Every Movie I Watched In 2025

See my 2024 list intro for more info. A few notes to add:

• I’m very strongly against spoilers so I’m just giving brief impressions without getting too deep into it. 

• This list is everything I saw in 2025, for the most part, but I rolled some of the 2024 releases that I caught early in the year onto last year’s list. 

• All were in theaters unless otherwise noted, in which case I put the viewing platform and picture quality in brackets. The main difference between this and last year’s lists is that I started watching many movies at home, as I have been back in the U.S. where I have a nice 65” plasma TV. I only attended one film festival (Red Lorry in Hyderabad) where I caught some classics, but with a few other exceptions it was largely new releases in theaters and classics at home. I have a rule that I’m not allowed to watch anything after 2010 at home, and in 2030 I’ll allow films through 2020, and so on. (Very straightforward, but nobody I explain this to seems to understand it.) It’s a sort of DEI program for decades, a concept (if not necessarily my exact formula) I encourage others to adopt as a means of breaking out of overly mimetic cycles of consumption.

• Theaters were in a mix of cities in India, Thailand, and the U.S. 

• There are a handful of movies I walked out of or turned off without finishing. Out of fairness I didn’t give numerical ratings to those. I usually gave each film ~30 minutes before quitting.

• Unlike last year’s list, I didn’t put a rough word limit on how long my blurbs are, though it looks like I still had the word limit for the first quarter of the year and then gave up on it. You can tell me if you like the abridged or uncut ones better.

• I don’t like giving out numerical ratings but I do it anyway to make it easier for people to scan through this. I sometimes spend more time deciding what the number should be than I spend writing the blurb, and I often go back and forth on the numbers. They are reflections of how much I enjoy the film and how much of a lasting impression it gave me, rather than some sense of how “good” I think it is. There’s no real meaning or consistency to it. I often fear my numerical ratings underrate how I felt about most films. You can probably mentally add +1 to most ratings to normalize it with how other people give out ratings. But not always. Don’t think too much about it.

• I counted 121 films, a significant improvement over last year, but I can still do (and have done) much better, though the amount of movies I watch is inversely correlated with how much I read and travel. Can’t have it all.

Titles of the 8/10s and up are bold, representing my favorites of the year. In the order that I watched them:

Game Changer (Shankar) - I was excited for Ram Charan to work with Shankar but this was disappointing. Generic and mediocre, and even the action is pedestrian, though there are occasional flashes of inspiration, particularly in the song sequences. Plus, some wacky plot twists and crazy politics. “Anyone who doesn’t vote should have their water and electricity shut off.” What?! 4/10

Baida (Mayur Mahapatra & Siddhant Swaroop) - Odia found footage horror movie! Not bad! Kinda fun. The story is pretty good, but the characters aren’t written well. I saw it in Odisha, that was nice. Not recommended otherwise though. 5/10 

Companion (Drew Hancock) - Very fun and cleverly constructed thriller. All of these Gen-Z thrillers feel the same to me though. Stylish, topical, well made, strong casting, great music, good twists, good humor, but also kinda lightweight and disposable. Maybe I’m just too demanding. I liked the way the character pronounced Telugu as “Tuh-loo-goo.” 6/10

The Brutalist (Brady Corbet) - 3.5 hours and I was never bored. It was consistently interesting and beautifully crafted. But I didn’t get it? The characters were inscrutable and I wasn’t sure what it built up to. (I know I know, a metaphor for brutalism!) The end credit song made me wonder if it’s all a metaphor about filmmaking and that makes me like it less. 7/10

Mickey 17 (Bong Joon Ho) - My least favorite of Bong’s films. There’s plenty to like/love and the story and characters have potential, but the over the top jokiness just kills it for me. I’d like a sincere version of this with a wry sense of humor, which I got in portions of the film, but too much of it felt like an SNL sketch. 6/10

Novocaine (Dan Berk and Robert Olsen) - I thought this would just be a disposable programmer, and maybe it was, but it won me over. At times the senseless violence really put me off, but it kept surprising me with great gags. I laughed much more than usual in this. What really makes it work is that there’s a lot of heart and delightful leads. 7/10

The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie (Peter Browngardt) - I’m not sure how much I like the Looney Tunes, but I had a good time even if I was ready for it to be over. There are plenty of good gags and nice visual touches. It was also surprisingly crude, I was not expecting some of those jokes. I’d watch more Looney Tunes movies. 6/10

Emilia Pérez (Jacques Audiard) - I loved the Audiard telenovela aspect of the film. I did not love the musical aspect of the film, which bled into and infected the rest of the film. So this was a mixed bag. But overall I found it a worthwhile entry in the Audiard canon.  7/10

Jewel Thief (Vijay Anand) - This has wonderful music, stylish visuals, beautiful women, a kinda fun silly mystery plot, and a few great scenes. At three hours, though, it’s pretty taxing, with little beyond the surface level pleasures. 5/10

Anora (Sean Baker) - This was an experience, but one that I admired more than I enjoyed. The characters aren’t especially likeable or interesting, despite the excellent performances. There’s a voyeuristic appeal to the early portions and a lot of humor, but as it goes on it just becomes sad and unpleasant, and I was often too disturbed to laugh. I seem to be the only one who felt that way? 6/10

September 5 (Tim Fehlbaum) - A bit too much of a conventional journalism procedural for me, but it’s very well made and entertaining, and it’s an interesting look at the process, made more compelling by the fact that there was no precedent for what they were doing. 6/10 

Queer (Luca Guadagnino) - Sadly this didn’t work for me at all. As you’d expect from Luca & Co., it’s all exquisitely crafted, but it’s more of an abstract mood piece and I was unable to get into it. Bonus point for 17 Days. 5/10

Highway 65 (Maya Dreifuss) - A solid genre film elevated early on by good character work and an uncommon small town Israel setting, but as it goes on it’s just too conventional, plot driven, and TVish. 5/10

Pushpaka Vimana (Singeetam Srinivasa Rao) [alternate language titles include Pesum Padam, which is I believe the only available restored version, but they’re all the same film] - Silent comedy starring Kamal Haasan! It’s really good! I liked that it had its own grammar for a silent film, specific to its setting, rather than just recreating old tropes. What was the last live action film to do that? At two hours and ten minutes, it’s the longest silent comedy I’ve ever watched, and it could have been tighter, but it’s nonetheless delightful. 7/10

The Story of Souleymane (Boris Lojkine) - Exactly what you’d expect from a neorealist drama that played in the Un Certain Regard section at Cannes about an African migrant in Paris working as a delivery agent for a food app while preparing for his asylum interview. It’s great though! 7/10

Day of the Jackal (Fred Zinnemann) - Very entertaining old school cat and mouse thriller! I loved the leisurely, methodical pace and the minimal use of music. I just wish they spoke French in France though, or at least had French accents? 7/10

Santosh (Sandhya Suri) - A very well crafted and engaging film that makes for a nice addition to the genre of Indian police films. I found its trajectory too obvious, though. I think I’d have liked this more if I hadn’t seen so many Indian movies, even though it’s much better than most films that cover similar material. I look forward to more from Suri. 7/10

Oddity (Damian McCarthy) - This Irish horror movie got rave reviews but I thought it was just really hokey and decided to leave after 25 minutes.

Confidante (Guillaume Giovanetti & Çağla Zencirci) - This has a compelling premise and is very well acted, but I didn’t exactly find it entertaining and its overstuffed plot felt contrived to me. Also, phone sex grosses me out more than I expected. Still, I’d watch more from the filmmakers, given my interest in Turkey. 5/10

Flow (Gints Zilbalodis) - I wouldn’t say this hooked me for its entire runtime, but I enjoyed it and found it to be beautifully done. I initially thought the animation style wasn’t for me but I got into it within a few minutes. It was great to see a movie where animals actually act like animals, for the most part, but I do think that limits its dramatic potential. 6/10

Follower (Harshad Nalawade) - This was a bit too much of a low budget indie for me, and there’s a limit to how much I could possibly like a movie where the characters I’m supposed to like excitedly announce they are going to Goa for the purpose of drinking, but it’s a solid, nuanced debut that handles subject matter we don’t often see on screen, with good character work. 5/10

Black Bag (Steven Soderbergh) - Delightful and original spy drama/thriller/sex farce. Soderbergh and Koepp are a great team (this is the first I’ve seen from their collabs). Very fun, smart, and surprising throughout. A disposable programmer? Perhaps, but it’s an excellent one. 8/10

Alappuzha Gymkhana (Khalid Rahman) - Highly acclaimed Malayalam sports movie, I found it annoying and juvenile and walked out after 35 minutes.

Dog Man (Peter Hastings) - A hundred gags a minute, a fun visual style, and some kiddy cuteness. Quite fun. 6/10

Agnyathavasi (Janardhan Chikkanna) - I felt I should make an effort to see a Kannada film when I was in Karnataka, and this looked kinda interesting, but I gave up after 35 minutes.

Sinners (Ryan Coogler) - Despite some issues (not enough character development, too much going on without a strong core, too slick and modern Hollywoodish for my taste, too much background music), I really enjoyed the first 60% or so of the film. The performances, musical sequences, and setting are all noteworthy, and I kept hoping it would build into something interesting. And then things got going, and eh. I found it both hokey and pretentious. Some interesting thematic stuff to chew on, but I didn’t really find it coherent (and it seemed kinda racist?) and anyway I’d rather read an essay. Also, the massive IMAX aspect ratio changes are annoying and take me out of the movie. 5/10

Jagadeka Veerudu Athiloka Sundari (K. Raghavendra Rao) - Sadly, the new restoration is very poor, totally unworthy of its re-release. As for the film, it’s not great but I had a kitschy good time, at least intermittently. It’s too long and not well directed, but it’s got a really fun story that holds together well enough, plus Sridevi and Chiranjeevi and one of my favorite Ilaiyaraaja soundtracks. 5/10

Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning (Christopher McQuarrie) - I sadly didn’t love the direction this went in, both narratively and stylistically, problems the last film had in bits but are more pronounced here. Nor was I happy about the bloat and the tie-ins. But despite the issues, it’s a good time, and the two primary stunt sequences are outstanding. The plane sequence is one of the greats in film history. I thought I was going to suffocate. I cried. It makes me sad to say there may never be a more thrilling cinematic sequence again. On a second viewing very few things bothered me and I liked it a lot more. Final (?) rankings: 1=2=4=5=6>7=8>3. 8/10

Final Destination Bloodlines (Zach Lipovsky & Adam Stein) - I liked these in middle school but hadn’t seen any in 20+ years. I was excited to get back into it after looking at the strong reviews, and I did have a good enough time, but eh. A few of the death scenes hit it out of the park, and the script is fine for what it is, with a fun new take on the concept even if it’s mostly thin, by the numbers horror fare. My bigger issue is that the cinematography, editing, acting, and CG are too often sub-mediocre (though there are some great practical effects). Throughout the film I kept brainstorming directors who would do a better job. Waiting for a Misanthropic Masterpiece. At the current craft level, though, I’d still watch more of these. 5/10

Bring Her Back (Danny and Michael Philippou) - The Philippous are evil. 7/10

Attack 13 (Taweewat Wantha) - I can’t visit Thailand without seeing a Thai movie. Unfortunately the pickings were slim and this horror movie is quite bad. Occasionally kooky fun though. 3/10

The Phoenician Scheme (Wes Anderson) - Another Wes Anderson movie, whether that’s bad, good, great, or somewhere else on the spectrum is up to you! Personally I loved the mid-century Mr. Arkadin milieu and had a great time, even if I wished it were 10% less of a cartoon and had more of an emotional connection. 7/10

Saiyaara (Mohit Suri) - How was this a smash hit? How did critics actually tolerate it? I like the angsty melodrama vibe and it is a kind of fun crazy soap opera, made with some verve and having occasional charms, but it’s bad and way too long. One of the songs was quite good. 4/10

The Naked Gun (Akiva Schaffer)- I liked the old ones as a kid but really have no memory of them. This is fun. I can’t say I was dying laughing, but I chuckled on an average of once a minute, and over the course of the film there were 2-3 proper big laughs. Much more than most comedies get from me. I like the rapid fire barrage of jokes and its fearlessness in embracing stupidity. And <90 minutes! Respect. 6/10

Dhadak 2 (Shazia Iqbal) - Note: this has no connection to the first Dhadak, which I haven’t seen. It’s a remake of the acclaimed Tamil film Pariyerum Perumal which I regrettably haven’t seen. The film has a lot of good elements, but they didn’t come together well. The horrifyingly unflinching treatment of caste discrimination is commendable in a mainstream Hindi movie, but ultimately the drama didn’t work for me and it felt too slick and manufactured. I’m surprised this got such good reviews. 5/10 

F1 (Joseph Kosinski) - I liked it. Good old fashioned Hollywood entertainment, even though the racing scenes were confusing and silly to me (do the races really work like that?). Good Brad Pitt movie. Excellent title music by Hans Z. 6/10

Sorry, Baby (Eva Victor) - From the very first scenes I hated it, hated the characters, hated the thought that there are people out there like them, and people out there who could like this movie. But it grew on me, and I warmed to these annoying people. I guess that means it’s a good movie. I appreciated the specificity of its world, the assured voice, and the unique way it handled difficult subject matter. I wish more happened though, and I can’t say I found it that interesting beyond a certain point. Shot in Massachusetts, I will avoid that place, lest I meet people who talk like this. 5/10

Weapons (Zach Cregger) - I haven’t seen Barbarian from the same filmmaker, but now it is high on my list. I went into this knowing absolutely nothing (which I recommend). The early fairy tale-ish horror scenes made me wonder if it was really my thing, but it quickly won me over. Hilarious and thrilling, and a surprisingly great drama. I’m not sure what it really added up to, but it’s an excellent ride. 8/10

Together (Michael Shanks) - This has its contrivances but is mostly a very well done and funny shocker, grounded in a relationship drama. 6/10

Pyaasa (Guru Dutt) - My first Guru Dutt movie, and it is often considered to be one of the all time great Hindi films. Unfortunately I didn’t think this was very good. There is a lot to like, particularly for fans of classic Hindi cinema. Some striking images, great music, opulent melodrama, and a decent story on paper. But it’s dull, mopey, and way too long, with little to care about and very underdeveloped relationships. The only appealing character is the prostitute played by Waheeda Rehman, but she gets little screentime. (I admit having to rely on subtitles hurts this film, heavy on poetry as it is, but I honestly can’t imagine it would make a major difference, and I don’t like poetry anyway.) 5/10

Coolie (Lokesh Kanagaraj) - I enjoyed some of the occasionally inspired B-movie lunacy, but overall I just found this taxing and it gave me a headache. 4/10

Mysterious Object at Noon (Apichatpong Weerasethakul) [Criterion Channel, great picture quality] - Apichatpong’s debut. I liked the beautifully shot black and white documentary footage of Thailand in the late 90s (a lot has changed, but a lot has stayed the same!), and the soundtrack, and that’s about it. The “story” did very little for me. Hopefully his later films work better for me. 4/10

Kalpana (Uday Shankar) [Criterion Channel, great picture quality] - There could be an outstanding 45 minute or so cut of this movie. There are plenty of wonderful, dazzling, surreal images, notably but not exclusively in the dance sequences (the factory dance!), but the 2.5 hour runtime is a slog, bogged down by unwatchable melodrama. Some of the satire made me chuckle, but the film’s messaging is mostly heavy handed and annoying. A must watch, or at least a must skim, for fans of classic Indian cinema, or dance on film. 5/10 

I liked the Criterion essay: https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/7941-kalpana-dreaming-the-impossible-dream

India Song (Marguerite Duras) [Criterion Channel, great picture quality] - I thought a weird artsy French movie set in colonial Bengal sounded good, but it’s pretentious and glacially slow. No dialogue, just voice over. I turned it off after 35 minutes. Gorgeously shot, though. I hadn’t heard of Duras, she sounds interesting, but I’m hesitant to watch more.

Involuntary (Ruben Östlund) [Criterion Channel, ugly movie but good picture quality, I guess] - I was excited to watch some early Ostlund as I loved his last two films, but I was so bored and didn’t care about anything happening (and ugly digital cinematography really grates on me). Turned it off after 32 minutes.

Ploy (Pen-ek Ratanaruang) [Kanopy, good picture quality] - Thai New Wave, played in Director’s Fortnight at Cannes. It’s alright. Watchable enough and well crafted (in a formal, staid way), but the drama felt contrived and it’s not all that interesting. This isn’t a criticism of the film, but there’s nothing of cultural interest either as it mostly takes place in a hotel room. 5/10

Paheli (Amol Palekar) [Netflix, decent picture quality] - This is quite delightful, and despite my brainstorming on how the script could have been more impactful, it’s smartly crafted and I rank it highly in 00’s Bollywood and both SRK’s and Rani Mukerji’s filmographies. Rooted in Rajasthani folklore and aesthetics, great cast, beautiful images from Ravi Chandran’s dream run, nice, well integrated music from Keeravani, “only” two hours and 15 minutes. Heavy “they don’t make ‘em like this no more” energy. Based on the same source material as Mani Kaul’s great, artsy Duvidha, I recommend that too, both very different takes on the material and hardly redundant of one another. I haven’t heard of any of the other films directed by Palekar, but I’m keen to check them out. 7/10

Dragon Inn (King Hu) [Criterion Channel, great picture quality] - This 60’s wuxia landmark is a classier joint than the Shaw Brothers films from the next decade that I’m used to. Cinematically it’s outstanding. Compositions, camera movement, editing, music, production design, locations, all excellent work. But the story and characters didn’t really grab me, nor did the fights thrill me, though it certainly had wonderful moments (some of them involving bowls of noodles). I look forward to watching more King Hu, but I have to admit I prefer the silly charms of the dopier kung fu classics, or the more modern sensibilities of the great 90s/00s wuxia films (Tsui Hark’s 1991 remake looks awesome, I’m much less enthused about Hark’s CG heavy 2011 version). [I later watched more Hu and fell in love.] 6/10

Night Moves (Arthur Penn) [Criterion Channel, great picture quality] - I couldn’t decide if this was a really odd movie, or just an accurate depiction of a really odd decade, set in odd places, Los Angeles and Florida. (From Wikipedia, it was indeed a weird decade: “Night Moves was shot in the fall of 1973, but since Melanie Griffith was just 16 at the time her underwater nude scenes were filmed, the movie was not released until 1975.” The age thing is true, but I assume delaying it because of that just isn’t true? Law doesn’t work like this?) It’s a highly entertaining 1970s noir, and it feels very of the decade in a great way that livens up the genre, more character than plot or atmosphere driven (though it has plenty of both), with wonderful performances that make the excellent noir dialogue somehow feel natural. Funnier than I was expecting. I feel like Hackman reached his old age look when he was young and then didn’t age at all for several decades. 8/10

Obsession (Brian De Palma) [Criterion Channel, great picture quality] - I sort of idolize De Palma, but a good half of his movies just leave me like “that was exquisitely crafted, but also empty and it feels like a self parody.” This Vertigo riff was in that camp. It has great moments, for sure (the ending won me over), and it’s not boring, but eh. That said, I feel like there’s an alternate universe where I see this randomly and don’t know who the director is and am wholly absorbed by its dreamy, grandiose, gothic style. Maybe shoulda waited for the big screen for this one. 6/10

Goodbye, Dragon Inn (Tsai Ming-liang) [Kanopy, great picture quality] - Came across this after watching Dragon Inn. When I saw the plot summary, “In Taipei, a movie theater is closing, but not before one final film is shown -- "Dragon Inn," a 1967 actioner and the source of nostalgia for the moviegoers and employees in the old, decrepit and possibly haunted building,” I knew I had to watch it. My hobbies include visiting old, decrepit cinemas across Asia and taking in the romance of them. Unfortunately the Capital-S “Slow Cinema” isn’t for me. But I was fated to at least kind of like this, and I did, but I must note it’s boring and nothing happens. It is really beautifully shot, and against my better judgment I may watch more from the filmmaker, though probably not anytime soon. I also appreciated the look at old cinemas being gay cruising spots, something I’d read about but haven’t had the courage to personally investigate. I would watch an Indian remake of this. If the Maratha Mandir ever closes someone’s gotta make Alvida, DDLJ. 5/10

Asoka (Santosh Sivan) [Netflix, so-so picture quality] - This was pretty terrible but I stupidly felt compelled to finish it, partly because I fantasize about making movies set in ancient India. I found it surprisingly cheap and hokey (part of this was the boosted brightness and colors on Netflix, while the trailer on Youtube looks much better with its natural film look), though Sivan has nice visual flourishes here and there. Bad soap opera melodrama, middling action, middling everything at best. I’m an SRK fan but he’s bad here. I’m not a Kareena fan but her feral sexual energy kinda won me over. MVP is Anu Malik, who gives a good set of songs (and I dug the wild dancing and editing of the first song with Kareena bathing at the waterfall). International critics shockingly gave this good reviews. I wish I could see it through the same naive exoticism lens, but I’m not sure that would have helped much. 3/10

Fun Bar Karaoke (Pen-Ek Ratanaruang) [Some free ad based app, poor picture quality] [How do people watch with these ad based apps? Having ads interrupt the movie is so dehumanizing. Do they have no self respect?] - Ratanaruang’s ‘97 debut, not as well known as his later works, but randomly on streaming while his acclaimed ‘00s output largely isn’t. I only watched 30 minutes and gave up. Too much of a self-consciously cool post-Tarantino crime flick, and I wasn’t into it at all. Maybe I’ll revisit one day if I end up becoming a Ratanaruang fan (sadly not going well so far), and hopefully there’s a better print to watch then. 

No Smoking (Anurag Kashyap) [Apple/Eros Now, very good picture quality] - Kashyap’s filmmaking is really on point (with a great team of collaborators, notably Rajeev Ravi), and this stands out among ‘00s Hindi films, perhaps the most innovative and experimental mainstream film of the decade. But it’s not engaging at all, and I found it irritating in how cool and clever it strains to be. I turned it off after 45 minutes. I wanted to finish it for Kashyap completist purposes but I was so bored it was a struggle to continue paying attention, despite all of the strong craft on display. 

A Touch of Zen (King Hu) [Criterion Channel, solid if inconsistent picture quality] - This had everything I loved about Dragon Inn but upped the ante with a better story, more beautiful visuals, and a more artistic, dreamy vibe. Also, Buddhism. I loved it! It’s about a low ambition scholar and artist devoted to his pursuits and resistant to his nagging mother’s comments that he should get a better job to make more money, so I related to this more than I do most wuxia films. But my love of the first half of the film didn’t sustain for the duration of the three hour runtime, which didn’t feel totally necessary. The latter, action oriented portions were less narratively engaging, though there was an exciting and unexpected climax. Looking forward to more King Hu! 8/10

Good essay from David Bordwell: https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/4141-a-touch-of-zen-prowling-scheming-flying

Kanchana Sita (G. Aravindan) [Youtube, Potato Eaters Collective channel, so-so picture quality, see note below] - This is based on the Uttara Kanda. If you don’t know what that is, this is not the movie for you. Even if you’re reasonably familiar with the Ramayana, this is still fairly confusing, with sparse, vague dialogue. I checked Wikipedia every 20 minutes to figure out what exactly I just watched. Anyway, it’s one of the few Indian films set in ancient/mythological times that isn’t total hokum, Aravindan has a great eye (aided by his regular cinematographer Shaji Karun, who went on to become an acclaimed director), and it’s under 90 minutes. Most people will be bored, but I liked the vibe and found it worthwhile on some cultural level. The cast is made up of tribals who claim to descend from lord Rama. 6/10

[I did a Malayalam parallel cinema marathon mostly with films on the Potato Eaters Collective youtube channel. They use the NFAI prints (annoyingly watermarked at times), as do some other scattered Youtube accounts. I’m not sure of the legality of this. They’re a mixed bag. Some shots look great, some look terrible (especially dark shots), mostly it’s okay to pretty good. Better than most of what’s available for classic Indian cinema, but these films are so visual that they could really benefit from better quality prints/encoding and whatnot. Still, they capture the beauty of the films quite well (“not wholly or in full measure, but very substantially”… good enough!), and the chance of better prints becoming available in the next several years seems fairly low, so give these a go if you want to watch the films. The channel also has NFAI prints of Kummatty and Thampu, but those got recent high quality restorations, so I’m holding off on watching until the restorations become available. The restoration of Thampu is available in the UK on Blu-ray, and Kummatty has a January 2026 Criterion Blu-ray release.]

Pokkuveyil (G. Aravindan) [Youtube, Potato Eaters Collective, so-so picture quality] - This is beautifully shot and evocatively set to classical music (Chaurasia on the flute!) but the narrative minimalism isn’t my thing and this doesn’t have Kanchana Sita’s weird exoticism to make up for the lack of things happening. I didn’t get to know the characters enough to care about them. It’s an hour and 50 minutes but the script would probably take ten minutes to read. My favorite parts were the shots of architecture. I think I would have liked this better going into it as a classical music piece with accompanying images rather than expecting a somewhat typical film. From wikipedia: “Aravindan recorded its audio first as a composition for the flute by Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia and the sarod by Rajeev Taranath. The visuals were 'composed' according to musical notations without any script.” 5/10

Chidambaram (G. Aravindan) [Youtube, Potato Eaters Collective, so-so picture quality] - This is a low key, slow paced, understated drama by most metrics. But compared to the earlier G. Aravindan films I watched, it’s like a Fast and Furious movie. This was, somewhat surprisingly, a hit. I really liked it. A bit too slow and subtle for my tastes, but it has everything I liked about the earlier films with the benefit of an actual story to follow and characters to engage with. 7/10

Here’s the short story it is based on (translated): https://ministhysnair.wordpress.com/2022/09/18/chidambaram-translation-from-malayalam/

Amma Ariyan (John Abraham) [Youtube, Potato Eaters Collective, poor picture quality] - I thought I would be bored by Abraham’s films, so I decided to start with his final (and I believe most beloved) film rather than go chronologically (all four of his films are on PEC). I was indeed bored, and like a lot of political films it put politics over character and story, but I admired the indie filmmaking verve and felt it had some documentary value. It didn’t compel me to watch more from Abraham anytime soon, but I’ll give them a shot some day if they get restorations and/or I’m doing a deeper dive into the cinema of Kerala. 4/10

Good writeup from Uday Bhatia: https://lifestyle.livemint.com/how-to-lounge/movies-tv/why-you-should-watch-leftist-classic-amma-ariyan-111601493001082.html

Anantaran (Adoor Gopalakrishnan) [Youtube, Cinema Limitless, okay picture quality, a few months after watching this it showed up looking much better on the Criterion Channel, damn] - Given the other Malayalam films I just watched and the description on Wikipedia which makes it sound like a depressing experimental film, I found this to be surprisingly conventionally entertaining, a clever and funny coming of age film, at least for its first half. The direction it went in the second half didn’t work for me, but overall it made me think that Gopalakrishnan is probably set to be my favorite of the iconic Malayalam arthouse filmmakers. Looking forward to more of his films, but even more excited to watch more from the exquisitely lovely Shobana. 6/10

Esthappan (G. Aravindan) [Youtube, The Movie Data, poor picture quality] - This had an offbeat sense of humor which I can’t say about the other Aravindan films I watched. But I was mostly bored and didn’t get it. I regretted watching the poor print. 4/10

Mathilukal (Adoor Gopalakrishnan) [Youtube, Cinema Limitless, pretty decent picture quality] - This played in competition at Venice. I wasn’t excited for it as it’s a prison drama, a genre that doesn’t interest me much, but it’s surprisingly lighthearted and cheerful. Though it never really grabbed me, it’s a well made film and a solid watch. I’d like to learn more about Vaikom Muhammad Basheer, the writer (portrayed by a wonderful Mammootty) whose semi-autobiographical book this is based on. 6/10

Vidheyan (Adoor Gopalakrishnan) [Youtube, Potato Eaters Collective, pretty decent picture quality] - The best of Adoor’s films that I watched, and perhaps the best of this Malayalam movie marathon (I’m torn between this and Chidambaram). An unflinching and disturbing look at feudal India. How did people live like this? How much of India lived like this? If someone described the film to me, I’d think it just sounded depressing and boring, but it is a very compelling watch. (And Mammootty is excellent, as is everyone.) 8/10

The Parallax View (Alan Pakula) [Criterion Channel, great picture quality] - This was sillier than I expected. This is not a bad thing, it’s a very fun movie! The absurd material could have made for a hokey thriller, but the direction is at once grounded and stylish, and we get the best of both worlds. It’s stunningly shot by Gordon Willis, and Beatty and his hair are a delight. At one point he… paid for his plane ticket on the flight, in midair, with cash?! 7/10

Pakeezah (Kamal Amrohi) [Apple, okay picture quality, there’s a new restoration in the works so maybe wait for that] - If you’re of a certain predilection, this might be the best movie ever. (I definitely liked it more as a result of spending time in Lucknow earlier in the year and reading a lot about the culture of tawaifs.) The soundtrack is perhaps the greatest of all time. The melodrama is quite solid and entertaining, at least for the first half. It dragged and got wackier as it went on. But it’s in the songs that the film is at its best. Though the direction is broad, I appreciated the small details that brought the movie to life: gestures, eye movements, and background actors and dancers in the epic bazaar song sequence. I think this is the first of the classic “Muslim Socials” that I’ve seen, and I want to watch more, though this is probably the best one and if I had any sense I’d quit while I’m ahead. 8/10 

Fascinating production: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Production_of_Pakeezah

Indian (Shankar) [Netflix, decently good picture quality] - I wanted to do a deep dive into classic Kamal Haasan films but this was basically the only thing streaming in decent quality, which is sad. It has its moments of inspired craziness (I particularly liked the final action scene), and the story went in a surprisingly interesting direction, and maybe at 90 minutes this would be pretty fun, but at three hours it’s barely watchable and mostly annoying. The songs are fine but didn’t stand out. I’ve always wanted to catch up on 90s Shankar but I’m not sure I should bother further. 4/10

Devdas (Sanjay Leela Bhansali) [Apple/Eros Now, pretty good picture quality] - Large portions of the movie are a masterpiece of aesthetics. Large portions are also pretty terrible melodrama. Does it matter? Real connoisseurs of The Cinema will be able to reconcile the two, though it is a challenge to sustain the enthusiasm for three hours, even with such beautiful images, music, and women. If this were one of my first Indian movies it would have blown my mind. I think the ideal way to watch this would be to first see an earlier version of the story (I will do Bimal Roy’s next) (or read it) and then treat this as an opera interpretation, and if you don’t speak Hindi I would recommend not even turning subtitles on. 6/10

Joi Baba Felunath (Satyajit Ray) [Criterion Channel, decent picture quality] - I watched this a decade ago, before going to India and without knowing what Feluda was or that this was the second film in the series. Since seeing the first film Sonar Kella (10/10!) and reading some of the stories (they’re alright, for kids really, the two films Ray made himself are much better) in recent years, I thought I owed this a rewatch. It didn’t wow me as much as the first film (which I saw at a film fest, but it’s oddly not widely available on streaming, the best version I found is on the “Satyajit Ray Archives” youtube page). It’s smaller and cheaper feeling (perhaps a nice restoration would change that), and slower paced. And yet, it’s a wonderful entertainment! Clever, funny, and full of delightful characters and great locations, with a few great scenes, and I don’t think anybody has rooted the detective genre into Indian culture (at least on film) as well as Ray has. These are some of my favorite mystery films. I’m not a big franchise guy but I would gladly have watched a dozen of these, though I’m certainly glad Ray did other things with his time. 8/10

One Battle After Another (Paul Thomas Anderson) [70MM!!!!] - Funniest movie of the year, except for the parts that try too hard to be funny. I really loved 95% of this, but those cringingly unfunny parts were bad and I don’t know why they exist. I have a few other issues but the film is so uniquely thrilling that it’s easy to forgive. Early in the film I thought “I guess what’s fun about PTA is that I don’t know what a PTA movie is beyond being singular and exceptionally well crafted and having offbeat soundtracks,” but by the halfway point I was like “this actually feels like a PTA movie somehow.” He and Leo are a great combo. This is the first time I’ve loved Penn. The Andersons and Benicio are killing it this year. 9/10

Homebound (Neeraj Ghaywan) - I’m bummed that I didn’t care much for India’s biggest critical and festival success of the year (it played in the Un Certain Regard section at Cannes and is currently on the Oscar shortlist), and I liked Ghaywan’s debut Masaan a lot more. It’s not bad, but it never came alive for me. A lot of the dialogue felt forced, scenes were too rushed, I didn’t get to know the characters well enough, the background music was too obvious. Scorsese is a producer and I read about how he contributed to the editing process, making suggestions to make the film tighter and more focused, but I honestly think that did damage to the film, which needed to breathe more. 5/10

Kantara: Chapter 1 (Rishab Shetty) - I haven’t seen the original Kantara but this is standalone. This is the loudest movie I’ve ever seen, and an hour later my ears still hurt. It’s likely more the theater’s fault than the film’s (though many others have also reported ear splitting volumes), and my fault for not asking the staff to lower it, but it doesn’t help that there’s a constant barrage of loud music and sound effects. That and the relentless editing really put me off from what could have been a fun folkloric Pirates of Coastal Karnataka sort of movie. There’s potential here, with some strong visuals and fun story elements, and it’s certainly more ambitious and lovingly crafted than your typical Indian blockbuster, but I really just found the film exhausting. I was excited to watch the first Kantara one day, having heard so many good things about it, but now I’m not sure I should bother. 4/10

The Smashing Machine (Benny Safdie) - Worthwhile though frustrating and unsatisfying. It has a lot of great work in it (the performances and period details stand out), and I thought it started quite strong, but it suffers from a lack of focus and an overemphasis on vibes as it goes on. Safdie and the cast provide some great intimate moments, but it’s an oddly distancing film, and I wanted to be let in on the characters more. Still, it’s great to see Johnson in a role like this, and it has a sweet heart. Set partly in Phoenix (though shot in New Mexico). 6/10

Roofman (Derek Cianfrance) - A surprisingly mainstream movie from Cianfrance, given his more arthouse early work (back in the day I really liked Blue Valentine and hated the pretentious, overly serious Place Beyond the Pines). It’s a very entertaining movie! And a surprising one, if you go in clean as I did. Generally lighthearted and charming, despite the serious subject matter, but it changes gears at the right moments and has just enough of an indie drama's attention to detail to differentiate it from a more hollywoodish version of the story. 7/10

Good Fortune (Aziz Ansari) - Fairly amusing and entertaining, and I like Aziz and his co-stars, but it’s pretty mediocre. 5/10

After the Hunt (Luca Guadagnino) - Scattered thoughts I had while watching this, in the order that I had them: “Are these Woody Allen credits?” “Is Luca making a movie about Chua and Rubenfeld?” “Is Luca remaking Tar?” “Indian audiences will be confused that the plot hinges on toilet paper.” “This is dumb.” “This is awesome.” “Defund the philosophy departments.” “The critics were wrong about this.” “Abolish the philosophy departments.” “The critics were right about this.” “This is a pretentious soap opera directed like a giallo.” “Luca should make a giallo… oh yeah he did.” “I don’t understand any of these characters.” “Is the music supposed to be funny?” “This would have been so edgy in 2019.” “This is the first time I’ve ever found Julia Roberts attractive and she’s like 60.” “I can’t decide if this is a good script that’s ruined by the direction or a bad script that’s elevated by the direction.” “Is this about Woody Allen?” “What is a movie anyway?” “Part of the fun of Challengers was that I couldn’t decide if it was bad or great at first, but it clearly became great by the second half. This one has me guessing until the end!” “I want Luca to direct my biopic.” Evidently, a great time at the movies. 7/10

Legend of the Mountain (King Hu) [Apple, great picture quality] - Another three hour epic from King Hu, who is becoming one of my favorite filmmakers. It is similar to Touch of Zen in several ways, but that has kung fu while this has sorcery, with the choreography substituted for simple but surprisingly beautiful and evocative special effects (also, magic drums). I’d put it about on par with Zen, which may have had higher highs, stronger characters, and more varied action, though I found this better paced despite the slow moving plot I didn’t really understand. I got the moment by moment gist of it though, and it’s more about the dreamy, witchy, wuxia-esque (more accurately, Zhiguai xiaoshuo) world than the narrative (though you can’t really go wrong with a logline that starts with “A scholar tasked with copying a sutra…”). I guess these are my favorite Buddhist movies, and by extension my favorite movies of any Indian religion? (I’ve now seen the great actor Shih Chun star in three of King Hu’s classics but oddly he isn’t on Wikipedia?) 8/10

Elippathayam (aka The Rat Trap) (Adoor Gopalakrishnan) [Criterion Channel, very good picture quality] - Happy to see Criterion do a series on Adoor Gopalakrishnan. This is maybe Adoor’s most beautifully crafted film (lots of interesting shots of architecture), and it’s my second favorite of his so far. An offbeat portrait of vanishing feudal India that grabbed me despite being slow and understated and taking a minimalist approach to plot and character development. I would have liked maybe 15% more dialogue and narrative happenings, though, and it lost me a bit near the end. 7/10

Nizhalkuthu (aka Shadow Kill) (Adoor Gopalakrishnan) [Criterion Channel, good picture quality] - Not a great double feature with Elippathayam since it isn’t as good, and it also wasn’t great to watch when I was sleep deprived at 1am. I’m not sure if my poor recollection of the film is because it isn’t memorable or because I was barely awake. I liked it, though it’s not the most engaging movie, and I don’t think that’s just because I was tired. Still, it has some lovely work and interesting cultural specificity. Fans of Indian cinema who like quiet movies in beautiful settings should like it well enough. Though it isn’t as artistically crafted as Adoor’s earlier films, there are stunning landscape shots. 6/10

The King of Comedy (Martin Scorsese) [Criterion Channel, good picture quality] - One of the few major Scorsese films I hadn’t seen before, and I’ve long been excited to watch it. I never loved Scorsese’s post-Taxi Driver run with De Niro, which I find to mostly devolve into unpleasant shouting matches. This has more interesting material than those, but also not really. De Niro’s character is one note from the beginning which makes both individual scenes and the film’s trajectory feel on rails. I just don’t find crazy people to be that interesting. I enjoyed a lot of individual elements in the film, and it came alive more in the second half and particularly the climax, but overall it left me cold. Kinda embarrassed that I like the Todd Phillips directed “remake” more… 6/10

Die My Love (Lynne Ramsay) - The only Ramsay film I’ve seen other than We Need to Talk about Kevin, which I loved. I loved the first 15 minutes or so of this too. Fearless performances, stunning photography, unusual cuts, striking musical cues, inspired sound design, wild sex scenes. But then, it’s just more of the same for two hours, with absolutely nothing in the characters to connect with. To repeat myself from above: “I just don’t find crazy people to be that interesting.” 5/10

Now You See Me: Now You Don't (Ruben Fleischer) - I have a soft spot for the first two films in the franchise which, despite being dumb and having too much CG for a magic movie, are shining modern examples of silly Hollywood entertainment. I’m not sure if this is worse than the first two or if I’m just harder to please now (it’s been nine years since I watched one of these). I learn towards the former but maybe it’s a bit of both. I had a good enough time, I suppose, but meh. 5/10

The Running Man (Edgar Wright) - The production design and cinematography are great, the performances are good, and overall it’s a solid watch with some pretty good stretches. But like everyone else, I hoped for more from Wright, though it is expectedly lovingly crafted and technically precise. Unfortunately, it’s just so-so material, too rushed while also dragging too much, and never as interesting or fun as it should be. 6/10

Bugonia (Yorgos Lanthimos) - I saw the Korean film this is based on around 15 years ago and found it lame, but I hardly remember it (though I remembered some of the big twists) and I’m a Yorgos fan so I thought I’d see this anyway. I found this lame too, unfortunately. Some of that is inherent to the story (I re-read what I wrote about the original film and a lot of it applies here too, though I do think this version is an improvement), but also, the jokey mannered style works against it. I thought of Weapons and how well that combined the suspense and weirdness with humanity and humor, while the inherent humor here fell flat and the film doesn’t seem to want you to care about any of the characters, so despite its weirdness it’s mostly just a rote suspense movie with forced dialogue that never becomes the battle of wits it should have been. 5/10

Les yeux sans visage (Eyes Without a Face) (Georges Franju) [Criterion Channel, great picture quality] - Classic French gothic melodrama. Not the most riveting story, but the beautiful visuals and eerie, twisted fairy tale vibe give it distinction, and it’s oddly touching. I wouldn’t really call it a horror movie, but there are a few shots that are probably more gruesome than anything I’ve seen from before the 70s? More of a director’s movie than a writer’s movie, but it nonetheless has an impressive writing staff, if you know your French people: Boileau-Narcejac and Claude Sautet. Great music by Maurice Jarre. Hilarious quote on Wikipedia: “To avoid problems with European censors, Borkon cautioned Franju not to include too much blood (which would upset French censors), refrain from showing animals getting tortured (which would upset English censors) and leave out mad-scientist characters (which would upset German censors).” Also: “During the film's showing at the 1960 Edinburgh Film Festival, seven audience members fainted, to which director Franju responded, "Now I know why Scotsmen wear skirts.”” 7/10

Wicked (John M. Chu) [both parts, treating it as one film] - I can’t believe I never heard this music before. Some of the best American music of the 21st century? The music along with the sensational lead performers do the heavy lifting. Everything else is a bit of a mixed bag. The more lighthearted, comic first half is a candy colored blast, but the writing isn’t strong enough to do justice to the high melodrama of the second half. And there’s a lot of dumb stuff. But I say it works just well enough to not ruin the highs of the songs, and the lead character drama is quite solid even while everything around it isn’t. One of the few Broadway adaptations I’ve actually liked. Also the green girl is sexy. 8/10

The Big Sleep (Howard Hawks) [Criterion Channel, good picture quality] - I’d read the book many years ago but never got around to watching the movie. My views are hardly unexpected. Confusing plot, deliciously funny dialogue, badass Bogart, surprisingly sexual, and ultimately great noir fun, one of the best. 8/10

Raining in the Mountain (King Hu) [Apple, inconsistent but mostly good picture quality] - I liked this less than Hu’s three hour masterworks Touch of Zen and Legend of the Mountain, which were weirder, while this is a bit more plot driven and less artsy. But it’s still on the artsy end of the kung fu movie spectrum (note that there’s hardly any kung fu, and there are several extended dialogue free stretches). Gorgeously shot, with a plot about temple politics, and this is also very Buddhist. Has its own feel despite many of its charms being repetitive of those other films. I didn’t like that the protagonist of Hu’s other movies was a bad guy here, that made me sad. 7/10

Love Unto Waste (Stanley Kwan) [Criterion Channel, decent picture quality] - Both narratively and stylistically dull (other than the cool shots in the opening credits, plus location photography in Hong Kong). I didn’t find any of the characters interesting. Watchable, but I turned it off after 30 minutes.

Cute Girl (Hou Hsiao-hsien) [Criterion Channel, decent picture quality] - I’ve only seen one film by Hou Hsiao-hsien, the gorgeously shot but quite boring Millennium Mambo. Given his artsy credentials, I’m surprised his debut is a cutesy mainstream rom-com. It was kinda cute, but too middling for me to bother watching after 30 minutes. I’m going to skip the rest of his very early work for now.

Shanghai Blues (Tsui Hark) [Criterion Channel, nice new print but I found it too clean?] - Really wacky classic Hong Kong comedy. A lot of the humor was too dumb for me, but I liked the relentless pace of the jokes, the elaborate setups, the split second timing, the post WW2 setting, and the sweet, romantic heart of it. 6/10

Last Hurrah For Chivalry (John Woo) [Criterion Channel, solid picture quality] - Woo’s early wuxia (sadly he never made another after becoming The Woo). Pretty good, if you like these things, but I’m more of a King Hu guy than a Chang Cheh guy (if you don’t know what that means, don’t bother). Not a shining example of the genre, but a solid one. Story is alright. Some pretty cool stuff in the fights. I liked the sleep fighting scene. Woo brings a romanticism to it, and I was into the prettily shot scenes of the courtesan playing the zither or whatever, but there’s also a lot of kinda middling humor which keeps the film lighthearted but makes it less cohesive. The background score also jumps genres, I wonder whose idea that was. I liked the film’s emotional messaging, which related to the title and felt very Woo, and you can see some of the building blocks of his future style and themes here. I also liked the bustling market scenes, which I don’t recall many old wuxia films having (though my main wuxia phase was like 15 years ago). 6/10

Sentimental Value (Joachim Trier) - I thought this was a well made and mostly pretty entertaining drama. But I was honestly surprised to see rave reviews afterwards where everybody talked about how it wrecked them. I don’t know. Maybe I’m not interested enough in families, and I wouldn’t say the characters really grabbed me. Pretty good, though. The only other film I’ve seen from this Trier is Thelma which I remember really liking, and I hope to see more. 6/10 

The Boys from Fengkuei (Hou Hsiao-hsien) [Criterion Channel, decent picture quality] - Apparently a landmark Taiwan New Cinema film, and the first “serious” film from the director, as well as one of the first screenplays from Chu Tʽien-wen. I thought the film was fairly dull, and despite interesting material on paper I didn’t get to know the characters well enough to care. It looks great, though, and it has documentary value as a portrait of Taiwan in the 80s, both small town (in the Penghu islands) and big city (Kaohsiung). 5/10

Rouge (Stanley Kwan) [Criterion Channel, great picture quality] - Beautifully shot romantic melodrama set in Hong Kong with courtesans, opium, ghosts, exquisite period detail, opera, virgin breast sweat tea, etc. A bit slow at times and it could have been more dramatically involving, but it’s still quite wonderful. Above all else, it’s a loving ode to old world Hong Kong. There’s an irony to it, because it’s basically about how romantic and glamorous the 1930s were compared to the cold sterility of 1980s urban life, but obviously 1980s Hong Kong was also glamorous and romantic and it’s the modern world that’s cold and sterile. 7/10

Taipei Story (Edward Yang) [Criterion Channel, great picture quality] - Another Taiwan New Cinema landmark, and the first from Yang that I’ve seen. Hou Hsiao-hsien stars, and he and Yang co-wrote with Chu Tʽien-wen. The craft is excellent, particularly the cinematography, and I like it more than any of Hou’s films that I’ve seen so far. But eh. It’s so slow. The characters don’t talk enough. Quiet movies don’t feel realistic to me, and I don’t like quiet people in real life either. I appreciate being able to observe life in Taipei in the 80s, but it would be better if I cared about what was happening on screen. 5/10

The Trial (Orson Welles) [Criterion Channel, great picture quality] - This was the only non-Shakespeare Welles film I hadn’t seen yet. It’s among the most visually dazzling movies I’ve ever seen, but the film is pretty taxing to watch. A brilliantly crafted surrealist nightmare that didn’t hold my interest for a single scene. But numerous shots were so great they made me laugh out loud. Oh, Welles. I haven’t read Kafka, I can’t say how it compares. I would have liked it better as a silent movie, or an unsubtitled foreign film, though Perkins is wonderful, and it made me want to watch more from him (I think I’ve only seen him in Psycho?) (fact check: I’ve also seen him in a bad TV movie my screenwriting professor wrote). It made me wish Welles cranked out a bunch of noirs instead of his pretentious late period work. Oh wells. 5/10

No Other Choice (Park Chan-wook) - I… was not expecting this to be so silly. It’s a good time at the movies but I didn’t love it as much as I had hoped. The film is consistently engaging, and Park has all sorts of cinematic tricks up his sleeve, but the broad comedy kept me distant from the characters. I embraced what it had to offer, it just never hit that magical tonal sweet spot of a perfectly pitched dark comedy. 7/10

Dhurandhar (Aditya Dhar) - Actually the best new release Indian film I saw in 2025, which is pretty sad. I liked it, but it’s a mixed bag. There’s a pretty solid, fun, well detailed undercover underworld thriller in here. I found many stretches to be surprisingly good, and it has a strong cast. It’s just undercut by… a lot of not good stuff, much of it typical for Indian movies these days. Way too long (and the longest credits I’ve ever sat through, which was a surreal and regrettable experience, I wondered if there was some weird contractual reason to stretch the movie out to 3.5 hours or something?), too much action, tries too hard to be cool, feels like it needs a few more weeks in post (which I’m fairly forgiving about), too much music, too much silliness, etc. It’s getting criticized for being a propaganda film, and I think the criticisms are both valid and overstated. It’s mildly problematic, but honestly nothing is more offensive than the fact that this is a 3.5 hour part one. The “propaganda” fails the movie on a dramatic level. The film needed to slow down and focus on the characters more rather than spending its time whipping us up emotionally about Pakistan and the failings of the Congress party. We’ll see how part two goes (which I’m down for), but I kept fantasizing about all of the things I’d cut out and change to make this a more effective movie. 6/10 

Green for Danger (Sidney Gilliat) [Criterion Channel, great picture quality] - A very entertaining British murder mystery, set in a hospital during WWII. I hadn’t heard of it, but Rian Johnson cited it as a favorite of the genre. I liked that it functioned as a light, funny melodrama, with an added layer of suspense. Well directed, great performances, witty dialogue, offbeat setting, and only 90 minutes. Good old school craftsmanship all around. 7/10

Scarface (Howard Hawks) [Criterion Channel, good picture quality] - I found this very dull and turned it off after 30 minutes. Should I give it another shot? Maybe old Hollywood gangster movies just aren’t for me. There were some cool shots. I don’t want to out myself as a cinematic philistine but early 30s sound movies feel like they’re from the stone ages, it wasn’t until the mid-late 30s that things got good.

To Be or Not to Be (Ernst Lubitsch) [Criterion Channel, good picture quality] - Embarrassingly my first Lubitsch film. Delightfully funny (I’m still giggling at some stuff writing this the next day) and surprisingly suspenseful. I didn’t know there were comedies about Nazis in 1942! Definitely excited for more Lubitsch. 8/10

I See a Dark Stranger (Frank Launder) [Criterion Channel, decent picture quality] - This comic, romantic WWII espionage film (British, though much of it is set in Ireland) comes from the same creative team as Green for Danger (Launder and Gilliat had previously written The Lady Vanishes before starting their own production company). It’s very entertaining and charming for the first hour and change, though it wears itself thin by the end. Worthwhile if you like this sort of thing, though. I liked Deborah Kerr’s performance as an Irish girl who hates the English. Has some great train scenes. 6/10

Twentieth Century (Howard Hawks) [Criterion Channel, good picture quality] - I’m striking out with these early Hawks films. The leads, Carole Lombard (who I just watched in To Be or Not to Be) and John Barrymore (who I don’t think I’ve seen before), are terrific, but that’s really the only good thing I have to say about this. Apparently it’s the prototypical screwball comedy but I didn’t laugh once. I was looking forward to it as it is set on a train, one of my favorite cinematic settings, and the only reason I didn’t turn it off by the 30 minute mark is because they hadn’t yet gotten on the train. By the time they did get to the train, I thought I might as well wait it out until the end, though I regret bothering. I’m surprised this is so beloved. 3/10

Drunken Angel (Akira Kurosawa) [Criterion Channel, okay picture quality] - I’ve only seen Kurosawa’s samurai movies and have been bored by them, but I’ve wanted to see his contemporary set films. This early work is not as highly regarded as what came later, but it shows promise and gives a look at the lives of the poor in post-war Japan. But I was bored and turned it off after 30 minutes. For completists only, will rewatch if I become one.

Bringing up Baby (Howard Hawks) [Criterion Channel, good picture quality] - I liked this less than most people, but it’s still a delightfully silly good time. 6/10

Pygmalion (Anthony Asquith & Leslie Howard) [Criterion Channel, decent picture quality] - I thought this was a pretty fun British social satire, but as it went on it became a not very convincing drama. As a standalone film in a vacuum, I probably wouldn’t recommend it, but I now feel more cultured and know who George Bernard Shaw is, so it’s an entertaining bit of homework. I guess I’ll watch My Fair Lady soon. I fantasized about a Hindi remake, with a scene about the proper ladylike way to chew paan. (There is the Basu Chatterjee film Man Pasand, maybe I’ll watch that one day.) I was confused during one scene where they mentioned “the B word” but it was cleared up when I read the Wikipedia page: “He and his fellow writers also managed to retain the controversial line "Not bloody likely!" from the play's text, making Hiller possibly the first person to utter that swear word in a British film[3] and giving rise to adverts for the film reading "Miss Pygmalion? Not ****** likely!"” Another sign the film comes from a different world: it was nominated for the Mussolini Cup at the Venice Film Festival. Also, edited by David Lean. 6/10

History Is Made at Night (Frank Borzage) [Criterion Channel, good picture quality] - I hadn’t heard of this until I found it randomly on Criterion. Hilariously kooky melodrama. Could be a camp classic, and I’d love to program it at a film festival. But it’s good! I was glued to the screen. Genuinely romantic and funny and thrilling, while also being ridiculous. One of my favorite food movies, too? 7/10

The Palm Beach Story (Preston Sturges) [Criterion Channel, good picture quality] - My first Sturges, I think. Sadly it wasn’t very good. It’s a light, breezy watch, and it has a very solid rom-com setup and structure, it’s just never very funny, despite a handful of good bits, and even the train stuff was meh. 4/10

Le Roman d'un tricheur (aka The Story of a Cheat) (Sacha Guitry) [Criterion Channel, decent picture quality] - Total French confection of a movie. Super French. Maybe the most French movie I’ve ever seen, but effortlessly so. I hadn’t heard of Guitry but he was once a big star. Every article about this movie says it inspired Orson Welles but I’ve been unable to confirm that. Still, it’s not hard to see the connection, and it also feels like the prototypical French New Wave film. Maybe the most cinematically playful film I’ve seen from the 1930s, and somewhere in between a silent and sound film, driven primarily by images and narration, with no actual dialogue for much of it, and a lot of gags in the visuals, editing, and the interplay of the image and voiceover. Very fun and charming, looking forward to more from Guitry. 7/10

Cairo Station (Youssef Chahine) [Criterion Channel, good picture quality] - My first film by Chahine (and possibly the first Egyptian film I’ve seen, and among the few Arabic films), who I thought would be like “the Satyajit Ray of Egypt,” but despite the neorealist influence, this was more melodramatic and wild than Ray’s more restrained style. Set in Cairo’s train station, as great of a setting you can get, it gives us a glimpse at every portion of society and utilizes pretty much every genre possible, with great visuals and a solid story at its core. And a surprisingly open depiction of sexuality. An interesting portrait of 50s Cairo, and throughout the film I thought a) “could this be made today?” and b) “did people in Cairo really walk/talk/act/dress like that back then, and could they today?” This would transplant well as an Indian movie, and there are plenty of cultural and aesthetic parallels, though it’s hard to imagine a midcentury Indian film anything like this for various reasons, with the 77 minute runtime being perhaps the biggest constraint. Looking forward to more Chahine. 7/10

Désiré (Sacha Guitry) [Criterion Channel, good picture quality] - This Guitry film is a complete 180 from Story of a Cheat. That was an adaptation of his sole novel and was told primarily through narration and images, while this is an adaptation of one of his plays and is mostly talking. It’s decent. The most sexually frank film I’ve seen from the 1930s. French charm. Strong performances, more natural than the Hollywood films of the time (unlike Cheat, this is a performance showcase for Guitry… overly so). The occasional great shot to liven up the nonstop dialogue. It’s just not funny or compelling enough to sustain its 98 minute runtime, though I thought the first half was pretty fun. Worthwhile as an entry in Guitry’s oeuvre and as a 1930s French sex comedy, I suppose, but not something to recommend more broadly. 5/10

Stray Dog (Akira Kurosawa) [Criterion Channel, so-so picture quality] - Early Kurosawa noir. It’s okay. For die-hards only. A lot of it is a slow and overly generic procedural. But there are many artistic flourishes that elevate it, and a number of great dialogue-free stretches, which is when the movie most came alive for me. Hot, sweaty post-war Tokyo is the real star, and we get a good tour of it (some of it second unit directed by Ishirō Honda, who made Godzilla a few years later!). 5/10 

His Girl Friday (Howard Hawks) [Criterion Channel, great picture quality] - Definitely a great movie, brilliantly written and directed and acted, and it is a good time and quite funny, but the relentless pace and the cynicism make it hard to connect with. This and Bringing Up Baby often get mentioned together though they are radically different. This is the superior work, which was evident early on, but I enjoyed the lighthearted charms of that more. 6/10

Only Angels Have Wings (Howard Hawks) [Criterion Channel, great picture quality] - A great old Hollywood romantic adventure drama centered around expats in an exotic South American locale. Surprisingly intense flying scenes. An interesting double feature with His Girl Friday (Hawks made this the year before), they feel thematically connected, though this has more humanity. If Tom Cruise were to remake any classic Hollywood sound film it would probably be this. 7/10

Ball of Fire (Howard Hawks) [Criterion Channel, okay picture quality] - I was excited when I saw this was written by Billy Wilder. Unfortunately it let me down. It’s cleverly plotted and has its moments, but I found much of the humor to be one note and obvious. I kept thinking this could be remade into a good Woody Allen or Coen Brothers movie. 5/10

Lady of the Train (Youssef Chahine) [Criterion Channel, so-so picture quality] - This is Chahine’s fourth film (according to wikipedia), and it’s his second available on Criterion. (I tried watching his debut, Baba Amin, which was also on the channel, but I had a hard time keeping up with the subtitles. They were fast paced, not great quality, and were overlaid on top of French subtitles burned onto the print which threw me off a bit.) Quality wise we’re a long way from the great Cairo Station, which was more artistically crafted, while this is more of a crude melodrama. But, I’m happy to watch a 50s Egyptian melodrama! It’s cheesy and absurd and a bit slow, but I had fun. (Though despite the title, there’s disappointingly only like five minutes of train scenes.) Feels a lot like an old Indian movie, but with a different vibe, and has the pleasures and pitfalls of Indian films from the era, except this is a whole hour shorter than most of those while still somehow packing in a handful of songs (including one about the glories of industrial textile manufacturing). The plot goes in consistently surprising directions. I liked the scene where a portrait on the wall was censored by what I imagine involved somebody physically scratching it out frame by frame (wikipedia says this came out in 1953, so my guess is it was filmed before the 1952 revolution and the portrait was of the deposed king). There’s only one actress in the film whom I found attractive and the other characters made fun of her for being ugly. 7/10

The Blazing Sun (Youssef Chahine) (the Arabic title translates to Struggle in the Valley) [Criterion Channel, picture quality alternates from great to poor, mostly good though] - Chahine’s sixth film (according to Wikipedia), and the third on Criterion. This was only one year after Lady of the Train but the craft is light years ahead. It feels like a classic Indian masala film (complete with an extended wedding musical sequence), but an unusually well crafted and relatively short one, with a neorealist influence. Great location photography, full of excellent compositions. Wonderful score with middle eastern instruments. He still grew a lot as a filmmaker between this and Cairo Station, but this has a more straightforward, conventionally compelling story. It’s little known compared to his later work, but it did play in competition at Cannes and was apparently a big hit in the Soviet Union. Also, it’s Omar Sharif’s debut. 8/10

Les Perles de la couronne (aka The Pearls of the Crown) (Sacha Guitry) [Criterion Channel, decent picture quality] - A centuries-and-countries-spanning comic “biopic” of the pearls in the crown of England (if any 1930s French film could be adapted into a great Indian movie, it’s this!). Like all of Guitry’s films so far, I loved the early portions but it dragged as it went on. And at first, Guitry is just so amusingly French that I giggled uncontrollably, but that wears off quickly and he’s kind of annoying. But overall, a fun and unique watch. Has the cinematic playfulness of his debut mixed with the talkiness of Désiré. I will continue on the Guitry journey. 6/10

Dave Chappelle: The Unstoppable (Netflix) - Hardest I laughed in 2025, though it’s also the only comedy special I watched, and probably the only one I watched since his last special. My feeling about his last 3-4 specials is that he’s probably the funniest person alive (but I hardly watch any other comedy so what do I know), but he also became excessively twitter brained and too focused on riffing on the current cultural conversation and pushing people’s buttons rather than going in weird idiosyncratic directions which made his earlier Netflix specials so great with their elaborately constructed shaggy dog stories. He’s still pushing buttons, and some of this will undoubtedly offend, but it felt like a return to form, more personal and focused than the past few outings. Also, it helps that the current event he’s riffing on is… P. Diddy. 8/10

Marty Supreme (Josh Safdie) - Period piece Uncut Gems, a ridiculously entertaining high wire act (the two films are like Jewish indie drama Mission Impossible movies). There are perhaps a few too many directorial indulgences, and it’s oversoundtracked, and I did find parts of its mid-section a bit over the top and the protagonist was 10% too much of a royal schmuck, but I couldn’t help but love him and the movie. 8/10

Avatar: Fire and Ash (James Cameron) [I first saw this in HFR 3D at a Dolby Cinema, the best setup imaginable, and walked out after 20 minutes. I dislike 3D in general and the HFR looked awful and the non HFR parts were weirdly choppy, AND it gave me a headache! I then snuck into a 2D showtime to see how it looked, but that was also HFR and looked terrible. I called a few theaters and found a 2D 24fps showing on a great screen, and lo and behold it looked so much better… though I admit there was something missing in 2D. I think if it were designed for 2D there’d be more depth and texture to the image. Still looked way better than most blockbusters though.] - A solid entertainment, but disappointing. It perks up and is quite thrilling whenever it goes in new, interesting directions, which describes maybe one-third of the film. Much of it is just a retread, though, both narratively and visually. I cared little about the plot threads that were a continuation of the last film, nor did I care much about the characters, several of whom annoyed me. It expects us to remember way too much of the previous installment while also being way too similar. Issues and redundancies aside, I liked the further exploration of this goofy and beautiful world enough that I’m still on board for the next two, that is assuming I find a theater showing them in glorious 24fps 2D. Seriously, what the hell is Cameron thinking with his high framerate nonsense? I can think of nothing more baffling. 6/10