Category Archives: about_me

Books I read in 2025

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I have to admit that I was really lazy this summer so I spent a lot of time reading throughout the year.

  • The Big One: How To Prepare for World-Altering Pandemics to Come – Michael T. Osterholm – I’d recommend this to everyone who lived through the COVID pandemic but I know about half of them wouldn’t believe anything in the book.
  • Watchers – Dean Koontz
  • The Funhouse – Dean Koontz – This is an adaptation of the Tobe Hooper film but it’s really more like a prequel to the events of the movie which are only covered in the last third of the book.
  • Carl’s Doomsday Scenario (Dungeon Crawler Carl, #2) – Matt Dinniman – There are a bunch of these but I had to take a break after the 2nd one because the first-person persepctive kinda makes me crazy. I’ll definitely keep going with the series in 2026, though.
  • Dungeon Crawler Carl (Dungeon Crawler Carl, #1) – Matt Dinniman – Fun story with an angle that I’ve never read before.
  • The Making of Stanley Kubrick’s ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’ – Piers Bizony
  • Spacewreck: Ghostships and Derelicts of Space (Terran Trade Authority Handbook) – Stewart Cowley
  • Never Flinch (Holly Gibney, #4) – Stephen King – Is this really the end of the Holly books?
  • Pilot’s Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge: FAA-H-8083-25A (FAA Handbooks)
  • The Measure – Nikki Erlick
  • The Mountain in the Sea – Ray Nayler
  • The Road – Cormac McCarthy
  • Every Life a Story: Natalie Jacobson Reporting – The autobiography of “Channel 5” anchor Natalie Jacobson who is a major celebrity in New England.
  • Japanese Swords and Armor: Masterpieces from Thirty of Japan’s Most Famous Samurai Warriors – Paul Martin
  • Failure is Not an Option: Mission Control From Mercury to Apollo 13 and Beyond – Gene Kranz
  • Sleeping Beauties – Stephen King
  • Into the Black: The Extraordinary Untold Story of the First Flight of the Space Shuttle Columbia and the Astronauts Who Flew Her – Rowland White – I will never tire of reading well-written books about space exploration!

Movies I saw in 2025

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I’ve put some of my highlights in bold.

  • Glory (1989)
  • The Perfect Neighbor (2025)
  • One Battle After Another (2025)
  • Uncle Buck (1989)
  • The Long Walk (2025) – a decent adaptation of Stephen King’s story
  • Eddington (2025) – Is it comedy? Drama? Horror? Pretty much sums up what life in the US is like these days.
  • National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (1989) – yup, we watch it every year!
  • It’s a Wonderful Life (1946) – this one, too!
  • The Conjuring: Last Rites (2025)
  • A House of Dynamite (2025) – great film right up until the last few minutes….
  • Weapons (2025)
  • Bring Her Back (2025)
  • Stiller & Meara: Nothing Is Lost (2025)
  • Killers of the Flower Moon (2023)
  • Keeper (2025)
  • Animal House (1978)
  • Companion (2025)
  • The Thing (1982)
  • The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012)
  • The Funhouse (1981) – This is actually a pretty good horror movie. Watching it made me seek out and read the book by Dean Koontz.
  • Stargate (1994)
  • Sinners (2025)
  • Gentlemen Broncos (2009)
  • A Real Pain (2024)
  • Death of a Unicorn (2025)
  • Warfare (2025)
  • STRAW (2025)
  • Billy Joel: And So It Goes (2025) – Amazing documentary of the life and art of Billy Joel.
  • Superman (2025) – ugh
  • The Brutalist (2024)
  • Pamela, A Love Story (2023)
  • Mickey 17 (2025)
  • Becoming Led Zeppelin (2025)
  • Cold Case: The Tylenol Murders (2025)
  • The Blues Brothers (1980)
  • The Men Who Tread on the Tiger’s Tail (1945)
  • Drive (2011)
  • Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016)
  • The Substance (2024)
  • Gladiator II (2024)
  • Wolf Man (2025) – ugh
  • Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood (2019) – I will never tire of this film!
  • Adolescence (2025)
  • Fiddler: A Miracle of Miracles (2019)
  • Fiddler on the Roof (1971)
  • Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1984)
  • Anora (2024)
  • Speak No Evil (2024)
  • Surviving Black Hawk Down (2025)
  • Civil War (2024)
  • Heat (1995)
  • Conclave (2024)
  • The Wild Robot (2024) – it’s a feel-good movie!
  • Saturday Night (2024)
  • We Live in Time (2024)
  • Apollo 13: Survival (2024)
  • Dodes’ka-den (1970)
  • Brainstorm (1983)
  • A Quiet Place: Day One (2024)
  • The Princess Bride (1987)

Books I Read in 2024

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It was another big year for Stephen King – I will read pretty much whatever that man writes. His newest collection of “short” stories and “Billy Summers” were both great summer reads. It’s interesting how much what I’m doing in real life can influence my enjoyment of a book or story. Because we had such an extended spell of dry weather in the second half of the year, I spent a lot of time reading while laying in my hammock this summer.

  • Blood Meridian, or the Evening Redness in the West – Cormac McCarthy
  • The Name of the Wind (The Kingkiller Chronicle, #1) – Patrick Rothfuss
  • Fairy Tale – Stephen King
  • You Like It Darker – Stephen King
  • Billy Summers – Stephen King
  • Carrying the Fire: An Astronaut’s Journey – Michael Collins
  • Holly – Stephen King
  • A Man on the Moon – Andrew Chaikin
  • Stories of Your Life and Others – Ted Chiang
  • God Emperor of Dune (Dune #4) – Frank Herbert
  • Misfit: Growing Up Awkward in the ’80s – Gary Gulman
  • Live from New York: An Uncensored History of Saturday Night Live

Movies I saw in 2024

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I watched a lot of documentaries this year and many of them were biographies of actors. I think these types of films were suggested to me by the streaming services and I took the bait. It is interesting to learn about the lives of these famous and sometimes legendary people. I also rewatched a lot of films this year. Many of these (like Conan, Pet Sematary, Blade Runner, etc) are old favorites that I watched with my son or that I just wanted to watch again after a long time to see how they stood the test of time. I’ve put some favorites in bold.

  • The Truman Show (1998)
  • Nosferatu (2024)
  • National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (1989)
  • It’s a Wonderful Life (1946)
  • Fanatical: The Catfishing of Tegan and Sara (2024)
  • Quincy (2018)
  • Unforgiven (1992)
  • 12 Angry Men (1957)
  • Scavengers Reign (2023) – this is a great animated series that really felt like something original while also evoking memories of reading Heavy Metal magazine as a kid
  • Tickled (2016)
  • Dìdi (弟弟) (2024)
  • The Shining (1980)
  • Remembering Gene Wilder (2023)
  • Happy Death Day 2U (2019)
  • Happy Death Day (2017)
  • They Live (1988)
  • Longlegs (2024)
  • MaXXXine (2024)
  • Money Electric: The Bitcoin Mystery (2024)
  • Fly (2024)
  • Starship Troopers (1997)
  • Zero Dark Thirty (2012)
  • Inside Out 2 (2024)
  • I Saw the TV Glow (2024)
  • Challengers (2024)
  • The Watchers (2024)
  • Horizon: An American Saga Chapter 1 (2024)
  • Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga (2024)
  • Alien: Romulus (2024)
  • Civil War (2024)
  • Immaculate (2024)
  • I Am: Celine Dion (2024)
  • Outland (1981)
  • 梟の城 Castle of Owls (1963)
  • Gattaca (1997)
  • The First Omen (2024)
  • Blade Runner 2049 (2017)
  • The Birds (1963)
  • Blade Runner (1982)
  • The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002)
  • The Muppet Movie (1979)
  • The Boys in the Boat (2023)
  • Uncut Gems (2019)
  • Pet Sematary (1989)
  • American Fiction (2023)
  • MoviePass, MovieCrash (2024)
  • The Killing of a Sacred Deer (2017)
  • The Truth vs. Alex Jones (2024)
  • An American Bombing: The Road to April 19th (2024)
  • Labyrinth (1986)
  • The Whale (2022)
  • The Iron Claw (2023)
  • Ethel (2012)
  • Anna Nicole Smith: You Don’t Know Me (2023)
  • WHAM! (2023)
  • Mute (2018)
  • Baby Reindeer (2024)
  • Natalie Wood: What Remains Behind (2020)
  • The Help (2011)
  • The Royal Hotel (2023)
  • The Dead Zone (1983)
  • Patriots Day (2016)
  • Arrival (2016)
  • Anatomy of a Fall (2023)
  • The Booksellers (2019)
  • Dream Scenario (2023)
  • The Zone of Interest (2023)
  • It’s Quieter in the Twilight (2022)
  • Late Night with the Devil (2023)
  • Priscilla (2023)
  • Poor Things (2023)
  • Dune: Part Two (2024) – The changes from the novel completely changed the tone of the overall story and kind of ruined the whole film for me.
  • It Comes at Night (2017)
  • Studio 54 (2018)
  • May December (2023)
  • Dumb Money (2023)
  • Se7en (1995)
  • Edge of Tomorrow (2014)
  • The Greatest Night in Pop (2024)
  • BEEF (2023)
  • Conan the Barbarian (1982)
  • Godzilla Minus One (2023)
  • The Holdovers (2023)

Books I read in 2023

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Once again, I didn’t read nearly as many books as I would have liked in 2023. At the beginning of the year, I was studying a lot of technical materials and working on gaining new skills for my job search so that took up a lot of my time in addition to really pushing to finish my Ima Ninja translation.

  • The Evening and the Morning (Kingsbridge, #0) – a fun and entertaining prequel to Ken Follett’s The Pillars of the Earth
  • Sea of Tranquility
  • Children of Dune (Dune, #3)
  • Hidden Pictures – kinda lame
  • Misquoting Jesus: The Story Behind Who Changed the Bible and Why
  • JAWS: Memories from Martha’s Vineyard – I finally bought a copy of this book after many years of having it on my wish list. You couldn’t get a more detailed look at the making of Jaws.
  • How High We Go in the Dark
  • Convenience Store Woman
  • Tamao
  • Learning React: Modern Patterns for Developing React Apps – it was just as exciting as it sounds!

2024 Movies Watched

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Due to my job change, I had a lot of free time in the early months of the year so I got a lot of films in during this time. I wasn’t a huge fan of most of the “blockbusters” that were released this year – I wasn’t impressed by Oppenheimer or Barbie and the last Indiana Jones film wasn’t great either (although it was probably better than I had expected). I’ve put some favorites in bold type.

  • Lamb (2021)
  • Saltburn (2023)
  • The Creator (2023)
  • Becoming Cousteau (2021)
  • Elf (2003)
  • No Hard Feelings (2023)
  • The Color Purple (1985)
  • No Time to Die (2021)
  • The Pope’s Exorcist (2023)
  • Throne of Blood (1957)
  • The Karate Kid (1984)
  • The Fabelmans (2022)
  • Alien: Covenant (2017)
  • Reality (2023)
  • Ghost Story (1981)
  • Moonrise Kingdom (2012)
  • Pearl (2022)
  • X (2022)
  • Past Lives (2023)
  • The Last Voyage of the Demeter (2023)
  • Asteroid City Asteroid City (2023)
  • True Romance (1993)
  • You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah (2023)
  • Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves (2023)
  • Talk to Me (2022)
  • RoboCop (1987)
  • Barbie (2023)
  • The Banshees of Inisherin (2022)
  • Oppenheimer (2023)
  • Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) (2014)
  • The French Dispatch (2021)
  • Scarface (1983)
  • District 9 (2009)
  • Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father (2008)
  • The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
  • Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (2023)
  • The Road (2009)
  • Dog Day Afternoon (1975)
  • A Tree of Life: The Pittsburgh Synagogue Shooting (2022)
  • Three Thousand Years of Longing (2022)
  • Air (2023)
  • Kiki’s Delivery Service (1989)
  • The Beatles: Get Back (2021)
  • Man on Fire (2004)
  • Jacob’s Ladder (1990)
  • Bama Rush (2023)
  • Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022)
  • Cool Hand Luke (1967)
  • Beau Is Afraid (2023)
  • Project X (2012)
  • The Last Duel (2021)
  • Friday (1995)
  • Twilight Zone: The Movie (1983)
  • Caddyshack (1980)
  • After Hours (1985)
  • The Menu (2022)
  • Eye of the Beholder: The Art of Dungeons & Dragons (2018)
  • TÁR (2022)
  • Young Frankenstein (1974)
  • Band of Brothers (2001)
  • Top Gun: Maverick (2022)
  • Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986)
  • E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982)
  • Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984)
  • Ingrid Goes West (2017)
  • Taxi Driver (1976)
  • Raging Bull (1980)
  • The Godfather: Part II (1974)
  • The Godfather (1972)
  • Casablanca (1942)
  • 10 (1979)
  • Hereditary (2018)
  • This Place Rules (2022)

Movies I saw in 2022

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This year I re-watched a lot of older films that I had seen before. Time and maturity really gives one a different perspective on some of those stories. I also continued watching as many of Yasujirō Ozu’s films as I could find on the streaming platforms – always great stuff from him. I’ve put my new and old favorites in bold type.

  • Braveheart (1995)
  • The Breakfast Club (1985)
  • Sixteen Candles (1984)
  • The Last Duel (2021)
  • Weathering with You (2019)
  • Don’t Look Up (2021)
  • Encanto (2021)
  • Vivarium (2019)
  • Spencer (2021)
  • Nomadland (2020)
  • Alien (1979)
  • Drive My Car (2021)
  • Malignant (2021)
  • The Sword and the Sorcerer (1982)
  • Death on the Nile (2022)
  • Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore (1974)
  • King Richard (2021)
  • Street Gang: How We Got to Sesame Street (2021)
  • Suspiria (2018)
  • Tokyo Twilight (1957)
  • Old (2021)
  • The End of Summer (1961)
  • Early Spring (1956)
  • An Autumn Afternoon (1962)
  • Navalny (2022)
  • Equinox Flower (1958)
  • Station Eleven (2021)
  • Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
  • Paranormal Activity (2007)
  • Good Morning (1959)
  • The Many Saints of Newark (2021)
  • First Blood (1982)
  • Chernobyl: The Lost Tapes (2022)
  • Napoleon Dynamite (2004)
  • Floating Weeds (1959)
  • Nope (2022)
  • Rashomon (1950)
  • The Worst Person in the World (2021)
  • Prey (2022)
  • The Omen (1976)
  • The Princess (2022)
  • The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014)
  • The Night House (2020)
  • Pulp Fiction (1994)
  • Blade Runner 2049 (2017)
  • Phil Tippett: Mad Dreams and Monsters (2019)
  • Light & Magic (2022)
  • Growing Fangs (2021)
  • Total Recall (1990)
  • The Janes (2022)
  • Marcel the Shell with Shoes On (2021)
  • The Northman (2022)
  • Licorice Pizza (2021)
  • Slash/Back (2022)
  • Forrest Gump (1994)
  • Belfast (2021)
  • Where the Crawdads Sing (2022) – didn’t finish
  • The Witch (2015)
  • Barbarian (2022)
  • Elf (2003)
  • Call Me Miss Cleo (2022)
  • Christmas in Connecticut (1945)
  • Christmas Vacation (1989)
  • Avatar: The Way of Water (2022)
  • Dune (2021)

Books I read in 2022

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I keep track of a lot of things I do in my daily life. I’m not sure why I do it. It’s interesting because my son does that as well. We were just talking last night about how he keeps track of major events in his life along with the music he was listening to, people he was hanging out with and games he was playing at the time. I guess it’s a way to relive those events and experience those feelings again.

Anyway, here’s my list for 2022. I didn’t read as much as I would have liked. Like many people these days, I often get pulled into scrolling on my phone rather than reading the books I want to read. This year, I also spent a lot of time reading technical books and articles in order to expand my skillset for work. And, as always, I read a lot of martial arts related material as well. None of these types of materials are listed here. I started the year by following on the many WWII books that I read last year and finished that series up with “Japan at War” which was really interesting. It painted a very different picture of the Japanese experience of WWII than what I had expected.

“To Kill a Mockingbird” and “The Grapes of Wrath” are both true classics for good reason.

There were no “making of” books that piquéd my interest this year (after the death of JW Rinzler, I’m not sure that there will be many great books like that) but I did eagerly await and read “The Art of Ron Cobb”, which is a treasure trove of Cobb’s work along with interesting commentary.

I also finished the final two books in the “Matador” series that I began reading a long time ago. In order to get reacquainted with that universe, I also read the first book again. I will just say that the later books are not as great as the first couple.

  • Round the Clock: The Experience of the Allied Bomber Crews Who Flew by Day and by – Night from England in the Second World War
  • Combat Crew: A True Story of Flying and Fighting in World War II
  • Japan at War: An Oral History
  • To Kill a Mockingbird
  • Diana: Her True Story in Her Own Words
  • Dune Messiah (Dune, #2)
  • The War on the West
  • The Grapes of Wrath
  • The Man Who Never Missed (Matador, #1)
  • Black Steel (Matador, #7)
  • The Art of Ron Cobb
  • Brother Death (Matador, #8)
  • Understand, Good, Play

Movies I Saw in 2021

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I watched some classics that I had never seen before, rewatched a few of my favorites, saw a few new films (even went back to the theater for the first time in a while!) and had a little festival with several of Yasujirō Ozu’s films. I’ve put my favorites in bold type.

  • Spider-Man: No Way Home 2021
  • Kramer vs. Kramer 1979
  • The Pope of Greenwich Village 1984
  • National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation 1989
  • All the President’s Men 1976
  • Child 44 2015
  • Desert One 2019
  • Apocalypse ’45 2020
  • Solaris 2002
  • 2010 1984
  • Squid Game 2021
  • Dune 2021
  • Prometheus 2012
  • Orphan 2009
  • Vanilla Sky 2001
  • Interstellar 2014
  • Jerry Maguire 1996
  • Heathers 1989
  • Secret Window 2004
  • The Wedding Singer 1998
  • Point Break 1991
  • Beverly Hills Cop 1984
  • The Tomorrow War 2021
  • The Golden Child 1986
  • The Vast of Night 2019
  • The Flavor of Green Tea over Rice 1952
  • Sound of Metal 2019
  • WarGames 1983
  • Friends: The Reunion 2021
  • The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It 2021
  • Greenland 2020
  • A Quiet Place Part II 2020
  • Fast Times at Ridgemont High 1982
  • Late Autumn 1960
  • Late Spring 1949
  • Galaxy Quest 1999
  • Sling Blade 1996
  • Porky’s 1981
  • TINA 2021
  • Back to the Future Part III 1990
  • Tokyo Story 1953
  • Honey Boy 2019
  • New Nightmare 1994
  • A Nightmare on Elm Street 1984
  • The Tale of the Princess Kaguya 2013
  • Lost in Translation 2003
  • Night Stalker: The Hunt for a Serial Killer 2021
  • Penguin Bloom 2020
  • Tenet 2020
  • The Fog 1980
  • Mars Attacks! 1996
  • Revenge of the Nerds 1984
  • The Bee Gees: How Can You Mend a Broken Heart

Books I read in 2021

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The list goes from latest in the year to earliest in the year. I read a lot of Stephen King in 2021! I’ve always enjoyed King’s short stories and novellas (most are longer than the average book!) because they don’t usually jump the shark like so many of his novels seem to do. I went back and re-read several of his collections – most of which I first read as a young teen. Cujo was really great, too! I actually did a book report on that story in 7th grade!

I also read a lot of “making of” books (as I do every summer, it seems) about Blade Runner and Aliens. If you’re a fan of Blade Runner, “Future Noir” is a must!

  • One Last Look: A Sentimental Journey to the Eighth Air Force Heavy Bomber Bases of World War II in England
  • Aliens: The Special Effects
  • Hearts in Atlantis
  • Carrie
  • Cujo
  • Blade Runner: The Inside Story
  • Project Hail Mary
  • Four Past Midnight
  • …my Way – 40 Years Bujinkan in Europe
  • Ninniku Yoroi
  • Night Shift
  • Future Noir Revised & Updated ion: The Making of Blade Runner
  • Skeleton Crew
  • Embracing Defeat: Japan in the Wake of World War II
  • Ninpo Hibun – The collected writings of Masaaki Hatsumi and his teacher Toshitsugu Takamatsu (Volume 1)