Kubrick’s first official film and I’d never seen it until now. Great flick. Even at this early stage, the directing is just jaw-dropping. Every scene is perfectly framed and lit. There’s so many great characters here as well.

The Killing is a heist film that inspired many more after it. I guarantee Christopher Nolan used the clown masks as inspiration for the beginning of The Dark Knight. There’s double-crosses galore, plot twists, an extremely non-linear narrative style (that was a huge influence on Pulp Fiction and many other films later on), and a big plot twist at the end that’s just perfect.

I also love, like so many other films of that era, that it shows a clear moral compass (unlike films of today) where crime doesn’t pay. Highly recommended.

Brilliant little prison film from the late 70’s. There’s so much great tension in this. The pacing is excellent and it has Clint Eastwood doing what he does best, glaring, looking cool, and spouting great one-liners.

I remember watching this as a friend and many of the scenes still stuck with me 20+ years later. It’s even better than I remembered it. I love all the eerie little music queues. They still work today at building tension and suspense.

Stephen King said that his Shawshank Redemption was a collection of all the prison movies he ever watched and you can definitely tell that Escape from Alcatraz was a big influence.

This script is so well done. Dialogue is really strong, the warden is a great bad guy, so many iconic scenes. The acting is superb throughout as well. One of the better prison films I’ve seen.

Been a long time since I last saw this. While it comes off a bit dated in some places today (especially the soundtrack), this is still one of the best slasher films of all time. This script is so good. There’s something interesting happening nearly every 5 minutes, the scares keep coming, and there are an amazing amount of iconic scenes. Freddie pushing through the ceiling, the extended arms, the first murder, Johnny Depp exploding in his bed. Wow.

This is an important film in the genre because it came at a time where the craze that Halloween started in the late 1970’s had run its course and the genre was in sore need of a jolt. Nightmare came along and did just that.

I love that Freddie is more scary than comical in this one. Later sequels turned him into a bit of a jokester but he’s much more effective here. I also love that he is credited as “Fred Krueger” instead of “Freddie” too. Classic 1980’s horror film that still has effective moments even today.

An absolute classic in the martial arts genre. I’ve heard it referred to as the Citizen Kane of Kung Fu movies and that’s probably true. It is sad though watching it, realizing that Bruce Lee died just three weeks after finishing filming on this. The film was released after his death and he certainly was at the height of his powers during this era. In his prime.

Lee did a lot for not only Kung Fu but also for how Asian actors were depicted in films. For some reason, even somewhat today, Asian’s are portrayed using racist stereotypes and get very few leading roles. They are one of the truly discriminated against minorities in Hollywood and I hope that changes one day soon. Lee’s contribution to that cause cannot be underestimated.

Amazing fight sequences, classic Bond-style bad guys, and killer music / choreography all combine to make one of the greatest martial arts pictures of all time.

The first 30 minutes of this film are really strong. Great set up, strong acting (especially for an Indie flick), and plot points that keep the pace moving. But act II suffers pretty bad from a lack of ideas. Things slow way down and instead, we get a lot of repeated scenes of “the wife” acting strange and the husband wondering why without any real plot development beyond that.

Luckily, things get going again in the final act where we find out (if we hadn’t already guessed) what is really going on. This film might have worked better as a short film but it’s got some well-done moments of suspense, some creepy scenes, and an effective conclusion. Overall, it’s a good little horror film.

This was another one I’ve somehow always missed but had on the list. I love all the comedic actors in this and especially like Jamie Lee Curtis. Kevin Kline won an Oscar for his role as Otto and I can see why. He owns every scene he’s in. There are quite a few laughs, although maybe not as many as I had expected. The film is somewhat dated now and that might have hurt a few of the laughs that would have played better to 1988 audiences.

That being said, it’s one of the better comedies of the late 80’s and it’s great to see members of Monty Python having so much fun. I can see why John Cleese considers this his best film. He’s fabulous in it, perfecting the same type of character he played in Faulty Towers. A lot of great gags.The bit with the dogs especially had me in stitches. It’s a comedy worth checking out if you’ve never seen it before.

This Japanese Anime film was directed by the same guy that did the Cowboy Bebop movie and the modern-masterpiece, Akira so I was super excited to finally see it. While it doesn’t reach the levels of Akira it’s still really good.

It’s set in a dystopian version of Japan where a military police state is in control. A resistance movement has developed. A soldier and a rebel girl end up building a relationship despite the turmoil. There are some amazing visuals in this. Brilliant animation. The first part of the film is particularly strong but the 2nd action struggles to find its footing and move the story along. Luckily, the conclusion is powerful and really ties things together.

If you like anime, this is a must-see.

This movie is terrible. Really terrible. A true B-movie that plays more like a TV movie than a feature film. That being said, I’m still glad I saw it. Why? Because sometimes watching a bad movie teaches you more than watching a great film. It allowed me to ask questions along the way like why wasn’t this working? What don’t I care about these characters? Why am I bored?

Although the credits highlight Bruce Willis and Thomas Jane, the leads are actually more focused on a early-20’s robot girl and her contacts. I’m sure the film did this to save money but these younger actors are horrible. Really bad. Some of the worst acting I’ve seen in a while. Not one shred of believability.

The soundtrack is overwrought and obvious, the story full of cliches you’ve seen done better in countless sci-fi films, and besides Thomas Jane’s character, most everyone else does some of their worst work including Willis. Don’t watch this.. or do and learn something about what makes movies succeed and fail.