2025 in Review: Music Music Music

by Nathaniel R

Charli XCX has four feature film projects arriving in 2026. But still found time to make a great music video in 2025

I promise we'll pull this back to music in movies at the end of the post but for a curveball we'll first share favourite music videos of 2025. Those mini-musicals haven't had a true "home" in decades (after the initial heyday of MTV many moons ago) but they still continue to be a fascinating shortform offshoot of cinema itself. We use to think of them as training ground for future film directors but it feels like that's been a long while since it was a "path" to Hollywood. How long until we get another music video master that moves up to auteur status? It's been 30 years since that happened for David Fincher! Still, we're always hoping it will happen again...

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State of the Race: So about those BAFTA longlists...

by Cláudio Alves

Is I SWEAR this year's little British film that could? Maybe.

The Oscar nominations are ever closer, so it’s time to start finalizing those predictions. And since this year, BAFTA will reveal their lineups after AMPAS, pundits everywhere must make do with the British Academy’s longlists. In the past, they’ve been a good indicator of what the industry’s feeling, and how it differs from the critics who’ve been dominating the awards conversations so far in the season. As expected, One Battle After Another has the most mentions, at 16, closely followed by Hamnet and Sinners with 14 each, Marty Supreme at 13, and both Bugonia and Frankenstein with 12. Still, what’s most surprising and enticing is how BAFTA can go its own way and zig when we expect a zag. Consider their love for Nuremberg, and such local success stories as I Swear and The Ballad of Wallis Island…

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“One Battle After Another” and Eva Victor among this year’s Dorian Awards nomination leaders

by Cláudio Alves

Eva Victor's SORRY, BABY was one of GALECA's favorite films of 2025.

Multiple members of the Film Experience team are part of GALECA - The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics, so it’s only logical that we should highlight the Dorian Awards. As a voter, I don’t want to be too harsh on the results, though there will always be reasons to complain, as these sorts of collective picks can never feel as special or idiosyncratic as an individual’s selection. Even so, rejoice, Sorry, Baby fans, for Eva Victor’s directorial debut is among the Film of the Year nominees, rubbing elbows with such awards season favorites as One Battle After Another – leading the pack with 9 mentions – and Sinners – settling at a still remarkable 8 nods. Indeed, the nonbinary director is this year’s most-nominated individual.

Come see the full list of Dorian Award nominees, plus plenty of added commentary, right after the jump…

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2025 in Review: 10 Best Screen Creatures

by Nathaniel R

The following list is dedicated to the unnamed squirrel Kal-el (David Corenswet) saves in Superman, a good-hearted hit that made for a respectable relaunch of the DCU under director/producer James Gunn. The squirrel's scant seconds of screentime proved a perfect blockbuster moment: broad but suprisingly non-generic, funny but heartwarming, and above all else memorable.

While cats (led by Flow) were ruling the movies a year ago, their eternal rivals for human affection came roaring back dominant in 2025 cinema. We've included three canines in the following "Best" list but there wasn't room for everyone so our apologies to funny showdogs Honey & Sterling (Fixed), sadly rehomed dogs Si-Two & Ri-Two (No Other Choice), and other creatures great and small. Leash on. Door open. Here we go...

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State of the Race: Guilds! Guilds!! Guilds!!!

by Cláudio Alves

With so many guild mentions, BUGONIA may be strutting toward some surprise Oscar nods.

The Oscar nominations are ever closer, and it’s time to start making final predictions. So far, these awards round-ups have focused on critics groups, but the guilds have spoken, and pundits must listen. After all, AMPAS voters are industry people. Not that these honors matter only as data points for accurate predictions. They represent celebration among artistic peers and, sometimes, there are even surprises that have nothing to do with the Oscar race and are all the sweeter because of it. So, without further ado, let’s run the gamut from the American Society of Cinematographers to the Visual Effects Society, going through such major plaudits as the DGA and PGA awards…

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