Woman on the Beach, 2006 - ★★★★½
Who knew the Seventh Moral Tale took place in Korea?
Cognitive Film Society
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Pépé le Moko, 1937 - ★★★★½
Duvivier lets you feel the heat and the stink of the Casbah, pervading like the rot gut whiskey Pepe Le Moko so prefers.
The Ultimate Nerd’s Guide to the Mighty Marvel Multiverse
Sixty True Believers on a Thursday Night in August
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, 2018 - ★★★★½
Hard to think of a better or more influential animated film of the last 15 years.
The Sheep Detectives, 2026 - ★★★★
Is there a better movie about sheep?
Nine to Five, 1980 - ★★★½
At the premiere of 9 to 5, Roger Ebert was given 30 minutes with Dolly Parton, and left a changed man.
Swing Into the Spider-Verse for the End of Summer
Join the CFS this Thursday for our Anime August screening of Into the Spider-Verse at the Hewlett-Woodmere Public Library at 7pm.
Last Summer, 1969 - ★★★★
A Rohmer-esque trip into the Twilight Zone.
The Demon of Mount Oe, 1960 - ★★★½
Your average war of Samurai and demons, giant spiders, severed demon arms and misperceptions of cuckoldry.
2026 Films Ranked (Ongoing)
The Odyssey
Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma, 2026 - ★★★★½
Plainly the best deconstruction of the Slasher genre since the original Scream. It's phenomenal to see a new generation embrace Freud's central insights (everything is about sex, and your childhood) with such style and panache.
The Fast and the Furious, 2001 - ★★★★
A perfect slice of early 2000s sleaze entertainment.
Marty Supreme, 2025 - ★★★★½
“I am beyond embarrassment” - the koan of Marty Mauser
The Taste of Violence, 1961 - ★★★½
Probably best to leave the Westerns to the Americans and the Italians.
Better Off Dead..., 1985 - ★★★★
Dark, madcap and eminently quotable, Better off Dead holds up better than any 80’s teen comedy other than Heathers. Lane Meyer probably grows up into the assassin in Grosse Point Blank (Lloyd Dobler wasn’t nearly as dark), as the film shows American teenage alienation has always had a violent streak.
Trees Lounge, 1996 - ★★★½
Before the phones ruined everything, even the lonely people had people to be with, if only to share miseries.
Blonde in a White Car, 1959 - ★★★½
I knew it all along… I mean they make it pretty obvious.
Rebel Without a Cause, 1955 - ★★★★½
A tour de force of acting, directing, cinematography and subject matter.
A Kiss Before Dying, 1956 - ★★★★
Robert Wagner is the worst date ever in a film that could easily be American Psycho Minus One.
Violent Saturday, 1955 - ★★★★
Ernest Borgnine as an Amish action hero is just one of the bonkers twists and turns in this Western/Bourgeois bedroom/social melodrama.
The Wicked Go to Hell, 1955 - ★★★½
After seeing Eva walking in the moonlight, I might’ve killed and died for her too.
No Down Payment, 1957 - ★★★★½
The American dream and nightmare have always been blurred beyond recognition.
Bigger Than Life, 1956 - ★★★★
So when did the Palmer family move into this house?
The Long, Hot Summer, 1958 - ★★★½
Figuring whether Orson Welles is brilliant or terrible in this film would take at least 5 more viewings.
Romancing in Thin Air, 2012 - ★★★★
At times it’s a highly cinematic Hallmark romance, but then it transcends its inherently tacky premise to become something much greater.
Hud, 1963 - ★★★★★
Even something good and beautiful can produce disease and rot.