The Matrix (1999)

  There was a minor interruption in services here because of a family emergency and then my Internet was out.  Time is fake and nothing matters.  There is only snow. 

A programmer who moonlights as a hacker for hire named Neo (Keanu Reeves) is recruited by a shadowy group only to learn that his world doesn't actually exist.  It's a fantasy projected by machines that have taken over the earth and use human beings as living batteries.  Having been woken from the collective dream, Neo struggles to understand his place in this dystopian resistance.

It is hard to overestimate what an impact this had on pop culture in 1999.  I just watched it with some friends who had never seen the whole thing before and it was great to be able to see pieces click into place for them.  It still holds up really well, although some of the effects look dated.  This was such an innovative film, though, you can't even be mad about it.  It literally created new camera rigs to pull off some of the effects.  The sequels shouldn't exist because they are shameless cash grabs but you can never say The Matrix isn't a stone-cold classic sci-fi movie.

Because we also live in a dystopian hellscape, it's only available for streaming through the MGM+ app but you should really just buy it.  

Oscar Nominations 2026

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The nominations are out!  And they look...a lot like the Critics' Choice nominations.  This is to be expected.  However!  There was a lot more love for horror movies this year, which is a hugely positive development.  

Best Picture

Bugonia
F1
Frankenstein
Hamnet
Marty Supreme
One Battle After Another
The Secret Agent
Sentimental Value
Sinners
Train Dreams

F1 is a little surprising for Best Picture but the rest are basically the same as Critics' Choice and Golden Globes.  I'm already two up, so yay, me.

Best Director

Chloe Zhao - Hamnet
Josh Safdie - Marty Supreme
Paul Thomas Anderson - One Battle After Another
Joachim Trier - Sentimental Value
Ryan Coogler - Sinners

Again, no surprises.  This category has historically been dominated by the same names over and over so it's nice to see some relatively new faces.  Not really refuting the #OscarsSoWhite but Zhao is pulling double duty as both the token woman and a POC.

Best Actor

Timothee Chalamet - Marty Supreme
Leonardo DiCaprio - One Battle After Another
Ethan Hawke - Blue Moon
Michael B. Jordan - Sinners
Wagner Moura - The Secret Agent

In a just world, Jordan walks away with this.  It's a dual performance, meaning he literally did twice the work.

Best Actress

Jessie Buckley - Hamnet
Rose Byrne - If I Had Legs, I'd Kick You
Kate Hudson - Song Sung Blue
Renate Reinsve - Sentimental Value
Emma Stone - Bugonia

As usual, this is a much more competitive category.  Buckley is the favorite but you can't discount Byrne or Stone.  Hudson is a surprise contender, sneaking the spot from Ariana Grande or Cynthia Erivo, I suspect.

Best Supporting Actor

Benecio Del Toro - One Battle After Another
Jacob Elordi - Frankenstein
Delroy Lindo - Sinners
Sean Penn - One Battle After Another
Stellan Skarsgard - Sentimental Value

I would love to see Lindo win for this.  He gave a phenomenal performance and he is overdue to be recognized.

Best Supporting Actress

Elle Fanning - Sentimental Value
Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas - Sentimental Value
Amy Madigan - Weapons
Wunmi Mosaku - Sinners
Teyana Taylor - One Battle After Another

Interesting that Fanning got put in Supporting when she was up for Lead in the Critics' Choice and Golden Globes.  Madigan is the big upset inclusion and it would be great (for all horror fans) if she won but I don't think it's super likely.  Likewise, it's great to see Mosaku (who has quietly been putting out great performance after great performance for years) get recognized but that's probably all she's getting.

Best Adapted Screenplay

Bugonia
Frankenstein
Hamnet
One Battle After Another
Train Dreams

No surprises here.

Best Original Screenplay

Blue Moon
It Was Just an Accident
Marty Supreme
Sentimental Value
Sinners

My fear is that Sinners will only win here, like Straight Outta Compton, because the Academy is more interested in looking progressive than actually being progressive. Hope I'm wrong.

Best Animated Feature

Arco
Elio
KPop Demon Hunters
Little Amelie or the Character of Rain
Zootopia 2

This is the exact same lineup as the Critics' Choice.

Best International Feature

The Secret Agent - Brazil
It Was Just an Accident - France
Sentimental Value - Norway
Sirat - Spain
The Voice of Hind Rajab - Tunisia

Lockstep with the other awards.

Best Documentary Feature

The Alabama Solution
Come See Me in the Good Light
Cutting Through Rocks
Mr. Nobody Against Putin
The Perfect Neighbor

The only two I've heard anything about are Come and See Me, which looks depressing as fuck, and Perfect Neighbor, which is on Netflix.

Best Animated Short

Butterfly
Forevergreen
The Girl Who Cried Pearls
Retirement Plan
The Three Sisters

Best Casting

Nina Gold - Hamnet
Jennifer Venditti - Marty Supreme
Cassandra Kulukundis - One Battle After Another
Gabriel Domingues - The Secret Agent
Francine Maisler - Sinners

This is a new category and interestingly, a career field dominated by women.  I feel like it's going to go however the nominees for Best Picture go, but we'll see.

Best Cinematography

Frankenstein - Dan Laustsen
Marty Supreme - Darius Khondji
One Battle After Another - Michael Bauman
Sinners - Autumn Durald Arkapaw
Train Dreams - Adolpho Veloso

All new names this year.  Exciting.

Best Costume Design

Avatar: Fire and Ash
Frankenstein
Hamnet
Marty Supreme
Sinners

Okay, so I have some quibbles with Avatar being included here.  Nearly the entire movie is CGI, so exactly which costumes are we highlighting here?  Like, I get it, but I am side-eyeing it.

Best Documentary Short

All the Empty Rooms
Armed Only with a Camera: The Life and Death of Brent Renaud
Children No More: "Were and Are Gone"
The Devil is Busy
Perfectly a Strangeness

Best Film Editing

F1
Marty Supreme
One Battle After Another
Sentimental Value
Sinners

Best Live-Action Short

Butcher's Stain
A Friend of Dorothy
Jane Austen's Period Drama
The Singers
Two People Exchanging Saliva

Best Makeup and Hairstyling

Frankenstein
Kokohu
Sinners
The Smashing Machine
The Ugly Stepsister

Several surprises here.  More horror!  The Smashing Machine kind of feels like even more of a snub, somehow, by being included here.  And I've never even heard of Kokohu.  No idea.

Best Original Score

Bugonia - Jerskin Fendrix
Frankenstein - Alexandre Desplat
Hamnet - Max Richter
One Battle After Another - Jonny Greenwood
Sinners - Ludwig Goransson

Best Original Song

"Dear Me" - Diane Warren: Relentless
"Golden" - KPop Demon Hunters
"I Lied to You" - Sinners
"Sweet Dreams of Joy" - Viva Verdi!
"Train Dreams" - Train Dreams

Couple of odd little inclusions considering the distinct absence of Wicked: For Good.

Best Production Design

Frankenstein
Hamnet
Marty Supreme
One Battle After Another
Sinners

All these categories are the same movies.  It just makes for such a boring ceremony.

Best Sound

F1
Frankenstein
One Battle After Another
Sinners
Sirat

Best Visual Effects

Avatar: Fire and Ash
F1
Jurassic World: Rebirth
The Lost Bus
Sinners

Rebirth flopped super hard so I am surprised it's included here.  Like the Academy thought it should have been a blockbuster because it's a franchise.

So there you have it.  Ceremony is March 15th so we have a little less than two months to get everything in bold watched.  The good news is that, thanks to all the repeats, we've knocked out a few of the major contenders already.  

Speed Racer (2008)

  I thought I had reviewed this before but I can't find any evidence to support that.  This flopped really hard when it came out but I think it is due for a reevaluation.

Speed Racer (Emile Hirsch) comes from a line of racecar drivers and mechanics, a legacy tainted by the apparent criminality and sudden death of his older brother, Rex (Scott Porter).  Speed is courted as a driver for Royalton Industries, but chooses to stay with his family company, which pisses off Royalton's CEO, Arnold Royalton (Roger Allam).  Royalton uses his wealth and underworld connections to threaten Speed's family, forcing the teen to work with Inspector Detector (Benno Fürmann) of the Corporate Crimes Division and Racer X (Matthew Fox), a mysterious masked racer who frequently goes undercover, to enter a dangerous cross-country rally, the Casa Cristo, the same race that killed Rex.  Winning means a chance to expose Royalton for the shameless crook that he is, but losing is certain death.

This movie is like having melted Starbursts candies poured directly into your retinas.  To call it a live-action cartoon movie is to do injustice to the sheer visual splendor of it.  The plot is a little silly, sure, but it is based on a children's cartoon from the 60s.  Who cares?  It is amazing.  Possibly in the I've-eaten-too-much-sugar-and-now-I-can-see-sounds-right-before-I-technicolor-barf kind of way.  

The chimp is legitimately terrifying if you know anything about chimps, but that's a different kind of post.

Anyway, Speed Racer is so fun and so colorful and fast that you will either immediately love it or turn it off after three minutes.  It's streaming on Kanopy, which is free if you have a library card.  I own it because my cousin bought it and hated it, so she gave it to me.  Best ADHD present ever.

Anyone But You (2023)

  I'm just going to say it:  I don't get the Sydney Sweeney fascination.  Sure, she's got a great rack, but she's not particularly charismatic.  

After a disastrous one night stand, Ben (Glen Powell) and Bea (Sydney Sweeney) find themselves stuck together at a destination wedding for mutual friends.  In order to keep the peace, they agree to fake a relationship but soon find that feelings are complicated.

This is meant to be an updated version of Much Ado About Nothing that cuts out all the stuff that isn't Benedict and Beatrice, but there's a reason those are side characters.  They cannot carry a whole movie on banter.  Maybe other actors could and Powell is certainly game (although he really gets screwed by the script) but there's no chemistry and the bickering is forced and juvenile.  Ironically, the side characters really shine.  Alexandra Shipp, GaTa, and Bryan Brown understood the assignment and carried on like loyal soldiers.  

Again, I'm not a rom-com person so feel free to take my opinion with a grain of salt, but this bears no comparison to the Branagh-Thompson movie.  It is streaming on Hulu, though.

Wicked: For Good (2025)

  So there were actually THREE supernatural musicals released in 2025 but this one I didn't see until after the new year.  

Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo), now branded the Wicked Witch of the West, has been trying to change the hearts and minds of Ozians to make them see that their Wizard (Jeff Goldblum) is a con man, but she can't compete with Madame Morrible's (Michelle Yeoh) propaganda machine.  Madame M has positioned Glinda (Ariana Grande) to charm and distract the good people with a huge, glamorous wedding to Fiyero (Jonathan Bailey), even though they weren't engaged, little realizing that news alone was enough to strike a blow to several hearts: Elphaba, who was secretly in love with Fiyero, and Boq (Ethan Slater), the Munchkin man in love with Glinda.  Boq's revelation of his feelings sends Elphaba's sister, Nessarose (Marissa Bode) into a jealous rage, setting in motion a chain of events that leads to a cyclone and the beginning of a new story.

The movie makes explicit some plot aspects that the stage musical kept more subtle, which I don't hate, and the music is of course fantastic.  Still not sure why everything has to be three hours long now, but whatever.  I watched this with friends and it was a great time.  We made macarons in pink and green.  It was a whole thing.  If you don't like musicals or the first one wasn't your thing, go ahead a skip this one.  It is strictly for the fans.  It's available on Amazon to buy or rent.  I'm obviously going to buy it but I think I'll wait to see if there's a double-disc option.

Master Z: Ip Man Legacy (2018)

  You have no idea how long it has taken me to actually finish this movie.  I started trying in July of last year.  Content warning:  some blood, overdose, drug use

Cheung Tin-chi (Max Zhang) was the new Grandmaster of Wing Chun until he challenged and got his ass beat by Ip Man (Donnie Yen) behind closed doors.  Humiliated, Cheung sold out as a gangster for hire for awhile, then gave up crime to open a grocery store.  He runs afoul of local tough guy Tso Sai-Kit (Kevin Cheng) on a delivery when he accidentally interrupts Tso's harassment of Julia (Liu Yan) and Nana (Chrissie Chau).  Tso firebombs the grocery store in retaliation.  Julia gets Cheung a job at her brother's bar, and Tso starts selling heroin because he's mad at his sister (Michelle Yeoh).  

This is not a great movie.  The plot is a pastiche of like 6 other, better films.  But it is a very good martial arts wire fu movie.  The legendary action choreographer Cory Yuen Woo-Ping directed it and every fight scene is great.  You just kind of have to slog along in between them while it tries to plot at you.  It does feature a surprisingly good performance from Dave Bautista, like way better than his cardboard cutout character deserved.  He totally could have phoned that in but didn't.  And his fight with Max Zhang is hilarious because of their size differences.  It reminded me of Kate Bishop going up against Kingpin in the Hawkeye series.  

I started trying to watch this on the Roku Channel but the ad breaks were super annoying.  Then it was on Netflix but my subtitles were messed up.  And I finally finished it on Hulu.  A journey was taken.  Just watch it on Hulu.

The Mouse and His Child (1977)

  Still working my way through Christmas.  Content warning:  cartoon violence?, some indefinable thing but you should definitely watch it before you show it to your kids

A clockwork mouse (Alan Barzman) and his child (Marcy Swenson) are joined by the hands.  After accidentally falling into the trash, they wind up at the dump and under the power of Manny the rat (Peter Ustinov), who uses discarded windup toys as slave labor.  He wants the mouse and child to rob a bank holding his favorite sweets, but is foiled when the henchman he sends with them is too stupid and allows Mouse and Child to escape.  They wander through the land, searching for a muskrat (Bob Holt) who can allegedly give them the power to be self-winding.  

This is some late 70s animated nightmare fuel!  And on top of that, there's the existential crisis of the central plot.  Zero reason this had to go so hard!  Fully insane that there's a clock that tells the characters that their paths in life are predetermined and immutable.  The whole movie is on YouTube on what appears to be a VHS transfer, which frankly only adds to the fever dream of it all.  Vet this before you show it to your kids.  I'm so serious.

Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas (1977)

  I watched this for Movie Club several weeks ago but didn't get a chance to post it, with all that was going on.  

Emmet Otter (Jerry Nelson) and his Ma (Marilyn Sokol) live on the river.  Ma takes in washing and Emmet does odd jobs.  Both hear about a talent show where the prize is $50.  That would be a significant sum, so they each independently sign up, Ma as a singer and Emmet with some locals in a band, without telling the other, each figuring that a win will allow them to buy the other one a present.

If you ever thought "Gee, I wish the Muppets could deal with abject poverty and be depressed," 1) what the fuck is wrong with you and 2) here's your movie!

This is the Jim Henson version of O. Henry's "Gift of the Magi" short story.  It is still pretty heart-warming but it is also a huge downer.  But like, in an important life lessons kind of way.  All the music is (of course) by Paul Williams and Kermit even makes a guest appearance.  It's a legitimate Muppet movie that I had somehow never seen.  I don't think I'd rush to watch it again, but I would definitely recommend it to people looking for kind of an off-beat Christmas movie to show their kids.

I think I had to actually rent this one from Amazon.  

2025 Top 10

The last couple of years have been pretty rough.  I had a family emergency over Christmas and overall this has been my worst year for posting.  I'm not a big resolutions person, but I would like to get back into my semi-normal routine, if things calm down enough to let me.  I hope everyone reading this has a wonderful 2026.  Let's look back at some of the movies I enjoyed and then what we're looking forward to in the coming months.

10.  Match - This was a huge surprise.  I wasn't expecting to like it this much, but the more I thought about it, the more it held up.

9.  The Thursday Murder Club - Comfort food.  I had a lot of burnout this year and had to deal with drama from all sides.  Otherwise, this would likely never have made the top ten.

8. Thunderbolts* - I didn't see Fantastic Four but I liked this Marvel entry.  It was messy and sad and dark when I was messy and sad and dark, so I really enjoyed it.

7. Superman - I mostly hate Superman.  He's my least favorite superhero.  But damn if I didn't need a little hope.  Also, Nicholas Hoult is a top-tier hater and I love that for him.

6.  Weapons - Shockingly funny.  Just great.

5. Companion - Best date movie this year.  If Heart Eyes hadn't tripped at the finish line, it could have been here.

4. Mickey 17 - Might be benefitting from how recently I watched it, but I really liked it.

3.  Frankenstein - How was this not going to be near the top?  Loved it.  The aesthetic!  The trauma!  The therapeutic rewriting of the ending!

1. (tie) Sinners

1. (tie) KPop Demon Hunters - Two (2!) supernatural musicals in one year??  With lore?? And pathos?? And incredible soundtracks??  Couldn't choose.  Truly, an embarrassment of riches.  I kept going back and forth between them, but just like my favorite Kindle category, Why Choose?  Have both!

I know 2026 has technically already started but I'm still catching up.  Here's what's coming out this year!

Dead Man's Wire - Bill Skarsgaard in an underdog thriller.  Haven't seen a lot but I love when he plays weird dudes.

Dracula - Luc Besson is doing his take.  I have mixed feelings, but you know, vampires.

Pillion - Alexander Skarsgaard out here letting his freak flag fly high!

Wuthering Heights - For Margot Robbie, I will suffer through another Bronte adaptation.

The Bride! - Very exciting!

Project Hail Mary - My ex listened to a lot of this audiobook while I was in the car so now I'm interested.

Hokum - From the same team that did Oddity.  

The Sheep Detectives - This looks really cute.

The Mandalorian and Grogu - I feel like this is going to be diminishing returns, but what do I know?

Supergirl - Milly Adcock looks like she'll be hilarious as Supergirl.

The Odyssey - I just can't quit Christopher Nolan.

Spider-Man: Brand New Day - There's a new Spider-Man movie?

Clayface - Zero expectations but I am curious.

Practical Magic 2 - Argh, I'm so afraid this is going to suck.  I love the original so much.

Street Fighter - Sure.  Why not?

Avengers: Doomsday - Will this be the final nail in the MCU coffin?  We'll see!

Dune: Part 3 - More space drama!

Werwulf - All right, Eggers.  You are tentatively off my shit-list.  Don't fuck this up.