I haven’t watched much this year, beyond what I was assigned to review. Of course at end of year I have to scramble to catch up, which I am still doing. Instead I watched a lot of true crime, re-watched the X-Files and … read a lot. I read more than I watched movies this year. Frankenstein took up most of my time. The book came out in October – but up until July, there were still edits I had to do – not on the text, which was set – but providing captions, and chapter titles and whatever. Not to mention a lot of personal stuff going on as well as multiple trips to New York – I might have spent about 1/4 of my year in New York. I’m tapped out. I never get tapped out but I finally admitted that I am just exhausted from the last two years (or, year and a half), with personal life exploding in positive and negative ways, family obligations, plus writing a whole damn book plus politics and protesting. I rarely just can’t get it up for writing but I’ve just had to admit the well is empty and I need to refill it. So. I think I saw one movie in September. Wild. I haven’t been able to write on my Substack or here. I’m so tired. I’ll get it back in 2026. Thanks for sticking with me, if you have.
October and November were hugely eventful. Podcast appearances, book events, then the New York premiere, and then a trip to California in early November with a group of friends from my theatre days in Chicago.
Here’s the last couple of months of viewing.
The Fox Hollow Murders: Playground of a Serial Killer (2025; d. Alex Jablonski)
Watched back in August. I had never heard about this case and it creeped me out.
Stranger Things (2016), season 3
Continued re-watch with my niece. We had to stop in the fall because Frankenstein took over my world. We had hoped to get it all watched by the time the last season came out but, alas, was not meant to be. I am now avoiding spoilers and waiting until I have free time. Which is hilarious because I never have free time, except the hours between 6 am and 10 am.
The X-Files: I Want to Believe (2008; d. Chris Carter)
Moving toward the end of my X-Files re-watch which took me months and gave me great comfort due to its familiarity. I just haven’t been able to absorb new stuff – my brain was taken up with other things.
The X-Files, Season 10, 11 (1993)
It’s just a joy. Also I finally got a television – long story – and it’s MASSIVE. The first thing I watched on it was the almost totally silent episode from season 11. I think it’s a masterpiece. And … it’s so accurate about where we are and where we are going.
Went Up the Hill (2025; d. Samuel Van Grinsven)
Creepy and grim. I reviewed for Ebert.
An Officer and a Spy (2019; d. Roman Polanski)
I went to go see this at the Film Forum with Celeste Marcus and her fiancee Leni (whom I had never met, but I have heard so much about her). I actually saw a pirated version in 2019, I reached out to a friend who could get it to me, and I’m not sorry, I had to do it. If you insist on refusing to release films then I will have to do what I can to see it. It was finally released for a short run at the Film Forum this August. It was a blazingly hot day and I was in New York for a series of meetings and events and I walked everywhere and was drenched in sweat when I arrived. We were going to a matinee and there was a line down the block for the Polanski. Very glad I grabbed us tickets beforehand. I ran into Matthew in the lobby at the Film Forum, whom I haven’t seen since the Florida Film Festival, so that was so fun and one of the things I love about New York: running into people! Obviously this film is controversial, and there are many who will refuse to see it, which is their right. And it’s my right to go see it! The film is masterful. The “J’accuse” section was goosebump-worthy, accompanied by Alexandre Desplat’s gigantic score.
The Thursday Murder Club (2025; d. Chris Columbus)
This was cute and entertaining and a very nice distraction. I reviewed for Ebert.
All of You (2025; d. William Bridges)
Imogen Poots here, who gave the best performance by a woman this year (or a man, really) in Kristen Stewart’s The Chronology of Water. This is all right, although it got a little tiresome. All that YEARNING gets a little boring. I reviewed for Ebert.
The Man Who Saves the World? (2025; d. Gabe Polsky)
I love Gabe Polsky’s work and I really loved this film. I reviewed for Ebert.
Frankenstein (2025; d. Guillermo del Toro)
I saw multiple times, of course. In September of last year, while I was in Scotland, Guillermo and editor Evan Schiff showed me pretty much everything they had filmed up to that point (GDT edits as he goes). There weren’t any visual effects, of course, so it was unfinished but I got a sense of it (which helped me when I interviewed people). In February and then in March I went to private screenings of the film in New York, one for Netflix people and then one – at GDT’s request – just for me. It was wild. By that point, everything was pretty much done except for the score and the CGI animals. So it was a blast to actually go see it in the theatre with an audience, the finished “product”. I atteneded the New York premiere, I also went with my family, and I went with a group of friends. I’ve been living with this thing by myself in private for a year and a half, so I’ve really enjoyed getting to share it.
Die My Love (2025; d. Lynne Ramsay)
It’s definitely polarizing. Some friends despise it. Some love it. It’ll definitely get you talking. I reviewed for Ebert.
Trifole (2025; d. Gabriele Fabbro)
A gentle little fairy-tale of a movie about truffle hunting in Italy. I reviewed for Ebert.
Law & Order; SVU season 1 (1999)
I was desperate for distraction and I saw Mariska Hargitay on Amy Poehler’s podcast and was like, “I’ve never really watched SVU.” I admired her film about her mother (My Mom Jayne, which I reviewed), and loved her personality in that interview. So I watched season 1. She and Chris Melloni have great chemistry.
Murdaugh: Death in the Family (2025; created by Michael D. Fuller and Erin Lee Carr)
Jason Clarke and Patricia Arquette totally submerge themselves in this world and these people. I am so impressed with their performances (particularly Arquette’s because “Maggie” is sort of forgotten in all of this, and Arquette – with great sympathy and no condescension – helped this woman make sense to us. They moved the timeline around a bit and not everyone is on board with that, but I understand the choice.
Zodiac Killer Project (2025; d. Charlie Shackleton)
This was really good. I reviewed for Ebert.
My Undesirable Friends: Part I – Last Air in Moscow (2025; d. Julia Loktev)
An astonishing document of in-real-time authoritarian crackdown: in the months leading up to Russia invading Ukraine, the last independent news station in Russia struggled on, even though they’d been labeled “foreign agents”, and had to announce this at the start of every broadcast. Basically saying “I am an Enemy of the People.” Loktev flew back to document what was going on with her “undesirable” friends. Some were in prison. Others were moving out of Russia. After the invasion, everyone fled, to avoid persecution. So it was the “last air” in Moscow of anything even resembling an independent press. This brutal and extraordinary documentary is five hours long. It’s devastating and should make everyone very very frightened.
Eephus (2025; d. Carson Lund)
In my top 10 for the year.
The Secret Agent (2025; d. Kleber Mendonça Filho)
Also in my top 10. The NYFCC gave Wagner Moura Best Performance by an Actor. Highly recommended.
Mr. Scorsese (2025; d. Rebecca Miller)
A goldmine, a treasure trove, even if you already know all this stuff.
It Was Just an Accident (2025; d. Jafar Panahi)
My favorite film of the year. Panahi is actually here in the United States now – !! – touring around screening the film. In the meantime, the regime in Iran put out a call for his arrest. So he can never go back. Over the last almost 20 years I could never have predicted he would actually be able to get out – and come HERE, of all places. He wasn’t allowed to leave Iran for over a decade. He was imprisoned and tortured. The NYFCC gave him Best Director – so that means I’m going to get to meet him at the awards dinner. I can’t even believe this.
Train Dreams (2025; d. Clint Bentley)
In my top 10. It’s gorgeous and sad and quiet.
Misericordia (2025; d. Alain Guiraudie)
Loved this film. I love any film featuring French detectives or police officers working a case. I have a soft spot for French detectives. Here, a sexually fluid sexually provocative young man basically … infiltrates a small village, causing absolute sexual chaos in pretty much everyone. It’s very French and I dig it!
2000 Meters to Andriivka (2025; d. Mstyslav Chernov)
One of the best documentaries of the year. 20 Days in Mariupol was one of the most powerful documentaries in 2023, and this is equally as harrowing. 2000 meters might as well be 2000 miles.
The Thing with Feathers (2025; d. Dylan Southern)
Not good. I reviewed for Ebert.
Oh, Hi! (2025; d. Sophie Brooks)
Allison showed this to me. I really loved it. I loved it so much I watched it twice! Molly Gordon wrote it and stars. It’s more complex than it looks, as well as insightful about the Gen-Z-millennial-cusp dating scene. It’s not cut and dried, and it’s written by someone who is actually living it. It’s also funny, with a ridiculous premise. Bold!
Christmas Eve in Miller’s Point (2024; d. Tyler Taormina)
Allison showed me Oh, Hi! and I showed her this, which I wrote about last year on my Substack. The film was shot (gorgeously) by Carson Lund, who makes his directorial debut this year with the wonderful and weirdly haunting Eephus.
// Panahi is actually here in the United States now – !! […] I’m going to get to meet him at the awards dinner. I can’t even believe this.//
I was going to ask and then I kept reading – amazing!
I’ve never watched as little tv as this year – in my whole life, I think. Some of it was just health issues, but also because I’ve been busy with good things. Still, I miss it! I love that you started SVU. I’ve never watched it, but I enjoy seeing people still so invested in those that relationship.
The thing about the NYFCC vote is it’s a blind vote, anonymous – and it’s purely based on numbers. We don’t hash it out in discussion , hearing pros and cons. I like our vote for that reason – it’s disappointing when a fave doesn’t have the numbers but that’s the breaks. That’s why it is just thrilling that the numbers added up to Panahi!! It’s major.
He’s also winning every award on the planet, including the Palme d’Or. Take THAT regime!!
and yeah – my watching was so weird this year. I really miss seeing lots of stuff too – movies AND TV – but I just couldn’t force it. I was too tired and too into reading books. I think I just needed a break.
I am looking forward – sort of – to The Boys. I also feel like I need to catch up with Pluribus – I watched an episode with my friend Allison and I was very intrigued!!
Yeah, you’ve been BUSY!
// He’s also winning every award on the planet //
Great.
I’m giving myself homework and want to (re)watch shows and movies about stories, storytelling, or messing with what is/isn’t real, so Taxi is on that list. I haven’t re-watched since I saw it in theatre.
(Taking recommendations, if you have any off the top of your head)
I know nothing about Pluribus, I want to discover all of it. When the first episode came out, a teacher of mine emailed me to say it felt like something I would write – I don’t know what that means, but since it’s Gilligan, I can’t wait to find out!
Very unsure how I feel about The Boys, in general. I will still watch, and there are definitely elements I’ve enjoyed, but I wish I had any kind of emotional attachment to it, and I really don’t.
I would never watch The Boys if Jensen wasn’t in it – although I did get so sucked in to Antony Starr’s performance – which I think is truly brilliant in that first season. He was so fun to watch.
But yeah, I’m not really into it and I barely remember any of it at the moment (except for JA).
// movies about stories, storytelling, or messing with what is/isn’t real, // Zodiac Killer Project which just came out is all about that. The director WANTED to make a movie about the Zodiac Killer but he couldn’t get the rights to a book – so instead he makes a movie telling us what he WOULD have done. I liked it a lot!
and Taxi, yes! No Bears is another one by Panahi – that was a couple years ago. Panahi is also in this one, and he plays himself. It’s really good!
// I would never watch The Boys if Jensen wasn’t in it – although I did get so sucked in to Antony Starr’s performance //
Yes, the actors kept me coming back to it. Chace Crawford! And Claudia Doumit, whom I loved so much in Timeless.
Zodiac Killer Project sounds great, I love someone who uses constraints and failures to keep going. I hope it becomes available somewhere soon. Thank you!
I know I will do a deep dive into Panahi’s filmography eventually!
I think in a lot of ways The Boys make explicit what was unspoken in Supernatural. Man, those early seasons of Supernatural were so evocative – and the stuff that WASN’T said was way more powerful than what was. I like how Kripke thinks and I like what he cares about – so I’m “in” but …
well I don’t need to explain it to you!! there’s just something about Supernatural!
Yeah, it’s really interesting to compare. I get the pleasure of being able to push things – making characters (and actors!) do or say the most outrageous things, gore, exploding dicks, I mean sure, I’m not saying I’m not enjoying it. But there is something most subversive in implying those things within the constraints of censorship. And then, of course, with Supernatural, the emotional resonance.
And also, with The Boys, I’m not a big fan of how clever the show thinks it is about politics, when I just don’t think that it is. “Look, the bad guys present themselves as the good guys.” That’s nice. I’m not sure that presenting everything in terms of extremely simple binaries such as good/bad is very helpful at the moment, when things are so much more complicated. But, whatever, that’s me. I know mileage will vary on that.
In general – what you say about politics – is my issue with superhero stories. I don’t mean to be a party pooper and I get that these stories are escapes and wish-fulfillment (wouldn’t it be great if some superhero could come and whip this incredibly complicated world situation into shape) but … they are interpreted politically, and so MUCH is put on them that I think can’t be supported. I just can’t believe in it.
There is something gratifying in the Boys that the superheroes are the fascists – but once you lay that out, I’m not sure where you go from there.
I’m in it for Soldier Boy!!
Yeah, it’s supposed to be a criticism of that but… it barely goes further.
I’m in it for Soldier Boy, and because I’m a completionist, I guess.
I mean, I watched the entirety of Countdown. which was a big ol’ nothing. But come on, I can’t not watch!!
David Duchovny has an excellent podcast called Fail Better. He had a great interview with Kyle McLachlan recently. But even better, he had a long conversation with Gillian Anderson, released Wednesday. The Meisner technique was mentioned, playing Maggie Thatcher, X-files non-communications, Gillian’s college drama experiences, Chris Carter suggesting they get couples counseling at one point in the early seasons. Interesting to hear how little they interacted when not acting.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ph42jyVeVc
Yes, I’ve been loving his podcast!
I hope he has Jason Beghe on. That would be my dream guest.
They go way back to high school, then Jason joined Scientology and they didn’t speak for like 2 decades. The first person he called when he “got out” was David. I’d love to hear them talk about this together.