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It's the movie post for 2025! This was a long process with moving parts and heavy machinery, so if there are issues, let me know so I can correct and scold my machines. Check out some of the provided links. They'll send you to the podcast where I talked out loud about that particular movie. Hear my whiny, nasaly voice!
top nine movies of 2025!
Only nine 2025 movies again.
9. The Running Man (2025)
Unfortunately mostly forgetful, which is a shame because it doesn’t seem like it would be too hard for someone like Edgar Wright to match the campy fun of the peak Schwarzeneggerian original. There are very few clues in spectacle or editing that Wright has a hand in this at all. The setting is very different than the original (but not the original source material from what I understand), but the new world aspects don’t coalesce into a new world I particularly digest or want to remember. SNL’s Please Don’t Destroy’s Martin Herlihy shows up to be VERY Please Don’t Destroy’s martin Herlihy for a few minutes, which really eases the stagnant action movie tension.
8. The Baltimorons (2025)
Emergency dental surgery morphs into a very constricted Planes, Trains, and Automobiles situation with a dentist and her patient. It starts extremely very real. The guy second guesses his sober path and expresses that outward by encumbering his life onto the new acquaintance. It gets less real as the sincere bonding gives way to a more insincere romance. Lost in the shuffle is the oft-worrying wife played by Olivia Luccardi that I mention by name because I met her at the Sundance showing of It Follows and she seems really cool in real life.
7. John Candy: I Like Me (2025)
John Candy has been gone so long, he’s almost defined as a dead man. Now that I’ve surpassed Candy’s age, it hits quite differently. Here’s a guy who was just trying to be the funniest and nicest guy he could be and he’s just as simply tormented by worry and doubt. Way to delve into demons to make a nice guy’s death even sadder. Just about everybody says a few words about this, so it feels more like crashing a wake than a movie. Candy surely deserved this adoring treatment sooner when his ghost was fresher. Also, it’s a great way to digest all the best John Candy movie clips. Personally I really appreciate the short footage of Summer Rental.
6. One Battle After Another (2025)
Leonardo Di Caprio is a revolutionary who forgot to do his revolutionary homework and now his daughter is paying the price. See? This is why I don’t join extremist movements. The vocab and passwords are just way too stressful. Di Caprio’s forgetful stress in the first hour is a recurring nightmare of mine. I am a bit surprised the politics are more of a setting than a message. I think this turns me off just a little (same issue getting into The Master). Perhaps we need absurdism of reality rather than just reality though. Maybe that’s the biggest takeaway in a weird way. A world of left-wing revolutionaries vs. state-sponsored supremacists doesn’t need commentary. It’s just our normal world. Despite the tense and serious character circumstances, it’s time to chuckle at the absurdity.
5. The Ballad of Wallis Island (2025)
A rich nerd hires Carey Mulligan and Tom Basden to get the two-person band back together and perform the privatest of events (an audience of one – the aforementioned rich nerd). Getting the band back together means re-opening old wounds and resparking old chemistry. It’s not my favorite music, but a couple of these songs are real gems. They move me, man. I have a forever fascination with ended relationships – romantic, platonic, and especially band. This movie has got all these regrets in spades on both sides of the break-up. All the feels squeezed into a nerd’s tiny island. Come for the sincere music, but stay for the timeless Irish scenery.
4. Black Bag (2025)
I often have a difficult time writing Letterboxd reviews but this one’s easy because it’s black bagged. Okay fine it's mostly about Michael Fassbender and Cate Blanchett just being sexy at each other and everyone around them. They host a dinner party for fellow spies to root out only the least sexy spies and also the ones who are traitors. Can married spies trust each other?
3. The Naked Gun (2025)
Most of my praise is casting alone. One of the biggest laughs occurred like a year ago when, while completely alone, I heard Liam Neeson is The Naked Gun’s new Drebin. Now, to his credit, when I think of Neeson I no longer think of Oskar Schindler. I think of him, fresh off a chili dog binge, with his body cam on desperately looking for a bathroom. Oh and also now whenever I think of Pamela Anderson I think of her biding time on stage by loudly scatting (rather than, uh, Baywatch). There is a sequence that is much more Austin Powers than Zucker-Abrahams-Zucker, but I forgive it since the rest of the laughs are wall-to-wall.
2. Wake Up Dead Man (2025)
I'm a big fan of the Knives Out series. Rian Johnson has juiced up the whodunnit genre to hit the sociology of the story more than the clevery mystery plot mechanics. But he does that by making the clevery mystery plot mechanics really really good to supercede in the first place. Wake Up Dead Man takes it further by really making the murder suspect, Father Duplenticy, the main perspective and real breathing soul of the picture. In the meantime the social experiment here deals with the two-faced side of religious faith. Is it used for the sincere salvation of mankind or the contagious excuse to hate. The puzzle is big and brilliant (well, maybe a bit difficult to pull off IRL), but the emphasis on character and emotion is the real welcome aspect to the whodunit genre.
1. Sorry, Baby (2025)
Starts with a charming sputter that had me a bit skeptical, but it eased me in just fine. Agnes is a chill academic who inadvertantly lands in a chilly life-altering situation. It's heavy and serious and painful, but but but it does a fine job of adding generous amounts of lighthearted hope and the driest of all humor. It manages all the tones, not just the oppressive ones. Bleak and sad, but I still like hanging out with Agnes quite a bit.
top 62 movies from before that i'd never seen before!
New experiences!
62. A Christmas Heist (2023)A real piece of work kid falls into Christmas crime while also holding emotional hostage of a sleighwrecked Santa. I kinda thought a Christmas movie would work out fine because Christmas stuff would make up for any shortcomings. It took watching this film that made me realize I actually have higher expectations for Christmas movies, not less. Thinking of making a Christmas movie?
61. Nobody's Perfect (1990)
Chad, that’s right, Chad Lowe makes good use of his cherubic face and dresses like a woman to get on the tennis team. Looks more masculine as a woman than just his normal face. No movie’s perfect. Discussed on Yours, Mine, & Theirs #174: She’s the Man Yours, Mine, & Theirs #174: She’s the Man
60. The Lovebirds (2020)
Issa Rae and Kumail Nanjiani go on a date and then fall into the middle of crime. Funny. Also surprisingly visceral. Not sure it’s a perfect balance. Maybe some daylight would help a little.
59. Encanto (2021)
I do not acknowledge this as a movie watched for the Yours, Mine, & Theirs podcast. It’s about a Colombian magic house full of a family of stressed out X-Men types. There is also a lot of poppy Lin-Manuel Miranda audio flourish. Don’t like. Kinda don’t appreciate the message, which I have since forgotten.
58. The Road to Wellville (1994)
Matthew Broderick and Bridget Fonda attend Anthony Hopkins’ Old Man Kellogg’s Sanitarium in order to save their health and marriage (both plummet). This is a wacky movie with a little too much wacky music syndrome. And it’s photographed well! Too well for the kind of sketch-like acting. Discussed on Yours, Mine, & Theirs #157: A Letterboxd to Elise
57. Kalki 2898-AD (2024)
This movie is very very long, so I’m going to skip a long summary. It’s legendary India stuff where I think a woman is supposed to give birth to the messiah and everybody’s fighting all around her. There’s some good stuff in the bloat! Lots of forgotten characters! Lots of mythology I’m slightly more familiar with now! Discussed on Yours, Mine, & Theirs #163: Tuesday School
56. White Chicks (2004)
Marlon Wayans and Shawn Wayans need to thwart a kidnapping, so they dress as women. Don’t worry! The movie doesn’t explain it super well either. The first joke of the movie is TERRIBLE! But then the next two jokes are PRETTY GOOD! The next 203 jokes are sub-mid. I’d like to point out that Marlon is very good at playing a woman and Shawn is very bad. Discussed on Podcast 163: Tuesday School
55. Life with Father (1947)
It’s the turn of the 20th Century and William Powell is the father of the title over what seems like ‘50s sitcom family. I never realized white people could be so boring. Michael Curtiz, you’re a great director, so throw a little Casablanca in here! Or even some Robin Hood. Discussed on Yours, Mine, & Theirs #159: Caroline Upon Line
54. Deep Blue Sea (1999)
An ocean lab makes sharks smart and maybe that wasn’t the smartest human decision. Not super deep or blue. And the sea part is mostly contained in a structure, so it’s sort of half truth. Gotta be the most claustrophobic shark movie ever. Thomas Jane should die in this but I guess doesn’t.
53. The Indian in the Cupboard (1995)
Remember this book in elementary school? Two boys come across a magical cupboard that grants life to plastic action figures. Call me the emperor of Austria, cuz here’s another example of too many notes. The film score plays incessantly, so I can’t much grasp onto any human moments. There’s a peculiar sense of non-magic to this. Maybe that’s why they try to solve it with more music. But also it’s about refraining from the magic of life because others’ lives are not our own, so maybe the movie shouldn’t be all that fun after all. Discussed on Podcast 165: Tin Men, Tiny Men, and Treblemakers
52. Travels with My Aunt (1972)
The aunt in question is played by Maggie Smith way back in 1972. It’s a sluggish bit of buddy travel with Maggie and a man I forget, but we at least see what they predicted the old Maggie Smith would look like (pale!) while retaining the fresh Maggie Smith feistiness in flashbacks.
51. The Candidate (1972)
Redfordfest continues. Robert Redford is an amiable guy talked into running for public office. The ideals slowly show cracks. I coulda used a bit more satire over realism here. Maybe because the subtleties of the 70s are so foreign to me today.
50. If Looks Could Kill (1991)
Ladies and gentlemen, I present the 500th movie covered on Yours, Mine, & Theirs!* That could be the highest honor bestowed on this film. Anyway Richard Grieco is a 40-year old high school student who stumbles into a foreign spy plot. Like all of us in high school put in this situation, it pans out exactly how we’d expect – bitchin’! Every line is the satisfied final line of a beer commercial. Not knowing what the movie is about beforehand led me to surprise with the spy stuff storyline, but not growing up with this, I’m again surprised the story is a high schooler machine gunning foreigners. *Still doing the recount on this. Discussed on Yours, Mine, & Theirs #167: Antonio’s Birthway
49. Emilia Pérez (2024)
Caught this in my early year Oscar catch-up. It’s, well, it’s something. Amelia Perez is a drug lord who escapes by changing identity and sex. He’s a she now, and then the music starts. Zoe Saldana comes along as a friend and owner of fierce dance moves. I’m her for that, but not so much here for the repetitive whisper singing.
48. The Substance (2024)
Demi Moore takes the Death Becomes Her medicine, but this time an evil Margaret Qualley crawls out of her! It’s kind of a harsh critique on our society’s obsession with youth, but the movie gives us a favor by presenting a world maybe a little more throwback and stylized than our own. The light obliviousness of this world what with its aerobics shows on network television and whatnot sure make swallowing this gooey puddle mess easier. Oh yeah, and if you’re into gooey puddle messes, see this!
47. Breaker! Breaker! (1977)
Chuck Norris rescues his brother who found himself swallowed up by a hellish conservative anti-oasis of a town. This is my favorite Chuck Norris movie! Of course Chuck doesn’t really help any to win me over. That honor goes to the crazy arrogant/ignorant town of Texas City, California. Discussed on Yours, Mine, & Theirs #162: Whatever You Want, Birthday Roy
46. From the Hip (1987)
Judd Nelson in all his 1987 supermass Juddball glory starts lawyering like a rockstar instead of all the stuffed shirts around him. By “lawyering like a rockstar” I mean performing law (and performing with disbarrable offenses) rather than just practicing it . But it’s courtroom fun in the 80s, so we get lots of witness stand zingers. Discussed on Yours, Mine, & Theirs #161: Training for Diswunderbarment
45. No Sex Please - We're British (1973)
A charming attractive British couple just got married, but their proper image and the image of the husband’s proper bank workplace may be tinged by the arrival of a crate of mis-mailed Swedish pornography. Wackiness ensues because even a simple return-to-sender could arouse suspicion of the entire country of stuffed shirts. Could be funnier, but definitely Britishly charming enough. And a warning of Puritanical attitudes that cause more vice than not. This has got to be the most G-rated porn-related film ever. Discussed on Yours, Mine, & Theirs #181: Oh Man We Are So Fogged
44. When a Stranger Calls (1979)
Carol Kane plays the babysitter from the urban legend who answers the phone with the creeper on the other line who’s actually phoning FROM INSIDE THE HOUSE! So the movie tells that story for the opening minutes and then uhhhhh, just meanders around for an hour until the plot gears have completely revolved into place to tell that opening story again. The picture’s got atmosphere, but not one I enjoy breathing. Discussed on Yours, Mine, & Theirs #177: The Revenge of the Baby-sat!
43. Air (2023)
It’s a movie about the making of the Air Jordan shoe, and being one of 20 kids in the country who never owned a pair, I watched it. The movie needle drops most ‘80s songs. Plus the cast is packed. But also it’s not super tempting to lean forward rooting for an already successful company and the adulation for Michael Jordan veers more toward deification. Discussed on Yours, Mine, & Theirs #175: Air Blood
42. Paul (2011)
Simon Pegg and Nick Frost are British nerds who fall into contact with an alien with a Seth Rogen-esque attitude. Always love Pegg and Frost. Usually like Rogen. Put ‘em together… and Rogen just swallows the other two up. There are lots of sci-fi references and t-shirts, so i get my catnip that way. Discussed on Yours, Mine, & Theirs #167: Antonio’s Birthway
41. Nickel Boys (2024)
Two black kids attempt to navigate the hellish reform schools of the south, where it turns out many of their peers are probably unceremoniously buried. The movie makes a sort of interesting choice of every shot being the point-of-view of one of the boys. You know, there was a M*A*S*H episode like this. The style and gimmick of the POV is interesting, but I am a bit torn. Part of me feels it’s at least more interesting than straightforward camera work. Part of me calls it a bit distracting and takes away from the reality. I lean a little to the latter.
40. A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (1966)
Kind of like 12 Years a Slave but in Roman times and a musical. Zero Mostel is a conniving servant who uses deception and treachery to selfishly grift his way to being a non-owned man. I’ve complained a lot about movie musicals lately and it’s almost as if this movie heard me back in time at its creation. Maybe all musicals should just eliminate most songs in favor of sight gags, camera tricks, and action spectacles. Discussed on Yours, Mine, & Theirs #157: A Letterboxd to Elise
39. A Complete Unknown (2024)
It’s time to learn about Bob Dylan’s betrayal of his folk friends by going electric and Timothée Chalamet’s the one to bring the great mumbler back to life (wait, is Dylan dead yet?). It’s fun enough because I like biopics, but not a good conversioner to the Church of Dylan for a lifelong unbeliever such as myself. Not much joy in the songs, but I certainly get the songwriter’s irritation.
38. The Week Of (2018)
Adam Sandler puts away his juvenile tendencies in order to stress out at his daughter’s wedding. He’s really father of the pride though when he refuses to get financial help from groom’s dad Chris Rock. Some parts are funny so I like it! Also, Sandler is more tolerable when he suffers quietly. Discussed on Yours, Mine, & Theirs #159: Caroline Upon Line
37. Wolf (1994)
Jack Nicholson gets bit by a wolf and it gives him the courage to grow hair and date Michelle Pfeiffer. It’s so ‘90s and sooo a time when monster reimaginings are so much funner. Peak James Spader as the guy the world wants to punch. Also, peak Nicholson who looks the most like Wolverine of his career here. Discussed on Yours, Mine, & Theirs #163: Tuesday School
36. Why Don't You Play in Hell? (2013)
Delusional Japanese clan members decide to bring aboard a film crew to document their clan rumble and then everybody forgets what’s real. Quite a fireworks factory, but the fireworks factory is at the very end. Before that is a bit too much movie geek attitude. Discussed on Yours, Mine, & Theirs #172: The Odyquery
35. Clockwatchers (1997)
Toni Collette, Parker Posey, Lisa Kudrow, and some other girl named Allana Ubach lose their minds with boredom and girl talk as office temps. It’s frankly much duller than Office Space, so i’m not ranking it super high. But I am respecting it because the group dynamics are exactly what I’ve seen so many times. People get thrown together and the extra-mile friendliness turns quickly into unnecessary volatility.
34. Miracle on 34th Street (1947)
Santa Claus takes the pettiness of department store capitalism into his own hands and then gets the workaholic parade organizer to put out for the guy across the hall. Which miracle even is it? The existence of Santa or the melting of Doris’s heart? Maybe it’s the little Dutch girl escaping the war unscathed? Or maybe it’s that Santa is above all, a scientist who takes no guff from quack psychologists. Discussed on Yours, Mine, & Theirs #183: Merry Christmas and Macy Gimbels!
33. The Cassandra Crossing (1976)
Burt Lancaster is a no-frills military man trying to stop a pandemic. But this disease just hopped a train, and it’s not taking a nap in the overhead compartment! Seal the passengers inside and pack some terrorism into this disaster picture and you got quite a show! Sofia Loren! Martin Sheen! O.J. Simpson, are you kidding me?! Perhaps I’d never heard of this because the world was sick of disaster films by ‘77. Discussed on Yours, Mine, & Theirs #161: Training for Diswunderbarment
32. Three Days of the Condor (1975)
Robert Redford is a low level CIA analyst (of fiction books, what’s up with that?), who finds himself on the run by rogue assassins and he can’t even analyze why. He’s backed into problematically kidnapping and Stockholm Syndroming Faye Dunaway. This is Redford at his most manic. The mailman fight was totally stolen from the Damon Bourne Identity magazine fight, despite the obvious disadvantage of the latter coming out 27 years later. Also, sloppy good guys sloppily cleaning up sloppier bad guys. The spy game is littered with civilian passersby. Discussed on Yours, Mine, & Theirs #180: 11 Days of Opprobrium
31. Manborg (2011)
Oh wow this movie is so cheap. If it had any more budget I doubt it would be so good. Man wakes up one day to find he’s been borgified and the only hope to stop the denizens of Hell who have taken over Earth. Manborg breaks the action hero zinger comment stereotype with his own catchphrase: “Uh-huh!” I got pretty enthralled with the B plot about how that peroxided semi-Australian character never learned to read in Hell school. It’s harmless fun (with one strangely gut punch of a line that delves on the emptiness of existence). Discussed on Yours, Mine, & Theirs #179: He Blinded Me with Science
30. Yentl (1983)
Barbra Streisand takes the director’s chair to deliver the Jewiest movie ever and I am here for it. I guess the studio made her put a bunch of songs in. They’re not super musical-y, possibly because the Yentl story of a woman who dresses as a man to fulfil her academic passions was never meant to have music. We get “Papa” from this though and that’ll be enough. Mandy Patinkin is so young here! Discussed on Yours, Mine, & Theirs #174: She’s the Man
29. The Fog (1980)
Adrienne Barbeau is both a jazz music dj AND a lighthouse operator? What a seaside dream! Well that dream becomes a nightmare when a fog rolls in carrying deadly fog pirates that enter all non-weatherstripped homes! Fortunately Barbeau can give a play-by-play to the whole populace right over the airwaves. This is a John Carpenter joint. Not his best, but one of those that’s more of a hang with fun, scared characters (like Jamie Lee Curtis and Tom Atkins!). Discussed on Yours, Mine, & Theirs #181: Oh Man We Are So Fogged!
28. Seven Days in May (1964)
A charismatic Burt Lancaster is a military general who gets his chess pieces in order to set in motion a likeable plan to replace POTUS. He’s not a popular president anyway. Only Kirk Douglas is liberal and weenie enough to stop him! Fun to see the underdog of a sitting U.S. president aiming for disarmament and only having like three guys in the whole country he can trust. Harrowing scenario. I’m actually surprised we don’t have more military coups in this country. Discussed on Yours, Mine, & Theirs #180: 11 Days of Opprobrium
27. Who Killed Teddy Bear? (1965)
A young woman seeks to make it in the big city but only gets phone calls with heavy breathing. This movie is black and white, but sick and sleazy and I like it. Sex sells… then KILLS! Discussed on Yours, Mine, & Theirs #171: The Odyquery
26. JFK (1991)
A seemingly very tired Kevin Costner inserts himself and his team into the investigation of the Kennedy assassination, not realizing that every character is insaner than the last and every theory mutates into another one. I expected SOME tedium, but got the constant enthusiasm of a hot 2am Reddit message board. And kind of like all the diseases trying to enter Burns’ body at the same time, none of these theories ultimately gets through to me. Four stars still for the yelly ride. Fun fact: nobody utters “JFK” in the whole film. Discussed on Yours, Mine, & Theirs #180: 11 Days of Opprobrium
25. Marty (1955)
It’s a MEAT-cute! Ernest Borgnine is a chatty happy butcher, but his quest for romance is constantly thwarted by family and friends. Who is HE to get love? Discussed on Yours, Mine, & Theirs #170: Yours, Mine, & Theirs LIVE 2025!
24. Mad Love (1935)
Peter Lorre has conquered science, but has he conquered… LOVE? No! Because he sews the wrong hands on a doctor! The doctor is supposed to wield scalpels, not throw knives! This is the ultimate mad scientist going madder by love movie. At one point Lorre dons a frightful robot-like outfit that seems like Apocalypse and gaslights a guy into believing he’s a murderer. This is true psycho black and white fun. I’ve become a big fan of the female lead here, Francis Drake. She does a tremendous wax figure impression.Turns out she wasn’t in that many movies. What a shame. Discussed on Yours, Mine, & Theirs #179: He Blinded Me with Science
23. The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)
Obi-Wan is a captured prisoner of war, but is determined to win the war not by sabotage, but rather by showing off British engineering.Very Lean (in the sense that David Lean makes long movies) but man those last 15 movie minutes are just about the grippingest. Discussed on Yours, Mine, & Theirs #170: Yours, Mine, & Theirs LIVE 2025!
22. Anora (2024)
A sex worker tracks down her runaway Russian punk husband with the curious help of his bumbling handlers. Next time I see a young dancer with three older, sweatier men eating together in a diner I’ll be glad to know a few of the details that brought them on this adventure together. This one won the Best Picture last year, which I don’t mind. Unlike many best pictures, this certainly isn’t dry and proper. I think the very funniest part of the movie is the idea of all the retired couples who woke up the morning after the Oscars, saw that Anora won, then immediately and ignorantly thought it might be a fitting cultural experience to see a matinee of the stripclub-soaked film.
21. Bloody Birthday (1981)
It’s a small town and a mysterious eclipse bestows evil on three babies born during the umbra. The kids grow up with subtle malice, but then one night they wage a full physical war with… their babysitter. What is it about eclipses and babysitting movies? So cheap, yet so fun. Zero scares, but the thrills are within my consent level. Somehow kids killing and subsequently getting beat up is kinda my jam. Discussed on Yours, Mine, & Theirs #177: The Revenge of the Baby-sat!
20. Spontaneous (2020)
One high school becomes mysteriously cursed by exploding students. In the time they have left, two of them find love with each other, but with the vivid burden of mortality. Thoughtful and charming and also very sadly pointless. Which I guess is the point. I think it’s an allegory for the unfair innocence lost of school shootings. Discussed on Yours, Mine, & Theirs #178: Scarephilia
19. The Seventh Victim (1943)
We watched this because we heard it’s prequel to the previously-made Cat People. A woman’s sister goes missing in the Big Apple, so the sister starts her own naive investigation. Will she save her from a cult? Or succumb to any one of the various terrors of Greenwich Village? This is my kind of pre-Giuliani New York: a different cult on every street corner. Discussed on Yours, Mine, & Theirs #169: Cat Prequel
18. Cutter's Way (1981)
Spare us the cutter! Couldn’t cut the… mustaaaaard! I need to forever thank Antonio from The Cultworthy podcast for never failing to present me with a film I never would have seen or even heard of. Jeff Bridges’ hair is tall and solid. He’s got some evidence of the powers that be are in the wrong and his old friend Cutter (John Heard) puts the power of the people pressure on to enact justice (or vengeance?). Anyway, they don’t make ‘em like this anymore. It’s one of those where you can’t get a grasp of the usual movie template supplied by marketers. It’s a real story. Where does it go? Does John Heard ride a horse through a party? Yes! Did you see that coming? Btw, John Heard is the dad in Home Alone so knowing what you know, you’d never expect that eye patch. Discussed on Yours, Mine, & Theirs #167: Antonio’s Birthway
17. The Good Son (1993)
What a perfect mosquito in amber from its time. They managed to get Macauley Culkin to play an evil kid playing life or death games with a tiny and pre-Frodoed Elijah Wood. It’s sooooo serious and I love it. Never expose your 10-year-old to Nietzsche. They’ll come away with the wrong things. Guested on The Cultworthy Ep #198: Beat on the Brats (Scary Children in Movies)
16. No Other Land (2024)
This big recent documentary is told from within a small Palestinian community observing the incoming settlers like a glacier and the peacekeeping state that strikes like lightning. I hoped against hope this would be a documentary with charts and graphs and maps and timelines, but it is kinda what I thought it would be: rough, real, and now. It affects me on a personal level rather than a political one. It’s nauseatingly repetitive with oppression and the main emotion is exhaustion.
15. The Children's Hour (1961)
Audrey Hepburn and Shirley MacLaine are teachers for young teenage girls, and boy oh boy do they learn how mean girls can be. Stop it with the vicious rumors kids! Karen Balkin only acted in a half dozen or so shows, but I think this little girl is the most frightful villain I’ve seen in a long time. And she probably doesn’t even know it. I’m not sure if I’ve ever seen a villain so naive to her own villainy before. Also, I don’t know one woman who is not in love with Audrey Hepburn, so stop beating yourself up Shirley MacLaine! Guested on The Cultworthy Ep #198: Beat on the Brats (Scary Children in Movies)
14. Lethal Weapon (1987)
I thought surely I’ve seen the original before 2025. Turns out I’ve just seen the Busey fight in the rain a million times, ‘cuz the rest of this was completely foreign to me. Crazy how much non-story there is. They go through a half dozen anecdotal scenes both tame and strangely violent before the real case starts. And of course the film is cursed with oversax. But this has gotta be peakest Gibson, right? Discussed on Yours, Mine, & Theirs #162: Whatever You Want, Birthday Roy
13. The Devil Rides Out (1968)
Katie batting a million by picking this on my 2025 birthday screening. There’s the Satanic panic of middle America in the ‘80s, but that’s got nothin’ on the Satanicsploitation of England in the ‘60s. Christopher Lee battles cult elements like a spiritual wack-a-mole while the movie provides at least a dozen great album covers. Evil is random and without rules, but it doesn’t dampen the adventure.
12. The Lives of Others (2006)
Remember when there were two Germanys? Remember when we learned the lives of others are important to treat right for both our sakes? Taking place during the cold war, we get to join in on the disruption and strange intimacy of state surveillance. The case we follow is an interesting origin story of a silent soul of sorts, with so many things unsaid amongst all the things unrightfully overheard. Sad beauty, man. Discussed on Yours, Mine, & Theirs #161: Training for Diswunderbarment
11. Spider Baby (1967)
Stay away from Merrye House! Those kids be crazy! It’s more lively and youthful than the crazies in the Arsenic and Old Lace house. Apparently this movie was banned for years but Tobe Hooper and David Lynch definitely saw this. Btw I met Beverly Washburn at a Star Trek convention once! Guested on The Cultworthy Ep #198: Beat on the Brats (Scary Children in Movies)
10. The Great Gatsby (1974)
Robert Redford died in 2025, so it’s finally time I caught up to this version. Redford is Gatsby, a new money outsider trying to buy back lost time with pixie-ish Mia Farrow’s Daisy. I remember not taking to the book too well, but man the 1920s setting is perfect for movie visuals. The crowd scenes are really roaring, but it’s the big vacant mansion scenes that make me feel the big emptiness.
9. BlackBerry (2023)
It’s about the production of the phone, not the fruit. This is riveting product launch stuff. It’s not just the BlackBerry creators against the harsh phone market, but also the adversary of their own mixed-temperment company. A great look at the corporate hell required to succeed in the United States (by telling a story of the nice folks in Canada!). Discussed on Yours, Mine, & Theirs #175: Air Blood
8. An American in Paris (1951)
Watch as the American Gene Kelly (not ugly) paints the French town red (with his feet)! Leslie Caron has the look of the coolest, Frenchest alien in the cosmos. I love it even though I don’t quite remember the plot. The dancing soars and displaces the events. Discussed on Yours, Mine, & Theirs #170: Yours, Mine, & Theirs LIVE 2025!
7. Conclave (2024)
Let’s hang out with Ralph Fiennes as he struggles to organize the picking of the new pope! Man, maybe Italian mobster stereotypes started with old pope candidates? New popes are always fun and I’m always charmed by presentations of the Catholic Church. It’s big and worldwide enough that we can get a good sample size of cardinals in that tiny room, shake it up like an ant colony, and then just observe to make conclusions about the current state of overall humanity.
6. Summer of Soul (...Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised) (2021)
The same summer as Woodstock, a series of concerts took place at Harlem. They were filmed, but never properly released until now. This is pretty much a concert film, but it’s more like discovering lost treasure from a different time. One present-day interviewee gets to breathe the exhale of like 50 years. He was there, but it almost didn’t seem real until the footage was finally released. This is more groovy than the moon. A wonderful celebration. Discussed on Yours, Mine, & Theirs #160: Four Your Consideration
5. The Great Waldo Pepper (1975)
Have you seen this? Can you believe this? So as a tribute to Robert Redford we fire up Netflix to check this out and I’m still nauseatingly traumatized. Redford is a bi-plane stunt pilot facing the usual troubles of an uncaring public, changing world, and oh yeah, everyone around him dying gruesomely. The unexpected glaring fatal sidesteps actually made me a little nauseated. Okay but there’s also the flying. At one point his stuntman jumps from one plane to another and then walks across the wing. C’mon Tom Cruise, try that one!
4. L'Avventura (1960)
Feel bad for human nature as a man loses one girlfriend, like very literally. No one can find her anywhere (possibly to a shark!) and then can’t help but fall for her best friend right in the middle of the search party. This is like, several new levels of infidelity, with Italian-strength amore. It’s Monica Vitti, so there’s a real aspect of helplessness there. Discussed on Yours, Mine, & Theirs #171: The Zodiac Killer and His Axis Friends
3. Drive My Car (2021)
I started this a couple of years ago, but it was long and I didn’t finish (it may have been the opening credits 45 minutes into the movie that took the wind out of my sails). Now that it’s over, I love it. It’s Japanese or something. I lose track of the nationality because it’s about a grieving playwright who puts together a version of Uncle Vanya where every actor speaks a different language. That little gimmick would not work in real life, but I gotta commend it for having the most meaningful sign language scene in cinema history (beating out CODA!). Well, it’s Korean sign language anyway. Still counts. Discussed on Yours, Mine, & Theirs #160: Four Your Consideration
2. Lisa Frankenstein (2024)
I’ll say I’m a Diablo Cody fan. I think since Juno she hasn’t been taken as seriously as she should. Well, don’t take Lisa Frankenstein seriously because it’s actually quite funny. Kathryn Newton is Lisa, a traumatized goth kid well deserving of her withdrawal from society. When she falls into a sort of electrical necrophilia, she blooms into life with an outgoing sort of villainy. I love slow twists of the protagonist/antagonist dynamic, especially when the stumble into villainy includes absurdly giggly lines. Discussed on Yours, Mine, & Theirs #178: Scarephilia
1. Schindler's List (1993)
I suppose this makes me the last person to finally see the big Jewish list movie. Well, it’s good, and not just good in a bleak “oh the humanity” kind of way – although I kind of appreciate that it leans toward a sorrowful perspective when a joyous one is still available. Well I suppose in the midst of a holocaust, the joyful wins are a drop in the bucket, so perhaps it’s fitting. As a first time I’m just glad I made it all the way through, but in 30 years I’ll watch this again and do a better, and hopefully happier, job of following the individuals’ storylines all the way to the end. I think this time I decided not to get to know the film’s characters as a defense mechanism. Discussed on Yours, Mine, & Theirs #176: Marie Christmas
top 46 movies i'd already seen but watched again!
Predictably, I usually only re-watch the best (you've plenty reason to disagree).
46. Elf (2003)
Everyone’s favorite Christmas treat is too sweet for me. The human Will Farrell continues to annoy me by thinking he’s not only a Christmas elf, but also the dumbest of all Christmas elves in the entire North Pole county. I like sweet things a lot. I’m likely pre-diabetic. But Buddy the elf eats too much sugar. And call me Grinch, for nary a smile cracks my face whilst others beam. Discussed on Yours, Mine, & Theirs #183: Merry Christmas and Macy Gimbels!
45. Pink Floyd: The Wall (1982)
The Wall is less cohesive than a dialogue-less music video, but has a far greater running time. The trick is to let it wash over you, but I have many obstacles that must be overcome. First, I’m a way bigger fan of the Meddle-era Floyd. I find The Wall a bit too Watersy. Roger Waters doesn’t give me much of a gateway into the music because lots of his stuff feels a bit like Spinal Tap warming up. And as for the band’s choice to play Pink, I’m still mad at Geldof for taking so much Live-Aid credit away from Midge Ure. As a post script, isn’t it super weird that the only way to watch this very music rights-heavy and explicit content film is straightforward YouTube? Can someone explain that? Is the ongoing disagreement of Gilmour and Waters leaving this film’s rights to the public? Discussed on Yours, Mine, & Theirs #166: The Stars That Went
44. Pitch Perfect 2 (2015)
The bellas are back with their multi-harmonic and militaristic approach to vocal entertainment. I’m a big apologist for the first Pitch Perfect movie because of its sideways, sometimes under the breath humor. The second one is funnier than the first in the sense that there are like way more jokes, but it’s far less funny because it leans into a sort of absurdland where such jokes are expected. The first movie is almost in the real world, so the jokes are just out of place and therefore have a bit more pow to them. Here in number 2 I get the sense the story is dictated more by joke pitches rather than story pitches (and neither entirely perfect). Discussed on Podcast 165: Tin Men, Tiny Men, and Treblemakers
43. The Family Stone (2005)
The especially uptight Sarah Jessica Parker frets about meeting future in-laws the Stones. The new and judging family reminds me so much of all families (even my own a little bit) what with the tribalism and elitism and inside jokes and the general obliviousness that outsiders don’t necessarily find the family fun and quirky. I’m not even sure if it’s the movie’s intent, but the family’s attitude gets me intensely worked up and I need to go do a few rounds on my rumpus room punching bag. Props to the movie for having that intense of an effect on me. No props for the nutso ending where the family just trades romantic partners like they’re The Aristocrats. Discussed on Yours, Mine, & Theirs #184: Merry Christmas and Macy Gimbels
42. Legally Blonde (2001)
Hey! You don’t need serious dark hair to be a lawyer! Reese Witherspoon does it despite being blonde and also caring more about landing back her man than passion for law. That little aspect may be why I’ve never been truly taken with this one. Yes I get it that she’s not as dumb as she seems, but she was still a Fashion History major. Actually, I’d like to see a movie where Elle Woods aces law school and then shuns the law in favor of changing the world through fashion history. At least that would be something in her bones. But yeah, I guess the message is still fine: maybe you too can be a lawyer even if you’re blonde and white and rich and a genius. Discussed on Yours, Mine, & Theirs #173: Eff You, Good Men!
41. Tootsie (1982)
Dustin Hoffman dresses like a woman to get acting gigs, but it’s worth noting he only has an easier time getting work as a woman after everyone in town already hated him personally as a man. Well this is what it takes to get us dumb men to understand the female viewpoint. That may have sounded sarcastic, but it wasn’t. We’re… we’re not great. Btw, she has little to do with the cross-dressing theme, but Teri Garr sure is great in this. She died just a little while ago so watch this in her honor. Discussed on Yours, Mine, & Theirs #174: She’s the Man
40. The Haunting (1963)
Classic old haunted house thing with pretty effective black and white. The haunted house keeps having to wait for Julie Harris to finish gasping for attention before it starts its real haunting. It’s sorta like, “And I thought I had drama! Discussed on Yours, Mine, & Theirs #157: A Letterboxd to Elise
39. Hocus Pocus (1993)
A young high schooler heads to Salem to pick up chicks and bag on Halloween. Little does he know that being the only virgin in town warps in the witchy Bette Midler and her crone cronies from the 17th century. Lots of people love it and lots of people hate it, but I’m certainly in the middle. The proof is that in my movie record research it turns out I saw this movie seven years ago and have exactly zero memory of it. Every single aspect seemed new in 2025. One thing I can say in the present is I kind of appreciate the movie’s surprising vicious streak. Oh and one more negative: I don't care if they're in Salem, it's HAlloween, not HOlloween. Discussed on Yours, Mine, & Theirs #178: Scarephilia
38. The Imitation Game (2014)
It’s World War II and Britain can’t crack the German communication codes. Cumberbatch is like, “Computers! Ever heard of ‘em?” And then the rest of the world is like, “If they’re so great, why don’t you invent one?” So he totally does, and I maintain the war could’ve been won sooner if he bothered inventing two computers. This looks beautiful and has great British costumes and fab accents, so it’s a real warm bath of a watch, but somehow it doesn’t seem so enjoyable after it’s over. Possibly because the big historical bombshell isn’t shown in the movie, but rather in end credits text. Discussed on Yours, Mine, & Theirs #182: Graphic Bios
37. Happy Death Day (2017)
Time loop situation, but the subject is a self-absorbed college sorority girl. Great for watching that type of person die over and over. Fortunately it carries a PG-13, so we can’t get too nuts with that sort of Schadenfreude. Discussed on Yours, Mine, & Theirs #168: The Shadows of Punxsutawney Phil
36. Return to Oz (1985)
As far as little girls on the tentative verge of womanhood getting whisked away to a magical land autocratically controlled by a king of nomes and/or goblins go, I’m definitely more of a Labyrinth guy. But I gotta say, I love that Return to swings so very far away from the original Wizard. That’s what fantasy is about and I love a sequel that very much deals the unexpected. And the unexpected this time isn’t whimsy, it’s pain and nightmares. This doesn’t replace my Wizard, but it’s certainly my Wicked. Discussed on Podcast 165: Tin Men, Tiny Men, and Treblemakers
35. The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley (2019)
A straightforward doc detailing Theranos, the fraudulent blood-testing company that combined accuracy with convenience. After some struggles they kind of got the convenience part right, but the accuracy part -- arguably the most important part (by arguably I guess I really mean obviously) -- never came together. Interesting with the business stuff, but the movie is a lot more about the literal unblinking Theranos founder, Elizabeth Holmes. She made the mistake of dreaming big and abandoning the science when it didn't have the same enthusiasm. The movie has a surprisingly crazy amount of access. The crew must have already been embedded to cover more of a puff piece when all the scandal went down. Discussed on Yours, Mine, & Theirs #175: Air Blood
34. Logan (2017)
Hugh Jackman is back as Knife-Hand-Man, but he's old and grizzled. Patrick Stewart is back as Dr. Mindmelter, but he totally swears a lot. I don't like this movie a whole lot, but I'm wrong. It's objectively the best X-Men movie. But despite being the best, it's just not what I want in my X-Men stuff. Joke X-Men names aside, I'm a big X-Men guy, but with it I don't want age, regret, and permanence. I want the uncertainty of youth. Oh and also, they cheaped out with Donald Pierce. He should have way more Inspector Gadget-like appendages. Discussed on Yours, Mine, & Theirs #162: Whatever You Want, Birthday Roy
33. Edge of Tomorrow (2014)
Aliens invade, but they bring the means for Tom Cruise to Groundhog Day indefinitely until human victory. I'm not sure I have anything super interesting to say besides maybe it's about time my love of movies and video games converges like this. Cruise's infinite lives on a harsh video game level reminds me a lot of Super Meatboy if you've every tried that game out. You know, Tom Cruise should have just revealed his actual age to get out of the infantry duty. Discussed on Yours, Mine, & Theirs #168: The Shadows of Punxsutawney
32. A Star Is Born (2018)
Hey what if Salieri and Mozart were also lovers AND they had that whole jealousy thing? Now I understand why Lady Gaga coined the term Fame Monster. I'm glad Gaga gets the credit she deserves for this, but I'm also a big fan of Bradley Cooper's fake character's music. Today's country doesn't sound old and sincere enough. The awards show scene causes me to fold up into a ball of cringe, which is fun for people to see. Hey, love your wife… before urine trouble. Discussed on Yours, Mine, & Theirs #166: The Stars That Went
31. Beyond the Black Rainbow (2010)
Everyone’s favorite Christmas treat is too sweet for me. The human Will Farrell continues to annoy me by thinking he’s not only a Christmas elf, but also the dumbest of all Christmas elves in the entire North Pole county. I like sweet things a lot. I’m likely pre-diabetic. But Buddy the elf eats too much sugar. And call me Grinch, for nary a smile cracks my face whilst others beam. Discussed on Yours, Mine, & Theirs #183: Merry Christmas and Macy Gimbels!
30. O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000)
The Coens do a take on escaped convict life in the south. Despite the existence of a one-eyed bully, I wouldn’t call this a version of The Odyssey. This film has the brotherly camaraderie The Odyssey never hoped to have. Did Homer take this many swipes at Klan life? No! Discussed on Yours, Mine, & Theirs #171: The Odyquery
29. Pure Luck (1991)
An unlucky woman goes missing and so the investigation goes unorthodox and brings onboard Martin Short, the world’s unluckiest man, to stumble in the same footsteps to find her. Chuckley enough little film. I really like how Martin Short really pulls out plenty of annoying quirks that have absolutely nothing to do with his terrible luck. Discussed on Yours, Mine, & Theirs #158: Martin Ranch
28. Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989)
Spock’s brother shows up acting like Space Jesus and manipulates the Enterprise into literally finding God. This is considered the worst Star Trek movie yet it’s the one I never find boring. There’s a meta element of the cultural sweetness of witnessing William Shatner fail. He’s the director of this one. Also, hey I like Shatner’s “I need my pain” speech. I think of it often. Guested on Back 2 the Balcony Ep#88
27. Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984)
It’s time to start calling him INDIA Jones, right?! Also Mola Ram looks like Indian Telly Sevalas. Anyway, this second Indiana Jones flick faces some scrutiny amongst my generation. While it’s definitely nestled between two better Nazi-flavored films, some say it’s beyond lesser, and rather off the rails. The coin could have landed either way with me, but I think I’ll simply remain a fan. Sure there are no Nazis, but the supernatural romance of it all in a completely different part of the world and history is a nice change of pace. Culturally offensive? Probably. But I don’t so much see it as real world offensive. It’s more like mythological world offensive. Discussed on Yours, Mine, & Theirs #169: Cat Prequel
26. Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga (2024)
This Mad Max prequel obviously focuses on the Furiosa character and does her the service of a deeper, more emotional story. Is that a service or a burden? I think it’s possible this is objectively the best movie of the series, but its bleakness is stickier. The profound despair of the other ones can be wiped away with mindless testosterone, but this one just feels so much more tragic with all that feminine energy. But maybe to alleviate all that weight, I heard that Chris Hemsworth based his villainous character’s voice on a seagull, so there’s totally that levity. Discussed on Yours, Mine, & Theirs #169: Cat Prequel
25. Rashomon (1950)
This is the famous one where the same story is repeated from three or four different points of view. It’s a novel concept, but it’s surprising that for the first of its kind, the movie dares to diverge between storylines as much as it does. Points of view that perceive different actions of others is one thing, but the interestingest parts of this movie are the various interpretations of opposing emotions. At least that’s how I see it. Discussed on Yours, Mine, & Theirs #171: The Zodiac Killer and His Axis
24. American Fiction (2023)
Jeffrey Wright, you know, Felix in Casino Royale, is a writer who’s sick of being labeled just a black writer. In a sarcastic furor, he rattles off the blaxploitation of modern literature and is surprised when the public eats it up entirely. It comments on race as a cultural focus, but where the movie really takes its time is with the intimate family dynamics stuff. It’s the truer story underneath the broad public discourse. Discussed on Yours, Mine, & Theirs #159: Caroline Upon Line
23. Father of the Bride Part II (1995)
It’s a straightforward family situation with in-laws and multiple pregnancies and pregnancy jokes and stuff but then suddenly, randomly I cry and yell I WANT TO BE WITH THIS ADORABLE FAMILY! What if Steve Martin was my father and I was having a baby and there’s that nice house that’s in this movie? How nice! Discussed on Yours, Mine, & Theirs #158: Martin Ranch
22. They Live (1988)
Rowdy Roddy Piper finds some magic shades and discovers humanity has been infiltrated by skeleton lizard things from beyond the stars. Fortunately for humanity he doesn’t mull or brood or even think about the situation, but instead goes on an alien shooting spree. This time I actually saw it in the cinema and that always boosts the final rating of these old standards. It’s bonkers funny, which is a relief because the situation and solution is unthinkable if you’re in the sane class of human.
21. She's the Man (2006)
Of all the gender switch movies out there I give Amanda Bynes the bravest performance award by eschewing subtlety and instead playing the spazziest man mannerisms in history. We did gender swap movies for our podcast, but this one was NOT included in the votes. Too bad, as I think this is my favorite one. Even though we didn’t have to, Katie and I watched this as our in-flight movie and attempted to sync both seat screens to match the audio of one set of headphones. It must be a pretty good movie despite those obnoxious circumstances.
20. Dumb and Dumber (1994)
Just watch it and laugh, okay! Even Shakespeare spoke truth through fools. But don’t watch the Unrated cut. My DVD had extra scenes I’d never seen and most were mean gay jokes. Although the shot of Harry lifting the toilet bowl and pouring the diarrhea out the window is pretty alright. Discussed on Yours, Mine, & Theirs #176: Marie Christmas
19. 12 Angry Men (1957)
When good Tom Cruise-like lawyering isn’t present, it’s up to the people to really sort the truth. Henry Fonda stands up against 11 other jurors to make sure the system works on data and justice rather than supposition and prejudice. There are 11 different types of poor assumptions he’s up against though. See it. Then question every impulse you have to label someone guilty. Discussed on Yours, Mine,& Theirs #173: Eff You, Good Men!
18. Palm Springs (2020)
As Andy Samberg says to Cristin Milioti, “It's one of those infinite time loop situations you might have heard about.” They finally thought to add another person to the Groundhog Day loop of a concept, which, turns out, is a fantastic new variable. Funny. Sad. Weird. Warm. This is a total four-quadranter. Discussed on Yours, Mine, & Theirs #168: The Shadows of Punxsutawney Phil
17. CODA (2021)
A girl with deaf parents is torn between family responsibility and her heart’s desire to sing! I’m there thinkin’ man, why this chick gotta be so good at deaf life AND sing life? Save some for those of us with parents that can hear, my girl! So I saw this when it came out, but since then I forgot how immensely watchable it is. It doesn’t FEEL like a best picture winner in that regard. Strangely despite the highest award, Sian Heder wasn’t nominated for Best Director. Quite a shame because although there aren’t a bunch of dynamic camera moves or other flourishes like that, but the fact that this movie simply crackles from the start is evidence Heder may have won a best picture, but was robbed of that director award. Discussed on Yours, Mine, & Theirs #160: Four Your Consideration
16. The House of the Devil (2009)
I’m a bit of a sucker for stylistic throwbacks. As long as the style is taken seriously and not purposefully campy, I’m all in for the time machine experience of it all. Also there’s something about the look of film stock in the ‘70s/’80s that makes the Satanic Panic just more vivid and fun than bleak. Anyway, this movie is about frustrated college girl who babysits… SATAN! Greta Gerwig plays her friend and it’s my favorite Gerwig work, including her directing stuff. It’s the part she was born (and died) for! Discussed on Yours, Mine, & Theirs #177: The Revenge of the Baby-sat!
15. The Sound of Music (1965)
Anybody not know what this is about? It’s a musical as big as the Alps. Right now I’m thinking of the Von Trapp children in their curtain camo singing in the streets and mountains. The point is nuns have the craziest love affairs with the craziest sea captains and the craziest amount of stepchildren. Btw, I’m the Gretl of my family. It certainly seems like Captain von Trapp would feel at home with Nazi life with all the ordering around and whistles and dating The Baroness from the international terrorist organization Cobra. Turns out though, he channels his discipline through an attraction to habits and hating Nazis. I have a new appreciation for “Edelweiss” as sort of a protest song. Discussed on Yours, Mine, & Theirs #164: Willkommen und Auf Wiedersehen 1931-1938
14. Cabaret (1972)
Oh hey speaking of Nazis, this musical tells a fun crazy tale of a simpler, frollicky time when Germany didn’t think the ascending thugs would bother to be as serious as they seemed. I hear the movie cuts quite a bit of the musical experience, so this is on my top five of plays I need to see onstage. The cabaret is so fun, but I think the point is that fun doesn’t stop Nazi invasions. Also, get a gander at Lucille 2 doing impeccably sexy chair work. Discussed on Yours, Mine, & Theirs #164: Willkommen und Auf Wiedersehen 1931-1938
13. 12 Years a Slave (2013)
Cue Dante in Clerks: “I wasn’t even supposed to be here today, much less the last 12 years!” Please see the title for the short film summary. It’s grueling, but allow me to be somewhat clinical here. I feel at least one interesting aspect in this examination of slavery is just how much the institution also de-humanizes the white masters in power. The best of them, with whatever scraps of decency they can manage, are far too impotent to come close to the nobility of correct action. Discussed on Yours, Mine, & Theirs #182: Graphic Bios
12. Zodiac (2007)
He took five lives… and three souls! It’s long, but it’s so riveting that it’s hard to place when it morphs from an investigative procedural into an investigation on how obsession with the mystery sucks good peoples’ lives away. The Zodiac Killer won not through murder, but through spotlight. Discussed on Yours, Mine, & Theirs #171: The Zodiac Killer and His Axis Friends
11. The Jerk (1979)
Like every movie from the ‘70s, this looks dirty and smelly. Despite the decade, Steve Martin manages a lovely balance of obnoxiousness and heart that most quirk-style films afterward could never emulate. That’s the real tricky part – managing the tones and still maintaining the humor. I still have issues with the title. He’s an idiot, not a jerk! Discussed on Yours, Mine, & Theirs #158: Martin Ranch
10. I, Tonya (2017)
We had a good talk about this one. Is it possible to have schadenfreude on myself for feeling bad for mistreating Tonya Harding in 1994 and then enjoying the guilt this film projects to me? Also, I don’t think Harding herself finds it very offensive that she gets to be played by Margot Robbie, prettiest lady #1. Perhaps this film is still offensive and glib about abusive relationships, but even so, it’s got a kinetic energy that can’t be ignored. Discussed on Yours, Mine, & Theirs #182: Graphic Bios
9. Role Models (2008)
Is there another comedy this rude and yet so sincere? Paul Rudd is charming as a douche forced into befriending McLovin for community service. Mean? Check. Raunchy? Check. Heartfelt?! Checkmate! Despite the fun the movie has with its oddballs, you WILL reconsider your stance on both the band KISS and also LARPing.
8. North by Northwest (1959)
Of course I like my Hitchcocks dark and weird, but what if we let the guy just do the action spy thing? Never much a fan of Cary Grant, but dang and fine he’s cool proving a Madison Ave mad man can just pretend to be James Bond for as long as it takes. This thing has the energy and attention span of a modern blockbuster (except, you know, GOOD). Discussed on Yours, Mine, & Theirs #176: Marie Christmas
7. WarGames (1983)
Consider this a prequel to Ferris Bueller. Matthew Broderick totally got that computer and was changing his grades like Ferris before he could get a proper haircut. Also, nearly starting World War III probably scared him into a physical life of leisure rather than a virtual one. Also, this is an older movie than some of the other classic AI warnings, but as of today it’s more prescient than The Matrix or Terminator 2. It’s not killer robots, but language models that do us in. Discussed on Yours, Mine, & Theirs #180: Oh Man We Are So Fogged
6. A Few Good Men (1992)
Tom Cruise is cool, laid back normal Navy lawyer pitted against the most tightly-wound Jack Nicholson Marine colonel in the history of yelling in courtrooms. This is the best Sorkin. Also what a vanquishment to all those old Marine recruitment ads with “We’re looking for a few good men.” Hardly a takedown of the military overall, but more a look at honor as a manipulation and power tactic rather than a virtue. Discussed on Yours, Mine, & Theirs #173: Eff You, Good Men!
5. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)
A young Robert Redford holds his own alongside ol’ blue eyes Paul Newman in the old (but becoming modern) old west. Katie’s mom said this was a disappointing re-watch so we had to watch it to make sure we saw things differently. And we did. It’s still so great. Watching it in honor of Redford and it’s fun to see how Sundance is the smart one, but just way too cool to be the outgoing type.
4. Purple Rain (1984)
Prince at his peak – during the early 80s Minneapolis scene that was closer to my white boy new wave than anything. I hate this movie in principle. The Revolution gives 150% during the music parts, but then the actual movie parts with the dialogue and misogyny plummet the energy to like 50%. You’d think the movie parts would cancel out the music parts to equal a terrible film, but the math works out to 100% – a perfect movie. I love this movie in practice. Discussed on Yours, Mine, & Theirs #166: The Stars That Went
3. Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
For me it’s always been about the first Indy movie. It feels the most real, but feeling the most unreal. It’s pure fiction and fantastic pulp storytelling punching you in the face. I don’t see acting or special effects, but rather comic book panels moving in front of me. And for a first movie, what an introduction to the character! But also what a disappointment. Indy, you have a rocket launcher pointed right at the bad guys! Make it happen! Fortunately God hates Nazis. He’ll finish the job. Hey here’s a question I never thought of: who are the ghosts living in the ark? Discussed on Yours, Mine, & Theirs #164: Willkommen und Auf Wiedersehen 1931-1938
2. Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982)
This is said every time, but if you hate Star Trek, consider just watching this as a one-time movie that has nothing to do with Star Trek. That said, I did the opposite by directly pairing the original series episode “Space Seed” directly beforehand to get a bit of context. The Ricardo Montalban villainy really complements itself between the two performances. It’s evil genius politician to mad scientist Ahab. Next time I think I’ll include reading Moby Dick to the marathon. I feel young. And lucky to have escaped the no-win scenario thus far. Also, the composer James Horner is the real MVP here. Consider checking out the Fantasy Murder Love Triangle podcast where I guested and talked about this. Guested on FMLT: Hey There, Birthday Roy!
1. It's a Wonderful Life (1946) “Doesn’t it make ‘em better citizens?” Watching It’s a Wonderful Life is one of my sacred traditions, but this year I actually considered not watching it. I just worried that its effect would wear off, and it would eventually become, like many other seasonal traditions, a holiday chore. In the past it’s always been about my internal relationship with George Bailey. At lots of other viewings I get emotional because I don’t think of myself as a good person compared to him. This time, it was actually fun to take a step back and observe the sociology of the whole town. I’ll probably never be as good as George Bailey, but maybe I’ll eventually be in the same league as Bert the cop, or Cousin Eustace, or maybe even Martini. All these folks are genuinely good, and if I’m to believe the movie, they grew to be that way thanks to institutions that valued them higher than cattle. The whole town prospers from the idea of looking out for each other.
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