Letterboxd — Your life in film

The middle step between 2001 and Interstellar. THE James Cameron movie, both in that it's one of the great cinematic technical achievements, and as poignant a film about love and connection as any. Completely overwhelming in all the best ways. Love as a lone candle in a cold, infinite darkness. There will always be more powerful things in this world than us.

A movie about how what people hold deep down makes it impossible to truly understand them, and sometimes even harder to know yourself. Every line tops the last in this thrilling melodrama highwire act, and it only helps that it sports some of the best performances and craft of the year.

The feelings this brings about are impossible for me to put words to, but this is a movie I'll never be able to shake. My favorite actor teams up with one of my favorite writer-directors for an insane genre-bender, and it's perhaps the most unbelievable movie I've ever seen. Maybe there's a few too many genres, or a few too many ideas, but Crowe's trademark sentimentality brings it all together in a way more stirringly ethereal than I ever thought possible. Every passing minute is another chance to turn it all around.

That HALO jump sequence remains one of the most staggering action set-pieces of all time. The crown jewel in one of the great blockbusters of the last few decades.

Cute! At its best when it's focused on family and community, and the rest is harmlessly forgettable superhero material. Heartwarming and fun.

Very very cool. A little clunky, but when it looks, sounds, flows, and executes its points this well, who cares? Deeply intriguing set-up leads to sickening despair, which leads to a grand release of blood and fire. A lightning-quick two hours full of fascinating captivating and sturdy emotion. Really great.

The hero of old is reborn for a new world. Warfare, ideology, masculinity, all evolving in real time. Fascinating film, and just a total knockout of a historical epic. Appropriately grand, with so much astonishing craft on display. Those battle sequences especially, where you're fully immersed in the sheer insanity of these old naval battles. Sweeping, thrilling, and really captivating when you start peeling back the layers. A total treat.

At 100 minutes, this is a total knockout. Full of lovely design, staggering technical craft, and stellar performances, this ghoulish midnight mystery is something I could get lost in to no end. But it's the lingering sadness that truly sets this apart. The moody atmosphere and wonderfully spooky twists bring out a real bleakness to this. The big line towards the end is a real crusher. Everyone's haunted by something. Special movie. Everything I wanted and more.

What a treat! Spielberg's signature brand of image-making meets funhouse horror, and the result is a total delight of big freight and bigger emotions. A movie about family at its core, where familial connections stretch beyond the physical. Everybody is scared, everybody is desperate, all we have is each other. Full of stunning images and captivating atmosphere, with a nonstop flow of delightful horror beats and a handful of wonderful scares. 'My thing' at every turn. Innocence ends in an otherworldly flash of light, or perhaps just a flicker of TV static.

Unbelievable. A high melodrama epic of darkness and desire. Spooky, lustful, just absolutely insane from start to finish. The greatest in-camera FX in the history of movies, with perhaps the most innovative, captivating visuals of all time to go along with them. This lost me a few times, and to be honest, I think it's because I was in such awe that it actually exists.