2025 Watched/Read

Everything I watched and read in 2025. 

JANUARY

2- Phantom Thread (2017) (R)

3- Gina (1975)

4- Hundreds of Beavers (2022)

5- Obsession: A Taste For Fear (1988)

6- Red Rooms (2024)

    Seinfeld- The Sponge, The Gum

7- Winesburg, Ohio by Sherwood Anderson (1919)

    Nickel Boys (2024) (AMC River East 21)*

    Evil Does Not Exist (2024)

    WWE Monday Night Raw Netflix Premiere

9- Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In (2024)

10- Potted Meat by Steve Dunn (2016)

11- Love and Death (1975)

13- The Brutalist (2024) (The Music Box) (70mm VistaVision)

      Severance (4 episodes)

14- Seed of the Sacred Fig (2024) (AMC River East 21)

      Seinfeld- The Rye

      True Grit by Charles Portis (1968)

15- Every Man For Himself and God Against All by Werner Herzog (2022)

      True Grit (2010)

      Nine Guests For A Crime (1977)

16- RIP David Lynch

      Six Men Getting Sick (1967) (1 minute film loop)

      The Alphabet (1968) (short)

      The Grandmother (1970) (short)

      The Amputee (1974) (short)

18- Explorers (1985)

      D.A.R.Y.L. (1985)

20- Donald J. Trump is inaugurated as the 47th President of the United States

      Salo, or the 120 Days of Sodom (1975) (R)

      Severance- Hello, Ms. Cobel

      The Burning Plain by Juan Rulfo (1973) (tr. by Douglas Rutherford)

21- The Century of Self Pt. 1: Happiness Machines (2002)

      Punishment Park (1971)

      Interiors (1978)

      The Boxer From Shantung (1972)

22- The Century of Self Pt. 2: The Engineering of Consent (2002)

23- The Century of Self Pt. 3: There Is A Policeman Inside All Our Heads (2002)

      Presence (2025) (AMC Crestwood)

      This Way For the Gas, Ladies and Gentlemen by Tadeusz Borowski (1946) (tr. by Michael Kandel   

25- Who Killed Teddy Bear? (1965)

      The Century of Self Pt. 4: Eight People Sipping Wine In Kettering (2002)

26- Crapalachia: A Biography of A Place by Scott McClanahan (2013)

27- Flow (2024)

      Severance- Goodbye, Ms. Selvig

      Seinfeld- The Caddy, The Seven, The Cadillac, The Shower Head, The Doll, The Friars Club

28- A Perfect World (1993)

      The Adventures of Pete and Pete- 35 Hours

29- The Penguin

      Hard Truths (2024) (Marcus Cinema)

30- Hollywood 90028 (1973)

      The Penguin

      Jakob Von Gunten by Robert Walser (1909) (tr. by Christopher Middleton)

31- RIP David Lynch

      Eraserhead (1977) (R)

FEBRUARY

1- The Penguin

    Stagecoach (1939)

    Veep- Fundraiser

2- The Penguin

    Groundhog Day (1993) (R)

    "Lessness" by Samuel Beckett (1969)

    Veep- Frozen Yoghurt, Catherine, Chung

3- Veep- Nicknames

    Severance- Who Is Alive?

    Say Anything (1989) (R)

4- Veep- Baseball, Full Disclosure

    Deathtrap (1982)

    Film (1965)

5- The Penguin (2 episodes)

    Veep- Tears

    The Bridges of Madison County (1995)

6- Veep- Midterms, Signals, Hostages

    Looking For Mr. Goodbar (1977)

7- Veep- The Vic Allen Dinner, Helsinki

8- Sidekicks (1992)

    Severance- Woe's Hollow

    Veep- Andrew

9- Shadow of A Doubt (1943) (R)

10- Veep- Shutdown, First Response

      Seinfeld- The Wig Master, The Calzone, The Bottle Deposit, The Wait Out, The Invitations

      Night Has A Thousand Desires (1984)

11- Ham On Rye (2019)

      Dolemite (1975) (R)

      Close Your Eyes (2024)

      The Penguin- Top Hat

      Veep- Running

12- Veep- D.C.

      The Penguin- A Great Or Little Thing

      Come Back to the 5 and Dime, Jimmy Dean Jimmy Dean (1982)

13- Before Sunrise (1995) (R)

      Severance- Trojan's Horse

15- Veep- Some New Beginnings, Choice

      To Have and Have Not (1944)

16- My Struggle Book Five by Karl Ove Knausgaard (2010) (tr. by Don Bartlett)

      Veep- Alicia

      The White Lotus- Same Spirits, New Forms

17- Veep- Clovis, Fishing, Detroit, Special Relationship

      The Stepford Wives (1975) (R)

      The Death of Stalin (2017)

18- No Other Land (2024) (The Music Box)

      Veep- Debate

      Stray Cat Rock: Sex Hunter (1970)

19- Training Day (2001) (R)

      Veep- Crate, New Hampshire

      Against Nature by J.K. Hyusmans (1884)

20- SNL 50th Anniversary Special

      The Monkey (2025) (AMC Crestwood)

22- Severance- Attila

      Flight of the Navigator (1986)

23- Nothing But A Man (1964)

24- Veep- Joint Session, East Wing

      The White Lotus- Special Treatments

25- McGlue by Ottessa Moshfegh (2014)

      Deranged (1974) (R)

26- Veep- Data

      The Crazy Family (1984)

27- RIP Gene Hackman

      Veep- Tehran

      Becoming Led Zeppelin (2025) (Marcus Theater)

      Severance- Chikhai Bardo

MARCH

1- Minority Report (2002) (R)

    Veep- Convention

3- The Stories of Breece D'J Pancake (1983) (re-read)

    Ubik by Philip K. Dick (1969)

    The White Lotus- The Meaning of Dreams

    Here (2024)

4- Veep- Storms and Pancakes

    Noises Off... (1992)

    Twentieth Century (1934)

5- Veep- Mommy Meyer

    Get Shorty (1995)

    Deep Inside Annie Sprinkle (1981)

6- Veep- B/ill, Testimony

    Mickey 17 (2025) (Marcus Theaters)

    A Month In the Country by JL Carr (1980)

7- Severance- Sweet Vitriol

8- Veep- Election Night

    Conclave (2024)

10- The Righteous Gemstones- Prelude

      The White Lotus- Hide and Seek

11- The Snow Woman (1968)

      Sliver (1993)

12- The Dead Zone by Stephen King (1979)

      The Dead Zone (1983) (R)

      Ruggles of Red Gap (1935)

13- Veep- Morning After

      Deranged (1987)

      Casino (1995) (R)

      Severance- The After Hours

14- One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This by Omar El Akkad (2025)

15- Winchester '73 (1950)

       "A Late Encounter With the Enemy" by Flannery O'Connor

16- Veep- Nev-AD-a

      "The Life You Save May Be Your Own", "The River" by Flannery O'Connor

17- Yellowjackets- Thanksgiving (Canada)

      The White Lotus- Full Moon Party

      The Righteous Gemstones

      Devil In the Family: The Fall of Ruby Franke (2025) (3 episodes)

18- PTU (2003)

      Angel Guts: Red Classroom (1979)

19- Evil Laugh (1986)

20- Veep- The Eagle

      A Town Called Panic (2009)

      Severance- Cold Harbor

21- Veep- Mother

22- Veep- Thanksgiving

23- Veep- C**tgate

       Black Boots, Leather Whip (1983)

24- The White Lotus- Denials

       Yellowjackets- Barbecue

       The Righteous Gemstones- To Grieve Like the Rest of Men Who Have No Hope

        Wisconsin Death Trip (1999) (R)

25- Veep- Congressional Ball, Camp David

       Chaos: Charles Manson, the CIA and the Secret History of the Sixties by Tom O'Neill (2019)

       Autoportrait by Edouard Leve (2005) (tr. by Lorin Stein)

       The Awful Dr. Orlof (1962)

       Macumba Sexual (1983)

26- Veep- Kissing Your Sister, Inauguration

       Black Bag (2025) (AMC Crestwood)

27- Frisk by Dennis Cooper (1991)

29- Veep- Omaha, Library

30- Veep- Georgia

31- Hunger by Knut Hamsun (1890) (tr. by Sverre Langsted)

      The White Lotus- Killer Instincts

      Princess Mononoke (1997)

APRIL

1- Tommy Boy (1995) (R)

    Veep- Justice, Chicklet

     The Image (1975)

2- Veep- Qatar, Blurb

     Eastern Condors (1987)

3- Veep- Judge, A Woman First

     Hitcher In the Dark (1989)

4- Veep- Groundbreaking

5- Real Genius (1985) (R)

6- The Righteous Gemstones- He Goeth Before You Into Galilee

     Full Contact (1992)

7- The White Lotus- Armor Fati

    Veep- Iowa, Discovery Weekend, Pledge

8- The Driver's Seat by Muriel Spark (1970)

    Red River (1948)

    Eugenie...A Story of Her Journey Into Perversion (1970)

9- Veep- South Carolina

    The Righteous Gemstones- You Shall Remember

     Devil Fetus (1983)

10- Dog Star Man (1965)

      Veep- Super Tuesday, Oslo, Veep

DAVID LYNCH: MOVING THROUGH TIME

11- Lady Blue Shanghai (2010) (short)

      Out Yonder- Teeth (2003) (short)

      Out Yonder- Chicken (2007) (short)

      Out Yonder- Neighbor Boy (2002) (short)

      Darkened Room (2002) (short)

      Eraserhead (1977) (R)

      Lost Highway (1997) (R)

12- The Straight Story (1999) (R)

       Lynch/Oz (2023)

       The Wizard of Oz (1939) (R)

       Wild At Heart (1990) (R)

       The Hidden (1987) (R)

13- The Bug Crawls (2004) (short)

       Blue Velvet (1986) (R)

14- David Lynch Cooks Quinoa (2007)

       I Know Catherine, the Log Lady (2025)

      The Elephant Man (1980) (R)

15- I Don't Know Jack (2002)

      Dune (1984) (R)

      Lamp (2003) (short)

      Fire (Pozar) (2015) (short)

16- Blue Velvet Revisited (2016)

      From the Head (2011)

      Hotel Room Episodes 1 and 3 (1993)

17- Red Rock West (1993) (R)

      Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me (1992) (R)

      Twin Peaks: The Return Part 8 (2017) (R)

      World of Blue (rare doc on Fire Walk With Me)

      Twin Peaks: The Missing Pieces (2014)

18- David Lynch: The Art Life (2016)

      Sunset Boulevard (1950) (R)

      Mulholland Dr. (2001) (R)

19- The Disc of Sorrow Has Been Installed (2002) (short)

      On the Air episodes 1 and 7 (2000)

      Industrial Symphony No. 1: Dream of the Brokenhearted (1990)

      Dumbland (2001) (series of animated shorts)

      Six Men Getting Sick (1967) (short)

      The Alphabet (1968) (short)

      The Grandmother (1970) (short)

      The Amputee (1974) (short)

      Premonitions Following An Evil Deed (1995) (short)

20- Ballerina (2007) (short)

      Dead Mouse with Ants (2002) (short)

      Industrial Soundscape (2002) (short)

      Boat (2003) (short)

      Inland Empire (2006) (R)

      Rabbits (2002) (short)

      Lynch (One) (2007)

      Lynch 2 (2007)

      More Things That Happened (2007)

19- The Countess Perverse (1975)

      Images In A Convent (1979)

      Body High by Jon Lindsey (2022)

20- No Home Movie (2015)

      Wrestlemania 41 Night 1

21- Wrestlemania 41 Night 2

      The Last of Us- Through the Valley

      Secrets and Lies (1996)

      Eephus (2024)

22- The Righteous Gemstones- Interlude IV, Jealousy Is the Rage of Man

       Sinners (2025) (AMC IMAX)

       Sparrow (2008)

       The Young Like It Hot (1983)

23- The Rehearsal- Gotta Have Fun

       Joyride (1977)

24- Body Count (1986)

28- The Last of Us- The Path

      Sinners (2025) (Landmark Century Theater) (R)

29- His Name Was Death by Rafael Bernal (1947) (tr. by Kit Schluter)

      The Shrouds (2025) (The Music Box)

      The Rehearsal- Star Potential

30- Killer Nun (1979)

      Andor- Reckoning

MAY

1- Andor- Aldhani

    La Haine (1995) (R)

    The Unworthy by Agustina Bazterrica (2023) (tr. by Sarah Moses)

2- Andor- The Axe Forgets

    Neon Nights (1981)

3- Andor- The Eye, Announcement

    Simon of the Desert (1965) (R)

4- Andor- Narkina 5, Nobody's Listening!

    The Righteous Gemstones- On Your Belly You Shall Go

5- The Rehearsal- Pilot's Code

    Andor- One Way Out

    The Righteous Gemstones- That the Man of God May Be Complete (Series Finale)

    The Last of Us- Scars

6- RIP James Foley

    Andor- Daughter of Ferrix, Rix Road

    Between the Lines (1977)

    Mission Impossible (1996) (R)

    Mission Impossible III (2006)

7- Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol (2011)

8- A Woman First: First Woman: A Memoir by Selina Meyer (2019) (as read by Selina Meyer) 

    Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975) (R)

9- Woodcutters by Thomas Bernhard (1987)

    The Act of Seeing With One's Own Eyes (1972)

10- Cat's Cradle (1959) (short)

      Window Water Baby Moving (1959) (short)

      Mothlight (1963) (short)

      The Garden of Earthly Delights (1981) (short)

      The Stars Are Beautiful (1974) (short)

12- The Last of Us- Feel Her Love

      Harakiri (1962) (R)

      The Line (2023)

13- Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation (2015)

      The Way of Florida by Russell Persson (2018)

      Andor- One Year Later

      The Rehearsal- Kissme

14- Andor- Sagrona Teema, Harvest

      After Dark, My Sweet (1990)

15- Andor- Ever Been to Ghorman?, I Have Friends Everywhere, What A Festive Evening

      Walking Tall (1973) (RIP Joe Don Baker)

16- Andor- Messenger

17- Andor- Who Are You?, Welcome to the Rebellion

18- Andor- Make It Stop, Who Else Knows?, Jedha Kyber Erso

      Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016)

      The Rehearsal- Washington

19- The Last of Us- The Price

      Strange Days (1995) (R)

      Popstar: Never Stop Never Stoppin' (2016) (R)

20- Life's Work: A Memoir by David Milch (2022)

     Mission Impossible: Fallout (2018)

     Hex (1980)

21- Final Destination: Bloodlines (2025) (Marcus Cinema)

      Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning (2023)

22- Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning (2025) (AMC Crestwood)

      Deadwood- A Lie Agreed Upon Pt. 1 and 2

24- Private Parts (1972)

25- Deadwood- New Money, Requiem For A Gleet

      The Last of Us- Convergence

26- Ran (1985) (R) (The Music Box) (4K Restoration)

27- OJ: Made In America (2016) (R)

      Deadwood- Complications (Formerly Difficulties), Something Very Expensive

      The Rehearsal- My Controls

28- Friendship (2025) (AMC Crestwood)

      Deadwood- E.B. Was Left Out, Childish Things

29- Deadwood- Amalgamation and Capital, Advances None Miraculous

31- Deadwood- The Whores Can Come, Boy the Earth Talks To

JUNE

1- Wheels On Meals (1984)

2- Cold Case: The Tylenol Murders (2025) (3 episodes)

    The Life of Chuck (2025) (AMC New City)

    Night Moves (1975) (R)

3- Curb Your Enthusiasm

    Mother Kusters Goes to Heaven (1975)

    Hush (2016) (Shush cut)

4- Deadwood- Tell Your God to Ready For Blood

5- V. by Thomas Pynchon (1963)

    The Phoenician Scheme (2025) (Marcus Theater)

6- Deadwood- I'm Not the Fine Man You Take Me For

7- Deadwood- True Colors

8- Deadwood- Full Faith and Credit

9- The Killing Fields (1984)

    The Mortician (2025) (2 episodes)

10- Deadwood- Two- Headed Beast

      The Civil War: The Cause 

      Try by Dennis Cooper (1994)

11- Deadwood- A Rich Find

      Young Mr. Lincoln (1939)

      RIP Brian Wilson

12- Deadwood- Unauthorized Cinnamon

13- Deadwood- Leviathan Smiles

14- Deadwood- Amateur Night

15- No Country For Old Men by Cormac McCarthy (2005) 

      The Civil War Episode Two: A Very Bloody Affair

      Deadwood- A Constant Throb

16- Fear and Trembling by Soren Kierkegaard (1843)

      The Mortician (2025) (1 episode)

      Curb Your Enthusiasm (3 episodes)

      No Country For Old Men (2007) (R)

17- Scumbag Summer by Jillian Luft (2024)

      Deadwood- The Catbird Seat, Tell Him Something Pretty

      A Moment of Romance (1990)

18- Your Dreams by Thomas Moore (2023)

      28 Days Later (2002) (R)

19- Deadwood: The Movie (2019) (R)

      The Civil War Episode Three: Forever Free 1862

21- Love Hotel (1985)

23- 28 Years Later (2025) (Davis Theater)

24- Death Comes for the Archbishop by Willa Cather (1927)

25- Bone Sickness (2004)

      My Darling Clementine (1946)

26- The Civil War Episode Four: Simply Murder 1863

27- The Civil War Episode Five: The Universe of Battle 1863

      Dog Day Afternoon (1975) (R)

      Fallen Angels (1995) (R)

28- Worsted by Gariel Lutz (2025)

      Scarecrow In A Garden of Cucumbers (1972)

30- So Tender A Killer by Matthew Kinlin (2025)

      Curb Your Enthusiasm- The Larry David Sandwich, The Bowtie

      Mishima: A Life In Chapters (1985) (R)

JULY

1- Curb Your Enthusiasm- The Christ Nail

     Baby Bruise by Danielle Chelosky (2025)

     The Weird and the Eerie by Mark Fisher (2016)

     The Bear- Groundhogs, Soubise, Scallop

2- The Bear- Worms, Replicants, Sophie

3- The Bear- Bears

    Vixen! (1968)

4- Stupid TV, Be More Funny: How the Golden Era of The Simpsons Changed Television-And America-Forever by Alan Siegel (2025)

    28 Years Later (2025) (R) (Marcus Theater)

5- The Bear- Green, Tonnato

    Supervixens (1975)

6- The Bear- Goodbye

7- Curb Your Enthusiasm- Kamikaze Bingo, Lewis Needs A Kidney

    Miami Vice (2006) (R) (Theatrical cut- thanks Criterion Channel!)

8- 8 1/2 (1963) (R) (The Music Box)

9- The Hired Hand (1971)

     Beneath the Valley of the Ultra-Vixens (1979)

10- Mountains May Depart (2015)

11- The Civil War Episode Six: In the Valley of the Shadow of Death 1864

12- Electric Dragon 8000V (2001)

      Still Life (2006)

14- Curb Your Enthusiasm- The Smoking Jacket, The Seder, The Ski Lift, The Korean Bookie, The End

      Jaws (1975) (R)

      In the Mood For Love (2000) (Music Box Theater)

      In the Mood For Love (2001) (short) (Music Box Theater)

15- Caught By the Tides (2024) (Gene Siskel Film Center)

16- Superman (2025) (Marcus Cinema)

17- Eddington (2025) (AMC Crestwood)

      Last Summer (2023)

19- The Civil War Episode Seven: Most Hallowed Ground 1864

      The Big Country (1958)

20- Brother by Ania Ahlborn (2015)

21- Log of the S.S. The Mrs. Unguentine by Stanley Crawford (1972)

      Ex Libris: The New York Public Library (2017)

22- RIP Ozzy Osbourne

      Nashville (1975) (R)

23- Dirty Work (1998) (The Dirtier cut)

24- Mad Detective (2007)

26- Rio Bravo (1959) (R)

28- Curb Your Enthusiasm- Meet the Blacks, Anonymous Donor

      Savageland (2015) (R)

      The Outwaters (2023) (R)

29- Wagon Master (1950)

       A Fistful of Dollars (1964) (R)

30- Central Park (1990)

31- Eddington (2025) (Marcus Cinema) (R)

      The Civil War Episode Eight: War Is All Hell 1865

      The Civil War Episode Nine: The Better Angels of Our Nature 1865

AUGUST

2- Shifty- The Land of Make Believe (2025)

    Cloud (2025) (Gene Siskel Film Center)

3- Shifty- Suspicion, I Love A Millionaire (2025)

4- Hurricane Katrine: Race Against Time (2025)

    Curb Your Enthusiasm- The Ida Funkhouser Roadside Memorial, The Lefty Call

5- Ikiru (1952) (Music Box Theater) (R)

    Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry (1985)

6- Aspen (1991)

7- Shifty- The Grinder (2025)

    Weapons (2025) (AMC Crestwood)

8- Shifty- The Democratization of Everything (2025)

10- Public Housing (1997)

11- 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) (R) (The Music Box) (in 70mm!!)

12- The Searchers (1956) (R)

      Alien: Earth- Neverland, Mr. October

13- The Naked Gun (2025) (Marcus Theaters)

      Juvenile Court (1973)

14- The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962) (R)

16- The Magician by Christopher Zeischegg (2020)

      O.C. and Stiggs (1987)

17- The Store (1983)

18- Weapons (2025) (R) (Landmark Century Cinema)

       Curb Your Enthusiasm- The Tivo Guy, The N Word

19- The Lime Twig by John Hawkes (1961)

      Dirty Ho (1979)

      Racetrack (1985)

      Alien: Earth- Metamorphosis

20- Zoo (1993)

21- Honey Don't! (2025) (AMC Crestwood)

22- Minor Detail by Adania Shibli (2017) (tr. by Elisabeth Jacquette)

23- Zatoichi the Fugitive (1963)

      Zatoichi on the Road (1963)

24- Welfare (1975)

25- Public Housing (1997) (R)

      Curb Your Enthusiasm- The Therapists, The Bat Mitzvah

26- Highest 2 Lowest (2025) (Landmark Century Cinema)

      Alien: Earth- Observation

      City on Fire (1987)

27- National Gallery (2014)

28- Caught Stealing (2025) (Marcus Theaters)

31- Valis by Philip K. Dick (1981)

       The Third Man (1949) (R) (w/ commentary by Steven Soderbergh and Tony Gilroy)     

30- In Search of the Third Man by Charles Drazin (1999)

      Law and Order (1969)

SEPTEMBER

1- Hard Boiled (1992) (R) (The Music Box- 4K restoration) 

2- Zu Warriors From the Magic Mountain (1983)

    Deaf (1986)

    Alien: Earth- In Space, No One...

    Thong Girls (1987)

3- Mermaid Legend (1984)

4- Running On Empty (1988)

6- The Killer Inside Me by Jim Thompson (1952)

7- Anyone But My Husband (1975)

8- Curb Your Enthusiasm- Funkhouser's Crazy Sister

    Mindhunter (5 episodes)

9- That Cold Day In the Park (1969)

    Alien: Earth- The Fly

    Titicut Follies (1967)

    American Serial Killers: The Epidemic Years 1950-2000 by Peter Vronsky (2021)

10- Rejection by Tony Tulathimutte (2024)

      High School (1968)

13- Popeye (1980)      

14- Hospital (1970)

      The Mysterious Disappearance of the Marquise of Loria by Jose Donoso (1980) (tr. Megan McDowell) 

15- Curb Your Enthusiasm- Vehicular Fellatio

      Marianne (3 episodes)

      Mindhunter (2 episodes)

16- RIP Robert Redford

      So Beautiful and Elastic by Gary J. Shipley (2023)

      Licorice Pizza (2021)

      Alien: Earth- Emergence

      A Prairie Home Companion (2006)

17- Top Secret! (1984)

18- Cafe Flesh (1982)

20- Tales From the Crypt Presents Demon Knight (1995) (R)

21- Dracula, Prisoner of Frankenstein (1972)

22- Shivers (1975) (R)

23- RIP Claudia Cardinale

      Vineland by Thomas Pynchon (1990)

24- The Utopia of Rules: On Technology, Stupidity and the Secret Jobs of Bureaucracy by David Graeber (2013)

      Alien: Earth- The Real Monsters

      Curb Your Enthusiasm- The Reunion

      One Battle After Another (2025) (70mm) (The Music Box) 

25- Tales From the Crypt- Korman's Kalamity

      The Night of the Hunted (1980)

26- The Blind Owl by Sadeq Hedayat (1937) (tr. by Sassan Tabatabai)

       Tales From the Crypt- Lower Berth, Mute Witness to Murder

27- Basic Training (1971)

       Tales From the Crypt- My Brother's Keeper

28- Tales From the Crypt- Loved to Death

       Race With the Devil (1975) (R)

29- Silicone God by Victoria Brooks (2025) 

      Curb Your Enthusiasm- Denise Handicap, The Bare Midriff, The Black Swan

      Mindhunter (3 episodes)

30- One Battle After Another (2025) (R) (70mm) (The Music Box)

      Tales From the Crypt- Abra Cadaver

      Demon Witch Child (aka The Possessed) (1975)

      Wendigo (2001)

OCTOBER

1- Tales From the Crypt- Carrion Death, The Trap, Top Billing

     Cat's Eye (1985)

2- The Smashing Machine (2025) (AMC Crestwood)

    Tales From the Crypt- Dead Wait, The Reluctant Vampire

3- Tales From the Crypt- Easel Kill Ya

     A Different Darkness and Other Abominations by Luigi Musolino (2022) (tr. James Jenkins)

4- Arnold (1973)

    Sleepless (2001)

5- Tales From the Crypt- Mournin' Mess, Split Second

    The Ghost of Yotsuya (1959)

6- Deadstream (2022)

    Curb Your Enthusiasm- Officer Krupke, The Table Read, Seinfeld

    Mindhunter (3 episodes)

7- One Battle After Another (2025) (R) (70mm) (The Music Box)

    The Black Pit of Dr. M (1959)

    The Psychographist by Carson Winter (2024)

8- A Page of Madness (1926)

    The Spectacle of the Void by David Peak (2014)

9- Tales From the Crypt- Spoiled, Yellow

     Foes (1977)

     The Horrible Dr. Hichcock (1962)

10- Erotic Ghost Story (1990)

11- Mr. Sardonicus (1961)    

      RIP Diane Keaton

12- Casper (1995)

      Paperhouse (1988)

13- Who Can Kill A Child? (1976)

       Skinamarink (2022)

       Mindhunter (2 episodes)

14- Girls Nite Out (1982)

       Phantom of the Mall: Eric's Revenge (1989)

       Twisted Issues (1988)

15- The Kindred (1987)

       Ghost Story by Peter Straub (1980)

16- The Demon (1963)

      Tales From the Crypt- None But the Lonely Heart, What's Cookin'?

19- Curse of the Dog God (1977)

      When Darkness Loves Us by Elizabeth Engstrom (1985)

20- Tales From the Hood (1995) (R)

      The People Under the Stairs (1991) (R)

      Mindhunter

      Curb Your Enthusiasm- The Divorce, The Safe House, The Palestinian Chicken, Vow of Silence

21- Frankenstein (1931) (R)

      The Bride of Frankenstein (1935)

      Son of Frankenstein (1939)

22- Thinner (1996)

       The Long Walk (2025)

23- Dark Gods by T.E.D. Klein (1985)

      Spontaneous Combustion (1989)

      Habit (1995)

24- Seance (2000)

27- Planet of the Vampires (1965)

      In the Dark (2000)

      A Return to Salem's Lot (1987)

28- The Autumn Springs Retirement Home Massacre by Philip Fracassi (2025)

      Cyclops (1987)

      Biotherapy (1986)

      Welcome to Derry- Pilot

      The Chair Company

      Repulsion (1965) (R)

      Dante's Inferno (1911)

      Lips of Blood (1975) (R)

29- The Chair Company

      Deep Red (1975)

      The Small People by Thomas Ligotti (read by Jon Padgett)

30- Frankenstein: The 1818 Text by Mary Shelley

      Demons (1985) (R)

      House of Frankenstein (1945)

      RIP Peter Watkins

31- Tales From the Darkside- Trick or Treat

       Adventures of Pete and Pete- Halloweenie

       The Midnight Hour (1985) (R)

NOVEMBER

1- Essene (1972)

2- Raising Cain (1992) (Director's cut)

    The Chair Company

    Doom Is the House Without A Door by Logan Berry (2025)

3- The Chair Company

     Prison On Fire (1987)

4- Welcome to Derry- The Thing in the Dark

    Train Dreams by Denis Johnson (2011) (re-read)

    School On Fire (1987)

5- Night of the Juggler (1980)

    Reds (1981)

    Mr. Scorsese- Stranger In A Strange Land, All This Filming Isn't Healthy

6- Mr. Scorsese- Saint/Sinner, Total Cinema

    Bugonia (2025) (AMC Crestwood)

7- Mr. Scorsese- Method Director

8- Pluribus- We Is Us, Pirate Lady

    The Tarnished Angels (1957)

9- Canal Zone (1977)

10- Welcome to Derry- Now You See It

       Frankenstein (2025)

       High School (1968) (R)

11- Shadow Ticket by Thomas Pynchon (2025)

      Curb Your Enthusiasm- The Hero

      The Chair Company

      One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975) (R)

12- Men From the Gutter (1983)

      Vitiators by Elytron Frass (2022)

13- Keeper (2025) (AMC Crestwood)

14- Pluribus- Grenade

16- Model (1981)

      The Chair Company

      A Personal Matter by Kenzaburo Oe (1969) (tr. by John Nathan)

17- Welcome to Derry- The Great Swirling Apparatus of Our Planet's Function

       Lustmord (1987) (aka Pleasure Kill)

       Re-wind (1988) (aka Celluloid Nightmare)

18- The American Revolution Episode One: In Order to be Free (May 1754- May 1775)

      Train Dreams (2025) (The Music Box)

      Die My Love (2025) (Marcus Theaters)

19- Report From the Commissioner (1975)

20- The American Revolution Episode Two: An Asylum For Mankind (May 1775- July 1776)

      The War Game (1966)

21- The American Revolution Episode Three: The Times That Try Men's Souls (July 1776- January 1777)

22- Pluribus- Please, Carol

      A Better Tomorrow II (1987)

      A Better Tomorrow III: Love and Death in Saigon (1989)

      Barry Lyndon (1975) (R)

23- The American Revolution Episode Four: Conquer By A Drawn Game (January 1777- February 1778)

      The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Miss Osbourne (1981)

      RIP Udo Kier

24- The Chair Company

       It Was Just An Accident (2025) (The Music Box) (Q & A w/ Jafar Panahi)

25- Curb Your Enthusiasm- The Bisexual

      Paul McCartney at the United Center!!! 

26- Pluribus- Got Milk

      The Beatles Anthology (1 episode)

      Satantango by Laszlo Kranahorkai (1985) (tr. by George Szirtes)

27- The American Revolution Episode Five: The Soul of All America (December 1777- May 1780)

      The American Revolution Episode Six: The Most Sacred Thing (May 1780- Onward)

      Unforgiven (1992) (R)      

28- Meat (1976)

29- There Is No Antimemetics Division by QNTM (2025)

      Stranger Things- The Crawl

      Re-Wind (1988) (aka Celluloid Nightmares)

      Love Letter In the Sand (1988)

30- Animals Eat Each Other by Elle Nash (2017)

      Stranger Things- The Vanishing of Holly Wheeler, The Turnbow Trap, Sorcerer

DECEMBER

1- The Chair Company

     Curb Your Enthusiasm- Car Periscope

     Welcome to Derry

     The Palm Beach Story (1942) (R)

2- Sentimental Value (2025) (The Music Box)

3- Sorry Baby (2025)

4- Blind (1986)

    Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair (2003) (AMC Crestwood) (R)

6- Pluribus- HDP

    Battle Royale (2000) (R)

   Street of Crocodiles and Other Stories by Bruno Schulz (1933) (tr. by Celina Wieniewska)

7- Reflections in a Dead Diamond (2025)

    Scrooged (1983) (R)

    Passions of Carol (1975)

8- Welcome to Derry- The Black Spot

    Curb Your Enthusiasm- Mr. Softee

9- Shoot Me In the Face on A Beautiful Day by Emma Murray (2025)

    The Haunted Season- The Occupant of the Room by Algernon Blackwood (2025)

    MST3K: Mitchell (1975)

10- Lethal Weapon (1987) (R)

11- Tiger On the Beat (1988)

      Pluribus- The Gap

13- Collected Works Vol. 1 by Scott McClanahan (2012)

      Clean, Shaven (1993) (R) (RIP Peter Greene)

14- Saturday Night Main Event (John Cena's Final Match)

      Wake Up Dead Man (2025)

       RIP Rob Reiner

15- The Death of Ivan Ilyich and Other Stories by Leo Tolstoy (1886) (tr. by Anthony Briggs, David McDuff and Ronald Wilks)

       Welcome to Derry- Winter Fire

       Curb Your Enthusiasm- Larry David Vs. Michael J. Fox

16- Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005) (R)

      Three Days of the Condor (1975) (R)

17- Motorman by David Ohle (1972)

      The Long Walk by Richard Bachman (1978)

      The Shining (1980) (R) (AMC Quarry IMAX) 

18- Adjustment and Work (1986)

      Multi- Handicapped (1986)

19- Pluribus- Charm Offensive

20- Ernest Saves Christmas (1988) (R)

      Breakdown: 1975 (2025)

      Christmas Evil (1980) (R)

21- The Shop Around the Corner (1940) (R)

       Carol (2015) (R)

23- Home Alone (1990) (R)

      Resurrection (2025) (Gene Siskel Film Center)

      Pluribus- La Chica o El Mundo

25- Eyes Wide Shut (1999) (R)

26- Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy (1985) (re-read)

27- Tombstone (1993) (R)

28- The Shrouds (2025) (R)

29- No Other Choice (2025) (The Music Box)

30- The Secret Agent (2025) (The Music Box)

      The Revenant (2015) (R)

31- Marty Supreme (2025) (AMC Crestwood)

      Self- Portrait in a Convex Mirror by John Ashbery (1975)

100 Films

The date was September 30th, 2025 and it was 9 pm. Charlotte and I were winding down an episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm. It was the first episode of Season 7, The Reunion. I was getting antsy. One Battle After Another was playing in 70 mm at the Music Box which was a five-minute walk from her apartment. No doubt there was going to be a line. A wrap around the block line. Timing was everything. We decided to leave 30 minutes before showtime to get a good spot. We walked along Janssen and cut along a side street.

The cars were lined along the street nose to ass and the sidewalk was flanked on the left by tree branches curving outward like witch's fingernails and the backs of houses on the right. We approached the marquee announcing our movie in bold black letters when Charlotte said she wasn't feeling good. She went back to the apartment for medication while I saved a spot in line. Luckily it wasn't at the point where it wrapped around the block. As the time dragged out, it would eventually get there. Standing behind two guys wearing hats, one telling the other his thoughts on the last movie he saw. A woman in a flannel and black shirt saying "Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson" walking by and the momentum causing the flannel to billow around the edges. And the wind carried a slight chill around me. The line starts to move and the anxiety mounts what if I get to the theater and Charlotte is still not back? I have the tickets. Will she be there in time? I text her about an update on her status as the line caterpillars toward the entrance. Random chance spinning a wheel and landing on her meeting me at the precise time I arrive at the entrance. Perfect timing. All worries dissipate as we move into the theater and into Theater One. 

The line for concessions was as long as the line for the movie itself. Going from the lobby and making its way through the theater. When 10:40 rolled around, one of the Music Box programmers walked down the aisle to announce how Paul Thomas Anderson had called the theater. Not about the sound levels or making sure the print played a specific way, but if there were any patrons dressed as Bob, wearing the bathrobe and sunglasses. A patron dressed just like him stood up and the programmer made his way to him, telling him to give his best "Viva La Revolution!" as the audience cheered. 

The voice of Tom Petty belting out American Girl, a song I'd always associated The Silence of the Lambs with and now have another film to do so, played as half the audience started filing out of the theater. The screening itself was everything I'd hoped for. The crowd riding its wavelength for the whole duration. Laughing with it, getting shocked, tensing up, cheering. Charlotte and I made our way out of the theater and into the front of it. Where groups formed and reactions were shared amidst the cigarette smoke filled starlit night. We made our way through the people and into the less populated areas where the cacophony of conversations trailed off into barely discernible dialogue. It was almost 2 am and all the shops and restaurants were well past closed. A man sat outside a bar, head bowed as if in prayer. A group of guys spilled out of the bar and onto the sidewalk. Wandering dreamers whose maps to Heaven are too smudged with coffee stains and cigarette burns. A few stray lights were on in apartment buildings. In one of them, a figure walked into view exaggerating his arms as if measuring where a piece of furniture or perhaps a poster will go. Still a time for brave dog walkers but well past time for stroller pushers, we made our way along an elementary school. A rock lay at the base of a tree with "My Happy Place" carved into it. The next tree had a collection of four dolls nestled around it, looking up at me with their hollow eyes. As we made our way towards Charlotte's apartment, the nocturnal activities of a city went on. Even as we called it a night. After all it was a great big world with lots of places to run to. 

I would see it two more times at the theater. Once by myself and another with a friend I grew up with and have known since grade school. Sharing a few small beers and discussing the various pathways of the people we grew up with. 

It would secure a spot on the big list. A list shuffled around, reorganized and recalibrated it seems like every other day. A list that says this is me on January 17, 2025, this is me on March 26, 2025, this is me on September 30, 2025, this is me on October 1, 2025, this is me on October 15, 2025, this is me on November 18, 2025, this is me on January 1, 2026. 

1. Magnolia (1999)

2. GoodFellas (1990)

3. Apocalypse Now (1979)

4. Woman In the Dunes (1964)

5. Sorcerer (1977)

6. E.T.: The Extra- Terrestrial (1982)

7. Eraserhead (1977)

8. 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)

9. Belfast, Maine (1999)

10. No Country For Old Men (2007)

11. Rear Window (1954)

12. Dog Day Afternoon (1975)

13. The Insider (1999)

14. The Silence of the Lambs (1991)

15. Pulp Fiction (1994)

16. Sunset Boulevard (1950)

17. The Exorcist (1973)

18. JFK (1991)

19. Alien (1979)

20. Nashville (1975)

21. Ikiru (1952)

22. Once Upon A Time In the West (1968)

23. Eyes Wide Shut (1999)

24. Welfare (1975)

25. The Thing (1982)

26. The Battle of Algiers (1966)

27. The Master (2012)

28. The Wizard of Oz (1939)

29. The Night of the Hunter (1955)

30. The Conversation (1974)

31. It's A Wonderful Life (1946)

32. Midnight Run (1988)

33. All That Jazz (1979)

34. Chinatown (1974)

35. The Devils (1971)

36. Saving Private Ryan (1998)

37. The Third Man (1949)

38. Possession (1981)

39. The Fisher King (1991)

40. Back to the Future (1985)

41. The Burbs (1989)

42. Stalker (1979)

43. Close-up (1990)

44. Aguirre: Wrath of God (1972)

45. Cure (1997)

46. Psycho (1960)

47. The Big Lebowski (1998)

48. Dr. Strangelove (1964)

49. Se7en (1995)

50. Safe (1995)

51. Sherlock Jr. (1924)

52. PlayTime (1967)

53. Paris, Texas (1984)

54. A Woman Under the Influence (1974)

55. Inland Empire (2006)

56. The Last Temptation of Christ (1988)

57. Do the Right Thing (1989)

58. His Girl Friday (1940)

59. Beetlejuice (1988)

60. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)

61. Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me (1992)

62. Chungking Express (1994)

63. Mishima: A Life In Chapters (1985)

64. The Bitter Tears of Petra Von Kant (1972)

65. Goodbye Dragon Inn (2003)

66. Heat (1995)

67. The Cremator (1969)

68. The Shining (1980)

69. Tampopo (1985)

70. Suspiria (1977)

71. High and Low (1963)

72. Blow Out (1981)

73. Manhunter (1986)

74. A Man Escaped (1956)

75. The Age of Innocence (1993)

76. Boogie Nights (1997)

77. The Blair Witch Project (1999)

78. The Godfather (1972)

79. In Jackson Heights (2015)

80. The Red Shoes (1948)

81. Jaws (1975)

82. Aliens (1986)

83. Ed Wood (1994)

84. Rosemary's Baby (1968)

85. The Wild Bunch (1969)

86. The Wicker Man (1973)

87. Hard Boiled (1992)

88. All the President's Men (1976)

89. Zodiac (2007)

90. The Beyond (1981)

91. The Trial (1962)

92. I Saw the TV Glow (2024)

93. The Zone of Interest (2023)

94. Die Hard (1988)

95. Sweet Smell of Success (1957)

96. Exiled (2006)

97. Children of Men (2006)

98. The Devils Rejects (2005)

99. Stop Making Sense (1984)

100. A Serious Man (2009)

101. Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990)

Top 50 TV Shows

Top 100 Albums

Top 50 Metal Albums

Top 100 Horror Films

Top 50 Comedies

Live From the Reels, It's 75!

"The best thing we can do is go on with our daily routine."

                                        -Nurse Mildred Ratched, after the suicide of Billy Bibbitt

On September 8, 1974, Gerald Ford granted Richard Nixon a pardon. This action caused the American public to be extremely skeptical moving forward with the Ford administration. It was just as corrupt as the Nixon administration. This echoed back to what young filmmakers were saying about the country in their films. It's all over Chinatown, a film representing the futility of good intentions. And it continued on into the next year. "In 1975, Chinatown is not Chinatown. Chinatown is America." as Rick Perlstein would say. 

June 20, 1975. The release of Jaws from wunderkind director Steven Spielberg. As the country was getting more serious, people started turning to adventure movies like Jaws. During the Great Depression, as people were standing in bread lines, the genre that doing well at the box office were musicals. Escapist entertainment. Jaws was budgeted at $4 million and went over budget to $9 million. It would go on to gross more than $100 million and become the highest grossing film in history. At least until 1977. 

The summer blockbuster was born. 

There is a gauge I usually use when I encounter a film fan. And that is whether or not they appreciate Steven Spielberg. While this metric does have nostalgia play into it- he was the first director whose style I'd unknowingly fall in love with- there is a certain type of 'cinephile' who views themselves above such mainstream fluff like Spielberg. They are usually found exclusively in the foreign film section. Now there is no denying the director has made his share of stinkers. Movies so saccharine you get tooth decay from all the sugar he pours over every scene. But when's he good, he's good. Kubrick wouldn't pick up the phone to have three hour conversations with him otherwise. Jaws is legitimately a great film. You can't place the blame at the foot of the filmmaker for ushering in the summer blockbuster and how it has devolved to what it is today. You place the blame at the foot of the executives who saw it as a business model going forward.  

For the 1976 show the nominees for Best Picture were Barry Lyndon, Dog Day Afternoon, Jaws, Nashville and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. The winner: the anti-authoritarian One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. 

The show for 1975 which honored the films of 1974 showed just how stark the contrast was between old and new Hollywood. John Wayne, Frank Sinatra, Bob Hope, Sammy Davis Jr. were presenters. Dustin Hoffman would described the award shows as "beauty pageants that show the worst aspect of this country." 

Hearts and Minds would win Best Documentary Feature that evening. Producer Bert Schneider and director Peter Davis would receive the award. Schneider would read a message from Vietnam regarding recognition of their friends in America and "all they have done on behalf of peace." Backstage, John Wayne and Frank Sinatra confronted Schneider. Bob Hope insisted on a retraction from the Academy. Three weeks later, as the North Vietnamese surrounded Saigon, Armed Forces Radio played White Christmas which meant the evacuation of all Americans. 

On the fringes of what society considers 'good taste' (to hell with them), filmmakers like Russ Meyer and Radley Metzger were releasing some of their strongest works. Rocky Horror Picture Show premiered and would become the midnight movie event. There are still repertory houses that host sing-a-longs and Rocky Horror themed costumed parties. 

Beyond Hollywood, directors documented the turmoil in their respective countries. 

The eclectic mix wasn't just to be found in cinemas. It was all over the music scene. Black Sabbath released the final album in their 6-album streak which planted the seeds for heavy metal. Queen and Elton John continued bringing operatic theatricality to new heights. Prog rock, ambient and experimental music were still going strong and reaching new peaks. 

1. Queen- A Night At the Opera

2. Pink Floyd- Wish You Were Here

3. Bob Dylan- Blood On the Tracks

4. Brian Eno- Another Green World

5. Led Zeppelin- Physical Graffiti

6. Van Der Graaf Generator- Godbluff

7. Frank Zappa- One Size Fits All

8. Elton John- Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy

9. Black Sabbath- Sabotage

10. Patti Smith- Horses

FILMS

1. Dog Day Afternoon

Compulsively rewatchable. I continue to come back to this film because of it's energy. It has what is my favorite Pacino performance. It's constantly turning. Changing with each revelation.

2. Nashville

"A film can either put you to sleep nicely or wake you up and I'm interested in the wake you up part." 

So says the writer of Nashville, Joan Tewksbery. And with the direction of Altman, Nashville became a major wake up call. Art that colors outside the lines has always interested me. It's why I am so drawn to a film like Magnolia. There was no protagonist or antagonist of the picture. It was after I saw Magnolia, I wanted to find out the sources of inspiration. Short Cuts kept coming up. So, naturally I sought it out. Then I got to Nashville off Short Cuts. 

Every time I watch it it's like watching a new movie. There's just so much goddamn stuff in it! There are forces at the intersection of art and politics and this film captures them better than any other made. 

3. Welfare

"We going into a vicious cycle again and I'm getting tired of it."

Kafkaesque has been used to describe so many works of art that deal with the nightmare of bureaucracy. Here is a film that deserves the title. Every sequence is dense with layer and meaning as Wiseman cuts to the marrow of the welfare system. Nobody gets helped in the entire picture. 

Wiseman's world is a nightmare where rules, regulations and pieces of paper have a higher order of reality than the people they pertain to. The profound disconnect between reality and proven reality causes an aura an anger to hang over every interaction in the film. 

Even in terms of form, there is a constant tension between fiction and reality. All the people we see here feel like characters straight out of fiction yet their situations go on longer than they would in a film. If you know of a better documentary, go to the sixth floor. If it's closed, then please come back tomorrow. 

4. Jaws

In the song Indiscipline by King Crimson, Adrian Belew sings "No matter how I take it apart, no matter how I break it down, it remains consistent." I think of that lyric when I watch Jaws. The Jaws Log by Peter Gottlieb is a required text for anyone who likes the film or just wants to learn about how to make a film. It discusses how the movie was made from every arena possible. The now iconic score by John Williams. The editing by Verna Fields which, if one frame was added or subtracted dictated the difference between a fake looking shark and a real looking shark. The unmatched chemistry of the three leads in Schieder, Dreyfus, and Shaw.  The way Spielberg does the oner on the boat while Brody is talking to the mayor. There are dozens of more things I can list off. I would be remiss if I didn't bring up my favorite part of the film which is the USS Indianapolis speech. 

In a film with beat after beat of genuine character moments, Quint's speech never fails to do a number on me when I watch it. The way Shaw delivers makes you believe he was there. In the biggest movie of the year, the crown jewel of it all is a scene where three guys are sitting down and sharing battle scar stories. No big set pieces. No flashbacks. Just great storytelling. And that right there is the difference between Spielberg and the people who think they are Spielberg. 

5. Barry Lyndon

One of the random facts about this movie is it's Brian Eno's favorite film of all time. This tracks because it plays like one of his ambient albums come to life. 

His other films tend to overshadow this one. The photography here is the metric all other period pieces should be measured against. The ascent and descent of the O'Neal's character matched by the shift from flippant comedy to hopeless collapse comes without warning. Just as Lyndon is unprepared for responsibility. 

6. Mirror

Tarkovsky's most autobiographical film. His ability to immerse the viewer into the texture of a scene is equaled only by Lynch. There is a hypnotic quality to his work and Mirror perhaps showcases this best. A man undergoes a spiritual crisis as he recollects moments from his childhood. There's no framing device. No hand holding. Just the viewer left to piece the fragments of the director's psyche in real time. 

7. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

The performances by Jack, Louise and Brad all stand out here but what keeps me coming back to its padded walls and white interiors is the ensemble. Everyone feels authentic. When you have a cast this good, it is the director's movie to blow it. Thankfully, Forman exceeds. 

8. Jeanne Dielmann

The whole thing is an experiment. A trapeze artist balanced precariously on a string for over 3 hours. I saw one review of it saying it has as much action as Die Hard. This is the genius of the film. By stretching out time through routine, we pick up any details added. Any difference from the first time we see Jeanne go through doing something to the second time causes tension. 

9. Monty Python and the Holy Grail

A go to the movie when I just want to sit down for some nonsensical laughter. Part of the charm of the Monty Python is the troupe taking high art from high society and cutting it all down to size through absurdity. This is the best example of that. It gleefully deconstructs the Arthurian legend. 

10. Deep Red

As much as I enjoy the "animals" trilogy, they were a warm- up for Deep Red. In particular, his theme of the unreliability of memory from Bird With the Crystal Plumage. Everything clicks into place. His mastery of giallo, the Goblin score, and the camerawork. From here, Argento is unstoppable. Well, until 1987. 

11. Grey Gardens

Sure, there's hang out movies. But what about hang out documentaries? The Maysles allow this beautiful alchemy to simmer as we spend time with Big Edie and Little Edie. Just give this a watch and you'll be doing a dance with an American flag in no time. 

12. Salo, or the 120 Says of Sodom

Sandwiched between a copy of Cannibal Holocaust and A Serbian Film in some edgelord's library is this movie. Bandied about in circles of teenagers who view it as a dare; all political and social context stripped away and reduced down to "the movie where people are forced to eat shit." 

In an essay on the film, writer Gary Indiana observes, "Everything that happens in Salo is stylized, mechanized, prescribed and proceeds "by the book." The catalog of often physically impossible sexual combinations and maniacally complicated tortures it (Sade's 120 Days of Sodom) comprises would send the staunchest viewer running from the theater-or, obversely, put even the most enthusiastic viewer to sleep. Pasolini extracted the basic structural design of this novel and fleshed it out with an incongruous elegance and a certain trickster's tact."

By extracting this structural design of not just Sade's work but Dante's Nine Circles of Hell, Pasolini, an avowed Marxist, created a work which takes us on a tour of revulsion through 1944 fascist Italy. This depiction would cause numerous outcries and censorship. 

Shortly after its premiere, Pasolini would be abducted, tortured and murdered at Ostia in November 1975. The likeliest culprits being the Banda della Magliana, a criminal organization with links to far-right terrorism. I watched this on the night Donald Trump took office for the 2nd time because I couldn't find any other movie more fitting. 

13. ThunderCrack!

It's a 3- hour arthouse horror porn. One reviewer likened it to the hateful horror of Andy Milligan's The Ghastly Ones, the filth-is-my-life shock of Pink Flamingos and the winking camp of Beyond the Valley of the Dolls. Eminently quotable dialogue, gorgeous photography and tasteless sex abound.

14. Love and Death

You could divide his filmography up into two categories: slapstick and serious. This particular film is the best starting point for his slapstick. It tackles all of his high-minded interests and melds them with his trademark neurotic humor. 

Woody sums it all up at the end: "Human beings are divided into mind and body. The mind embraces all the nobler aspirations like poetry and philosophy. But the body has all the fun." 

15. Night Moves

"Who's winning?"

"Nobody. One side just loses more slowly."

A year after Chinatown, Arthur Penn managed to come close with his take on neo noir. The film has two strengths: Gene Hackman's performance and Dede Allen's impeccably timed editing that climaxes into one of the most terrifying ending sequences in any noir. She would edit Dog Day Afternoon the same year. 

16. Fox and His Friends

Fassbinder's first depiction of gay life. Economic fate and emotional fate are intertwined to become one in the same. The director knew that such bleakness would make for either a black comedy or an abject tragedy. The line between the two is very short as he proves here. 

This was Fassbinder's twenty second film made when he was twenty-nine. Think about that then think about the quality of films he made before it and the quality of the films after and you get an inkling on what a giant of cinema this guy was. 

16. Lips of Blood

If ever asked the question: where do I start with Jean Rollin, I will point to this. It's not my favorite but it manages to encapsulate the fundamentals. Vampires? Check. Atmosphere for days? Check. Magnificent sets? Check. 

17. Manila In the Claws of the Light

Lino Brocka, the most acclaimed filmmker to hail from the Philipines, documents his city of Manila as a dog-eat-dog world. Steeped in social realism, the film showcases the grittiness of urban life as poverty takes hold of its most vulnerable. 

The ending definitely had an inspiration on Taxi Driver so if you like that movie, watch this. 

18. Dersu Uzala

Some of Kurosawa's best work has been from adapting Russian source material. Dersu Uzala sees him take the Russian inspiration to the point of moving out of his homeland. Kurosawa hit rock bottom depression before this movie and making it so soon after shows his conviction in people. In the characters, he finds his own anxieties reflected when the studios were becoming increasing conservative and averse to risk taking. 

More refined than his first color picture, Dodes'ka-den, he would make five years prior, but not quite as eye-poppingly gorgeous as Kagemusha or Dreams, Dersu Urzala is an unsung work in the sensei's career. 

19. Footprints On the Moon

Every genre has its weak entries. Every subgenre has its weak entries. There are two subgenres in particular where this is readily apparent: the slasher and the giallo. If I had to list out ten examples of when the giallo is done right, Luigi's Bazzoni's 1975 effort would make the cut. It succeeds because its conventions are nebulous and its mood is ethereal. The film is able to achieve such moodiness due to it being built around memory and how images work. 

20. A Haunted Turkish Bathhouse

Eroticism, pinku violence, and brothel-cum-bathhouse soapy sex mayhem are just a handful of the things this feline flick has to offer. I love cats. I love revenge flicks. Kazuhiko Yamaguchi combines both.

21. Supervixens

One of the more misunderstood or just plain underrated artists is Russ Meyer. Whenever his name comes up, he's described as "the Big Breasts guy." OK. So that is true. But there's so much more to him. An abundance, if you will. The way he frames his shots for example. 

The main character here is constantly thwarting the advances of an array of robust women and the whole tone of the movie feels like a live action cartoon. 

22. Smile

A scathing indictment on traditional Americana in the wake of Vietnam and Watergate. It's a satire about how the pursuit of the American Dream has crippled an entire small town and negatively affected the values of contestants in a beauty pageant, beating Drop Dead Gorgeous 24 years to the punch. 

Smile came out in the same year as Nashville and while it hits a number of the same satirical notes, it still remains a film that is slept on. Easily one of the top 5 Bruce Dern performances. 

23. Three Days of the Condor

I always think of the office massacre when I think about this movie. It's become a Christmas staple and with the passing of Robert Redford earlier this year, it made this year's viewing bittersweet. 

24. Race With the Devil

A veritable grab-bag of a movie with all the stuff in the grab-bag being to my liking: Satanic cults, car chases, insane stunts, post-Watergate conspiracy/paranoia and Warren Oates. 

25. The Image

"There are too many thorns. You simply have to get scratched."

A beautifully shot Sadean- read diary of Parisian punishment and pleasure, bejeweled blindfolds and perfumed asses. There's an intensity and sheer meanness here that Radley Metzger was able to achieve that other films of this period and genre could not. 

26. Hard Times

A fantastic debut that kicks off one of the great director streaks. Everything Walter Hill does from here thru 1984 is gold. 

27. Switchblade Sisters

Jack Hill balances humor and exploitation while taking his characters seriously. A film about women breaking free of their bonds and going out on their own. There's a reason why he's considered the Howard Hawks of exploitation filmmakers. 

28. Death Race 2000

Paul Bartel cut his teeth on 1972's Private Parts which more or less could be considered a calling card film. Death Race 2000 allows him to cash it all in. This New World-era Corman production would showcase just how talented Bartel in not just action but humor. 

29. Mother Kusters Goes to Heaven

An uncomfortably black comedic look at the way people and political groups exploit personal tragedies for their own gain. Brigitte Mira, hot off Ali Fear Eats the Soul, stars as the titular Emma Kusters, and turns in another acting showcase. 

 

30. Report to the Commissioner

Billy Friedkin said a chase scene is pure cinema. There are two in here. One of them involves Bob Balaban and the way it plays out is something I've never seen in a movie before. A film like this is proof that however many good (and bleak) crime films of the 70's you think you've seen, there's always another hidden in the shadows, waiting to be discovered. "They is them and we is us. And that's the way it is."

The best movies of the 2020s, so far: The Surplus

   I'd originally planned to post one of these once a day, then it became at least one a week, then came doubt that I could even do one a month cuz life happens; man plans, God laughs. In defiance of God's will I'm compromising by consolidating everything into one post (I also have been trying to revisit a few here and there). Thankfully, there's so much to cover - almost overwhelming how many good movies have come out this decade.

 SINNERS

  Like The Batman in 2022, talking about Sinners is kind of impossible. Everything that can be said has already been said over and over because its popularity and good will is overwhelming. If you stick your head up and try to offer anything, you're just another soundwave arch in the mountainous cacophony and your voice will probably be an unintended plagiarism of echoes.

  I do want to point out that it's neat how Remmick is Irish so there's-- no, it's already been said.

  But I could say that it's great how Michael B. Jordan plays two ro-- lol, that was the first thing everyone pointed out.

  Oh! The generational music sequence is a work of-- really? Stop.

  I know: I love the fact that Coogler used squibs. So many movies—this year alone—have foolishly relied on cgi blood and it annoys the fuck out of me (The Monkey, Final Destination: Bloodlines, Toxic Avenger). I appreciate that Coogler used corporeal red goo spraying everywhere; haven't seen anyone talk about that yet. Or! The fact that Remmick and Sammie's dynamic turns the magical negro trope inside out. To Remmick, Sammie exists solely to help him reconnect with his family. And, saddled with the guilt his father put on him about the devil following him, Sammie would have caved if it weren't for his [found] family protecting and preventing him. Hell, who's to say if Sammie's magic would have even worked if he'd been turned into a vampire? Coogler's characterization of Sammie is so thorough as he doesn't let Remmick's myopia define him; a lesser movie would. And that's why so much has been said about this movie because it's simultaneously thoughtful, artful and highly entertaining.

  Everything positive you've read about it (and its soundtrack) is true: a real-life crowdpleaser that more than earns its reputation.

  EEPHUS

  A deliciously fizzy hangout movie that has so many odd twists of lemon; funny and wholesome but also acerbic and sad. It hits even better on rewatch, like adding new condiments to a second hotdog. This is also the kind of movie that never compromises its initial set-up no matter what, barreling forward with defiant formal fortitude. Every moment of drama, comedy, catharsis and/or poignancy are deliberately unforced. Hell, the whole premise pointedly negates any conventional inclination to root for an underdog: everyone is equal. There's no moustache-twisting villain to hate because the reckoning for this beloved diamond is in the form of—checks notes— the construction of a middle school to help reduce the commute for local children. You even get the sense that the characters almost wish they were in a movie, so that this final game would be 'worth it' for them. Throw in the ticking-clock element and all the fun is undercut by an unending tension of the narrative denying their wish fulfillment but, at the same time, it reinforces its verisimilitude.

  THE FABELMANS

  Totally knocked on my ass by how confrontational and honest this is. Spielberg, via Judd Hirsch, grabs us and tells us he has an addiction and it's one that all artists have, like an inherent defect. It's such a wild moment because it's set up like a wholesome 'old-man-gives-sage-advice-to-a-young-protegé' scene when it's more of a harsh warning by a weathered cynic. Hell, it even sort of validates a spooky scene of prophetic delusion as his Mom says she was warned by her dead Mother that something terrible was coming. I also didn't expect to be reminded of Blow Out as Spielberg uses the tools of cinema to uncover the 'conspiracy' of his Mom's apparent infidelity. Then there's that^ moment of him in the mirror showing us just how dependent he becomes on his art just like his Uncle said he would.

  Absolutely none of these and other weird, thorny elements (like the borderline Oedipal scene of Sammy filming his Mother's sensuous headlight dance, where her dress is practically translucent) could have been predicted. The experience is a kind of shock to the system that almost equips the viewer to actively crave the typically saccharine Spielberg schmaltz. He even gives a kind of explanation as to why he leans on populist romance: it's a coping response. He just...can't help himself. This kind of autobiographical criticism impressed the Hell out of me, not to mention its incredibly sly, but playful, final shot. (David Lynch also kills it as John Ford)

  KAJILLIONAIRE

  A very pretty and refreshingly earnest movie about arrested development, the allegory of the cave, unconditional love, and how vital nurturing is. As a tragicomic character study of a woman learning to live authentically after being raised to scam it operates as a kind of inverse of Red Rooms (one of the funniest frames this decade is a shot of space with the subtitle 'your brain is in your tits' floating in the stars). I also love how unpredictable it is thanks to a mostly plotless script. Evan Rachel Wood gives the best performance of her career and Richard Jenkins (always great) somehow does the same. Miranda July's usual quirk shines through and with this one, more than her other work, feels like a Wes Anderson movie with a full-blooded pulse.

  KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON

  Makes me especially sore that this one is being relegated to a short blurb instead of its own individual post as it's too dense, ambitious, tragic and contradictory to merely sum up here. Wisely changed from the 'whodunnit' aspect of the book to an adamantly matter-of-fact look from within, Scorsese dissects the clogged aortas of America's poisoned heart. If I wasn't queasy I was fidgeting from the festering chills, my lip almost constantly curled upward. But this isn't misery porn, shockingly, because it's so reflective. Along the way Scorsese asks if he's committed artistic malpractice by even telling this story. And since this is a movie about complicity, evil, and the silent continuum of erasure it serves as a surprising thematic knot while also denying the audience a proper ending since there wasn't one for the Osage people; "there were no mention of the murders" being the final line of the movie just adds to the 3-hour dysphoria. Taking the time to include himself in a metatextual coda about authorship is such a bold act of self-examination that simultaneously sobered me and bewildered me.

  Soraya Roberts: "This is not a film about the Osage, but a film about settler America’s relation to the Osage, and, more largely, to the world. Specifically, it’s a film about a country’s colonialist, exploitative, violent, destructive, patriarchal subjugation of the world. This is a story of white America, as Scorsese has always been eager to tell. And just as Scorsese could not tell the Osage story, the Osage couldn’t quite tell this one."

 RRR

  Another story about the history of white supremacist imperialism but it's the diametric opposite of Killers Of The Flower Moon; where Scorsese opted for something subdued and, at times, quiet, this is pure uncut maximalist filmmaking. It's 3 hours long, highly stylized, cartoony, brutal, heart crushing, and just fucking running up and through and in every kind of eye-bugging image it can in the Dudes Rock canon. It even invites cliche lines like "just when you think it's topped itself, it does something new" because it really does that shit. It's equal parts buddy-cop action and a sprawling story about resisting against violent oppression that spans decades. I swear it takes an hour [or damn near close to it] to get to the full title card as it makes its personality known with two[!!] prologues. I'm exhausted just thinking about it and also nostalgic for this scene, that scene, etc. I stocked up on commas for this thing: all the shootouts, dance numbers, chases, wire work, and fight scenes to whet the largest appetite for action movie gluttons who are realism-intolerant. Eat up.

ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER

  This isn't just tactile entertainment, it's refreshing to see P.T. go outside of his comfort zone and make something so intentionally modern. Dismissive cowards, like his contemporary Quentin Tarantino and especially newbie Robert "No Cars Or Cell Phones" Eggers, resign themselves to the past. In turn, they reveal a lack of imagination and initiative. P.T. reworked Vineland specifically to liberate himself from the Oldhead Unc stereotype in favor of sentimental optimism about Gen Z, while his eccentricities flow undiluted. This is just as big-hearted and perverse as anything else he's made: no fear, like Tom fucking Cruise. The last act car chase (and its fallout) is some of the best filmmaking he's done in his career; in another universe we got his Mission: Impossible movie and it made $1,073,872,627 dollars. P.T.'s knack for sparking idiosyncratic characters and matching them to pitch-perfect actors remains combustible, especially in the case of Teyana Taylor as Perfidia Beverly Hills. Even with limited screentime she's one of the most striking, potent, challenging, and layered characters he's ever written. She is the endocrine system of the film; every decision anyone in the ensemble makes comes back to her. Her absence leads to the best line in the movie, where Bob tells Sensei how he doesn't know how to do Willa's hair. Just incredible stuff all-around because, while Leo is firing off in every direction, Benecio Del Toro does some of his most understated acting as he responds so affectionately, "Don't go dark on me, Bob." Sensei is the kind of role that only someone as skilled and seasoned as Del Toro could pull off because it might seem like he's underplaying it but he's just expertly riding the line so that he doesn't overplay it.

  Like Christopher McQuarrie, Ryan Coogler, Jordan Peele, and especially Chris Nolan, P.T. Anderson is striving to make blockbusters great again.

  And this is what I mean when I say surplus cuz I can barely fucking keep up; Ridley Scott isn't seeing enough movies if he's bitching that "everything is shit." Even if I agreed with him I'd have to say that he's actively contributing to the problem, thus he's a hypocrite. He really thinks Napoleon or House Of Gucci are superior to any other modern movies? Or is he just resigned to make shit? Typical old man lose-lose. Do yourself a favor and look up what Paul Thomas Anderson said about movies in 2025 and look into his contributions to Napoleon...

  I can't even finish this surplus post because there's too much to cover, there'd have to be a Part 2 or 3, so I'm nipping it in the bud now. So many movies from this decade have made the list and so many more could very likely make the list on rewatch. There are more bad movies being made but there aren't less good movies out there because of it. There are hundreds of movies per year that I miss and end up in my queue. Thus there are nearly 500+ movies I haven't seen from 2020-2025, so could I even make a blanket statement like "movies suck now" without telling on myself? If I don't engage with the material then I can't speak on its quality, that would be arrogant, near-sighted, and presumptuous of me. Plus, considering there's so much I haven't seen, that's yet to come, that means there's hundreds more. I'll agree that the American film industry is the worst it's ever been but cinema as a medium is very healthy (and young), that should be reassuring so long as one isn't dismissive or incurious. When anyone proclaims "movies suck now" but they skip every other movie that comes out, I just assume they don't like movies.

THE SURPLUS (NO ORDER)

Soft & Quiet

On Becoming A Guinea Fowl

Titane

Better Man

The Vast Of Night

Bloody Nose, Empty Pockets

Rebel Ridge

Reflection In A Dead Diamond

The Mastermind

Civil War

Sorry, Baby

A Quiet Place: Day One

Godzilla: Minus One

Catch The Fair One

Kinds Of Kindness

The Hunt

Fallen Leaves

Train Dreams

Hard Truths

Bacurau

The Killer

Tár

May December

Malignant

Decision To Leave

The Banshees Of Inisherin

The Holdovers

Marty Supreme

Challengers

Knock At The Cabin

Nickel Boys

Gretel & Hansel

Mad God

The Kid Detective

Bones And All

No Other Choice

Everything Everywhere All At Once

Presence

How To Blow Up A Pipeline

Timmy Failure: Mistakes Were Made

Red Rocket

Flow

i'm thinking of ending things

Shin Ultraman