicked

    Ariana Grande

One of my favorite critics once said that you shouldn't do a top ten of the year until five years later in order to give some context to the films. Well, 2019 was one of the best years in film in my lifetime, so here we go. Some weird combination of best and favorite here.

1. Midsommar
2. Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood
3. Parasite
4. Last Christmas
5. Little Women
6. Portrait of a Lady on Fire
7. Marriage Story
8. Uncut Gems
9. Joker
10. Avengers: Endgame

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

1. Last Christmas
2. National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation
3. Home Alone
4. Elf
5. It's a Wonderful Life
6. The Holdovers
7. The Muppet Christmas Carol
8. Carol
9. Happiest Season
10. Little Women

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

1. Barbie
2. Anatomy of a Fall
3. The Zone of Interest
4. Oppenheimer
5. American Fiction
6. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
7. The Holdovers
8. The Iron Claw
9. The Boy and the Heron
10. Killers of the Flower Moon

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

1. Challengers
2. A Real Pain
3. The Substance
4. Wicked
5. Anora
6. Dune: Part Two
7. Inside Out 2
8. Saturday Night
9. Twisters
10. Beetlejuice Beetlejuice

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

1. Frozen
2. Beauty and the Beast
3. Pinocchio
4. Brother Bear
5. Lilo & Stitch
6. Alice in Wonderland
7. The Lion King
8. Moana
9. The Princess and the Frog
10. Aladdin

...plus 39 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

1. West Side Story
2. In the Heights
3. Wicked
4. The Rocky Horror Picture Show
5. Cats
6. Mamma Mia!
7. West Side Story
8. The Color Purple
9. Grease
10. Mean Girls

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

It’s apparently 100 days out from the Oscars, so these are my best picture nomination predictions, ordered by likelihood to be nominated, not necessarily win.

1. Anora
2. Wicked
3. The Brutalist
4. Conclave
5. Dune: Part Two
6. A Real Pain
7. Emilia Pérez
8. Sing Sing
9. A Complete Unknown
10. Nickel Boys

1. Music
2. The Whale
3. Home Sweet Home Alone
4. Pinocchio
5. The Fabulous Four
6. Unfrosted
7. Jurassic World Dominion
8. Megalopolis
9. Red Notice
10. Wish

Based on likelihood to get nominated, not necessarily to win or by quality

1. Anora
2. The Brutalist
3. Dune: Part Two
4. Conclave
5. Emilia Pérez
6. Wicked
7. A Real Pain
8. Sing Sing
9. Blitz
10. Nickel Boys

1. Avatar: Fire and Ash
2. Sinners
3. Superman
4. The Fantastic Four: First Steps
5. Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning
6. F1 The Movie
7. Mickey 17
8. Bugonia
9. Wicked: For Good
10. Lilo & Stitch

1. Midsommar
2. The Shining
3. Halloween
4. Scream
5. Alien
6. Get Out
7. Jennifer's Body
8. Little Shop of Horrors
9. Happy Death Day 2U
10. PG: Psycho Goreman

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

• Scream
• Boogie Nights
• The Truman Show
• Toy Story 2
• Unbreakable
• Monsters, Inc.
• Lilo & Stitch
• Goodbye, Dragon Inn
• Before Sunset
• Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

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

1. Midsommar
2. The Shining
3. Halloween
4. Happy Death Day 2U
5. Little Shop of Horrors
6. Jennifer's Body
7. Scream
8. Society
9. Get Out
10. PG: Psycho Goreman

1. The Substance
2. I Saw the TV Glow
3. Trap
4. Beetlejuice Beetlejuice
5. Kinds of Kindness
6. Longlegs
7. In a Violent Nature
8. A Quiet Place: Day One
9. Abigail
10. The First Omen

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

1. Clerks
2. Clerks III
3. Dogma
4. Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back
5. Chasing Amy
6. Red State
7. Clerks II
8. Mallrats
9. Jay and Silent Bob Reboot
10. The 4:30 Movie

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

1. Barbie
2. Anatomy of a Fall
3. Oppenheimer
4. The Zone of Interest
5. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
6. American Fiction
7. The Holdovers
8. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
9. The Iron Claw
10. Wonka

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

My top 10 for each year of the decade in order

• The Social Network
• Scott Pilgrim vs. the World
• The Other Guys
• Incendies
• Tangled
• Inception
• The Kids Are All Right
• Toy Story 3
• Easy A
• Everything Must Go

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

1. Ed Wood
2. Big Fish
3. Beetlejuice
4. Dumbo
5. Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
6. Batman
7. Beetlejuice Beetlejuice
8. Big Eyes
9. Batman Returns
10. Sleepy Hollow

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

1. Joker: Folie à Deux
2. Megalopolis
3. Saturday Night
4. Anora
5. Venom: The Last Dance
6. Woman of the Hour
7. Nosferatu
8. Gladiator II
9. Mufasa: The Lion King
10. Moana 2

1. Alien
2. The Martian
3. Gladiator
4. House of Gucci
5. All the Money in the World
6. Blade Runner
7. Robin Hood

1. Malcolm X
2. Do the Right Thing
3. Da 5 Bloods
4. BlacKkKlansman
5. 25th Hour
6. Chi-Raq
7. She's Gotta Have It

Very Rough List. This probably isn't accurate.

1. La La Land
2. Midsommar
3. E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
4. Ed Wood
5. Before Sunrise
6. Inside Out
7. Casablanca
8. The Social Network
9. The Empire Strikes Back
10. Jurassic Park

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

1. Inside Out
2. Ratatouille
3. Toy Story 2
4. Coco
5. Monsters, Inc.
6. Up
7. Soul
8. Inside Out 2
9. Toy Story 4
10. Toy Story

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

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

1. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
2. Avengers: Endgame
3. Hawkeye
4. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
5. Spider-Man: No Way Home
6. Guardians of the Galaxy
7. Black Panther
8. Captain America: Civil War
9. Thor: Ragnarok
10. Avengers: Infinity War

...plus 30 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

1. Midsommar
2. Moonlight
3. The Florida Project
4. Aftersun
5. I Saw the TV Glow
6. Uncut Gems
7. The Zone of Interest
8. The Iron Claw
9. Lady Bird
10. Waves

...plus 58 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

1. Jurassic Park
2. Frozen
3. Barbie
4. Top Gun: Maverick
5. Star Wars: The Force Awakens
6. Joker
7. Titanic
8. Avatar: The Way of Water
9. The Dark Knight
10. Avengers: Endgame

...plus 41 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.