Oscar weekend! I’m planning on writing a piece about how this award season turned out compared to the past few, but frankly, it’s been the most satisfied I’ve been with the Oscars for a bit. Granted, I’ve always felt the Oscars were nothing more than a fun game and not something to be taken seriously as a measure of quality in the industry. Yet, there’s still at least some value in knowing that people still take interest in the movies that win and those that didn’t. After all, the history of the winners is something worth delving into. That’s informed at least a few of my watches on this time around.
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: All About Eve (1950, Joseph L. Mankiewicz)
The Oscars were about to happen at the time I chose to rewatch this. And I figured it seemed fitting, after revisiting some great and not-so-great Best Picture winners. A film like All About Eve, though, is easily among the very best: because it’s a movie that really holds a mirror to the entertainment industry as it becomes so overtly corporate. After all, what better way to excoriate the rotten heart of this industry than with a story about climbing the social ladder, performing your way to stardom? Certain people spend countless days building their craft, and then there’s people like Eve, who put themselves in the spotlight constantly, that their own illusions become reality.
#2: The Blade (1995, Tsui Hark)
Tsui Hark is one of Hong Kong’s greatest filmmakers, and I think that The Blade is one of the greatest action movies ever made. This movie does for wuxia movies what films like McCabe & Mrs. Miller or Unforgiven have done for the western, as I’d stated in my Letterboxd review. The tale of the one-armed swordsman is one that might seem familiar if you’re someone who’s watched a lot of kung fu movies, but the frenetic pacing of these action scenes reflects a lashing against tradition. It’s all very energetic, yes, but Tsui Hark sees that as these wounds manifest into a different generation, we see that the violence only moves on into the next. And it’s all very stunning, and beautiful.
#3: The Great Silence (1968, Sergio Corbucci)
One of the great spaghetti westerns, perhaps it might even be the best one to not be directed by Sergio Leone. A movie that makes you really dig into the heart of the American west, especially when these Italian filmmakers saw something else happening in this landscape. A movie all about greed, and the countless lives upon which it takes, especially when personal gains are prioritized as people take bounties and kill each other for the rewards. At a certain point, it’s set to bite back – and we see it happening in maybe one of the bleakest climaxes to any western film in here.
#4: Inherent Vice (2014, Paul Thomas Anderson)
I ended up rewatching this on 35mm the morning of the Oscars. I certainly was not planning for Paul Thomas Anderson to win big that night, and I think that as someone who’s been watching his films since I was a teen, it made me ecstatic. Meanwhile, I think that while watching Inherent Vice, you might not find anyone who better understands the writing of Thomas Pynchon than him. He’s someone who knew how to dig right underneath the heart of America, especially within the Nixon years, to capture a lingering shame that’s ever felt today. With how Inherent Vice unfolds, it may not be easy to grasp it all just yet, but the thrill of coming back to it, is knowing that Anderson wants to capture a specific lifestyle and its excesses. It’s maybe his funniest film.
#5: Killers of the Flower Moon (2023, Martin Scorsese)
Since the day when Killers of the Flower Moon had first come out, I was fearing that this movie would never see a physical media release. Thankfully, Criterion came in with a beautiful 4K UHD release of the film, and I think this might be the best that the film has looked since I had seen it in theaters. Granted, Apple TV+ is better at handling compression compared to a service like Netflix or Disney+, but it’s simply not the same. And for a film like this, based on a crucial part of United States history that has only gone ignored, it’s important that this story is kept alive – for Martin Scorsese sees that it defines the entire country. And it’s a very shameful memory at that.
The Complete Day-by-Day Log
First time watches are denoted with bold text. Scores are on a ½ to ✯✯✯✯✯ basis.
Friday
Live Stream (2023, Choi Ju-yeon) - ✯✯✯
The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957, David Lean) - ✯✯✯✯✯
Viridiana (1961, Luis Buñuel) - ✯✯✯✯✯
Rain Man (1988, Barry Levinson) - ✯✯
Resident Evil: The Final Chapter (2016, Paul W. S. Anderson) - ✯✯✯½
Saturday
Straw Dogs (1971, Sam Peckinpah) - ✯✯✯✯✯
Unforgiven (1992, Clint Eastwood) - ✯✯✯✯✯
All About Eve (1950, Joseph L. Mankiewicz) - ✯✯✯✯✯
Anora (2024, Sean Baker) - ✯✯✯✯✯
Sunday
Inherent Vice (2014, Paul Thomas Anderson) - ✯✯✯✯✯, watched on 35mm
The Great Silence (1968, Sergio Corbucci) - ✯✯✯✯✯
Monday
Sea Fog (2014, Shim Sung-bo) - ✯✯✯✯
Attenberg (2010, Athina Rachel Tsangari) - ✯✯✯✯✯, watched on 35mm
The Blade (1995, Tsui Hark) - ✯✯✯✯✯
Tuesday
Vampyros Lesbos (1971, Jesús Franco) - ✯✯✯✯✯
Killers of the Flower Moon (2023, Martin Scorsese) - ✯✯✯✯✯
Sometimes I Think About Dying (2023, Rachel Lambert) - ✯✯✯½
Shopping (1994, Paul W. S. Anderson) - ✯✯✯✯
Andragogy (2023, Wregas Bhanuteja) - ✯✯✯✯
Wednesday
Repo Man (1984, Alex Cox) - ✯✯✯✯✯
Five Easy Pieces (1970, Bob Rafelson) - ✯✯✯✯✯
Songs My Brothers Taught Me (2015, Chloé Zhao) - ✯✯✯✯½
Bodycam (2025, Brandon Christensen) - ✯½
Thursday
Ready or Not (2019, Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett) - ✯✯✯
Captain Blood (1935, Michael Curtiz) - ✯✯✯✯✯
Dick Tracy (1990, Warren Beatty) - ✯✯✯✯, watched on 35mm
Ready or Not 2: Here I Come (2026, Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett) - ✯✯✯½
Remote Control (1988, Jeff Lieberman) - ✯✯✯✯
For real time updates, please follow me on Letterboxd here.