2026 watch #136 - Song Sung Blue. Love films like this, I just wonder what it might look like if they didn’t have to strip these lovely characters of everything in the 2nd act Every. Single. Time. (Based on a true story but talk about Chekhov’s heart…) Kate Hudson Oscar nom makes sense now. #filmsky
2026 watch #135 - Sing Street (2016). A film like this doesn’t need killer original songs, but it has them anyway, which elevates this to Commitments levels of greatness. It’s like Elton meets Bernie Taupin, with every character being supremely talented from the beginning, but that’s okay! #filmsky
2026 watch #134 - The Odyssey. It’s big, it’s bold, it’s technically brilliant. I’m a crier at the movies, however, and aside from one small moment with the dog, this one left me cold. Can’t fault the craftsmanship, can fault the script. It’s a ⭐️⭐️⭐️ dad movie, I doubt it makes its money back #filmsky
2026 watch #133 - Boxcar Bertha (1972). Saw this early Scorsese described as stylish trash & that’s about right. For a Roger Corman production direction from Scorsese is good but this is no Bonnie & Clyde and Hershey’s character is puzzling. Corman asked for more sex & violence. He got it. #filmsky
2026 watch #132 - Angel’s Egg (1985). A dreamlike art movie with an incredible score, but so dreamlike I fell asleep and can’t really review this ponderous film with only two characters and very little dialogue. Great art, nice twist ending.
2026 watch #131 - Magnolia (1999). If Tarantino was the prince of pop culture and crime, Anderson brought the emotional trauma. Watching Magnolia again after so many years, I was surprised how much screen time Cruise gets, I always remembered him as a small cameo amongst the ensemble. #filmsky
2026 watch #130 - Miller’s Crossing (1990). Coen Brothers’ sublime ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ gangster noir couldn’t be more different from their previous Raising Arizona. Amazing star turns from John Turturro and Jon Polito, but the true star is the word perfect rat-a-tat dialogue. #filmsky
2026 watch #129 - Lee Cronin’s The Mummy (2026). Another horror director seeks out an actor with an unusual facial structure. The real horror will come from her life online past this point. Shades of The Exorcist and The Omen, but relies heavily on sound design and jump scares. #filmsky
2026 watch #128 - True Grit (2010). The Coen Bros. return to the source material rather than remake the John Wayne original, and Hailee Steinfeld is amazing in her breakout role as headstrong Mattie. Coens give this one a light comedy touch, and the chemistry of the three leads is perfect #filmsky
2026 watch #127 - The Furious (2025). Waiting on that franchise where bald guys hit each other. Enter Brian Le in a relentless kung fu fight film. It’s The Raid but with a pretty poor script, and the direction is bland. But the fight choreography makes up for other departments’ failings. #filmsky
2026 watch #126 - Starman (1984). There’s something missing from Carpenter’s Starman. Carpenter, perhaps. And budget. It needs the grandiosity of Close Encounters, or the heart of E.T. but it’s oddly lacking in both. Compelling leads, no doubt, but this rewatch diminished the film for me. #filmsky
2026 watch #125 - Little Brother (2026). One of those high concept comedies that tries so hard to be crude and sometimes gets there, but laugh out loud this taint 😁 John Cena is now a fully fledged comedy actor - that’s not a good thing - but everyone’s having fun in this algorithm comedy. #filmsky
2026 watch #124 - Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003). First watch, and this was a masterclass in visceral filmmaking, using full sets and little CGI that I could see. Peter Weir was an inspired choice: in the wrong hands this could have been another Pearl Harbor. #filmsky
2026 watch #123 - He Got Game (1998). Spike Lee’s signature styles peak, but Denzel Washington steals the show with a raw energy that keeps the whole movie feeling real. You don’t need to care one iota about baseball, you will care about Jesus and his father as they claw back a connection. #filmsky
2026 watch #122 - Cohen & Tate (1988). An overwrought score turns this decent two-hander (Roy Scheider and Adam Baldwin) from writer of The Hitcher into what feels like a TV movie but it’s much more than that. Come for Roy, stay for Adam reprising his meathead role from Full Metal Jacket. #filmsky
2026 watch #121 - Arco (2025). An Oscar contender so I should have known not to judge a movie by its poster. Inventive take on a utopian future - two in fact - with hints of Ghibli and The Jetsons. #filmsky
2026 watch #120 - Supergirl (2026). Alcock’s Supergirl is partying hard on a planet with a red sun so the alcohol can dull the pain of being alone in the universe. Poor fight choreography in an otherwise OK movie and a good way to avoid our own sun for a couple of hours in an AC universe. #filmsky
2026 watch #119 - The Sheep Detectives (2026). Sweet inoffensive family film, with odd casting choices and odd set dressing. It’s as if someone said it’s twee, it’s British, but let’s cover every quadrant, so let’s have some American accents and, um, some neon…?
2026 watch #118 - Disclosure Day (2026). Rewatch, and I was over-critical of the script the first time of watching. Second time, really listened and really liked it + acting is still superb, direction and camera tricks are second to none, even appreciated Wyatt Russell’s short screen time. #filmsky
David Hearn’s photo is art.
2026 watch #117 - Afternoons of Solitude (2025). Mesmerising documentary about bullfighting. If you can bear to watch someone who comes over as a cross between Kendall Roy and Patrick Bateman, trussed up and torturing bulls to death… then you’re in for a fascinating look behind the curtain. #filmsky
2026 watch #116 - Happy Together (1997). Wong Kar-wai ode to can’t live with ‘em, can’t live without ‘em as two lovers come to blows & make each other mad. Not my favourite of his films but damned if the melancholy and cover of The Turtles’ Happy Together didn’t have me wiping away a tear. #filmsky
2026 watch #115 - The Reckless Moment (1949). A protective mother suspects her daughter of a heinous crime and does all she can to protect her. For a 40’s crime noir this has a pretty dark ending. #filmsky
2026 watch #114 - Predator: Badlands (2025). Reminding us that the Alien and Predator universes are the same universe, but in a good way! It’s like an R-rated Star Wars movie, no expense spared on the special effects, and a funny script amongst all the creature carnage. #filmsky
2026 watch #113 - The Trip (2021). Remade this year as Over Your Dead Body with Samara Weaving and Jason Segel, who are both fine, but the original is darker, funnier, just better in every way. #filmsky