movies

I loved Arrival picked it at random one day. Blew my mind really unique film, incredible

Everything Everywhere All at Once - it's hard to describe without spoilers, so if you haven't seen just go watch it

Sinners, Everything Everywhere All At Once, and Lord of the Rings trilogy (saw it in theaters last year, it counts). I also really enjoyed Megalopolis but understand it's not a perfect film, kinda gonzo.

If you like Cthulhu type stuff then Nic Cage starred in an adaptation of Lovecraft's "Colors out of space" that my wife and I both really enjoyed.

A lot of people missed the 2008 adaptation of Speedracer done by the Wachowski sisters (same people who did the Matrix) which is a real shame because it's one of the all time best movies in existence so obviously recommend that.

If you've never seen Iron Sky it's a fun smaller budget film. Velocipastor is too (really recommend this one drunk with friends though). Oh, and Yoga Hosers too. Those three are so dumb but fun.

And finally, a few movies I've not seen yet but everyone I trust with film opinions have raved about: Hundreds of Beavers, Asteroid City, The Shadow Strays

Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)

Film from the 50s just hits different some times. I think this movie is especially poignant given the ramping up of military action globally.

Bugonia - a dark comedy about a CEO who is kidnapped by conspiracy theorists who think she’s an alien. I was iffy on it for the first half, but the latter half really paid off.

Sinners - such great music, and some great themes. Also kind of a dark comedy/horror. I found part of the ending so cathartic.

I Want You Back - maybe my favorite romcom

Ready or Not - another dark comedy/horror, a newly wed unwittingly plays a deadly game with her new in-laws.

8-bit Christmas - as you might imagine, this one is a Christmas movie

Inglourious Basterds - I rewatched this one recently, it’s maybe my favorite Tarantino flick

Bugonia. Skip trailers and go into it knowing nothing but the basic plot. It’s a wild ride.

I don't think I saw anyone mention it: Sorry to Bother You. Great movie about class struggle and fighting the corpo bullshit.

• The Running Man. It didn't make a lot of buzz, but it's a fairly faithful adaptation of one of my favorite Bachman books from one of my favorite directors: Edgar Wright (The Cornetto Trilogy).

Heat (1995)

It was just one of those movies that for some reason I'd never watched until about 6 months ago. I heard it was great and ,as it turns out, it certainly is.

Jojo Rabbit.

STALKER 1979 based on the sifi novel Roadside Picnic, and was the inspiration for the video game series of the same name. It reminded me of Annihiliation 2018 but less horror/action, and more lamentations on humanity.

Sinners was great

I'm going to be the lesser cinema snob here, but Hot Fuzz lives rent free in my mind.

Definitely the highlight of the corneto trilogy, and a great time. There's no single minute without a good joke.

Weapons (2025)

Everything everywhere all at once

Mike Nick Nick and Alice

Death to Smoochy both very funny and good

The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999). The on-set feel of Italy adds so much to the movie, and Matt Damon's performance is spectacular. You never know what might be going on in his head as he gets himself deeper and deeper into trouble. Incredible how much the movie does with only a few major characters.

I recently watched Rear Window. It was a fantastic movie. For such an old film, it’s aged really well.

The Secret World of Arrietty. An adaptation of The Borrowers, it has great determined teenage girl energy and gorgeous artwork that they really made the most of.

Princess Mononoke is one of my favorite films, so I've been slowly going through the Studio Ghibli catalog.

Hard to pick one, here are a few:

• Triangle of Sadness

• Challengers

• Conclave

• The Wrestler

• The Drama

Civil War. Kirsten Dunst is fantastic in it and Jesse Plemons has an unforgettable minor part. It's pretty bleak and could probably retitled "USA28" by now. But it"s my favourite film of the 2020s so far.

I rewatched Jackie Brown. So good.

• M: Really great acting and camera work
• Atatürk: I was really surprised on the great production since I've never really seen a Turkish movie
• Das Boot: Heard so mich about it but never really came around to wazch it until I has a long train ride. I really loved it. Make sure that you watch the series instead of the movie (it's a longer cut and contains everything that's in the movie)
• Mr K: Really Kafkaesque. I don't get why it's scored so low.
• The menu: Great acting amd cool story
• Late night with the devil: I rellay like films taking place in one confined environment.
• Adam's Apples: I like Mads Mikkelsen and I like the movies of that director.
• Bullet Train: again a confined place, funny and action driven movie that's easy to watch.
• The Rocky Horror Picture show: Just saw this at the beginning of this month for the verx first time at a cinema that had a whole participation bag. It was really fun how the audience shouted stuff, threw rice,.. Had sometimes a bit trouble to follow the movoe while preparing for the next thing to do (it's easier if you already know the movie) but still would do it again.

‘The Substance’ was a recent-ish one that's among maybe two new films that I properly liked from the past five or ten years (I'm picky). It's like something that Cronenberg might've cooked up back in the nineties. Best to go into it blind.

Takeshi Kitano's ‘Ryuzo and the seven henchmen’ and ‘Broken Rage’ show his trademark humor combined with the yakuza themes, even as he gets up in years.

‘Chungking Express’ is a great older film.

I really enjoyed The Father, though it was extremely sad.

The Act of Killing. Mind. Blown.

Fantastic planet (1973), I saw it a couple months ago and it stuck with me for awhile. Both the art style and the narrative.

Specifically because In watched the 3D rerelease, Coraline. That movie is so much better in 3D and you cannot tell me otherwise.

I watched Memories of Murder again last night and that's maybe my favourite film ever so I guess that counts on a technicality!

Best new (to me) film I've watched recently was The Life of Chuck (in October last year). It was a beautiful, life-affirming film that left me feeling very emotional and contemplative for at least a week after I'd seen it. I have been thinking about watching it again this year, perhaps with some other family or friends to see if it impacts them too.

Flow (2024)

It's hard to describe what this movie is, but it's damn beautiful and manages to tell an interesting, heart-warming, tear-jerking story without a single line of dialog. Don't watch the trailer.

I feel like Listers counts, went in completely blind and hadn't even finished it before it was in my top 3 docs I've seen. A documentary about two stoners competing in the toughest birdwatching competition in the US, genuinely exceptional quality uploaded for free, no ads, with the guy turning down offers from multiple corps to keep it free for everyone.

I gotta say Perfect Blue

Ferrari, Sinners, The Secret Agent, ~~Would You Rather~~, Tetsuo: The Iron Man, ~~Perfect Blue~~, Videodrome...

Edit: Just saw you say you're not good with psychological horror.

It's much more than just the last few years but Fucking Åmål (Show Me Love is the English title).

Might just be the age I saw it at made it more resonant (very much a film concerned with Young Love™) but definitely a comfort film.

If it doesn’t matter when it came out then it would be Yi Yi by Edward Yang. It’s a Taiwanese film from 2000 that is so beautiful I cried while watching it twice in the cinema recently during its 4K restoration and 25th anniversary run. Everything about it is pretty much perfect in my opinion (with maybe the murder twist being a bit odd).

It tells the story of three different family members - the father, the daughter, and the son, as they just… deal with life to be honest. Old loves reappear, new ones are formed, things go well, thing go bad. It’s beautifully simple, just a film about people, but the way it’s presented - from the cinematography, to the writing, music, and acting - is done so well that I personally can’t help but feel it’s a must-watch for every human being.

For some fun extras that I won’t opine much also:

• pretty much anything by Wim Wenders (Alice in the Cities; Kings of The Road; Paris, Texas; Perfect Days)
• The Bitter Tears of Petra Von Kant (It’s lesbian 12 Angry Men)
• The Connection (it’s jazzy and drug addicted 12 Angry Men)
• The Battle of Algiers
• 8 1/2
• Tokyo Fist
• Strike (yes, from 1925)
• Girlfriends (1978)
• from more recent movies I really loved the comedies Better Off Dead (the Indonesian film) and The Last Viking. Die My Love, The Drama, and Marty Supreme were also excellent.