my 25 favorite films of the quarter century

in

In no particular order and off the top of my head:

  • 25TH HOUR (Lee, 2002)

  • SINNERS (Coogler, 2025)

  • PARASITE (Bong, 2019)

  • CHILDREN OF MEN (Cuarón, 2006)

  • GODZILLA MINUS ONE (Yamazaki, 2023)

  • GOOD TIME (Safdies, 2017)

  • EX MACHINA (Garland, 2015)

  • ROAD TO PERDITION (Mendes, 2002)

  • SPIDER-MAN 2 (Raimi, 2004)

  • WEAPONS (Cregger, 2025)

  • COLLATERAL (Mann, 2004)

  • THE PRESTIGE (Nolan, 2006)

  • THE LIGHTHOUSE (Eggers, 2019)

  • THE MENU (Mylod, 2022)

  • THE INCREDIBLES (Bird, 2004)

  • TWIN PEAKS: THE RETURN (Lynch, 2017)

  • PRISONERS (Vilaneuve, 2013)

  • ZODIAC (Fincher, 2007)

  • NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN (Coens, 2007)

  • THE PHANTOM THREAD (PTA, 2017)

  • SCOTT PILGRIM VS. THE WORLD (Wright, 2010)

  • KILL BILL (1+2) (Tarantino, 2003)

  • CASINO ROYALE (Campbell, 2006)

  • FANTASTIC MR FOX (Anderson, 2009)

  • GOOD NIGHT AND GOOD LUCK (Clooney, 2005)

FRANKENSTEIN (Guillermo del Toro, 2025)

in

***+ / *****: Some amazing performances - especially Jacob Elordi’s Wrightson-brought-to-life Creature - and moments of brilliance but overall left me wanting. The Netflix sheen shellacked over Del Toro’s too-conservative / reverent direction of his own script diluted what should have been a cinematic powerhouse into the streaming version of the early 90’s ABC event mini-series iterations of JEKYLL AND HYDE and PHANTOM OF THE OPERA (presented with limited commercial interruption); I’m not mad, just disappointed.