Other Movies I Watched: August 2026

Third time watching this, and still not tired of it.

I'm never going to get over the final five-way fight scene. Particularly the old-school western moment of all five pairs of eyes sizing each other up.

Immaculate choreography that papers over any story choices or weirdo dubbing choices.

It's been a minute since I saw this in theaters, but what an absolute joy this is. A film that parodies its influences while also playing them straight.

There's nothing I could say about this perfect movie that hasn't already been said before.

The only thing I do want to mention is that I'm so grateful to have been introduced to an instant Top 5 Character of All Time in the form of Kikochiyo.

You had the nerve to ask me if I was a samurai. Didn't you? I never forget a face. Look, I'm a real samurai, all right.

I can't remember the last time I was so legitimately upset at a character's death that I started yelling at the movie. The second he's wounded, I involuntarily yelled "FUCK YOU" and stood up from my couch, absolutely livid. This turned into legit tears as he was buried with the other fallen samurai.

His simultaneous exaltation and resentment of the titular samurai was so fascinating to me. We always celebrate characters for being three-dimensional, but Kikuchiyo was advanced string theory 11-dimensional.

Just an utter joy to behold, and a huge part of why this was one of my favorite movie-watching experiences of the year.

I was initially intrigued by the slow pace and the way it foregrounded the banality of Jeanne's life. I could tell it was all character-building, but eventually I couldn't tell what it was building toward. By hour two, I was about ready to check out, and most of the remaining 1.5 hours did little to help until that swerve of an ending.

I have to admit, beyond being shocking, it recontextualized the entire movie for me. I wouldn't personally put it at the top of the "best of all time" list as it currently stands, but now I definitely see why so many do.

I hate musicals. I don't know why, but the very idea of telling a story through singing (outside of music albums) makes me reflexively eye-roll and dry-heave.

But good God, what a revelation this one was.

1. Gene Kelly might be one of the most handsome men ever.
2. Make 'em Laugh might be some of the best non-action movie action choreography I've ever seen.
3. The dance sequence with Cyd Charisse might be one of the most beautiful ever put to film.
4. Multiple times throughout, I had the same "how on Earth did they choreograph this" thought I had with The Furious
5. Lina Lamont's real voice is legitimately a top 5 reveal of all time for me.

I spent so much of the movie involuntarily whispering "wow". This won't make me suddenly love musicals, but it was easily in my top 5 first-time watches of the year. Just pure cinema magic from start to finish.

The trailers initially had me wary, but this ended up being a perfect modern-day Twilight Zone episode.

Anne Hathaway continues her competition with Robert Pattinson (and maybe Zendaya?) for most stacked year ever as Denise, a suburban mom married to Ewan McGregor's somewhat hapless Greg. Outwardly, they have the perfect suburban nuclear family, but their marriage is on a precipice. Unresolved resentments threaten to tip things over, and a wormhole inexplicably zaps the neighborhood to the time of motherfucking dinosaurs.

What follows is a very fun survival adventure that occasionally detours into legitimate horror set pieces. The dinosaurs here aren't wonders to behold; they are legitimately dangerous wild animals, red in tooth and claw. The movie doesn't dwell on this aspect, but it has enough of a cruel streak to let us know this is an adventure that plays for keeps.

This all culminates in an ending that is cozy but raises some surprisingly existential questions it doesn't feel the need to answer, and it's the better for it.

Had a great time with this; definitely recommend.

Everyone is afraid of aging, and framing that via aging's effect on sexuality is such a cool concept for a slasher film and villain. The central conversation that directly addresses the theme is one of my favorites in horror. It's immediately followed by a moving rendition of Landslide that makes you feel a remarkable level of sympathy for the villain, which still gets me teary-eyed.

Second favorite of the Pearl trilogy, but a very close second.

My favorite of the Pearl trilogy.

I love the aesthetic pivot from X's Texas Chainsaw Massacre to Pearl's Wizard of Oz. I think it helps sell the tonal shift to a character study for this entry in the trilogy.

This story may raise timeline/logistics questions that some viewers will struggle to reconcile with X, but I was unbothered.

Mia Goth's performance alone rivals Toni Collette's in Hereditary, as far as an Oscar-worthy performance is concerned, overlooked because of the genre.

Less fun than X, for sure, but a perfect interrogation of a character that enriches X, in my opinion.