Top Films of 2025

 TOP FILMS OF 2025


Honorable Mentions:


Mickey 17 - Dir. Bong Joon-Ho


It's been six years since Korean filmmaker Bong-Joon Ho released his masterpiece, 2019's global sensation "Parasite." With "Mickey 17," Joon-Ho not only returns to the world of cinema, but returns to the world of sci-fi, something he's executed at high levels with films like 2013's "Snowpiercer" and 2006's "The Host." "Mickey 17" stars Robert Pattinson as a 'exchangeable,' a bottom-of-the-food-chain employee whose whole job is to simply die (and get recopied and brought back). Much like with his previous films, Joon-Ho weaves the socio-political structures of our modern world into the reality of this sci-fi adventure. The existential anxieties of the modern worker are explored, along with the relationship we have to the wealthy and powerful that turn the wheels of our society. "Mickey 17," although not a poetically complex film, still manages to entertain all the same.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

King Kong (1933)

Image
  Merian C. Cooper & Ernest B. Schoedsack's "King Kong" There are many post-Depression American 'box office' films that I have seen in my film studies journey. Most of these post-Depression box office films don't typically sit right with me. The films I have in mind are the gangster and monster films that swept the nation in the early 1930s. These films typically were meant to placate an anxious American audience. However, the depth to their thematic intricacies leave something to be desired. Even without this depth, the 'entertainment' aspect of these films were not very entertaining to me. However, there is one film that utterly surprised me, 1933's adventure epic " King Kong ."   The story is well-known. A group of filmmakers travel to a remote island to take advantage of strange and interesting natural wildlife unknown to the outside world. There they meet an indigenous people, all terrified of a large, monstrous primate living on...
Read more

A Man Escaped (1956)

Image
  Robert Bresson's "A Man Escaped" What struck me most about Robert Bresson's 1956 film " A Man Escaped " was just how much Bresson could do with so little. The plot itself simply revolves around a prisoner of war attempting to escape a Nazi internment camp. All the while, the story's framing, its pace, and its careful observations of the prison escape are all very simple and measured. On paper, the film sounds like a very boring affair. However, despite the simplicity in the plot and execution, " A Man Escaped " is a film full to the brim with suspense, intrigue, and existentialism.  The film is based on a memoir by Andre Devigny, who was a member of the French Resistance during the war. The events that unfold in the film are replicated directly from Andre's experience in Montluc prison (although the film gives this prison a different name). Through Bresson's intimate direction, we watch as our protagonist, called Fontaine in the sto...
Read more

Detour (1945)

Image
  Edgar G. Ulmer's "Detour" The first thing I noticed about Edgar G. Ulmer's 1945 noir classic " Detour " was just how short it was. Clocking in at just over an hour, the film is a breezy watch. On top of this, it reminded me of a " Twilight Zone " episode. I know " The Twilight Zone " wouldn't grace television screens for another 14 years, but the ambiance, narration, and unexpected twists and turns gave the impression of one of its episodes.  As far as film noirs go, " Detour ," although it would never top any list of mine, is still a great entry to the genre. The film touches on themes of fate and inevitability. Can we ever truly escape our fates? The incidents that occur to our protagonist seem like happenstance/accidents. However, they mount up and create an endless web that he gets trapped in. The darkness from the film comes from the impending doom around every corner. At any moment, you're life could turn complet...
Read more