Lyndon in 2025

[Lord_Lyndon]

Hi guys. I hope you are doing well. This is my first post this year. I haven't seen anything in the last couple of weeks of the last year. I started this year very slowly as well, seeing only 6 films in January.

1. Casino (1995; Martin Scorsese) 10/10
Definitely one of my 3 favourite Scorsese films. I keep returning to this one, mostly because it is so entertaining. Just great cinematography, editing, excellent use of voice-overs, great performances. I really love James Woods in this, he just might be my favourite of the cast.

2. Holes (2003; Andrew Davis) 7/10
Pretty good film which offers fairly imaginative and original plot/scenario. Good performance from young Shia LaBeouf.

3. 48 Hrs. (1982; Walter Hill) 7/10
A cop (Nick Nolte) and a criminal (Eddie Murphy) team up to track down a cop killer. This was good, with mostly good screenplay/dialogues, very good direction from Walter Hill (he loves his neon lights), and really great performances from Nolte/Murphy duo.

4. The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean (1972; John Huston) 7/10
Actually a pretty good revisionist Western with a very good performance from Paul Newman.

5. Porco Rosso (1992; Hayao Miyazaki) 8.5/10
This was my 3rd time seeing this. It is an excellent animated film from legendary Hayao which brilliantly combines adventure, drama, romance, action, comedy. And those flying sequences were just beautiful.

6. The Quick and the Dead (1995; Sam Raimi) 8/10
Raimi is a great director. I loved all of his films I've seen, and this underrated Western is no exception. His direction was awesome (great editing and great use of close-ups). As far as the performances are concerned, the legendary Gene Hackman dominates the film. Pretty much as expected, you might say.

Any thoughts, guys?

[Gendo]

Your review of Quick and the Dead sounds like we share the exact same opinion! I’ve seen Casino and Holes but only once. I can’t quite remember if I saw Porco Rosso; I think I did way back in college. I unfortunately have only seen a few Miyazaki films so far.

[Raxivace]

1. Casino (1995; Martin Scorsese) 10/10
Definitely one of my 3 favourite Scorsese films. I keep returning to this one, mostly because it is so entertaining. Just great cinematography, editing, excellent use of voice-overs, great performances. I really love James Woods in this, he just might be my favourite of the cast.

Yeah I find this one underrated myself. Great fun.

2. Holes (2003; Andrew Davis) 7/10
Pretty good film which offers fairly imaginative and original plot/scenario. Good performance from young Shia LaBeouf.

Loved both the original novel and this film as a kid. Even read the sequel novel, Small Steps! Not quite sure how they hold up but I have fond memories of them.

5. Porco Rosso (1992; Hayao Miyazaki) 8.5/10
This was my 3rd time seeing this. It is an excellent animated film from legendary Hayao which brilliantly combines adventure, drama, romance, action, comedy. And those flying sequences were just beautiful.

Yeah I largely agree with this I think. I read the original manga this is based on a few months ago and it was shockingly different- very short and even had some 4th wall breaking bits. Film was huge improvement.

6. The Quick and the Dead (1995; Sam Raimi) 8/10
Raimi is a great director. I loved all of his films I've seen, and this underrated Western is no exception. His direction was awesome (great editing and great use of close-ups). As far as the performances are concerned, the legendary Gene Hackman dominates the film. Pretty much as expected, you might say.

Wonderful film which I gave an even higher rating than you did.

[Lord_Lyndon]

Hi guys! I was having some fun today and I made my top 30 of all time. What is interesting about this list is that I ranked them from my favourite to my least favourite. Definitely check out the list guys and I'm looking forward to your thoughts if you have some!

1. Apocalypse Now (1979; Francis Ford Coppola)
2. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966; Sergio Leone)
3. Barry Lyndon (1975; Stanley Kubrick)
4. Days of Heaven (1978; Terrence Malick)
5. Fallen Angels (1995; Wong Kar-wai)
6. Ran (1985; Akira Kurosawa)
7. Taxi Driver (1976; Martin Scorsese)
8. Casino (1995; Martin Scorsese)
9. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998; Terry Gilliam)
10. The Revenant (2015; Alejandro González Iñárritu)
11. Seven Samurai (1954; Akira Kurosawa)
12. Mirror/Zerkalo (1975; Andrei Tarkovsky)
13. Aguirre, the Wrath of God (1972; Werner Herzog)
14. The Turin Horse (2011; Béla Tarr)
15. The Passenger (1975; Michelangelo Antonioni)
16. Memories of Murder (2003; Bong Joon-ho)
17. Touch of Evil (1958; Orson Welles)
18. Shadow of a Doubt (1943; Alfred Hitchcock)
19. The Seventh Seal (1957; Ingmar Bergman)
20. Lady Vengeance (2005; Park Chan-wook)
21. Yi Yi (2000; Edward Yang)
22. Brazil (1985; Terry Gilliam)
23. Breathless (1960; Jean-Luc Godard)
24. Dog Day Afternoon (1975; Sidney Lumet)
25. Werckmeister Harmonies (2000; Béla Tarr)
26. 3-Iron (2004; Kim Ki-duk)
27. Blade Runner (1982; Ridley Scott)
28. Chungking Express (1994; Wong Kar-wai)
29. The Shining (1980; Stanley Kubrick)
30. Ugetsu (1953; Kenji Mizoguchi)

[Gendo]

I've only seen 10 of those; largely because I just haven't seen enough foreign films. Barry Lyndon and Brazil are in my collection but not yet seen, which means I'll almost certainly watch them this year.

Doug Walker (AKA The Nostalgia Critic) just released a video of his top 20 films; Fear and Loathing was in there, and Brazil was number 1.

[Raxivace]

Hi guys! I was having some fun today and I made my top 30 of all time. What is interesting about this list is that I ranked them from my favourite to my least favourite. Definitely check out the list guys and I'm looking forward to your thoughts if you have some!

1. Apocalypse Now (1979; Francis Ford Coppola)
2. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966; Sergio Leone)
3. Barry Lyndon (1975; Stanley Kubrick)
4. Days of Heaven (1978; Terrence Malick)
5. Fallen Angels (1995; Wong Kar-wai)
6. Ran (1985; Akira Kurosawa)
7. Taxi Driver (1976; Martin Scorsese)
8. Casino (1995; Martin Scorsese)
9. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998; Terry Gilliam)
10. The Revenant (2015; Alejandro González Iñárritu)
11. Seven Samurai (1954; Akira Kurosawa)
12. Mirror/Zerkalo (1975; Andrei Tarkovsky)
13. Aguirre, the Wrath of God (1972; Werner Herzog)
14. The Turin Horse (2011; Béla Tarr)
15. The Passenger (1975; Michelangelo Antonioni)
16. Memories of Murder (2003; Bong Joon-ho)
17. Touch of Evil (1958; Orson Welles)
18. Shadow of a Doubt (1943; Alfred Hitchcock)
19. The Seventh Seal (1957; Ingmar Bergman)
20. Lady Vengeance (2005; Park Chan-wook)
21. Yi Yi (2000; Edward Yang)
22. Brazil (1985; Terry Gilliam)
23. Breathless (1960; Jean-Luc Godard)
24. Dog Day Afternoon (1975; Sidney Lumet)
25. Werckmeister Harmonies (2000; Béla Tarr)
26. 3-Iron (2004; Kim Ki-duk)
27. Blade Runner (1982; Ridley Scott)
28. Chungking Express (1994; Wong Kar-wai)
29. The Shining (1980; Stanley Kubrick)
30. Ugetsu (1953; Kenji Mizoguchi)

Seen most of these and, and for ones I've not seen I've at least other films from their director (Except Kim Ki-duk and Bela Tarr). Other than Lumet who I don't get the love for, the rest I find to be good.

[Lord_Lyndon]

Thanks guys! I really appreciate your thoughts.
Regarding what Gendo said, I just looked at the list and half of those films are not in English. That is a bit surprising.
Regarding what Rax said, here are my very short thoughts about Lumet. I think he is a director who is remembered as someone who did not necessarily have a strong visual style, but he often worked with really good material/screenplays and with some really good actors. I think why I love Dog Day Afternoon so much is mostly because, honestly, Pacino gives one of my three favourite performances of all time (the other two being De Niro in Taxi Driver and Brando in Last Tango in Paris). Regarding other Lumet films, I really did enjoy Network (1976) and Prince of the City (1981) the most.

[Lord_Lyndon]

Hi guys. I apologize in advance, but it looks like I'm going completely crazy. I changed my top 30 AGAIN, and I just wanted to share the list with you guys. I think this new list is more reflective of what I love at the moment, at least compared to that list I posted some weeks ago.

1. Apocalypse Now (1979)
2. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966)
3. Barry Lyndon (1975)
4. Days of Heaven (1978)
5. Fallen Angels (1995)
6. Ran (1985)
7. Taxi Driver (1976)
8. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998)
9. Casino (1995)
10. Seven Samurai (1954)
11. The Godfather Part II (1974)
12. Badlands (1973)
13. Dog Day Afternoon (1975)
14. Full Metal Jacket (1987)
15. The Thin Red Line (1998)
16. Werckmeister Harmonies (2000)
17. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
18. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002)
19. Once Upon a Time in the West (1968)
20. Once Upon a Time in America (1984)
21. Interstellar (2014)
22. The Dark Knight Rises (2012)
23. Nostalghia (1983)
24. Blade Runner (1982)
25. Zack Snyder's Justice League (2021)
26. Blood Simple (1984)
27. Goodfellas (1990)
28. Mean Streets (1973)
29. Dances with Wolves (1990)
30. The Dark Knight (2008)

[Gendo]

This time I've seen 20 of them. Just very recently Once Upon a Time in America and I really loved it. Of the ones I've seen, The Dark Knight Rises is my least favorite, it's the only Nolan film I don't love. I haven't seen Zack Snyder's Justice League, but I can't imagine I'll like it, given that I didn't like the theatrical cut at all, and also pretty much don't ever like Snyder.

[Lord_Lyndon]

This time I've seen 20 of them. Just very recently Once Upon a Time in America and I really loved it. Of the ones I've seen, The Dark Knight Rises is my least favorite, it's the only Nolan film I don't love. I haven't seen Zack Snyder's Justice League, but I can't imagine I'll like it, given that I didn't like the theatrical cut at all, and also pretty much don't ever like Snyder.

Okay, Gendo. I will try to guess the ones you haven't seen from the list. Here we go:

Barry Lyndon (1975)
Days of Heaven (1978)
Fallen Angels (1995)
Ran (1985)
Badlands (1973)
The Thin Red Line (1998)
Werckmeister Harmonies (2000)
Nostalghia (1983)
Zack Snyder's Justice League (2021)
Mean Streets (1973)

How did I do, Gendo?

[Gendo]

100%! I already mentioned I should finally be seeing Barry Lyndon soon, and I’ve always wanted to see The Thin Red Line and Ran.

[Raxivace]

Fallen Angels, Werckmeister Harmonies, and Nostalghia for me. I keep contemplating doing a Tarkovsky deep dive sooner rather than later, so maybe I'll get to that last one of these days...

[Lord_Lyndon]

Fallen Angels, Werckmeister Harmonies, and Nostalghia for me. I keep contemplating doing a Tarkovsky deep dive sooner rather than later, so maybe I'll get to that last one of these days...

I really glad you saw and loved Cries & Whispers (1972), Rax! That one is in my top 3 Bergman films, with The Seventh Seal (1957) and Wild Strawberries (1957). Really made me happy that you loved it!

[Raxivace]

Yeah on a whim I put that one on the other day and was surprised at how much I liked it. Devastating film tbh.

[Gendo]

Just purchased The Thin Red Line to add to my DVD collection of movies I need to watch.

[Raxivace]

That really deserves at least a blu-ray. Just beautiful movie to look at.

[Gendo]

Yeah I can see that… but it was $2.00!

[Lord_Lyndon]

Hi guys. I saw 6 films back in February. All of those were rewatches.

7. The Nice Guys (2016; Shane Black) 8/10
Very good film which combines several different genres (buddy film, neo-noir, comedy, action). Very good performances from Crowe and Gosling. Shane Black is just great at writing funny dialogue and putting his characters in extremely funny situations.

8. Days of Heaven (1978; Terrence Malick) 10/10
Linda Manz' voice-over narration is one of the key elements here. It provides the film with a certain distancing effect, framing the film as hazy (or half-remembered) recollections/memories. When you combine this with beautiful cinematography and haunting Morricone score, you get one of the most beautiful and poetic films ever made.

9. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001; Peter Jackson) 9.5/10
This film is a wonderful fantasy adventure. A beautiful tale about friendship and bravery. It features so many lovable characters, and battle sequences that definitely do not overwhelm those same characters and their interactions.

10. Full Metal Jacket (1979; Stanley Kubrick) 10/10
Another rewatch of this, and I could really appreciate what Rax said about this film, especially its ending: that characters end up being 'broken and subsumed by the war'. I still think that the second act is the best part of the film: very funny, satirical, visually stunning.

11. Days of Heaven (1978; Terrence Malick) 10/10
20 days after seeing this for the 9th time, I decided to watch this for the 10th time. And just watching those beautiful wheat fields swaying in the wind made me feel a certain calmness, serenity. It was a nice feeling.

12. The Shining (1980; Stanley Kubrick) 10/10
This film is definitely an unsettling masterpiece. It has some of the best camerawork of all time (I liked how one user referred to it as 'camera that discovers around corners'). Jack Nicholson and Shelley Duvall gave great performances. Really just an amazing horror film with excellent atmosphere and many memorable scenes/sequences.

[Lord_Lyndon]

Rest in peace Val Kilmer. He really was a very good actor who was in some really great movies. Thank you for the beautiful memories, for all the beautiful performances you have given to us, Val. We won't forget you.

[Raxivace]

Just saw that KIlmer passed, huge bummer.

[Gendo]

I have just 12 Val Kilmer movies in my collection; my favorite is probably Kiss Kiss Bang Bang.

[Lord_Lyndon]

Hi guys. I'm back after 50 days. I hope you are doing well. I saw 5 films back in March. I'll post about that today, and do the rest tomorrow.

13. Only God Forgives (2013; Nicolas Winding Refn) 7/10
I've seen two films from this director before (Fear X (2003) and Drive (2011)). Those two were very good. This one was good. It was very slow, violent and had some neat symbolism. It takes place in Bangkok and Ryan Gosling and Kristin Scott Thomas are in it.

14. The Beekeeper (1986; Theodoros Angelopoulos) 8/10
Rewatch. This very good film portrays a man in a spiritual dead-end (played by Marcello Mastroianni). The film was suffused with melancholia, which was a nice touch.

15. Voyage to Cythera (1984; Theodoros Angelopoulos) 8/10
Rewatch. An old communist returns to his family in Greece after 32 years in the Soviet Union. This is a very good, beautiful, poetic film that portrays life as something beautiful, but also sometimes very much absurd.

16. Werckmeister Harmonies (2000; Béla Tarr, Ágnes Hranitzky) 9.5/10
Another rewatch. This film is one of the greatest art films of all time. It is 2 hours 25 minutes long, and comprised of only 39 elegant long takes. Beautifully shot in black and white, it compellingly portrays an impending doom that comes upon some small town in Hungary. Masterful film.

17. Babylon A.D. (2008; Mathieu Kassovitz) 7/10
I thought this was a rather solid scifi action film with solid performance from Vin Diesel. It got really bad reviews, but it thought it was fun.

[Gendo]

I haven't seen any of those. Really interested in Only God Forgives now though; I liked Drive a lot. I vaguely remember seeing Fear X back when it was first released on DVD.

[Lord_Lyndon]

Sadly, I only managed to see two films in April and two films in May. All of those four were rewatches. Here are my short write-ups:

18. The Dark Knight Rises (2012; Christopher Nolan) 10/10
I still love everything about this film: visuals, plot, performances. It was so epic and entertaining. I always love Anne Hathaway, but she was especially great in this one.

19. The Belly of an Architect (1987; Peter Greenaway) 8/10
It is a film that tries to juxtapose the eternal city of Rome (with its beautiful architecture) against human transience, human folly. It does that very well. This film is a delight for Greenaway fans, as well as fans of art films in general.

20. The Master (2012; Paul Thomas Anderson) 8.5/10
Excellent film that creates an interesting dynamic between two leading characters. Joaquin Phoenix delivers a mesmerizing, astonishing performance. Definitely one of my favourite performances of all time.

21. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966; Sergio Leone) 10/10
Leone's legendary direction and Morricone's iconic score work together to create one of the greatest films of all time. My second favourite film of all time.

[Gendo]

I still place The Dark Knight Rises as easily my least favorite Nolan film. There are several things about it I do like; it has a lot of inidivual moments that are great. But the plot is just such a convoluted mess.

[Lord_Lyndon]

Just wanted to post about anime series I finished in May.

The Vision of Escaflowne (1996) 8.5/10
This fantasy mecha anime series is yet another great recommendation by Rax. I really loved everything about it: animation, story, characters. Thematically speaking, it was one of the more interesting anime series I've seen so far, featuring themes of fate, predetermination, how one's state of mind is the catalyst to one's destiny, strong anti-war message. My favourite character was definitely Dilandau. I loved his crazy antics. Overall, just great stuff.

[Raxivace]

Escaflowne is wonderful imo, one of the peaks of '90's anime as well as isekai as a genre as well as for Sunrise as a studio. Great OST too.

Movie is worth giving a look too- the story isn't as good as the TV show's (It's just too much for 80 minute runtime or whatever it is), but its got very gorgeous animation in its own right.

[Gendo]

I love Escaflowne, though I haven't seen it in about 23 years at this point. I still listen to the music from it, though.

[Lord_Lyndon]

Saw 10 films this month already. Here are write-ups for first four:

22. White Hunter Black Heart (1990; Clint Eastwood) 7/10
This film is superficially about making of John Huston's 'The African Queen', but it certainly veers off in some other, more interesting directions. Clint Eastwood was excellent in this.

23. Mickey 17 (2025; Bong Joon Ho) 7/10
It is a good mixture of scifi and dark comedy, with a good performance from Robert Pattinson.

24. Badlands (1973; Terrence Malick) 10/10
Seen this many times, and it is still one of the most beautiful and poetic films of all time. Beautiful cinematography/visuals, great use of voice-overs, great music. Excellent performance from Martin Sheen.

25. Walker (1987; Alex Cox) 7/10
This film is a satire of how US government tried to establish 'democracy' in 19th century Nicaragua. It also features some really cool Peckinpah-like violence. Ed Harris was great.

[Raxivace]

22. White Hunter Black Heart (1990; Clint Eastwood) 7/10
This film is superficially about making of John Huston's 'The African Queen', but it certainly veers off in some other, more interesting directions. Clint Eastwood was excellent in this.

I saw this one a year and a half or so ago and also liked it. One of the weirder spins Eastwood did on deconstructing "macho" type characters/personas since it uses John Huston, but definitely fits into his general themes.

There's also weird accusation from Oja Kodar floating around that Eastwood "stole" his performance from seeing ancient footage of Orson Welles' The Other Side of the Wind back in the late 80's.

Before a deal was put together in 1998, Oja Kodar screened Gary Graver's rough cut of the film for a number of famous directors in the 1980s and 1990s, seeking their help in completing the film, but they all turned it down for various reasons. These included John Huston (who was by then terminally ill with emphysema and was unable to breathe without oxygen tubes), Steven Spielberg, Oliver Stone, Clint Eastwood and George Lucas. Lucas reportedly claimed to be baffled by the footage, saying he did not know what to do with it, and that it was too avant-garde for a commercial audience. Kodar subsequently accused both Eastwood and Stone of plagiarism from the film, citing Eastwood's performance in White Hunter Black Heart (1990) as a copy of John Huston's, including one line of dialogue ("I'm Marvin P. Fassbender." "Of course you are."), and Stone's adoption of the film's distinctive rapidly cut editing and camera style for his JFK (1991), Nixon (1995) and Natural Born Killers (1994).

Don't think I buy that the performance was plagiarized (How can a performance even be plagiarized, exactly?) since its not like there wasn't plenty of other footage of Huston to look at over the years like in Chinatown lol.

[Lord_Lyndon]

Thanks for sharing this, Rax. This is the first time I hear of someone accusing someone else of plagiarizing a performance. I seriously doubt Eastwood did something wrong in this situation.

Anyway, I also saw three animated films:

26. The Super Mario Bros. Movie (2023; Aaron Horvath, Michael Jelenic, Pierre Leduc) 8/10
The story and characters were pretty simple and straightforward, but the set-pieces were quite exhilarating and spectacular. Really enjoyed this one.

27. Despicable Me (2010; Pierre Coffin, Chris Renaud) 8/10
I feel like the focus in this one was more on the relationship between our main guy and those three little girls, but there were still some really fun visuals and set-pieces.

28. The Lego Batman Movie (2017; Chris McKay) 8/10
Really enjoyed how the Batman and Joker were portrayed (and their relationship). The visuals and set-pieces were astonishing.

[Gendo]

I’m tried watching Super Mario Brothers with my 6 year old who loves Mario; but didn’t get past the beginning because he was too scared of Bowser. Maybe next year.

Despicable Me is great; and I’ve heard good things about the sequels too. Though I think I preferred Megamind which is a very similar premise.

I really love Lego Batman. Hilarious with a lot of great writing.

[Raxivace]

I wasn't a huge fan of how the Super Mario Bros. movie Americanized those characters tbh. Like this is most obvious with the "girlboss" version of Peach being kinda whatever to me compared to version in the videogames that appears dainty on the surface before whacking you in the head with a frying pan.

Like honestly the personality they gave her seems like it'd be a better fit for Daisy but these movies will never go to Sarasaland.

[Lord_Lyndon]

Just a quick reply to Gendo: I also love Megamind. It's actually one of my favourite animated films.

I saw 8 more films so far. 6 new films and 2 rewatches:

29. Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves (2023; John Francis Daley, Jonathan Goldstein) 8/10
Great fantasy film with awesome characters and beautiful visuals.

30. White House Down (2013; Roland Emmerich) 7/10
Very good action flick with awesome gunfights and explosions.

31. Taxi Driver (1976; Martin Scorsese) 10/10
I decided to revisit one of my top 10 favourite films of all time. This is Marty's greatest film, and his direction is just magnificent. Just great ambiance, camerawork, editing.

32. Gamer (2009; Mark Neveldine, Brian Taylor) 7/10
Good scifi action film which employs a cool video game aesthetic at times.

33. The Expendables (2010; Sylvester Stallone) 7/10
This high-octane action flick has Sylvester Stallone in top form as an actor/director.

34. Conan the Barbarian (2011; Marcus Nispel) 7/10
A visual spectacle which successfully jumps from one action sequence/set piece to another.

35. Kraven the Hunter (2024; J.C. Chandor) 7/10
It's a good mixture of some family drama, mafia film and a superhero/fantasy film with some good action sequences.

36. The Story of the Last Chrysanthemum (1939; Kenji Mizoguchi) 8/10
I rewatched 'Ugetsu', 'Sansho' and 'Oharu' before, so I decided to rewatch this one as well. It was very good, and Mizoguchi is always excellent with camera placement and compositions.

[Lord_Lyndon]

I'm so sorry. I feel so ashamed. Maybe this will be my last post on Pitters' Place.
I wanted to thank you guys for being my only friends in this really terrible period for me. I have been feeling really bad for 8 years now. And sadly, I've come to the point where I don't like doing anything anymore. I'm not passionate about anything or interested in anything. I feel empty and lost most of the time.
And now for that part I fell ashamed about. I've got only one thing left. I really love Sydney Sweeney. It seems that she is the love of my life, whatever that means. And I know that she is no good, but for some reason I love her more and more with each passing day. Maybe because everything else just faded away.
I know I'm just a pathetic nobody. I hope that you guys will forgive me one day. I understand if you don't want me to post on Pitters' Place anymore. I love you guys and I wish you all the best in your lives.

[Raxivace]

I think maybe it’d help if you tried new kinds of hobbies? Even something like taking daily walks can help. Like I’ve definitely taken long breaks from movie watching for other things.

One thing I can tell you though is to cut shit out like calling yourself “pathetic nobody”. Stop it. That kind of negative reinforcement doesn’t help yourself or anybody else. Nobody here is mad at you either, you’re getting way too in your head about this stuff. Nobody here wants you to stop posting or whatever. I mean for goodness’ sake dude half the reason I even still check this forum is to see if there’s an update from you.

[Lord_Lyndon]

I think maybe it’d help if you tried new kinds of hobbies? Even something like taking daily walks can help. Like I’ve definitely taken long breaks from movie watching for other things.

One thing I can tell you though is to cut shit out like calling yourself “pathetic nobody”. Stop it. That kind of negative reinforcement doesn’t help yourself or anybody else. Nobody here is mad at you either, you’re getting way too in your head about this stuff. Nobody here wants you to stop posting or whatever. I mean for goodness’ sake dude half the reason I even still check this forum is to see if there’s an update from you.

I'm so sorry, Rax. And I'm sorry for being absent for so long. I think I'm ready to come back.

I'm ready with the first batch or my write-ups. 10 films I've seen 4 months ago.

37. Gods of Egypt (2016; Alex Proyas) 7/10
Obviously, this is not really a historical movie, but for a fantasy movie, it was pretty decent. Gerard Butler is in it.

38. The Darjeeling Limited (2007; Wes Anderson) 8/10
Haven't seen this one in 15 years. It was quirky, charming, funny, poignant. It had some really good, likeable characters.

39. Dersu Uzala (1975; Akira Kurosawa) 9/10
Rax told me to rewatch this one. I did and it is actually fantastic. It is a beautiful story about friendship. It features some really magnificent cinematography which encapsulates the incredible might of nature. I think it is one of Kurosawa's best films.

40. Madame Web (2024; S.J. Clarkson) 6/10
This one got really terrible reviews. I know that Rax saw this film, so he obviously knows what is the only reason I actually decided to see this. And no, she wasn't good in this film, but at least she looked cute in that schoolgirl outfit with glasses. Like a real-life anime girl. Yeah. The film itself was watchable. I thought it wasn't too boring or cheesy.

41. Raging Bull (1980; Martin Scorsese) 9.5/10
One of the greatest films of all time. Haven't seen it in 15 years. I still love the black and white cinematography, editing, De Niro's performance. I also find this film incredibly emotionally affecting, especially last 20 minutes.

42. The Dark Knight (2008; Christopher Nolan) 9/10
The plot, the characters, themes were all good. But I think what I really love about this film is Nolan's excellent direction. He provided us with some really beautiful cityscapes, and action scenes were also pretty good IMO.

43. Howl's Moving Castle (2004; Hayao Miyazaki) 8.5/10
This film is not without flaws, but I still think it is one of the most magical, poetic, beautiful, graceful films ever made.

44. Porco Rosso (1992; Hayao Miyazaki) 8.5/10
Second time this year. It is just so fun, just a great adventure film.

45. The Godfather Part II (1974; Francis Ford Coppola) 10/10
Everyone already knows everything about this film. I'm sure there are many aspects to analyze here, but the main thing to say is that capitalism really did corrupt Michael Corleone's soul.

46. Mean Streets (1973; Martin Scorsese) 10/10
Fantastic film. Scorsese's direction gave it such an energetic, raw, authentic feel. His camerawork was really excellent. De Niro really shined here. I really love this movie, I'd even say that it is somewhat underrated.

I think you've seen most of these films, Rax.

[Raxivace]

I'm so sorry, Rax. And I'm sorry for being absent for so long. I think I'm ready to come back.

You don't need to apologize so much, I just don't like seeing you hate on yourself for no reason.

38. The Darjeeling Limited (2007; Wes Anderson) 8/10
Haven't seen this one in 15 years. It was quirky, charming, funny, poignant. It had some really good, likeable characters.

I probably need to rewatch this one myself since its been a few years, but yeah its one of my favorite Wes Andersons. The prequel short is really good too.

39. Dersu Uzala (1975; Akira Kurosawa) 9/10
Rax told me to rewatch this one. I did and it is actually fantastic. It is a beautiful story about friendship. It features some really magnificent cinematography which encapsulates the incredible might of nature. I think it is one of Kurosawa's best films.

Yeah its wonderful movie. I really wish it could get a nice restoration one day because man there are some stunning bits in here.

40. Madame Web (2024; S.J. Clarkson) 6/10
This one got really terrible reviews. I know that Rax saw this film, so he obviously knows what is the only reason I actually decided to see this. And no, she wasn't good in this film, but at least she looked cute in that schoolgirl outfit with glasses. Like a real-life anime girl. Yeah. The film itself was watchable. I thought it wasn't too boring or cheesy.

Honestly I didn't hate this movie really. There are far worse things out there. I just find it baffling that they made a movie about Madame Web of all characters- like I bet a lot of people watched this without even knowing she is a Spider-Man character.

41. Raging Bull (1980; Martin Scorsese) 9.5/10
One of the greatest films of all time. Haven't seen it in 15 years. I still love the black and white cinematography, editing, De Niro's performance. I also find this film incredibly emotionally affecting, especially last 20 minutes.

Indeed, wonderful movie.

42. The Dark Knight (2008; Christopher Nolan) 9/10
The plot, the characters, themes were all good. But I think what I really love about this film is Nolan's excellent direction. He provided us with some really beautiful cityscapes, and action scenes were also pretty good IMO.

Its another one I'd probably need to rewatch (Whole trilogy really), not sure I've seen in entirety since it came to DVD...

I've looked at a few clips of action scenes over the years and I do find them kinda hard to follow on close analysis- but that's not issue even unique to Nolan.

43. Howl's Moving Castle (2004; Hayao Miyazaki) 8.5/10
This film is not without flaws, but I still think it is one of the most magical, poetic, beautiful, graceful films ever made.

Its near masterpiece, there are just those weird gaps in logic in last chunk of the movie that don't make sense to me.

44. Porco Rosso (1992; Hayao Miyazaki) 8.5/10
Second time this year. It is just so fun, just a great adventure film.

This reminds me that I've been reading this terrible academic book on anime called "The Anime Machine" by Thomas Lamarre. It was published in 2009, but even for a 2009 book there's pretty consistently bizarre analysis.

There's whole section on Miyazaki that just has weird claims about his work even for the time. Like he talks about how Miyazaki loves flight but "diminishes" traditional air travel like airplanes (Wut), or how female characters don't construct flight like male characters do, they "inherit" it as either magic or metaphorically magic via advanced technology (With former in mind, does he think Kiki isn't have to actually learn to master her flight?). Miyazaki also apparently avoids "historical settings". Of course, he also claims Miyazaki now avoids male main characters.

I mean obviously post-2009 works contradicts a lot of that (The Wind Rises almost seems designed to spit in face of this), even at the time there was Porco Rosso. We have historical setting, glorified airplanes, female mechanic character etc., and Lamarre just basically does not engage with how the movie applies to his reading of Miyazaki at all. There's one-off mention in a dismissive footnote at least, but it still strikes me as intellectually dishonest of Lamarre to ignore the movie since it runs so contrary to what he's saying about Miyazaki at least on a surface level.

Really don't understand where the respect for Lamarre is coming from that I see from academic types online, especially when he gets into weird claims about Nadia, Evangelion, and especially Chobits (Dear god is his his Chobits analysis wildly misguided). This is to say nothing about his damn thesis being that cel animation is central to anime on a formal level, when by 2009 most anime had already switched to digitial animation lmao.

45. The Godfather Part II (1974; Francis Ford Coppola) 10/10
Everyone already knows everything about this film. I'm sure there are many aspects to analyze here, but the main thing to say is that capitalism really did corrupt Michael Corleone's soul.

Yeah one of those films that its hard to find anything new to say about lol. Though I've only seen it once myself, again probably needs a rewatch from me...

46. Mean Streets (1973; Martin Scorsese) 10/10
Fantastic film. Scorsese's direction gave it such an energetic, raw, authentic feel. His camerawork was really excellent. De Niro really shined here. I really love this movie, I'd even say that it is somewhat underrated.

Is it underrated? I thought Scorsese fans generally loved it.

[Lord_Lyndon]

Thanks for taking your time to write that part about Miyazaki. I really admire you, Rax, because you are such an intelligent and knowledgeable person.
Also, I think you are right about Mean Streets. That film is only underrated on imdb. It has a score of 7.2/10, which isn't very high. I guess imdb users didn't like it as much as real Scorsese fans.

I decided to finish this day with my second batch of write-ups. This time it's 11 films in total.

47. The Boy and the Heron (2023; Hayao Miyazaki) 8/10
A beautiful and charming film that has Miyazaki pondering about meaning of it all and his own legacy. I really liked it.

48. Apocalypse Now Final Cut (1979; Francis Ford Coppola) 10/10
It is always nice revisiting one of the most visually stunning films of all time.

49. Drums Along the Mohawk (1939; John Ford) 8/10
It is a beautifully, painterly composed film with some nice coloring. Henry Fonda is in it.

50. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012; Peter Jackson) 8.5/10
To me, this film is all about beautiful landscapes/environments: mountains, forests, meadows, underground caves. I guess the story and characters were fine, but they were secondary to me personally.

51. The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (2013; Peter Jackson) 8.5/10
It certainly had some really excellent set-pieces. I liked it.

52. Millennium Mambo (2001; Hou Hsiao-Hsien) 8.5/10
A film about wayward and troublesome Taiwanese youth, filmed in beautiful long takes. Really nice and poetic movie.

53. The Color of Pomegranates (1969; Sergei Parajanov) 8.5/10
This Soviet art film is mostly composed from abstract images that have some relation to Armenian history/culture. Definitely not a film for everyone, but I liked it.

54. Distant Voices, Still Lives (1988; Terence Davies) 9/10
This film is an impressionistic portrayal of an English working-class family living in 1950s Liverpool. This beautiful film is also notable because I remember it being one of Eva Yojimbo's favourite films.

55. Blade Runner (1982; Ridley Scott) 10/10
I seem to remember Rax saying that this and Kubrick's Odyssey are the best science fiction films of all time. I agree with him. Ridley Scott's direction was simply sublime.

56. A Minecraft Movie (2025; Jared Hess) 7/10
It a pretty decent fantasy adventure film with good performances from Jack Black and Jason Momoa.

57. The New World (2005; Terrence Malick) 9/10
Not as good as his previous films, but it is still a wonderful movie. Truly a beautiful visual poem.

[Raxivace]

Haven't seen as many of these...

Also, I think you are right about Mean Streets. That film is only underrated on imdb. It has a score of 7.2/10, which isn't very high. I guess imdb users didn't like it as much as real Scorsese fans.

I'm guessing its because its too grounded compared to other Scorsese movies. Not as high-octane as Goodfellas or Casino or Wolf of Wall Street, or with violence of Taxi Driver etc.

47. The Boy and the Heron (2023; Hayao Miyazaki) 8/10
A beautiful and charming film that has Miyazaki pondering about meaning of it all and his own legacy. I really liked it.

I love this one. I think you're right its about Miyazaki's own legacy, and yet that still feels incomplete somehow. Like I'm not quite sure how all the weird Oedipal stuff in the movie ties in with that.

48. Apocalypse Now Final Cut (1979; Francis Ford Coppola) 10/10
It is always nice revisiting one of the most visually stunning films of all time.

As you know I love Apocalypse Now, but I have not seen the Final Cut yet. Anything stand out here compared to other versions?

49. Drums Along the Mohawk (1939; John Ford) 8/10
It is a beautifully, painterly composed film with some nice coloring. Henry Fonda is in it.

One of the Fords I have not seen...

50. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012; Peter Jackson) 8.5/10
To me, this film is all about beautiful landscapes/environments: mountains, forests, meadows, underground caves. I guess the story and characters were fine, but they were secondary to me personally.

51. The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (2013; Peter Jackson) 8.5/10
It certainly had some really excellent set-pieces. I liked it.

I'm sure I've said this before but I like the Hobbit movies okay, I just don't think the epic LotR scale that Jackson tries to apply quite works.

55. Blade Runner (1982; Ridley Scott) 10/10
I seem to remember Rax saying that this and Kubrick's Odyssey are the best science fiction films of all time. I agree with him. Ridley Scott's direction was simply sublime.

Well two of the best anyways but yes they are excellent films.

56. A Minecraft Movie (2025; Jared Hess) 7/10
It a pretty decent fantasy adventure film with good performances from Jack Black and Jason Momoa.

While I'm not about to throw any chickens at my screen I did like this well enough too despite not really getting Minecraft as a game.

57. The New World (2005; Terrence Malick) 9/10
Not as good as his previous films, but it is still a wonderful movie. Truly a beautiful visual poem.

I still need to watch this as well as all of post-Tree of Life Malick in general.

[Gendo]

The one time I go a few days without checking, and there’s actually new posts. Lyndon, really sorry to hear about everything you’re going through, but please don’t think you have anything to apologize for! I always appreciate any discussion that still happens here; whether it’s rare infrequent updates from people or movie writeups, or whatever. Sure this place has largely become almost like a personal blog or my own note-keeping app instead of a forum, but it always makes me happy to see other people post. I really hope you get through what’s been going on with you.

[Lord_Lyndon]

The one time I go a few days without checking, and there’s actually new posts. Lyndon, really sorry to hear about everything you’re going through, but please don’t think you have anything to apologize for! I always appreciate any discussion that still happens here; whether it’s rare infrequent updates from people or movie writeups, or whatever. Sure this place has largely become almost like a personal blog or my own note-keeping app instead of a forum, but it always makes me happy to see other people post. I really hope you get through what’s been going on with you.

Thank you so much, Gendo. I'm really grateful for your kind words and for letting me stay on Pitters' Place. I'm preparing another batch of my write-ups for 10 films. I'll post it in a couple of hours.

[Lord_Lyndon]

Before I post another batch of films, I need to inform Rax about Apocalypse Now Final Cut. Basically, Rax, the main difference between Final Cut and Redux is that Final Cut eliminates that whole part of the movie where they have sex with Playboy bunnies. I also remember that Final Cut doesn't have that scene where Kurtz reads newspapers to Willard. If I'm not mistaken. That is it, Rax.

Okay. My new batch of films. 9 films in total.

58. Days of Heaven (1978; Terrence Malick) 10/10
This is now tied with Apocalypse Now as my favourite film of all time.

59. The American Friend (1977; Wim Wenders) 8/10
This is an neo-noir on surface. Title has a double meaning. It refers to Bruno Ganz/Dennis Hopper relationship in the movie, but it seems that it also means something else. It seems that Wenders believed that Germany came under a too strong influence by USA, whether we are talking about economics or arts or whatever. I read that he was very critical of this. Anyway, that's all I can say about this film. There is probably more to it, but it went over my head.

60. The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014; Wes Anderson) 8.5/10
One of his best films. Just a beautiful, quirky tale with some great visual style. A lot of very good performances, but this time around I really enjoyed Adrien Brody for some reason.

61. She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949; John Ford) 7.5/10
Great cinematography. Monument Valley looked so glorious. Story and characters weren't the best, but that's okay.

62. The Phoenician Scheme (2025; Wes Anderson) 8/10
I liked French Dispatch and Asteroid City, but I think this is a bit better than those two. I really loved its visual style, story, characters. Benicio was really great in a leading role. I really liked this movie, and Wes Anderson has never disappointed me.

63. All About Lily Chou-Chou (2001; Shunji Iwai) 10/10
This Japanese film is about a group of teenagers, about their adventures and misadventures, about their obsession with a singer called Lily Chou-Chou. It is a very beautiful and poetic film which adopts a certain experimental, art-house style. I remember seeing it 10 years ago and really loving it, so I decided to rewatch it. It definitely stood the test of time, so to speak.

64. The Tragedy of Macbeth (2021; Joel Coen) 8/10
Everything about this was very good: performances from Denzel Washington and Frances McDormand, black and white cinematography, dialogues and monologues. I liked it.

65. Metropolis (1927; Fritz Lang) 10/10
One of the greatest films of all time. Lang's direction is simply legendary. What I also love about this is that it becomes better and better as it progresses, more and more compelling to watch, and the climax was just superb.

66. Seven Psychopaths (2012; Martin McDonagh) 7/10
I liked this a lot. Screenplay was good, humor was good, Sam Rockwell gave another very good performance. The meta element about writing a screenplay was also pretty cool.

[Raxivace]

Before I post another batch of films, I need to inform Rax about Apocalypse Now Final Cut. Basically, Rax, the main difference between Final Cut and Redux is that Final Cut eliminates that whole part of the movie where they have sex with Playboy bunnies. I also remember that Final Cut doesn't have that scene where Kurtz reads newspapers to Willard. If I'm not mistaken. That is it, Rax.

Interesting. While I'm usually not one to complain about hot babes in movies I had to admit I found that fairly out of place addition in Redux.

58. Days of Heaven (1978; Terrence Malick) 10/10
This is now tied with Apocalypse Now as my favourite film of all time.

Lovely film yeah.

59. The American Friend (1977; Wim Wenders) 8/10
This is an neo-noir on surface. Title has a double meaning. It refers to Bruno Ganz/Dennis Hopper relationship in the movie, but it seems that it also means something else. It seems that Wenders believed that Germany came under a too strong influence by USA, whether we are talking about economics or arts or whatever. I read that he was very critical of this. Anyway, that's all I can say about this film. There is probably more to it, but it went over my head.

This is one I remember liking but basically nothing specific about it. In general 70's cinema outside of few stellar examples is something I'm kinda turning on these days...

60. The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014; Wes Anderson) 8.5/10
One of his best films. Just a beautiful, quirky tale with some great visual style. A lot of very good performances, but this time around I really enjoyed Adrien Brody for some reason.

Still my favorite Anderson tbh.

61. She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949; John Ford) 7.5/10
Great cinematography. Monument Valley looked so glorious. Story and characters weren't the best, but that's okay.

Yeah a nice movie, but not one of Ford's absolute best IMO.

62. The Phoenician Scheme (2025; Wes Anderson) 8/10
I liked French Dispatch and Asteroid City, but I think this is a bit better than those two. I really loved its visual style, story, characters. Benicio was really great in a leading role. I really liked this movie, and Wes Anderson has never disappointed me.

Definitely better than French Dispatch (Which I think is only saved by good Jeffrey Wright performance), I'd have to rewatch Asteroid City because there are aspects of that film I really just do not understand what Wes was going for- namely thinking of that weird 4th wall breaking bit with the aliens.

Phoenician Scheme was quite fun though, and it was my first time seeing one of Wes' in theaters too.

63. All About Lily Chou-Chou (2001; Shunji Iwai) 10/10
This Japanese film is about a group of teenagers, about their adventures and misadventures, about their obsession with a singer called Lily Chou-Chou. It is a very beautiful and poetic film which adopts a certain experimental, art-house style. I remember seeing it 10 years ago and really loving it, so I decided to rewatch it. It definitely stood the test of time, so to speak.

I really need to find time for this one some day because I know a lot of people really loved it. IIRC Jimbo wasn't huge fan though.

64. The Tragedy of Macbeth (2021; Joel Coen) 8/10
Everything about this was very good: performances from Denzel Washington and Frances McDormand, black and white cinematography, dialogues and monologues. I liked it.

This one... I mean it was fine, good performances from Denzel and McDormand etc. but I don't really know that it added much that other MacBeth adaptations haven't already done, like Welles or even Fassbender versions. Kinda of felt like a waste from Joel Coen in some ways to me.

Like I'm not even pushing against your score here, I just feel like there are a lot of similar MacBeth adaptations of similar quality.

65. Metropolis (1927; Fritz Lang) 10/10
One of the greatest films of all time. Lang's direction is simply legendary. What I also love about this is that it becomes better and better as it progresses, more and more compelling to watch, and the climax was just superb.

Yeah its a banger.

[Gendo]

I loved Seven Psychopaths; I feel it often is overshadowed in conversation by all McDonagh's other stuff, which is a shame.

I'm not a Wes Anderson fan; but have been told that The Grand Budapest Hotel is something that I'd like anyway, so I need to check it out eventually.

I don't remember Metropolis all that well, but I remember being quite impressed by it.

[Raxivace]

BTW Lyndon, maybe check out the novel "How Do You Live?" by Genzaburo Yoshino that serves as the inspiration for the Japanese title for The Boy and the Heron.

Despite now being available in English, I've yet to see anyone really convincingly explain why Miyazaki's film uses that book as such a focal reference point when all they have in common is general coming of age themes and a young male protagonist.