Watched The Running Man (2025). They added more of the book but made it more muddled with no time for the emotion to impact of all the new characters. Not sure what anyone's motivations are or what is real, but I guess that's fine. This version could have worked as a show. #MovieReview

Watched SLC Punk!. A pretty exciting movie that feels like a mockumentary before there were visual definitions of it. Lots of interesting scenes, but the voice over feels more like a Ferris Bueller imitation than its own thing. Good acting despite awkward plotline. #MovieReview

Watched Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. My favorite western, even though it's far from a standard one. So much charisma all over, and I had forgotten how weird and long some of the scenes are. Expert pacing by Redford and just a fun romp. #MovieReview

Watched Boogie Nights. This is what Crash wanted to be. Loved seeing all the characters and how they entangled and bounced from each other. Emotional roller coaster and deeply messed up, but has a lot of pathos and every character feels real. PTA is hit or miss for me, but this hit. #MovieReview

Watched Lisa Frankenstein. Similar vibes to Edward Scissorhands. Fun chaotic energy and the main character has a fun arc, but similar to Warm Bodies, it is more of a sensory experience to watch than anything more than intense suspension of disbelief. #MovieReview

"It's the job that's never started as takes longest to finish" JRR Tolkien Bags 27 & 28 #lotr #parenting #lego

My "now page" for this quarter is up! If you want to know what's going on in my life or what I'm thinking about, here it is. katerberg.net/now #NowPage

Watched Princess Mononoke. Beautiful vibe-movie. The plot was less important than the feel but the visuals are just so stunning that it's hard to not be enraptured. The harsh violence contrasts with the beautiful landscapes a bit much for me. #MovieReview

Watched Lonely Wives. Comedy is hard to translate and this has some fun moments but felt like an awkward Marx Brothers wordplay film where the characters largely don't have any stable personality. Never makes clear why the main character is a Jekyll/Hyde. Confusing. #MovieReview

I like being married to someone who studied math in college.

Watched The Second Woman. Thrilling movie with magnetic acting for the first 3/4 suddenly spoiled by an abrupt pacing change and characters that make no sense in the final 10 minutes. Really cool set up that even has a sensical twist but just has no humanity left in the final scenes. #MovieReview

"… the thought pierced him that in the end the Shadow was only a small and passing thing: there was light and high beauty for ever beyond its reach." JRR Tolkien Bags 23 & 24 #lego #lotr #parenting

Watched Thelma. Beautifully funny and sad (but mostly humanizing) view of aging and dependency. Brilliant dialogue with an "action" plot to keep engaged. Squibb is incredible and had similar vibes to Thursday Murder Club. Anything but rote. #MovieReview

Watched Primary Colors. Pretty amazing fictionalized view of Clinton campaign. Travolta is amazingly convincing and the movie does great at showing the deeply dark side of politics in a believable way while also showing the inspiring parts. What a ride and way better than expected. #MovieReview

Very bad news for the country that assassinations are happening. Regardless of political actions, this is a very bad thing and usually works out badly for all involved. #uspol

Watched Fallen. Great writing with the cop banter and legendary cast of great actors falls short for me with a weird plot that tries to be Se7en but ends up edgy without a payoff. Happy to have seen it because I love twisty thrillers, but this one made me want a few tweaks. #MovieReview

Watched Sex Drive. Very 2010s coded horny comedy. Aims for the same kind of heartfelt endings of American Pie, Eurotrip, etc but is so deeply predictable that it doesn't land very well. None of the leads are engaging to the point that the Finch character is by far the most endearing. #MovieReview

Watched Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Amazing how this movie crosses genres with suspense, horror, mystery, drama. Such an epic scope that feels so tight. One of Spielberg's best despite feeling a bit long in the second act. The sound design steals the show. #MovieReview

Watched The Greeks Had a Word for Them. Hard watch, possibly because comedy ages poorly, but it was just full of bad people being bad to each other, and even the characters that had some depth just are clueless. Hard to watch Always Sunny from 1930 and understand the cultural mores. #MovieReview

Happy Ukrainian Independence Day!

Watched Rasputin and the Empress. Kinda a boring story but acting is top notch and worth it to see three Barrymores! Really want to see more John since he blew me away. Tons of fun history on set and in the story for this one so it's a beautiful artifact that is eminently watchable. #MovieReview

Watched Fantastic Four: First Steps. The most innovative superhero film since Spider-verse. Setting it in Earth 828 was a stroke of genius, since it let them have a standalone movie which was so refreshing. Avoiding the origin story worked great and all casting except Johnny worked. #MovieReview

I really wish platforms were less rage-baity. Identica back in the day was so positive but it seems like all of the micro blogs are just so freaking negative all the time now to drive engagement.

Watched Maltese Falcon. Probably the best noir film I've seen (of course) but not at all my favorite genre. Fat Man is my favorite character but no one to really root for. It's fun seeing the Casablanca crossover. What an interesting romp! #MovieReview

Watched Yojimbo. Way more of a comedy than I thought, particularly after the really intriguing political dance at the beginning. Some deeply intense scenes but with so much lightness. Much faster paced than his others that I've seen. #MovieReview

Watched Airplane!. Knew many of the scenes before watching it, but it was better than the sum of the great parts. Silly to the max, it has a lot of charm and feels very much of its vintage. Escalates perfectly and has great callbacks. Maybe the best paced comedy I've seen. #MovieReview

Watched Terminator 2. Absolute gem of a film. One of the best action movies of all time, and one of the rare films that outshines the original (but both are great). The special effect hold up decades later and the casting is perfect. #MovieReview

Just posted my new #NowPage with what I've been doing for the past quarter. It's basically my journal that doesn't require as much upkeep.

Watched It Happened One Night. Possibly a perfect romantic comedy if you can get over the 1930s chauvinism. Easy to see why everyone involved left with an Oscar. The carrot and hitchhiking scenes are some of the best ever. Up there with Marx Brothers for me. #MovieReview

Watched Superman (2025). Deeply campy but still fun. Not a film I'll be super interested in revisiting, but it plays the Suicide Squad formula well, and Fillion et al do a great job as side characters that are truly loveable. Plot seemed busy but that's comic world today. #MovieReview #Superman

Watched Fantastic Mr Fox. Anderson usually misses for me but this one felt brilliant, perhaps because the claymation added enough distance that I could love the characters for who they are. Brilliantly funny and sad, I want to rewatch this one in a year or two. Acting was spectacular #MovieReview

Watched Midnight Phantom. Slow start but ended up being a fun Thin Man style movie. All of the characters were a little icky but fun enough. The smash cut on the ending makes me think it's missing some footage from the original and the lack of music confused me in many parts. #MovieReview

Watched Three Faces of Eve. Way less problematic than I anticipated. Pacing was slow in the middle but I was never not rapt due to the absolutely incredible acting. Not shocked that she won best actress but some magic was in the water because every minor character was also 10/10. #MovieReview

Watched Stardust. This movie has such a wild plot that I am pretty confused how it got greenlit. Might be DeNiro's top 3 acting and is so crazy and immersive that you can't look away. Fun movie if you don't take it too seriously, like Moulin Rouge. #MovieReview

Watched Harvey. What a weirdly wholesome movie for an uncomfortable topic. Almost Capra-esque ending for a pretty dark opening but also keeps comedy rolling all the way through, mostly due to the physical micromotions of Stewart. Uncomfortable gender stuff as expected. #MovieReview

"Not idly do the leaves of Lorien fall" JRR Tolkien Bags 18-19 (and done with box 1) #Lego #Parenting

"'Nonetheless I will grant thy prayer,' said Sauron; 'and thou shalt go to Eilinel, and be set free of my service.' Then he put him cruelly to death." JRR Tolkien Bags 15-17 #Lego #Parenting

I had never really considered myself a #comics person, since I know people who are way more into it and I generally just read collections well after current runs. It's imposter syndrome, but do you think there's a need to keep up with comics to be in the club?

Watched Swing High, Swing Low. This is one of those romantic comedies where I just really wish the woman would take everyone's advice and forget about the romantic lead. Men are trash. Most of the funny moments are right at the beginning and the rest is just chaotic heartache. #MovieReview

"Barad-Dûr Fortress of Sauron. All hope left him." JRR Tolkien Bags 13 & 14 #Lego #Parenting

"Barad-Dûr Fortress of Sauron. All hope left him." JRR Tolkien Bags 13 & 14 #Lego #Parenting

Watched Star Wars 5: Empire Strikes Back. Seminal film for a reason and Oz is fantastic in his small part. Mostly taken aback at how slow and exposition-centric this one is. I know it's lauded as the best (for good reason) but I prefer the original movie purely for pacing. #MovieReview #StarWars

We had a small house fire this weekend and luckily everyone is okay, but even a small one that doesn't have much serious damage is still so much work to clean up. Really makes me think about how hard it is for people that have much worse home disasters.

"Faithless is he who says farewell when the road darkens." JRR Tolkien Bags 11 & 12 #lego #parenting

Watched The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai. What a wild trip of the movie where I felt deeply confused and entertained. One step up from a high school production, this whole thing is a wonderful time capsule of humor and tech from the era mixed with lots of camp. #MovieReview

Watched Victor/Victoria. Wow! What an audacious movie that really delivers. Andrews is at her best that I've seen in this and I want to see everything else she's done. Plot is very 1930s screwball comedy but with more depth. #MovieReview

"I don't know half of you half as well as I should like; and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve." JRR Tolkien Bags 9 & 10. Logan was focused on his spaceman. #Lego #LOTR #parenting

"Even the Wise do not know all ends" JRR Tolkien Bags 7 & 8. Logan was focused on his spaceman. #Lego #LOTR #parenting

Watched Thunderbolts. Similar formula but a refreshing feeling where it seemed to have a point unlike most of the recent #Marvel movies. This is what I wanted The Eternals to be since I knew enough about the characters to feel invested and the film could focus on the relationships! #MovieReview

Watched Ocean's Eleven. A perfect movie. The comedy is top tier, and the dramatic chops are obviously intense, but the layout of shots really impressed me this time. Reiner is the one who I focused on during this watch and his little mannerisms are so fun to see. Infinitely rewatchable #MovieReview