ESSENTIAL FILMS BLOG

My life as a cynical cinephile.

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Sunday, July 13, 2025

Oceans Are the Real Continents - 2023

Very Good: B

Posted by JoshtheArrogant at 8:21 PM No comments:

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Labels: Very Goods

Friday, July 11, 2025

Superman - 2025

Very Good: B-

Posted by JoshtheArrogant at 12:27 AM No comments:

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Labels: Very Goods

Thursday, July 10, 2025

Best in Show - 2000

Very Good: B-

Posted by JoshtheArrogant at 6:45 AM No comments:

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Labels: Very Goods

Wednesday, July 9, 2025

Radio Days - 1987

Very Good: B-

Posted by JoshtheArrogant at 7:35 AM No comments:

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Labels: Very Goods

Monday, July 7, 2025

Les rendez-vous d'Anna - 1978

Very Good: B

Posted by JoshtheArrogant at 7:24 PM No comments:

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Labels: Very Goods

Sunday, June 29, 2025

28 Years Later - 2025

Very Good: B

Posted by JoshtheArrogant at 8:22 PM No comments:

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Labels: Very Goods

Possession - 1981

Very Good: B

Posted by JoshtheArrogant at 8:26 AM No comments:

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Labels: Very Goods

Saturday, June 21, 2025

Sinners - 2025

Great: A-

Posted by JoshtheArrogant at 9:50 PM No comments:

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Labels: Greats

Saturday, June 14, 2025

Guy and Madeline on a Park Bench - 2009

Very Good: B-

Posted by JoshtheArrogant at 8:10 PM No comments:

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Labels: Very Goods

Saturday, June 7, 2025

Cure - 1997

Great: B+

Posted by JoshtheArrogant at 10:57 PM No comments:

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Labels: Greats

Monday, June 2, 2025

Je tu il elle - 1974

Very Good: B-

Posted by JoshtheArrogant at 8:42 AM No comments:

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Labels: Very Goods

Sunday, June 1, 2025

The Count of Monte Cristo - 2024

Very Good: B

Posted by JoshtheArrogant at 3:34 PM No comments:

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Labels: Very Goods

Saturday, May 17, 2025

The Brutalist - 2024

Very Good: B-

Posted by JoshtheArrogant at 11:49 PM No comments:

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Labels: Very Goods

Friday, April 18, 2025

Through the Olive Trees - 1994

Very Good: B

Posted by JoshtheArrogant at 4:58 PM No comments:

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Labels: Very Goods

Thursday, April 17, 2025

Sisters in Law - 2005

Very Good: B

Posted by JoshtheArrogant at 3:40 PM No comments:

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Labels: Very Goods

Monday, April 14, 2025

No Direction Home - 2005

Very Good: B-

Posted by JoshtheArrogant at 12:54 PM No comments:

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Labels: Very Goods

Saturday, April 12, 2025

And Life Goes On - 1992

Great: B+

Posted by JoshtheArrogant at 11:46 PM No comments:

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Labels: Greats

After Life - 1998

Very Good: B

Posted by JoshtheArrogant at 8:40 AM No comments:

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Labels: Very Goods

Thursday, April 10, 2025

Where Is the Friend's House? - 1987

Very Good: B-

Posted by JoshtheArrogant at 4:19 PM No comments:

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Labels: Very Goods

Saturday, April 5, 2025

Saint Omer - 2022

Very Good: B-

Posted by JoshtheArrogant at 1:11 PM No comments:

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Labels: Very Goods

Thursday, April 3, 2025

Certain Women - 2016

Very Good: B-

Posted by JoshtheArrogant at 1:53 PM No comments:

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Labels: Very Goods

Monday, March 31, 2025

Police Story - 1985

Great: B+

Posted by JoshtheArrogant at 7:27 AM No comments:

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Labels: Greats

Saturday, March 29, 2025

The Day I Will Never Forget - 2002

Great: A

Posted by JoshtheArrogant at 1:16 PM No comments:

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Labels: Greats

Thursday, March 27, 2025

The Beast - 2023

Very Good: B-

Posted by JoshtheArrogant at 6:00 PM No comments:

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Labels: Very Goods

Monday, March 24, 2025

Suzume - 2022

Great: B+

Posted by JoshtheArrogant at 9:19 AM No comments:

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Labels: Greats

Saturday, March 22, 2025

Rough Aunties - 2008

Very Good: B-

Posted by JoshtheArrogant at 5:32 AM No comments:

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Labels: Very Goods

Wednesday, March 19, 2025

Raising Victor Vargas - 2002

Very Good: B

Posted by JoshtheArrogant at 9:00 PM No comments:

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Labels: Very Goods

An American in Paris - 1951

Very Good: B-

Posted by JoshtheArrogant at 9:27 AM No comments:

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Labels: Very Goods

Saturday, March 15, 2025

Marketa Lazarova - 1967

Very Good: B

Posted by JoshtheArrogant at 7:38 PM No comments:

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Labels: Very Goods

Sunday, February 23, 2025

The Wild Robot - 2024

Great: B+

Posted by JoshtheArrogant at 7:42 PM No comments:

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Labels: Greats

Friday, February 7, 2025

Touch - 2024

Very Good: B-

Posted by JoshtheArrogant at 8:38 PM No comments:

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Labels: Very Goods

Wednesday, February 5, 2025

Didi - 2024

Very Good: B

Posted by JoshtheArrogant at 7:36 PM No comments:

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Labels: Very Goods

Tuesday, January 21, 2025

All Quiet on the Western Front - 2022

Very Good: B-

Posted by JoshtheArrogant at 9:36 PM No comments:

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Labels: Very Goods

Monday, January 20, 2025

The Umbrellas of Cherbourg - 1964

Very Good: B-

Posted by JoshtheArrogant at 7:22 AM No comments:

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Labels: Very Goods

Thursday, January 16, 2025

Speed - 1994

Very Good: B-

Posted by JoshtheArrogant at 11:09 PM No comments:

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Labels: Very Goods

Monday, January 13, 2025

Romeo and Juliet - 1968

Very Good: B-

Posted by JoshtheArrogant at 9:58 PM No comments:

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Labels: Very Goods

Thursday, January 9, 2025

Heat - 1995

Very Good: B

Posted by JoshtheArrogant at 8:23 PM No comments:

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Labels: Very Goods

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EFB Inaugural Criteria

Essential Films Blog is comprised of only films that are warranting a B- rating of quality or above.

Cinematic Aesthetic Theory

The films that are honored in this publication are viewed in their capacity to be visually splendorous (the paramount aspect of film) and emotionally stirring; demonstrated through the spheres of story, music and/or imagery.

The true, vital mark of great cinema is the mastery of time, place, and tone throughout a work.

Cinema, as a medium of the visual, and by that virtue one of the most lasting art forms on the partaker, must be assessed fundamentally on its aptitude to document the scenery of life experience with power.

- - - -

Documentaries are included in this undertaking, but short films, although many remarkable selections can be unearthed, are unfortunately not.