Frankenstein. The last time I saw this I was in late elementary or early middle school, I think. Probably about a decade too early to appreciate the moral aspect of the horror. Heartbreaking, disturbing, must-watch. Makes me curious about the book…

A Simple Plan. Watch this one a couple days after Bill Paxton’s death. He’s great. Could make a nice combo with Fargo.

Children of Heaven. I loved this movie within minutes. Amazing piece of work. Majidi gets so much mileage out of the smallest moments. The schoolkids’ foot race at the end was more intense than most blockbuster finales. Anything can be high-stakes if you care about the characters.

10 Cloverfield Lane. One of those movies that takes a few different shapes. Start with a stalker suspense, then abduction horror, then bunker survival, then… well, ya gotta watch it. Love how a few new details surfacing makes you change what you’re rooting for. Good ride.

Complete Unknown. It seems so unfair that a perfectly-fine-but-not-great movie like this gets saddled with a terrible name. Weisz and Shannon are top-notch.

Cold War. It’s a bit of a mess but it’s decent. Always keeps moving. Bureaucratic succession drama disguised as action film! Sometimes watching foreign movies I think I’m probably missing a lot of cultural context that would help me settle in.

The Stranger. Edward G. Robinson is a treasure.

You’re Next. This one got on my list right after I finished The Guest for the first time. Solid home invasion horror. The story details for this sort of thing are almost never satisfying, but the trip is fun.

The Lobster. Oof. This is brutal. Deadpan funny and dark as can be. Seems like so it’s fully thought through and considered. I need to find more by this Lanthimos guy.

Knight of Cups. After I watched it I wrote some snarky tweets rolling my eyes at this movie having beautiful people walking aimlessly. I meant it, and I also still liked it. The interiority that’s getting stronger in his films is interesting for me. Not so much just watching the characters but riding along with them. Also, he’s the only person making weird idiosyncratically Malickian movies with big names, whenever he feels like it. However he’s getting it done, respect. Filed under: Terrence Malick.