2025 in Review: Nathaniel's "Best" List (Pt 1)

by Nathaniel R

Begonia, Marty Supreme, Nouvelle Vague, and Kill the Jockey were among the best films of the year

PART ONE. One of the greatest and worst things about the cinema is that it is a perpetually overflowing cup. Discourse about Hollywood always leans toward sky-is-falling “end of” cinema/moviegoing due to horrid socioeconomic and public behavioral reasons. Yet at the  same time we can never keep up so it’s a fact that artists all over the world are still making cinema like the artform will never go out of style. There is literally always more to see and more in any given year than can be seen by any person, on any size of a screen. (If you love catching up on older films this pleasure/problem is exponentially more true.)

In that spirit of “overflowing” here are some darlings and honorable mentions before we get to the Top Dozen tomorrow and at least one of the ways in which they surpassed reasonable expectations...

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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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Halfway Mark Pt 1: Fav Films & Cinematic Achievements

by Nathaniel R 

Film years always start slow because distributors don't do their work evenly. The second half is more robust of course and we've just entered it. Though I always hope to have screened 50 films from the new year by approximately the halfway mark, this year I'm managed 41 to date. Neverthless, let's take stock of January 1st through July 11th (since we're posting just after Superman's opening). Yes, it's slightly more than six months of cinema but close enough. It's not that all of these "bests" from a shallow pool will linger as "favourites", but neither should they be automatically sacrificed to recency bias in December! 

The unofficial honors (with several write-ups) come after the jump...

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Berlinale 75: Bong's back with "Mickey 17"

by Elisa Giudici

Bong Joon-ho rarely misses the mark—or at least, he approaches his projects with such precision that his return to the big screen after Parasite feels both carefully crafted and self-assured. Following a film that not only reshaped his career but also changed Oscar history by opening the doors to international cinema, Mickey 17 carries the weight of great expectations. It may not reach the towering heights of Parasite, but it reaffirms Bong's status as one of the most inventive and influential Korean directors on the global stage.

Interestingly, Bong Joon-ho was already a successful Hollywood filmmaker long before Parasite became a global phenomenon. Films like Snowpiercer and Okja demonstrated his ability to blend spectacle with social commentary, and Mickey 17 feels like a return to that style—for better and for worse. This time, he tackles the sci-fi genre again, weaving a narrative that is both thought-provoking and undeniably entertaining...

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