I continue to be surprised by the seemingly durable critical appreciation of Megalopolis. That movie was as hot a mess as I have seen in recent years.

I knew in advance it was getting very polarized reviews, but saw it nonetheless, giving Coppola's the benefit of the doubt. It's definitely two plus hours I'd like to have back.

Such a wonderfully edited video.

Don't go out of your way to see The Brutalist. We went yesterday to get our minds off the inauguration. Bad choice. Reminded me of a friend who went to the movies to get over a break up. Unfortunately, his buddy took him to see Apocalypse Now.

Jason, I'm sorry your theaters closed. I was impressed that so many of your media diet movies were seen "in person" in 2024. Despite my local theater having fewer but fancy, fully reclinable seats, I feel uncomfortable there. As if I'm watching from my couch but strangers are in my living room. Can’t believe I’m going to say this but … maybe it was better when we all sat shoulder to shoulder and got cricks in our necks?

Nickel Boys was a slog in the theaters. Love his books, and this is probably my #1, but it was disorienting. I really liked the approach to telling the story, but I'm not sure it worked for a 2 hour film. Maybe it's better at home where you can walk away for a few minutes.

After many (many) viewings of Ehrlich's videos, I think they work best if the viewer is already super into the past year's films-- lots of reading reviews from Cannes and Sundance, following critics, perusing lists, etc. Not necessarily having seen them all, but able to pick out who's in what and what the plot and the buzz is, which takes a certain kind of moviegoer, one who's willing to kind of spoil themself a bit before seeing a film. If you don't know anything about any of it, film isn't really your thing, then Ehrlich's introduction each year is about as far as you should watch, until you've seen a few (half? more? all?) of the films.

A significant part of the pleasure in his videos comes from understanding how the musical choices match the theme of the films, and catching which moments Ehrlich chooses to feature in his little vignette for each film (he often flashes one crucial scene that doesn't resonate without context), and maybe even knowing in advance how Ehrlich thinks/feels about the films. I'm finding the videos are better *after* I've seen the films. I certainly wouldn't have felt the absolute elation I felt during the Substance section if I hadn't seen The Substance.

That said, these are always (always) my favorite ritual of the new year. Like a second Christmas when they drop. And he's absolutely pushing himself to new heights every year-- the conversation between films that threaded through this one, culminating in the Saoirse-conducting-the-sea montage, is an evolution.

Am I the only one that doesn't like the 'Mad Max' movies?
Both the original and Furiosa come up in the top 3 - if not the top spot - of many lists from people I respect and whose taste generally aligns with mine, but those 2 movies do absolutely nothing for me.