Top Five X of 2001–2025: Explicitly Religious

.

This was the first-begun of my Top Five X posts (the others, in order of When Began, are romcom—horror—superhero), and you may pick up on that order as I write on.

Incidentally, I have no others partially written at this point. I have a couple thoughts on what else I could Top Five X about but no firm plans to do so. If you have suggestions, I’m open to hearing them.

As is always the case, some of the best films were shorts (“The Angel” is on my mind as a recent example, though I could list a dozen more), but (also as always) I will be ignoring them. Features only, I’m afraid. (Though one could easily argue it’s shorts that require some extra attention.)

Some of the (imo) most significant religious films of the past quarter century (mother!; Eephus; The Tree of Life; Barbie; A Ghost Story; Moroni for President; Won’t You Be My Neighbor?; Lady Bird; Hail, Caesar!; Children of Men; The Ballad of Buster Scruggs) were not, in fact, “explicitly religious.” But this claim is very much a judgment call. I look at my lists now, months after I first drafted this post, and wonder how I can consider The Northman “explicitly religious” but not Jallikattu—and I really have no good answer. This is a tricky set of lists, for sure.

I decided to split into two lists, one Christian and one not-Christian, because why not celebrate twice as many movies? But also because I had a muuuuch longer list of Christian options to choose from. In fact, I had to yank one movie from the not-explicit list in order to fill out that not-Christian topfive. That film might (might) be my favorite of its five but, alas, it has to take the fifth spot. Participation trophy, in other words.

I’m a bit embarrassed I have so few not-Christian films to choose from. When I first sat down, I assumed I’d have a Christian list, a Jewish list, and an Other list, but not so. I’m stunned I watched so few Jewish-themed movies. I never would have guessed.

Let’s start with that list, shall we?

[ 0=letterboxd | 1=thutopia | 2=thubstack]

 

#1 ||| Whale Rider (2002)

It’s been a looooong time since I’ve seen Whale Rider but it retains a powerful hold on my emotional imagination. This story of a young girl coming of age in a patriarchal culture denied access to her tradition’s most visibly potent spiritual rituals resonates (for obvious reasons) and the heroic resonances echo through the years. We own the dvd. I’ve no excuse not to revisit.

 

#2 ||| The Northman (2022) [1,2]

It’s so easy to forget in these time of political turmoil that, in fact, the world is unusually safe, historically speaking. The Northman is essentially a pagan Hamlet. People want peace and love—same as anyone ever has—but their world is violent and fragile in ways we can hardly imagine. And a world this violent requires violent understanding. And this film explores what that could be and why it would then mean what it means. Thought-provoking, enormously moving, and chockablock with gore.

 

#3 ||| A Serious Man (2009) [1,2]

Astonishing to think that three Job movies are mentioned on the page and this is probably my least favorite, even though it is made by the Coens who rank among my absolute favorite filmmakers. Of course, this isn’t just a Job movie. It’s also an ironic David movie. And it’s a delicious slice-of-life re the American Jew. Even though this isn’t near a top-ranked Coens film for me, I think about it all the time. Images. Attitudes, Tones of voice. I suspect this film is actually much more important to me than my conscious mind will admit.

 

#4 ||| Sita Sings the Blues (2008) [0,1,2]

This film introduced me to one of my favorite singers but that’s not how it made this list. There are a few different stories interlaced here and while I get why some right-wing Hindus hate how this white American lady is using their stories, the manner in which she did it and her purpose for doing so seems worth giving some grace to. Sita had a hard life. But there are lessons there for us. There were lessons there for her.

 

#5 ||| An American Pickle (2020) [1,2]

A fan falls into pickle brine and comes out miraculously alive decades later. Starring Seth Rogan and Seth Rogan. Sounds stupid. But it’s kinda beautiful—a meditation on identity and America and what keeps generations apart…and what might bring them together.

 

Now on to the Christians.

 

#1 ||| A Hidden Life (2019) [1]

I’m not sure a post-film epigraph has ever made me cry before or since A Hidden Life. Anyway, it’s hard not to compare this to another Malick film, The Tree of Life, possibly my favorite film, fullstop. Both films will stun you with beauty and grandeur, but while The Tree of Life leaves its Texas family to grapple with all of eternity, A Hidden Life only proceeds deeper into intimacy, into is observation of one good man who will only do what he thinks is right—no matted the cost.

 

#2 ||| The Testament of Ann Lee (2025) [0,1,1,2,2]

I’ve written about the soundtrack before, but you can’t imagine how much I have actually listened to it. A lot more than you’re guessing. And that includes not touching it at all over the summer. But this movie is a terrific movie for a Latter-day Saint to watch because Ann Lee’s history shares so many points with Joseph Smith and thus defamiliarizes this man and his journy such that we can see revolution and revelation and restoration anew. It’s violence reveals the universality of evil. It’s ecstasy the universality of good.

 

#3 ||| Brigham City (2001)

Few movies have stunned me as deeply as Brigham City—and rarely so deeply on two entirely different fronts. Brigham City forced to me recognize my own capacity for evil. And, in the same 119 minutes, explained to me better than I had understood before the meaning of the sacrament. The powerful combination of those two opposites ranks this film among the greatest I know.

 

 #4 ||| Silence (2016) [1,1,1]

If you’d told me when I started this list that Silence would end up at number four I would have laughed in your face. This is a powerful movie and deeply important to me. While almost impossible to watch once, I’ve seen it five times. And every time I suffer. Which probably doesn’t sound like a recommendation but oh, it is, it is. Like some other powerful art, Silence questions whether our own righteousness should be our highest goal. How vital is it to be godly versus how vital is it to be like Christ. Such a dangerous question.

 

#5 ||| Wake Up Dead Man (2025) [0,1,2]

This one slid in just under the wire. Luckily Netflix put it in theaters December 2025 and I was able to see it. Rian Johnson has been can’t-miss with these movies. I dealy love Knives Out and I declared Glass Onion my favorite of its year. That Wake Up Dead Man might be the best of the three and, the first to address religion, makes this list should alert you to my high opinion of its excellence. The primary tension may be between the good priest and the bad priest or it may be between the devout accused and the atheistic investigator or it may be between quiet acceptance of the unknown and an angry demand to know. These are key aspects of any life of faith but Johnson has given them existential weight and melodramatic momentum that underlines and emphasizes aspects of life that, when merely lived, often go quietly unnoticed.

 

Honorable mentions:

Adam’s Apples (2005) Job with violence! [1]
Conclave (2024) The Holy Spirit via bureaucracy! [0,1,2]
Don Verdean (2015) Keep your faith safe from zeal! [1,1,1]
Electrick Children (2012) Don’t say he’s not a god of miracles! [0,1,2]
Truth & Treason (2025) Nazis bring out the best in yet another pending martyr! [0,1,2]
WWJD (2022) Why won’t Jesus ever behave like people think he ought? [1,1,2]

Second-tier honorable mentions:

The Fighting Preacher (2019) Yeah, I know, but it’s funny and moving. [1,1,2]
One Man’s Treasure (2009) Yeah, I know, but I really like these people. [1,1,1,2]

July Down and Take Your Movie Medicine

.

I think it's time again to swap out my favorite four over on Letterboxd. This is what it's been for the last several months:

You can click that image to see what new four I've replaced them with.

.

THEATER
Century Cinemark Hilltop 16

Disclosure Day (2026)

This is just going to be a spoiler-filled litany of things that disappoint and annoy me about Disclosure Day. Which is disappointing and annoying because I anticipated liking it a lot more. Emily Blunt and Josh O'Connor were great. No complaints about Eve Hewson. What movie isn't made better by adding Colin Firth or Colson Domingo? And while most of my complaints are with the script, I still have high regard for David Koepp. Just last year he gave us Presense and Black Bag, but if nothing else he wrote Jurassic Park. Anyway. Here we go.

• Why are these aliens so bad at driving? Are they where we got our own self-driving tech from? Because that would explain a lot.

• Is this just supposed to be a more artistically sound version of Independence Day?

• I know the animals are "actually" aliens, but that doesn't excuse how awful they look. They don't look like animals that are off because they're actually aliens. They look like animals that are off because they're cgi.

• Why did the aliens only pick two people? They don't seem to be doing anything to keep them alive and, what with the introduction of self-driving cars, they could be run over in an intersection at any moment.

• Why does she start speaking Russian? There seems to be no reason for it other than to let us know that Something's Different.

(Really, this script comes off like an early draft packed full of possible ideas rather than a final draft that is tight and coherent and knows what it's about. For instance....)

• Other than it's kinda cool to look at, what's the reason for building the childhood home?

• Other than the opportunity to get some god talk into the movie, what's the point of the nuns?

• Other than preventing the bad guys from winning early, why hadn't they already done their instabackgroundcheck on the girlfriend or their instazoomin on the other WARDEX runaways?

• The camera draws too much attention to itself. Spielberg's never been above cool swoops and stuff but they usually fit the story so well you might not notice on the first viewing. But this camera's making choices like a film students afraid they might not get another shot so let's throw it in.

• And much of the film feels in-computer although surely it's in-camera? Please tell me they didn't use cg origami cardinals. Please tell me they didn't use cg little girl legs. Please.

• And the flashback was filmed to look . . . like AI slop? Why?

• But speaking of, although the film makes a couple (lazy) nodding references to AI and deepfakery and such, this is 2026. We're supposed to believe the whole world's just accepting this drop? Because they're not going to.

• I don't believe it myself. Most of the old footage (especially the oldest) didn't look like old footage. It looked fake. Which it is. But even in the world of the movie, I can't believe it even though all the characters are telling me I must. I did try. I could not.

• And how about bringing back the hoary old cliche about everyone watching the local news in order to bring about a film's climax? This was old and dumb when Elf used it (I hope as a joke?) and even with the BBC picking it up, I don't buy people's a) credulty or b) just watching the story rather than immediately remixing it to their own gain. This is a '70s filmmaker's fantasy where he gets the floor and we all take it in, end of story.

• And about WWIII. It's never really explained what's going on or why people are so panicked (I do not believe Koepp or Spielberg or anyone else took the time to figure it out), other than North Korea is involved somehow. North Korea alone doth not a WWIII make.

Sigh.

I really wanted to like this movie.

I think I saw a bunch of references to Close Encounters which I've never watched because I feared having exactly this kind of experience. Maybe it's time to give it a shot. I can't be more disappointed and maybe it'll get the taste out of my mouth.

Oh. Most of the action was cool. And the body-swapping thing. That was pretty cool, too. Good job, team.

HOME
Prime Video

Toy Story 3 (2010)

Although I know about the escape hatch, their nearest miss is still effective. And it's power on initial watch still holds pwoer over me, such that I forgot that my true weeping would have to wait for the final scene.

I really like Toy Story 4 but this is still the proper end of the series. This is where it should have ended.

(It is kinda wild that mildly homophoia-adjacent humor made it into this movie. Times change quicker than you think.)

HOME
our dvd

Toy Story 4 (2019)

Is it great? Yes. But it's still superfluous.

But, in a way, seeing Woody graduate to his own version of adulthood is kinda beautiful.

But speaking of superfluous, having rewatched the movie I'm even less able to believe that Woody's reappearance in 5 will be justifiable.

Anyway, that's four Toy Storys in four days. What shall we do next?

THEATER
Century Cinemark Hilltop 16

Toy Story 5 (2026)

We did it! 5 Toy Storys in 5 days!

Once again (ala 4), this movie was unnecessary, given the correct end of the series with 3, but (again ala 4) it was excellent and exceeded my expectations.

It gave us an opportunity to talk about friends and onlineness and devices and such with our 9yrold which was positive, and it created a useful distinction between games and play, which I imagine will also help parents trying to have conversations with their kids, as well.

But this isn't just an educational experience. Neither is it mere fan service. We barely see Bo (after falling in lover with her in 4), I'm not sure Ducky and Bunny even spoke, Buttercup was essentially MIA, etc etc. While there are callbacks and such, this movie is satisfied being its own thing. Which is something funny and moving as a Toy Story should be.

Two spoilery final comments:

1) the Buzzes should each have assigned themselves to lonely kids

2) Lady Steed thought Emily's daughter was dead; I think she buried that stuff herself; I've won her over to my way of thinking, but where do you stand?

THEATER
Century Cinemark Hilltop 16

Young Washington (2026)

I'm surprised at the lackluster reviews this film is getting. I'd agree the edit could be tighter and that a couple themes are pushed a bit too hard, leading them near justsoing and moralizing, but overall, it's a success.

I don't know enough about this era to know how factual it is (Christopher Gist actually died of smallpox far from the Ohio, for instance, and the Frisks maybe didn't exist? I'll tell you what, though, that little pow-wow at the end had damn well better have happened or my opinion of this movie will drop severely when I discover the film was all a mere lie done in service of our civic religion), but Washington's failures and resilience are well captures. And it shows how someone eager to be accepted as British and demonstrate his loyalty could also be becoming a man who would lead the rebellions decades later.

For a small (mid?) budget film, this looks great. Some of the sets are digital mattes, but they work. My wife suspects they only had two horses, which made sense when she said it, but I didn't think it mid-film.

The Englishman playing Washington does well and is apparently really tall. Some Jacob Elordi vibes, he's got going on.

The film makes some effort to at least acknowledge certain ambiguities in the tale (by which I largely mean slavery and indigenous claims ) but Washington still comes off better in those regards than he probably deserves.

Anyway, imperfect, but it's in theaters for the Fourth and honestly you haven't got a better option if you want to watch something vaguely patriotic.

THEATER
FatCats Saratoga Springs

Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure (1989)

So cool to see this on the big screen. We went with our son who went as Bill last Halloween and our daughter (of whom the boys have been saying it's time to show her Bill & Ted) and her same-age cousin who also had never seen it.

We all loved it.

Is it a dumb movie? Sure. But it's honest and filled with conviction. And it embodies a kind of teenage logic (compressed timeframe with faith that everything will work out) that is just as worthy of narrative art as anything else.

Anyway, we had a great time.

ELSEWHERE
Prime Video

Spy Game (2001)

So much more interesting than I had anticipated, with multiple timelines coming together and moral development where the answer to every question had been one of moral disappointment. Lots to keep track of, but the edit keeps thing clear. Solid, intelligent filmmaking, with movie stars nailing being movie stars.

HOME
our dvd

Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey (1991)

Some thoughts.

• Although this movie really wants to make station happen, it doesn't. However, I can say as a kid from 1991, that you could tell who had just come back from the theater because what the movie did make happen was non-non-non-heinous (and others, but especially that one; I haven't heard it's like until this summer when I've heard 13yrold girls en masse saying nononononodontDOthat!. (Of course, they haven't seen the movie—just the memes.)

• The effects have aged but they are still awesome. But the sets are great—that pink Caligari set will never age.

• The sound design is most excellent.

• The final act isn't as bad as I've sometimes said, but it does need a much, much tighter edit. That's what keeps it from being perfect.

• Death is one of the great creations of film.

• But the princesses are nothing. This is probably the biggest failing of this film. Were they better developed, I have to believe that would have led to other solutions.

• The KISS-performed anthem at the end is indeed the best song in either movie.

HOME
Link+ dvd

Shall We Dance? (1996)

Having learned that Miramax cut out 18 minutes of this which has only been restored for Americans last year, made me hesitant to watch this, but it's film group tonight and there was no time to get the new version, so here we go.

We first/last saw this circa 2001, the same time we last/first saw Strictly Ballroom, and I had added some elements together and divided—maybe not by two, but still.

Anyway, I really hope the missing eighteen minutes give the wife some more time (and maybe explain this mysterious father character?), but even missing that time (and apprently being less Japanese for it), the movie is funny and charming and pleasant. It's remarkable to me it's become such a classic, but I certainly did have a good time and sorta kinda wanted to take dance lessons afterwards (but I know better); I can see it being a comfortwatch, but I'm not sure I'll visit it again myself. Certainly not until I get my hands on those additional eighteen minutes!

HOME
library dvd

Born Yesterday (1950)

Second watch this year. Completely agree with myself: it's wonderful.

The style is old. Lots of medium length oners with great bloking and lots of characters. Some scenes seem lifted directly from the stageplay but the movie as a whole it nearly impossible to imagine on stage. Judy Holliday is terrific.

Watch it next July if you missed it this July. Trust me.

HOME
our dvd

The Wizard of Oz (1939)

The Wizard of Oz came on tv every years growing up, so it's one of those movies that, for me, is a core childhood experience. But the last time I watched it was c. 2005 when my c. 3yrold freaked out over the Tin Man. We did not finish the movie and we have not watched it since. Our youngest is now nine and she'd been wanting to see it and we'd been wanting to show her and she liked it (she thinks be may want to be Dorothy of Halloween now, rather than Sally).

It's amazing to me both how well it holds up and how aged it is. For instance, the effects are still very cool. It's astonishing how perfectly they move from sepia-tinted film to in-camera sepia on color film. Even looking for it, I couldn't distinguish the change. Most of the songs are absolute bangers—really, all of them, excepting some of their introductions. But the timing is so different from a modern movie. Not that that's a crime, but showing it to kids is great because a) it's so accessibled and b) that makes is a good introduction to how older films behave.

Dorothy's trio of companions are terrific. I felt, watching it this time, that the Scarecrow and the Tin Man must have had silent-movie comedy experience. They both have terrific physical chops and the Tin Man emotes like the Little Tramp. Let's go to IMBd and find out!

(pause for research)

Scarecrow: exactly one silent credit a decade before the rest of his career. But he did have experience in vaudeville

Tin Man: no silent experience but, again: vaudeville

Lion: Like the other two, his career began right after the silent era—but! vaudeville

I couldn't decide if Judy Garland was the right age. A lot of the early dialogue makes her sound subten. But even when her business makes her seem young, her singing voice bears little resemblance to a child. She wasn't 17 when they made it, but....

Well, who am I to argue with history. And I agree with history—she's great. Maybe I just would have tweaked some of the Kansas dialogue. (I also would have tweaked the heavyhanded all-a-dream stuff to, but ah well.)

One thing that startled me was that there are more references to this movie in "Death to the Tin Man," a favorite of mine that I have probably shown to over a thousand high-school students. When Paul goes powermad, his speech is hearkening back to the Lion imagining himself king of the forest.

#itsalltotosfault

ELSEWHERE
our dvd

The One and Only, Genuine, Original Family Band (1968)

The climax of this film is the election between Cleveland and Harrison (the first one) in which the Electoral College robs the popular vote. This scene has always stuck with me. This deeply undemocratic flaw in our democracy was unveiled and I never forgot it, even after I forgot everything else about the movie. I had no idea what movie it even was—or that we owned the dvd thanks to some friends leaving town and giving us theirs. I had no idea that The One and Only, Genuine, Original Family Band was this movie that has haunted me my entire American life. Not until I watched this video earlier this year.

The 9yrold and I watched it on the train and we had to pause a couple times to explain political parties and such details (she needs some civics education!), but boy oh boy was there lots more going through my mind! For instance, this manifestdestiny songanddance about the Dakotas—what happened to the Indians? From that video I linked to, you'll see that the real family weren't wealthy but lived in a crappy sod house through Dakota winters. That was on my mind as they were packing up to leave. And of course all the political hatred manifest feels a little too 2026. This isn't a great movie but neither is it something that can be shrugged off as a thing in the past.

Some other things haven't aged great. The forced lapsitting at the end. The camera's unflinching interest in what's going on under women's skirts. Boys with terrible blond haircuts (see also: Bedknobs and Broomsticks, The Apple Dumpling Gang). I didn't really like the songs, to be honest. I'm not surprised I forgot the rest of the movie. (Even Leslie Ann Warren who offers a much more innocent [but equally potent] sexiness that we all remember from Clue, as I was young. So young.) But that deep dissapointment in the one-person–one-vote bedrock of democratic ideals remains with me today.

ELSEWHERE
our dvd

Following (1998)

Incredible debut. Most of the way through I was wondering if Nolan wrote his favorite movie time-scrambled or if he found this in the edit. By the end I knew it was certainlty planned (though perhaps not to the detail?). Most of the way through I was seeing this as a rough draft for his more formally inventive follow-up, Memento, but by the end I realized it was very much its own thing with a distinct reason for being scrambled as it was.

And, here's the thing, it's really good. Whoever at the San Francisco Examiner wrote "Nolan is a talent who bears watching" [citation: back of dvd case] was dead-on. He certainly has been.

I've now seen all his features save Odyssey and Tenet. Looking forward to completing the set.

Have the four lead actors become part of Nolan's regular company? Well, the protagonist (who sounds a bit like Alan Rickman) and the woman have had a few bit roles between them. The other male lead (who looks kinda like Ben Affleck and sounds kinda like Corey Elwes) has never made another single movie. Not before not after not ever. The fourth lead (based on the credits, I think reflecting the fact that he had any lines is probably (?) the best known of the four and has had some slightly more substantial but still slight roles in later Nolan films.

THEATER
AMC Bay Street

The Odyssey (2026)

First, let's get this out of the way: I loved it. Found it absolutely incredible. Probably Nolan's best movie. With a quick moment of thought, I guess this is how I would now rank them (noting that I left off Tenet because I haven't seen it and Insomnia because I have no memory of it other than it's in Alaska, right?):

The Odyssey
Dunkirk
The Dark Knight
Oppenheimer
Batman Begins
Intersellar
Following
Memento
The Prestige
Inception
The Dark Knight Rises

Anyway, I know some people are still scoffing at Matt Damon as Odysseus, but...how? He was excellent. And some people have spent twenty years scoffing at Anne Hathaway but it's time for those people to just shut out. Tom Holland was fine. Come on. And John Leguizamo was incredible.

Nolan is scrambling timelines as he is wont to do, but it feels so natural and sensible and correct that its not drawing any attention to itself.

The sound mix still doesn't always remember to prioritize dialogue but it matters less here than in say, Oppenheimer, and it's less frequently a problem to boot.

The story grapples honestly with ancient religion in a way I can only compare to The Northman, which I respect, and the fact that people want to fight against this movie because it promotes xenia says a lot more about them than about the movie or Nolan or today or the ancients.

I'm not really speaking coherently, but I'm glad we went to see it rather than waiting for weeks to get a decent ticket at the Metreon. It was my first time in the Dolby Cinema theater at AMC Bay Street and I thought it was an excellent theater. That we managed to see it for less than we should have because AMC's black tickets didn't function is the good version of using a special ticket at AMC. (The other version is it doesn't work and you give up and pay full price. I think exactly once I've brought a gift ticket and had it work properly.)

This is myth as myth for us. A very rare thing indeed.

HOME
our dvd

Rushmore (1998)

Son #2 wants to work his way through Wes Anderson's oeuvre. It's been slow-going but tonight we hit film #2, one of my favorites. (Lady Steed declared afterwards that it's her least favorite. Well. Opposites attract, I suppose.)

This is probably the least "realistic" of Anderson's films, but it's also beautiful for just some of those reasons. Something that kind of hits both those elements is how Margaret Yang, for all we can tell, flew in on a model plane and then flew out on a model plane.

Something I cannot understand is how it is not generally recognized that Wes Anderson and Taika Waititi and the Hesses are all in the same school of comedy. How is this not obvious to everyone? (I feel a need to say this because never before had I noticed how similar, in details, this movie, specifically, is to Napoleon Dynamite.) (ps: did you see my recent essay on nd?) (Unrelated, but I also noticed for the first time that Max's extention at both schools in 23.)

Anyway, the film brings me joy and makes me cry and is wonderful to look at. What more can you ask for from a film?

HOME
Peacock

Kajillionaire (2020)

This is my first time watching one of Miranda July's (only three???) features, although I've shown "Are You the Favorite Person of Anybody?" to hundreds (possibly a thousand) students. So I'm overdue!

Anyway, I loved it. It was weird, sure, but it was always human. Or, more accurately, Evan Rachel Wood (doing an excellent Crispin Glover) and Gina Rodriguez are both fully human (if coming at it from opposite sides) while Richard Jenkins and Debra Winger stand as useful contrast.

But what I love (and, indeed, expected to love) about Kajillionaire is the strange lens on life July gives us. It feels visiting Wonderland without leaving L.A. And that's exactly what I wanted.

HOME
our dvd

The Black Swan (2010)

I asked Lady Steed what she thought of it halfway through the credits and she said she was satisifed because it was "all the things it was advertized to be." It was that. And a perfect sort of thing to get its lead an Oscar.

But there's an irony here. The lesson the ballet director keeps trying to give Natalie Portman's character all the way through the film is that she needs to let go of being perfect, that she needs to allow chaos into her performance. She cannot actually achieve perfection without letting go.

But if you were to ask the platonic screenwriter to write something about art and madness, the first thing he would ask is if he can include death. You of course will say yes. Then he'll give you The Black Swan. Because this film is exactly what you would expect the platonic screenwriter to give you when you ask for art and madness, death allowed. Even with a handful of jumpscares, did this film offer any actual surprises? I think not.

So yeah, it was good, perfect even—but that's all it is.

(Obviously, I still need to see The Red Shoes, but, to date, the best ballet movie I have seen, still, even having seen The Black Swan, is The Company.

two postscripts: 1) neither the body horror nor the sex was as egregious as expected 2) one advantage to a film like this is unless you really screw it up the music will be awesome

HOME
Kanopy

Me and You and Everyone We Know (2005)

Kajillionaire was better, more assured (and only her The Future left to go!), but this is a strong debut. It combines kids and sex in uncomfortable ways (not sure you'd get even this level of funding today) but July's funky aesthetic works from go. It feels very one-year-after-Napoleon-Dynamite-at-Sundance with a Rubin and Ed soundscape.

In short, this is a movie about lonely people. And a pretty good one. But not one I think I'll revisit.

Special shoutouts to John Hawkes who's been in tons of stuff including several I've seen but has now become someone I'll be watching for and Carlie Westerman who apparently retired from acting when she was like fifteen. You go, girl.

Previous films watched. . . .

Update on HONEYMOON IN COPPERMaking progress in fits and bursts

.

When I last talked about my novel, I was soliciting funds for the Mormon Lit Lab’s Book Mentoring Program. I was planning to use some of their money to drive to San Diego where I was to stay in a friend’s in-law unit and work twelve hour days getting the second draft done and shoving the entire novel into my head so I could see what further changes would be required.

Unfortunately, I never made it to San Diego. Instead, I went to Idaho for a funeral. I had hoped to make it to San Diego later in the summer, but the arrangement of space availability and me availability never realigned.

So it goes.

Getting writing done in the summer is always challenging for me. No set schedule, a desire to spend this extra time with family, etc etc, all conspire to make it impossible. But the last couple weeks I’ve gone to the GTU library several days and put in a bunch of hours and, I’m happy to say, I’ve finished that second draft and I sorta kinda have the book in my head.

[Blue is my daily goal. Green is novel work. I give myself 100 words for every page of editing accomplished.] 

There may never be another properly numbered “draft,” but I still need to finetune some backstory, finalize the respective heights of my leads, and a dozen other things. Pretty soon it’ll be ready to share with my first reader. If I can keep conquering summer.

Top Five X of 2001–2025: Superheros

.

One of the reasons I started this list is because of Unbreakable, so to discover late in the process that it came out in…2000 was heartbreaking.

So it goes.

But that opens up space in the top five for someone new.

But what counts? Bond/Hunt/Bourne have skills just as superheroey as, say, Batman, just sans cape. What about kung-fu and wuxia movies? So superheroey. What about Scott Pilgrim vs the World?

I decided none of those were options for this list (not that I would have picked a Bond film); in short, I didn’t want to spend time writing an unassailable definition of “superhero” movie, so I largely just went by Do We Talk About It as a Superhero Movie? Even that left some uncertainties. Joker didn’t make the cut, for instance—I just don’t think it’s a superhero movie. Perhaps I’m wrong. You can go to my Letterboxd to see if I haven’t seen a movie (eg Brightburn), but you may not be able to tell if it just didn’t quite count definitionally (eg Pacific Rim), didn’t quite make it into the top five (eg Captain Marvel), or I straight-up didn’t like it (eg Spider-Man: No Way Home).

We’ll get to the overall top five in a minute but first let us recognize that the last quarter-century has been, bar none, the best-ever quarter-century for superhero movies. Tons of volume which means plenty of good ones snuck through.

Therefore, let us first mark three additional top fives for Marvel, DC, and non-marvel/dc movies (ignoring for now any films that made my overall top five), if for no other reason than to recognize the cultural relevancy achieved this century by superhero cinema.

(Although we are still waiting for a worthy [or any] Flaming Carrot or Madman movie.)

Links on numbers go to JustWatch; links on titles go to Wikipedia. 1 = Thutopia; 3 = Thubstack. But you’ll notice most of these watched occurred before the mid-2021 founding of Thubstack.

 

MARVEL

This was the most challenging section of this post as there are so many Marvel movies and quite a few of them hover around the same level of good. (And many of them share the same flaw[s]: uninteresting villain or weak final act.) I see fifteen movies that reasonable could have made this list (and may well have on a different day). Fifteen is triple what I’ve included. I honestly do not know if I have chosen correctly. I’m very torn. Your corrections welcome.

#1: Spider-Man 2 (2004) 1
#2: The Avengers (2012) 1, 1, 1
#3: Black Panther (2018) 1, 1
#4: Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) 1, 1
#5: Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017) 1, 1

 

DC

This bunch includes undoubtedly my most controversial choice. I haven’t seen it since it came out but, brace yourself, I thought it made some excellent decisions. One key one better than the book, even.

#1: Wonder Woman (2017) 1, 1
#2: Batman Begins (2005) 1
#3: The Batman (2022) 1, 2, 1, 2
#4: The LEGO Batman Movie (2017) 1, 1
#5: Watchmen (2009)

 

NON-MARVEL/DC

This group wasn’t as strong as I anticipated. It was less about what to leave out and more about what to put in. We could do better!

#1: Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie (2017) 1
#2: Chronicle (2012) 1
#3: Incredibles 2 (2018) 1
#4: Fast Color (2018) 1
#5: Midnight Special (2016) 1

 

OVERALL TOP FIVE SUPERHERO MOVIES OF 2001–2025

#5: Thor: Ragnarok (2017) 1, 1, 1

No other superhero movie this century has brought the joy like Ragnarok (although one wonders, if Edgar Wright had been allowed to finish Ant-Man, it would have matched these heights; it came close as is). Plenty of humor, kickin’ needledrops, amazing visuals, true emotions. Honestly, if this were the best superhero movie of the twenty-first century, we’d still be doing just fine.

#4: Logan (2017) 1

I have seen very few of the X-Men movies (I think just the first two and this one) but Logan is incredible. It proudly displays its debt to Shane and it does Shane proud. Reasonable people can disagree about which is the better movie. Details of its near-future world come to me frequently and its violent meditation on aging and mortality and what we give coming generations is genuinely moving.

#3: Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018) 1, 1

One of a handful of animated movies ever to shake up the medium and force everyone to realize that more is possible. That enough makes it important. but few movies ever made have the power to put the feeling of becoming a superhero directly into your veins like this one. We are Miles Morales. My only regret is not seeing this movie when I was fourteen.

#2: The Dark Knight (2008) 1

One of Christopher Nolan’s projects seems to be exploring the potential for goodness within humanity. Which is an astonishing thing to say about the movie that gave us the most terrifyingly evil villain in movie-superhero history. The superhero genre is about giving us extremes in order to consider questions of moral importance. At least, that’s floating along under the surface somewhere. But it works best when the hero is compromised and the villain has the momentum. No movie dives deeper into ethical ambiguity or provides as hopeful a solution as The Dark Knight.

#1: Incredibles (2004) 1, 1

It’s the best one. Every team movie is about family. This one is a family. Every superhero has something to prove. This one features that need from past, present, and future perspectives. Every superhero needs thrilling action and real stakes. They also require a full grounding in the mundane so we believe. The Incredibles is the bar all others strive for. It’s the best one. It just is.