Nate’s Movie Reviews
Nate’s Movie Reviews 101 movies, compiled from 149 Power Naps, listed alphabetically
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12th Fail
2023 Nate recently watched 12th Fail on Netflix. This is an Indian movie (with subtitles) about a poor man from a rural village who wants to help end the corruption he sees all around by becoming a high-ranking police officer. So he moves to the big city (Delhi) to study for and try to pass the grueling entrance exams. It was heartwarming, with a beautiful message. Recommend. View on IMDB →
A Complete Unknown
2024 A Complete Unknown (2024) – This is the Bob Dylan movie starring my boy Timmy. It was just ok. It may be that it was because I don’t know Bob Dylan’s music very well (embarrassing I know), but I just didn’t feel much during this one. View on IMDB →
A Hidden Life
2019 A Hidden Life (2019) – This movie came highly recommended and was inspired by the Middlemarch quote previously featured in a Power Nap: “The growing good of the world is partly dependent on unhistoric acts; and that things are not so ill with you and me as they might have been, is half owing to the number who lived faithfully a hidden life.” It’s about a man drafted to fight for the Nazis and his refusal to take the oath required by Hitler. His refusal didn’t inspire others or change the course of the war, and it ruined the lives of his wife and three small daughters. Was he right? The music was glorious and so were the shots of rural Austria where he lived. The dialogue style was not my favorite (very slow). I liked it but did not love it. View on IMDB →
A House of Dynamite
2025 A House of Dynamite (2025) – A lone, unattributed nuclear missile is launched toward the United States, forcing government and military leaders to scramble. Some will be disappointed by the ending, but I liked it. Side note, Volker Bertelmann did the score, and I thought it was excellent. He also did Conclave and both share the style (which I like): short, sharp, and dark. Super suspense building. Get a taste of the style here. View on IMDB →
A Most Wanted Man
2014 A Most Wanted Man (2014) — Spy movie based on John le Carre’s novel. The story follows a German intelligence officer in Hamburg, as he tries to navigate the post-9/11 world of counterterrorism. Philip Seymour Hoffman (RIP) and Rachel McAdams shine. Good if you like spy movies. View on IMDB →
About Time
2013 About Time (2013) – Older movie but came highly recommended. Kate and I both enjoyed it. It’s asking: if you could live any kind of life you wanted, what’s the best life to live? I liked its answer. Also, Bill Nighy is great as the dad. View on IMDB →
Ad Vitam
2025 Ad Vitam (2025) – In this French movie (I watched with subtitles), an ex-elite agent must rescue his pregnant wife after she is kidnapped by a mysterious group of armed men. Your standard thriller movie, with predictable plot twists. A less good version of Taken. View on IMDB →
After the Hunt
2025 After the Hunt (2025) — I saw Julia Roberts, Andrew Garfield, and takes place at Yale and thought “how could this miss?” Well, it missed. Just not very good. View on IMDB →
After the Sunset
2004 After the Sunset (2004) – Watch with Kate. Pierce Brosnan is after one last big diamond heist and FBI Agent Woody Harrelson is out to stop him. But I think the actual goal of the director may have been to see how many different times they could work Salma Hayek into a shot wearing a bikini. If that was in fact the goal the film was a resounding success. View on IMDB →
Age of Disclosure
2025 Age of Disclosure (2025) – Documentary arguing that governments—especially the U.S.—have long known more about UFOs/UAPs and non-human intelligence than they’ve admitted. To be clear, this isn’t asking “are aliens real?” It’s saying they are definitely real. Marco Rubio being involved added a lot of credibility for me. It’s not just alien kooks; there are lots of senators, congressmen, etc. talking about this on the record. I am not a conspiracy theory person. But I also believe we will find out the universe is much stranger than we imagine. View on IMDB →
Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day
2014 Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day (2014) – Watched with the kids. Enjoyed overall. Hard to make a bad movie starring Steve Carell and Jennifer Garner. View on IMDB →
All Quiet on the Western Front
2022 All Quiet on the Western Front (2022) — This WWI movie follows a young German soldier at the front. It is gut-wrenching, showing both the violence and pointlessness of war. Totally see why it was nominated for Best Picture. The costume and scenery were amazing, particularly the way they used the mud and water in the battle scenes. It leaves you feeling angry and sad. But I think that’s the point. View on IMDB →
AlphaGo
2017 AlphaGo (2017) – I’m learning that my kids really like watching documentaries. Seems better for them to watch that then most of the other crap out there? This one was about the 2016 showdown between Google’s AI program AlphaGo and world champion Go player Lee Sedol, exploring the clash of human intuition and machine intelligence. It was ok. I had recently read the book the Maniac, and AlphaGo featured prominently in that book, so I thought I’d also watch the documentary. View on IMDB →
Anora
2024 Anora (2024) – Kate and I had to watch last year’s best picture winner. So, a couple of things: 1. Lots of sex. If you aren’t wanting that, you will not make it past the opening credits (seriously). It does level off about halfway through the movie. 2. I laughed a ton. The Russia boy I found hilarious. 3. the ending made me uncomfortable. I read a bit about it and I think I understand it a better (although I think it is meant to be ambiguous in part). All in all I’m glad I watched it. View on IMDB →
Apocalypto
2006 Apocalypto (2006) — Directed by Mel Gibson, a young man in the Mayan kingdom is taken on a perilous journey to a world ruled by fear and oppression. Subtitles and not for the faint of heart. INTENSE, with lots of gore and blood. The first 2/3rds I was like “what am I watching here,” but I really liked the last 1/3 of the movie, which consists of a chase scene through the jungle. This comes up on a lot of “great movie” lists, but I don’t think I can recommend. Let’s just say it made me glad I live in America in this age, not back then. One review said “borderline feral,” which feels like the correct take. View on IMDB →
Big Fish
2003 Big Fish (2003) – Rewatch with the kids. I have always loved this movie. From GPT: At its heart, it’s a reminder that even the tallest tales can hold the deepest truths about love, legacy, and understanding our parents. View on IMDB →
Black Bag
2025 Black Bag (2025) – Is it just me or is Michael Fassbender on a nice little run? The Killer, The Agency, and this I all enjoyed. He’s really finding his pace in the “secret agent” genre. Good for him. View on IMDB →
BlackBerry
2023 Blackberry – Not bad. Tetris was better if you are looking for a “business” movie. Tons of F-bombs. View on IMDB → (link not independently verified — please double-check)
Blade Runner 2049
2017 — Blade Runner 2049 (2017) – This one, starring Ryan Gosling and Harrison Ford, got a great number on IMDB (8.0/10). Sci-fi movie. I started it a while ago, then picked it up like two months later. Honestly I was sort of confused. View on IMDB →
Blue Moon
2025 Blue Moon (2025) — I wanted to like this movie because I like the time period and the costumes and the music and all the literary/theater references. And I thought Ethan Hawke was good in this very different role than how I think of him. And I love Andrew Scott. But at the end of the day this was just a movie about a small, sad man drinking alone, and it’s really hard to overcome that. View on IMDB →
Bugonia
2025 Bugonia (2025) – Two conspiracy-obsessed young men kidnap the high-powered CEO of a major company, convinced that she is an alien intent on destroying planet Earth. Yorgos Lanthimos movies are all super weird and disturbing. His movie Kinds of Kindness from last year was potentially the worst movie I’ve ever seen. This one stars the same two actors: Emma Stone and Jesse Plemons. This one, while also super weird and disturbing, I found to be much better. “Worth the discomfort” is how I’d frame it. View on IMDB →
Bullet Train Explosion
2025 Bullet Train Explosion (2025) – I wanted to like this movie, but I just didn’t. Japanese subtitles. View on IMDB →
Challengers
2024 – Challengers (2024) – Tennis movie. Kate and I liked the underlying question being asked: What do each of these people actually want? Pretty weird threesome-esq scene. View on IMDB →
Civil War
2024 — Civil War (2024) – I went in with low expectations and I sort of liked it? I liked the cinematography (is that the word?). Its basic message is that war is hell, but some people can’t really operate well unless they are in the middle of hell. View on IMDB →
Conclave
2024 Conclave (2024) – Great score (love that sharp little violin beat), great scenery, great old guy cast. Tucci and Fiennes good as usual. John Lithgow is underrated. It’s slow, I mean it’s a 2 hour movie where the action is “voting.” But overall I thought it was good. I did not have that ending on my bingo card. View on IMDB →
Contact
1997 Contact (1997) – Jodie Foster plays the scientist searching for proof that we are not alone. Young Matty McConaughey is the charming theologian/philosopher who keeps pushing her to admit that not everything meaningful can be proven in a lab. The movie is really about the relationship between faith and science: not that one defeats the other, but that “both are ways humans reach beyond themselves in search of truth, meaning, and contact.” Overall: good — but, like usual, the book is better, especially on exploring how faith and science relate. View on IMDB →
Crime 101
2026 Crime 101 (2026) – Not a masterpiece, but a very solid crime thriller. Chris Hemsworth is the disciplined jewel thief. Mark Ruffalo is the detective. Halle Berry is 59 years old but looks half of that? I liked this from a review: “the whole thing has the unmistakable fingerprints of the L.A. crime tradition: freeways, lonely professionals, expensive rooms, bad choices, and people who are very good at their jobs but not especially good at being happy.” View on IMDB →
Dark Waters
2019 Dark Waters – A less good Erin Brockovich. View on IMDB →
Darkest Hour
2017 Darkest Hour (2017) — Rewatch of this movie that chronicles Winston Churchill during a few weeks in May 1940. Gary Oldman is great as Winston and the movie does an awesome job of capturing the eccentricities of Churchill. Enjoyable even if you are not a history or WWII person. Recommend. View on IMDB →
Diary of a Wimpy Kid
2010 Diary of a Wimpy Kid (2010) — Watched with the kids. Kate and I both enjoyed this movie about a boy’s transition from elementary to middle school. Good “adult-humor” mixed in (not inappropriate, just moments we laughed at that the kids didn’t get). View on IMDB →
Dune: Part Two
2024 Dune 2 – Nate liked this and Dune 1. One of the rare times when the movies are better than the books. View on IMDB →
Everything Everywhere All at Once
2022 “Everything Everywhere All at Once.” On the surface it’s a simple story of a woman trying to file her taxes. But then there is a rift in the multi-verse and things get, well, wild. If you go in expecting a Marvel movie, you’ll hate it. If you are expecting more “art,” it’s enjoyable (and we laughed a lot). It’s up for 11 Oscars! Nate gives it 4/5 stars. View on IMDB →
F1
2025 F1 (2025) — Watch with Kate. Old Brad Pitt movie (and I mean he’s looking old; it’s a new movie). Overall, I liked this. I would call it a less good Top Gun: Maverick. Same DNA: legacy, mentorship, redemption—but Top Gun tug more at my heart and had better music. View on IMDB →
Fair Game
2010 Fair Game (2010) – Drama based on a true story about CIA agent Valerie Plame, exposing a government cover-up tied to the Iraq War. Naomi Watts and Sean Penn star. It was ok. View on IMDB →
Fair Play
2023 Fair Play – This was bad. And frankly got kind of weird. View on IMDB → (link not independently verified — please double-check)
Flubber
1997 Flubber (1997) — Watch with kids. We adore Robin Williams in this house but this is not one of his best. View on IMDB →
Fountain of Youth
2025 Fountain of Youth (2025) – A less good National Treasure. (That’s not a devastating insult. National Treasure is fantastic.). View on IMDB →
Frankenstein
2025 Frankenstein (2025) — I wanted to like this because Frankenstein was one of the few books I had to read in my college English Lit class that I ABSOLUTELY LOVED and was surprised that I absolutely loved it at the time. But this just wasn’t very good. Stick to the book. View on IMDB →
Free Willy
1993 Free Willy (1993) — Watched with the kids. I would say this was ok. Not as good as I remembered it. The Michael Jackson song during the credits, however, is still tremendous. View on IMDB →
Geostorm
2017 Geostorm (2017) – Netflix really wanted me to watch this (right in my genre wheel house) and I ALMOST made it to the end. View on IMDB →
Goat
2026 Goat (2026) – Watch with kids. A small goat gets a once-in-a-lifetime shot to join his favorite pro basketball team. Meant to mimic the story of Steph Curry, who voices one of the animals. I would say it’s an average to slightly above average kids’ movie. View on IMDB →
Hamnet
2025 Hamnet (2025) – A few observations: The first 3/4ths was slow and sad. The final 1/4 was excellent. “On the Nature of Daylight” (the ending song) is among the best songs out there. It is no surprise Jesse Buckley won Best Actress. I suspect she is still suffering from back pain because she carried the film. Try as I might, I cannot understand a lick of Shakespeare (when they quote Hamlet). It sounds great, but I have no idea what any of it means. View on IMDB →
Happy Gilmore 2
2025 Happy Gilmore 2 (2025) – Of course I wanted to like this but it was just bad. View on IMDB →
Heat
1995 Heat (1995) – ChatGPT told me that it thinks I would like Michael Mann movies, so I tried this one. Despite it having a great cast: Al Pacino is the cop, De Niro is the criminal, Val Kilmer is also a criminal. I just didn’t get into it. And it was long (2:45). View on IMDB →
Henry Sugar
2024 Henry Sugar (2024) — Rewatch. Directed by Wes Anderson, this 39-minute short film is about a wealthy man (Benedict Cumberbatch) who learns to see without using his eyes. It’s for adults, but the kids watched it with me and were glued. View on IMDB →
Hitman
2023 Hitman – We both thought this was an above-average rom-com. Unique plot. Didn’t like the ending. View on IMDB →
How to Make a Killing
2026 How to Make a Killing (2026) – It has two things going for it: Glen Powell, who I increasingly just like watching. And the concept: Powell murdering his way to the family fortune. But unfortunately despite the interesting premise and the good lead, the movie is only ok at best. View on IMDB →
If
2024 – If (2024) – Watched with the kids. Heart-warming. Kids loved it. Really cool NYC scenes (loved the grandma’s NYC apartment). Great score. Only odd thing, the girl actress, who was good, how old was she? She was the oldest looking kid I’ve ever seen. Like in her face. She could have passed for 37 or 12. I wasn’t sure. View on IMDB →
Inglourious Basterds
2009 Inglorious Basterds (2009) – Rewatch. It had been a long time. I am not a big fan of Tarantino’s gore. I honestly feel like it detracts from the other awesome things about the movie: the dialogue, the music, the scenery, and the cast. Many of the characters I find exceptionally likable, even the bad guys. On the whole, this is a very good movie. View on IMDB →
Juror #2
2024 Juror #2 (2024)- Kate and I watched this movie directed by Clint Eastwood. It presents a very interesting moral question, which led to a good conversation after. Without giving away anything you wouldn’t learn from the trailer: A man drives home late at night in the rain and thinks he hits a deer. Can’t find it, goes home. Gets called for jury duty a year later, and he realizes maybe it wasn’t a deer. What should he do? I thought the male lead could have been stronger, but I do think it is worth watching. View on IMDB →
Killer Heat
2024 – Killer Heat (2024) – Joseph Gordon-Levitt in a fedora solving a murder-mystery. They did what they set out to do: made a so-so movie. View on IMDB →
Kinds of Kindness
2024 – Kinds of Kindness (2024) – Weird as shit. I mean, so weird. Usually I like weird (See Wes Anderson). But this was way over the line. The line was back in the rear view mirror. It’s going to frustrate me if this wins awards. View on IMDB →
Knives Out: Wake Up Dead Man
2025 Knives Out: Wake Up Dead Man (2025): The third “Knives Out” movie, where Daniel Craig plays a Southern version of Sherlock Holmes trying to solve a clever murder who-dun-it. The first one was awesome. The second one stunk. And this one was somewhere in between – but closer to “awesome” than “stunk.” View on IMDB →
KPop Demon Hunters
2025 KPop Demon Hunters (2025) – It was definitely different than watching your typical Disney, Universal, or Pixar movie (quirkier in different ways, felt “foreign” with some of the humor and animation). I was surprised at what I took as the strong implicit Christian undertones: Idols kill joy; shame and guilt slowly destroy while confession brings freedom. View on IMDB →
Leave the World Behind
2023 Leave the World Behind – Nate liked it (he’s a sucker for an end of the world movie, and Mahershala Ali). While Kate didn’t love it, she also couldn’t stop thinking about it, especially the ending. The ending might make you kind of angry (but it’s making an interesting broader point). View on IMDB →
Marty Supreme
2025 Marty Supreme (2025) — New Timmy movie, where he plays a 1950s New Yorker who pursues his dream of becoming a champion table-tennis player. Absurdist humor — reminded me a bit of One Battle After Another. Just crazy thing after crazy thing. Music is A plus. One of the best movies I’ve seen in a while. View on IMDB →
Materialists
2025 Materialists (2025) — Watch with Kate. Rom-com where Dakota Johnson is a matchmaker in Manhattan and is torn between love (Chris Evans) and money (Pedro Pascal). Enjoyed the first half, but it just didn’t really land for me. View on IMDB →
Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part One
2023 Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part 1 – typical Mission Impossible movie (in other words, overall very enjoyable). View on IMDB →
Mountainhead
2025 The Mountainhead (2025) – I stand corrected!! It is possible to make a bad movie starring Steve Carell. Satirical movie about four tech bros—including Steve Carell —who bunk up in a SwissAlpine–style mansion to play poker and plot world domination. Skip it. It was bad. View on IMDB →
No Sudden Move
2021 No Sudden Move (2021) – Lots of star power in this gangster-crime thriller set in 1950s Detroit: Don Cheadle, Benicio Del Toro, Brendan Fraser, Kieran Culkin, and Matt Damon (who, oddly, has only a minor role). Steven Soderbergh directs (Oceans 11, 12, 13, and others). Overall, I liked it; although I was slightly confused by the ending. View on IMDB →
Operation Mincemeat
2021 Operation Mincemeat (2021) — Watched with Kate. World War II espionage drama that tells the fascinating true story of British deception using a corpse to mislead the Nazis. The pace drags at times, but Colin Firth is a very good actor. Also a fan of Matthew “Tom Wambsgans” Macfadyen. View on IMDB →
Oppenheimer
2023 Oppenheimer (2023) – Another Christopher Nolan rewatch. Still good. One of the best movies of the last twenty years. Cast is awesome. View on IMDB →
Oppenheimer
2023 Nate and Kate recently watched Oppenheimer and agreed it was really good. It had a lot that Nate likes: courtroom scenes, history, physics. The cast is great, with Matt Damon and Robert Downey Jr. making appearances and Gary Oldman with a cameo as President Truman. Even the long lost Josh Harnett shows up. Emily Blunt is very good and Cillian Murphy was solid as Oppenheimer. It will win awards. View on IMDB →
Parasite
2019 Parasite (2019) – Rewatch with Kate since it was ranked the best movie of the century by NYT. It is good. It blends dark comedy and thriller pacing with unnerving precision. Its shifts from satire to suspense to outright horror keep you off balance. Korean subtitles. View on IMDB →
Pirates of the Caribbean
2003 Pirates of the Caribbean 1 (2003) – Rewatch with the kids. Observations after watching this many years later: 1. A little scary for the younger kids. 2. Johnny Depp is still really funny. 3. It’s a bit long (like almost 2:30). I’d have been ok with them cutting 30 mins. View on IMDB →
Prisoners
2013 — Prisoners (2013) – About solving a child abduction. Gripping. Started it late planning to watch 30 mins then go to bed. Finished it. View on IMDB →
Project Hail Mary
2026 Project Hail Mary (2026) — Watched in theaters. I loved the book. I would say I liked the movie. I think I went in with expectations that were too high; plus, since I knew the plot, I wasn’t surprised by the twists. That said, I recommend seeing this. And I wholeheartedly support Hollywood taking a chance on a blockbuster budget for something like this rather than another Avengers or Spider-Man movie. More of a comedy than I was anticipating. View on IMDB →
Relay
2024 Relay (2024) — A broker of lucrative payoffs between corrupt corporations and the individuals who threaten them breaks his own rules when a new client seeks his protection to stay alive. I randomly watched this Netflix movie with low to no expectations and it ended up not being too bad. View on IMDB →
RRR
2022 RRR. h/t to Napper LeeAnna Ward for the recommendation. So what if it’s three hours long, part-musical, and you have to read subtitles? It was awesome! It has a dash of Quentin Tarantino, a sprinkle of La La Land, and a pinch of Braveheart. A “joyously over-the-top action-fantasy.” IMO, an Oscars Best Picture snub. 4.5/5 stars. View on IMDB →
Rush Hour
1998 Rush Hour (1998) – Rewatch with Kate. Is there anyone funnier than Chris Tucker? I’ll wait… View on IMDB →
Se7en
1995 Se7en (1995) – Young Brad Pitt movie. David Fincher is one of the best directors: Fight Club, Panic Room, Zodiac, Benjamin Button, Social Network, Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Gone Girl, Mindhunter (TV show). I actually think this one is lower down on his greatest hits, despite having Pitt and Morgan Freeman. The ending in this one just doesn’t hit for me. It felt too “fast.” View on IMDB →
Sentimental Value
2025 Sentimental Value (2025) — I mostly enjoyed this movie about a famous director father and his actress daughter (and an old family house). Not a popcorn movie, it’s slow and plot-driven. And takes place in Norway with subtitles. View on IMDB →
Sicario
2015 — Sicario (2015) – Drug cartel and CIA. Emily Blunt. Graphic. Pretty good. View on IMDB →
Sinners
2025 Sinners (2025) — New movie where Michael B. Jordan plays twins. A lot going on here. Is it a Zombie-movie, a Jim Crow-movie, a time-travel-movie, a Southern Gothic-movie, a musical? The answer is yes. I think it was a bit much for me and didn’t really land. View on IMDB →
Sirat
2026 Sirat (2026) – Subtitles. This one came recommended, but did not land for me at all. It’s about a father and son searching for the father’s missing daughter in the desert rave scene of Morocco. But the trip turns from a rescue mission into something much darker. I like raves in Morocco as much as the next guy, but this didn’t land for me. You don’t love or even feel like you know any of the characters. I’d pass. View on IMDB →
Sneakers
1992 Sneakers (1992) — Robert Redford secret agent type movie. Really good cast. I would say it was pretty good but not in the upper echelon of Redford movies. Thanks for the recommendation, Katie, in the Power Nap 106 comments! View on IMDB →
Spy Game
2001 Spy Game (2001) – One of the first spy movies I ever watched starring two of the greats: Brad Pitt and Robert Redford. Gets better every time I watch it. Yes, I did call Kate’s pregnancy with John Robert “Operation Dinner Out” and send out a text that said “Operation Dinner Out is a Go” when we left for the hospital. View on IMDB →
Tenet
2020 Tenet (2020) – I watched this in 2020 thinking I’d love it because I love most Christopher Nolan movies (Inception, The Prestige, Oppenheimer, Dark Knight movies, and of course Interstellar (his best)). I like time travel movies and I couldn’t understand it in 2020. I understood maybe 10% more in 2025. Super confusing. View on IMDB →
Tetris
2023 Nate and Kate randomly picked the Tetris movie a few weeks ago on Apple Plus and were pleasantly surprised. It tells the story of the creation of the video game Tetris, which is way more interesting than you may think, involving the Russian government, Japanese corporations, and British magnates. Sneaky good movie. View on IMDB →
The Amateur
2025 The Amateur (2025) — I think I like Rami Malek? And I know that I like spy thrillers where they are gallivanting across Europe. Genre sweet spot for me. View on IMDB →
The Bad Guys 2
2025 Bad Guys 2 (2025) – Saw in theaters with the kids. Meh. I swear the Wolf’s voice sounds just like George Clooney to me. And the character reminds me of Danny Ocean. View on IMDB →
The Best Christmas Pageant Ever
2024 The Best Christmas Pageant Ever (2024) — Watched with kids. Tells the story of the year a small town’s tidy Christmas pageant gets hijacked by the Herdman kids—the worst, loudest, most unchurchy kids in town. They snag the lead roles and end up telling the Nativity story more honestly than anyone expects. A genuinely good, old-fashioned Christmas movie. A reminder that loving people like Jesus did is great theology. Recommend. View on IMDB →
The Killer
2024 – The Killer (2024) – The movie was just ok, but Omar Sy always finds a way to pull me in. (this is not the movie with the same name from 2023 starring Michael Fassbender) View on IMDB →
The Killer
2023 The Killer – Nate liked it. Sort of reminded him of a Stephen King book – Billy Summers – which he also liked. View on IMDB →
The Long Game
2023 The Long Game – This was pretty good. The kids enjoyed it (especially Johnny). Bagger Vance and the Greatest Game Ever Played are better golf movies. View on IMDB →
The New Yorker at 100
2025 The New Yorker at 100 (2025) – Watched this documentary with Alberta when she was having a hard time falling asleep. I’m pro-New Yorker. Not because I think it’s unbiased. But because I’m pro long form journalism with high standards in a world where media has become who can speak the loudest and fastest. People should read magazines more than they do. Plus I love the covers and cartoons. View on IMDB →
The Phoenician Scheme
2025 The Phoenician Scheme (2025) — New Wes Anderson. Wealthy businessman Zsa-zsa Korda appoints his only daughter, a nun, as sole heir to his estate. As Korda embarks on a new enterprise, they soon become the target of scheming tycoons, foreign terrorists, and determined assassins. “Even Anderson’s mediocre content is better than just about anything Hollywood puts out these days.” And this one is better than mediocre. Benicio Del Toro and Michael Cera shine. View on IMDB →
The Rip
2026 The Rip (2026) — New Matt Damon and Ben Affleck movie where a group of Miami cops discover a stash of millions in cash. A who-dun-it. Who is good and bad, dirty and clean. Who can we trust? Is it on par with Good Will Hunting? No. But was it pretty enjoyable? Yes. View on IMDB →
The Secret Agent
2025 The Secret Agent (2025) – Subtitles. Significantly better than Sirat. The end will leave you unsatisfied, and there is much context not given about what is actually happening. But the music, the scenery, and, above all, the casting were top-notch. I felt like I was in 1970’s Brazil, a time and place I know nothing about. Totally get why this was nominated for best picture. View on IMDB →
The Sentinel
2006 The Sentinel (2006) – Michael Douglas as a Secret Service agent who is having an affair with the First Lady and being framed in a plot to assassinate the President. Kieffer Sutherland and Eva Longoria try and track him down and find the truth. it’s a decent popcorn watch if you enjoy D.C. intrigue and shootouts. View on IMDB →
The Sting
1973 The Sting (1973) — Rewatched this classic. Paul Newman and Robert Redford as con men. Difficult to beat. View on IMDB →
The Wild Robot
2024 The Wild Robot (2024) – Watched with the kids. After a shipwreck, an intelligent robot called Roz is stranded on an uninhabited island. To survive the harsh environment, Roz bonds with the island’s animals and cares for an orphaned baby goose. I thought it was so-so. Definitely not in the canon of Great Kids Movies for me. Scout said she read the book in school and it was better than the movie. View on IMDB →
The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar
2023 Nate and Kate recently watched The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar, a short film (39 mins) on Netflix. Nate isn’t surprised that this won the Oscar for Best Short Film. It’s peak Wes Anderson. Based on a short story by Roald Dahl, it chronicles the life of Henry Sugar, a wealthy man who decides to take on a daring challenge – he wants to master an extraordinary skill in order to cheat at gambling games. Recommend. View on IMDB → (link not independently verified — please double-check)
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
2011 Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011) – What a would call a “proper British cast” with Gary Oldman, Colin Firth, Tom Hardy, etc. I would say I liked – not loved – this spy movie based on a John le Carré novel where Oldman tries to discover the mole in MI6. View on IMDB →
To Catch a Killer
2023 To Catch a Killer (2023) – A Baltimore police officer teams with the FBI to help solve a mass murder on New Year’s Eve. Just ok. I thought it was sort of far-fetched that Baltimore cop was chosen by the FBI to have such a prominent role in the investigation. From GPT: It’s like Se7en but without the tension, the surprises, or the reason to care. View on IMDB →
Traffic
2000 Traffic (2000) — This is a movie about the war on drugs starring Michael Douglas, Don Cheadle, Benicio Del Toro, and Catherine Zeta-Jones. Douglas is a judge tasked with stopping drugs from coming in from Mexico. Cheadle and Del Toro are cops. Douglas’s daughter is also a drug addict and, honestly, some drug-use-related scenes were graphic and hard to watch. View on IMDB →
Train Dreams
2025 Train Dreams (2025) — Watch with Kate. I genuinely enjoyed this, but you need to know what you’re getting into. This is not a popcorn movie. It’s quiet and patient—more mood and memory than plot. It’s less about what happens than about what endures: work, loss, landscape, time. I may read the novella it’s based on; I suspect it is awesome. Music was good. View on IMDB →
Trap
2024 – Trap (2024) – The new M. Night Shyamalan movie. Interesting plot idea (you can figure it out from the trailer). It’s bad. But it’s good to see Josh Harnett back in the game. View on IMDB →
We Live in Time
2024 We Live in Time (2024) — This is a sad love story that uses a nonlinear structure to trace the arc of a relationship. It is not a spoiler to say it involves cancer. It did move me. As usual, Andrew Garfield is a delight. Also, Florence Pugh, who I also like, has the best agent in Hollywood. I swear she is in like every movie. (If you were wondering, her best performance is Little Women). View on IMDB →
Weapons
2025 Weapons (2025) – My Halloween horror watch. I was pretty glued in. From GPT: seventeen children from the same classroom inexplicably walk out of their homes at exactly 2:17 a.m. and vanish. What happened? And where are the kids? I don’t really watch scary movies, and I had to look away a few times due to gore. View on IMDB →
Woman in Cabin 10
2025 Woman in Cabin 10 (2025) — Based on a book (which I did not read): a psychological thriller about a travel journalist who believes she’s witnessed a woman being thrown overboard from a luxury cruise ship—only to find that all the passengers are accounted for and no one believes her. This movie got poor reviews and I understand why. However, I sort of enjoyed it – mostly because who-dun-it on a megayacht in the Nordics is a genre sweet spot for me. I think if you go in with low expectations it is watchable. View on IMDB →
