Personal ratings archive
Media
Things I’ve consumed. Rated out of ten, with brief honest thoughts. Not reviews, just impressions preserved in the archive.
Anime
17 entriesAttack on Titan
2013
A masterclass in long-form storytelling. The ending is divisive but the journey is unmatched. Nothing else does scale and consequence like this.
Cyberpunk: Edgerunners
2022
Ten episodes and it hits harder than most full-length series. Studio Trigger at full throttle. The ending destroyed me.
Mob Psycho 100
2016
One of the most genuinely heartfelt anime made. Reigen is one of the best written characters in the medium. Underneath all the insane psychic fights is a story about growing up and not letting your power define you.
Naruto: Shippuden
2007
The better half. Pain arc alone could carry an entire series. The filler is brutal but the peaks are some of the highest in shonen.
Death Note
2006
A psychological chess match disguised as a supernatural thriller. The first half is elite television. The second half exists.
Demon Slayer
2019
The animation is some of the best ever put to screen. Story is straightforward but the execution is stunning. Ufotable doing what Ufotable does.
Vinland Saga
2019
Vikings, philosophy, and one of the best redemption arcs in fiction. Criminally underrated. Season 2 is the real payoff.
Hunter x Hunter
2011
Constantly subverts what you expect shonen to be. The Chimera Ant arc is one of the most ambitious things anime has attempted. Deserves more credit.
Jujutsu Kaisen
2020
Slick, fast, and visually ridiculous in the best way. MAPPA goes all out on every fight. The story has gotten darker and more interesting as it goes.
Chainsaw Man
2022
MAPPA going absolutely unhinged with the production. Denji is a refreshingly dumb protagonist and the world is chaotic in a way that works. Each episode feels like something bad is about to happen.
Assassination Classroom
2015
A show about students trying to kill their teacher who is also an alien octopus. Somehow it is also one of the most emotionally affecting anime I have started. The concept is ridiculous and the execution is excellent.
Naruto
2002
The one that started it for a lot of people. Fillers and all, the core story and the characters earned their place. Classic for a reason.
Akame ga Kill
2014
Enjoyable dark action with a habit of killing off characters you actually liked. The anime ending diverges from the manga in ways that don't always land.
Spy x Family
2022
Genuinely wholesome and genuinely funny. Anya alone is worth the watch. A light show that doesn't need to be anything more than what it is.
The Disastrous Life of Saiki K.
2016
The funniest anime I've seen. Rapid-fire jokes, a cast of idiots, and a protagonist who just wants to be left alone. Perfect background watch.
The Promised Neverland
2019
Season one is a near-perfect thriller. The tension, the stakes, the reveals. Season two happened and we don't talk about it.
The Devil Is a Part-Timer
2013
A fun premise executed with good humor. Satan working at a fast food restaurant is a bit that somehow sustains a whole show.
Movies
34 entriesInterstellar
2014
The most emotionally resonant sci-fi film ever made. The docking scene. The bookshelf. The ending. Hans Zimmer's score.
Everything Everywhere All at Once
2022
A film that somehow earns every single one of its absurd elements. Deeply human under all the multiverse madness. I cried.
Puss in Boots: The Last Wish
2022
No one expected this to be a genuinely great film about mortality and fear. The Wolf is one of the best animated villains in years. Dreamworks woke up.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
2023
The best MCU film in years and a genuinely moving send-off for these characters. Rocket's storyline hit differently than expected.
Guardians of the Galaxy
2014
The one that proved the MCU could be genuinely fun and weird. Great soundtrack, great cast, introduced a team nobody expected to love.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
2017
More emotional than the first and equally fun. The Yondu payoff at the end earns its tears. Rocket and Yondu are the whole movie.
Bullet Train
2022
Fun, stylish, and knows exactly what it is. Brad Pitt being endlessly unlucky is a reliable joke for two hours. Doesn't overstay its welcome.
Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum
2018
One of the better found footage horror films. The dread builds slowly and the location is genuinely unsettling. Korean horror delivers again.
Parasite
2019
One of the best films of the decade. Bong Joon-ho shifts genre mid-film and it works completely. Nothing about it is predictable and everything about it is earned.
Shrek
2001
A classic for a reason. Aged better than most animated films from this era. Still funny, still sharp. All-Star holds up.
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
2018
Changed what animated films could look and feel like. Miles Morales's story is perfect. The visual style alone is worth the watch. Best superhero film made.
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
2023
Somehow topped the first. The scale is bigger, the animation pushes even further, and the emotional stakes are higher. That ending is brutal in the best way.
Avengers: Endgame
2019
The payoff for a decade of buildup. The theater experience for Portals was something that doesn't happen often. Whatever your feelings on the MCU, that scene delivered.
WALL-E
2008
The first half has almost no dialogue and is perfect cinema. A love story told through body language and bleeps. Pixar's best and one of the best films made.
Coco
2017
The ending hits every single time regardless of how many times you have seen it. The Land of the Dead is visually stunning. One of Pixar's best.
Inside Out
2015
Pixar explaining emotions using emotions. Bing Bong. The concept is clever and the execution is devastating. Sadness being important is a lesson the film earns.
Train to Busan
2016
The best zombie film made. The confined setting does everything right. The emotional ending is earned and absolutely destroys. Korean cinema delivering again.
The Backrooms
2022
Kane Parsons made this at 16 years old and it is better than most studio horror. The liminal space dread is perfect. The analog horror format works completely. One of the most unsettling short films made.
Barbie
2023
Funnier and smarter than it had any right to be. Greta Gerwig pulled off something genuinely strange. Ryan Gosling committed completely and won.
Encanto
2021
The music is great and the themes hit harder than expected for a Disney film. Bruno's song especially. Family dynamics written with real honesty.
A Silent Voice
2016
One of the more emotionally honest animated films made. Deals with bullying, guilt, and redemption without flinching. Wrecks you quietly.
Reservoir Dogs
1992
Tarantino's debut still holds. Non-linear crime thriller built almost entirely on dialogue and tension. The ear scene. The opening diner conversation. A masterclass in writing.
Oppenheimer
2023
Three hours that do not feel like three hours. Cillian Murphy carrying every scene he is in. The practical Trinity sequence is one of the best moments in recent cinema.
Cars
2006
Pixar doing what Pixar does. Route 66 nostalgia wrapped in a well-executed sports movie structure. Underrated in the Pixar catalog.
Hereditary
2018
One of the most genuinely unsettling horror films made. Toni Collette's performance deserved every award it didn't get. The grief is real and the horror grows out of it.
The Conjuring
2013
James Wan doing haunted house horror with real craft. The tension builds slowly and pays off. One of the better mainstream horror films of the decade.
A Quiet Place
2018
Tension-based horror executed nearly perfectly. The sound design is the entire film. John Krasinski directing this was a choice that paid off completely.
Words Bubble Up Like Soda Pop
2021
A quiet, colorful summer romance. The haiku mechanic is charming and it commits fully to its aesthetic. A good one to watch when you need something gentle.
Hoppers
2024
A very cute movie that pleasantly displays important themes. Think Avatar but cuter.
Cars 3
2017
A serious course correction from Cars 2. Actually engages with Lightning's arc in a meaningful way. The ending lands better than expected.
The Conjuring 2
2016
The Nun scene in the hallway alone is worth it. A strong follow-up that adds enough mythology without losing what made the first work.
The Notebook
2004
The classic. Earned its reputation. Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams have chemistry that carries the whole thing.
The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It
2021
Weaker than the first two but still a competent horror film. Moves the setting outside the house which changes the dynamic considerably.
Cars 2
2011
A spy movie where Mater is the main character. They made this choice. It exists.
Shows
14 entriesBreaking Bad
2008
The best written show ever made. Consequences feel real. Characters feel real. Walter White is a monument of television.
Adventure Time
2010
Starts as a fun kids cartoon and slowly reveals itself to be something much deeper and stranger. The lore goes hard. Marceline episodes especially.
Invincible
2021
The superhero show that earns every bit of its brutality. J.K. Simmons as Omni-Man is one of the best pieces of casting in animated television. The first season finale genuinely shocked me.
Squid Game
2021
Brutal, well-crafted, and earned every bit of the global attention it got. The games are tense and the commentary on class and desperation is sharp. One of the better Netflix originals.
Regular Show
2010
Cartoon Network gold. What starts as absurdist workplace comedy turns into genuine friendship and adventure. The finale actually delivers. A childhood staple that holds up.
Phineas and Ferb
2007
The formula never got old. Two kids build increasingly impossible things, their sister tries to bust them, Perry the Platypus is a secret agent. Perfectly engineered for rewatchability.
Severance
2022
Apple TV's best show. A corporate dystopia that gets under your skin in a quiet, unsettling way. Still in progress.
The Queen's Gambit
2020
Somehow made chess compelling television. Anya Taylor-Joy is magnetic in every scene. One of the best miniseries Netflix has made.
Obsession
2023
Tense, uncomfortable, and completely gripping. Does not flinch from what it is. Exactly as unsettling as it intends to be.
Stranger Things
2016
Seasons 1 through 3 are some of the best TV Netflix made. Great atmosphere, great characters, the Upside Down mythology was genuinely compelling. Seasons 4 and 5 lost the plot. The first three are worth everything.
Prison Break
2005
Season one is some of the tensest television made. The show gets increasingly absurd after that but you stay for the characters.
How to Get Away with Murder
2014
Viola Davis carries every scene she's in with absolute authority. Annalise Keating is one of the great TV characters. Gets wild in later seasons.
Wednesday
2022
Jenna Ortega is perfect casting and carries the show hard. The mystery is decent and the tone is fun. Not trying to be anything more than what it is and mostly succeeds.
The Flash
2014
The first couple seasons are genuinely great superhero TV. The show ran too long and the quality dipped, but early Barry Allen is worth the time.
Games
14 entriesMinecraft
2011
The game that defined a generation of creativity. Still unmatched for what it lets you do with no instruction and no ceiling. A perpetual project.
Balatro
2024
The most dangerous game on this list. A roguelike poker game that somehow makes you feel like a genius and an idiot simultaneously. One more run has never been truer.
Rocket League
2015
Soccer with cars and a skill ceiling that basically has no top. One of the best competitive games ever designed. Easy to learn, takes forever to master.
Terraria
2011
More content than games five times its price. The progression from starting with nothing to fighting moon lords is genuinely satisfying. One of the best indie games made.
Hollow Knight
2017
One of the best metroidvanias made. The atmosphere is oppressive in a beautiful way. The combat is tight and the lore is delivered entirely through environment and implication.
Stardew Valley
2016
Made by one person and it shows what one person can do when they care deeply about every detail. The loop is meditative and the depth underneath is surprising.
Cyberpunk 2077
2020
Night City is one of the best game worlds built. The launch state was a disaster but the game underneath was always there. Phantom Liberty made it great. V's story lands.
The Binding of Isaac
2011
The roguelike that defined roguelikes for a lot of people. Dark, weird, and endlessly replayable. The synergy system means every run is something different.
Super Animal Royale
2021
Battle royale with cute animals and a surprising amount of character. One of the more fun takes on the genre. Underrated.
Counter-Strike
2000
The benchmark for tactical shooters. Still the game other games are compared against. Simple rules with infinite depth.
Mini Motorways
2021
A minimalist puzzle game about drawing roads. Looks calm, induces stress. Exactly what it should be.
Dead by Daylight
2016
The asymmetric horror formula is genuinely fun and the IP crossovers are unmatched. Balance is a constant conversation but the core loop keeps pulling you back.
League of Legends
2009
A game that consumes time and sanity in roughly equal measure. The depth is real and the champions are interesting but the community is a test of patience.
Tiny Tina's Wonderlands
2022
A fun spin on the Borderlands formula. Tiny Tina's energy works better here than it did in Assault on Dragon Keep. The class system is interesting. Good co-op.