This afternoon, the Seattle Film Critics Society (which counts a few of us as members) announced nominations for the 2025 SFCS Awards. Dominating the nominations was Ryan Coogler’s Sinners with fourteen, Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another with twelve, and Clint Bentley’s Pacific Northwest-set Train Dreams with eight.
Ella McCay is a lighter look at the dirty world of politics
Ella McCay (Emma Mackey), from the time she had a voice of her own, stood up for the people who wouldn’t or couldn’t stand up for themselves. She’s had a fire inside that pushed her, unfortunately, to become a civil servant, but she seemed to love it… most of the time. Add a husband that had potential but made the decision to walk the other way, a boss who cared more about himself than his constituents or staff, and a father that shouldn’t have become a father. Every man in her life proved over and over that she couldn’t depend on anyone to help her so she just had to help herself.
Notes from the Screener Pile: My Undesirable Friends, The Secret Agent, Resurrection
In this dispatch a trio of very long movies about life under authoritarianism: prescient, reflective, and futuristic.
Elf: The Musical ushers in the most wonderful time of the year at the 5th Avenue Theatre
But the concept of a thirty-something Will Ferrell playing an, uhh, elf, too large and too human for the North Pole being left alone in New York with only a sweet tooth that requires bidaily dental visits and a snow globe in search of the father who doesn’t know he exists, and that father is Sonny Corleone, is basically too irresistible to fail.
Josh’s Favorite Films of 2025
As the year winds to a close, we’re sharing lists of our favorite films we’ve seen (so far).
Seattle Film Critics announce 10 best films of 2025 and nominees for annual awards
This afternoon, the Seattle Film Critics Society (which counts a few of us as members) announced nominations for the 2025 SFCS Awards. Dominating the nominations was Ryan Coogler’s Sinners with fourteen, Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another with twelve, and Clint Bentley’s Pacific Northwest-set Train Dreams with eight.
What would you do with Eternity?
It’s the eternal question (pardon the pun), but what happens when we die? Nothing? The best things? The most mundane things? Well, Eternity offers on a more romantic take with every day being your best day ever, but the rub is you have to choose what that means the moment you arrive in the afterlife and no take backs. For Larry Cutler, it’ll always be with Joan but she may have other plans.
The Thing With Feathers digs into the macabre of loss
A middle-aged man loses his wife unexpectedly and so quickly that it leaves a gaping hole in his chest that can’t be quelled. He’s nearly paralyzed by grief, but he has two young boys to care for. Instead of dealing with the emotional fallout, he bottles it up inside until it swallows him whole. The manifestation of his pain comes in the form of a crow, starting as a normal bird, but with time becomes twisted, grotesque and incessant.
Rian Johnson’s terrific Knives Out mysteries hit peak form with Wake Up Dead Man
The latest Knives Out finds onetime boxer turned small town priest wrapped up in a thorny and inexplicable murder of a controversial Monsignor. A warm embrace in a world of wolves, this third iteration in the ongoing Benoit Blanc series represents a major emotional leap for the franchise while demonstrating its dexterity to reshape itself to meet the the current mood.
Neither art or family come easy in Joachim Trier’s exquisite Sentimental Value
It’s been quite a year for films about fathers reckoning with the consequences of having prioritizing careers over family or making art as a balm for old wounds, none yet have come close to holding a candle to the carefully-crafted emotional effectiveness of Joachim Trier’s spectacular Sentimental Value.