I was a bit disappointed by Knives Out. I went in expecting a comedy murder mystery in the vein of Murder by Death or Clue. I didn't find the funny.

Don't get me wrong -- it's a fascinating movie with its intricate plotting and the way little things prove to be important later. (Because we're still in Non-Spoiler Time, I'll only mention Ransom's name.) It'd make a good double feature with The Last of Sheila.

It was nice to see Jamie Lee Curtis, Don Johnson, and Christopher Plummer again. And Chris Evans playing against Captain America type as the spoiled rich kid.

The 25 Best Films of 2019: A Video Countdown: [link]

David Ehrlich, who's a film critic for Indiewire, puts these together every year, and they are always a delight. His rule for the music selection is that all the songs he uses in the video compilation have to come from the soundtrack of films released that year (I *knew* there was gonna be a version of "Being Alive," and of course it's Raul Esparza.) He makes idiosyncratic but interesting choices. The section set to "Glasgow (No Place Like Home)" in particular really hit me where I live.

(I don't think I mentioned here how much I loved James Gray's Ad Astra. I saw it in IMAX theater three times in and cried all three times. I know Gray isn't everyone's cup of tea -- he makes contemplative epics that are usually humourless and which can come across ponderous -- but *something* about his sensibilities vibrates in my own particular frequency. He slow-burns to operatic emotions without losing his restraint, which I am a sucker for.)

Of the lesser known films on the list, I only just watched I Lost My Body this past weekend, which is an animated film from France, told partly from the POV of a severed hand (!). It's a strange and evocative little film, and really quite beautiful. It's streaming on Netflix and very much worth your time if you have 90 minutes to spare.

Also on the "lesser known, strange and evocative" spectrum is Christian Petzold's Transit, which Ehrlich describes as Casablanca as directed by Franz Kafka, which is as good a way as any to describe it. It *looks* like it might be about the refugee crisis, or possibly a film about purgatory, and you'd think it was set in a particular time period except it isn't -- the movie made me feel disoriented and unmoored in a way I found difficult to describe. I saw it over a year ago at TIFF and it's one of those films that linger. If interested, you can rent it on Amazon or Google Play. Most of Petzold's earlier work is streaming on The Criterion Channel right now and if you haven't seen it yet, I cannot recommend Phoenix highly enough -- it's got one of the most shattering endings I've seen in any films in recent memory.

The 25 Best Films of 2019: A Video Countdown

David Ehrlich, who's a film critic for Indiewire, puts these together every year, and they are always a delight.

I look forward to this every year. Happy to see that the list is about 1/3 female filmmakers, including 3 of the top 5.

A couple there I hadn't heard of, which is rare for me, but I haven't very good about keeping up with film podcasts this year.

Of the lesser known films on the list, I only just watched I Lost My Body this past weekend, which is an animated film from France, told partly from the POV of a severed hand (!). It's a strange and evocative little film, and really quite beautiful. It's streaming on Netflix and very much worth your time if you have 90 minutes to spare.

FYI, I haven't watched it yet, but Diamantino is streaming on Criterion.

Also on the "lesser known, strange and evocative" spectrum is Christian Petzold's Transit, which Ehrlich describes as Casablanca as directed by Franz Kafka, which is as good a way as any to describe it. It *looks* like it might be about the refugee crisis, or possibly a film about purgatory, and you'd think it's set in a particular time period except it isn't -- the movie made me feel disoriented and unmoored in a way I found difficult to describe. I saw it over a year ago at TIFF and it's one of those films that linger. If interested, you can rent it on Amazon or Google Play. Most of Petzold's earlier work is streaming on The Criterion Channel right now and if you haven't seen it yet, I cannot recommend Phoenix highly enough -- it's got one of the most shattering endings I've seen in any films in recent memory.

While I didn't like it as much as Phoenix, and I still have a lot to see this year, Transit is currently #3 on my Top 25 of 2019: [link]

(I *knew* there was gonna be a version of "Being Alive," and of course it's Raul Esparza.)

I'm not much of a film person really but this probably convinced me to watch this when I come out of my haze of grading projects.

I cannot recommend Phoenix highly enough -- it's got one of the most shattering endings I've seen in any films in recent memory.

Yeah, that was an amazing scene.

FYI, I haven't watched it yet, but Diamantino is streaming on Criterion.

I have heard about this movie but the clips of this flick on the video are WHACK. All I know is that there is a footballer and what looks like a weird furry fantasy.

I think I'm gonna catch up with Atlantics (streaming on Netflix) and Her Smell first and maybe save that one for a late night viewing with booze.

Transit is currently #3 on my Top 25 of 2019

Neat site! Looks so much nicer than lists you can make at letterboxd. Also, Parasite for #1 film of the year solidarity! *fist-pump*

Neat site! Looks so much nicer than lists you can make at letterboxd.

Yes, I barely use Letterboxd anymore since I hate the UI so much. I think you can use the lists feature for free on mubi? (I actually have a streaming account so I'm not sure what you can access without one. Mubi is great for independent and foreign films. Also, I trust their review scores more than anything else.)

Also, Parasite for #1 film of the year solidarity! *fist-pump*

I still have so much to watch, but it will be hard to knock that one off. The rest of the list is subject to radical overhaul at any time.

Went and saw Knives Out again with mom. Rewarding second viewing, even missing the first 20ish minutes - we got to the theater a little late and then they couldn't make change when my mom bought her ticket so we had to wait for cash to get moved around, but we were early enough for what we did see to make sense.

Also a test run of my shiny new Regal Unlimited pass. That was pretty easy. Probably 90% of the movies I see are at this theater, it's the only one less than 20 miles from my house, so I think this pass thing will work out. It'll be nice not to always be trying to get to a matinee or figure out which Tuesdaynight showings are cut-rate.

So, my family watch all three Lord of the Rings movies on the day after Christmas.

I would like to institute a similar tradition at my household, but it will likely need to be with different movies.

I've gotten suggestions from local friends, but they all seem to be missing the idea that while, yes, these are big Hollywood movies, they also have a sense of mythicness, that it feels reasonable to have them be the closing of the holiday rush. So, like, Die Hard isn't going to cut it.

Any ideas for 8-12 hours of movie that might fill that? Like, were I just choosing for me, Hogfather might well be my cornerstone, but I don't think I can get buy-in, especially not with my in-laws here this year.

The first two Godfathers? That's almost 8 hours, and no one needs to see the third.