Never mind all the charm and talent. That much of Isiah is always onscreen and utterly obvious. Instead, a last word to let everyone know what isn't evidenced on film: He was an even better person than he was an actor; a warm and gracious delight of a man. Goodbye, friend.

My 35 favorite older films I watched for the first time last year.

Just a reminder that you should subscribe to my newsletter if you like any of the following: ✅ films directed by women ✅ older films you've probably never heard of ✅ film festival coverage ✅ silent films 🎟️ oldfilmsflicker.substack.com/NewYears2025

For the night crowd

icmyi

It feels weird to share one's work today, but here's my favorite first-time watches from 2025. It's 25 films! Read: 812filmreviews.substack.com/p/favorite-f...

Thankfully I get a break from today's news to watch three films **checks notes** about racism. Yay! (it's for a listicle I'm writing that's due Monday)

In this week’s guide: the new historical musical drama by Mona Fastvold, my fave film by Jane Campion, the shorts of Mary Stephen, my fave stop motion short by Niki Lindroth von Bahr, underseen films by Susan Seidelman & Patricia Rozema, and a video installation by Larissa Sansour and Youmna Chlala.

It’s 2026 which means I have a book coming out this year!!!!!! It’s for everyone who is curious about the cosmos 🙏🏽 Please preorder (from indies!) because it helps authors a lot — some places are having a sale right now like @loyaltybooks.bsky.social (code CHILL10) as well as your physical B&N 🌈 💙📚

For the night crowd

2026 is already wild. I just hit 20k followers on @letterboxd.social? 👀

Here’s my round-up of everything I watched and everything I wrote in December!

It’s been a helluva year!

🙏🏾

A beautiful way to start the new year - support Robert's @812filmreviews.com goal below ❤️ Pls donate & spread the word!

Through a great amount of effort, I found a way to read this year. Here are my 10 favorite books of 2025.

This is the 17th(!!!) edition of my Favorite Fifteen Films of the Year post

oh no www.vulture.com/article/ever...

You can add Dead Man’s Wire to this trend.

The least useful people on this site, and for my profession, are those who feel compelled to point out / complain about paywalls. If you want some things you have to pay for them, And if you want to keep getting them you have to support those who create them.

I am very proud to announce that you can now preorder my new novel CONNERY @plumeriapics.bsky.social which will be released 23 February 2026. We don’t do Amazon because they’re bastards so please preorder direct from the site. plumeriapics.co.uk/shop/ols/pro...

I just wrote a long tribute about a Black actor who I think low-key made 1990s what they were (stay tuned!!)

I was inspired last night, so I wrote up a diary post about the John Wilson exhibition at the MET and the death of Brigitte Bardot.

One of my goals for next year.

Robert is one of my favorite film critics especially in this volatile industry. Please support if you can.

One of my goals for next year.

A new diary post about "Hunger & Thirst" from THE TESTAMENT OF ANN LEE: why it's been stuck in my head and what I'm looking forward to in 2026. [this is a paywalled post]

This post is long because I went through a lot this year, from publishing a book to losing my Dad, and everything in between.

Some very brief thoughts.

My consistent editing note: I think you should cut about half these adjectives.

“I’ve spent a lot of my life trying to move trauma out of my body." For @indiewire.com, I had the privilege to speak with choreographer Celia Rowlson-Hall about her wondrous work on Mona Fastvold’s historical musical THE TESTAMENT OF ANN LEE.

My final Directed By Women Viewing Guide of the year features 70 new releases (and restorations) that I have recommended throughout the year that you can now watch on streaming or rent, just in case you missed them during their theatrical release (plus some streaming films that bear repeating).

My final action column of the year is live!!

Merry Christmas #BlackSky

Rewatched IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE at the @musicboxtheatre.bsky.social and made maybe favorite line in film history my Letterboxd log.

For the night crowd

sad to report the new Kevin Bacon/Kyra Sedgwick movie is not very good at all My review for @ebertvoices.bsky.social:

I had so much fun revisiting the movie Waiting to Exhale and its impact, which might be even bigger than you remember, for NPR. 30 years later, 'Waiting to Exhale' endures www.npr.org/2025/12/24/n...

I wrote my top five of top tens open.substack.com/pub/jbleasda...

A reminder: For @letterboxd.social I wrote up a starter pack of Black Christmas to watch this holiday season!

IF I HAD LEGS I'D KICK YOU "is a film that is at times viscerally uncomfortable to watch, the ultimate filmic embodiment of walking a mile in someone else’s deeply stressed-out shoes." I wrote the film's cinematography for @ebertvoices.bsky.social Read: www.rogerebert.com/features/the...

For the night crowd

Everything in here is worth your time, but I particularly encourage reading the final one in this roundup. It's great writing about two films I wasn't previously aware of, and it's worth thinking about.

It's been a packed year of writing from me. Here are 12 pieces I'm happy to have written in 2025.

Got my contributor’s copy of the new issue of Documentary Magazine, my first ever cover story.

I’ve been working on this one for a minute. With Criterion releasing DAVID BYRNE’S AMERICAN UTOPIA, for @letterboxd.social I surveyed Spike Lee’s rich history as a musical director. Read: letterboxd.com/journal/spik...

Final share as you head into your weekend.

Watching BARTON FINK on Criterion Channel with @812filmreviews.com, so here’s this piece I wrote about the film’s inspirations for @nerdist.bsky.social a few years ago

In this week's guide: a new docu-drama from an Oscar-nominated Tunisian director, the new doc by Laura Poitras and Mark Obenhaus, a collection of short films, an experimental doc, a biopic of artist Niki de Saint-Phalle, a Canadian winter-set animated short, and a screwball comedy by Rebecca Miller

"Hawke allows this desperation to seep in slowly, like a balloon letting out air over the course of a party." At @ebertvoices.bsky.social I wrote about Ethan Hawke's masterful work in BLUE MOON as one the year's great performances Read: www.rogerebert.com/features/the...