2025 US release dates. Feature films only (no shorts). Read my write-up on the best of 2025 here!

And just for kicks, here’s my ranked list of *every* 2025 release I watched. boxd.it/DuUAw

My 25 Favorite Films of 2025 An animated sci-fi musical, a psychological drama about mean kids, and one of the best sports movies I've ever seen: here are the films from 2025 that I think you should check out!

In lieu of my usual monthly round-up of favorite new-to-me viewings (which would be an incredibly short list for March; I watched a lot, but didn’t love much), I will share (for the last time, I promise) my write-up on my favorite films from 2025. Lotta great stuff out this past year!

If it’s still up for grabs, I’d take it!

And of course, do let me know what your own favorites are from last year! I’d love to hear what made an impression. Or just let me know what you’re predicting for the Oscars this Sunday; I’m finalizing my own predictions today. 😬

My 25 Favorite Films of 2025 An animated sci-fi musical, a psychological drama about mean kids, and one of the best sports movies I've ever seen: here are the films from 2025 that I think you should check out!

It's Oscar weekend (cheers to those of you who celebrate), which means I'm finally caught up on last year's movies and am sharing my Top 25 of 2025! I'm trying Substack out as a host for my (now annual!) write-up on my faves of the year. I went long on this, so settle in or save it for later! 🎬

Very short list as I am wrapping up my 2025 catch-up (new releases aren’t included on my monthly round-ups). Look for my write-up about my faves of the year sometime on Oscars weekend!

Favorite First-Time Watches of February 2026 (alphabetized):

CLOUD ATLAS (2012)
MINDING THE GAP (2018)

Joshua Mitchell’s profile Joshua uses Letterboxd to share film reviews and lists. 4,186 films watched. Favorites: Grave of the Fireflies (1988), E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982), Spirited Away (2001), Parasite (2019). Bio: Fi...

A short list because I spent most of my movie-watching time with 2025 catch-up (as I will continue to do this month). Feel free to follow along! boxd.it/35Ab

Favorite First-Time Watches of January 2026 (alphabetized):

FACE/OFF (1997)
IN THE BEDROOM (2001)
LADY VENGEANCE (2006)

Mitch & Mickey - A Kiss At The End Of The Rainbow YouTube video by mayhew7

Everybody’s sharing this, and it’s the obvious pull, but it’s also the right one: youtu.be/QwLZfPPM7GQ?...

Damn, this one hurts. One of the funniest people of all-time. Pretty much always the best thing about whatever project she was a part of.

And like last year, I’ll do a faves-of-2025 thread around Oscar weekend; I have lots of catch-up to do in the meantime! Stay tuned for that and feel free to share your own favorites from last year! Thanks for hanging! bsky.app/profile/jdm-...

Joshua Mitchell’s profile Joshua uses Letterboxd to share film reviews and lists. 4,146 films watched. Favorites: Grave of the Fireflies (1988), E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982), Spirited Away (2001), Parasite (2019). Bio: Fi...

As ever, you can follow me on Letterboxd to keep up with my movie-watching all year round. I do occasionally write a little more about the stuff I watch (or just crack dumb jokes). boxd.it/35Ab

More stats on Letterboxd, which also features me going out of my way to create the most cursed Diary Milestones grid of all-time! letterboxd.com/JLFM/year/20...

And for good measure, even though I had seen all these movies before (some *many* times), I rewatched the entire filmographies of Bong Joon Ho, Wes Anderson, and the Coen brothers, plus most of Steven Spielberg.

I also watched all but one of Jafar Panahi’s films (I couldn’t find a way to see CLOSED CURTAIN) and caught up with everything I hadn’t seen by Alex Ross Perry except his latest, PAVEMENTS, which I’m anxious to watch. Dove deep into Jim Jarmusch, Pedro Almodovar, and Luca Guadagnino as well.

Other director filmographies that I "completed" last year by checking off the last few of their works I hadn't seen yet: Joe Wright, Nicole Holofcener, Ari Aster, Guillermo del Toro, Edgar Wright, Chloe Zhao, and James Cameron.

…the Safdie brothers (GOOD TIME and UNCUT GEMS were rewatches), Joachim Trier (except THE WORST PERSON IN THE WORLD, which I had already seen), and James L. Brooks (TERMS OF ENDEARMENT and BROADCAST NEWS were rewatches, skipped HOW DO YOU KNOW because I’d already seen it).

I completed several director filmographies this year. Among them were Amy Heckerling (watched everything, but FAST TIMES and CLUELESS were rewatches), Darren Aronofsky (watched everything except NOAH, which was bizarrely the only one I had seen before), Lynne Ramsay (watched everything), (continued)

And for funsies, here are the LEAST popular films (according to Letterboxd) that I watched for the first time last year:

My list of shame a.k.a. the most popular films (according to Letterboxd) that I had never seen before last year!:

These were my favorite first-time watches of the year (not counting 2024/2025 releases); these are alphabetical, not ranked:

I watched 495 films in 2025 (496 if you count separate viewings of THE PHOENICIAN SCHEME), 23 films
ahead of 2024’s total of 472. 392 of those 495 were first-time watches. 59 of those 495 were in the theater (a personal high for me; and one ahead of 2023 and 2024).

Happy New Year, all! As is tradition, here is my annual list of every movie I watched this year, plus some scattered thoughts… 🧵

Favorite First-Time Watches of December 2025 (alphabetized):

ACE IN THE HOLE (1951)
BACURAU (2020)
BLACK CHRISTMAS (1974)
GHOST DOG: THE WAY OF THE SAMURAI (2000)

you will be visited by 3 spirits

Thank you to everyone who listened to my music this year! 2025 was my biggest year for streaming ever, so if you were a part of that, I am so grateful to you! It means the world to me that people are out there listening and enjoying the work that I do. Here’s to lots more in 2026! 🎶🫶

Short list this month! Did a lot of 2025 catch-up/homework (and that will occupy the majority of my viewing time the next couple months) and I don’t include new releases in these round-ups. But lots of good stuff out there right now! BUGONIA, WAKE UP DEAD MAN, IT WAS JUST AN ACCIDENT, IF I HAD LEGS…