Sanctified - Punches well above its weight in both score and cinematography for being such a low budget western. Also a prime example of a faith-based film that doesn't have a terrible (and cloying or saccharine) screenplay.
Dr. Strangelove - Ostensibly a first watch, since all I really remembered from a single viewing 25-30 years ago is Pickens on the bomb and "You can't fight in here! This is the war room!" (Which, to be fair, is one of the greatest lines ever written.)
It's almost impossible to tell that Sellers' three characters are the same actor, but it's George C. Scott that steals the show for me. "He'll see the big board!" is an all-time line reading.
Ripper's rants also sound an awful lot like RFK, Jr. these days.
Tropic Thunder - First revisit since theaters. My opinion is largely unchanged. Lots of people could have played Ben Stiller's role, but only Ben Stiller could have written and directed it. Terrific high-concept comedy with some brilliant performances, but it plays the really over the top stuff just a couple too many times. It's almost on a schedule. Every 15 minutes something so stupid happens it should stop the movie dead, but they've been keeping thing just silly enough so it doesn't feel that out of place.
The Dam Busters - Not exactly a thrilling film, but it is an interesting and engaging one. Similar to Oppenheimer if that movie were only about the development of the bomb. A solid pen and paper thriller until it becomes a sturdy airforce flick.
Obsession - YouTuber to feature horror filmmaker pipeline remains strong. I've been a fan of Curry Barker's comedy skits for a few years at this point, but only recently started to delve into his horror work, and this guy has what it takes. Powerhouse performance from Inde Navarrette that will worm its way under your skin and stay there for days.
Superbad - Holds up! The outdated language gets a pass because of the accuracy, and the movie makes it a point of the climax that their plan is ill-advised, shitty, and, most importantly, doesn't work.
Raymond & Ray - I bet this really cooks as a stage play. As a movie it is kind of flat and not particularly interesting, but the performances are solid across the board.
Unforgiven - It's got several great monologues, but most of the dialogue is a lot more stilted than I remembered. And honestly, so is Clint's performance until the 'Hell of a thing' speech. Probably no coincidence that is also when it turns into one of the most satisfying 15-20 minutes of cinema ever created.
Masters of the Universe - It's a total mess, but it is an extremely charming mess. Obviously wants to be taken seriously, but that hackneyed attempted at earnestness makes the tone so much more inline with the original cartoon than it was meant to be. And if you know just how much of a disaster things were during production it makes the end result feel just that much more impressive. Langella is having a blast and outacting everyone else but Meg Foster by like 10x over.
Saturday Night - Even though it is bit too self-serious about the importance of SNL and far too lionizing of Lorne, I still had a good time with this.
China O'Brien - A poor Americanized attempt to recreate Rothrock's Hong Kong output.
Red Rocket - Mikey Saber is an all-time cinema scumbag. Simon Rex is made of pure lightning.
The Witches - It's a shame that the child performances in this are not great, because otherwise this is one of the greatest mixes of little kid adventure story and genuine scares ever made. You can tell that several sequences had to be pared back from what was shot, which is a shame cause it makes the editing feel a little choppy in places.
