Happy holidays! I wrote about my favorite films and first-viewings of the year:

2026 in cinema: Hamaguchi, Jane Schoenbrun, Lee Chang-dong, Mike Leigh, Albert Serra, James Gray, Annie Baker, Spielberg, Almodóvar, Shyamalan, John Wilson, Stephen Cone, Valeska Grisebach, Cristian Mungiu, Nolan, Fincher, 𝘮𝘢𝘺𝘣𝘦 Terrence Malick and Frank Ocean, and so much more. Read our preview!

Before @thefilmstage.com's 100 most-anticipated films of 2026 feature drops, here are the films coming next year we can heartily recommend:

"What Josh got from Timothée is, for me, mind-blowing. I forgot about all his other performances after this." Darius Khondji talks to @jpraup.bsky.social about crafting the cinematography of #MartySupreme, his prolific year, and why cinema will never die:

My rule every year is that I end my GOTY catch up as soon as Film Stage drops it’s top 50. Now it is movie time. No one ask me to play a video game for like 3 weeks thanks.

AVATAR: FIRE AND ASH gets freaky and dark and weird. My review for @thefilmstage.com

Enjoyed chatting with @oneblakeminute.bsky.social about Kelly Reichardt's brilliant The Mastermind!

This is, like, my platonic ideal of a top whatever list.

Saturday bump for my buddy Ella #filmsky

Adore this truly stellar list! Thank you to all our contributors year-round for providing eloquent appreciations for all 50 selections. I wrote about Carson Lund's timeless hangout movie Eephus.

Before our top 50 films of 2025 arrives, here are the gems mostly left out of the year-end conversation. Highly recommend Who by Fire, Souleymane's Story, The Sparrow in the Chimney, Vulcanizadora, Sanatorium Under the Sign of the Hourglass & Invention!

My favorite docs of 2025: 10. Apocalypse in the Tropics 9. Henry Fonda for President 8. Predators 7. Mr. Scorsese 6. Videoheaven 5. Cover-Up 4. The Perfect Neighbor 3. My Undesirable Friends: Part I – Last Air in Moscow 2. Afternoons of Solitude 1. BLKNWS: Terms & Conditions

Some insufficient, drive-by thoughts on MARTY SUPREME, one of the funnest and funniest movies of the year. Was happy with it not being “about” much, but then it reveals its hand at the last minute and everything snaps into place…

Great to see The Magic Hours included in @thefilmstage.com Holiday gift guide. Impeccable taste thefilmstage.com/the-film-sta...

A great year for feature debuts! My top 5: 5. Urchin (Harris Dickinson) 4. Sorry, Baby (Eva Victor) 3. Familiar Touch (Sarah Friedland) 2. Eephus (Carson Lund) 1. BLKNWS: Terms & Conditions (Kahlil Joseph)

I’m honored that my friends @thefilmstage.com included my prints in their 2025 gift guide! The company they keep is surpassingly great, so make sure you check out all of their recommendations because I know the kind of wonderful nerds you are ❤️💚 thefilmstage.com/the-film-sta...

Kahlil Joseph’s mesmerizing debut BLKNWS: Terms & Conditions, opening in theaters Friday, feels like a living, breathing dispatch from a time beyond ours, ushering in new possibilities for the form. Read @jpraup.bsky.social's Critic's Pick review: thefilmstage.com/sundance-rev...

"The West Memphis Three are free, so who’s talking about some ethical problems that the second film in the Paradise Lost trilogy might have? Other than me." Zodiac Killer Project director Charlie Shackleton talks with @jpraup.bsky.social:

#ZodiacKillerProject is a sui generis, often humorous stream-of-consciousness journey highlighting the ever-mounting mass of repeated cliches of various true-crime documentaries and series. Read @jpraup.bsky.social's Critic's Pick review: thefilmstage.com/sundance-rev...

On Martin Scorsese's 83rd birthday, I had a great time chatting with Mr. Scorsese editor David Bartner about cutting Rebecca Miller's five-hour documentary, why Hugo was left out, showing the director's vulnerability, and much more: thefilmstage.com/mr-scorsese-...

#Rebuilding director Max Walker-Silverman talks with @jpraup.bsky.social about Josh O’Connor’s fragility, the job of art, and approaching editing like a folk song:

Honored to award Julia Loktev's incredible documentary My Undesirable Friends: Part I – Last Air in Moscow with this year's IFSN Advocate Award. A U.S. distributor needs to pick this up!

"When they are talking about ceasefire––and [Trump is] claiming that he has reached a deal––it’s the worst moment in the history of Palestine." Put Your Soul On Your Hand and Walk director Sepideh Farsi discusses her heartbreaking new documentary with @jpraup.bsky.social:

"In Ballad of a Small Player, we are given the gift of Colin Farrell overdoing it. Nobody overdoes it like Colin Farrell, and to take this for granted is a disservice." -- very enjoyable piece by @djmecca.bsky.social

Immensely proud to publish Cory Everett's exhaustively detailed, hugely entertaining deep dive into the influences and inspirations behind Paul Thomas Anderson's One Battle After Another. Enjoy!

One of the essential documentaries of the year, #ThePerfectNeighbor is an indictment of stand-your-ground laws and an account of apathetic policing. Read @jpraup.bsky.social's review as the film arrives in theaters this weekend and comes to Netflix next week: thefilmstage.com/sundance-rev...

thefilmstage.com/one-battle-a... I just came across this amazing interview with the editor of One Battle After Another. Every minute spent reading it is totally worth it. Absolutely incredible. congrats @jpraup.bsky.social

One of my favorite interviews I've ever done. I talked to One Battle After Another editor Andy Jurgensen, who answered every single deep-dive question I asked during our 45-minute conversation.

I chatted with Dennis Lim about the incredible New York Film Festival lineup, his favorite spot to sit in a theater, where to eat near FLC, exclusive news about Hong Sangsoo's next production, and the brilliance of Paul Thomas Anderson's One Battle After Another. Listen!

Attention #NYFF63 press and industry members! With P&I screenings starting today, I've started a channel on the NYFF Discord to discuss P&I updates: check in on the length of lines, screening updates, etc. Join here: discord.gg/JRShQtd8UZ

I cannot tell you how special this is for me. The Quay Brothers are truly one of our great cinematic gifts. Their answers do not disappoint 🙏

It's going to be a major fall. Paul Thomas Anderson, the Safdies, Kathryn Bigelow, James Cameron, Joachim Trier, Richard Linklater x 2, Jafar Panahi, Kleber Mendonça Filho, Hal Hartley, Oliver Laxe, James L. Brooks, Ira Sachs, four films starring Josh O'Connor, and much more in our fall preview.

In celebration of today's Main Slate announcement, I'm thrilled to unveil a brand-new New York Film Festival online archive, featuring Main Slate lineups, never-before-published photographs, and official posters since 1963. Happy exploring!

the first feature-length @sophyromvari.bsky.social joint!

Eva Victor's #SorryBaby is a singular directorial debut of unfiltered frankness in both its tragedy and comedy. Read @jpraup.bsky.social's review:

10 favorite films released so far in 2025: 1. Caught by the Tides 2. The Shrouds 3. Who by Fire 4. Eephus 5. Misericordia 6. Black Bag 7. Sorry, Baby 8. Afternoons of Solitude 9. Sinners 10. Familiar Touch

The new @filmlinc.bsky.social calendar is 🤌🏼🤌🏼🤌🏼 and every theater in the city should steal it. The calendar view with pop-out descriptions and formats!!! (Congrats @jpraup.bsky.social!)

Welcome to a brand-new @filmlinc.bsky.social! 🎉 For the last 18 months, I've been working on a redesign of Film at Lincoln Center's website to make it easier to discover the best in cinema. I'm thrilled to finally share it with the world, happy exploring!

The Darren Aronofsky-produced adaptation of Robert Macfarlane’s book #Underland takes a compelling if straightforward excavation into the depths of our planet. Read @jpraup.bsky.social's review of the Tribeca world premiere:

Favorite first-views of May: The Asthenic Syndrome Born to Win Neighboring Sounds The Mirror

Simón Mesa Soto’s Un Certain Regard jury prize winner #APoet is a darkly humorous, cautionary character study in letting one’s long-lost creative dreams drive every decision in life. Read @jpraup.bsky.social's Cannes review:

Fave podcast. Fave filmmaker. Fave fellas. Give this a listen!

Anne Émond’s Cannes premiere #PeakEverything consolidates ubiquitous, world-ending concerns into a small-scale romantic dramedy that overextends a sense of whimsy. Read @jpraup.bsky.social's review:

Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke’s directorial debut #AUsefulGhost is a strange, tranquil, humorous exploration of the conundrums that would emerge were ghosts an accepted occurrence in everyday life. Read @jpraup.bsky.social's Cannes review: thefilmstage.com/cannes-revie...

Had to write about one of my favorite films. A little about its reception upon release, its bastardized theatrical cut, its take of religion, and its effect on me as a forever-lapsing Catholic ❤️

Favorite first-views of April: 4:44 Last Day on Earth Abraham’s Valley Born on the Fourth of July La Région Centrale Sinners Unlawful Entry

Jia Zhangke, Wes Anderson, Hong Sangsoo, Ethan Coen, Kiyoshi Kurosawa, Alex Ross Perry, Eva Victor, Albert Serra, Christopher McQuarrie, Ari Aster, Joel Potrykus, Ramon Zürcher, Abderrahmane Sissako, and more. Our massive, superhero-free summer movie preview is here:

So much in this talk, such a smart guy, looking forward to his future films. THE LEGEND OF OCHI is a lovely film ❤️

Eva Victor's Sorry, Baby, one of the best films we saw at Sundance, will open on June 27 from A24. Read @jpraup.bsky.social's review:

With #TheTeacher now in theaters, director Farah Nabulsi talks with @jpraup.bsky.social about capturing the daily oppression of the Palestinian community, shooting on location, and the film's heightened emotional resonance since its premiere.