C H A P T E R L I N K S :
• BEST MOVIES: 2025
• BEST DOCUMENTARIES: 2025
• BEST TV: 2025
• BEST RESTORATION
• C R I T E R I O N
• This will often spotlight directors for special merit.
But Auteur Theory is a shoebox; films are a collaborative effort with everyone involved.
• Because of varied global distribution, films from 2024 are listed in parenthesis.
S T O R Y
B E S T
M O V I E S :
2 0 2 5
T H I N K
Aim camera, make art.
The french Nouvelle Vague movement in the early-'60s revolutionized film. Ever since, the term 'New Wave' has been used to define the cutting edge of innovative culture (film, music, etc.).
Jean-Luc Godard helped lead the way by walking into the Paris streets with a portable camera and improvising. His off-the-cuff film BREATHLESS (1960) melded the handheld journalism of WWII newsreels, the ensuing street naturalism of late-'40s Neorealism films from Italy, the giddy energy of gangster flicks and Rock'n'Roll and the Beat writers, and the stealth absurdism of being a willfully perverse film critic. Just hide a cam in a pram and hit the asphalt with a hood on the lam, a cosmo girl telling it straight, and revved cars. Action!
Impossibly, Richard Linklater's new film recreates the making of that film. While Godard could just step out into his moment, this astonishing film duplicates the period down to the last atom: the settings, the clothes, the actor's likenesses, the aspect ratio, the film stock, the speed cuts. You can watch a double-feature of the two and they are a seamless one. That's your cue.
See also:
Truffaut's THE 400 BLOWS (France, 1959); Godard's PIERROT LE FOU (France, 1965); Jarmush's DOWN BY LAW (1986)
• SOULEYMANE'S STORY (France, 2024) ⇧
A refugee from Guinea navigates corruption and indifference trying to become a French citizen.
If Godard had started now, it would be this film.
Like a (yes) breathless documentary, it chases the bike delivery guy through Paris night streets as he fends with blase customers, shakedown cops, predatory hustlers, shelter hostels, and rote bureaucrats, just to survive. Carried by the natural performance of newcomer Abou Sangaré (reflecting his actual experiences), this vital must-see reveals the real world: not suburban consumers, but the bulk of migrants working like slaves to persevere in the money state.
Grab a cam and go film the truth.
See also:
Sembene's BLACK GIRL (France/Senegal, 1966); Frears' DIRTY PRETTY THINGS (England, 2002); TORI AND LOKITA (France/Belgium, 2022); TO A LAND UNKNOWN (England, 2025)
Can a fractured family be brought together through a film?
Joachim Trier follows the acclaimed THE WORST PERSON IN THE WORLD (2021) by getting his Bergman on.
The Borg family is fissured by trauma across generations. When the negligent father tries to mend fences with his noted actor daughter through a film project, all the wounds reopen. Never maudlin or dry, this fleet and observant character study earns your rapt attention through the finespun performances by Stellan Skarsgard and Renate Reinsve, abetted by Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas and ringer Elle Fanning. Think, feel, do.
See also:
Bergman's THE SILENCE (Sweden, 1963)
• HEDDA ⇧
A dramatic revisal of "Hedda Gabler".
Ibsen’s 1891 play is a theatrical benchmark for a dynamic female lead (naturally doxxed by the snobs and yobs of the time).
Nia DaCosta, known for her horror and fantasy films, curveballs the playbook in this breakthrough drama, updating and opening up the material. Now set in a 1950s English country manor, the intrigue at the socialite party between Hedda and her ex roils intensely like a Noir thriller counting down to disaster. At the center of the maelstrom is Tessa Thompson at her most charismatic as the toxic lead, balanced by Nina Hoss as her estranged foil.
Why do they have an insane scheme to kidnap the CEO?
Yorgos Lanthimos made a film career out of discomfort, specializing in poker-faced allegories laced in cringe and shock (DOGTOOTH, THE LOBSTER). The melding of "Frankenstein" and Feminism in POOR THINGS (2023) advanced his work and his success beyond that.
This remake/remodel of a 2003 Korean film is a new step forward: a nervy crime thriller about two rural outcasts making questionable moves. The battle of wills and wits between abductor Jesse Plemons and CEO Emma Stone rattles the country house with its intensity, and has you guessing the whole way.
• NO OTHER CHOICE (S. Korea) ⇧
Would you kill to get your job back?
Park Chan-wook continues his winning streak with this black comedy. Based on Westlake’s book "The Ax" (1997), a family man with a stable position loses everything and begins to unravel. This timely satire skewers suburban status, corporate downsizing, and the automation of human craft. Watch your back.
See also:
Park's THE HANDMAIDEN (S. Korea, 2016); Bong's PARASITE (S. Korea, 2019); Park's DECISION TO LEAVE (S. Korea, 2022)
Last call for the song-and-dance man.
Richard Rogers (music) and Lorenz Hart (lyrics) epitomized the 20th Century Pop Standard with immortal tunes sung by all, like the title tune.
Director Richard Linklater (also scoring a knockout this year with NOUVELLE VAGUE) and scripter Robert Kaplow find Hart down on his luck in a toney NYC bar, replaced by another lyricist, and seeing success pass him by. Ethan Hawke is in fine form as the troubled raconteur trying to mend himself with charming anecdotes and romantic hopes, and Margaret Qualley and Bobby Cannavale are standout support.
• ON BECOMING A GUINEA FOWL (Zambia+) ⇧
The death in the family opens worse truths.
Rungano Nyoni, following up the pensively funny I AM NOT A WITCH (Zambia, 2017), specializes in patiently observing the absurdities and frictions in typical tribal life. When an eccentric uncle dies, the family goes about the funeral rituals in seriocomic fashion, while gradually a more unsettling revelation comes to light. It's the subtlty in her observations of vital changes coming about like tidal whispers that makes her films special, as much about the feel of life as the actions in it.
S M I L E
The Indian bride in the slums realizes something strange is happening.
Uma (played with glare-eyed perfection by Radhika Apte) is a restless and impossible personality who chafes everyone living by her on poverty row. Snarly at her hapless mate, slogging to a distant job, she feels a hunger she can't sate as odd visions spring around her. A very bent comedy with an amazing soundtrack.
• ONE OF THEM DAYS ⇧
Two goofball friends have 24 hours to come up with rent or lose everything.
Director Lawrence Lamont and writer Syreeta Singleton nail the score with this hilarious buddy romp, adrenalized by the rapidfire repartee of Keke Palmer and Sza. A frothy blend of snark, heart, and wtf!?, with great cast turns by Keyla Monterroso Mejia and comedian Katt Williams. Here’s hoping the sequel will be just as charmed.
See also:
FRIDAY (1995); PLAN B (2021)
The unkillable profiteer has one last grand hustle to pull off.
Wes Anderson at his most madcap. MVP Benecio del Toro, deadpan and daffy, gleams as the crooked industrialist threading a gauntlet of death threats, dodgy partners, CIA tricks, and quasi-fatherhood in a hyperstylistic 1950s as delicious as ice cream cathedrals. A startling ensemble cast is game for every non-sequitur flip-around.
• DEEP COVER
Improv actors get recruited to be undercover cops.
Three screw-ups are thrown into the London crime underground and have to wing their survival as they go. Lots of chuckles from stars Bryce Dallas Howard, Orlando Bloom, and Nick Mohammed in this affable frolic.
D R E A M
What if resurrection from death just makes your lives disposable?
Bong Joon-ho’s excellent PARASITE (S. Korea, 2019) had all of the normative elements that trad critics love: a suburban setting of class struggle, basted in angst and eroticism. Its pivotal success (Oscar) focused world attention on the South Korean New Wave.
Naturally they were sniffy at this SpecFic followup, a timely screed against Fascist Capitalism as vitally relevant to our reality as we deserve. A disgraced politician wants to create a new Reich on another world; he misuses cloning to perpetuate a poor grunt who is thrown into harmful work like he's nothing. With arch humor and stubborn humanism, it says as much about greed, corruption, colonialism, classism, and genocide as all the films on this list combined. Plus a crack cast makes it funny and sexy.*
* (Cue token SFX Awards, eyeroll)
See also:
Bong's SNOWPIERCER (2012)
In a severe Utopia, can you pass the test to have children?
After climate collapse, the scarcity of resources reduces all aspects of life to rationing. Though they've followed all the rules, a couple's life is upended by an intense Assessor with no limits. Elizabeth Olsen and Himesh Patel are great, while Alicia Vikander is a tour de force as the inquisitor.
See also:
THE SERVANT (England, 1963); TEOREMA (England, 1968); CHILDREN OF MEN (England, 2006)
• COMPANION ⇧
There's a murder at the lakehouse and someone isn't what they seem.
Sophie Thatcher is sterling as the young lover whose world everts into mystery and betrayal. A clever indie that skewers gadget culture, avarice, and incels with concise relish.
See also:
EX MACHINA (2014)
• PREDATOR: Badlands ⇧
The Predator and the Synth team to survive a battle world.
Many love this film for the flip of a Predator being a hero, but the macho shooter game riff grates me. The better film is Elle Fanning as the two deuling Synths (from the ALIEN universe), one sprightly wry and the other coldly maliscious, which is a unique advance in either franchise. And the Leg Fight is just the icing on top.
See also:
ALIENS (1986); PREY (2022)
A live-action version of the animated classic.
SNOW WHITE And The Seven Dwarfs (1937) was like a STAR WARS of its decade for its astonishing craft and cultural impact. It was the first full-length animated film, in astonishingly rich color when this was rare, with more lush paintings than a museum. Its songs became standards and the merch smashed all records.
Each recent live-action translation of Disney's animated classics has been commendable, keeping the vital core story while increasing character depth and inclusiveness and clipping previous cultural missteps. To its brave credit, SNOW WHITE may be the most radical rethink of the wave. (Cue CyberBullies with Review Bombs in 3-2-1...)
In this sprightly deconstruction of royalist fables (and itself), the embattled princess is more akin to Leia than Shirley Temple, leading into a new peasant rebellion/screwball romance that continually spoofs classism. The live film is more acutely plotted and mature, takes more contemporary chances, staying fun while slipping truths. And Rachel Zegler (WEST SIDE STORY) is casting perfection in her appearance, her sly sincerity, and her singing.
See also:
SNOW WHITE And The Seven Dwarfs (1937); THE PRINCESS BRIDE (1987); MULAN (2020)
But why is she the Wicked Witch of Oz?
Maguire's 1995 book "Wicked" recast the 1900 Oz novel in a serious light, questioning civil war. The 2003 stage musical lightened that up while making crowd-pleasing changes. This second film, concluding the adaptation of the musical, brings new songs and refinements of its own.
The first is the fun one, the second the edgier one. The first is prized for its bubbly set-ups, but the driven verve of this one's payoffs are admirable. Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande would make a romance for the ages in a braver version, but the conventional patterns within the story still add up to a satisfying apogee for all because because because of the wonderful sings it sungs.
A Hawaiian girl finds her new 'dog' is an alien urchin.
Everyone loves the animated LILO + STITCH (2002), because c'mon it’s great. Wisely, Disney does this live-action version virtually identical to it, while deepening the characters and representation. The winsome Elizabeth Aqudong nails it as the beleaguered surfer older sister, and Maia Kealoha was born to embody the freespirited young Lilo so perfectly. Pure all-ages fun all the way.
See also:
ELIO (2025)
• PADDINGTON IN PERU (2024)
The secret origin of Paddington the bear.
The first two films based on the beloved book character, written and directed by Paul King, were magic in a honey jar. This one, helmed by new creators, is pretty good. Much of its appeal comes from the jungle setting and the lively cast. Antonio Banderas mugs it up as the shifty boat captain, and MVP Olivia Colman is straight-up uproarious as the wide-eyed, chipper Nun (@guitar).
See also:
PADDINGTON (England, 2014); PADDINGTON 2 (England, 2017)
N I G H T M A R E
Or, instead, we could do it right.
Mary Shelley invented science fiction and modern horror with her shocking book, "Frankenstein" (1818). Scores of film versions have been made since 1910, but only a few of them actually get the book right.
Shelley's novel is a meta-text, nested like a russian doll with a story (cottagers) within a story (the creature) within a story (Victor) within a story (Captain). While akin to her husband Percy's works in its remarkable poetic eloquence and Romantism, it is more forwardly a postmodern experiment where Mary (daughter of proto-feminist Mary Wollstonecraft) presents her thoughts only through bold male voices, questions all borders of class and beauty, cross-examines the reader's perception with competing narrators, and turns travelogues into interrogations of the soul.
While many films touch on broad aspects of her story, most seem to have never fully read the book. This has resulted in the grossest public misunderstanding of a literary icon in cultural history. (Seconded, and paralleled in many ways, by Tarzan.) The vision the public has of the creature and the story is nearly completely wrong, owing to relentless omissions, additions, and distortions in screen versions. (Victor is actually a Swiss college student, not a Germanic doctor or Baron; the creature has no name, and is more well-versed than your library; there's no lightning in a castle; etc.)
The two films that capture it closest are Mary Shelley's FRANKENSTEIN (1994) by Kenneth Branaugh and this operatic FRANKENSTEIN by Guillermo del Toro. (To be fair, a two-part TV film in 2004 did the book exactly, as well.) Branaugh captures the true plot of the book, while adding one inspired enhancement. del Toro uses the key plot outlines to scaffold many embellishments that renovate the story, from the source of Victor's funding to the enlightened revisal of Elizabeth. (Along the way he references Whale's 1930s films and the cinematography of Kubrick's BARRY LYNDON.)
In their fealty each finally revealed what matters most: the creature's account of how he came to consciousness at the cottage in the forest. This is the literal soul of the story, where we gain affinity for the wretch as a person and question where we stand. del Toro succeeds the best in capturing the poetic soul of the creature and the audience's empathy, revealing to them at last the heart of the truth.
Bernie Wrightson
★ Special commendation for the late, great Bernie Wrightson, whose legendary illustrations and sculpture designs defined the creature for del Toro's film.
YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN;
THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW;
The Brides Of Funkenstein
▪ FRANKENSTEIN (1931)
▪ THE BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN (1935)
▪ THE CURSE OF FRANKENSTEIN (England, 1957)
▪ YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN (1974)
▪ THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW (1975)
▪ GOTHIC (1986)
▪ Mary Shelley's FRANKENSTEIN (1994)
▪ MARY SHELLEY (2017)
▪ FRANKENSTEIN (2025)
EDWARD SCISSORHANDS;
EX MACHINA;
POOR THINGS
▪ SPIRIT OF THE BEEHIVE (Spain, 1973)
▪ BLADE RUNNER (1982)
▪ EDWARD SCISSORHANDS (1990)
▪ THE SKIN I’M IN (Spain, 2011)
▪ EX MACHINA (2015)
▪ POOR THINGS (2024)
Leads to:
• Comics: Solomon Grundy, The Hulk, Swamp Thing, Anton Arkane, The Patchwork Man, Madman.
• Television: Lurch from The Addams Family, Herman Munster, Eleven from Stranger Things, The Mountain in Game Of Thrones.
• Music: The Brides Of Funkenstein, The Cramps, Misfits.
▶ THE CANON 1: 50 Books That Created Modern Culture, with Music Player
The spirit watches the new family in the house, waiting.
Of Steven Soderbergh's two films this year, this is the better. Like a sharp novella, this lean indie gets in and gets out. A point-of-view spirit drifts through a house where a troubled family has moved in. Is anything what it seems here?
Great performances by Lucy Liu, Chris Sullivan, Eddy Maday, and especially Callina Liang, with soaring cinematography by Peter Andrews.
E N I G M A
The death of the priest is completely unorthadox.
Each of the three 'Knives Out' mystery films is different, from tone and style to Daniel Craig's portrayal and appearance. Though all are by writer/director Rian Johnson, it's as if a literary sleuth-such as Sherlock Homes- were being reinterpreted at different times by separate creators. This makes each distinct and fresh.
This is the more serious one (although its funny moments are kneeslaps), and the most experimental in its structure and playout. Although it has another stellar all-star cast, it hinges on an unknown at the center (Josh O’Connor) who owns it all. Once again, Johnson has proven his mastery of making smart and challenging films that win on all accounts.
See also:
KNIVES OUT (2019); GLASS ONION (2022)
• HALLOW ROAD ⇩
Two parents race in panic to find their daughter in the night.
Learning that their girl had a car accident, Rosemund Pike and Matthew Rhys scour the dark English country roads trying to find her. This is a masterclass in acting by two mesmerizing stalwarts that grips you with tension the whole cryptic trip.
See also:
LOCKE (England, 2013)
• MISERCORDIA (France, 2024) ⇩
A stranger is in the provincial town when a man goes missing.
The deviant quality of this mystery film is the casual ease with which things go sideways and alliances turn over. It seems so normal that these off-kilter things are playing out like prosaic comings and goings.
See also:
PURPLE NOON (France, 1960); THE ORIGIN OF EVIL (France, 2022)
• BLACK BAG ⇧
He has to find the Agency mole, though it may be the woman he loves.
Soderbergh's other movie this year (after the supernatural PRESENCE) is a crisp espionage thriller starring Michael Fassbender and Cate Blanchett. Their personas are a bit familiar for them, but the stylish twists and turns will keep you in the bag.
• THE MASTERMIND
Grab the paintings, get out of debt.
Kelly Reichardt's lowkey film, about a smalltown heist of an art museum, is particularly strong in its planning and robbery sequences, plus another gradated performance by Josh O'Connell.
• CLOUD (Japan, 2024) ⇧
A reseller of questionable goods gambles on the big score.
Yoshii wants a better life than what he has, to prove his worth to the girl he loves. Along the way he's making a lot of enemies. A quiet film that builds by curious turns until things break out in catastrophic results.
G R A P H I C
I M A G E S
You will believe in DC again.
Since SUPERMAN: The Movie (1978), the template has been to bring a fantastical hero into 90% real-world settings, lensed though a cinemaphile's referencing of film conventions. It honed the essence of the character for universal appeal while streamlining out all of the complexity/surreality/myth-telling of actual comics. Behind this logic was the studio view that there is a mundane 'mainstream' who can only take fantasy as a light spice in the meal. (For example, the "no tights, no flights" ethos that shackled the Smallville TV series for 10 seasons.) This succeeded, but not for the reasons that coked-out execs thought.
Marvel films since THE AVENGERS (2012) and CW television shows since The Flash (2014) have proven the opposite, that -like LORD OF THE RINGS and STAR WARS- you can go full mythos without compromises or apologies, and a modern, variegated audience raised on lifetimes of sci-fi, fantasy, horror, spec-fic, anime, kaiju and mecha, extreme sports, gadgets, video games, and headgame flicks will support you.
James Gunn (GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY) left Marvel Studios to become the creative head of DC films. He opted to recreate the Silver Age Of Comics onscreen the way every fan has always dreamed, starting with this one. Out went grim and dark, in with hope and hijinks.
This SUPERMAN is everything great about comics from the 1960s through the 1980s. While everyone rightly loves the majestic 1978 film by Richard Donner, in their actual hearts fans always wanted this film: a world where godlike heroes, demonic nemeses, hypertech, multiverses and microverses and cross-temporality, super-teams, flying dogs, power rings, alien cops, morphing elementals, and thriving journalism are the norm. Where Kal-El is the moral center of a chaotic and wondrous reality in which anything can happen and does simultanously. Where justice truly prevails and lovers dance in the air. Thank you, James.
• FANTASTIC FOUR: First Steps ⇧
One giant leap for Marvelkind.
This isn't just a do over of the FF, it's actually a relaunch of Marvel Studios, properly.
In 1961, Marvel Comics was a nowhere company on its last legs. The industry leader DC had all the hits, so the idea to have their own Justice League spurred Stan Lee and Jack Kirby to create a super-team. But it was different from the start: the quartet was a family who bickered all the time, they lived in actual New York City instead of a fantasy metropolis, and with time their adventures became more cosmic than anyone had ever seen. Street smart for the Jet Age. While Lee's captions grew more Shakespearian and Kirby's art flourished more abstract and Pop, the smash hit opened the door for the creation of Spider-Man and The Avengers, making Marvel the hip and progressive rival to DC. Everything at Marvel pollinated from the Fantastic Four, the 'First Family'.
The MCU films built themselves out of the surprise success of IRON MAN (2008), ironically, and everything spoked out from him in the center. This was awkward because the actual core successess of Marvel Comics -the FF, Spidey, and The X-Men- were licensed to other studios. The fact is that the MCU has been off-foot and incomplete without them. Now mergers and handshake deals have solved this. They are rebuilding from there to become the actual Marvel on screen.
This supreme FANTASTIC FOUR film is actually how the MCU should have started. And it takes it directly back to the start, evoking an early-1960s mod futurism and sense of Camelot and Peace Corps optimism where all is new and possible. Like SUPERMAN, it embraces the pure adrenaline of popadelic comics, down to both films using the actual Cyan (CMYK 100/0/0/0) in the costumes instead of apologizing them darker.
And it does The Story. When the FF went up against Galactus (#48-#50, 1966), comics changed: the cosmic scope, the godlike beings, the megatech, the crackling atoms of power, the global stakes; it's like the Big Bang that redefines all comics that followed. This film captures everything great about Lee and Kirby, with its street kids, wiseguy humor, chrome gods, final judgments, science ingenuity, personality powers, and love at the core. It's all new again, start the next possible.
See also:
GODZILLA / Gojira (Japan, 1954)
Also read:
"Childhood's End" (1953), by Arthur C. Clarke
• THUNDERBOLTS*
The Suicide Squad thinks they're the JLA.
This is a good film, if a bit familiar.
Like its second-tier characters, it feels like a B-movie trying really hard to go A-list, often through variations of things we've seen done sharper in the MCU films before. That snobby take aside (calm down), I still enjoy it for its best charms: Florence Pugh being badass, snarky lines, a rowdy spirit, offhand pratfalls, the stealth villain, and that highway set piece with The Winter Soldier.
• CAPTAIN AMERICA: Brave New World
This is a good film, if a bit familiar.
Here’s the thing: Sam Wilson deserves an intro that's worthy of him and his importance. Steve Rogers had a rousing period piece for his debut film, and a stunning contemporary espionage thriller for his second. Each was timely in their reiteration of democracy against fascism, both then and now. Sam is an African American now representing America itself; if Steve was the past foundation, Sam is the vital future. In this present moment, when Hydra has taken over America in real life, we need a visionary statement film that posits Sam as the antidote to hate and soul of progress, told in new terms in the boldest ways.
Instead... we get the other shoe dropping for THE INCREDIBLE HULK (2008). Okay, fun and all, but try harder, folks.
See also:
Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2015); The Falcon and The Winter Soldier (TV, 2021)
A R T F L I X
The lonely boy looks for a signal from the stars.
This is a great film that too many slept on.
We all know the familiar riff of a child bonding with an alien friend. (ET + Lilo = Elio. Hmmm.) Pixar knows we know and goes all out to turn that inside out. This is a continuously touching film garnished with whacky slapstick, astoundingly inventive art design, and a crack lesson in empathy over fascism that we dearly need. Catch up, blast off!
See also:
E.T. (1982); EXPLORERS (1985); LILO + STITCH (2002)
A Belgian infant in the Japanese countryside is astonished by life.
This is a lovely film, in both its enchanting graphic style and its poignant grace. We experience the child's consciousness unfolding, from the womb to Three, as she sorts her impressions of nature, people, and emotions and learns who she is. It's a psalm about perception and care that is profoundly human.
See also:
Takahata's The Tale Of PRINCESS KAGUYA (Japan, 2013)
• LESBIAN SPACE PRINCESS (Australia) ⇧
Saira has to rescue her love from the space trolls.
Written and directed by Emma Hough Hobbs and Leela Varghese, this punk molotov is definitley for 16+ (language, themes, mayhem). Never mind the caveats, here’s the sex epistles!
The insecure teen lives in a lesbian utopia but can't make the grade. The kidnapping of her flakey ex propels her out into the unknown of outer space on a rescue quest. This hyper-savvy comedy with Rock energy heartily spoofs on everything; internecine gender politics, Space Fantasy tropes, teen drama, glam influencers, pop idols, sexist spaceships. Most especially, it skewers Incel Trolls hard. Engage!
• THE COLORS WITHIN (Japan, 2024) ⇧
A high school trio finds commonality through music.
An upbeat girl with synesthesia sees color auras around school mates. Instinctively she unites two other outcasts into a band making music that brings each person forward. Naoko Yamada's positive and nurturing film has finely wrought characters, and the tunes are pretty good too.
• LOST IN STARLIGHT (S. Korea)
The astronaut and the musician find common ground.
A rom-com with a sci-fi backdrop; she's laser-focused on going to Mars, he's adrift trying to reclaim his music mojo. The chemistry between the two during their budding romance is winning (based off of improvs by the two K-drama vets performing them), and the cosmic climax is an added bonus.
B E S T
D O C U M E N T
A R I E S :
2 0 2 5
• The American Revolution ⇧
The origins of the great Democratic experiment.
Ken Burns is the preeminent documentary maker, with acclaimed min-series on the Civil War, Prohibition, the Depression, WWII, Jazz, Baseball, and the Vietnam War.
Here, he reminds us how America came to be right when we need to remember.
• Eyes On The Prize III ⇧
"Keep your eyes on the prize, hold on."
Eyes On The Prize (1987) and Eyes On The Prize II (1990) are, in my opinion, the greatest non-fiction series ever shown on television. These crucially insightful overviews of the Civil Rights Movement covered from 1954 through 1985.
At last, this new follow-up takes us across 1977 to 2015. It should be mandatory that everyone watch these series, to understand the past and correct the present.
Mihai Mălaimare Jr.
in MEGALOPOLIS
• MEGADOC ⇧
A behind-the-scenes making of Coppola's MEGALOPOLIS.
One of Coppola's greatest and most experimental films, uniformly doxed by the corrupt forces it satirizes, is getting its day anyway. First, there was the graphic novel by Chris Ryall and Jacob Phillips that adapts an alternate version of the script (Abrams ComicArts, 2025). And now this astute documentary that shows the uphill battle Francis braved while making the film.
• ARCHITECTION (2024)
Architecture and the rise and fall of civilizations.
A cinematic essay pondering our attempts to build posterity into our fleeting times.
• REIFENSTAHL
The brilliant filmmaker who sold her soul to hell.
Leni Reifenstahl could have been one of the greatest filmmakers ever, but she threw her lot in with the Nazis.
• ORWELL: 2 + 2 = 5
George Orwell is watching you.
This overview of George Orwell, visionary author of the allegories "Animal Farm" and "1984", connects his warnings to the dictatorships of today.
When Investigative Journalism actually did its job.
The zenith of true journalism was the 1970s, when newspapers like The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, and The Washington Post exposed the corruption of the Nixon era. Seymour Hersh of NYT, who exposed the My Lai massacre (winning the Pulitzer) and key aspects of Watergate, gets proper spotlight in this doc'.
The corporate ownership of modern news outlets this century has killed Freedom Of The Press, enabling the corrupt state we live in.
• PUT YOUR SOUL ON YOUR HAND AND WALK ⇧
Trying to survive in Gaza during the genocide.
A journalist sends video calls out of Gaza exposing the atrocities being perpetrated on them.
• 2000 METERS TO ANDRIIVKA ⇧
In the Ukraine trenchs, fighting Russia.
The Pulitzer-winning journalist Mstyslav Chernov follows up his doc' 20 DAYS IN MARIUPOL with this wrenching POV account of Ukrainian soldiers trying to liberate a village.
• EVERY LITTLE THING
Healing hummingbirds.
A Los Angeles author mends ailing hummingbirds in a metaphorical tonic to declining times and loss of empathy.
The act you’ve known for all these years.
In 1995, this eight-part television documentary was a seismic cultural event, meticulously tracing their career with their complete cooperation.
This newly remastered version adds a wonderful ninth episode on the making of the three Beatles reunion songs, "Free As A Bird", "Real Love", and "Now And Then".
• ONE TO ONE: John And Yoko (2024)
The ballad of Yohn and Joko.
Centered around a 1972 benefit concert, this new documentary further explores the couple at the height of their revolutionary political period.
• SLY LIVES! ⇧
Stand!
This terrific career overview of Sly And The Family Stone by Questlove is required viewing. As the true pioneer of Funk Rock, Sly is one of the most influential musical artists who ever strutted. The opening alone will have you dancing akimbo.
• BECOMING LED ZEPPELIN
The origins of the world's ultimate Rock band.
Using unseen and rare footage, along with new interviews, the history of the band is told from thieir childhoods to their breakthrough success in 1970.
• IT'S NEVER OVER, JEFF BUCKLEY
The short and great life of the cult favorite.
Jeff, the son of the trouble Tim Buckley, roared out the gate with an angelic voice and Zep swagger with his astounding debut, "Grace" (1994). This doc' uses rare materials to honor his life.
• GOODBYE HORSES: The Many Lives of Q Lazzarus
The secret life of Diane Luckey.
When he heard the music demo of his taxi driver, Demme used "Goodbye Horses" in THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS (1991). The song has become famous, but the life of the woman behind it is only now revealed.
B E S T
T V :
2 0 2 5
N E W S
we have no future.
Feed your mind and your activism will follow.
• The Rachel Maddow Show
• LAST WEEK with John Oliver ⇧
• PBS NewsHour
• PBS FRONTLINE
• THE DAILY SHOW
D R A M A
• Pluribus 1 ⇧
Sometimes you feel like the only individual left in a conformist world.
Vince Gilligan is lauded for his shows Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul. But he first broke as a writer for The X-Files, notably the absurdist ones. All of this comes to fruition in his boldest experiment yet.
Carol -played with smiling ferocity by the great Rhea Seahorn- is one of the few holdouts in a world where everyone has become the same. She senses this gung-ho utopia has overwritten humanity into a memory archive pantomimed by uncreative drones, and she's not having this, uh, shift. E pluribus unctuous.
Few shows on TV feel as fresh and smart and anarchic as this stinging satire against all forms of soulless homogeneity: Gen AI, Chat GPT, consumerism, nationalism, corporate news, suburbia, franchises, FOMO, influencers, ballcaps, etc.. It strikes sharper than a murder of crowers, says more with silences than a babel of talk shows, and deducts more meaning than a strobe of ads. It also has breathtaking cinematic production values and scope, shooting widescreen vistas around the globe. And under all of the tart laughs, it is always thoughtful and touching.
See also:
INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS (1956); The Twilight Zone: "Number 12 Looks Just Like You" (S05/E17, 1964); Star Trek: "The Return Of The Archons" (S01/E21, 1967); THE STEPFORD WIVES (1975)
• Severance 2 ⇧
The past is prelude.
Office workers toil at a secretive company by day, and their memory of it is erased from their outside life. The premise could have just run in place this season, but instead it sprints full-bore through every possibility from the first shot, unfurling further weirdness at a bracing clip, and culminating in a surreal shattering of form not seen since Twin Peaks: The Return (2017). This show is so great that waiting for more is unbearable.
• The Handmaid’s Tale 6 ⇧
Grind the bastards down.
The power of Atwood’s dystopian manifesto, "The Handmaid’s Tale" (1985), lies in its interiority and universality; we live solely within the thoughts of the oppressed woman, in a broadly drawn dictatorship that could be anywhere, any time.
The first season of the television adaptation told the story the opposite way, by following an ensemble of characters around her in a specific country and time. This literal and lateral worldbuilding allowed the creators to expand on Atwood's themes while critiquing the real-world dictatorship closing in on America. The show became a social phenomenon as an ongoing bellwether against oppression and a rallying cry for activists.
At many points in the expansion, it would have been easy for the lead to lose her ethical compass, to become the hatred of her haters. To their great credit, she and the show do better, retaining her soul through her humanity while leading the rebellion. The finale season raises consciousness as it raises the fist, embracing justice over bloodbath, restoring empathy over inhumanity.
While other shows are just flickering entertainment, this was an actual revolution in every way.
• The Chair Company 1 ⇧
After a humiliation at work, an obsessive guy suspects a criminal conspiracy.
Tim Robinson (SNL) writes and stars in a demented cringe comedy with a thriller spin. After a socially inept executive is floored by a collapsing chair, his investigation of the company leads into a labyrinth of secrets. Slapstick, edge, and brain-flips ensue.
• Slow Horses 5
The MI5 outcasts of Slough House have to stop assassins.
The first four seasons of this espionage dramedy have been splendid. This season was mixed results, with the best dialogue and cast interplay they've ever done coupled with a shopworn and decidedly retrograde 'terror' plotline. The former makes it worth it.
• Blue Lights 3 ⇧
Cops in a Belfast precinct.
Things come full circle, as the squad closes in on the gang leader who killed one of their own. This sharp observation of the fractures in Irish society after The Troubles is consistently exemplary in its character depth and political sensitivity.
• Sherlock and Daughter ⇧
Is the young Native American really the sleuths daughter?
This show is a blast for Sherlock fans. Set in the expected 1896 London, the clever dramedy questions everything you expect from that. David Thewlis is a sly Holmes, Blu Hunt is a breakout delight as the young woman, and they're bolstered by a notably inclusive cast.
• Watson 1 and 2 ⇧
John Watson, solo in modern Pittsburgh.
From a writer/producer of Elementary comes another contemporary spin on the Holmes legacy, this time as a medical procedural treated like a detective show. It could have just been 'House 2.0' with Holmes elements pasted in, but deft scripts and engaging cast chemisty make it work.
She knows when you're lying.
Natasha Lyonne returns as the hybrid of Stevie Nicks and Columbo, uncannily drifting into crimes and sussing out the guest stars of the week. The sheer thought and craft in each episode feels like mini-movies.
• The Lowdown 1 ⇧
Loser journo in Oklahoma thinks it wasn't really a suicide.
It's like Jim Thompson and Fargo got drunk and did stand-up in the desert. This astute mystery by Sterlin Harjo (Reservation Dogs) sticks it up your farce with a cowboy hat. Ethan Hawke has a field day as the dusty screw-up pursuing leads about a rich family, with fine turns by Ryan Kiera Armstrong (Star Wars: Skeleton Crew), Kyle MacLachlan, and Tim Blake Nelson.
The episode with Ethan and Peter Dinklage tumbling around like bickering fools could be an entire series in itself.
• Dark Wings 3
How far will a detectice go for justice?
This show based on Hillerman's Navajo detectives novels is always just good when it should be great. Set in the early-'70s, it willfully fails to address that crucial apex of the American Indian Movement and the FBI's conspiracy to destroy it. Still, it’s entertaining and the Native American cast is a joy to see.
• Toxic Town ⇧
The true story of the Corby toxic waste case.
When Thatcher killed industry in Britain, factory towns died. The careless removal of the toxic waste left behind contaminated the towns, causing congenital birth defects in newborns. Jodi Whittaker (Broadchurch, Doctor Who) stars as the mom who networked the other moms into a legal suit to hold the corrupt town council accountable.
• Death By Lightning ⇧
The strange crossed paths between President Garfield and his assassin.
Garfield became President in 1881 by accident, after a rousing speech for another nominee brought landslide support. He was the right man at the best time, an honest reformist about to rout two decades of Republican corruption following the Civil War. But an insane lawyer weaseled in sidelong with imagined grievances.
This utterly gripping drama wins on the grousing charm of Michael Shannon, Matthew Macfayden at his most unhinged, and a wise Betty Gilpin. It's also surprising, in its unexpected turns but also in its commentary about today.
• The Beast In Me
The journalist may live next door to a murderer.
Could be potboiler, could be strong melodrama. Call it even and enjoy the brusk twists and Matthew Rhys as his most sinister. I'm not saying that it's a timely metaphor damning rich corruption, but actually I will.
D R E A M
• Andor 2 ⇧
Rebellions are built on hope.
The best show of the year.
It is a 12-hour middle finger to Fascism, Genocide, and Imperialism. It does so with sharp writing, shrewd insights, gutsy performances, and peerless cinematography. It slugs the sluggish and kicks asanines. It tells the truth to the people exactly when they need to hear it, in a way that no thinking person can deny. Naturally, the mainstream awards walked around it.
This prequel to a prequel, ROGUE ONE (2016), shows the rebels of STAR WARS as an actual rebellion, in mature and complex terms more akin to Costa-Gavras films. Writer/showrunner Tony Gilroy mirrors Lucas and Coppola's film school roots, when they were guerilla filmmakers lobbing art at the Vietnam War and Nixon. This is a masterfully crafted allegory of the power of dissent over dictatorship.
Cassian Andor (Diego Luna) is really Che Guevara instead of a surrogate Han Solo and he's fighting the machine till the end. In the Gorman massacre sequence (episode 8), we see one of the strongest condemnations of greedy imperialists, thug squads, and the puppet media ever telecasted. Kick out the jams, brothers and sisters.
▶ ANDOR, The New Revolution
• STAR TREK: Strange New Worlds 3 ⇧
Ongoing mission.
In the center of it, you see the hinge to the future.
Paramount is on the path to rebooting The Original Series. All of the stars are nearly in alignment. The Kelvin films warmed up the fans for such a transition, and the popular SNW has been unrolling it a player at a time. At this point in the prequel series about Pike's Enterprise, 6 of the original 9 TOS characters have joined the crew. Two more have been announced for its fifth season finale in the future, a oddly early and specific move. In the episode that hinges into this series' second half (S03/E06), the reboot begins when the key five -Kirk, Spock, Uhura, Scotty, and Chapel- bond together during a ship adventure.
Alex Kurtzman, who co-wrote the first two Kelvin films and is executive showrunner for all new ST shows since 2017, has proposed a possible Star Trek: Year One, implying early adventures of Kirk's TOS crew we hadn't seen before.
But there is a style dilemma that begs resolution. Both ST: Discovery and ST: SNW have been prequels set directly before the original. With the clearly contemporary (Kelvin-esque) style of their aesthetic, despite the '60s futurism aesthetic of the original, and a notably loose approach to canon timeline, what would that Year One be like? We’ve been asked to ignore the style discrepancy because 'whatevs boomer', but at some point, they should admit they’ve overwritten Prime with Kelvin to be hip, or do a surprise Prime switchback instead.*
All speculation aside, it must be said that they are doing excellent work in this show. It is bigger, bolder, deeper, whackier, and more intense than we’ve seen before, and exploring the strange new is the whole point of Star Trek.
* (And, whenever there are contradictions, a fan/pro down the line will always fix it. [e.g., ST: Enterprise, S04/E04+05+06) ; ST: Prodigy, S02/E09+10]. It's only logical.)
• STAR TREK: Section 31
The queen of the Mirror Universe runs the Federation's BlackOps division.
Michelle Yeoh's career was revitalized by her appearances in Star Trek: Discovery (2017) as Georgiou and as Georgiou. She advocated for a spin-off series to continue this, but ironically her success track snowballed into films and an Oscar, making her too busy to committ. This resulting standalone film is unfairly underprized for anyone's reasons, but it's still a fun time that tries to break as many rules as possible.
Note to Paramount: you should make an ongoing Section 31 series with the other Michelle, Michelle Forbes as (a Prime or Mirror version of) Ensign Ro. Thank me in the credits.
• Alien: Earth 1 ⇧
Alienation.
So do the opposite.
ALIEN (1979) was a glorious accident. It was a smash-up of too many creators at odds: two different writing duos, three concept artists with no style overlap, and an artist/director as conductor. Their mandate was to make 'JAWS meets STAR WARS' because execs thought that would be the double-biggest hit ever. It should have been a hybrid jumble which didn't know what it was or who was making it, but their very disparity embued it with its mystery and ingenuity. Through Ridley Scott's sheer force of will, this brawl alchemized into the greatest SciFi-Horror film ever made.
The secret, besides arthouse skill, was in keeping it all alien. The tension comes from not understanding what or where the creature is. With the left field success of the usurper sequel ALIENS (1986), everything became formalized and the alien became familiar. Most people seem okay with the ensuing formulization ever since and they are wrong. Drop formula, do the unexpected, regain the edge.
There was a grandiose plan in the late-'80s to pair Ridley Scott with cyberpunk author William Gibson for a third and fourth film, a crescendo with Ripley fighting the alien horde on Earth. The accountants kiboshed this for expense and that glory disappeared like snorted lines.
Noah Hawley (Fargo, Legion) did the contrary move in this first season, frontloading the finale. Here, the xenomorphs reached Earth before the first film. (This explains the Corporation's obsession afterward.) Across eight hours, he recaptures everything that was right about the original, from style to tone: long dissolves, artful cinematography, noir edge. But he springboards new, as the dissolves become communication overlaps. The original ship is recreated, but bringing an array of alien lifeforms we've never seen. Political subtext expands when it's revealed that Weyland-Yutani is one of the Five Corporations who replaced all public governments with global slavery. (Ahem.) Hawley converts reverence into revision to deconstruct and challange the familiar conventions for new growth.
Synths are now joined by Cyborgs and Hybrids. Wendy (the superb Sydney Chandler) is a hybrid, an attempt to move human consciousness into a synth form. She doesn't know who or what she is. She’s expected to follow the corporate plan.
So do the opposite.
• The Eternaut 1 (Argentina) ⇧
The snows come and everyone starts to die.
In the late-'50s, Hector Oesterheld wrote a SciFi serial in Argentinian comics about the world ending through invasion. He revised it in 1969 (with stunningly innovative art by Alberto Breccia), and again in sequels in the mid-'70s. Through it he was constructing an allegory about colonialist oppression.
This live-action adaption tells the first half of the story, to be concluded with a second season. Ash falls across Buenos Aires and only those inside survive. With makeshift masks they fend for survival, discovering that something else much deadlier is hunting the streets. Everything in this series hits just right: the faithfulness to the story with smart augments, the unnerving tone and suspense, the panoramic cinematography, and veteran star Ricardo Darin leading an ensemble cast.
For all the attention on The Last Of Us and Fallout, folks should check out this one.
• Black Mirror 7 ⇧
Through a screen darkly.
The final season of the dark-tech anthology show by its creator/writer, Charlie Brooker, who is moving on to personal productions. (Netflix will be continuing it as a brand under other hands.)
This was a strong season, with heartbreakers, mindgamers, and a stunning homage to Golden Age Of Hollywood lovingly rendered in black/white. But the main attraction was what everyone always wanted, a long-awaited sequel to "USS Calister" (2017), the beloved Star Trek spoof for the VR age that took on a life of its own. Cristin Milioti (recent Emmy winner for The Penguin) and the ship crew returned for an inspired resolution.
• Doctor Who "2" ⇧
The second season of the effervescent Ncuti Gatwa.
Here's the deal, literally. BBC owns Doctor Who and trusts a showrunner to create it. Disney recently contributed extra budget in order to get current US distribution rights, but they had no sway in the ownership or making of the series. The show looked shinier and made new inroads to American audiences, win-win. This two-year trial deal also applied to Gatwa's time as The Doctor, to everyone's surprise at the end. Disney didn't renew the deal and the BBC will at some point recontinue with the next person.
Fine print aside, this season was excellent because of the fearlessness of showrunner Russell T. Davies and the seemingly boundless energy and charisma of Ncuti Gatwa. Davies took particularly gleeful aim at Gen AI, bigotry, and toxic trolls, while homaging cinema, animation, and pop idol competitions; Varada Sethu and Millie Gibson chandeliered as Companions; and the production values were superior. Thanks, Ncuti, you were a force.
• The War Between The Land And The Sea ⇧
The Ocean world comes calling for our pollution sins.
The complaint that this is Doctor Who without the Doctor misses the point, which is "precisely". This five-part miniseries about U.N.I.T. taking on a global crisis was free to be darker, tougher, and more political in ways we haven't seen because of this. (So was Torchwood.) The commanding Jemma Redgrave gained greater depth, and an unrecognizable Gugu Mbatha-Raw changes the game as the amibiguous adversary. And how could this have been such a potent stetement about corporate-driven pollution in the constraints of a Doctor Who episode?
• The Sandman 2 ⇧
“Short as any dream, brief as the lightning in the collied night.”
The impossible dream came true.
"The Sandman", a prestige fable from the mature Vertigo Comics line (1990s), became a holy sacrament to goths, punks, bibliophiles, poets, fantasists, horrorists, and beyond. No one wanted a screen version unless it did it exactly and entirely. The television translation has shocked most everyone by doing that, while also improving it through inclusion and revision.
The original run was 75 issues; the first season adapted issues #1 through #18, but the second compressed issues #21 through #69, essentially to wrap it all up in two instead of three seasons.* Weaving several arcs into one converged symphony may seem like heresy, but astoundingly it all works out. The core story of the Lord of Dreams and his ultimate fate flows clear and resonant, the sweeping cinematography scintillates the mind, and the ending point is genuinely moving.
★ This reverie is given its heart by the perfect cast: the letter-perfect Tom Sturridge as Morpheus, Jenna Coleman as Constantine, Kirby Howell-Baptiste as Death, Gwendoline Christie as Lucifer, and new guest Jacob Anderson, as well as Stephen Fry, Vivienne Acheamoing, Mark Hamill, Indya Moore, and countless others.
* (As a bonus, there was an afterward version of the spin-off graphic novel, "Death: The High Cost Of Living" (1993).)
• The Wheel Of Time 3 ⇧
The Dragon reborn.
Based on Jordan's Fantasy book series, this epic was the grandest in scope and production craft on television when it debuted to acclaim in 2021. Though it maintained, it was superceded by The Rings Of Power (2022), a quantum leap against which nothing could compete. It's three seasons managed to compress five books (out of fourteen) and, though unrenewed, it’s successful legacy is a rich and rewarding journey that often challenged Fantasy conventions with progressive innovation. All this and Rosamund Pike too.
▶ LORD OF THE RINGS: The Rings Of Power ⬤ The One Rules All
Passed perfect.
This is an original screen prequel to the time-travel romance Outlander, not based on any of Gabaldon's books, that reveals secret truths about the parents of Jamie and of Claire. It should feel like a superfluous retread (read, franchise milking), but the result is too canny and fulfilling to be denied. The troupe are well-chosen, the plots engaging, and the casting resemblances of Jamie's father (Jamie Roy) and Claire's mother (Hermione Corfield) are so spookily exact to their heirs that you'll suspect sorcery.
• Wednesday 2
They really are a scree-um.
Charles Addams paraded his ghoulish cartoon characters through years of The New Yorker. It was the TV show (1964-’66) that refined them into the family we know, through names, backstories, and the iconic performances of the cast.
The family works best as an ensemble of rotating parts together. Season 1 deposited daughter Wednesday alone in school solving mysteries, but it took off every time family members showed up. Season 2 wisely intwines everyone back together to far stronger results. Jenna Ortega is still delicious/duplicitous (and really breaks out when possessed by her zingy roommate), while Catherine Zeta-Jones is slyly artful as Morticia, and there’s even a turn of hand for Thing. Snap snap.
• Stranger Things 5 ⇧
The finale.
This conclusion had the impossible task to pull off. It needed to wind up its mythos and mystery with clarity, satisfy nine years of expectations, and reward the time invested by a generation who grew up on it.
It does. The Duffer Brothers used longer episodes like mini-films to unveil and expand their mystery while lacing generous character beats for the ensemble. Everyone gets fair due, even with such a huge cast, including peripheral characters. (Some episodes were directed by Shawn Levy and Frank Darabont.) There are terrific performances, such as incomer Nell Fisher in the spotlight as Holly, and Noah Schnapp's sweet confession scene. Remembering where it all started, they pull everything full-circle while maintaining their '80s SF/Horror aesthetic. And the truly bigger picture of what has been happening is spectacular.
Dial it up to 11.
A N I M A T I O N
• King Of The Hill 14
Still.
King Of The Hill ran from 1997 to 2010. After as much time off, it’s refreshed and better. Picking up in the present, with a grown son and other turnovers, it's that much sharper parodying Texas conservatism, pop culture, suburbia, and Bill, while making you care about everyone. I'll tell you what.
• Common Side Effects 1 ⇧
The jungle mushroom might heal everything.
After a fungi expert finds a panacea in a Peruvian valley, everyone from Big Pharma to rival scientists to the FBI are out to get him. This stocatto adult comedy (drugs, violence, cursing) plays like a thriller while slipping into hallucinogenic dreams that imply much more.
See also:
Scavengers Reign (2023)
• Long Story Short 1
I had a life for this?
A raucous adult comedy about a dysfunctional Jewish family, told in hopscotch fashion around key events in their lives. Especially funny work by voices Abbi Jacobson and Paul Reiser.
"BLACK"
• Star Wars: Visions 3
Elseworlds.
The Visions series lets innovative animation companies do non-canon shorts in the Star Wars universe without constraint. The first and third season were from Japan, while the second was international.
This strong season included standouts like "The Duel: Payback", an homage to Kurosawa samurai films emulating sumi brushwork. But the upstart was the shocking "BLACK", a subjective delirium that almost defies interpretation. Told POV through completely freeform paint sketchs, it may be about a stormtrooper wrestling with the dark and light sides of his soul while dying. Or whatever you thought instead. It is the most experimental SW story ever made, a shocking work of fine art.
• Star Wars: Tales Of The Underworld 3
There are eight million stories in the naked galaxy. This is two of them.
After the Jedi and the Sith, this third season tells untold stories about criminals. The revelatory story about cult favorite Asajj Ventress, the wayward Sith, is especially satisfying.
• Futurama 10
Future imperfect.
The outer space delivery company in the 31st Century still comes through, no matter how much time passes or how many networks they hop to. They’re like a virus at this point. Or a roach. Or maybe a living head in a bottle.
Listen, bud, he's got radioactive blood.
This show is a covert What If?, telling an alternate version of Tom Holland's MCU Spider-Man where someone else mentored Spidey instead of Tony Stark. Fleet and funny, it is an innovatory visual feast in the mode of the SPIDER-VERSE movies.
• Eyes Of Wakanda ⇧
The origins of Black Panther's country.
An action adventure series of four separate stories that actually connect into a wider picture. The design and painterly aesthetic is worth the lively trip alone.
H E R O E S
• Daredevil: Born Again 1 ⇧
The Devil returns to Hell's Kitchen.
In 2018, Marvel received the directive to bring all screen properties in-house to the Disney+ streaming network. This forced the four popular Netflix series -Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, and Iron Fist- into hiatus until they could be reactivated down the road.
Now Daredevil returns to pave the way. After a backstage tussle over whether to do a sleek lawyer procedural or the gritty battle noir of before, the resurrected show became a compromise of both. Despite Disney, it is as R-Rated as ever, with hyperviolence and cursing. With the Kingpin now the mayor of New York, it continues its scathing takedown of the Orange Dictator and ICE, to its greatest strength.
• Ironheart ⇧
The new heir to Iron Man.
After her debut in BLACK PANTHER 2, anticipation has been high to see the fan favorite break out on her own.
But there's a lot of uneven voltages in this generally fun miniseries. Is it a tech-and-mecha adventure show or a pilot for a magic academy? Is Riri suddenly unethical or does she have furtive scruples? The circuitry is dodgy but the whole is entertaining. Special commendations to newcomer Lyric Ross as her best friend and Regan Aliyah as the boho mage.
• Peacemaker 2 ⇧
Freedom-fighting on Earth X.
The last thing we need is a coldhearted vigilante killing people. James Gunn knows that, and since THE SUICIDE SQUAD (2021), he has been redeeming this hardhead idiot into a decent human being through non-sequiter lunacy and ironic mischief. The cast sells the ludicrous chaos, with the flexible John Cena, Jennifer Holland, Freddie Stroma, Chukwudi Iwuji, Steve Agee, and now Tim Meadows.
C O M E D Y
• The Studio 1 ⇧
Hollywood swingin’.
The most antic and cinematic comedy since The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Seth Rogan’s homage/roast of Hollywood moviemaking is a complete triumph.
Rogan plays a hotshot studio exec trying make art under a barrage of corporate formula. Shot like Hitchcock, jabbered like Altman, ambitious as Sherman-Palladino, it is a riot in every frame. The long single-take sequences are breathtaking, and the industry cameos jawdropping: Scorsese, Kravitz, Theron, Buscemi, Mackie, Howard, Wilde, Sorkin, Ice Cube, who are all in on the joke about themselves. Great work from studio cohorts Kathryn Hahn and Chase Sui Wonders.
The Rich are taxing.
The trio of amateur sleuths only solves murder in their own building. What could be tired by now only refreshes itself here, allowing for growth in the leads while juggling an impressive range of guest stars. This time Steve Martin, Martin Short, and Selena Gomez go up against their Evil Rich counterparts, Renee Zellweter, Christoph Waltz, and Logan Lerman, as well as gentrification, relationships, and robot replacement.
• Deli Boys 1 ⇧
Two dumb brothers inherit their deli chain, which is really a crime empire.
Saagar Shaikh (Ms. Marvel) and Asif Ali play knuckleheads in over theirs in this screwball crime spree. When their inheritance turns out to be a syndicate, the yuppie and the partier scramble to keep from getting offed. Horseplay ensues.
• North Of North 1 ⇧
In the far, farrrr Canadian Arctic she tries to find her place.
Nunavut is a sovereign territory above Canada, home of the Inuit peoples. A young woman chafes at living in a remote island town and starts to redefine herself. This show is amiable fun, from its bright locations to its spirited Inuit players, lead by Anna Lambe.
B E S T
R E S T O R
A T I O N
Classic Films are the timeless canon from which all movies expand. They are essential to be seen, and should be enjoyed at their best.
Here are some of the important film restorations and remasterings of the past year.
• HE WHO GETS SLAPPED (1924)
Victor Sjostrom • Blu-Ray (Flicker Alley)
PORT OF SHADOWS
• THE BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN (1935) ⇧
James Whale • 4K (Universal)
• PORT OF SHADOWS (France, 1938) ⇧
Michel Carne • Blu-Ray (Studio Canal)
• MIDNIGHT (1939) ⇧
Mitchell Liesen • Blu-Ray (Criterion)
THE THIRD MAN;
STRAY DOG
• HIS GIRL FRIDAY (1940) ⇧
Howard Hawks • 4K (Criterion)
• I KNOW WHERE I’M GOING (England, 1945)
Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger • 4K (Criterion)
• SHOESHINE (Italy, 1946)
Vittorio De Sica • 4K (Criterion)
• THE THIRD MAN (England, 1949) ⇧
Carol Reed • 4K (Lionsgate Films)
• STRAY DOG (Japan, 1949) ⇧
Akira Kurosawa • Blu-Ray (BFI)
THE WAGES OF FEAR;
TO CATCH A THIEF
• SUNSET BOULEVARD (1950)
Billy Wilder • 4K (Paramount)
• UGETSU (Japan, 1953) ⇧
Kenji Mizoguchi • 4K (Criterion)
• THE WAGES OF FEAR (France, 1953) ⇧
Henri-Georges Clouzot • 4K (Criterion)
• THE BIG HEAT (1953)
Fritz Lang • 4K (Criterion)
• TO CATCH A THIEF (1955) ⇧
Alfred Hitchcock • 4K (Paramount)
FIRES ON THE PLAIN;
THE 400 BLOWS
• THE OGRE OF ATHENS (Greece, 1956)
Nikos Koundouras • Blu-Ray (Radiance)
• THE BURMESE HARP (Japan, 1956)
Kon Ichikawa • 4K (Criterion)
• CAIRO STATION (Egypt, 1958) ⇧
Youssef Chahine • 4k (Criterion)
• FIRES ON THE PLAIN (Japan, 1959) ⇧
Kon Ichikawa • 4K (Criterion)
• THE 400 BLOWS (France, 1959) ⇧
Francois Truffaut • 4K (Criterion)
HIGH AND LOW;
THE UMBRELLAS OF CHERBOURG
• EYES WITHOUT A FACE (France, 1960) ⇧
Georges Franju • 4K (Criterion)
• HIGH AND LOW (Japan, 1963) ⇧
Akira Kurosawa • 4K (Criterion)
• FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE (England, 1963)
Terence Young • 4K (Warner Bros.)
• THE GOLDEN FERN (Czech, 1963)
Jiri Weiss • Blu-Ray (Deaf Crocodile)
• THE UMBRELLAS OF CHERBOURG (France, 1964) ⇧
Jacques Demy • 4K (Criterion)
• GOLDFINGER (England, 1964)
Guy Hamilton • 4K (Warner Bros.)
• THE SOUND OF MUSIC (1965)
Robert Wise • 4K (Disney)
IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT;
OLIVER!
• ARABESQUE (1966) ⇧
Stanley Donen • 4K (Kino Lorber)
• WHO WANTS TO KILL JESSIE? (Czech, 1966)
Vaclav Vorlicek • Blu-Ray (Second Run)
• IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT (1967) ⇧
Norman Jewison • 4K (Criterion)
• YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE (England, 1967)
Lewis Gilbert • 4K (Warner Bros.)
• INFLATABLE SEX DOLL OF THE WASTELANDS (Japan, 1967)
Atsushi Yamatoya • Blu-Ray (Deaf Crocodile)
• OLIVER! (England, 1968) ⇧
Carol Reed • 4K (Sony Pictures)
LAST TANGO IN PARIS;
CHINATOWN
• PERFORMANCE (England,1970)
Nicolas Roeg, Donald Cammell • 4K (Criterion)
• THE ANDROMEDA STRAIN (1971) ⇧
Robert Wise • 4K (Arrow)
• GET CARTER (England, 1971)
Mike Hodges • 4K (Warner Bros.)
• LAST TANGO IN PARIS (France, 1972) ⇧
Berrnardo Bertolucci • 4K (Distribpix)
• THE MOTHER AND THE WHORE (France, 1973)
Jean Eustache • 4K (Criterion)
• CHINATOWN (1974) ⇧
Roman Polanski • 4K (Paramount)
• BLAZING SADDLES (1974)
Mel Brooks • 4K (Warner Bros.)
• JAWS (1975)
Steven Spielberg • 4K (Universal)
KILLER OF SHEEP;
SUPERMAN: The Movie
• TOMMY (England, 1975)
Ken Russell • 4K (Shout Factory)
• BARRY LYNDON (1975)
Stanley Kubrick • 4K (Criterion)
• MONTY PYTHON And The Holy Grail (England, 1975)
Terry Jones, Terry Gilliam • 4K (Sony Pictures)
• ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO’S NEST (1975) ⇧
Milos Forman • 4K (Warner Bros.)
• KILLER OF SHEEP (1977) ⇧
Charles Burnett • 4K (Criterion)
• SUPERMAN: The Movie (1978) ⇧
Richard Donner • 4K (Warner Bros.)
• THE WIZ (1978)
Sidney Lumet • 4K (Criterion)
• HALLOWEEN (1978)
John Carpenter • 4K (Shout Factory)
GANDHI;
WILD STYLE
• THE SHINING (1980)
Stanley Kubrick • 4K (Warner Bros.)
• BREAKING GLASS (England, 1980) ⇧
Brian Gibson • Blu-Ray (Fun City Editions)
• ALTERED STATES (1981)
Ken Russell • 4K (Criterion)
• POSSESSION (1981)
Andrzej Zulawski • 4K (Second Sight Films)
• OUTLAND (1981)
Peter Hyams • 4K (Arrow)
• THIEF (1981)
Michael Mann • 4K (Criterion)
• BURDEN OF DREAMS (W. Germany, 1981)
Les Blank • 4K (Criterion)
• GANDHI (1982) ⇧
Richard Attenborough • 4K (Sony Pictures)
• BABY IT’S YOU (1983)
John Sayles • Blu-Ray (Fun City Editions)
• WILD STYLE (1983) ⇧
Charles Ahearn • 4K (Arrow)
GWEN And The Book Of Sand;
SALAAM BOMBAY!
• AMADEUS (1984) ⇧
Milos Forman • 4K (Warner Bros.)
• STARMAN (1984)
John Carpenter • 4K (Sony Pictures)
• DUNE (1984)
David Lynch • 4K (Via Vision Entertainment)
• GWEN And The Book Of Sand (France, 1985) ⇧
Jean-Francois Laguionie • Blu-Ray (Deaf Crocodile)
• THE SACRIFICE (Russia, 1986)
Andrei Tarkovsky • 4K (Kino Classics)
• KING LEAR (1987)
Jean-Luc Godard • Blu-Ray (Criterion)
• SALAAM BOMBAY! (India, 1988) ⇧
Mira Nair • 4K (Criterion)
• DRUGSTORE COWBOY (1989)
Gus Van Sant • 4K (Criterion)
BASQUIAT;
PERFECT BLUE
• TWIN PEAKS: From Z To A (1990, 2017)
David Lynch+ • 4K (Paramount)
• JFK (1991)
Oliver Stone • 4K (Shout Factory)
• HEARTS OF DARKNESS (1991) ⇧
Eleanor Coppola+ • 4K (Lionsgate)
• TWIN PEAKS: Fire Walk With Me (1992)
David Lynch • 4K (Criterion)
• CHUNKING EXPRESS (Hong Kong, 1994)
Wong Kar-wai • 4K (Criterion)
• SEVEN (1995)
David Fincher • 4K (Warner Bros.)
• BASQUIAT (1996) ⇧
Julian Schnabel • 4K (Criterion)
• PERFECT BLUE (Japan, 1997) ⇧
Satoshi Kon • 4K (Shout Factory)
• DARK CITY (1998)
Alex Proyas • 4K (Arrow)
• THE WIND WILL CARRY US (Iran, 1999)
Abbas Kiarostami • 4K (Criterion)
SERENITY;
PRINCE OF BROADWAY
• REQUIEM FOR A DREAM (2000)
Darren Aronofsky • 4K (Lionsgate)
• LILO + STITCH (2002) ⇧
Chris Sanders, Dean DeBlois • 4K (Disney)
• SKY CAPTAIN And The World Of Tomorrow (2004)
Kerry Conran • 4K (Shout Factory)
• SERENITY (2005) ⇧
Joss Whedon • 4K (Universal)
• THE GIRL WHO LEAPT THROUGH TIME (Japan, 2006)
Mamoru Hosada • 4K (Shout Factory)
• THE CATHEDRAL OF NEW EMOTIONS (Gerrmany, 2006)
Helmut Herbst • Blu-Ray (Deaf Crocodile)
• PRINCE OF BROADWAY (2008) ⇧
Sean Baker • 4K (Criterion)
JUDAS And The Black Messiah;
FLOW
• CLOUD ATLAS (2012)
The Wachowskis, Tom Tykwer • 4K (Shout Factory)
• SNOWPIERCER (2013) ⇧
Bong Joon-ho • 4K (Lionsgate)
• THE FLORIDA PROJECT (2017)
Sean Baker • 4K (Second Sight)
• JUDAS And The Black Messiah (2021) ⇧
Shaka King • 4K (Warner Bros.)
• THE FRENCH DISPATCH (2021)
Wes Anderson • 4K (Criterion)
• FLOW (2024) ⇧
Gints Zilbalodis • 4K (Criterion)
C R I T E R I O N
GILDA; GERMANY YEAR ZERO;
DIABOLIQUE; THE RED BALLOON
Netflix is like the flashy dance club of streaming entertainment, but The Criterion Channel is for the deep cuts of real culture.
It needs to be said. Netflix and Amazon Prime and Hulu impress with their glossy New Now, and they do have many current gems, but they completely lack heritage classics. All width and no depth. That's all fun, but how long can you chew gum for supper? At some point, when you crave for a more well-rounded diet of substance that sustains your mind and soul, there's only one place to get serious about learning full-quality cinema... The Canon Of Great Films That Actually Matter.
THE HARDER THEY COME; COOLEY HIGH;
ALTERED STATES; TRUE STORIES
While other streaming sites are High School, The Criterion Channel is Oxford.
The Criterion Channel film-streaming site is the best cinema from around the world and every decade since film began, along with new indie films and acclaimed documentaries. Plus, Criterion is the vanguard in restoring great films to a precision standard of picture and sound that matches the present. Restored classics now look better than the day they were struck. If you've watched Mark Cousins' "The Story of Film: An Odyssey" documentary series as a primer >, this site is the true library to expand your enjoyment into the most essential film classics. Every fine film we appreciate now branches directly from the roots of these timeless works of cinematic art, whether it's a romance, period piece, character drama, guerilla handheld, Rock film, style fest, rebel indie, or avant garde. Get the whole picture.
Later for sugar, next for substance. Subscribe today.
WALL-E; BOYHOOD;
BEASTS OF NO NATION; THE WORST PERSON IN THE WORLD
(also explore: Fandor, Filmatique, Mubi, Turner Classic Movies, Kanopy, Filmhub, IndiePix, IndieFlix, Ovid, BFI Player (UK), OpenCulture)
© 2026; all text, research, and art graphics by Tym Stevens
See also:
• BEST MUSIC: 2025
• BEST COMICS: 2025
• BEST MUSIC: 2024
• BEST MUSIC: 2024
• BEST COMICS: 2024
• BEST MOVIES + TV: 2023
• BEST MUSIC: 2023
• BEST COMICS: 2023
• BEST MUSIC: 2022
• BEST COMICS: 2022
• BEST MOVIES + TV: 2021
• BEST MUSIC: 2021
• BEST COMICS: 2021
• BEST MOVIES + TV: 2020
• BEST MUSIC: 2020
• BEST COMICS: 2020
• BEST MOVIES + TV: 2019
• BEST MUSIC: 2019
• BEST COMICS: 2019
• BEST MOVIES + TV: 2018
• BEST MUSIC: 2018
• BEST COMICS: 2018
• BEST MOVIES + TV: 2017
• BEST MUSIC: 2017
• BEST COMICS: 2017
• BEST MOVIES + TV: 2016
• BEST MUSIC: 2016
• BEST COMICS: 2016
• BEST MOVIES + TV: 2015
• BEST MUSIC: 2015
• BEST COMICS: 2015
• BEST MOVIES + TV: 2014
• BEST MUSIC: 2014
• BEST COMICS: 2014
• BEST MOVIES + TV: 2013
• BEST MUSIC: 2013
• BEST COMICS: 2013
• BEST MOVIES + TV: 2012
• BEST MUSIC: 2012
• BEST COMICS: 2012
• BEST MOVIES + TV: 2011
• BEST MUSIC: 2011
• BEST COMICS: 2011
• BEST MOVIES + TV: 2000-2010
• BEST MUSIC: 2000-2010
• BEST COMICS: 2000-2010
• How STAR WARS Is Changing Everything!
• 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY - Its Transcendent Influence on all Pop Culture, with Music Player!
• How SPAGHETTI WESTERNS Revolutionized Rock Music!, with 3 Music Players!
• TWIN PEAKS: Its Influence on 30 Years of Film, TV, and Music!, with 5 Music Players!
• LORD OF THE RINGS: The Rings Of Power ⬤ The One Rules All
• The Real History of ROCK AND SOUL!: The Music Player Checklist
• THE CANON 1: 50 Books That Created Modern Culture, with Music Player
• THE CANON 2: 50 More Books That Created Modern Pop Culture, with Music Player
• THE CANON 3: 50 Recent Books That Created Modern Culture, with Music Player
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment