The Treasure Of The Sierra Madre
Obsessions never work out well.
Overboard
Hawn’s fall 95% of film.
A Star is Born (1937)
Depending whose career you follow.
NEXT: Films with lookalike confusion (IRL twins, old-fashioned trick photography, CGI, whatever; only one version of The Parent Trap allowed; bonus points for no versions)
Face / Off
Travolta, Cage switch their faces.
The Prestige
There’s huge twist involving twins.
Double Impact
Pure van Damme 90’s schlock.
Movies where a riddle or puzzle plays a role.
Glass Onion
Party invitees must solve invitation
The Batman (2022)
Cryptic riddles at crime scenes
Citizen Kane
Kane’s mistress loves jigsaw puzzles
Next: Orson Welles’ oeuvre
The Third Man
Terrific noir Cold War drama
The Magnificent Ambersons
Saw in college; was underwhelmed
Chimes at Midnight
Welles played an enormous Falstaff
Next up:
Other meh Shakespeare adaptations
Hamlet (2000)
Melancholy Dane in Modern NYC
Macbeth (2006)
Looked like campy 70s horror
John Tucker Must Die
Bard inspires lowbrow teen flick.
Movies about or involving The Pope (not necessarily the current one)
Foul Play
Librarian fouls assassination of Pope.
The Pope Must Diet
Won a British technical award.
The Agony and the Ecstasy
Jul2 and Michelangelo decorate Sistine.
NEXT: Movies with nuns (and you can have only 3!)
The Nun
WW2 bombings unleash malevolent force
Doubt
Nuns suspect priest of abuse
Agnes of God
Novice nun finds herself “immaculate”
Next: Movies with demons (no comedies, please)
Night of the Demon
Creepy suspense film from 1957.
The Exorcist
Satan, or Pazuzu, whatever-- scary!
The Possession
A dybbuk is kinda demon-adjacent.
NEXT: Films that genuinely scared you.
The Ring
Dead girl in the closet!
The Grudge
That clicking sound! Jesus Christ!
The Woman in Black
Singularly best haunted house movie.
Films that made you sob uncontrollably.
Penny Serenade
Film I cannot see twice.
Cool Runnings
The end-- and through credits.
Psycho
I watched it while pregnant.
NEXT: Films about science
The Martian
Stranded astronaut “sciences the shit…”
Altered States
Sensory deprivation leads to weirdness
Weird Science
Because of course it is!
Next up:
Totally implausible movies about science
The Day After Tomorrow
Global Cooling all at once.
Volcano
Lava flows down Wiltshire Blvd.
Armageddon
Oil crew destroys killer asteroid.
Movies with plausible science
The Martian
All except the terrible windstorm
Oppenheimer
The Gadget really did work
Titanic
Cameron used actual underwater footage
Next up:
Movies with particularly good villains
Despicable Me
Gru: Bad guy? Maybe not.
The African Queen
Captain’s order: marriage then execution.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part II
Snape displays a complex character.
Next:
Films of Alan Rickman
CBGB
As club owner Hilly Kristal
Truly Madly Deeply
Rickman as the romantic lead
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy
As Marvin, provides excellent exposition
Next: More movies with Alan Rickman
Blow Dry
Western rebooted with English hairdressers
Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone*
Alan never needed money again.
Alice In Wonderland
The snarkiest caterpillar of all.
Films of Emma Thompson
Sense and Sensibility
She’s terrific; wrote it, too!
Dead Again
Clever LA reincarnation / murder thriller
I Am Legend
Uncredited cameo as innovative researcher
Next up:
More films of Emma Thompson
Stranger Then Fiction
Writer must kill the hero
Nanny McPhee
Ugly nanny undergoes amazing transformation
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Hermione thinks she’s a fraud
Next: Harry Potter cast in other roles
Thunderpants
Rupert Grint in farting farce
Noah
Emma Watson as Noah’s DIL
The Tailor of Panama
Daniel Radcliffe’s screen debut (2001)
Next up:
Other Daniel Radcliffe roles
Swiss Army Man
Adventures with Daniel Radcliffe’s corpse
Weird: The Al Yankovic Story
Al’s story, warts and all
Trainwreck
Appears in movie within movie
Next: Emma Watson movies