Movies I really loved and would rewatch

1. Lord of War – depiction of bleakness of arms industry
2. Moneyball – I really appreciate how they captured the reality of trying to do what’s best, struggling, being misrepresented, unfairly treated, and still ultimately not quite getting the hero’s ending
3. Thank You For Smoking – a very smart film about PR, persuasion, argument, etc.
4. Contact – great film about the many issues surrounding extraterrestrial life, and also a great human story about a woman and her life as a scientist
5. Rocky Series – about a hero who isn’t that smart but has a lot of heart. Also just seeing Rocky age over the years is really powerful.
6. Before Sunrise Trilogy – first fim by itself is a little saccharine, third is a little bleak, but just a nice depiction of a couple overall. Here’s my review of the third movie, Before Midnight
7. Mean Girls – captures some very interesting nuance about interpersonal relations. I wrote an essay on this that got tens of thousands of views: An Analysis of Power in Mean Girls
8. Wall-E – great story of connection and sacrifice, and snuck in a warning about a dystopian future
9. A Few Good Men – great courtroom drama, would’ve liked to have sympathized with the villain/antagonist more
10. Good Will Hunting – frustration of a gifted kid
11. How To Train Your Dragon – simple ‘children’s movie’ that delivers a great story about friendship and overcoming bias
12. Office Space – Lol bureaucracy. Great soundtrack. Great thought experiment.
13. Zootopia – great ‘children’s movie’ – uses anthropomorphized animals to deliver a lot of subtle commentary about race, gender, stereotypes, biases, expectations, etc
14. The Prestige –well executed portrait of rivals consumed by their work and outdoing each other
15. V for Vendetta – poetic bit against authoritarian / facist regimes. Been meaning to read the graphic novel which is supposed to be a bit more subtle.
16. Trainspotting – great bit about the bleak/hopelessness of drugs
17. Men In Black Trilogy [2018]
18. Black Panther [2018]
19. Deadpool – enjoyably irreverent
20. The Martian – fuck yeah, science!
21. Monty Python and the Holy Grail – just a lot of fun and silliness with lots of quotable moments
22. Gattaca – well executed bit on genetic modification and how it would stratify humans, also a touching story about brothers and friendship
23. Gladiator – a model of manhood
24. MCU’s Iron Man, Avengers, Winter Soldier, Civil War – good dialogue, well-executed, sufficiently dark, sometimes funny
25. Boyhood – just really liked the narrative device of telling a story over many years
26. The Matrix – easy to overlook now but it was so seminal when it came out
27. Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara (YOLO) – nice road trip film about friends coming of age, leaving comfort zones
28. Grand Budapest Hotel – visually gorgeous
29. Amelie – visually gorgeous, very cute and quirky narration. Amelie’s observations are gr8
30. Chocolat – uses chocolate and a community to explore interesting ideas about social norms and taboos, and how people relate to one another, and pleasure
31. The Breakfast Club – the canonical teenager movie – kids finding out who they are by being juxtaposed against one another. Makes me realize that I’m a sucker for conversations in general.
32. Jiro Dreams of Sushi – a great meditation on the life of a chef who’s spent his entire life perfecting his craft
33. Limitless – for some reason I really like this one. I think particularly just portraying that an individual can have extremely different mental states.
34. American Sniper – model of manhood
35. Kung Fu Hustle – lots of fun, and heartwarming too. You can feel the love that was put into it.
36. Up – heartbreak, sacrifice, learning to live and love again
37. X-Men: First Class – the relationship between Charles and Erik was great, Erik’s backstory was great. The villain was kind of not really important and not all that scary, but eh. Overall I liked it. Love the soundtrack too.
38. Wreck It Ralph – I really enjoyed seeing all the video game bits and references, and the underlying story was really moving.
39. 12 Angry Men. A fairly short film, punchy. Doesn’t need flashy visuals or changes of scenery, but there’s a subtle progression to the cinematography that I didn’t notice the first time I watched it.
40. Shawshank Redemption – just a really good bit on friendship, dealing with unfairness/injustice. Should probably rewatch to clarify what I like about it.
41. The Incredibles – really well executed, you root for the characters, the conflicts and frustrations are believable, even the villain is likeable and relatable.
42. Chocolat – a chocolatier comes to a frigid small town and transforms it completely

Movies I liked:

1. La La Land [2017] – I appreciate what it tried to do, and it was a pleasant experience with some nice moments. Loved the subject matter. I was slightly hoping that they wouldn’t get what they were wishing for, because most people don’t. I’m glad at least that they didn’t end up together, because that would’ve been cheesy.
2. The Lord Of The Rings Trilogy – just really well-executed, one for the ages. Although, on third viewing, I found it a little flat in parts. It’s a little too polished and clean. Gollum is actually the best character.
3. Guardians of the Galaxy – the soundtrack was so great. Just fun and lighthearted, fun universe.
4. Divergent – Watched the 2nd movie first, and got invested enough to want to watch the first and third. I think the 2nd is still my favorite. It’s predictable YA stuff, but I thought the message of forgiving yourself was really well executed.
5. The Godfather – Yeah, masterpiece and all. Opening scene and closing scene were fantastic. But somehow it doesn’t grip me the way it does some people. I can see the amazing craftsmanship that went into it though.
6. Forrest Gump – killer soundtrack, and very moving.
7. Everything in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, particularly Iron Man 1, The Avengers, Winter Soldier and Civil War. Ant Man was fun.
8. Most movies by Pixar – there’s a good formula about personal relationships and overcoming obstacles. (Up, Ratatouille, Toy Story trilogy, Wall-E)
9. The Social Network – it was nice but I don’t get what’s so great about it
10. Sex Drive – road trip movie – watched in the cinema on a random whim, actually found it really fun and entertaining
11. The Dark Knight – Heath Ledger’s joker was great. Batman himself, not so much. But how do you really make Batman interesting, anyway? Seems like DC’s villains are more interesting than their protagonists, and vice versa for Marvel.
12. Tangled – the Rapunzel movie, I thought did a really interesting job with the mother being a manipulative narcissist.
13. The Great Gatsby – I appreciate the interesting stylistic choices, use of rap music, hyperreal aspects. But I suppose ultimately I just get a bit tired of the “Tortured DiCaprio” trope.
14. Butter – A fun, weird film about butter. I appreciate that they tried to do something different. Also Olivia Wilde is hot in this one.

Movies I appreciated but probably wouldn’t watch again:

1. Buried – a film about a man in a box. It was executed well.
2. Gravity – epic premise, done well enough, but hardly any replay value IMO
3. Ghost In The Shell – It was amazing to see how much this movie influenced everything else – the Matrix, cyberspace, Final Fantasy… wish I caught it when it was new.
4. Snowpiercer – I really appreciate the premise and what they were trying to do, but I didn’t like how it was executed, didn’t like the ending, thought it wasted some opportunities to be very powerful and compelling
5. Princess Mononoke – They did some really good things by avoiding clean/obvious good and bad divisions– nobody is obviously right or wrong, good or bad. But beyond that it was kinda weird in an unsettling and unhelpful way.
6. Taxi Driver – unsettling, tedious – which I suppose was the point. Well done.
7. The Aviator – good portrayal of a troubled genius, but also gets kinda repetitive and predictable. Dicaprio seems to love these “woe is me” roles.
8. Toy Story Trilogy – well done, but maybe I watched it too late to fully appreciate it. Might be great watching it as a kid growing up.
9. Inside Out – I REALLY enjoyed the premise and thought it was an incredibly challenge that was well pulled off, but if you remove that layer, the underlying story wasn’t particularly compelling to me
10. Dead Poet’s Society – I liked Robin Williams’ character, and the interplay between him and the more cynical teachers. But the rest of it hasn’t aged very well.
11. Black Swan – I suppose it was well done but I guess it kinda creeped me out.
12. Inside Job – I don’t know enough economics to have an informed opinion on this, but I thought it was well put together. Very compelling, very well made.

Movies that disappointed me:

1. Elysium – nice premise, poorly executed, stupid ending
2. Her – It was visually a treat, but feel they glossed over the parts about the AI (contrast with Contact)
3. Frozen – how does a movie about two sisters still have more male dialogue than female?
4. Interstellar – same reason as Her, also contrast with Contact. Dragged on too long. Tried too hard.
5. Lost in Translation – lots of people say good things about it but I found it hard to care about the characters. I thought they were emotionally lazy. Contrast with Ender’s Game books, or The Fosters, or The West Wing, where the characters really try their best. “White people staring wistfully when lost in an exotic land” – meh.
   • A friend made an interesting point about two other movies –Blue Valentine, and Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind. She pointed out that in both of those movies, there’s a palpable frustration to be felt about how the characters are really incompetent or inarticulate.
6. Jobs (Ashton Kutcher) – thought they were unfair to Steve Wozniak, and generally didn’t capture much of the nuance that should’ve been interesting
7. Man Of Steel – I thought Henry Cavill was a great casting choice, the setup was good, but the final fight and conflict etc were kinda blah. The fights felt fake and sterile, the characters were too invulnerable.
8. Tree Of Life – maybe i’m biased because I watched this when I was sick, but I found it too draggy, too self-indulgent, and just eh.
9. The Dictator – I know it’s supposed to be funny and irreverent but meh I felt like I wasted my time.
10. Manhattan – The first Woody Allen movie I watched knowing that it was a Woody Allen movie. I have mixed feelings. It’s a little pretentious, a little wannabe-intellectual, which I would have really enjoyed as a younger guy. And I suppose it’s a manifestation of who Woody Allen truly is. Also, he’s a bit of a creeper. I get that sense with Tarantino too. And Sorkin. Glad to have watched it, but not sure how I feel about it.
11. 2 Days In Paris – was hoping it would be good because Julie Delpy. Treatment was decent, but characters were a little flat and immature. Had good premise, but didn’t follow through.
12. Arrival [2017] – had two different friends recommended it to me, but was disappointed. Watch Contact and Memento instead.

Movies I want to rewatch:

• Minority Report
• Fight Club
• Ocean’s Eleven
• The Sixth Day
• Memento
• Inception
• The Matrix
• Last Action Hero
• Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind

Movies I want to watch:

• ✅ Mad Max: Fury Road
• ✅ Men in Black
• Room
• se7en
• Birdman
• The Cabin In The Woods
• Scott Pilgrim vs The World
• Midnight in Paris
• Mulholland Drive
• ✅ Lego Movie
• Gone Girl
• Inglorious Basterds
• The Internet’s Own Boy
• ✅ The Fifth Element
• Starship Troopers
• The Wrestler
• The Iron Giant
• ✅ Die Hard
• Rope
• ✅  Lawrence of Arabia
• Full Metal Jacket
• Dr. Strangelove
• ✅  The Truman Show
• ✅  Edge Of Tomorrow
• Idiocracy
• ✅ Blade Runner
• One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest
• Hurt Locker
• Star Wars Ep 6
• Spirited Away
• Akira
• ✅ Alien
• Pirates of Silicon Valley
• Slumdog Millionaire
• ✅ Ferris Bueller’s Day Off

Movies watched in 2015

• Rocky (1-6) + Creed
• Moneyball
• Martian
• Charlie Wilson’s War
• Manhattan
• Prestige
• Reservoir Dogs – July 31
• Inside Out
• Few Good Men
• Good Will Hunting
• Gattaca – May
• guardians of the galaxy
• divergent
• avengers – age of ultron
• lost in translation

2016

• Office Space
• Princess Mononoke
• Kung Fu Panda
• Pulp Fiction
• The Aviator
• Meet The Patels
• The Kids Are Alright
• Deadpool
• Harry Potter 1-7
• Snowpiercer
• Butter
• Divergent
• Insurgent
• Allegiant
• Ghost In The Shell
• Zootopia
• Captain America: Civil War
• Jungle Book
• The Terminal
• Southside With You
• 2 Days In Paris

2017

• La La Land
• Arrival
• The Truman Show
• Singapore Dreaming
• Wonder Woman
• Maz Jobrani: Immigrant
• Off Course
• Minority Report (rewatch)
• Thor: Ragnarok
• The Last Jedi

Movies by women

• The Matrix
• Persepolis
• ‘Desert Flower’ directed by Sherry Hormann. It’s a biographical film about the practice of female genital mutilation in Somalia
• Kathryn bigelow comes to mind when you speak of women directors. You should have a look at her filmography.
• Jennifer Kent, Babadook
• Sofia coppola (lost in translation)
• Mean Girls
• Hurt Locker
• Ava Duvernay directed Selma
• Diablo Cody’s Juno
• Mustang
• Julie & Julia
• Bend It Like Beckham
• A list on Cleo