2026 Movie Diary

52 Weeks = 52 Movies (Give or Take)

Current Count: 28 movies (16 New / 12 Rewatch)

Last year's movie diary ended up with 51 new movies (and 26 rewatches). Respectable, but the fact that it's not 52 new movies does really grind my gears. Man! If I could have just managed one more! That would have been perfect. But, I did technically reach my goal of 52 movies in general, and then some. I'm debating on whether to keep my 52-movie goal this year or to up it. For now I'll say 52 NEW movies this year.

Week 1

Mean Girls (2004)

Rewatch with friends. This movie occupies a similar space in my brain as like, Friends and The Office, as in everyone references it all the time which can get kind of annoying and makes it feel a bit cheap as a result. But honestly, it is a good movie, and I need to abandon my hipster-y mindset. Mainstream things are usually widely beloved for a good reason. This movie is funny and relatable. I found myself feeling kind of bad for Regina this time, though- She's subject to the same forces Cady is, after all. 4 stars.

Amadeus (1984)

Insanely long but the second half of the movie is especially goated. The final bit- the sequence where Mozart is dictating the music- is incredible. Love watching a guy go crazy and I have a special place in my heart for characters consumed and warped by hatred and envy. The death scene hits so hard. Great performances and very compelling dynamics, in the end. That laugh, bro. 4.5 stars.

Big Eden (2000)

Rewatch. I enjoyed it more this time, which is awesome because I already liked it the first time. Pike is so awkward and cute, he makes me laugh. This is suuuch a slowburn movie but I wouldn't have it any other way. And- spoilers- the scene where Sam talks to Henry about his sexuality did make me tear up this time. Oh my god, could you imagine? Ugh. Just a nice, feel-good type of movie with a happy sappy ending. 4 stars.

Week 2

Tampopo (1987)

A total love letter to food and everything it means to people. I absolutely loved all the vignettes throughout the main plot. There were some really warm and meaningful moments, and some bits that were just really funny. My favorite character was the gangster, and I thought the way he addressed the audience directly at the start of the movie was just iconic. There were a lot of shots that I really enjoyed! Notably, (spoilers!) the two shot of the old man teaching the other guy the proper way to eat ramen, and the shot of Tampopo peeking through the crack in the wall, and the shot of the oyster with a bit of blood on it, and the shot of the gangster dying in the rain with his white suit slowly turning red. The characters were all really distinct and enjoyable. The POV shots were crazy. A fun watch, I would definitely recommend! 4.5 stars.

Young Frankenstein (1974)

Rewatch! I got into Mel Brooks' movies in junior high and watched them all throughout highschool. This is an absolute fave that I wanted to show my friend Fang. Gene Wilder was so insanely hot back in the day. Miss him. 4 stars.

Baby Driver (2017)

Rewatch with Ki and Ozzie. This movie is a whole lot of fun but if you think critically about it for more than 3 seconds all the problems start to crawl out of the woodwork and sour the vibe. And boy, there are a lot of problems. Especially with Debora, whose personality and decisions make zero sense at all. But if you just wanna see cool cars drive around in cool ways while fun music plays, this is a great movie for you. 2.5 stars.

Week 3

The Long Goodbye (1973)

Very endearing main character, in fact I liked all the characters, but the plot didn't quite cross over into the "compelling" territory for me. The sound design was very unique, though, and it was an interesting and memorable watch. 4 stars.

Week 4

Porco Rosso (1992)

Rewatch to show Ki! And Ozzie was there too teehee. Oh my gosh, this movie is just so lighthearted and fun to me. It just makes me so happy. It's so nostalgic, not in the sense that it makes ME nostalgic for MY memories, but in that it's "looking back" on this carefree time. None of the conflict is that real or serious, no one's going to get hurt. The villains are silly and the way that they interact with everyone else is endearing. The way that both world wars loom over the plot is truly awesome- the dark past of what happened to Porco in WWI and the rise of fascism in Italy throughout the movie that the viewer knows will come to a head in WWII.... UGH. The plane action scenes are gorgeously animated and this is just a beautiful and underrated movie. 5 stars.

Week 5

Diary of a Wimpy Kid (2010)

Technically a rewatch I think but honestly I don't even remember watching this movie all the way through before so I'm counting it as a first watch. It honestly holds up pretty well! These characters are so iconic. I'm surprised this movie doesn't have a bigger legacy as a coming-of-age film. Also, Roderick is just great. Just purely hilarious. 3 stars.

Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Roderick Rules (2011)

All the charm of the first one and a more cohesive plot. A more heartwarming ending. The characters are maybe slightly less evil (I'm looking at you, Greg). Roderick... I love you Roderick... 3.5 stars.

Week 6

Skipped.

Week 7

Skipped! Sorry for flopping!

Week 8

Zoolander

Rewatch. Genuinely so funny, it holds up well. The sheer ridiculousness of some of the scenes really gets me. The gasoline fight... The line deliveries and facial expressions in this movie are peak. Doesn't carry on for too long. 4 stars.

Week 9

Venture Bros: Radiant is the Blood of the Baboon Heart (2023)

Rewatch! Look I know I just saw it in December but I just dragged my friend Ozzie through all of Vbros too so of course I had to watch it with them. With the announcement of the end of Smiling Friends, I AM joining the conspiracy theorists in their delusions about a sudden Venture Bros revival. Season 8 here we come! 4.5 stars.

Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)

This one had been on my watchlist for a long time, so I'm happy to have finally seen it. I'm not sure what I was expecting, but this somehow wasn't it. Way less of Dr. Strangelove himself than I anticipated. The first time General Ripper said fluids I went "No way." And then he expounded on it later, which is EXACTLY what I wanted. 5 stars.

Women Wearing Shoulder Pads (2025)

Technically a tv miniseries but there's a movie version so I'm putting this here even though I watched the TV cut. This show is PHENOMENAL, I really wish more people were aware of it. Funny and unique and charming. I loved all of these characters so much. They're so insane. I especially loved Espada's intensity. She was hot. I feel like this could benefit from a rewatch! 4.5 stars.

Week 10

Skipped!

Week 11

Phantom Thread (2017)

This was awesome. I'd like to rewatch it sometime. I probably will soon! I enjoyed the power dynamics at play and they way they hated each other. She could have left at any moment... He could have sent her away at any moment. Sick and twisted and awesome. The end really, really got me. I didn't expect that ending at all! 4 stars.

Week 12

Lawrence of Arabia (1962)

Sometimes a movie might be on your watchlist for actual years because it's four hours long and you can't bring yourself to commit that kind of time to a movie from over 60 years ago. This is YOUR SIGN to watch that movie. Spoilers ahead so beware. Gorgeous and AMAZING character work. You could write a book analyzing the relationship between Lawrence and Ali and how it shifts from the beginning of this movie to the end. The earning of Ali's respect... And the eventual loss of it. UGH. The way that Lawrence started as so kind, so intelligent, so rational... And wound up bloodthirsty, on the brink of madness. And, probably because there were 4 hours to do it, his transformation into a bloodthirsty sadist was so gradual! You almost don't realize anything's wrong, but then the things he starts saying............ Mmmmm. A very powerful message about what war does to someone, despite noble causes or any scrap of decency or intelligence. Sick. Sick. 4.5 stars (points deducted for Prince Feisel brownface)

The Bad Guys (2022)

Rewatch because Ozzie had never seen it and also because we wanted to watch The Bad Guys 2. This movie is honestly insanely pretty, the shots are gorgeous and it's just, like, aesthetically on point. The characters are flat but fun. Beautiful movie and great for kids but I do wish there were fewer instances of (unfortunately plot relevant) farting. A fond 3 stars.

Project Hail Mary (2026)

Yes I loved it. Everyone loved it! If you didn't love it, please tell me why or else I'll assume you're just a contrarian. I'm a sucker for sci-fi and this was right up my alley. Really fun and really beautiful. Total competence porn with a very indulgent ending but I can honestly get behind it. I love positive first contact stories. Watching Grace and Rocky interact and slowly learn to understand eachother was great. The gaps in each other's knowledge was very interesting and I wish they had explored that a bit more in the film. Awesome that Grace was unwilling to die in space for his entire planet but completely willing to die in space for this one little alien. 4 stars!

Week 12

The Bad Guys 2 (2025)

I actually gasped when that guy said "jackass" at the start of the movie. HUGE stakes compared to the first one! New characters were fun and cute. Unfortunately even more plot relevant farting to be seen in this one. Fork found in kitchen? 3 stars.

The King and the Clown (2005)

A favorite of Ki's and honestly I'm a bad friend for not watching it until now. Beautiful movie, great costumes and sets. The characters were all really interesting, expecially the king. The ending was just a bittttt too corny for my tastes but otherwise I think this is really solid! 4 stars.

Week 13

The Apartment (1960)

Surprisingly heavy, surprisingly moving. I love old movies but a lot of them feel a little shallow- Not this one. CC is a very interesting character. There's this great vibe in the middle, just hopelessness, powerlessness on CC's part, when he can't get Sheldrake to budge and he can't trust Fran to be alone and his neighbors think he's a horrible person, and he just keeps going and does what he can. It's great. He's so nice, and it almost doesn't matter when he's so willingly doing the bidding of those creeps, but it does shine through in the end. Idk. I need to chew on this more. Very interesting, very romantic. 5 stars.

Trolls Band Together (2023)

Rewatch! I can't believe *NSYNC reunited for this movie. They jammed this plot soooo full and for the most part it works out in their favor, but I'll forever be bitter about the Viva plot line. There's not enough time to really see it through, it's lowkey just a rehash of Cooper's plotline from the last movie, and the message is bad. Oh Bridget, you're like my sister! Except this is my real sister. We're related by blood. It's just ridiculous! Other than that, I really love this movie though, brozone is so funny and I think the covers in this movie are just incredible. That final sequence on Mount Rageous blows my mind every time. A (perhaps not entirely earned) 4.5 stars.

Trolls World Tour (2020)

Rewatch! Yeah we watched them out of order. So what. I wish they had the time to flush out all of the different types of trolls. Like obviously the country, rock, and especially funk ones are awesome and super unique. But techno and classical were shafted and I'll never get over it. I know they didn't have time to really delve into characters from those places, but they could have at least varied the designs a little more smh..... Very cute but Poppy kind of drives me crazy in this one ngl. She straight up does not listen to anything, ditches her Kingdom, pisses off all of her friends, gets captured, and loses the string. And then at the end her dad is like. No you were right. You're so brave. Like yeah, she's brave and confident or whatever but also WRONG!!! Anyway it's weird how this world is so expansive but ends up feeling dwarved by what we see in Band Together lolol. Last note, the way that they classified songs was pissing me off. Why are the pop trolls singing disco and hiphop from the very beginning of the movie. Why is every rock cover in this movie giving pop so bad. Disgraceful. Sorry for all the criticism. This movie is good but I think it could be great. The potential.... 3.5 stars.

Who Framed Roger Rabbit? (1988)

Rewatch. A classic! The piano scene is my absolute favorite part, it's so delightful. Always fun to watch this movie and speculate on how they accomplished certain tricks and stunts. Who Framed Roger Rabbit really feels like a jewel to me, like I don't think this could happen today or at least if it did it would be a cash grab on the part of both studios. Like, if they made this movie today, I feel like it would give.... Fortnite vibes. 4.5 stars.

Week 14

Ferris Beuller's Day Off (1986)

I was gonna say rewatch but actually I don't think I've seen this movie in full before. To be fair, I mostly just watch it when it's on at my parents' house, and this instance is no exception. A really fun coming of age movie. I love Cameron. There's some real slapstick in this sucker. 4 stars.

Moonlight (2016)

Really nice. Horribly sad. Gneuinely touching! Kevin and Chiron going from "You have to show them you ain't soft." "I ain't soft." "I know, man, I know." in the first third to "So you hard now?" "I ain't say that." in the last third was crazy to me. Watching everything unfold in this one is just painful. It's easy to predict what's about to happen, which honestly just makes it hurt more watching it play out. Soft, soft ending. 4.5 stars.

Week 15

Skipped!

Week 16

Blazing Saddles (1974)

Rewatch of an old fave to show Ki (and re-show Ozzie who apparently had forgotten the entire movie). Showing this to friends always feels like playing russian roulette lol. Look, of all the movies people say "They couldn't make this today!" about, THIS is the one where that's probably true. It's a lot. There's a lot of moments that make you go Oop! I won't deny that. The ending is just about pure crack. But look me in the eye and tell me you didn't find washed up alcoholic gunslinger Gene Wilder the least bit compelling. He's so cool. Bart is like if Bugs Bunny was a guy. Their friendship is very important to me. They literally rode off into the sunset together ok. Ugh. 4.5 stars! Points deducted for Mel Brooks brownface.

Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009)

Surprisingly this was my first time seeing this one! It is very Wes Anderson lol. But very warm and absolutely gorgeous; there were several shots throughout the movie that made me doubletake at how beautiful the background was for a one minute scene. I do like all the characters quite a bit. There were some lines that really punched me in the gut. Great soundtrack. 4.5 stars.