Movies

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I joined the Regal Unlimited program in mid-March. In 9.5 months I went to the movies 32 times, which I'm sure is a personal record for a year though I have no idea what my previous high was. Movies being what they are these days, I can recommend some non-IP, non-sequel you might not even have heard of. If they're on one of your streaming services these are worth a watch. These are not utter gems but worth a solid 2 hours if essentially free:

Black Bag - Soderburgh spy flick with Blanchett and Fassbender
Caught Stealing - time capsule look at NYC 25ish years ago, based on a novel
Die My Love - unsettling look at a marriage struggling from one spouse's mental health struggles
Rental Family - joint Japanese/American production featuring Brendan Fraser. Mostly but not entirely in Japanese with subtitles
Kill Bill The Whole Bloody Affair - you've heard of Kill Bill but this is a rare release of both back to back in a slightly modified original edit. I don't think you will find this outside of theaters
Sentimental Value Norwegian film starring Stellan Skarsgård about a father's uneasy relationship with 2 adult daughters

Middling no pretension guilty pleasures depending on your mood and taste:
The Amateur
Drop
Weapons
Roofman
Predator Badlands
The Running Man
The Housemaid

Somewhat higher-ambition films I thought were OK but not great:

Eddington
Sinners
Hamnet
Marty Supreme

I also saw most of the summer blockbusters.

One thing about going to movies in 2025 is that I saw many of these with extremely limited idea of what the story was, which used to be near impossible. But movies are such a diminished element in the culture you can mostly avoid that now and I liked that, which is why I kept the descriptions above pretty spare.
 
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I thought Sinners, Hamnet, and Marty Supreme were excellent. I'm AMC A-List and went to 53 films this year. Going to the movies by yourself can be so much more enjoyable.
The first half of Sinners that took place during the day was among the most beautiful film sequences I have ever seen.
I got off to a slow start after joining the program. I might hit 50 in 2026.
 
The first half of Sinners that took place during the day was among the most beautiful film sequences I have ever seen.
I got off to a slow start after joining the program. I might hit 50 in 2026.
I usually do double (or even the rare triple) feature on Sundays if there's nothing else going on. If you can time it back-to-back-to-back or with a gap for a late lunch / early dinner somewhere quick, it's fun.

AMC Lincoln Square is my preferred theater even though it's farther away than the Regal that's much, much closer to my apartment.

 
I usually do double (or even the rare triple) feature on Sundays if there's nothing else going on. If you can time it back-to-back-to-back or with a gap for a late lunch / early dinner somewhere quick, it's fun.

AMC Lincoln Square is my preferred theater even though it's farther away than the Regal that's much, much closer to my apartment.

I joined Regal for Geography. There are 4 in Queens closer than the nearest AMC. But I don't like the closest, and I might try AMC for at least 3 months for a change of pace.
Thanks for that list.
 
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Watched four movies on holiday flights, which is often not how I choose to spend that time.

When Fall Is Coming - a meditative French drama about a grandmother unexpectedly having to raise her grandson. It's ambiguous and does not provide all the answers

Ballerina - answers the important question, what if John Wick was girl? I haven't seen any of the John Wick movies so the plot was pretty much mumbo jumbo but I was surprised Keanu is actually in this (in a small but significant role). I don't know if this is actually good but I wanted stylized fight choreography and I got it.

The new Naked Gun movie. Had some good laughs, and I think they matched the tone of the original (which I haven't seen in like thirty years)

Americana starring Sydney Sweeney and Paul Walter Hauser. The performances are all good but it never really comes together into a movie, if that makes sense. Probably the most disappointing of the four in that regard (having had zero expectations for Ballerina and pretty low ones for Naked Gun, for that matter).

Oh, and bonus shout out to Hot Frosty, which we watched on Netflix a few months ago and is terrible.
 
The new Naked Gun movie. Had some good laughs, and I think they matched the tone of the original (which I haven't seen in like thirty years)
I watched this on a plane too. It did have a few good laughs, but overall it was pretty bad haha.

Other movies I’ve watched in the past few weeks:

Left-Handed Girl - Really enjoyed this one. Kind of a slice-of-life movie mostly about a mom and two daughters, takes place in Taipei, with a twist toward the end. The little girl was an amazing actress. I think same producer or director as The Florida Project.

Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery -Fun, like the others in the series. The ensemble cast is great.

Crooked House - enjoyable, but has some flaws. Agatha Christie, so if you like her you’ll appreciate it

Good Fortune - unexpectedly funny and feel-good, albeit a bit dumb and predictable. Aziz Ansari, Keanu Reeves, Sandra Oh, and Seth Rogen basically play themselves but if that ensemble intrigues you, as it should, then I recommend. Also there is a populist, fuck the rich tech bros message. Sort of.
 
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