Throws shit at the wall and it STICKS. A bit messy and disjointed, but a movie that's so colorful, fun, hopeful, and unabashedly leftist is needed in today's landscape.

Drank water while watching this.

This film uses Natchez as a single, powerful example of the function of aestheticism in the construction of historical myths about the antebellum South. These myths become reality to such a degree that the townsfolk absorb and reproduce the racism underlying them.

One shouldn't be fooled into thinking that Natchez's ahistoricism is a quirk of a single place here and now. The town's particular myths are just one manifestation of a phenomenon that is present across the United States and has been for its entire existence.

Ate nothing while watching this.

It's not even a monkey's paw. This guy's just a piece of shit.

Ate nothing while watching this.

About as good a movie as you could make from source material as viscous as the backrooms. The allure of the backrooms concept is the shared experience of being lost, alone, and completely exposed in a space that is at once familiar and unfamiliar.

Evoking this feeling is where this movie shines, especially during the two found footage sequences. As soon as the focus shifts to the personal lives of the protagonists and the overarching conspiracy, it loses the simple charm of the backrooms concept.

Ate nothing while watching this.

Criterion Challenge 2026 - Film #13

As a Mexican that grew up in Texas, the Selena movie was required viewing growing up. I was never aware of this equivalent, released 10 years before Selena.

Knowing Ritchie's fate does not lighten the blow. He died a child that was supporting his family while doing what he loved.

Drank Diet Dr. Pepper while watching this in Spanish.

She should've staged a coup instead of bothering with any of the marriage stuff.

Ate raspberries, chocolate, and cornichons while watching this.

I owned this on DVD as a kid and must have watched it 20 times before, but I genuinely don't remember a second of it. Unbelievable that the princess transformation was 90% just getting rid of her curly hair wtf 😭

Ate raspberries, chocolate, and cornichons while watching this.

Easily better than the OG movie, although I do miss the Goose x Maverick camaraderie.

Ate nothing while watching this.

Kinda difficult following the dogfights in this and keeping track of who's who. Doesn't end up mattering when you get lost in the speed of it all.

Loved the vibrant colors and the relationship between Maverick and Goose.

Ate Takis pix while watching this.

Hadewijch of Antwerp thought of Hell as the eternal separation from God's Love. Precisely because that separation is eternal and assured, there's a certain comfort in knowing you can give up searching for God's Love. The pain that eclipses Hell is the infinite repetition of the plunge into Love, never quite being able to reach it, but never being able to give up trying. No catharsis.

Sasha did not have the comfort of Hell. Between Jeremy's moments of hostility were moments of a sibling tenderness that could not allow her to hate him so completely as to give up loving him. The pain of this uncertainty is what broke her parents and what fuels her current reflections.

Drank water and cherry Icee while watching this.

Conner had the realest questions. Where did they get those lil crowns?!

Ate popcorn while watching this.

Spring florals?? Miranda would never.

I don't have any nostalgia toward the first movie, so the first third of this was bad. Barely even a movie, just an excuse to point and say, "hey, remember the first movie? 😉"

Once it gets over that hurdle, it becomes a super fun movie to enjoy with your pals.

Ate homemade vegan pizza while watching this.

I can understand why this is a classic, but it's hard to stand how mean or unsupportive everyone is of Andy.

Ate nothing while watching this.

It's been over a year since watching Queer and then seeing Zendaya at a restaurant while she was filming this movie. Time flies.

boxd.it/80iq0V

Much more engaging than Dream Scenario, but retained the distinct air of uncomfort from that movie. The last third was so tense I couldn't avoid throwing my hands in the air and covering my face.

Ate popcorn while watching this.

How is Christy so funny? 😭

Ate popcorn, homemade cookies, and diet root beer while watching this.

Criterion Challenge 2026 - Film #12

It’s just torture and murder. No plot, no characters. Very, very realistic.

Well, I think we live in over stimulated times. We crave stimulation for its own sake. We gorge ourselves on it.

Older forms of media had massive potential to direct our mental faculties, but were limited to specific physical spaces. The TV set in the living room, the radio in the car, the newspaper at the shack. Newer forms of media have the luxury of constant connection outside of specific spaces. The expansion of those spaces to everywhere.

This expansion was true by the time of my teenage years. By then, I had grown up on social media with one form or another of an algorithmic feed. I had also grown up watching torture and murder on television (Alarma TV on Canal Estrella), or being shown gore videos without my consent by my fellow classmates.

Hedonism via media feeds and desensitization to violence were made the defaults. Cronenberg understood this in the 80s, and had enough of an eye to understand how this would evolve into the 2000s.

Ate peanut butter cookies, matcha cookies, and soy milk while watching this.

Criterion Challenge 2026 - Film #11

A couple deals with their grief by engaging in what are likely the most unhealthy therapy sessions. The beginning sections were slow, reserved, and boring even, but you get a good sense into both of the characters' responses to grief. The editing had some jarring cuts during basic dialogue scenes that took me out of the film even if they made sense because of She's skewed sense of time.

> Chaos reigns

This scene in the middle of the film and the quote "nature is Satan's church" were so heavy-handed that I couldn't take them seriously. There was no real sense of connection between nature and grief that the film kept implying.

Drank water while watching this.

I expected this to be worse than what I remembered, but I liked it just as much as I did as a kid. The monster (JC?) was scary as hell. The kiss scene...blegh what a reveal for your villain's true nature.

Ate Chex Mix while watching this.

Spare me your feelings Alex you piece of trash.

Is the movie supposed to be so dark and yellow?

Ate nothing while watching this.

Making Mary an organist was a great decision because every organ track becomes diegetic, whether or not she's physically playing the organ. The organ is an invitation into her psyche.

Linden was such a creep. Mary was in a lose-lose situation when it came to dealing with him vs. dealing with the ghost dude.

Watched this while donating platelets. Did not eat anything. I was lowkey out of it so I may rewatch this.

Edgar Wright's movies are marked with a lively style, a vivid use of color, and a sense of rhythm. All of those things were present in this, but for me the movie was marred by the British-ness of it all.

Ate Pringles and drank water while watching this.

The coffee cup bit got me so bad. Whoever wrote the snowman scene must've been on something because what the hell was that?

Ate banana bread and cashews while watching this.

Still wondering how Sukuna managed to climb this...

The mention of Meister Eckhart was surprising because I just happened to have a conversation about Bernard McGinn's Meister Eckhart and the Beguine Mystics with my partner earlier today.

Jacob's descent into paranoia and madness was portrayed best through the lens of the industrial decay of NYC. Lonely, dilapidated alleyways and train stations are eerie in a way many of us could easily understand. It was like seeing a proto-backrooms.

Ate Limon Lays while watching this.

Criterion Challenge 2026 - Film #9

The first 12 minutes are the most lesbian movie I've ever watched. Then it becomes a heist?! Hell yeah.

Ate nothing while watching this.

Dam wish he could've ran away. Poor kid needs to get away from these adults.

Ate nothing while watching this.

Such long takes that you never grow tired of because of the stellar lighting and stellar performances.

Each of the characters brings a different perspective to what they should do in the situation they've found themselves. Given the trauma they have faced (or haven't, in the case of the groom), none of their answers are wrong or unjustified.

The two final scenes were captivating and tense. You couldn't help but join in on Shiva's and Vahid's emotional breakdown. After you're broken down, you hear the squeaking and end the film holding your breath.

Ate chips and drank water while watching this.

Not super sure whether I've watched this before, or if I'm just remembering the tens of times I've watched the Family Guy spoof of it.

This fucking slaps. The gold standard for what a haunted house movie should be. Out with subtle ghosts hauntings. I want the hauntings to be overwhelming!!!

Ate olives while watching this.

Criterion Challenge 2026 - Film #8

Wow, I'm a bit blown away by how good this 90-year-old film is and how much it retains, or rather, establishes, the themes present in Brian De Palma's modern version.

The opening scene hooked me straight away, but I'll admit that it quickly became just goofy enough that I began to question how much I'd enjoy this. The goofiness helps expose just how serious this ends up transitioning into, though.

Angelo was able to get the name in the end (':

Ate nothing while watching this.

Criterion Challenge 2026 - Film #7

Stellar musical performances. Especially that first performance of Origin of Love. Loved it!!! The energy of the performances were perfect for the dreamlike nature of the film.

Not a fan of the anti-communism sprinkled into the beginning portions. Nor of all the grooming, whether by the side characters or by Hedwig herself. The ending got me thinking that Tommy Gnosis is a stand-in for Hedwig pre-transition, but that's probably just me trying to look past the grooming.

As much as I liked the music and the elecric energy, theater production-like movies are not my jam.

Ate peanut butter oatmeal chocolate chip cookies while watching this.

Dam Jinu pulled a Piccolo.

Ate peanut butter oatmeal chocolate chip cookies while watching this.

The order that I've taken in this entire franchise has really screwed me over.

Ate nothing while watching this.

I've never played or seen playthroughs of the Silent Hill games, so anything I know of them has been gained via cultural osmosis. I know enough to have a general respect for the series as an historically important moment in the survival horror genre, but not enough to come into this movie with any baggage.

Aesthetically, this film is fantastic. The grungy, industrial transformation that the town periodically undergoes is accompanied by an equally industrial soundtrack that screeches through your eardrums.

Besides that, it's meh. All the pieces are there for it to have been so much better. It could start by removing all the scenes with the husband. I genuinely couldn't care less about what he was doing.

Ate crackers with Lao Gan Ma chili oil and drank sake while watching this.

Criterion Challenge 2026 - Film #6

If I go, I'll stay a year.

If you're a child of immigrants, then you've likely heard this line from your parents as they recount the tales of their youth. Maybe they meant it in earnest at the time, but reality sets in and suddenly 30 years have passed.

Alambrista! translates into film those tales which are common among immigrant families, and does so in an almost documentary style. We follow Roberto through his journey and, through Young's objective method of storytelling, are able to put ourselves in Roberto's place to understand, at least slightly, the hardships he is facing both externally and internally

Ate nothing while watching this.

Take away some of the middle chase scenes and supplement the ending with the added time. Seriously, it ended so abruptly.

Ate a bunch of snacks while watching this.

The beginning of this was so confusing...I thought it would get better and it never did. But if you let yourself partake in the confusion and put yourself in Barry's shoes, the chaos makes sense and heightens the calm brought on by the romance in the film.

Drank cava wine while watching this.

Criterion Challenge 2026 - Film #5

The perfect film to watch on a snow day (: ❄️

Everyone is so patient with her even though she's so indecisive 😭

This is a film all about faith. Superstitious faith, religious faith, and loving faith. Félicie's love for Charles passes through all of these kinds of faiths. Fueled by the intenstity of their love in the beginning scenes, we understand and embody her faith throughout the film, but also slowly lose it with her.

Faith is always tested, though, and Félicie's reward for keeping it is the immense joy that she finds and doesn't want to let go of.

Ate cucumbers, olives, cashews, and chile limon Lays while watching this.

Wow, that was devastating and haunting. For people critiquing the fact that the "scares" amount to zooming in on grainy photos, you're missing the point. The ghost photography is not the source of horror in this film. The horror comes from unraveling how little Ally and the rest of her family understood each other in the time prior to her death, or even how much they could understand each other after what Ally experiences at Lake Mungo.

It takes the idea from Donnie Darko that "every living creature on this earth dies alone" and extends it to "every dead creature on this earth is alone." That isolation that Ally must feel, pre- and post-death is what is horrifying.

Ate mini vegan pigs in a blanket while watching this.

Genuinely don't remember adding this to my watchlist. It must have placed itself there so that I would watch it one day and be hypnotized by how trippy it is.

Ate nothing while watching this.

Will being gay is a major plot point but never once is the word "gay" used in this show. It felt like they were skirting around it for the entire coming-out scene.

Delightful Derek and the bridge reveal were the highlights of this season, but I'm glad that ST is finally being put to bed.

Ate general tso's tofu while watching this.

Criterion Challenge 2026 - Film #4

There's nothing I can say to convey how touching this film was. We were all children once, with big thoughts and big feelings. Every single one of us.

Ate nothing while watching this.

"You're the real monster" was such an eye-rolling line 😭

Ate popcorn while watching this.

France has got the animated tech dystopia thing locked down. I grew up obsessed with the Garage Kids pilot and the series that spawned from it, Code Lyoko. This hit the same spot in my brain as Code Lyoko used to. This is much more in line with contemporary cyberpunk plots, but the world stands so well on its own that it made for a great watch.

And echoing my sentiments from my review of Ne Zha, I'm always excited to watch non-American and non-Japanese animation.

Ate nothing while watching this.

Criterion Challenge 2026 - Film #3

Surprisingly vibrant for a movie from the 50s. A movie portraying Carnaval must be this vibrant, I suppose. The dubbing / ADR was so noticeably bad that it detracted from the film a lot.

I'm not familiar at all with the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice, so I can't comment on whether this portrayal does it justice, but Orpheus's and Eurydice's love could be felt. If not in their dialogue and acting, which were both clunky, then in the music and dancing they shared with one another.

Ate chocolate and drank water while watching this.

DIVORCE HIM!!!

Drinking wine while watching this.

This was a bit slow and boring for a movie about such an intense sport, but I liked it! It's quite endearing watching someone who is deeply passionate about what they do put so much work into it.

Ate chocolate while watching this.

Hot DAM Ralph Fiennes you're amazing 🔥🔥🔥🔥

Ate grapes while watching this.

Criterion Challenge 2026 - Film #2

God, I can't watch these films. An hour of a lynch mob chasing this poor man for the crime of being Mexican. It's too much. All made more anxiety-inducing by the very John Carpenter-esque soundtrack during the horse chase.

Ate cereal while watching this.