The Best Films of 2025
Like life itself in these times the visceral, the absurd, and the morbid all take their rightful place in our eclectic compilation of Best Films 2025.
paul thomas anderson
One Battle After Another’s Appealing Radical Heart
One Battle After Another‘s sympathetic portrayals of left-wing radicalized groups seems an impossible-to-resist target of the pearl-clutching, but it’s been less of a lightning rod than expected on that front.
One Battle After Another’s 1960s Politics Make for a Good Show and a Dead End
In Paul Thomas Anderson’s dark comedy One Battle After Another, the liberationist politics of the 1960s make for a good show and a dead end.
‘Licorice Pizza’ Pulls a Magic Eyes Trick on Entitled Idiots
Licorice Pizza is a gaudy parade of rich white privileged shits of the type Paul Thomas Anderson tends to focus on. They’re his people.
The 10 Best Films of Philip Seymour Hoffman
Over 22 years of performances, Philip Seymour Hoffman rarely disappointed. Even when he stepped outside his comfort zone to make commercial fodder, he remained riveting.
What’s So Great About Paul Thomas Anderson’s ‘Licorice Pizza’?
Gary of Licorice Pizza behaves like all male characters from Paul Thomas Anderson’s gallery of sociopaths, except now the type is cast as a romantic hero.
Jonny Greenwood Creates His Best Soundtrack Yet With ‘Phantom Thread’
Jonny Greenwood's Oscar-nominated score for Paul Thomas Anderson's Phantom Thread is his strongest yet, and an integral character driving the tension of the film and its intense love story.
‘Phantom Thread’ Sends off Daniel Day-Lewis by Deciphering Daniel Day-Lewis
The Oscar-nominated film from Paul Thomas Anderson is a revealing subversion of Day-Lewis' stable of expert characters.
The 100 Essential Directors Part 1: Chantal Akerman – Bernardo Bertolucci
Neurotic New Yorkers, Queer Mavericks, Swedish close-ups and the art of putting a microphone on every person on set are but a few of the themes explored in PopMatters' first group of ten essential directors, Chantal Akerman through Bernardo Bertolucci. Please note that any perceived omissions were likely on purpose...
2017 Fall Film Preview: At Last, the Film Industry Awakens From Its Slumber
From Gary Oldman in The Darkest Hour to James Franco's meta-experiment Blade Runner: 2049 and Daniel Day-Lewis's final role, here are the movies you'll want to watch ... and a couple you might not.
Punch Drunk Love’s Painful Humor and Euphoric Pleasure
Paul Thomas Anderson’s quirky, painful and euphoric dark comedy, Punch Drunk Love, is reinvention in the purest sense, free of commercial pressure.