The Manchurian Candidate (2004) - Somehow I was always under the impression this was bad. Well, it’s not. Does what most remakes should do and takes the basic premise and tells a similar but still very different story. B
Sorry To Bother You (2018) - Hilarious, biting satire. Wish more movies had the confidence to just go for it like this. Recommended. B+
Torn Curtain (1966) - Not Hitchcock’s best spy film, but, you know, it’s still a Hitchcock spy film. B
Klute (1971) - Weird that it’s called “Klute” when Fonda is the real draw. A fascinating character study, with some great paranoid tension. B+
Sneakers (1992) - I don’t know why I’d never heard of this, and I wish I had. Really fun and inventive heist kind of film. B+
Jerry Maguire (1996) - As silly and cliche (and overquoted) it all is, it all works pretty well. B+
Cocktail (1988) - One of the dumber movies I’ve ever seen. Thankfully has some almost redeeming almost so-bad-it’s-good moments. D+
Way of the Gun (2000) - Feels sort of like a Coen brothers film… except without any of the wit or cinematic energy. Crazy how far McQuarrie has come. C
Mission: Impossible - Fallout (2018) - Pretty much the filmic equivalent of drop tower ride, even more impressive as that level of suspense is sustained for almost two and a half hours. Props to McQuarrie and Cruise, two filmmakers who seem to understand audience engagement more than most. A-
Blindspotting (2018) - As funny as it is harrowing - that is to say immensely, but never in an over-bearing way. A film that finds the comedy and the tragedy in (unfortunately) every day life. Well worth the watch. B+