Every Favorite-of-the-Year Honoree
Showing reviews of movies that were one of my favorite things I watched that year. Each review is scored on my 4-point rating system.
-
*
- this is my first logged watch, but I had seen the movie before. - 🍿 - watched in a theater.
- ☀️ / 💸 / 🎃 / 🎄 / 🔎 / 🎭 - Member of a collection.
- 🥇 / 🥈 / 🥉 - Favorite of the Year honoree.
A fun watch. A little all over the place tonally, but it keeps its core while staying weird.
Watch #22025-08-21Released: 2022
Awesome, over the top action, a big ensemble, and some fun characters moments make for a great time.
Watch #22025-07-05Released: 2022
Wicked
🥉
No one does spectacle like John M Chu. Does a great job exploring and expanding the story without straying too far. Costumes and sets were beautiful and the whole production just oozed vibrancy.
Watch #12024-12-31Released: 2024
A delightful comedy of errors with a blast of an 80s cast. Fun to see ZAZ write/direct something with a single plot running through it.
Watch #12024-12-02Released: 1986
Surprisingly touching. Mixed drama and comedy well. Good performances out of a young cast. Had low expectations, but really enjoyed it.
Watch #12024-11-12Released: 2024
Watched with the director's commentary podcast, which was fun! Annoying to keep in sync manually, but had some good bonus trivia.
Watch #42024-11-09Released: 2022
Ready or Not
🎃
🥈
no additional notes, see rating and/or other watches.
Watch #22024-10-28Released: 2019
A small "bottle" movie with surprisingly little blood for its subject matter. Tense, interesting, and mysterious. Great performances all around.
Watch #12024-10-16Released: 2023
Better than I remembered. Great cast and a good number of layers
Watch #32024-09-13Released: 2022
I enjoyed the heck out of this one. Though the actual plot and villain don't bring a lot to the table, it never forgets to have fun. I'm not sure it would stand on its own if you'd never seen any other marvel things, it rewards that familiarity with great payoffs. It was great to see Hugh Jackman back in the saddle. The dialogue was funny and the references right up my alley, but YMMV. More than any other recent Marvel movie, it feels like it understands what makes these franchises worth watching.
Watch #12024-08-14Released: 2024
I enjoyed the heck out of this one. Though the actual plot and villain don't bring a lot to the table, it never forgets to have fun. I'm not sure it would stand on its own if you'd never seen any other marvel things, it rewards that familiarity with great payoffs. It was great to see Hugh Jackman back in the saddle. The dialogue was funny and the references right up my alley, but YMMV. More than any other recent Marvel movie, it feels like it understands what makes these franchises worth watching.
A fun romp that's ultimately about marriage, and that's very sweet. Snappy writing and cinematography that punches way above its weight
Watch #32024-08-05Released: 2018
no additional notes, see rating and/or other watches.
Watch #22024-05-07Released: 2020
Great examination of what makes a rivalry and how it's differentiated from enemies. And there's a lot of great Michigan history in this one, which is fun.
Watch #12024-03-07Released: 2022
The Menu
🥈
It was unhinged, but I sort of loved it. At some points it felt twisted for twisted's sake, but there was clearly thought put into every bit of the staging and story.
Watch #12024-02-26Released: 2022
Barbie
🥇
Hysterical movie and a big Oscar snub for Gerwig and Robbie.
Watch #22024-01-23Released: 2023
Ready or Not
🎃
🥈
Absolute delight. Gross, tense, exciting, game-related. The works.
Watch #12023-10-15Released: 2019
Barbie
🥇
Super funny. A great mix of parody (of like, society itself?) and actual adventure. Manages to be both light and heavy all at the same time. Stellar cast, too.
Watch #12023-09-20Released: 2023
Sneakers
💸
🥉
Great cast, cool soundtrack, good plot. Just fun overall.
Watch #12023-09-11Released: 1992
Super great up until the part where it didn't have an ending
Watch #12023-06-12Released: 2023
no additional notes, see rating and/or other watches.
Watch #42023-05-20Released: 2019
Extremely fun. Great cast and motion- felt like an old Guy Ritchie movie. Superb top to bottom.
Watch #12023-04-21Released: 2022
Magic Mike XXL
☀️
🥈
Huge improvement on the first. Fun, cute, great ensemble. Cute message, too. Lighter on the story, but that’s not bad.
Watch #12023-03-06Released: 2015
Violent Night
🎄
🥉
Extremely gory, but had a surprising amount of heart. Great themeing and performances. Enjoyed the heck out of it.
Watch #12022-12-27Released: 2022
Knives Out
🔎
🥇
no additional notes, see rating and/or other watches.
Watch #42022-11-25Released: 2019
Delightfully twisted mystery. Stacked cast and music. Cool setting. Definitely a "Last of Shiela" vibe. Great follow up to Knives Out.
Watch #12022-11-23Released: 2022
Totally unhinged, but such a blast. Great cast and jokes.
Watch #12022-11-11Released: 2022
RRR
🥉
Extreme stylistic spectacle. Long, but paced well. Wild set pieces throughout. Consistently over the top. What a blast.
Watch #12022-10-18Released: 2022
Interestingly touching. Showcased a small story in a big world. Had vibes of A Very Fatal Murder, which I dug. Fun cast, too.
Watch #12022-08-23Released: 2022
Unhinged, but touching and delightful. One of his best.
Watch #12022-08-02Released: 2022
Intense and thrilling. Great performances all around. Production design was incredible. I thought the story was a little too heady and unresolved. There were a lot of bits happening and it felt like it lacked focus. Parts were weird for weirdness sake. But it was also really funny in bits. Lots to like.
Watch #12022-05-05Released: 2022
Intense and thrilling. Great performances all around. Production design was incredible. I thought the story was a little too heady and unresolved. There were a lot of bits happening and it felt like it lacked focus. Parts were weird for weirdness sake. But it was also really funny in bits. Lots to like.
Really stellar. Glad to see it for real. Great cast and balance with all the characters.
Watch #22022-03-15Released: 2021
Intense, stellar cast, beautifully shot. Brutal, but satisfying.
Watch #12022-01-27Released: 2021
Really great movie. Explored the emotional depth of the character(s). Top tier.
Watch #12021-12-20Released: 2021
The charisma of the leads carried this a long way. Fun plot, not too serious, good twists and turns. Loved the cast.
Watch #12021-11-13Released: 2021
Simultaneously very cute and hilariously dark. Funny and dark.
Watch #12021-07-07Released: 2020
Luca
☀️
🥇
Deeply cute. Great vibe, good story. Enjoyed it way more than I expected.
Watch #12021-06-19Released: 2021
no additional notes, see rating and/or other watches.
Watch #52021-05-19Released: 2017
What a ride. Great frame story, great cast, good plot. Good music and pacing, too. Dense as heck.
Watch #12021-04-07Released: 2020
no additional notes, see rating and/or other watches.
Watch #52021-02-28Released: 2016
Deeply dry parody of what a year this has been. Good way to pinch it off.
Watch #12020-12-31Released: 2020
Knives Out
🔎
🥇
no additional notes, see rating and/or other watches.
Watch #22020-12-05Released: 2019
Really great look behind the scenes of the white house and the function of journalism
Watch #12020-10-19Released: 2020
Very cute! Mystery was decent. Characters were good and the action scenes were good. Cinematography was great, talking right to the screen was neat.
Watch #12020-09-27Released: 2020
no additional notes, see rating and/or other watches.
Watch #42020-08-29Released: 2018
Fun movie! Good take on a time loop. Quite funny. Cool visual style.
Watch #12020-07-13Released: 2020
Hysterical. Great action while being so funny. Great cast and arcs. Surprisingly cute, too.
Watch #22020-06-09Released: 2018
no additional notes, see rating and/or other watches.
Watch #32020-05-08Released: 2019
The car scene is still so stupendously tense
Watch #42020-05-03Released: 2017
Knives Out
🔎
🍿
🥇
Great whodunit. Awesome cast, good humor mix, amazing performances. Just a delight.
Watch #12019-11-27Released: 2019
The Farewell
🍿
🥈
Good. A little slow, but beautifully shot. Nicely examines the role of family and happiness.
Watch #12019-07-30Released: 2019
Has some slow bits and hand wavy timey-wimey stuff, but it lands overall and thrives on its small moments with characters we've grown to love.
Watch #22019-07-17Released: 2019
Really enjoyable. Packed a lot into a limited amount of time. The snapped characters felt a little shoehorned and some bits were cheesy, but the entire time heist segment was golden.
Watch #12019-04-25Released: 2019
Michael B Jordan is just so so good. I'm also still impressed by the pacing of this movie.
Watch #32018-10-11Released: 2018
Searching
🍿
🥉
Really cool! Shot incredibly interestingly. Good plot and performances. Good tension. John Cho rocked.
Watch #12018-09-22Released: 2018
Tag
🍿
🥉
Unexpectedly touching! Some great action scenes and fun. Pretty good dialogue and a great cast. I am left happy.
Watch #12018-07-12Released: 2018
Black Panther
🍿
🥈
Better than I remember. The killmonger story is really intense and the supporting cast did a great job
Watch #22018-04-23Released: 2018
So well done. Every piece of it is a delight
Watch #32018-04-21Released: 2017
A Quiet Place
🍿
🥉
I think this is objectively a good movie, though not one I personally enjoyed. I don't like scary movies and this was 90 minutes of pure stress. Sound and tension was incredible, but I did not have an enjoyable time
Watch #12018-04-12Released: 2018
Game Night
🍿
🥉
Light, funny. Decent action, very self aware. Some good jokes with pretty good payoff. Some threads that felt pointless. All together pretty fun.
Watch #12018-03-07Released: 2018
Coco
🎃
🥇
Such an emotional movie. The music was great and the art and culture was such a joy. The story was good and really makes you care about the characters
Watch #12018-02-25Released: 2017
Black Panther
🍿
🥈
Amazing art. Great story. Good acting. Cool characters and fights. So important for the representation and cultural aspect. The biggest thing holding it back were the predictability, pacing, and writing. Seriously a lot to like here though.
Watch #12018-02-17Released: 2018
Phenominally acted. Characters had great growth and the writing made you care for each character. Story flowed well, everyone seemed realistic. Amazing.
Watch #12018-01-24Released: 2017
no additional notes, see rating and/or other watches.
Watch #22017-07-19Released: 2017
no additional notes, see rating and/or other watches.
Watch #12017-07-06Released: 2017
Hidden Figures
🍿
🥈
no additional notes, see rating and/or other watches.
Watch #12017-01-12Released: 2016
no additional notes, see rating and/or other watches.
Watch #12016-05-05Released: 2016