By Jack Silbert on January 1, 2026
A chronological list of non-current or non-theatrical movies (feature length and short films) that I watched at home during the continuing COVID-19 crisis in 2025. The great majority of them were new to me.
Gaslight a.k.a. Angel Street (1940)
Lousy Carter (2023)
Love Lies Bleeding (2024)
Homesteader Droopy (1954)
Cops Is Always Right (1938)
Juror #2 (2024)
Wolfs (2024)
The Hound and the Rabbit (1937)
Customers Wanted (1939)
Black Gravel (1961)
Blackmail (1929)
Trouble in Paradise (1932)
The Life of the Party (1920)
Design for Living (1933)
Rifkin’s Festival (2020)
Act of Violence (1948)
McCabe & Mrs. Miller (1971)
Murder! (1930)
Yacht Rock: A Dockumentary (2024)
Young and Innocent (1937)
Hearts of the West (1975)
The Peachy Cobbler (1950)
Ghosks Is the Bunk (1939)
Hello How Am I (1939)
First Reformed (2017)
This Land Is Mine (1943)
Leap Year (1924)
Love (1919)
Foreign Correspondent (1940)
Rumble Fish (1983)
Sugarland Express (1974)
The Thief Who Came to Dinner (1973)
Scanners (1981)
The Alley Cat (1941)
The Swimmer (1968)
Fightin Pals (1940)
Doing Impossikible Stunts (1940)
Summer of ‘42 (1971)
Bear Raid Warden (1944)
Popeye Meets William Tell (1940)
Cold Turkey (1971)
Casque d’Or (1952)
Marooned (1969)
28 Weeks Later (2007)
My Pop, My Pop (1940)
The Bear and the Hare (1948)
Poopdeck Pappy (1940)
Eraserhead (1977)
Popeye Presents Eugene, the Jeep (1940)
Problem Pappy (1941)
Intruder in the Dust (1949)
Two on a Guillotine (1965)
Happy Gilmore 2 (2025)
The Bride Wore Black (1968)
Annabelle (2014)
$ (1971)
The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone (1961)
Olive’s Sweep$take Ticket (1941)
Smiles of a Summer Night (1955)
F for Fake (1973)
Thank God It’s Friday (1978)
Alone in the Dark (1982)
Alice in the Cities (1974)
Hush… Hush, Sweet Charlotte (1964)
John Candy: I Like Me (2025)
The Omega Man (1971)
The Hand (1981)
Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (1978)
The Fury (1978)
Dracula Has Risen From the Grave (1968)
Blind Spot (1947)
Return to Mount Kennedy (2019)
High and Low (1963)
Pandemic Cinema, year 1
Pandemic Cinema, year 2
Pandemic Cinema, year 3
Pandemic Cinema, year 4
Pandemic Cinema, year 5
Posted in streaming video, Television | Tagged COVID-19
By Jack Silbert on December 31, 2025
1. Print up Mayor Zohran Mamdani t-shirts with slogan “Yo other cities: Who’s your Momdaddy?”
2. At self checkout, check myself out, ask if I come here often.
3. Do not rest until the Milano is the official cookie of the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympics.
4. Really put in some elbow grease to make a difference in my community; failing that, grease palms of local bigwigs.
5. Buy a house in the country. Which of the 195 countries? I don’t know, man, I got a year to decide.
6.
7. SIX SEVEN!!!
8. Convince ChatGPT to kill itself.
9. Boogie oogie oogie till I just can’t boogie no more; leave a few oogie oogies in the tank.
10. Work as makeup consultant for Erika Kirk during her complete transition into Tammy Faye Bakker.
11. Never forget that the midterms are in 307 days and counting. And counting on everyone I know to vote blue.
• My resolutions for 2025
• My resolutions for 2024
• My resolutions for 2023
• My resolutions for 2022
• My resolutions for 2021
• My resolutions for 2020
• My resolutions for 2019
• My resolutions for 2018
• My resolutions for 2017
• My resolutions for 2016
• My resolutions for 2015
• My resolutions for 2014
• My resolutions for 2013
• My resolutions for 2012
Posted in satire | Tagged New Year's resolutions
By Jack Silbert on December 30, 2025
3 stars out of 5
Paul Feig created Freaks and Geeks, one of the greatest TV series of all time. And yet, in his cinematic career, he doesn’t really seem to be swinging for the fences. If I were to cynically sum up his IMDb credits, I’d guess Feig has found a reliable paycheck helming movies that pander to a primarily female audience.
Admittedly, it was not Paul Feig’s name that first drew my attention to The Housemaid. It was the name Sydney Sweeney. I am a fan of Ms. Sweeney much like I was a fan of the recently-late nonagenarian Brigitte Bardot. And I’m a long-time fan of co-star/housemaid-hirer Amanda Seyfried. And yes, Feig is still on the “good” side of my ledger.
I thought Sweeney was very good in White Lotus and in Reality, both HBO projects. But here, under Feig’s aegis, I realized that she is not a very strong actress. Now, if this was a tight, lighter, 90-minute film, her acting prowess might’ve made less of a difference. But this is roughshod 2 hours and 11 minutes which feels even longer, and the flaws really stand out.
The plot: Wealthy Seyfried hires down-on-her-luck Sweeney to clean her big house, watch her young daughter, and not watch her hottie husband. Well, you know what happens next. And you don’t know what happens after that. There is fun and enjoyment here (Seyfried especially gets to have a good time), which is why it’s a shame that it’s not a better-made film.
Also, it looks like Feig had a budget of about 8 dollars. There are seemingly only two police officers in Nassau County, and they show up on three different occasions. Also, my beloved Rutt’s Hutt is a setting — which earns the movie a whole additional star — but I guess it’s one of the only places they could afford to film, because it shows up in what should’ve been three separate locations: 1) Sweeney gets stopped by THOSE TWO cops for sleeping in the parking lot, and we learn she’s basically living at Rutt’s, sink-shower in the restroom and eating a burger for god’s sake instead of a ripper. Yes, I ordered a cheesesteak there, but I wasn’t in a movie! 2) We have a flashback scene where she loses a job there. 3)Seyfried and daughter plot during a meal there.
The Housemaid is supposed to be a thriller but the most shocking thing is that it’s based on a book. Wow, that must be a crappy novel!
Posted in movie reviews | Tagged 20s movies, Amanda Seyfried, Paul Feig, Sydney Sweeney
By Jack Silbert on December 30, 2025
EPISODE #674: LIVE HIGHLIGHTS 2025
The Who — “Happy Jack” [THEME]
The Bongos — “In the Congo”
Salem 66 — “Seven Steps Down”
Vehicle Flips — “Could’ve, Should’ve”
English Beat — “Twist and Crawl”
Nicole Atkins — “Captain” [Memphis Ice version]
Men at Work — “Overkill”
Slowdive — “40 Days”
Chuck Prophet feat. ¿Qiensave? — “Sugar Into Water”
Scrawl — “Charles”
Dew Claw — “Who Knows”
Demolition String Band — “Like a Prayer”
The Damned — “Love Song”
Jill Sobule — “Love Is Never Equal”
Jack Silbert proudly records the Aquarium podcast in Hoboken, NJ.
Posted in internet radio playlists | Tagged Chuck Prophet, Demolition String Band, Dew Claw, English Beat, Jill Sobule, Men at Work, Nicole Atkins, Salem 66, Scrawl, Slowdive, The Bongos, The Damned, Vehicle Flips
By Jack Silbert on December 29, 2025
4.5 stars out of 5
I saw this movie, I liked it very much, but I still I don’t know who the secret agent is. However, the star is Wagner Moura who I thought was great in Civil War and is excellent here too. It’s 1977 in Brazil, and his character Marcelo (or perhaps he is Armando) is a former professor who has become an enemy of the state during the real-life military dictatorship and political corruption. He flees to his hometown Recife where he’s sheltered by the kindly elder Dona Sebastiana (a superb Tânia Maria, oozing a good heart) in a small community of political refugees. Just as in One Battle After Another, I like the idea that there’s a secret underground network to help you out when the shit goes down. Marcelo’s young son, who he’s been unwillingly estranged from, is there being raised by his late wife’s parents, adding another emotional layer to the story.
There are some cool Lynchian touches here and also a prominent cinema, leading me to believe that writer/director Kleber Mendonça Filho (hey I got the thing under the c on my first try!) is a Filho-maker I need to check out more. He also does a skillful job slowly ratcheting up the tension as the situation becomes more dangerous for Marcelo/Armando. It’s a thinking person’s thriller.
Posted in movie reviews | Tagged Kleber Mendonça Filho, Wagner Moura
By Jack Silbert on December 29, 2025
4.5 stars out of 5
I knew very little about this movie going in. Was it a true story? (It is not, though was loosely inspired by a real person.) But Timothée Chalamet has earned my trust and watching him play ping-pong — excuse me, table tennis — sounded fun. So there I was in the theater on Christmas Eve, and my gift was a 2.5-hour, nonstop blast.
Chalamet is Marty Mauser, expert NYC shoe salesman and would-be international table tennis champion. It’s his destiny, and he’ll stop at nothing to get there! Oh but there are obstacles, and not just JAPANESE PING-PONG SUPERIORITY. Marty must also negotiate around his married girlfriend, unsupportive family, his attraction to married aging screen siren Gwyneth Paltrow, a lost dog, lack of money, and much, much more. It’s After Hours except with a fully willing protagonist and also, set in the world of 1950s ping-pong.
Chalamet wears the role perfectly, just like the period clothing hangs beautifully on his so-skinny frame. I anticipate a best-actor nomination, or at the very least, best mustache. Marty isn’t a great guy, he’s a charmer who uses people, but somewhere in there has an OK soul and you can’t help but root for him.
Josh Safdie is the director here and I thought this was a lot better than his Uncut Gems (which I did enjoy). Oh there is some jewelry in this too. Someone had a fantastic time casting various roles: Fran Drescher unrecognizable as Marty’s mom, Shark Tank’s Kevin O’Leary a convincing businessman as Gwyneth’s cuckolded hubby, Abel Ferrara, David Mamet, Levon Hawke, Phillippe Petit, Tracy McGrady, George Gervin, Kemba Walker, Tyler the Creator, Penn Jillette, Sandra Bernhard, my pal Chris Nelson from The Scene Is Now, a guy I met many years ago Ed Malone who posted something antisemitic and I unfriended him, Isaac Mizrahi. I spotted some and didn’t spot others.
Several ’80s songs on the soundtrack. Alphaville, etc. I’m not sure why. But they work in here just fine. And there’s a score by Daniel Lopatin of Oneohtrix Point Never, so that’s good too.
You still have a few days off. Go see it! Enjoy yourself.
Posted in movie reviews | Tagged 20s movies, Gwyneth Paltrow, Josh Safdie, Timothée Chalamet
By Jack Silbert on December 24, 2025
5 out of 5 stars
I was very impressed with the 2021 film The Worst Person in the World, directed and co-written (with Eskil Vogt) by Joachim Trier and starring the charming Renate Reinsve. But I didn’t get to rank it among the year’s best, as Worst Person didn’t receive wider release until 2022. That won’t be a problem with Sentimental Value which was created by the same three people, and was released solidly in 2025 with time to spare. Spoiler: It will be at or near the top of my rankings.
The film explores the late stages in a nuclear family’s existence. Their house — their home — is actually presented as another main character here, as it has observed all the joy and sadness over generations. Mom has died; estranged dad Stellan Skarsgard returns. This complicates matters for the two grown daughters. Historian Agnes is married and has a son. In Worst Person, Reinsve’s character wondered whether to choose the married-with-kids track. Here, as sister Nora, she has not taken that route.
As another layer, Dad is an aging movie director of some acclaim. Nora is a TV and theater actress with a bad case of stage fright. Paging Dr. Freud! There are similarities to Jay Kelly here: Being feted leads to reflection for both late-career creatives, and they realize their younger ambition damaged relations with the children. Perhaps to mend fences, Dad presents Nora with a script he’s written for her and wants to direct. Could be his comeback! But Nora isn’t interested. Hey, fine, Dad will just cast American star Elle Fanning instead.
Another compelling aspect: Often it’s easier to express emotions through art than in real life.
Information is shared later in the story that brings things to a new dramatic level. I was deeply affected by this film, filled with excellent performances. And I hope the Joachim Trier Trio stays together.
Posted in movie reviews | Tagged Elle Fanning, Eskil Vogt, Joachim Trier, Renate Reinsve, Stellan Skarsgard
By Jack Silbert on December 23, 2025
EPISODE #673: BEST NEW-TO-ME 2025 PT. 2
This Is Lorelei — “I’m All Fucked Up” [ALTERNATE THEME]
Ducks Ltd. — “Under the Rolling Moon”
Zandi Holup — “Go Find Less”
LA LOM — “Danza de LA LOM”
Charlie Nieland — “Shame”
Nape Neck — “The Shallowest End”
The Laughing Chimes — “High Beams”
Bullseye — “Tell Tale Signs”
Sunshine Convention — “Dawned on Me”
$500 — “Harvest”
Bunnygrunt — “Inanimate Objects”
Momma — “I Want You (Fever)”
Maria Mirenzi — “Let It Steep”
Strange Neighbors — “You Got Love”
The Midnight Confessions — “When You Were Mine”
Paper Lady — “Static”
John Calvin Abney — “Door of No Return”
Justus Proffit — “Spitting on the Sidewalk”
Chip Away — “Back Out”
Trace Mountains — “Crawling Back to You”
Ultra Lights — “Nostalgia”
Sharp Pins — “Takes So Long”
The Tubs — “Chain Reaction”
Joe Ely — “You Can Bet I’m Gone” r.i.p.
Jack Silbert proudly records the Aquarium podcast in Hoboken, NJ.
Posted in internet radio playlists | Tagged $500, Bullseye, Bunnygrunt, Charlie Nieland, Chip Away, Ducks Ltd., Joe Ely, John Calvin Abney, Justus Proffit, LA LOM, Laughing Chimes, Maria Mirenzi, Midnight Confessions, Momma, Nape Neck, Paper Lady, Sharp Pins, Strange Neighbors, Sunshine Convention, The Tubs, This Is Lorelei, Trace Mountains, Ultra Lights, Zandi Holup
By Jack Silbert on December 9, 2025
2.5 stars out of 5
I like to go to the movies after Thanksgiving dinner. Clears my head. This year I wasn’t thrilled with my choices: Zootopia 2, Wicked for Good, Predator: Badlands, and The Running Man. Quickly narrowed it down to Predator and Running Man. I’d never seen the original version of either of them. But since there have been about 37 Predator predecessors, I figured I’d have less trouble with missed back story if I picked The Running Man.
I think I chose wrong.
Lest we think this was simply a paycheck for director/co-writer Edgar Wright, he seems to have been mostly drawn to goofy sci-fi since his Shaun of the Dead debut in 2004. (Though of what I’ve seen, the Sparks Brothers documentary is his strongest work.)
The Stephen King-conceived conceit is solid enough: Contestants on a dystopian game show try to avoid assassins. I would think the way to play this cinematically would be very straight and thrilling. But Wright goes broad, focusing on satirizing TV in the not-too-distant future. What an evil network head Josh Brolin is! That guy will do anything for ratings!
Glen Powell is also problematic. He is not a compelling leading man. We never really feel for him or his quest to win to get his wife and daughter out of poverty, squalor, and illness. So this just becomes an overlong series of set pieces, some more exciting than others, with some very blatant product placement. Sean Hayes is in this for a hot second, Martin “Please Don’t Destroy” Herlihy lasts slightly longer, and William H. Macy too. Colman Domingo gets more screen time, as does Michael Cera in a too-long sequence, and though I was happy to see rising star Emilia Jones show up, it was too little and way too late in The Running Man’s bloated running time.
Posted in movie reviews | Tagged 20s movies, Edgar Wright, Emilia Jones, Glen Powell, Michael Cera, Stephen King
By Jack Silbert on December 2, 2025
4 stars out of 5
Hollywood loves movies about Hollywood. Sure, it is the absolute most cliched topic for a Hollywood writer to write about, but A) People who watch movies love movies, so it’s not too risky a subject to present, and B) Write what you know, and C) Noah Baumbach has been directing movies for 30 years and this is his first “look behind the scenes” so, let’s cut him some slack.
As if to rub our noses in the delightful meta-ness of it all, Noah has George Clooney playing Jay Kelly who is basically George Clooney. Sure, Clooney has often been categorized as an actor who always plays himself, and someone in the movie says that to Jay Kelly, who explains that it’s difficult to portray oneself. Point, Clooney! Uh, I mean, Kelly!
The supporting cast is fun and well-chosen. Adam Sandler may earn an Oscar nomination playing against type as Kelly’s long-suffering manager, a character at the crux of one of the movie’s throughlines: Can people be true friends if one is an employee of another? Two other staffers (who show the sacrifices that underlings make for a superstar, who made many sacrifices himself to become a superstar!) are the always great Laura Dern and, in a smaller role, Emily Mortimer who co-write the script with director Baumbach. Whew! Patrick Wilson, who is less famous than Clooney, plays an actor who is less famous than Kelly. Billy Crudup does the same. Stacy Keach has a great time as Kelly’s dad and it’s nice to see him. For those Baumbach-heads keeping score, Dean Wareham has a cameo; I didn’t see Britta but that doesn’t mean she’s not in it, as IMDb doesn’t list either of them. And Greta Gerwig (Mrs. Noah) has a larger role than Emily Mortimer as Adam Sandler’s long-suffering wife.
Those sacrifices made for career, they can lead to regret. That’s a topic here. And can long-busted fences be mended? Another topic. Which add some depth to a generally light and often amusing film. It’s insane that a movie about movies starring a big movie star — who might get nominated as Best Actor for basically playing himself but doing it really, really well — is going to be on Netflix so soon (December 5). Somebody make a movie about that!
Posted in movie reviews | Tagged 20s movies, Adam Sandler, Emily Mortimer, George Clooney, Greta Gerwig, Laura Dern, Noah Baumbach
Jack Silbert, curator