Edge of Tomorrow. I’m a sucker for time-shenanigan movies and it was a fantastic surprise.

The Matrix in the theater was just amazing not knowing anything going into it. I thought it was gonna be some generic sci-fi action popcorn flick and was so wrong. Honorable mention to Knives Out and Everything Everywhere All At Once, both incredible movies in ways I didn’t expect.

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind was a blind find for me when I was growing up

Think it was early to mid 10s I watched it when I was in college (UK - not uni). Which was when I was starting to really get into movies. I found out what indies were and was literally just looking up lists of movies, seeing the director and actors (even then sometimes just the title was enough) and I would just go and find a way to watch it.

Eternal Sunshine was the pinnacle find of this period in my life, I think. At the time it was my favourite film which didn’t get toppled till Blade Runner 2049 came out. I’ve watched it countless times and I still find out new aspects to the film that I either missed or have forgotten since the last rewatch. I always recommend it to people who haven’t seen it.

Donnie Darko - Just such a great, strange movie

Moon. Sam Rockwell was so great in that

Pulp Fiction

I saw Parasite blind. My date picked the movie, think I saw part of a trailer once, but I’m not even sure. What an amazing movie to go in blind. I had no idea what was going to happen or when, it felt like a roller coaster with all the twists and turns.

Dark City

The Fifth Element. I had NO idea what the movie was about when my cousin brought me to the theater. My nerd brain was like, “Is this a quest to find boron or something?” Became one of my all-time favorite movies.

I went to a double feature because I wanted to see The Tin Drum. First I had to sit through another movie I had never heard of that sounded really corny: Runaway Train.

Starring John Voight and Eric Roberts, and with a screenplay by Akira Kurosawa, it was extraordinary. Certainly not just a cheap action flick.

Excluding pretty much everything that I saw as a kid - when you go into basically everything blind - it would be After Hours (1985). I either hadn’t read anything about it or hadn’t been paying attention. Standing outside the cinema, I just saw that it was by Scorsese and went in.

I still think that it is one of his most under-appreciated films. And I loved the Ted Lasso homage, combining it with the Divine Comedy.

Hunt for the Wilderpeople. I knew nothing before but it was super cozy. Still watch it once per year or so.

Society.

Don’t look it up. Just watch it.

My Cousin Vinny

Mon Oncle