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While I had a laugh when Pedro Pascal was called straight and when Chris Evans was called “in his 30s,” I still very much enjoyed this modern take on the classic rom-com. It’s a smart, well-made movie dressed up as The Notebook. It’s a rom-com-drom for grown-ups. 

Basically a solid Woody Allen movie that no one’s gonna yell at me for ing.

More thoughts at ScullyVision.

***director’s cut***

Pretty ridiculous and cheap, but respectably melancholy and earnest. Super fun, stacked cast. Sparks, miniatures, and even a touch of claymation. 

The highlight, hands down, are the ears on Cap’s mask. For some reason, instead of there being ear holes, there are just rubber human ears attached to the outside of the mask. My guess is the holes irritated the actor. I couldn’t tell what I was looking at at first, but when I realized what it was it became the most fascinating thing. 

And that says it all. This movie is not a movie so much as it’s a fascination. 

RIP Albert Pyun.

Compelling stuff. Not sure where I stand, but I want to believe. These things tend to suck and this one didn’t suck, which is nice. The filmmakers/ghost hunters take it all seriously and investigate in earnest. They consult science experts as well as more Fortean types, which I respect and find genuinely interesting and entertaining. 

The kicker? The ghost hunters are polite and pleasant. TAKE THAT, DILDO BAGANS!

The end lyrics to this version of the alphabet song are different than the ones that I learned. YOU’VE DONE IT AGAIN, LYNCH!

Just the absolute tits. when these things used to be actual movies?!?!? Gigantic melodrama and gorgeous special effects propelled forward by one of the coolest edit/designs in all of comic book cinema. Ang Lee, as they say, understood the assignment. The 4K disc is astonishing. You owe this movie a revisit, and if you decide to give it a whirl, the disc is worth springing for. 

The final showdown quite literally starts as two men screaming Shakespearean dialogue at each other in what is functionally a black box theater, and then morphs into a surreal, reality-bending sci-fi beatdown in a moment’s notice. I am in awe. 

We were eating so good in 2003 and we were too spoiled to know it. Yet another in a long line of “I’ve been right about this one since day one and I had to wait 20 years for the world to catch up with me” movies.

One of those rare sequels to a game-changing masterpiece that, while somewhat more basic in execution/ambition, still totally fucks. Intense and scary with pops on inspired style. This is exactly what would end up happening in the real world too, sad to say. 

I ed that Jeremy Renner was in this, but forgot about Rose Byrne and Idris Elba!!

Clever until it isn’t, but it recovers right at the end. I like the idea of this more than the execution, but it’s still very enjoyable throughout even if it lost my interest for a short stretch. Tremendous cinematography, and Cage is great, as always. I hate the beach.

I’m not much of an animation enthusiast overall, but the world of Predator works well with it. Lots of big stylistic choices here that suit the material and totally rock. A goddamn WWII dogfight against a spaceship?!?!? Incredible. The way that this sorta anthology expands the lore without stepping on it is fantastic. Kinda like The Animatrix in that way. 

The Predator franchise is in great hands.

An all-time banger that turns zombie(?) action into high art. I have a recurring nightmare that involves the Rage Virus™️, and it’s crazy to think it’s been swirling around in my brain soup for nearly a quarter century. And to this day me and my friends still do a call-and-response of:

- INFECTED?!? INFECTED WIF WOT?!?
~ roige. 

I haven’t seen this in about a decade, maybe longer, and it certainly hits different in a post-COVID world, and a world where we’re all addicted to rage and ready to rip one another to shreds at the slightest provocation.

Super Corey kinda looks like the bad guy Mask from The Mask and also a little like Schwarzenegger.

lol I know like 3 of this guy

The embargo on this was confusing so I don’t know what I’m allowed to say about it yet.

EDIT: Embargo lifted. My full thoughts are at ScullyVision.

Sharks are just mouths that can swim. 

Anywho; this rules, and it’s great to see Jai Courtney having a blast chewing the scenery (gargling the sea water??).

Sean Byrne forfuckingEVER.

More thoughts at ScullyVision.

Well I certainly wasn’t expecting that. 

Saw this on assignment for a film club, and would’ve dismissed it otherwise. I’m very glad I was made to see this, and I’m doubly glad I went in blind. You should do the same. 

At first this was exactly what I expected: a peppy, feminist-minded dramedy. 

But then…

Forever singing the praises of this under-talked-about sequel. It’s a bit more boilerplate than its predecessor, But it’s damn good nonetheless, with a great chase, an astonishing gunfight at the docks, and a terrific performance from Hackman. 

The ending is incredibly satisfying, and somehow it doesn’t undercut the criticism of law enforcement put forth in the OG. Would’ve loved a similar postscript, but I can see why the filmmakers would want to avoid aping the original (plus, the title card at the top of the credits really hits hard).

The definition of “all killer, no filler.” Stylish but not overtly so. Violent but not exploitative. Action packed but not action forward. Big, loud characterizations of extremely human characters. As much a coming of age story as it is a story about parenthood and of making peace with being exceeded by the next generation. 

The score by The Chemical Brothers is exceptional. We should talk about it more in the pantheon of excellent scores. 

This movie stars both of my wives (Cate Blanchett & Vicky Krieps), as well as my husband (Eric Bana), who I genuinely miss ever since he stopped coming around.

Hell of a way to end a franchise that’s been serving up excellence for nearly three decades (six if you count the television show!). Tom Cruise said it best when he was excoriating his crew for breaking COVID protocols: “WE ARE THE GOLD STANDARD.” 

He’s not wrong, and the team who made The Final Reckoning clearly took their responsibilities as entertainers and storytellers as serious as can be. This is slam bang entertainment of the highest order. But for all the cool gadgets, wild stunts, and feats of trickery and espionage, the one aspect of M:I that consistently proves to be the most memorable is its big, warm heart, which is not just on full display here, but woven into the film’s thematic framework with every beat. It’s a film about earning and giving trust amongst peers, even those we’ll never meet, in the face of a power so big and pervasive that it might as well be faceless. It’s about trusting the human element and having faith in the the analog, the tangible, and the intangible that we can feel rather than the intangible that we are told by the wheels of power holds our best interest in its digital, coldly logical programming. It’s about being the individual who seeks betterment for the whole. It’s about being the one thing that no one can predict but everyone can rely on. It’s about looking into the face of a mountain so high that it can only be moved by the force of a storm and saying “I am the storm.”

Yes, the first hour or so of this movie is an insane amount of exposition, but when exposition is delivered in such a fun way, you can exposit at my ass all fuckin day. I truly do not care if Tom and Team want to make sure even the dumbest person in the crowd gets it, because by the time Ethan Hunt is fist-fighting his way into the cockpit of a low-flying biplane, everyone in the theater needs to be on the same page, and we’re all the better for it. And let’s be honest, each and every one of us has been the dumbest person in the crowd more times than we’d like to it. 

It’s amazing to me that resolute psychopath Tom Cruise has somehow managed to make it so that not only do we not care that he’s the demigod of a comically evil science fiction religion, but we somehow love him even more because of it, at least insofar as it expands his fascinating mythology. At the end of the day, as long as he’s out there bringing gravitas and cinematic know-how to blockbusters while rocketing popcorn into his mouth like he’s trying to blow a hole in the back of his head (and being charmingly accessible to fans while doing it), it’s hard to bothered by his belief in a space volcano filled with souls or some shit. 

It’s a trope to say “this is why we go to the movies,” but this (among many other reasons) is why we go to the movies. In a world where it’s increasingly difficult to get a good big screen experience, and increasingly easy to get a decent experience at home where the snacks are cheap, I must worship any film that puts asses in seats, moves popcorn by the bucket, and keeps audiences quietly rapt for three fucking hours (yes, even Wicked, which was trash for babies). This is my stupid religion, and today I looked into the eyes of God (Tramell Tillman).

The script is really really really fucking stupid, and some of the filmmaking feels downright incompetent, but I did start to enjoy it in its final reels when Love-Hewitt reaches a level of screaming madness that calls back to some of my favorite final girls. 

Exactly what it’s supposed to be. Nothing more, nothing less. One kill is wonderfully orchestrated, but this really should’ve had a better set of characters and a stronger mystery. I suspect it was a standalone script that was retrofitted to be a sequel. I could be wrong, but I don’t feel like looking it up to find out. 

Points for Jables sneaking a Tenacious D-ism in there (he refers to a strain of weed as “the cream jeans”).

An astonishing and thorough look into the life, work, and struggle of one of my heroes. The film dips a bit when Reubens temporarily leaves the project (for understandable, although not outright good reasons), but the film smartly weaves this tonal shift into the narrative and the product as a whole is stronger for it. Reubens is such a character, and you can see how Pee-Wee emerged as a distillation of all of his more extreme quirks. He looks to be a simultaneously fun and difficult subject to interview, but Wolf navigates this challenge and employs it effectively. Is Reubens being difficult for funsies or is he so used to being cryptic that it’s become an unavoidable part of who he is? It’s simultaneously tragic and funny, and one hopes that Reubens found some modicum of peace in his final days. 

One of those “we’re lucky to have this” movies.

The stupidest people stupidly running from smart zombies for 85 minutes. The zombie makeup is phenomenal, but none of those rotten fuckers are as scary as Michael, the incestuous child who I suspect might actually be 46. 

Somehow this film is simultaneously relentless and boring, and by the end I was fully rooting for the burial ground to win. But hey, at least it has a few fully-on-fire stuntmen and a gnarly titty bite. 

Best part is, toward the beginning, when a zombie bursts into a room and a dude looks right at it and yells “who are you?!?” as if the zombie would be like “Jerry Madison” and it would somehow explain the situation.

Utterly ridiculous and tons of fun, complete with a balls-out stupid ending that I can’t help but to respect. The only thing scarier than a zombie is a group of zombies … with machine guns. 

We’ve got a fully-on-fire stuntman and an all-time great rag doll death, so there’s no way I wasn’t going to adore this.

TPS.

I have such a fondness for this movie due to my being 13 when it came out. Pure fun, with a clever little mystery and a few solid kills. Sarah Michelle Gellar is such a good actress and she’ll never get credit for it. She and Phillippe act circles around the two leads (who are both charming enough that it doesn’t matter that they’re kinda wooden). 

The soundtrack is great. I forgot that popular music used to sound like this. I don’t even know how I’d classify the genre. 

This is my first time watching this in at least 25 years, and the first time since reading the source novel a few months ago. It’s very different from Lois Duncan’s low-key, non-slasher mystery, and it’s fascinating to see how it was adapted into a quintessential ‘90s slasher.

Even with low expectations this fell short. It did, however, quite accurately capture my high school experience insofar as I wanted to like it but spent most of my time annoyed by it. 

Katherine Waterston innocent. My goodness I find her to be so terrifically attractive.

A sweet and funny tearjerker that doesn’t go anywhere surprising, but operates at a crowd-pleasing level of feels for its runtime. The two lead performances are exceptional, and the cultural markers that differentiate it from the countless other films of its ilk are downright fascinating. 

I like that it’s broadly relatable and formulaic — it lulled me into the exact feeling of “waiting for a loved one to die” that those of us fortunate enough to have been close with their grandparents (and whose grandparents were fortunate enough to live well into old age) have felt. When my Nana was nearing 100, not a day ed where I didn’t expect “the call.” It was not fun, but it was a form of mourning that came slowly in waves for years before she ultimately ed. I spent a lot of time with her in her final few years, and while it was hard to watch her mental decline progressing with each visit, when she finally ed it was a bittersweet feeling. I miss her, and the loss hurt, but there was a beauty to it. A slow retreat at the end of a life well-lived. 

Anywho, this movie took me there once again over the course of two hours, which was nice. 

And speaking of mourning, after 13 years as a Netflix subscriber, this was the very last film I watched on the dying platform before letting my hip expire.

I’m suddenly on board with the idea that we should stop printing pennies.

In my own personal head canon, JB exits his office and is immediately run over by a grain harvester.

I loved this when I first saw it, despite a script that frequently double dips on exposition (never at the expense of pace, however — this thing MOVES), but then sorta soured on it in response to reading others’ reviews. As it turns out, I should’ve just trusted my instincts. A second viewing confirms that this is a goddamn incredible flick. I am ready for the final reckoning…

I hope Luther has more cool hats.

Perhaps the most fucked up and upsetting movie I’ve ever seen.

 If not the most, it certainly comes close.

Absolutely revolting on every level. Exceptional filmmaking, a score to die for (kill for?). Performed to perfection by the entire cast. Feels 100% real and it totally ruined my night. Absolutely cursed. I hated every second I spent watching this movie.

Perfect film, no notes, five stars. Big fan.

Pure fun. The action looks great, the jokes land, the performers all get the material. I hope that Marko Zaror gains some traction in America before he’s a senior citizen, and the masses don’t miss out on him like they did Donnie Yen (although I imagine many went back and discovered his older work — also, check out Mandrill for vintage Zaror). 

There’s one late-movie reveal that put my ass on the floor. Very very funny stuff. 

Super into Hartnett’s weird era. Keep ‘em coming.

Embarghost.

Embargo lifted: my full thoughts of this fucking CHILLING movie are at ScullyVision.

While not as stylistically ambitious as The Outwaters, this slow-burn found footage flick burns steadily and creepily, building to a very well executed finale. Not a second of the film feels like artifice, which is rare in the found footage space, leading to what is ultimately one of the most moving entries in the subgenre. I feel like I know these people — I’ve met many forms of them throughout my own life. As such, it HITS.

Full review at ScullyVision.

Embargo 

Imagine me saying that directly into the camera at a high speed in a straightforward and matter-of-fact way.

EDIT: Embargo lifted! Full review at ScullyVision.

It’s wild that Friedkin thought he was just making a grimy little cop movie but instead he accidentally made one of the greatest Best Picture winners in history.

A brilliant exploitation of a prejudice that audiences don’t know they hold, and it’s one that leads many characters within the film to their doom. One of those rare films where every element is intentional, from the color story to the structure to the music to the performances. You could take any single frame of this film and put it on your wall. 

Willa Fitzgerald gives one of the great performances of the decade so far. Astonishing. 

Followed by a Q&A with Kyle Gallner, an excellent actor who seems like a good dude.

Essentially just a filmed play, but it’s a damn good play and the core four performances are all excellent. Say what you will about Shia LaBeouf but he’s a wildly talented performer and he’s scary good here. Mamet finds interesting ways to shoot around the four main settings to give the film a feeling of cinema. Great use of lighting and sound. Mamet may be a Looney Tune now, but he can still deliver the goods when he’s on, and he’s on here. The dialogue crackles. 

Pretty cynical overall, but sometimes I need cynical films to help me not be so damn cynical myself. I hope that makes sense. I kinda loved this.

I’m still pretty cynical.

More thoughts at ScullyVision

Just so jazzed to see a Philly-adjacent slasher based on a Philly author’s novel in a packed Philly theater. It’s amazing that this slasher, which is gory, funny, and filled with heart and smart thematics, is getting a theatrical release at all instead of being unceremoniously dumped to streamers. I’ve seen this in both screener form (by myself on an iPad) and theatrical (big screen, engaged crowd), and I implore you to do the latter. It rocks!!

I’m loving all of these slashers that feel reminiscent of the vibes of ‘90s slashers — an underrated era for the genre — and CIAC is no exception. Pure fun, and if you don’t know the story from the book (which you should read — and there are three of them!), there are a few twists and turns that will knock you on your ass. 

To everyone who says that they don’t make original movies anymore: now is your chance to step up and a small, kickass horror movie with huge franchise potential. And really, who doesn’t love a killer clown?!?

DON’T FUCK WITH FRENDO. 


More thoughts at ScullyVision.

A bit scattered during the front half, but still fun. The back half is better, albeit a bit anticlimactic. I do appreciate what they went for thematically, and I think a lot of those notes hit just right. All in all it’s upper mid-tier MCU. About what I expected. 

Four points I must make: 

1. This stylistically borrows a TON from the original DCEU, and it’s a lot of the shit everyone whined about but are suddenly cool with now (it’s almost like people have a bias against a certain filmmaker for some fucking reason).

2. This straight up rips off The Boys.

3. Julia Louis-Dreyfus remains the ultimate forever babe. 

4. If Florence Pugh jumps on the buccal fat removal trend I AM TAKING HOSTAGES.

If you’re in the “I don’t really like the western one” camp, I beg you to watch it again and realize that you were speaking from a place of fear rather than love.

I can’t wait for it to be 2015 so I can get a flying skateboard.

Mostly I’m just mad that I’m not super duper rich and I’ll never get to live in even a gross house, let alone one in an exotic locale with cliffs and shit. That said, the characters in this movie made toast, and I was able to come home and make my own toast, so I’ll always have that. 

I’m only about 80% sure I could beat Chloë Sevigny in a fight.

Maybe the most perfect script in all of cinema.

We don’t talk enough about how legitimately great Crispin Glover’s performance is.

Better than many Netflix crime docs, and it justifies its three episode length with a wealth of material. I haven’t seen the prior doc about this case which was made before they caught the guy, but I’d like to go back and see how it plays with the solution already in my mind.

Really terrific. Great performances across the board, with a clever script that just won’t quit. Comes together in a satisfying way. I’d imagine the seeds of this film were planted by one or both of the writers being in a situation where they were sitting across from someone who wouldn’t put down their damn phone. It's increasingly common and I hate it. 

Granted, our hero had a good excuse. 

I’m not seeing a lot of words devoted to how well directed this is, but my god Landon knocks it out of the park. Strong use of camera work to regularly update the feel of the single location as the story progresses. There are a handful of whizzbang moments of kinetic camerawork that flow nicely with the overall pace, but still show off Landon’s chops. I really loved this film. 

Three cheers for Matt the waiter. Great first day on the job (my first day ever waiting tables was at a south Jersey Champps during the first Eagles/Patriots Super Bowl, so I can relate).

Ready for the new one!!! This most recent series rewatch confirmed that this entry is the best one. Most brutal opening, best kills, best acting overall. 

And that ending is exquisite. 

And if you know the ending going in, there are sooooo many fun tells.

I hope the new one follows the adventures of a stressed out OSHA rep.

I liked it better than the first one, mostly because it leaned into goofiness. 

Moms of the world, unite! 

More thoughts at ScullyVision.

While it’s not as great as either The Raid movie (because nothing is), there’s no denying that nobody does it quite like Gareth Evans. Satisfying and dumb, but not stupid. 

Basically a feature length Mexican standoff with bursts of insane violence, which is all I wanted/needed from this.

Oh boy, Dads of the world, have I got a treat for you!!

I reviewed the Blu-Ray over at ScullyVision.

The front half is a whole hell of a lot of “and then and then and then” which sometimes works and a lot of the times doesn’t, but then the back half just cooks unbelievably well, despite the atrocious dialogue, wonky editing, and the complete Flanderization of Yoda. 

When I first saw this I thinking “how the fuck does nobody see how evil the Chancellor is?!?!? HE’S SO OBVIOUSLY EVIL!” but now I find it to be one of the most believable things about this movie, the last film in a trilogy that predicted the current crumbling of the American Empire with stunning accuracy. 

By the time this thing hits the lava fight it reaches a state of such insane delirium that you gotta just step back in awe at the size of George Lucas’ balls. Incredible stuff. 

The best characters in the whole Star Wars universe are the two lava worker guys who float between Anakin and Obi-Wan, causing them to stop fighting for a second. Just two guys at work, completely unaware that they just ed through the single most consequential event in the entire history of the galaxy in which they reside.

A brilliant send up of John Hughes’ 80s output, filled wall to wall with little touches that make the fantasy world feel lived in and real. Tonally nostalgic but thematically contemporary, and watching it now really highlights how much we’re reliving many aspects of the era (unfortunately). Above all else it’s very very funny.

AND IT LOOKS LIKE A MOVIE. The lighting! The colors! ::swoon::

More chatter about this wild flick on the latest episode of I Like to Movie Movie.

The acting in this one is atrocious, and the deaths/effects suffer greatly when you’re not watching it on the big screen in 3D, but it’s still a gnarly good time. I do love that every entry needs a character/scene to explain the concept just in case it’s the viewer’s first rodeo. Remarkable how quickly everyone is on board. 

The lead kid is bobo Miles Teller.

Movies where two people fall in love while a nuclear  bomb goes off in the background.

• True Lies
• On Swift Horses

Everything I saw at Philadelphia Film Society’s SpringFest 4/17-2/24 2025.

• The Threesome
• Friendship
• Memory Card
• Bushwitches
• Secret Menu Beauty Pageant
• Dave and Larry
• Behind the Signal: The Making of Blood Signal 4G
• Ride of a Lifetime: The Smarty Jones Story
• Middletown
• Jane Austen Wrecked My Life

...plus 26 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

All the movies I saw as part of this year’s Overlook Film Fest 4/3-4/6 2025. 

I covered it digitally and only got approved for one screener so this is a one movie list. I’m a completist, sue me.

• Redux Redux

This is a list of every movie for which I’ve dedicated an episode of I Like to Movie Movie.

• The Shining
• This Is the End
• War of the Worlds
• Back to the Future
• The Thing
• Upstream Color
• Watchmen
• Die Hard
• Ghostbusters
• Taxi Driver

...plus 229 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

Movies that feature fictional bands/musicians I’d totally listen to.

• V/H/S/99
• Her Smell
• Frank
• From Dusk Till Dawn
• Scott Pilgrim vs. the World
• Vox Lux
• Opus
• Inside Llewyn Davis

Movies with Nicolas Cage in which a woman’s vagina is euphemistically referred to as a peach.

• Face/Off
• Wild at Heart

My top 15 favorites of 2024. You’ll notice that Strange Darling and Red Rooms were on last year’s list, hence their absence here. Full write-ups on ScullyVision.

• The Substance
• Challengers
• Cuckoo
• In a Violent Nature
• Chime
• Anora
• Rap World
• Sasquatch Sunset
• The Brutalist
• Love Lies Bleeding

...plus 5 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

Movies that feature the same building used to portray the exterior of Paddy’s Pub in It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. 

• Terrifier
• Candyman: Day of the Dead
• Judgment Night
• National Lampoon's Loaded Weapon 1
• Frankenstein

Movies where the dad character rubs one out in the shower

• Dolls
• American Beauty

Franchise movies where it is announced that Shia LaBeouf’s character died unceremoniously between films.

• Transformers: The Last Knight
• Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny

Any movie that features a cast member of Hoffa directly handling a disembodied hand

• The Departed
• Batman Returns

Movies where Aaron Taylor-Johnson leaps onto a moving vehicle and attempts to punch his way through a window and get inside.

• Bullet Train
• Kraven the Hunter

Everything I saw at the 2024 Philadelphia Film Festival PFF33, 10/17/24-10/27/24

• Black Dog
• September 5
• Armand
• Bound in Heaven
• Anora
• Escape from the 21st Century
• Eephus
• Grand Theft Hamlet
• The Brutalist
• Cloud

...plus 31 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

Everything I saw at #PUFF9 9/26-9/29/24

• Nias
• The Immortal Witch
• Midnight Snack
• Sincerely Saul
• Crystal Galaxy Enforcers
• That Alien, Sound
• Bystanders
• All You Need Is Blood
• The One
• Voidcaller

...plus 16 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

Everything I watched during my digital coverage of Fantastic Fest 2024 - 9/19-9/26. Although I will be operating outside of those dates since it’s remote.

• Strange Harvest
• Apartment 7A
• What Happened to Dorothy Bell?
• AJ Goes to the Dog Park
• The Birthday
• Ghost Killer
• The Draft!
• Chainsaws Were Singing
• The Life and Deaths of Christopher Lee
• Body Odyssey

Movies where someone gets fucked up by a cheese grater.

• Tenet
• Evil Dead Rise
• Boy Kills World

All of the films shown at Exhumed Films’ Ex-Fest 12, 6/8/24 at the Colonial Theatre.

• Dirty Mary Crazy Larry
• The Thursday Morning Murders
• Tough Guys Don't Dance
• Hollywood Boulevard
• Execution Squad
• Aloha, Bobby and Rose
• Savage Streets

Movies that use the term “crypto” in reference to encrypted information rather than to cryptocurrency due to the fact that they were released or were set before the dawn of cryptocurrency.

• Mission: Impossible
• The Abyss

Everything I caught at this year’s SpringFest 4/12/24-4/14/24

• Thelma
• In a Violent Nature
• The Idea of You
• Billy & Molly: An Otter Love Story
• Ghostlight
• Sing Sing
• Oddity
• We Grown Now
• Good One
• I Saw the TV Glow

I was unable to attend this year’s fest in person, but since I’m awesome I got a handful of titles digitally. Thanks, Overlook!!

• Things Will Be Different
• Exhuma
• Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person
• All You Need Is Death
• New Life

Movies where I found myself distracted by a performer’s brand new set of false teeth/veneers.

• John Wick: Chapter 4
• Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire

Those movies which feature a scene where something crazy happens and we’re all like WTF?!? But then we pull back and find out that what we’re seeing is actually a movie/television shoot.

• Lethal Weapon 3
• Charlie's Angels
• Austin Powers in Goldmember
• New Nightmare
• Urban Legends: Final Cut
• Inland Empire
• Boston Strangler
• Tales from the Crypt: Demon Knight
• BARDO, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths
• Hard to Die

Movies where Maura Tierney is married to a guy whose signature move is “the claw”

• The Iron Claw
• Liar Liar

My favs of 2023!

Yeah, I know some of them don’t technically come out until 2024, but I don’t split those hairs.  Stuff I saw at festivals count!!  If you don’t like it, that’s okay. You should still check these movies out.

• Strange Darling
• The Outwaters
• Late Night with the Devil
• Riddle of Fire
• River
• Dogman
• Dream Scenario
• The Promised Land
• John Wick: Chapter 4
• The Killer

...plus 5 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

Biopics where the subject has a deceased sibling and one of their parents expresses that the wrong child has ed.

• Walk the Line
• Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story
• Ferrari

A typically comical moment where a character makes siren noises with their mouth since their car has no siren.

• Harry and the Hendersons
• Lethal Weapon 4
• Next Goal Wins

Every movie I caught at the 32nd annual Philadelphia Film Festival 10/19/23-10/29/23 #PFF32

Check out the Best of the Fest on I Like to Movie Movie. 
Spotify
Apple Podcasts
Google Podcasts
Anchor 

• American Fiction
• Dream Scenario
• Sleep
• Monster
• The Delinquents
• Maestro
• And the King Said, What a Fantastic Machine
• Evil Does Not Exist
• La Chimera
• Rustin

...plus 13 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

Everything I saw at Fantastic Fest 9/21/23 - 9/28/23

• The Toxic Avenger
• So Unreal
• Aje and Bruja
• Bark
• When Evil Lurks
• Forgotten Lake
• The Last Video Store
• The Invisible Fight
• The Deep Dark
• Pet Sematary: Bloodlines

...plus 26 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

This is a list of movies in which someone has their face caved in with a fire extinguisher.

• Irreversible
• The Sadness
• Kill

Movies that feature Jacob Tremblay spending a considerable amount of time in a shed.

• The Toxic Avenger
• Room

Everything I saw at Ex-Fest IV on 5/3/14 at International House.  This was before I kept a Letterboxd, so there are no reviews since I transferred these star ratings over from a physical notebook.

My first ever Ex-Fest!

• Snake in the Eagle's Shadow
• Face to Face
• The Bamboo House of Dolls
• The Mafu Cage
• Class of 1984
• Coonskin
• The Swinging Barmaids

Everything I saw at Ex-Fest VI on 4/30/16 at International House.

• Zapped!
• Fight for Your Life
• Wonder Women
• Johnny Firecloud
• Bare Knuckles
• Inside Amy
• Thank You Mask Man
• Salt in the Wound

Everything I saw at Exhumed Films’ Ex-Fest XI on 6/10/23 at the Colonial Theater.

• Full
• The Spook Who Sat by the Door
• 'Gator Bait
• Black Jesus
• Hercules
• The One-Armed Executioner
• Chinatown Kid

Everything I saw at Overlook Film Festival 3/30-4/2/23

• Evil Dead Rise
• Late Night with the Devil
• Renfield
• The Wrath of Becky
• Brooklyn 45
• Trim Season
• Clock
• Monolith
• Talk to Me
• The Elderly

...plus 4 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

All the movies I saw during Spring Fest 4/14-4/16/23 

Please note that Sisu, Polite Society, and BlackBerry were technically viewed outside of the fest, but were viewed because of the fest. You get it.

• BlackBerry
• Sisu
• Polite Society
• Master Gardener
• ages
• Blue Jean
• Kokomo City
• Carmen
• The Eight Mountains

Movies where the medium shift to VHS leads to violence.

• Boogie Nights
• Auto Focus

These are the movies that make me feel cozy because everyone is holed up in a radio station, lighthouse, switchboard, etc. I love that feeling.

Could just be a scene or it could be the whole movie. It’s the feeling that matters.

• The Lords of Salem
• The Vast of Night
• The Fog
• Pontypool
• Psycho IV: The Beginning
• Halloween Ends
• Twin Peaks: The Return
• Play Misty for Me

These are movies that parody that episode of STEP BY STEP where JT and CODY make a tv show in their basement called “JT’s World.”

• Wayne's World
• Wayne's World 2
• Stay Tuned

These are movies where Margot Robbie’s character attends a movie that she stars in and watches the movie hoping everyone around her enjoys her performance. Bonus points if she uses “I’m in the movie” in order to get into the theater for free.

• Babylon
• Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood

Everything I saw at the 2022 Philadelphia Film Festival 10/19-10/30.

I cover it all in a very special episode of I Like to Movie Movie (Spotify) 

Anchor. 

Apple Podcasts

• The Banshees of Inisherin
• How to Blow Up a Pipeline
• American Pain
• Smoking Causes Coughing
• Oink
• Next Exit
• Decision to Leave
• Attachment
• Blood Relatives
• Holy Spider

...plus 18 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

“Calvary” is a geographic location near Jerusalem. “Cavalry” is a group of soldiers fighting on horseback. These are movies starring Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson in which someone means “cavalry” but says “Calvary.”

• Furious 7
• Black Adam

This is the order after my 2022 rewatch. H20 and ENDS are interchangeable until I get another rewatch of ENDS in, but at the moment I need a break. I did it. I am done. Great series.

• Halloween
• Halloween II
• Halloween III: Season of the Witch
• Halloween II
• Halloween Ends
• Halloween H20: 20 Years Later
• Halloween
• Halloween Kills
• Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers
• Halloween

...plus 3 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

Featured in this list are movies where Danny Glover talks to a Predator and calls it “pussy face” likely on of its mouth.

• Predator 2

Whenever someone crawls around all animal like showing off their shoulder blades, eliciting a reaction in me, the viewer, it will be added to this list.

• Wolf
• Suspiria
• The Amazing Spider-Man 2

Movies where someone incredulously asks someone else “are you high?!?”

• Jason X
• Black Christmas

Movies where characters rip up the streets of LA while joyriding around. Camera is either mounted front looking at the characters’ faces, or in the rear where we see it over the shoulder. Must be joyous.

• Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood
• Licorice Pizza

Movies I saw at the 2021 Philadelphia Film Festival!
10/21/21 - 10/31/21

• To Chiara
• Offseason
• Captain Volkonogov Escaped
• The Novice
• One Second
• The Sadness
• Memoria
• The Worst Person in the World
• Mass
• Red Rocket

...plus 12 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

Exhumed Films Ex-Fest IX at Lightbox Film Center Philadelphia 5/4/19

• Siege
• The Fast Kill
• Sudden Death
• Escape from the Bronx
• Hangup
• A Fist Full of Talons
• Survival Run

All of this year’s films 5/5/18

• Dog Day
• The Girl from the Red Cabaret
• Soul Brothers of Kung Fu
• Trackdown
• Hot Dogs for Gauguin
• Idaho Transfer
• 1931: Once Upon a Time in New York
• Fatal Termination

Full lineup from Exhumed Film's Ex-Fest VII, April 29, 2017 at International House in Philadelphia.

• Dynasty
• Death Rides a Horse
• The New Barbarians
• The Zebra Killer
• Street Asylum
• Love Me Deadly
• Pink Flamingos