Marty Supreme (2025; d. Joss Safdie)
I have mixed feelings on this, especially the last scene, which is corny as hell. Not as corny as the last scene in Lady Bird, but in its way even more obnoxious. Robert Towne would never. Granted, the movie is supposed to be obnoxious, but I rolled my eyes at that ending and yearned for the final scene of Five Easy Pieces, which really stuck the landing and stayed true to what it was doing. That being said, I also enjoyed a lot of it. I don’t know. Like I said, mixed.
Come Closer (2025; d. Tom Nesher)
I reviewed for Ebert. The lead character is obnoxious making this a tough slog. I love ambivalence and mess but …
The Chronology of Water (2025; d. Kristen Stewart)
I can’t say enough good things about it and I tried to get at what the film was doing in my review for Ebert. Amazingly, the goddess Lidia Yuknavitch herself linked to my review and said I didn’t write the review, I “inhabited” it, which is PRAISE INDEED. I need to see it again so I can absorb it more fully. Stewart absolutely crushed it, particularly in the film’s visual style and fragmented structure – there was a method to her madness.
Christmas, Again (2014; d. Charles Poekel)
I raved over this one when it came out back in 2014. I watch it every year around Christmas. It hits such a sweet lonely New York spot.
Nouvelle Vague (2025; d. Richard Linklater)
This was in my top 10 for 2025. I’m sorry I didn’t do any year-end round-ups this year. I just couldn’t, what with the Frankenstein of it all. But don’t miss this one. It’s delightful and really captures beautifully the vibe of being young and impulsive and artistic, bringing to life the legend of what it was like when Godard made Breathless. I love the style, the structure, the performances. It’s perfect.
Safe (1995; d. Todd Haynes)
Masterpiece. I saw it at the Angelika in New York when it first came out and walked out altered.
Naked Acts (1995; d. Bridgett M. Davis)
What a magical film: it came out in 1995 and sank like a stone, never to be seen again. Until Maya Cade, the creator of Black Film Archive, literally re-discovered it, finding a print of it, being blown away, contacting the director, hyping it up on all her socials until finally – in the last couple of years – the film was restored and re-released, even getting a theatrical run across the country. Thank you, Maya! It’s a wonderful funny film about a young actress who goes through a whirlwind of emotions when she is asked to play a nude scene in a movie she’s been cast in. It’s funny and smart and thought-provoking. Please see this. It’s a real slice of New York 1990s cinema. How many other forgotten films out there, waiting for someone curious and determined like Maya to bring them back into the light?
The Shrouds (2025; d. David Cronenberg)
This was also in my top 10 of the year.
Caught Stealing (2025; d. Darren Aronofsky)
I’m not a big Darren Aronofsky fan – he’s so obvious – but this was a lot of fun. Like Marty Supreme it was filmed in New York. This doesn’t happen much anymore, and I love it. Austin Butler, as the mama’s boy once-almost-pro-baseball-player bartender, is great. The whole thing is a chase.
When Marnie Was There (2015; d. Hiromasa Yonebayashi)
I hadn’t seen this. Lucy got the book for Christmas, and Jean and my nieces wanted to show the movie to me so we watched it together on a snowy cold day. We were all in tears at the end. We had a good discussion after.
Nuremberg (2025; d. James Vanderbilt)
This was very well done, I thought. I can’t get enough of the Nuremberg trials and it’s been decades since I first got interested. It’s fascinating, the international cooperation that had to happen – awkwardly – and the whole question of collective guilt and who knew what and who was responsible for what – Russell Crowe is terrific. It’s one of those performances that provides psychological insights into what might have been going on with this guy. It feels real, like … huh, we’ve heard so much about Goring. If you know the story, you know Goring. Rebecca West wrote about him in her dispatches from the trial, trying to drill down into the nuts and bolts of his psychology. He was a charmer, disarmingly so. And so how does that operate, and what was it like to be in the presence of this monster? I wasn’t there obviously but I felt like Crowe didn’t so much have a “take” on the guy, as he has insight.
Elvis (2022; d. Baz Luhrmann)
I don’t know what it is but this movie makes me so emotional, so much so I stay away from it. It fudges the chronology of some sections, which could be misleading to those who don’t know the real timeline – but what it DOES do is so important, in terms of insight (that word again). I was very emotional. It’s been a tough year. A tough couple of years. Elvis helps.
I got to see The Chronology of Water last night. Your comment about inhabiting the film called to mind Lidia asking/demanding of the writing class she was teaching, did the things in your story really happen? A great scene. I loved how the film captured the blur and focus of memory and intoxication. And all the things Lidia did to empty her soul.
I loved the Ken Kesey scenes. I didn’t recall that Lidia’s father showed up for the reading and signing of the book the group wrote. It must have been just another wound that he asked KK to sign the book but not his daughter. Jim Belushi was excellent as Kesey.
And Imogen Poots was completely fascinating. Somewhat like Kristen Stewart in that it’s captivating to watch her think and feel.
I loved the soundtrack, I stayed through the credits because I didn’t want the music to end.
The movie was one long, intense experience. Impressive first feature from KS.
Oops, Lidia’s comment about inhabiting… I shouldn’t comment using my phone when it’s a pain to scroll up and down to check things. 🤦♂️
Belushi was so fantastic – what a great piece of casting. He has been so complimentary towards Stewart – he called her a “shaman” and also thanked her for giving his best role in years (I’d actually say almost ever). I totally believed every second of it – and I love how the film has this structure where some things are seen only in passing, and other things we get actual scenes and narrative. Which is how memory works – the film gets more structured as Lidia gets older and some of her memories and experiences actually solidify.
And also the adaptation is so good, I think. it actually captures Lidia’s book – which is the hardest thing, I imagine – you really want to get that part of it right. Stewart is VERY articulate about all of this – her press tour has been great! She’s like – I want people to be patient, to hear someone talking to themselves out loud, figuring something out. It’s in that space where audiences get impatient where … lying starts to happen. We (the generic we) want to skip over the mess of that not-knowing-but-figuring-it-out part.
I debated whether I wanted to reread the book before seeing the movie and I’m glad I didn’t. It resonates with the movie to have more memories of feelings about the book and Lidia’s story, rather than waiting for an accounting of what happened. It was easier to go along with the movie, I think. And as you said, what a great adaptation.
yeah I always say this about adaptations – it’s most important that you capture the feel and essence, not “what happened” – feel/essence is the hardest thing to capture but this film did.
and finally – If you haven’t seen it , highly recommend the “direcctors on directors” series – sponsored by Variety – similar to their actors on actors series – two people paired up for a free flowing un-moderated discussion. Kristen Stewart and Jesse Eisenberg’s just launched – last week, I think. They’ve worked together I think three times – known each other forever – so it’s really fascinating, because they are so comfortable with each other. I watch all of the videos in that series – they’re usually interesting – but this one is next level!
Here it is.
Thanks for the link. We should all be so lucky as to be interviewed by Jesse Eisenberg.
I loved so much of what KS had to say. One thing that stuck with me was about the movie needing to stay adolescent until it became wise. Another was about needing to find seminal images to provide an invitation to the audience to remain patient and trust that what is to come will be rewarding.
A great conversation.
// We should all be so lucky as to be interviewed by Jesse Eisenberg. //
lol I don’t know about that. He’s very awkward. This was fascinating because he was comfortable – or as comfortable as he gets, and also super curious about his friend – whom he knows well – making this crazy unexpected thing.
also totally willing to not talk about himself. or self-deprecating – which then opens up space for other things to happen. I loved it!
// We had a good discussion after. //
This is my favourite part, which you always mention when watching things with the kids. They are so lucky to grow up in a family where Auntie she-she wants to watch what interests them, and grown ups engage in conversation with them. It really makes me happy.
What a nice observation, Lyrie! Thank you! I love talking about things with them – this was especially fun since it was something they had seen and I hadn’t (a rarity). There’s a “twist” and a “reveal” – and we talked about when we had a feeling that what we were seeing might be … something else.
It’s a story about grief and loneliness and so there’s a lot to talk about.
Also it was so nice to just be sitting there crying with my sister, my 16 year old and 12 year old niece. Crying over art. It’s such a simple thing but it’s so important, it’s why art is there!!
I remember walking out of the AFI Silver after seeing Elvis in 2022 and going “Hell if I can tell you if I actually liked that or not, but damn, that kid was great.” It’s a real thrill, and real fitting for the material, to see a star is born performance like that.
I loved Nouvelle Vague too. Honestly, I think it was a much better movie about a young striver bullshitting his way to a cherished dream than Marty Supreme as well.
Hey there! Nice to hear your thoughts!
// Honestly, I think it was a much better movie about a young striver bullshitting his way to a cherished dream than Marty Supreme as well. //
that’s a great point.
I love the haphazard-ness of it – and also I love just how … Godardian Godard is. lollll The script was so good – because we all know how Godard spoke. He really did talk like that. these grand proclamations droned in this monotone –
But I also loved how the film showed his playfulness. He wasn’t some “mastermind”, the glorious auteur – he was a guy with his friends doing something and making it up as he went. He was actually appealing, even with all of his frosty declarations about art and cinema and commerce.
I really loved it. And as a fan of Zoey Deutch for years – I just loved seeing her in this.
and yeah Austin. He’ll never shake Elvis. What an impossible task. and I’m STRICT about this. I don’t like biopics or Elvis imitators – I’m fine with HOMAGES but I just can’t with anything else because the original Elvis is just so perfect.
But Austin caught the flame. and he got the important parts (according to me, lol. that’s all that matters) – and his Elvis appeared to be actually alive. He doesn’t even LOOK like him. it was the FEEL he got.
“And as a fan of Zoey Deutch for years – I just loved seeing her in this.”
I was honestly surprised this didn’t get talked up more as one of the best performances of the year frankly. Not lifeless biopic mimicry, but she was so good at capturing a flighty, sharp young woman who is beginning to sense the unhappiness that is going to end up devouring her life far too soon.
// as one of the best performances of the year frankly //
absolutely.
She had a very light touch with it. She was in the moment. She didn’t burden Jean with foreshadowing – you know, playing the end at the beginning. Because her approach was so light – there’s a haunted quality to it. Like, WE know Jean Seberg’s end, but SHE – the character in the film – doesn’t. And I feel that when I watch Breathless too.
I really loved what she did.
Kind of wandering off thread here a bit, not out of place I hope…
I have to confess I DIDN’T actually know Jean Seberg’s end, though I did have a general sense there was a story there, so the discussion above sent me to Wikipedia, and—again, not the main point here I know, forgive me that this is what struck me—man, Romain Gary turns up everywhere. this is the 2nd time in a month I’ve run into his name while looking at something else
Back on topic, my god what a horrific end for Jean Seberg, I had no idea. Maybe this is reading too much into it, but the Wikipedia editors seem to be casting suspicions at Ahmed Hasni. But I guess the police found a suicide note? What’s this current thinking there, do you know?
Hey Mike! Good to hear from you!
John Garfield died of a heart attack at 39 but I consider it to be murder because of the level of harassment he was receiving from the HUAC. They wanted nothing less than to destroy him utterly. He was a big fish and they wanted to take him down. He died from the stress. It’s their fault.
I put Seberg’s death in the same category. She was harassed and tailed for years by the FBI – for supporting the Black Panthers. She was a card carrying member of the NAACP as a teenager. She wasn’t in some ivory tower. She was heavily involved. This put her on the FBI’s radar. (The movie Seberg – with Kristen Stewart – focuses mostly on her activism and the harassment she endured.) They went after her in the most disgusting predatory ways. They tried to destroy her. They did destroy her. She couldn’t take it.
So I consider it murder.
There are definitely lots of wild theories out there. She did not have good taste in men and she was pretty habituated to abuse. Hollywood was also horrific to her. The universal critical scorn heaped on her head for her debut as Joan of Arc was a pile-on. so extreme you wonder what the hell is wrong with all you people. The PR campaign “announcing” her backfired.
The last years of her life were sheer hell. And yeah, Ahmed Hasni sounds like he was a user, one of those bottom feeders who hovers around when someone is down. It’s just an awful story.
the fact that her body was in that car for 10 days just hurts my heart.
Ah yes, I kind of missed the point there, focussing on Hasni rather than the federal harassment. You know, I did read on the Wikpedia page about the FBI harassment, but something about the Hasni part distracted me from the role that obviously played in driving her to death, seemed like an unsolved mystery I guess. But yes, I share your point of view (but still need to read more about Seberg.) Jesus, the FBI did it to Billie Holiday too
(Gonna leave this here & reply to your other comment, there)
…& of course the Feds are just murdering people on the streets here in MN. I wasn’t sure it was, I don’t know, proper to continue this discussion at the moment. But you have to keep living, & I’m not actually in the twin cities, can’t seem to find if there’s any protest in my town. I don’t seem to be on the right mailing lists (though I’m on several), & refuse to join Facebook where a lot of info does seem to get shared
I did not realize you lived there. I’m so sad and mad. Words can’t convey my feelings. I stand with Minnesota! And anyone standing up to this disgusting tyranny.
Indivisible is a good resource for local events, if you haven’t checked them out. There’s a RI “chapter” so I’ve been using them for intel, and protest information.
We are in this together. An attack on one of us is an attack on all of us.
and where else did Romain Gary show up for you? that’s interesting!
Have you seen Nouvelle Vague yet? He’s definitely a presence in it, at her side, as she does this crazy movie project where nobody has a plan.
I just started on both Nouvelle Vague (Netflix) & Seberg (Prime) last night, risking the likelihood that they will be all mixed up in my head by time I’m done, but oh well
Romain Gary, a timeline
-Saw the John Huston adaptation of Gary’s novel Roots of Heaven years ago
-About a year & a half ago I finally caught Costa-Gavras’s Missing when it was on Criterion Channel. Early on, when Sissy Spacek is trying to get information about her missing husband at the US Consulate, the smarmy consular front-desk guy is reading Roots of Heaven
(I actually bought & started Roots of Heaven, but set it aside in frustration at the long, slow, introduction of characters part; maybe I’ll get back to it some day)
-Couple weeks ago I googled around to refresh my memories about a Thomas Pynchon story I’d read years before, b/c wanted to quote it on Bluesky or wherever & wanted to get the details right. The story, which I heard & remembered from long before I’d ever heard of Romain Gary, is that “some author” had claimed in a letter to the NYT that Pynchon lifted the character name Genghis Cohen (from Crying of Lot 49) from this author’s obscure novel. Checking the details, it turns out the author was Romain Gary & the novel, The Dance of Genghis Cohn. (Pynchon’s reply also in NYT letters, roughly: “If Mr Gary thinks he’s the only one that thought of making a pun about Genghis Cohen, he has worse problems than being plagiarized”)
Anyway, since I’d long known the story & had even quoted it with “some author/their obscure novel”, I was quite struck to find Romain Gary involved, now that I knew who he was
-Then just yesterday, lo & behold, he was married to Jean Seberg. Guy’s everywhere
Not that many examples I guess, but striking couple of coincidences, to me
Okay that is quite a trail of bread crumbs!!
// “If Mr Gary thinks he’s the only one that thought of making a pun about Genghis Cohen, he has worse problems than being plagiarized” //
lol
Finished Nouvelle Vague last night. What a picture!
Zoey Deutch really was amazingly good. It’s funny if someone had asked me, even in the last 2 weeks, did I know her work, I would’ve said I know the name but never seen; but in fact, just 2 weeks ago I saw her in The Outfit, where she was also terrific. Though I often need to see someone in 2 things before I can track them as an actor, instead of just the 1 character I know
Also, your comment about Austin Butler’s Elvis “He doesn’t even LOOK like him. it was the FEEL he got”, made me think Christian McKay in Linklater’s Me & Orson Welles, same deal, no real resemblance, really felt like the guy. (I almost said “another Linklater film”, but not Elvis obviously, but on my mind b/c of Nouvelle Vague)
Zoey!! I think her first major part was in Everybody Wants Some – she was the theatre girl and she was lovely. I’ve reviewed a couple of things starring her – one where she becomes the kingpin of a debt collection agency – super sketchy – in a movie called Buffaloed (directed by Tanya Wexler, whom I really like). She’s an anti-hero there, a grifter and natural con-woman, she’s fantastic. And then she was also adorable in a rom com with Glen Powell called Set It Up – which strains credulity at points – but they are so cute together. She was also very good in Eastwood’s Juror #2.
She always seems like a person. But she’s also strong enough to hold the center. She’s funny, she can be quite screwball, but she’s also able to be just simple and believable. I highly recommend Buffaloed – it’s based on the very real situation of the debt collection “industry” clustered in Buffalo, NY. always on the lookout for american films that actually address class issues and wealth disparity in a thoughtful way.
AFAICT the only one of those readily available to me is Set It Up which is on Netflix. Others are rentable
Some streamer had Everybody Wants Some a while ago but I was at movie saturation when it hit leaving-at-end-of-month status, so I didn’t get through it. Been waiting for it to drift back across the transom
Did you see The Outfit? Directed by one Graham Moore, otherwise unknown to me, basically a Mark Rylance vehicle (can never remember his name, recently upgraded him from “whatsisname” to “Mark whatsisname”), Deutch I would say is the 2nd prominent role but it’s a big step down from #1. I guess Moore also wrote & won the adapted screenplay Oscar for The Imitation Game, which I never saw
Anyway it was good, like I said a Mark Rylance vehicle, he’s in basically every scene. He plays the guy who makes suits for this one mob outfit in post WW2 Chicago, till one day by happenstance his mob ties get too close for comfort. Zoey Deutch is the neighborhood girl who works at the shop, whom he looks at like an adopted daughter, & who draws the attention of the mobsters gathering in the shop. How will this powder keg situation resolve itself?
I guess everyone’s doing what are supposed to be Chicago accents, & while I’m no Chicagoan they sound to me more like they’re shooting for Boston or other northeastern accents, but not quite hitting. (Except Rylance, who’s playing an English emigre who still has the native accent)
Speaking of american films that address class issues & wealth disparity, asking since I finally caught up with Anora early this month: any thoughts? Google finds you mentioning it only in your 2024 Natl Soc of Film Critics post, as an also-ran in some categories, so I presume you did not think much. But it certainly is trying to look at class & wealth disparity
I found it a mix of liking the performances but disliking the unpleasant story. Specifically the sequence where the oligarch’s goons show up at the house where Anora & her john/husband are shacked up, they stretch out Anora’s rude awakening about five times too long, and it was deeply unpleasant. Which was obviously the point but, did not like. Probably didn’t help that I had only the vague idea that it was “poor girl marries rich guy,” so was expecting more Pretty Woman/My Fair Lady style happy ending. On the other hand I really liked Mikey Madison’s performance, seemed like a perfectly fine best-actress choice, to the extent I could tell w/o seeing the other nominees
Everybody Wants Some is one of my favorite Linklaters! I wrote the review for Ebert and then wrote about it again in this crazy piece for Film Comment where I compare it to Shane.
I have not seen The Outfit – Mark Rylance is a theatrical legend who then got a boost with the TV adaptation of Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall trilogy – where he plays Thomas Cromwell (the lead) – and he’s great – I hesitated to even see it because I love those books so much. He did it onstage first, I believe. and then of course he showed up in Dunkirk too. and other things!
I liked Mikey Madison – she was also great as Susan Atkins in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood – she was memorable even if she never showed up in anything ever again!
I actually thought Anora was pretty silly and I was a little surprised by the response to it. I was like, wow, people are taking this very seriously!!
I liked the pace and the vibe and she was great but … to what end? Baker’s The Florida Project was much more pointed and realistic in its dealing with class issues and income disparity I thought!
Thanks for the pointer to Indivisible, & for the encouraging words, checking the Indivisible page out right now
To be honest I’m as remote from the Twin Cities stuff as anyone, living about 2 hours south, I’m not in any kind of war zone. All extremely chilling even at a distance, obviously
& Indivisible has a local chapter in my town w/ bluesky account & everything, so at least I should be in the information loop now, so thank you again for that pointer
Glad to be of help. Indivisible is a great resource! and they are VERY organized! Like I said – an attack on you all – or anyone really – is an attack on all of us. Citizen or no. This is wrong.
Yeah I’m pretty sure one of your pieces is where I heard of Everybody Wants Some in the first place. It’s funny, or maybe it’s just me, but Linklater’s work seems to fly strangely under the radar for a director as prominent as he is. Like, I think I’d heard of Nouvelle Vague but didn’t clock it as a Linklater until your discussion upthread here. Whereas when a Wes or PT Anderson (or Eastwood or Scorsese or Coen or…) comes out, I certainly would know who directed it. I don’t think I have Linklater on some kind of “do not notice” status, I think it’s that his work doesn’t get as much attention, which seems weird
I know Rylance’s reputation, this (the Outfit) is the first of his work I’ve seen since his smallish role as Anne Boleyn’s dad in the Other Boleyn Girl (part of his ongoing tour of Henry VIII’s court). Wolf Hall the TV show continues avoiding my subscribed streamers more’s the pity, loved the books
I think his under-the-radar-ness is Linklater’s superpower! He had TWO movies out this year – both of which which made it to a lot of critics top lists – and Blue Moon got two Oscar noms! He works by stealth and – as far as I can tell – he makes very few compromises. He does his own thing. He makes Boyhood over 12 years. Like, who does that. He does the Before trilogy over literally 30 years. Stealth.