Nathaniel's "Best" of 2025 (Part 2)

by Nathaniel R

THE FANTASTIC FOUR: FIRST STEPS

Consider today's list of abundance a sequel to Tuesday's overflowing cup of film joy. We previously covered honorable mentions which featured films from Brazil, Argentina, France, Vietnam, the American indie scene and Hollywood. Today we move on to the cream of the crop. Herewith a baker's favourite dozen films of the year. I heartly recommend seeing each and every one of them.

My absolute favourites of the year proved to be largely contemporary pictures coincidentally set in the only two countries I happen to have ever lived in: the US and Norway. The latter country arguably had their best film year ever with not one but five multiple award-winning pictures (Sentimental Value, The Ugly Stepsister, Dreams, Sex, Love) in international release. That said, this best / favourite list cannot be so easily pinned down to two countries in the present day. The best movies of 2025 transcend time and place just like that phenomenal "I Lied to You" sequence in Sinners, to include turn of the century England (17th century to be precise), the Jim Crow era South (rural Mississippi in October of 1932 to be exact), and the corner of 42nd and Madison here in New York City... albeit in some alternate universe where it's both now and also the 1960s. Aside from those detours and contemporary peaks at life and lives in the US, UK, and Norway, this list runs through a bustling night market in Taiwan, and holds tight to a dream home in South Korea that is really far more than its owners can responsibly afford.  Let's go to the movies...

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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 3 (Finale): Twenty-Five Favorite Performances (Continued)

by Nathaniel R

Olivia Colman in PADDINGTON IN PERU

CONTINUED FROM PREVIOUS POSTS
In part one we looked at favourite films and favourite craft achievements from January through June-ish releases. In part two we moved to the beautiful people to list 25 performances we adored in one way or another. The first dozen plus included Dakota Johnson as a conflicted matchmaker, Jack O'Connell as an Irish vampire, and Brad Pitt as a race-car driver.

Let's wrap things up now with another dozen actors including two film-stealing Oscar winners, two leading men still waiting on their first Oscar nod, and a former superhero playing against type.We'll rejoin that 'favs of the year' (thus far) list in progress with three fast-rising stars...

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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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