Discovering good movies, one bad movie at a time


Here’s a nice high concept one for you. Annihilation will be just the second film ever directed by screenwriter-novelist Alex Garland, after 2015’s Ex Machina. Which is almost enough to get us excited, but second features tend to be difficult: for every one that lives up to the promise of the maker’s debut, there are a dozen sodden misfires. Hear us discuss our picks for the best directorial sophomore efforts ever.

In Worth Mentioning, we catch up with Early Man, Black Panther and Roman J. Israel Esq.

Rob

The Matrix (1999)
Se7en (1995)
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
Alien (1979)
Memento (2000)

Carrie

The Little Mermaid (1989)
The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012)
Alien (1979)
Memento (2000)
Whiplash (2014)

Tim

Jeanne Dielman, 23 Quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles (1975)
The Magnificent Ambersons (1942)
Battleship Potemkin (1925)
Days of Heaven (1978)
Cléo from 5 to 7 (1962)