Jordan Baker

Marisa Abela, my god.

2020 - First Cow
2021 - Memoria
2022 - Tar
2023 - Asteroid City
2024 - The Beast
2025 - One Battle After Another

They just executed Kid Rock. I am pro life and take no pl-

We did it, Joe.

New to me: January 2026

Dragon Inn (1967)
The Green Ray (1986)
Lost In America (1985)
Peter Hujar’s Day (2025)

Secret Agent/Joachim Trier to Panahi.

Kit Harington-centric Industry episode.

there is no reason for ICE to exist. immigrants aren’t doing anything wrong by trying to live and work and provide for their loved ones. I don’t care how people got here. if they want to be here that’s good. leave them alone.

I know I should’ve just muted/blocked and moved on…however…

Identify him.

35 today.

1. One Battle After Another (Paul Thomas Anderson)

The kind of movie you hope for every year: one that grabs you by the throat from its opening moments and keeps finding ways of surprising you. Panoramic in scope yet intimate in detail. A sustained, symphonic achievement.

2. Resurrection (Bi Gan)

The rare movie about the magic of movies that is, itself, magic. A head-spinning, wondrous, and varied feat of imagination. Rapturous final image and music cue. Justice for the noir chapter!

3. Bugonia (Yorgos Lanthimos)

Every bit the 21st century successor to Wertmuller’s Summer Night… that I’d hoped it would be. Plemons and Stone are ideally mismatched in their contrasting modes of speech and behavior. Funny and bittersweet. Let your conscience guide you!

4. Magellan (Lav Diaz)

This year’s La Chimera (it barely qualified but it DID qualify!), eligibility-wise. An immense achievement of historical interrogation that never slips into didacticism. The images (and what tremendous images they are) do all the talking that’s needed.

5. Caught by the Tides (Jia Zhang-ke)

I’m not well versed in Jia’s earliest work/ docs, but I still fell for this audacious experiment of reverse engineered collage. A sweeping, evocative portrait of Chinese growth that evolves into an aching, elegiac drama. Zhao Tao!

6. Marty Supreme (Josh Safdie)

Bulldozed my general hesitation toward the Safdie ticks, minus the dog business. Propulsive and expansive where it counts, while still making room for small scale, character-driven pleasures. Could have watched TC/Paltrow phone flirt for an hour.

7. The Testament of Ann Lee (Mona Fastvold)

A gorgeous examination of faith and ritual as a means of making sense of life’s cruelties and hardships. Beautifully sung and choreographed…if only I could see more of the interiors. Ship is sequence full of thrilling juxtapositions.

8. The Mastermind (Kelly Reichardt)

The best O’Connor film (not performance) of the year, buoyed by a terrific sense of time and place. Just when it seems to lose its way on the road, Reichardt wraps up with a final shot that superbly ties in the subtle historical backdrop.

9. Sentimental Value (Joachim Trier)

Trier pulls off a deft balancing act moving his quartet of actors in and out of dramatic orbit. Though it’s partially a state-of-the-industry piece, the commentary is never glib, especially when it comes to the handling of Fanning’s arc.

10. Parthenope (Paolo Sorrentino)

A movie that does not cross the line into greatness that is still more interesting than more respectable fest titles. Here is a beautiful young woman’s journey that sees its creator actively engaging with his (and our) limitations of perspective.

11. The Ice Tower (Lucile Hadzihalilovic)

Another style-driven hidden gem that boasts a star-making performance from Clara Pacini. Utilizes darkness so well in its palette it feels like a revelation in an era of sludge. A superlative dark and meta fairy tale.

12. Reflection in a Dead Diamond (Helene Cattet+Bruno Forzani)

A giddy stylistic homage that never becomes tiresome. An ambitious Venture Bros. episode cranked up to 15 out of 10 that’s also, rather slyly, about more than it initially lets on. Gonzo bliss.

13. The Secret Agent (Kleber Mendonça Filho)

I wasn’t initially sold on every narrative digression, but Filho does craft an immersive period piece always willing to zig when you’re convinced it has to zag. Moura’s the star, but the ensemble is what gives this a pulse.

14. Black Bag (Steven Soderbergh)

A real “remember when movies actually felt *written*?” kind of shot in the arm. A cast of pros (and a Bridgerton guy) who take Koepp’s taut, juicy material and make it sing. Marisa Abela, we salute you. “When are you gonna poly me, George?”