Films and Shows I'm Thankful For in 2025

In 2020, I started a Thanksgiving tradition of creating a list of twelve films or shows I was most thankful to have discovered, rediscovered, reappraised, or otherwise gained a greater appreciation for since the previous Thanksgiving. (Click here to see the previous lists.) Here are my picks for 2025. I’m thankful for …

The Acolyte (a greater appreciation): I didn’t include this on my Thanksgiving list last year because my initial reaction to it was more measured, but watching this Star Wars show a second time convinced me it’s one of the most rich and complex Star Wars projects of the post-Lucas era. It shares a lot of DNA with The Phantom Menace and The Last Jedi. That statement will scare many people away, but coming from me it’s a big compliment. Tim Lawrence and I have each written a number of Jedi Archives posts on The Acolyte here.

Fiddler on the Roof (a [re]discovery): I saw the musical on stage in middle school and I played percussion in the orchestra for a high school production. Since then, Fiddler has always been on my shortlist of favorite musicals, but this was my first time watching the 1971 film version. I enjoyed its New Hollywood sensibility: compared to some classic musicals, it hardly ever feels stuffy or stagey thanks to the rapid montages, the mobile camera, and shooting on-location.

Hugo (a reappraisal): When I last saw this over a decade ago, I would have said it was big on style and short on substance and that it lacks focus from trying to tell two different stories at once. When I watched it again this past year, what seemed like disparate parts clicked together for me, and I was deeply moved by the conclusion. I also noticed a lot of funny similarities to one of my all-time favorite films, The Terminal. 

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (a discovery): I was not expecting the second-best Jurassic Park film to be one of the Jurassic World legacy sequels no one asked for, but I was sold on the idea of the second half of this film: what if, instead of being another “escape the jungle island” story, this pivoted in the second act to become an “escape the Gothic mansion” story? If that isn’t enough to pique your interest, consider this: This is probably the closest we will ever get to seeing a cinematic adaptation C. S. Lewis’s That Hideous Strength.

Matilda (a rediscovery): I loved this film as a kid, but what I did not notice about it at the time is just how accomplished and artful Danny DeVito’s direction is. Matilda can very nearly stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Mary Poppins, Hugo, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, and Babe in the canon of sophisticated family-friendly cinema that is not animation. 

Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning (a discovery): As a big fan of the Christopher McQuarrie era of Mission: Impossible (Rogue Nation, Fallout, and Dead Reckoning are among the greatest action movies I’ve seen), I was sadly let down by this, what is supposed to be Ethan Hunt’s last hurrah. I talked about why in a Notebook post this summer. But I’m still thankful for this film as a celebration of a particular kind of blockbuster filmmaking that we may see less and less of in the coming years. 

A Raisin in the Sun (a discovery/greater appreciation): Since last Thanksgiving, I have taught the play three times, and each time my love and admiration for it has grown. Although there are things I don’t like about the film adaptation that Lorraine Hansberry herself helped make, watching it one year ago helped the play click for me in a way it hadn’t when I studied it in high school and then again in grad school. Poitier’s performance here might be one of the all-time greats.    

The Rescuers Down Under (a rediscovery): The film as a whole has significant weaknesses, but the grandiose opening scenes always captivated me as a child, and watching them again this year was exciting. If you like Disney’s later epic adventure movies (Atlantis, Treasure Planet), you’ll probably enjoy this one, too.

Skeleton Crew (a discovery): As a fan of Star Wars and various Disney projects about pirates (Peter Pan and Swiss Family Robinson as a kid, the Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy, and especially Treasure Planet, of which this is virtually a remake), of course I had a lot of fun with this. I've written a few Jedi Archives posts about this show, and Tim Lawrence has written a bunch.  

Temple Grandin (a discovery): I think the way this movie simulates the experience of sensory overload has helped me to better understand and sympathize with those who struggle to navigate the modern world’s audio-visual noise, frenetic pace, and inflexible expectations. 

Tron: Ares (a discovery): This past month I finally watched Tron and Tron: Legacy in preparation to see the third film in this odd little franchise. The first film only mildly intrigued me and the second film impressed me, but watching Ares on the big screen thrilled me—even more, oddly enough, than watching The Final Reckoning. (P.S.: This would make for a good double feature with Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom if your theme is: Severely Underrated Legacy Sequels That Pivot Genres and Have Affinities with C. S. Lewis’s Abolition of Man/That Hideous Strength.)

The Wonderful World of Henry Sugar and Three More (a discovery): Another Roald Dahl adaptation on this list, from the filmmaker behind my favorite Dahl-inspired movie, Fantastic Mr. Fox. Wes Anderson has a highly specific style that many find off-putting and contrived. I sympathize, which is why I was glad to find another film of his that I could get into. I’m fascinated by this film because it is a short-story cycle (the genre that is the focus of my dissertation), and because each story, in both content and form, is about concentration and attentiveness. 

Honorable Mention: Andor Season 2 is very good—better overall than The Acolyte and Skeleton Crew—but I liked Season 1 more; my list has two Star Wars shows on it already; and I didn’t want the less popular shows to go without a good word amidst all the accolades for Andor.

FilmFisher Undefended Lists of 2019

While writing for FilmFisher regularly a few years back, I contributed to a monthly feature called “Undefended,” where each writer submitted a top-five list based on a themed prompt. As you can see below, I really got into making these. With the recent relaunch of FilmFisher and its migration to Substack, I thought it would be nice to revisit my Undefended lists and put them all in one place. Here are the ones I created in 2019. Click on the list titles to see the original articles with the other contributors’ lists.

P.S.: Spider-Man and other Marvel projects, and Westerns by the Coen Brothers and others, make multiple appearances on these lists.

Best of 2018 (January 2019)

1. Best Picture: Mission: Impossible – Fallout

2. Best Director: Bob Persichetti Jr., Peter Ramsey, and Rodney Rothman, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

3. Best Actor: Josh Brolin, Avengers: Infinity War

4. Best Actress: Zoe Kazan, The Ballad of Buster Scruggs

5. Best Screenplay: Ethan and Joel Coen, The Ballad of Buster Scruggs

Marriage (February 2019)

Conventional wisdom would say that most movies either end with the euphoric beginning of a marriage or begin with its bitter end. I wanted to challenge that narrative by highlighting some movies that portray marriages in the middle that are healthy and instructive:

1. William Powell and Myrna Loy’s legendary chemistry would make any of the six Thin Man films worth watching, but the third one, Another Thin Man (1939), has this added bonus: it lifts a scene right out of Chesterton’s Manalive (probably accidentally). One of the ways Nick and Nora Charles stay in love is by pretending they’ve never met before.

2. In It’s a Wonderful Life (1946), George Bailey (James Stewart) discovers that his marriage to Mary Hatch (Donna Reed), far from distracting him from his sense of mission and vocation, is actually one of the key reasons he is able to do real good in the world. [To a lesser extent—but I’d hate to leave it out—the same idea is at play in 2006’s Amazing Grace. In it William Wilberforce (Ioan Gruffud) regains his resolve to fight the slave trade (and recovers his singing voice, literally at the altar) when he marries Barbara Spooner (Romola Garai). After the wedding, however, the marriage subplot largely recedes into the background, hence the bracketing of this example.]

3. In A Beautiful Mind (2001), the courtship of John and Alicia Nash (Russell Crowe and Jennifer Connelly) is sparked by the volatile fuel of eros, but through adversity their marriage matures and is sustained by agape.

4. In The New World (2005), John Rolfe (Christian Bale) marries Pocahontas (Q’orianka Kilcher), even though she is still in love with Captain Smith (Colin Farrell). When Smith reappears, their commitment to each other is tested and confirmed. Ultimately it is death and not another lover that severs their bond, all too soon – yet neither of them parts with any regrets.

5. Tie: In Disney movies it is hard to find a functional nuclear family, and in superhero movies the heroes rarely ever get married or have kids. But in The Emperor’s New Groove (2000) and Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015), the marriages and households of Pacha and Chicha (John Goodman and Wendie Malick) and Clint and Laura Barton (Jeremy Renner and Linda Cardellini) serve as oases of stability and joy in the midst of worlds turned upside down by self-love and self-reliance. (Surely it isn’t a coincidence that Tony Stark is a less over-the-top version of Kuzco, or that both families live in the countryside, have two young kids (a boy and a girl), and are expecting a third.)

Double Features (March 2019)

I have ordered my choices by the time gap between the films’ releases, from the shortest to the longest.

1. Ratatouille (2007) and The Wind Rises (2013) — 6 years: Legendary auteurs in animation meditate on the meaning and value of the creative life by telling the stories of craftsmen who work in non-artistic mediums. (Fun Fact: Both craftsmen are coached by imaginary personifications of their European-accented idols.)

2. A Civil Action (1998) and Amazing Grace (2006) — 8 years: A life spent and a career risked showing mercy and seeking justice can never, in the grand scheme of things, be considered wasted. (Consider this: Amazing Grace is one of the best films about Christians ever made, but the people most responsible for its excellence are probably not Christians. And A Civil Action arguably has a more compelling conversion story or moment than any movie by or about Christians.)

3. Citizen Kane (1941) and Lawrence of Arabia (1962) — 21 years: Somehow two of the most towering achievements in the history of cinema are also two of cinema’s most terrifying indictments of the hollowness of human greatness. Life is hell when we try to be our own gods, let alone the gods of others.

4. Triple Feature (I had to break the rules somewhere): The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (1977), My Neighbor Totoro (1988), and Where the Wild Things Are (2009) — 32 years: Our imaginary friends are among our earliest teachers. They helped us know ourselves, understand our worlds, cope with our earliest traumas, and ultimately grow up. Perhaps our imaginary friends also taught us to love our real ones, and prepared us to seek after the friend who, though invisible, is more real than anything we see.

5. It’s a Wonderful Life (1946) and The Truman Show (1998) — 52 years: While we pursue the American Dream of comfort and respect, what we really need is to be a part of a genuine, interdependent community, and to know the God who is both sovereign and good.

Heroes (April 2019)

5. Tie: Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (2011-2019) and Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) in the Mission: Impossible franchise (1996-2018—minus M:I:2). Two mythic American boy scouts who sacrifice their personal lives for the sake of what they hope is the greater good. Two men who, in their commitment to protecting the little guy, often find themselves at odds with the institutions that enlisted them for that very purpose. “I’m with you till the end of the line.”

4. Frodo, Sam, Pippin, Merry, Éowyn, Théoden, Faramir, and Aragorn (to name a few) in The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003). Although I could have listed the entire trilogy, Return of the King particularly strikes me as a film about a host of heroes. “My friends: you bow to no one.”

3. Neville, Lupin, the Weasleys, and Snape (and many others) in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part II (2011). Same principle as with #4. It’s no accident I failed to put Harry on the list. It’s not that Harry isn’t heroic, but what is significant about his story is just how many people are willing to lay down their lives to help him, and how he would have utterly failed if they hadn’t. “I’m sorry. I never wanted any of you to die for me.” “Others will tell [my son] what his mother and father died for. One day, he’ll understand.”

2. The farmers and the gunslingers in The Magnificent Seven (1960). One of the gunslingers, Bernardo O’Reilly (Charles Bronson), insists he is not a hero and points to a deeper, truer version of heroism. But even he becomes a true hero in the end. “Responsibility is like a big rock that weighs a ton. It bends and it twists [your fathers] until finally it buries them under the ground. And there’s nobody says they have to do this. They do it because they love you, and because they want to. I have never had this kind of courage.”

1. Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire) in the Spider-Man Trilogy (2002-2007). It’s not just predictable, it’s almost mandatory. I can’t think of any other film or franchise, superhero-based or otherwise, that deals with heroism so directly or profoundly. “With great power, comes great responsibility.”

Honorable Mention: The multiple Spider-Folk of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018).

Summer Break Movies (June 2019)

1. High Noon (Fred Zimmermann, 1952) – Before Star Wars and superheroes, Westerns were the genre of summer. As in 12 Angry Men, it is also a blazing hot summer day, but here Gary Cooper fails to convince even one person to take his side. Figuring out why that is the case would make for a fantastic post-movie discussion.

2. The Dark Knight (Christopher Nolan, 2008) – The epitome of the brainy blockbuster that doesn’t skimp on thrills or on thoughtfulness. It is also a great present-day follow-up to High Noon. Make it a double feature.

3. Treasure Planet (Ron Clements and John Musker, 2003) – I associate the summers of my youth with reading adventure novels, watching epic films, traveling, and growing up. Treasure Planet takes all these things and melds them into a near-perfect package. (Ironically, the film was released in November – but that might help explain why it flopped at the box office.)

4. The Sandlot (David Mickey Evans, 1993) – This list would be incomplete without at least one baseball movie, and Sandlot is about what summer means to us when we are growing up. But if you are looking for a baseball film that is more substantial (and less given to juvenile humor), Field of Dreams or Moneyball would also do.

5. Jaws (Steven Spielberg, 1975) – The earliest definitive summer blockbuster, and still one of the best.

The Best Trailers of the Decade (July 2019)

1. Trailer, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012). The Hobbit films went from being disappointing to being outright terrible, but this trailer is still a perfect encapsulation and wistful reminder of all that they could have been. Note to directors: If you can have your composer score your trailer and introduce the leitmotifs of the film, do it.

2. Trailer #1, Foxcatcher (2014). Steve Carell is terrifying.

3. Trailer, Logan (2017). I haven’t even seen this movie, but this trailer is incredible. This is how you use a song to structure your trailer and give it an emotional arc.

4. Trailer, Avengers: Endgame (2019). Sure, much of the trailer is fairly generic, but it opens and ends so well, and Marvel should be credited for how the trailer is 100% emotion and 0% plot. Thanos demanded silence, and he got it.

5. Teaser, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (2019). When you start with a scene that riffs on Wild West showdowns and North by Northwest, use the same tagline as The Phantom Menace teaser, and end with that ominous image and that bombshell, you have figured out the secret to movie trailer alchemy.

The Best Film Music of the Decade (August 2019)

The hymn-inspired True Grit and hip-hop-infused Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse would have been on my list, but since they’ve already been claimed I’ll put two honorable mentions as my #5 and #4.

1. Hans Zimmer Double Feature: Inception (2010) and Interstellar (2014).

2. Michael Giacchino: Dawn of / War for the Planet of the Apes (2014, 2017)

3. John Powell: The How to Train Your Dragon Trilogy (2010, 2014, 2019)

4. Alan Silvestri: Selections from the Marvel Symphonic Universe (2010, 2012, 2018, 2019)

5. Justin Hurwitz, et. al: La La Land (2016)

The Best Scripts of the Decade (September 2019)

1. True Grit (2010). Screenplay by Joel and Ethan Coen, based on a novel by Charles Portis.

2. Moneyball (2011). Screenplay by Steven Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin and story by Stan Chervin, based on a book Michael Lewis.

3. Locke (2013). Screenplay by Steven Knight.

4. The Wind Rises (2013). Screenplay by Hayao Miyazaki.

5. Arrival (2016). Screenplay by Eric Heisserer, based on a short story by Ted Chiang.

Tied Honorable Mentions:

• Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015). Screenplay by Joss Whedon, based on comics created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby.

• Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017). Screenplay by Rian Johnson, based on characters created by George Lucas.

The Best Performance of the Decade (October 2019)

In chronological order:

1. Hailee Steinfeld as Mattie Ross in True Grit (2010)

2. Andy Serkis as Caesar in The Planet of the Apes Prequel Trilogy (2011-2017)

3. Chris Evans as Steve Rogers in Marvel’s Infinity Saga (2011-2019)

4. Barkhad Abdi as Muse in Captain Phillips (2013)

5. Adam Driver as Kylo Ren in the Star Wars Sequel Trilogy (2015-2019), or as Paterson in Paterson (2016)

FilmFisher Undefended Lists of 2018

While writing for FilmFisher regularly a few years back, I contributed to a monthly feature called “Undefended,” where each writer submitted a top-five list based on a themed prompt. As you can see below, I really got into making these. With the recent relaunch of FilmFisher and its migration to Substack, I thought it would be nice to revisit my Undefended lists and put them all in one place. Here are the ones I created in 2018. Click on the list titles to see the original articles with the other contributors’ lists.

P.S.: There’s a lot of Harry Potter on these lists.

Action Scenes of the 2000s (July 2018)

1. The Mines of Moria chamber fight (“They have a cave troll.”), then the chase (“to the bridge of Khazad-Dûm!”), then Balrog face-off (“You shall not pass!”) in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001).

2. Another three-parter, the Geonosis arena battle(s) in Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones (2002), complete with monsters and men, comic relief and pathos, and every young boy’s wildest dream come true: hundreds of Jedi with lightsabers going into battle together.

3. Jack Sparrow, Will Turner, and James Norrington sword-fighting on a runaway mill wheel in Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest (2006).

4. With the help of only a feather, tiger villain Tai Lung escapes from an underground prison and defeats hundreds of rhino guards in Kung Fu Panda (2008).

5. One last three-parter: Tom Cruise survives drowning, then survives a car chase and crash, then survives a motorcycle chase and crash in Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation (2015).

Truths and Lies (August 2018)

1. “Mr. Carter, if the headline is big enough, it makes the news big enough.” (Citizen Kane, 1941)

2. “Luke, you’re going to find that many of the truths we cling to depend greatly on our own point of view.” (Return of the Jedi, 1983)

3. “Will I lie to myself to be happy? In your case, Teddy, yes. I will.” (Memento, 2000)

4. “We have protected innocence that I’m not willing to give up.” (The Village, 2004)

5. “Sometimes the truth isn’t good enough, sometimes people deserve more. Sometimes people deserve to have their faith rewarded.” (The Dark Knight, 2008) / “It is time to trust the people of Gotham with the truth.” (The Dark Knight Rises, 2012)

Teachers (September 2018)

I hope the examples are so similar and specific you won’t mind me listing double. 5 Common Teacher Archetypes:

1. The Gifted “Chosen One” Student Turned Novice Teacher of an Unlikely Resistance: Jack Black’s Po (Kung Fu Panda 3, 2016), and Daniel Radcliffe’s Harry Potter (Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, 2007)

2. The Truly Awful Principal with Cruel and Unusual Punishments for Students Who Use Magic: Pam Ferris’s Trunchbull (Matilda, 1996), and Imelda Staunton’s Dolores Umbridge (Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, 2007)

3. The Hapless, Lanky, and Paranoid Disney Cartoon Teacher Who Should Not Be Teaching: Lou Romano’s Bernie Kropp (The Incredibles, 2004), and Ichabod Crane (The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad, 1949)

4. The Morally Ambiguous, Rough-Around-the-Edges Teacher (Complete with Peg Leg and Artificial Eye) Who Mentors the Protagonist Under False Pretenses: Brian Murray’s John Silver (Treasure Planet, 2002), and Brendan Gleeson’s Mad-Eye Moody (Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, 2005)

5. The Whimsical Professor (with an Affinity for Magical Furniture) Played by Jim Broadbent: Professor Digory Kirke (The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, 2005), and Professor Horace Slughorn (Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, 2009)

Scares (October 2018)

1. While Jonathan goes outside to move his car, Aunt Abby and Aunt Martha go to check on the window seat… (Arsenic and Old Lace, 1944)

2. After the Halloween party, Ichabod Crane rides into the forest… (The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad, 1949)

3. Donovan chooses, poorly… (Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, 1989)

4. The drums, the disappearance of Alan Parrish, and the mosquitos… (Jumanji, 1995)

5. Harry and Hermione follow Bathilda Bagshot to her house… (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part I, 2010)

America (November 2018)

In order of historical period:

1. John Adams miniseries (Tom Hooper, 2008)

2. Good Night, and Good Luck. (George Clooney, 2005)

3. JFK (Oliver Stone, 1991)

4. Selma (Ava DuVernay, 2014)

5. The Terminal (Steven Spielberg, 2004)

Time (December 2018)

1. In less than an hour and a half, a marriage begins and is severely tested, a career of public service ends in defiant bitterness, and the true character of an entire community is exposed in all its cowardice and pettiness in High Noon (1952, dir. Fred Zinnemann).

2. A time-obsessed, proudly resourceful man is humbled by three years of isolation on an island in Cast Away (2000, dir. Robert Zemeckis).

3. A man and his wife learn the secret to slowing down time, grow old together in a dream, and return to waking life as middle-aged adults, only to be haunted by the repercussions of tampering with time in Inception (2010, dir. Christopher Nolan).

4. The audience witnesses the mundane yet beautiful moments of seven ordinary days in the life of a bus driver/poet and his artist wife in Paterson (2016, dir. Jim Jarmusch).

5. Six parables on the shortness of life and the brutal and banal suddenness of death in The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (2018, dir. Ethan and Joel Coen).

Bonus Round: In what could have been the seventh chapter of Buster Scruggs, with a similar concept as the one found in Inception, three brothers attempt to outwit Death with his own instruments in the animated montage of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part I (2010, dir. David Yates).

Ten Songs: Steven Curtis Chapman

Ten song recommendations, placed in release order, from Steven Curtis Chapman, one of the best devotional singer-songwriters in Contemporary Christian Music.

1. For the Sake of the Call (from For the Sake of the Call, 1992)

2. Speechless (from Speechless, 1999)

3. The Change (from Speechless, 1999)

4. See the Glory (from Declaration, 2001)

5. Savior (from Declaration, 2001)

6. Much of You (from All Things New, 2004)

7. Faithful (from Beauty Will Rise, 2009)

8. Magnificent Obsession (Re:Created) (from re:creation, 2011)

9. ’Til the Blue (feat. Gary LeVox) (from Deeper Roots: Where the Bluegrass Grows, 2019)

10. Be Still and Know (feat. Caleb Chapman) (from Deeper Roots: Where the Bluegrass Grows, 2019)

Ten Songs: Propaganda (Humble Beast Era)

Ten song (or spoken word) recommendations, placed in release order, from one of my favorite hip-hop artists, Propaganda, from his time with the Humble Beast label. 

1. The City (from Art Ambidextrous, 2011)

2. Raise the Banner (from Excellent, 2012)

3. Precious Puritans (from Excellent, 2012)

4. Be Present (from Excellent, 2012)

5. You Mock Me (from Crimson Cord, 2014)

6. I Ain’t Gave Up on You Yet (from Crimson Cord, 2014)

7. Redeem (from Crimson Cord, 2014)

8. Crooked Ways (from Crooked, 2017)

9. It’s Not Working (The Truth) (from Crooked, 2017)

10. Made Straight (from Crooked, 2017)

Ten Songs: Jon Foreman

Ten song recommendations, placed in release order, from the solo work of one of my favorite artists, Switchfoot frontman Jon Foreman. 

1. Southbound Train (from Fall, 2007)  

2. Learning How to Die (from Winter, 2008)

3. A Mirror Is Harder to Hold (from Summer, 2008)

4. Instead of a Show (from Summer, 2008)

5. Terminal (from The Wonderlands: Sunlight, 2015)

6. Ghost Machine (from The Wonderlands: Shadows, 2015)

7. Your Love Is Enough (from The Wonderlands: Shadows, 2015)

8. Inner Peace (from The Wonderlands: Darkness, 2015) 

9. Side by Side (from Departures, 2021)

10. Antidote (from In Bloom, 2024)

New Article: 32 Books for 32 Years

When I published the article “31 Albums for 31 Years” in August, I wrote that “Here’s hoping there will be a ‘31 Books for 31 Years’ article soon, and not a ‘32 Books for 32 Years’ article later!’” Oh well.

Five Favorite Christmas Albums

A few months ago I published an article here on my website about my 31 favorite albums. In making that list, I excluded favorite Christmas albums from consideration, so here are 5 of them.

Behold the Lamb of God [20th Anniversary Edition] (2019) — Andrew Peterson et al. 

Christmas (1989) — Michael W. Smith

Christmas Portrait: The Special Edition (1984) — Carpenters  (Note: The Carpenters did multiple Christmas albums. This one is a amalgamation of selections from 1978’s Christmas Portrait and 1984’s An Old-Fashioned Christmas.)

 The Christmas Sessions (2005) — MercyMe

The Light Came Down (2016) — Josh Garrels 

Films and Shows I'm Thankful For in 2024

In 2020, I started a Thanksgiving tradition of creating a list of twelve films or shows I was most thankful to have discovered, rediscovered, reappraised, or otherwise gained a greater appreciation for in the past year. (Click here to see the previous lists.) Here are my picks for 2024. I’m thankful for …

The Bad Batch Season 3 (a discovery): Each Star Wars animated show produced by Dave Filoni (The Clone Wars, Rebels, and now The Bad Batch) starts off a bit rocky, improves and appreciates over time, and reaches peak perfection in its final season. I’m impressed by how well The Bad Batch Season 3 stuck the landing.

Barbie (a discovery): Sure, it has a bunch of narrative and thematic issues, but then again … I was entertained and intrigued enough to watch it twice; I laughed a lot; and “I’m Just Ken” and “What Was I Made For?” were stuck in my head for days or weeks on end. 

The Boy and the Heron (a discovery): It’s a gift when one of the greatest filmmakers of our time comes out of retirement for at least one more project. 

Dune: Part Two (a discovery): It’s Lawrence of Arabia meets Revenge of the Sith—which is to say, it’s my kind of space epic tragedy.

Godzilla Minus One (a discovery): I did not expect to be so moved by a monster movie.

Ikiru (a discovery): Finally, I can say I’ve seen a film by Akira Kurosawa. And it’s near-perfect and powerful.

Lawrence of Arabia: Not on this list because it was a discovery, a rediscovery, or a reappraisal or re-appreciation, but because one of the film-going highlights of my year was seeing this on the big screen, where it felt both grander in the first half and more devastating in the second. 

Quiz Show (a discovery): I watched this on a whim knowing nothing about it except it was directed by Robert Redford and was nominated for some Oscars. It turned out to be a forgotten gem.

Spider-Man 2: As with Lawrence of Arabia, this wasn’t a discovery, a rediscovery, or a reappraisal or re-appreciation. It was just an absolute delight and privilege to see this on the big screen again for the first time since it came out twenty years ago. While the credits rolled, I turned to my friends and asked, half joking, half serious, “Why do we bother making movies anymore? Why do we need any more?” It’s that good.

Star Wars: Episode III — Revenge of the Sith (a greater appreciation): I’ve seen this many times and it’s grown on me a lot the past decade. But I don’t think it ever clicked for me or moved me as much as it did when I watched it this year. 

Twisters (a discovery): A pleasantly old-school blockbuster, and refreshingly human.  

VeggieTales: Lord of the Beans (a rediscovery): This summer I watched some VeggieTales for the first time in years. This is still one of my favorites and maybe the best parody (of anything) I’ve ever seen.

New Article: 31 Albums for 31 Years

I finally published this article today. It was supposed to be “30 Albums for 30 Years,” but better one year late than never! Here’s hoping the follow-up doesn’t become “32 Books for 32 Years.”

New Article: 30 Films for 30 Years

I just posted an article on my 30 favorite films. I posted a similar list of 25 films 5 years ago, and had meant to follow that up with lists of 25 albums and 25 books. Maybe this time around I’ll see the project through.

P.S.: I highly recommend this short article by Tim Lawrence. This is what inspired me to start calling my favorite films “Film Friends.”

Films and Shows I’m Thankful For in 2023

In 2020, I started a Thanksgiving tradition of posting on Letterboxd a list of twelve films or shows I was most thankful to have discovered, rediscovered, reappraised, or otherwise gained a greater appreciation for in the past year. (Click here to see the previous lists.) Here are my picks for 2023. I’m thankful for …

Ahsoka (a discovery): As a fan of Dave Filoni’s Clone Wars and Rebels shows and of George Lucas’s Star Wars prequels, I was glad to see this live-action continuation of Ahsoka, Sabine, and Ezra’s stories, staged in a very prequel-esque way. (P.S.: I reflected on the surprising prominence of the theme of homecoming in a recent Notebook post.)

The Apartment (a discovery): In the latter half of the year I made a point of watching more Old Hollywood films as a way of counterbalancing the usual recency bias in my film-viewing. This included finally seeing three classic, iconic films by Billy Wilder, a major director who, inexplicably, was never on my radar. I can’t say I loved any of them. Double Indemnity, Sunset Boulevard, and The Apartment are each shockingly dark compared to the usual studio productions of the time, and each unsettled me with their unflinching exposés of human depravity. But The Apartment has stuck with me thanks to its redemptive ending.

Avatar: The Way of Water (a discovery—but also a reappraisal): I was biased against the first Avatar long before seeing it and derided it when I finally did in 2012. It turns out I like that film now, and its sequel even more so. If we must have films consisting of 99.99% hyper-realistic CG, then let more of them be like this: films that explore new worlds to help us appreciate the beauty in this one, just as James Cameron’s lavish attention to Pandora’s marine ecosystem is an expression of his love for Earth’s. (P.S.: Between watching this and reading Arctic Dreams and Moby-Dick, the past twelve months were the Year of the Whale for me.)

From Up on Poppy Hill (a discovery): Another pleasant Studio Ghibli film that, like Only Yesterday, My Neighbor Totoro, and Kiki’s Delivery Service, is driven more by atmosphere than by plot. The evocation of a highly specific place and time is very effective here.  

Killers of the Flower Moon (a discovery): This is a good film worthy of this list in its own right—I’m thankful this dark chapter in our nation’s history is getting needed attention—but I include it here primarily because I got to see it with my dad last week. We hadn’t been to see a movie together in a long time, and in the days following we were both sobered by reminders that our lives are fragile. More than anything else on Thanksgiving Day, I was thankful for him.

The Lost City of Z (a discovery): Apparently, I’ve selected two films based on nonfiction books by David Grann. It’s a shame this cross between Lawrence of Arabia and 2001: A Space Odyssey set in the jungle has been lost to public awareness in the recesses of the Amazon streaming catalogue (how ironic).

Marcel the Shell with Shoes On (a discovery): A cute, quirky, and thoughtful stop-motion and live-action hybrid about a googly-eyed shell, his grandmother, and the human neighbor who makes a documentary about them.

Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning, Part I (a discovery): I love how this franchise has matured and evolved in its Christopher McQuarrie era, and although I’m still not reconciled to what happened to [REDACTED], I’m convinced this is the most thematically rich chapter in the franchise. Seeing this in theaters with two friends who had never seen an M:I film before was a highlight of my movie-going this year.

October Sky (a rediscovery): I’ve always been a fan of Joe Johnston, a director who excels at old-fashioned blockbuster filmmaking in works like Jumanji, The Rocketeer, and the first Captain America. But this film, about rocket-building high schoolers in a dead-end coal-mining town, might be his best. At least, it’s the most emotionally satisfying. The way it ultimately honors the small town and the protagonist’s difficult father, instead of reducing them to easy caricatures, surprised me.

Porco Rosso (a greater appreciation): Porco Rosso was almost on my Thanksgiving 2022 list. It has risen from 5th to 3rd place in my ranking of Miyazaki films, but the film is also included on this list to represent the multiple times I got to see Miyazaki’s work on the big screen in 2023: Kiki’s Delivery Service, Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, Porco Rosso, and The Wind Rises this summer; and, Lord willing, The Boy and the Heron in a few weeks.  

Raising Arizona (a discovery): I didn’t know a Coen Brothers film could be this silly and this sentimental. It makes me smile just to think about it.

The Rings of Power (a discovery): The first season of Amazon’s Lord of the Rings prequel show is not what I had feared it would be and far better than its negative reception suggests. It is also—whatever liberties are taken with the lore—surprisingly congruous with Tolkien’s moral vision. I really hope we’ll get to see the other seasons. (P.S.: This year I also got to see the extended edition of The Fellowship of the Ring on the big screen—another movie-going highlight.)