Ghost Dog: The Way Of The Samurai (1999)

 

I remember enjoying the vibe of this unique film from Jim Jarmusch. It features a funky mix of cultures and music. Certain oddities are endearing. 

Rating: C+

The Sixth Sense (1999)

It’s a different experience watching a second time, already knowing the twist and seeing how obvious it was in retrospect. I guess that’s how magic tricks work. Once the trick is revealed, you wonder how you didn’t figure it out before. 

Haley Joel Osmet and Donnie Wahlberg (as short as his scene was) acted the hell out of their roles. After such a serious origin, you wouldn’t expect Haley as an adult being so funny. 

Sixth Sense sparked many big twist/reveal movies, and for that it’s a classic. It also delivers on its central theme of facing your fears. 

Rating: B

Election (1999)

 

A reminder that bad decisions have consequences, but don’t necessarily ruin your life. I’d forgotten how sad some of these characters are. Worth a second viewing, but not as good as I remembered it. 

Rating: C+

Three Kings (1999)

 

David O. Russel delivers both an entertaining Hollywood movie and a message about the absurdity of war. War is about greed. Greed for land, power, and money, and everything that comes with having those things. The antidote is empathy, which is in short supply. The film delivers a somewhat hopeful message of how empathy can occasionally cut through that greed to do some good. 

Rating: B

Run Lola Run (1998)

 

I remember liking this film a lot more 25 years ago. Watching it again, I found myself annoyed at the editing. We get it, Lola runs!! The novelty at seeing three overlapping timelines isn’t enough to compensate for the lack of story development. 

Rating: C

Being John Malkovich (1999)

 

Written by Charlie Kaufman and directed by Spike Jonze. Weirdness was guaranteed. I wish I could have been in the meeting when this was first pitched to Malkovich. What a bizarre and intriguing role to play. Loved the restaurant scene where he’s playing 100 different versions of himself. Truly a unique vision. 

Rating: B

The Life Of Chuck (2024)

I’m not sure what I just watched. An extended episode of The Twilight Zone? I'm confused by the timeline, because it seems the characters around Chuck didn't age. Those teachers were basically the same age as when he was a kid as when he was an adult--others too. 

And they didn't remember Chuck as a person when they crossed paths with him later. I'm assuming Act 3 all takes place in his mind while he's in a coma or some shit. It was frustratingly vague, even while the film itself was interesting. I’d hoped the third act would pull everything together. Instead the whole thing was an enigma dancing around smoke and mirrors. 

Rating: C

The Insider (1999)

 

Watching this in 2025 is a trip. Seems like 100 years have passed instead of 25. The pace of news is agonizingly slow as people send faxes, ship documents, consult The Yellow Pages, use pay phones, and read newspapers. Everything is outdated. 

Michael Mann’s style feels slow and clunky in this slow burner. It’s white collar legal stuff, so Mann relies on jump cut racoons and shadowy golfers to try and make it exciting. Doesn’t really work. 

Maybe the subject of nicotine and tobacco companies was a bigger deal back then, but the story seems insignificant in the face of the current tsunami of malfeasance and corruption washing over us on a daily basis. Stretched over 2 ½ hours, the film wasn’t very riveting. 

Rating: D+

Mad Props (2024)

 

A documentary for nerds interested in movie props, those who collect them, and those who make them. It was interesting to see these iconic pieces in people’s home collections, as well as the stories behind them. The film itself was very basic. 

Rating: C

40 Acres (2024)

 

A family farm defends itself from looters and killers in a post-apocalyptic world where resources are scarce. Sign me up! This isn’t Mad Max or a zombie flick. It’s a family drama set in a lawless future. Characters have depth. The audience is given a reason to care. The bad guys are scary. Action sequences are fantastic. A top 10 movie of the year. 

Rating: B

Heads Of State (2025)

 

Cartoonish in execution. The production value was plenty high, but they skimped on the script. Nothing feels believable, so the danger isn’t suspenseful. 

Rating: C-

Thunderbolts* (2025)

I dabble in Marvel shows from time to time to remind myself why I generally avoid them. They often start out with promise, like this one, before becoming a jumbled mess of superpowers and explosions. Thunderbolts at least had some interesting characters with bits of humor. 

Rating: C-

Ballerina (2025)

 

Another surface level John Wick universe shoot-em-up. Little in the way of creative storytelling. Typical action movie tropes. Non-sensical plot devices. They make these girls study ballet for years, but never provide rational justification. It’s not like the boys are becoming licensed plumbers as part of their training.

Time is only a concept. Wick appears to be just up the road; able to hop on a 30 minute train ride to the big finale when called upon, despite the lair being a super-secret remote village. It’s lazy writing that most action films subscribe to. 

How terrible is this assassin cult at their job of assassinating if one fly weight ballerina can dispatch their entire village in one evening? 

Rating: D+

The Ballad Of Wallis Island (2025)

 

A very unconventional musical, of sorts. It’s quirky, funny, sweet, and sad. I enjoyed the songs and characters. 

Rating: B-

28 Years Later (2025)

 

After being blown away watching 28 Days Later at Sundance, I was excited to see Danny Boyle taking the reins again for this third installment. I expected it to be a similar tone and style, but he made some odd choices this time around. Some I liked, some I didn’t. 

Plenty of tense scenes and gore to keep your heart rate up. The film is almost completely devoid of humor, except for an unexpected bit in the middle. I wish they would have leaned into that more. Not as good as I had hoped. 

Rating: C+

Deep Cover (2025)

 

Improv actors recruited to help ensnare low level crooks get in way over their heads, yet stay committed to their roles. As far-fetched as that sounds, the script is quite good. Nice combination of violence and humor. Reminiscent of the HBO series Barry. 

Rating: B-

Fight Or Flight (2024)

 

Everything about this script is preposterous. It makes Bullet Train look like a documentary. And if you get that reference, then like me, you tend to cut action movies a little slack in pursuit of quenching your bloodlust. Bust out your best slack cutting scissors for this one. It’s terrible. 

Rating: D-

Becoming Led Zeppelin (2025)

 

Led Zeppelin fans will love this documentary. Not because it’s groundbreaking in cinematic style or anything. But because it’s the origin story for one of the greatest rock bands of all time. 

Hearing how they came together, created their music, and the journey along the way, was magical. I appreciated that they aired performances of songs in their entirety. Something music docs rarely do. Narration is almost entirely comprised of interviews with the four members. It’s a bare bones doc filled with incredible content. 

Rating: C+

Predator: Killer Of Killers (2025)

 

The latest in the Predator franchise. I didn’t realize it was an animated movie until I pressed play. I find it difficult to get fully engaged in a cartoon. The story and action were fine, but it lacked the suspense that comes from a live action feature. 

Rating: C

The Man From Nowhere (Ajeossi) (2010)

 

A lot of similarly looking Korean dudes are thrown at you right from the start. It’s hard to keep everyone straight, since there’s not much character development beyond the main protagonist. Plenty of gruesome fight scenes throughout. Acting and dialogue took a backseat. 

Rating: C