Last month I’d seen a total of 78 eligible films and now I’m up to 101, and so far 34 of them (up from 30 last month) have made my dream nominations list. Bugonia, Nuremberg, Wicked: For Good, Frankenstein, and Wake Up Dead Man have added a lot of nominees, while Sally did not qualify…
Been a while since I wrote here, but I’m back and preparing for the 98th Academy Awards, including the new “Best Casting” Category. I’ve seen a total of 78 eligible films so far this year, and so far 30 of them have made my dream nominations list–I don’t feel like my “Best Picture” field is…
1920-40, directed by Oscar Micheaux Collection Rating: 10/10 Average Film Rating: 7/10 It’s been a long time since I posted, so I’m here with a 14-film pack instead of a single movie. When I first realized this Complete Oscar Micheaux pack was released by Kino Lorber in February, I immediately bought it as I had…
Have not posted all February as I try to get over a very stubborn cough, but I have also been preparing for the 97th Academy Awards on March 2, so now that I’ve had time to grieve my non-nominated favorites, I am able to look at what I think deserves to win from the Academy’s…
Richard Jewell 2019, directed by Clint Eastwood Rating: 9/10 Richard Jewell is definitely one of the Clint Eastwood films that I liked a lot better than many critics seem to (see also Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil and Changeling). The directing is solid as always, the acting is top notch, and overall it just really works…
The 15:17 to Paris 2018, directed by Clint Eastwood Rating: 1/10 The 15:17 to Paris is not my least favorite Clint Eastwood film, but it is definitely near the bottom. The subject matter was ridiculously recent when this film was made, and he chose to use the real people involved instead of casting actors (even wanting…
The Bridges of Madison County 1995, directed by Clint Eastwood Rating: 9/10 Five years after directing himself as a director in White Hunter, Black Heart, Clint Eastwood directed himself as another man behind a camera, but this time as a photographer taking pictures of bridges which he is doing when he meets Meryl Streep. I had…
Oscar nominations come out tomorrow, and I’ve seen 103 eligible films (and have dream-nominated 44 of them). I had hoped to see a couple more, but due to sickness and snow storms, I was unable to see The Brutalist or Sing Sing. As with December’s dream nominee update, I’ll be doing my pick for winner…
White Hunter, Black Heart 1990, directed by Clint Eastwood Rating: 9/10 I love The African Queen directed by John Huston and starring Humphrey Bogart and Katharine Hepburn. I also read (and highly recommend!) The Making of The African Queen or How I Went to Africa with Bogart, Bacall and Huston and Almost Lost My Mind by Katharine Hepburn. So when listening…
Letters from Iwo Jima 2006, directed by Clint Eastwood Rating: 10/10 Released only two months after Flags of Our Fathers, Letters from Iwo Jima tells the story of the battle of Iwo Jima but from the Japanese perspective. Instead of jumping back and forth through time like that other film, this one is much more straightforward and plays…
Flags of Our Fathers 2006, directed by Clint Eastwood Rating: 7/10 In 2006, Clint Eastwood released two movies—both of which revolve around the battle of Iwo Jima. Flags of Our Fathers tells the story of the American soldiers, though it focuses less on the battle and more on the aftermath of their heroism as they return to…
Million Dollar Baby 2004, directed by Clint Eastwood Rating: 10/10 Twelve years after Unforgiven, Clint Eastwood directed another Academy Award for Best Picture winning film, and again it starred him and Morgan Freeman, and again it is a rumination on aging. However, while that previous film was a Western, Million Dollar Baby is a sports story about a…
Unforgiven 1992, directed by Clint Eastwood Rating: 10/10 Unforgiven is the first of two movies directed by Clint Eastwood to win the Academy Award for Best Picture and it is also on the American Film Institute’s list of 100 best American films. It is a Western about how the West is a dying dream told from…
Play Misty for Me 1971, directed by Clint Eastwood Rating: 8/10 Clint Eastwood became famous starring in Western films, but the first movie he directed is set in modern day Carmel-by-the-Sea, California where Clint is a DJ. This movie feels like a proto-Fatal Attraction as one of the women Clint starts a relationship with becomes obsessed…
This month I’m going to be looking back at one of my favorite directors—Clint Eastwood. Between Play Misty for Me (1971) and Juror #2 (2024), he has directed a total of 40 films—19 of which I own. I may not always agree with his politics, but his directorial style always has me looking for more even in his worst…
Between a busy time with work, being sick, and the holidays, I didn’t get to add a bunch of new movies this month, so my total for 2024 has only gone from 83 to 88 (Babygirl, Juror #2, Maria, Queer, and Sugarcane). The only one of those that didn’t make a dent in my list…
Ocean’s 11 1960, directed by Lewis Milestone Rating: 6/10 I love a good heist movie, including the Ocean’s movies. I grew up watching and rewatching (and rewatching and rewatching) the George Clooney and Brad Pitt trilogy, and when Ocean’s 8 came out I was very into it and get excited whenever I’m in a hotel and see…
The Phantom Carriage 1921, directed by Victor Sjöström Rating: 9/10 Another silent film in the Criterion Collection that is in my collection, Victor Sjöström’s The Phantom Carriage is centered around an old myth that the last person to die each year has to spend the next year collecting the souls of the dead until his or her…
Pandora’s Box 1929, directed by G.W. Pabst Rating: 10/10 When I watched this movie in high school, I was deeply unimpressed—mostly because I went in hoping for a silent movie retelling of the actual Pandora’s Box myth which I thought it would be really cool to see with Méliès style effects. What there is instead…
Spencer 2021, directed by Pablo Larraín Rating: 8/10 Like The Lion in Winter, Spencer shows the special kind of torture that comes with spending your Christmas with the British Royal Family as Princess Diana tries to survive the formalities and traditions while keeping her sense of self intact. This movie is far from perfect, but it still has…
The Lion in Winter 1968, directed by Anthony Harvey Rating: 10/10 I didn’t have super high hopes when I first saw this movie—it comes from an era of royal historical films that I find very stately and well-made but also very boring and way too long. But even at 134 minutes, this movie went by…
Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence 1983, directed by Nags Oshima Rating: 9/10 In a Japanese-run Prisoner of War camp in Java during WWII, the prisoners prepare for Christmas while Capt. Yanoi (played by Ryuichi Sakamoto) finds himself conflicted about his feelings for his prisoner Maj. Jack Celliers (played by David Bowie). This wartime Christmas story is…
Stalag 17 1953, directed by Billy Wilder Rating: 7/10 A bunch of sergeants are trapped in a German prisoner of war camp in this Billy Wilder classic, and that isn’t going to stop them from having a good time, especially for Christmas! When I saw this in high school, it was one of my favorites;…
The Hateful Eight 2015, directed by Quentin Tarantino Rating: 8/10 I love Quentin Tarantino, and the ads when this came out made it seem to me like a snowbound Western version of And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie, which is one of my favorite novels, so I expected this to become my new favorite Tarantino…
McCabe & Mrs. Miller 1971, directed by Robert Altman Rating: 9/10 I love when Westerns are set in locations that don’t look like the regular Wild West with tumbleweeds and cacti and such, and I also love the look of snow from growing up in Connecticut, so the look of McCabe & Mrs. Miller is very much…
This December, I am going to start posting a movie on Monday and a movie on Friday instead of just one on Wednesday. Because the holidays are approaching, each week’s pair is themed around going places for the holidays as I let the spirit of the season shine on. The first week of December I’ll…
Saw 13 new movies from 2024 this month (up to a total now of 83). Most of them made an impact here (Anora, Emilia Peréz, Gladiator II, Laapataa Ladies, Made in England: The Films of Powell and Pressburger, The Piano Lesson, A Real Pain, and Wicked), though some didn’t (The Apprentice, Blitz, Despicable Me 4,…
Joker 2019, directed by Todd Phillips Rating: 5/10 This movie is one that I thought I would love, as I am usually very into comic book movies, and especially into ones that try something new, and if that something new is “gritty 1970s New York” aesthetic, then that’s even more up my alley (see Smithereens). And…
The Wizard of Oz 1939, directed by Victor Fleming Rating: 10/10 This movie is a classic for a reason and no matter how many times or at whatever age I watch it, it is still great. I love old movies, and 1939 is famously one of the best years for movies, but this movie holds…
Mala Noche 1988, directed by Gus Van Sant Rating: 8/10 This is Gus Van Sant’s first movie made for super cheap in black and white and while it is not a perfect film, it is still great for what it is and what it presaged. Since this movie came out, Van Sant has continued to…
Last month I’d seen a total of 78 eligible films and now I’m up to 101, and so far 34 of them (up from 30 last month) have made my dream nominations list. Bugonia, Nuremberg, Wicked: For Good, Frankenstein, and Wake Up Dead Man have added a lot of nominees, while Sally did not qualify…
Been a while since I wrote here, but I’m back and preparing for the 98th Academy Awards, including the new “Best Casting” Category. I’ve seen a total of 78 eligible films so far this year, and so far 30 of them have made my dream nominations list–I don’t feel like my “Best Picture” field is…
1920-40, directed by Oscar Micheaux Collection Rating: 10/10 Average Film Rating: 7/10 It’s been a long time since I posted, so I’m here with a 14-film pack instead of a single movie. When I first realized this Complete Oscar Micheaux pack was released by Kino Lorber in February, I immediately bought it as I had…
The Movie Room 