6u532b

Watched on Wednesday June 4, 2025.

Watched on Wednesday June 4, 2025.

this is Wes Anderson’s Boy with Apple

Watched on Monday June 2, 2025.

Watched on Sunday June 1, 2025.

Me every 10 minutes: “alright what the hell is this?” A truly insane movie. Had me crying with Julia Stiles at the end and screaming about the guitar, so it worked! Nolan clearly loves this movie—JGL, Ledger, and Krumholtz? Wild.

It’s a shame that it took this long for Michael Cera to be in the Wes universe, but man, he is here to stay. The poor critic reaction to this is so funny, like when are people going to realize this guy doesn’t miss. An incredibly performed and designed anti-capitalist, adventure-comedy. Loved it—go in blind.

The Five Eras of Wes Anderson + ‘The Phoenician Scheme’ Review

The Extra Credits+: Ben-Hur (1959) + Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999)

Just some wildly all-caps stupid decisions in this, but it’s beautifully performed, looks pretty fantastic, and it emotionally wrecked me. Not horrible with some distance. The Palpatine shit and Kylo kiss is mostly unforgivable though.

Watched on Tuesday May 27, 2025.

This movie will have me forever conflicted. It’s a spectacular subversion of nostalgia-bait and fan service that compels smart Star Wars fans to stan it and basic ones to hate it. But it’s also a deeply disted screenplay with ruined character arcs built around pushy twists that Rian Johnson and the rest of the smart Star Wars fans use to rub into the faces of basic fans—while I love the spirit of Johnson’s point of view here, it’s a messily retconned story with selfish (albeit well intended) motivations in the middle of a trilogy. Love some of the ideas and set pieces, especially in the final hour, but really not sure about the execution. There is a fine line between being thoughtfully critical and abrasively contrarian and Johnson entertainingly/awkwardly sways in both directions.

A mostly raw, unfiltered glimpse at one of the most radical acts of mainstream filmmaking ever attempted. This wasn’t just a digital playground; it was an independent crew led by Lucas, betting it all on a new wave of practical/digital technology, subversive mythic storytelling, and a personal vision decades in the making. While Phantom Menace is a strange and flawed tonal experiment, you can see the weight of ambition in every frame here—it’s alive in a way most modern franchise films aren’t. Watching this doc now feels like witnessing the last gasp of a moment when big blockbusters still had room for risk, a fear of failure and disappointment, and an unapologetic imagination. Would’ve watched five more hours of this.

first two hours: one of the smartest tragic epics ever made

final two hours: this jesus guy is pretty cool!!

George Lucas: 👀

If you want an honest ranking of the Mission: Impossible franchise that isn’t just regurgitating “Fallout is a masterpiece! and MI3 looks like TV!” then enjoy our massive Tom Cruise/MI ranking episode!

The potential here was insane. Incredible Star Wars movie and probably the most underrated. Maybe the best acting of the franchise. It’s kind of hilarious how the Star Wars fanbase have just become Kylo Ren losers, like you should all be so lucky that you got Daisy Ridley as Rey—what an icon.

This is the first Mission: Impossible movie in 20 years that feels like it knows how ridiculous it’s become. If you know that MI1 and MI3 are the only emotionally grounded entries in this franchise and that everything from Ghost Protocol to Dead Reckoning is Cruise in increasingly silly superhero cosplay then this film is pure validation. It’s big and camp, but importantly re that Ethan Hunt used to be a guy not just a weird myth. Tries to give everything to everyone and somehow it…works? I think the Rogue Nation and Fallout lovers who take those movies seriously will be big mad to find out this franchise is actually just dumb escapist fun with a solid ceiling.

watched the re-issue in theaters…masterpiece. (kels agrees!)

Watched on Tuesday May 20, 2025.

Watched on Monday May 19, 2025.

Watched on Monday May 19, 2025.

Trey was in agony looking away from the cringe humor for 40% of this movie. Shoutout to the guy who walked out of the Thunderbolts screening across from us saying, “that new Marvel is nuts.”

Watched on Sunday May 18, 2025.

STAR WARS IS BACK!

The Return of Star Wars: ‘Andor’ Review + Franchise Chat with James Steck

Hits so different after Andor. Is Star Wars…back?

“I've been in this fight since I was six years old. You're not the only one who lost everything. Some of us just decided to do something about it.“

Watched on Wednesday May 14, 2025.

The Extra Credits+: North by Northwest (1959) & Mission: Impossible (1996)

Watched on Sunday May 11, 2025.

Watched on Friday May 9, 2025.

I don’t see it—Fallout just doesn’t hit for me. I really struggle to tell it apart from Rogue Nation, and I honestly don’t understand the praise Christopher McQuarrie gets. His rhythm and style feel deeply repetitive and squeaky clean—all function, nothing evocative. The whole film plays like a chain of mostly-exciting five or six set pieces loosely stitched together, without any interesting tone or atmosphere in between. And outside of it being cool watching Cruise fight Superman, Henry Cavill isn’t a serious actor and this franchise desperately needs a villain and an emotional arc that doesn’t rely on the true outlier MI3.

At one point Kelsi seriously asks out loud: “is that even possible?”

Tom Cruise somewhere: “Mission complete.”

The Tom Cruise and Ethan Hunt cultural reboot. Post-Oprah, post-Scientology fallout—Cruise rebrands his public crash out as American myth. From 2011 on, he’s less all-time dramatic actor, more stuntman-messiah hoping we forget. I think Ghost Protocol is the turning point: Ethan Hunt officially disappears and becomes Cruise—our shadowy superhero of cinema scaling skyscrapers, defusing the streaming wars, teaching us how to remove our motion smoothing, abandoning a personal life to protect the theater (and his box office #’s)—basically our real life Spider-Man/Batman. From here, the franchise becomes a ritualized spectacle of Cruise sacrificing his body for our popcorn sins. And yeah, I mostly love all of that. I think we all do. But his M:I transformation also feels like a perfect symbol for America: an identity crisis nation sprinting toward spectacle, clinging to myth, and allergic to any serious depth or meaning. This is just the beginning to the Tom Cruise Universe (TCU)—Top Gun: Maverick being its version of Infinity War—and to treat him or these later-movies overly seriously is just silly.

Probably my favorite Mission: Impossible. I see the silly debates of whether this is good or not, but to me it’s pretty simple: Abrams’ wild grounded set pieces and kinetic camera movement with his infamous over-sauced style, camp shit like Tom Cruise sitting on the edge of the Vatican walls looking into the lens of the camera saying “Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall,” Philip Seymour Hoffman doing legendarily evil character-actor work, and the last time Cruise plays Ethan Hunt as a human being—no brainer for me…everything after this are (mostly fun) eventized superhero movies.

Watched on Saturday May 3, 2025.

Watched on Saturday May 3, 2025.

when ethan gets shot, kelsi once again goes: “well, he’s got a bullet proof vest.”

Very funny, very strange, and sometimes-surreal—the visual trickery made the whole thing feel like a dream. Wild that this is cinematic James Bond before movie-Bond was even a thing. If I saw this in 1959, I would’ve lost my mind.

Please forgive some pretentious venting, but Revenge of the Sith hit me differently this time. It’s not just a cautionary tale about the fall of a republic or a twist of the hero’s journey—it’s about the pain of watching someone you love choose a path you can’t follow. Watching Obi-Wan and Pé realize they have to cut ties with Anakin, even though they still love him, felt heartbreakingly familiar in 2024. The past decade has been full of moments like that—watching people you care about double down on dangerous choices that harm others, watching democracy crumble “to thunderous applause,” and confronting the devastating truth that you can’t follow someone who has lost themselves to self-interest. The Trump parallels are painfully timely, but even more than that, it’s the quiet, unbearable grief of losing loved ones to a darkness you can’t reach—unfortunately an experience many of us share.

God damn George…if not for your silly-ass filmmaking, this might have been the greatest tragedy ever put in a popcorn movie.

it's insane how fucking weird anakin is in this, he's the most compelling walking red flag...ever? hayden christensen plays him with the most evil, shakespearean charisma you've ever seen.

pe, run!! this man did not vote for harris! I repeat, he did NOT vote for harris!!! his monologues on the inefficient bureaucracy of the republic are not cute!!! don't look in his eyes! GIRL you cannot fix him!!

man, the only thing that could make this worse is if hayden christensen wore all black robes, grew out some gorgeous locks, and grew an 8-pack.

Oh, you’re laughing at The Phantom Menace? Laughing at a 26-year-old prophetic Star Wars movie that said the republic would collapse because a power-hungry demagogue weaponized trade disputes, whipped up economic panic over tariffs, turned corporate monopolies into political puppets, and manufactured a “security crisis” to grab emergency powers? And you’re laughing?? lolll. The Phantom Menace is silly, operatic, corny, disted, sometimes epic (podrace/Duel of the Fates)—but it’s also deadly serious about fascism and I love that about it.

The Extra Credits+: Jerry Maguire (1996) & The Apartment (1960)

Watched on Saturday April 26, 2025.

Transportive and immersive with abrasive sound design/mixing that borders on sensory overload. But while it captures a moment and environment with technical precision, it feels disinterested in the meaning of any of it. Warfare makes Black Hawk Down seem like a nuanced anti-imperialist critique by comparison. Sure, you feel for these men (boys, really), especially when current generations didn’t have to be fed this same military propaganda machine—but there’s no ideology here, no motivation beyond fear of isolation and a search for belonging in someone else’s home. What’s left is a loudly empty shell that profits off trauma and victimhood without engaging with either. When you pair Warfare with Civil War, it starts to look less like creative limitation and more like a pattern—like a guy using spectacle to say “don’t cancel me” as he continues to say nothing at all. I’m genuinely curious how we can hold “anti-war” movies like this able without defaulting to “well, maybe the filmmaker just isn’t equipped to tell a broader story with different perspectives.” That very bad critical defense often evades responsibility—and reminds me of how Oppenheimer was shielded from critiques about perspective and historical depth. At a certain point, we have to ask: what is this film really advancing, and who benefits from its rendering of victimhood?

Watched on Tuesday April 22, 2025.

us on a 4-person, 4-hour deep dive into Interstellar, where we debate whether love is a quantifiable force, if fifth-dimensional ghost dads break rules of cause-and-effect, and how many times it’s appropriate to cry during one movie (spoiler: it’s a lot). If Nolan’s filmography had a Rosetta Stone, it’s either The Prestige or this.

Catch the full cry-laugh-science spiral on our podcast below. It’s 30% gravity math, 30% daddy issues, 40% incoherent laughing.

Spotify - 25 Minutes

Patreon - 4 hours

Weird rewatch experience. Surprisingly feels like a Marvel-ized James Bond reboot—sometimes elevated by Deakins. The first half is dramatically satisfying, with every dollar visible on screen, but once Javier Bardem’s motivations are revealed and the film leans heavily into Bond lore, it shifts into a superhero mold, prioritizing cartoonish legacy/IP over story. Good-looking popcorn fun, but watching these first three Craig’s today made it very clear how Bond’s depth gets emotionally flattened for some forced melodrama fighting over mommy (though, Judi Dench representing god/country works). Strange, gorgeous (soulless?) movie!!

Bland, uninspired spy movie. But a pretty satisfying immediate sequel to Casino Royale and the Bond deconstruction project. Just a sad, vengeful boy with a license to kill.

Couldn’t stop thinking about a Luigi Mangione vs Daniel Craig hitman mewing contest. My money is on Luigi, but it’s close.

I owe Pride and Prejudice a formal apology. Jane, your swag too different, I didn’t understand your game. Pretty sure Kelsi recorded most of my experience with this. Thirty minutes in and I was kicking my feet, yelling at the screen, gasping at hand flexes. By the hour mark, there was a glass of white wine in my hand and no explanation for how it got there. And by the end, I didn’t even know Keira Knightley’s character name and I’m like Donald Sutherland saying “NO ONE DESERVES YOU!” My god. This had me online looking at Jane Austen paperbacks. Am I one of the girls now? Also, the cinematography? the staging? the set design? helllooo??!!

A $100-million anti-genre concoction that’s half-operatic, half-goofy, and almost brilliant in how purposefully unhinged it is. I’m fully invested in the Coogler Project—he’s handed a blank check and choosing to say: genre and archetype have always been tools of stratification and oppression, so why not reclaim them with vampire camp and a mid-movie scene that plays like a religious Apple ad. Many will (rightfully) call Sinners bold—and in a movie world allergic to risk, it absolutely is. But it’s also a total narrative and cinematic mess—a consistent mess. Sometimes fun, often distractingly so. It veers from Faustian metaphor to myth remix, from Shakespearean showdowns to a kind of postmodern Tarantino electricity with flashes of Carpenter’s phantasmagoric flair. This is horror as cheeseball theater, and it’s confidently about something—or maybe everything: assimilation, cultural theft, legacy, Black freedom, the emancipating power of music, and capitalism’s paradox of being exploited while using the oppressor’s tools to survive. I laughed at the absurdity. I cringed at the camp. I vibed with the musicality. It’s a must-see, intentionally chaotic film—though intentionality doesn’t always mean it’s fully realized or successful. The arcs are undercooked, the archetypes are leaned into rather than subverted, and the women are either sexualized, magical, or both—and those criticisms matter (though many critics disagree). But the ambition is undeniable: this is a western opera trying to soundtrack salvation through a blues riff while literally sinking its teeth into the American market system—so, it sounds cool and it is; it’s somewhere between the most different movie you’ve ever seen and B-movie cult classic. I think I liked it? Or maybe I just love that it exists.

YouTube Review

Podcast Deep Dive

Watched on Tuesday April 15, 2025.

Patreon episodes organized chronologically

1. Moonrise Kingdom
2. Fantastic Mr. Fox
3. The Wolf of Wall Street
4. GoodFellas
5. Midsommar
6. Zodiac
7. The Social Network
8. Alien
9. Blade Runner
10. Catch Me If You Can

...plus 53 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

Listen here to The Extra Credits podcast explore Wes Anderson’s ‘Asteroid City’. It might be his best film in over a decade. We love all of his work — you can argue for just about any of his films as one of his best. Let us know what some of your favorites are in the comments!

1. Moonrise Kingdom
2. Fantastic Mr. Fox
3. Rushmore
4. Asteroid City
5. The Grand Budapest Hotel
6. Bottle Rocket
7. The Phoenician Scheme
8. Isle of Dogs
9. The Royal Tenenbaums
10. The French Dispatch

...plus 2 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

Ranked

1. I'm Still Here
2. Queer
3. Evil Does Not Exist
4. Dune: Part Two
5. La Chimera
6. Challengers
7. Red Rooms
8. Anora
9. The Substance
10. Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga

...plus 57 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

The Performances of Timothée Chalamet Ranked

Listen to our A Complete Unknown episode here (YouTube)

Listen to our Dune (2021) deep dive here (Free on Patreon)

Listen to our Dune: Part Two deep dive here (Spotify)

1. Call Me by Your Name
2. Dune: Part Two
3. Beautiful Boy
4. A Complete Unknown
5. Bones and All
6. Dune
7. Little Women
8. Wonka
9. The King
10. Lady Bird

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

David Fincher is a myth. Click here for our episode unpacking his project and reviewing ‘The Killer’.

1. The Social Network
2. Zodiac
3. Se7en
4. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
5. Fight Club
6. Panic Room
7. The Killer
8. Gone Girl
9. The Game
10. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

...plus 2 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

1. Broadcast News
2. All the President's Men
3. The Exorcist
4. Burn After Reading
5. A Few Good Men
6. Minority Report
7. Enemy of the State
8. National Treasure
9. State of Play
10. Wedding Crashers

Listen here for our Challengers deep dive!

1. A Bigger Splash
2. Queer
3. Call Me by Your Name
4. Challengers
5. Bones and All
6. Suspiria
7. I Am Love
8. The Protagonists
9. Melissa P.

1. Alien
2. Blade Runner
3. Prometheus
4. Thelma & Louise
5. The Last Duel
6. Gladiator
7. Alien: Covenant
8. American Gangster
9. Kingdom of Heaven
10. Black Hawk Down

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

The Alien Cinematic Universe Ranked

Listen to our episodes on Alien, Blade Runner, and 2049 below:

Alien: Spotify & Patreon (free 2+hours)

Blade Runner: Spotify

Blade Runner 2049: Spotify

1. Alien
2. Blade Runner 2049
3. Prometheus
4. Blade Runner
5. Alien: Covenant
6. Aliens
7. Alien³
8. Alien: Romulus
9. Alien Resurrection
10. AVP: Alien vs. Predator

...plus 1 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

Our podcast The Extra Credits ranks our 20 favorite movies of 2023 here!

1. Licorice Pizza
2. The Worst Person in the World
3. TÁR
4. Anatomy of a Fall
5. Aftersun
6. Dune
7. Babylon
8. Playground
9. Nope
10. Beau Is Afraid

...plus 10 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

We explore the greater Apes universe and deep dive Wes Ball’s Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes below:

Spotify

Apple

1. Planet of the Apes
2. War for the Planet of the Apes
3. Conquest of the Planet of the Apes
4. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
5. Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes
6. Escape from the Planet of the Apes
7. Rise of the Planet of the Apes
8. Beneath the Planet of the Apes
9. Battle for the Planet of the Apes
10. Planet of the Apes

1. Children of Men
2. Roma
3. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
4. Y Tu Mamá También
5. Gravity
6. Sólo con tu pareja
7. A Little Princess
8. Great Expectations
9. Quartet for the End of Time

Follow our podcast The Extra Credits for deep dives, drafts, interviews, and more!

1. Anatomy of a Fall
2. Beau Is Afraid
3. Asteroid City
4. Pacifiction
5. ages
6. The Zone of Interest
7. Poor Things
8. All of Us Strangers
9. A Thousand and One
10. The Teachers' Lounge

...plus 80 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

• Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
• Alien: Covenant

Listen to our podcast ranking of our 20 favorite movies of the year here!

1. Anatomy of a Fall
2. Beau Is Afraid
3. Asteroid City
4. Pacifiction
5. ages
6. Poor Things
7. All of Us Strangers
8. The Zone of Interest
9. A Thousand and One
10. The Teachers' Lounge

...plus 40 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

Denis Villeneuve's past decade of filmmaking is legendary and the ambitious Dune: Part Two is as politically radical and grand in scope as some of his best work. Here is our ranking of his movies; you can follow our podcast to hear several explorations of his emotionally meticulous and conceptually challenging allegories. Let us know your top five in the comments!

Dune: Part Two - Letterboxd Review

Deep Dive of Denis Villeneuve's post-9/11 allegory Prisoners - Podcast

Deep Dive of Denis Villeneuve's dystopian epic Blade Runner 2049 - Podcast

Deep Dives of both Dune: Part One and Dune: Part Two are coming to our show later this week, be sure to follow our Letterboxd and podcast for more!

1. Blade Runner 2049
2. Dune
3. Prisoners
4. Dune: Part Two
5. Polytechnique
6. Sicario
7. Incendies
8. Arrival
9. Enemy
10. August 32nd on Earth

...plus 1 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

1. Portrait of a Lady on Fire
2. Tomboy
3. Petite Maman
4. Girlhood
5. Water Lilies

Maya Rudolph deserves some credit for this

1. There Will Be Blood
2. Phantom Thread
3. Boogie Nights
4. Licorice Pizza
5. The Master
6. Magnolia
7. Punch-Drunk Love
8. Inherent Vice
9. Hard Eight

Martin Scorsese is a prolific and moralist artist who would hate ranking his work, but these exercises help us appreciate his half-century long career. He's a liberator of international cinema and champion of film history; arguably the most important American filmmaker living today. This Letterboxd ranking only includes his 26 feature length narrative films -- let us know some of your favorites in the comments!

In anticipation for 'Killers of the Flower Moon' we're dedicating October to Scorsese month on our podcast The Extra Credits with special episodes.

Listen here on Spotify

Listen here on Apple

1. GoodFellas
2. The Wolf of Wall Street
3. The Age of Innocence
4. The Color of Money
5. Casino
6. Raging Bull
7. Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore
8. Cape Fear
9. Silence
10. The Departed

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

a list of movies about men who will burn the world down unless you give them your life

• The Social Network
• Whiplash
• There Will Be Blood
• The Godfather
• Toy Story
• Citizen Kane
• Fight Club
• GoodFellas
• Moneyball
• Steve Jobs

...plus 50 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

Denis Villeneuve’s influences making Prisoners

• The Silence of the Lambs
• Se7en
• Zodiac
• Memories of Murder
• M
• No Country for Old Men
• Mystic River
• Gone Baby Gone
• Cure
• Incendies

...plus 10 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

Trey

1. Aftersun
2. Playground
3. Babylon
4. TÁR
5. Happening
6. Close
7. Everything Everywhere All at Once
8. The Batman
9. Nope
10. Barbarian

...plus 74 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

Kelsi

1. Playground
2. Happening
3. Close
4. TÁR
5. Everything Everywhere All at Once
6. All My Friends Hate Me
7. Vortex
8. Babylon
9. Murina
10. Men

...plus 64 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

Kelsi

1. The Squid and the Whale
2. Marriage Story
3. s Ha
4. The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected)
5. White Noise

Trey

1. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
2. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
3. Spider-Man: No Way Home
4. Spider-Man 2
5. Spider-Man: Far From Home
6. Spider-Man: Homecoming
7. Spider-Man
8. The Amazing Spider-Man
9. Spider-Man 3
10. The Amazing Spider-Man 2

Kelsi

1. Spider-Man: No Way Home
2. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
3. Spider-Man: Far From Home
4. Spider-Man: Homecoming
5. Spider-Man 2
6. The Amazing Spider-Man
7. Spider-Man
8. The Amazing Spider-Man 2
9. Spider-Man 3

Our Podcast Review of ‘Beau Is Afraid’ (we loved it)

Here are 30 movies that have inspired or influenced Ari Aster's Kafkaesque nightmare 'Beau Is Afraid'

• The Wolf House
• The Birds
• The Tin Drum
• Songs from the Second Floor
• Come and See
• mother!
• Southland Tales
• Defending Your Life
• Wake in Fright
• Synecdoche, New York

...plus 20 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

• Pickpocket
• Zodiac
• The Red Shoes
• The Shining
• Andrei Rublev
• Citizen Kane
• Black and Tan
• Vertigo
• The Beat That My Heart Skipped
• Eyes Wide Shut

Our 2022 Draft with Grierson and Leitch

These are our favorite movies of the year

1. TÁR
2. Aftersun
3. Playground
4. Decision to Leave
5. The Eternal Daughter
6. Close
7. EO
8. Happening
9. Vortex
10. One Fine Morning

...plus 10 more. View the full list on Letterboxd.

2022 with Chris Stuckmann

1. Nope
2. Pearl
3. Barbarian
4. Men
5. The Menu
6. Watcher
7. Nanny
8. The Black Phone
9. Bones and All
10. Bodies Bodies Bodies

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

Trey

• Scream
• Scream
• Scream VI
• Scream 3
• Scream 2
• Scream 4

Kelsi

1. Scream
2. Scream 3
3. Scream
4. Scream VI
5. Scream 2
6. Scream 4

Kelsi

1. Rocky
2. Creed III
3. Creed
4. Rocky III
5. Creed II
6. Rocky II
7. Rocky IV
8. Rocky V
9. Rocky Balboa

1. Looper
2. Knives Out
3. Brick
4. Star Wars: The Last Jedi
5. Glass Onion
6. The Brothers Bloom

Here is our pod ranking of the top 10 Spielberg movies

1. Jaws
2. Jurassic Park
3. Minority Report
4. Catch Me If You Can
5. Schindler's List
6. War of the Worlds
7. Close Encounters of the Third Kind
8. Saving Private Ryan
9. West Side Story
10. Raiders of the Lost Ark

Our podcast The Extra Credits ranked our 30 favorite movies of 2024

Listen to our SIX HOUR ranking of the 30 best movies of 2024 here

Access our Letterboxd list of our favorite movies of 2024 here

A $100-million vampire opera that’s as messy as it is mesmerizing—part myth, part camp, part cultural reckoning. Sinners doesn’t just play with genre, it eats through it.

Spoiler Deep Dive Podcast

Letterboxd Review

YouTube Review

Here are our 20 favorite movies of the 2020s so far. Also, our show The Extra Credits ranked the best movies of 2023 below!

The 20 Best Movies of 2023 Ranked - Spotify

The 20 Best Movies of 2023 Ranked - Apple

The 20 Best Movies of the 2020s Ranked - Letterboxd List

We've seen 'A Complete Unknown' and ranked the movies of Timothée Chalamet.

Listen to our 'A Complete Unknown' deep dive here (Spotify)

Listen to our Dune (2021) deep dive here (Free on Patreon)

Listen to our Dune: Part Two deep dive here (Spotify)

Timothée Chalamet Ranked (Letterboxd List)

Listen to our YouTube review of Coralie Fargeat's 'The Substance' as we breakdown the discourse around the film and whether the narrative effectively tackles the male gaze in its maximalist allegory.

YouTube Review

Podcast Review

Kelsi and Trey are ed by The Ringer's Sean Fennessey of The Big Picture podcast to dive into the career of Ridley Scott.

YouTube

Spotify

Ridley Scott is one of cinema’s most prolific and visionary directors. With Gladiator II releasing wide this week, we revisit Scott’s genre-defining works—Alien, Blade Runner, Prometheus, among others—and explore his ability to transform blockbuster IP into ambitious epics. We discuss whether Scott belongs in the same tier as greats like Steven Spielberg and Martin Scorsese, his reputation for “style over substance,” the impact of his controversial Alien prequels, and the modern filmmakers like Christopher Nolan and Denis Villeneuve who’ve carried his influence forward.

Kelsi and Trey dive into Gladiator II with a non-spoiler review of Ridley Scott’s epic return to ancient Rome--the movie's ing character shine, led by Denzel Washington.

YouTube Review

Spotify and Apple

Letterboxd Review

The Extra Credits' discuss how this ambitious sequel stacks up against the iconic original, specifically examining Scott's vision at 87 years old and how his signature style evolves with the film’s massive scale and complex characters. From Paul Mescal’s new take on the reluctant hero to Denzel Washington’s magnetic and morally intricate role, we’ll unpack the movie’s layered political themes, stunning set pieces—including an unforgettable naval Colosseum battle—and Scott's inventive twists on historical fiction.

Todd Phillips' newest Joker film highlights the audiences’ twisted need to celebrate and glorify disturbed figures. Read and listen to our critical deep dive of 'Joker: Folie à Deux'

Letterboxd Review

Podcast Review

In space, no one can hear you podcast

In preparation for Alien: Romulus, our show The Extra Credits recently deep dived the sci-fi classic 'Alien' and ranked the Alien Cinematic Universe.

Alien: Romulus Deep Dive: Spotify

Alien Deep Dive: Free Episode on Patreon

Alien Movies Ranked: Letterboxd

Alien: Romulus Sanitizes the Alien Franchise

Listen to our show The Extra Credits for a critical exploration of the 'Alien' franchise and the ups and downs of 'Alien: Romulus.'

Spotify

Apple

Outside of some impressive visual choices, a few notable set pieces, and the Cailee Spaeny and David Jonsson performances, we're left disappointed by this unoriginal, fan-service-heavy, mutation of Romulus' other Alien predecessors, such as Ridley Scott's Prometheus and Alien: Covenant (which are much, much more conceptually interesting and deeply angry horror movies).

Alien and Blade Runner franchise ranked: Letterboxd List

Today we explore Wes Ball's Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes as one of the more impressive and thoughtful blockbusters of the 2020s, then tackling the greater Apes universe, its sometimes-radical politics, and the future of this IP on our most recent episode. We also rank The Planet of the Apes films and explore the Caesar trilogy of Rise, Dawn, and War below!

Spoiler Conversation with Director Wes Ball - Spotify

Planet of the Apes - Ranked

Kingdom of the Apes Deep Dive - Spotify

Rise of the Planet of the Apes - Spotify

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes - Spotify

War for the Planet of the Apes - Spotify

We explore the convincing cinematic power of Luca Guadagnino’s filmography and the thrilling tease of his newest film Challengers.

Luca Guadagnino Ranked - Letterboxd List

Challengers DEEP DIVE:

Spotify

Apple

Alex Garland's 'Civil War' Disappoints as a Politically Unchallenging Anti-War Movie.

Alex Garland's unique filmmaking style is both welcoming and alienating; usually lacing his allegorical stories with subversive thematic provocations. And while his new film Civil War is cinematically confrontational, it textually disappoints as a politically unchallenging anti-war movie. Our show The Extra Credits covered the Alex Garland project this past month through deep dives on Ex Machina, Men, and Civil War below!

Garland's Ex Machina - Deep Dive Podcast

Garland's Men - Deep Dive Podcast

Garland's Civil War - Deep Dive Podcast

Denis Villeneuve's past decade of filmmaking is legendary and the ambitious Dune: Part Two is as politically radical and grand in scope as some of his best work. Here is our ranking of his movies; you can follow our podcast to hear several explorations of his emotionally meticulous and conceptually challenging allegories.

Dune: Part Two DEEP DIVE! - Spotify

Denis Villeneuve Ranked - Letterboxd List

Dune: Part Two Reaction Podcast - Spotify

Dune: Part Two - Letterboxd Review

Deep Dive of Denis Villeneuve's post-9/11 allegory Prisoners - Podcast

Deep Dive of Denis Villeneuve's dystopian epic Blade Runner 2049 - Podcast

Deep Dives of both Dune: Part One and Dune: Part Two are coming to our show later this week, be sure to follow our Letterboxd and podcast for more!

Here are our favorite movies of 2023 ranked!

Top 50 of 2023 Ranked - Letterboxd List

The 20 Best Movies of 2023 Ranked - Podcast

All movies of 2023 Ranked - Letterboxd List

Listen to our Oscar Nominations Reaction - Podcast

Follow our podcast:

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Apple

Kelsi and Trey discuss the Oscar nominations for the 96th Academy Awards, led by Christopher Nolan's 'Oppenheimer', Yorgos Lanthimos' 'Poor Things', Martin Scorsese's 'Killers of the Flower Moon', and Greta Gerwig's 'Barbie'. We explore all the surprises and talk about what the greatest snubs were!

The Extra Credits - Spotify

The Extra Credits - Apple

Kelsi and Trey examine the 30-year project of David Fincher's movies and how his most recent film 'The Killer' (no spoilers) adds to the mind games of his filmography. Check out our Letterboxd list of Fincher movies ranked and then listen to our episode about his depraved filmography!

Davd Fincher Ranked - Letterboxd List

The David Fincher Project and ‘The Killer’ Review - Spotify

The David Fincher Project and ‘The Killer’ Review - Apple

When the measured genocide of the Osage Nation is seen through Mollie’s (Lily Gladstone) eyes, the movie triumphs. However, when the film turns into a misplaced internal battle of white guilt in courtrooms and jail cells with mostly no Osage people in sight, the movie suffers. Read our review here.

Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon Triumphs and Suffers as an American Epic - Podcast

Killers of the Flower Moon Review - Letterboxd

The Martin Scorsese Movie Draft with The Letterboxd Show! - Podcast

Find The Extra Credits Martin Scorsese Movie Ranking here - Letterboxd

In anticipation for 'Killers of the Flower Moon' we're dedicating October to Scorsese month on our podcast The Extra Credits with special episodes.

Phantom Thread is revered as a hilarious meditation on the cost of romance; it’s also knocked as a film lost in the fantasy of a tortured genius (insert a very-whiny Reynolds Woodcock “fuck off”).

Paul Thomas Anderson’s comic-gothic masterclass on atmosphere is covered in suggestion and stitched to perfection. Where the film reveals its commercially attractive conventions and its very-effective relationship humor, it conceals a deeply violent tale of anti-semitism, homophobia, and the poisonous constraints of class and gender.

More on PTA’s dense film here - Letterboxd Review

Paul Thomas Anderson Ranked - Letterboxd List

Phantom Thread 3+ Hour Podcast Deep Dive! - Spotify

Our podcast The Extra Credits is covering the movies of Wes Anderson!

You can find our podcast deep dives on the following Wes films below:

Fantastic Mr. Fox

Moonrise Kingdom

Asteroid City

Wes Anderson Movie Draft!

Wes Anderson Movies Ranked - Letterboxd List

Bottle Rocket, Rushmore, The Royal Tenenbaums, The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, The Darjeeling Limited, Fantastic Mr. Fox, Moonrise Kingdom, The Grand Budapest Hotel, Isle of Dogs, The French Dispatch, Asteroid City

If Se7en is city-as-labyrinth then Prisoners is suburban-as-labyrinth.

David Fincher is an unforgiving filmmaking surgeon obsessed with fatalistic narratives; he treats Se7en as his dystopian allegorical head-in-a-box and the audience as his victim.

So, naturally, David Fincher pisses people the fuck off. Except of course, everyone but Denis Villeneuve.

Today is the 10-year anniversary of Prisoners and the perfect moment to reexamine the original text that inspired one of the great psychological thrillers of the 21st century.

Read more on the influence of Se7en here.

Theater Camp is now on Hulu! Listen to our podcast The Extra Credits about why Theater Camp is one of the best movies of 2023 and then stay for our conversation with co-writer and co-director Nick Lieberman.

The Extra Credits of Theater Camp - Listen on Spotify

The Extra Credits of Theater Camp - Listen on Apple

Follow our Letterboxd to follow what we’re watching and planning next for our show!

We explore Greta Gerwig's career leading up to Mattel's 'Barbie' and whether or not this Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling event can be both a meaningful feminist movie and a billion dollar project.

Read our short thoughts on Letterboxd here

Listen to our deep dive on Greta Gerwig’s career and our thoughts on how successful her ideas were in ‘Barbie’ below:

Spotify

Apple

“If the artistic mission of Oppenheimer was to half-interrogate the ignorance of war apologists and sympathizers, then the movie succeeded. However, if the goal was to provoke the bystander Western audience, the movie mostly failed.”

Kelsi and Trey explore the creative vision of Christopher Nolan with a critical look at his newest film 'Oppenheimer.’

Listen on Spotify or Apple

You can read our short thoughts here on Letterboxd

“If the artistic mission of Oppenheimer was to half-interrogate the ignorance of war apologists and sympathizers, then the movie succeeded. However, if the goal was to provoke the bystander Western audience, the movie mostly failed.”

Kelsi and I don’t reveal much about our life in education or our politics on The Extra Credits podcast because we still live in a Red Scare culture and our lives can be seriously affected by our words. You can’t understand that volatile and fragile lifestyle unless you’ve lived it. But, for really the first time, I think we’ll have to be more philosophically and socially transparent in the reaction podcast for Oppenheimer.

Read our more serious thoughts on Christopher Nolan’s newest film in our Letterboxd Review.

'Across the Spider-Verse' is a special animated film with a few half-developed ideas. After reading our review, listen to The Extra Credits podcast rank all nine Sony & Marvel Spider-Man movies.

'Across the Spider-Verse' Deep Dive - Podcast

'Spider-Man' Movies Ranked - Podcast

Letterboxd Review

‘Across the Spider-Verse’ is a truly unique cinematic experience. It’s one of the most technically impressive animated movies we’ve ever seen. Both Spider-Verse movies, much like Miles, have a deep desire to express themselves through many forms of art; a refreshing theme in the superhero genre. But, after rewatch, the story struggles to smoothly balance its ideas and subplots.

There are a lot of fun details to unpack, even if some elements were more effective than others. The shift in animation style throughout the film is unreal; just the right amount of sensory overload and creative imagination. The themes are extended from the first film with a nuanced message about the isolated experience of struggling with one’s identity. Through the Spider-Foil, we have the American-favorite, an age-old trolly dilemma with some mutations. The big-bad is a sympathetic-Thanos figure who explores an exhausting moral debate with topical motivations — hoping to see that character and their motivation more fleshed out next summer in ‘Beyond the Spider-Verse’. As far as subplots go, we’re still unclear why exactly this trilogy wants to connect Spider-Man/Woman and well-meaning police officers. Not sure the parallel of systemic issues within Spider-Society and American Law Enforcement is totally successful.

While this sequel is certainly emotionally nuanced, I still felt distant from the characters. I can forgive heavily written ideas, some corporate virtue signaling, or even pandering to disaffected, politically indifferent Americans, but I was disappointed that I struggled to emotionally connect with Miles the same way I did with ‘Into the Spider-Verse’. The studio chose not to resolve his story in a meaningful way, mostly so we can experience the sure-to-be excellent third film.

Though, Gwen got a powerful, long-deserved backstory — you can even experience this Spider-story as her own. The film begins and ends with her narration; a clever commercial misdirect for audiences who unfortunately wouldn’t have seen a ‘Spider-Woman’ movie. ‘Across the Spider-Verse’ might have been better off doubling down on “Spider-Woman” and surprised us with her own title card drop at the end.

Gwen’s story is more successful and thematically interesting than any other character in the film — she’s our first legitimate, fully developed woman character in Spider-films. Also, with a queer lens, there is a massive evolution of what the Spider-mask represents to different identities who wear it. The socially conscious text is there if you look for it and the themes are an improvement from previous iterations.

But, even with a dynamic Gwen, my emotional disconnect is very real after two watches. Mostly due to the inconsistent motivations and actions of our protagonist and antagonist, but that is too close to spoiler talk that we’ll save for today’s podcast. And, I’m aware this may be an unfair reaction, but I think I’ll always have a complicated relationship to any “Part 1” or “to be continued” film — a movie and its half-finished messages ending abruptly is both exciting and deeply frustrating.

I’m obviously tiptoeing serious criticisms — people desperately want a monoculture right now. The early hype around JW4 and GOTG3 prove that. ‘Across the Spider-Verse’ may be aboard that hype train too. Though, I think it deserves a seat more than most blockbuster movies in the past few years!

I think people are forgetting how incredibly efficient, carefully constructed, and thematically tight ‘Into the Spider-Verse’ is — it might be the best superhero movie ever made.

Listen below for a short history of Spider-Man, what the character represents in and out of the suit, and our collective ranking of all nine Spider-Man movies.

Spotify Podcasts

Apple Podcasts

Our collective ranking list includes: Spider-Man, Spider-Man 2, Spider-Man 3, The Amazing Spider-Man, The Amazing Spider-Man 2, Spider-Man: Homecoming, Spider-Man: Far From Home, Spider-Man: No Way Home, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

At the end of our pod, we make some predictions about the future of Miles and Beyond the Spider-Verse.

Listen to our deep dive podcast on the finale of 'Succession' 473p3w

Listen on Spotify

Listen on Apple

The Extra Credits podcast is covering Ari Aster's newest film 'Beau Is Afraid'. Critics are calling this a more ambitious work than 'Hereditary' or 'Midsommar' - some even saying its his most successful film. Watch some of the influences and inspirations of the Kafkaesque, mommy-obsessed dark comedy from our list and then follow our show for our review next week! g4p3n

Below is Part 1 of our podcast review for ‘Beau Is Afraid’

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Apple

Here are a few movies that inspired or influenced Ari Aster's 'Beau Is Afraid':

Alfred Hitchock's 'The Birds'

Albert Brooks' 'Defending Your Life'

Martin Scorsese's 'After Hours'

Cristóbal León and Joaquín Cociña's 'The Wolf House'

Check out the rest of our list here!

Follow our podcast below:

Spotify

Apple

We review Scream VI and then rank the Scream franchise from worst to best on our podcast! 1r5e3u

The Extra Credits - Spotify

The Extra Credits - Apple

Trey's Scream Ranking on Letterboxd

Kelsi's Scream Ranking on Letterboxd

We rank Scream, Scream 2, Scream 3, Scream 4, Scream (2022), and Scream VI

Listen to Kelsi and Trey draft some of the best horrors movies from 2022 with one of their favorite voices in the movie community -- writer and director Chris Stuckmann.

Listen to our podcast episode here

Follow Chris on YouTube

Follow Chris on Twitter

Chris's directorial debut 'Shelby Oaks' here

Round 1

Nope (26:54)

Pearl (32:40)

Barbarian (40:09)

Round 2

Men (47:28)

The Menu (56:56)

Watcher (01:04:05)

Round 3

Nanny (01:13:34)

The Black Phone (01:17:31)

Bones and All (01:23:52)

Round 4

Bodies Bodies Bodies (01:32:28)

Beast (01:40:11)

Speak No Evil (01:43:28)

Round 5

Fresh (01:49:01)

No Exit (01:55:52)

Master (02:00:46)

Honorable Mentions (02:04:35)

We have complicated thoughts on the season finale of HBO's The Last of Us! f5t1o

Listen to our show below where we cover The Last of Us video game, the HBO series Ep. 1-9, and our complicated thoughts on the ethics and politics of this wild journey.

The Extra Credits - Spotify

The Extra Credits - Apple

We have a podcast episode dedicated to our 2023 Oscar predictions and episodes for almost every movie nominated! s2k49

Here are our podcast episodes where we covered the Academy Award nominees:

- Our 2023 Oscar Predictions and Snubs - Listen Here

- Rian Johnson Rankings | Glass Onion vs. Knives Out - Listen Here

- Everything Everywhere All at Once Review - Listen here

- Is Aftersun a Masterpiece? - Listen here

- We investigate the Subversive Script of Todd Field in Tár - Listen here

- Steven Spielberg Rankings | The Fabelmans Doesn't Completely Work - Listen here

- We speak to Ruben Ostlund about his Career and Triangle of Sadness - Listen here

- Marvel Phase 4 Rankings | Is Black Panther: Wakanda Forever Good? - Listen here

- Damien Chazelle’s Babylon is Incredible and we have TAKES on the Ending - Listen here

- The Batman | History, Review, and Live Watch - Listen here, here, and here

- Why Avatar and Avatar: The Way of Water are Flawed - Listen here and here

- Why Turning Red is Great but also Struggles - Listen here

- We talk to Dean Fleischer Camp about Marcel the Shell with Shoes On - Listen here

Below we predict the winners of the 2023 Oscars and then our podcast picks our favorite:

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

Top Gun: Maverick

Women Talking

All Quiet on the Western Front

Living

Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery

Predicted Winner: Women Talking

Our Favorite: Women Talking

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

Everything Everywhere All at Once

The Banshees of Inisherin

Tár

The Fabelmans

Triangle of Sadness

Predicted Winner: The Fabelmans

Our Favorite: Tár or Everything Everywhere All at Once

BEST COSTUME DESIGN

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

Elvis

Babylon

Everything Everywhere All at Once

Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris

Predicted Winner: Babylon

Our Favorite: Babylon

BEST MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING

Elvis

The Whale

The Batman

All Quiet on the Western Front

Wakanda Forever

Predicted Winner: Elvis

Our Favorite: All Quiet on the Western Front or The Batman

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN

Babylon

Elvis

Avatar: The Way of Water

All Quiet on the Western Front

The Fabelmans

Predicted Winner: Avatar: The Way of Water

Our Favorite: All Quiet on the Western Front or Babylon

BEST SONG

RRR - Natu Natu

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever - Lift Me Up

Top Gun: Maverick - Hold My Hand

Tell it Like a Woman - Applause 

Everything Everywhere - This is a Life 

Predicted Winner: Natu Natu

Our Favorite: Natu Natu

BEST SOUND

Top Gun: Maverick

Avatar: The Way of Water

Elvis

All Quiet on the Western Front

The Batman

Predicted Winner: Top Gun: Maverick

Our Favorite: The Batman or All Quiet on the Western Front

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE

Babylon

The Fabelmans

The Banshees of Inisherin

All Quiet on the Western Front

Everything Everywhere All at Once

Predicted Winner: Babylon

Our Favorite: Babylon

BEST FILM EDITING

Tár

Top Gun: Maverick

Everything Everywhere All at Once

Elvis

The Banshees of Inisherin

Predicted Winner: Tár

Our Favorite: Tár

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

Avatar: The Way of Water

Top Gun: Maverick

All Quiet on the Western Front

The Batman

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

Predicted Winner: Avatar: The Way of Water

Our Favorite: All Quiet on the Western Front

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

All Quiet on the Western Front

Empire of Light

Elvis

Tár

Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths

Predicted Winner: All Quiet on the Western Front

Our Favorite: Tár or All Quiet on the Western Front

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

All the Beauty and the Bloodshed

All that Breathes

Fire of Love

Navalny

A House Made of Splinters 

Predicted Winner: All the Beauty and the Bloodshed

Our Favorite: All the Beauty and the Bloodshed

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE

Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio

Marcel the Shell with Shoes On

Turning Red

Puss in Boots: The Last Wish

The Sea Beast

Predicted Winner: Pinocchio

Our Favorite: Marcel the Shell with Shoes On

BEST INTERNATIONAL FILM

All Quiet on the Western Front

Argentina 1985

Close

EO

The Quiet Girl

Predicted Winner: All Quiet on the Western Front

Our Favorite: Close

BEST ING ACTRESS

Angela Bassett - Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

Kerry Condon  - The Banshees of Inisherin

Jamie Lee Curtis - Everything Everywhere All at Once

Hong Chau (Chow) - The Whale (also in The Menu this year)

Sephanie Hsu (shoe) - Everything Everywhere All at Once

Predicted Winner: Angela Bassett

Our Favorite: Kerry Condon or Angela Bassett

BEST ING ACTOR

Ke Huy Quan - Everything Everywhere

Brendan Gleeson - The Banshees of Inisherin

Barry Keoghan - The Banshees of Inisherin

Judd Hirsh - Fabelmans

Brian Tyree Henry - Causeway

Predicted Winner: Ke Huy Quan

Our Favorite: Ke Huy Quan or Barry Keoghan

BEST ACTRESS

Cate Blanchett - Tár

Michelle Yeoh - Everything Everywhere All At Once

Ana de Armas - Blonde

Michelle Williams - The Fabelmans

Andrea Riseborough - To Leslie

Predicted Winner: Cate Blanchett

Our Favorite: Michelle Yeoh or Cate Blanchett

BEST ACTOR

Brendan Fraser - The Whale

Austin Butler - Elvis

Colin Farrell - Banshees of Inisherin

Bill Nighy - Living

Paul Mescal - Aftersun

Predicted Winner: Austin Butler

Our Favorite: Paul Mescal or Colin Farrell

BEST DIRECTOR

Steven Spielberg - The Fabelmans

The Daniels - Everything Everywhere All at Once

Martin McDonagh - The Banshees of Inisherin

Todd Field - Tár

Ruben Ostlund - Triangle of Sadness

Predicted Winner: Steven Spielberg

Our Favorite: The Daniels or Todd Field

BEST PICTURE

Everything Everywhere All at Once

The Fabelmans

The Banshees of Inisherin

Top Gun: Maverick

Elvis

All Quiet on the Western Front

Tár

Avatar: The Way of Water

Women Talking

Triangle of Sadness

Predicted Winner: Everything Everywhere All at Once

Our Favorite: Tár or Everything Everywhere All at Once

Our podcast on the Rocky and Creed franchise is here! This episode unpacks the complicated racial dynamics of the Rocky movies and how Ryan Coogler corrected the franchise -- reclaiming Apollo Creed's name. Then we review Creed III - which we loved - and at the end of our show we rank all of the Rocky and Creed movies! 11226m

You can find our episode on Apple Podcasts here

You can find our episode on Spotify here

Trey's List

9. Rocky V

8. Rocky Balboa

7. Rocky IV

6. Creed II

5. Rocky III

4. Rocky

3. Rocky II

2. Creed III

1. Creed

Kelsi's List

9. Rocky Balboa

8. Rocky V

7. Rocky IV

6. Rocky II

5. Creed II

4. Rocky III

3. Creed

2. Creed III

1. Rocky

We draft our favorite movies of 2022 on our podcast! Vote for the best list on our Twitter! 6v644m

Listen to our 2022 movie draft episode and then vote on our Twitter.

Round 1
Tár (11:42)
Aftersun (17:06)
Playground (23:53)
Decision to Leave (31:30)

Round 2
The Eternal Daughter (36:58)
Close (42:02)
EO (46:11)
Happening (49:55)

Round 3
Vortex (53:55)
One Fine Morning (01:00:12)
Everything Everywhere All at Once (01:05:15)
Barbarian (01:15:35)

Round 4
Descendant (01:21:31)
Babylon (01:26:38)
The Fabelmans (01:40:35)
Banshees of Inisherin (01:50:22)

Round 5
All My Friends Hate Me (01:53:20)
The Batman (02:00:15)
Nope (02:06:44)
The Northman (02:12:09)

VOTING BEGINS TONIGHT ON OUR TWITTER (02/20 - 02/25)

Listen to our podcast deep dive on Babylon where we unpack the polarizing film and its tricky ending. 1o7257

Then listen to our podcast with composer Justin Hurwitz on his career and other collaborations with Damien Chazelle. 1g5h

We explore Damien Chazelle's Babylon and why the ending is so misunderstood. Beginning with Chazelle's film language in Whiplash, La La Land, and First Man -- we try and find a throughline of his work to better understand the complex and subversive style of his scripts. 5p4i1q

Babylon isn't as much an ode to Hollywood as it is a poison pill for the very industry it benefits from -- much like Jordan Peele's Nope. As we see Manny's rise to the top of an exploitative system, we also see his descent into the Hell of Hollywood where he becomes his own worst nightmare.

In the film's finale, Chazelle investigates modern audiences' relationship to spectacle-driven cinema and its hypnotic power. The ending in 1952 connects the restrictions of the Hays Code era to our modern obsession with escapist movies like The Terminator, Jurassic Park, The Matrix, and Avatar -- the intentional irony is that Babylon is competing with Pandora, as they lose potential viewers to movies like Avatar: The Way of Water.

Babylon contextualizes the chaos and depravity of old Hollywood and examines the cost of ambition on a grand, tragic scale. But, in its final moments, the film is entirely more interested in asking audiences why they continue to try and add more toppings to their ice cream.

Moral investigators have tried to reconcile Lydia Tár's genius with her monster, but the audience doesn't realize that they are who Todd Field's script most interrogates. 122f3n

Our podcast examines Tár's major ideas and whether or not this bleak mystery with psychological horror elements is actually a satire on elitist culture.

There is a cultural shift of ability happening across the world and Tár spotlights those who want to exonerate the misdeeds of auteurs. Field feeds morally compromised audiences with the populist narrative that bad people can do great things -- and that is where the subversive power of the script takes hold.

If you want to hear more about our thoughts on Tár, follow our Podcast and Letterboxd.

We are emotionally devastated.

First time feature writer/director Charlotte Wells delivers a masterpiece in Aftersun. This film is a cinematic provocation. Wells' direction interrogates the viewers' memory of their parents -- exploring if we can ever truly know them.

Listen to our podcast episode for more on how this film wrecked us.

Yes, Chef!

Mark Mylod's The Menu fearlessly satirizes the cultural elite class, which was a real throughline of 2022 with movies like Triangle of Sadness, Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, and Tár. Writers Will Tracy and Seth Reiss explore shallow consumer culture through critiques on fine dining and cuisine, and more subtextually, the way the wealthy commodify art and creativity.

Listen here to hear writer Seth Reiss talk in spoiler detail about the meaning of his latest work.