Halfway Mark Pt 2: Fav Performances of 2025 (thus far)...

by Nathaniel R

Florence Pugh as "Yelena" in THUNDERBOLTS*

Favorite does not always equal "Best" but it's close enough for list-mania purposes! To close out the celebration of the best of approximate first half of the cinematic year (to be precise films that opened between January 1 and July 11 in the US), a shout-out to scene stealers, charismatic leads, and foundational supporting players. There's even a couple of day players in the mix here who made their tiny parts feel essential in one way or another. Herewith a non-definitive list of 25 performances that did it for this moviegoer from the first six months of screenings in 2025. (The numbers: I screened 41 new films in that time span and the 25 stand-outs ended up coming from 19 of those). 

I hope you'll share some of your favourite recent star turns in the comments. These twenty-five performances, presented in two parts (otherwise it would take way too long to post),  are in alpha order because this exercize is like comparing apples to oranges before sizing them up against mushrooms and succotash and dividing them by airplanes and railroads if you catch my nonsensical impossible drift. Ready? Let's go... 

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The siren song of "Sinners" vampires

By Lynn Lee   

[Warning: SPOILERS]  Sinners has a secret hiding in plain sight, and it’s not the vampires. You'll have the chance to see this delightful surprise for yourself  (if you haven't already) when Sinners arrives on HBO/Max on July 5.  Sinners isn’t really – or at least isn't exclusively – a horror movie.  At its core it’s a musical, and a thumping good one at that.  Or, as one review headline put it: “Finally, A Transcendental Southern Gothic Vampire Musical Blockbuster.” 

I would never have predicted that combination of words could describe a Ryan Coogler movie, yet here we are.  Joking aside, it’s as apt a tribute as any to the impressive scope and ambition of his cinematic moonshot...

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Review: Jungleland

By Abe Friedtanzer

There is a certain general structure that can be expected in films about fighters. A boxer or wrestler will be driven to succeed through sheer strength and commitment to their craft, and will usually have a firm supporter in their corner egging them on and ensuring that they don’t falter. Inevitably, an injury or some outside factor will threaten their physical ability, and that will be precisely the moment that everything is riding on their performance, including a large sum of money that will make or break their future. If that’s essentially the narrative framework, the richness of the characters and the performances is what’s needed to differentiate a specific film from the pack.

Let’s take a look at a new theatrical and VOD release, Jungleland…

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Review: Trial By Fire

by Chris Feil

The first sign of Trial By Fire’s problems is that its title is a pun, and I welcome any and all puns. It's perhaps not the most sensitive way to approach a film that begins with a house fire that takes the lives of multiple children. Maybe don't do that.

But then again, sensitivity isn’t the film’s strong suit. As directed by Edward Zwick (yes that Edward Zwick, primarily known for epics your dad might love like Glory and The Last Samurai), the film is a not-quite-thoughtful look at a true story of Death Row Texas. Jack O’Connell stars as Cameron Todd Willingham, a man convicted of a home arson that took the lives of his three children despite his claims of innocence. His case is doomed by prejudice and a corrupt system until he meets the correspondence of Laura Dern’s good samaritan Elizabeth Gilbert.

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Link on a Hot Tin Roof

AV Club RIP voice acting legend June Foray
Variety Amazon is moving into being their own distributor now after partnering with other distributors before. They'll try it out with Woody Allen's Wonder Wheel which they seem to have high hopes for.
Screen Crush It's official - Emoji Movie is worst reviewed wide release of the year

/Film a photo tour of the Jim Henson exhibit at the Museum of the Moving Image
Deadline Anne Hathaway circling the Barbie movie that Amy Schumer abandoned
Coming Soon Warner Bros considering "formidable" Oscar campaign for Wonder Woman

off cinema
Variety Jack O'Connell talks about his nude scene in the new revival of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and why he hasn't watched Paul Newman in the film version
Playbill Ellen Greene shares a scrapbook from the original run of Little Shop of Horrors
Chicago Tribune recommended theater shows on a budget in Chi-town
Boy Culture the world's youngest living Madonna fan - a 13 year old violinist!
Exeunt a piece about that 'critics camp' I went to this month by one of the other fellows
NYT terribly sad debacle going on with The Great Comet of 1812 on Broadway. When I first heard about Mandy Patinkin's casting I was thrilled because I haven't yet seen the show and totally love that man. But it seems in order to accomodate him (in the role formerly played by Josh Groban) they were ousting their current leading man Okieriete “Oak” Onaodowan (from Hamilton) earlier than his scheduled final date. The optics look bad even though Broadway shows do these type of celebrity casting changes constantly. Patinkin has now dropped out and Oak won't extend and now the entire cast, which includes several actors of color (the show was previously praised for its diverse casting), could be out of jobs because they might close early due to the public outrage. 

Exit Video
The new Charlie XCX video "Boys" is a sexy blast. So many celebrity cameos including the internet's current boyfriend Riz Ahmed, diver Tom Daley, and a slew of musicians. There is a chainsaw in this video but as Charli states

NO BOYS WERE HARMED IN THE MAKING OF THIS VIDEO 💕