Author: Michael Thomas

Ranking the Christopher Nolan Films

“Don’t try to understand it. Feel it.”

Christopher Nolan is a fascinating director. He is perhaps best understood by comparing his first film (Following) and his most recent film, at the time of original publication (Tenet). Both films best capture what he seems to value most in movies: mood & atmosphere. He is not a plot-detailed oriented director. At least, there is little to no evidence to suggest he values that. He cares about the feeling watching a movie gives you. The story of his films is the pull between that desire to pursue focusing on a film’s vibes and Hollywood conventions that focus more on plot and traditional means of characterization. The results have been mixed to say the least but rarely boring. Continue reading Ranking the Christopher Nolan Films

Ranking the Evil Dead Films

Evil Dead is a really good explanation of what makes movies fun and interesting (talented artists with a stylistic/thematic POV) and what makes them demoralizing (Corporate IP Slop). You can basically figure out which of the movies are good based on how each of them got made. Here is how I rank them.

Continue reading Ranking the Evil Dead Films

Ranking the Indiana Jones Films

The Reel World’s Indiana Jones “Content”
Make sure to listen to our site’s podcast episode on Raiders of the Lost Ark.
8 Thoughts on the Harrison Ford Episode of The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles
The 7 Worst Parts of Indiana Jones & the Crystal Skull
Ranking the Indiana Jones Films

The Indiana Jones film series was never one I gravitated towards much as a child (especially in comparison to my beloved Star Wars).

As such, I do not have a lot of feelings of nostalgia tied up with them. Nevertheless, revisiting them as an old has been interesting and satisfying.

Harrison Ford is obviously one of the greatest and most compelling movie stars of all time, and George Lucas is utterly fascinating as a larger than life cinema entity. (Spielberg is Spielberg.) Here is how I rank the films. Continue reading Ranking the Indiana Jones Films

Ranking the Jason Bourne Films

The Jason Bourne series is one of those things that had a mostly bad influence on lots of other movies and mostly was a good example of how a series of films could suffer from diminishing returns as it kept going. But I will always have a deep fondness for this series overall and for a few of the films in particular. It was one of the best showcases for Matt Damon as a star.

 

Continue reading Ranking the Jason Bourne Films

Ranking the Warren Beatty Films

Warren Beatty is one of the most fascinating  stars in the history of Hollywood. I have found him to be as compelling as any major movie star that has ever existed and always grateful to get opportunities to explore him deeper and see new layers to his work in front of and behind the camera.

This 2022 interview response by Beatty was so illuminating for understanding the conflict and tension in all Beatty movies. Beatty is the ultimate narcissist who desperately wants to conceal his own narcissism. He is embarrassed by how essential narcissism is to being a genuine Hollywood star. Everything Beatty touches becomes worth examining because of this dynamic especially when he is firmly the actual director of his movies. And it has led to some truly great works of art.

But first. His one unforgivably bad film.

Continue reading Ranking the Warren Beatty Films

Ranking the Ted Lasso Seasons

As I have probably mentioned a few times (if you are a semi-frequent reader or listener of the website), I am an English teacher in the Bronx. My students have to pass a series of state exams in order to graduate from high school. One of them is an English Language Arts exam which contains an essay prompt that asks them to analyze the “central idea” of a text. To the state of New York, “central idea” is the life lesson of a text. It is a childlike way of approaching art.

I say all of this to say that this is what I think of when I think of Ted Lasso. Not only could one easily analyze the “central idea” this show’s episodes, I would say that it almost feels like this show’s purpose IS to give life lessons. It feels like an after-school special that is seeking to spoon-feed ADULTS lessons about the right way to live their lives. Listen, we all need to turn our brains off sometimes and watch some crap. What does it say though that this particular piece of crap because such a hit and awards powerhouse? (Nothing good.) And are there glimpses of something better throughout? (Not really.)

Continue reading Ranking the Ted Lasso Seasons

Ranking the xXx Films

xXx has taken an unlikely path towards franchisedom. Or maybe it would be more accurate to say that the franchise ended up in a radically different location than planned.

The series started in a downswing period for the James Bond franchise, and it seemed like someone wondered, “What if we made an American James Bond and combined him with the X-Games?” and then boom: new franchise.

They even found the perfect lead: Vin Diesel, fresh off the first Fast and Furious film. The only problem was, much like the sequel to Fast and Furious, Diesel refused to make it over script issues that they would not change on his behalf. Again like the Fast franchise, the studio eventually came back to Diesel when they knew it was better off with him and gave him much power over what happens on screen.

As a result, we have an endlessly uneven but sincerely fascinating in-progress franchise centered around one of the handful of new Hollywood stars from the 21st century.

Continue reading Ranking the xXx Films