Coming up on 10 years on Letterboxd. I've claimed this as my favorite film for all that time and I often cite it as the best film ever made. But I'm yet to write a proper review.

What to say? To whom am I directing this? I have exactly one Letterboxder I follow who thinks this is not a good film. Direct it at them? That seems unnecessary. The individual in question anyway only watched the theatrical cut. Like with…

Watched this in the theatre as part of a double feature with the new sequel.

My profile lists this as one of my 4 favorite films. I consider it without contender to be the best science fiction film ever, and a strong contender for the greatest film I've ever seen.

I'd like to ramble a little bit about it.

We're talking of course about the Final Cut. The theatrical cut of the film is a monstrosity we will never speak…

I'm usually after science fiction, and this doesn't quite offer what I'm looking for in science fiction. It has its moments.

But what it does do, it does quite well. Which is the magic of childhood. Bringing a childhood fantasy to life. Before My Neighbor Totoro, no movie in history so captured the magic of childhood.

I love the look and effects of E.T.. They hold up decades later, better than any number of aliens from the current decade. They…

The idea of first contact has always fascinated me. What does it look like when aliens come to Earth to greet us.

Early movies to deal with it didn't really deal with it. Films like Flash Gordon use the concept as a springboard to adventure, not an examination of the contact itself.

1951 gave us seminal examples like The Day the Earth Stood Still and The Thing from Another World. The latter took the premise seriously, though soon turned its…

To give this film 5 stars is more tautological than meaningful. I consider it the best action film simply because I judge all other action films in relation to this. This is, in a true sense, the canonical action film. Sometimes people put things in a film canon if they are great films or must-watch films. But the word should really be reserved for those films against which others are measured. This is my vote for the canonical action film.…