2023
Bogeyman
Meh. I had some hopes but this was just so-so.
All Jacked Up and Full of Worms
Music was solid, but I think it was too full of ideas without a real anchor.
Stoker
Saw this in the theater and was surprised by it. Rewatching for Blank Check and, yea, still rips in a bizarre way.
Thirst
Park Chan Wook with one of the best vampire movies.
Zodiac
Love this.
Oppenheimer
More of a nerdy political movie than a physics one but I’m a sucker for pop political and proceedings stuff. Nolan, ya dunnit again.
Erin Brockovich
I love a good law procedural.
No Hard Feelings
Adorable and surprisingly wholesome.
Insidious
Forgot I’d watched this, which says a lot about it.
The Martian
Another comfort rewatch. Just a chill time.
World War Z
A comfort rewatch of a kinda silly but exciting zombie film.
Castle in the Sky
A Miyazaki film I’d never seen. After listening to the corresponding Blank Check episode I got stoked for this one and even though it didn’t hit as hard as Spirited Away the planes and tech stuff were fun. Please Ghibli take the ToTK engine and make this into a game.
War of the Worlds
Cloverfield was a much better way to tell this kind of story, especially because it had zero screaming children.
The Program
Dr. Ferrari’s portrayal is amazing. Fuck Lance. Lee Pace still rules.
All For One
Didn’t know much about Mitchelton Scott/Jayco Alula/Orica Greenedge beyond what I’d picked-up from Life in the Peloton, but this was a fun look at a team’s ups and downs.
Hatching
This is what I imagine a kenku looks like.
The Birdcage
Still amazed this was on of my dad’s favorite movies. A classic.
Interstellar
All the dad feelings wrapped in a sci-fi package.
Moneyball
Listening to Blank Check on a bike ride made me finally watch this. I don’t care about baseball but Pitt really carried this thing.
Tenet
Love this a little more every time.
The Mechanic
Is every auto-erotic death an assassination?
Blackening
Damn funny in bits but not super cohesive. Glad Tim Story got to stop making Fantastic Four movies though.
Hunt
A taut spy-thriller with great action.
Alone
I don’t like that “woman terrorized by a guy” is a horror genre now, but the PNW was a solid backdrop to a so-so movie.
Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance
Brutal! Most of the beats were familiar, but I forgot just how intense it gets in the back half.
JSA
A great rewatch. I still love how the story comes together and the emotions everyone are displaying as they make friendships and try to bridge cultures. The Swiss folks… not so great.
Asteroid City
Something about the last three Anderson movies has left me feeling a little checked-out and disengaged and I can’t put my finger on what.
Ocean’s Eleven
I think I saw this in theaters originally, and it’s still a hoot. Other movies have since done heists better, but this was a real paradigm shift up there with MI.
Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning 1
This movie posits Ethan Hunt is the living messiah and honestly, why not.
Guardians of the Galaxy: Part 3
A refreshing and fun marvel. Raccoons are super cute, and himbo Adam Warlock worked.
Khandahar
Another goofy G Butler movie where he slips in and out of being Scottish. Good bits by that guy from Valhalla and The Shadow King.
Sanctuary
Qualley plays mean well.
The action and plot of Call of Duty Warzone.
Before We Vanish
An interesting counterpoint to Invasion of the Body Snatchers, with a lot more silliness and a slower pace.
Showing Up
The number of voicemails and phone calls in this was stressful. I wish she’d paid more attention to her cat.
Invasion of the Body Snatchers
We need more protagonists that are food inspectors. A movie telling the truth about flowers (bad) for once.
Fast X
Lol.
Solaris
Clooney is great in space. I’ve never seen the original. This made me want to rewatch Interstellar.
Swiss Army Man
I think this is what men talk about in therapy.
Children of Men
Still hits.
Fool’s Gold
A bit of Buster Keaton, excellent cameos, and a lot of heart.
Blackberry
Outstanding. Riveting with some outstanding acting. I never had a Blackberry, so I was pretty unfamiliar with the story, but damn.
Spiderman: Across the Spiderverse
Fun but way too long.
Hypnotic
You can tell someone had a psychic influence concept and then kinda skipped world building and didn’t nail the landing.
Reality
The past 22 years are such a massive clusterfuck it’s going to be wild to read about them in 30 more.
Double Jeopardy
Inexplicably I remember my parents going to see this in the theater. Lots of this had me guffawing. A solid, if not erotic, thriller. Gish rules.
Tour de Pharmacy
Lol what a weird hoot.
Evil Dead Rise
Different vibe than the other Evil Deads but a fun horror film still.
Sisu
The man just wants his gold and casually destroys a bunch of nazis. Great time.
Con Air
DVD pile at the grocery store led to a post-race hotel movie night.
How to Blow Up a Pipeline
…unless
Scream VI
The logic of these movies never really works, but they’re still fun.
Return to Seoul
A gorgeous film. Lots of therapy fuel in this one about identity, family, and acceptance.
Beau is Afraid
And for good reason.
Tetris
Way more entertaining than I expected. Honestly this was a thrilling hoot.
Knives Out: Glass Onion
Rewatch.
Ant Man: Quantumania
This was a bizarre jumble. I don’t really understand what it was going for, but I guess it’s fine?
Project Wolf Hunting
Con Air on a boat?! Nah, it’s a much sillier gore-fest.
Three Thousand Years of Longing
A fun, fantastical love story.
65
This would’ve been better with the girl played by Annette.
Women Talking
I’ve read some Toews so I have a passing familiarity with Mennonite worlds, but damn this was both gorgeous and sad. One of the best soundtracks I’ve heard in a long time too.
Knock at the Cabin
A really strange twist to the Looking story.
London Has Fallen
This president can’t catch a break!
Take Out
A good reminder of how far digital cinema has come. Watching this in 2023 felt much more voyueristic than I think was intended—like, now this could be shot on an iPhone with no issue. The silence of the protagonist made this almost feel like a restaurant RPG.
Infinity Pool
The only movie that has ever captured the feeling of staying at a resort hotel.
Olympus Has Fallen
I love that this was a competitor for another movie about a White House attack.
Yellow Sea
The less glamorous side of contract killing.
Fire of Love
Dang.
The Nice Guys
Took a minute to tune-into the vibe of this film, but eventually it hit.
Skinamarink
Not a movie barely a screensaver.
Plane
Yelling PLANE!
Bone Collector
Tonights theme was collecting bone.
Magic Mike XXL
A silly good time.
Underwater
Rewatching an awesome underwater thriller.
M3GAN
Hell yea.
Magic Mike
This was my Titanic of the 2000s insofar as everyone talking about how good it was made me never want to see it. I got over myself and it was fun.
Sully
Tom Hanks playing a guy who’s great at planes, and the guy from GUTs making him climb an agrocrag of red tape.
Deja Vu
Denzel laughing at physics.
Roman J. Israel, Esq
Colin Farrell was playing the Penguin in this, right?
Fallen
Denzel should’ve played Constantine.
Moonfall
Great.
Penguin Highway
Cute
Toy Story 4
I thought I’d seen this, but couldn’t remember who “Forky” was. Repeated jokes on Blank Check made me watch and I’m glad I did—cute AF.
Duplicity
very Giamatti voice Show me the cream!
Slumberparty Massacre
When I saw “Rita Mae Brown” I yelled.
I Want You Back
Love a good classic romcom.
Big Short
Still hits. Fuck banks.
Weekend
My guy, take a typing class.
Certain Women
Certain vibes.
Aftersun
Dad movies. Fuck.
The Post
The pre-chum box days when reporters still got paid well.
Vampyr
I dug the framing in this—angles for days.
Pearl
I liked X better, but this was occasionally fun.
Four Women
Shorts on my Criterion list feel like cheating usually but I hate interpretive dance.
Cold Lasagna I Hate Myself
Very funny.
Safe
Haynes captures another side to the creepiness of suburban life and loneliness of illness like the campy cousin to Lynch.
From Dusk Til Dawn
Clooney should always have neck tattoos.
Bergman Island
I don’t think I’ve seen a single Bergman film, which means a lot of this was likely lost on me. An interesting story regardless. “In Sweden we are very serious about recycling”.
Spook Sport
The Rude Tales theme!
Koyaanisqatsi
First time I’ve seen this movie without being high, and it holds up.
Rogue Agent
He’s never really a spy, ladies. Julian Barrett is aging well
Wendell & Wild
Excited to hear the Blank Check on this movie. Stop motion is always so cool.