Category: The Cogan Essentials: My Top 100 Movies
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25 in ’25 #24: “Elf” (2003)
Few modern Christmas movies have earned the peculiar dual honor of feeling both immediately contemporary and instantly timeless. Elf (2003), Jon Favreau’s cheery, sugar-dusted comedy about a human raised at the North Pole, is one of the rare entries in the holiday canon that managed to capture the collective American imagination and stay there—year after year, rewatch…
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Once (2007)
Directed by John Carney Drama R 1h 26m A funny thing, life is. It is an extremely rare thing that a movie captures life so beautifully, that it brings tears to my eyes during the opening sequence. “Once” is that film. There is very little dialogue in the first three minutes, just a long shot,…
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A Complete Unknown (2024)
Directed by James Mangold Drama/Biopic R 2h 21m Something somewhat strange happened to me when I saw “A Complete Unknown”. I have never been a Bob Dylan die-hard, although I do deeply respect his writing and will boldly state that several of the songs, he penned are some of the greatest ever written. But listening…
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Saturday Night (2024)
Directed by Jason Reitman Comedy/Thriller/History R 1h 49m Even if you’ve never seen an episode, you know the impact. “More Cowbell” “The Coneheads”, “The Wolverines”, “Emily Litella”, “Matt Foley – Inspirational Speaker”, “The Californians”, “Mr. Robinson’s Neighborhood”, “Church Lady”, “Close Encounters”, “David Pumpkins”. All are comedy sketches brought to life by the talented ensemble casts of one…
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The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
Directed by Frank Darabont Drama/Crime PG-13 2h 22m I first saw The Shawshank Redemption on January 11th, 2019. I was at home, recovering from my first knee surgery and my mother was teaching an evening class over at Benedictine. When my father got home from work, he fed the animals, came in, joined me in the back room, and showed…
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