I've been watching 1 movie a day this month. The main reason is to watch a lot of Black films. Other films were watched either because of a weekly Discord watch party, yearly traditions, or catching up with Best Picture Oscar nominees.
Groundhog Day - A yearly tradition, I almost forgot about it. Shame on me because the movie's worth watching once a year. Still one of the best 90s comedies, one of Bill Murray's best performances. It seems like every year, there's a new piece of media that has a Groundhog Day-like premise. Groundhog Day itself isn't the first timeloop movie, but I think it definitely set the stage for modern media adapting that premise. Hard to beat a pioneer though. 10/10
Hamnet - Great period drama that is carried hard by Jessie Buckley's performance. She's definitely winning the Oscar, and it's so well deserved. She came off as an enchanted creature for most of the first half, and an absolute wreck in most of the 2nd half. She played up every emotion perfectly and was a force of nature. Having said that, her biggest competition was Noah Jupe! That was some of the finest child acting I've seen in recent memory. Even though they faithfully followed the story of the Hamnet novel, I want to believe Jupe's character died just so that Buckley had no competition. Paul Mescale was also great. Chloe Zhao's directing felt soft, gentle, but totally fitting for this movie. It feels a little spiritual and in tune with nature. I wish certain narrative choices weren't made, and sometimes the movie is too slow. But the third act really ended things on a high note. 8.5/10
Why Did I Get Married? - Another Tyler Perry movie that sucks. It's better than his newer stuff at least. The characters are written poorly, with way too many fatphobic remarks and not a fitting enough punishment for the guy making those remarks. Some of the dialogue is horrid. For a while, it feels like nothing is happening, the plot goes too slowly. Michael Jai White was entertaining here, a rare non-action role, but he's hindered so much by the writing. I was sad for what Tyler Perry did to him. Janet Jackson was good, she had the least offensive writing. There are numerous ironically hilarious moments, but it's not enough to make this movie worth a rewatch. 4/10
Menace II Society - This was my first time watching the film. I have seen Don't Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood so many times, and it lowkey ruined this movie for me! It's crazy how much of it was spoofed by the Wayans Bros. The movie still holds a lot of power. The violence depicted in the movie is shocking. The story is very thin and more or less a slice of life. However, the movie was a dazzling showcase by the Hughes Brothers, who translated their cool visual style in music videos to film. The cinematography, editing, and lighting is fantastic. The pacing is quick, the various tones are played up beautifully. Whether it be dramatic, chaotic, or even humorous! The acting is also fairly solid, with Larenz Tate shining as the charismatic, but dangerous O-Dog. The narrative is really the only weak part in the movie. Plot points are seemingly raised and dropped, but I don't think plot mattered much. The point of the movie was to show the harsh realities of living in the "hood" and it succeeded in doing that. It's nihilistic, as opposed to Boyz n' the Hood's hopefulness. I prefer Boyz n' the Hood because it was more emotionally powerful with better acting. But as far as pure craft, the Hughes Brothers were far ahead of John Singleton. It's really apples and oranges, so I can see why many people would say this is better than Boyz n' the Hood. 9/10
Tangerine - This rewatch was through a watch party. I would've otherwise watched this around Christmas. This was my third time watching Tangerine, and my admiration for the movie has only grown. It's reached the point where I find it heartwarming in the end. Building up to that finale was hilarity, chaos, loud music, and a very striking tour of Los Angeles, captured on an iPhone. It feels very real, which goes along nicely with a wacky, but realistic story. A great cast here as well. RIP James Ransone. 9/10
Hoop Dreams - A mark of a great movie is not feeling the runtime. At 2 hours and 51 minutes, this documentary didn't feel like a slog at all. That long runtime is necessary as there is it's basically two high school stories, with some converging. This is a highly regarded documentary for good reason. It captures the pursuit of dreams from two Black teens in Chicago. They have different family dynamics and are seemingly at the same low income bracket. However, one basically enjoyed some privileges, especially financial, while the other had to work their way up the ladder. The privileged one also worked very hard and unfortunately went through physically daunting scenarios and his coach sucked ass! I loved following both stories. It's tragic, heartwarming, and as engaging as any 3-hour epic. 9/10
Poetic Justice - John Singleton's follow-up to Boyz n the Hood. It turned out to be a very low-key romance/drama. The storytelling is rather soft and the road trip format that dominates the movie makes things feel loose with physical detours like a picnic or African festival offering variety. The dialogue is where much of the cliches come in, and this could've been a so-so film if not for some nice visuals that show Singleton improving as a technical filmmaker, and the performances from some members of the cast. The MVP by far is Tupac. He was very charming and easily got my attention. Acting was seemingly natural to him. He and Janet Jackson had good chemistry. Jackson was also a treat here. The poetry from Maya Angelou was lovely, I guess it was the throughline of the film. It's comedic at times, but the last third is very dramatic, regardless of how unsurprising it was. It did feel like John Singleton wasn't fully capable of telling a romance story, but the attempt is respectable. It still works as that, but Tupac's arc in general is what really helped the movie. There was some development from Janet Jackson and others, but Tupac's was the most interesting. 8/10
South Central - This was the kind of hood movie John Singleton didn't want to happen if he couldn't direct Boys n the Hood. I would've expected this to be a Hollywood production, but it was an indie film that somehow had Oliver Stone attached as executive producer. It was written and directed by a white man from Colorado. It's based on the book, "The Original South Central L.A. Crips" by Donald Bakeer, a Black man, but it was fiction. The movie plays out like pure fiction with plot conveniences and complicated subjects resolved quickly, such as the finale being resolved from a speech. It felt inauthentic. The score also comes on too hard at times and is melodramatic. Most of the acting is inefficient, some is laughably bad. The guy who got his head knocked off by Jason Voorhees plays a crackhead here! The main character's kid was awful, I couldn't take him seriously. The setting doesn't feel distinct, you can tell they didn't really know South Central Los Angeles because they didn't bother showing locations all that much. The one legitimately good thing about the movie is Glenn Plummer. He was an effective lead, though he has some emotional outbursts that didn't feel right to me. I blame the writing and directing for that. Glenn Plummer also had a great, albeit small role in Menace II Society. It's interesting how in both movies, he plays a convict. Carl Lumbly was also good, but his most dramatic moments were silly. One highlight is the final speech, only because I recognized that it was spoofed in Don't Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood. That's really the main reason I watched South Central and a few other hood movies, to get myself ready for an upcoming revisit of a childhood favorite comedy. The ones I watched recently before South Central were great. South Central was sadly a pale imitation. 5.5/10
Marty Supreme - The resurfacing of what went down during the filming of a sex scene in Good Time made me look at the Safdies in a negative light, especially Josh. Between that and Kevin O'Leary being an ICE bootlicker, I considered not watching Marty Supreme. Separate the art from the artist. And I have to say that the art is fucking fantastic! I absolutely loved this movie. It's modern American filmmaking at its finest, at an epic scale. The story might be predictable, but everything put into the story is incredible. It's ambitious, energetic, anxiety-inducing, and brilliantly paced. The 2 hours and 30 minutes flew by for me! It's basically the next step following Good Time and Uncut Gems. It completes what I've heard is called "The Shitbag Trilogy." The shitbag, played by Timothee Chalamet, is a scumbag, someone who drags people down, and is downright cursed. But damn, like Adam Sandler in Uncut Gems, I wanted to root for him. This is easily the best Timothee Chalamet performance I've seen, and I would be totally fine if he wins the Best Lead Actor Oscar. The cast is absolutely nuts. Kevin O'Leary sadly was great in this. He basically played himself, a complete asshole. The movie is filled to the brim with high-quality craft. It is easily one of my favorite movies of 2025. To be more exact, it's number 3, behind One Battle After Another and No Other Choice. It's also the 4th movie to get this rating. I'm now convinced 2025 was a truly great year of films. The last great movie of 2025. A masterpiece even. 10/10
Juice - The first half of the movie was filled to the brim with hip-hop and some R&B, fitting the narrative perfectly as you get to learn about the 4 young male characters. One of them, Q, played by a very young Omar Epps, is a DJ and competes in a local competition. The DJ parts also contributed to how musically rich the movie was. I was digging that half of the movie. Then the second half felt like a major tone shift. And I also dug that! The whole narrative was very engaging, and made for an impressive directorial debut for Ernest Dickerson. His work as a cinematographer really paid off as the movie has a few strong visuals and camera shots. He worked with Spike Lee on a few of his films, including Do the Right Thing and Malcolm X. That would explain the dolly shot that resembles Spike Lee's distinct version. The second half of the movie pretty much turned to a horror flick with the villain being played by one of the four young male characters, Tupac! My goodness, Tupac's character Bishop was kind of scary, with him making some of the coldest entrances! I loved it, even when they're predictable. I wish the climax was more explosive, and there are some things not fleshed out very well, but this was a very strong 90s hood movie. A breath of fresh air for me after watching multiple hood movies set in Los Angeles. This one's set in Harlem, and the soundtrack reflects that! God, the soundtrack here is amazing. Tupac once again showed that he was a very good actor. 8/10
One of Them Days - Basically a modern day, female-led version of Friday. I would say it leans more on the Friday sequels because those were a lot more absurd. However, the chemistry in the original Friday is closer to what this film has. It's a fun, breezy comedy set in Los Angeles. The two leads, Keke Palmer and SZA, carry this movie with their genuine bond. SZA is a major surprise as she's an R&B artist, but her acting her is better than previous R&B artists-turned actors, such as Kelly Rowland. This is another movie that reminds me how much I love Keke Palmer. She is so charismatic, so lively, she really elevates any character given to her. I really needed a brief break from the male-driven Black films. Also, all of them I watched so far this month were from the 90s. This was a lovely change of place. Some moments are too stupid, there are some notable technical errors, and the movie's wrap up is a little off, but it's consistently engaging. The supporting cast is very strong, whether it be small roles like that of Janelle James and Katt Williams, or more singificant roles like the two people chasing Palmer and SZA. Also, it's visually appealing, which I say because modern movies don't have enough colors. One of Them Days is colorful in many ways. 7.5/10
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