November & December 2025

Happy New Year to y'all! I know it hasn't even been a week, but doesn't it feel like such a long year already?
I'm happy to say that my holidays were very busy with travel and spending some much needed time with family. Suffice to say, I didn't watch a ton of movies in November, so I decided to just combine my last two months of the year. 2025 was by far my most cinematic year ever with 401 films logged, with 101 of those being rewatches and the other 300 discoveries (more stats here if you're curious). Thank you all for being a part of my journey this last year, I hope I gave you something to watch!
I seriously doubt 2026 is going to be nearly as busy—as it turns out, raising a kid takes some of my free time—but I hope to still be putting these out for y'all every month or two.

Coco [2017]

At the start of this last November, I put together my first ever ofrenda in my own home. I don’t really have printed pictures, the offering was simple leftovers, my candles are the same ones I’ve been burning for years; but I hope they came anyway, and visited their new grandson.

10/10, pretty much always cry

Beaux Score: "The real spooky scary skeletons were the family you met along the way"

The American Southwest [2025]

I've been missing my home a little recently. This documentary rightfully establishes the main character of the land as the Colorado River, and it's one of the best films I've seen all year. I laughed, I nearly had an anxiety attack, there was a section on saguaros—it was absolutely perfect.

10/10, Take the water back!

Walker [1987]

“But you're going to get killed, and everyone else too.”
“Then we'll be together again.”

Enough minds have been colonized, anything can be done in the name of capital—and therefore it will, no matter the cost of life. I have said before in other reviews the phrase “I cannot believe this movie exists”, but this one really raised that bar. Truly, an incredible film; my favorite Ed Harris performance, one of the best westerns I’ve ever seen!

Right now, the usfg is manufacturing it’s justification for a war with Venezuela, so I couldn’t help but be struck by this line from the man himself:

“It is our destiny to be here, it is our destiny to control you people. So no matter how much you fight, no matter what you think, we'll be back, time and time again.”

10/10, left me with the feeling that we are all fucked!

Dinner in America [2020]

A punky misfit romance between a midwestern Johnny Silverhand & a neurodivergent manic pixie dream girl—some how the cutest fucking thing I have ever seen!

9/10, Punk as fuck!

Beaux Score: "God's most valid straight couple"

One Battle After Another [2025]

I have some problems with this film on a fundamental level, but this movie is exactly my family’s speed, and seeing it for the first time with them is about all I could’ve asked for.

The “revolution” is underwhelming, making some really poor decisions & not even being the main focus of the film. It bothered me how comfortable they were portraying state violence, but the rebels used almost entirely nonlethal methods.

But it’s just so damn funny, and I loved how it was shot! Sean Penn is a legit weirdo, him and De Toro’s performance lowkey carries the film.

9/10

Beaux Score: 7.5/10 "Get yourself a sensei like that"

No Country for Old Men [2007]

"She buried him the next morning, digging in that hard old caliche. What you got ain't nothin' new. This country's hard on people. You can't stop what's coming. It ain't all waiting on you. That's vanity."

This movie is as tense as a fucking bowstring, and cold—like a mountain pass in a dark night that only exists in your dreams—despite taking place in the heat of south texas. I bought chips for this movie and didn't have a single one. Favorite Tommy Lee Jones performance, favorite Josh Brolin, and one of the best antagonists I've seen in a neo-western.

I don't know how many of you have had the privilege to dig a hole by hand in hard caliche, but I wouldn't recommend it. I did so once, to help plant a mesquite tree that shares my name on my grandparents property. They wanted a part of me to stay before I moved to another state, I suppose. The tree took off pretty quickly, but you can tell it is struggling in it's adolescence—roots desperate to breach the hard earth. Every time I go visit it, I wonder if this is the year I'll finally find it dead.

10/10, damn you Coen's for making me like your cops

Beaux Score: "Have fun with your expectations, idiot"

Under Paris [2024]

Watch characters make the dumbest decisions in every scene. Girl was literally just trying to live. The ending added a whole star to my rating, it's hard to believe that something so baffling could be as boring as it was for so long—a great addition to shark cinema.

5/10

Beaux Score: "Absolute cinema"

Get Out [2017]

“Black... is in fashion.”

Credit where credit is due—and maybe it's just late at night, and I've been smoking too much—but it made me paranoid about being married to a white person for a little bit.

It's as on the nose with its racial commentary as I think you can get. I much prefer its alternate ending, it better fits the tone of the movie. Genuinely fucked up film, save my boy LaKieth Stanfield.

7.5/10

Us [2019]

"We're Americans"

Peele really knows how to ride that line of horror, commentary, and just the right amount of levity, though I would describe this as more unsettling than horrifying. The concept of the underground scared me more than any of the doppelgangers ever could have. Then again, I'm kinda already looking out for people wearing the faces of my loved ones, so...

8/10

Inglorious Bastards [2009]

Speaking words of wisdom:

“Nazi ain't got no humanity! They're the foot soldiers of a Jew-hatin', mass murderin' maniac and they need to be dee-stroyed. That's why any and every son of a bitch we find wearin' a Nazi uniform, they're gonna die… But I got a word of warning for all you would-be warriors. When you join my command, you take on debit. A debit you owe me personally. Each and every man under my command owes me one hundred Nazi scalps, and I want my scalps! And all y'all will git me one hundred Nazi scalps, taken from the heads of one hundred dead Nazis—or you will die tryin'!”

9/10, lots of dead Nazi's

Beaux Score: "The catharsis of a killing Nazi's movie 🥹"

Star Wars: The Last Jedi [2017]

The only Star Wars sequel with cajones, and I will die on this hill!

7/10, so much potential wasted

Deep Blue Sea [1999]

I was entirely too drunk for this movie, but it sure was cheesy as hell!

I'm just not sure I even like shark movies lol

4/10

The Departed [2006]

"When I was your age they would say we can become cops, or criminals. Today, what I'm saying to you is this: when you're facing a loaded gun, what's the difference?"

Not my favorite Scorsese anymore, but it was the first I ever saw so it has a special place in my heart—it's probably my favorite to watch with my family as well. Favorite Wahlberg. Top tier DiCaprio. Maybe not my favorite Nicholson, but it's certainly one of his more entertaining performances. Matt Damon is also here.

"My theory on Feds is that they're like mushrooms, feed 'em shit and keep 'em in the dark. You girls have a good day."

9/10, Absolute Cinema!

Beaux Score: "Can you tell he's from Bahston?"

VeggieTales: Lord of the Beans [2005]

No Samwise, no rating. But I do feel like I understand my homeschool friends more.

Beaux Score: "They're his utensils, and they do his bidding!"

Singin' in the Rain [1952]

Not looking forward to three weeks of “Moses supposes his toses are rose…” looping in my brain.

Am I dead inside?

5/10

Beaux Score: 9/10 "What do they think I am, dumb or somethin'?"

Newsies [1992]

Sure Bale can’t sing, there’s no villain song, and it oversimplifies the entire unionization process, but there is Spot Conlon from Brooklyn (not to mention outstanding choreography).

6/10

Beaux Score: "Visual proof that Christian Bale wasn't spawned at the age of 30"

Full Metal Jacket [1987]

Googling derealization, hating what you find

“Son, all I've ever asked of my marines is that they obey my orders as they would the word of Gawd. We are here to help the Vietnamese, because inside every gook there is an American trying to get out. It's a hardball world, son. We've gotta keep our heads until this peace craze blows over.”

9.5/10, Born to Kill ☮️

Beaux Score: "...and you're watching Disney Channel!"

The Mechanic [2011]

How was it that predictable and yet somehow made absolutely zero sense?

2/10

Dance Me Outside [1994]

The native women were right the whole time and also the only ones doing anything. Based.

But it was fun to follow around these two dipshit men anyway. The Indian naming ceremony is such a sacred time aho 🪶

7/10

Underwater [2020]

A Cthulu-esque rip off of Alien, but a pretty one. Great visuals and sound, kind of a lame disaster horror, not very deep.

6/10

Beaux Score: "Oh. Undies. Yeah."

Revenge [2017]

FARGEAT, PLEASE STOP HAVING YOUR ACTORS CHEW ON CAMERA (love what you're doing)

7/10

Beaux Score: "I do support women's wrongs, but this isn't one of them"

The Unknown Country [2022]

Gladstone plays a character grieving the loss of her grandmother, traveling in a road trip across america to help heal her soul; quasi-documentary, in that some of the people they meet are real people, with real stories to share with us—a very hyperspecific vibe, but a good one.

A line I will be in my heart when I travel this holiday season:

"But you know, if you go down to the rez, that is going home. The land will help heal you, it'll remind you of all that's good, all that's good about where you come from and what you have to look forward to."

6/10

Frankenstein [2025]

If you're watching this for the Del Toro factor, then you are going to love this film: it is sad, bloody, and beautiful, and I expected nothing less from such a morbid director (and I say that with the utmost affection). Isaacs & Elordi give an incredible performance colliding at some fucked meeting point between father/son & god/mankind.

I have not had the pleasure of reading Shelley's novel yet, and I can understand why the novel purists are not happy; but I don't have that lens, and I was willing to accept this for whatever it was. However, I can't help but shake the feeling that Netflix had way too much influence in the final product. For a story about the burden of existence and the ambitions & violence of men, it lacked the depth I would expect in exploring that. Felt like it was made to watch while browsing your phone, especially in its dialogue.

6/10

Beaux Score: 5/10 "Not even Del Toro can save a Netflix-job"

A Quiet Passion [2016]

I’m Nobody! Who are you?
Are you – Nobody – too?
Then there’s a pair of us!
Don’t tell! they’d advertise – you know!
How dreary – to be – Somebody!
How public – like a Frog –
To tell one’s name – the livelong June –
To an admiring Bog!

It's a bit melodramatic and restrained, but so was its subject—Emily Dickenson—therefore I'm willing to forgive it some. I could see how this looked good as a screenplay, but a lot of the acting felt stilted. Still, I found it to be as lonely as it is verbose, so it gets extra points for creating that vibe.

5/10

The Killing of a Sacred Deer [2017]

Wtf kind of Soviet ass film did I see?! How did I like this even less than The Lobster? I don’t think I hate absurdism, but… Am I fucking missing something???

5/10

The Aviator [2004]

I was having a conversation with my wife the other day about what kind of people we'd be if we were trust fund babies with unlimited resources who never wanted for anything. I do think mine and Howard Hughes trajectory would've been similar in that regard—building / flying airplanes and making movies.

As for the film itself, Scorsese makes a great film. DiCaprio wasn't anything special, and I never felt like we got much insight into Hughes beyond his mental illness. Loved to see all the flying, I wish more of its runtime was just aviation.

7/10

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem [2023]

Genuinely can’t get over how gross New York & everyone who inhabits it looks in this film, it’s incredible. Convincing teenagers, Splinter has such dad energy, the pacing of the incredible music keeps the whole film on point. I hope they do a sequel someday.
¡Tierra de Aguafiestas!

There is (1) one major flaw with the film that I cannot get over—the messaging. I love that the turtles are so Black American coded in this film, but it does so without really thinking about who they are opposing, and what they have to do to earn their place among humanity, or why they have to earn it in the first place. It didn’t bother me so much at first watch, but it did this time.

8/10, still my favorite TMNT on screen

Beaux Score: "Just really fun and good!"

My Cousin Vinny [1992]

Marisa Tomei, that is all

8/10

Walkabout [1971]

An episode of Planet Earth that's also about the death of innocence, the harms of colonialism, the racism imbued by the state, and the hollow existence that comes with "civilized" life.

Mesmerized by its imagery & sound, depressed by its content.

8/10

Meek's Cutoff [2010]

And speaking of movies where an indigenous person has to save a bunch of colonizers...
Reichardt knows how to work with a simple premise, and she lets the immensity of the West, the ignorance of the colonizers, and the vanity of their guide take center stage in their struggle for survival. A bit slow, and nothing really happens, but the tension is very persistent throughout. Giving it the same rating as Walkabout for the vibe it creates, not because its a similar quality movie.

Also I've never seen a more exasperated Indian in my life lmao

8/10

Déjà Vu [2006]

Post 9/11 wish fulfillment. A world where ramping mass surveillance is in the hands of a truly moral police, used to exclusively to stop terrorism, see justice done, and save innocent lives (but still leer at women, of course).

I watchlisted this for Val, didn’t see as much of him as I would’ve liked. Denzel still crushed it, and that car chase scene was fucking crazy. I love to see a man with the will to spit in the face of fate, even as it beats him down again and again.

7.5/10

Miss Congeniality [2000]

Look, this is your typical “not like other girls” story, perhaps the very definition of formulaic. But somewhere between Michael Cain, the girls coming together to support each other, and the fact that this movie makes me think so much of one of my best friends, I found myself enjoying it quite a bit.

6/10

The Master of Disguise [2002]

Racist, objectifying and dismissive of women, nightmarish pacing, and it's ten minute after credit sequence hints at a much longer and even weirder movie that had to be cut down if there was any chance for it to succeed.

BUT, I also watched this on maybe a monthly basis with my cousins & brother for most of my childhood, so I couldn't help but giggle at all of its insane moments, even all these years later. Let's just say that I felt very seen as a kid who loved doing voices and mimicking people.

¡Tierra de Aguafiestas!

The Turtle Club scene was filmed on 9/11. The cast observed a moment of silence. And if there is a god, Dana Carvey was in full costume during it 🙏

3/10. So dogshit, you just might enjoy it.

Beaux Score: "I loved this movie! 1 star"

The Rescuers Down Under [1990]

Just as horrifying a premise as the original, but it looses the gloom in favor of something adventurous and almost magical! The eagle animation really felt like it captured the sensation of flight, I love that giant bird 🥹 Also the main kid was way less annoying

8/10

Beaux Score: 9.5/10 "Is it weird that I have gender envy about a kangaroo mouse?"

Night Raiders [2021]

Indigenous boarding school dystopia that captures my inherent distrust & hatred of drones in a way no other film really has.

7/10

Muppet Treasure Island [1996]

Tim Curry is pretty great, but I do think they should've dropped the kid and made every other side & main character a Muppet. Mainly I found myself wondering if they had to port over the racist island natives from the original story, and that definitely affected my overall enjoyment.

6/10

Ladyhawke [1985]

Animorphs, but its a lovers curse set in a medieval fantasy.

Blends orchestral and synth as roughly as it blends an adventure comedy with a fantasy romance, but enjoyable none the less. Catch me and my wife playing characters at some point in the future who have this curse as an excuse for who's taking care of the kids this week.

6/10

Vertigo [1958]

Gone Girl + Déjà Vu but worse. Only thing I found worthy of praise was its cinematography.

5/10

Beaux Score: "God, we're never escaping this patriarchy 🙄"

Train Dreams [2025]

Melancholy & mediative, a frontier laborer searches for meaning inside the flux of a careless but beautiful world. I thought it was a gorgeous movie with a great performance from its lead. The narration really brought down the film for me, unfortunately.

6/10

How to Make Millions Before Grandma Dies [2024]

Impending death is such a bizarre time for a family to go through. In the midst of such times, I always found the behavior of some of my family quite dismaying—even to the point of suspending my grief. Though in fairness and with retrospect, I often find some of my own behavior disappointing and/or naïve.

I did not enjoy the main character, or his arc of learning to love and understand his family. What I did love was the Grandmother, unraveling the story of her life, and all the ways she's tried to love her family throughout it. If there is anything real this movie touched on, it is the lonely & bereft days our elders must face with dignity—because dignity sure as hell ain't gonna come from their qi-chou descendants!

8/10, Call your grandparents

The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou [2004]

I've watched a couple other Wes Anderson movies this year, and they've all been enjoyable. However, my first and only prior exposure to him for the last decade was The Grand Budapest Hotel, a film I absolutely adore!

While I found this one to be a bit messy, it is the only one I've seen this year that made me feel anything similar to how I felt watching his work for the first time. For that, it gets my praise.

7/10

Lucky [2017]

Harry Dean Stanton’s character grapples with his own mortality in a film that released months after his death. It’s nihilistic, but with a heart that often gets left out in these types of stories.

Few like in just going to enjoy this more at a different stage of my life, but it gets extra points for taking place in the southwest—and for David Lynch’s tortoise.

The Sister Brothers [2018]

If it’s supposed to be a comedy, why isn’t it funny? If it’s supposed to be a drama, why isn’t it interesting? John C Reilly did a good job, but I feel like the characters never earned what they got.

3/10

Memoria [2021]

Hella sound mixing, put me and my four month old into a long nap, 6.5. Second addition to what I’m calling Sleepy Cinema with Swinton (along with Last and First Men).

6/10

Wake Up Dead Man [2025]

Rian Johnson has fun with all the different ways you can light a church lol

Better than Glass Onion, which is all I could have really asked for. Even though the murderer was obvious to us, the film still did a good job of keeping us looking the wrong way, and it was still quite fun.

Not sure they'll ever capture the magic of the first one again, though.

7.5/10

Beaux Score: "🧑‍🤝‍🧑Gay man👯‍♂️SLANDERS🤬beloved PASTOR🙏 ANTI-CHRISTIAN ✝️🔥and WOKE🙅"

Fantastic Mr. Fox [2009]

Can't a man get a wife, start a family, buy a home, and steal from corporations in peace? I do not understand the animal real estate market at all.

8/10

Beaux Score: 9/10 "Me when I’m a startled little opossum or fox 😵‍💫"

Vow of Silence: The Assassination of Annie Mae [2024]

I don’t care if the FBI had a direct hand in the assassination or not, they’re every bit as culpable for sowing the division they did amidst a people who only wanted what was promised to them.

Though it plays a lot like a true crime doc, I was pleased to see how much of it covered Annie Mae’s activism & spirit, compared to drawing out the circumstances surrounding her death.

Rest in power, auntie

9/10

City of God [2002]

Just gave me bad vibes while watching, and looking into its production didn’t put me at ease. Gang wars and poverty are used almost lightheartedly as the circumstances for the narrator’s dreams to become a photographer—third world violence, now consumable for the neoliberal, with no critique of the system causing these conditions in the first place.

3/10

Bugonia [2025]

¡Tierra de Aguafiestas!

Originally I criticized this movie for being predictable, but the premise sets up for only one of two outcomes, and it's silly to make that claim on a 50/50 guess. My main criticism is that I don’t agree with the ultimate messaging; that we are a virus on this planet, alien, and incapable of coexistence with the natural order. But it gets extra points for its bombastic score, not to mention Plemons’ Owen Wilson impression & Stone’s incredible girl boss energy.

7.5/10

A Bear Remembers [2025]

Can you feel it? The weight of our comfortable little life? Languages are being forgotten, stories untold, songs unsung. What Nietzsche didn't tell you is that killing god takes thousands of little cuts, but he was right about one thing—we are still not worthy of the deed.

8/10, made me sad

Thunderheart [1992]

Val K: "This land is not for sale!"

Me: lol tell'em, white boy

Aight, I've been sitting on this movie for a few days, so I might as well try and say what I've been thinking, starting with the Indigenous and how they are represented. Greene was exceptional, as was Thin Elk playing the charming Old Man Reaches. I'm not Sioux, the representation of their culture and spirituality wasn't exactly a highlight of the film, but aside from some vision quest nonsense it didn't seem too terrible.

However, while this technically wasn't a white savior story, it had the energy of one—a mostly white man coming in and saving everything nice and neatly forever in a way that the native people could not do on their own—hardly realistic, and definitely not at all how the actual A.I.M. conflict it's based on went down. Overall, it could’ve been better with Greene as the lead, but it wasn’t bad. On one final sad note, this is probably my least favorite Deakin's cinematography I've seen in a minute.

6/10

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse [2023]

When I first saw this in theaters, I was a little annoyed by the fact that it was so clearly a middle-of-a-trilogy film. But now, I really respect the film for what it is in its own right. The colors, the sound, Hobie; what an incredible feat of animation.

Still have a crush on Gwen (she reminds me of my wife).

9/10, Sony pay your fucking people!

Teen Beach Movie [2013]

The juxtaposition of being tied up, but feeling totally free. Still not a fan of musicals, but some of the songs (Crusin' for a Brusin' mainly) actually weren't bad.

4/10, Literally invented feminism

Beaux Score: "Lore movie"

Finding Dory [2016]

I wish more of it took place in the ocean instead of some marine park. I wish the journey from their reef to their lost family was as much of a part of the story as it was in the first one. Also I wish this movie wasn't spoiled for me by the people who recommended it.

Just not what it was hyped to be.

5/10

Beaux Score: "Not as charming as I remember"

Killers of the Flower Moon [2023]

In a better world, one where events like this were a thing of the past, this movie would've been about Mollie. But I'll take what I can get. Once again, it brings to mind this quote:

“I did not know then how much was ended. When I look back now from this high hill of my old age, I can still see the butchered women and children lying heaped and scattered all along the crooked gulch as plain as when I saw them with eyes still young. And I can see that something else died there in the bloody mud, and was buried in the blizzard. A people's dream died there. It was a beautiful dream.
And I, to whom so great a vision was given in my youth,—you see me now a pitiful old man who has done nothing, for the nation's hoop is broken and scattered. There is no center any longer, and the sacred tree is dead.”

—Black Elk, 1932