A third of 2025 is through. Here are the films I watched.
That's right, it's May. It'll be summer soon. Back to school. And before you know it, you're picking this year's Christmas tree. But before it gets to that, here's my pick of movies I loved so far.
Raging Bull
dir. Martin Scorsese (1980)
Yes, I have only now had the privilege of seeing this classic, and I’m glad I waited for an opportunity on the big screen. Back in my teens when I was discovering the classics and working my way through “obligatory viewings”, I had seen so many films on poorly transferred VHS tapes, or with advert interruptions, that my initial experience of them is tainted. Raging Bull has avoided this fate. The true story of middleweight champion boxer Jake LaMotta and his life in the 1940s and 50s. If you’re put off by the idea of a movie about boxing, don’t be. This is about so much more. Robert de Niro had given LaMotta’s book to Martin Scorsese when the director had developed a bad drug habit. The story is about how our flaws can tear us down despite our gifts and achievements; the conflict between greatness and frailty. And if you love Cinema, it doesn’t get much more Cinema than this. The sound and the cinematography is some of the best, most visceral ever. As a result, it’s not an easy watch. It is physical and intimate. Several times you feel like you shouldn’t be in the room. Nor in the ring. Written by Paul Schrader who previously wrote Taxi Driver, which was also shot by cinematographer Michael Chapman, Robert de Niro won the Oscar for this, as did Scorsese’s sidekick editor Thelma Schoonmaker. It’s also one of Joe Pesci’s best performances. The de Niro / Pesci dynamic has always been one of film’s great double acts, and this was their first time together.
Widely available across several streaming platforms, and on Criterion Blu-ray, as well as regularly played at local cinemas if you’re lucky.
Variety
dir. Bette Gordon (1983)
I discovered Variety whilst walking around a DVD and Bluray market; yes, they do still exist, and their role is even more crucial, evidenced by the consistent discovering of new movies thanks to wandering around, some artwork catching your eye, you pick up the boxes, the people selling them know their stuff so you start chatting with them,… Physical media continues to be an important part of discovering new films and the culture of talking about them. On the disc’s cover art, above the title, was the quote “A feminist Vertigo - LA Weekly”. Boom, I had to see it. Plus, the artwork portraying a woman at the ticket booth of a movie theatre. Set in the early 1980s, Christine is desperately unemployed and agrees to take up a job selling tickets at a porn cinema on New York’s Times Square, complicating her relationship with her boyfriend, and drawn to a mysterious patron who she starts to follow around across Manhattan, in a Brian de Palma-esque game of cat-and-mouse. Plenty of names here to drew in true lovers of indie films: photographer Nan Goldin plays her best friend. A young Luis Guzman (Boogie Nights, Magnolia, Wednesday) plays the warm and genuinely friendly manager of the porn theatre. And the smooth jazz soundtrack is composed by the multi-talented John Lurie who starred in Jim Jarmusch’s Stranger Than Paradise (another one of my favourites).
Available on Blu-ray, MUBI in some territories, and free on archive.org on this link.
I’m Still Here
dir. Walter Salles (2024)
Work was particularly busy at the start of this year so I wasn’t fully clued-in on all the Oscars buzz that usually takes place at that time. After a gruelling day a dear colleague suggested we go to the cinema to see this. I had no clue what it was. Brazil’s submission for this year’s Oscars was all I found out going in. And from the first frame I was bathed in its splendour. Director Walter Salles tells the true story of a loving family in Rio de Janeiro in the 1970s, who we spend time with, enjoying life but with the undercurrent of a military dictatorship present in the background. Honestly I could have spent the entire movie just following this family in their day-to-day lives. But then one day, the father disappears, taken away for questioning. After some waiting, it is up to the mother, Eunice Paiva, to find out what happened as she navigates through the dangers of a dictatorship. A massively engaging watch with a lot of heart that despite its subject matter elevated our spirits. But it is equally a warning from the very recent past, a portrait of how things can go wrong very quickly.
Available to rent and purchase across several platforms including Prime and Curzon.
The Amateur
dir. James Hawes (2025)
Rami Malek is out for revenge, and boy is he gonna kick some ass! But not in the Taken kinda way we’ve recently become accustomed to, because he’s not physically very strong, and he can’t bring himself to fire a gun. He has an other, different, very special set of skills. The comparisons to The Bourne Identity are all over the place (the internet is having a fun time calling it Jason Bourne’s IT guy), from the palette in the cinematography, the establishing shots when hopping around from city to city, and even certain signatures in the soundtrack. And just like the Bourne movies, The Amateur is smarter than it lets on. That was a fun 2 hours at the movies!
Currently in cinemas.
The Holdovers
dir. Alexander Payne (2024)
A boarding school in 1970s New England is closing up for the Christmas break as all the students go to their families. But a small handful of the boys get left behind, and Paul Giamatti is tasked with looking after them through the dull and gloomy winter period. Probably the warmest, funniest, and most heart-breaking films I’ve seen so far this year. It was lauded with award nominations when it came out, including Best Picture at the Oscars, and the cast deservingly received several accolades for their performances - how it didn’t sweep up all of them, I don’t know. But I see this becoming a classic in the long term and potentially annual Christmas viewing; not that anyone needs to wait ‘til then. You can watch this one anytime of the year.
Widely available on different streamers based on location; Netflix in France, NOW TV in the UK, Peacock in the US, and to rent on Prime.
Ash
dir. Flying Lotus (2025)
Always on the look out for a good sci-fi horror, my interest was piqued when I read the synopsis: A woman wakes up bloodied and alone in a room, remembering nothing. She realises she’s on a space station and the rest of the crew are dead. Eliza Gonzales (Baby Driver, Three Body Problem) leads in this space mystery, along with Aaron Paul (Breaking Bad) as the colleague who comes down from a ship orbiting above to help her. Saturated red and blues take over the palette, trippy space visuals, with a synth and orchestra soundtrack, when combined, the sum sits somewhere between Nicholas Winding-Refn (Drive, Only God Forgives) and John Carpenter (The Thing, The Fog), with a pinch of Cronenberg (The Fly, Videodrome) and Alien as the plot unfolds.
Widely available on Prime.
It’s What’s Inside
dir. Greg Jardin (2024)
Speaking of trippy… A group of students meet in a house for a party amongst close friends, and are surprised when one of the gang, long gone from the group, reappears out of nowhere and brings with him a new top secret invention - one that allows for people to swap bodies. Does it all go to plan and they have a night of crazy fun? No of course not. I can’t remember the last time I yelled “What the hell is this movie?!” out loud at the screen! It’s a hell of a lot of fun with a mind-bending plot that will keep you guessing and on your toes.
Widely available on Netflix.
Seen anything good these last few months? Let me know!
Love the crazy mix of films from old to new. You reminded that I wanted to see The Amateur. Looking forward to discovering that movie.