#23: Grizzly Man (2005)

Crazy nuts, as we watch someone go from an eccentric weirdo to an actual certifiably crazy person. And not in a fun way. Somewhat reminiscent of Free Solo (of course this influenced that one), except this seems more tragic as he seems to truly be spiraling instead of just too self-absorbed. And ultimately, as Herzog says at the end there is only the overwhelming indifference of nature.

#22: The Florida Project (2017)

The feel-good movie of 2017!

Evey single moment after the first 15 minutes is spent wondering exactly what flavor of tragedy is going to befall this little girl as her mother, who has ALL SORTS of problems, and keeps spiraling further and further down due to terrible circumstances, a lack of chances, and yes her own bad decisions. The final dream sequence totally broke my heart.

#21: Tell Me Who I Am (2019)

Two twins – one gets in a big motorcycle accident and has complete retrograde amnesia, so the other has to tell him everything about himself and his life.

That’s the premise, and you should not learn anything more about the movie before seeing it.

#20: Red Rooms (2023)

This shit is fuuuuuuuuuuucked up.

#19: A Real Pain (2024)

Damn, Eisenberg wrote and directed this? Some people are just unfairly talented. Tender and sweet and lovely, it’s a great portrait of two very damaged humans (okay, one more than the other) and their surprising relationship. Really touching.

#18: Possession (1981)

Impressionistic, psychadelic and unique. Driven entirely by nightmare dream logic – nobody acts like a person, to the extent that Sam Neill’s lunatic ranting and raving almost seems appropriate in response. Note for example that the child is routinely ignored and neglected until Sam immediately finds Replacement Wife (kinda)? Nothing makes sense logically but it does feel right.

And that’s without even mentioning…The Creature.

Up Next: The 17 Contenders for #1

#29: Rushmore (1998)

Oddly both a bit weirder and a bit more centered in the real world than most Wes Anderson. In anyone else’s hands – or, frankly, with any less than a perfect performance from Schwartzman (in his first freaking tv or movie appearance) – this could have long terribly, terribly wrong. Max contriving to kiss Miss Cross on multiple occasions already comes off more than a bit different today. I loved how Max managed to always get a coterie of (mostly younger) kids to just go along with his madness, probably because it’s easier than fighting against him to not do it.

#28: The Thin Blue Line (1998)

Exactly as enraging as you would think and as I expected. GRRRRRRRRRR, How are some of these detectives and prosecutors still free???

The common problem of not seeing older films until much later is dramatically expanded here – watching THE groundbreaking true crime documentary in an age where there are 200 copycats a year in the same format makes it difficult to appreciate the advances, especially as time and repetition has in same ways smoothed out the rougher edges.

#27: Challengers (2024)

This makes two Luca Guadagnino movies that I loved (with Suspiria) to one that I despised (the morally reprehensible Call Me by Your Name).

Something about this whole movie just screams Hollywood to me – well filmed, well acted – I have always been a bit skeptical of Zendaya as a major star (in stature at least – by box office she easily clears the bar) but she is tremendous here as the center of the cursed triangle. She’s commanding both before and after her injury turns her from playfully controlling into something of a bitter monster.

#26: Les Glaneurs et la Glaneuse (The Gleaners and I) (2000)

Surprisingly moving in a way that is quite difficult to describe. It celebrates the little things in life and unrecognized people without feeling like a polemic about the issues it’s concerned about. I’m obviously not the only one to have an unexpectedly deep reaction to this highly personal movie, as it’s #67 on the latest Sight & Sound List.

#25: Almost Famous (2000)

The definitive Rockumentary, and don’t go whining to me about how it’s “fictional.”

#24: Cast Away (2000)

Career-defining performance from a Hall of Fame actor. Just the right amount of time is spent on his life before rhe crash to male the difference starkly palpable and give us something to invest in his relationship with Kelly so that the last third of the film hits so hard but also just right. Of course the most devastating scene is the terrible seaborn goodbye to Wilson. NOOOOOO!!!!

#36: Gladiator (2000)

ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED????

A paltry 177 spots ahead of the recent sequel. You can definitely see still today why this was such a phenomenon at the time. Rousing action scenes (with no CGI!), a star performance from Crowe, and a good enough script. And Phoenix was a much better as a performance in my opinion.

#35: The Phoenician Scheme (2025)

Great to see Wes Anderson and the Wes Anderson Players at it again. Ultimately if you have seen a Wes Anderson movie, you know the general vibes of this if not the specifics. Obviously I am a fan and I definitely enjoyed this one, it’s not one of his best efforts (The Fantastic Mr. Fox) but definitely not among his worst (The French Dispatch).

“Ha! I’m still in the habit of surviving!”

#34: Zero Dark Thirty (2012)

Exceptionally well done – Chastain gives an incredible performance and overall there is the depth of characterization normally found in an 8-episode prestige TV series (complimentary). Ahhh, to have a country that actually functioned. Maybe one day again.

#33: 12 Years a Slave

Okay, look, I’m going to get a little histrionic on this but I mean come on, if ever there is a movie that warrants it…

Every American should watch this, and the more resistant they are to do so they more they need to be forced to it. So much evil has lived in this country for so long. What we have today is by no means new, being being led by people who would prefer given their druthers to return to this state of affairs, and it is deeply, powerfully shameful for all of us.

Okay, let’s get something a little lighter mmmkay?

#32: Little Miss Sunshine (2006)

“And where is your grandpa right now?” “He’s in the trunk of our car.”

“Thank you Dwayne. Coming from you that means a lot.”

“OK, but I’m not going to have any fun.” “Well we’re all with you there, Dwayne.”

“Grandpa doesn’t have to come.” “What? But I coached her! I gave her the moves!”

“Sarcasm is the refuge of losers.” “It is?? Really???”

#31: The Hit (1984)

Terrence Stamp gives one of the coolest performances in film history while dealing with these two morons that have come to bring him in. It’s more like a road trip meditation on the meaning of death, underlined by Stamp’s utter refusal to accept it when things look like they’re not going to end on the terms he wants them to – because of course they never do. Roth is so young! And so blonde!

#30: Companion (2025)

I think I am an official Jack Quaid fan, and he plays a fantastic character here that I am not going to talk too much about. Let’s just say that my concern that knowing that Thatcher was playing a robot did not turn out to be the spoiler than I expected. Extremely fun, highly recommended, see this and try to avoid knowing anything else.

Up Next: The top 30!

So these are the really great movies that weren’t quite good enough to make it to consideration for #1. But they’re really good! Watch these movies! Watch them, damn you! WATCH THEM!!!

#42: Together (2025)

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

HAHAHAHAHA

HA!

Effective body horror AND philosophical debate material, Brie and Franco have obvious chemistry for obvious reasons, and there are so many quick little bits that are just incredible. See it with a crowd if at all possible.

#41: Overlord (2018)

Pretty goddamn boss action thriller.  Nazi zombies!  Felt particularly good to watch the good guys kill an assload of Nazis instead of electing them.  Highly recommended.  Kick ass!

Seriously, at this point I could watch Nazis get whacked all day every day.

#40: Heart Eyes (2025)

“A romantic comedy slasher film” – Wikipedia

You know, that is not a category that I ever thought existed or that I would be interested in, but somehow, against all odds, they completely pull it off? It’s both a very effective slasher and a delightful romcom?

“No. No! His thing is couples! We’re not a couple! We just met!”

“Yeah! We’re not together! Go kill somebody else!”

And you know that I love a movie that cares enough to get all the little things right and add the tiny meaningful details that would be so easy to overlook.

If – no, wait – *when* you see this, be sure to pay attention to the seemingly incidental lines in the script….

#39: Sous la Seine (Under Paris) (2025)

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

OMGGGGG incredible.  I can’t believe that the sharks won!  Paris is theirs now!  HAHAHAHAHAHAH!  

The action stuff was actually good too!  Such fun!

#38: Limitless (2011)

Now THERE is a goddamn movie. Great breakout star turn by Bradley Cooper. Well thought out, scripted, and acted, just exactly what you would think a super smart person would do given resrources and time. Super fun.

#37: Superman (2025)

Just freaking awesome. Gets everything right about the character in the best possible way while also getting Lex just right. Great performances (Nick Hoult!). Really really funny (“metahumans kill thing,” the huge battle outside of the window while Clark and Lois have the big serious conversation. “Thanks for watching my dog, bitch!”) And Kyrpto is just fantastic – he’s a DOG! And a good boy but still, he’s just a dog, he can’t really understand anything more than any other dog. Just pure fun to watch while also bejng inspiring? Hopeful? Way to go, JJ, keep it up.

#49: Carry-On (2025)

Quality suspense thriller elevated by Jason Bateman as villain, with particularly impressive voice work.

#48: Black Bag (2025)

Shockingly cerebral (in that it’s really smart but doesn’t have much of an emotional pulse) for a movie that supposedly hinges on a married couple and several dating couples. But I found it compelling to follow the mysteries and see what is going on even though it cheats a little (in that we often don’t have enough information) but I was never mad at it about that if that makes sense – it’s just not one where you can figure out the movie in advance. But it was crafty and witty and very enjoyable on that level. I think Fassbender only plays spies now?

#47: Novocaine (2025)

I love a movie that takes the time to do the little stuff right –

“Is that one of the robbers?”

“Hope so. It’d be a shame if it was the real Santa.”

And I’m on record as being a big part of the Jack Quaid Army. He really is the best, nepo baby or not. And the plot is better than it has any right to be too.

#46: Borderline (2025)

What a fabulous silly little trifle of a nonsense movie. Really great performances by everyone too. Samara Weaving is excellent, Eric Dane is just exactly the right amount of serious with just a tiny little bit of winking, the actress playing Penny (Alba Baptista) is really really great in her insanity, Rhodes (Jimmy Fails) is shockingly loveable, just big big fun, way to go everyone.

#45: Final Destination: Bloodlines (2025)

Has a lot of fun with it. The Julia death was particularly amazeballs. And all the setups were great and it’s just so much fun. And the characters are so well realized in a movie where they really didn’t have to be. Every single moment is treated like life or death – walking through the revolving door – SCARY!!! So much better than it needed to be. And the perfect ending. I feel bad that I couldn’t rank it higher but this was a pretty stacked year.

#44: Brokeback Mountain (2005)

Yeah, come on, like I have anything to add to this discourse. Beautiful and tragic.

#43: Secret in Their Eyes (2015)

Holy fuck that was dark as shit! Mad respect to Julia Roberts for playing the most unglamorous character possible – total depression, all-consuming grief, no markup, bad haircut, no glam, no nothing. Especially brave with Nicole Kidman in your movie! Really well done.

Up Next: Movies Somehow Even Better Than This

#56: Vicious Fun (2020)

Silly low-budget Canadian horror/thrillercc, which will always have a special place in my heart for implementing the “Never Stop Stabbing” protocol at the end. The bits where they were just making fun of various hitman tropes were also fun. I would enjoy watching the further exploits of the badass and her idiot intern.

#55: Conclave (2024)

Clear at all times that it’s based on an airport book, but it was very well done, especially the suspenseful score that keeps everything on track. Excellent performances all around from a pretty stacked cast. Plot keeps moving quickly, although the ending was pretty obvious from early on – yet almost wholly unthinkable in reality – NFW would someone not thoroughly vetted become pope.

#54: Amour (2012)

Crushingly, heartbreakingly realistic show of a loving couple where one of them suffers a bad stroke and gradually (and then all of a sudden) gets worse and worse and the other just keeps having to be the one who copes. He never seems to resent it, but it’s not what either of them wanted and that is extremely clear. Very well done, just not something that I particularly felt the need to watch a dramatization, even though the ending is about as well done as it possibly could have been.

#53: Saturday Night (2024)

Surprisingly entertaining, and not just for the characterizations.  Like Will Leitch, I just enjoy shows about the process of work and somehow knowing that all the chaos is going to work here both short-term and long-term makes it just fun to watch and enjoy seeing the characters bounce off of each other without it being as tense as it might be.  And yeah at the last minute everything gets pulled off a little too neatly but hey, it’s a movie – and from what I understand, pretty much standard operating procedure for SNL.

#52: KPop Demon Hunters (2025)

Actually good, which amazed me at the time, but is not surprising in retrospect when I learned it was the Spider-Verse team behind it.  Songs were fun, animation was great, and there was even a plot!  Obvs Derp Cat and Demon Pigeon were the best. #SajaBoys4Ever

Yes I know I rated this above Amour, don’t pretend you’re surprised.

#51: Her (2013)

A horror story made out to feel like a romance. Incredible performance from Johansson, who I have really come to appreciate this year as an actor, but holy crap what a terrible dystopia. His own job is outsourcing human connection! Terrifying! (If only more people felt that way I guess)

#50: Predator: Badlands (2025)

How Fun! Elle Fannning continues to impress in what could genuinely be an Oscar-level performance (but will of course never get a nomination). Much funnier than I thought it would be, without sacrificing the good action AND a stealth Alienverse movie (Hooray for Weyland-Yutani!). Loved the last line too. I have a lot of questions about the Yautja society – for one thing for a species that prides themselves on being, well, predators, they sure as heck don’t care about a fair fight with all their tech – the dad in this movie is not afraid to wear his invisibility cloak and all his weapons and surprise to trap and trick his kids and they don’t mind using their fancy weapons from a distance. Also, if everything in society is about hunting and killing, who is developing the tools? Maintaining the ships? Feeding them?

Three posts in four days? What is going on here? Am I ok? Who am I? This is not my beautiful house!

#62: The November Man (2014)

Well done movie, where the twists were obvious but still pretty good. It’s amazing how a well-put-together and competently directly movie with a decent plot can just put you in a groove. Anyway, Pierce Brosnan sure has made a third career out of playing retired spies dragged back in hasnt he? This is definitely one of the better ones. And it was very nice to think of a world where someone’s eyewitness account of terribleness could end a political candidacy isnt it?

#61: Unknown (2011)

Interesting setup for some by-the-numbers Liam Neesons action in a mixed (and lost!) identity thriller with an extremely satisfying resolution. Without giving too much away (although I mean the movie is 15 years old so ya know), sometimes it’s the simplest-seeming movies that can sneak up on you.

#60: Boyhood (2014)

Unlike a lot of bloated 3+ hour movies (cough, Toni Erdmann, cough) this one really needed its whole running time to give deeper meaning to everything this family went through.  I preferred the half with an older Mason but I totally get why it had to have everything that came before.  Anyway, this may be the most written-about movie of the century so you can probably find a more thoughtful take pretty easily.

#59: Dead President Now! (2025)

It’s all too easy to get me outraged with these stories, and I know that is often the point, but this was a very compelling tale told well. And if there were some unambiguously bad people (Jane Spilman), well if we have learned nothing it’s that there are plenty of unambiguously bad people.

#58: Zhou (Incantation) (2022)

Super freaky (yow!) and extremely chilling. If it was 10% more interested in being scary and 20% less melodramatic about the mother-kid relationship it would be legit great. (Ok and if there wasn’t the weird part where the dude with no reason to trust her AT ALL decides against all his knowledge and best interest to just go on the run with them). But very spooky and even the big reveal ends up being pretty cool after being built up so much. A nice addition to the horror canon!

#57: Le Fabuleux Destin d’Amelie Poulain (Amelie) (2001)

Delightful movie about a nice weirdo who dedicates her live to making every else’s a little bit better and then manages to overcome her trepidation to make hers a little better as well. May have risen in the rankings because I watched it right after some very very dark stuff (to come later in the rankings).

Up Next: Surely I Can’t Keep this Pace Up Right? I Mean the Baseball Playoffs Are About to Start Too.

Two days in a row??? I better slow down, I don’t wanna wrap this up too fast!

#68: Don’t Move (2024)

Quality thriller with a good hook and a great main concept. Sometimes it’s not any more complex than that.

#67: Desaparecer por Completo (Disappear Completely) (2022)

You want existentially horrifying? We got your existentially horrifying right here, buddy! As our main character loses his senses we lose them in the film and you can’t help but think about being in that situation. I cannot recommend in good conscience due to dog murder (sorry not sorry about that spoiler) but the movie kind of messed me up and I couldn’t stop thinking about it. I also always like a supernatural movie where you don’t really get an explanation; the hex just works man! Quality ending also. Too bad about the dog.

#66: Deep Cover

So much fun!!! Not only better than it had to be, but frankly better than it had any right to be. The concept had enough legs to it that it should’ve been a series, and I almost always think that things should be shorter, not longer. Great performances! Even Bryce Dallas Howard, shockingly. Apparently she can act, she just usually doesn’t bother.

#65: Toni, en Famille (2023)

So, I only watched this because I thought it was Toni Erdmann (waayyyy back at #262) and, not having known anything about that movie I figured yeah I can see how this is rated so high and is so well regarded. Imagine my disappointment when I realized my mistake and watched that terrible garbage.

Anyway, this is just wonderful. Each of the kids is an individually fully-realized character, and there is so much love – even though neither Toni nor any of the kids are perfect they are trying and growing and learning. Toni is not really at all sad about her life, even though she has no help with her brood and no time for anything, but she wants to do something good for herself too (especially because she didn’t get to as a kid either), and there are ups and downs and there is one dramatic moment I didn’t care for but in general everything is just nice fully real people living life the best they can. Camille Cotton was a revelation (to me, anyway – apparently and unsurprisingly she’s pretty well known in France).

#64: Get Away (2024)

LOL that was awesome. Pitch-perfect little satire of folk horror as they go to the extremely creepy isolated Swedish island with its….peculiar….rituals. I have additional thoughts upon request for anyone who has actually seen this (approximately 14 people from what I understand).

#63: The Interpreter (2005)

Really good! Not Sean Penn’s best role but maybe Nicole’s second best (after the great To Die For, of course). Quality triple fake-out with enough going on to raise plausible possibilities so that you never fully know what’s happening until the end. Entertaining!

Up Next: Don’t Worry, I’m Sure I’ll Wait At Least A Few Weeks Before Posting Again

Right right right, better get back on this if I have any hope of finishing before 2027….

#74: Mr. Right (2015)

Amazing, really, that there was a movie starring Anna Kendrick and Sam Rockwell and it took more over a decade for me to watch it! Silly, silly fun, and of course the leads are great. The plot details are silly but it’s a highly enjoyable little trifle.

#73: Un Prophete (2009)

A young man goes to prison and gradually rises up to become, if not a kingpin then something close to it, as he learns to work every possible angle – learning from prison in a way that he never had a chance to on the outside. Oooooohhhhh, deep man, Its long but it uses the length effectively to build both a mood and a feel of the time very gradually passing as it must in prison.

#72: Twinless (2025)

Talk about an original idea! really interesting, great performances, really fun tone – it’s kind of several ideas in one, and the big reveal (and its fallout) was fascinating.  Marci really pulls the film together.

#71: Caught Stealing (2025)

Got generally poor reviews, but I liked it! One of the most realistic-feeling portrayals of how someone would act in this situation – go to the cops, not trust anyone, panic panic panic – not coming up with the most complicated and perfected little scheme but just trying to make things work for the love of god so that he can survive and can nobody just give me a freaking second here to think??? And the business with the girlfriend is also extremely well done. Just a really good character even if the situations he’s placed in are more than a little on the ridiculous side. The Hasidic characters are a LOT of fun, and everyone else is very believable

#70: To Live and Die in L.A. (1985)

Beautiful 80s throwback counterfeiting (?) thriller, complete with great Wang Chung (!) soundtrack! The hero’s partner even got murdered 2 days before his retirement!  He hates his new by-the-book partner!  Dance interludes!  Willem DaFoe! A ludicrously implausible chase scene where the bad guys would’ve needed 3000 minions minimum to pull off all the ambushes and sabotages. The classic noir hero-turns-into-a-scumbag portion of the plot would’ve been more interesting if they hadn’t set him up as kind of a jerkass all along. Ending was bold though, especially for 1985!

#69: Before Sunset (2004)

Finally watched these – this was very nice but I preferred Sunrise – this is the more mature version (since the characters are more mature, duh) but it’s so filled with regret at its core and it’s sad. Two really good things – one, they don’t remember the details (including some fairly important ones!) of Before Sunrise correctly (which I know because I just saw it) which is so very very real, and two the connection that these two have with each other is undeniable and also they don’t even try to deny it, which is just right. Okay, three things – I kind of love how it ends – just trailing off as it resolves how we were hoping it would (although as an old prude fuddy-duddy (technical term) he really should’ve broken things off with his wife first).

Up Next: More Very Good Films, This Time Without Waiting a Month or More Before I Post, Hopefully

#81: The Tailor of Panama (2001)

It’s so difficult to watch any kind of older political film in our current authoritarian age. Am I nostalgic for the time when an unscrupulous layabout spy could manufacture a crisis just for his own career advancement? I very much am, I think? Anyway as to the movie, good performances, I liked a lot that he got away with it in the end by just paying off the right people. Excellent spy drama.

#80: The Fantastic Four: First Steps (2025)

Really loved the world building; like A++++ to the creatives and overseers in charge of that. Having said that, there was a pretty vast disparity between the two halves – the intro was definitely the best because it was focussed on the world and the characters. Not that the second half was bad but it was less fun and I’m not wholly convinced about their ability to have beaten Galactus and such. HERBIE was great even though I was suspicious of him going in. 3 of the 4 had very nice acting performances (johnny obviously needed his mustache).

#79: Strangers on a Train (1951)

So much more tennis than I expected! Not to mention the terror of the out of control merry-go-round! Nooooo!!!

Anyway, it’s obviously a seminal text in the whole mystery genre, and I have already gone into the whole Wow Patricia Highsmith Sure Was Terrible stuff. Otherwise the script is solid and the idea is incredible. It’s just that, knowing the Big Idea makes for a somewhat lesser movie-watching experience.

#78: Inside Llewyn Davis (2013)

The Coens do like their characters to suffer, but it’s so much more tolerable here than A Serious Man in that most of Llewyn’s problems are self-made. He is treated poorly but he is largely primarily to blame himself – he’s talented but constantly getting in his own way by feeling aggrieved or just generally being an ass. The period is perfectly realized and the singing and performing is great. The cat, whose name turns out to be Ulysses of course, is just fantastic. I liked the little stuff a lot – you know the instant he agrees to be paid immediately instead of having royalties for the idiotic song you know it’s going to be a hit, but it’s just incidental when it comes up and they don’t make a big thing about it.

#77: Heads of State (2025)

Yes, I just put this Amazon action comedy ahead of the Coen Brothers, what of it? You know this one has Idris Elba, right?

This is quality mindless fun. I assume they thought the country would be going in a different direction when they made the bad guy the VP who expressly campaigned on “America First” and a big part of her plan was to get rid of NATO. Actual tough guy president / prime minster has always been a wish-fulfillment thing, but it is nice to see Cena and Elba kick some ass. Although the best part was definitely Jack Quaid’s insane scene where he killed a whollllle bunch of dudes.

#76: The Mist (2007)

The Feel-Good Movie of 2007!

Like all the best King it’s more about the people than the monsters (obviously, The People Are The Real Monsters). Marcia Gay Harden plays an awesome villain. The monsters are bad enough that I can see why people would explore…ummmmm…other…..alternatives. Grimmest possible ending, wow

#75: Ich Seh, Ich Seh (Goodnight Mommy) (2014)

The feel good movie of 2014!

It’s pretty obvious what is going on more or less from the beginning but what you don’t know ia just how far they’re going to take it. Turns out – really far!!

Up Next: Quite Good Movies!