I have a goal this year of watching 365 movies and it’s time for week two. While I do have a pretty clear outline for what I’m watching this year and I did watch everything I had planned for this week…I ended the week with a total of 12 movies watched instead of 7. From worst to best, here is my weekly ranking roundup!

Honorable Mentions:

While I did watch 12 movies, two of those were rewatches so I will not be ranking them. This includes rewatching Morphine (2008), and My Man Godfrey (1936).

A Short Film About Killing (1988) dir. Krzysztof Kieslowski ★★

Despite the title, this is not a short film. Actually, it drags on for what seems like forever. The whole film is shot with a yellow filter over it. I understand it was supposed to help emphasize the grim and seediness of the city, but it just makes it harder to watch. The stars that I did give this film are purely for it’s cultural impact. It is part of a bigger series called Dekalog but was extended to be it’s own film. The Polish series in general had a big impact on the country and this one specifically aided in abolishing the death penalty.

Half Baked (1998) dir. Tamra Davis ★★1/2 

The next two were watched with my friends, and I always seem to enjoy comedies more when watching them with a group. While some parts haven’t aged the best, this is still funny and enjoyable. I love the aesthetic and specifically the costumes of the main group.

One Of Them Days (2025) dir. Lawrence Lamont ★★★ 1/2

As many people know, I don’t tend to watch a lot of newer releases, but I really had fun with this one. I think it suffers a little from the runtime and could have been condensed but the two leads had great energy and comedic timing. I do love movies that put an emphasis on creating and finding communities within larger cities.

Lupin The Third: Dead or Alive (1996) dir. Kazuhiko Kato & Hiroyuki Yano ★★★ 1/2

I started watching Lupin The Third three years ago and it’s one of my all time favorite animes. They came out with many TV specials and films over the years and I’m still making my way through a good portion of their catalog. I do tend to struggle with the ones lacking in the modern voice actors that I love so much, but the new designs for Goemon and Fujiko were great. I plan to do an entire week of Lupin movies this year.

Branded To Kill (1967) dir. Seijun Suzuki ★★★ 1/2

After watching Black Tight Killers last week, I was eager for more fun Japanese crime movies and that ended up sparking the whole theme for this week. I was a little disappointed by this one. While the style is clearly there, the story is confusing and I’m not the only one to point this out. Things just sorta happen one after another without much inbetween. I do love the female leads in this and adore the set design.

The Strangler (1970) dir. Paul Vecchiali ★★★ ½

As someone who studied and love Giallos, I was intrigued when people called this an anti-giallo. Of course, the first big difference is this is a French film not Italian. The further I got into the movie, I understood the comparison. It has the character types you would find in an Italian thriller movie but focuses heavily on the killer instead of the victims. It’s the same situation you run into when calling something like Peeping Tom (1960) or Psycho (1960) a slasher.

Electric Dragon 80000V (2001) dir. Gakuryu Ishii ★★★★

Theres a few actors that I would watch ANYTHING they’re in. Gianni Garko and Jeffrey Combs have always been on that list but I think I’m adding Tadanobu Asano to that list. I love him in Ichi The Killer (2001), Party 7 (2000) , and Taboo (1999). He was great in this and I loved the blend of music, visuals, and how the character’s stories are both so interconnected with those elements.

Compulsion (1959) dir. Richard Fleischer ★★★★

When doing a week of crime and thriller movies I thought I should have something that is based on a true story. It’s loosely based on the Leopold and Loeb case, which also inspired the Hitchcock film Rope and both films do skirt around the fact that the real murders were in a relationship. Beautifully shot and though I’ve seen many people criticizing his performance I loved Orson Welles in this. If there’s any classic film director, despite their flaws, that I truly love it’s him.

Entertaining Mr. Sloane (1970) dir. Douglas Hickox ★★★★ ½

Whenever I find myself thoroughly enjoying a comedy it’s usually because I’m watching it with friends or if it’s European. It has a similar level of dark humor to one of my all time favorite movies Withnail and I (1987) but with a much more 70s approach. Peter McEnery as the titular Mr. Sloane is hilarious. His line delivery is both off putting in a jagged way while also being hysterical. 

Yokohama BJ Blues (1981) dir. Eiichi Kudo ★★★★ 1/2

I actually started the week with this one, again inspired by my love for Black Tight Killers. This one is a lot slower and instead of that focus on pop art it’s literally all shades of blue. Matsuda who plays BJ, is a delight to watch. It divides it’s focus on him as a private detective and a blues singer perfectly. The best part is that the majority of the albums soundtrack is on Spotify.