2025 In Review: Music

**** HAIM - I Quit
**** Stereolab - Fed Up With Your Job (Single)

*** Arthur Buck - Arthur Buck 2
*** Astral Bakers - Vertical Life
*** Automatic - Is It Now
*** Beths, The - Straight Line Was A Lie
*** Buddie - Glass
*** Convenience, The - Like Cartoon Vampires
*** Deep Sea Diver - Billboard Heart
*** Dragon Inn 3 - Full Disclosure
*** Dumb Things - Self Help
*** GHOSTWOMAN - Welcome To The Civilized World
*** Guided By Voices - Thick Rich And Delicious
*** Housewife - Work Song
*** I Was A King - Until The End
*** Ivy - Traces of You
*** Magic Fig - Valerian Tea
*** Miki Berenyi Trio - Tripla
*** Minus 5, The - Oar On, Penelope!
*** Momma - Welcome to My Blue Sky
*** Penfriend - House Of Stories
*** Prism Shores - Out From Underneath
*** Salt Collective, The - A Brief History of Blindness
*** San Gabriel - Nights And Weekends
*** Sloan - Based on the Best Seller
*** Superchunk - Songs in the Key of Yikes
*** Suzanne Vega - Flying with Angels
*** Swervedriver - The Worlds Fair EP
*** Wolf Alice - The Clearing

** Avers - Empty Light
** Beach Bunny - Tunnel Vision
** Cate Le Bon - Michelangelo Dying
** Future Clouds And Radar - Big Weather
** Horsegirl - Phonetics On and On
** Jay Som - Belong
** Liminanas, The - Faded
** Ringo Starr - Look Up
** Sharon Van Etten & The Attachment Theory
** Sleigh Bells - Bunky Becky Birthday Boy
** Tubs, The - Cotton Crown
** Waeve, The - Eternal EP
** Wishy - Planet Popstar EP
** Witch Post - Beast EP

2025 In Review: Movies

*** One Battle After Another
** Black Bag
** Megadoc
** The Phoenician Scheme
* The Thursday Murder Club

Black Angel (1946) **

Novel twist on the blackout trope plus strong support help to overcome weak leads.

Blackout (1954) **

Amusing dialogue and the performers are enjoyable just don't expect the plot to make any sense.

Stranger Than Paradise (1984) ****

Minimalist slacker dramedy is expertly shot and directed with a stunning debut performance by Eszter Balint. Transcends its genre.

Megadoc (2025) **

Fascinating look at big budget movie making and how the inherent bloat and Shia Labeouf nearly kill Francis Coppola.

Birth of the Endless Summer: Discovery of Cape St. Francis (2021) **

A doc about the back story to another, better, doc is well done but probably only for fans of the better doc.

The Endless Summer (1966) ****

Enjoyable surf doc is a masterpiece of photography, editing and writing. Impressive. This film was shot on 16mm film and has better visuals than any movie made in the past 20 years. You can keep all your Imax's and VistaVisions, they don't matter if the pic is not lit properly.

Guilty Bystander (1950) **

Zach Scott is strong in this gritty blackout noir nearly stolen by Kay Medford.

Confessions of an Opium Eater (1962) **

Cheap (and cheaply made) exploitation flick is just bonkers enough to be entertaining. Vincent Price as an action star is one thing and the dialogue is a hoot. At least they used Asian actors to play the Asian characters.

Deadline at Dawn (1946) **

Frustrating blackout noir that has some terrific dialogue, a never better Sue Hayward, a couple of great supporting turns but also some crazy plot twists and an awful lead. Entertaining nonetheless.

5 Steps to Danger (1956) **

The great Sterling Hayden fixes a lot about this breakneck paced cold war noir.