The Legend of Hei (2019)
If Flow wasn’t adorable enough for you, this film will surely fulfill that itch whilst incorporating more (traditional) story-telling elements. The artistic choice of melding classic and modernity was enjoyable though I wish it was more detailed during the finale. This is the latest “cat movie” I’ve watched in recent weeks and I unabashedly adore this the most.

Mickey 17 (2025)
Written and directed by Bong Joon Ho of Parasite fame, one can’t help but expect something greater than what Mickey 17 delivers. The premise is interesting and is suitably absurd but the great tragedy of it all is nothing is explored leading to missing profundity resulting in an average film.

Moana 2 (2024)
Moana 2 is everything you come to expect from Disney, a safe, family-friendly film in a familiar cookie-cutter mould that doesn’t enthral nor fully disappoints. Its mediocrity permeates throughout the entire movie including each of its musical numbers.

Venom: The Last Dance (2024)
I remember watching Venom and although average, it was fun and the humour between the symbiote and Hardy was there. The latest Venom has a quarter of the fun and the humour all fell flat. I do need to draw attention to Juno Temple as the constant bulging-eyed stare on her expressionless face was absolutely jarring every time her character was on screen.

Sing Street (2016)
A beautiful coming-of-age story set against the backdrop of 1980s Ireland and the eclectic soundtrack of the generation while paying homage to it with fun original tracks plus wardrobe to match. I wholeheartedly recommend this film to anyone especially those a fan of music and I might even prefer it over Once.

Magnolia (1999)
Separate seemingly unrelated stories runs parallel and lightly weaves together into this tapestry where the weather matches the pace. Everybody was wrenching in this drama-filled ensemble but Tom Cruise may have stolen the limelight with his portrayal of the chauvinistic grifter T. J. Mackey.

The Lodge (2019)
There are certain ubiquitous elements to horror that are missing - or misses the mark - so it did not properly resonate with me. However, I can envision why some may recommend the film and a cursory search seems to show such a divide.

Joker: Folie à Deux (2024)
“What a movie” is the best remark I could give to this film that would have worked better without its popular titular character. It manages to alienate fans from all camps with an ending that nullifies and it being a jukebox musical does not do it any favours. It is a sequel that did not need to be made and now sours the memory of Joker.

I haven’t! Would you recommend I watch it before Your Name?

I adored Perfect Days for those exact reasons yet Suzume’s attempts to pull at the heartstrings felt blatant and a little hollow and is why I chose the word “gratuitous”. Perhaps I would have enjoyed it more if I entered without prior expectations of greatness or if I had a personal connection to the 2011 earthquake that so permeates throughout. Don’t get me wrong, the film to me was decent but the romance was shoehorned and it wasn’t cohesive enough to live up to the hype. I do intend to watch eventually Your Name as it’s widely believed to be his magnum opus and I would love to see a more compelling Suzume.

I can see how as it was almost so ridiculous and fun it could be a cult film but it missed the mark IMO. There’s no copyright on formats so by all means use it!

Dial M for Murder (1954)
This classic is full of twists and turns you see coming as 70+ years of film has invariably duplicated aspects of the classic yet still does not detract from the experience. Another timeless film from Hitchcock.

The Cutting Edge (1992)
Watching this movie was a stroke of serendipity. There is absolutely nothing original in this romantic comedy yet the chemistry between the leads are evident and their acting brings it to reality truly making the whole greater than the sum of its parts.

Suzume (2024)
This is sadly my first movie I’ve seen of Makoto Shinkai and I understand why he has a following. It is gorgeously animated and the gratuitous use of magic hour helped with the theme (and visuals). The story is simple and cute but too many unanswered questions and plot holes ensured it did not live up to its hype.

Doghouse (2009)
Reminiscent of Shaun of the Dead but unfortunately holds none of the wit and charm while carrying a misogynistic undertone. The comedic bits and their varied “zombies” made it watchable.

Terrified is on my (very long) watchlist so I now must also add When Evil Lurks.

Ne Zha 2 (2025)
The highest grossing movie you’ve never heard of. This was put on my radar from the other site and despite my reservations of seeing a foreign film in theatres (I know, it’s likely my Hollywood-centric roots), this is what a cinematic experience is as the last animated film I had this much fun was Into the Spider-Verse. It is beautifully animated and I felt every emotion without feeling forced (the woman next to me cried twice). A few scenes had odd pacing and some jokes were clearly lost in translation, but I am now waiting for the IMAX (re)release in the NA market.

Patton (1970)
The most feared general of Nazi Germany from the US, or so the movie claims. We now know this to be false but historical inaccuracies aside, this film holds up to the test of time and explores the man behind the impetuous but talented general in a rose-tinted biopic.

Flow (2024)
A cute story of society and survival featuring not just the internet’s favourite, a cat, but also includes a social media craze, the capybara. With Ne Zha 2 fresh on my mind, it might be unfair to compare its quality of animation as it only had 5% of its budget, but the animation was jarringly subpar at times as if it was an animated film from the 2000s. I do applaud the director’s choice in making it free of dialogue and keeping anthropomorphisizing to a minimum, the latter I would love to see more of.

Sri Asih (2022)
The second movie in Indonesia’s home-grown attempt at the MCU - DCEU as it’s essentially Wonder Woman? - is exactly as predictable and formulaic as you come to expect. Better than Wonder Woman 1984 at least.