Better late than never… Took me a while to finish because of my master’s thesis and other life stuff. Well, let’s get right to it!
Manchester by the Sea
I’m ordering these films chronologically from when I saw them (based on my Letterboxd diary), so it’s kinda depressing to start with this one, but – hey, it’s such a beautiful film.
Set in the cold, clear climes of Manchester-by-the-Sea in Massachusetts, the story is about a man (played by Casey Affleck) who’s an uncle of a teenage boy that he inadvertently becomes the guardian of, after the boy’s dad dies. He reluctantly accepts guardianship of the boy, while he’s battling with the grief and trauma of losing his own young children and divorcing from his wife.
I first heard about this film in a Chris Nolan documentary when Jennifer Lame (the co-editor of Nolan’s Tenet) was introduced, and Manchester by the Sea was mentioned as part of her portfolio. When I saw the title I was like, “Manchester United AYYY” 😆 but soon found out in my Basics Cinematography class that it was a sad film when my professor showed us clips of it. His teasers of the film made me want to see it, but I didn’t have time that semester.
I began calling Casey Affleck a “man of sorrows” after seeing him in my rewatch of Interstellar (he plays the adult version of Cooper’s son, who waits for his father to come back home, but after years of waiting, decides to grieve him) and in my classmate’s presentation on indie film A Ghost Story, where Casey plays a husband who dies and haunts his wife.
The drama in Manchester by the Sea was so well-written – the family felt so relatable – and it was so beautifully shot and edited. There’s a surprise cameo by one of my favorite actors near the end; he plays an evangelical Christian (in contrast to the general Massachusetts Catholics), though I thought it was a bit inaccurate. Anyway, the exploration of grief was so powerful, no wonder Casey Affleck won an Oscar for it 🙂
Dunkirk
Based on historical events, it’s a WWII story divided into three parts according to where the soldiers are: Land, Sky, Sea. The British are evacuating the French beach of Dunkirk, but there aren’t enough boats. So their British countrymen from across the sea – civilians manning pleasure boats and the like – sail to their rescue. However, the Germans are on their tail.
I watched this when I was deep into my Nolan phase (February). I loved it because of the harshness of the visuals, the reality of death, the very real drama – and how impressionistic it all was. Out of Nolan’s films, this one portrayed raw emotion at its best.
The tagline embodies a theme of the film which touched me most: “Home came for them.”
It made me weep. I really needed to hear that.
The Outsiders
Jivan and I watched this together because we had both read the book by S.E. Hinton – a novel I had gotten from my grandma’s house. It’s where the iconic line, “Stay gold, Ponyboy” came from. In the film is a lot of popular heartthrob actors – Patrick Swayze, Tom Cruise, Emilio Estevez, and Ralph Macchio, which was pretty silly because I knew all the boys as their book versions and it was crazy seeing them played by recognizable actors, who sometimes didn’t match the beloved characters in my head (i.e. Dally didn’t have blond hair! And he wasn’t as tuff and tragic as the book!Dally.) Johnny’s storyline is just heartbreaking, though I won’t spoil it for you.
It didn’t hit the same kind of emotional notes that resonated with me so much while reading the book, but the film is filled with Francis Ford Coppola’s artistry-
The film captured the joys of living as a kid heading into adolescence – still with innocence and a pang of wistfulness – outdoor theaters, boys living in a house together (they actually made a chocolate cake for breakfast like in the book, which teenage Tom Cruise ate!), running away and going through the ups and downs of friendship.
Thunderbolts*
Boy, this movie made me weep twice in the theater. It’s a funky Marvel movie which felt so healing to watch since I was battling with feelings of isolation at the time. It’s nice having these imperfect characters together in some type of lopsided barkada (“CUCUMBER!!”) with a terrifying villain (the twist of who he really was turned out to be poignant). The portrayal of the characters’ hang-ups and traumas was really relatable and grounded. I think this film, post-pandemic, is the Marvel film that hits closest to home for a lot of people. It even made my mom tear up.
Also, Bob is so adorable. Lewis Pullman, who plays him, has the gentle demeanor of his dad (who is in another movie in this list), and I can’t wait to see what his character will do next.
K-Pop Demon Hunters
The songs that every Filipino kid is singing 😂 I remember seeing the preview of this film on Netflix back in June and I was like “letsgoooo, spirituality is back in popular cinema” 😆 My sister watched it on the plane back to Armenia (we went to Manila for the summer), and I got to watch it with my brother (his 2nd time) on his birthday with our neighbors, who were already obsessed with it (Joshua has seen it a hundred times or more, at present).
I felt proud seeing aspects of Asian culture in a popular animated film – even if I’m not Korean, I felt so seen (and it’s probably the hours of watching K-Drama with my family that makes me feel like I belong to their culture somewhat LOL). Since I’d been on a whole *healing* theme last year, Rumi and Jinu’s journeys of healing meant so much to me… especially since part of what I was struggling with was my identity as a third culture kid (TCK). I mean, for years before that, I didn’t make a big deal out of it and adapted to the changes pretty well, but this time it all caught up with me and I was associating my troubles with that title for the first time.
Rumi’s double nature resonated with how I feel like I don’t fully belong to any of the three countries I’ve called my homes, but am instead a conglomeration of all of them. A few months before, God actually comforted me with this revelation: I was pondering on the concept of harmony – how three or more voices sound different from each other, and yet, placed on top of each other in a good harmony, they make beautiful music. (As a church music team volunteer, I love singing harmonies and listening to them, too.)
It’s just like how my three “identities” made up of living in three different countries may seem so far removed from each other, especially the parts of old homes that I’m homesick for. But God actually wants to tie them all together and make me feel whole – and the combination of all those past lives (yoo I still have to watch that Celine Song movie) create something as beautiful as a harmony. So, hearing the Huntrix lines from “What It Sounds Like”:
I broke into a million pieces, and I can’t go back
But now I’m seeing all the beauty in the broken glass
The scars are part of me, darkness and harmony
My voice without the lies, this is what it sounds like
That hit me SO HARD 😭😫😍 thank U Lord haha. I loved the metaphor of stained glass windows there too, which, because of the same TCK theme, has been special to me.
Well, I’m glad this movie helped me – and I also have something to sing with new kids I meet when my family meets other Filipino families XDDDD
Ford v. Ferrari
Bro, this became one of my Top 4 favorite films. I’ve had a small poster of it for years (I used to collect Armenian brochures from KinoPark, back when they distributed those) stuck on my filmmaking diary, but I only watched it because I attended a cinematography masterclass event where Phedon Papamichael (the cinematographer of the film) was giving a Q&A. I also planned to watch it some time before for my neighborhood Sinegang club, since I was into both Matt Damon and Christian Bale LOL.
Anyways, I LOVED this film because of the 60s vibe, and how it turned out to be a very very wholesome film. I loved the leadership lessons, the success story of Carol Shelby (Matt Damon) in this challenge set up by the bigwigs of Ford: to make a racecar that could compete with Ferrari at the gruelling Le Mans race in France. He partners with his fellow former racecar driver, Ken Miles (Christian Bale), who now works as a mechanic to support his British family in the States. I love his father-son relationship with Peter (Noah Jupe). I think this was very refreshing to watch since I hadn’t seen a lot of good family films for a long time bahaha.
It was also very funny and very cool. Such a feel-good film but also very emotional at times. And of course, very beautifully shot. I love the nighttime scene at the hangar when Ken is talking to his wife and there’s a spotlight that casts the silhouette of a moving plane on the wall behind them. I wish I didn’t cram by finishing this film just before Papamichael’s Q&A (I watched it on the ground floor of the conference area where some of the camera ppl were having a smoke break haha) so I could’ve properly formulated some questions for him about the film… (well, just hearing him talk and being so passionate about his work was already a treat in itself!)
Anyways, I hope you go watch this film. And, I still have yet to get my whole family to see this with me.
Fantastic Four: First Steps
Another family-themed film. My family watched this after my parent’s 26th wedding anniversary – before my little brother was born, we used to call ourselves Fantastic Four for fun 🙂 This was also the film of 2025 that I was looking forward to see because I saw from its February trailer that it had – *gasp* midcentury modern (MCM) designs!!!! I freaked out. It was my favorite design era. I never really see MCM in pop culture these days (so I’m happier to claim it as my own lol) so I was so happy to see it. I was excited with the prospect of seeing this wholesome group of superheroes in a space-age setting (back then, John Malkovich was supposed to be a villain, so I anticipated that too – although he didn’t end up in the final cut).
When I went to the Philippines the summer months before its release, my cousin also discussed some scary theories with me about Franklin (Mr. Fantastic & Sue Storm’s baby) in the context of the MCU timeline. So I was nervous about this film, too.
What I loved about this film (even though its plot felt lackluster) was how it portrayed little moments of family. The FF has dinner at 7PM every night, together, which is a culture I love to uphold in my own family (though ours is around 8pm lol); Sue scolds Reed for delegating the task of building Franklin’s crib to a robot, and they later put a baby monitor in Franklin’s room; Johnny plays with him (idk how to translate gigil in English to describe Johnny but that moment of Ben carrying the baby and Johnny trying to eat his feet was so cute), and so on.
I also love the dignity and respect given to Sue as a woman here, unlike in the Jessica Alba version where she was objectified :((( she’s just a fierce mom y’all – and also the linchpin of the group.
Unexpectedly, I also came to like Johnny a lot. HAHA
Bro just wasn’t a playboy like his previous portrayals. When I first saw him in the trailer, I thought he was a generic white guy 🤣 and not the typical drop-dead-gorgeous archetype ppl usually put on Johnny Storm. But he made up for it with his wit, smarts (dude was the Wesley Crusher of the Baxter Building… poor guy), and fashion sense 😍😏🙈 I got into Joseph Quinn after that and realized how good-looking he actually is lol (thanks, “A Quiet Place: Day One” xD).
Dang, I just realized I didn’t include “A Quiet Place: Day One” in this top 10 films of 2025 list (I watched it because of Joseph Quinn). I did write a blog post dedicated to just that, so count that as my love-letter to the film.
Amerikatsi
This is an Oscar-shortlisted indie film by Michael Goorjian – who you may remember from a previous post; I attended his indie filmmaking workshop last October. A day before the workshop, there was a showing of this film at my university (Michael gave a Q&A after). I was avoiding watching this film back in 2023 or 2024 when it premiered in Armenia because it dealt with my bachelor’s thesis topic – the Armenian diaspora – and I was still emotionally burnt out from doing it. I had created a 43-page graphic novel about seven Armenian diasporans from the U.S., Syria, Russia, Belgium, Uruguay, Saipan, and the Philippines, whom I each interviewed. I guess I over-empathized with them even though I loved them… I just wasn’t ready until last year, and I was glad I finally decided to see it.
“Amerikatsi” is a term that means “from America”. I know that some of my Armenian friends who grew up in Syria, Lebanon, Egypt, Russia and other countries were called in similar terms by their local countrymen and it is sometimes said in a way that outcasts them. So I was expecting this film to deal with this sad experience. It did, in a way, but resolved it in such a beautiful ending that I was weeping in the audience…
The story follows an American-Armenian, Charlie Bakchinyan, who comes to his homeland Armenia for the first time (he grew up orphaned with no family back there) – however, it is during the Soviet era, so people become suspicious of him. He inadvertently gets imprisoned by the Soviets, but he unexpectedly finds a reason to live when he finds he gets a view from his prison cell window of an apartment where there’s an Armenian family whom he can observe and learn what being a true Armenian is.
Man, this film is so beautiful. It’s not as bleak as the premise is, there’s a lot of comedy gold which reminds me of Mimino’s timeless humor. Michael portrays the protagonist in a very heartbreaking and hopeful way. (It was wonderful to also be able to hear some of the BTS things from him during the workshop!) This is a film that I recommend everyone to see because it talks about finding unexpected kinship through deepest loneliness.
Newsies
Bro, writing this right now, I am in a huge Newsies fever lol, though it’s for the Broadway version (thanks to the stunning singer Ben Fankhauser, who plays the sidekick).
Anyway, I watched this 1992 film because Michael Goorjian (whom I just mentioned) was in it back when he was 20 (LOL) and I thought young Christian Bale was cute – and I wanted to see them all in a musical, the whole song-and-dance shebang 😂
I watched it with my brother, and although I didn’t like how they executed the story (it had a lot of holes), I loved the songs (even though Christian Bale and his sidekick played by David Moscow were *ahem* bad singers T_T i mean, they weren’t tone deaf or anything, but um, stick to acting guys 🙏🏽) and the whole journey of the Newsies boys.
A Cinderella Christmas Ball
Okay so I’m finishing writing this post in May 2026 so this is ridiculous writing about this rn xD But yeah, out of all the Hallmark movies my family saw over the holiday, this was the one that touched me the most.
The lady protagonist is an orphan dance teacher who was looking for clues about her parents in the fictional kingdom. The way her story was resolved (she found her dad! sorry for the spoiler…) and the exchange between her & her real dad was beautiful. Also, I liked the spunky character of the prince who didn’t want the throne – a cliche, yes, but the portrayal was really fun. And I liked that they weren’t unrealistically good-looking as in other Hallmark films LOL.
Some honorary mentions:
- Kate & Leopold – watched this for Liev Schrieber
- Tenet – my 2nd fave Nolan film. POC Protagonist ftw!
- Mud – my second Jeff Nichols film. excellent film.
- 13 Going on 30 – “Mark Ruffalo is the John Lloyd Cruz of Hollywood” haha. part of my sinegang film club watch.
- The Godfather – Al Pacino <3
- O Brother, Where Art Thou – “damn, we’re in a tight spot!” & John Turturroooo
- Blood Drips on Newsies Square – a horror film in the behind-the-scenes of the Newsies set. the first indie film Michael Goorjian ever made. loved hearing about the process re: VHS camera and doing “stunts” lol
- The Wind that Shakes the Barley – Ken Loach was praised by two of my profs. had to watch this for Cillian Murphy. devastating but beautiful.
A common theme I found (and one you might’ve noticed) was that these films helped me process some emotionally hard things I went through the past season – I did watch some of them expecting that I would get some insight into grief and other things, and they were cathartic to go through. (I counted and I cried four times in total – though only counting the films I listed here.) Others were just for fun.
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