4v291o

No one is safe from Phineas Freak

Big Tim, the human piece of toast 

Watched on Tuesday May 20, 2025.

Watched on Tuesday May 20, 2025.

Watched on Monday May 19, 2025.

Watched on Sunday May 18, 2025.

Watched on Sunday May 18, 2025.

Watched on Saturday May 17, 2025.

Watched on Friday May 16, 2025.

Thunderbolts is a step up from recent MCU outings but still troubled as a movie. For positives, the grounded action stunts are excellent, there’s some nice cast chemistry, and a surprisingly compelling villain in D’Fountaine.

However, it’s held back by a grey sludge color palette and under-lit sequences consisting of far too many boring close-up reserve dialogue shots. 

I haven’t kept up with the McU recently and to its compliment, that didn’t feel like a big issue. However, i did feel that there was a big missed writing opportunity given these characters histories. The film focuses on mental health, the internal struggle against darkness that each hero faces. But each brings baggage of past transgressions, a point briefly called into focus by Yelena shouting “i did terrible things.” but instead of having our superhuman seek redemption for their sins through heroism, they commit to their duty almost unconsciously once their internal constitutions are bolstered. 

In choosing recovery over redemption, Thunderbolts feels diluted by the neoliberally-safe value messaging that’s far too present in Disney properties. Let’ not show these characters grappling with the horrors they’ve inflicted, just their own personal struggles. Take US Agent - he killed a man in cold blood in the street. but we’re not concerned with penance for this act, but the impact the medias reaction had on his parenting capabilities. Thunderbolts opts for a metstixtually therapeutic tone because more transformative ideas may appear to radical to establishment order. 

After all, it’s reflected in the films’ (pre-credit scenes) ending: the freshly christened New Avengers declaring victory over a crooked politician when in fact they’ve just been placated with prestige and publicity. D’oh.

Watched on Thursday May 15, 2025.

Watched on Thursday May 15, 2025.

finally, a movie that dares to ask the important question: what if you were watching one of the greatest movies ever made? 

resonant, meta-introspective, and deeply humanistic storytelling. 

visually decadent - maybe the singular most qualified candidate for best looking film.

it blew my mind, it warmed my heart, and it opened my soul. i levitated. cinema.

immersive, gorgeous, and powerful, but gut-wrenchingly brutal. a grim depiction of the horrors of violence against women and indigenous peoples in colonial Australia. important but very difficult to watch - esp if you’re a new parent. 

very masterful filmmaking but veers on misery exhibitionism, exacerbated somewhat by planting us in a white characters pov. 

irably defiant of genre expectations. very painful watch but maybe this history ought to be

the kind of snaking mumbling multithreaded talky extremely British spy drama that probably would have bored me a few years ago, but captivates me now that i am a dad 

London’s deepest covert intelligence hinges on the mundane happenings of office christmas parties, “Do not unplug” instructions penciled on the drywall, and political favor trading. paranoia permeates as all human interaction becomes a potential vector for information extraction, every shadow a possible strike from the enemy. and for what? when the most entrenched operatives know insignificance that belies their efforts 

akin to something like Zodiac, there’s something oddly comforting about the unease of this movie

Watched on Sunday May 11, 2025.

Watched on Saturday May 10, 2025.

Watched on Friday May 9, 2025.

Watched on Friday May 9, 2025.

Watched on Tuesday May 6, 2025.

Watched on Sunday May 4, 2025.

Watched on Sunday May 4, 2025.

Watched on Saturday May 3, 2025.

Watched on Saturday May 3, 2025.

Watched on Friday May 2, 2025.

Watched on Thursday May 1, 2025.

Watched on Wednesday April 30, 2025.

Watched on Monday April 28, 2025.

Watched on Sunday April 27, 2025.

Watched on Sunday April 27, 2025.

Watched on Saturday April 26, 2025.

Watched on Saturday April 26, 2025.

Watched on Saturday April 26, 2025.

Watched on Friday April 25, 2025.

A cute romcom about doing good and kindness towards others. Perhaps the nicest Nic Cage performance i can recall. A idealized portrayal of America where cops are cool and everyone’s totally normal around them. Brought down considerably by the misogynistic characterization of the antagonist: the main character’s wife. The screenplay is odd with bursts of the uncanny: a hotel clerk suddenly jumping to another customer, an extended bit about macadamia nuts, Cage questionably professing “we’ve spent so much time together.” If it came out today, i think the accusation would be leveraged that it was concocted by AI. 

A case study for isolated elements elevating - and in this case redeeming - the whole. Because the score is quite nice, and the cinematography is to die for. Lush celluloid blooms over an urban skyline with the comfortable blur of pre-digital photography. Colors flow with filmic warmth as simple but effective camera moves guide us deftly through location and mood, creating memorable visuals in an otherwise generic screenplay. The DP was definitely the MVP here.

Watched on Tuesday April 22, 2025.

Watched on Monday April 21, 2025.

Watched on Sunday April 20, 2025.

melancholic and at times morose in the A plot, filled with just enough dreamlike and striking imagery in it’s meta-visuals, The Fountain isn’t my favorite Aronofsky but it is one of his more respectable entries. Solid reflection on grief, loss, and acceptance.

Watched on Saturday April 19, 2025.

Mel Gibson’s $30 million dollar ultra-Catholic bible play wrought into reality. Glorious maximalist swords and sandals epic narrowed in on the death of Jesus.

Structurally it resembles the Good Friday readings at Roman Catholic services, which walk through each step of Christ’s ion, with individual omissions/additions depending on which of Four Evangelists’s s is recited. But here, all the s are combined, all Stations of the Cross included for the full suite of Jesus’s trials. 

Fascinatingly, the film does little to endear us to the Godhead or His disciples. In utter catholic form, the Last Supper is saved for juxtaposition with the Crucifixion, so we open dropped into Gethsemane with effective strangers, praying for strength in ancient Aramaic. The choice to use dead languages is immersive, but alienates the audience to a degree by nature. 

Instead, the film assumes that the viewer coming in will already love Him, have some sort of personal relationship with Jesus they can project onto this masculine but inviting portrayal. Unsavory, insane politics aside - Jim Cavezel absolutely commands this role. This is Catholic Jesus - He is serious, warm but authoritative, human but godly. We see flashbacks to His iconic moments without exposition or explanation. Gibson and co. expect you to recognize your scripture. 

And it seems like they were right if you look at the box office receipts. Anecdotally this film caused a huge splash in my catholic community when it released. At the time, I was deemed too young to view it at the theater. Since i was forbidden, i became rabid in my obsession to see it. I’d ask anyone who’d watched it to describe it to me. By the time i finally got to see it in vhs, i felt a little disappointed - having envisioned the film
dozens of times in my head. This felt like an overdue rewatch, seeing it again with relatively fresh eyes. 

Beyond the meticulous gospel accuracy, the inclusion of the Devil gives the film a mythological feel. In a sense, this is a story about two competing metaphysical entities, one trying to perform a ritual granting Him dominion over men, the other trying to dissuade Him. The choice to make Satan a woman may be questionably received, but I’m personally a fan. It’s a compelling contrast and adds a slight air of sexual tension. Plus, the actor is just eating in the part, Fruit from the Tree of Good and Evil and all. 

I actually think this film is kind of phenomenal, even if it is ed on the beams of questionable creatives and institutions. It’s very weird and anomalous, full of strange quirks that give cinematic flavor beyond wrote bible verse. Jesus crushing the snakes head, lingering on a decaying donkey, the unrepentant sinner losing his eye to a crow. It’s good stuff. I think the flashback to Mary Magdalene’s stoning is Gibson’s best directed scene. Yet, another moment paralleling Mother Mary witnessing her Son fall as a child and Him fall with the Cross - authentically human, and brilliantly executed, ittedly brought tears to my eyes. The women really drive this film.

A final note, it’s curious to think how insanely violent this picture is with almost all of its violence done upon its protagonist. The faithful may point to that as a profundity of the story; but I mention it here more as a narrative curiosity. It’s Jesus Christ, but it’s still the movies baby.

propulsive, visceral, rhythmic, sexy - Sinners is the cinematic event of 2025 so far. a beautiful synthesis of sound, emotion, and spectacle. The Americana  horror invokes Stephen King or John Carpenter - here interacting with the themes but not as directly metaphorical as a lot of modern day monsters. 

The film is messy, with sprawling thematic ideas that don’t all connect on first viewing, and a few that resolve somewhat corny. Still, those did little to hinder an excellent time at the movies, esp one with this many moments of sheer brilliance.

A foundational entry in the evergreen failed ministry genre, Black Narcissus is a captivating exploration at the collision of religious duty, personal history, rank structure, cultural norms, and psychological geography. That sounds like a lot, but it’s relatively brisk for its runtime, giving us all the pieces for stimulating questions without spoon-feeding us the answers. Visually, the film is phenomenal - ubiquitous wind fluttering flowing garments, lattices casting stark shadows across strained faces. 

had this on my watch list forever - thanks to Mel for recommending it to my wife and motivating us to finally watch it

You’d think a 3hr drama about prisoners of war in a nazi camp would be a miserable, harrowing experience. But despite the life-and-death, prisoner-and-freedom stakes, The Great Escape is jaunty and delightful throughout. Despite their circumstances, our heroes relish in their schemes to annoy and elude their wartime captors. It’s both invigorating and mesmerizing to watch them hatch splits and overcome obstacles through ingenuity and teamwork. Courage through mischief is somewhat underrepresented in much of cinema, but it’s available in spades here. 

Instantly an anytime/anywhere movie, deservedly regarded as one of the greats, and one of the highest peaks of dadcore 

watched the Kino Lorber 4k disc, which is supposedly somewhat inferior the Arrow Video HDR restoration. Nonetheless, this looked brilliant, and far crisper than when i saw bits of this film in broadcast tv as a kid

Mel Gibson’s Vietnam War vehicle…idk what i expected. it’s so corny in its attempts to center heroic American ethos it backfires, making the Vietnam Cong look far cooler and wiser than their western opponents. Technically impressive and filled with blood bursting squibs and huge explosions, it was probably a blast to film this - running around in the woods with Mel Gibson blowing stuff up. But it’s just so cheesy in its attempts to address racism, establish christian grounding, and appeal to American patriotism - it’s a tough pill to swallow. 

Interesting pairing with Warfare (2025) - two war movies very different in many ways. i blind bought this on physical for some reason and can’t lie, the media quality was excellent. look forward to revising this like on a war film binge or something, idk

Curious to see how this one ages in my mind, as it's pretty visceral and not much for resonant dialogue. It's an extremely committed realistic portrayal of modern warfare. It's really a further reflection that war is hell - not just in blood in bullets, but tedium, discomfort, confusion, fumbly fingers, strained focus, overwhelming complexities.

While we're fixed in the pov of the invading Americans, at times they do seem like frightening brutes, esp when the seize an Iraqi family's house in the dead of night, sledgehammering walls to poke their barrels through.

But the film is ultimately far more focused on the experience of the SEALs. We see little of the opposition force, primarily lingering on the psychological toll of this situation on the American warfighters involved.

The muscular, stress-inducing film-making provided a power experience, one I did find cheapened by the tribute real at the end. I'm know Ray Mendoza wanted to honor his veteran friends, but it immediately dismisses the question posed by that lingering final shot - what was any of this worth?

this non-magical period piece Ghibli film is great! appreciably upbeat for much of the runtime. Identifying so much with Umi’s responsibility-saddled existence, i was immediately endeared. I also found myself really won over by the romance, all butterfly-feeling…until the twist of course.

throughout, characters extol the need to know the past in order to forge the future. i had to pause and watch the last 15 minutes a little later than the rest of the feature. i was honestly expecting a much more romantic resolution, but the film focuses on our characters pasts now that we know they have a future together. it’s well constructed in that sense and more thought provoking for it.

really enjoyed this one. Studio Ghibli remains undefeated.

such a scary movie for girl dads 

Second Sight 4k release is awesome

a riff on The Searchers but not as problematic albeit problematic in new way. still quite epic and well wrought, deflated slightly by a relatively incoherent final shootout 

probably the best i’ve seen from Rob Howard 

a sale blind buy and im not mad about it

there’s more nuance in this humans vs monster gods story than the average american mind can comprehend

kinda watched this in pieces which was not ideal, feel the need to revisit soon. sad i couldn’t make it to the imax re-release

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

• Anora
• Far and Away
• Marriage Story
• Portrait of a Lady on Fire
• The Master
• Michael Clayton
• Scarface
• The Big Short
• The Fall
• Last Night in Soho

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

not catching as many films this year tbh

• Sinners
• Warfare
• Mickey 17
• Black Bag
• In the Lost Lands
• The Legend of Ochi
• Thunderbolts*

a couple of films i plan to watch for the first time in 2025

1. Thief
2. Mr. Brooks
3. Flow
4. Paths of Glory
5. Pitch Black
6. The Chronicles of Riddick
7. The Straight Story
8. Lost Highway
9. Godzilla vs. Megaguirus
10. Riddick

...plus 185 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

...yea

1. Dune: Part Two
2. Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga
3. Nosferatu
4. Flow
5. The Brutalist
6. Civil War
7. Challengers
8. Anora
9. Rebel Moon – Part One: A Child of Fire
10. The Substance

...plus 37 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

From late August through October, here’s all the ~spooky~ movies i’ve watched

1. Donnie Darko
2. Flatliners
3. Fright Night
4. Army of Darkness
5. Shaun of the Dead
6. Pet Sematary
7. Brightburn
8. Prince of Darkness
9. Lord of Illusions
10. In the Mouth of Madness

...plus 50 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

Movies that feel good to watch while lounging on a couch in a food coma with you family

• The Godfather
• The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected)
• The Irishman
• s Ha
• Fantastic Mr. Fox
• Spider-Man

1. GoodFellas
2. Raging Bull
3. The Irishman
4. The Wolf of Wall Street
5. Silence
6. Gangs of New York
7. Killers of the Flower Moon
8. Taxi Driver
9. The Last Temptation of Christ
10. Shutter Island

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

I'm a fake cinephile for not having seen these films

• The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari
• Nosferatu
• The ion of Joan of Arc
• Dracula
• The Invisible Man
• Gone with the Wind
• The Wolf Man
• Double Indemnity
• Black Narcissus
• The Red Shoes

...plus 114 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

1. Halloween
2. Halloween III: Season of the Witch
3. Halloween H20: 20 Years Later
4. Halloween II
5. Halloween
6. Halloween
7. Halloween Kills
8. Halloween Ends
9. Halloween II
10. Halloween: Resurrection

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

1. Alien
2. Aliens
3. Prometheus
4. Alien: Covenant
5. Alien: Romulus
6. AVP: Alien vs. Predator
7. Alien Resurrection
8. Alien³
9. Aliens vs Predator: Requiem

1. The Thing
2. Halloween
3. In the Mouth of Madness
4. They Live
5. Prince of Darkness
6. Escape from New York
7. Christine
8. The Fog
9. Escape from L.A.
10. Vampires

1. Videodrome
2. The Brood
3. Crash
4. The Fly
5. Crimes of the Future
6. Scanners
7. Eastern Promises
8. Dead Ringers
9. The Dead Zone

i don't even know anymore

1. Enys Men
2. Red Sparrow
3. Hell or High Water
4. Fast Times at Ridgemont High
5. You Were Never Really Here
6. Pitch Black
7. The Chronicles of Riddick
8. Riddick
9. Blindness
10. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

...plus 435 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

1. Requiem for a Dream
2. Black Swan
3. The Wrestler
4. mother!
5. Pi
6. The Whale

• Alien
• Blade Runner
• Thelma & Louise
• Gladiator
• The Martian
• Prometheus
• Alien: Covenant
• The Last Duel
• Kingdom of Heaven
• Black Hawk Down

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

In no particular order
My all time favorite films, for one reason or another ~

1. Dune
2. Dune: Part Two
3. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
4. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
5. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
6. Jurassic Park
7. Shin Godzilla
8. Memento
9. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
10. The Lighthouse

...plus 110 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

1. Aliens
2. Avatar: The Way of Water
3. Titanic
4. Terminator 2: Judgment Day
5. The Terminator
6. Avatar
7. The Abyss

1. Kinds of Kindness
2. Poor Things
3. The Favourite
4. The Killing of a Sacred Deer
5. The Lobster

• Close Encounters of the Third Kind
• Jurassic Park
• Jaws
• E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
• Raiders of the Lost Ark
• The Fabelmans
• Lincoln
• Catch Me If You Can
• Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
• Schindler's List

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

Watchmen position reflective of Ultimate Cut
Rebel Moon positions reflective of the Director's Cuts

1. Rebel Moon – Part One: A Child of Fire
2. Rebel Moon – Part Two: The Scargiver
3. 300
4. Watchmen
5. Man of Steel
6. Zack Snyder's Justice League
7. Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice
8. Dawn of the Dead

1. Oppenheimer
2. Memento
3. The Dark Knight
4. The Prestige
5. Interstellar
6. Tenet
7. Inception
8. Batman Begins
9. The Dark Knight Rises
10. Dunkirk

1. Fantastic Mr. Fox
2. The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou
3. The French Dispatch
4. The Grand Budapest Hotel
5. Rushmore
6. Bottle Rocket
7. Moonrise Kingdom

This is one of the hardest things I've tried to do...

1. Dune: Part Two
2. Dune
3. Blade Runner 2049
4. Arrival
5. Prisoners
6. Sicario
7. Incendies
8. Enemy

• Zodiac
• The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
• The Social Network
• Gone Girl
• The Killer
• Fight Club
• Se7en
• Alien³

1. Mulholland Drive
2. Blue Velvet
3. Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me
4. Inland Empire
5. Eraserhead
6. Dune

1. Dune
2. Dune: Part Two
3. Alien
4. Requiem for a Dream
5. Jurassic Park
6. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
7. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
8. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
9. Jaws
10. The Northman

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

in 2023, ranked lists are dumber than ever. here’s mine

1. Oppenheimer
2. Godzilla Minus One
3. The Zone of Interest
4. Past Lives
5. Perfect Days
6. Anatomy of a Fall
7. The Killer
8. Priscilla
9. Poor Things
10. Killers of the Flower Moon

...plus 54 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

Disclaimer: ranked lists are stupid

1. The Northman

   A Norse myth come to life, an uncompromising portrayal of ancient values, teeming with iconic imagery, visceral violence, and forceful film-making

2. Everything Everywhere All at Once

   Nihilistic Optimism urgently needed for our multiverse of noise, wrapped around a joyful but tear-jerking emotional center, luminescent with novel creativity

3. TÁR

   An immaculate character study that forces perspective on real world power systems and consequences to scandal through a lens on a fictional niche celebrity

4. Nope

   The 2022 film with the best discourse, Peele delivered his most expansive film yet - simultaneously a dense rumination on spectacle, exploitation, and trauma, and also a kick-ass monster movie

5. Top Gun: Maverick

   A tight return to blockbuster emotional sincerity and commitment to practical film-making, infused with adrenaline, fun, reverence, and the optimism of teamwork

6. RRR

   A film oozing with chemistry, charisma, charm, and aspiration, RRR soars as it's own anti-colonial buddy-cop action epic, but it's all the more magnificent for it's role as an introduction to the rich landscape of Indian Cinema to many western audiences, yours truly included.

7. Aftersun

   late game addition. poignant.

8. Avatar: The Way of Water

   We board Jim Cameron's Pandora Express once again, and no surprise: it can't be beat. An absolute technical marvel, Avatar 2 codifies the series' signatures - a 3D spectacular quasi-spiritual blend of amusement park ride and nature documentary with emotionally-resonant, unambiguous environmentalist propaganda

9. Pearl

   Pearl is the frightening story of psychopathy breeding in isolation, deprivation - all too relatable through pandemic parallels, Pearl taps into an unhinged, tragic nerve

10. Bones and All

    A film that treads it's premise skillfully to challenge and endear the audience, weaving an wistful emotional narrative that speaks to an "us against the world" romance most (if not all) of us have felt

...plus 65 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

For Reo's Positive POV, here's my top 10 Horror

Liable to change in an instant

1. Hereditary
2. Alien
3. The Thing
4. It Follows
5. The Shining
6. The Witch
7. Saint Maud
8. The Babadook
9. The Wailing
10. Possession

Will continue to update as I see films released in 2021

1. Dune
2. Spencer
3. The Worst Person in the World
4. tick, tick... BOOM!
5. Nightmare Alley
6. Drive My Car
7. Titane
8. Pig
9. The Green Knight
10. ing

...plus 35 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

seriously DO NOT WATCH THESE MOVIES

1. Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead

   this is the only movie ive ever gotten up and walked away from. its horrible. grotesque, gratuitous, but most of all distasteful. i hope to never ever return to this film. the fill opens with a zombie poking a guy in the b-hole and goes downhill from there

2. Birdemic: Shock and Terror
3. Nude Nuns with Big Guns
4. Strippers vs. Werewolves
5. Zombies vs. Strippers
6. Hobo with a Shotgun
7. Surf Ninjas
8. Gamer
9. Iron Monkey 2
10. The Crater Lake Monster