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Interesting that 2024 saw both this and Zone of Interest attempt to capture the normalcy that surrounds tyranny.

Torres is genuinely astonishing throughout. The 35mm graining across many gorgeous shots of the family's home ---which gets its flowers in a credits sequence---is wonderful.

Very pure Nolan; wonderful performances and just an astonishingly good premise and script that is executed perfectly. Spent the next two hours after watching marvelling at the number of missed breadcrumbs.

Nolan's gift is providing these kind of elevated popcorn blockbusters. There's a reason he now has budgets thrown at him left right and center! The industry would miss his talent.

Really peculiar biopic, in that there was absolutely zero plot or central character conflict in the entire movie. The writing is clearly just kind of in awe of Dylan, and though willing to occasionally point out how his brilliance hurts other people, otherwise just asks us to watch him do his thing for 2 hours. That is reasonably compelling, because the music is so excellent and Chalamet is his usual excellent self. But it is a little... bland?

Theatre audience median age was 60+ and they all clapped at the end though, so it's clearly butter for its demo!

Comfort movie rematch after a good few years. Better than I -- hard to argue there's been a better action movie in the 15 years since!

This smart prequel to Twisters (2024) really sets the stakes for Glen Powell's later meteorological hijinks

(Sufficiently magical first act to carry its gradual petering out)

The most based-on-a-book-written-in-2016 movie about the Papacy imaginable

Maybe not quite sticking the landing for the final 30, but a wonderful genre piece throughout with phenomenal performances

Late third act collapse kind of precludes loving this movie but it's otherwise a riot throughout

Much better than reported, still quite baffling.

I think something remarkable about this movie is that its central conceit -- that Pandora has some uniquely special character -- only earns affective power through enormous cinematic spectacle.

In an era of blockbusters that seem only capable of simulating spectacle, that appeal to a cinematic language of spectacle without any emotional impact, Avatar inspires genuine wonder. And its story only works for that wonder; and its wonder is one only achievable through cinema.

She's not perfect: the first act is paced shockingly fast, sometimes narrative logic is eschewed entirely for convenience, and there's no deep payoff that will stay with you.

But Avatar is a refreshing example of what big-budget enormity can achieve when its leadership actually loves movies. More please!

A little surprised by the critical response to this. It's a just okay caper with above-replacement production; its politics and writing are far less clever than the original & the leads less compelling. Solid movie! But if this were the original, no several-hundred-million-dollar exclusivity deals....

This is like not a great movie but I saw it in a cinema that was completely empty except for me and my friends and it was ridiculously fun.

Fun story with great music. I really enjoyed the first act, which has some delightful campy parody of 70s-era movies which cuts through even for someone who doesn't have the context (like me). Post-intermission it starts to take itself a little more seriously, which becomes tonally confusing.

Docked a point for an EIGHT MINUTE overindulgent star-fest in the middle of the film. Sorry guys, I understand that being fun when you know all the icons... but it's unforgivable pacing.

This movie has late stage franchise-itus -- cut brutally fast to shoehorn in all of the fan service required to make a bajillion dollars. Only good news is that the cast is so big that we don't have to watch Pratt pout for 3 hours straight.

Dialogue in the first 15 is unwatchable, the plot is shockingly boring for a movie about dinosaurs escaping into the world, and I managed to not care about the fate of a single character (except for the old school cast, who carried the movie majorly).

There's a hilariously blatant Bourne influence in the first act, followed by an equally blatant Mos Eisley rip-off that works well since, yes, practical effects dinosaurs are Great and Good. If only that were the whole thing!!

This was.... okay, really. My take on most of the MCU at the moment is that (A) it is great to see them take story risks with characters who are at this point extremely well established parts of folks' lives but (B) lots of the staging is too cringey to be watchable and (C) they always dissolve into a spacey CGI-fest that makes my eyes glaze over.

No Way Home has some nice character work coupled with some really strange shot choices and too much self-congratulations for references to other franchise installments. I think now that the big reveal of this film is common knowledge, a lot of its cultural staying power will (has) evaportate(d).

As usual with the post-Endgame MCU: I enjoyed it, but I'm not losing my mind or anything.

A movie that makes me want to watch movies again. Anything short of 5 stars feels disrespectful, just so so exciting.

And Michelle Yeoh!!!!

Reminds me of Vice. McKay is clearly not trying to convince anyone or bring any unique or interesting insights. He's just screaming in frustration at the nightmares happening around us.

And, y'know, that works for me right now.

(I am also a sucker for "all of humanity" montages, sue me)

Very very not good

Not at ALL what I was expecting, very very fun, good movie to watch in a group.

Light entertainment. My broad policy is that, conditional on his not embarrassing himself, I will watch Bobby De Niro do literally anything.

Just okay! See lots of people being very hard on the film because they are judging it for what it is trying to be (high concept sci fi) instead of what it is (kinda trashy semi thriller). It performs very irably as the latter :)

About 2/3rds through I was going to write that this is some fun pulpy popcorn fuel, but then the HIDEOUSLY poor third act hit, and I cannot recommend it to anyone.

Very very very good reflection on the terminally online generation. Because of that, pretty sure anyone NOT terminally online genuinely wouldn't enjoy it, but for the rest of us it is superb.

This movie is insulting. Kind of fun, but insulting.

Oh my goodness brainy Adam Driver I want him to investigate ME

(This is v. good but my friends with a less steeped knowledge of American politics and institutions needed regular pauses to understand what was happening)

I've had a look through my old reviews after watching the Lighthouse. It's not often that I really cannot engage with a film people are raving about (though tellingly, the last time that happened was Midsommar).

I think I've found that the movies I truly adore are the ones that help me to explore and understand myself. In that respect, I'm sure that my ratings are a function of luck -- seeing just the right movies at the times I needed them.

I didn't need the Lighthouse. I don't doubt for a second that it contains layers upon layers of carefully constructed meaning and mythology. In fact, that's obvious. But I just didn't need it.

The Lighthouse is certainly affecting. But it's one thing to not get much out of a movie you didn't need; it's another to be so utterly disturbed by a movie you didn't need.

I really enjoyed the Witch. Maybe someday I'll revist the Lighthouse and find something more in it. That will be in a long, long time.

Watched on Sunday December 22, 2019.

Watched on Sunday October 6, 2019.

Watched on Friday November 29, 2019.

Watched on Sunday December 8, 2019.

Watched on Saturday February 1, 2020.

Watched on Wednesday January 8, 2020.

Watched on Monday January 20, 2020.

Watched on Wednesday January 22, 2020.

Pushing this up in score again because I enjoy it more and more every time I watch it.

Please nobody take Tom away from me.

Walked out. And I don't walk out often.

Better than Hereditary (might not be reflected in the scores). I think I might just not have the stomach for what was on screen. One of those that I enjoyed but will never watch again and will never recommend someone else seeing.

A deeply conflicted 8.

Watched on Sunday July 14, 2019.

I mean... it's the Lion King.

Watched on Friday June 28, 2019.

The first 15 are truly appalling, the rest is pretty good

Seriously funny

Earnest and delightfully free of judgement

Had at least 20 mins of genuine jaw on the floor stuff, a very satisfactory conclusion of an era

Floored to be honest.

Lupita is amazing, Peele is an amazing director - lacked some coherence maybe?

An absolutely ferocious script backed by the best of noir cinematic aesthetic.

So joyous, but so so questionable in spots

A Canon, In Chronological Order.

This is mostly built from Sight & Sound's 2012 lists, with most of the American Film Institute's Top 100 American Films. Recently updated to include the 2022 lists from S&S. For each film, I have included a few others from the director at my own discretion.

The goal is to finish watching by the end of grad school!

• Sherlock Jr.

  Cinema certainly does not start here, but it's not an awful place to begin. Buster Keaton, with Chaplain, is a king of silent movies in America, especially of practical comedy. Sherlock, Jr. sees one of his earlier, and more enjoyable, efforts.

  Essential Director: Buster Keaton
  S&S Critics' Top 100 #59
  S&S 2022 Critics' Top 100: #54

• Battleship Potemkin

  Eisenstein, a theorist and filmmaker, revolutionised cinema with his theory of montage, and it is seen in full flow here, especially in the famous Odessa Steps sequence. It is nice to immediately take a step away from American movies at this stage, to see what the rest of the world was doing while Buster blew up trains.

  Essential Director: Sergei Eisenstein
  S&S Critics' Top 100 #11
  S&S Directors' Top 100 #75
  S&S 50 Greatest Films #11
  S&S 2022 Critics' Top 100 #54
  S%S 2022 Directors' Top 100 #93

• The Gold Rush

  Of course, Charlie. Missing Chaplin would be to miss cinema. The Gold Rush is not his greatest, but you can see his brilliance throughout all of it.

  Essential Director: Charlie Chaplin
  AFI Top 100 American Movies #58

• The General

  Keaton's most famous work, The General is an essential of early American cinema, featuring genius jokes and to-this-day stunning stunts.

  Essential Director: Buster Keaton
  AFI Top 100 American Movies #18
  S&S 50 Greatest Films #34
  S&S 2022 Critics' Top 100: #95

• Metropolis

  The first of Fritz Lang's many entries in this list, Metropolis practically invented the cinematic science fiction lexicon, and proved that complex narrative design in film was possible without too much interference from inter-titles.

  Essential Director: Fritz Lang
  S&S Critics' Top 100 #36
  S&S 50 Greatest Films #35
  S&S 2022 Critics' Top 100 #67

• Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans

  If you're watching these in close proximity, your mind is ready to be blown when you see a camera move. Sunrise is a titan of silent cinema, technically and visually a marvel from start to finish.

  Essential Director: F.W. Marnau
  S&S Critics' Top 100 #5
  S&S Director's Top 100 #5
  S&S 50 Greatest Films #22
  AFI Top 100 American Movies #82
  S&S 2022 Critics' Top 100 #11
  S&S 2022 Directors' Top 100 #33

• The ion of Joan of Arc

  Dreyer's first entry is emphatic. The true silent masterpiece. Ebert said of it;
  "... the secret of Dreyer's success is that he asked himself, "What is this story really about?” And after he answered that question he made a movie about absolutely nothing else.""

  See Falconetti's legendary debut (and final) performance. You will be absorbed.

  There was never an official soundtrack. Some prefer to watch it with no music at all - certainly the film speaks for itself - but I prefer it with the Voices of Light score, if that helps.

  Essential Director: Carl Dreyer
  S&S Critics' Top 100 #9
  S&S Director's Top 100 #37
  S&S 50 Greatest Films #9

• Man with a Movie Camera

  A full 70 years before the modern cut-heavy cinema, Vertov showed us all how editing and montage could create meaning beyond the individual image. This is about what Cinema truly is, and its virtues beyond other mediums. A grand experiment, so don't expect to be caught up in a narrative.

  Essential Director: Dziga Vertov
  S&S Critics' Top 100 #8
  S&S Director's Top 100 #48
  S&S 50 Greatest Films #8
  S&S 2022 Critics' Top 100 #9
  S&S 2022 Directors' Top 100 #30

• Un Chien Andalou

  The 20s bow out with another experiment, this time from Bunuel and Dali (yes, that one). Disturbing, confusing, famous, and yes, essential.

  Essential Director: Luis Bunuel
  BFI Critics' Top 100 #93
  BFI Director's Top 100 #91

• City Lights

  Charlie at his most comionate, and most hilarious. Everything that endures about Chaplin is in this film; stunts, humour, heart, and that funny little Tramp.

  Essential Director: Charlie Chaplin
  S&S Critics' Top 100 #50
  S&S Director's Top 100 #30
  S&S 50 Greatest Films #50
  AFI Top 100 American Movies #11

...plus 238 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.