June 2023 Favorite Watches

That month I got Wick-ed on and discovered the seedy world of Fernando Di Leo

Top Ten Favorite Watches of the Month:

​​​A chimerical Spanish giallo gem that’s part psychosexual melodrama, part bloodthirsty proto-slasher.

​You can’t spell Classic Hollywood without Casablanca (don’t. Stop. I can see it in your eyes as you look at the letters. Don’t even you dare even think about even correcting me).

​​​Depressing, lifeless, essential. No filmmaker has ever confronted the existential void quite like Béla Tarr.

​​​Revived Keanu Reeves’s career post-Matrix and has essentially turned him into a living legend; created one of the most beloved action hero’s of the 21st century; and established one of the action genre’s most compelling franchise universes without getting into fantasy or sci-fi (not that it’s “realistic” by any means). Probably more of a landmark than it gets credit for.

​​The ending is still seared into my brain. Watch it as more of a bizarre, story-driven psychological mystery film than an outright horror film and you won’t be disappointed.

The pinnacle of the Wickverse for me. Just nonstop over-the-top bonkers nonsense stuffed with memorable idiosyncratic characters, notable quotables, stunning camerawork, and supremely innovative choreography.

Pulpy Italian swag + rabid leftist diatribes = an exceptional 70s exploitation flick that brilliantly captures the era’s zeitgeist while delivering schlocky yet highly stylized entertainment.

​​​It’s Not a Movie, It’s an Experience™️

The click was palpable while watching my first movie from revered Turkish arthouse filmmaker Nuri Bilge Ceylan, and he immediately became one of my top 25 favorite directors. His storytelling in both plot and form is magnificent.

Up there with Hellraiser (1987) as one of the biggest turnarounds in enjoyment I’ve ever experienced from first watch to second - going from “overrated: who cares” to “my god, this is a fucking masterpiece.” A visionary genre mood piece that’s every bit worthy of the densely atmospheric and dreamlike arthouse horror films from the 60s, 70s, and 80s that inspired it.