Grain of Salt: Matt's 25 FOR '25
Matt’s 25 favorite films of the first quarter of the 21st Century.
Read MoreGrain of Salt: Matt's Top 10 Films of 2025
Up until a couple of months ago, I wasn’t certain that I was going to complete a full post like this, as my willingness and capacity to do so has traditionally been commensurate not JUST with how much time I have available during the last week of the year (though that is always a factor) but also with my passion for the year’s films. After all, the top film on this list has occupied that spot and hasn’t budged since I first saw it in April. That being said, the Quicktime catch ups and late inning screenings that I have been occupying myself with since October (number two on this list moved up a spot after each of my three screenings of it in the last week!) necessitated that I commit to making a proper list, as 2025 turned out to be (sneakily?) kind of a banner year. The 25th year of the 21st Century started with Hollywood literally burning and ended with it figuratively burning. But I guess that makes Ryan Coogler, James Cameron, Jafar Panahi, Chloe Zhao, and Josh Safdie the unelected Neros that we need right now. They’re not going down without a fiddle.
Read More309: AFI #60 - DUCK SOUP (1933)
“Calling all nations. This is Rufus T. Firefly coming to you through the courtesy of the enemy. We're in a mess folks, we're in a mess. Rush to Freedonia! Three men and one woman are trapped in a building! Send help at once! If you can't send help, send two more women!”
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308: Oeuvre - The 3rd Age of JOHN MCTIERNAN - 1999 - 2003
We’re wrapping up our series on the career of one, John McTiernan, with a bang. Even if you haven’t seen or don’t care about the man’s relatively inauspicious, forgotten, “late period” films, consider joining us for an episode in which we reckon with some unexpected revelations and speculate about the potential for McT’s third act…
We’re referring to this third age as the “Spiral into Self-Inflicted Exile”.
-THE 13TH WARRIOR (1999)
-ROLLERBALL (2002)
-BASIC (2003)
(special thanks to Mr. Beau Marks — a true gentleman and longtime friend and collaborator of John McTiernan — for consulting on this series)
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306: Oeuvre - The 2nd Age of JOHN MCTIERNAN - 1992-1999
At long last we return to continue our journey through the career of one, John McTiernan.
We’re referring to this second age as his struggle from the “Jungle to the Upper East Side”.
-MEDICINE MAN (1992)
-LAST ACTION HERO (1993)
-DIE HARD WITH A VENGEANCE (1995)
-THE THOMAS CROWN AFFAIR (1999)
(special thanks to Mr. Beau Marks — a longtime friend and collaborator of John McTiernan — for consulting on this series)
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305: Retrospectating 1999 - A Year in Review
We’re going back to ‘99 ONE MORE TIME to organize our thoughts about the inaugural “retrospectating” series, the cosmic significance of the year in question, and whether or not decade-cappers consistently produce the best cinematic output.
And now we play the waiting game… Let’s all agree to meet back here in 2029 to take another look at that red letter year on the occasion of its 30th birthday…
Talkin’ 1999 just never gets old.
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304: Oscar and Matt's 2020 Oscar Predictions (and Matt Predictions)
We’re back from the winter hiatus just in time to submit our official Oscar predictions and lock in the choices that will determine the winner of our yearly WLM wager.
Join us as we break down all 24 categories, get foolishly optimistic about PARASITE’s chance to make history on Oscar night, and even outline a few additions and subtractions we’d love to see implemented with respect to the future slate of categories.
We’re mere hours away from Hollywood’s biggest night! Whether the big prize goes to 1917 or PARASITE, it’s just important to remember that MALEFICENT: MISTRESS OF EVIL has more Oscar nominations than UNCUT GEMS. Stew on that, get comfortable with the fact that you’re going to die someday, and just give in to the annual, bizarre, intoxicating power of Oscar weekend… Just let it happen.
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Grain of Salt: Matt's Top 10 Films of 2019
One of my New Year’s resolutions for 2019 was to to embrace a new discipline of brevity in my writing- to tighten up my emails, my blog posts, and my essays. So, in the spirit of excising the fluff, the flab, and the streamofconsciousness drivel, I submit to you my ever-so-slightly-slimmer-best-of-the-year-list for 2019.
As usual, the quality films were frustratingly-backloaded into a fraught year that could have used some artistic catharsis earlier on. Regardless, the cinema of 2019 effectively landed an emotional rollercoaster of a decade with grace, sophistication, and the promise of what we could expect in the 2020s.
303: Oscar & Matt's Top 10s of 2019
It’s our annual ode to opinions.
We do it every year. We love it. What more do you need to know?
Listen in and leave comments. We value YOUR opinion. We treasure your friendship!
2019, we hardly knew ye….
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300: The Top 10 Films of the 2010s Lists (Featuring 10 Special Guest Contributors!)
What a long, strange trip it’s been.
It took us nearly a decade to get there but we’re extremely excited to announce that we’ve officially made it to 300 episodes on the We Like Movies Podcast feed!
In honor of the occasion we’ve invited back the ten beautiful individuals who have guested on the podcast over the years to share their thoughts on the greatest films of the last decade. Since we started this journey in October of 2010 (reviewing The Social Network, no less) and hit 300 episodes just shy of 2020, we decided it made sense to spend this week creating the definitive “WLM Best of the 2010s List”.
So, between our two lists and our ten guests’ lists there are 120 individual film picks in play. We’ve assigned a point system that works in contrary order to the ranking number. In other words, ranking ten on a list gets a film one point, ranking nine is worth two points, and so on. But a film has to have been mentioned on at least two lists in order to qualify for points. Using this highly sophisticated balloting system we will seek to create a MASTER LIST.
But first, join us as we scrutinize the individual lists, wax affectionate about our wonderfully-opinionated contributors, and take a walk down memory lane to reminisce about how this whole podcasting journey got started.
We are We Like Movies and we’re SO elated and grateful to still be liking movies (and each other) after 300 glorious episodes!
Thanks to YOU, WLM family. Here’s to 300 more.
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299: Retrospectating 1999 - THE INSIDER (w/ Special Guest Brian Boarini!)
20 years ago this month, director Michael Mann released his sixth theatrical feature to widespread critical acclaim in spite of the film’s relative inability to find an audience. Mann received his first (and thus far, only) best director Oscar nomination for the The Insider and despite the fact that the film rarely gets mentioned with the same tone of reverence as Heat or even the divisive but often-defended Miami Vice, the last two decades have been surprisingly kind to this melancholy corporate thriller.
Join us as we welcome Michael Mann-super-fan Brian Boarini back to the podcast for a lively discussion about journalistic superheroes, reconciling recent history, and the unexpected cinematic benefits of frumpy, pleated pants.
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298: Retrospectating 1999 - FIGHT CLUB
We’re a couple weeks past the official 20th anniversary of David Fincher’s seminal masterwork about displaced and misplaced Gen X machismo. But it’s only given us that much more time to further reflect on a film that has aged in wild, troubling, and unexpected ways that we could not have predicted back in October of 1999.
Join us as we revisit and reflect-upon “Jack’s wasted life” in our long-awaited retrospectation of David Fincher’s Fight Club.
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296: Retrospectating 1999 - THE LIMEY / THREE KINGS
20 years ago this week, 2 of the Sundance Film Festival’s favorite sons both leveled-up with their respective genre exercises and experienced creative breakthroughs. Yet, for some reason, Steven Soderbergh’s melancholy daylight noir, The Limey and David O. Russell’s Heller-esque military satire, Three Kings rarely get mentioned in the same breath as either director’s later successes.
We’re here to change all of that with dual reappraisals and hosannahs in a podcast ode to the first week of 1999!
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295: Present Tense- Admiring AD ASTRA and Commencing the Awards Conversation
———Editor’s Note: Apologies for the tardiness of this episode. It was supposed to be out earlier this week but technical issues led to the late posting. But it sounds great now and we’re really proud of the conversation. Thanks for listening!———
We’re talkin’ Ad Astra, we’re talkin’ box office, we’re talkin’ festival reactions, and we’re talkin’ awards predictions.
We talk, you listen, you comment, we read… It’s the podcasting circle of life!
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294: Retrospectating 1999 - AMERICAN BEAUTY
It’s a complicated movie with a complicated legacy. These are complicated times.
So it’s going to take a complex conversation to properly excavate the Best Picture winner from 1999 on the week of its 20th anniversary. Join us as we celebrate and ruminate [on] American Beauty, a film that–for better or for worse–defined the end of a decade and a bygone era of incorrigible ennui.
Listen closer. This is a complicated one.
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292: Oeuvre - The 1st Age of JOHN MCTIERNAN - 1986-1990
A new Oeuvre journey begins this week as we inaugurate our excavation into the career of one, John McTiernan. His incredible run from 1986 to 1990 represents a singular rise from relative obscurity to industry relevance, prominence, and pertinence. Join us as we set the table for his unique career path, attempt to divine meaning from his bizarre debut, and deep-dive into three of his most beloved masterworks. Vive l'oeuvre!
-NOMADS (1986)
-PREDATOR (1987)
-DIE HARD (1988)
-THE HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER (1990)
(special thanks to Mr. Beau Marks — a longtime collaborator of John McTiernan — for consulting on this series)
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291: Retrospectating 1999 - BOWFINGER
If you’ve ever considered joining Mindhead, were always intrigued by the premise of “Chubby Rain,” or get nervous when someone asks you if you’re willing to cut your hair, then you’re probably going to get a lot out of this week’s episode. We’re revisiting the forgotten comedic gem Bowfinger, a film that got lost in the late summer of 1999 amid the feeding frenzy for repeated viewings of the The Sixth Sense. But there’s many things to glean from Steven Martin and Frank Oz’s sweet little 97 minute Hollywood satire (one of Eddie Murphy’s favorite of his own films) including some thematic and cultural cues that would signpost a comedic pivot that took place at the turn of the century. We hope that you’ll join us on this journey, and never forget- “Cash, every movie costs 2,184 dollars!”
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