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NOW we're talking! Here are the best films I saw last year!


10) Code 3 (2025)

Rainn Wilson is perfectly cast as a burned-out paramedic, who must try to make it through his last shift, while training a young, unjaded apprentice. It's funny and serious. Wacky and grim. Goofy and heartfelt. The film effortlessly strikes a perfect balance between these opposing styles and moods.

I love discovering little indie flicks like this. F**k off with your $400 million, 2500 CGI-shot movies. Give me this any day.


9) Long Distance aka Distant (2024)

For some reason this clearly expensive science fiction film has barely been released. Not sure why, it's better than most of the dreck that makes it to the theaters. Effectively a 2-hander, Anthony Ramos play Andy Ramirez, a mand who crashlands on an alien planet, and must try to make his way to another survivor before his air runs out.

Love the framework for this story. Two characters. One journey. A tight deadline. And alien monsters. What more can you ask for? Someone get this film released properly, so I can get a 4K disc version.


8) Vicious (2025)

Dakota Fanning, who has turned into a powerhouse of a little actress in the last couple of years, plays a lady who... receives a weird box. And then sh*t starts happening. Simple. Moody. And very, very grim. This is another one of those "the less you know the better" movies. But know this: it's awesome!


7) Stone Cold Fox (2025)

The adorable Kiernan Shipka plays a young woman who tries to escape the clutches of drug-dealing queenpin Goldie, played with gusto and sass by Krysten Ritter.

This little low-budget charmer connected with me in all the right ways. I love the 70s aesthetic - the digitally shot film manages to look like it was shot on grainy 70s film stock. I love the lead character, Fox. I love the music. I loved everything about this movie, except the fact that you haven't seen it. Why haven't you seen it? Why are you a bad person?

6) Until Dawn (2025) 

Horror movie Groundhog Day! Except, every day is a new kind of horror! Brilliant! I didn't know a thing about the computer game behind this film before I saw it, but that didn't matter. I loved the inventive, engaging story, the likeable characters (except THAT guy, I'm glad he died like that), and lead Ella Rubin was an extremely solid guide down this road of horrific horror. I've already rewatched this a couple of times. It holds up very well, which is more than can be said about most horror movies.

5) Jurassic World: Rebirth (2025)

An absolutely fantastic return to form for the beloved franchise. In no small part thanks to Scarlett Johansson's committed and convincing turn as the lead action hero. The most surprising aspect of this film is that it actually manages to bring back true awe to the franchise for the first time since the first film! The visual effects are way above par. The exciting three-pronged story works extremely well. And did I mention just how absolutely fantastic Scarlett Johansson is? I've seen this film three times already. And I'm gonna see it again. You can't stop me.


4) Weapons (2025)

One of the most unlikely sleeper hits of the year! The chilling mystery at the heart of this story is unraveled with the patience of a saint by director Zach Cregger. Meticulously, he puts all the pieces into place until the full horrific image is revealed to the viewer. And then he steps on the gas! The less you know about this, the better, so if you haven't caught this film yet, get on it. It's a rare treat indeed.


3) Predator: Badlands (2025)

In the midst of the enshitification of Hollywood blockbusters, it's an absolute delight to come across a film like this that actually works. A fun adventure story that takes a different approach to its story, compared to previous Predator films, but retains the jungle setting that worked so well in the original and in the underrated 2010 Predators.

Elle Fanning is the MVP of the show, with a delightfully enthusiastic performance as the broken android who must assist our unlikely Predator hero in his mission to get his trophy.


2) The Gorge (2025)

I know what you're thinking. Why would a film like The Gorge be my second favorite film of the year? It's just a dumb Apple streaming run-of-the-mill film, right? No, it is not. It's a love story. And it's super cool. And shut up!

I liked The Gorge the first time I saw it, but I ended up returning to the film several times during the course of the year. In fact, this is the film I saw the most times in 2025! I love the setting, the two leads are adorable, and once I got tuned in to the somewhat uneventful first half, I found myself enjoying the hell out of these quiet and melancholic parts of the film even more than the inevitable science fiction spectacle that follows. I guess I'm just a big old softy after all.


1) September 5 (2024)

Grim and focused. This film tells the story of the reporters responsible for covering the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich, who suddenly had to change gears and become an actual breaking news team when the Israeli athletes were attacked by terrorists.

I love stories about news teams and live reporting, and this film does a fantastic job of covering the event from the perspective of the reporters, who were frantically trying to figure out what the hell was going, and passing that information on to the viewers at home, amidst a barrage of technical and ethical challenges. Simply flawless filmmaking.

WRAP-UP

That's it! All done for 2025. Got any problems with this? Don't sound off in the comments below.

Now, let's get ready to 2026!

Well, I finally got my s*** together for a timely post on my best and worst film experiences from last year. We'll start with the worst.


10) Mickey 17 (2025)

I like Robert Pattinson. I want to like director Bong Joon Ho. Obviously, I'm a science fiction fan. But I just couldn't stand this film. Everything about it annoys me. The story. R-Paz's character. His f**king moronic narration. The girl. The bad guy. That Asian dude. The Hulk. The poster. The message. Toni Collette's disgusting smoothies. That's a giant f**king nope from me on this one.


9) Nosferatu (2024)

I guess you could say that Nosferatu isn't actually a bad film, but I found it excruciatingly dull. And also, haven't we seen enough versions of this exact story? Comparisons to Coppola's delightful Bram Stoker's Dracula are inevitable, and not many films can stand up them to that creative powerhouse of a film. Robert Eggers just doesn't make movies for me. I get why he might appeal to some people, but I spent the entire 132-minute running time of this film wishing I had put the Coppola version on instead.


8) The Alto Knights (2025)

A surprising case of inept filmmaking from the man who brought us several stone-cold classics, but seems to have lost the ability to make good movies. Barry Levinson used to make movies like Rain Man, Sleepers, and Good Morning, Vietnam. Now he creates scenes that look like they were made by a first-time director. And let's not even waste time trying to figure out why anybody on this film thought it was a good idea for Robert De Niro to play both leads. It makes absolutely no sense and adds nothing but confusion to the endeavor.


7) Cleaner (2025)

What a wet noodle of a Die Hard rip-off! Made by the man who rebooted The James Bond franchise not once, but TWICE, both times knocking it out of the park. There's no sign of that talent in this cheap-looking and dumb movie. Not even Daisy Ridley can save this for me. And that should tell you everything you need to know, Mr. Campbell.


6) Ice Road: Vengeance (2025)

The first Ice Road was bad, but it did at least look somewhat like a film. This does not. The effects are so terrible! And the cheap video look is even worse. The story actually isn't all that bad (though it could do with a bit of trimming), but visually this film is on the level of an in-house corporate instruction video, made by Stu from accounting, who shot his cousin's bar mitzvah, so he kinda knows which way the camera should point.

For the record, I'm completely on board with Liam Neeson getting with his almost 30-years-younger co.star - the adorable Fan Bingbing - but could he please do it in a better film? And also, guys, if you're making an Ice Road 3 (or Ic3 Road), you might want to consider including some f**cking ice roads to the story!


5) The Electric State (2025)

Anthony Russo and Joe Russo, the least talented filmmakers working in the $200 million-plus realm at the moment, thought they could make an interesting non-Marvel film. They apparently did not learn their lesson on the equally stupid The Gray Man.

Chris Pratt resembles a slightly less porny alternative to John Holmes. Millie Bobby Brown, despite playing a teenager, looks like a 40-year-old prostitute. Sorry! That was uncalled for. She just looks like she's actually the mother of the character she's supposed to be playing. And that there was a special offer on cheap makeup at Costco.

The story is sh*t. Those robots are just creepy as all hell. And the less said about the nonsensical world-building, the better. And this cost a reported $320 million! Netflix, you're out of your f**king mind.


4) In the Lost Lands (2025)

This is even MORE dull than the soulless Monster Hunter. I hope Paul W.S. Anderson is sending a fruit basket the size of a garage to Paul Thomas Anderson every month, because PTA's insistence on making progressively worse and worse films is the only reason I can still call W.S. "the good Paul Anderson", as I am wont to do. W.S. himself has done nothing to earn that moniker in the last 15 years. This guy COULD actually make movies once. Come back to us, Paul. Make a great movie again. You know, like Resident Evil.


3) A Minecraft Movie (2025)

What can be said about a film like this...? It makes the Battleship movie look sophisticated? I'd rather watch someone play a video game for 117 hours? I wish they had done a Minesweeper movie instead? How about this: it grossed almost a BILLION dollars!? What the f**k is wrong with you people!?


2) 28 Years Later (2025)

Danny Boyle is not a bad filmmaker, but he's prone to bad filmmaking decisions when it comes to this zombie franchise. The choice to shoot the first film, 28 Days Later, on laughably low-res video, because of the damn Dogma vibe that was in vogue at the time, is nothing short of heart-breaking. You'll never know how cruel the world can be, until you've seen a MiniDV-shot film on a 65-inch TV. To some extent that choice made sense at the time. The artistic choices here, however, are baffling.

Why shoot the film, on consumer-level iPhones? Why those incredibly awkward visual choices that just didn't work? Why those goofy cosplay characters (that apparently get more screen time in the next film)? Why the giant zombie schlong? And on top of all that, the story was underwhelming at best, and very rarely scary or dramatic enough.


1) One Battle After Another (2025)

Without a doubt THE most insufferable movie of the year. The grotesquely bloated 160-minute running time isn't even the worst part. Whatever message the film may have about the current state of the world, and America in particular, is suffocated by the cartoonish Leonardo DiCaprio performance, the film's obnoxious lack of tonal commitment, and Sean Penn's ridiculous villain, whose every second of screen time is more annoying than the last. Oh, and the core story is also just bad.

Kindly f**k off, Paul Thomas Anderson. And don't bother us again until you're ready to make something that's actually watchable and entertaining. And under two hours. You know, like Resident Evil.

WRAP-UP

We made it! That last one nearly did me in. Keep that in mind when it wins a gazillion Oscars. Or in three years when everybody wakes up from their collective hangover, and realize what a piece of sh*t it really is. Can't wait for that! But enough badness. Time for some goodness.... Next up, the top list.

We're back, with the stats! Time for the traditional counting of the movies and TV-shows I watched last year.

After a disappointing number of movies watched in 2024, I got a bit closer to a solid number this year. Watched a lot of 90's movies for the first time, and skipped a number of 2025's big movies, just because they looked like shit.

And with that, here are the stats....

THE STATS

Number of films watched in 2025:

259

Comparison:

2024 (234)
2023 (263) - 2022 (262) - 2021 (292) - 2020 (329)
2019 (263) - 2018 (290) - 2017 (263) - 2016 (288)
2015 (307) - 2014 (331) - 2013 (401) - 2012 (405)
2011 (343) - 2010 (338) - 2009 (302) - 2008 (361)

Breakdown:

Films watched for the first time: 110
Re-watched films: 149

Films in play for the top/bottom lists: 67

Quality distribution (of new films):

Good: 23
Okay: 22
Bad: 22

Format distribution:

4K: 37
Blu-ray: 134
DVD: 2
VOD: 83
Cinema: 0
Other: 3

Decade-of-release distribution:

1930's: 3 films
1940's: 2 films
1950's: 2 films
1960's: 4 films
1970's: 11 films
1980's: 26 films
1990's: 32 films
2000's: 37 films
2010's: 39 films
2020's: 103 films (2023: 6 / 2024: 21 / 2025: 63)

Most watched films:

The Gorge (4 times)
September 5 (3 times)

TV-SHOW STATS

Solid TV-stats this year as well. With a great variety of great shows. There were some bad shows this year too, but I was better at dumping them fast and moving on. Yeah, I'm looking at you Murderbot.

Number of TV-show episodes watched:

562

Number of different TV shows watched:

49

Complete seasons watched:

41

Best Shows of the Year:

Pluribus
The Day of the Jackal
Foundation
The Last of Us
Tracker

FINAL THOUGHTS

So much for the numbers. Time to figure out what was the best and worst movie experiences last year. I forgot to postmy top/bottom lists for 2024, I'll try get those done this year, and hopefully relatively soon!

Stay tuned.

Confessions time. I got stuck, trying to write my top and bottom lists for 2024. I usually do those every year, but the vibe just wasn't there. I kept putting it off and now we're at the end of the year, and I'm out of time. So I'm doing something else this year. Instead of two ranked lists, I've made two alfabetical lists, inspired by the likes of AFI and National Board of Review, with the best and the worst new films I saw last year.

Without further ado'ing.... Here they are:

THE 10 BEST FILMS I SAW IN 2024

• Abigail (2024)
• Damsel (2024)
• Mars Express (2023)
• A Quiet Place: Day One (2024)
• Restore Point (2023)
• Saturday Night (2024)
• Thelma (2024)
• Trap (2024)
• Twisters (2024)
• The Watchers (2024)

THE 10 WORST FILMS I SAW IN 2024

• Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F (2024)
• Blackbird (2022)
• Borderlands (2024)
• Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire (2024)
• I.S.S. (2023)
• Lift (2024)
• Madame Web (2024)
• Rebel Moon - Part Two: The Scargiver (2024)
  with Rebel Moon: A Child of Fire - Part One (2023)
• Slingshot (2024)
• The Zone of Interest (2023)

We're back, with the stats!

Once again we take a look back at the media consumption of the previous year in pure numbers.

It was an appalling year on several fronts, but my final number of movies watched last year, was the lowest since I started the count in 2008! It wil be very easy to top that this year!

But enough talk, here are....

THE STATS

Number of films watched in 2024:

234

Comparison:

2023 (263) - 2022 (262) - 2021 (292) - 2020 (329)
2019 (263) - 2018 (290) - 2017 (263) - 2016 (288)
2015 (307) - 2014 (331) - 2013 (401) - 2012 (405)
2011 (343) - 2010 (338) - 2009 (302) - 2008 (361)

Breakdown:

Films watched for the first time: 125
Re-watched films: 109

Films in play for the top/bottom lists: 73

Quality distribution (of new films):

Good: 34
Okay: 22
Bad: 17

Format distribution:

4K: 21
Blu-ray: 127
DVD: 2
VOD: 82
Cinema: 2

Decade-of-release distribution:

1930's: 3 films
1940's: 1 film
1950's: 2 films
1960's: 3 films
1970's: 8 films
1980's: 32 films
1990's: 46 films
2000's: 15 films
2010's: 30 films
2020's: 94 films (2022: 10 / 2023: 23 / 2024: 55)

Most watched film:

Alien: Romulus (3 times)

TV-SHOW STATS

At least the TV stats are a bit more impressive. Last year I managed to finished my run through the complete Mission: Impossible (1966) series! I finished Unforgettable. And I finally got to some shows I've been meaning to check out for a while, such af Monk and Warehouse 13.

Number of TV-show episodes watched:

652

Number of different TV shows watched:

34

Complete seasons watched:

34

Best Shows of the Year:

Red Eye
The Tourist
Tracker
Silo

FINAL THOUGHTS

And so, with these practical details out of the way we can get on to making the top and bottom lists of the year. Stay tuned!

Overall 2023 was a disappointing year at the movies, but we did get a couple of handfuls of excellent movies along the way, so it wasn't hard to fill this top 10.

HONORABLE MENTIONS

First a few honorable mentions, worth checking out.

Polite Society (2023)
The Princess (2022)
Renfield (2023)
To Catch a Killer (2023)
Door Mouse (2022)

And now, the actual list....

THE LIST

10) A Lot of Nothing (2023)

I wrote a review of this film on this very blog. Read it here.

As a TL:DR, let me just add this: You should watch this film. It's doesn't look like much, but it is. It's a whole lot more than a lot of nothing.

9) Rosaline (2022)

Utterly charming, completely irresistible movie that takes Billy Shakes' Romeo & Juliet for a modern ride, by focusing on the unseen reason for the eponymous hero's romantic woes. Kaitlyn Dever (keep a close eye on this one) stars as "the other girl"- the one who didn't get Romeo. Smart, insightful, goofy, fun and cute. Don't be fortune's fool and sleep on this one.

8) No One Will Save You (2023)

Well, I'll be a monkey's uncle, another Kaitlyn Dever film finds its way to the top list! Didn't I just say you should keep an eye out for her? This film is as brilliant as it is simple. Most of the running time is spent with a girl alone in her house, as an alien invasion advances outside. Oh, and it's almost completely dialogue-free. Daring and highly entertaining.

7) Inbetween Girl (2021)

I completely fell in love with this film. The story about a girl who starts a clandestine affair with "the hot guy" at school, who's already got a girlfriend, while her family-life collapses around her. It's a quiet, unassuming film, but first time director Mei Makino gets everything right. And relative newcomer Emma Galbraith is heartbreaking in the lead. They DO still make brilliant teen movies, it's just a little harder to find them these days.

6) The Moon (2023)

The second manned Korean mission to the Moon threatens to end as disastrously as the first, when a single astronaut is stranded alone in space. What follows lies somewhere between the reality of Gravity and the sheer preposterousness of Armageddon. A dedicated action/science fiction film that isn't afraid to turn the volume way up on the emotional elements too.

5) The Banshees of Inisherin (2022)

The In Bruges team is back! Director Martin McDonagh and actors (and obvious friends) Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson return with an even more grim story, this time detailing the end of a friendship between two men on a quiet island off the coast of Ireland.It would be hilarious, if it didn't cut so deep. This is not an easy film to enjoy. That doesn't mean it shouldn't be seen, though.

4) Limbo (2021)

Two cops must find a serial killer who leaves severed hands in the gutters of a trash-covered Hong Kong slum neighborhood. The stark black and white images look like something out of Frank Miller's Sin City, the core story is reminiscent of the brilliant Se7en, and yet Limbo finds its own vibe with this devastatingly cruel tale that takes place on the dark side of humanity, where light and hope is almost completely absent. Almost.

3) Knock at the Cabin (2023)

Holy shit, perpetually overrated M. Night Shyamalan actually made a brilliant film! After his breakthrough with the over-hyped The Sixth Sense, Shyamalan has struggled to deliver anything remotely as good as everyone claimed that film was. He finally did it with Knock at the Cabin. The film works with a simple concept, but manages to be both thrilling, dramatic, outrageous, sad and deeply disturbing. All the players are good, but Dave Bautista and 10-year old Kristen Cui are the MVPs.

2) Women Talking (2022)

27 years ago my friend said "That Sarah Polley is gonna win an Oscar one day", Neither of us expected that it was going to be for writing! Of course the film is talkative, the title gives that part away, but Polley manages to bring some impressive directorial flourishes to the project that removes any feelings of staginess. She should have been nominated for directing as well.

Women Talking is a fiercely appropriate attack on the patriarchy, by way of a unique situation, abused women in a religious cult, but the themes and message remain universally relevant. This really is the kind of film everyone should watch.

1) The Menu (2022)

One of those "the less you know going in, the better" movies. This is a wild, sublimely unhinged film, layered with social commentary and biting satire, in turns both sad, funny and scary. And it loses nothing on repeated viewings. It's rare these days to be as presently surprised and impressed with a film as I was with this.

WRAP UP

Well, what d'ya know, we made it through another year at the movies! Now 2024, it's time to show what you got!

Before we begin this little journey through my worst film experiences from 2023, an important message from the board.

Public service announcement from the board

Please note the following changes to The Rules:
From this point on movies where one story is split into two (or more) parts will be ineligible for any "end of the year" or "best of" lists until all the parts have been released.
Furthermore, the board also recommends that these films be deemed ineligible for any type of awards, at any point, regardless of when their parts are released. No Oscars, no People's Choice awards. Nothing.
Please make sure these rules are implemented as soon as possible.

Wow, these people are serious, they don't mess around!

So just to be clear, this rule change affects the following films from 2023....

Rebel Moon: A Child of Fire - Part One (2023)
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023)
Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One (2023)
Fast X (2023)
(And perhaps others?)

Dodged a bullet there, Zack Snyder!

DISHONORABLE MENTIONS

Before we get to the list, here is a few movies that almost made the cut.

Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves (2023)
Evil Dead Rise (2023)
Killers of the Flower Moon (2023)

Avoid at all cost. Except the book behind Killers of the Flower Moon, definitely read that.

And so, with no further ado, here is the list...

THE LIST

10) The Killer (2023)

David Fincher is as sharp as ever, as he turns a dreadfully dull comic book into a dreadfully dull movie. The uninteresting lead is captured to perfection. The uninspired plot hits every beat of its printed predecessor. The world of the live action version as cold and uncomplicated as its inked counterpart. When Fincher fails he does it more beautifully than any other director. But it's still a fail.

9) Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (2023)

I won't deny that there are moments in this ostensible last Indiana Jones movie, where I felt that old Indy magic from the first 3 films, but most of the time this was just a crushing disappointment. The characters are badly written, the plot is cumbersome and unimaginative, and the whole film looks CGI fake.

8) Heart of Stone (2023)

Another large scale misfire from Netflix. Another movie about an all-powerful tech-thingy that can destroy the world. Another movie to cast doubt on the actual star-quality of Gal Gadot. This film belongs to an especially annoying category of bad films. Too big to ignore, not bad enough to be funny. Soulless, Witless. Pointless.

7) Ghosted (2023)

I could see this idea work in the right hands, but those hands sure don't belong to director Dexter Fletcher. Chris Evans is miscast as the hapless hopeless romantic who falls for Ana de Armas's super badass secret agent. He can't sell being a bumbling fool. She can sell being interested in him. The plot surrounding the two characters needs work - yeah, another world destroying "thingy" is at play - and there's a tone-deaf, stalkerish, incel vibe over certain aspects of the story.

6) Cocaine Bear (2023)

The Snakes on a Plane of the Tik-Tok set (and let's remember that film was shit too). This might have worked better as a 10 minute SNL segment, it sure doesn't work as a feature film. The real story of that bear and that mountain of cocaine is depressing and short (Spoiler: Bear died), so the filmmakers really needed to come up with a solid foundation to expand the story from a punchline to an actual film. They didn't. They didn't have much beyond the title.

5) Everything Everywhere All at Once (2023)

I hate everything about this film, except its success. I'm so happy a crazy film like this could all but sweep the Oscars. So glad so many people found hope and value in this story. So happy Ke Huy Quan got a career revival thanks to this.

However, personally I couldn't stand the film. Hated the story. Hated the characters. Hated the obnoxious style. Hated the running time. I turned off the film after half an hour the first time I tried to watch it. I only gave it a second chance because of the Oscar-hype. If not for that, I never would have made it all the way through.

4) Hypnotic (2023)

Laughably unintelligent attempt from Robert Rodriguez to make a Chris Nolan-like thriller and show he can still entertain grown-ups. He can't. Ben Affleck seems catatonic in the lead. I wish that was just a mean diss, but he genuinely looks like he's medicated and not all there. If he had been fully present, he would have witnessed a director on the bottom of the deep end of the pool, completely outmatched by his own ambitions, unable to fathom how big a fool he's making of himself. Maybe druggie Ben had the right idea after all.

3) The Detective Knight Trilogy

Including: Detective Knight: Rogue (2022), Detective Knight: Redemption (2022), Detective Knight: Independence (2023)

I watched The Detective Knight Trilogy knowing it was going to be my farewell to Bruce Willis. I had already seen quiet a few of his direct-to-video projects so I was prepared for the budget and skill level at play. I was not prepared for the devastating sight of a mentally impaired man, barely comprehending where he is, unable to speak more that a few coherent words, being forced through three whole feature films, by producers who just wanted to squeeze that last dollars out of the ailing action star. It's nothing short of shameful. At least we'll always have all the great films Bruce made.

2) Expend4bles (2023)

I mean, the third film was already pretty bad, but they took a 9 year break before they made this 4th film of the Expendables franchise, surely that gave them enough time to come up with something good? Nope. The story is terrible and barely functioning. The emotional stakes are non-existing. And everything looks CGI fake. Extra penalty points for attempting to make 50 Cent act and for completely wasting the talented and charming Levy Tran.

1) The Exorcist: Believer (2023)

Renny Harlin is laughing in his grave. Oh, I'm sorry, he's still alive, it's was his career that died. Anyway, up to this point he had made the worst movie of The Exorcist franchise. Not so any more. Step up David Gordon Green!

The story is trivial and dull. The threat is unconvincing and the scares absent. Worst of all, though, this film seem to have been made by people who have never seen an exorcist film before, nor done any research into the concept. it's nothing short of baffling how little work in this film, or makes any kind of sense. The characters are idiots and so is everyone behind the camera. The only smart one is William Friedkin, who died before he had a chance to see this unholy creation.

WRAP-UP

Phew that was a rough one, right? Well, not to worry, the best is yet to come. As in, we're doing the Top 10 movies of 2023 next.

Well sports fans, here we are again. Time for the annual January 1st tradition, The Stats.

What was last year like in pure numbers, when it comes to my consumption of movies and TV shows? Hold your breath no longer...

Number of films watched in 2023:

263

Comparison:

2022 (262) - 2021 (292) - 2020 (329)
2019 (263) - 2018 (290) - 2017 (263) - 2016 (288)
2015 (307) - 2014 (331) - 2013 (401) - 2012 (405)
2011 (343) - 2010 (338) - 2009 (302) - 2008 (361)

Breakdown:

Films watched for the first time: 133
Re-watched films: 130

Films in play for the top/bottom lists:

83

Quality distribution (of new films):

Good: 39
Okay: 22
Bad: 22

Format distribution:

4K: 22
Blu-ray: 122
DVD: 6
VOD: 112
Cinema: 1

Decade-of-release distribution:

1920's: 1 film
1930's: 6 films
1950's: 2 films
1960's: 1 film
1970's: 11 films
1980's: 22 films
1990's: 23 films
2000's: 36 films
2010's: 53 films
2020's: 108 films

Most watched film:

"65" (3 times) *

* This is NOT an endorsement, or reflection of the film's qualities or lack thereof.

TV-SHOW STATS

I made a concentrated effort last year, to watch more TV-episodes, which paid off. I’m 65% through the 7 season run of the original Mission: Impossible series, for example!

Number of TV-show episodes watched:

604

Number of different TV shows watched:

50

Complete seasons watched:

33

Best Shows of the Year:

Gangs of London
The Lazarus Project
Poker Face
Tehran
Upright

FINAL THOUGHTS

And so, with these practical details out of the way we can get on to making the top and bottom lists of the year. Stay tuned!

Director: Mo McRae. Starring: Cleopatra Coleman, Y'lan Noel, Shamier Anderson, Lex Scott Davis, Justin Hartley. Release: DVD and Blu-ray.

A successful black couple discover that their white neighbor is the cop who just shot a black kid, and they decide to do something about it. That’s about all you should know about the plot going into this film, except of course that the title is grossly misleading, because there’s a whole lot of something at play here.

Taking the pedestrian revenge setup for an emotional roller coaster ride, the film's true aim is to explore black identity in a systemically racist modern America. What does it mean to be a black person in America? Especially a successful black person. The couple is doing well for themselves, very well in fact, but every day they have to "play along" and casually shrug off deeply racist and insensitive comments from their coworkers, a situation that has hollowed out their identity, making way for the dramatic turn of events that follow.

Director Mo McRae bides his time before getting to that drama, though, opting instead to carefully construct a razor-sharp portrayal of the couple. The deceptively simple opening, for example, shows the couple's initial reaction to the killing of the black kid, presented as an extended, seemingly uninterrupted shot, which lays down the foundation of what’s to come. The opening explores the couple's different experiences of being black in corporate America, while picking at the their fragile bond, and also coming up with some hilarious moments that expose the impotence of social media outrage culture.

Later, when the story takes a violent turn, the anger, frustration and shame rise to the surface, and the film really sinks its teeth into some interesting themes. Layer upon layer of themes are woven into the story, as the couple deal with a violent decision, while simultaneously playing host to the man’s less successful brother and his new hippie, crystal-gripping, very pregnant girlfriend.

The conflicts are expanded, twisted, still using that simple original set-up, with one location and barely a handful of characters, before we end up in a stunning finale, full of unpleasant answers to impossible questions and some genuinely heartfelt final moments.

Sometimes A Lot of Nothing is labeled as a comedy. Other times it sounds merely like a black version of countless other revenge stories. Neither of those descriptions are true. This is something else entirely, and well worth checking out.

The best of 2022! Pure and simple. Impossible to argue with! No one can disagree with these choices. Right? Right! Let's get into it, but first....

HONORABLE MENTIONS

I decided to only do a Top 10 this year, so I have to include a few honourable mentions.

Millie Bobby Brown is once again an absolute delight in the fun Enola Holmes 2 (2022). The pitch perfect rebooted Ghostbusters: Afterlife (2021) almost made the list. As did the record-breaking Oscar-nominated documentary Flugt (2021). I had a blast with Fall (2022), and enjoyed freezing my nuts off in Infinite Storm (2022).

THE LIST

10) Ambulance (2022)

Granted, this film should probably not have snuck into the top 10, but how often do you get a chance to put a Michael Bay film on a year-end top list and piss of the Movie Snobs? Right?

The sheer audacity of taking a small, Danish film - that probably cost less that Michael Bay's weekly hair product budget and runs barely 75 minutes - and turning it into a full on Bayhem action extravaganza! But it works! The original Danish film worked (shout out to director Laurits Munch-Petersen), but this works too. It's the perfect way to do a remake. Admittedly the Bay's version could do with a trim, but when all is said and done I loved the HELL out of this film! I hope Bay remakes Babette's Feast next! Can you image the carnage he'll dish out?!

9) Svart krabba (2022)

Secret mission with a deadline. A post-apocalyptic world. Snow. Noomi Rapace. Seriously this film was made for me! Love this kind of stuff. Epic, grim goodness from start to finish!

8) X (Ti West) (2022)

Although he should be punched in the balls repeatedly for that 1 letter title, everything else Ti West does in this throwback slasher is on point. From the sleazy 70's porn film crew vibe, with some surprisingly engaging personal drama, to the slow boiling horror, to the blood-soaked finale. This is going to be a film I return to again and again, I can already tell.

7) Marcel the Shell with Shoes On (2021)

If you've never seen the original Marcel the Shell shorts on YouTube, do yourself a favor and check them out right now.

The simple premise of the original shorts didn't seem substantial enough to support a feature film, but Dean Fleischer-Camp and Jenny Slate have found a story that makes sense in the longer format, without loosing the charm from the shorts. With a tiny stop-motion animated shell this film brings more relatable drama than most live-action movies. Marcel the Shell with Shoes On is a delightful, touching and heartfelt little story, the kind you really should take the time to sit down and enjoy. Your soul will thank you.

6) Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom (2019)

The first ever movie from the country of Bhutan to be nominated for a Best Internation Film Oscar. It's the story of a young teacher sent to the most remote school in the world to teach the kids from a small village, as a sort of punishment by the government. It turns out that the residents of the tiny community are deeply grateful for his presence, and their attitude makes him reconsider his own.

The film is shot on location and most of the participants are not professional actors, but this allows Lunana to hit the perfect kombination of drama and documentary feel. Director Pawo Choyning Dorji guides this story gently to pure perfection without ever hitting a false note or forcing any emotions out of us. Having said that, you will cry like a baby at the end.

5) The Outfit (2022)

Hiding behind an unassuming setting and ditto lead character, this gem turned out to be a deviously clever little story. At first it's just a simply story about a tailor. Then it turns into a gangster drama, and then it takes a really sharp turn. Mark Rylance is monumentally cool in the lead as the soft spoken tailor, sorry, cutter (he doesn't like being called a tailor), who sees nothing and hears nothing - except of course when he does. I love one-location movies like this, I love the razor sharp focus of the story, I love the classy vibe that runs through every moment of this film. Pure perfection.

4) Nordsjøen (2021)

I can't get enough of those Norwegian disaster movies, and this one was the best so far. It takes place in an interesting location (an oil rig), it features some very cool tech (an underwater robot snake thingy) and it brings us a really kick-ass lead (Kristine Kujath Thorp) that it's impossible not to root for.. On top of that the story is built on a very scary disaster scenario, which the movie backs up with some stunning effects. The Americans could learn a lot from the Norwegians when it comes to disaster movies. They should start by watching Nordsjøen on repeat!

3) Nightmare Alley (2021)

William Lindsay Gresham's novel was already filmed once in 1947, as an ice cold, highly effective black and white movie that unfortunately couldn't punch quite as hard as the book, due to the Hollywood censors. Guillermo del Toro's take isn't bound by such foolish limitations, so he can go all in on the darker aspects of the story, and so he does! This is the perfect combination of director and material. The clever con man, the traveling circus setting, the devious plan, Del Toro was made to bring this stuff to life. Even the gorgeous 1947 black and white images are bested by this modern take, thanks to cinematographer Dan Laustsen's Oscar-nominated work. Stunning. Dark. Impossible to shake. Especially that last scene.

2) She Said (2022)

The story about how journalists Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey wrote the New York Times article "Harvey Weinstein Paid Off Sexual Harassment Accusers for Decades", and lit a fire under the #MeToo moviement, is both a sobering reality-check and an intriguing detective story.

Director Maria Schrader keeps everything super-serious and on the level. She shies away from the conspiratorial threads of the novel, and she reduces Weinstein's voice as much as possible, making sure to focus on the women, and their voices, a perfect choice for this story that could easily have turned into a sensational screech.

Just watch the moment where Megan confronts Weinstein and his entire team. Filmed through a glass window, with Weinstein's back to the camera, squarely focus on the determined reporter, who knows she's listening to a monster's death rattle, while the actual sound of Harvey and his lawyers are reduced to a faint murmur. They no longer have a voice. Highly effective filmmaking.

1) Top Gun: Maverick (2022)

"The end is inevitable, Maverick. Your kind is headed for extinction."
"Maybe so, Sir. But not today."

A Top Gun follow-up seemed both unnecessary, doomed to fail and destined to disappoint. Little did we know that Tom Cruise, The Last Movie Star (™), had a few tricks up his sleeves and a completely different plan. Top Gun: Maverick hits the perfect combination of update, nostalgia and fan service. It strips away all the cringy bits from the original and adds heart and perspective in just the right measure. It's not a deep film, but I wouldn't expect or want it to be either. This is just a good, solid to the core, fun and engaging, kick-ass film that delivers the goods from start to finish. Turns out that's all you have to do, to make it to the top.

WRAP-UP

ALL done! I already have a couple of titles ready for the 2023 lists. Check back in for those in about 12 months time.

Well, here we are, back at it again, with the - counting on my fingers - 15th annual list of my best and worst movies experiences from the last year. In 2022 I took a deep dive into the films of the 1930's, as a result I had fewer new films to pick from for the lists, so I've decided just to do Top 10s this year. Learn to love it.

First a few titles that didn't make it to the actual list....

SPECIAL MENTION

Avatar: The Way of Water (2022)

Had this list been longer, it might have crept in at the bottom, but honestly Avatar 2 is too aggressively meh to warrant an inclusion in any list.

HONORABLE MENTIONS

Jordan Peele's Nope (2022) almost made the list, a bit of class kept it off. His other project, the unlikable stop-motion animation Wendell & Wild (2022) only avoided the list due to sheer sympathy for the style. Uncharted (2022) avoided the list only because I decided to stop at 10.

THE LIST

10) Bullet Train (2022)

I found this movie profoundly annoying. The characters, the story, even the always likable Brad Pitt was annoying. Sure, there was a bit of cool action here and there, but I just hated the premise and I wanted everyone in the film to die. Make World War Z 2 instead, Brad!

9) The 355 (2022)

Hardcore action movies led by kick-ass ladies? Yes! Can't get enough of those! Unless they're as uninspired and badly written as The 355. Nothing makes sense, the whole plot revolves around chasing a magical tech thingy, and it's got zero heart.

8) The Gray Man (2022)

Soulless and witless $200 million action spectacle. And with that single sentence, I've already wasted more time on this film than it deserves.

7) Black Adam (2022)

Sorry The Rock, but this dull, pompous superhero (Or is he a villain? No, of course not) movie did absolutely nothing for me. The best part was the always delightful Sarah Shahi, but every time YOU showed up, you drained whatever sympathy and interest she had managed to build up from the film. At least they wasted so much money making this that a sequel is unlikely to materialise.

6) Skyggen i mit øje (2021)

The accidental bombing of a school in Copenhagen during World War II by Allied forces would have made for an interesting and harrowing movie. If director Ole Bornedal didn't have his head so far up his own ass, he would have been able to make that movie. He's a capable filmmaker, but he doesn't want to listen to anybody, and apparently has a habit of sidelining anybody who tells him he's wrong, and then acting all surprised and indignant when the public and the critics reject his films.The end result is predictably off key. Bornedal is too preoccupied with subjects that frankly have no place in this story. He also gets the most basic historic facts wrong, and he doesn't seem to care. So why should we care about the film?

5) Hellraiser (2022)

I didn't mind the idea of doing a modern take on the Hellraiser story, the original from 1987 is rather scrappy. This pile of garbage, though, is not the way to go. Hellraiser 2022 gets almost everything wrong from the first frame. There's no sense of danger, the plot is almost incomprehensible at times, and the lead actress looks like she's been on a 3-day bender before shooting every scene. But at least they checked the woke-box with a female Pinhead. Wait, are you still woke, if everybody in the audience fell asleep and missed it?

4) WarHunt (2022)

This is one of those it-could-have-worked kind of movies. The low budget restructions and the increasingly grotesque looking Mickey Rourke aren't even deal-breakers, but the script and the direction is. Honestly a quick rewrite and a new helmer could easily have moved this from the top of the bottom list to the bottom of the top list (next time guys, call me). As it stands now, WarHunt is a fascinatingly shapeless, bumbling, incoherent mess. Much like Rourke!

3) Blonde (2022)

Blonde is, of course, a different kind of bad than the other entires on this list, but it still is quite bad. Strapping Marilyn Monroe’s cold, dead corpse to the old Hollywood wagon and taking it for another ride around the Tinseltown circus is questionable at best. Robbing Marilyn of her own voice by simply making up life altering events throughout the movie is downright disgusting. Some films have that "based on a true story" text in the beginning. This one should have another text entirely. How about: "Not to be confused with a true story. We made most of this shit up.

2) Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2022)

This one made me MAD. Furious even. That rarely happens, But this remake/reboot - or whatever the hell we're calling it these days - is so spectacularly detached from anything resembling reality and logic that it's hard to believe. This film is almost the exact opposite of what the original was in every way, shape and form. This year we learned that it's possible to simply NOT release a film, even if it cost close to $100.000.000 and is virtually finished. If only the laughably incompetent filmmakers behind this film had been the ones to teach us that lesson.

1) Moonfall (2022)

There are dumb movies and then there's Moonfall. Roland Emmerich usually makes big dumb movies, but this one is his dumbest yet. It's almost like he said to himself... "Independence Day: Resurgence was my worst film yet, but dammit, I can do worse!" And so he did. Moonfall looks like a shitty fan cut of the last couple of decades of disaster movies, with some cheap CGI slapped on top. It has a finale so ludicrous that it manages to make the "let's hack an alien spaceship" ending of Independence Day look downright clever.

WRAP-UP

2022 - what a year, eh? Luckily I had some good movie experiences too. We will get to those next.

It's that time again! Time to look back at the previous year to determine how well we did, when it came to movies and TV-shows.

This year I completely fell in love with the pre-code period (1928-1934), so almost 1/5 of the films I watched came from that brief period. But enough chit chat, let's get on with it...

Number of films watched in 2022:

262

Comparison:
- 2021 (292) - 2020 (329)
- 2019 (263) - 2018 (290) - 2017 (263) - 2016 (288)
- 2015 (307) - 2014 (331) - 2013 (401) - 2012 (405)
- 2011 (343) - 2010 (338) - 2009 (302) - 2008 (361)

Breakdown:
- Films watched for the first time: 142
- Re-watched films: 120

Films in play for the top/bottom lists:

76

Quality distribution (of new films):

Good: 38
Meh: 19
Bad: 19

Format distribution:

4K: 34
Blu-ray: 116
DVD: 22
VOD: 88
Cinema: 2

Decade-of-release distribution:

1920's: 1 film
1930's: 49 films (42 from the 1930-1934 period)
1940's: 5 films
1950's: 3 films
1960's: 5 films
1970's: 6 films
1980's: 17 films
1990's: 31 films
2000's: 29 films
2010's: 34 films
2020's: 82 films (2020: 3 / 2021: 26 / 2022: 53)

Most watched film:

None.

(several movies were watched twice, but it takes more than that to get on the list)

TV-SHOW STATS

Well, this year I finally got to Game of Thrones! I watched the whole thing (73 episodes in 3 months flat). I've also been really good about watching at least one episode of something most days - last year I only managed 219 episode, so I have much better TV stats this year.

Number of TV-show episodes watched:
(not counting game shows)

349

Number of different TV shows watched:

38

Complete seasons watched:

32

Best Shows of the Year:

Game of Thrones
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power
Ragdoll
Reacher
Rick and Morty
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds
Obi-Wan Kenobi

FINAL THOUGHTS

That's it! And now, with the stats out of the way I can get down to what really matters: The lists of the best and worst films from last year. Stay tuned.

A warning first. This top list is a bit unusual. We didn't get that BIG unavoidable HIT this year. No $200 million Hollywood movie that hit it out of the park, so instead this list is full of smaller, interesting movies, which may not be perfect, but they made an impact on me all the same. And remember. This is MY list. If you have problems with it, they're your problems. No, I'm NOT being defensive! Anyway, enough stalling....

HONORABLE MENTION

Dune: Part One (2021)

Maybe, when we get Part Two, Dune will make it to the actual top of the list. For now, though, this is half a film. A two and a half hour long half of a film that grinds to a halt in its final act and stops before it gets anywhere near the point. You have to do better to make it to the top list. Hopefully Denis Villeneuve will do just that when the second film arrives.

THE LIST

20) Don't Breathe 2 (2021)

Granted, we didn't really need a Don't Breathe 2, but we got it, and it was damn entertaining. It's the Aliens of the home invasion films. There really wasn't any way to follow up on the story in the first Don't Breathe, so this sequel took a detour and turned into a completely different story, set in the same universe, with the same lead character. It worked very well, and any chance to watch Stephen Lang kick ass is welcomed.

19) The Oak Room (2020)

A low-budget thriller that takes place mostly in a bar and rarely features more than two players at a time. And yet, with this simple setup director Cody Calahan (who also made the solid Antisocial) creates an effective thriller, full of twists and turns, while providing a clever meta-commentary on the best way to tell a good story. Way more clever than it has any right to be.

18) The Marijuana Conspiracy (2020)

It's one of those "That's a crazy story.... wait, it HAPPENED for real?!" The Marijuana Conspiracy deals with an experiment that took place in 1972 in Canada. What happens if we make a bunch of women smoke pot every day for 3 months? It would be an interesting story even if it wasn't real, but knowing that real women actually went through the experiences shown here just makes the whole thing even more fascinating.

17) Rising Wolf (2021) (aka Ascendant)

Another one of those movies with a small budget and a simple pitch, A young woman wakes up and finds herself locked in an elevator on an empty construction site. Who is she? Why is she locked in the elevator? Who did it? Even though we stay in the elevator, the film quickly breaks out of the initial pitch and opens the doors to a fascinating story that you should know as little about as possible. I was hooked from intriguing start to weird finish.

16) Blood Red Sky (2021)

Netflix has been very hit and miss with their international movies, but this German production hit the target very close to dead center. It's a vampire movie! On a plane! A hijacked plane! Sure enough, it covers material we've seen before, but it puts a fresh spin on everything, and repackages it into an engaging, high-flying bloody thrill-ride.

15) One Shot (2021)

I was surprised to find this fairly unambiguous action movie crawling so high up on the list, but I shouldn't have been, I enjoyed the hell out of it! The pitch is simple: Soldiers arrive on a black site to retrieve a prisoner needed for an urgent crisis. The base is attacked and the men and their CIA contact must defend themselves and keep the prisoner alive. Oh, and the whole thing plays out in what appears to be ONE single shot. It's not rocket science, there's no deep themes or profound revelations, it's just a solid, focused action movie. I'll take this over ANY Marvel film.

14) Till Death (2021)

Megan Fox plays a woman who finds herself chained to her dead husband in a truly sublime case of art-imitating-metaphor. What I love most about this film is that the characters aren't dumb. They're sometimes frustrated or rushed, but they never behave in that idiotic "movie character way" that reeks of inept screenwriting, trying to keep a story artificially alive. Megan Fox has taken a few hits in her time, many of them deserved (and whatever you do, don't follow her Instagram) but she knocks it out of the park in this delightfully dark revenge story.

13) One Night in Miami (2020)

Four legends - Muhammad Ali, Malcolm X, Jim Brown and Sam Cooke - meet in a hotel room for a fictional debate about their roles and responsibilities as black entertainers and influencers. I admit I didn't care much for this film during the first part of the story, it felt staged and stagy. After a while, though, it starts to work and then it becomes really good! The debates were fascinating, the film shakes its theater roots and the actors really get a chance to sink their teeth into the complicated issues. A very very strong finish.

12) News of the World (2020)

Solid to the core Tom Hanks shows up in this equally solid, old school western, which isn't much to look at, at first (and I do wish they'd shoot period films like this on actual film), but slowly it works its magic. The quaint central premise - Hanks travels around the land and read the newspaper for common folks - is a good reminder of how far the world has come, but also what was lost along the way. Of course the film also delivers a most delightful screen couple in the form of Hanks' world-weary former soldier and the girl he must transport back to her family. Young Helena Zengel runs away with many scenes, and Hanks lets her, and together they are utterly charming. As is the film.

11) Soul (2020)

I'm not a big Pixar guy, I really can't stand most jazz, and talk of the afterlife often infuriates me. Despite all this I was completely seduced by this gorgeous little film. The delightful characters, the gentle themes, the spurts of laugh-out-loud madness. Right up there with... well, Up.

10) Quo vadis, Aida? (2020)

The Aida in the title is a woman working as translator for the UN forces in Srebrenica, Bosnia. As the Serbs are moving in, the UN abandons the town and its people to the war-criminals, and Aida must try to get her family to safety before it's too late. The film stumbles here and there, but this is still a brutal look at the real-life implications of war and a most shameful chapter in Europe's history. Watch it on a sunny day, though. This is dark stuff.

9) Miranda Veil (2020)

A serial killer and his would-be victim go on a road trip to figure out why she keeps waking up every times he tries to murder her. Inventive, daring, controversial, with a mesmerizing lead performance by Annabel Barrett. Yes, this is a low-budget film, which is more than obvious at times. And yes, it often feels like a runaway train of thought bound for nowhere. However, the central pitch is fascinating and unusual, and worth sticking with. David Lynch it ain't. But more than once it gets awfully close to reaching those heights.

8) Test Pattern (2019)

A woman suffers a sexual assault after a night out and the next morning she and her boyfriend must try to find a rape kit, which turns out to be quite a challenge, further complicated by the fact that she's black and he's white.

This straight-forward, brutally honest drama opens with the adorable meet-cute between the woman Renesha (Brittany S. Hall) and future boyfriend Evan (Will Brill), a cruel but necessary setup that makes everything that follows all the more devastating. It shows the fateful night in question with almost poetic inevitability, before moving on the sobering aftermath delivered with a remarkable realism that makes it almost feel like a documentary at times. Test Pattern is an important film to see, but don't feel bad if you're not up for it. This stayed with me long after it was over.

7) Jolt (2021)

I admit, this is a silly inclusion in the list. Kate Beckinsale goes on a killing spree to avenge the death of her boyfriend. Oh, and she's got a device that gives her electric shocks to help her control her violent impulses! There is NO deeper meaning here and nothing we haven't seen before. And yet, there's something about the way Kate Beckinsale carries herself in this film. She's beaming with enthusiasm and seems to have a blast playing this disturbingly violent woman. She's charming, kicks ass like nobody's business, and delivers the often hilarious dialogue with dry perfection. Her delightful description of her new boyfriend's penis might be the best soundbite of the year! ("It unfurled itself like a travel umbrella!"). Jolt may turn out to be the film on this list I end up watching the most times, when all is said and done.

6) Zone 414 (2021)

A detective is sent into so-called "city of robots", Zone 414, to find a billionaire's lost daughter with the help of a prostitute android. A detective, androids, a futuristic setting and beams of light sweeping across the frame? It's hard not to be reminded of a certain classic 1982 science fiction movie. But Blade Runner doesn't have a monopoly on these things. Working with a limited budget, director Andrew Baird takes familiar elements and creates his own down to earth detective story, which is more preoccupied its flawed characters and their efforts to stay human, than with flashy visuals. It's moody as all hell, and fairly gruesome, with captivating performances from both Guy Pierce and Matilda Lutz.

5) The Last Duel (2021)

The most unlikely of pleasant surprises this year was Ridley Scott's much-maligned Ben Affleck with blond hair and Matt Damon covered in mud reunion. Taking its cue from both Rashomon and #MeToo the film spins a surprising modern tale that deals with subjects that haunts us every day. Different perceptions of reality, consent and boundaries, and of course the treatment of women. Don't be scared away by the the bad press, Affleck's silly hair, or the fact that the story takes place in the 13th century. This an easy to approach, relatable, relevant film that deserves to be watched and remembered.

4) Those Who Wish Me Dead (2021)

Clean, simple and focused thriller with a commanding lead performance from Angelina Jolie and sharp script and direction by Taylor Sheridan. They can take all their superhero movies and stuff 'em, all I want is a serious grown-up thriller like Those Who Wish Me Dead. Don't change a thing in this one.

3) Kate (2021)

Mary Elizabeth Winstead plays an assassin who's been poisoned and has mere hours to live. She must find out who killed her and why. Oh and get bloody revenge, of course.

Even though Kate doesn't initially offer much we have seen before, it's one of those rare instances where the whole is so much more than the sum of its parts. It's classic noir D.O.A. (1949) meets modern Liam Neeson revenge thriller. Winstead is badass in the lead, completely convincing as a hardcore killer, and she even speaks a bit of Japanese along the way! The neon-lit Tokyo setting is gorgeous, the action scenes are fierce, and I just couldn't shake the moody story. I love action movies. I make no apologies for that. And this one was irresistible to me.

2) Moxie (2021)

Near-perfect modern teen film that feels both timeless and highly relevant. Director Amy Poehler impresses with this funny and heartfelt story about a quiet girl who's just had ENOUGH of the way women are treated at her school, and starts an anonymous magazine exposing the truth. Moxie has the heart in the right place, and it's on the right side of history, but it's also not blind to the flaws of its own heroine, or the fact that perhaps everything can't be reduced to a hashtag or a clever meme. Most importantly, throughout this fairly serious story the film never forgets to have fun, and play some catchy tunes! An absolute delight that teaches some important lessons, without ever feeling like homework.

1) Shadow in the Cloud (2020)

What? THIS is your favorite film of the year? Abso-freakin-lutely. I loved it when I first saw it. I've rewatched it twice, and it gets better every time. Sure the high-concept pitch is ridiculous: "A creature on the wing of a WWII flying fortress". Which, coincidentally is a pure ripoff of classic Twilight Zone episode. Plus we spend half the film locked in a cramped gun turret below the plane with our heroine - both a fairly daring stylistic choice and a neat budget-reducing solution.

But make no mistake about it, there's more than goofy shenanigans at play here. The deceptively simple story offers moments like this: Our heroine is forced to listed to the all-male crew's crude fantasies about her over the intercom, unable to tell them what she really thinks. The end credit montage shows propaganda footage of women going to war - they take their shoes off first, don't ya know! That, plus a certain story element I won't spoil here, points to the fact that director Roseanne Liang way have more in her sights than just ripping off an old Twilight Zone episode. On top of that the film looks gorgeous, the electronic score is mesmerizing, and Chloë Grace Moretz plays the lead with admirable conviction, unfazed by the silly premise.

I stand by this choice. I love Shadow in the Cloud to bits!

WRAP-UP

That's it! The best films I saw last year. As always I instantly regret some of my choices (probably not the ones you think, though), but what's done is done, and now I have to live with it.

Of course I've already begun to compile the list for this year. Can't wait to see how that one shakes out. Until then......

Well, here we are again! Back at it with another Bottom 20 list after yet another unusual COVID year at the movies. But enough chit-chat, on with the list....

HONORABLE MENTION

No Time To Die (2021)

It's too classy to make the bottom list, but this long-awaited 25th James Bond movie was still a severe disappointment. The second viewing really crystallized how bad that screenplay and that story is. Guys, you should have retired gracefully with Spectre.

DISHONORABLE MENTIONS

The Power of the Dog (2021)

Turned it off after about 30 minutes. I have no interesting in this story or these characters. I hate everything about the film's vibe.

Last Night in Soho (2021)

The first time I tried to watch this film I turned it off after about 20 seconds. I could just tell it wasn't going to do anything but piss me off that night. Second time i tried, I made it 20 minutes. Maybe one day I'll finish it.

Sentinelle (2021)

I saw this. According to my notes. Gave it lowest possible rating. And yet, I had to look it up, to even remember what it is. Olga Kurylenko has lesbian sex in it and I still have no recollection of having watched it.

THE LIST 20) The Matrix Resurrections

I debated whether to put this film MUCH higher on the list (we're talking top 5 of the worst) or not include it at all. In some ways it doesn't deserve to be on this list, in other ways it's such a crushingly disappointing and ineffective film that it's impossible to ignore. There's no clever idea to justify reopening this Pandora's box. There's no essential new chapter that just had to be told. On top of that Resurrections has lost everything that made the first film unique. Sole director Lana Wachowski's sister Lily, who co-directed the original trilogy, said it best, when she explained why she didn't return to this 4th film. "I felt like it was a step back," she said. I couldn't agree more. That's exactly what it feels like.

19) Don't Look Up

I know a lot of people think this is a really clever satire and just what we need to wake people up and make them realize the world's in trouble. I think they're dead wrong. I think this is a horribly misjudged film that will have the opposite effect on those who aren't already wise to the issues of our time. I'm not sure how you can watch this film and think it's a clever satire. More often than not it's simply a fairly accurate representation of reality. This happened. For real. That's not satire. That's a documentary. Except of course a real documentary never approaches its subject dripping with mocking contempt for the very people it hopes to educate.

18) The Little Things

I see where they were going with this. Unfortunately this film wasn't made in the early 90's. If it had been, I might not have judged it so hard. As it stands now, The Little Things came 25 years too late. In the wake of countless classic serial killer movies, TV-shows and true crime stories in all shapes and forms it simply doesn't have anything useful to add to the conversation. At best it's derivative, but often it's almost embarrassingly ineffective.

17) Red Notice

I gotta admit, I though this was a slam-dunk. I like The Rock. I love Ryan Reynolds. Gal Gadot is beyond beautiful. Obviously that's not enough. You need these people to play likable characters. You need to stick those characters in a decent plot. And you need to bring your A-game if you want to play on the same field as The Indiana Jones movies and the Mission Impossible franchise. You also need to make your $200 million movie look like a $200 million movie and not a cheap discount product for the streaming sheep who can't tell the difference.

16) Fast & Furious 9

Remember when we all laughed at the Fast & Furious franchise's increasingly ridiculous stunts? Remember when we said "what will they do next, go to space!?" Here's the thing: Dumb-as-a-doornail Vin Diesel has the internet. What he doesn't have is a sense of irony. He didn't know we were kidding!!! He thought we wanted the film to go to space! So that's what he made happen! We did this! We only have ourselves to blame, so let's be clear: We DON*T want any more Fast & Furious movies. We don't want more stupid characters stuffed into the same film, regardless of whether they're dead or alive, OR have any function in the plot. We don't want any more freakin' family dinners where everyone pretends Paul Walker is still alive. And we DON*T want more Vin. You got that?

15) The Suicide Squad

Suicide Squad was a flawed but fascinating mess of a film. The Suicide Squad removed everything that worked on that film and added..... a "the". This is what happens when the internet #MeToos a decent guy like James Gunn. He runs off and ruins another franchise with his increasingly unwelcomed trademarked shenanigans.

14) Army of Thieves & Army of the Dead

Bit of a cheat on this one, but I couldn't decide which was worse, Zack Snyder's bloated zombie heist movie or the obnoxiously chirpy spinoff prequel focusing on the most punchable character from the original film. To be fair, Snyder seems like a sweet guy, and we know he can put an effective film together. This, however, isn't it. And don't get me started on the fact that the entire Army of Thieves plot is built on the fact that neither Snyder or director/star Matthias Schweighöferloferlafer knows there's a difference between a bank-vault and a safe.

13) Beckett

I'm not sure what happened on Beckett. Dull story, dull movie, dull lead. Seriously, John David Washington looks like he's never acted before. Watch Three Days of the Condor (1975) instead. That's what this movie is reaching for.

12) Monster Hunter

Paul W.S. Anderson, what were you thinking? You can obviously still drum up a decent budget. You got that leading lady who hasn't lost a step and will always takes your call. And we have very low expectations, regarding the intellectual level of your next project. And you still manage to disappoint?! There's no story! Was there even a script? Be honest, did you just have the title? Seriously, don't make another videogame adaptation again. What about Four Musketeers? Yeah, make that!

11) Infinite

Hey Mark? You know what your recent movies are? An unfunky bunch. Now stop phoning it in! Get your head the game! Don't be so freakin' bland!

10) Die in a Gunfight

Cool, modern retelling of Romeo & Juliet with the breathtakingly beautiful Alexandra Daddario and some serviceable, nondescript dude? I'm in! Die in a Gunfight certainly has style, but that's about all it has. It fails to make anything else work, but what's especially problematic is that it never sells the core love story. That's kind of an essential part of the whole Romeo & Juliet thing, don't ya know.

9) The Ice Road

I had high hopes for this ice-based action flick. It starts off well, but then veers off the road and ends up plowing through a school full of children, some pregnant ladies and a bunch of nuns. As it gets dumber and dumber, and more and more frustrating, you'll find yourself wishing Liam Neeson from Taken would show up and stop this Liam Neeson by ripping his still-beating heart out of his chest and eating it. Watch The Grey instead.

8) Bad Boys for Life

This garbled, witless mess of a film came at least 15 years too late. Martin Lawrence has all but disappeared from our screens and our minds, and Will Smith has gone from cool playar to uncle-you-wished-they-wouldn't-invite-because-you-just-can't-today. We didn't want the bad boys to come back, we didn't need them to come back, and they didn't have much to come back with. Let's get Lawrence back to bed and call Jada to come pick up Smith.

7) Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City

It's ironic that you watch a zombie film and then begin to wonder if everyone who made it is braindead! The Resident Evil franchise was in dire need of a reboot, but this limp, uninspired attempt won't do. The characters are dull, there's nothing scary in the film at all, and the story is virtually non-existing. Paul Anderson, come back! I didn't mean any of those things I said!

6) Chaos Walking

This should not have been made, for one reason: The core concept of this story is perfect for a book, but when it's translated from the page to the screen it simply does NOT work. We're in a world where everyone can hear men's thoughts, and then a woman shows up and no one can hear her.... Right, you can imagine how that would work on the page, but you can't imagine how profoundly obnoxious this concept is when brought to life on film. There's a host of other problem with the film too, but it's the fundamental flaw in the core concept that brings it to its knees. Even the presence of Daisy Ridley couldn't make me watch this again.

5) The Green Knight

I fully admit, I should simply bow to this film, excuse myself and be content with the fact that it wasn't for me. But where's the fun in that? Instead I'll say this: I absolutely fucking hated everything about the film. I know, I know, it's art! It's symbolism! It's oh so clever, and when you sit on that trendy café with all your douchebag friends you can all agree that it's brilliant and the fact that you can't explain any of it is brilliant too. YOU can agree on that. I don't have to. This is pretentious douchebaggery of the cuntish order, masquerading as art. I'm not fooled. I see through it like a pair of non-prescription glasses. David Lowery goes on the Avoid-At-All-Cost-Director-List.

4) Cosmic Sin

Bruce Willis made the bottom of the list last year, and sure enough here he is again. Willis has made almost 20 of these shit-tastic direct-to-video movies in recent years and he has another 10 or so lined up. I saw 2 of them in 2021, and the only reason you won't find the other one here is that at least it tried. This one may have tried too, but the problem is, I have no idea what it tried. All I know is that it succeeded only in looking like a cheap, incompetent amateur production. The man formerly known as John McClane has officially flushed his career into the toilet. I don't know why or when he stopped caring. I do know when I stopped caring. I can't imagine queuing up another Willis film anytime soon. At least that means he won't make the bottom list next year.

3) Black Friday

Wow, this one pissed me off. I was hoping for a fun little indie horror film, worthy of having Bruce Campbell in the cast. Instead I got a cheap looking, charmless, disrespectful piece of shit amateur movie with no coherent story.

2) Titane

Yes, yes, we got the press releases from Cannes. This was supposed to be THE most shocking and daring film of the year. I'm assuming the velvet ropes have insulated that particular crowd from truly shocking and daring film, so they think this movie qualifies. Sure, there's an unexplained sex scene with a car. There's some body horror stuff with insistently unattractive lead Agathe Rousselle, including many unwanted closeups of leaking orifices, but aside from that the only truly shocking thing is how trivial the core story is, when you get past all the aggressively disgusting nonsense.

1) Malignant

I almost knew it the moment I had finished this film. Surely no other film of the year could be so laughably inept, this HAD to reach the no. 1 spot on the "worst of" list. And sure enough. Here it is. The movie starts bad - completely unscary and really badly written - then it takes a turn for the worse, and the finale is so ludicrously bad you'll wonder if this was meant to be a satire all along. I wish the filmmakers were that clever, but everything else in Malignant indicates that they're not.

WRAP-UP

Phew, well, we made it through THAT list. Now on to the more fun stuff: The BEST films of 2021. Stay tuned....

I usually post some sort of semi-profound blog on the last day of the year, but I'll be honest, I didn't know what to say this year. I could have reposted the one from last year, almost verbatim, and if that doesn't say it all, I don't know what does.

So instead we'll skip to the new year and start fresh by adding up the stats from 2021 as we prepare for the lists of the best and worst films from last year....

Number of films watched in 2021:

292

Comparison:
- 2020 (329)
- 2019 (263) - 2018 (290) - 2017 (263) - 2016 (288)
- 2015 (307) - 2014 (331) - 2013 (401) - 2012 (405)
- 2011 (343) - 2010 (338) - 2009 (302) - 2008 (361)

Breakdown:
- Films watched for the first time: 166
- Re-watched films: 126

Films in play for the top/bottom lists:

120

Quality distribution (of new films):

Good: 59
Meh: 32
Bad: 29

Format distribution:

4K: 29
Blu-ray: 129
DVD: 1
VOD: 131
Cinema: 2

Decade-of-release distribution:

1940's: 2 films
1950's: 5 films
1960's: 6 films
1970's: 11 films
1980's: 25 films
1990's: 35 films
2000's: 29 films
2010's: 44 films
2020's: 135 films (2020: 43 / 2021: 92)

Most watched film:

Shadow in the Cloud (3 times)

TV-SHOW STATS

Number of TV-show episodes watched:
(not counting game shows)

219

Number of different TV shows watched:

34

Complete seasons watched:

20

Best Shows of the Year:

Kevin Can Go F**k Himself
Foundation
Intergalactic
Miss Scarlet and The Duke
Resident Alien
Vigil
Squid Game
Debris

FINAL THOUGHTS

That's it for the time being. I will now sit myself down and make those lists of the best and the worst films I saw last year. And soon, as per tradition, they will appear on the very blog.

Director: Alan Taylor. Starring: Alessandro Nivola, Vera Farmiga, Leslie Odom Jr, Michael Gandolfini, Ray Liotta, Jon Bernthal, Corey Stoll. Release: Theatrical and HBO Max.

Full disclosure: I never saw more than the first episode of The Sopranos. Hated every single character on the show and never went back for episode 2.

In theory that should not be a problem, since this is a prequel, the backstory to that popular HBO show. This is the story of the demise of Dickie Moltisanti, the favorite uncle of Anthony Sopranos, who would later take the lead in the aforementioned show. He's featured in this movie as well, of course, but this is Dickie's story more than anything else.

Let there be no doubt: The Many Saints of Newark looks the part. It oozed classic gangster movie when it comes to mood and imagery. It features an impressive and frequently mesmerizing turn by Alessandro Nivola as Dickie. And it's got a few memorable scenes here and there. Unfortunately the fractured narrative never comes together to match the gorgeous aesthetics.

The film often comes across like a collection of random scenes, edited down from something bigger. It never achieves that "movie feeling", and there's a distinct lack of urgency. Many Saints often relies on other films to fill in the gaps in the plot. What's the deal with the whole wife and mistress situation? Watch Goodfellas, and you'll know what's going on, Many Saints doesn't feel the need to elaborate. Obviously no gangster film does itself any favors by reminding you of Martin Scorsese's seminal 1990 masterpiece, the film all other films in this genre will be forever compared to from that point on.

Admittedly it probably helps to know the TV-show. At least then you'll know who the hell delivers that intermittent voice-over (another thing the film can't be bothered to explain properly). But even taking that into account, I don't get the sense that The Many Saints of Newark fills in some much needed backstory for fans of the show. Also, this isn't like Rogue One, whose ending literally cuts directly to the beginning of Star Wars. There's a long way from the end of this film to the beginning of the TV show. Probably at least a decade before the Tony in this film bares any resemblance to the one from the show.

All in all The Many Saints of Newark feels like a film in desperate need of a purpose. Something to justice its own existence. Honestly, you'd probably be better off just watching or rewatching the show. This film? Forget about it!

Director: Leigh Janiak. Starring: Kiana Madeira, Benjamin Flores Jr., Olivia Scott Welch, Julia Rehwald, Fred Hechinger, Ashley Zukerman. Release: Netflix.

Let's get the obvious out of the way first: This is not a trilogy of films. It's a miniseries packaged as three feature films. That's a fun gimmick, but make no mistake, these films can't be watched separately as individual stories. They work as one 6 hour long story.

Fear Street: Part 1 - 1994 (2021)

Welcome to Shadyside, Ohio. Population: Rapidly declining! Yes, someone is murdering the young Shadyside citizens and Deena (Kiana Madeira) must find out who. It's all got something to do with an old curse and a witch called Sarah Fier.

Fear Street: Part 1 never rises above its I Know What You Screamed Last Friday the 13th roots. It also feels like a rushed production, sloppy and uncoordinated, and it looks like it was put together by an inexperienced, possibly first-time director. There’s a lack of basic filmmaking skills, like rhythm, a sense of spacial awareness, proper establishment of scenes and locations. Several moments fall flat because of bad timing. The story is often a bit of a mess, and the simple central premise is vague at best. Also, if this was supposed to be scary they really should have come up with more than one type of scare.

Still, the 90s soundtrack works, the film references are SO much less obnoxious than in Stranger Things, and the likeable young cast really put in a valiant effort to make you forget the flaws. They almost succeed.

Proposed drinking game: Drink every time a scene starts with a cool song setting up a potentially fantastic sequence, only for the film to abandon the song 20 seconds later.

Fear Street: Part 2 - 1978 (2021)

The second part of this horror trilogy picks up exactly where the first one left off, but then quickly moves on to the eponymous flashback and a fresh setting: The Camp Nightwing summer camp. No prizes for guessing what fate will meet those poor camp kids.

The summer camp setting gives off a fun vibe, but you'd be hard-pressed to find much originality in the bloody antics. Almost every kill is identical to the next, and once again the film operates with a limited set of scares. 1) A character suddenly appears behind another and 2) a dark figure passes in front of the camera, both accompanied by a music stab on the soundtrack.

Luckily Fear Street: Part 2 somehow feels a little less rushed and uncoordinated than the previous part, and the oft-mentioned, poorly explained Shadyside curse comes a bit more into focus here. Though it's still surprising how much the film struggles with such a simple concept we've literally seen hundreds of times before. Still, the horror moves along, the drama intensifies and the pieces start to fall into place. Admittedly, the whole thing ends up working rather well.

Proposed drinking game: Drink every time someone "investigates a sound"

Fear Street: Part 3 - 1666 (2021)

Once again picking up exactly where the previous film left off, we're transported back to 1666 to watch the creation of the curse.

Here lead actress Kiana Madeira is - rather confusingly - seen playing Sarah Fier, the very same women who stalks Madeira's other character Deena in 1994. They're not related, but they both get in trouble for having same-sex feelings. The two different characters they have those feelings for are also played by the same actress (Olivia Scott Welch). In fact several of the actors from Part 1 and 2 play different characters here. More screentime for Kiana Madeira is certainly appreciated - she's marvellous, the trilogy's MVP - but considering how much the trilogy already struggles with the multi-decade spanning story, it might have been better if Fear Street: Part 3 had kept things more simple and used some fresh faces for the 1666 cast.

Still, the story moves away from the overfamiliar teen horror genre to a more interesting Salem-like setting, where Sarah Fier's girl-on-girl antics lead to accusations of witchcraft and prosecution from religious fanatics. Part 3 occasionally still suffers from moments of directorial unsteadiness - odd cutting, errors in staging and other assorted rookie mistakes - but the story grows more powerful and charged, and the 1666 portion is by far the most effective part of the franchise.

The 1666 story leads us to Fear Street: Part 1 - 1994, part 2 (I swear it's not as confusing as it sounds) where Kiana Madeira is back as Deena who must bring an end to the witch and the curse, and save her beloved Shadyside. The last pieces of the puzzle falls into place and brings about a surprisingly satisfying finale that wraps up the trilogy (nay, miniseries) in an effective way.

Proposed drinking game: Drink every time someone says "burn the witch"

WRAP-UP

The Fear Street Trilogy would have benefited from a more skilled director with a more ambitious vision, and the whole thing would almost certainly have worked better if it had been presented as six to eight 45 minute episodes.

Still, the trilogy ends a whole lot stronger than it begins. Despite the faults and flaws all three Fear Street films are definitely watchable, and patience with production is rewarded by the end. Now, go find a safe place to hide, and if you hear a strange sound DO NOT go towards it.

Director. Mathieu Turi. Starring: Gaia Weiss. Release: VOD.

A woman wakes up in a tiny room, with no memory of how she got there. She must now make her way through a series of tight tunnels (think the air ducts of Die Hard). The problem is: The tunnels are full of deadly traps. Oh, and there's a deadline too! That's about all you should know about Meander before you see it, making a review a bit of challenge.

The thing is: This movie has tricks up its sleeve. Many tricks. And because of the simple nature of the setup, they will be hard, nay, impossible to predict, so saying more would ruin the film's wonderful surprises. I will say this, though: Meander is not Cube.

It sounds like this might be a ripoff of that 1997 Canadian science fiction movie, given the similarities in the setup, but these two movies are very different, albeit in the same genre. What's most striking about Meander is that it's a solo show. Gaia Weiss is alone. Her character Lisa has no one to talk to, no one to plan with, no one to calm her down. Because she’s alone, and because there’s a deadline, she’s got no time to stop and wonder why this is happening, leaving us, the audience, to ponder those questions. And let me also add: This actress is a freaking trooper. Holy crap.

The second striking thing about this movie is how claustrophobic it is. I remember people giving up on The Descent (2005), because they just couldn't deal with the characters of that film squeezing their way through ever narrower tunnels. If you're one on those who felt that way, you will not make it through Meander.

And finally word to the wise: Don't expect Meander to wrap everything up in a nice, neat little package. Too much is going on for that to be possible or satisfying. And that really IS all I can safely say about Meander, lest I ruin the "fun".

Just watch it. You'll thank me later.

THIS is what we're all here for! The BEST films of 2020. Too much badness in that year. We need and deserve some good films, and here are my favorites....

THE LIST

20) DeadTectives

I know this looks dumb. And to be fair, it IS dumb. It's meant to be! The delightful Chris Geere (of You're the Worst-fame) leads a pack of fake ghost-hunters, who are suddenly forced to step up, when they come across a real haunting for the first time. Cheeky, silly and full of energy. It takes a big, deserved shit on the face of "real" ghost-hunter shows, while refusing to let its obvious low budget hinder it in any way. Irresistible!

19) The Witch: Part 1 – The Subversion

It's hard to put The Witch higher on the list, because even though I enjoyed it, it's clearly the first part of a larger story, and it feels a bit unfinished. Having said that this Korean film sets up an interesting scenario: A teenage girl's dormant abilities awakes after she goes on a singing competition TV-show. The title calls her a witch, but what she does would not be out of place in a straight up superhero movie. These abilities turn the film into a full-on, kick-ass action extravaganza, full of brutal fights and all-out epic coolness.

18) A Perfect Plan

This low-budget heist movie charmed the hell out of me. I'm not sure if everybody will feel the same way, but I really enjoyed it! I liked the clever twist on a familiar genre, I found the actors immensely likeable, and the central story works surprisingly well. You're going to have to forgive this film that it's not a $100 million Hollywood production, but once you get past that, this slick-fingered devil has a few tricks up its sleeve.

17) James vs. His Future Self

The premise is as simple as it is intriguing: James is a brilliant scientist, trying to invent time travel. One day his future self arrives to a) inform him that he will succeed and b) urge him to stop his research immediately! What follows is a surprisingly heartfelt story, nowhere near as silly as the title perhaps suggests, and Daniel Stern knocks it out of the park in the role of "older" James.

16) The Plagues of Breslau

This Polish ripoff of Se7en delighted me to no end. It's never anything short of absolutely preposterous, but I found myself drawn to the lead detective and her quest to solve a mysteries series of murders: And I loved that the mood and style was distinctly NOT American.

15) Banana Split

A girl becomes best friends with her ex's new girlfriend. A simple pitch. A simple movie, but I fell instantly in love with the couple in the center of the story. Hannah Marks, who both wrote and plays the lead as the scorned lover, steals the show. We're gonna have to keep an eye on her in the future.

14) Spontaneous

What if teenagers in a small town just started to explode? No, not metaphorically, like for real! Giant explosions in a cloud of blood! The implications for a young couple in love make this an intriguing teen film. Katherine Langford leaves quite an impression in the lead role, as does Charlie Plummer as her charming, unusual love interest. Their banter is irresistible and you'll never look at a dick pick in the same way, I promise. A touching, funny and quite cheeky little flick.

13) Rabbit

Fascinating, but demanding mystery thriller that feels like a combination of episodes from Twilight Zone, The X-files and True Detective! It's a bit hard to follow at times, but in a good way, and with the always watchable Adelaide Clemens in the lead, the film never loses its emotional feet on the ground, even when the story takes off towards the sky.

12) Project Power

This Netflix film seemed to rub a lot of people the wrong way. Pitched as an "alternative superhero movie" Project Power caught flack for not being on par with the stuff Marvel delivers. You're damn right, this is WAY better than anything Marvel could hope to produce. What really makes this interesting, however, is not the flashy action stuff, but the real underlying theme that deals with drug addiction and all the collateral damages that comes with it. A gorgeous film, with something to say. You paying attention, Marvel?

11) Sea Fever

Alien meets The Thing on a fishing boat! I mean, is there anything else to say? There is, but I won't. Just watch this fine, little thriller!

10) Coma

A Russian take on Inception? Sign me up!

Admittedly, I was drawn to this because of the insane, mind-bending visuals, and honestly if that was all the film had, it would have been enough. Surprisingly, Coma has a bit more going for it than that. A likeable hero, an intersting mystery, and a suitable, not too forced love story. I know some people have a hard time with Inception, finding the plot too impenetrable and the characters too cold. I don't agree, but I do understand the sentiment. Coma is the kind of film I would recommend to those who feel that way. Assuming the language isn't a barrier, this film delivers a more down to earth, relatable version of Nolans masterpiece, along with some truly memorable visuals.

9) Sputnik

I find the set-up for this film utterly intriguing. A psychiatrist with a questionable reputation is called in to interview an astronaut who's returned to Earth with.... something! This delightfully moody Russian science fiction film doesn't disappoint. Even when the big reveal comes the film stays the course and takes the story to a fascinating conclusion.

8) Queen & Slim

In the year of #BlackLivesMatter this movie is especially relevant. Daniel Kaluuya and Jodie Turner-Smith are riveting to watch as the star-crossed, 1st date, Tinder couple who is forced to go on the run after a fatal run-in with a cop. It's a simple story, and it's familiar at times. Nevertheless, this is a beautiful, poetic, devastating film that is very hard to shake. As well it should be.

7) Volition

Volition caught me off guard. I thought it was just going to be a cool film about a guy who can see his future, and then suddenly sees his own death, but it turned out to be something even more clever. Better still, the film also turned out to be much more heartfelt than I expected. Don't read anything about it ahead of time, just trust me and watch it. This is a real treat!

6) "1917"

1917 crawls quite a bit higher up on this list than I expected. I think I was a little harsh when I originally reviewed it after having seen it only once. At that time I felt it was style over substance and that perhaps the film didn't have all that much to say. I think I expected a more cerebral film from Sam Mendes. Having rewatching the film a few times, I've come to the conclusion that the style and the emotional content is enough. I don't need a history lecture. Good thing, because the film has no interest in providing one. The technical merits alone are worth noting, but it's the "hopeless mission with an impossible deadline" pitch that makes me go back to the film again and again. That part works flawlessly.

5) 21 Bridges

I guess you could argue that 21 Bridges is merely a traditional Hollywood thriller, but then you'd be missing the point. It's an EXCEPTIONALLY solid Hollywood thriller. It plays in a genre, where Tinseltown often disappoints. Everything in this film has the volume turned up. The story is just a bit tighter than similar films. The violence more shocking. The dialogue more slick. The characters have just a little more depth. It all adds up to a gorgeous, engaging film that stands up to repeated viewings, made even more powerful by the tragic fate of Chadwick Boseman. He burns so very, very brightly in this film.

4) The Trial of the Chicago 7

Aaron Sorkin directs this movie about the famous trial against protesters during the 1968 Democratic convention in Chicago. Any person with a decent bone in their body will get SO mad watching this story unfold. Even if you know where this is going you WILL get pissed.

Aaron Sorkin is famous for his words, but here he manages to conjure up some memorable visuals and a few very cinematic sequences. I gotta say, I'm impressed. This is a solid piece of work, dealing with a very important historic event.

3) The Vast of Night

Unbelievable. This is made by a first-time filmmaker, Andrew Patterson. It's so stylish, so confident. It looks so cool, and it's so moody. Plus, the story itself is right up my alley. A kind of The X-files meets American Graffiti, a UFO story set in the 50's.

Now, I'll admit, the opening half hour is a bit challenging, because the film doesn't provide a primer to guide the viewer. It requires a bit of patience, which will pay off in the end. The finale is also a bit underwhelming, until you realize it's perfect.

Amazon bought this, and that's unfortunate. This is not a film for a streaming service. It needs to be seen on a large, good screen (it's quite a dark film), in a good video quality, in a dark room, with no interruptions.

2) Tenet

I just can't in good conscience put this any lower on the list. Despite its many faults - and it has MANY - Tenet just too damn brilliant.

I never liked  the hero. I never bought the love story. The bad guy is almost embarrassingly weak. And the less we say about the idea of making a film that simply DOES NOT work on the first viewing, the better. Despite all this, Chris Nolan has managed to construct an amazing, unique film. Tenet is a deeply flawed, confusing, often unlikable, sometimes downright cocky masterpiece, but it IS a masterpiece. The more I watch it, the more I'm convince this will be the final verdict.

1) Misbehaviour

Imagine my surprise, when I went through my list of 2020 favourites and discovered that I had given this film the highest marks. I'm not sure why I was surprised, after all I enjoy the hell out of this deceptively unassuming little gem. It pretends to be a bit silly, but don't be fooled, this is a solid piece of focused filmmaking, full of great performances. Best of all, though, it's got something on its mind, and despite the 70's setting, its themes are still relevant in the world today. I've already rewatched it once, and dare say I enjoyed it even more the second time. I can't wait to watch it again.

WRAP-UP

And so we bid 2020 farewell. A year that changed a lot for the world and for cinema. The effects of The Rona will ripple through 2021 and beyond. It's be interesting to see where we are 1 year from now.

Here we are, once again, back with the traditional look at the best and worst films from the past year. 2020 has taken quite enough of our attention already, so let's get on with it...

As always, we start with the worst.

THE LIST

20) The Old Guard

Charlize Theron should have signed up for Mad Max: Fury Road 2 instead of this strangely unambitious, overly familiar, big bummer of a film. It does nothing interesting with it's well-worn premise, it looks like any other lackluster Hollywood film, but most frustratingly, it's just not fun to watch.

19) Artemis Fowl

I love Kenneth Branagh, but I wish he'd stay away from these soulless big budget effect movies. Having said that, this doesn't seem all that big budget. It's got a lot of flashy effects, but the plot is basically a simple "find a thingy"-plot - the kind the Marvel movies have already worn thin - and most of the movie takes place in a single house. I guess you could live with that if the film at least worked as a good introduction to the title character, but no. This Artemis Fowl is not a "12 year-old criminal mastermind", as described by the books. He's an unlikable, cocky, little shit, played rather unconvincingly by newcomer Ferdia Shaw.

Corona got the blame for the cancelled theatrical release of this film, but I wonder if everybody at Disney wasn't secretly relieved, when they could just dump this on their streaming service and forget about all about it?

18) Charlie's Angels

Another dull and unnecessary attempt to turn the "classic" TV show into a movie franchise. The film looks cheap, it's completely devoid of set-pieces and the only one who appears to be having a good time is - surprisingly enough - Kristen Stewart. I'll have what she's having. And I wish everybody else in front of and behind the camera would O.D. on the same stuff.

17) The New Mutants

I actually wanted to like this movie. A small scale, teen-oriented X-Men film, with a horror bend seemed like a good idea. Turns out: It wasn't.

16) Train to Busan present: Peninsula

I didn't love the first Train to Busan as many did, though I get why everybody seem to fall for it. It did have some solid moves.

At first, this sequel also appears to have some solid moves, but soon the problems reveal themselves. It sets itself up to be a zombie heist movie. The it forgets about the heist. And sometimes also the zombies. The characters are bland, there's no sense of urgency, it's not exciting, or scary, or interesting. I was hoping for Escape from New York with Zombies. This is more like Escape from LA with no zombies.

15) Terminator: Dark Fate

It's time to terminate the Terminator franchise for good. I love Terminator 2. I'm one of the few people who loved Terminator 3 as well, but let's get real for a second. There should really only ever have been ONE Terminator movie. We're now on number..... 6?!

This convoluted reboot, retcon, rehash is so painfully uninspired every step of the way that it quickly feels like nobody really wanted to make it. So why did they? No, don't say money - if they had wanted to score a big payday on that $200 million investment, they would never have turned in such an ugly, unmemorable, and unnecessary piece of shit. Even the spectacular return of Linda Hamilton couldn't save this. She deserves so much better. As do we, needless to say.

14) Da 5 Bloods

What an obnoxious and punchable film. Par for the course for Spike Lee, then!

This clumsy, unsatisfying Vietnam War story and wannabe heist movie fumbles the history lesson, the heist part and even fails on the most rudimentary level (the basic mission is simply impossible). Technical merits are questionable, the direction is sloppy and Spike Lee seems clueless about his own shortcomings, and the myriad of other problems on deck. Ironically, especially considering this film, Lee has a Trump-ish streak, where everybody who dares to question him must be 100% wrong. That probably explains why this and other of his recent films turn out as shoddy as they do.

13) Ma Rainey's Black Bottom

Make no mistake about it, this is THE most classy film on this list, and it will most likely win a couple of Oscar. That doesn't mean it's any good.

I had looked forward to Ma Rainey's Black Bottom! I though I was going to see a complex period piece about black musicians struggling in a cold, hard, white business eager to exploit their talents, but less eager to pay the musicians their dues. What I got instead was a short, filmed play, with two or three interesting, awkward speeches, but no sense of an organic narrative or a layered portrayal of the period. A huge disappointment.

12) The Rhythm Section

I love when women take the lead in action movies and thrillers, and Blake Lively seemed the perfect choice to head up this potentially franchise-starting revenge-spy movie. Unfortunately it turned out to be a dull mess that only made me want to rewatch Nikita and Taken. They should have saved that cool title for a better story.

11) Bloodshot

Stop it Vin. Please just stop it. Stick to the Fast & Furious movies. Stop trying to start more franchises. Just stop it.

10) The Complex Lockdown

I checked this out on a whim, because I've got a thing for Michelle Mylett who plays the lead. There's an interesting core in the story, but at some point the film fumbles the ball and turns into a groan inducing direct-to-video amateur bore. I still got a thing for Michelle Mylett, but I won't make the mistake of watching THIS film again!

9) The Craft: Legacy

I get it. Take a great 90's movie, update it, modernize it a bit. That makes sense. I'd even go so far as to say The Craft (1996) is one of those movies that could be improved - it's got quite a few scenes and plotlines that haven't stood the test of time.

This remake, reboot, sequel or whatever it is, is baffling, though. It completely fails to establish the most basic parts of the story, it ruins the core concept, where witchcraft gives courage to the disenfranchised. It can't even put together a decent soundtrack. In every imaginable way this is inferior to the original film. And the less said about the painfully awkward attempts to be woke the better.

8) Force of Nature

A heist under the cover of bad weather? Yes! Could it be that we've found this year's Hurricane Heist? Nope. Force of Nature failed to deliver on its promise, despite a decent cast and better than average direct-to-video production value. Watch that 1999 Sandra Bullock film instead.

7) The Tax Collector

If it wasn't for the slick production value and a fully committed Shia LaBeouf, this would look like any other dime a dozen cheap direct-to-video "gangsta" film. Yes, we get it David Ayer, you desperately want to be cool and have street cred! First step would be: Don't make shitty films like this. That is so NOT gangsta!

6) Valhalla

It pains me a little bit to put this on the bottom list, because I know a few of the people involved in the project, but this film just didn't work. The budget is far too low to properly tell a story on the scale the Old Norse myths deserve. Some of the stylistic choices are highly questionable, and the young lead actors fail to convince on any level. Also, I'm not sure how anyone can follow the shoddy plot, unless they already know the old stories. Which of course is another problem: Everybody knows the old stories, because there's already a highly popular animated classic, which covers the same material.

Valhalla should have been a bright, breathtaking adventure, instead of this muddy, moody and claustrophobic mess.

5) The Doorman

I had to check and recheck. No, it's true, this inept Die Hard ripoff is directed by Ryûhei Kitamura. He's usually a competent director, but you wouldn't know it, based on this embarrassment. The film often looks like a cheap video production, assembled by amateurs. Lead actress Ruby Rose's already limited acting abilities are further hampered by the feeling that she's not really present in any of her scenes. A hopeless bore. If you HAD to watch a Die Hard ripoff you could be much better. It's hard to do worse.

4) The Pale Door

A western, horror movie? Yes! SO much yes! A train robbery results in the theft of a locked box, but when it's opened the content is not gold, but a young innocent (right!) girl! Color me intrigued! Unfortunately it very quickly becomes apparent that this low-budget production will not provide a solid foundation for that story. If the cheap video-look didn't give it away, the amateur actors, laughable locations, and other assorted oddities will. The basic pitch could have worked, but this is too cheap and too inept to get anywhere near that potential.

3) Money Plane

A descent heist movie idea laughably executed. You want an airport check-in terminal? I got you! Here's a blue curtain and a lamp. That's the level of filmmaking here. I could almost forgive how cheap the film looks if it actually delivered on the central heist idea, but it turns out that idea only provides about 5-10 minutes of screentime. The rest of the 82 minute running time is spent waiting for something to happen, and laughing at the utter incompetence of everything is this film. Money Plane can't even get through a scene where a guy cooks spaghetti in a realistic manner. For real.

2) Breach

This is just straight up shitty filmmaking. A script that doesn't make any sense and lacks any consistency from one scene to the next. Production value on the level of a 1st grade school play. Devoid of any discernible filmmaking skills. On some level this would be really funny, if it wasn't so painfully bad.

1) Cats

How could you NOT put Cats at the top of the Bottom list? This grotesque misfire barely qualifies as a movie. Never mind the fact that Cats, the musical, is already an inept piece of trash, which owes its entire legacy to a single song. On top of that this film looks SO bad and is SO awful, you really have to see it to believe it.

Director Tom Hooper's sanity was already in question, now we know for sure. That man needs to be locked up. Just look at the way he uses wide-angle lenses. He's a savage and he must be stopped.

WRAP-UP

That's it what a CATastrophe, huh? Oh well, luckily 2020 had some good films too. We'll get to those next.

Well, it's a new year and that means we once again must look back on what we accomplished in the previous year in terms of movie-watching. I did quite a bit better this year than last, but I still haven't reached that golden number 365 movies watched in a year. In fact I haven't reached that number since 2013.

Oh well, let's look at the stats for 2020....

Number of films watched in 2020:

329

Comparison:
- 2019 (263) - 2018 (290) - 2017 (263) - 2016 (288)
- 2015 (307) - 2014 (331) - 2013 (401) - 2012 (405)
- 2011 (343) - 2010 (338) - 2009 (302) - 2008 (361)

Breakdown:
- Films watched for the first time: 167
- Re-watched films: 162

Films in play for the top/bottom lists:

99

Quality distribution (of new films):
Good: 53
Meh: 25
Bad: 21

Format distribution:

4K: 26
Blu-ray: 189
DVD: 9
VOD: 98
Other: 5
Cinema: 2

Decade-of-release distribution:

1920's: 2 films
1940's: 2 films
1950's: 7 films
1960's: 9 films
1970's: 16 films
1980's: 29 films
1990's: 32 films
2000's: 38 films
2010's: 139 films (2018: 18 / 2019: 47)
2020: 55

Most watched film:

Tenet (3 times)

TV-SHOW STATS

I did even worse in 2020 than I did in 2019. And 2019 was bad. I have SO many awesome TV-shows waiting for me, I really have to pull myself together this year, and get to them.

Number of TV-show episodes watched:
(not counting game shows)

184

Number of different TV shows watched:

27

Complete seasons watched:

8

FINAL THOUGHTS

That's it. 2020 sure was a strange year, and most of the big films got pushed to 2021, so my top and bottom lists for last year WILL be weird. I'm going to start working on them right now. Let's meet up later on this very site and check them out, shall we?

I think it's safe to say that 2020 has secured a prominent place in the history books. I won't bore anybody with a recap of all the things that went wrong, this is a day for looking forward. Like to the day when The Dump Trump finally chokes on a Big Mac and dies an agonizing death in front a roomful of spineless enablers, who watch in eerie silence, as they realize the moment they've waited so long for is finally here. But I digress.

For a few years now I've had a tradition where I watch Interstellar on the last movie night of the year. That's the 30th, of course, since the 31st is reserved for other things. This year, I felt like watching something else. I felt like watching All the President's Men (1976). It seemed especially fitting to watch this film, this year. After all it's a story about how two reporters, Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, took down the most powerful man in the world with a simple weapon: The truth.

So much could be said about All the President's Men, but I'll keep it simple.

This film should not work. It deals with investigative reporters who spend half time on phones, the other half typing. And yet, this is a stone cold masterpiece. A story where the heroes are armed with only pens and paper, and where the villains are never seen, save for a bit of stock footage. It's nothing short of astonishing. The fact that this film manages to feel as relevant as ever today, is also astonishing. Or perhaps depressing. No, let's go with astonishing.

Like I said, I'll keep it simple, so I'll highlight 3 moments from the movie, in dialogue.

1) This observation from Deep Throat, aka Mark Felt, seemed especially pertinent, in light of the last four years:

"Forget the myths the media's created about the White House. The truth is, these are not very bright guys, and things got out of hand."

2) I love this exchange between managing editor Howard Simons and reporter Bob Woodward:

Simons: "Did you call the White House press office?"

Woodward: "I went over there; I talked to them. They said Hunt hadn't worked there for three months. Then a PR guy said this weird thing to me. He said, 'I am convinced that neither Mr. Colson nor anyone else at the White House had any knowledge of, or participation in, this deplorable incident at the Democratic National Committee.'"

Simons: "Isn't that what you expect them to say?"

Woodward: "Absolutely."

Howard Simons: "So?"

Woodward: "I never asked about Watergate. I simply asked what were Hunt's duties at the White House. They volunteered he was innocent when nobody asked if he was guilty."

Simons: "Be careful how you write it."

3) And finally, there's executive editor Ben Bradlee's last speech to the boys:

"You know the results of the latest Gallup Poll? Half the country never even heard of the word Watergate. Nobody gives a shit. You guys are probably pretty tired, right? Well, you should be. Go on home, get a nice hot bath. Rest up... 15 minutes. Then get your asses back in gear. We're under a lot of pressure, you know, and you put us there. Nothing's riding on this except the, first amendment to the Constitution, freedom of the press, and maybe the future of the country. Not that any of that matters, but if you guys fuck up again, I'm going to get mad."

I can't capture in simple text just how riveting this movie is, so if for some odd reason you haven't seen it, you'll just have to take my word for it and get on with it.

Of course All the President's Men should have cleaned up at the Oscars in 1976, but this was a particularly strong year, so it didn't. It was competing against Taxi Driver and Network. Think about THAT trio for a second. All the President's Men. Taxi Driver. Network. Did 1976 just look 44 years into the future, straight into our soul?

Depressingly Rocky took the top Oscars that year, a fact that grows more and more embarrassing with every year. Don't get me wrong, Rocky is a cute little film, but next to these timeless masterpieces it comes off as finger painting.

Rewatching All the President's Men, in light of 2020, in light of the orange fucktard, in light of The Rona, and the inept work from contemporary journalists, I'm both encouraged and scared. If we pull ourselves together we CAN right this ship. But we do need to fucking pull ourselves together.

So stay safe. Wear a mask. Don't be a dick. And hopefully in a year, the world will be in a better shape.

Director: Mark Toia. Starring: Neal McDonough, Brett Tutor, Jose Rosete, David Haverty. Release: VOD.

A test of military robots in the jungles of Cambodia turns into a bloodbath, when everything goes haywire. The mission was intended to take out a band of local drugdealers, but a group of random doctors and a former SEAL soldier find themselves caught in the crossfire. Meanwhile a trio of techs monitoring the mission remotely are horrified when the operation escalates way past the original brief. The whole thing turns into a colossal shitshow as they start to lose control of the high tech military hardware.

What a strange duck this is. There are some interesting ideas in Monsters of Man. At its best the movie is both intriguing and engaging. Often, though, it slips into a territory occupied by low budget direct-to-video films or fan films made in a garage. Also, at 132 minutes this is at least 40 minutes too long. So much so that they start to play the end credits over the final scenes of the film!

Speaking of the credits, take a closer look at those for a bonus laugh. Director Mark Toia manages to credit himself about 18 times, and apparently it took two people to cast the sole well known name in the cast, Neal McDonough.

Still, the movie looks professional, especially the robots, it's surprising brutal at times, and the acting is serviceable, if you forgive a handful of cringeworthy moments. All in all, not the worst direct-to-video film you could stumble across.

Director: David Ayer. Starring: Bobby Soto, Shia LaBeouf, George Lopez, Cinthya Carmona, Jose Conejo Martin. Release: VOD.

Veteran filmmaker and apparently gangsta-wannabe David Ayer follows up on his contributions to Training Day and Harsh Times with this L.A.-based Latino gang story.

David (Bobby Soto) is in charge of collecting taxes from the local gangs on behalf of an incarcerated boss, with his trusty - possibly psychotic - enforcer Creeper (Shia LaBeouf) by his side. One day a rival shows up to challenge David's boss and he gets caught in the middle.

You wouldn't think if was possible for a man of David Ayer's talents to create a film as trivial as this. This film has absolutely nothing to say, and certainly no interesting way of saying it. It's a painfully predictable parade of every lackluster direct-to-video gangster film cliché you can think of, but at least it never feels authentic for a second.

Even the always watchable Shia LaBeouf doesn't get to do much with his intriguing, but underused character, despite sucking up all the attention in every scene he's in. "I got a .38 on each ankle, .38 on my right, .25 on my left, chopper in the trunk, lockin' my belt, I'm on it" he barks with a ferocious authority, and for a moment you think this film has a chance. Then Shia looks deep into the eyes of unlikable lead Bobby Soto and says, "I'll ride with you till the wheels fall off!" and then you suddenly remember David Ayer also wrote The Fast & The Furious.

Director: Reed Morano. Starring: Blake Lively, Jude Law, Sterling K. Brown. Release: VOD.

Coming across like Nikita by way of Jason Bourne, this franchise-killing revenge spy movie, has neither the ferocity, the narrative clarity, or the emotional impact of either of these movies or any of the countless other movies it so desperately wants to imitate.

Blake Lively stars as a woman destroyed by the loss of her family, who suddenly gets a chance for revenge when she receives information that the fatal plane crash that caused her loss was a deliberate act of terror. Unfortunately the character's trajectory from broken woman, to inexperience killer, to hardcore assassin will be painfully predictable to anyone with even a passing knowledge of the genre.

The central revenge plot never really works, and it doesn't take long before the film starts to overcomplicate its simple premise with an international spy story that somehow manages to be less thrilling than Red Sparrow and less believable than Johnny English. The kind of spy story where every twist or revelation comes with a shrug and an "okay then" from the viewer, because you have nothing invested in the lead character or her journey.

Still, a movie can get away with a lot as long as it's got moxie or star power. Unfortunately, despite her obvious talents the likeable Blake Lively just can't seem to breathe any life into the moody and unlikable character. "I've got nothing to lose," the would-be assassin says at one point. After watching this film, you'll know exactly how true that is.