Author: Garrett Chaffin-Quiray, Blockbusters & Birdwalks Curator

Watching: Some Kind of Wonderful Wicked: Part I Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest Mid90s West Side Story Fast Food Nation United 93 North Country Jiro Dreams of Sushi Lilies of the Field

Watching: Pan’s Labyrinth The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie The Guilty American Fiction The Wizard of Oz The Departed Bad News Bears Kaboom The Hunt Dreamgirls 30 Days of Night Locke Visiting Hours Babel Paradise Now Primer Over the Hedge The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen

Watching: Phone Booth Tank Girl Little Miss Sunshine Superman II Taxi Night at the Museum Gone with the Wind The Lives of Others Rebel Ridge Censor Carnal Knowledge American Fiction Jesus Camp

Reading: The Path to Paradise: A Francis Ford Coppola Story (2023) by Sam Wasson: purported to be a biography of a living artist, The Path to Paradise is mostly a slippery corporate history of American Zoetrope and a pair of deep cuts about the cultural and auteurist contexts for Apocalypse Now and One From the… Continue reading August 2024

Watching: The Decameron The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants Civil War The Fault in Our Stars Godzilla Minus One Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire Persepolis Punishment Park Under Paris

Reading: The Big Goodbye: Chinatown and the Last Years of Hollywood (2020) by Sam Wasson: a cultural history of Chinatown (1974), as expressed through the careers of four men essential to making the movie: Jack Nicholson (star), Robert Towne (screenwriter), Robert Evans (producer), and Roman Polanski (director). At its best while exploring the process of… Continue reading June 2024

Reading: Hits, Flops, and Other Illusions: My Fortysomething Years in Hollywood (2024) by Ed Zwick: an under-written memoir about his defining career in TV that turned him, a workaholic, into a sometimes celebrated moviemaker, good friend, solid collaborator, and occasional name-dropper. Filled with enjoyable quips about working on sets, and organized around the idea of… Continue reading May 2024

Reading: Pandora’s Box: How Guts, Guile, and Greed Upended TV (2023) by Peter Biskind: a gossipy, name-drop heavy, incomplete, insider’s scoop on how premium cable begat streaming services that collectively killed movies and TV, as those legacy audio-visual media were once known. An indisputable thesis in need of an editor. Buy Pandora’s Box: How Guts,… Continue reading April 2024

Reading: Alice Guy: First Lady of Film (2022) by José-Louis Bocquet and Catel Muller: the kind of history a newbie can read and remember because it’s drawn around copious true-to-life facts with accompanying biographical essays. Buy Alice Guy: First Lady of Film here. Watching: My Big Fat Greek Wedding Past Lives Enough Said Miss Hokusai… Continue reading March 2024

Reading: Shit, Actually: The Definitive, 100% Objective Guide to Modern Cinema (202) by Lindy West: really opinionated, often laugh-out-loud, rude, naval-gazing commentary about popular movies most people remember improperly. A great corrective to mediocre taste and mainstream memory. Buy Shit, Actually here. Watching: Minari Airport Lilo & Stitch Blancanieves Waltz with Bashir Raya and the… Continue reading February 2024

Watching: Scott Pilgrim vs. the World The Big Doll House Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny Walk the Line Doctor Zhivago Bros

Watching: Polite Society The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes The Boys in the Boat Wonka Last Christmas A Quiet Place Part II Yellow Rose Water Slow West Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King The Killer Portrait of a Lady on… Continue reading December 2023

Watching: Wonder Woman Murderball The Mule Chronicle The 40-Year Old Virgin The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring Ballerina You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah The Marvels A Silent Voice Pride & Prejudice Those Who Wish Me Dead Grizzly Man Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse Faces Places Brokeback Mountain Rodents… Continue reading November 2023

Watching: Ida The Squid and the Whale Joy Ride Titane War of the Worlds Black Dynamite A History of Violence The Faculty Evil of Dracula Kung Fu Panda Nomadland Tsotsi Turn Me On, Goddammit! Lovesong Syriana Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour Champions Showing Up The Forest for the Trees Cameraperson Primer Beau Travail

Watching: Lou Hustlers Fruitvale Station A Man Called Otto Hi, Mom Petite Maman Shoah Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret. Blackfish Enter the Void In a World… Claire’s Camera Four Weddings and a Funeral

Watching: The Miseducation of Cameron Post Wendy and Lucy Test Pattern Glass Onion Prisoners Spider-Man: No Way Home All Is Lost CODA Barbie Shall We Dance? Devotion

Watching: Ticket to Paradise 65 Brightwood Dune: Part One Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One No Country for Old Men They Shall Not Grow Old Black Sea

Reading: Mike Nichols: A Life (2021) by Mark Harris: while not as rich a study of context and history as his earlier work, Pictures at a Revolution, this biography of a special man deserves attention because it explains how a complicated person can flourish inside multiple art forms because of collaboration, chutzpah, and grit in… Continue reading June 2023

Watching: AV: The Hunt Summer of Soul (…Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised) My Octopus Teacher The Caine Mutiny The Mother Hit Man Parasite Pumping Iron Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio Beyond the Lights Persepolis The Iron Giant Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest The Sea Wolf Frozen I Upgrade The Piano A… Continue reading May 2023

Watching: The Terminator: Judgment Day Child’s Play Hansan: Rising Dragon Pulgasari 47 Meters Down Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl 2000 Mules A Nightmare on Elm Street Creep Kill Boksoon The Castle of Cagliostro Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania Thor: Love and Thunder

Reading: Cinema Speculation (2022) by Quentin Tarantino: lauded as a great screenwriter (and he is), this collection of essays needs an editor, even though it’s got terrific analyses of grind house fare from the 1970s. Buy Cinema Speculation here. A Short History of Fim (2018) by Wheeler Wiston Dixon and Gwendolyn Audrey Foster: while easy-to-read… Continue reading March 2023

Watching: Tomboy The Hunger Games: The Mockingjay – Part 1 F/X2 Wag the Dog Second Act Mad God Monty Python’s Life of Brian Gentlemen Prefer Blondes The Hunger Games: Catching Fire This is Spinal Tap Rashomon Strange World Nekromantik Phantom of the Mall: Eric’s Revenge Cloverfield Marty

Watching: 5 Centimeters per Second Ilsa, She Wolf of the SS UHF Everything Everywhere All at Once Jurassic World: Dominion A Star Is Born The Menu The Wedding Planner Last Tango in Paris Megan Leavey Maid in Manhattan Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings

Celebrating: 5th Annual Garrett Awards Reading: Heat 2 (2022) by Michael Mann and Meg Gardiner: the movie-length storyboard as page-turner sequel to the movie Heat (Michael Mann, 1995) with on-the-nose dialogue, 2-D characterization, and convenient plot points. Buy Heat 2 here. A Kim Jong-Il Production: The Extraordinary True Story of a Kidnapped Filmmaker, His Star… Continue reading December 2022

Watching: The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers Shrek 2 The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring Dazed and Confused Re-Animator Speed Obsession Heat Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure Enola Holmes 2 Team America: World Police The Prince of Egypt Avengers: Endgame Avengers: Infinity War The Killing of a Chinese Bookie… Continue reading November 2022

Watching: Black Widow Ghostbusters The Bad Guys The Bad News Bears House of Flying Daggers Million Dollar Baby Easter Sunday The Sea Inside The Enforcer Fahrenheit 9/11 The Woman King The Wailing

Watching: The Bourne Supremacy Rocky Avatar Sing 2 Cemetery Man Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind Tokyo Godfathers Samaritan Henry & June Crash Super Size Me

Reading: The Man Who Invented Movies: A True Tale of Obsession, Murder, and the Movies (2022) by Paul Fischer: an excellent biography turned description of how still photography turned into the cinema. Buy The Man Who Invented Motion Pictures here. Watching: A Very Long Engagement Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer Mr. Mom Love &… Continue reading August 2022

Reading: The Godfather (1969) by Mario Puzo: a super bad-good novel turned into a pair of terrific movies by Francis Ford Coppola. Buy The Godfather here. Watching: 13 Going on 30 The Flight of the Phoenix Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom The Girl Who Leapt Through Time Thor: Love and Thunder Sierra Burgess… Continue reading July 2022

Watching: To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before Mission: Impossible — Rogue Nation Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness The Devil Wears Prada Independence Day Greetings Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol Blowup

Reading: My Friend Dahmer (2012) by Derf Backderf: an illustrated memoir of growing up alongside a serial killer-to-be that’s organized in cinematic panels concerned with memory and adolescent growing pains. Buy My Friend Dahmer here. Watching: Caligula Your Name. Battleship Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? Nomadland Wolfwalkers Another Round Cheaper by the Dozen Mandy Censor… Continue reading May 2022

Watching: Joker Snow White and the Huntsman Tenet First Cow Eddie the Eagle Dolemite Is My Name One Night in Miami… Greaser’s Palace Better Nate Than Ever Promising Young Woman Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom Jurassic World

Reading: America on Film: Representing Race, Class, Gender, and Sexuality at the Movies (Third Edition) (2021) by Harry M. Benshoff and Sean Griffin: a great history-turned-manual offering a way to interpret American popular culture according to who is, and who is not, inside the world of screen stories. Buy America on Film: Representing Race, Class,… Continue reading March 2022

Watching: The Eight Hundred Sky High The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2 The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1 Red Rocket The Twilight Saga: Eclipse The Twilight Saga: New Moon Pig Godzilla vs. Kong Twilight The Farewell Eternals

Watching: Tomb Raider Colors Encanto The Last Duel Hobo with a Shotgun Tomorrowland Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song

Celebrating: 4th Annual Garrett Awards Watching: Titanic Spider-Man: Far From Home The Castle of Cagliostro We Bought a Zoo Home Sweet Home Alone The Power of the Dog The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies A Clockwork Orange Lost in Translation Alita: Battle Angel Ivan’s Childhood Kill Bill: Volume 1 A Mighty Wind The… Continue reading December 2021

Watching: The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey 28 Days Later Enola Holmes Bless the Beasts and Children Cold Mountain Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings Elephant Jungle Cruise Dune: Part One Mystic River 21 Grams Repo Man The Thing    The Harder They Fall Seabiscuit Whale Rider

Watching: Roald Dahl’s The Witches Finding Nemo The Thing from Another World American Splendor Artemis Fowl Down with Love Swiss Family Robinson Black Widow The LEGO Movie Johnny Got His Gun Promising Young Woman

Reading: Ready Player One (2011) by Ernest Cline: a valentine to people born from 1965-1975 with a utopian idealism built upon the foundation of e-commerce, social networking, Dungeons & Dragons, and first love. Buy Ready Player One here. Watching: The Iron Lady Mamma Mia! The Rescuers The Silence of the Lambs Ready Player One Queen… Continue reading September 2021

Reading: Rock Me on the Water: 1974: The Year Los Angeles Transformed Movies, Music, Television, and Politics (2021) by Ronald Brownstein: a popular history that shows how various industries cross fertilize when just the right set of creative people mingle together with just the right set of economic and cultural influences to change the nature… Continue reading August 2021

Reading: Once Upon a Time In Hollywood (2021) by Quentin Tarantino: an enjoyable amplification of the movie-of-the-same-name, which is (happily) not an identical story but a true expansion into 1960s Tinsel Town. Buy Once Upon a Time In Hollywood here. Watching: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre The Marksman Shadow of the Vampire Tales from the Crypt… Continue reading July 2021

Reading: Pictures at a Revolution: Five Movies and the Birth of the New Hollywood (2008) by Mark Harris: a great read and the epitome of high-quality cultural history. Buy Pictures at a Revolution: Five Movies and the Birth of the New Hollywood here. The Old Guard: Book One: Opening Fire (2017) by Greg Rucka and… Continue reading June 2021

Watching: Grand Hotel Cavalcade Cimarron Eraserhead The Muppets Mary Poppins    Coraline Army of the Dead Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer Fantastic Four Porco Rosso Under the Skin Ms. 45 Without Remorse

Watching: All Quiet on the Western Front Wings Godzilla: King of the Monsters Legally Blonde Raya and the Last Dragon Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald News of the World Hunt for the Wilderpeople Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them Maleficent Maleficent: Mistress of Evil Hold the Dark The Outlaw Josey Wales

Reading: The Rebel Outlaw: Josey Wales (aka Gone to Texas) (1972) by Forrest Carter: some easy-to-read, Lost Cause, man-loves-his-pistol adventure. Buy The Rebel Outlaw: Josey Wales (aka Gone to Texas) here. Reading: The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (1983) by Ron Hansen: a truly remarkable story about how myths of the… Continue reading March 2021

Watching: 300: Rise of an Empire Flora & Ulysses Doctor Strange Ant-Man and the Wasp Se7en Ant-Man

Reading: Future Noir: The Making of Blade Runner (3rd edition) (2017) by Paul M. Sammon: a mix of both trees and weeds in the forest of film studies, all meant to describe the complete experience of making, editing, marketing, and watching one of the great fantasy movies of all-time. Buy Future Noir: The Making of… Continue reading January 2021

Celebrating: 3rd Annual Garrett Awards Watching: Midway Soul Captain Marvel Jingle Jangle The Wind Rises You’ve Got Mail The Road Klaus Palm Springs The Last Man on Earth The Pursuit of Happyness Atonement

Reading: I Am Legend (1954) by Richard Matheson: nothing like any of the several movie adaptations but a solid read nonetheless. Buy I Am Legend here. Watching: Stalker Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind  The Omega Man The Babadook Avengers: Age of Ultron 3 Ninjas Pan’s Labyrinth Howl’s Moving Castle Secret Society of Second-Born… Continue reading November 2020

Watching: Borat Subsequent Moviefilm: Delivery of Prodigiious Bribe to American Regime for Make Benefit Once Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan Spirited Away Da 5 Bloods 42 Rear Window The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian Cleo from 5 to 7 Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw Kiki’s Delivery Service Bowling for Columbine The LEGO Movie

Watching: Monty Python and the Holy Grail Munich The Color Purple Cries and Whispers Jaws Harriet Mulan

Watching: RBG Cruising Monsters and Men In the Heat of the Night Blinded by the Light The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!

Watching: Action Jackson The Stepfather The Old Guard Knives Out Booksmart 1917

Watching: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story The Hunt The Girl with All the Gifts The King The Adventures of Robin Hood Annihilation

Watching: Onward Men in Black II Men in Black Inception 9 to 5 The Mask of Zorro My Life as a Zucchini Extraction The World According to Garp Haywire Groundhog Day Look Who’s Back Little Women

Watching: Slow West A Dog’s Purpose Ghost in the Shell The Biggest Little Farm Splash A Dog’s Journey Rambo: Last Blood The Foreigner Life of Pi The Nightingale Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon High Life Mamma Mia!

Reading: Barry Sonnenfeld, Call Your Mother: Memoirs of a Neurotic Filmmaker (2020) by Barry Sonnenfeld: LOL vignettes from a life in the movie trenches alongside painful reflections on surviving sexual, physical, emotional, and professional abuse. Buy Barry Sonnenfeld, Call Your Mother: Memoirs of a Neurotic Filmmaker here. Watching: La La Land Ghost in the Shell… Continue reading March 2020

Watching: Theodore Rex Border Elephant Kung Fu Panda 2 The Great Debaters Before Sunset Wind River Rock & Rule 78/52: Hitchcock’s Shower Scene High Noon Terminator: Dark Fate Amour Frankenstein Logan

Watching: Mid90s Eighth Grade Westworld The Last Airbender Zardoz T2: Trainspotting Long Shot The Lion King

Celebrating: 2nd Annual Garrett Awards Watching: Avengers: Endgame The Cotton Club Encore Hustlers Bugsy Malone Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker Avengers: Infinity War Best in Show The Ballad of Buster Scruggs Captain Marvel Little Stop Making Sense Desert Hearts

Watching: Frozen II The Irishman Ed Wood Who Framed Roger Rabbit Drunktown’s Finest Annie The Big Race Richard Pryor: Live in Concert Star Wars: Episode V — The Empire Strikes Back Wonder Park Spider-Man: Homecoming Legend of the Guardian: The Owls of Ga’Hoole To Live and Die in L.A. Surviving Home

Watching: Sans Soleil Zombieland: Double Tap Blade Runner: Final Cut A Better Life Black Panther El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie Conan the Barbarian Captain American: Civil War Quest for Fire Avengers: Age of Ultron I Am Not Your Negro Raging Bull

Watching: War Horse The Secret Life of Pets 2 Under the Skin Platoon Missing Link Invictus Yentl Mission: Impossible – Fallout Grave of the Fireflies Captain Marvel Slap Shot Cinema Paradiso High School Musical 3: Senior Year

Watching: Hollywood Shuffle Cry Baby Chef Fast Times at Ridgemont High The Little Mermaid The Incredible Hulk Das Boot: Director’s Cut Always Be My Maybe Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood

Watching: The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part Destroyer The Raid 2 Support the Girls Devil’s Advocate Toy Story 4 The Legend of Billie Jean Hercules Star Wars: Episode VIII – The Last Jedi Revenge Avengers: Endgame

Watching: Border Jiro Dreams of Sushi Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Captain Marvel Vice John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum Bohemian Rhapsody Girls Trip Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones Coco Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within Ice Age: Collision Course

Watching: Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace Crazy Rich Asians Aladdin Tarzan Black Hawk Down Back to School Captain America: The First Avenger Monsoon Wedding Love, Simon Dirty Rotten Scoundrels Monsters, Inc. Bumble Bee Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

Watching: Me and Earl and the Dying Girl The Others Winged Migration Stand Clear of the Closing Doors The Highwaymen Gosford Park Miracle at St. Anna  Iron Man    Moulin Rouge! Fail State

Reading: The Earth Dies Streaming: Film Writing 2002-2018 (2018) by A.S. Hamrah: a super smart set of reviews and essays about movies that assume you already know something about what Hamrah’s writing about, which means he interprets what he observes to opine rather than synopsize what he’s been told to promote. Buy The Earth Dies… Continue reading March 2019

Watching: Hedwig and the Angry Inch Pariah Gabriel Over the White House Thor: The Dark World Y Tu Mama Tambien Spider-Man 3 Wayne’s World A Beautiful Mind The Blind Side Spider-Man 2 Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner Call Her Savage Safe in Hell Spider-Man

Watching: No Man’s Land Annihilation Thor   Baby Face Avengers: Infinity War Iron Man 2 Scarface Russian Ark Ralph Breaks the Internet

Celebrating: 1st Annual Garrett Awards Watching: Love Actually Mary Poppins Returns Justice League Riding Giants Jason and the Argonauts Outlaw King The English Patient Ready Player One Drumline Trainspotting The Avengers Blast of Silence Matilda Wolf Warrior 2 Lean on Me James and the Giant Peach Solo: A Star Wars Story

Watching: When We Were Kings Godzilla Last Flag Flying Big Night Star Wars: Episode VIII – The Last Jedi Beethoven Widows Lars and the Real Girl BlacKkKlansman Fargo M Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi Breaking the Waves Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief Thank You for Your Service Courage… Continue reading November 2018

Watching: Religulous The Breadwinner The Siege of Jadotville Beatriz at Dinner In Bruges The French Connection Red Dawn Fast Times at Ridgemont High Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation Murder on the Orient Express Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace A Bad Mom’s Christmas Blindspotting

Reading: The Complete Frank Miller RoboCop Omnibus (2016) by Frank Miller: a dystopian glimpse of our eventual future that departs from, and overlaps with, the movie series. Buy The Complete Frank Miller RoboCop Omnibus here. Watching: Despicable Me 3 Isle of the Dogs Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel The Equalizer 2 Sicario: Day of… Continue reading July 2018

Watching: Wind River Incredibles 2 Tag I, Tonya Hostiles 12 Strong Lady Bird The Post Black Panther

Reading: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (1950) by C.S. Lewis: first read it in grade school; re-read it after getting married; re-read it, again, after finding it on the family bookshelf. Buy The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe here. Watching: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Ravenous Tower Seven Psychopaths Rogue One: A… Continue reading May 2018

Watching: 84 Charlie MoPic Rodents of Unusual Size The Red Chapel Shrek Spare Parts Eye in the Sky Pumping Iron II: The Women Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs Half Nelson Moonlight Born in Flames El Norte 20th Century Women Koyaanisqatsi: Life Out of Balance Ferdinand Return The Handmaiden Mad Max

Reading: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (1964) by Roald Dahl: my first one-day binge read (in the third grade) that spawned two movie adaptations. Buy Charlie and the Chocolate Factory here. Watching: Dirty Dancing Love, Simon Gone Girl School of Rock Brawl in Cell Block 99 Fences Super Fly Bone Tomahawk American Teacher La La… Continue reading March 2018

Watching: Loving Beyond the Valley of the Dolls Blood and Roses How I Learned to Love Women 13th Moana Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri Life, Animated Song of the South Land of Mine Dracula Strange Brew Robocop

Reading: Writing About Movies (4th edition) (2016) by Karen Gocsik, Richard Barsam, and Dave Monahan: a solid primer on writing about movies in the academic style. Buy Writing About Movies here. Watching: The Salesman Blue Ruin Kill Bill: Volume 1 Monsters vs. Aliens The Greatest Showman The Little Prince Baby Driver Get Out