A Month in Film: September 2025Jaws (1975)
Happy 50th anniversary to the original summer blockbuster! I don't have much to say beyond what's already been said at length, but it truly is a timeless piece of entertainment. Spielberg's ability to capture moviegoers' awe is generational, second to none. It's insane that he made this around my age.
Watched at Scotiabank Theatre Vancouver in IMAX. Had some time on Labour Day and figured why not. Heard that there were poster giveaways for this release, alas none were given out at this screening. I already saw it in IMAX almost three years ago to the day, on September 3rd 2022. I don't remember what the occasion was for that re-release, but as far as I can tell, there isn't anything new going on with this release, utilizing the same 4K restoration that was put out on blu-ray in 2020.
Watched at Scotiabank Theatre Vancouver in IMAX. Had some time on Labour Day and figured why not. Heard that there were poster giveaways for this release, alas none were given out at this screening. I already saw it in IMAX almost three years ago to the day, on September 3rd 2022. I don't remember what the occasion was for that re-release, but as far as I can tell, there isn't anything new going on with this release, utilizing the same 4K restoration that was put out on blu-ray in 2020.
All the President's Men (1976)
What struck me most here was knowing just as little as them. The audience is confined to a role of observation, watching helplessly as they attempt to piece it all together. You get the dizzying sense that everyone knew something was up, but no one knew quite sure what, and the feeling of paranoia and distrust lingers throughout every scene. Redford and Hoffman are fantastic here.
Watched on the Criterion Channel, new to the channel this month, alongside Klute and The Parallax View to form Alan J. Pakula’s "Paranoia" trilogy. I know my watchlist has hundreds of movies on it, but this one has always stuck out to me as one that I would get to sooner rather than later. It was great to see this arrive on the channel!
Watched on the Criterion Channel, new to the channel this month, alongside Klute and The Parallax View to form Alan J. Pakula’s "Paranoia" trilogy. I know my watchlist has hundreds of movies on it, but this one has always stuck out to me as one that I would get to sooner rather than later. It was great to see this arrive on the channel!
Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore (1974)
I appreciate what it does for most of the runtime, a woman fighting for independence in a male dominated world, but the ending kinda sours it for me. In a modern context, it feels frustrating — David slaps Alice's kid, and the movie doesn't really attempt to redeem him in a meaningful way before him and Alice get back together. Ellen Burstyn's performance as Alice is easily the best thing this movie has going for it.
Watched on the Criterion Channel, part of the Starring Jodie Foster series running this month. Her role is brief but memorable! This was one of a handful of Marty movies I had never gotten around to.
Watched on the Criterion Channel, part of the Starring Jodie Foster series running this month. Her role is brief but memorable! This was one of a handful of Marty movies I had never gotten around to.
Panic Room (2002)
Middle of the road Fincher, but he does manage to get a lot out of these close quarters — though I'm always going to gravitate more towards his works with greater scale and spectacle. Some of the CGI is a bit jarring, but I do appreciate the tactile and methodical approach here. It's quite the suspenseful environment, where every household item may have an unforeseen purpose. I didn't realize Jared Leto was in this, and when he suddenly appeared rocking cornrows... I would call that a jump-scare. Would make for great viewing on a rainy fall night.
Watched on the Criterion Channel. Double featured this alongside Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore to knock out two films I haven't seen from two of my favourite directors, both of which are included in the Starring Jodie Foster collection on the channel this month.
Watched on the Criterion Channel. Double featured this alongside Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore to knock out two films I haven't seen from two of my favourite directors, both of which are included in the Starring Jodie Foster collection on the channel this month.
Klute (1971)
In the context of Alan J. Pakula’s "Paranoia" trilogy, paranoia manifests itself here in a different way. It's not about government conspiracies, but more simply the sensation of being watched — surveillance in the form of private eyes, tapped phones, and figures lurking in the night. Jane Fonda is brilliant in this.
Watched on the Criterion Channel, rounding out the aforementioned "Paranoia" trilogy, after having watched All the President's Men a couple days before and The Parallax View a few years ago.
Watched on the Criterion Channel, rounding out the aforementioned "Paranoia" trilogy, after having watched All the President's Men a couple days before and The Parallax View a few years ago.
Ms .45 (1981)
An explosive dissection of dudes that like the sound of their own voice, made even more cathartic as the mute Thana quite literally shakes off these losers mid-sentence. Loved the nods to giallo, especially with the bright reds in the blood and lipstick, and the clear Carrie influence on the operatic finale.
Watched on the Criterion Channel, part of their Nunsploitation series, new to the channel this month.
Watched on the Criterion Channel, part of their Nunsploitation series, new to the channel this month.
Splitsville (2025)
Good enough to just pass the time. It's absolutely primarily a comedy, and lacks the emotional awareness that rom-coms at least usually try to touch on. So if you go into it knowing that, you'll mostly be unbothered by this and come away with a few laughs, but nothing monumentally memorable.
Watched at the International Village Cineplex. I still don't like going to this Cineplex, but so many releases lately have not been playing at Scotiabank Theatre Vancouver. Oh well, not too much longer until I will have many better options in Toronto.
Watched at the International Village Cineplex. I still don't like going to this Cineplex, but so many releases lately have not been playing at Scotiabank Theatre Vancouver. Oh well, not too much longer until I will have many better options in Toronto.
Pump Up the Volume (1990)
Quite the formidable teenage angst movie. Projecting an entire school's unrest as the voice of one anonymous, larger than life pirate radio DJ works really well. Sure, there are some far-fetched aspects to this — someone must have been able to figure out what Christian Slater's character was up to — but it doesn't take away from the fun. His basement shortwave radio setup is killer. Having his character spin so much Leonard Cohen was a great play from Canadian director Allan Moyle. The suburban teenage experience has been mythologized in pop culture, and this is a great example of it.
Watched on the Criterion Channel, part of their '90s Soundtrack Movies lineup.
Watched on the Criterion Channel, part of their '90s Soundtrack Movies lineup.
Kong: Skull Island (2017)
Inoffensive big-budget monster movie. Sometimes that's all you need to have a good time. Helps that the cast is great and don't appear to mailing it in. I appreciate that it didn't waste much time at all getting into the action, with the runtime clocking in at a pretty lean two hours. Kills were hilariously unceremonious, even if it did muddy up the tone of this thing, like a bastardized Apocalypse Now. Shea Whigham was great with the comedic relief. Very odd seeing Kevin from Brooklyn Nine-Nine make an appearance here.
Watched on Prime Video.
Watched on Prime Video.
The Long Walk (2025)
A different kind of guys being dudes movie. I haven't read the book, so I have no idea how it compares to the source material, but I think it does an okay job of poking at the Vietnam War subtext from the time, while also possessing an awareness aware of today's social climate. Brotherhood tested by institutional failure. I couldn't help but think of Death Race 2000 with the premise here, which I think I prefer more for its blatant satire — this one is a hell of a lot more serious.
Watched at Scotiabank Theatre Vancouver.
Watched at Scotiabank Theatre Vancouver.
War of the Worlds (2025)
Word of mouth, morbid curiosity, and an Amazon Prime subscription are a dangerous combination... it has led me to what is easily one of the worst movies I've ever seen. This is The Room territory. I can easily see theatres full of people reciting this thing word for word years from now — mind you, that's not the kind of thing I fancy. Product placement galore, with such a strange attention to detail in that aspect that it will end up being an accurate reference point for the look and feel of the digital world a lot of us live in these days. And I have to imagine that's the last thing a lot of us will want to remember about the times we currently find ourselves in.
Watched, of course, on Prime Video.
Watched, of course, on Prime Video.
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)
A lot like The Wild Bunch in that it comes across as a swan song for the prototypical western. Elegiac and humours musings give it a New Hollywood sheen, updating the beloved western to openly acknowledge the rapidly fading dominance of the genre. By featuring two of the most popular actors of the time, neither of whom are retrospectively associated with westerns, this sentiment is only deepened. It's frequently beautiful, with gorgeously lush mountain vistas, situating itself somewhere in between the sun-drenched heat of a High Plains Drifter and the dense fog of a McCabe & Mrs. Miller.
Rented on Apple TV. RIP Robert Redford. It felt appropriate to check out one of his most iconic films that has been parked on my watchlist for a while. Funnily enough, I checked out All The President's Men a couple weeks ago. He was such a natural performer, bringing a calm and cool presence to the screen.
Rented on Apple TV. RIP Robert Redford. It felt appropriate to check out one of his most iconic films that has been parked on my watchlist for a while. Funnily enough, I checked out All The President's Men a couple weeks ago. He was such a natural performer, bringing a calm and cool presence to the screen.
Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai (1999)
This works well as an homage to a lot of things. Not just the obvious one in Le Samouraï, but also hyper-stylized Hong Kong action films from the likes of John Woo, and mafia crime dramas from a number of American directors throughout the '80s and '90s. It does feel like a sum of the parts from these influences, but the result is still memorable in its own way, primarily as a meditation on hanging on to a code that your world has left behind.
Watched on the Criterion Channel, part of their '90s Soundtrack Movies series.
Watched on the Criterion Channel, part of their '90s Soundtrack Movies series.
HIM (2025)
Combining sports with horror had me intrigued going into this, but this was way too far up its own ass to have any staying power. Good thing it was short though.
Watched at Scotiabank Theatre Vancouver in AVX. I was pretty much just here to pass the time while my apartment was being shown, and I've been under the weather, so I will gladly admit I did nod off during this one. Reading up about it now, I believe I missed the whole blood transfusion bit after the random fan attack, and came to during the one-on-one fight. Perhaps I am judging it too harshly, but I doubt I missed much that could have redeemed it.
Watched at Scotiabank Theatre Vancouver in AVX. I was pretty much just here to pass the time while my apartment was being shown, and I've been under the weather, so I will gladly admit I did nod off during this one. Reading up about it now, I believe I missed the whole blood transfusion bit after the random fan attack, and came to during the one-on-one fight. Perhaps I am judging it too harshly, but I doubt I missed much that could have redeemed it.
Contagion (2011)
Steven Soderbergh simply makes entertaining movies. And it seems like everyone wants to get in on it, based on the star-studded ensemble cast he assembled for this one and on his many other movies. I'm glad I didn't watch this when everyone else was during the pandemic — I think it would've freaked me out back then. It's fascinating to compare and contrast what happened here and what materialized in real life. It doesn't exaggerate the situation for shock value, staying acutely methodical in its approach.
Watched on Prime Video.
Watched on Prime Video.
Guy Ritchie's The Covenant (2023)
I liked how it flipped between the two leads, obviously out of necessity due to the story, but it's still neat. Always a bonus when a war film is shot coherently like this one is, but there were moments where the unnecessarily dramatic score was taking me out of it. Jake Gyllenhaal's effort level here varies, but his presence still elevates this thing.
Watched on Prime Video.
Watched on Prime Video.
The Smashing Machine (2025)
It hits all the notes of a typical biopic, but has a scrappy energy to it that really sets it apart from the field. Like we're not rooting for a larger than life, impossibly perfect individual. It's a glimpse of a man, often flawed, humbly navigating the sport and all the personal baggage that comes with it. The execution here evokes classic Hollywood, with bold needle drops and a sublimely filmic finish. And honestly, I'm all in on the Dwayne Johnson Oscar campaign. To see him here, makeup seamlessly enabling his masquerade as Mark Kerr, is such a welcome development from his standard lowest common denominator endeavours. Such a revelation.
Watched at an advanced IMAX screening at Scotiabank Theatre Vancouver. Thrilled I got a chance to see it in IMAX, since I'm not sure how much of a theatrical IMAX run it will get, with One Battle After Another and TRON: Ares filling up the calendar for the next couple weeks.
Watched at an advanced IMAX screening at Scotiabank Theatre Vancouver. Thrilled I got a chance to see it in IMAX, since I'm not sure how much of a theatrical IMAX run it will get, with One Battle After Another and TRON: Ares filling up the calendar for the next couple weeks.
Winter Kills (1979)
This is an odd one. I blindly threw it on, and while it becomes apparent pretty quick that it's a satirical black comedy, it just doesn't seem to own its identity. It's a hodgepodge of things, some great, like the eye in the sky surveillance operation with Anthony Perkins' character, and some just plain weird, like the tank bit with Sterling Hayden's character. I suppose it's a time capsule of sorts, with a fascinating list of prominent names contributing here — cinematrography from Vilmos Zsigmond (Days of Heaven, Blow Out), composition from Maurice Jarre (Lawrence of Arabia), and of course the aforementioned Perkins and Hayden appearing alongside Jeff Bridges in an early role.
Watched on the Criterion Channel, part of their '70s thrillers series. Strange fit in that series, but you could say it balances out the serious tone found throughout the rest of the series, with films like All The President's Men and Sorcerer, among others.
Watched on the Criterion Channel, part of their '70s thrillers series. Strange fit in that series, but you could say it balances out the serious tone found throughout the rest of the series, with films like All The President's Men and Sorcerer, among others.
One Battle After Another (2025)
I'm seeing this again tomorrow, so I will let it digest through to a second watch before saying more, but my immediate reaction is that the overwhelmingly positive reaction is deserving. Not as masterful or moving as PTA's finest films, but it's certainly a crowd-pleaser. An offering that has something for everyone. It's frequently hilarious and naturally timely.
Watched at the Park Theatre in 70mm!
Watched at the Park Theatre in 70mm!
One Battle After Another (2025)
Reporting back in after my second watch. It's still fantastic! I would honestly call it incomparable, in the sense that it really is doing its own thing. I normally get a kick out of tracing inspirations when I watch a film, but I can't think of any here. It's a modern epic, one that works so well in this day and age, and probably couldn't even exist in another era. The lead performances from Leonardo DiCaprio, Sean Penn, and Chase Infiniti are all outstanding. And it looks great — I'm all for this recent comeback of VistaVision. The car chase sequence over the rolling hills of California will stick with anyone who watches this. What's holding me back from a full five-star rating here is that I know PTA has moved me more in the past. I get that it probably isn't seeking to move audiences, but it's hard to shake that expectation. It's also hard for me to gauge a movie that is very much of our present time, a very sensitive time I might add, as if I need a retrospective look at it to really be confident in its legacy. I felt the same way with Mickey 17 and Eddington earlier this year, but One Battle After Another easily has the highest quality of the three and will likely age better.
Watched at Scotiabank Theatre Vancouver, this time in IMAX. Of course I'm a bit miffed that Vancouver didn't get the 70mm IMAX treatment, but that soon won't be a problem for me at least! Toronto is in my sights.
Watched at Scotiabank Theatre Vancouver, this time in IMAX. Of course I'm a bit miffed that Vancouver didn't get the 70mm IMAX treatment, but that soon won't be a problem for me at least! Toronto is in my sights.
Grosse Pointe Blank (1997)
Pretty run-of-the-mill '90s movie. It's fascinating seeing the characters' reactions to hitting the tenth anniversary of their high school graduation, a lot of them lamenting what they haven't accomplished. It occurred to me that the tenth anniversary of my own high school graduation will be next year, and while I have no clue if there will be a reunion, I have a hunch that the grand sentiment would be much different — lots of people still figuring things out, and not many feeling shame for what they haven't done. Because simply put, my generation has not had the same opportunities that Gen X had, and many of us don't really feel rushed to meet these prototypical adult milestones, whether it be marriage, having children, or home ownership. So yeah, it does make this one hard to relate to, but it's a cool time capsule, particularly as a look back on '80s music only ten years removed from the decade. Shoutout to The Cure and Echo & the Bunnymen.
Watched on the Criterion Channel, part of their '90s Soundtrack Movies series.
Watched on the Criterion Channel, part of their '90s Soundtrack Movies series.
Hard Boiled (1992)
I really do need to watch more of John Woo's Hong Kong efforts, but it's hard to imagine him topping this one. It's a tour de force in action filmmaking. The heightened sense of melodrama — I mean, we open on a guy wailing away on a clarinet in a cozy little jazz bar — makes every slow-mo that much more grandiose. A space where motorbike jumps and deaths by a thousand bullets come together, forming an unforgettably operatic symphony of violence.
Watched at the Cinematheque in Vancouver, part of their Once Upon a Time in Hong Kong programming. This was likely my last time visiting the Cinematheque, with VIFF filling up my schedule until I move back to Ontario in mid October. The Cinematheque has absolutely been a highlight of my short time in Vancouver; a welcome escape from daily life with their thoughtfully curated programming. What they offer truly is special in the landscape of film exhibitors across Canada. I will miss them, but I hope Vancouver continues to support what they do!
Watched at the Cinematheque in Vancouver, part of their Once Upon a Time in Hong Kong programming. This was likely my last time visiting the Cinematheque, with VIFF filling up my schedule until I move back to Ontario in mid October. The Cinematheque has absolutely been a highlight of my short time in Vancouver; a welcome escape from daily life with their thoughtfully curated programming. What they offer truly is special in the landscape of film exhibitors across Canada. I will miss them, but I hope Vancouver continues to support what they do!
Singles (1992)
I've said it before, but Cameron Crowe's films scream "look at me, I have great taste!". I do appreciate the cameos — Paul Giamatti, Tim Burton, and Xavier McDaniel nailing their own opportunities to steal the screen for a couple moments. The references are great too, with Sub Pop making an appearance on a t-shirt, and a Kingdome name-drop in conversation. But the execution here is a bit odd. I can't really picture these characters actually attending an Alice in Chains show in SoDo. I chuckled when Steve and Linda reunited and both shared that they had been working a lot... because that's exactly how I would imagine these characters spending their free time. The Seattle/PNW vibes here are awesome though!
Watched on the Criterion Channel, another entry in their '90s Soundtrack Movies programming. Unintentionally, this was a perfect watch for a rainy night in Vancouver — not Seattle, but close enough. Glad I watched it before I move!
Watched on the Criterion Channel, another entry in their '90s Soundtrack Movies programming. Unintentionally, this was a perfect watch for a rainy night in Vancouver — not Seattle, but close enough. Glad I watched it before I move!
