1. Soviet Barbara: the Story of Ragnar Kjartansson in Moscow, directed by Gaukur Úlfarsson (8/10)

The best film we saw at Hot Docs this year, hands down. 8/10 actually feels a little harsh in retrospect. Read the review of Soviet Barbara.

2. The King Tide, directed Christian Sparks (8/10)

A great thriller-cum-tragedy with a pretty fatal flaw I choose to ignore. Read my review of The King Tide.

3. Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, directed by John Francis Daley, Jonathan Goldstein (8/10)

Really, really fun. I know. I’m shocked too. Read my review of Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves.

4. Bottoms, directed by Emma Seligman (7/10)

Pretty funny. Read my review of Bottoms.

5. The Pigeon Tunnel, directed by Errol Morris (7/10)

An interesting documentary about John Le Carre. Read my review of The Pigeon Tunnel.

6. Vjeran Tomic: The Spider-Man of Paris, directed by Jamie Roberts (7/10)

This is a super processy documentary about a rather incredible burglar and the time he stole 5 famous paintings from the Musée d’Art Moderne de Paris.

This documentary about this art heist goes into super great detail about how Tomic stole paintings from the museum. He walks us through exactly what he did and how. And the cops then walk us through exactly how they lucked into catching him. There’s a remarkable amount of candor and specificity. It’s really something and it makes for interesting viewing.

For me, the real highlight is the shots they got of either Tomic or a double walking around the roofs of Paris. Though nowhere near as stressful as Free Solo, these shots are still super tense if you don’t like heights and really do a good job of showing how impressive Tomic’s feats were outside of the museum heist. (He normally burgled rich people and usually entered from rooves, both utterly different from the museum heist.)

My only real nitpick is the brief aside about Tomic getting out and having a partner. I’m not really sure how that adds to the story of the heist or his incredible abilities to free climb med rise apartment buildings. I guess it’s supposed to humanize him but we hear from him throughout the whole movie and he’s very honest.

7. Satan Wants You, directed by Steve J. Adams, Sean Horlor (7/10)

An entertaining documentary about Michelle Remembers, the book that helped kick off the Satanic Panic. Read my review of Satan Wants You.

8. Money Shot: The Pornhub Story, directed by Suzanne Hillinger (7/10)

Interesting but incomplete in terms of the story it tries to tell. Read my review of Money Shot.

9. Wham!, directed by Chris Smith (7/10)

A surprisingly interesting documentary about a band I care nothing about. Read my review of Wham!.

10. Renfield, directed by Chris McKay (6/10)

I really like the premise of this film. It’s one of those ideas that feels like it should have been a movie already.

I like the fighting. It’s ridiculously over-the-top and just gets sillier. I also like how the characters are aware of how ridiculous the violence is, occasionally commenting on how impossible it is. This is one of the two great running gags in the film.

The other great running gag is how unbelievably corrupt NOPD is. They’re ridiculously corrupt to start and they just get worse and there’s just no acknowledgement. It’s a good gag.

Nicholas Cage is clearly enjoying himself. And he’s being less Nicholas Cage than normal, even though he’s hamming as usual. Everyone else is having fun but I gotta say I don’t love Awkwafina. I don’t think I’ve seen anything with her in it but I feel like I could imagine any number of other actresses in this role. I’m not sure if she brings anything.

My biggest issue with the movie, which I mostly liked, is a lack of jokes. I just don’t think there are enough of them, consistently throughout the movie. There are a bunch, but it feels as though it could have been punched up. I liked the running jokes but I need more in between. I just wanted to like it more than I did and I think I would have liked it more with more jokes.

But it was still fairly amusing.

11. The Cemetery of Cinema, directed by Thierno Souleymane Diallo (6/10)

I quite liked the first part of this film. The second part I didn’t like as much and apparently enough to bump it down this far. Still glad I watched it. My first film from Guinea. Read the review of The Cemetery of Cinema.

12. Praying for Armageddon, directed by Tonje Hessen Schei, Michael Rowley (6/10)

A necessary message about evangelicals funding radical Zionist settlers in Palestine is undercut by what Jenn calls “scope creep” and a general lack of focus. Read the review of Praying for Armageddon.

13. Untold: Johnny Football, directed by Ryan Duffy (6/10)

I didn’t know much about Johnny Manziel before watching this, beyond his nickname, that he flamed out in the NFL, and that people went a little crazy about him while he was in College. Read my review of Johnny Football.

14. Kelce, directed by Don Argott (6/10)

Fine. Read my review of Kelce.

15. Time Bomb Y2K, directed by Brian Becker, Marley McDonald (5/10)

This is a funny documentary but just really unsatisfying. I was looking forward to it and I feel like I didn’t get much more than annoyance. Read my review of Time Bomb Y2K.

16. Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre, directed by Guy Ritchie (5/10)

This is a bit of a slapdash heist ish film with a pretty high profile cast, seemingly not that great of a budget and, as Jenn put it, the MacGuffiniest MacGuffin. But I laughed. Read my reviews of Ruse de Guerre.

17. The Out-Laws, directed by Tyler Spindell (5/10)

A fatally flawed casting decision makes this otherwise amusing film hard to take. Read my review of The Out-Laws.

18. The Devil on Trial, directed by Chris Holt (4/10)

An entirely too credulous documentary about a 1981 murder where the perpetrator claimed to be possessed. Read my review of The Devil on Trial.

19. A Haunting in Venice, directed by Kenneth Branagh (4/10)

I just don’t think this was very good. Read my review of A Haunting in Venice.

20. The Marvels, directed by Nia DaCosta (4/10)

Feels written by a bunch of tweens on whatever social media network tweens post on now. Read my review of The Marvels.

21. Shazam! Fury of the Gods, directed by David F. Sandberg (4/10)

Whatever goodwill was engendered in me from the first Shazam! has been utterly sapped by this stupid sequel, which just leans into every 21st century comic book film cliché. It feels like a bad Thor sequel if Thor was a teenager instead of a drunk who is pining for his ex. Read my review of Fury of the Gods.

22. Fast X, directed by Louis Leterrier (3/10)

Join us next time for Fast XI: Shopping for a Table Big Enough to Seat Everyone Toretto Considers Family. Read my review of Fast X.

23. Simulant, directed by April Mullen (3/10)

An extremely cliched artificial humans sci fi film. Read my review of Simulant.

24. Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, directed by James Wan (3/10)

Fantasy rather than comic book. But it’s about climate change? Read my review of Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom.

25. The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes, directed by Francis Lawrence (3/10)

A bizarre, unnecessary prequel that focuses on the heal-turn of the future dictator, rather than, you know, any of the other characters from the franchise. Read my review of The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes.

26. 65, directed by Scott Beck, Brian Woods (3/10)

Science fiction so high concept the concept doesn’t make sense. Read my review of 65.