It's the annual movie post! These get weirder every year because they've mostly gone from my theater visits of new movies from the year, to now my current practice of watching stuff at home because I don't have the hips for cinema visits anymore. Lots and lots of the stuff is for my podcast — Yours, Mine, & Theirs. I've gone ahead and put podcast episodes in the parentheses at the end of the review capsules where applicable. Anyway, here we go in the usual four sections:
Top 18 Movies of 2023!
(whoa, only 18 of these)
Hey Sundance movies, all those lingering scenes with extraordinarily similar character interactions and void expressions can be just as egregious as a movie stuffed with CGI nonsense.
17. Asteroid City
Okay so this might be my favorite Wes Anderson setting and *the character played by Jeff Goldblum* is a real hoot, but when I saw this I’m fairly certain it ruined my entire weekend. I just can’t take the dry stilted Anderson dialogue deliveries any more and I said this like five Anderson movies ago. At one point Schwartzman puts his hand on a grill and doesn’t know why and I think it’s to give him a chance to scream and just break the desert-dry method of speaking. Also I get that there are levels of presentation here. There’s some kind of message in the act of acting and presentation and artifice that gets to a deeper life meaning (hence “you can’t wake up if you don’t fall asleep”), BUT, and this is very much how I felt with The French Dispatch as well, the added layer just presents an additional wall to whatever the message is supposed to be, rather than a window.
16. Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania
Paul Rudd is STILL Ant-Man — the man who drastically shrinks but is still confident enough to have a sense of humor about it! Other Ant-men movies: lots of real-world size comparisons to relate to. This Ant-man movie: completely made-up world where I don’t know how big things are. Also a less funny world even though the buildings are alive and seem very nice.
15. Kim's Video
I got to see this at Sundance technically. Technically it's Sundance technology that allowed a home viewing. Kim's Video is that video store in New York that really cultivated the idea of video clerks movie authorities worth seeking out like gurus. Impressive little story full of all sorts of the nostalgia draperies. Could use a bit more punchiness with the execution though.
14. Wham!
Perfect thing to drift off to. I like it a lot because it’s wall-to-wall Wham music, but like every quick doc that packs the pleasure footage in, I find myself just wanting more data. Let’s talk recording, let’s talk session musicians, let’s talk recording techniques, let’s talk tour personnel, let’s talk Pepsi. What happened to Pepsi??
13. Saltburn
Counting this as watched even though I drifted off a lot in the first 45 minutes and had spectacularly weird dreams. I awoke do a different weirdness. A dull weirdness that made me wonder how Richard E. Grant and Rosamund Pike came into their money. They probably mentioned it somewhere in there. Anyway, when the horror comes, it’s tolerable, and very cinematic. Everyone just exudes so much fakery they’re difficult to see as real. Maybe that’s a blessing.
12. Please Don't Destroy: The Treasure of Foggy Mountain
If the title looks familiar, these are the guys who do those two-minute digital shorts on Saturday Night Live now, but they're not called digital shorts anymore. The movie is funny. You’ll laugh. But they spend a lot of time in between those laughs pretending to care about stuff. Bottom line, this type of humor is best two minutes at a time.
11. Aliens Abducted My Parents and Now I Feel Kinda Left Out
It's a kids' Sundance movie! A weirdo looks for his parents, who... well you gotta love a good title that explains things. Good whimsical fun with a few things helping it out, like its point of view is from a normal girl adjacent to the weird character of the title. She goes from bitter to normal to sweet. Wouldn’t have minded a reprieve from the obnoxiousest younger brother though.
10. Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny
Indiana Jones struggles as an action and archeological relic in the late 60s. It's a bit fun and maybe as good as it could be considering the limitations. No spoilers but let’s just say upfront that I like the third act big swing. But also it pains me to say that the face-swapping CGI of this will age worse than the bug-generating technology of Crystal Skull. But it really comes down to the objective truth that we had a 10-year window for Indiana Jones and we’re 34 years beyond that. Sorry to dismiss on concept alone, but the Indy magic exists in the past and we can only unearth it like buried treasure rather than attempting to counterfeit the magic presently. Indiana belongs in the past, despite what Phoebe Waller-Bridge says at the end. Okay fine I guess that’s a spoiler.
9. The Boys in the Boat
Hey now we know where Mike Pence got the inspiration to get disgusted by athletes and storm out of stadiums (from Hitler). Also best supporting actor to the 1.5 seconds of the Frenchman earnestly hearing his Frenchies row on the radio. I was supposed to read this book, but I put it off. Upon finishing the movie, I was informed what I assumed while watching, that yes, the book goes into much more detail about each individual boy. They should have called this The BOY in the Boat. Pluralize the boy! Give me boys!
8. Barbie
For whatever reason our showing decided to throw the captions up there. I was not warned properly. I like captions and usually have them on, BUT with certain comedies such as this, it often undercuts the punchline too soon. Also, the four most annoying young ladies sat in front of us and were jumping and giggling in their seats before the movie started. They calmed down during the movie, only to resurface every once in a while to mock the young ladies sitting directly to my right, and who had the most annoying laughs in human existence. So THEY became annoyingest-er. But anyway all that context probably doesn’t matter, cuz the more I think about it, the more I commend Gerwig for supplying so many points of view as she does. As a card-carrying member of the patriarchy, I’m pleased the aloof Ken receives more compassion than deserved. Allan, Skipper, TV back Barbie, Mattel execs aren’t simply punchlines, but voices. Well, naive voices, but not just paper-thin targets. Still, maybe all that doesn’t even matter because even though I don’t have what she’s got, it’s Margot Robbie’s insecurities I empathize with. Wow she must be good if I believe she can look like that and still have problems. Okay but Sasha I don’t believe. Little kids that age are evil and I don’t believe her being on board after such a harsh Barbie takedown. I am curious what we think a year from now. I think the hype was perfect, but will the meaning last? My guess is no. I wrote all of the above just a little while after I saw it, and I'm actually quite surprised I had that much at the time. In the months that have passed I've sort of felt defensive about this movie from people who think it's empty man-hating material and also a quite a bit annoyed by the movie's supporters who retain the same amount of energetic hype from before the movie came out. It just seems like the hype and the gleam went further than they needed to go and the hype and the gleam is what we really will remember.
7. The Disappearance of Shere Hite
Sundance online. Ever heard the name Shere Hite? I hadn't. According to the movie it turns out she brought a lot of knowledge regarding human sexuality into the mainstream, but was quite subdued because the knowledge didn't work well with society at the time. She seems a bit strange, but I experience guilt feelings when old sex misunderstandings are still new to me. Oh well let’s re-learn everything because it turns out her knowledge is only now becoming heard again.
6. The Holdovers
The semester is over, but Angus Tully’s education has just begun. I guarantee that was thrown around the office as a tagline. Paul Giamatti has to babysit one of his students over the break, but who's the real baby? It's Paul Giamatti. He's petty and grouchy and his legs don't work like a full-grown human. Still, his heart warms. Sorry if that's a spoiler, but it's not a spoiler because you know what kind of movie this is, in a good way. The 70s setting is a real star here with a transportive 70s look and feel in the filmmaking. (YM&T#130 The Holidoversed)
5. Oppenheimer
I knew beforehand it's long and has a ton of talking, but the swirling montage method makes the biopic excitinger than usual for three hours. Well, if not exciting, at least more anxiety-laden. I have discovered though that I’d be a lousy politician because I can’t keep all the faces straight, even with helpful face flashbacks. Surprisingly, it’s trying to remember who all the different suited guys are that makes me the most nervous, rather than the end of humanity in nuclear proliferation. Yeah it’s where you’re trying to remember everyone’s name when they just steal the a-bombs out from under you.
4. Flora and Son
Well I’m giving an obvious positive on this. It’s John Carney after all with my level of simultaneous eagerness and sarcasm that somehow equals joy. In this, Eve Hewson (Bono's daughter!) is having trouble relating to her hooligan son in a life way and especially in a music way — he eschews her guitar gift for GarageBand. Carney takes a leap from the pureness of songwriting glee of the past into something modern. There is a show stopping one two punch of musical numbers in the middle that really brings it. I consider myself an Eve Hewson fan (check out Bad Sisters rather than Robin Hood with that one). But, BUT, despite the obvious positive with those two middle songs, it’s not wall to wall joyous music like Once and Sing Street, and (perhaps unfairly) will be relegated to John Carney’s “even movie curse.” Very unfair to say with the positive review, but it’s Carney’s fault for doing so well those other times. With this in mind here’s my new recommended viewing order:
1. Once
2. Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
3. Sing Street
4. Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home
3. You Hurt My Feelings
Author Julia Louis-Dreyfuss overhears her husband say he doesn't much care for her recent writing. That's it. That's the whole movie, but I really like how everyone is as fragile as me and not one character says “grow a pair!” to any of the other characters. Our bond of fragility gives us combined strength. Also Julia Louis-Dreyfus can mutter anything under her breath and I’ll be delighted.
2. Infinity Pool
These pretentious elites are getting away with murder… ING THEMSELVES! Alexander Skarsgård heads to a walled-off resort in a weird country and runs afoul of the law. His restitution is both horrifying and perversely pleasurable if you're into that kind of thing. I'm not, but he is. Also there's a nice bit of judgment toward the privilegeds' state of essential non-humanity. Mia Goth provides a terrifically unhinged mirror universe Hayley Mills performance. Not good PR for my nice girl Pastor Nina from Kim's Convenience I must say! Also nice that Skarsgård’s insane Succession confidence can be, uh, squirted away so easily. (YM&T#123 The Rosstler Meets Vanillity Pool)
1. Bottoms
Rachel Sennott and Ayo Edebiri start a fight club of sorts in high school so they can get with the cheerleaders. Okay now THIS is my feminism: jittery horniness. I love the crazy descent of it all. The show starts grounded-adjacent and gets more and more nuts. The ladies are insane. The dudes are off-world insane. I've been told I laughed more during this movie than any other movie this year. And also I was the only one laughing.
Top 81 Movies From Before That I'd Never Seen Before!
(81 is the reverse of 18!)
81. Silent Night, Deadly Night Part 2 (1987)
Absurdly derivative. Literally 45% Xerox of the first with all those flashbacks. Also amazingly un-Christmasy and quite gross.
80. Robin Hood (2018)
Oh sigh do I even have to write a review? Ugh anyway spoiler Jamie Foxx smelts a metal hoof to his arm. That's a thing that happens in this verson of Robin Hood. Also Maid Marian is portrayed as one of the poor and oppressed, but she has at least $500 worth of eye makeup on. Watch for future comedy star Jamie Dornan of Barb and Star fame! (YM&T#109: Rounds Robin)
79. Every Which Way but Loose (1978)
Clint Eastwood gets shown up acting-wise by an orangutan while pursuing Sondra Locke. Some good hillbilly music and Beverly D’Angelo and her guy whatsisname have a leisurely bit of fun humor about them, but not nearly enough trucks and Eastwood is too uptight and aloofly mean, and oh yeah, it turns out I hate apes. (YM&T#118: Truck Be a Lady Tonight)
78. My Son (2021)
Someone's kid is missing in Scotland and James McAvoy totally gets real about it. Watched because I was on my way to Scotland. Learned that in Scotland people offer you a friendly whiskey rather than water or coffee. Also learned that when I see a movie with a bunch of implications on the side that don’t actually lead anywhere, it’s not very refreshing, but rather more “hey maybe we should just watch Taken.”
77. Warlock (1989)
"Satan also has one son." What an amazing tagline! What a concept wrapped up in a few words! Julian Sands is the titular Satanic son and he's charming when he's around. Starts so very promising but once you realize they’re trying to rip off Terminator, you’re all like hey give Sands more screen time! He deserves it! He’s on the poster! Also a pretty dull road trip with Lori Singer and Richard E. Grant. Richard E. Grant is fun in his way.
76. The Cheap Detective (1978)
Peter Falk plays a non-Columbo detective with plenty of exes all over town giving him a hard time. This is more of a detective movie parody filled with dad-like jokes I’d love to tell others in normal circumstances, but in these circumstances, I’m just a little annoyed (and perhaps offended by boredom). (YM&T#119: Jeepers Croupiers)
75. Body Slam (1986)
Unlike professional wrestling, this movie feels like it was made up as it went along. Dirk Benedict is a music manager and then suddenly he's like, wrestling... how different could that be? Anyway, semi-interesting events happen amidst semi-interesting very 80s jokes and semi-interesting wrestling-like pratfalls. First of two movies I watched this year starring A View to a Kill's Tanya Roberts. Sometimes it just works out that way. (YM&T#107: The Wrest of the Story)
74. Caesar and Cleopatra (1945)
Claude Rains dons Roman emperor garb to do some sly political work in Egypt, while svengali-ing a young Cleopatra. The last gasp of mid-century acting and afternoon backyard playtime with a weirdly extraordinary set budget. The boringest of 17th century Shakespeare-adjacent phrases chucked into a first century setting by 19th century author George Bernard Shaw. Messy. Slightly fun. (YM&T#120: Taking a Rainscheck)
73. Donnie Brasco (1997)
Hey it's an undercover movie. Johnny Depp is undercover and he's not happy about it. There is so much dang gangsterspeak in this. How do gangsters not get tired of talking that way? Super glad they hang a lantern on the concept of "fuggedaboudit" as a word. It’s intensely egregious. Next movie though I want to spend a good 90 minutes hanging in the tape room with Tim Blake Nelson and Paul Giamatti while they listen to undercover recorded audio and comment on it.
72. Puppet Master: The Littlest Reich (2018)
I’ll bet there are smaller reichs. I mean what about the first and second? Anyway, this movie has more death than laughs and is kinda more of a bummer than is necessary. Oh and it's about Nazi puppets murdering people if you didn't get that context. (YM&T#124: New Horder)
71. The Banshees of Inisherin (2022)
This was a big Oscar flick from the end of last year I was really looking forward to. Lots of people love it. It's annoying and empty though. The crashing of the Irish waves soothe me, but I'm fare more annoyed than enlightened with the gruesome shock allegoryness.
81. Silent Night, Deadly Night Part 2 (1987)
Absurdly derivative. Literally 45% Xerox of the first with all those flashbacks. Also amazingly un-Christmasy and quite gross.
80. Robin Hood (2018)
Oh sigh do I even have to write a review? Ugh anyway spoiler Jamie Foxx smelts a metal hoof to his arm. That's a thing that happens in this verson of Robin Hood. Also Maid Marian is portrayed as one of the poor and oppressed, but she has at least $500 worth of eye makeup on. Watch for future comedy star Jamie Dornan of Barb and Star fame! (YM&T#109: Rounds Robin)
79. Every Which Way but Loose (1978)
Clint Eastwood gets shown up acting-wise by an orangutan while pursuing Sondra Locke. Some good hillbilly music and Beverly D’Angelo and her guy whatsisname have a leisurely bit of fun humor about them, but not nearly enough trucks and Eastwood is too uptight and aloofly mean, and oh yeah, it turns out I hate apes. (YM&T#118: Truck Be a Lady Tonight)
78. My Son (2021)
Someone's kid is missing in Scotland and James McAvoy totally gets real about it. Watched because I was on my way to Scotland. Learned that in Scotland people offer you a friendly whiskey rather than water or coffee. Also learned that when I see a movie with a bunch of implications on the side that don’t actually lead anywhere, it’s not very refreshing, but rather more “hey maybe we should just watch Taken.”
77. Warlock (1989)
"Satan also has one son." What an amazing tagline! What a concept wrapped up in a few words! Julian Sands is the titular Satanic son and he's charming when he's around. Starts so very promising but once you realize they’re trying to rip off Terminator, you’re all like hey give Sands more screen time! He deserves it! He’s on the poster! Also a pretty dull road trip with Lori Singer and Richard E. Grant. Richard E. Grant is fun in his way.
76. The Cheap Detective (1978)
Peter Falk plays a non-Columbo detective with plenty of exes all over town giving him a hard time. This is more of a detective movie parody filled with dad-like jokes I’d love to tell others in normal circumstances, but in these circumstances, I’m just a little annoyed (and perhaps offended by boredom). (YM&T#119: Jeepers Croupiers)
75. Body Slam (1986)
Unlike professional wrestling, this movie feels like it was made up as it went along. Dirk Benedict is a music manager and then suddenly he's like, wrestling... how different could that be? Anyway, semi-interesting events happen amidst semi-interesting very 80s jokes and semi-interesting wrestling-like pratfalls. First of two movies I watched this year starring A View to a Kill's Tanya Roberts. Sometimes it just works out that way. (YM&T#107: The Wrest of the Story)
74. Caesar and Cleopatra (1945)
Claude Rains dons Roman emperor garb to do some sly political work in Egypt, while svengali-ing a young Cleopatra. The last gasp of mid-century acting and afternoon backyard playtime with a weirdly extraordinary set budget. The boringest of 17th century Shakespeare-adjacent phrases chucked into a first century setting by 19th century author George Bernard Shaw. Messy. Slightly fun. (YM&T#120: Taking a Rainscheck)
73. Donnie Brasco (1997)
Hey it's an undercover movie. Johnny Depp is undercover and he's not happy about it. There is so much dang gangsterspeak in this. How do gangsters not get tired of talking that way? Super glad they hang a lantern on the concept of "fuggedaboudit" as a word. It’s intensely egregious. Next movie though I want to spend a good 90 minutes hanging in the tape room with Tim Blake Nelson and Paul Giamatti while they listen to undercover recorded audio and comment on it.
72. Puppet Master: The Littlest Reich (2018)
I’ll bet there are smaller reichs. I mean what about the first and second? Anyway, this movie has more death than laughs and is kinda more of a bummer than is necessary. Oh and it's about Nazi puppets murdering people if you didn't get that context. (YM&T#124: New Horder)
71. The Banshees of Inisherin (2022)
This was a big Oscar flick from the end of last year I was really looking forward to. Lots of people love it. It's annoying and empty though. The crashing of the Irish waves soothe me, but I'm fare more annoyed than enlightened with the gruesome shock allegoryness.
70. Critters 2 (1988)
I never saw the original critters, but I can tell you two things I like better about this one. One, good use of Easter as a horror holiday by folding the alien critters' eggs into the egghunt plot. Those fun alien eggs really revitalized this sleepy town’s economy. And two, at one point all the Critters clump into a big giant ball that rolls over a guy. (YM&T#125: ‘s Monster)
69. Bandolero! (1968)
Had to watch this because Raquel Welch is in it and she died and this is how I honored her. She's caught up in Jimmy Stewart's and Dean Martin's old west shennanigans. I’ve never seen Jimmy Stewart so old — and I’ve seen Mr. Krueger’s Christmas. Welch gets just a handful of girlish smirks. Hey as I'm typing this I think I also watched Fantastic Voyage also to honor Raquel Welch, but apparently didn't log it. If I remember right, Welch does the scientist thing and also screams in horror at mutated blood cells and all that. Note to future self: maybe you also watched Fantastic Voyage in 2023 (I also use this blog for record-keeping).
68. Road to Morocco (1942)
My first Bob Hope and Bing Crosby joint! It's not as good as that one Bob Hope movie I saw as a kid on channel 11 (The Princess and the Pirate), and I assumed Hope would be the weak link of the two. Bob is not a singer and Bing is more of a drinker and Dorothy Lamour is mostly a sitter. Curious to see their other collabs, even though I hear this is the one to see. (YM&T#129: Duo Lingo)
67. Corsage (2022)
I think it says something about opulent privilege at loggerheads with a shameful lack of women’s rights leading to an unfortunate empty life but all I can think of is her husband’s removable sideburns. I wrote that line 364 days ago. I can't remember what this movie is about. Oh wait that's right. Vicky Krieps is an Austrian empress and despite her station, her liberties are very limited. Ah right. That first sentence makes more sense now. Krieps is always pretty good.
66. Big Top Pee-wee (1988)
I love the effort. It’s Pee-Wee-level weird with all that animal acting going on, but it’s obviously missing the Burton-level weird. Oh and weird choice making Pee-Wee such a sex addict. Mega horny Pee-Wee freaks me out. It's def not right.
65. Ladies and Gentlemen, the Fabulous Stains (1982)
A teenage Diane Lane is sick of home life so she starts a punk band and then never smiles again. After hobnobbing with the male punks of the time, understandably the band follows the Behind the Music cycle of disintegration. It's an intriguing look at band politics as well as media relationship with the public, but with actual Clashers and Pistols in the arsenal, some more intriguing music is really required. Love the quick wrap-up at the end. I love love love the 80s, but it’s funny how individuality inevitably eventually always gave way to hair mousse back then.
64. Scent of a Woman (1992)
It's THE hoo-ha Pacino movie. Finally got around to it and while I knew beforehand it's got blind, spirited, loud Pacino, I wasn't aware that it also has depressed and resentful Pacino too. Those parts are less fun and sort of more what the movie is about. Also Chris O'Donnell has troubles of his own dealing with entitled school preppies. Some fun lines, but I think I don’t really need an asshole’s advice and any reason to keep mum about any prep school assholes.
63. Enter the Dragon (1973)
First time viewer! It's THE classic martial arts movie! It's also weirdly muddled with actual movie-making baggage (story, characters, setting) rather than Bruce Lee baggage (lots more kicking). Maybe something can be said of Bruce Lee as a director because his directorial films I’ve seen seem way less professional but still way more fun.
62. Spirited (2022)
I lived under a rock last year because I guess everyone saw this for Christmas 2022. Favorable, because it's a modern sequel to A Christmas Carol and lightly asks a few questions of goodness. Is goodness more than an on/off switch or does it take a lifetime of work? Unfavorable because it glances at the question while spending too much time on holiday Will Ferrell sing-face and loud background dancers. Okay hear me out, how about a quick and spectacular version WITHOUT all the singing and dancing? (YM&T#130: The Holidoversed)
61. Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India (2001)
Ever see that Sylvester Stallone movie World War II soccer movie called Victory? Well this is similar to that in that the downtrodden play a high-stakes sporting game against their oppressors. This time it's cricket in India. The length of this picture is very very impressive, but one would think a four-hour movie would expound a little more on how to actually play cricket. Also, there's a cute Indian girl who's super feisty and she's not allowed to play cricket, but I totally thought she'd infiltrate. (YM&T# 106: Christel Chlear)
60. All Quiet on the Western Front (2022)
I'll spoil a little. This is that World War I depiction that's all about, as so many war films are, the senselessness of war itself. You know, they could have saved A LOT of Great War lives if they just cut 15 minutes of this movie — since that last 15 minutes depicts the "overtime" part of the war where they fought even after the final buzzer rang. Anyway they must've hauled in a ton of mud for this thing. We made a cake or something for this movie for our Oscar party and it was made to look like just a big field of mud.
59. Annie Get Your Gun (1950)
🎵 The gun’ll come out, tomorrow/ bet your bottom dollar she’ll have a gun/ She’ll shoot your lights out, tomorrow/ and a bunch of Injuns will get gunned 🎶 — This has the liveliness of tremendous 50s musicals, but all that energy swirls and drains with some less fun messaging. (YM&T#127: Frankincense’s Monster)
58. The Speed Cubers (2020)
This is a quick Netflix lark of a doc about professional kid Rubik's Cube solvers. One of these cubers is super super nice, which I think is a good component of how he’s excelled at speed cubing, but man there’s competition behind his eyes. I’d like to see him in ten years to see if his friendliness or his competitiveness has consumed him more.
57. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022)
Somehow they made another Black Panther movie despite Chadwick Boseman's tragic death. That leaves a lot on Letitia Wright's shoulders as Shuri — both in Wakanda and IRL in a world without Bozeman. Good that Namor comes along so quickly because the remaining characters are women and I don't think Ryan Coogler is as comfortable as possible with woman-on-woman dialogue. Also a big boat in the middle of the ocean might not be the best venue for confronting beings with control of the sea. Start the Vibranium machine in the middle of the Sahara for glavin out loud. I just said a lot of Marvel technology. I hope everyone remembers what all this stuff is talking about. I think we're all a little behind on our Marvel Universe technical manuals. The next Marvel phase better strip a lot of these things down. Maybe finally introduce Punchman. I think I can understand that guy (if indeed Punchman exists).
56. Women Talking (2022)
Women of an isolated religious sect get together and decide if leaving the community is what they, and God, want. These women don’t really sound like they grew up together in a religious community. There's a lot of various Hollywood voice and midwest big city-ness, but they still make valid points.
55. Murders in the Rue Morgue (1932)
It's a scary ape story where a mad scientist tries to mix ape blood with human blood. And it's in France, where King Kong and Donkey Kong, how you say, rendezvous? Great ape double work. I wrote that "ape double work" line when I originally logged this on Letterboxd several months ago and it confused me. I now realize what I meant was great work by the guy in the costume who doubled as an ape, not great work by the two apes. Wait, were there two apes in that movie? Shoot, now we'll never know.
54. The Replacement Killers (1998)
Chow Yun-Fat needs a passport and Mira Sorvino is the only one hot enough to get it done in time before guys with guns come after them both. Most of this movie is Chow Yun-Fat shooting one direction, then immediately shooting the other direction. While that’s not much meat to chew on, I appreciate the overall leanness of all other meat. This thing moves, without the weight of dumb villain dialogue and unnecessary rainy graveside dwells like so many other gun-totin' flicks from the era. (YM&T#121: Dark Coma Replacements)
53. Squaring the Circle: The Story of Hipgnosis (2022)
This is the documentary by famed Depeche Mode photographer and videographer Anton Corbijn about Hipgnosis, the famed album art firm. You know. You've seen Dark Side of the Moon. A bit weird that the director, a noted album artist himself, keeps his opinion completely out of the picture. I get the sense his focus is on the inevitable collapse of art under the burden of artists' personalities. Spinal Tap should probably have been mentioned, but maybe that’s too obvious.
52. Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990)
Regarded as a meta classic amongst my ilk. But also my ilk often sickens me. I think I get what the movie is going for by making so much fun of the original, but it's not a decision I necessarily need to like. Love meta and love Joe Dante, but this is a teensy bit too much of both. Maybe. (YM&T#124: New Horder)
51. Sex and the City 2 (2010)
Assumed going in that it’s just the girls on a Middle East vacation the whole time, which is what I was looking forward to. I mean we all deserve a bit more frivolity after the last movie. Turns out the usual relationship drama precedes the big vacay so much that by the time we’re all in Abu Dhabi, I’m annoyed we’re there. Lots of minutes in this movie. Their crazy crazy desert outfits amuse me though. Thanks for just a tiny bit more Stanford (could’ve been a bunch more though — maybe Carrie could see more parallel problems between his marriage and hers). Whatever, it’s its own fun and I’m ready to watch the new show now. UPDATE: the new show is fine, albeit sad, because the girls are old and tremendously uncool and they're totally coming to terms with that.
50. Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris (2022)
Lesley Manville is Mrs. Harris. Her husband is gone so the only thing she can do is travel to Paris, storm the gates of Dior, and get the dress she deserves. Even to Paris elites, her downhome charm and nostalgic country wisdom wins hearts! Everybody is delightful! Well except Mrs. Harris; she’s annoying. (YM&T#113: Time to Make Words Sound Like Each Other)
49. The Parent Trap II (1986)
Hayley Mills in split screen is back and she/they gotta help her daughter/niece and friend get Tom Skerritt/Skerritt over to the other Hayley (if I remember right). If I saw this as a kid I’d wonder why Hayley Mills #2 was so willing to go along with her niece’s harebrained scheme. Now as an adult, I’ve come to never underestimate adult horniness. All versions of Hayley Mills deserve to totally get it. Plus the little girls have the very best cookie recipe. Seen on VHS as God intended.
48. Sex and the City (2008)
And thus begins and ends Carrie’s goth season. Hey if Steve and Big get a break, let’s have more justice for Smith Jerrod next time, okay? Also I want way more Stanford in my SatC movies. [NOTE: there wasn't much Stanford in the next movie]
47. EO (2022)
Astounding prequel to that Michael Jackson Tomorrowland feature. This is actually one of those donkey point of view movies. Maybe see Au Hasard Balthazar for one more example. Anyway, it highlights human beings' weird tendency to shove away the things that don't fit in with our personal selfish environments. Actually, I think they may need another flick to set me entirely straight in the EO universe. Also, lots of fresh imagery for a donkey movie. It’s the wonder and horror through a noble animal’s eyes.
46. Eternals (2021)
It took being sick to finally get to this. To me it’s surprisingly… similar to the rest of the Marvel movies. The first half has so much hero-posing it’s practically parody rather than giving itself room to be real and grounded — which is what I expected from Chloe Zhou (famous for working with non-actors and blurring the line between narrative and documentary). Ultimately, like the other Marvelies, I get a bit sucked in with the eventual, even predictable side switchings. Even more, the mythological excitement of rising against gods trumps whatever religious excitement I was planning for this Sunday. A nice divergence from the Marvel universe as there's likely no way the galactic life-changing events of this movie make it into Marvel's main thread.
45. Win Win (2011)
Paul Giamatti is a lawyer and a wrestling coach. Good at neither. A reckoning comes in the form of a wrestling whiz kid who's actually the grandson of the client he wronged. A lot of jokes and the wrestling stuff kind of get in the way of the morality message, but who needs even more heavy-handedness? Here’s to light-handedness! Good job movie for taking a smiling approach rather than a dour one. (YM&T#107: The Wrest of the Story)
44. Thirteen Women (1932)
This was a good way to start scary season. Old scary and femme scary. Someone's murdering ex mean girls from an old sorority. Didn't know such cliques even existed in 1932. The fun and sultry villain is quite exotic. Guessing at the time this movie was a dire warning against immigrants. Right now it’s a dire call from outsiders feeling forced to pass as white while all the sorority chicks are oblivious to the predicament.
43. Leaving Las Vegas (1995)
I don't THINK the Sheryl Crow song is in this film. I think this is where Nicolas Cage won an Oscar. It's one of those Oscar-winning roles — a death's door drunk. I'm pretty surprised Elizabeth Shue falls for this guy, but love and acceptance must come in strange ways. Also love and acceptance can be very enabling (in the good way and the bad way). (YM&T#104: 2023: A Sad Odyssey)
42. Skinamarink (2022)
Kids get lost in their own home when a haunting that rivals Poltergeist's static tv causes all sorts of horrific discomfort. The movie is filmed lo-fi, at low angles, and a very specific look that appears like late night television out of the corner or your eye. I would say the trailer is better because it gave me no time to acclimate to the dark static and 20th century wood panel style. My nerves remained on edge by the end though (even though I lamed-out a lot by checking my other screens in the middle). This is an excellent case of ideal viewing alone in a dark basement rather than a crowded cinema.
41. Triangle of Sadness (2022)
There’s nothing quite like social commentary that’s a bit more about the faults of human nature more than the faults of the system. This one gives me nervous convulsions. We're no good and it's not gonna take much to make us go tribal on each other. Anyway the unusual structure involves a good-looking young couple going through issues, their trip (now as side characters) on a doomed pleasure yacht full of sloshy deck waves and heavy vomit, and then the third act of this small society's collapse between haves and have nots. Also when we saw this, I was prepping Katie for her first cruise and that storm and vomit scene did very little to help.
40. The Menu (2022)
Anya Taylor-Joy goes up against a chef's lavish and deadly agenda. This is yet another movie that's really about the splitting of society further into haves and have nots and the damage done to all. Good fun, but emotion-wise a bit more of an intellectual exercise than a cheeseburger. Cheeseburger is a reference to one of the foods in the movie that's not on the menu, but nevertheless is deliciously made and represents the goodness of the other side I think? Oh man don't check that. The Menu is one of my January movies and it's totally January all over again now.
39. The Beastmaster (1982)
Marc Singer talks to animals and Tanya Roberts cavorts in the art of skimpiness in this sword and sorcery picture. Okay this movie’s kind of a silly mess, but somehow it’s a real fun silly mess where a lot of unrelated menu items are thrown in a pot but it miraculously tastes okay. Also I’m not implying this movie has any taste. Also, strangely not on HBO, which legend has it originally stood for "Hey! Beastmaster’s On!" (YM&T#111: One and One and One (or: Star Wart))
38. My Cousin Vinny (1992)
The Karate Kid and this other Big Apple kid get in serious law trouble in a strange foreign land (Alabama) and need lawyer-in-name-only Joe Pesci's legal help. Also Marisa Tomei is in the car with Pesci. Despite a few Three’s Company-esque conversations in the first half, that trial education in the second half is fun and entertaining. Tomei is good, but perhaps undeserving of the Oscar if for no other reason that she’s so much better later in her career. She does open her mouth in just the right amount when she’s staring at Pesci though. It's a fabulous look with the perfect lipstick.
37. Perfect Blue (1997)
I can think of at least two things wrong with that title. This animated Japanese film follows a young girl pop singer crushed by the stress of fame, fans, and a tense career change into acting. High-strung and prone to paranoia, she starts seeing the visions and what senses can she possibly trust? A fun trip. Funner because it’s happening to her and not happening to me. I stayed a pop singer.
36. White Line Fever (1975)
Jan Michael Vincent thinks he's now on easy street with his own semi and a foot in the trucking business, but little does he realize he's gotta jump kick a whole lotta chumps to get that union going. Being a good, scrupulous person in the trucking industry requires some pretty sweet holdups and jump kicks. Show those fat cats road justice! (YM&T#118: Truck Be a Lady Tonight)
35. The Whale (2022)
Hey I've been there. Not the weight part (still getting there), but rather the tragedy of possessing a need to help with only the capability of just saying sorry over and over again. Also, lousy gravity. It wants to pull at some things harder.
34. Cloak & Dagger (1984)
It's the 80s and weird kid with an overactive imagination and a tendency for violent (at the time) video games really gets involved in Cold War espionage. Revels in the dream of child-like violence so much that the violent kid actually grows tired of it. Growing up is getting sick of that childhood bloodlust after all.
33. Dirty Mary Crazy Larry (1974)
Dirty Mary is the pretty girl you can't get out of your life. Crazy Larry does the wrong thing whenever the option comes up. They're together with some other guy with stolen money and it's a race to the border. It’s got all the cars and all the choppers and all the dispatch fun you’ll ever need in a million years. It also has Peter Fonda’s annoying laugh. Also Susan George’s teeth, which isn’t actually a bad thing. Those teeth might really grow on you, which is my experience.
32. Paris, Je T'Aime (2006)
Lots of stories of love and whimsy in Paris. Don’t usually care for the anthology style — or at least the anthology style that probably doesn’t have a lot of vampires — but the charm spreads further than I thought it would. Perhaps it’s a recipe of varied charm that doesn’t feel compelled to bring in buckets of in-your-face emotion. It’s more an ebb of charmed life. A literal vampire also doesn’t hurt.
31. TÁR (2022)
I've often said that symphony conductors are total phonies. Nobody REALLY knows what all those hand gestures mean. Anyway apart from that, there's a very thin line between genius and manipulator, and by thin, I mean about two hours and 45 minutes. Cate Blanchett is very very good though. She makes me glad I never got into the cruel debauched world of symphonies.
30. Ever After (1998)
With classic reinterpretations the real energy always comes from what choices were made to diverge from what we're expecting as people already familiar with the story. Hey in this Cinderella, they make Cinderella a talky socialist and also one of the stepsisters is secretly rad. These choices work and work well. Also Da Vinci builds boat boots in this and honestly I wasn't even expecting a Da Vinci at all. (YM&T#106: Christel Chlear)
29. Midnight Lace (1960)
Totally watched this Doris Day movie for Halloween. A murderer keeps phoning Doris Day. And she keeps answering! She just has to answer the phone in a delightful Doris Day way (even though there’s always MURDER on the other end). Fun jaunt of an American dealing with the horrors of polite London sinisterism.
28. Notorious (1946)
How could Ingrid Bergman ever be considered notorious? Well she is and Cary Grant is just normal enough to fall for her. The intense and icky plot revolves him throwing her to another man (a Nazi!) in the name of a U.S. victory in atomic intelligence. My strange and lonely aversion to Cary Grant aside, this has all the usual cats and mice of Hitchcock at play. Strangely a good Oppenheimer uranium double-header. (YM&T#120: Taking a Rainscheck)
27. The Ninth Configuration (1980)
Only the fifth element overcomes the ninth configuration. Kind of like One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, this is also in a mental institution. Unlike One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, this institution is a medieval castle in Oregon and its director is legit insane himself (not just Ratched insane). Also, it's about faith and doubt and God and evil. Big swings. Real big swings right into left field (maybe just past the foul line with a few concepts). We talked about it on the podcast with that cuckoo's nest movie I keep mentioning! Fortuitous. (YM&T#128: Massage Jenny)
26. Hard Times (1975)
Charles Bronson is good at two things: punching, and using his other hand to also punch people. He strolls into town and his talent is exploited by James Coburn. This is the most Bronson ever Bronsoned. Also an indictment of do-nothing corporations exploiting the labor force. At least that’s my mood this week. (YM&T#116: Antonio’s Hours, Times, and Dimensions)
25. Nacho Libre (2006)
A pious Mexican monk splits his life and his spirituality by moonlighting as a glorious Luchador. Jack Black is the only one who can do it — be an idiot who doesn’t compel the audience to look down on him. I wish he stuck around for director Jared Hess's other work. To me Hess just loves looking down at his movie subjects. Black knows there's a better way. (YM&T#107: The Wrest of the Story)
24. The Family Stone (2005)
Rachel McAdams has never been hotter and also never more revolting (now THIS is a mean girl). This movie is annoying in a very truthy way. Families are annoying. Some of us love ours, but based on observation of other families we have absolutely no idea how evil we are to outsiders. Hopefully people get that when they see this instead of “hey this Family Stone family is just as tight and cool as my family!” I've always said, the big downside of inclusivity is its tendency to exclude, by definition.
23. When Harry Met Sally... (1989)
Love is deep and falling in love swirls a long way down. But also it’s different and quirky and weird for those involved and those outside. A bit fun how Bruno Kirby and Carrie Fisher have a completely different type of relationship, yet still meaningful. Also all those couple interviews. What’s with those? All totally different. Harry and Sally are us, not because we fell in love like they did, but because their love and our love are unique as individuals.
22. The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938)
First time. This Errol Flynn romp set the standard for all future fun of all Robin Hoods to come (although the Robin Hood energy certainly wore away by 2018 I can tell you). Hey archery is super great, but you know what’s REALLY great? Archery topped with some Montoya-level sword fighting. (YM&T#109: Rounds Robin)
21. Kingdom of the Spiders (1977)
Arachnophobia ripped this movie off pretty hard. Please see my review of The Birds… BUT EVEN MORE DESTRUCTION! Also, Shatner. Willam Shatner is in this and he Shatners way hard. There’s a 30-minute sequence where the spiders just full on demolish a whole town using fire and knocked telephone poles and airplanes, yes airplanes! There is nothing wrong with this movie. (YM&T#122: Nature Finds a Way… TO KILL!)
20. Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! (1965)
A cadre of violent go-go dancers do some kidnapping and lust after shiny things (coins)! Lots of mean looks, mind games, and violent infatuation. What's filling Tura Santana's bra? It's pure testosterone! Katie wanted to watch this for my birthday and I love her.
19. Space Adventure Cobra: The Movie (1982)
Okay honestly I just put this on to have on while I played Wingspan with myself. Been meaning to watch it for a while because I read that the video for Matthew Sweet's "Girlfriend" takes footage from this. Please look up that video, it's pretty awesome. I figured at least the visuals would be cool, based on my awareness of the music video. Every time I glanced up from the game was a one-up from the previous visualization. Plus I overheard all sorts of sci-fi sexiness. Perhaps it’s wrong to leave a review considering I have no idea what this movie is about and didn’t really watch it. I will say it exceeded “Girlfriend” expectations fer sher yeah.
18. Bell, Book and Candle (1958)
This might be a new Christmas tradition. As a gift to herself, Kim Novak seduces Jimmy Stewart with witchcraft and they spiral into wholesome love. Kim Novak is quite the template for alluring weirdo. MVP to Novak! Not so sure Jimmy Stewart is much of a believer in witchcraft or taking this movie very seriously, which is weird for me to say that I don't believe Jimmy Stewart had the Christmas spirit in 1956. He and Novak also did Vertigo the same year, so maybe he was still just a little bit dizzy.
17. Vanilla Sky (2001)
🎵 If there’s a problem, LE will solve it; check out your face while tech support revolves it 🎶 Tom Cruise loses his face to a vengeful Cameron Diaz, but falls for a pixie Penelope Cruz but she's too good to be true because he's probably dreaming the whole thing. The mind-bending aspect is offset by thankfully explaining everything at the end. So while the message is more linear and straightforward than this type of movie usually is, it's still meaningful because Cameron Crowe knows the right music to use to at least make it seem deep. (YM&T#123: The Rosstler Meets Vanillity Pool)
16. Earth vs. the Flying Saucers (1956)
This film came out in 1956 — perfect atmosphere for some real flying saucer razzle dazzle. The saucers are incredible. It's early Ray Harryhousen work and the spin on those babies is the smoothest I've ever seen Harryhousen stop motion. So in the movie we make a ray gun to make the aliens even dizzier then when they're in the saucers. Go us! Today we celebrate our independence! (YM&T#105: There Is No Planet B)
15. Coco (2017)
Saw this Pixar for the first time. A kid gets the chance to live in deathland and experiences the true meaning of ancestral love and the true horror of life's finality. Whoa. There’s a FINAL death?! Well at least undercover death makeup in the afterlife is totally adorable. (YM&T#117: Yours, Mine, & Theirs (After)LIVE)
14. Out of Sight (2022)
George Clooney robs banks and kidnaps Jennifer Lopez. She's a cop, but you know what? She respects him... and more. How did the Ocean’s movies get sequels and not this? I love that they trunk talk about movies because this is far from realistic but has those moments you love that can only live in movies. Magical on screen, messed up and sad IRL.
13. The Holiday (2006)
Funny how one person's boring home and life can be the exact sanctuary someone else needs. Jilted Kate Winslet and Cameron Diaz trade houses for Christmas and the homes are 3,000 miles apart along with access to perfect reboundmen. The concept feels very mid-century and delightful. Very weird that Jack Black is a settled down romantic lead. They tranquilized him and they skip right over Christmas itself, but man this is the Christmas mood we need and want. (YM&T#130: The Holidoversed)
12. The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)
The movie came out in 1946 and I guess that's just in time to deal with PTSD on the homefront. These vets know each other and they're tho only ones who can understand. The war abroad is over… but the war WITH broads has just begun! Pure peace trauma. (YM&T#108: The Best Marie Hours of Our Lives)
11. Deep Cover (1992)
Our movie club linked to this as another undercover movie after Donnie Brasco, and this is the Tombstone to Brasco’s Wyatt Earp. Still crazy fun when not just plain crazy. Laurence Fishburne is the cool, collected undercover man, while Jeff Goldblum is the privileged drug dealer trying out the joys of loose cannon-dom.
10. Coma (1978)
A comma is a pause in your sentence, but a coma is a pause in your life… PERMANENTLY! Be careful or be coma! Geneviève Bujold decides to stop quarrelling with Michael Douglas and instead tries to quarrell with the lousy system that puts people in comas so entitled senators' sons can have the best kidney corrupt money can buy. Good luck sister! That nurse taking phone orders is no pushover! Anyway, there's a scene in this movie where we get to watch a botched dilation and curettage and it sends anxious bullets all through my arteries. (YM&T#121: Dark Coma Replacements)
9. Jennifer's Body (2009)
Glad to have finally watched this. It's been on a lot of lists of misunderstood flops or something, but watching it, I'm not sure why it was ever unappreciated. Anyway, Megan Fox plays a rotten person, turned rottener by a voodoo curse gone wrong. She’s still sexy, but even her seductions are villainously confusing. (YM&T#125 ‘s Monster)
8. Charade (1963)
Audrey Hepburn is caught up in some spy stuff and Cary Grant knows the drill from experience in North By Northwest. Some quality time from the viewpoint of a somehow un-doomed Bond girl. Still not the biggest Cary Grant fan. Wonder if the spritzy dialogue could have been duplicated if Grant and Walter Matthau switched roles? Ehh maybe not. While I have my qualms, the movie needs movie star power in someone like Grant. And Hepburn seems to have prepped super well to exude flawlessity in the most exciting weekend.
7. After Hours (1985)
It's New York City. As often the case on my movies of the year lists, it's the 80s. Griffin Dunne has a chance for a very late night date with Rosanna Arquette and he's gonna take that chance. Dude, you know you shoulda stayed home. Us normal people have all dipped our toes into this world at one time or another. We don’t stand a chance though because all the crazies already know each other and we're just living that waking nightmare of unfamiliarity. (YM&T#116 Antonio’s Hours, Times, & Dimensions)
6. The Fabelmans (2022)
Loved this more than expected. From what I understand this isn't quite Steven Spielberg's autobiography, but even so it's a psychological deep dive into the motivations of his compulsions. So art is what tears families apart and high art is putting the horizon in an interesting place. Pretty great how even a movie about art and so specifically about movies is more very specifically not so much about movies. It's about why we choose movies as distractions. Those creeping things in our heads we wouldn't mind replacing with artificial moving images.
5. Cinema Paradiso (1988)
This might be the story of every filmmaker. This one flashes back to his days as a child where the local cinema house became the entire universe. This movie features an evening of movie magic followed immediately by a tragic reality fire. Young to old. Life to death. Barred from the cinema to running it. Ain’t life full of tears of all sorts. (YM&T#112: You’ve Got Dale)
4. Deception (1946)
We did a Claude Rains-themed podcast and this was last on the itinerary and we didn’t really know what it was and it was like the Claude Rainsiest thing that could ever be and we’re happy now. Bette Davis plays his protégé silly enough to marry another man. Rains reacts not so much violently, but rather quite theatrically. (YM&T#120: Taking a Rainscheck)
3. Spartacus (1960)
The Senate prattles on while a massive slave problem roils in the south. SOUND FAMILIAR?! ALSO: Rome, I don’t want to alarm you, but we may have a Spartacus or possibly Spartaci pillaging the countryside! Anyway, Stanley Kubrick delves into the absurdity of human society and casts Kirk Douglas as the slave burdened with bringing a happy freedom to his band of doomed fugitives. He does so with a pained grimace fitting an eventual crucifyee. (YM&T#110: Sweetcakes and Milkshakes)
2. Croupier (1998)
Clive Owen takes a chance and does the casino dealer thing in London, where the casinos aren't all Vegasy and big, but rather quiet and mirrory. It's a good gig. The house tends to win, but his new life includes rules he's not quite used to. I don’t know how to explain but there’s a difference between insufferable pretentious characters and insufferable pretentious movies. This is not the latter, but rather a smoothly great movie about the former. (YM&T#119: Jeepers Croupiers)
I never saw the original critters, but I can tell you two things I like better about this one. One, good use of Easter as a horror holiday by folding the alien critters' eggs into the egghunt plot. Those fun alien eggs really revitalized this sleepy town’s economy. And two, at one point all the Critters clump into a big giant ball that rolls over a guy. (YM&T#125: ‘s Monster)
69. Bandolero! (1968)
Had to watch this because Raquel Welch is in it and she died and this is how I honored her. She's caught up in Jimmy Stewart's and Dean Martin's old west shennanigans. I’ve never seen Jimmy Stewart so old — and I’ve seen Mr. Krueger’s Christmas. Welch gets just a handful of girlish smirks. Hey as I'm typing this I think I also watched Fantastic Voyage also to honor Raquel Welch, but apparently didn't log it. If I remember right, Welch does the scientist thing and also screams in horror at mutated blood cells and all that. Note to future self: maybe you also watched Fantastic Voyage in 2023 (I also use this blog for record-keeping).
68. Road to Morocco (1942)
My first Bob Hope and Bing Crosby joint! It's not as good as that one Bob Hope movie I saw as a kid on channel 11 (The Princess and the Pirate), and I assumed Hope would be the weak link of the two. Bob is not a singer and Bing is more of a drinker and Dorothy Lamour is mostly a sitter. Curious to see their other collabs, even though I hear this is the one to see. (YM&T#129: Duo Lingo)
67. Corsage (2022)
I think it says something about opulent privilege at loggerheads with a shameful lack of women’s rights leading to an unfortunate empty life but all I can think of is her husband’s removable sideburns. I wrote that line 364 days ago. I can't remember what this movie is about. Oh wait that's right. Vicky Krieps is an Austrian empress and despite her station, her liberties are very limited. Ah right. That first sentence makes more sense now. Krieps is always pretty good.
66. Big Top Pee-wee (1988)
I love the effort. It’s Pee-Wee-level weird with all that animal acting going on, but it’s obviously missing the Burton-level weird. Oh and weird choice making Pee-Wee such a sex addict. Mega horny Pee-Wee freaks me out. It's def not right.
65. Ladies and Gentlemen, the Fabulous Stains (1982)
A teenage Diane Lane is sick of home life so she starts a punk band and then never smiles again. After hobnobbing with the male punks of the time, understandably the band follows the Behind the Music cycle of disintegration. It's an intriguing look at band politics as well as media relationship with the public, but with actual Clashers and Pistols in the arsenal, some more intriguing music is really required. Love the quick wrap-up at the end. I love love love the 80s, but it’s funny how individuality inevitably eventually always gave way to hair mousse back then.
64. Scent of a Woman (1992)
It's THE hoo-ha Pacino movie. Finally got around to it and while I knew beforehand it's got blind, spirited, loud Pacino, I wasn't aware that it also has depressed and resentful Pacino too. Those parts are less fun and sort of more what the movie is about. Also Chris O'Donnell has troubles of his own dealing with entitled school preppies. Some fun lines, but I think I don’t really need an asshole’s advice and any reason to keep mum about any prep school assholes.
63. Enter the Dragon (1973)
First time viewer! It's THE classic martial arts movie! It's also weirdly muddled with actual movie-making baggage (story, characters, setting) rather than Bruce Lee baggage (lots more kicking). Maybe something can be said of Bruce Lee as a director because his directorial films I’ve seen seem way less professional but still way more fun.
62. Spirited (2022)
I lived under a rock last year because I guess everyone saw this for Christmas 2022. Favorable, because it's a modern sequel to A Christmas Carol and lightly asks a few questions of goodness. Is goodness more than an on/off switch or does it take a lifetime of work? Unfavorable because it glances at the question while spending too much time on holiday Will Ferrell sing-face and loud background dancers. Okay hear me out, how about a quick and spectacular version WITHOUT all the singing and dancing? (YM&T#130: The Holidoversed)
61. Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India (2001)
Ever see that Sylvester Stallone movie World War II soccer movie called Victory? Well this is similar to that in that the downtrodden play a high-stakes sporting game against their oppressors. This time it's cricket in India. The length of this picture is very very impressive, but one would think a four-hour movie would expound a little more on how to actually play cricket. Also, there's a cute Indian girl who's super feisty and she's not allowed to play cricket, but I totally thought she'd infiltrate. (YM&T# 106: Christel Chlear)
60. All Quiet on the Western Front (2022)
I'll spoil a little. This is that World War I depiction that's all about, as so many war films are, the senselessness of war itself. You know, they could have saved A LOT of Great War lives if they just cut 15 minutes of this movie — since that last 15 minutes depicts the "overtime" part of the war where they fought even after the final buzzer rang. Anyway they must've hauled in a ton of mud for this thing. We made a cake or something for this movie for our Oscar party and it was made to look like just a big field of mud.
59. Annie Get Your Gun (1950)
🎵 The gun’ll come out, tomorrow/ bet your bottom dollar she’ll have a gun/ She’ll shoot your lights out, tomorrow/ and a bunch of Injuns will get gunned 🎶 — This has the liveliness of tremendous 50s musicals, but all that energy swirls and drains with some less fun messaging. (YM&T#127: Frankincense’s Monster)
58. The Speed Cubers (2020)
This is a quick Netflix lark of a doc about professional kid Rubik's Cube solvers. One of these cubers is super super nice, which I think is a good component of how he’s excelled at speed cubing, but man there’s competition behind his eyes. I’d like to see him in ten years to see if his friendliness or his competitiveness has consumed him more.
57. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022)
Somehow they made another Black Panther movie despite Chadwick Boseman's tragic death. That leaves a lot on Letitia Wright's shoulders as Shuri — both in Wakanda and IRL in a world without Bozeman. Good that Namor comes along so quickly because the remaining characters are women and I don't think Ryan Coogler is as comfortable as possible with woman-on-woman dialogue. Also a big boat in the middle of the ocean might not be the best venue for confronting beings with control of the sea. Start the Vibranium machine in the middle of the Sahara for glavin out loud. I just said a lot of Marvel technology. I hope everyone remembers what all this stuff is talking about. I think we're all a little behind on our Marvel Universe technical manuals. The next Marvel phase better strip a lot of these things down. Maybe finally introduce Punchman. I think I can understand that guy (if indeed Punchman exists).
56. Women Talking (2022)
Women of an isolated religious sect get together and decide if leaving the community is what they, and God, want. These women don’t really sound like they grew up together in a religious community. There's a lot of various Hollywood voice and midwest big city-ness, but they still make valid points.
55. Murders in the Rue Morgue (1932)
It's a scary ape story where a mad scientist tries to mix ape blood with human blood. And it's in France, where King Kong and Donkey Kong, how you say, rendezvous? Great ape double work. I wrote that "ape double work" line when I originally logged this on Letterboxd several months ago and it confused me. I now realize what I meant was great work by the guy in the costume who doubled as an ape, not great work by the two apes. Wait, were there two apes in that movie? Shoot, now we'll never know.
54. The Replacement Killers (1998)
Chow Yun-Fat needs a passport and Mira Sorvino is the only one hot enough to get it done in time before guys with guns come after them both. Most of this movie is Chow Yun-Fat shooting one direction, then immediately shooting the other direction. While that’s not much meat to chew on, I appreciate the overall leanness of all other meat. This thing moves, without the weight of dumb villain dialogue and unnecessary rainy graveside dwells like so many other gun-totin' flicks from the era. (YM&T#121: Dark Coma Replacements)
53. Squaring the Circle: The Story of Hipgnosis (2022)
This is the documentary by famed Depeche Mode photographer and videographer Anton Corbijn about Hipgnosis, the famed album art firm. You know. You've seen Dark Side of the Moon. A bit weird that the director, a noted album artist himself, keeps his opinion completely out of the picture. I get the sense his focus is on the inevitable collapse of art under the burden of artists' personalities. Spinal Tap should probably have been mentioned, but maybe that’s too obvious.
52. Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990)
Regarded as a meta classic amongst my ilk. But also my ilk often sickens me. I think I get what the movie is going for by making so much fun of the original, but it's not a decision I necessarily need to like. Love meta and love Joe Dante, but this is a teensy bit too much of both. Maybe. (YM&T#124: New Horder)
51. Sex and the City 2 (2010)
Assumed going in that it’s just the girls on a Middle East vacation the whole time, which is what I was looking forward to. I mean we all deserve a bit more frivolity after the last movie. Turns out the usual relationship drama precedes the big vacay so much that by the time we’re all in Abu Dhabi, I’m annoyed we’re there. Lots of minutes in this movie. Their crazy crazy desert outfits amuse me though. Thanks for just a tiny bit more Stanford (could’ve been a bunch more though — maybe Carrie could see more parallel problems between his marriage and hers). Whatever, it’s its own fun and I’m ready to watch the new show now. UPDATE: the new show is fine, albeit sad, because the girls are old and tremendously uncool and they're totally coming to terms with that.
50. Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris (2022)
Lesley Manville is Mrs. Harris. Her husband is gone so the only thing she can do is travel to Paris, storm the gates of Dior, and get the dress she deserves. Even to Paris elites, her downhome charm and nostalgic country wisdom wins hearts! Everybody is delightful! Well except Mrs. Harris; she’s annoying. (YM&T#113: Time to Make Words Sound Like Each Other)
49. The Parent Trap II (1986)
Hayley Mills in split screen is back and she/they gotta help her daughter/niece and friend get Tom Skerritt/Skerritt over to the other Hayley (if I remember right). If I saw this as a kid I’d wonder why Hayley Mills #2 was so willing to go along with her niece’s harebrained scheme. Now as an adult, I’ve come to never underestimate adult horniness. All versions of Hayley Mills deserve to totally get it. Plus the little girls have the very best cookie recipe. Seen on VHS as God intended.
48. Sex and the City (2008)
And thus begins and ends Carrie’s goth season. Hey if Steve and Big get a break, let’s have more justice for Smith Jerrod next time, okay? Also I want way more Stanford in my SatC movies. [NOTE: there wasn't much Stanford in the next movie]
47. EO (2022)
Astounding prequel to that Michael Jackson Tomorrowland feature. This is actually one of those donkey point of view movies. Maybe see Au Hasard Balthazar for one more example. Anyway, it highlights human beings' weird tendency to shove away the things that don't fit in with our personal selfish environments. Actually, I think they may need another flick to set me entirely straight in the EO universe. Also, lots of fresh imagery for a donkey movie. It’s the wonder and horror through a noble animal’s eyes.
46. Eternals (2021)
It took being sick to finally get to this. To me it’s surprisingly… similar to the rest of the Marvel movies. The first half has so much hero-posing it’s practically parody rather than giving itself room to be real and grounded — which is what I expected from Chloe Zhou (famous for working with non-actors and blurring the line between narrative and documentary). Ultimately, like the other Marvelies, I get a bit sucked in with the eventual, even predictable side switchings. Even more, the mythological excitement of rising against gods trumps whatever religious excitement I was planning for this Sunday. A nice divergence from the Marvel universe as there's likely no way the galactic life-changing events of this movie make it into Marvel's main thread.
45. Win Win (2011)
Paul Giamatti is a lawyer and a wrestling coach. Good at neither. A reckoning comes in the form of a wrestling whiz kid who's actually the grandson of the client he wronged. A lot of jokes and the wrestling stuff kind of get in the way of the morality message, but who needs even more heavy-handedness? Here’s to light-handedness! Good job movie for taking a smiling approach rather than a dour one. (YM&T#107: The Wrest of the Story)
44. Thirteen Women (1932)
This was a good way to start scary season. Old scary and femme scary. Someone's murdering ex mean girls from an old sorority. Didn't know such cliques even existed in 1932. The fun and sultry villain is quite exotic. Guessing at the time this movie was a dire warning against immigrants. Right now it’s a dire call from outsiders feeling forced to pass as white while all the sorority chicks are oblivious to the predicament.
43. Leaving Las Vegas (1995)
I don't THINK the Sheryl Crow song is in this film. I think this is where Nicolas Cage won an Oscar. It's one of those Oscar-winning roles — a death's door drunk. I'm pretty surprised Elizabeth Shue falls for this guy, but love and acceptance must come in strange ways. Also love and acceptance can be very enabling (in the good way and the bad way). (YM&T#104: 2023: A Sad Odyssey)
42. Skinamarink (2022)
Kids get lost in their own home when a haunting that rivals Poltergeist's static tv causes all sorts of horrific discomfort. The movie is filmed lo-fi, at low angles, and a very specific look that appears like late night television out of the corner or your eye. I would say the trailer is better because it gave me no time to acclimate to the dark static and 20th century wood panel style. My nerves remained on edge by the end though (even though I lamed-out a lot by checking my other screens in the middle). This is an excellent case of ideal viewing alone in a dark basement rather than a crowded cinema.
41. Triangle of Sadness (2022)
There’s nothing quite like social commentary that’s a bit more about the faults of human nature more than the faults of the system. This one gives me nervous convulsions. We're no good and it's not gonna take much to make us go tribal on each other. Anyway the unusual structure involves a good-looking young couple going through issues, their trip (now as side characters) on a doomed pleasure yacht full of sloshy deck waves and heavy vomit, and then the third act of this small society's collapse between haves and have nots. Also when we saw this, I was prepping Katie for her first cruise and that storm and vomit scene did very little to help.
40. The Menu (2022)
Anya Taylor-Joy goes up against a chef's lavish and deadly agenda. This is yet another movie that's really about the splitting of society further into haves and have nots and the damage done to all. Good fun, but emotion-wise a bit more of an intellectual exercise than a cheeseburger. Cheeseburger is a reference to one of the foods in the movie that's not on the menu, but nevertheless is deliciously made and represents the goodness of the other side I think? Oh man don't check that. The Menu is one of my January movies and it's totally January all over again now.
39. The Beastmaster (1982)
Marc Singer talks to animals and Tanya Roberts cavorts in the art of skimpiness in this sword and sorcery picture. Okay this movie’s kind of a silly mess, but somehow it’s a real fun silly mess where a lot of unrelated menu items are thrown in a pot but it miraculously tastes okay. Also I’m not implying this movie has any taste. Also, strangely not on HBO, which legend has it originally stood for "Hey! Beastmaster’s On!" (YM&T#111: One and One and One (or: Star Wart))
38. My Cousin Vinny (1992)
The Karate Kid and this other Big Apple kid get in serious law trouble in a strange foreign land (Alabama) and need lawyer-in-name-only Joe Pesci's legal help. Also Marisa Tomei is in the car with Pesci. Despite a few Three’s Company-esque conversations in the first half, that trial education in the second half is fun and entertaining. Tomei is good, but perhaps undeserving of the Oscar if for no other reason that she’s so much better later in her career. She does open her mouth in just the right amount when she’s staring at Pesci though. It's a fabulous look with the perfect lipstick.
37. Perfect Blue (1997)
I can think of at least two things wrong with that title. This animated Japanese film follows a young girl pop singer crushed by the stress of fame, fans, and a tense career change into acting. High-strung and prone to paranoia, she starts seeing the visions and what senses can she possibly trust? A fun trip. Funner because it’s happening to her and not happening to me. I stayed a pop singer.
36. White Line Fever (1975)
Jan Michael Vincent thinks he's now on easy street with his own semi and a foot in the trucking business, but little does he realize he's gotta jump kick a whole lotta chumps to get that union going. Being a good, scrupulous person in the trucking industry requires some pretty sweet holdups and jump kicks. Show those fat cats road justice! (YM&T#118: Truck Be a Lady Tonight)
35. The Whale (2022)
Hey I've been there. Not the weight part (still getting there), but rather the tragedy of possessing a need to help with only the capability of just saying sorry over and over again. Also, lousy gravity. It wants to pull at some things harder.
34. Cloak & Dagger (1984)
It's the 80s and weird kid with an overactive imagination and a tendency for violent (at the time) video games really gets involved in Cold War espionage. Revels in the dream of child-like violence so much that the violent kid actually grows tired of it. Growing up is getting sick of that childhood bloodlust after all.
33. Dirty Mary Crazy Larry (1974)
Dirty Mary is the pretty girl you can't get out of your life. Crazy Larry does the wrong thing whenever the option comes up. They're together with some other guy with stolen money and it's a race to the border. It’s got all the cars and all the choppers and all the dispatch fun you’ll ever need in a million years. It also has Peter Fonda’s annoying laugh. Also Susan George’s teeth, which isn’t actually a bad thing. Those teeth might really grow on you, which is my experience.
32. Paris, Je T'Aime (2006)
Lots of stories of love and whimsy in Paris. Don’t usually care for the anthology style — or at least the anthology style that probably doesn’t have a lot of vampires — but the charm spreads further than I thought it would. Perhaps it’s a recipe of varied charm that doesn’t feel compelled to bring in buckets of in-your-face emotion. It’s more an ebb of charmed life. A literal vampire also doesn’t hurt.
31. TÁR (2022)
I've often said that symphony conductors are total phonies. Nobody REALLY knows what all those hand gestures mean. Anyway apart from that, there's a very thin line between genius and manipulator, and by thin, I mean about two hours and 45 minutes. Cate Blanchett is very very good though. She makes me glad I never got into the cruel debauched world of symphonies.
30. Ever After (1998)
With classic reinterpretations the real energy always comes from what choices were made to diverge from what we're expecting as people already familiar with the story. Hey in this Cinderella, they make Cinderella a talky socialist and also one of the stepsisters is secretly rad. These choices work and work well. Also Da Vinci builds boat boots in this and honestly I wasn't even expecting a Da Vinci at all. (YM&T#106: Christel Chlear)
29. Midnight Lace (1960)
Totally watched this Doris Day movie for Halloween. A murderer keeps phoning Doris Day. And she keeps answering! She just has to answer the phone in a delightful Doris Day way (even though there’s always MURDER on the other end). Fun jaunt of an American dealing with the horrors of polite London sinisterism.
28. Notorious (1946)
How could Ingrid Bergman ever be considered notorious? Well she is and Cary Grant is just normal enough to fall for her. The intense and icky plot revolves him throwing her to another man (a Nazi!) in the name of a U.S. victory in atomic intelligence. My strange and lonely aversion to Cary Grant aside, this has all the usual cats and mice of Hitchcock at play. Strangely a good Oppenheimer uranium double-header. (YM&T#120: Taking a Rainscheck)
27. The Ninth Configuration (1980)
Only the fifth element overcomes the ninth configuration. Kind of like One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, this is also in a mental institution. Unlike One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, this institution is a medieval castle in Oregon and its director is legit insane himself (not just Ratched insane). Also, it's about faith and doubt and God and evil. Big swings. Real big swings right into left field (maybe just past the foul line with a few concepts). We talked about it on the podcast with that cuckoo's nest movie I keep mentioning! Fortuitous. (YM&T#128: Massage Jenny)
26. Hard Times (1975)
Charles Bronson is good at two things: punching, and using his other hand to also punch people. He strolls into town and his talent is exploited by James Coburn. This is the most Bronson ever Bronsoned. Also an indictment of do-nothing corporations exploiting the labor force. At least that’s my mood this week. (YM&T#116: Antonio’s Hours, Times, and Dimensions)
25. Nacho Libre (2006)
A pious Mexican monk splits his life and his spirituality by moonlighting as a glorious Luchador. Jack Black is the only one who can do it — be an idiot who doesn’t compel the audience to look down on him. I wish he stuck around for director Jared Hess's other work. To me Hess just loves looking down at his movie subjects. Black knows there's a better way. (YM&T#107: The Wrest of the Story)
24. The Family Stone (2005)
Rachel McAdams has never been hotter and also never more revolting (now THIS is a mean girl). This movie is annoying in a very truthy way. Families are annoying. Some of us love ours, but based on observation of other families we have absolutely no idea how evil we are to outsiders. Hopefully people get that when they see this instead of “hey this Family Stone family is just as tight and cool as my family!” I've always said, the big downside of inclusivity is its tendency to exclude, by definition.
23. When Harry Met Sally... (1989)
Love is deep and falling in love swirls a long way down. But also it’s different and quirky and weird for those involved and those outside. A bit fun how Bruno Kirby and Carrie Fisher have a completely different type of relationship, yet still meaningful. Also all those couple interviews. What’s with those? All totally different. Harry and Sally are us, not because we fell in love like they did, but because their love and our love are unique as individuals.
22. The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938)
First time. This Errol Flynn romp set the standard for all future fun of all Robin Hoods to come (although the Robin Hood energy certainly wore away by 2018 I can tell you). Hey archery is super great, but you know what’s REALLY great? Archery topped with some Montoya-level sword fighting. (YM&T#109: Rounds Robin)
21. Kingdom of the Spiders (1977)
Arachnophobia ripped this movie off pretty hard. Please see my review of The Birds… BUT EVEN MORE DESTRUCTION! Also, Shatner. Willam Shatner is in this and he Shatners way hard. There’s a 30-minute sequence where the spiders just full on demolish a whole town using fire and knocked telephone poles and airplanes, yes airplanes! There is nothing wrong with this movie. (YM&T#122: Nature Finds a Way… TO KILL!)
20. Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! (1965)
A cadre of violent go-go dancers do some kidnapping and lust after shiny things (coins)! Lots of mean looks, mind games, and violent infatuation. What's filling Tura Santana's bra? It's pure testosterone! Katie wanted to watch this for my birthday and I love her.
19. Space Adventure Cobra: The Movie (1982)
Okay honestly I just put this on to have on while I played Wingspan with myself. Been meaning to watch it for a while because I read that the video for Matthew Sweet's "Girlfriend" takes footage from this. Please look up that video, it's pretty awesome. I figured at least the visuals would be cool, based on my awareness of the music video. Every time I glanced up from the game was a one-up from the previous visualization. Plus I overheard all sorts of sci-fi sexiness. Perhaps it’s wrong to leave a review considering I have no idea what this movie is about and didn’t really watch it. I will say it exceeded “Girlfriend” expectations fer sher yeah.
18. Bell, Book and Candle (1958)
This might be a new Christmas tradition. As a gift to herself, Kim Novak seduces Jimmy Stewart with witchcraft and they spiral into wholesome love. Kim Novak is quite the template for alluring weirdo. MVP to Novak! Not so sure Jimmy Stewart is much of a believer in witchcraft or taking this movie very seriously, which is weird for me to say that I don't believe Jimmy Stewart had the Christmas spirit in 1956. He and Novak also did Vertigo the same year, so maybe he was still just a little bit dizzy.
17. Vanilla Sky (2001)
🎵 If there’s a problem, LE will solve it; check out your face while tech support revolves it 🎶 Tom Cruise loses his face to a vengeful Cameron Diaz, but falls for a pixie Penelope Cruz but she's too good to be true because he's probably dreaming the whole thing. The mind-bending aspect is offset by thankfully explaining everything at the end. So while the message is more linear and straightforward than this type of movie usually is, it's still meaningful because Cameron Crowe knows the right music to use to at least make it seem deep. (YM&T#123: The Rosstler Meets Vanillity Pool)
16. Earth vs. the Flying Saucers (1956)
This film came out in 1956 — perfect atmosphere for some real flying saucer razzle dazzle. The saucers are incredible. It's early Ray Harryhousen work and the spin on those babies is the smoothest I've ever seen Harryhousen stop motion. So in the movie we make a ray gun to make the aliens even dizzier then when they're in the saucers. Go us! Today we celebrate our independence! (YM&T#105: There Is No Planet B)
15. Coco (2017)
Saw this Pixar for the first time. A kid gets the chance to live in deathland and experiences the true meaning of ancestral love and the true horror of life's finality. Whoa. There’s a FINAL death?! Well at least undercover death makeup in the afterlife is totally adorable. (YM&T#117: Yours, Mine, & Theirs (After)LIVE)
14. Out of Sight (2022)
George Clooney robs banks and kidnaps Jennifer Lopez. She's a cop, but you know what? She respects him... and more. How did the Ocean’s movies get sequels and not this? I love that they trunk talk about movies because this is far from realistic but has those moments you love that can only live in movies. Magical on screen, messed up and sad IRL.
13. The Holiday (2006)
Funny how one person's boring home and life can be the exact sanctuary someone else needs. Jilted Kate Winslet and Cameron Diaz trade houses for Christmas and the homes are 3,000 miles apart along with access to perfect reboundmen. The concept feels very mid-century and delightful. Very weird that Jack Black is a settled down romantic lead. They tranquilized him and they skip right over Christmas itself, but man this is the Christmas mood we need and want. (YM&T#130: The Holidoversed)
12. The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)
The movie came out in 1946 and I guess that's just in time to deal with PTSD on the homefront. These vets know each other and they're tho only ones who can understand. The war abroad is over… but the war WITH broads has just begun! Pure peace trauma. (YM&T#108: The Best Marie Hours of Our Lives)
11. Deep Cover (1992)
Our movie club linked to this as another undercover movie after Donnie Brasco, and this is the Tombstone to Brasco’s Wyatt Earp. Still crazy fun when not just plain crazy. Laurence Fishburne is the cool, collected undercover man, while Jeff Goldblum is the privileged drug dealer trying out the joys of loose cannon-dom.
10. Coma (1978)
A comma is a pause in your sentence, but a coma is a pause in your life… PERMANENTLY! Be careful or be coma! Geneviève Bujold decides to stop quarrelling with Michael Douglas and instead tries to quarrell with the lousy system that puts people in comas so entitled senators' sons can have the best kidney corrupt money can buy. Good luck sister! That nurse taking phone orders is no pushover! Anyway, there's a scene in this movie where we get to watch a botched dilation and curettage and it sends anxious bullets all through my arteries. (YM&T#121: Dark Coma Replacements)
9. Jennifer's Body (2009)
Glad to have finally watched this. It's been on a lot of lists of misunderstood flops or something, but watching it, I'm not sure why it was ever unappreciated. Anyway, Megan Fox plays a rotten person, turned rottener by a voodoo curse gone wrong. She’s still sexy, but even her seductions are villainously confusing. (YM&T#125 ‘s Monster)
8. Charade (1963)
Audrey Hepburn is caught up in some spy stuff and Cary Grant knows the drill from experience in North By Northwest. Some quality time from the viewpoint of a somehow un-doomed Bond girl. Still not the biggest Cary Grant fan. Wonder if the spritzy dialogue could have been duplicated if Grant and Walter Matthau switched roles? Ehh maybe not. While I have my qualms, the movie needs movie star power in someone like Grant. And Hepburn seems to have prepped super well to exude flawlessity in the most exciting weekend.
7. After Hours (1985)
It's New York City. As often the case on my movies of the year lists, it's the 80s. Griffin Dunne has a chance for a very late night date with Rosanna Arquette and he's gonna take that chance. Dude, you know you shoulda stayed home. Us normal people have all dipped our toes into this world at one time or another. We don’t stand a chance though because all the crazies already know each other and we're just living that waking nightmare of unfamiliarity. (YM&T#116 Antonio’s Hours, Times, & Dimensions)
6. The Fabelmans (2022)
Loved this more than expected. From what I understand this isn't quite Steven Spielberg's autobiography, but even so it's a psychological deep dive into the motivations of his compulsions. So art is what tears families apart and high art is putting the horizon in an interesting place. Pretty great how even a movie about art and so specifically about movies is more very specifically not so much about movies. It's about why we choose movies as distractions. Those creeping things in our heads we wouldn't mind replacing with artificial moving images.
5. Cinema Paradiso (1988)
This might be the story of every filmmaker. This one flashes back to his days as a child where the local cinema house became the entire universe. This movie features an evening of movie magic followed immediately by a tragic reality fire. Young to old. Life to death. Barred from the cinema to running it. Ain’t life full of tears of all sorts. (YM&T#112: You’ve Got Dale)
4. Deception (1946)
We did a Claude Rains-themed podcast and this was last on the itinerary and we didn’t really know what it was and it was like the Claude Rainsiest thing that could ever be and we’re happy now. Bette Davis plays his protégé silly enough to marry another man. Rains reacts not so much violently, but rather quite theatrically. (YM&T#120: Taking a Rainscheck)
3. Spartacus (1960)
The Senate prattles on while a massive slave problem roils in the south. SOUND FAMILIAR?! ALSO: Rome, I don’t want to alarm you, but we may have a Spartacus or possibly Spartaci pillaging the countryside! Anyway, Stanley Kubrick delves into the absurdity of human society and casts Kirk Douglas as the slave burdened with bringing a happy freedom to his band of doomed fugitives. He does so with a pained grimace fitting an eventual crucifyee. (YM&T#110: Sweetcakes and Milkshakes)
2. Croupier (1998)
Clive Owen takes a chance and does the casino dealer thing in London, where the casinos aren't all Vegasy and big, but rather quiet and mirrory. It's a good gig. The house tends to win, but his new life includes rules he's not quite used to. I don’t know how to explain but there’s a difference between insufferable pretentious characters and insufferable pretentious movies. This is not the latter, but rather a smoothly great movie about the former. (YM&T#119: Jeepers Croupiers)
1. Possession (1981)
Okay I got the title way wrong. I assumed some demon posesses Sam Neil's wife, but really it’s about possessiveness and every actor is pure id in their presentations for a two-hour primal scream. Then after that I couldn’t keep up.
52. The Goonies (1985)
Kids look for lost pirates' treasure and yell at each other the whole time while doing it. This time watching it was funner than I remember, but seriously way more kids yelling than even I’ve been spitefully joking about for all these years. Great score by Dave Grusin. Had to look that guy up just now. The music really cuts down on kidsounds. (YM&T#108: The Best Marie Years of Our Lives)
51. Mars Attacks! (1996)
You want what happens? Read the title! You can tell loads of cast is having fun, but also the movie doesn’t take itself seriously enough for me to take seriously (or, ironically, find as funny as I probably should). (YM&T# 105: There Is No Planet B)
50. Be Kind Rewind (2008)
Jack Black and Yasiin Bey (Mos Def) are put in charge of the neighborhood video store. And this is the last store on the east coast that still rents VHS. After magnetizing all of them (ahh, remember that danger?), they're forced to re-make all the movies. We love this kind of thing because it's so based on familiarity. All it takes is a few re-framed images from nostalgia and we get the hit. Love love the lo-fi-ness of the "sweded" movies, but there’s a weird uncomfortable un-chemistry for all the other aspects of this actual film. (YM&T# 113: Time to Make Words Sound Like Each Other)
49. The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension (1984)
Peter Weller plays the boring Buckaroo surrounded by a more jovial team of fellow scientists/rockstars/crimefighters who get involved in an interdimensional civil war with some really uptight aliens. Was gonna grade it lower but darn it it’s fun to talk about. Also, I gotta commend the teamwork aspect. Buckaroo’s team is such a great group of guys. Could use more girls, but oh well. Favorite part is the end credits, because the whole team is just walking. and it's the best use of just walking to a beat -- strutting if you will. Also this is the most 2nd Amendment-heavy movie I’ve ever seen. Yeah give all the 10-year-olds guns! See if I care! Okay, like this movie, I don’t think I know what I’m saying anymore. (YM&T#116: Antonio’s Hours, Times, and Dimensions)
48. Bud Abbott and Lou Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948)
One complaint. Dr. Frankenstein isn't even in the picture. They should have "met Dracula" as this is a famous Bela Lugosi reprisal. Then the title really would be the full synopsis. The craziness of the last ten minutes redeems this. Pratfalls along with real peril. Personally I find Costello quite irritating and Abbott is such a straight man I forget he’s even in the film at all, but they don't skimp on that last second action. (YM&T#125 ‘s Monster)
47. The Descent (2005)
Five outdoorsy women attempt to traverse an unexplored well, not haunted, but rather mutated cave. They have a DECENT chance… OF DYING! Actually before that they have all this marital drama. After that, there are the usual cave catasrophes like darkness, rocks, and squeezing into tiny places when you're surrounded by the entire earth and you, the viewer just sit there and hyperventilate. Maybe this movie has too much to worry about. (YM&T#124: New Horder)
46. The Boondock Saints (1999)
Two rowdy Irish churchgoers get Joan of Arked and "clean house" on Boston's criminal element. The end credits are a series of interviews in the street asking people, “Do you think it’s a good idea that all guys should have two self-appointed saints who murder people they don’t like?” I’m strangely comfortable with it. Anyway, if I visit Ireland, I might watch this movie again to dip my toes in authentic Irish culture. (YM&T# 106: Christel Chlear)
45. Seven Psychopaths (2012)
Here's one of those plays within a play sort of things. Colin Farrell is writing something called Seven Psychopaths and his buddy Sam Rockwell turns out to be the epitome of psychopathy. Also there are a few more psychopaths; the number gets a little muddled. The actual movie screenplay has several digs about the silliness of violence in modern cinema, so I’d assume this is an indictment of said violence, but darn it the violence is soooooo fun to watch in this. So there is the sense of a lost moral. Again on the positive side though, we get peak Walken. (YM&T#110 Sweetcakes and Milkshakes)
44. E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982)
E.T. has adorable eyes, but that weird gross saggy body makes me want to throw up. We're podcasting on this one this week!
43. Young Guns (1988)
It's the story of Billy the Kid with Emilio Estevez perfecting crazy-eye acting. Fun to watch from the perspective of his pals at the time. Ahh the awkwardness of accidentally tagging along with a serial killer. (YM&T#115: Cowboys Don’t Cry)
42. The Sword in the Stone (1963)
Settle in for a bit of Disney's animated interpretation of young King Arthur. Stones distributing swords IS a basis for a system of government, unlike that watery tart nonsense. Really this is just a half dozen vignettes. You're young Arthur and what do you do, you wash dishes, turn into three animals, and then forget a sword. Well, learn your lessons, kid. You're gonna be king. (YM&T#111: One and One and One (or: Star Wart))
41. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975)
70s insane asylum movie that I haven't seen since high school psychology. It is very 70s. The film stock shows that it smells really gross like the 70s. Okay if I were a resident at that asylum, though, I would not have enjoyed Jack Nicholson's impromptu boat trip. Not at all. I’m technically sane and I wouldn’t enjoy being away from the wonderful safety of that cage. (YM&T#128: Massage Jenny)
40. Legal Eagles (1986)
Took this in because I remember seeing it as a kid and nobody in the world has spoken of it since. Robert Redford defends weirdo fire lady Daryl Hannah in court oh and also Debra Winger is around. Not INCREDIBLE. It’s got that thing where both women in the cast throw themselves at the male hero because that’s just what the story needs to be about (although who wouldn’t throw themselves at Redford). It’s also got that vibe that has me questioning whether it’s a comedy or drama, which I think puts me off because of my modernity, but is actually a positive when I stop and think about it. Ivan Reitman and Elmer Bernstein in the opening credits make me think, hey are they trying to do a Ghostbusters tone again? They are and it doesn’t work as well, and that’s too bad, but dammit society should have done it more. I need my comedies to exist in some kind of real-world and I need my dramas to have way more jokes. So yeah, not INCREDIBLE, but I love how it takes me back to me watching a movie with NO CONCERN about which genre I’m trying to stick it.
39. Duel (1971)
Famously Steven Spielberg's first movie. Dennis Weaver is a Flanders-type in the 70s equivalent of a Yugo and cuts off the meanest semi on the road. The truck is an alien. This is the first Transformers movie. Optimus Prime feeds on humans back then though. (YM&T#118: Truck Be a Lady Tonight)
38. Field of Dreams (1989)
Kevin Costner lives the very oldschool American dream of becoming a farmer. Then he lives the American daydream by building a haunted field where the ghosts of baseball's past share the secrets of the universe with him. Baseball fans talk of the secrets of life hidden in baseball, but I think they just say that because they don't know all of football's rules. I get that Costner hears voices, but I don’t get his crazy theories about those voices applying to Shoeless Joe and Terrence Mann. Also, hey maybe save some money by not putting in massive stadium lights! (YM&T#117: Yours, Mine, & Theirs (After)LIVE)
37. Heaven Can Wait (1978)
Warren Beatty is taken to Heaven before his time and Heaven's agents gotta make things right by disrupting dozens of the still-living. The civil servants of the afterlife will straight up MURDER Rams QBs in order to avoid any post-death lawsuits. I'm finally old enough to find Charles Grodin funny! And he is. He is. (YM&T#117: Yours, Mine, & Theirs (After)LIVE)
36. Dark City (1998)
🎵 They built this city… (da doo doo)… They built this city in ou-ter-spa-aaaaace! 🎶 Dark City is famously Roger Ebert's favorite movie of 1998. Yikes, are movies this strange even allowed to be a known critic's favorite movie of the year? Rufus Sewell tries to escape a city. The city is, yep, dark. The city is in a strange time. Everyone in the city thinks this is normal, until they think a little more. The effects are charming. It's obviously a lot of model work and it looks a bit cheesy, but this must be one of the last movies to do it that way rather than CGI. The result is a bit of oldschool sci-fi that feels more like the fantastical past. (YM&T#121: Dark Coma Replacements)
35. Barb & Star Go to Vista Del Mar (2021)
Annie Mumolo and Kristen Wiig play midwestern work chatterboxes Barb and Starbara heading to Florida for some sun and a mild culture shock. Jamie Dornan falls for them both even though his real job is espionage. Wow. How many of the movies I watched this year involve espionage? Wow. Anyway, this is all just an excuse for Barb and Star to exclaim in unison their imaginary friend's favorite animal ("hen!"). Might I recommend an intravenous injection of this wacky movie. The frequency of the humor winds up grating for long periods, BUT it’s pretty smiley and laughy when properly prepared. Might I specifically recommend Jamie Dornan’s musical beach number more than once. (YM&T#113: Time to Make Words Sound Like Each Other)
34. A Room with a View (1986)
Julian Sands gets his groove back by pining for Helena Bonham-Carter from afar. An exhilarating watch that takes me back to a better time for white males when we absolutely knew Helena Bonham-Carter would love us back based on nothing but our own self-centered sense of main characterhood. Strangely, for a main character, Julian Sands says like three words. Just charming broods and glowering smirks, somehow sans threat. Stick around for the controversial skinnydip sequence! All dudes. Very European.
33. Jurassic Park (1993)
So like the T-Rex was our friend all along? So much fun, but somehow not quite magical for me as much as all other humans. Maybe I’m just annoyed that they bothered to clone so many more teethy ones than gentle ones. You can have a lot of fun with just that one giant brachiosaur! (YM&T#122: Nature Finds a Way… TO KILL!)
32. Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984)
So the weird bit of trivia I only know because everyone else knows and not from the movie telling me, is that this is a prequel to Raiders. Is this the very first prequel? Is this why they invented the word? And why so subtle about it? Now it’s kind of weird that apparently Indy FIRST fights Indians, THEN fights Nazis, THEN fights Nazis. It chronologically makes sense that this isn’t a prequel and make this the interlude meat of a Nazi sandwich. As has been said before though, witnessing child slavery and dealing with a lot of skull imagery and also that whole weird heart thing is what it takes to snap out of “fortune and glory” and into hero (if only a pretty grumbly hero). After seeing the evil of doom, he’s now a guy who recognizes the evil of Nazis and without them even needing to kidnap children. Too bad his new catchphrase about museums doesn’t well represent this new ideology. Where it doesn’t work as a prequel? The callback to the TWO guys with swords and he grins, then reaches for a gun that isn’t there. It’s like Spielberg and Lucas has him lose his gun on page eight of the script just to make sure Harrison Ford doesn’t pull his funny stuff again. Also, the boat falling out of the plane (and then off a cliff!) is way more ridiculous than the nuked fridge.
31. Pee-wee's Big Adventure (1985)
Rest in peace Paul Reubens. I can’t explain Pee-Wee humor and I don’t always even react to it, but its combination with the dark whimsy of early Tim Burton is essential culture.
30. The Imposter (2012)
Imposter? He hardly knew her! We watched this movie as a horror movie, but it's mostly a sad movie. Ever hear the story of the kid who disappears and then this other ""kid"" in Europe pretends to be the original kid and ""tricks"" the original kid's family that he's the real original kid? Yeah it's hilarious until you realize unprocessed trauma is a sticky wound. (YM&T#126: The Scary Truth)
29. Singin' in the Rain (1952)
Delightful. Just delightful… meehhhh with the acknowledgement that the fun story and classic Now That’s What I Call Music 1943™️ songs operate on separate delightful cylinders. Personally, and this is sort of a theme this year, I prefer the fun and lively non-musical elements. (YM&T#127: Fankincence’s Monster)
28. Silverado (1985)
This western from 1985 is like the last western of its kind. It's sort of a throwback to the straightforward white hat/black hat heroes and villains with a very very boisterous symphonic score. One of the unfortunate classic western tropes is just how egregious as all get out those bad guys miss easy gun shots. Also though, we get long johns-clad Kevin Kline shooting a guy in the middle of the day. Plus the music. I think this was supposed to re-ignite westerns, but maybe it just shows how old most westerns seem to us now. Kinda just a little nice that Kevin Kline goes out of his way to wear that black hat though. (YM&T#115: Cowboys Don’t Cry)
27. D.A.R.Y.L. (1985)
A polite young kid with the ability to play two video games at once invades (with love!) a young couple's lives and the entire 80s suburban neighborhood. Is he who he says he is? Well yes, because he has boynesia. I won't say what this boy is, but well yes I will. He's Data from Star Trek, but a kid. Data analyzing teen automaton. Hey remember when A.I. had a soul?
26. White Men Can't Jump (1992)
I hate swagger, but I love movies that show swagger without soggy editing. Show me the swagger with no tricks, and I’ll gleefully watch the trickiness. Also love the racial jabs — because both Woody and Wesley are so very bad at them. They're almost obligated and just wind up looking silly about the whole silly subject. (YM&T#129: Duo Lingo)
25. Unforgiven (1992)
Clint Eastwood is fabled monster of the old west seeking redemption, but is instead reborn into his true calling of grim reaper. Morality is a hell of thing. Eastwood's character of Munny only has power without that burdensome morality. And then he has superpowers. Yeah morality is a hell of a thing, but it doesn’t have a gun to protect itself when real power overtakes it. Fun movie! (YM&T#115: Cowboys Don’t Cry)
24. Parenthood (1989)
Steve Martin's parental stress has kept me from having children since 1989! We're podcasting on this soon!
23. Three O'Clock High (1987)
Casey Siemaszko crosses the wrong bully and is challenged to a 3 pm rumble. Anxiety ensues amongst the usual high school anxiety that's just as palpable as the crazy fantasy high school anxiety that's all personified in a crazy high school The Terminator. You can’t reason with him! Anyway, tremendous camerawork really captures high school claustrophobia. Filmed here in Utah!
22. The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
Let's go to prison with Tim Robbins! Aren't we all in some kind of prison? Perhaps El Guapo is our prison? Anyway, in this viewing the thing I noticed is that Andy Dufresne brings enlightenment. No need to wallow in your El Guapo. Take that prison and take what little freedom you have and make it a better place. Now if only Robbins weren't so gosh darned mumbly about it. Also, that’s a perfectly-rounded escape hole. Andy is irritatingly precise. (YM&T#112: You’ve Got Dale)
21. The Wedding Singer (1998)
Well I really love Uncut Gems, so I guess this is probably Adam Sandler's second-best movie. I suppose the theme of anxiety regarding not having enough money is a good enough reason to set this in the 80s, but how absolutely hilarious is it that so many 80s references are crammed into this? It's beyond parody, so as the world's biggest 80s-appreciater, I gotta ding it for being so unnaturally 80s. So that ticket guy at the airport with the Flock of Seagulls haircut who asks Adam Sandler if he likes A Flock of Seagulls -- Does he ask EVERY person who buys a plane ticket if they like A Flock of Seagulls? Bah, but that complaint aside, I legit love the lightness and relative non-annoyingness of Sandler and the gang. (YM&T#129: Duo Lingo)
20. Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988)
This is the gold standard of hybrid animation and live action. A rabbit, a PI, and the rabbit's bizarrely human wife attempt to solve the big mystery, but are distracted by lovable and historical cartoons along the way. So many old friends delighting me. Too bad the cartoon old friends are more fun than the three leads. I feel so sad about that poor little shoe. So I guess if shoes have souls and feelings, it's just fine to kill them in front of everybody? I'm glad we've evolved to a better time. (YM&T#119: Jeepers Croupiers)
19. The Wrestler (2008)
You’ve seen him wrestle, now see the rest of him (sounds better said out loud). Mickey Rourke only cares about wrestling and when every other aspect of his life falls apart he elects general suicide via the one thing he loves. This is good and sad. Sadder for onlookers than the guy who just loves wrestling, and can you blame him? (YM&T#123: The Rosstler Meets Vanillity Pool)
18. The Blob (1988)
So 80s, but also sooo 50s as a monster vibe and an alien vibe and a government vibe and a greaser on a motorcycle vibe. Well done nailing the recurring 30-year vibe that sorta happens. I mean, the 50s were kind of like the 80s (which were nothing like the 2010s, but whatever).
17. The Nightmare (2015)
This is an emotional documentary rather than an informative one. The subject is sleep paralysis. The narrative is controlled by the most vivid sufferers of the phenomenon who would rather us know hey this isn't a brain condition so much as actual demons are sitting on me while I sleep. The narrative is controlled in a subtle way that has me all scientific at the beginning then easy-peazy teeter-totters me toward mysticism. Can’t argue with sincerity. (YM&T#126: The Scary Truth)
16. The Birds (1963)
They waited millions of years to take Tippi Hedren down a peg. They look good doing it too. Nature’s lovely until she’s had enough. These freaking birds waited millions of years to for the perfect vapid socialite to take down a peg and they found their target in Tippi Hedren. And why won't the birds eventually kill us all? They look great in this movie too. There must have been so much crazy compositing, the editor must have gone insane or his arms fell off or something (oh wow I just checked and George Tomasini only edited four movies after this) (YM&T#122: Nature Finds a Way… TO KILL!)
15. Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954)
Delightful musical romp! It's about kidnapping and bride trafficking! Brings a smile to my face despite its intensely dark storyline worthy of a gritty reboot that’s also a sequel to Seven. (YM&T#127: Frankincense’s Monster)
14. Before Sunrise (1995)
It's Europe and two strangers meet on the train. One is an obnoxious American with European teeth (Ethan Hawke). The other (Julie Delpy), fortunately for him, is a beautiful French girl who is just fine allowing herself to be talked at all night. She definitely thought him cute before he opened his big mouth with those dorky ideas and terrible teeth. Annoying as he is, Hawke plays my kind of sneaky cynic with an outer sheen of positive vibes. And she is supurb, but just not supurb enough to seem written as perfect. Both are foolish 20somethings and I can vouch for the reality of both their foolishness and their sincerity. (YM&T#110: Sweetcakes and Milkshakes)
13. Planes, Trains and Automobiles (1987)
Steve Martin is Neal and John Candy is Del and they're reluctantly teaming up to make it to Chicago for Thanksgiving. Neal is normal, but Del is irritating, but smiling. I’d like to be a lot more like Del. But also you know Neal’s family is throwing him out by Friday afternoon. (YM&T#104: 2023: A Sad Odyssey)
12. Robin Hood (1973)
Perfect. Well actually I don’t get why the voice cast is part Royal Shakespeare and part Dukes of Hazzard, but otherwise, perfect. This is the one where all the characters are animals. A bit surprised that Robin Hood and Maid Marian ever wondered about getting together. Hey you're the only foxes in the whole movie! Who else is around for kissy kissy? (YM&T#109: Rounds Robin)
11. Room 237 (2012)
An old favorite of mine. I don't love it just because it's a documentary on the movie The Shining. It's more a documentary on how everyone's weirdness is a different kind of weirdness. You take a work like The Shining, and you see the weird imagery. As weird as people are, they still need to make sense of the weirdness. Then perhaps, talking about it is the weirdest thing of all. Room 237 is pretty much Podcast: The Movie. There’s artist intent and then there’s art intent and the latter has enough room for the moon. (YM&T#126: The Scary Truth)
10. 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
We go and check out evidence of aliens in "the distant year of 2001." This movie is long and dull, with only a couple of real events. It's not so much a story, but more a visually symphonic mood. Yes, I just wrote that. As for its meaning? Well, after these aliens brought violent tools to us, they checked back to get the next stage of human evolution the HAL computer. Not us. They took what they could in the astronaut and converted him into the Starchild abomination that will destroy the galaxy. What do you think? Maybe there's some positivity to it. Maybe. (YM&T#104: 2023: A Sad Odyssey)
9. Highlander (1986)
There can only be one -- and it's Christopher Lambert as the Scottish immortal destined to lop off all the other immortals' heads. This is a personal favorite of mine. Queen does the soundtrack, as you likely know, and that always is a plus. I watched it this year because I went to Scotland the following week and I wanted to hear some Scottish, but Lambert does not help in that regard. He's technically American, but mostly Swiss, so he sounds like nobody on Earth, least of all a Scotsman. It was all just an excuse of course. This movie rules.
8. Superman II (1980)
When Superman chooses mortality he stranded himself and Lois in the Fortress of Solitude! Nice thinking Kal-El! Also, hey Supes, maybe discuss that mortality thing with the woman who fell in love with the immortal! Seems like that whole "being Superman" thing is one of those really really attractive things about you. I somehow love this movie! It’s great! 12 years ago I dressed as Zod for Halloween. (YM&T#105: There Is No Planet B)
7. X-Men (2000)
Remember that age of superheroes when everything was metallic and black? Yeah the color schemes are different than the classic comic books, but the original sentiment is totally there. I just love Magneto. Possibly my favorite comic book villain. I don't share his arrogant bigotry but McKellan is just so calm and icy and great. He makes me understand villainy. (YM&T#108: The Best Marie Hours of Our Lives)
6. Before Sunset (2004)
Nine years after Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy spent one night together, they meet again. There are so few times we get to dabble in the post-meetcute. Here it’s carbonated and slightly swirly, building up to possibly too many bubbles, but then the mentos are thrown in and everything is sticky and messy just a little bit (and this is all before the possibility of re-sex). Anyway they dance a waltz before the real truth tango and I think it’s harshly beautiful. The Before movies do that beautiful thing only sequels do, but hardly ever do -- they build on the original rather than just remember it. This movie is The Empire Strikes Back of meetcutes.
5. The Princess Bride (1987)
The way Inigo and Fezzik pop back into the story, this time as heroes, but heroes we already love — this, this is comfort storytelling. Pig. (YM&T#128: Massage Jenny)
4. Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
First one best one. Indy doesn’t save the day. God does. And He’s pissed. But at least He melts the Nazis first. It's actually kind of nice having a grand globe-trotting adventure with the assurance that the Nazis will just be melted even without partaking in the adventure. But really, the good things are all the other things. Boulders, monkeys, whips, guns, Marions, submarines, wicker, swords, Sallahs, planes that land on the floaty pontoon things, planes with Nazi-cutting propellers, spiders, idols, pits, snakes, Egypts, dates, trucks. Anyway, it's all pretty good.
3. Airplane! (1980)
“Golly!” (YM&T#112: You’ve Got Dale)
2. Star Wars (1977)
Do you need any sort of synopsis for this? Well it's kind of like the Princess Bride, but the princess isn't a bride and Fezzik and Inigo hook up with Westley a lot sooner. I noticed this time just how annoyed Han is with Threepio from THE VERY FIRST MOMENT of their introduction. Also Vader is a total work douche when he brings his religion into the boardroom and that sideburns guy is totally right to call out that the force isn’t so powerful that it can destroy a planet (but whoa, in the end, Luke shows up daddy by kinda doing just that). But the trench run. Oh man the trench run. Speaking of Luke destroying a planet, remember he wasn't even supposed to be in that trench! All the real combat veterans got toasted and it was up to the young guys to save the day and kill all those stormtroopers. Speaking of stormtroopers, I just love their look. What icons. Anyway, I love this movie more than most I would say, which is weird that I never got into Star Wars tv so much. That's the thing about really great movies that inspire a franchise though. Yes they're great enough to inspire a franchise, but they're also great enough we don't need any more. And yes, I know I like Empire more, but that's not the point I'm trying to make right now at the moment, okay? (YM&T#111: One and One and One (or: Star Wart))
1. It's a Wonderful Life (1946)
Never realized how much Potter channels Trump in his little sing-songy way he speaks to George — “the smartest one in the crowd, mind you.” Also with the cop, the cabbie, the bar owner, the vixen, the superintendent, the ultra rich town supervillain, etc all hanging out together at major town events — wow Bedford Falls reminds me a whole lot of Springfield.
Okay I got the title way wrong. I assumed some demon posesses Sam Neil's wife, but really it’s about possessiveness and every actor is pure id in their presentations for a two-hour primal scream. Then after that I couldn’t keep up.
The 52 Movies I'd Seen Already But Watched Again!
52. The Goonies (1985)
Kids look for lost pirates' treasure and yell at each other the whole time while doing it. This time watching it was funner than I remember, but seriously way more kids yelling than even I’ve been spitefully joking about for all these years. Great score by Dave Grusin. Had to look that guy up just now. The music really cuts down on kidsounds. (YM&T#108: The Best Marie Years of Our Lives)
51. Mars Attacks! (1996)
You want what happens? Read the title! You can tell loads of cast is having fun, but also the movie doesn’t take itself seriously enough for me to take seriously (or, ironically, find as funny as I probably should). (YM&T# 105: There Is No Planet B)
50. Be Kind Rewind (2008)
Jack Black and Yasiin Bey (Mos Def) are put in charge of the neighborhood video store. And this is the last store on the east coast that still rents VHS. After magnetizing all of them (ahh, remember that danger?), they're forced to re-make all the movies. We love this kind of thing because it's so based on familiarity. All it takes is a few re-framed images from nostalgia and we get the hit. Love love the lo-fi-ness of the "sweded" movies, but there’s a weird uncomfortable un-chemistry for all the other aspects of this actual film. (YM&T# 113: Time to Make Words Sound Like Each Other)
49. The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension (1984)
Peter Weller plays the boring Buckaroo surrounded by a more jovial team of fellow scientists/rockstars/crimefighters who get involved in an interdimensional civil war with some really uptight aliens. Was gonna grade it lower but darn it it’s fun to talk about. Also, I gotta commend the teamwork aspect. Buckaroo’s team is such a great group of guys. Could use more girls, but oh well. Favorite part is the end credits, because the whole team is just walking. and it's the best use of just walking to a beat -- strutting if you will. Also this is the most 2nd Amendment-heavy movie I’ve ever seen. Yeah give all the 10-year-olds guns! See if I care! Okay, like this movie, I don’t think I know what I’m saying anymore. (YM&T#116: Antonio’s Hours, Times, and Dimensions)
48. Bud Abbott and Lou Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948)
One complaint. Dr. Frankenstein isn't even in the picture. They should have "met Dracula" as this is a famous Bela Lugosi reprisal. Then the title really would be the full synopsis. The craziness of the last ten minutes redeems this. Pratfalls along with real peril. Personally I find Costello quite irritating and Abbott is such a straight man I forget he’s even in the film at all, but they don't skimp on that last second action. (YM&T#125 ‘s Monster)
47. The Descent (2005)
Five outdoorsy women attempt to traverse an unexplored well, not haunted, but rather mutated cave. They have a DECENT chance… OF DYING! Actually before that they have all this marital drama. After that, there are the usual cave catasrophes like darkness, rocks, and squeezing into tiny places when you're surrounded by the entire earth and you, the viewer just sit there and hyperventilate. Maybe this movie has too much to worry about. (YM&T#124: New Horder)
46. The Boondock Saints (1999)
Two rowdy Irish churchgoers get Joan of Arked and "clean house" on Boston's criminal element. The end credits are a series of interviews in the street asking people, “Do you think it’s a good idea that all guys should have two self-appointed saints who murder people they don’t like?” I’m strangely comfortable with it. Anyway, if I visit Ireland, I might watch this movie again to dip my toes in authentic Irish culture. (YM&T# 106: Christel Chlear)
45. Seven Psychopaths (2012)
Here's one of those plays within a play sort of things. Colin Farrell is writing something called Seven Psychopaths and his buddy Sam Rockwell turns out to be the epitome of psychopathy. Also there are a few more psychopaths; the number gets a little muddled. The actual movie screenplay has several digs about the silliness of violence in modern cinema, so I’d assume this is an indictment of said violence, but darn it the violence is soooooo fun to watch in this. So there is the sense of a lost moral. Again on the positive side though, we get peak Walken. (YM&T#110 Sweetcakes and Milkshakes)
44. E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982)
E.T. has adorable eyes, but that weird gross saggy body makes me want to throw up. We're podcasting on this one this week!
43. Young Guns (1988)
It's the story of Billy the Kid with Emilio Estevez perfecting crazy-eye acting. Fun to watch from the perspective of his pals at the time. Ahh the awkwardness of accidentally tagging along with a serial killer. (YM&T#115: Cowboys Don’t Cry)
42. The Sword in the Stone (1963)
Settle in for a bit of Disney's animated interpretation of young King Arthur. Stones distributing swords IS a basis for a system of government, unlike that watery tart nonsense. Really this is just a half dozen vignettes. You're young Arthur and what do you do, you wash dishes, turn into three animals, and then forget a sword. Well, learn your lessons, kid. You're gonna be king. (YM&T#111: One and One and One (or: Star Wart))
41. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975)
70s insane asylum movie that I haven't seen since high school psychology. It is very 70s. The film stock shows that it smells really gross like the 70s. Okay if I were a resident at that asylum, though, I would not have enjoyed Jack Nicholson's impromptu boat trip. Not at all. I’m technically sane and I wouldn’t enjoy being away from the wonderful safety of that cage. (YM&T#128: Massage Jenny)
40. Legal Eagles (1986)
Took this in because I remember seeing it as a kid and nobody in the world has spoken of it since. Robert Redford defends weirdo fire lady Daryl Hannah in court oh and also Debra Winger is around. Not INCREDIBLE. It’s got that thing where both women in the cast throw themselves at the male hero because that’s just what the story needs to be about (although who wouldn’t throw themselves at Redford). It’s also got that vibe that has me questioning whether it’s a comedy or drama, which I think puts me off because of my modernity, but is actually a positive when I stop and think about it. Ivan Reitman and Elmer Bernstein in the opening credits make me think, hey are they trying to do a Ghostbusters tone again? They are and it doesn’t work as well, and that’s too bad, but dammit society should have done it more. I need my comedies to exist in some kind of real-world and I need my dramas to have way more jokes. So yeah, not INCREDIBLE, but I love how it takes me back to me watching a movie with NO CONCERN about which genre I’m trying to stick it.
39. Duel (1971)
Famously Steven Spielberg's first movie. Dennis Weaver is a Flanders-type in the 70s equivalent of a Yugo and cuts off the meanest semi on the road. The truck is an alien. This is the first Transformers movie. Optimus Prime feeds on humans back then though. (YM&T#118: Truck Be a Lady Tonight)
38. Field of Dreams (1989)
Kevin Costner lives the very oldschool American dream of becoming a farmer. Then he lives the American daydream by building a haunted field where the ghosts of baseball's past share the secrets of the universe with him. Baseball fans talk of the secrets of life hidden in baseball, but I think they just say that because they don't know all of football's rules. I get that Costner hears voices, but I don’t get his crazy theories about those voices applying to Shoeless Joe and Terrence Mann. Also, hey maybe save some money by not putting in massive stadium lights! (YM&T#117: Yours, Mine, & Theirs (After)LIVE)
37. Heaven Can Wait (1978)
Warren Beatty is taken to Heaven before his time and Heaven's agents gotta make things right by disrupting dozens of the still-living. The civil servants of the afterlife will straight up MURDER Rams QBs in order to avoid any post-death lawsuits. I'm finally old enough to find Charles Grodin funny! And he is. He is. (YM&T#117: Yours, Mine, & Theirs (After)LIVE)
36. Dark City (1998)
🎵 They built this city… (da doo doo)… They built this city in ou-ter-spa-aaaaace! 🎶 Dark City is famously Roger Ebert's favorite movie of 1998. Yikes, are movies this strange even allowed to be a known critic's favorite movie of the year? Rufus Sewell tries to escape a city. The city is, yep, dark. The city is in a strange time. Everyone in the city thinks this is normal, until they think a little more. The effects are charming. It's obviously a lot of model work and it looks a bit cheesy, but this must be one of the last movies to do it that way rather than CGI. The result is a bit of oldschool sci-fi that feels more like the fantastical past. (YM&T#121: Dark Coma Replacements)
35. Barb & Star Go to Vista Del Mar (2021)
Annie Mumolo and Kristen Wiig play midwestern work chatterboxes Barb and Starbara heading to Florida for some sun and a mild culture shock. Jamie Dornan falls for them both even though his real job is espionage. Wow. How many of the movies I watched this year involve espionage? Wow. Anyway, this is all just an excuse for Barb and Star to exclaim in unison their imaginary friend's favorite animal ("hen!"). Might I recommend an intravenous injection of this wacky movie. The frequency of the humor winds up grating for long periods, BUT it’s pretty smiley and laughy when properly prepared. Might I specifically recommend Jamie Dornan’s musical beach number more than once. (YM&T#113: Time to Make Words Sound Like Each Other)
34. A Room with a View (1986)
Julian Sands gets his groove back by pining for Helena Bonham-Carter from afar. An exhilarating watch that takes me back to a better time for white males when we absolutely knew Helena Bonham-Carter would love us back based on nothing but our own self-centered sense of main characterhood. Strangely, for a main character, Julian Sands says like three words. Just charming broods and glowering smirks, somehow sans threat. Stick around for the controversial skinnydip sequence! All dudes. Very European.
33. Jurassic Park (1993)
So like the T-Rex was our friend all along? So much fun, but somehow not quite magical for me as much as all other humans. Maybe I’m just annoyed that they bothered to clone so many more teethy ones than gentle ones. You can have a lot of fun with just that one giant brachiosaur! (YM&T#122: Nature Finds a Way… TO KILL!)
32. Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984)
So the weird bit of trivia I only know because everyone else knows and not from the movie telling me, is that this is a prequel to Raiders. Is this the very first prequel? Is this why they invented the word? And why so subtle about it? Now it’s kind of weird that apparently Indy FIRST fights Indians, THEN fights Nazis, THEN fights Nazis. It chronologically makes sense that this isn’t a prequel and make this the interlude meat of a Nazi sandwich. As has been said before though, witnessing child slavery and dealing with a lot of skull imagery and also that whole weird heart thing is what it takes to snap out of “fortune and glory” and into hero (if only a pretty grumbly hero). After seeing the evil of doom, he’s now a guy who recognizes the evil of Nazis and without them even needing to kidnap children. Too bad his new catchphrase about museums doesn’t well represent this new ideology. Where it doesn’t work as a prequel? The callback to the TWO guys with swords and he grins, then reaches for a gun that isn’t there. It’s like Spielberg and Lucas has him lose his gun on page eight of the script just to make sure Harrison Ford doesn’t pull his funny stuff again. Also, the boat falling out of the plane (and then off a cliff!) is way more ridiculous than the nuked fridge.
31. Pee-wee's Big Adventure (1985)
Rest in peace Paul Reubens. I can’t explain Pee-Wee humor and I don’t always even react to it, but its combination with the dark whimsy of early Tim Burton is essential culture.
30. The Imposter (2012)
Imposter? He hardly knew her! We watched this movie as a horror movie, but it's mostly a sad movie. Ever hear the story of the kid who disappears and then this other ""kid"" in Europe pretends to be the original kid and ""tricks"" the original kid's family that he's the real original kid? Yeah it's hilarious until you realize unprocessed trauma is a sticky wound. (YM&T#126: The Scary Truth)
29. Singin' in the Rain (1952)
Delightful. Just delightful… meehhhh with the acknowledgement that the fun story and classic Now That’s What I Call Music 1943™️ songs operate on separate delightful cylinders. Personally, and this is sort of a theme this year, I prefer the fun and lively non-musical elements. (YM&T#127: Fankincence’s Monster)
28. Silverado (1985)
This western from 1985 is like the last western of its kind. It's sort of a throwback to the straightforward white hat/black hat heroes and villains with a very very boisterous symphonic score. One of the unfortunate classic western tropes is just how egregious as all get out those bad guys miss easy gun shots. Also though, we get long johns-clad Kevin Kline shooting a guy in the middle of the day. Plus the music. I think this was supposed to re-ignite westerns, but maybe it just shows how old most westerns seem to us now. Kinda just a little nice that Kevin Kline goes out of his way to wear that black hat though. (YM&T#115: Cowboys Don’t Cry)
27. D.A.R.Y.L. (1985)
A polite young kid with the ability to play two video games at once invades (with love!) a young couple's lives and the entire 80s suburban neighborhood. Is he who he says he is? Well yes, because he has boynesia. I won't say what this boy is, but well yes I will. He's Data from Star Trek, but a kid. Data analyzing teen automaton. Hey remember when A.I. had a soul?
26. White Men Can't Jump (1992)
I hate swagger, but I love movies that show swagger without soggy editing. Show me the swagger with no tricks, and I’ll gleefully watch the trickiness. Also love the racial jabs — because both Woody and Wesley are so very bad at them. They're almost obligated and just wind up looking silly about the whole silly subject. (YM&T#129: Duo Lingo)
25. Unforgiven (1992)
Clint Eastwood is fabled monster of the old west seeking redemption, but is instead reborn into his true calling of grim reaper. Morality is a hell of thing. Eastwood's character of Munny only has power without that burdensome morality. And then he has superpowers. Yeah morality is a hell of a thing, but it doesn’t have a gun to protect itself when real power overtakes it. Fun movie! (YM&T#115: Cowboys Don’t Cry)
24. Parenthood (1989)
Steve Martin's parental stress has kept me from having children since 1989! We're podcasting on this soon!
23. Three O'Clock High (1987)
Casey Siemaszko crosses the wrong bully and is challenged to a 3 pm rumble. Anxiety ensues amongst the usual high school anxiety that's just as palpable as the crazy fantasy high school anxiety that's all personified in a crazy high school The Terminator. You can’t reason with him! Anyway, tremendous camerawork really captures high school claustrophobia. Filmed here in Utah!
22. The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
Let's go to prison with Tim Robbins! Aren't we all in some kind of prison? Perhaps El Guapo is our prison? Anyway, in this viewing the thing I noticed is that Andy Dufresne brings enlightenment. No need to wallow in your El Guapo. Take that prison and take what little freedom you have and make it a better place. Now if only Robbins weren't so gosh darned mumbly about it. Also, that’s a perfectly-rounded escape hole. Andy is irritatingly precise. (YM&T#112: You’ve Got Dale)
21. The Wedding Singer (1998)
Well I really love Uncut Gems, so I guess this is probably Adam Sandler's second-best movie. I suppose the theme of anxiety regarding not having enough money is a good enough reason to set this in the 80s, but how absolutely hilarious is it that so many 80s references are crammed into this? It's beyond parody, so as the world's biggest 80s-appreciater, I gotta ding it for being so unnaturally 80s. So that ticket guy at the airport with the Flock of Seagulls haircut who asks Adam Sandler if he likes A Flock of Seagulls -- Does he ask EVERY person who buys a plane ticket if they like A Flock of Seagulls? Bah, but that complaint aside, I legit love the lightness and relative non-annoyingness of Sandler and the gang. (YM&T#129: Duo Lingo)
20. Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988)
This is the gold standard of hybrid animation and live action. A rabbit, a PI, and the rabbit's bizarrely human wife attempt to solve the big mystery, but are distracted by lovable and historical cartoons along the way. So many old friends delighting me. Too bad the cartoon old friends are more fun than the three leads. I feel so sad about that poor little shoe. So I guess if shoes have souls and feelings, it's just fine to kill them in front of everybody? I'm glad we've evolved to a better time. (YM&T#119: Jeepers Croupiers)
19. The Wrestler (2008)
You’ve seen him wrestle, now see the rest of him (sounds better said out loud). Mickey Rourke only cares about wrestling and when every other aspect of his life falls apart he elects general suicide via the one thing he loves. This is good and sad. Sadder for onlookers than the guy who just loves wrestling, and can you blame him? (YM&T#123: The Rosstler Meets Vanillity Pool)
18. The Blob (1988)
So 80s, but also sooo 50s as a monster vibe and an alien vibe and a government vibe and a greaser on a motorcycle vibe. Well done nailing the recurring 30-year vibe that sorta happens. I mean, the 50s were kind of like the 80s (which were nothing like the 2010s, but whatever).
17. The Nightmare (2015)
This is an emotional documentary rather than an informative one. The subject is sleep paralysis. The narrative is controlled by the most vivid sufferers of the phenomenon who would rather us know hey this isn't a brain condition so much as actual demons are sitting on me while I sleep. The narrative is controlled in a subtle way that has me all scientific at the beginning then easy-peazy teeter-totters me toward mysticism. Can’t argue with sincerity. (YM&T#126: The Scary Truth)
16. The Birds (1963)
They waited millions of years to take Tippi Hedren down a peg. They look good doing it too. Nature’s lovely until she’s had enough. These freaking birds waited millions of years to for the perfect vapid socialite to take down a peg and they found their target in Tippi Hedren. And why won't the birds eventually kill us all? They look great in this movie too. There must have been so much crazy compositing, the editor must have gone insane or his arms fell off or something (oh wow I just checked and George Tomasini only edited four movies after this) (YM&T#122: Nature Finds a Way… TO KILL!)
15. Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954)
Delightful musical romp! It's about kidnapping and bride trafficking! Brings a smile to my face despite its intensely dark storyline worthy of a gritty reboot that’s also a sequel to Seven. (YM&T#127: Frankincense’s Monster)
14. Before Sunrise (1995)
It's Europe and two strangers meet on the train. One is an obnoxious American with European teeth (Ethan Hawke). The other (Julie Delpy), fortunately for him, is a beautiful French girl who is just fine allowing herself to be talked at all night. She definitely thought him cute before he opened his big mouth with those dorky ideas and terrible teeth. Annoying as he is, Hawke plays my kind of sneaky cynic with an outer sheen of positive vibes. And she is supurb, but just not supurb enough to seem written as perfect. Both are foolish 20somethings and I can vouch for the reality of both their foolishness and their sincerity. (YM&T#110: Sweetcakes and Milkshakes)
13. Planes, Trains and Automobiles (1987)
Steve Martin is Neal and John Candy is Del and they're reluctantly teaming up to make it to Chicago for Thanksgiving. Neal is normal, but Del is irritating, but smiling. I’d like to be a lot more like Del. But also you know Neal’s family is throwing him out by Friday afternoon. (YM&T#104: 2023: A Sad Odyssey)
12. Robin Hood (1973)
Perfect. Well actually I don’t get why the voice cast is part Royal Shakespeare and part Dukes of Hazzard, but otherwise, perfect. This is the one where all the characters are animals. A bit surprised that Robin Hood and Maid Marian ever wondered about getting together. Hey you're the only foxes in the whole movie! Who else is around for kissy kissy? (YM&T#109: Rounds Robin)
11. Room 237 (2012)
An old favorite of mine. I don't love it just because it's a documentary on the movie The Shining. It's more a documentary on how everyone's weirdness is a different kind of weirdness. You take a work like The Shining, and you see the weird imagery. As weird as people are, they still need to make sense of the weirdness. Then perhaps, talking about it is the weirdest thing of all. Room 237 is pretty much Podcast: The Movie. There’s artist intent and then there’s art intent and the latter has enough room for the moon. (YM&T#126: The Scary Truth)
10. 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
We go and check out evidence of aliens in "the distant year of 2001." This movie is long and dull, with only a couple of real events. It's not so much a story, but more a visually symphonic mood. Yes, I just wrote that. As for its meaning? Well, after these aliens brought violent tools to us, they checked back to get the next stage of human evolution the HAL computer. Not us. They took what they could in the astronaut and converted him into the Starchild abomination that will destroy the galaxy. What do you think? Maybe there's some positivity to it. Maybe. (YM&T#104: 2023: A Sad Odyssey)
9. Highlander (1986)
There can only be one -- and it's Christopher Lambert as the Scottish immortal destined to lop off all the other immortals' heads. This is a personal favorite of mine. Queen does the soundtrack, as you likely know, and that always is a plus. I watched it this year because I went to Scotland the following week and I wanted to hear some Scottish, but Lambert does not help in that regard. He's technically American, but mostly Swiss, so he sounds like nobody on Earth, least of all a Scotsman. It was all just an excuse of course. This movie rules.
8. Superman II (1980)
When Superman chooses mortality he stranded himself and Lois in the Fortress of Solitude! Nice thinking Kal-El! Also, hey Supes, maybe discuss that mortality thing with the woman who fell in love with the immortal! Seems like that whole "being Superman" thing is one of those really really attractive things about you. I somehow love this movie! It’s great! 12 years ago I dressed as Zod for Halloween. (YM&T#105: There Is No Planet B)
7. X-Men (2000)
Remember that age of superheroes when everything was metallic and black? Yeah the color schemes are different than the classic comic books, but the original sentiment is totally there. I just love Magneto. Possibly my favorite comic book villain. I don't share his arrogant bigotry but McKellan is just so calm and icy and great. He makes me understand villainy. (YM&T#108: The Best Marie Hours of Our Lives)
6. Before Sunset (2004)
Nine years after Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy spent one night together, they meet again. There are so few times we get to dabble in the post-meetcute. Here it’s carbonated and slightly swirly, building up to possibly too many bubbles, but then the mentos are thrown in and everything is sticky and messy just a little bit (and this is all before the possibility of re-sex). Anyway they dance a waltz before the real truth tango and I think it’s harshly beautiful. The Before movies do that beautiful thing only sequels do, but hardly ever do -- they build on the original rather than just remember it. This movie is The Empire Strikes Back of meetcutes.
5. The Princess Bride (1987)
The way Inigo and Fezzik pop back into the story, this time as heroes, but heroes we already love — this, this is comfort storytelling. Pig. (YM&T#128: Massage Jenny)
4. Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
First one best one. Indy doesn’t save the day. God does. And He’s pissed. But at least He melts the Nazis first. It's actually kind of nice having a grand globe-trotting adventure with the assurance that the Nazis will just be melted even without partaking in the adventure. But really, the good things are all the other things. Boulders, monkeys, whips, guns, Marions, submarines, wicker, swords, Sallahs, planes that land on the floaty pontoon things, planes with Nazi-cutting propellers, spiders, idols, pits, snakes, Egypts, dates, trucks. Anyway, it's all pretty good.
3. Airplane! (1980)
“Golly!” (YM&T#112: You’ve Got Dale)
2. Star Wars (1977)
Do you need any sort of synopsis for this? Well it's kind of like the Princess Bride, but the princess isn't a bride and Fezzik and Inigo hook up with Westley a lot sooner. I noticed this time just how annoyed Han is with Threepio from THE VERY FIRST MOMENT of their introduction. Also Vader is a total work douche when he brings his religion into the boardroom and that sideburns guy is totally right to call out that the force isn’t so powerful that it can destroy a planet (but whoa, in the end, Luke shows up daddy by kinda doing just that). But the trench run. Oh man the trench run. Speaking of Luke destroying a planet, remember he wasn't even supposed to be in that trench! All the real combat veterans got toasted and it was up to the young guys to save the day and kill all those stormtroopers. Speaking of stormtroopers, I just love their look. What icons. Anyway, I love this movie more than most I would say, which is weird that I never got into Star Wars tv so much. That's the thing about really great movies that inspire a franchise though. Yes they're great enough to inspire a franchise, but they're also great enough we don't need any more. And yes, I know I like Empire more, but that's not the point I'm trying to make right now at the moment, okay? (YM&T#111: One and One and One (or: Star Wart))
1. It's a Wonderful Life (1946)
Never realized how much Potter channels Trump in his little sing-songy way he speaks to George — “the smartest one in the crowd, mind you.” Also with the cop, the cabbie, the bar owner, the vixen, the superintendent, the ultra rich town supervillain, etc all hanging out together at major town events — wow Bedford Falls reminds me a whole lot of Springfield.
Silly Facts and Stats Nobody Cares About But Me!
Total number of movies seen: 151 (167 last year)
Total number of 2023 movies seen: 18 (27 last year)
Total number of non-2023 movies seen: 133 (139 old movies last year)
Year of oldest movie: 1932 (Murders in the Rue Morgue (Thirteen Women also came out in 1932, but in September, opposed to Rue Morgue's February))
Total number of movies seen more than once: 0
Biggest movie-watching month: February and June tied with 17 (and June was the smallest movie-watching month last year)
Smallest movie-watching month: 6 in May (I meant to get to the cinema in Europe, but couldn't swing it)
Biggest movie-watching day: July 8th (understandably the day of our live Yours, Mine, & Theirs podcast event where we watched Heaven Can Wait, Coco, and Field of Dreams back-to-back)
Most time between movies: 22 days (When I watched My Son on the plane to Europe on May 12th and My Cousin Vinny on the plane back from Europe on June 3rd)
Movies seen at the cinema: 15 (20 last year)
Most popular theater: Broadway (8)
2023 movies streamed or seen in a method other than cinema'd: 9
Movies seen at Sundance: 4 (3 online and 1 at Gateway, which was a sort of satellite venue I guess)
Movies seen at the annual 24-hour movie marathon: 0
Movies seen on an airplane: 3
DVD/Blu-ray: 62 (thank heavens for the public library)
VHS: 2
Amazon Prime: 7
Amazon rental: 0
Amazon purchase: 0
AppleTV: 1
Apple rental: 7
Criterion Channel: 5
Disney+: 7
HBO: 14
Hulu: 1
Netflix: 5
Paramount: 1
Peacock: 5
YouTube: 0
Shudder: 3
Other streaming: 4 (Starz, TCM, Tubi, Vudu)
Public showings in a place that's not a theater: 1
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