Welcome back! Last post I gave insight on what music I was listening to as well as some basic knowledge about me. Another part of me that I’d like to share is my taste in movies.
Movies are a great way to get off your phone and have been around for ages. I mean there was a time when ancient people (those who lived during the 1860s) went to a theatre to see not a live performance, but the latest and greatest indie film that was just a train passing by. That film is called “The Arrival of a Train” and it is only one minute long. I wonder how much the ticket cost.
Before phones and doomscrolling were conceived, people could go out and see a film and sit in a seat for around 2 hours and comprehend what was happening in front of them. Today, minus watching a movie on the phone, seeing a movie on a laptop, TV, and theatres is a great way to sit and experience something longer than 30 seconds.
I recognize that having a Letterboxd account is a tad counter-intuitive to getting off a phone. However, I really love keeping track of the movies I watch and seeing what my friends are watching as well. Also, other than tracking my movies and periodically seeing what my friends are watching, I am not really on the app in comparison to my genuine enemies such as Instagram. (Boo)
Therefore, I will present my top 4 on Letterboxd to you. These results come from over several years of dedicated Letterboxd user logging, so that means I am serious.
**Slight disclaimer, these movies are obviously my favorites which are opinions based. This also means that when they were chosen for top 4, rewatch ability is key. There I have watched movies that are genuinely masterpieces, but I wouldn’t put them in my top 4 because heavy and sensitive subject matter can render the movie only watchable once or twice by me. **
In no order, here is my Letterboxd top 4:
- Pride and Prejudice (2005) directed by Joe Wright
This movie is an adaptation of Jane Eyres book of the same name. I am a sucker for a good score, and this is that. The piano in this score ties in with the stories and visuals unlike anything else. The actors in this movie are awesome and many of them you WILL recognize.
I would say this is my favorite romance movie and I did have a night at my apartment where I subjected my friends to watch this movie while we all made friendship bracelets. I was sobbing by the end as I always do.
- Pineapple Express (2008) directed by David Gordon Green
This movie is my go-to comedy. Funny. Silly. What happens when you witness a crime committed by the police? You go on the run with your dumb dealer who is stocked up on the latest and greatest strand to hit your rolling papers: Pineapple Express. This never fails to make me laugh.
That is serious too because there was a time when I was a kid where I thought that if I watched too many ‘try not to laugh’ vine compilations on YouTube, that I would eventually build up my tolerance on laughing and therefore, I would never find anything funny and never laugh ever again.
- Minari (2020) directed by Lee Isaac Chung
This was the first movie I saw at The Little Theatre in Rochester, NY (shout out). I saw this with my friend Skyelar, and we were both in love with this movie. It’s about a Korean American family moving to an Arkansas farm in search of their American Dream.
Again, the score in this is so good, I have an actual copy of the score from A24 as a coffee table book, but it has every part written out and seeing all the instruments they used to create the songs for the move is awesome. Another movie that I am guaranteed to sob while watching. So worth it.
- The Iron Claw (2023) directed by Sean Durkin
THIS MOVIE IS MY EVERYTHING. I do NOT care what anyone has to say about Zac Efron. Yes, I was a big Highschool Musical fan as a kid.
Anyways, this movie is about a true story of the Von Erich brothers. The first half of this movie: joy. Halfway through, it goes downhill and you think to yourself, could this get sadder, and yeah, it can. I made a bad mistake by pregaming the release of this movie with White Claws for Iron Claw. Don’t do that.
The use of Tom Sawyer by Rush single-handedly made this movie gold for me. I never thought I would be so invested in wrestling ever. Also, the look and color grading of this movie really makes the whole thing look dated, I love it.
Honorable mentions: Bugonia (2025) directed by Yorgos Lanthimos, watch this movie without knowing anything about the content of it. Awesome score again.
AND I should really include an animated movie, so I’ll put Fantastic Planet (1973) by René Laloux. This movie aesthetically is wild AND it has inspired so much music such as Fantastic Planet by Failure and some of Quasimotos work as well!
See you again soon, and if you like my movie suggestions, you should follow me on LetterBoxd @ livibop!