movies

We’ve seen animated animals belt out tunes in the “Sing” movies. We’ve learned about “The Secret Life of Pets” (twice). And we’ve visited them in “Zootopia” (also on two occasions). Now we get to see them play basketball. “Goat,” produced by Golden State Warriors prodigy Stephen Curry, is yet another underdog story about following your dreams wrapped in a by-the-numbers sports movie. It feels utterly unoriginal on multiple fronts.

Taking the popular acronym GOAT (Greatest of All Time) to its most literal form, the first feature by TV animation veteran Tyree Dillihay — from a screenplay by Aaron Buchsbaum and Teddy Riley — follows an anthropomorphic young goat who aspires to become the GOAT.

A lifelong fan of roarball (this film’s version of basketball), Will, who is voiced by Caleb McLaughlin, dreams of playing for his hometown team, Vineland. His admiration for the sport is embodied by Jett Fillmore (Gabrielle Union), Vineland’s most accomplished player, who carries the entire team on her back — she wants all the glory of victory for herself.

The world of “Goat” is divided between “smalls” and “bigs” (unlike “Zootopia” where the separation is between predators and prey). Will considers himself a “medium” but in the eyes of professional roarball players, he’s tiny. Still, after going viral for bravely challenging Mane Attraction (Aaron Pierre), one of the sport’s major stars who is double his size, Will lands a chance to play in the big leagues.

To the credit of the writers, roarball is a rather inclusive sport. There are no gendered teams, nor any discrimination based on species. Will might be the first “small” to make it big, but that stems from the public’s prejudice, not from rules that ban animals like him from playing.

Desperate for instant relevancy (like plenty of animated features these days), “Goat” is steeped in vapid internet references, from crypto to online memes. Sports fans, however, will find specific allusions, like contentious press conferences and even the kiss cam. Rowdy and kinetic from start to finish, “Goat” does in fact reflect the fast-paced dynamism of basketball, but it soon reveals itself a sugar rush without much substance.

Once Will joins the team, a “never meet your heroes” lesson ensues, since Jett feels like he’s usurping her position. Animosity on her part creates tension until Will opens up about his personal reason for playing. The emotions are not complex here, but they are heartfelt, thanks to how McLaughlin and Union conjure up larger-than-life personalities via their voice performances.

Meanwhile, Will’s other teammates — a rhinoceros, a giraffe (played by Curry himself), an ostrich and a Komodo dragon — don’t feel distinct enough from the ensemble casts of other animated projects like “Sing.” Each member of the assortment has their quirks, some of which occasionally yield a chuckle: Archie (David Harbour), the rhino, has two comically violent kid daughters.

There’s no denying “Goat” has a vibrant aesthetic, but that alone can’t overwrite its defects. Back in 2018, Sony Pictures Animation dazzled the industry when “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” introduced an approach that mixed 3D CGI with traditional hand-drawn animation. This combination of techniques doesn’t make “Goat” particularly unique anymore.

What’s most impressive, visually, about “Goat” is the way the natural world blends with the urban settings. Vineland, Will’s neighborhood, is indeed covered in vines and yet the vegetation appears organically integrated into the infrastructure. Each game takes place in a different ecosystem. The finale, for example, unfolds amid cracked volcanic rocks and lava. There’s visible handcraft and care in creating these backdrops for the action.

A mixed bag of eye-catching imagery and formulaic writing, “Goat” disappoints because it follows every expected path toward a triumphant conclusion. Its premise could have offered up a kid-friendly reading on failure that doesn’t simplify a way out of adversity. If talking animals will continue to be used as surrogates for human experiences — especially for young viewers — some nuance would be appreciated.

Now that the 2026 Oscar nominations are out, it’s officially binge watch o’clock.

Chances are you caught a few of the contenders upon their 2025 movie theater openings, but with the onslaught of new releases in the weeks leading up to Thursday’s nominations announcement, even some voters are surely behind. (Don’t tell the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences).

The good news is, the lion’s share of nominated films are available to stream or see in theaters (or both).

Here is a guide to where you can find all the feature-length nominees ahead of the Academy Awards on March 15, paired with some commentary from Times critics.

“The Alabama Solution”

Where to watch: HBO Max
Nominated for: Documentary feature
What we said: “Much of ‘The Alabama Solution,’ which reports on inhumane living conditions, forced labor and widespread violence against the state’s incarcerated population, is comprised largely of footage captured by inmates using contraband cellphones, offering one of the most shocking, visceral depictions of our carceral state ever put to film.”

“Arco”

Where to watch: In theaters
Nominated for: Animated feature
What we said: “The most impressive part of French animated sci-fi epic ‘Arco,’ which took the top prize at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival, is its imaginative world-building.”

“Avatar: Fire and Ash”

Where to watch: In theaters
Nominated for: Costume design, visual effects
What we said: “Viewed in ultra-crisp high frame rate, ‘Fire and Ash’ feels so overwhelmingly real that it circles back around to surreal.”

“Blue Moon”

Where to watch: Apple TV, Prime Video, Fandango at Home, in theaters
Nominated for: Lead actor, original screenplay
What we said: “[Richard] Linklater’s movies have frequently featured affable underdogs, but by contrast, ‘Blue Moon’ is an elegy to a bitter, insecure man whose view of himself as a failure has become a self-fulfilling prophecy.”

“Bugonia”

Where to watch: Peacock
Nominated for: Best picture, lead actress, adapted screenplay, original score
What we said: “‘Bugonia’ is a hilarious movie with no hope for the future of humanity. What optimism there is lies only in the title, an ancient Greek word for the science of transforming dead cows into hives, of turning death into life.”

“Come See Me in the Good Light”

Where to watch: Apple TV
Nominated for: Documentary feature
What we said: “‘Throughout the Festival, we saw audiences moved by Andrea Gibson’s and Megan Falley’s journeys in ‘Come See Me in the Good Light,’’ Sundance Film Festival Director of Programming Kim Yutani said to the fest’s website. ‘Festival goers embraced the humor and heartbreak of this intimate documentary directed by Ryan White, as it speaks to art and love and reminds us what it means to be alive as we face mortality.’”

“Cutting Through Rocks”

Where to watch: Not currently available
Nominated for: Documentary feature

“Diane Warren: Relentless”

Where to watch: YouTube, Prime Video, Fandango at Home, Google Play, Apple TV
Nominated for: Original song

“Elio”

Where to watch: Disney+
Nominated for: Animated feature
What we said: “‘Elio’ is a breezy Pixar adventure, the studio’s pivot back to making original, rip-roaring children’s yarns.”

“F1”

Where to watch: Apple TV
Nominated for: Best picture, editing, sound, visual effects
What we said: “The pleasures of ‘F1’ are engineered to bypass the brain. It’s muscular and thrilling and zippy, even though at over two and a half hours long, it has a toy dump truck’s worth of plot.”

“Frankenstein”

Where to watch: Netflix, in theaters
Nominated for: Best picture, supporting actor, adapted screenplay, cinematography, costume design, makeup & hairstyling, original score, production design, sound
What we said: “‘Frankenstein’ is [Guillermo del Toro’s] lifelong passion project: He doesn’t just want to make a ‘Frankenstein’ but the ‘Frankenstein,’ so he’s faithfully set his adaptation in the past. But he’s adjusted the wiring so that 1850s Europe reminds us of Silicon Valley. The result is the best movie of his career.”

“Hamnet”

Where to watch: In theaters
Nominated for: Best picture, director, lead actress, adapted screenplay, casting, costume design, original score, production design
What we said: “The film’s depiction of grief has rightly been at the center of the conversation around ‘Hamnet,’ with their revelatory performances resulting in immense Oscar buzz for both actors. But [Paul] Mescal and [Jessie] Buckley were almost more interested in the relationship between William and Agnes and how artists navigate the trappings of conventional life.”

“If I Had Legs I’d Kick You”

Where to watch: YouTube, Prime Video, Fandango at Home, Google Play, Apple TV, in theaters
Nominated for: Lead actress
What we said: “From the moment it begins, Mary Bronstein’s ‘If I Had Legs I’d Kick You’ aims to put you inside the head of a mother in crisis, and for the next couple of hours it does so in such an exhausting, claustrophobic, anxiety-inducing manner that, as you take a journey on this cinematic endurance test, you feel many things: grudging admiration, abject terror and, finally, sweet relief when the closing credits roll.”

“It Was Just an Accident”

Where to watch: YouTube, Apple TV, Prime Video, Google Play, Fandango at Home, in theaters
Nominated for: International feature, original screenplay
What we said: “In a movie full of heightened emotions and anxious uncertainty, ‘It Was Just an Accident’ (which is France’s entry for the international film Oscar) glides between genres, too slippery to be nailed down. [Jafar] Panahi dabbles in the road movie, the revenge thriller, even the ‘getting the band back together’ comedy.”

“Jurassic World Rebirth”

Where to watch: Peacock
Nominated for: Visual effects
What we said: “‘Rebirth’ is a confounding title for a downbeat entry that’s mostly preoccupied by death and neglect.”

“Kokuho”

Where to watch: In theaters (Feb. 5)
Nominated for: Makeup & hairstyling

“KPop Demon Hunters”

Where to watch: Netflix
Nominated for: Animated feature, original song
What we said: “‘KPop Demon Hunters,’ the cartoon musical about a girl group using catchy tunes to keep evil at bay, has become a viral phenomenon since it launched on the streamer June 20. With 210 million views globally so far, it’s the most watched animated movie ever on Netflix, and is expected to soon top ‘Red Notice’ as the company’s most popular film.”

“Little Amélie or the Character of Rain”

Where to watch: YouTube, Apple TV, Prime Video, Google Play, Fandango at Home
Nominated for: Animated feature
What we said: “Amélie’s rowdy approach becomes more nuanced when she is confronted with a loved one’s death, as well as her own mortality in the aftermath of two accidents. [Liane-Cho] Han and [Maïlys] Vallade also make room for her realizations about life’s unfairness and the inevitability of sorrow — all communicated via flights of fancy that only animation can materialize.”

“The Lost Bus”

Where to watch: Apple TV
Nominated for: Visual effects
What we said: “This time [director Paul Greengrass] mixes star heroism with you-are-there spectacle and the results can be galvanizing if awkwardly framed.”

“Marty Supreme”

Where to watch: In theaters
Nominated for: Best picture, director, lead actor, casting, cinematography, costume design, editing, production design, original screenplay
What we said: “The movie’s moxie makes it impossible not to get caught up in Marty’s crusade. We’re giddy even when he’s miserable.”

“Mr. Nobody Against Putin”

Where to watch: Apple TV
Nominated for: Documentary feature

“One Battle After Another”

Where to watch: HBO Max, in theaters
Nominated for: Best picture, director, lead actor, supporting actor, supporting actress, adapted screenplay, casting, cinematography, editing, sound, original score, production design
What we said: “Paul Thomas Anderson’s fun and fizzy adaptation views its Molotov cocktail as half-full. Yes, it says, the struggle for liberation continues: ideologues versus toadies, radicals versus conservatives, loyalists versus rats. But isn’t it inspiring that there are still people willing to fight?”

“The Perfect Neighbor”

Where to watch: Netflix
Nominated for: Documentary feature
What we said: “‘The Perfect Neighbor’ does leave us with a patiently earned moment of justice. But it’s haunted by the notion that a lethal rage prevailed, that a crime was allowed to happen and an ordinary, trusting American neighborhood — where a loving mom unhesitatingly tells an inquiring cop, ‘All these kids are mine’ — isn’t protectable ground.”

“The Secret Agent”

Where to watch: In theaters
Nominated for: Best picture, international feature, lead actor, casting
What we said: “‘The Secret Agent’ isn’t tightly coiled so much as it gradually unfolds, its full meaning unclear until the filmmaker eventually hurtles forward nearly 50 years, snapping the final puzzle piece into place.”

“Sentimental Value”

Where to watch: Fandango at Home, YouTube, Apple TV, Prime Video, Google Play, in theaters
Nominated for: Best picture, director, lead actress, supporting actor, supporting actress, editing, international feature, original screenplay
What we said: “‘Sentimental Value’ is a movie for people who don’t like to cry, who may not admit that they have ever cried, who listen to Loudon Wainwright’s song ‘The Man Who Couldn’t Cry’ and say, ‘Yes, that’s me!’”

“Sinners”

Where to watch: HBO Max, in theaters
Nominated for: Best picture, director, lead actor, supporting actor, supporting actress, casting, cinematography, costume design, editing, makeup & hairstyling, original score, original song, production design, sound, visual effects, original screenplay
What we said: “What a blood rush to exit Ryan Coogler’s ‘Sinners’ aware that you’ve seen not merely a great movie but an eternal movie, one that will transcend today’s box office and tomorrow’s awards to live on as a forever favorite.”

“Sirāt”

Where to watch: Not currently available
Nominated for: International feature, sound
What we said: “‘Sirāt’ is taut and riveting and nearly all mood. You feel the exhilaration of veering off the path, the self-exile of speeding toward nowhere, the dread that this caravan has veered too far for its own safety.”

“The Smashing Machine”

Where to watch: YouTube, Prime Video, Fandango at Home, Google Play, Apple TV
Nominated for: Makeup & hairstyling
What we said: “While ‘The Smashing Machine’ represents a step in a new direction for [Dwayne] Johnson, it also finds [Benny] Safdie setting off on a new path as a writer and director on his own after years of collaborations with his brother. Sifting through the emotional and physical struggles of [Mark] Kerr’s life, Safdie found something at its core that aligns with his own ongoing interest in what it takes to move forward despite life’s difficulties. It’s not about being a loser, he thinks, but it is about not winning.”

“Song Sung Blue”

Where to watch: In theaters, YouTube, Apple TV, Google Play, Fandango at Home
Nominated for: Lead actress
What we said: “‘Song Sung Blue’ couldn’t be less cool. But the Sardinas were completely sincere and [Hugh] Jackman and [Kate] Hudson honor their innocence by playing them straight.”

“Train Dreams”

Where to watch: Netflix, in theaters
Nominated for: Best picture, adapted screenplay, cinematography, original song
What we said: “‘Train Dreams’ is the kind of movie that people often say they want more of, but when one actually comes along they don’t quite know what to do with it. Told with an unassuming, gentle simplicity that grows into an accumulating emotional power, the film manages to feel very small and specific while also vast and expansive.”

“The Ugly Stepsister”

Where to watch: Hulu
Nominated for: Makeup & hairstyling

“Viva Verdi!”

Where to watch: Not currently available
Nominated for: Original song

“The Voice of Hind Rajab”

Where to watch: In theaters
Nominated for: International feature
What we said: “The movie is a powerfully blunt instrument of empathy. [Kaouther] Ben Hania’s insistence on close-up melodramatics — faces in anguish, a handheld camera glued to them — sometimes overshadows a thirst for something more analytical. But it’s decidedly a vision, one steeped in roiling pain.”

“Weapons”

Where to watch: HBO Max
Nominated for: Supporting actress
What we said: “A former sketch comic, [Zach] Cregger knows how to work a crowd. The combination of his assurance and his characters’ confusion is wonderful in the moment, as though you’re listening to a spiel from someone who sounds crazy but might be making all the sense in the world.”

“Zootopia 2”

Where to watch: In theaters, YouTube
Nominated for: Animated feature
What we said: “After several haphazard attempts with the ‘Frozen’ and ‘Moana’ franchises, ‘Zootopia 2’ can take the title as Disney’s most effective animated sequel yet.”

Hello! I’m Mark Olsen. Welcome to another edition of your regular field guide to a world of Only Good Movies.

Movies that had limited awards releases last year are seeing their full-fledged openings this week. Top among them is “Pillion,” the debut from British writer-director Harry Lighton, starring Alexander Skarsgård and Harry Melling as two men who become engaged in a dominant-submissive relationship.

Alexander Skarsgård, left, and Harry Melling in the movie “Pillion.”

(A24)

In her review, Amy Nicholson writes of the film, “This fetishy adventure is a minimalist romantic comedy in which submissive meets dominant, and submissive explores his physical and emotional vulnerabilities. Marriage and a baby carriage are off the table; the journey matters, not the destination. … Lighton’s biker BDSM rom-com might sound niche, but free yourself to see it and you’ll discover it’s a universal romance.”

Emily Zemler asked Skarsgård about what has been guiding his decisions lately when choosing roles. As he said, “People think there’s this invisible ladder and you have to get to the next rung of the ladder. It’s easy to forget to check in with yourself and ask, ‘Well, what do I want to do?’ You can get swept away. I’m trying to get down the ladder to the ground.”

Some other notable openings this week are “Dracula,” “Scarlet,” “The President’s Cake,” “Natchez” and “The Love That Remains.”

Points of interest

‘Porn Chic’ revival at the New Beverly

Sylvia Kristel in the movie “Emmanuelle.”

(Severin Films)

For most of the month of February, the New Beverly will refashion itself into the Eros, the adult movie theater it was called throughout much of the 1970s. (There’s even a commemorative T-shirt.) Married film dudes throughout the city are presumably coming up with inventive rationales and/or excuses as to why they simply must attend some of these screenings.

The programming leans into what was referred to in The Times as “porn chic” — movies that were meant to work as cinema, even appealing to couples, while also fulfilling the needs of the raincoat crowd. This Friday and Saturday will be a double bill of Just Jaeckin’s 1974 “Emmanuelle,” starring Sylvia Kristel, and Bitto Albertini’s 1975 “Black Emmanuelle,” starring Laura Gemser.

When The Times’ Charles Champlin reviewed “Emmanuelle” after it opened in 1975 at the Fine Arts in Beverly Hills, he noted, “It may be the first porno film designed for people who don’t really want to see one.”

Other notable titles during the New Bev’s Eros month include “The Opening of Misty Beethoven,” directed by Radley Metzger under the pseudonym Henry Paris, Russ Meyer’s “Vixen” (with star Erica Gavin in-person), Ingmar Bergman’s “Summer With Monica,” Roger Vadim’s “Pretty Maids All in a Row,” “The Fireworks Woman,” directed by Wes Craven (credited as Abe Snake), Nagisa Oshima’s “In the Realm of the Senses” and Gerard Damiano’s “Deep Throat.”

Quentin Tarantino’s “Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood” will be playing on Fridays at midnight, which includes a knowing line about the Eros when Margot Robbie asks, “What’s happening at the dirty movie place?”

A 1976 article in The Times by Barry Siegel states that there were then 47 adult theaters operating within the city limits of Los Angeles, even while charting the rapid rise and quick decline of porn-chic movies in the wake of the success of “Deep Throat” in 1972.

‘sex, lies and videotape’ with star Laura San Giacomo

Laura San Giacomo in the movie “sex, lies and videotape.”

(Criterion Collection)

The Los Angeles Film Critics Assn. continues its 50th anniversary series at the Egyptian Theatre on Tuesday with a screening of Steven Soderbergh’s 1989 debut feature “sex, lies and videotape,” a key title in kicking off the independent filmmaking scene of the 1990s. Actor Laura San Giacomo, who won LAFCA’s New Generation Award for her performance, will be there for a Q&A moderated by Lael Loewenstein.

Soderbergh was all of 26 years old when the film premiered at what was then called the U.S. Film Festival (the precursor to Sundance), where it won the audience award before heading to Cannes, where it won the Palme d’Or. (James Spader picked up an acting prize there too.) Among the film’s many other accolades, Soderbergh would also be nominated for an Academy Award for original screenplay.

Spader plays Graham, an enigmatic wanderer who inserts himself into the lives of his old friend John (Peter Gallagher), his wife Ann (Andie MacDowell) and her sister Cynthia (San Giacomo), drawing out all manner of confessions and revelations.

In her original review of the film, Sheila Benson called the film an “electrifying psycho-sexual comedy … the funniest and saddest American movie since Jim Jarmusch landed straight in the middle of our consciousness, and it’s possibly the most compelling.”

Benson added, “What is not apparent from a thumbnail description is the film’s lacerating wit, its beautiful look and sound, and the bravura quality to each performance. Or the terrible vein of melancholy that Soderbergh touches.”

‘In the Soup’ in 35mm

Steve Buscemi and Seymour Cassel in the movie “In the Soup.”

(Factory 25)

Winner of the Grand Jury prize at 1992’s Sundance — the same year “Reservoir Dogs” premiered there — is “In the Soup.” Directed and co-written by Alexandre Rockwell, the film follows an aspiring filmmaker (Steve Buscemi) who falls in with an irresistibly charming gangster (Seymour Cassel, who won Sundance’s first acting award) as his erstwhile producer. A recently restored 35mm print of the film will be playing in L.A. for the first time Sunday at Brain Dead Studios.

The cast of the film also features Carol Kane, Jim Jarmusch and Jennifer Beals, the last married to director Rockwell at the time. Reviewing the film in November 1992, Kenneth Turan called it “a charming pipsqueak of a movie, a playful film of ragged and shaggy appeal.”

Director Michael Almereyda on the ’90s vampires of ‘Nadja’

Elina Löwensohn in the movie “Nadja.”

(Arbelos Films)

As much a survey of late-night diners, bars and 3 a.m. conversations, Michael Almereyda’s “Nadja” is very much a vampire film. It is also a wonderful example of the creative freedom of the ’90s indie boom — everything from its cast to its look to its deadpan humor.

Executive produced by David Lynch (who paid for the film out of his own pocket and appears in a small role), “Nadja” combines the 1936 horror film “Dracula‘s Daughter” with Andre Breton’s 1928 surrealist novel “Nadja.” In the movie, a New York City vampire (Elina Löwensohn) looks to avenge the death of her father at the hands of Dr. Van Helsing (Peter Fonda) while also dealing with a complicated swirl of relationships involving her brother (Jared Harris), his nurse (Suzy Amis), Van Helsing’s nephew (Martin Donovan) and his wife (Galaxy Craze).

Re-released by Grasshopper Film and Arbelos Films with a streaming and home video release to follow, the new 4K restoration of the film’s original version that premiered at the 1994 Toronto International Film Festival is a few minutes longer than what played at Sundance just a few months later. (It was there that Almereyda also made the documentary “At Sundance,” interviewing filmmakers for their thoughts on the future of movies.) This new “Nadja” is playing on Feb. 6 and 8 at the Philosophical Research Society, then at Vidiots on Feb. 21 and 22 and Frida Cinema on Feb. 25 and 26.

On the phone from Sao Paulo, Brazil, where he is prepping an adaptation of Don DeLillo’s 2016 novel “Zero K,” the thoughtful and reflective Almereyda shared some of his memories of making the film.

Peter Fonda, left, Jared Harris, Martin Donovan and Galaxy Craze in the movie “Nadja.”

(Arbelos Films)

How did you get the idea of combining “Dracula’s Dracula” with Breton’s “Nadja”?

Michael Almereyda: It was fairly spontaneous. David Lynch had offered to help me make a movie if I could come up with something that was definably genre. And I went to [NYC movie theater] Film Forum at a time when — do you remember [film historian] William K. Everson? He would show up at Film Forum unannounced to start talking before the movie. This was one time when I showed up late and he was talking and they read a raffle ticket and there was silence. And I reached in my pocket: I had won the raffle. And that was to get a book of William K. Everson’s about horror movies. And so it was kind of a gift that I read about “Dracula’s Daughter.” I’d never seen it and I liked the outline of the plot and I chased it down and it felt like I could retrofit a number of ideas I had about New York with that story. It felt like the two things talked to each other.

One thing about vampire movies is that the best ones are always about something else. For you with “Nadja,” what’s the something else?

Almereyda: It’s not really a scary movie and it wasn’t really designed to be. It’s certainly atmospheric but the emotion of it, when I saw it again recently, had to do with both the comic aspects of being in love and the miserable aspects. It’s kind of a side-winding answer, but that’s partly what it’s about. It’s about family ties, obviously. I think I made or wrote enough scripts about tangled families that I began to sort of get over it. But we all come from these families.

David Lynch in the movie “Nadja.”

(Arbelos Films)

Did David Lynch‘s presence impact the tone at all? Do you feel the movie became in any way Lynchian?

Almereyda: Well, David’s impact on me and my whole generation of filmmaking and the generation behind us is vast. And I wouldn’t want to pretend it’s not, but direct influence is kind of minimal. It might be more fair to say that David’s art school background rhymes with mine. And that we had similar influences. People don’t really talk about how much David did or didn’t know about Maya Deren and Cocteau, but it’s kind of hard to miss. And there was just a certain sensibility and attitude. I felt close to David’s Midwestern-ness, and you combine that with some fondness for and knowledge of French culture, including surrealism, and you’re halfway to David Lynch without specifically thinking about it.

I really haven’t addressed this question much, but when he died, I ended up writing a fair bit of my memories and it’s moving to me how much impact he had when he died. There was such a wave of mourning and celebration, too, that it felt more phenomenal than he could have anticipated. It was clear how famous he was — how recognizable he was — within the time I knew him. But the love of David Lynch is really moving to me and it’s still something we’re swimming in, I hope, in a dark time.

For all the difficulties of being an independent filmmaker, what keeps you doing it?

Almereyda: I’m stumped. I was just going through my head and I know you just interviewed Ethan Hawke and he’s a true comrade that I’ve been lucky to work with a few times. And he was in the interview with Rick Linklater when we did our “At Sundance” movie. They had “Before Sunrise” at the festival and Rick started by quoting Truffaut, talking about the future of film is the personal film.

Even if it’s a fantasy, even if it’s a vampire movie, you’re still relating to your experience and your sense of an emotional reality. So that feels like a candle that doesn’t go out for me. And despite all the derailments and dead ends, I don’t question continuing. It just feels like a natural path, even if it’s winding and difficult.

In other news

Timothée Chalamet, tributee

Timothee Chalamet in the movie “Marty Supreme.”

(A24)

I will leave the ins and outs of this year’s awards campaigns to my trusted colleague Glenn Whipp at The Envelope, but one event jumped out as worth noting: Announced this week and immediately selling out is an eight-film American Cinematheque retrospective of Timothée Chalamet‘s movies, with the actor in person for all screenings.

Chalamet is currently an Oscar nominee as both actor and producer for “Marty Supreme.” And he has an impressive roster of collaborators who will be appearing with him to show their support, including Edward Norton with “A Complete Unknown,” Denis Villenueve with “Dune” and “Dune: Part Two,” Christopher Nolan with “Interstellar” and Elle Fanning with “Beautiful Boy.”

If there were some murmurs last year that Chalamet didn’t do enough conventional campaigning to win for his turn as Bob Dylan in “A Complete Unknown,” this year he seems to be pulling out all the stops.

One of last year’s best action films is now ready for home viewing on Paramount+

A spectacular action movie sequel featuring an A-list Hollywood star has finally landed on Paramount+ at no additional cost to subscribers.

Potentially the final instalment in one of cinema’s most legendary franchises, the highly anticipated sequel left audiences stunned when it hit cinemas last year.

Following nearly 12 months of anticipation, Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning, marking Tom Cruise’s concluding performance as daring IMF agent Ethan Hunt, was added to Paramount+ on Sunday, 1st February.

Serving as a direct continuation of the seventh film in the franchise, Dead Reckoning, this thrilling spy adventure sees Ethan reuniting with Grace (played by Hayley Atwell), Benji (Simon Pegg), Luther (Ving Rhames) and various others to prevent Gabriel Martinelli (Esai Morales) from executing his plan to dominate the world’s population using a sinister AI called ‘the Entity’.

Anticipate plenty more gravity-defying stunts, intense espionage and a spectacular final confrontation in this essential action film that concludes an era with a monumental flourish, reports the Express.

Enthusiasts of the film have been singing its praises since its theatrical debut, so ensure Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning goes straight to the top of your streaming queue this week.

One IMDb user’s 10/10 review confessed: “There are no words which can describe this masterpiece.

“It has one of the most incredibly dynamic underwater and aerial stunts, edge of the seat moments. It was a sad, beautiful but hopeful goodbye to Tom as Hunt.

“One of the most powerful finale movies in the world. Cried throughout the movie. Real fans will love it.”

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Another viewer raved: “Honestly, this is one of the best films I’ve watched in a long time. From start to finish, it had me completely hooked – I was on the edge of my seat, heart pounding, palms sweating during the intense action sequences, and at other times, completely overwhelmed with emotion.

“The storyline was gripping and well-paced, with just the right balance of suspense, drama, and character development. The cinematography was stunning, capturing both the beauty of the locations and the intensity of the action in a way that pulled me deeper into the experience.”

The praise continued flowing on Letterboxd, where one user proclaimed: “The last fifty minutes of this and easily the best content of Mission: Impossible I have ever seen and it’s not even a debate.”

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“The plane sequence is not only the best stunt Tom Cruise has ever done, but it’s definitely the best in the series!!!! I was truly on the edge of my seat and my heart kept racing really hard.”

A final admirer concluded: “A truly awesome and epic finale to the franchise. Tom Cruise was born to be Ethan Hunt.

“I love everything about this final chapter in the Mission Impossible series. The stakes are higher, more developed characters, and more awesome action! The Final Reckoning has two of the most intense scenes in the whole franchise.”

Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning is now streaming on Paramount+.

This year’s Sundance felt marked by great uncertainty. Personally, I was never quite sure how to feel, as the many unknowns of next year’s move to Boulder meant that it was unclear how much this year was supposed to feel like the end of something or the start of a new beginning. I didn’t know just how mournful to be, though, as the festival marched along, it became clear there was a space for nostalgic reflections.

The first movie I ever saw at Sundance was Andrew Fleming’s comedy “Hamlet 2” in the Library Center Theatre. Which means it was 2008 and I was then an intrepid freelancer who talked my way into sleeping on a recliner at a condo rented by The Times until staffers trickled out and I eventually had the place to myself because of the vagaries of an extended rental agreement. Which is how I found myself, entirely unexpectedly, in a room interviewing all of Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, who were in town for their tour documentary “CSNY/Déjà Vu.”

That sense of surprise and discovery — and in-person interactions that likely wouldn’t happen anywhere else — are what have brought me back to the festival every year I could manage since. It’s exactly why I have been a huge fan of the festival’s NEXT section, made up of films that don’t quite fit elsewhere in the program. A standout this year was Georgia Bernstein’s debut feature, “Night Nurse,” a film of assured poise about a young woman (a compelling Cemre Paskoy) who takes a job at a retirement home only to find herself drawn into a series of phone scams, erotic role play and psychosexual transference with one the clients. Recommending the film to colleagues feels a little like an HR violation, but the kinky undercurrents and unsettling emotions are worth it.

Cemre Paksoy and Bruce McKenzie in the movie “Night Nurse.”

(Lidia Nikonova / Sundance Institute)

Many conversations around the festival seemed to firmly center on “The Invite” and “Josephine,” but another film people consistently brought up was “Wicker.” Written and directed by Eleanor Wilson and Alex Huston Fischer, adapting a short story by Ursula Wills-Jones, the film takes place in an unspecified time and place: a sort of medieval-ish middle European village of the mind, in which an unmarried woman (Olivia Colman) asks a local basket weaver (Peter Dinklage) to make her a husband. That he comes out looking like Alexander Skarsgård sets the whole town into a tizzy. Nimble and inventive, with convincing special effects work, the film is a charming parable that continually finds ways to reset itself.

It is unclear just how planned it was, but there could have been no better film than “The Only Living Pickpocket in New York” to be the final fiction feature to debut in the Eccles Theatre, one of the festival’s most storied venues. Character actor Noah Segan’s directorial debut, the movie is a warmly elegiac portrait of the city and the pain of recognizing when your time has passed. Led by a quietly commanding lead performance by John Turturro, the film also features Steve Buscemi and Giancarlo Esposito in supporting roles.

As the trio took the stage with Segan and other cast members after the film, it quickly became apparent how special it was to have those three actors there in that moment. Buscemi rattled off a quietly astounding number of films he has appeared in with “New York” in the title — “New York Stories,” “Slaves of New York,” “King of New York” — while Turturro spoke movingly about his relationship with Robert Redford, whose absence hung heavy over the entire festival.

John Turturro in the move “The Only Living Pickpocket in New York.”

(MRC II Distribution Co. L.P. / Sundance Institute)

As Esposito began talking about what Sundance has meant to him over the years, his words took on a fierce momentum. He recalled when he first came to the festival in the ’90s, he was “ecstatic because it gave a voice to those who didn’t have a voice. … We didn’t come to sell a film to a big studio. We came to share our small movie with human beings that could really see themselves in a mirror on the screen.”

Of Redford, he added, “His vision is priceless. It’s the gem that we all hope for. It’s the juice of why we live. It’s the connection of why this movie works. It’s the love of what we do. This, to me, will stick with me for the rest of my life. My interactions with this man who started this festival will always be a beacon of light in my creative process.”

It was a beautiful and inspiring way to leave that theater for the last time and, in turn, leave Park City behind for a future that, while full of unknowns, will for now also hold the promise of new discoveries to come.

As if they’d leave “Clueless” off the list.

Cher Horowitz fans, rejoice: Amy Heckerling’s 1995 teen comedy is one of 25 classic movies chosen this year by the Library of Congress for its National Film Registry.

And if “Clueless” wasn’t your jam — whatever! — maybe this will send you deep into your dreams: Christopher Nolan’s mind-bending “Inception” is in the mix. Other films chosen for preservation include “The Karate Kid,” “Glory,” “Philadelphia,” “Before Sunrise,” “The Incredibles” and “Frida.” There are four documentaries, including “Brooklyn Bridge” by Ken Burns. From old Hollywood, there’s the 1954 musical “White Christmas,” and the 1956 “High Society,” Grace Kelly’s last movie before marrying into royalty.

Since 1988, the Library of Congress has selected 25 movies each year for preservation due to their “cultural, historic or aesthetic importance.” The films must be at least 10 years old.

The oldest of the 2025 picks dates from 1896, filmmaker William Selig’s “The Tramp and the Dog.” The newest of the group is from 2014: Wes Anderson’s “The Grand Budapest Hotel,” which, the registry noted, involved “meticulous historical research at the Library of Congress to create visually striking scenery.”

Turner Classic Movies will host a TV special March 19 to screen a selection of the films.

A closer look at some of this year’s selections:

“The Tramp and the Dog” (1896): Once deemed lost, but discovered in 2021 at the National Library of Norway, Selig’s silent film tells the story of a tramp who tries to steal a pie from a backyard windowsill — and is foiled by a dog. The registry notes it’s an early example of “pants humor” — “where a character loses (or almost loses) its pants during an altercation.”

“The Maid of McMillan” (1916): This 15-minute “whimsical silent romance” shot by students at a drama club at Washington University in St. Louis tells the story of the track team captain, Jack, who’s in love with Myrtle, “a pretty coed,” according to the university’s library. It is known, the registry says, as the first student film on record.

“Ten Nights in a Barroom” (1926): A silent film featuring an all-Black cast, it’s based on a stage melodrama adapted from “Ten Nights in a Bar-room and What I Saw There,” an 1854 “temperance novel” written to discourage readers from drinking alcohol.

“High Society” (1956): In what the registry calls “the last great musical of the Golden Age of Hollywood,” Bing Crosby appeared with Frank Sinatra and Grace Kelly, in her last movie before retiring and marrying Prince Rainier of Monaco. Louis Armstrong appeared with his band. Kelly wore her Cartier engagement ring during filming, the registry notes.

“Brooklyn Bridge” (1981): Ken Burns’ first documentary broadcast on PBS, in which the filmmaker recounted the building of the iconic landmark. “More than just a filmmaker, Burns has become a trusted public historian,” the registry says.

“The Big Chill” (1983): Lawrence Kasdan’s era-defining story of a group of friends reuniting after a suicide features Glenn Close, William Hurt, JoBeth Williams, Kevin Kline, Jeff Goldblum and Meg Tilly in an ensemble that “portrays American stereotypes of the time — the yuppie, the drug dealer, the TV star — and deftly humanizes them.”

“The Karate Kid (1984): The first film in the franchise, starring Ralph Macchio and Pat Morita, is “as American as they come,” the registry says — “a hero’s journey, a sports movie and a teen movie — a feel-good movie, but not without grit.”

“Glory” (1989): Denzel Washington won an Oscar as Private Trip in this story of the 54th Regiment, a unit of Black soldiers who fought in the Civil War. The cast also included Morgan Freeman, Matthew Broderick, Cary Elwes and Andre Braugher.

“Philadelphia” (1993): Tom Hanks starred — and won an Oscar — in one of the first big studio movies to confront the HIV/AIDS crisis. The film is also known for Bruce Springsteen’s Oscar-winning song, “The Streets of Philadelphia.”

“Before Sunrise” (1995): The first film of Richard Linklater’s deeply romantic “Before” trilogy, starring Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy. The registry notes Linklater’s “innovative use of time as a defining and recurring cinematic tool.”

“Clueless” (1995): Heckerling’s teen comedy, starring Alicia Silverstone, was a loose adaptation of Jane Austen’s “Emma” and forever enshrined the phrase “As if!” into popular culture. The registry hails “its peak-1990s colorful, high-energy, soundtrack-focused on-screen dynamism.”

“The Wrecking Crew” (2008): Danny Tedesco’s documentary — not to be confused with the 2026 buddy cop movie of the same name — looks at a group of Los Angeles studio musicians who played on hit songs of the ‘60s and ’70s such as “California Dreamin’” and “The Beat Goes On.”

“Inception” (2010): In a movie that asks whether it’s possible to influence a person’s thoughts by manipulating their dreams, Nolan “once again challenges audiences with multiple interconnected narrative layers while delivering thrilling action sequences and stunning visual effects.”

Noveck writes for the Associated Press.

Full chronological list of 2025 National Film Registry inductees

“The Tramp and the Dog” (1896)

“The Oath of the Sword” (1914)

“The Maid of McMillan” (1916)

“The Lady” (1925)

“Sparrows” (1926)

“Ten Nights in a Barroom” (1926)

“White Christmas” (1954)

“High Society” (1956)

“Brooklyn Bridge” (1981)

“Say Amen, Somebody” (1982)

“The Thing” (1982)

“The Big Chill” (1983)

“The Karate Kid” (1984)

“Glory” (1989)

“Philadelphia” (1993)

“Before Sunrise” (1995)

“Clueless” (1995)

“The Truman Show” (1998)

“Frida” (2002)

“The Hours” (2002)

“The Incredibles” (2004)

“The Wrecking Crew” (2008)

“Inception” (2010)

“The Loving Story” (2011)

“The Grand Budapest Hotel” (2014)