I have a Bachelor of Arts in Computer Science and a Bachelor of Science in Radio-Television-Film.
I was raised on 3 films growing up as a young child from age 2 to 5:
- Beverly Hills Cop
- Flashpoint w/Kris Kristofferson, Treat Williams
- Terminator 2: Judgment Day
The films I watched many times over my formative years include, in no particular order in number of rewatches, how well made, nor how much I really enjoy them:
- The Matrix Trilogy
- Fight Club
- The Shawshank Redemption
- Pulp Fiction
- Reservoir Dogs
- Die Hard / Die Hard with a Vengeance
- Snatch
- Se7en
- Heat
- Swordfish
- Constantine
- Aliens
- Contact
- Man on Fire
- Inside Man
- Requiem for a Dream
- Blow
- Lost in Translation
- Lethal Weapon 2
- Escape from New York
- The Road Warrior
Today my tastes are more varied, while perhaps darker:
- Beyond the Black Rainbow
- Killing Them Softly
- Sicario
- Coherence
- Triangle
- Inception
- Interstellar
- Sunshine
- The Departed
- The Iceman
- Miss Sloane
- Den of Thieves (Unrated)
Sometimes films that leave a lasting impact on me can be NSFW:
But I do have a lighter side as well for films like:
- Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead
- His Girl Friday
- Kiss Kiss Bang Bang
- Burn After Reading
- Tucker and Dale vs Evil
- The Edge of Seventeen
- Big Fish
Some films I would have only seen thanks to my 13 years of attending the Austin Film Festival, 2 years of attendance at the Other World’s Austin Sci-fi Film Festival, 1 year of SXSW, and 3 Quentin Tarantino Film Festivals:
- Vanishing Point (US Cut)
- Links
- Polder
- Grindhouse
- No Men Beyond This Point
- Embers
- Youth
- Payback: Straight Up
- Mudbound
- Profile
- Labor Day
- Rolling Thunder
We can’t exclude television shows either since the Platinum Age of Television blends so closely with film now that some television shows play out like 12 hour films. In my top list of influential shows you can find:
- Breaking Bad
- Deadwood
- Peaky Blinders
- Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles
- Lie to Me
- Firefly
- Dexter (peaks at season 4, good enough seasons until season 6)
- House of Cards (at least the first few seasons, not sure where I stopped)
- House of Lies (at least the first few seasons, not sure where I stopped)
Now for more lighthearted television, I have enjoyed:
- Arrested Development
- The Office
- Brooklyn Nine-Nine
- Parks and Recreation
- The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
- Thick of It
- Veep
- Two and a Half Men (until Alan gets that hand puppet)
- The League (until Taco gets the van)
After the above list, non-inclusive of course, are films I rate an 8 or lower on IMDB. But the above give a pretty good idea of what films will be rated higher in this site.
My goal here is to list films you should most certainly watch. And sometimes act as a place for me to write about films that were worth mentioning, even if just as a warning.
I will always use my IMDb-equivalent ratings which I feel are a true measure of a films rating in almost all cases. I hope you pay particular attention to films I rate one or two full points above IMDb since these are films I feel are definitely worth watching.
I am 100% against spoilers, but will provide details to look out for before watching a film with a section included for post-watching that includes spoilers only as necessary to discuss specific points.
I’ll try to make special note of highly NSFW titles, but please never assume the titles sans a NSFW tag do not include NSFW elements or scenes. Instead view these tags as indicators for films that are too much for children and some audience members that are adverse to strong sexual elements.
If you ever have a special request for a film you’d like to see, don’t hesitate to reach out over text if you know how to reach me. Chances are if I’m going to recommend it, I will probably just create a new blog entry specifically for you. 🙂