Movies Watched in 2025

Documenting my twitter thread from this year into a page. I may polish up some of the reviews.

  1. Nosferatu (2024) - Theatre we went to instead of previews had what I can only describe as a very long Willem Dafoe fan edit. Loved the shadows in this, and how Lily-Rose's face is so ghostly. Very straightforward, and well executed story. Reminded me deeply of that recent tweet that was like "High libido women are the most oppressed people on earth." Lily-Rose Depp did a great job at really embodying that kind of 1800s woman. However, didn't find that it had anything really compelling to say about its subject aside from maybe giving a faithful rendition of period attitudes of the time.
  2. The Children's Hour (1961) - Rumors of lesbianism destroy a couple of schoolteachers’ careers, paving the way for tragedy. Maclaine’s character does not survive, but in the end Hepburn still walks away from societal disgust and patronizing heterosexual chivalry.
  3. Sebastiane (1976) - I saw some lovely clips of this on twt! Very contemplative featuring various homoerotic relationship dynamics between men, from violent aggression to gentle and playful love. The plot meanders, shifting through various homoerotic tropes of captivity, machismo, and homosociality. Others have complained about some stiltedness of the actors. But the film's priority is clear throughout as it lends an admiring gaze over men's bodies and landscapes.
  4. Festen / The Celebration (1998) - overlapped w/ my own watch list and my brother's Danish media list. To quote him: "I thought [Christian] was just really sigma... but actually he was getting ready to face his trauma."My fave sequence was the one where each of the siblings were in their own room and it cut between them and what they were doing, it really showed their relationships and established who they were so easily, setting the stage before the big reveal.
  5. Conclave (2024) - Streamed for some friends multiple times and enjoyed the twists and turns and the cardinal yaoiz. It's a movie I watched when it came out last year, and have enjoyed it and the fandom that came from it. However, it is one about which I have my reservations considering its overall message and how it frames progressiveness within institutions.
  6. Black Narcissus (1947) - After Cardinal Drama I was in the mood for some Nun Drama. Gorgeous Matte paintings and dramatic lighting. Very 1940s gender dynamics but hets are fun when they are Forbidden and go wild. The term "femcel" gets thrown around a lot in such a way that ends up losing meaning, but as the driving force in this story is unrequited female lust as destructive and maddening, I think it's warranted in this case.
  7. I Am Cuba (1964) - Watched with the bros...was really blown away. Love how it balanced delivering a clear, unmistakeable message while also being fantastically innovative, fresh, and exciting in the way the various mini-stories were presented.
  8. Transformers One (2024) - One of the first we watched on our list of movies about Intense Friendship Breakups (homoerotic.) A lot of drama and bombased packed into one movie. This is what CGI animation should be used best for-Gay Robot Divorce!
  9. Grand Theft Hamlet (2024) - Documentary about the making of a production of Hamlet inside Grand Theft Auto. Really cool to see people's creativity and community, even though the in-game setting of the documentary gave me motion sickness.
  10. Babygirl (2024) - The mc wants sex with “stakes” but the whole movie felt devoid of it. Lots of things just sort of happen while the characters kind of just amble around through whispery conversations w/ glimmers of characterization but afraid of committing to specificities. Movie suffers really hard from wanting to seem “realistic” with the drawn out conversations about consent and awkwardness but bc of this “realism” it gets in the way of conveying, in this FICTION MEDIUM. the emotional experience of sexual fantasy. It makes the words ring hollow. Was not a huge fan!
  11. Becket (1964) - Showed this 20th Century Medieval Yaoi Breakup classic to some friends. O'Toole's King Henry carries the emotional force and magnetic energy in this; Burton is a decent contemplative foil, but unfortunately the church drama muddles and drags more than it should. Still, O'Toole's monologue of intense, physically arduous love and longing in the end–a love so clearly prominent as to invite the interference of the contemporary censor to call "unhealthy and unnatural"- is one of my favorite performances of anything ever.
  12. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) - My goofy first thought was this is like Your Name for western Adults. I really like when straightforward stories use a simple speculative device to explore grounded experiences and emotions...and a little horniness as well lol. I caught the weird little timeline trick early on but it played out really beautifully. Loved all the side characters too and how they fleshed out the various themes of the love story.
  13. Challengers (2024) - Streamed for friends again, even better than the first time around. Everything I could ever ask for in a movie. Women's rights, women's wrongs, women's vulnerabilities. Beautiful shots of men's bodies, heterosexual marriage as business, messy love. Stood out to me this time around how it's a story also Abt 2 guys who love each other and love a woman, for her beauty but also very much in admiration and aspiration for her skill. And the story is about people wanting to be treated like Peers but also needing the thrill of the game and chase.
  14. Central Station / Central do Brasil (1999) - Love to see a story about a jaded older woman with questionable morals and judgement have to deal with and take care of a kid, that ISNT about embracing inherent motherhood but more about human connection. Beautiful movie!
  15. Ravenous (1999)
  16. Good Will Hunting (1997)
  17. American Psycho (2000)
  18. Excalibur (1981)
  19. Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
  20. Funeral Parade of Roses (1969)
  21. I Saw the TV Glow (2024)
  22. Kpop Demon Hunters (2025)
  23. The First Wives Club (1996)
  24. Call Northside 777 (1948)
  25. Look Back (2024)
  26. Fight Club (1999)
  27. Dìdi (2024)
  28. Boys go to Jupiter (2024)
  29. April (2024)
  30. Wild Strawberries (1957)
  31. The Promised Land / Bastarden (2023)
  32. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)
  33. Pusher (1996)
  34. Pusher II (2004)
  35. Pusher III (2005)
  36. Sneakers (1992)
  37. Captain Fracassa's Journey / Il viaggio di Capitan Fracassa (1990)

    38. As one can see I haven't really gotten around to watching much contemporary releases this year, except for KDH. Lots of catching up on things from last year, and a lot of Danish movies thanks to brother's influence. This year I tried to make a bit of an effort to go to the local theater a bit more to see some of their special showings, and hoping to continue to do so the rest of the year.

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