An annual tradition here at The End, this is a look at my favorite film discoveries of the year, any movie more than a few years old that I saw for the first time this year. Previous years include: 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, and 2006. I watched somewhere around 240 films this year, but only a sixth or so of them qualified for this list. Here are 30 of my favorites.
11. Evil Cat (Dennis Yu, 1987) 12. Serpent’s Path (Kurosawa Kiyoshi, 1998) 13. The Red Spectacles (Oshii Mamoru, 1987) 14. Three Days of the Condor (Sydney Pollack, 1975) 15. License to Live (Kurosawa Kiyoshi, 1998) 16. Long Promised Road (Brent Wilson, 2021) 17. National Customs (Zhu Shilin & Luo Mingyou, 1935) 18. The Man Who Invented Christmas (Bharat Nalluri, 2017) 19. Queen of Triads (Venus Keung, 2021) 20. I Just Wasn’t Made for These Times (Don Was, 1995)
21. The Perks of Being a Wallflower (Stephen Chbosky, 2012) 22. Confucius (Fei Mu, 1940) 23. Female Special Police Officer (Zhang Zhen, 2022) 23. 42 (Brian Helgeland, 2013) 24. Final Destination 3 (James Wong, 2006) 25. Enter the Girl Dragon (Ram Gopal Varma, 2022) 26. Conan the Barbarian (Marcus Nispel, 2011) 27. David Lynch: The Art Life (Olivia Neergaard-Holm, Rick Barnes, & Jon Nguyen, 2016) 29. Scrooge (Ronald Neame, 1970) 30. The Hours (Stephen Daldry, 2002)
1. McTeague: A Story of San Francisco – Frank Norris 2. Northanger Abbey – Jane Austin 3. A Moveable Feast – Ernest Hemingway 4. Cuba Libre – Elmore Leonard 5. Nicholas Nickleby – Charles Dickens 6. Gardens of the Moon – Steven Erikson 7. Oliver Twist – Charles Dickens 8. A Heart Divided (Legends of the Condor Heroes #4) – Louis Cha 9. Algorithm of the Night – AS Hamrah 10. Who Wrote the Bible? – Richard Elliott Friedman 11. Repertory Movie Theaters of New York City – Ben Davis 12. The Secret Origins of the Bible – Tim Callahan 13. Brian Wilson & the Beach Boys: How Deep Is the Ocean? – Paul Williams 14. Fab Four FAQ 2.0: The Beatles’ Solo Years, 1970-1980 – Robert Rodriguez
These are the books I read but did not finish in 2025.
1. The Dying Grass – William T. Vollman 2. The Plum in the Golden Vase #1 – The Gathering – David Tod Roy (Translator) 3. Dream of the Red Chamber #1 – The Golden Days – Cao Xueqin 4. The Confidence-Man – Herman Melville 5. Your Name Here – Helen DeWitt & Ilya Gridneff 6. The Path to Power – Robert Caro 7. Pale Fire – Vladimir Nabokov 8. The Great Game – Peter Hopkirk 9. The Decameron – Giovanni Boccaccio 10. Winesburg, Ohio – Sherwood Anderson 11. Deadhouse Gates – Steven Erikson 12. The Broken Seals (Outlaws of the March #1) – Luo Guanzhong 13. James Joyce – Richard Ellman 14. In Dreams Begin Responsibilities – Jonathan Rosenbaum 15. The Novel: An Alternative History 1600-1800 – Steven Moore 16. Shadow Ticket – Thomas Pynchon 17. The Olde Curiosity Shop – Charles Dickens 18. The Eye of the World – Robert Jordan 19. Dickens – Peter Ackroyd 20. The Book of J – Harold Bloom 21. The Victorian State of Mind – Walter E. Houghton
An annual tradition here at The End, this is a look at my favorite film discoveries of the year, any movie more than a few years old that I saw for the first time this year. Previous years include: 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, and 2006. I watched just over 230 films this year, but only a fifth or so of them qualified for this list. Here are 40 of my favorites.
1. The Heike Story (Yamada Naoko, 2021) 2. Beijing Watermelon (Obayashi Nobuhiko, 1989) 3. Moving (Somai Shinji, 1993) 4. Typhoon Club (Somai Shinji, 1985) 5. Les sièges de l’Alcazar (Luc Moullet, 1989) 6. Golden Eighties (Chantal Akerman, 1986) 7. Visible Secret (Ann Hui, 2001) 8. Ode to the Goose (Zhang Lü, 2018) 9. Sailor Suit and Machine Gun (Somai Shinji, 1981) 10. Mermaid Legend (Ikeda Toshiharu, 1984)
11. A Quiet Dream (Zhang Lü, 2016) 12. The Little Girl Who Conquered Time (Obayashi Nobuhiko, 1983) 13. Veteran (Ryoo Seungwan, 2015) 14. July Rhapsody (Ann Hui, 2002) 15. The Fall of Ako Castle (Fukasaku Kinji, 1978) 16. Gyeongju (Zhang Lü, 2014) 17. The Night Comes for Us (Timo Tjahjanto, 2018) 18. Fukuowa (Zhang Lü, 2019) 19. Chu Lien (Lai Cheng-ying, 1979) 20. The Intern (Nancy Meyers, 2015)
21. Beach of the War Gods (Jimmy Wang Yu, 1973) 22. Harry in Your Pocket (Bruce Geller, 1973) 23. Fantasy Mission Force (Kevin Chu Yen-Ping, 1983) 24. August in the Water (Ishii Gakuryu, 1995) 25. Topkapi (Jules Dassin, 1964) 26. Ocean’s Twelve (Steven Soderbergh, 2004) 27. The World of Suzie Wong (Richard Quine, 1960) 28. The Italian Job (Peter Collinson, 1969) 29. The Taming of the Shrew (Franco Zeffirelli, 1967) 30. Yanagawa (Zhang Lü, 2021)
31. When Cinema Reflects the Times: Hou Hsiao-hsien & Edward Yang (Kore-eda Hirokazu, 1993) 32. Sideways (Alexander Payne, 2004) 33. Lover on the Wave (Chen Kun-hou, 1978) 34. Let the Wind Carry Me (Kwan Pung-Leung & Chiang Hsiu-Chiung, 2009) 35. Ocean’s Thirteen (Steven Soderbergh, 2007) 36. Shaolin Drunkard (Yuen Woo-ping, 1983) 37. The Raid (Tsui Hark & Ching Siu-tung, 1991) 38. Red Eye (Wes Craven, 2005) 39. Cloud of Romance (Chen Hung-lieh, 1977) 40. Once a Thief (John Woo, 1996)
1. The Last Samurai – Helen DeWitt 2. Against the Day – Thomas Pynchon 3. Madame Bovary – Gustave Flaubert 4. The Novel: An Alternate History – Steven Moore 5. The Life of Tu Fu – Eliot Weinberger 6. Reading Genesis – Marilynne Robinson 7. 84 Charing Cross Road – Helene Hanff 8. The Shakespeare Wars – Ron Rosenbaum 9. Either/Or – Elif Batuman 10. Quantum Criminals – Alex Pappademas 11. The Secret History – Donna Tartt 12. Will in the World – Stephen Greenblatt 13. Unspooled – Rob Drew 14. The Arabian Nights: A Companion – Robert Irwin 15. A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare: 1599 – James Shapiro 16. The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street – Helene Hanff 17. The Church of Baseball – Ron Shelton 18. There Was Nothing You Could Do – Steven Hyden 19. Blood Sweat & Chrome – Kyle Buchanon 20. Long Road – Steven Hyden 21. When the Clock Broke – John Ganz 22. God Only Knows – David Leaf
And these are the books I read but did not finish in 2024.
1. The Path to Power – Robert Caro 2. Remembrance of Things Past – Marcel Proust 3. Oliver Twist – Charles Dickens 4. Paradise Lost – John Milton 5. Winesburg, Ohio – Sherwood Anderson 6. The Tale of the Heike – Royall Tyler (trans.) 7. Orientalism – Edward Said 8. The Valmiki Ramayana – trans. Bibek Debroy 9. Mariners, Renegades, and Castaways – CLR James 10. James – Percival Everett 11. The Penguin Classics Book – Henry Eliot 12. Rabbit, Run – John Updike 13. Count Magnus & Other Ghost Stories — M.R. James 14. Reckless Daughter – David Yaffe
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These are the movies I’ve watched and rewatched over the last few months, and where they place on my year-by-year rankings.
Baseball Bugs (Friz Freleng) – 10, 1946 Pickpocket (Robert Bresson) – 7, 1959 The World of Suzie Wong (Richard Quine) – 21, 1960 Topkapi (Jules Dassin) – 21, 1964
Once a Thief (Ralph Nelson) – 32, 1965 Le Samouraï (Jean-Pierre Melville) – 5, 1967 The Thomas Crown Affair (Norman Jewison) – 16, 1968 Le cercle rouge (Jean-Pierre Melville) – 5, 1970
Harry in Your Pocket (Bruce Geller) – 31, 1973 The Valiant Ones (King Hu) – 7, 1975 Carry On Pickpocket (Sammo Hung) – 22, 1982 Fantasy Mission Force (Kevin Chu Yen-ping) – 34, 1983
Mermaid Legend (Ikeda Toshiharu) – 16, 1984 The Killing Fields (Roland Joffé) – 38, 1984 Beverly Hills Cop (Martin Brest) – 48, 1984 Typhoon Club (Somai Shinji) – 6, 1985 Rambo: First Blood Part II (George P. Cosmatos) – 45, 1985
Golden Eighties (Chantal Akerman) – 14, 1986 Eastern Condors (Sammo Hung) – 10, 1987 Beverly Hills Cops II (Tony Scott) – 51, 1987 Beijing Watermelon (Obayashi Nobuhiko) – 6, 1989 Field of Dreams (Phil Alden Robinson) – 23, 1989
She Shoots Straight (Corey Yuen) – 36, 1990 Once a Thief (John Woo) – 26, 1991 The Raid (Tsui Hark) – 43, 1991 Moving (Somai Shinji) – 4, 1993 August in the Water (Ishii Gakuryu) – 40, 1995
Once a Thief (John Woo) – 90, 1996 Can’t Hardly Wait (Deborah Kaplan & Harry Elfont) – 69, 1998 Go (Doug Limon) – 56, 1999 July Rhapsody (Ann Hui) – 18, 2002
Yesterday Once More (Johnnie To) – 17, 2004 Sparrow (Johnnie To) – 2, 2008 Linger (Johnnie To) – 41, 2008 Open City (Lee Sang-gi) – 81, 2008
Shin Godzilla (Anno Hideaki & Higuchi Shinji) – 8, 2016 Joan Didion: The Center Will Not Hold (Griffin Dunne) – 121, 2017 Destination Wedding (Victor Levin) – 79, 2018 The Booksellers (DW Young) – 100, 2019
Sayonara, Girls. (Shun Nakagawa) – 25, 2022 Kubi (Kitano Takeshi) – 2, 2023 Kyrie (Iwai Shunji) – 14, 2023 Only the River Flows (Wei Shujun) – 24, 2023
Hit Man (Richard Linklater) – 39, 2023 The Lyricist Wannabe (Norris Wong) – 45, 2023 Shadow of Fire (Tsukamoto Shin’ya) – 59, 2023 Between the White Key and the Black Key (Tominaga Masanori) – 76, 2023
Furiosa (George Miller) – 1, 2024 Baby Assassins: Nice Days (Sakamoto Yugo) – 2, 2024 Black Dog (Guan Hu) – 3, 2024 I Saw the TV Glow (Jane Schoenbrun) – 4, 2024 The Spectacular Failure of the Star Wars Hotel (Jenny Nicholson) – 5, 2024 Reform! (Jon Bois) – 6, 2024 That’s Not Entirely Accurate (Jon Bois) – 7, 2024 Nothing Can’t Be Undone by a Hotpot (Ding Sheng) – 10, 2024
The History of Slipping on Banana Peels (Jon Bois) – 11, 2024 Twisters (Lee Isaac Chung) – 12, 2024 Customs Frontline (Herman Yau) – 13, 2024 Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F (Mark Molloy) – 15, 2024 Jim Henson Idea Man (Ron Howard) – 17, 2024 Brats (Andrew McCarthy) – 18, 2024
Since my last update, the end of 2023 came and went. I nominated a bunch of movies for the Endy Awards, and listed my favorite Film Discoveries and Books of the past year. I submitted a list to the annual Sense of Cinema World Poll and wrote about Rocky aur Rani for InReview Online’s end of the year list. And I wrote about Ozu Yasujiro’s A Hen in the Wind for Criterion.
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These are the movies I’ve watched and rewatched over the last few months, and where they place on my year-by-year rankings.
Godzilla (Honda Ishiro) – 9, 1954 A Charlie Brown Christmas (Bill Melendez) – 3, 1965 Don’t Look Back (DA Pennebaker) – 4, 1967 A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving (Bill Melendez & Phil Roman) – 38, 1973
Mad Max (George Miller) – 22, 1979 Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior (George Miller) – 6, 1981 The Girl Who Leapt Through Time (Obayashi Nobuhiko) – 5, 1983 Gremlins (Joe Dante) – 7, 1984 This is Spinal Tap (Rob Reiner) – 12, 1984
Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (George Miller & George Ogilve) – 32, 1985 The Magic Crystal (Wong Jing) – 58, 1986 A Muppet Family Christmas (Eric Till & Peter Harris) – 67, 1987 Scrooged (Richard Donner) – 56, 1988 Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (Chris Columbus) – 80, 1992
Last Hero in China (Wong Jing) – 37, 1993 From Beijing with Love (Stephen Chow & Lee Lik-chi) – 20, 1994 Made in Hong Kong (Fruit Chan) – 2, 1997 Sideways (Alexander Payne) – 20, 2004 Fantastic Mr. Fox (Wes Anderson) – 3, 2009
Skyline (Colin & Greg Strouse) – 67, 2010 The Muppets (James Bobin) – 41, 2011 Mad Max: Fury Road (George Miller) – 2, 2015 One Shot (James Nunn) – 24, 2021 Diary of a Wimpy Kid (Swinton O. Scott III) – 82, 2021
Showing Up (Kelly Reichardt) – 1, 2022 Trenque Lauquen (Laura Citarella) – 6, 2022 Where the Wind Blows (Philip Yung) – 37, 2022 Eye for an Eye: The Blind Swordsman (Yang Bingjia) – 56, 2022
Bad City (Sonomura Kensuke) – 57, 2022 Death on the Nile (Kenneth Branagh) – 81, 2022 Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Roderick Rules (Luke Cormican) – 94, 2022
Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani (Karan Johar) – 1, 2023 Oppenheimer (Christopher Nolan) – 4, 2023 Godzilla Minus One (Yamazaki Takashi) – 5, 2023 The Taste of Things (Trần Anh Hùng) – 6, 2023 Afire (Christian Petzold) – 7, 2023
Jigarthanda DoubleX (Karthik Subbaraj) – 8, 2023 Killers of the Flower Moon (Martin Scorsese) – 10, 2023 The Boy and the Heron (Miyazaki Hayao) – 12, 2023 Menus Plaisirs – Les Troisgros (Frederick Wiseman) – 14, 2023 Fallen Leaves (Aki Kaurismaki) – 15, 2023
Jawan (Atlee) – 16, 2023 All Ears (Liu Jiayin) – 19, 2023 Ferrari (Michael Mann) – 26, 2023 May December (Todd Haynes) – 28, 2023 Poor Things (Yorgos Lanthimos) – 30, 2023
Perfect Days (Wim Wenders) – 32, 023 Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret (Kelly Fremon Craig) – 37, 2023 Ballerina (Lee Chung-hyeon) – 38, 2023 Leo (Lokesh Kanagaraj) – 41, 2023 The Holdovers (Alexander Payne) – 42, 2023
Pathaan (Siddharth Anand) – 45, 2023 Silent Night (John Woo) – 47, 2023 A Haunting in Venice (Kenneth Branagh) – 49, 2023 Napoleon (Ridley Scott) – 50, 2023 Eileen (William Oldroyd) – 52, 2023
The Zone of Interest (Jonathan Glazer) – 56, 2023 Moscow Mission (Herman Yau) – 57, 2023 No Hard Feelings (Gene Stupnitsky) – 58, 2023 I Did It My Way (Jason Kwan) – 68, 2023
Albert Brooks: Defending My Life (Rob Reiner) – 69, 2023 Maestro (Bradley Cooper) – 71, 2023 The Pigeon Tunnel (Errol Morris) – 72, 2023 Diary of a Wimpy Kid Christmas: Cabin Fever (Luke Cormican) – 81, 2023
An annual tradition here at The End, this is a look at my favorite film discoveries of the year, any movie more than a few years old that I saw for the first time in 2023. Previous years include: 2022,2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, and 2006. I watched just over 270 films this year, roughly a third of which qualified for this list. Here are 50 of my favorites.
1. School in the Crosshairs (Obayashi Nobuhiko, 1981) 2. Swordsman and Enchantress (Chor Yuen, 1978) 3. Bio-Zombie (Wilson Yip, 1998) 4. The Red Detachment of Women (Pan Wenzhan & Fu Jie, 1970) 5. Eighteen Springs (Ann Hui, 1997) 6. High Risk (Wong Jing, 1995) 7. The Returning (Jacob Cheung, 1994) 8. The Ghost Hill (Ting Shan-hsi, 1971) 9. The Imp (Dennis Yu, 1981) 10. Yellow Dragon’s Village (Sakamoto Yugo, 2021) 11. The Red Detachment of Women (Xie Jin, 1961) 12. Classic Albums: Steely Dan – Aja (Alan Lewens, 2000) 13. The Swordsman of all Swordsmen (Joseph Kuo, 1968) 14. Radioactive Dreams (Albert Pyun, 1984) 15. Living in the Material World (Martin Scorsese, 2011) 16. Take Care of My Cat (Jeong Jae-eun, 2001) 17. A Hen in the Wind (Ozu Yasujiro, 1948) 18. The Lake House (Alejandro Agresti, 2006) 19. Avengement (Jesse V. Johnson, 2019) 20. Heart of Dragon (Sammo Hung, 1985) 21. Woman Basketball Player No. 5 (Xie Jin, 1957) 22. Tower of Death (Ng See-yuen, 1981) 23. Mr. Vampire III (Ricky Lau, 1987) 24. Future Cops (Wong Jing, 1993) 25. Brothers and Sisters of the Toda Family (Ozu Yasujiro, 1941)
26. The Debt Collector (Jesse V. Johnson, 2018) 27. Runnin’ Down a Dream (Peter Bogdanovich, 2007) 28. Boyka: Undisputed IV (Todor Chapkanov, 2016) 29. A Study in Choreography for the Camera (Maya Deren, 1945) 30. Revengeful Swordswoman (Artis Chow, 1979) 31. Close Range (Isaac Florentine, 2015) 32. The Avenging Eagle (Sun Chang, 1978) 33. Dunkirk (Christopher Nolan, 2017) 34. Treasure Hunt (Jeffrey Lau, 1994) 35. Undisputed III: Redemption (Isaac Florentine, 2010) 36. Saviour of the Soul (Jeffrey Lau, Corey Yuen & David Lai, 1991) 37. Record of a Tenement Gentleman (Ozu Yasujiro, 1947) 38. Heaven and Earth (David Lai, 1994) 39. The Bravest Revenge (Chien Lung, 1970) 40. Shaolin Invincibles (Hou Cheng, 1977) 41. Savage Dog (Jesse V. Johnson, 2017) 42. A Janitor (Sakamoto Yugo, 2021) 43. Mr. Vampire Saga 4 (Ricky Lau, 1988) 44. Bend it Like Beckham (Gurinder Chadha, 2002) 45. Bumblebee (Travis Knight, 2018) 46. Gen-X Cops (Benny Chan, 1999) 47. Hydra (Sonomura Kensuke, 2019) 48. Draft Day (Ivan Reitman, 2014) 49. El Gringo (Eduardo Rodriguez, 2012) 50. Undeclared War (Ringo Lam, 1990)
This is a ranked list of the books I finished reading in 2023.
1. Blood Meridian – Cormac McCarthy 2. Tune In – Mark Lewisohn 3. The True Adventures of the Rolling Stones – Stanley Booth 4. The Idiot – Elif Batuman 5. Before the Storm – Rick Perlstein 6. A Snake Lies Waiting – Louis Cha 7. The Pickwick Papers – Charles Dickens 8. Nightfly – Peter Jones 9. Big Day Coming: Yo La Tengo and the Rise of Indie Rock – Jesse Jarnow 10. Charles Dickens: An Introduction – Jenny Hartley 11. A Furious Devotion: The Authorised Story of Shane MacGowan – Richard Balls 12. Appointment with Death – Agatha Christie 13. The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions – Mark Lewisohn 14. Fight, Magic, Items – Aidan Moher
And this is a ranked list of the books I read but did not finish in 2023.
1. Against the Day – Thomas Pynchon 2. The Path to Power – Robert Caro 3. Suttree – Cormac McCarthy 4. Gravity’s Rainbow – Thomas Pynchon 5. The Secret History – Donna Tartt 6. Oliver Twist – Charles Dickens 7. Orientalism – Edward Said 8. American Prometheus – Kai Bird & Martin Sherwin 9. Quantum Criminals – Alex Pappademas & Joan Lemay 10. The Radetzky March – Joseph Roth 11. Haroun and the Sea of Stories – Salman Rushdie 12. Ozu – Donald Richie 13. Typee – Herman Melville 14. The Classical Style – Charles Rosen 15. A Heart Divided – Louis Cha 16. A Gravity’s Rainbow Companion – Steven Weisenberger 17. Arabian Nights: A Companion – Robert Irwin 18. God Only Knows – David Leaf 19. Killing Floor – Lee Child 20. Dickens – Peter Ackroyd
It’s time once again for a list of my favorite movies. For the last decade or so, I’ve been creating a randomly selected Top 100 out of a much larger consideration set. This year, I tried to make a list of my favorites that was as small as possible, and ended up with 309 I simply couldn’t bear to cut. Here they are in random order.
1. Labyrinth of Cinema 2. Steamboat Bill, Jr 3. Celine and Julie Go Boating 4. An Autumn Afternoon 5. Hard-Boiled 6. Millennium Mambo 7. Moonrise Kingdom 8. Ballet 9. Vampyr 10. Red Cliff 11. The Lion in Winter 12. A Canterbury Tale 13. The Love Eterne 14. Dangerous Encounters — First Kind 15. Kicking and Screaming 16. The Grandmaster 17. Trouble in Paradise 18. Whisper of the Heart 19. Ran 20. School on Fire 21. Funny Face 22. The Day He Arrives 23. Seven Samurai 24. Bram Stoker’s Dracula 25. Modern Times
26. One Froggy Evening 27. Made in Hong Kong 28. Shanghai Express 29. I’m Not There 30. Rushmore 31. The Matrix 32. The Right Stuff 33. Yi yi 34. The Lady Eve 35. Intolerance: Love’s Struggle through the Ages 36. Only Angels Have Wings 37. Legend of the Mountain 38. Throw Down 39. In the Mood for Love 40. House 41. The Empire Strikes Back 42. The Adventures of Robin Hood 43. Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons 44. 35 Shots of Rum 45. Once Upon a Time in the West 46. Casablanca 47. Nomad 48. A Matter of Life and Death 49. Dead Man 50. Fantasia
51. A Touch of Zen 52. Blind Detective 53. Dazed and Confused 54. Days of Being Wild 55. Eyes Wide Shut 56. Oki’s Movie 57. The Flowers of Shanghai 58. The Thin Red Line 59. The General 60. The Bellboy 61. Zulu 62. Bull Durham 63. Slacker 64. Jackie Brown 65. Original Cast Album: Company 66. Die Nibelungen 67. L’Avventura 68. Harlan County, USA 69. Metropolis 70. Fantastic Mr. Fox 71. Duck Soup 72. The Puppetmaster 73. Black Narcissus 74. Duvidha 75. The Midnight After
76. Inherent Vice 77. Awaara 78. Last of the Mohicans 79. Chan is Missing 80. Orlando 81. Reds 82. Heat 83. The History of the Seattle Mariners 84. Comrades: Almost a Love Story 85. Still Life 86. The Mission (1999) 87. Big Night 88. Xiao Wu 89. Johnny Guitar 90. The Last Temptation of Christ 91. Duck Amuck 92. In the Heat of the Sun 93. The New World 94. Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles 95. A New Leaf 96. What’s Opera, Doc? 97. The Red Shoes 98. The Terrorizers 99. Pierrot le fou 100. A City of Sadness
101. Two-Lane Blacktop 102. The Philadelphia Story 103. Wheels on Meals 104. Yearning 105. Mahanagar 106. The 36th Chamber of Shaolin 107. The Searchers 108. Shanghai Blues 109. Bringing Up Baby 110. All About Eve 111. The Quiet Man 112. Howard’s End 113. All that Jazz 114. Robin and Marian 115. The Battle of Algiers 116. Mughal-e-azam 117. Les amants du Pont-Neuf 118. Hero 119. They Were Expendable 120. A Day in the Country 121. The Docks of New York 122. The Musketeers of Pig Alley 123. Rock ‘n’ Roll High School 124. The Third Man 125. Raiders of the Lost Ark
126. Touch of Evil 127. Stranger than Paradise 128. The Rules of the Game 129. Romancing in Thin Air 130. Certified Copy 131. Sunrise 132. The Miracle Fighters 133. Annie Hall 134. Dragon Gate Inn 135. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest 136. A Woman is a Woman 137. Hatari! 138. Beau travail 139. Unforgiven 140. The Eight-Diagram Pole Fighter 141. The Harder They Come 142. Singin’ in the Rain 143. Exiled 144. The Shop Around the Corner 145. The Blade 146. Police Story 147. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington 148. Lovers Rock 149. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon 150. Punch-Drunk Love
151. Chungking Express 152. Alien 153. Hellzapoppin’ 154. Airplane! 155. Fort Apache 156. Blackhat 157. SPL 2: A Time for Consequences 158. Les Vampires 159. Mulholland Dr. 160. Histoire(s) du cinema 161. Wagon Master 162. Renaldo & Clara 163. Out of the Past 164. The Last Days of Disco 165. La Commune (Paris 1871) 166. Charade 167. Peking Opera Blues 168. Bambi 169. The Bad News Bears 170. Mahjong 171. Broadcast News 172. Hana and Alice 173. Sans soleil 174. Pyaasa 175. The Age of Innocence
176. Holiday 177. Los Angeles Plays Itself 178. The Heart of the World 179. His Motorbike, Her Island 180. Goodbye, Dragon Inn 181. Metropolitan 182. Shadow Kingdom 183. The Fellowship of the Ring 184. Late Spring 185. Throne of Blood 186. Running on Karma 187. Three Colors: Blue 188. Vertigo 189. City Lights 190. Don’t Go Breaking My Heart 2 191. Liz and the Blue Bird 192. The Bridges of Madison County 193. Tropical Malady 194. Perceval le Gallois 195. The Princess Bride 196. Ash is Purest White 197. Anatomy of a Murder 198. Ugetsu 199. Satantango 200. Speed Racer
201. Chimes at Midnight 202. The Royal Tenenbaums 203. Glengarry Glen Ross 204. Mad Max: Fury Road 205. It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown 206. Playtime 207. Let the Bullets Fly 208. A Charlie Brown Christmas 209. Rear Window 210. Gremlins 2: The New Batch 211. Sparrow 212. My Fair Lady 213. The Music Room 214. La danse: The Paris Opera Ballet 215. Trainspotting 216. Dirty Ho 217. Young Mr. Lincoln 218. The Umbrellas of Cherbourg 219. The BIg Sleep 220. Miller’s Crossing 221. My Neighbor Totoro 222. I am Cuba 223. Platform 224. Meek’s Cutoff 225. Citizen Kane
226. Linda Linda Linda 227. Fallen Angels 228. Miami Vice 229. Children of Paradise 230. Song of the Exile 231. Night of the Hunter 232. Only Yesterday (1991) 233. Happy Together 234. Meet Me in St. Louis 235. Broken Blossoms 236. Kiki’s Delivery Service 237. The Big Red One 238. My Left Eye Sees Ghosts 239. Excalibur 240. Green Snake 241. Bound for the Fields, the Mountains, and the Seacoast 242. Kung Fu Hustle 243. The Killer 244. Good Men, Good Women 245. Conan the Barbarian 246. A Moment of Romance 247. An American in Paris 248. Phantoms of Nabua 249. Henry V 250. It Felt Like a Kiss
251. Voyage in Italy 252. Journey to the West (2014) 253. Days of Heaven 254. Sherlock, Jr 255. Once Upon a Time in China 256. Kill Bill Vol. 1 257. Rio Bravo 258. Kiss Me Kate 259. The Big Lebowski 260. Wolf Children 261. Om Shanti Om 262. Dangerous Liaisons 263. City on Fire 264. Irma Vep 265. Morocco 266. The Time to Live, the Time to Die 267. M. Hulot’s Holiday 268. The Rocking Horsemen 269. Pulp Fiction 270. Full Contact 271. Safety Last 272. It’s a Wonderful Life 273. A Brighter Summer Day 274. Last Life in the Universe 275. Paterson
276. Monty Python and the Holy Grail 277. Apocalypse Now 278. The Story of Woo Viet 279. Do the Right Thing 280. Fire Walk with Me 281. Rouge 282. F for Fake 283. Little Women 284. The Birds 285. Ruggles of Red Gap 286. 2046 287. The Wind that Shakes the Barley 288. News from Home 289. The Green Ray 290. Ashes of Time 291. Mean Streets 292. The Band Wagon 293. Cat People 294. A Better Tomorrow 295. Oxhide II 296. The Pirate 297. One Week 298. Psycho 299. Jaws 300. The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
301. Amanda (2019) 302. Spring in a Small Town 303. Japanese Girls at the Harbor 304. Ishtar 305. North by Northwest 306. Yourself & Yours 307. Claire’s Camera 308. Baahubali 309. Early Summer
An annual tradition here at The End, this is a look at my favorite film discoveries of the year, any movie more than a few years old that I saw for the first time in 2022. Previous years include: 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, and 2006. I watched just over 260 films this year, about a third of which qualified for this list. Here are 50 of my favorites.
1. House (Obayashi Nobuhiko, 1977) 2. A Confucian Confusion (Edward Yang, 1994) 3. The Seventh Curse (Lam Nai-choi, 1986) 4. Miami Blues (George Armitage, 1990) 5. Naked Killer (Clarence Fok, 1992) 6. The Daytrippers (Greg Mottola, 1997) 7. So Close (Corey Yuen, 2002) 8. The 7 Grandmasters (Joseph Kuo, 1977) 9. The Keep (Michael Mann, 1983) 10. Burning Ambition (Frankie Chan, 1989) 11. The Web of Death (Chor Yuen, 1976) 12. Dreaming the Reality (Tony Lou Chun-ku, 1991) 13. It’s a Drink! It’s a Bomb! (David Chung, 1985) 14. 18 Bronzemen (Joseph Kuo, 1976) 15. Tiger Cage II (Yuen Woo-ping, 1990) 16. Outlaw Brothers (Frankie Chan, 1990) 17. The 36 Deadly Styles (Joseph Kuo, 1979) 18. Gorgeous (Vincent Kok, 1999) 19. Angel Terminators 2 (Tony Lou Chun-ku & Chan Lau, 1993) 20. Nemesis (Albert Pyun, 1992) 21. Muppet Treasure Island (Brian Henson, 1996) 22. The Outlaws (Kang Yoon-Sung, 2017) 23. The Shaolin Kids (Joseph Kuo, 1975) 24. The Sandlot (David Mickey Evans, 1993) 25. Den of Thieves (Christian Gudegast, 2018)
26. Return of the 18 Bronzemen (Joseph Kuo, 1976) 27. Lethal Panther 2 (Cindy Chow, 1993) 28. Mercenaries from Hong Kong (Wong Jing, 1982) 29. A Girl at My Door (July Jung, 2014) 30. Prom Night (Paul Lynch, 1980) 31. Lethal Panther (Godfrey Ho, 1990) 32. Devil Hunters (Tony Lou Chun-ku, 1989) 33. In the Line of Duty VII: Sea Wolves (Cheng Siu-keung, 1991) 34. The Cat’s Meow (Peter Bogdanovich, 2001) 35. Hero (Corey Yuen, 1997) 36. The Admiral: Roaring Currents (Kim Han-min, 2014) 37. The Inspector Wears Skirts (Wellson Chin, 1988) 38. Butterfly & Sword (Michael Mak, 1993) 39. Tiger Cage 3 (Yuen Woo-ping, 1991) 40. The Mole Song: Undercover Agent Reiji (Miike Takashi, 2013) 41. Monkey Kung Fu (John Law Ma, 1979) 42. Project S (Supercop 2) (Stanley Tong, 1993) 43. The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (Peter Jackson, 2013) 44. The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies (Peter Jackson, 2014) 45. The Shaolin Plot (Huang Feng, 1977) 46. The Eight Hundred (Guan Hu, 2020) 47. This is Korea! (John Ford, 1951) 48. Shaolin Kung Fu (Joseph Kuo, 1974) 49. Angel Terminators (Wai Lit, 1992) 50. Last Christmas (Paul Feig, 2019)
The End of Cinema 