2021 - NR (but R) - 10/10 - A descent into some version of Hell.

A weird, repulsive, grimy, gritty, oozing, festering, decaying mess of a movie. Filmed over decades with Tippet and an unending descent into madness being the only constants. All done with stop motion and real photography, there is a visceral quality you can’t shake. If I had to make a comparison, I would say this is like the movie version of the Saturn Devouring His Son painting. Possessed, hard to look at, harder to look away. Amazing challenging art. 10/10 BUT if you are not sure this is for you, it isn’t.

1997 - PG-13 - 9/10 - Leo’s Big Boat Adventure.

Let’s get this out of the way: James Cameron knows how to make a big-budget crowd pleaser. It is easy to see why this is one of the biggest movies of all time. The movie is about 3 hours long and the ship hits the iceberg right at halfway through. That gives you two movies: the first half is a competently written and shot movie of a crowd-pleasing love story. The second half is a harrowing spectacle that brings the tragedy and horror of The Titanic to life. If you only know this movie from the memes, fix that!

1985 - PG - 10/10 - One boy’s quest to get his bike back.

Considered a classic by most Millenials, this movie holds up as an ode to the name calling, oversized sliverware, and scary Large Marge moments of childhood. The character of Pee-wee is not an adult but is a 5-year old boy’s idea of the coolest adult: cool bike, can go to the magic shop alone, has a house full of toys and wacky devices… Once you see the movie through those eyes, the story of this rebel loner’s cross-country quest to get his bike back feels like the biggest adventure a kid could imagine.

2019 - R - 10/10 - Eggers’ slow-burn Lovecraftian masterpiece.

In The Lighthouse, Eggers perfected a stunning vision of madness. His second film found him fixing the small pacing, editing, and narrative flaws that divided people on The Witch. The movie is hard to categorize as it is a weird intense character study focusing on two men stranded in a lighthouse until they (or something unseen) drive them insane. It is extremely entertaining to ride along as Dafoe and Pattinson turn in tour-de-force performances becoming increasingly unhinged and detached from reality.

2012-2014 - PG-13-R - 8/10 - An overstuffed Middle-earth dessert.

I know this trilogy has a lot of haters, and I’ll admit it is a bit of an overstuffed mess compared to LotR, but my take has always been that LotR is like watching history play out in realtime where the Hobbit is intentionally more cartoonish and fantastical as it is Bilbo’s retelling of his adventure. Thinking of it this way, I appreciate this trilogy as a complement to, not extension of, the LotR trilogy. I know it has its flaws, and plenty of them, but I also understand why they chanced giving us too much instead of too little.

2001-2003 - PG-13 - 10/10 - An unmatched cinematic achievement.

In nearly every way you could judge a movie, the LotR stands head and shoulders above the rest. Created at a time when CGI was still expensive enough to justify doing a lot of practical work, the visuals are a perfect blend of gritty realism and CGI-heightened fantasy elements, the script is about as true to the books as you could expect, the cast is a tour-de-force of at-the-time unknowns, and Howard Shore’s score is one of the most iconic of all time. If you have not seen these, do yourself the favor.

1999 - R - 10/10 - Must see Halloween classic

This movie is a classic for a reason. If you caught our October episode of Scary But Not That Scary, you know that 25 years later we still can’t stop raving about Sleepy Hollow. Tim Burton’s gothic visuals, the eerie fog, and the iconic Headless Horseman perfectly capture the spirit of Halloween. It is so effective in all areas, it raises the bar for what we expect from all other movies. Stylish, mysterious, and full of spooky charm, it blends a classic story with great filmmaking, earning its place atop Burton’s catalog.

1990 - PG - 9/10 - A Favorite of Joe’s And Still A Must See

A surprisingly well made movie about 4 brothers dealing with the loss and hardship of losing their home and dealing with their father’s kidnapping, taking his rescue into their own hands. An odd description for a movie with main characters in 6 ft rubber turtle suits made to capitalize on a children’s cartoon but that is the brilliance of TMNT.
While we saw it as kids because it was a Turtles movie, we love it years later because it is also an excellent movie that borders on film noir.