Are you still watching?

Soliciting watchlists

Before Blockbuster, my sister and I would go to a small, family-run movie store near the house. We never tried to stump the clerk, but browsed different movie covers before choosing. We’d wander into the horror section, pointing out different ghouls and ghosts — even the cover of Death Becomes Her. Then we’d try to figure out what happened in the movie based on the cover image. Our imaginations amplified the terror and drama.

Today, we’re burdened by choice and curation. Letterboxd sends me rushes. I can Google movie synopses or reviews on Rotten Tomatoes. There are streaming service algorithms that analyze my watching habits and curate a list just for me. Yet, I’ve always preferred discovery through friends, other directors and celebrity interviews.

Sometimes, I’m not looking for a plotline or an escape. There are days when I want to immerse myself in Polly Platt’s set designs, experience fall in Nora Ephron’s You’ve Got Mail (1998) or a Steven Meisel shoot in Robert Guralnick’s Portfolio (1983). I’ll watch Audrey Hepburn in Stanley Donen’s Charade (1963) running through a trashed Parisian apartment in head-to-toe Givenchy. You get the idea.

I’m looking for recommendations. Which pivotal scenes, costumes – whatever! – are you revisiting? Send them my way! In the meantime, here is a viewing list for the end of October. Did I miss something? Tell me what and why. Below are some ideas for thematic watching — think double features, Halloween watching, and maybe some last-minute costume ideas.

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1. Look at my genes

• The Substance (2024)

• Gattaca (1997)

• The Fly (1986)

• Blade (1998)

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2. Congratulations, it’s twins!

• The Parent Trap (1961 and 1998)

• Dead Ringers (1988 and 2023)

• Goodnight Mommy (2014)

• Adaptation (2002)

• Big Business (1988)

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3. Something’s different. Did you change your hair?

• Hollow Man (2000)

• The Thing (1982)

• Jennifer’s Body (2009)

• An American Werewolf in Paris (1997)

• The First Wives Club (1996)

• Serial Mom (1994)

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4. Life is death is life

• Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992)

• The Crow (1994 and 2024)

• Death Becomes Her (1992)

• Queen of the Damned (2002)

• Near Dark (1987)

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5. Peeling back the curtain

• Unzipped (1995)

• Pret-a-Porter (1994)

• Portfolio (1983)

• Catwalk (1995)

• Ocean’s 11 (2001)

• She-Devil (1989)

• Madonna: Truth or Dare (1991)

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  What does Tom Cruise watch?