The last blockbuster is Edge of Tomorrow from 2014. Directed by Doug Liman and starring Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt. It made $370 million at the box office.
Is this a proper blockbuster? Is it a proper Tom Cruise movie?
This also ends Movie of the Week format for now. See you in the Midweek movietalk instead.
Next up of blockbusters is Barbie from 2023 directed by Greta Gerwig which made a whooping $1.4 billion.
Is this a proper blockbuster? Were you caught up in the whole Barbenheimer frenzy?
The rest of the schedule is:
Next up of blockbusters is Snatch from 2000 directed by Guy Ritchie and it made $83 million in box office.
Is this a proper blockbuster with all that entails? Any thoughts on Guy Ritchie's other films?
The rest of the schedule is:
Next up of blockbusters is Mission: Impossible - Fallout from 2018 which made $791 million at the box office. Second M:I film directed by Christopher McQuarrie.
Is this a proper blockbuster with all that entails? Any thoughts on the franchise in general?
The rest of the schedule is:
We begin June with Robin Hardy's The Wicker Man from 1973 which is now considered a horror cult classic.
Since this is the month of horror movies, did you find it scary, unsettling, creepy, eerie, spooky or horrifying?
The rest of the schedule for June is:
Starting the month with blockbusters with The Mummy from 1999 which made $417.4 million at the box office.
Is this a proper blockbuster with all that entails? Have you seen the other movies in the franchise?
The rest of the schedule is:
We end the horror month with William Friedkin's The Exorcist from 1973. It was nominated for 10 Academy Awards and won for Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Sound.
Since this is the month of horror movies, did you find it scary, unsettling, creepy, eerie, spooky or horrifying?
July's schedule is:
It is summer and that usually means a good time for blockbusters! So lets see if we can find 5 good blockbusters for July. I am not making hard definitions for what a blockbuster movie is, but I might have some questions if you pick a movie that got only $100,000 at the box office.
Rules
In case of ties in the number of votes, random.org will decide. Voting closes Sunday.
Next horror film is the cannibal horror movie X from 2022 directed by Ti West. A prequel Pearl was filmed at the same and released later the same year. Comments on that is welcome as well in the discussion.
Since this is the month of horror movies, did you find it scary, unsettling, creepy, eerie, spooky or horrifying?
The rest of the schedule for June is:
Next horror film is the cannibal horror movie Ravenous from 1999 directed by Antonia Bird starring Guy Pearce in the leading role.
Since this is the month of horror movies, did you find it scary, unsettling, creepy, eerie, spooky or horrifying?
The rest of the schedule for June is:
So last of the Cannes films this month with The Tree of Life by Terrence Malick from 2011. It won the highest price, Palme d'Or, at the Cannes Festival.
Besides any thoughts on this movie, are you familiar with other Terrence Malick movies? Any comments on Cannes films in general?
The schedule for June is:
Voting closed
Let us try some simpler nomination categories, which I hope can bring more immediate responses. Just plain and simple horror movies. I assume you can define that within reason and not need hard genre defining rules. We need to pick 4 movies.
Rules
In case of ties in the number of votes, random.org will decide. Voting closes Sunday.
Posting a bit early as I have less time tomorrow. We continue with Cannes films with the Chinese Luxury Car from 2006 where it was honored with the Un Certain Regard award.
Any thoughts on this film is welcome.
The rest of the schedule for May is:
We continue with Cannes films with The Zone of Interest which premiered at Cannes in 2023 where it won the Grand Prix award. It also won two Oscars for Best International Film and Best Sound.
Besides any thoughts on this movie, do you think this adds anything new to the already long list of WW2/Holocaust movies?
The rest of the schedule for May is:
I have been looking forward to this month, since I think it is the first time I haven't seen any of the movies before. The theme is Cannes and we start with Guillermo del Toro's Pan's Labyrinth which premiered at Cannes in 2006 and received a 22 minute standing ovation.
Besides any thoughts on this movie, are you familiar with other of the Guillermo del Toro's filmography?
The rest of the schedule for May is:
Last in the line of prominent female leading roles is Fargo from 1996 directed by the Coen brothers and starring Frances McDormand.
Besides any thoughts on this movie, what did you think of Frances McDormand's performance in this?
The schedule for May is:
Voting closed
The Cannes Film Festival is in May and I thought we should find four movies related to Cannes to watch in May. Maybe a bit of a risk since it isn't exactly full of well known mainstream movies, but I promise there is more to choose from than French arthouse movies. The criteria is simple, the movie must have been presented at the Cannes Film Festival at some point.
On the official website you can browse through all movies that has been in competition over the years. To narrow it down there is a list of all the Palme d’Or winners or more broadly every movie that have won any award at Cannes. This list all movies that have been in competition per year in alphabetical order
Rules
In case of ties in the number of votes, random.org will decide. Voting closes Sunday.
Another strong female lead with Sigourney Weaver in Aliens from 1986.
Besides any thoughts on this movie, what did you think of Sigourney Weaver s performance in this? How do you rank compared to the rest of movies in the Alien-franchise?
The rest of the schedule for April is:
Next up is Run Lola Run (original German title: Lola rennt) from 1999 starring Franka Potente and directed by Tom Tykwer. It won several awards at various film festivals.
Besides any thoughts on this movie, what did you think of Franka Potente's performance in this?
The rest of the schedule for April is:
Next up is The Silence of the Lambs from 1991 starring Jodie Foster. The movie won five major academy awards for Best Actress, Best Actor, Best Director, Best Screenplay and Best Picture.
Besides any thoughts on this movie, what did you think of Jodie Foster's performance in this? Are you familiar with Thomas Harris' novel or the other movies about Hannibal Lector?
The rest of the schedule for April is:
We are starting the month with female leads with Moonstruck from 1987 starring Cher in the leading role as Loretta. A role than won her an Academy Award for Best Actress.
Besides any thoughts on this movie, what did you think of Cher's performance in this?
The rest of the schedule for April is:
Last movie not winning Best Picture is Steven Spielberg's Saving Private Ryan from 1998. It won for directing, cinematography, film editing, sound effects and sound editing
Besides any thoughts on this movie, have you seen the other nominees that year and do you think this deserved the win instead?
The other nominees:
The schedule for April is:
Voting closed
I do think our list of movies is turning out to be a pretty good list of solid movies, it it a bit male heavy. I hope we can find 5 movies for April that has a female substantial leading role.
Rules
In case of ties in the number of votes, random.org will decide. Voting closes Sunday.
Third movie of Best Picture nominees that didn't win is High Noon from 1952 directed by Fred Zinnemann and starring Gary Cooper and Grace Kelly. Gary Cooper won for best actor, Dimitri Tiomkin won for the score and for the title song "The Ballad of High Noon ("Do Not Forsake Me, O My Darlin'")"
Besides any thoughts on this movie, have you seen the other nominees that year and do you think this deserved the win instead?
The other nominees:
The rest of the schedule is:
Second movie in the Best Picture Losers month is Life is Beautiful from 1997 directed by and starring Roberto Benigni. It won for Best Foreign Language Film, Best Leading Actor and Best Original Dramatic Score.
Besides any thoughts on this movie, have you seen the other nominees that year and do you think this deserved the win instead?
The other nominees:
The rest of the schedule is:
First movie in the Best Picture Losers month, starting with There Will Be Blood from 2007 directed by Paul Thomas Anderson. While it didn't win Best Picture, Daniel Day-Lewis won for Best Actor and Robert Elswit won for Best Cinematography.
Besides any thoughts on this movie, have you seen the other nominees that year and do you think this deserved the win instead?
The other nominees:
The rest of the schedule is:
Second Martin Scorsese movie is Gangs of New York from 2002.
Besides any thoughts any thoughts on this movie, now that we have done this little comparison between Scorsese and superhero movies, what do you think sets these types of movies apart and are they really as opposites as it is sometimes made out to be?
The schedule for March is:
Voting closed
Sorry for the title gore, but since it is the Oscars next month, lets find a Oscar relevant selection of 4 movies, with narrowing it down to Best Picture nominees that didn't win. So if you have a favorite movie where another movie took the award that year, now is a good time to bring that up.
Rules
Wikipedia has a list of all the nominees through the years. Or this list on Letterboxd.
In case of ties in the number of votes, random.org will decide. Voting closes Sunday.
Second superhero movie Nolan's Batman Begins from 2005.
How familiar are you Batman - comicbook, animated series, other movies - and how does this compare? Have you seen the other movies in Nolan's Batman trilogy and does this stand up against the rest?
The rest of the schedule for February is:
First Martin Scorsese this time around with the animated The Aviator from 2004.
Are you familiar with other of Martin Scorsese's movies and how do you like this compared to his other movies? Feel free to add any thoughts, opinions, reflections, analysis or whatever comments related to this film.
The rest of the schedule for February is:
First superhero movie this time around with the animated Spiderman: Into the Spider-Verse from 2018.
Are you familiar with Spiderman, from other movies or the comic - and how does it compare? Have you seen the sequel Across the Spider-Verse? All comments are welcome.
The rest of the schedule for February is:
Final movie for January is Brad Bird's animated The Iron Giant from 1999.
Feel free to add any thoughts, opinions, reflections, analysis or whatever comments related to this film.
The schedule for February is:
Edit: Voting closed
Lets try something a bit different for February, with one of the favorite discussion topics among cinephiles - with setting up superheroes against Martin Scorsese. We will need 4 movies for February and we will need 2 from each category. Directed by Martin Scorsese or a superhero movie (interpret that however you seem reasonable). Based on top number of votes the schedule will be:
Not a hard rule per se, but I would recommend to at least consider that especially the superhero movies should be reasonably standalone and not require having seen several other entries in a series.
Rules
In case of ties in the number of votes, random.org will decide. Voting closes Sunday.
Fourth movie with a running time of 100 minutes or less is Marcel The Shell With Shoes On (90 minutes) from 2021
Feel free to add any thoughts, opinions, reflections, analysis or whatever comments related to this film.
The final movie for January is next Monday on the 29th with The Iron Giant
We got our first silent movie (almost) with Charlie Chaplin's City Lights from 1931.
How familiar are you with silent films and Charlie Chaplin? Is a movie that is more than 90 years old still worth watching today? Feel free to add any thoughts, opinions, reflections, analysis or whatever comments related to this film.
Rest of the schedule for January is:
We begin the new year with a movie that takes place on new year's eve with Four Rooms from 1995. Written and directed by four direcors - Allison Anders, Alexandre Rockwell, Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino.
How was the movie as a whole? Were there any of the four segments that you particularly liked - or hated?
Rest of schedule for January is:
Next movie with a running time of less than 100 minutes is Planes, Trains, and Automobiles directed by John Hughes from 1987.
Is this movie a Thanksgiving tradition for you? How did you find the humor in this movie? Still funny or dated? How does it compare to other John Hughes movies? Feel free to add any thoughts, opinions, reflections, analysis or whatever comments related to this film.
Rest of the schedule for January is:
We end the month of 1990s movies with a Christmas classic. Home Alone from 1990.
Is this a stable Christmas movie in your household or is it perhaps the first time you see it?
Next months schedule for January is:
The next movie from the 1990s is The Talented Mr. Ripley from 1999 directed by Anthony Minghella with a 90s moviestar lineup of Matt Damon, Jude Law, Gwyneth Paltrow, Cate Blanchett, Philip Seymour Hoffman and many others. Based on the novel of the same name by Patricia Highsmith from 1955.
Feel free to add any thoughts, opinions, reflections, analysis or whatever comments related to this film.
The rest of the schedule is:
Voting closed
So I am making the poll a bit earlier. The holidays are coming up and it might also be better to have the schedule about a week before rather than having it the day before the first movie of the month. This time we are going for shorter running times - so anything at 100 minutes (1 hour and 40 minutes) or less. "Movies are too damn long nowadays" is a common complaint, so lets see what we can come up with of good movies that don't require a long evening to watch.
We will need five movies for January.
Rules
In case of ties in the number of votes, random.org will decide. Voting closes Sunday.
The next movie from the 1990s is Edward Scissorhands from 1990 directed by Tim Burton
Are you familiar with other works by Tim Burton and how does this compare? Does it have a certain "90s feel" to it? Feel free to add any thoughts, opinions, reflections, analysis or whatever comments related to this film.
The rest of the schedule is:
So we have a month with movies from the 1990s and we are starting off with Lost Highway directed by David Lynch from 1997.
Are you familiar with other works by David Lynch and how does this compare? Does it have a certain "90s feel" to it? Feel free to add any thoughts, opinions, reflections, analysis or whatever comments related to this film.
The rest of the schedule is:
Edit: Voting closed
Thanks to everyone who have so far participated in the five movies we did in November. We need to pick four movies for December and it is going to be any movies from the 1990s.
Rules
In case of ties in the number of votes, random.org will decide. Voting closes Sunday.
This overview on Letterboxd can be of some inspiration.
In addition, I think it will be too much to do a vote on voting categories, but I am curious to get some feedback and ideas. Should we go narrower like genres (westerns, horror, science fiction) or perhaps niche genres (road movie, murder mystery, historic)? How about directors - like I had an idea of doing a Kubrick versus Spielberg for example. Actors, countries, film festivals? Or is it okay to have the category be very broad?
This is the fifth and last movie we discuss of Academy Award Winners. Ariana DeBose won for Best Supporting Actress. It was nominated for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Sound, Best Production Design, Best Cinematography and Best Costume Design.
Did the movie deserve its nominations and awards? Feel free to add any thoughts, opinions, reflections, analysis or whatever comments related to this film.
Voting for December will come up in a few days.
This is the fourth movie we discuss of Academy Award Winners. It won for Best Original Screenplay and Kate Winslet was nominated for Best Actress.
Did the movie deserve its nominations and awards? Feel free to add any thoughts, opinions, reflections, analysis or whatever comments related to this film.
The rest of the schedule is:
This is the third movie we discuss of Academy Award Winners. Kim Basinger won for Best Actress in a Supporting Role and it won for Best Adapted Screenplay. It was nominated for Best Picture, Best Cinematography, Best Art Direction, Best Editing, Best Score, Best Sound and Best Director.
Did the movie deserve its nominations and awards? Did the screenplay and Kim Basingers performance in particular stand out? Feel free to add any thoughts, opinions, reflections, analysis or whatever comments related to this film.
The rest of the schedule is:
This is the second movie we discuss of Academy Award Winners. It also won for Best Foreign Language Film and was nominated for Best Picture, Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay.
Feel free to add any thoughts, opinions, reflections, analysis or whatever comments related to this film.
The rest of the schedule is:
This is the first movie we discuss of Academy Award Winners. Day for Night won for Best Foreign Language Film
I found this little intro from TCM by Steven Spielberg
Is it a worthy award winner? Have you seen other films by Truffaut? How does it compare to other films about filmmaking?
Feel free to add any thoughts, opinions, reflections, analysis or whatever comments related to this film.
The rest of the schedule is: