#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!

#88: Rebuilding (2025)

One of those “Desperate Person Tries To Work Things Out For His Family” movies, but definitely one of the better ones. Lovely without being saccarine, music was just right to convey the mood without being overbearing. Lily LaTorre was great as the young girl. Facing hard things without despairing and hoping for the future, but it a way that felt honest and realistic.

#87: 28 Years Later (2025)

Kind of an anthology of meditations about the post-zombie apocalypse? I really like the weird, slow, thoughtful Ralph Fiennes section that was totally unlike anything else in the movie. Otherwise more of a general setup for the other two movies to come.

#86: Wicked Little Letters (2023)

Delightful. Coleman, Buckley, and Vasan are all just perfect. Watching anything set in that time period is always somewhat enraging (Women? With opinions??? Why, next they’ll be wanting rights!) and the father character is infuriating but it’s a fun little trifle of a movie.

#85: Monolith (2022)

Really excellent one-woman horror/scifi/mystery. With satisfyingly just the right amount of (lack of) explanation of the core mystery. Not that it’s all breathtaking or anything, and I don’t want to build it up too much, but I don’t want to say anything else.

#84: Tag (2018)

Wholesome silly fun.

What, sometimes that’s really all I have to say. Maybe Renner;s best action performance?

#83: My Old Ass (2024)

Sweet and funny and sweetly funny and funnily sweet, anchored by a great lead performance by Maisy Stella and a perfect smaller role for Aubrey Plaza.  Very Sundance, which you know appeals to me – people learning to make peace with themselves and live for today.

#82: Bernie (2011)

This speaks to me because I know these people – not the main characters but everyone else is just like someone I know from small Texas towns. Bless their hearts. Black, MacLaine, and McConaughy are all just excellent as the more outrageous characters that are themselves just heightened versions of the same. I can almost believe that this is a story that actually happened more or less like Linklater portrays it (which, you know, is indeed what he claims).

95: Last Breath (2025)

Surpisingly compelling, notwithstanding that the above picture is a fair representation of the movie’s action. Tight 90 minutes and the world was never once threatened, which was a nice change. Since this is allegedly based on a true story I’d like to know how someone survived for 40 minutes without oxygen? Presumably because of the coldness of the deep ocean? The movie hints toward “it’s a miracle” which, you know, ugh, but it doesn’t push it far enough to be too annoying.

94: Sum of All Fears (2002)

OK so I guess it could be worse than 2026 America? Obviously I knew about the explosion but I always thought it was at the end not the middle of the movie, so that was a surprise. Solid thriller, amazing that I had never seen it before. Strong performances, especially Affleck’s young Jack Ryan

93: Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning (2012)

Total mind fuck of a movie disguised as an action flick. What a crazy ass film, even though it never really explores the batshit crazy philosophical stuff that it dances through while laughing its gob off. Fantastic ending too, hee hee hee.

92: Gretel and Hansel (2020)

Shockingly good! Man, Osgood Perkins and I are just on the same wavelength (which is scary to contemplate TBH). Really cool retelling, although not really a retelling so much but a springboard to explore other issues. Great performance from Sophia Lillis.

91: Jurassic World (2015)

I love that the character they brought back from the original was BD Wong’s scientist. Bryce Dallas Howard is terrible – wooden, blah; darn nepo babies. Otherwise the whole thing is pretty solid – much better than the reputation would suggest. Mostly a remake of the original but hey the original was great. I will say that the people are ridiculous morons for not embedding an explosive device into the Megakill Ultra Dino or whatever the hell they called it. Pratt actually has an honest to god movie star turn here too. It’s on the edge of making this a legit horror movie at points – the early scene with the baby pterodactyls is a lot of scary fun. Every moment that Jake Johnson is on screen is a delight too.

90: Nouvelle Vague (2025)

What a weird (but pleasant) little movie. Basically a you-were-there documentary of the making of Breathless but done entirely in 2025 with new footage. Shot in the same ratio with actors looking startlingly like the real world characters they are portraying. I greatly enjoyed it, but if you don’t think that watching a black and white French movie about a black and white French movie then you should feel free to move along.

89: The Falling (2014)

My quest to see all of Florence Pugh’s movies advances! But this is actually quite the star turn from Maisie Williams. I like that they were not disposative on whether the faintings were real or not. Lydie was clearly in love with Abbie which makes the rest of the movie pretty clearly about her coping (or not) with the grief and loss. The brother is revolting beyond words to an extent that I wish he hadn’t been in the movie. I kept finding myself thinking about this for a while afterwards, which is a good sign.

And now we reach the Certified Good Movies ™. The ones that I rather liked and would easily recommend, but which were not in true competition for the Top Ten (they must be so disappointed).

#102: Predator: Killer of Killers

Having said all of that, this is a bit of an over-rank. If these lists were not absolutely immaculate and perfectly considered in every way, one might almost be moved to suggest that this animated trifle was forgotten earlier and thus shoved into the list upon discovery of the oversight.

But anyway, since that is clearly impossible, let’s just say that while this is the lowliest of the group, it’s solid entertainment with quality animation that broadens out the while Predator universe, in which I am quite surprised to find myself suddenly invested.

#101: Bubble and Squeak (2025)

Cabbages!

Very funny absurdist satire. Having Matt Berry in your movie is like a secret superpower – he strikes just exactly the right tone and is used just exactly the right amount. Impossible to have a bad movie when you get that right. On top of that, they nicely subverted expectations and got actual laughs, and ended with a nicely thought-out epilogue even.

#100: The Conjuring: Last Rites (2025)

These films are so competently done and are Vera Farmiga (and Wilson) are so good in them that it makes them worth watching even though (I) the “official” nature of them tries to make everyone so perfect that it takes a lot of the interest out of things that would otherwise be right there for a taking, and (II) I generally have an issue with religion-related horror because it’s kind of inherently self-defeating – the presence of demons and devils implies the presence of a loving god and an eternal afterlife, which makes the life-and-death stakes of the movies much less impactful – Oh no, Father George is dead! I guess he’s off to get his eternal reward!

Anyway, this is one of the better ones even though (x) the specifics of the haunting / demon don’t really make any sense, and (y) it could’ve been almost great if there was room to interrogate the Warrens as anything less than completely pure. Bonus points for casting Mia Tomlinson, obviously.

#99 Premonition (2007)

Interesting. Great Sandy Bullock performance as always. I think I would’ve liked it more of they didn’t try to explain everything by way of the mystery priest who was wayyyy too in to the paranormal. Solid plot / mystery even with the priest and the time paradox where the inciting event would never have happened but for her knowledge of the inciting event. Felt emotionally true even if it didn’t really make logical sense, which is better than the other way around.

#98 Eagle Eye (2008)

Silly overblown SciFi nonsense about an all-poweful uber-AI that nevertheless can’t do more than 1 thing at a time. Thank goodness for that, or we’d all be screwed! But it’s a lot of fun; very clearly not something to be taken seriously and thus a super fun silly little trifle. I wonder what their car-destroying budget is – presumably more than the full budget of most movies! Billy Bob Thornton is particularly great and is given a lot of excellent lines, to wit: “If I don’t get some answers soon you’re all going to be demoted to something where you have to touch shit with your hands”

#97 Le Salaire de la Peur (The Wages of Fear) (1953)

Much better than the later US remake Sorcerer – much clearer vision about fear and how people deal (or fail to deal) with it and living with the after-effects. Ending is a bit trite, but that’s par for the course for a ‘50s movie. And before that the tension is cut-with-a-knife level.

#96: Croupier (1998)

Grim as hell.  I liked it a lot, but it’s all mood and character (which is excellent). Fantastic performances and great job building the world of these characters. The plot doesn’t really hold together – the dad’s plan doesn’t make any sense – but that’s a venial sin not a mortal one when everything else is this good.

Up Next: More Goodness!

#110: Öldürdügün Seyler (The Things You Kill) (2025)

Very interesting look at a culture I’m not very familiar with. Crafty job with the twist too – I even wonder if it was supposed to be a twist or if someone more versed in the style of Tukish cinema would have known it immediately. More interesting than engaging.

#109: Fight or Flight (2024)

Flagrant ripoff of Bullet Train (itself not the most original of movies) but it was cute! Hartnett was fun and they learned in early to the obvious tell on who Ghost is rather than trying to keep that a mystery. Very thin and honestly they should’ve tried less hard on the plot and just let the fun cook and cut 20 min from the run time.

#108: Presence (2024)

Interesting conceit but the villains are so clearly villainous that it loses something. The main mystery is who the ghost is, but I’m not enitrly sure I care so much. Oddly unemotional given the storyline, but fascinating to see the ghost story told from the perspective of the ghost.

#107: Freaky Tales (2025)

Now those were some FREAKY tales!  Fun deliberately low-fi silly nonsense, 3 of 4 segments were great silly fun (oddly the one featuring great actual actor Pedro Pascal was the definite weak point – probably because they tried to write that part more seriously and give it real meaningful stakes instead of being silly) but the real winner was the bizarre Tom Hanks cameo scene with the Top 5 Underdog Movies. Otherwise watching nazis get their shit fucked up is always a rollicking good time, and even more so when it’s done by Sleepy Floyd (?!?).

#106: Fish Tank (2009)

Wrenching portrait of a girl in a terrible situation with no good options and spiraling fast down into a pit she will likely never be able to get out of. Extremely well drawn main character and Katie Jarvis is perfect in the role, but I spent the majority of the movie waiting for the first terrible shoe to drop and then once it did waiting for the second one. Pretty obvious what this guy is all about. This poor girl’s life is nothing but misery all the damn time, pure freaking misery – until the last scene which I, frankly, think is a little too optimistic after everything that came before?

#105: Set It Off (1996)

I like it more the more time passes since I saw it, which is very unusual for me. My notes from the time are not very glowing, but when I think of it now I think of some great performances (particularly Pickett, Elisa, and (somewhat surprisingly) McGinley) and while the plot is somewhat cliched it rings emotionally true. The political stuff is underserved – I wish they had pursued it further or not really brought it up. But a good movie.

#104: Slither (2006)

Like pretty much all Gunn movies, it does all the little things really well. Overall fun and disposable, a little more gross than would have been ideal, but you can definitely see the younger Gunn working through themes and motifs that would become important in his movies.

Up Next: A Slightly Better Quality of Movies

#117: Copycat (1995)

Pretty ok, especially as Hunter and Weaver are very good and Connick is…very memorable, but the plot really kind of falls apart. There is a nonsensical level of interest in Hunter’s character’s possible romantic interests and bizarrely freakish devotion by everyone but Hunter and her partner to not take Weaver seriously despite a thousand reasons to treat her with respect (even in 1995, people were allowed to listen to women from time to time – I know, I was there!).  I did enjoy the mid-90s computer stuff and the ending where the main bad guy was just going to keep sending wave after wave of people at Weaver.

#116: Furious 7 (2015)

This movie does ten more ludicrous things by the time the opening credits are over than any five normal movies have in total. More of a superhero movie than most capes-and-tights flicks are. Unfortunately the “plot” was really virtually non-existant and only functioned at an excuse to shovel in as many of the (admittedly lock ass) action set pieces. Obviously I liked it, but it would’ve been much better if they spent any time at all on the parts of the movie that were “WOOOO!!! KICK ASS!!!”

#115: Death Becomes He (1992)

Context disclosure: I watched this the day after seeing the delightful Broadway musical based on it – I could bore you for literally minutes with my opinions on the differences (due respect to Goldie Hawn but Jennifer Simard was a next-level Helen, the movie script was much better about the ladies’ relationship with each other and about Ernest as a character than the musical book, and the songs were delightful). Overall a fun little trifle.

#114: Anora (2024)

It’s fine I guess? First third is basically porn, middle third is madcap comedy, last third is “yeah well fuck you girlie, take what we deign give you.” Very much enjoyed the dad just laughing like crazy as mom and Ani yelled at each other. Gets this high because the performances were really stellar all around – Borisov was particularly great as Igor and really deserved the Oscar nom.

#113: Lurker (2025)

I tend to like these kinds of movies but it was a bit obvious both what a user Oliver is and what a leech Matthew is. However the useful twist is that they own it. The mission statement of the movie was Matthew’s speech: “everyone around you is exactly the same, I just want it more. And I’m better”

#112 The Woman in Black (2012)

Good gothic ghost story with nice creeping dread. Very annoying townspeople who refuse to tell our guy anything at all about what is happening or why he should leave but get enraged with him when bad things start happening as though it’s his fault; of course this is all standard for the genre, but it’s still irksome – none of them could say anything at all to the obvious new guy who clearly doesn’t know anything? But it’s decently spooky and has a great atmosphere.

#111 L’Avventura (1960)

The Feel Good Movie of 1960! Incredibly bleak take on the human spirit – even the unexplained disappearance of her finance and their best friend only occupies them for a couple of days as they just stumble through their unsatisfied lives. He’s an asshole but she is not much better. Beautifully filmed but depressing as hell.

Up Next: The Last Group of Movies Before We Get To Stuff I Unreservedly Recommend

#124: The Wedding Banquet (2025)

Sweet, charming little film. Nothing we havent seen a ton of times before but the characters are appealing and the actors are great. I particularly enjoyed that the grandmother not only was not fooled for a single second but always knew that the kid was gay and was wiling to do whatever she could to help.

#123: A Quiet Place: Day One (2024)

Okay, so, I don’t know what I was expecting? it was fine?  At least there was no magic electricity like the first two (one of my most annoying tropes about apocalypse movies)?  Nyong’O was great in kind of a purely reactive role. The mad chaos of the initial arrival seemed pretty convincing, not that it was a good time to watch it. And hey, the cat lived.

#122: Drop (2025)

Cute, keeps you guessing all along who it is and doesn’t cheap out on the answer, although that’s primarily because there were plenty of viable options. The “drop” gimmick doesn’t really help anything but it’s a solid suspense/thriller. The waiter is my favorite character and he has the best line in the movie – after everything goes totally nutso he pops his head out from under a table to say “My horoscope was right!” Heh.

#121: Carol (2015)

The love story was really sweet but I also kind of hate these LGBTQ love stories set decades ago because I spend a lot of time and energy getting mad at people for being such freaking assholes about everyone just because they’re different. Fucking dudes, man! So enraging! WTH! Also, boy I wish I hadn’t looked up Patricia Highsmith’s personal history when I saw that this was yet another movie based on one of her books, because man that’s some evil shit. And, speaking of tropes I hate, it didn’t matter at all for this movie but why why why why why did we start with a brief scene from the end of the movie? Why? What did that add to anything? One of the most overused meaningless things in movies – just STOP IT already! If you have a good story we don’t need a glimpse into where it is going.

#120: Twisters (2024)

Solid fun with dreamy Glen Powell. Essentially a remake of the first which was surprising. I dunno, sometimes there just isn’t much to say. It’s Twisters, you know?

#119: The Ice Road (2021)

About as good as a thriller about emergency ice road equipment delivery could be.  And they even snuck some corporate malfeasance in!  That Liam Neesons, man, he has levels.

#118: Volver (2006)

What an odd film. It starts out slice of life, peels off to a terrible crime and it’s righteous coverup, moves into magical realism, and then has a peculiar twist that is not quite like anything I’ve seen before, finally moving into a mostly happy denouement and resolution. Definitely different from anything I’ve seen before, and although it took a while for me to get on its wavelength I enjoyed and appreciated it by the end.

Up Next: More! MORE!!!!

Slightly better movies! Let’s just agree to pretend like these tiers are meaningful ok? Thanks!

#130: Atropia (2025)

Funny little war satire / love story that never quite really gets the overall tone right for either one. It’s a good watch but it’s a bit too silly to really land the criticism of the military industrial complex and yet takes itself a bit too seriously to really be a zany madcap romp. This goes in the “what will they do next” pile to see how the filmmakers evolve.

#129: The Woman in the Yard (2025)

A prosaic first hour with confusing scares and weird battle scenes turns into a surprisingly moving and effective last half hour – I wish the whole thing could have been more along those lines (although in fairness it’s not clear I would’ve watched it without the genre theme). Yes yes the horror is actually the trauma I get it but still it was effective when it actually tried to be about that instead of making the woman an outside force.

#128: Yi Yi (2000)

Weird little film. Far too much is happening to this family, and very very little of it is good – all of the main characters have plots that would be the central theme of a regular Sundance movie. 3 hours about disappointments and lost opportunities and general malaise, mostly personified by the wife who voluntarily goes off to join a religious scam (I’m pretty sure that she knows it’s a scam) instead of staying to help her husband raise their children. I did enjoy the conversation two characters had about if there is a point to watching movies that just show life as it is.

#127: The Island (2005)

They made the good decision to not make the whole movie hinge on the big reveal that was fairly obvious, although it loses momentum when it’s just a chase movie with explosions. Still a fun chase movie with explosions though. Could have done more with ordinary people being surprised / horrified / at least ethically challenged once they found out about the whole thing – I mean I get that the super-wealthy elite class exploiting them doesn’t care, but why doesn’t anybody else?

#126: Antitrust (2001)

Ahhh, for the days when we knew our tech oligarchs were evil but at least they pretended not to be. When they would buy the government, they would at least hide it from us rather than rub our noses in it while whining about how we don’t respect them enough.

Anyway, this is a fun little jaunt. Kind of silly but Rachel Leigh Cook is always great, it’s one of Philippe’s best performances, Robbins makes an excellent bad guy, and it’s all silly fun, down to using the kiddie computer center to hack into satellites because of course why not.

#125: Dangerous Animals (2025)

It’s funny – all I do is hunt for new horror action thrillers and then often I end up complaining that the action thriller horror aspect isn’t as good as the other stuff. In this case, the romcom stuff was really fun and substantially better than the horror. The killer psycho is interesting and Jai Courtney does a great job with the role, but he is also one of those guys that can get stabbed and bashed in the head and choked out etc and always gets right back up and is fine. He’s just supposed to be a dude, not an immortal murder clown! And the “almost escaped….but no!” happens one time too often to work. The ending was obvious from the start but it was still compellingly and beautifully done. So a mixed bag but the highs definitely outweighed the lows.

Up Next: More Good Movies?

#136: New Life (2023)

Perfectly fine atmospheric horror about a zombie virus that was clearly made on a very low budget. But in the “if the shark doesn’t work then just don’t show the shark” way, not like a bunch of crappy F/X. Good suspense, although you’d think that people would be more careful with a zombie virus than they show here.

#135: Elevation (2025)

Decent Quiet Place ripoff with monsters who are invulnerable and hunt by CO2 emissions, but can’t go above 8000 feet. Shockingly the movie actually addresses this believably, which I never for a second expected when I was in the middle of mocking the 8000 foot thing, which was enough to put this above the line. Would’ve been better without the adorable kid that needs the medicine from the lower-altitude hospital but I guess there is no movie that way.

#134: The Blob (1988)

The best possible version of an 80s creature feature horror remake – in other words, incredibly silly. And with the 16th best special effects that 1988 could offer!

#133: Outland (1981)

Classic example of the old canard that movies in space are really just westerns with different tech. Connery is good but it’s not the really fun version of him. The actual space stuff is pretty bad and Blade Runner was only a year in the future (not to mention, you know, Star Wars and such), so they clearly could’ve done it better. But the mystery was solid.

#132: Ghost Ship (2002)

Incredible that the opening (spoiler for a 24-year-old-movie) made it look like a romcom before cutting everyone in half. Great commitment to the bit. Then turns into a surprisingly decent mystery hiding in a moderately ok ghost movie.

#131: Demonic (2015)

Good little haunted house horror thriller with a shockingly good script, but it would’ve been much better without the framing device. You don’t need to try that hard, people, count on the script and the performances.

Up Next: A Slightly Better Class of Movies! And Hey, We’re Slightly Over Halfway Done Now! Huzzah!

#142: Night Moves (1975)

Classic 70s shady-but-ultimately-goodhearted detective who gets in over his head. I like the concept but the dirty 70s-ness of the whole thing always leaves me a scratching my head a little. I will say, without giving anything away, the one thing I do appreciate about 70s movies is that they aren’t afraid to have unhappy endings. Man this is grim. Also, just sayin’, 16 year old Melanie Griffiths?!?!? How was that even, you know, legal?

# 141: Ballad of Wallis Island (2025)

Nice, if a bit saccarine. Charles was maybe a touch too much honestly, but you could also see his story coming.  The characters were all nicely written and believable and it was a lovely time. Not special, frankly, but very pleasant.

#140: Joy Ride (2001)

Another entry in the “don’t piss off the random trucker during your road trip” genre. This is nowhere near the glory of Rutger Hauer’s The Hitcher, but it’s an enjoyable rage-action-thriller. Steve Zahn and Leelee Sobieski (in a barely-written part) do their best with it

#139: Don’t Let Go (2019)

Decently done police thriller / time-travel (kinda but in a weird way) flick, but frankly not nearly enough time speculating about WTF was going on and why.  Kind of sucks for everyone else that only Ashley gets saved but hey I guess that was the important relationship for a movie.

A more interesting movie would’ve gotten into how maybe this happens all the time and we only know the history we know because it hasn’t been rewritten yet. But this just wanted to be a procedural thriller, and it does that just fine.

#138: Survivor (2015)

Milla Jovavich is the world’s deadliest and most important customs agent who saves a bunch of people by…you know, it doesn’t matter. I wanted a random thing on in the background to kind of pay attention to and this is what I picked and it served its purpose. Another Pierce Brosnan role as a spy turned bad – he does those so well at this point.

#137: Lola Rennt (Run Lola Run) (1999)

At its best when it is at its most propulsive, with an awesome soundtrack and just visceral motion. Otherwise the plot is ok but the overarching narrative device of the butterfly effect leading to outrageous changes from the tiniest different things she does didn’t seem particularly compelling. But just the running and soundtrack and Franka Potente’s performance are all great.

Up Next: The last set of movies in this category! Hooray!