Movies + Media

Running top five movies

  1. The Lord of the Rings trilogy, Peter Jackson. Childhood favorite and core to my being. "The Two Towers" if pressed for a specific film.
  2. Apocalypse Now, Francis Ford Coppola
  3. The Shining, Stanley Kubrick
  4. Warrior, Gavin O'Connor
  5. The Northman, Robert Eggers

Runners Up

  • Saving Private Ryan, Stephen Spielberg
  • Forrest Gump, Robert Zemeckis
  • The Silence of the Lambs, Jonathan Demme
  • 1917, Sam Mendes
  • Pulp Fiction, Quentin Tarantino
  • The Matrix, Lana and Lilly Wachowski
  • The Godfather, Francis Ford Coppola
  • Goodfellas, Martin Scorsese
  • Interstellar, Christopher Nolan
  • Gladiator, Ridley Scott
  • Whiplash, Damien Chazelle
  • Joker, Todd Phillips
  • Alien, Ridley Scott
  • The Star Wars series, George Lucas
  • Dune, Denis Villeneuve

Running top-five podcasts

  1. Hardcore History, Dan Carlin
  2. Conversations with Tyler, Tyler Cowen
  3. War on the Rocks, Ryan Evans
  4. Ukraine: The Latest, The Telegraph
  5. Naval, Naval Ravikant

Runners Up

  • Modern War Institute Podcast, West Point
  • The Fighter Pilot Podcast, Vincent Aiello
  • The Afterburn, John "Rain" Waters
  • Conversations with Coleman, Coleman Hughes
  • Modern Finance, Kevin Rose
  • 99% Invisible, Roman Mars
  • This American Life, Ira Glass

Favorite email newsletters/blogs

  • Astral Codex Ten (Scott Alexander): Rationalism, prediction markets, social commentary, libertarian-ish
  • Platformer (Casey Newton): Technology news and analysis, funny tweets
  • Lots of Links (Annie Rauwerda): Funny shit
  • Embedded (Kate Lindsay, Nick Catucci): Technology, internet culture
  • Blackbird Spyplane (Jonah Weiner, Erin Wylie): Hard to explain culture stuff
  • Naval Ravikant: Life advice, technology, philosophy, libertarian-ish
  • James Clear: Life advice, really good quotes, politics-free
  • Semi-Rad (Brendan Leonard): Running, mountaineering, outdoor stuff
  • Money Stuff (Matt Levine): Finance, public markets
  • The Best of Journalism (Conor Friedersdorf): Deep-dives into fascinating and incredibly diverse topics. I pay for the yearly subscription and it's well worth it
  • Wired Longreads: Deep-dives into tech things
  • The Merge: Military news centering on the US Air Force and Pentagon stuff
  • Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) newsletter: World military affairs from a British perspective

Favorite twitter thread

Full archive of movies

Work in progress. I haven't tracked my movie watching as religiously as books and other aspects of my life. I've bolded ones that I'd especially recommend.

2022

  • Three Thousand Years of Longing
  • The Northman (excellent)
  • Guns Akimbo
  • Everything everywhere all at once
  • Fresh (Mimi Cave)
  • Free Guy
  • Kimi (meh)
  • 14 Peaks: Nothing is Impossible
  • Pig (Nicolas Cage)
  • Don't Look Up

Before 2022

  • A Clockwork Orange
  • The Godfather Part II
  • The Dark Knight
  • Schindlers List
  • Every Harry Potter film
  • Inception
  • Se7en
  • The Green Mile
  • Parasite
  • Terminator
  • Terminator 2: Judgment Day
  • American History X
  • The Departed
  • Rear Window
  • Django Unchained
  • Inglorious Basterds
  • Reservoir Dogs
  • Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
  • Kill Bill Vol.1
  • Kill Bill Vol. 2
  • Natural Born Killers
  • Fight Club
  • WALL-E
  • Princess Mononoke
  • The Dark Knight Rises
  • Aliens
  • Avengers: Endgame
  • The Avengers
  • Avengers: Age of Ultron
  • Avengers: Infinity War
  • Captain America: The First Avenger
  • Iron Man
  • Iron Man II
  • Iron Man III
  • Black Panther
  • Shang Chi: Legend of the 10 Rings
  • The Incredible Hulk
  • Thor
  • Thor: Ragnarok
  • American Beauty
  • Toy Story
  • Toy Story II
  • Toy Story III
  • Braveheart
  • The Patriot
  • 2001: A Space Odyssey
  • Requiem for a Dream
  • Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
  • Full Metal Jacket
  • Amelie
  • Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
  • Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
  • Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
  • Die Hard
  • Monty Python and the Holy Grail
  • Monty Python: Life of Brian
  • The Wolf of Wall Street
  • Pan's Labyrinth
  • Every Daniel Craig James Bond movie
  • No Country for Old Men
  • Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
  • The Seventh Seal
  • The Truman Show
  • Jurassic Park
  • The Lost World
  • Jurassic Park III
  • V for Vendetta
  • Bladerunner
  • Bladerunner 2049
  • Trainspotting
  • The Grand Budapest Hotel
  • Gran Torino
  • Catch Me If You Can
  • Room
  • The Big Lebowski
  • Logan
  • Monsters, Inc.
  • Into the Wild
  • The Princess Bride
  • Jumanji
  • Rocky
  • Nobody
  • The Matrix Reloaded
  • The Matrix Revolutions