I have long since given up tracking all my watching but I feel like this summer was exceptional. Here is the big list of stuff I watched and my personal favorites:
In order of worst to best!
The Adventures of Pluto Nash - Yep, I watched this on a whim. It is probably worse than you'd even think. It makes no sense, isn't funny, and doesn't know what it wants to be.
The Marvels - I watched this after watching The Bone Temple directed by Nia Dacosta and thought, oh maybe this needs reappraisal because the directing in Bone Temple is really good. Uhhh...no, not really, this is pretty rough. Just undeveloped, no real reason to exist, no real attempt at character growth or much of anything.
72 Hours - This was okay, some really great Kevin Hart jokes, who I don't really enjoy, and a handful of decent gags. Kam Patterson was the standout but I think they could have pushed everything more.
Ambulance - This was a rewatch. Michael Bay is his own genre and I feel like this has been long overlooked.
Freaky Tales - Anthology movie, the first two parts are pretty weak but it makes up anlot of ground with its third segment which is one of the coolest action scenes of the year.
Little Brother - Actually pretty funny and well cast and genuinely touching.
The Bride! - This was just so weird. Good direction by Maggie Gyllenhaal! And Frankenstein had a bigger role than I thought he would. I didn't totally buy into the plot mechanisms but I liked just about every actor in it.
Masters of the Universe - Really fun bit also seemed to feel really ashamed of itself and a lot of self-conscious narration. It was 90% there but needed to commit.
Americana - this was okay. Some interesting concepts and kind of cool non-linear storytelling and I dug the setting. But there were some boffo character moments that took me out of it. But generally solid.
The Long Walk - I really liked a lot of this but I think they fumbled the ending. It was not like the book, which isn't bad but if you're going to change it it needs to be motivated and satisfying, which this was not.
They Will Kill You - This was charming (for an extremely bloody movie) and some real madcap sequences. It could have been cleaner with its character work but all in all was a good effort for this kind of movie.
Good Luck Have Fun Don't Die - I was pretty pumped for this, I did not really enjoy the anthology structure but the second half once it finds itself was solid. I am not sure ot really had anything insightful to say about AI besides "AI bad" but it was enjoyable.
28 Years Later - You gotta get past an absolutely brutal first scene but then you get a really massive zombie dong!
The Drama - This was so full of palpable tension and really brilliant acting choices. I wasn't quite on board with the ending and I think there is nuance here to be developed but it is a phenomenal character work.
28 Years Later: The Bone Temple - Possibly better, less frenetic direction and a story that feels both bigger and more intimate. I loved the characters and Iron Maiden bit.
Caught Stealing - this was surprisingly good and then I found out it was directed by Darren Aronofsky, so of course! Austin Butler is a sincere rising star and the ending was very satisfying
Eddington - This might be the most unpackable movie I've watched and also one of the most stress-inducing. But very good and much more than just a COVID movie.
Nirvanna The Band The Show The Movie - Everything about this was pretty jaw-dropping. I've never seen the show or anything but you get these characters right away, the guerilla filmmaking is genuinely astounding, the writing is really sharp, and intehration of old footage is astoundingly seamless.
