august

Rewatching Six Feet Under. Other notable shows this month were Brand New Cherry Flavor and Cardinal.

Books

Agency

Another re-read. Honestly one of the best Gibsons.

Psion

A slightly jaunty angle on future space stuff that spent a lot of time on telepathy and belonging.

Movies

Halloween

A rewatch of a classic.

The Fog

Sometimes slow older movies just don’t hit.

Basic Instinct

Verhoeven’s idea of butch is pretty in line with my preferred presentation. We all need a friend who says “goddamn you dumb sonnafabitch you fucked her”.

Tropic Thunder

It’s wild this got made.

The House That Jack Built

It’s still really confusing that some of y’all think Matt Dillon is hot.

Demonic

Meh.

Pig

Completely unexpected, and excellent.

Assault on Precinct 13 (2005)

A pretty good remake that concerned itself with being a fun movie over being true to the source material. Hawke and Fishburne delivered a solid action performance.

Total Recall (2012)

Way less memorable and funny than the original. This was a serviceable action film that reminded me of when Hollywood really wanted Colin Firth to be the new Tom Cruise.

Total Recall

Verhoeven is a master of cinema and this is up there with his best. Every Arnold scene is using him to his best, and between the makeup and plain silly puppets, it’s a blast.

Assault on Precinct 13

Watched so I could listen to more Blank Check. The premise is super absurd but the action was fun, and there were some very entertaining bits and camera shots.

Titanic

When this came out I remember taking a date to see The Wedding Singer instead and I don’t regret that choice. It was a neat disaster film once it got to that point, and Kathy Bates did a great job, but the romance bit didn’t do much for me. I mean, we’ve all made stupid choices in love, but don’t dive off a lifeboat for a boy you just met!

What Lies Beneath

A little spooky, but mostly rad because Harrison Ford is playing against expectations.

Castaway

So brutal and good. This is just hit after hit and makes you sad about a volleyball.

A Quiet Place Part 2

Spooky and a lot less “why?!” than the first film. I prefer Cillian Murphy to Krasinski.

Beckett

A competent but ultimately substanceless thriller. It was fun to watch JDW just run around and do wild shit.

The Abyss

James Cameron invented SMS. A real spooky, tense, wet time.

Evangelion 2.0 - 3.0 + 1.0

Much more compelling than the original series, with a solid ending.

Riddick

He almost lost his house over this.

A Cure for Wellness

Spooky fun, if a little too long.

The Hunt

Oof.

The Retreat

Revenge horror where a lesbian couple has to survive trip to the country. I recommend this to anyone who wonders why I don’t take more road trips.

Mad Max: Fury Road

Rewatched and if’s still delightful.

Strange Days

This is cyberpunk gold. I can’t believe it didn’t do well, that it used mini discs as a major plot point, or that it’s not available basically anywhere.

Showgirls

Transcendent. This was my first time seeing it after avoiding it because I’d made the mistake of thinking it was just schlock. I was wrong. There’s so much weird depth and fantastic camera work in this.

The Suicide Squad

Perfectly silly and fun. No pretension of being more clever than it needed to be. This is what super hero movies should be.

Starship Troopers

Such a brilliant satire of our country’s endless thirst for war. Verhoeven is a master.

Chronicles of Riddick

Just as over the top as I remembered, but I always forget Helen Mirren was in it. This is the start of their love affair. (Drew later told me this was actually Dench)

The Town

Saw this heist thriller when it first came out, and it held up.

Martyrs

Yow. That was a bizarre and brutal film.