Josh Martin is a PhD Candidate in the Department of Communication Arts at UW-Madison and is the current Project Assistant for the Cinematheque and the Wisconsin Film Festival.
In 2025, I saw just over 50 new releases. Here are my ten favorites, in alphabetical order.
EEPHUS (Carson Lund, 2024)
F1 (Joseph Kosinski, 2025)
IF I HAD LEGS I’D KICK YOU (Mary Bronstein, 2025)
IT WAS JUST AN ACCIDENT (Jafar Panahi, 2025)
MARTY SUPREME (Josh Safdie, 2025)
THE MASTERMIND (Kelly Reichardt, 2025)
ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2025)
ROOFMAN (Derek Cianfrance, 2025)
SINNERS (Ryan Coogler, 2025)
WEAPONS (Zach Cregger, 2025)
In addition, I watched roughly 175 new-to-me repertory titles and discoveries. Here are twenty standouts, also in alphabetical order:
THE BALLAD OF CABLE HOGUE (Sam Peckinpah, 1970)
BATTLES WITHOUT HONOR AND HUMANITY (Kinji Fukusaku, 1973)
CHILLY SCENES OF WINTER (Joan Micklin Silver, 1979)
CITY ON FIRE (Ringo Lam, 1987)
COBRA (George P. Cosmatos, 1986)
A CONFUCIAN CONFUSION (Edward Yang, 1994)
THE DEAD (John Huston, 1987)
DRIVE (Steve Wang, 1997)
FOUR NIGHTS OF A DREAMER (Robert Bresson, 1971)
JOINT SECURITY AREA (Park Chan-Wook, 2000)
LONE STAR (John Sayles, 1996)
MAHJONG (Edward Yang, 1996)
MY HEART IS THAT ETERNAL ROSE (Patrick Tam, 1989)
PALE RIDER (Clint Eastwood, 1985)
STONE COLD (Craig R. Baxley, 1991)
TOKYO OLYMPIAD (Kon Ichikawa, 1965)
TRUCK TURNER (Jonathan Kaplan, 1974)
TWO-MINUTE WARNING (Larry Peerce, 1976)
VICE SQUAD (Gary Sherman, 1982)
THE WRONG MAN (Alfred Hitchcock, 1956)