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This is a 1999 true story starring a young Jake Gyllenhaal, years before he became a household name. A film being based on a true story always gives it a bit of a boost for me, and this one has the added bonus of being genuinely different from most. The acting is solid but nothing crazy, and it’s good for a late-’90s film. It’s also an easy watch that moves along without asking too much. It’s a worthwhile, feel-good pick if you’re in the mood for something inspiring and rooted in real events."John Hickam is a West Virginia coal miner who loves his job and expects his sons, Jim and Homer, to follow in his footsteps. But Jim gets a football scholarship, and Homer becomes interested in rocket science after seeing Sputnik 1 crossing the sky. John disapproves of his son's new mania, but Homer begins building rockets with the help of friends and a sympathetic teacher. Rocketry, he hopes, will prove his ticket to a better life."

This is a 1997 horror/noir from David Lynch starring Bill Pullman and Patricia Arquette, and has great reviews. For me, it didn’t live up to them. The style leans so heavily into the artistic side that the movie never feels fluid; it plays more like a string of moods and images than a story moving forward. The music and the long pauses mid-sentence for emphasis felt over the top, and instead of building tension, they mostly pulled me out of it. Pullman and Arquette fully commit to the material, but the heavy stylization keeps you at arm’s length from their characters. If you’re already a fan of Lynch’s other work, like Mulholland Drive or Twin Peaks, you’ll probably get a lot more out of this than I did. As you can tell, I wasn’t the biggest fan, and unless you’re on Lynch’s wavelength, this one’s a pass. "From this inventory of imagery, Lynch fashions two separate but intersecting stories, one about a jazz musician (Bill Pullman), tortured by the notion that his wife is having an affair, who suddenly finds himself accused of her murder. The other is a young mechanic (Balthazar Getty) drawn into a web of deceit by a temptress who is cheating on her gangster boyfriend. These two tales are linked by the fact that the women in both are played by the same actress (Patricia Arquette)."

This is a 2002 romance/drama starring Shane West and Mandy Moore, and it’s very much a product of its time. The acting fit the era, but watching it now, a lot of it comes across as cringey and cheesy. Even so, it definitely pulls on the heartstrings, and the emotional moments land harder than you’d expect. Overall, it’s a solid watch, but it really has to be for the right audience. I wouldn’t recommend it to many people, but it’s a memorable story. "Set in North Carolina, "A Walk To Remember" follows the rite of passage of a jaded, aimless high school senior (Shane West) who falls in love with a guileless young woman (Mandy Moore) he and his friends once scorned. The two develop a powerful and inspirational relationship in which they discover truths that take most people a lifetime to learn."

Mr. Church is a 2016 drama starring Eddie Murphy and Britt Robertson, loosely based on a true story. It’s a rare fully dramatic role for Murphy, who is mostly known for comedy. The film balances its sadder moments with plenty of feel-good ones, and that mix keeps it from becoming too heavy. It’s nothing groundbreaking, but it’s an easy watch. If you’re in the mood for something gentle with a little heart, it’s worth a look but you should have plenty of oter options. "When a young girl and her dying mother are joined by a black male cook who comes to live with them, little do they know that their lives are about to change forever."

Part of maturing is realizing that Ben Affleck is a bad actor. He has a few genuine standouts on his résumé, but for the most part he’s pretty bad, and it shows in this one. The plot itself is fine. The problem is the acting, which is terrible across the board, and no premise can carry a film when nobody on screen is convincing. This one never comes close. It may be sitting right there on your Netflix homepage, but please don’t watch this movie."A mayoral candidate and his wife take desperate steps to raise their son's ransom. However, their extreme choices expose dark secrets that threaten to ruin them."

This is a 1999 mystery-thriller starring Jeff Bridges and Tim Robbins that arrived to lukewarm reviews, and it still sits at around 3.5/5 on Letterboxd and 74% with audiences on Rotten Tomatoes. Don't let those numbers fool you. As a big fan of psychological thrillers, I was locked in from start to finish. Then there's the ending, which is elite. I won't spoil it, but it's the kind of finish that you love in a thriller. This is one of the most underrated films of the decade for me, and it's absolutely worth tracking down. "Widowed when his FBI agent wife is killed by an extremist group, college professor Michael Faraday (Jeff Bridges) becomes obsessed with the culture of these groups -- especially when his new all-American neighbors, Oliver (Tim Robbins) and Cheryl Lang (Joan Cusack). With each twist, the mystery deepens and questions loom whether Faraday is consumed by fear and driven by paranoia, or whether a lethal conspiracy has been born on Arlington Road."

Blue Valentine is a 2010 romance-drama starring Michelle Williams and Ryan Gosling, and both of them are amazing. Their performances feel raw and lived-in, and they're easily the strongest part of the film. The plot just wasn't it for me, though. Watching a relationship fall apart is the whole point, but the story never gave me enough to hold onto beyond the two leads. It's a heavy, draining watch, and it was a hard movie to get through. It sits in the same space as Revolutionary Road and Marriage Story, films where the acting carries a story about a marriage unraveling. If you want to see two great actors at work, it's worth a look. Just know what you're signing up for. "Dean (Ryan Gosling) and Cindy (Michelle Williams) live a quiet life in a modest neighborhood. To the casual observer, everything appears normal, if a bit subdued. But a closer examination reveals a couple caught in a downward spiral. They appear to have the world at their feet at the outset of the relationship. However, his lack of ambition and her retreat into self-absorption cause potentially irreversible cracks in their marriage."

Secretary is a 2002 comedy-drama, and the best word I have for it is ridiculous. The whole plot is weird, and so is the acting, but the acting is weird in a way that actually works. Maggie Gyllenhaal and James Spader fully commit to their strange, awkward characters, and their performances are good even when I couldn't tell what the movie wanted me to feel about them. Everything about the film felt a little off to me, from the tone to the story to the way it asks you to take it all seriously. I honestly don't know who would enjoy this one."Lee Holloway (Maggie Gyllenhaal), a young woman with a history of severe emotional problems, is released into the care of her overbearing parents following a stay at a mental institution. She finds work as a secretary for a rigid and demanding attorney, E. Edward Grey (James Spader), and starts dating the kind but dull Peter (Jeremy Davies). However, Lee soon realizes she's turned on by Grey's stern demeanor, and begins a sadomasochistic relationship with him."

This 1995 dark comedy from Gus Van Sant stars Nicole Kidman alongside a surprising number of familiar young faces, including Matt Dillon, Joaquin Phoenix, and Casey Affleck. Seeing them all early in their careers is half the fun. It was a good movie, but nothing special. The story moves along well, but it never rose above "solid/good" for me. If you're a movie buff who wants to see where some of these actors got their start, it's worth a watch. Beyond that, it's nothing more than a decent movie if you want to see actors getting their starts."Suzanne Stone is a weather reporter at her small-town cable station, but she dreams of being a big-time news anchor. However, she feels that her middle-class husband is holding her back, so she decides to have him murdered. For this, she enlists Jimmy, a high school boy who is enamored with her. The plan doesn't work exactly as she intended, though, and her husband's family starts to suspect that she was involved in his death."

Alfred Hitchcock's 1960 horror/mystery was way ahead of its time, and you can see the path it lit for so many of the movies we watch today. Of course, it feels dated in places, but the plot was still strong enough to hold my attention the whole way through. Judged on its era and its significance, this is easily a 9/10. On a true scale against today's bar, though, I had to mark it down when comparing it to the rest of movie history. It's a must-see for anyone who cares about where the genre came from, even if it doesn't hit as hard as it once did. "Phoenix secretary Marion Crane (Janet Leigh), on the lam after stealing $40,000 from her employer in order to run away with her boyfriend, Sam Loomis (John Gavin), is overcome by exhaustion during a heavy rainstorm. Traveling on the back roads to avoid the police, she stops for the night at the ramshackle Bates Motel and meets the polite but highly strung proprietor Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins), a young man with an interest in taxidermy and a difficult relationship with his mother."

Stanley Kubrick's 1964 Cold War satire is shot entirely in black and white and regularly shows up on lists of the greatest comedies ever made. The acting is solid, especially Peter Sellers pulling triple duty in three completely different roles, and I'm sure it was sharp and daring for its time. For today's time, though, it felt pretty outdated to me. A lot of the humor comes from the absurdity of the moment it was made in, and much of that didn't land the way it probably did in 1964. I can appreciate why this is considered a classic, but it's one I respect more than I actually enjoyed."A film about what could happen if the wrong person pushed the wrong button -- and it played the situation for laughs. U.S. Air Force General Jack Ripper goes completely insane, and sends his bomber wing to destroy the U.S.S.R. He thinks that the communists are conspiring to pollute the "precious bodily fluids" of the American people."

This one is hard to rate. Lars von Trier's 2003 crime drama has some unbelievable acting, with Nicole Kidman leading the cast. My issue is the format, and the fact that it runs 2 hours and 50 minutes. The entire film takes place on a bare soundstage with no walls and no real houses. Everything is just outlined in chalk on the floor, so you're left to fill in the town with your own imagination. It feels exactly like watching a stage play, which is not my favorite way to experience a movie. If even the play-like moments in a Wes Anderson film wear on me, three hours of this was a real test. I can respect what it's doing, but I can't say I enjoyed sitting through it."A barren soundstage is stylishly utilized to create a minimalist small-town setting in which a mysterious woman named Grace hides from the criminals who pursue her. The town is two-faced and offers to harbor Grace as long as she can make it worth their effort, so Grace works hard under the employ of various townspeople to win their favor. Tensions flare, however, and Grace's status as a helpless outsider provokes vicious contempt and abuse from the citizens of Dogville."