I didn't catch Testament of Ann Lee until pretty late in my yearly viewing (I mean, I'm very lucky, that was still a full six weeks before release), so that's probably the latest-watched one that snuck into my top 15.

My outlier pick of the year is about stones, rocks, things of that nature

But ALSO if I have like 5-10 contenders that aren't going to make my list (as I did this year), I don't mind just erring on the side of something that's maybe *not* going to be on as many lists overall. Maybe "does this movie need me?" effect on MARTY. But I also legit liked a lot of others more!

Sometimes that's more of a technical thing for me: as much as I get excited about year-end releases, I do often feel that stuff I see much earlier in the year has a major advantage of me sitting with it for longer, sometimes seeing it a second time. Maybe with time MS would rise.

Not intentionally! I was shut out of an early one but they were ultimately pretty helpful in getting me to see it before several awards/lists deadlines. I enjoyed it but I just wound up liking my 15 (and, TBH, more like 20+) choices more. And others might not have seen it.

And if you're interested in a probably-even-better list that we used those ballots to vote on, that master top 25 is here and I'll be using it as a checklist for a few things I've still yet to see! www.avclub.com/best-films-2...

I also enjoyed this weekend's other new release: Sydney Sweeney & Amanda Seyfried ARE... THE HOUSEMAID! www.avclub.com/the-housemai...

That's wild; I saw it in theaters and definitely did not care for it, way too cutesy for my tastes, but it's definitely one that I know Reiner himself was proud of.

GOOD LUCK, HAVE FUN, DON'T DIE, so it was actually entirely redbanded for swearing! And though she was basically thumbs down on every trailer we saw, when I pressed her for "but if you had to choose one to watch," that was the lucky winner.

Also it is so fucking weird to me that people get hostile toward the idea of movie tickets in particular when they've mostly kept pace with inflation and it's wages that have stagnated. Fucking greedy movie theaters, not solving the wage crisis!