Oscar fever is coming up, so you can only expect that after Sunday night, I’m also watching a lot of Best Picture winners as part of a personal research project. Unfortunately, none of these have quite made it into this selection of five that I’m highlighting, only because I decided to revisit some winners I haven’t been the fondest of. That’s okay, though. I think that the least to be said about what the Oscars, before the upcoming ceremony, is that it might become a fun night, especially if we don’t put too much stock into it.
Without further ado, these are Friday’s Five Films. If you like what you’re seeing here, remember to subscribe for a whole lot more.
#1: Body Double (1984, Brian De Palma)
I highlighted Brian De Palma’s Blow Out in an earlier edition of this, now I might just share my love for another one of his films while the opportunity presents itself. Body Double is the sort of movie that could only really be made by someone who’s lived their whole life in the cinema, and that’s just why I love it. As far as shameless Alfred Hitchcock riffs go, there aren’t very many out there like Body Double, where we later sense that De Palma’s telling you everything he feels about this industry of film and the inherent sleaziness underneath.
#2: Bullet Ballet (1998, Shinya Tsukamoto)
Not many filmmakers are out there like Shinya Tsukamoto. If it weren’t for Tetsuo: The Iron Man, there’s a chance this could easily be my favourite. In fact, it’s only evidence of how much more radical a filmmaker he’s become since. It might just also be the perfect response to those who view film as being nothing more than a simplistic escape: because Bullet Ballet encompasses everything going through the mind. And fittingly enough, it all plays in such an apocalyptic manner.
#3: Rio Bravo (1959, Howard Hawks)
When I was younger, I sought this movie out on the basis of it being a favourite of Quentin Tarantino. Now, I’m maybe far less enamoured by Tarantino than I was as a teen, though I won’t lie when I say his own enthusiasm introduced me to many more films that have continued shaping my perception of film. After all, Howard Hawks is just one of the great filmmakers, but maybe what makes Rio Bravo feel so satisfying is its portrait of a strong-armed community. And sure, you can see a film like this as being a response to High Noon, but what makes Rio Bravo so enduring is the way we see that this heroism spreads from one person to the next. A true good time at the movies.
#4: Viridiana (1961, Luis Buñuel)
I’ve stated already that I believe Luis Buñuel’s best period to be his Mexican era, and I consider Viridiana among the Spanish surrealist’s finest works. It’s also maybe the angriest that he’s ever felt, not just at the Franco regime, but the institutions that uphold its authoritarianism. Buñuel’s never been one to shy away what he thinks of the Catholic Church, but in how he tests his titular character’s own faith, he also tests her commitment to the virtue. Viridiana’s not a good person, but she’s trying to be. And maybe that’s where her downfall begins, especially as the people she tries to help have all been burned down by the institution which she represents.
#5: WALL-E (2008, Andrew Stanton)
Because I think I ought to remind myself of what Pixar had managed to accomplish during their peak, once upon a time. I’ve mostly fallen out of love with Pixar, perhaps starting with the inconsistency in quality of their recent works, but I’ll still watch these films in the hopes that the spark will come back. Yet, none of them might ever match what WALL-E does, at least because it represents a high mark in the studio’s lifetime. It’s a film that’s evidently more ambitious than their usual work, but as an adult, I’m perhaps taken in with how much it engages with our own role in creating this ravaged world we see here. It’s simply one of the great animated films.
The Complete Day-by-Day Log
First time watches are denoted with bold text. Scores are on a ½ to ✯✯✯✯✯ basis.
Friday
Queens of the Dead (2025, Tina Romero) - ✯✯✯
Read My Lips (2001, Jacques Audiard) - ✯✯✯✯✯
Missile (1988, Frederick Wiseman) - ✯✯✯✯½
Bugonia (2025, Yorgos Lanthimos) - ✯✯✯½
Cadaver (2007, Son Tae-woong) - ✯✯½
Saturday
Bullet Ballet (1998, Shinya Tsukamoto) - ✯✯✯✯✯
Cutting Through Rocks (2025, Sara Khaki and Mohammad Reza Eyni) - ✯✯✯✯
Rude (1995, Clement Virgo) - ✯✯✯
Sunday
Body Double (1984, Brian De Palma) - ✯✯✯✯✯
A Perfect Murder (1998, Andrew Davis) - ✯✯✯
Viva Verdi! (2024, Yvonne Russo) - ✯✯✯
Rio Bravo (1959, Howard Hawks) - ✯✯✯✯✯
The Boston Strangler (1968, Richard Fleischer) - ✯✯✯✯½
Love – Zero = Infinity (1994, Hisayasu Satô) - ✯✯✯✯½
Monday
Dr. Lamb (1992, Danny Lee and Billy Tang) - ✯✯✯
The Way He Looks (2014, Daniel Ribeiro) - ✯✯✯✯
Chicago (2002, Rob Marshall) - ✯✯½
Ben-Hur (1959, William Wyler) - ✯✯✯✯
I Am Cuba (1964, Mikhail Kalatozov) - ✯✯✯✯✯
Tuesday
Taxi Driver (1976, Martin Scorsese) - ✯✯✯✯✯
Hoppers (2026, Daniel Chong) - ✯✯✯✯
Monsieur Lazhar (2011, Philippe Falardeau) - ✯✯✯½
Viridiana (1961, Luis Buñuel) - ✯✯✯✯✯
Wednesday
Braveheart (1995, Mel Gibson) - ✯✯½
The Magdalene Sisters (2002, Peter Mullan) - ✯✯✯½
Million Dollar Baby (2004, Clint Eastwood) - ✯✯✯½
Forrest Gump (1994, Robert Zemeckis) - ½
Thursday
I Am Not a Serial Killer (2016, Billy O’Brien) - ✯✯✯½
WALL-E (2008, Andrew Stanton) - ✯✯✯✯✯
Patton (1970, Franklin J. Schaffner) - ✯✯✯✯½
The Artist (2011, Michel Hazanavicius) - ✯✯✯
Kramer vs. Kramer (1979, Robert Benton) - ✯✯✯
Crash (2004, Paul Haggis) - ½
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