No. 3 of 2026: Next of Kin (1984).

No. 2 of 2026: Relay (2024)

Resetting the counter for 2026. No. 1: Joyful Noise (2012).

Second time’s the charm for my Ripley paper! Sadly I will not be accompanied by all of the wonderful panelists I applied with last year, but I am glad to finally get to share my ideas on this. #scms #scms26

No. 65: Richard Pryor: Live in Concert (1979).

No. 64: Odds Against Tomorrow (Robert Wise, 1959).

No. 63: Sinners (Ryan Coogler, 2025).

No. 62: Torso (Sergio Martino, 1973).

Torso is overall a “meh” giallo but boasts some killer eye makeup looks.

No. 61: Companion (Drew Hancock, 2025).

100%. It’s a well done film in general and then for being a directorial debut that she’s also starring in? Impressive!

No. 60: Woman of the Hour (Anna Kendrick, 2023).

I was very pleasantly surprised by Kendrick’s directorial debut that is relatively faithful to the facts of the Alcala case while introducing dramatic embellishments that hit on larger truths of women’s realities under femicidal culture.

No. 59: Shampoo (Hal Ashby, 1975).

No. 58: I Saw the TV Glow (Schoenbrun, 2024).

Final screening of my wonderful horror course at SAIC.

No. 57: Flight Risk (Mel Gibson, 2025).

I refuse to believe this was not an AI generated script.

No. 56: The Order (Justin Kurzel, 2024).

No. 55: Daisies (Vera Chytilová, 1966) in beautiful 35mm, courtesy of @chicagofilmsociety.org.

No. 54: Time Without Pity (Joseph Losey, 1957).

No. 53: Léon Morin, Priest (Jean-Pierre Melville, 1961).

No. 52: Watcher (Chloe Okuno, 2022).

Agreed! The intense working class solidarity it portrays generated a heartening undertone that surprised me because it’s not exactly an “uplifting” film.

No. 51: Le Crime de Monsieur Lange (Jean Renoir, 1936)

I do too! I’m not sure how much my students liked it but I’ll see next week. It was my first time screening it for a horror class and I expected there to be more gleeful enjoyment of its camp but it seems to have produced a more muted response.

No. 50: Office Killer (Cindy Sherman, 1997).

No. 49: Poor Things (Yorgos Lanthimos, 2023).

No. 48: Crossing Delancey (Joan Micklin Silver, 1988).

No. 47: Bean (Mel Smith, 1997).

No. 46: La Llorona (Jayro Bustamante, 2019).

No. 45: The Honeymoon Killers (Leonard Kastle, 1970).

No. 44: My Brother’s Wife (Doris Wishman, 1966).

No. 43: Train to Busan (Yeon Sang-ho, 2016).