2026

• The Night of the Hunter Charles Laughton
• John Wick Was this movie written by a 13yo boy? Did the fight scenes contain shots longer than 4 frames? Yes.
• The History of Concrete John Wilson
• Moneyball Bennett Miller Still a perfect film
• Breathless Jean-Luc Godard
• Nouvelle Vague Richard Linklater
• Beyond the Valley of the Dolls Russ Meyer
• The Shawshank Redemption Frank Darabont
• Operation Avalanche (2016) Matt Johnson
• Romeria Carla Simón
• Three Colours: Red Krzysztof Kieślowski The final instalment of the series (following the colours of the French flag, remember my list is in reverse chronological watch order). I get weird bouts of insomnia, so this trilogy was a great middle of the night watch over the course of a weird week.
• Three Colours: White Krzysztof Kieślowski I enjoyed this one the most despite being the lowest rated of the three (with its pathetic 91% on Rotten tomatoes.) I didn't expect it to completely be a comedy, and a good one. Zbigniew Zamachowski is fantastic as Karol Karol.
• Three Colours: Blue Krzysztof Kieślowski These films are often mentioned and recommended. Been on my list for years and a newsletter by Craig Mod was the final nudge to make it happen. I wish I watched decades earlier.
• The Odyssey Christopher Nolan -
• Backrooms
• Weapons
• 2001: A Space Odyssey Stanley Kubrick A group of us went to catch a 35mm print of this. Was so fun to watch.
• Nirvana The Band The Show The Movie Matthew Johnson this rivals Hot Rod as the best film ever made.
• Project Hail Mary Phil Lord and Christopher Miller A great movie. Even if it's not for me. My 12yo son read the book, his first really big non-youth-focussed novel, and loved it. And then the movie adaptation comes out and he gets to see it in the theatre, laughing at the jokes, eating Nerds. A core memory that he doesn’t even realize yet. I’m living it vicariously. This is why it's a great movie.
• How to Shoot a ghost
• Blackberry Matt Johnson Rewatch.
• Fargo The Coen Brothers We went to see a 35mm projection of this film. An old one. Felt like going to the movies as a kid. An amazing experience too to be in a theatre of, obviously, fans of the film, laughing at all the right parts. Was the best moviegoing experience i can remember.
• Frankenstein (2025) Guillermo del Toro
• Godzilla Minus One Takashi Yamazaki
• Sinners Ryan Coogler That dance scene. Holy smokes.
• Hamnet Chloé Zhao
• The Bourne Supremacy Paul Greengrass Another movie night with the boy. This one didn’t have the athleticism of the Bourne Identity. And although I don’t mind Paul Greengrass, the shakey cam was just a bit much. Ironically this one felt lower energy than the first.
• The Ballad of Buster Scruggs Joel Coen, Ethan Coen Movie night with Oscar. I worry these are too violent, but the comedy adds a gloss. These are such fun and dark, and occasionally heartbreaking vignettes… fables. We identified one which contained a reasonably happy ending.

2025

• National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation - It’s pretty reliable.
• It’s a Wonderful Life
• Blue Moon Richard Linklater Ethan Hawke was incredible. Bought every single moment of his performance. So incredible
• Train Dreams I understand that film moved many viewers. Me, I thought it was just ok. I don't say this as a way of implying I'm above it or something silly. It seems like a weird example of how some things deeply affect one person and not another. It was adventurously shot, but I don’t get the shutter angle choice. Especially made some of the dramatic moments soapy Macy was fantastic.
• 25-12-07 Sunshine
• 25-11-29 Planes, Trains and Automobiles This is the first time i’ve seen this. I wasn’t allowed to watch this when i was younger, probably because of the airport counter scene. I let my kids watch it.
• 25-11-03 Deliver Me from Nowhere Took my 12yo - Played at our small town theatre. I try to support them any time they’re playing a remotely interesting film. Movie overall was ok, but as a middle aged creative, some moments hit me really hard. I love films that simply show the boring creative process and how important it is to any art. Most films about The Process might show a bit eureka moment and suddenly the idea is fully formed. I really felt the time he took away to grind through a collection of songs.
• October 26, 2025 Nicholas Nicklby Family Movie Night - This is a surprisingly good film based on Dicken’s classic novel (that i haven’t read!). Usually I’m not too excited by such clear cut good vs evil, but in times when we (maybe just I) feel perpetually harassed by billionaires, this film presents community and developing a personal moral compass as true wealth. Thematically this is darker than I expected, but was fine for my kids (12+). I always struggle to find films that are smart but age-appropriate for thoughtful kids.
• October 16, 2025 Max Roach: The Drummer Also Waltzes A great doc. But his performance of The Man of Double Deed in the middle was incredible.
• 25-10-14 Treasure of the Sierra Madre
• 25-10-06 Magnolia -1999 Paul Thomas Anderson - I have the “shooting script” of this film in book form and realized I have never fully read a feature screenplay. I call myself a “filmmaker”!!! I’m remedying this by reading a scene in the morning and then watching it. Piece by piece.
• 25-10-01 The Bourne Identity (Family Movie Night)
• 25-09-29 One Battle after Another
• 25-09-25 ish An Autumn Afternoon Ozu
• 25-08-03 Meet the Parents (Family movie night)
• 25-06-26 Anchorman (2004) Big kids movie night - This is the movie that made me fall out of love with Will Ferrel. I think it’s the it’s interesting to see my kids not laugh at “the best parts”. I mean, Jack Black kicking a small dog off of an overpass and Ron chugging milk are still funny, but lots of cringe looking back on early 2000s comedies.
• 25-09-18 Butch Cassidy and they Sundance Kid A great film. I mean, the forcing a woman to strip at gunpoint was a bit of a moment to watch with my 11 year old boy, but other than that it’s a lot of fun with a lot of zoom lenses, as there should. “The fall’ll probably kill you!”
• 25-09-17 All the President’s Men (1976) Alan J. Pakula - Great film. First Pakula film.
• 25-08-01 Hot Rod Rewatch with the kids/nephew. Tough crowd.
• 25-07-20 The Penguin Lessons (2024) This played as a part of a family friendly series at our local theatre. The movie was fine, i mean i love Steve Coogan. But definitly a movie I would have watched with my grandma. Not a bad thing. There aren’t a lot of movies clean enough for thoughtful kids.
• 25-06-25 The Birdcage (1996) Mike Nichols - (Big kids movie night) - I had never seen this. I remember seeing the VHS at a cottage we would rent in the summers. Every visit i’d ask if we could watch it. I now know why my religious parents didn't let me see it. I loved it. My kids loved it. And also, things don’t change.
• 25-06-16 Mission: Impossible Ghost Protocol (2011) Brad Bird - My youngest loves the action so this is one of the M:I films I watched with him.
• 25-06-11 Anora (2024) Sean Baker - This was a lot more straightforward of a Cinderella story than I was expecting. I really like Sean’s use of high-low anamorphic/docu-style camera work. I really enjoyed.
• A Real Pain Jesse Eisenberg People are so complicated to coexist with.
• Casino Royale
• 25-06-070 Playtime The film that bankrupted Tati. Such a great, inventive film. This and Mr Hulot’s Vacation are two movies i put on silently in the background at parties. It reminds me of this restuaurant that closed down when i was a kid. Pizza Chief. They played films silently projected up on the wall. That, and they had a little tea light they put under the pizzas to keep them warm. When we were done I’d blow it out and dip my fingers in the wax.
• 25-05-03 Stories we Tell (2012) Sarah Polley - An incredibly inventive documentary. The way the narrative is constructed through voice-over, archival footage, reenactments is wildly compelling.
• 25-05-02 Conclave Watched this with my son, and we both loved it. Makes a dad proud that his 11 year old will watch a slow, relatively action-free movie. Even funnier to hear him reference it to adults. “Have you seen Conclave?”.
• 25-01-09 Nosferatu (2024) -
• 25-04-11 Fargo (Big kids movie night) - I’ve watched this so many times. It is a perfect film.
• 25-03-15 The Way Turned this on just before walking the Camino myself. Oh my. Did not finish.

2024

• 24-12-12 The Holdovers A new holiday tradition. I always enjoy Alexander Payne’s films and this one has a good working layer of nostalgia. They also pulled of the film emulation pretty well.
• 24-11-18 A Serious Man One of my all time favourites that I rewatch whenever i’m feeling down. I don’t fully understand it, but i feel deeply connected to it. Accept the mystery.
• 24-11-18 The King of Comedy An incredible Scorcese film. I can imagine folks expecting something completely different when watching this. Rupert’s fake variety show is seared in my mind.
• 24-10-13 The World’s End I mean, we all love Edgar Wright’s Cornetto trilogy, but this was maybe a bit racy for the little ones.
• 24-08-2 American Fiction -
• 24-07-10 Perfect Days Wim Wenders - My favourite of the year. I just ordered it on UHD BluRay, that’s how much I loved this. Watched with the family, and more recently, having my son ask “when can we watch that toilet cleaner movie again?” is another proud dad moment.
• 24-03-17 Oppenheimer I watched it. Happy?