Ten Best Films (ranked order)
The Secret Agent, Kleber Mendonça Filho (1st)
| The Secret Agent | |
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Brazilian theatrical release poster
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Sirāt, Oliver Laxe (2nd)
| Sirāt | |
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Spanish theatrical release poster
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Sinners, Ryan Coogler (3rd)
| Sinners | |
|---|---|
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Theatrical release poster
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One Battle After Another, Paul Thomas Anderson (4th)
Marty Supreme, Josh Safdie (5th)
Sentimental Value, Joachim Trier (6th)
It Was Just an Accident, Jafar Panahi (7th)
Blue Moon, Richard Linklater (8th)
Sound of Falling, Mascha Schilinski (9th)
Hamnet, Chloe Zhao (10th)
Note:
I expect some of the above movies to be nominated for the Best Picture Oscar and other awards (stay tuned).
Half of the 10 best films are international (non-English), and 5 world premiered at the 2025 Cannes Film Fest (in May).
My Oscar Book
Movies I also liked (Runners-up, A to Z)
Afternoons of Solitude, Albert Sera
Black Bag, Steven Soderbergh
BLKNWS: Terms & Conditions, Kahlil Joseph
Bugonia, Yorgos Lanthimos
Caught by the Tides, Jia Zhang-ke
Cover-Up, Laura Poitras and Mark Obenhaus
F1: The Movie, Joseph Kosinski
The Materialists, Celine Song
My Undesirable Friends: Part I — Last Air in MoscowJulia Loktev
Lurker, Alex Russell
No Other Choice, Park Chan-wook
Nouvelle Vague, Richard Linklater
Orwell: 2+2=5, Raoul Peck
The Perfect Neighbor, Geeta Gandbhir
The President’s Cake, Hasan Hadi
Resurrection, Bi Gan
Souleymane’s Story, Boris Lojkine
Train Dreams, Clint Bentley
Weapons, Zach Cregger
My Indie Cinema Book
Note:
Steven Soderbergh and Richard Linklater made a splash this year–each directed two solid films.
Too bad that Soderbergh’s star-driven thriller Black Bag underperformed, though his other, the horror picture Presence, did better commercially.
