Films

A List of film recommendations organized by genre
Pretty good film recommendations collected by someone

List of films I’ve watched in recent years. Quite incomplete since I sometimes don’t bother to make note the films that I don’t particularly enjoy.

2025

  • Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl (2024)
  • Perfect Storm (2000)
  • A Sun (2019, 陽光普照)
  • My Fair Lady (1964)
  • The 400 Blows (1959): Didn’t like it much.
    • “Dad I just need 1000 francs” — “Which means you’re hoping for 500, meaning you really need 300. So here’s a hundred.”
  • Broken Rage (2024): It had funny moments but I thought it was incomplete.
  • Hot Fuzz: Rewatched, a personal favorite.
  • Firefox (1982): It was okay but I think Hollywood writing has improved a lot since.
Hot Fuzz

2024

  • Romeo + Juliet (1996): I found it a bit awkward.
  • Goodfellas (1990): It was okay. I had probably seen it before a long time ago.
  • Dune 2
  • Road House (2024): Pretty good for an action film. I like films taking place in the American south.
  • Absolution (2024): Quite average, but it provided one answer to the question I’ve had for a long time about what happens to crooks who live long enough to get old.
Romeo + Juliet
Goodfellas

2023

Mother
  • TenetTenet (2020) by Christopher Nolan (director)Christopher Nolan (director): Great.
  • Chinatown (1974): Did not like it much.
  • One Cut of The Dead (2017): It was just weird as the synopsis made it sound. I liked it in the end.
  • The Game (1997): It was okay. I read someone say they could not have guessed the ending, but I could. Maybe not 25 years ago though, but these days the twists like seen here are quite common.
  • Air (2023): It was okay.
  • Koroshi no Rakuin (1967)
  • Femme Fatale (2002): It was okay. I didn’t like the “what if” twist in the end.
  • 3-Iron (Korean): Wow, that was really good. Also extraordinary that the main characters don’t have any lines, except the woman a few in the end.
  • Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter… and Spring (2003, Korean): It was okay.
  • Midnight (2021, Korean): Deaf women, pretty thrilling.
  • Mother (Korean, directed by Bong Joon Ho): Focuses on a mother whose disabled son turns to crime, good stuff.
    • I liked the portrayal of mental disability. It’s not that he’s a bad guy, but the only guy who will hang out with him is. GTA5 did a similar thing that I liked with Trevor and Wade, although the tone was quite different.
    • I also liked the final twists in the film.
  • City of God (2002): Rewatched. Such a masterpiece it needs to be mentioned every time.
  • Everything Everywhere All At Once (2022): It was good but too postmodern.
  • The Old Man and the Sea (short animation, 1999): It was okay, but ruined for me by bad video quality and voice acting.
  • Election (1999): It was a bit lacking, but had a satisfying enough conclusion.
  • The Guilty (2018, Danish): Not bad.
  • Forgotten (2017): It was okay, but I usually expect films like this to be at least a layer deeper to be actually good.
  • BurningBurning (2018, Korean): It was okay
3-Iron. Showing the MC learning to become invisible.
City of God

2022

Basquiat
  • Wag the Dog (1997): It was great. Especially good for creators to watch.
    • It’s about a “spin doctor” film director whose takes on the job to turn a PR nightmare into a hero story. Things don’t quite go their way but they always find a way.
    • “This is nothing.” — I don’t remember ever laughing to a repeated phrase joke as much as I did in this film.
  • The Breakfast Club (1985): Pretty good.
  • Basquiat (1996): It was okay. I liked best the parts with Andy Warhol. Maybe I should watch a film about him instead.
Wag the Dog
The Breakfast Club
  • Silence of the Lambs (1991): It was good. I probably put it off for so long because I thought it would be more on the side of horror, but I realized and saw it was indeed more of a thriller.
  • Angels and Demons (2009): Good. I had seen it before, and read the book, which was my favorite by Dan Brown.
  • Harry PotterHarry Potter: Rewatched all
  • A Brighter Summer Day (1991, original 237 minute version): It from the Taiwanese Edward Yang who made Yi Yi (2000), which I recall liking. I didn’t like this one so much, it was hard to follow.
  • Shine (1996): About the pianist David Helfgott’s life. It was okay.
  • My Own Private Idaho (1991): Pretty good.
  • Top Gun Maverick: Completely unoriginal but well executed, can’t say it was bad.
  • Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (episode 9): A waste of time
  • Matilda (1996): Some time into it, realized I had see it a long time ago. It was okay. I think it could have worked without the literal magic as well, but I suspect for kids that was better. I think every kid has had the dream of moving things with their mind, and only boring adults like me think of how to make everything non-magical and still pretend it’s cool.
  • Kidnapping, Caucasian Style (1967, Soviet): Amusing.
  • Network (1976): A bit slow to start but I liked it. Had some really good dialogue and monologues.
  • Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966): I didn’t like it much, although I can understand why people would.
Silence of the Lambs
Angels and Demons

2021

The Social Network
  • Mean Girls (film)Mean Girls (film): Awesome.
  • Clueless (1995)Clueless (1995): Amazing.
  • Heathers (1989)Heathers (1989)
  • The Social Network (2010): Rewatched. Pretty solid.
  • Eyes Wide Shut (1999) by Kubrick: Pretty good.
  • The Return (2003): It was great, but what the hell was that red herring about the buried box? Never seen as huge one before. My best idea is that it was supposed to increase the air of mystery about the father. As to say there were things the boys could not even begin to guess.
    • Leviathan (2014, same directory): It was okay. Couldn’t tell if it has a religious message, anti-religious message, or neither/both. I guess it was just an archetypal story in the vein of Job or Cain and Abel. And a ton of vodka.
  • Dune (2021): I liked it.
  • Joker (2019): It was good. I think most people probably didn’t think this, but I found the film inspiring. Specifically, I’ve always thought it amazing that a person could just reject the rules and whatever he wants.
  • Steve Jobs (2015): Didn’t like it. I hate this interpretation that every personal success story was actually a family drama. For example those “biographies” that center on the wife of the famous person. I would much rather just have somewhat technical and very inspiring stories about how the people actually did what they did.
  • Pirates of Silicon Valley (1999): Didn’t like it much. I feel these biopics or whatever they are called only became good in last two decades. More bold and inspiring.
  • The Founder (2016) (film about Ray Kroc who made the McDonald’s franchise what it is): I liked it.
  • Solaris (1972): It was okay. Too deep for me. I liked Stalker a lot better.
  • Inside Llewyn Davis (2013), by the Coen brothers: Didn’t like it really, although it had its moments.
  • Lincoln (2012): Didn’t like it.
  • Barry Lyndon (1975), also by Kubrick: It was good, very skillfully produced, although I didn’t quite get if there was any point to it. Seemed like just a series of occurences to the titular character. Also I thought it weird how the narrator spoiled a lot of things.
  • The Secret in Their Eyes (2009, Argentinian): Good. Quite chilling. I liked the drunkard character. Also the scene with the woman improvising a “good cop bad cop” routine where she explains in front of the suspect that a scrawny, physically weak and mentally pathetic guy like that couldn’t possibly have committed the crime, for reasons such as no woman would let that kind of loser in their house. The suspect snaps and admits his guilt just to prove the accuser wrong.
The Return
Eyes Wide Shut

2020

  • Parasite (2019, Korean): Great
  • Shoplifters (2018, Japanese): Great film
  • The Man From Earth (2007). Pretty great.
  • Paris, Texas (1984): Pretty great.
  • Predestination (2014): Pretty good.
  • Kirishima, Bukatsu Yamerutteyo (2012): Didn’t really like it.
  • Floating Weeds (1959). I liked it. I’ve also watched Tokyo Story from the same director.
  • Margin Call (2011): Didn’t like it too much.
  • Rashomon (1950): Didn’t like it so much. The fighting scenes were really good though.
    • “To have my shame known to two living men is too much. One of you must die, I will go with the survivor.”
  • Hell or High Water (2016): Pretty good.
  • Blow Out (1981): Pretty good, and the technical bits about sound engineering were interesting.
  • Akunin (2010, Japanese): Pretty good. This reminds me of movies like Taxi Driver, never seen any Japanese film in this style. Director has Korean name and heritage, but was born in Japan.
  • Lords of Chaos (2018)

2019

  • Enter the Dragon (1973): Watched this after I realized I had never seen a Bruce Lee film. I thought it was pretty great.
  • To Kill a Mockingbird (1962): I liked it
  • Linda Linda Linda (2005): Pretty fun. Nice contrast to all the tropes we know from anime. Different kind of cute girls.
  • Upstream Color (2013): A bit too deep.
  • BlacKkKlansman (2018): Pretty good.
  • Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011): It was okay
  • Our Little Sister (Umimachi Diary) (2015) by Hirokazu Kore-eda: It was nice.
  • Mulholland Drive (2001): I had seen it long time ago but didn’t remember anything. It had good parts, but ultimately I didn’t like the film.
  • John Wick films.
  • Boy A (2007): A bit awkward for me to watch, but good nevertheless.
  • Take Shelter (2011): Didn’t like it.
  • Memories of Matsuko (2006, Japanese).
    • MC falls a sleep watching porn and starts to narrates how he saw a weird dream where he gets kidnapped by a porn actress, and then cuts to “It’s not a dream!”. I lol’d. She laughs, grabbing his balls, when it turns out he is her fan. Then at a dinner she wipes his mouth with a napkin.
    • It’s a quite charming film, with lots of unusual details. IIRC, another film by this director, Kamikaze Girls, was similar in that respect. Lots of music scenes, it’s almost like a musical.
  • Battle Royale (2000, Director’s cut): Okay film. Was fun trying to predict who dies and when.
  • Starship Troopers (1997): I liked it
  • Man on Fire (2004): Okay, a bit long.
  • Baby Driver (2017): I liked it.

2018

  • Stalker (1979)Stalker (1979): Probably the best film I’ve ever seen.
  • The Mirror (1975, same director). I didn’t like it, it was incomprehensible and not featuring particularly good photography in my opinion (like Stalker).
  • Sorcerer (1977)Sorcerer (1977): Awesome
  • Dunkirk (2017): Christopher Nolan (director)Christopher Nolan (director)
  • East of Eden (1955): Excellent. I read the book over a decade ago and it left an impression on me. When I read this film only adapts the latter half of the book I was a bit suspicious but now I see there’s nothing bad with that. Cal is such an interesting protagonist, and it’s exciting how he gets along with his mother.
  • The Other Side of Hope (2017): Aki Kaurismäki (director)Aki Kaurismäki (director)
  • La HaineLa Haine: Pretty good.
  • CasablancaCasablanca (1942, Collector’s edition): Pretty good. Great ending.
  • Apocalypse Now (Redux, 1979): Excellent.
    • I loved how everything got crazier the further their boat travelled. Many of the places the stopped at or passed by were so surreal, rather than horror-like. Maybe this is just my interpretation but I felt the film didn’t even bother to show all war is stupid, it just acted like it was plainly obvious. The people in this film were not horrified or scared, not even jaded, but merely “used to” it all (and crazy).
    • The surfer colonel Kilgore was awesome. “He acted like he knew he wouldn’t get a scratch in this war. And he was right.” “Love the smell of napalm in the morning.” The other famous surfer guy was nice too. Like how he seemed to adapt himself to the jungle. Could very well have stayed behind and live with the tribe in the end.
  • My Life as a Dog (1985): Really good. Reminded me of SOL and iyashikei anime.
  • Amadeus (1984, Director’s cut): Quite good.
  • Chungking Express (1994): Pretty good, especially the bizarre second half. A bit similar to Amelie, I guess.
  • In the Mood for Love (2000, same director): I didn’t think it was so good.
  • Gattaca (1997): Good film.
  • Nobody Knows (2004): Pretty great. Laughed when the kids are sneaking out of the apartment and the youngest sister chooses the wear sandals that make horn sounds when stepped on. Ending was quite sad and eerie. I noticed none of the kids cry once in this film. The director is quite prolific. I saw another of his films earlier, Like Father, Like Son.
  • His Girl Friday (1940): Pretty great. The dialogue was so terse though that it was a bit hard keeping up with all the details. Great end too. And all those jokes about Hitler (notice the year of the film).
  • Au Hasard Balthazar (1966): It was okay, maybe a bit too deep for me.
  • The Insider (1999): Pretty good.
  • L.A. Confidential (1997): masterpiece. Lots of interesting characters and a great mystery to bring them together. This glasses guy Ed Exley is awesome. I’ve never seen that archetype done this good. The script was really good, so I wonder if most of the stuff came directly from the book the film was adapted from. The director doesn’t seem to have other as strong films (I saw 8 Mile earlier).
  • Citizen Kane (1941): Didn’t like it so much. And of course I knew the revelation in advance from pop-cultural osmosis.
  • Enter the Void (2009): Cool intro. It was okay film, too long and the visuals gave me a headache.
  • Le Samouraï (1967): It was okay.
  • Ikiru (1952): Good but my patience is a bit lacking for this long, old movies. I liked the message that you should work passionately for meaningful things even if they seem small, because you may inspire others to do the same and then you’ve actually accomplished a whole lot more.
  • Harold and Maude (1971): It was okay.
  • Bad Lieutenant (1992): Somewhat boring.
  • Lady Bird (2017): Didn’t like it
  • Millenium trilogy films: Good stuff. I liked the ending between Lisbeth and Mikael in the third film. So Scandinavian.
  • Soshite chichi ni naru (2013): Quite boring and predictable.
  • Vertigo (1958): It was okay. I couldn’t predict the reveal, although the ending didn’t surprise me.
  • Gone Baby Gone (2007): Okay
  • Three Colors trilogy
    • Blue (1994): It was okay.
    • White (1994): I liked it.
    • Red (1994): I liked this the best, and the end was a nice wrap-up for all three.
  • Badlands (1973): It was okay
  • Bonnie and Clyde (1967): I thought it was a good film but maybe I’m a little dissapointed.
  • Smultronstället (1957): It was a bit deep but did not bore me as much as I might have expected from a slow old man reflecting on his life.
  • Fanny and Alexander (1982, the shorter 3 hour version): It was okay
  • The French Connection (1971): It was pretty good. Nice car chase sequence. Interesting ending, maybe because it was partly based on a true story.
  • THX 1138 (1971, 2004 director’s cut, remaster): Pretty nice, reminded me of the film Brazil - dystopian films are best with a dose of humor.
  • American Graffiti (1973): I liked it mostly. Hah, one of the car register plates reads THX 138, Lucas’ previous film.
  • The Third Man (1949): It was okay, but I didn’t find worth all the praise.
  • Rebel Without a Cause (1955): It was okay, but felt a bit dated.
  • Bicycle Thieves (1948): I liked it. I think the point of the film was the relationship between the father and son, what the man must have thought about how the son got to see his behavior during that day.
  • 2046 (2004): It was an okay film. Some interesting ideas and the stories and scenes around the middle about sex were pretty nice.
  • Otto e mezzo (1963): Somewhat difficult, but I thought it was good. It had really good technique.
  • A Room with a View (1985): I liked it.
    • The men bathing in a pond scene was a marvel.
    • I liked how the film never left the bubble of aristocracy. Reminded me of some of Wilde’s plays. Any modern film would have been compelled to contrast the people to peasants or whatever, and then that would inevitably have taken the whole film in that direction.
  • Le Havre (2011): Boring
  • Gone Girl (2014)

2017

  • Kids (1995 film)Kids (1995 film): Liked it.
  • History of ViolenceHistory of Violence: Great movie
  • Blame It on Fidel (2006):
    • “I told you not to read this again, Mickey Mouse is a fascist!”
    • “She confused sheep mentality with group solidarity.” - to which Anna asks “How do you tell them apart?” The parents look at each other, speechless.
    • I’m gonna call this one a masterpiece.
  • Frozen (2013): Very nice
  • SnowpiercerSnowpiercer (2013): Complete trainwreck
  • Being John Malkovich (1999): What the hell am I watching. Great movie, maybe a bit too deep though :D
  • Children of Men (2006): Breathtakingly intense.
  • Silver Linings Playbook (2012): Really good.
  • Yi Yi (2000): Long but very well worth watching.
  • There Will be Blood (2007): Nice, captivating enough for it’s long runtime of 160 minutes. The ending didn’t go like anything I expected.
  • Miracle in Cell No. 7 (2013, Korean): I liked it quite a bit.
  • My Sassy Girl (2001, Korean): MC dreams of a manga like encounter with a girl. Meets a drunken one who almost falls on the tracks and then throws up on a passenger in the train. Finished it now. Well, it was bit all over the place at times, but I liked the film.
  • Barking Dogs Never Bite (2000, Korean): I liked it. Turns out to be the same director as for Snowpiercer that I’ve seen.
  • Memories of Murder (2003, same director): Didn’t like this one. Just so cynical and inconclusive ending (based on real murders that were never solved).
  • A Bittersweet Life (2005, Korean): After that first half, fuck, I just want to see the main character kill everyone else. And that’s exactly what happens. Not sure if it makes me like the film. Bittersweet indeed.
  • A Dirty Carnival (2008, Korean): Didn’t like it much.
  • Moon (2009): Very nice. Breaking stereotypes with non-evil AI and clones. Speculative fiction should be more like this, not keeping secrets (the matter with clones) until the very end, but instead using the unique bits to make the story. That “I can’t make it, leave me behind” was nicely handled.
  • The Hurt Locker (2008): It was okay.
  • Manchester by the Sea (2016)
  • The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007): Pretty good. Long but didn’t feel boring.
  • A Serious Man (2009)
  • Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000): Rewatched
  • The Hunt (2012): It was good, but somewhat painful to watch.
  • The Astronomer’s Dream (1898 short film): Haha.
  • Repo Man (1984): Quite charming.
  • Hobbit
  • The Pianist (2002): Can’t say I liked it. It didn’t make me feel sad, just disgusted.
  • Heat (1995): Didn’t like it too much.
  • 8 Mile (2002): I liked it. The raps and subject matter were entertaining and it didn’t feel like there was anything unnecessary in the film. The ending was very nice, although predictable if you know anything about Eminem’s style.
  • Dead Poets Society (1989): Not bad.
  • The Damned United (2009): It was an okay film, especially considering I don’t care for soccer.
  • Stand By Me (1986): Quite good, I had seen this before long time ago, maybe twice.
  • The Blair Witch Project (1999): Didn’t like it too much.
  • The Layer Cake (2004): It was okay. I guessed it was the same director as of Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels.
  • Dr. Strangelove (1964): I liked it.
  • Harmonium (2016, Japanese): Toshio is the man in the house, why would he have to explain his wife anything? The wife is dumbstruck when the stranger is announced to start living with them and Toshio just returns to explaining his daughter about how dead baby spiders won’t go to hell for eating their mom. Well, it was an okay film but quite painful to watch.
  • The Man Without a Past (2002): Fine film if you know the language. Aki Kaurismäki (director)Aki Kaurismäki (director)
  • Arrival (2016): Interesting
  • The Aviator (2004)
  • Entre les murs (2008, French)
  • Little Miss Sunshine (2006): Pretty fun, a bit cringy.
  • La La Land (2016): Did not like much, but had good ending.
  • What Time Is It There (2001): I liked it.
  • Blue is the Warmest Color (2013)
  • Boys n The Hood (1991): And the best dad award goes to Furious Styles.
  • In a World… (2013): Good
  • Brokeback Mountain (2005): It was okay. People who think this kind of film is controversial should go see some otaku pandering anime.
  • American Hustle (2013): Didn’t like it so much
  • The Shack (2017): Ugh.

2016

  • Brazil (1985)Brazil (1985): Laughing uncontrollably.
  • West Side StoryWest Side Story: Good musical.
  • Mad Max: Fury Road (2015): Unbelievable.
    • I don’t remember seeing a film that I would want to watch again immediately in so many years. This is how you do world building. This is how you do action and chase scenes. This is how you develop characters.
    • “Fury Road was in development hell for many years, with pre-production starting as early as 1997.”
    • The director is in his seventies. Ridiculously high budget of $200 million, getting back about double.
  • Dazed and Confused (1993): Without really intending to, I seem to have watched something like 10 films from Richard Linklater now.
  • The Grand Budapest Hotel: I liked it but felt like it could have accomplished more with that style and attention to detail.
  • A Scanner Darkly: Pretty cool.
  • The Maltese Falcon
  • Spotlight: I found it surprisingly good, although I can’t explain why very well. I liked the portrayal of the new main editor in the newspaper. Such a calm and sharp man.
  • Two films about the housing bubble of US in the late 00s:
    • The Big Short: Prefered this.
    • Inside Job
  • The Revenant: Can’t say I liked it. Mostly just felt disgusted by the excessive realism.
  • The Martian: Didn’t like it much.
  • Carol (2015)
  • Her (2013)
  • Hard Boiled (1992): Not that impressive

2015

  • Gravity (2013): Holy fuck this was intense. Great film. This is what you are supposed to use special effects for. Nobody cares about your realistic black hole art simulations.
  • Short Term 12: Great film. My nose probably can’t take another movie with feels like this.
  • Whiplash (2014)Whiplash (2014): Favorite
  • DeparturesDepartures (2008, Japanese): Perfectly predictable, yet great.
  • Kamikaze GirlsKamikaze Girls (2004, Japanese): Fun
  • Confessions (2010)Confessions (2010) (Japanese): Heavy and powerful
  • The Snow White Murder Case: Based on another book by the Confessions book author. Different director. Didn’t like this as much, but it reminded me of the previous film. Perhaps one day I’ll read another book of hers. If they are any good.
  • Catch Me If You Can (2002): Very nice
  • Transtellar: Bad film I wish I didn’t saw.
  • Before SunriseBefore Sunrise (1995)
  • 12 Years a Slave
  • Boyhood: Okay
  • Wadja
  • Matrix (1999)Matrix (1999): Rewatched

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