The Fran Magazine Best of 2025 Extravaganza

The best of the best of 2025 lists, from the friends & family of Fran Magazine

Dec 31, 2025

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Goodbye to 2025

My favorite year-end tradition of every year has been soliciting year-end lists from the Fran Magazine inner circle. As I texted a friend yesterday, this year’s lists really showcase a full spectrum of human emotion. I’m so grateful to everyone who wrote and submitted lists, and to all who read and comment and share anything here in Fran Magazine. Happy new year!

🚨THIS POST IS TOO LONG FOR EMAIL 📧 PLEASE CLICK THE BUTTON ON THE TOP RIGHT THAT SAYS “READ IN APP” FOR MAXIMUM LIST ENJOYMENT 📋

The best album of 2025 was Hayley Williams’s Ego Death at a Bachelorette Party. I drove “Kill Me” into the ground and we are currently heading toward the Earth’s core.
However the best song of 2025, measured in the amount of time I’ve spent lip-syncing in the mirror, is a tie between Taylor Swift’s “Father Figure” and Lady Gaga’s “How Bad Do U Want Me.”
I read a terrifying amount this year, mostly for research, so I’m going to pick the first story I read this year that comes to mind as my story of the year: “Ginungagap,” Michael Swanwick.
The most problematic author I started getting into was Alice Munro, which I’m thinking about mostly because I couldn’t remember a Munro story for entry three.
My favorite food discovery of the year was the House Foods Tofu Cutlet, if there is anything bad to know about the House Foods Tofu Cutlet, do not tell me, because it is tasty and I like it and I just eat it out of the package it’s good.

Ben Empey

Top ten movies I watched this year that made me shake my head and think “this is exactly what is happening to me here in 2025” (alphabetical)

Avatar: Fire and Ash — I saw my world torn limb from limb and I had to fight
Days of Wine and Roses (1962) — I got sober
Field of Dreams (1989) — I began a spiritual journey that I didn’t understand
If I Had Legs I’d Kick You — I couldn’t see beyond my suffering like literally even for a second
Is This Thing On? — I started doing standup comedy just to feel something
It Was Just an Accident — I was faced with moral decisions roughly hourly
One Battle After Another — I felt like I was being chased every single day
Steve — I was afraid every single day
The Testament of Ann Lee — I experienced delusions of grandeur and I frequently moved my body in visually distressing but cathartic ways
What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962) — I experienced psychosis

Blythe Roberson

City, Michael Heizer. Nothing in the world could convince me to “go to Vegas on vacation” except getting to spend three hours in the desert exploring this mile-and-a-half long masterpiece of land art, which I did in May and which totally amazed, inspired, baffled, delighted me. Shoutout to Ed, the septuagenarian who drove us the final 90 minutes to City on dirt roads, and who met his wife when she was a barrel racer at the rodeo. I said, “Ed, on Yellowstone they say barrel racer girls are crazy,” and Ed said, “Well yes, they are.”
ER. Incredible The Pitt prequel. I love to watch ER and tell my boyfriend when Noah Wyle is standing in front of the building where I interned at The Onion.
Lonesome Dove. I didn’t invent 2025 being the year of Lonesome Dove, I just invented Lonesome Dove (also Texas).
Outlaw Music Festival. There comes a time when you realize Willie Nelson is 92 and Bob Dylan is 84 and you have to see them right now or they’re gonna die. I had to take an Amtrak AND a ferry but I made it to Camden, NJ to see the Outlaw Fest featuring Willie, Bob, Waxahatchee, Sheryl Crow, and Sheryl Crow’s chihuahua in a Baby Bjorn playing congas on “Everyday Is A Winding Road.” Bob Dylan SHOCKED me by playing the hits and INFURIATED everyone else by doing the whole thing while crouched behind a piano and hidden under a cloak — genuinely hilarious!!
One Battle After Another. Lunatics, haters, and punk trash :)
Georgia O’Keeffe’s home in Abiquiú, New Mexico. If you can figure out how to get there while it’s open, do.
69 Atlantic. One of the great pleasures of heterosexual monogamy IN MY EXPERIENCE is the time I have spent this year seeing magic, gasping in disbelief that that was, in fact, my card. I’ve seen it all over the place (Tannen’s Magic Shop, Speakeasy Magick, Penn & Teller in Vegas, a demonstration in Pike Place’s magic store, repeatedly begging my boyfriend to do One Trick For Me), but the highlight has been my many visits to see some of the world’s best magicians at 69 Atlantic, a new venue for sleight-of-hand magic in Brooklyn. They like to maintain the mystery so I will just say… go !!!
Italy. It is psycho that it look this long for me, a Catholic-themed woman who loves to dress like a beautiful widow and eat tomatoes… a woman who is fluent in Italian (aka conversational in Spanish and 100% sure that’s the same thing)... to go to Italy, but I did this summer, and it turns out Italy is cool.
“Beer Never Broke My Heart” by Luke Combs. I barely drink and I certainly do not drink beer (😔bloating😔) but I love to listen to and line dance to this song. I said “Can you believe this is my #3 most played song of the year?” and my boyfriend said “I cannot listen to this again.”
Quaker Meeting at the Friends Cemetery in Prospect Park. Tied with “Squirrel Hunting in Wisconsin” for best hour(s) spent sitting outside, totally silent, looking at trees, wondering how best to live.

Bobby Finger

TOP TEN ITEMS I ACQUIRED IN FORTNITE IN 2025

10. Bruno Mars and Lady Gaga “Die With a Smile” Emote
9. Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 Car
8. Itchy Sidekick (The Simpsons)
7. Chani Skin (Dune)
6. Marge Simpson Skin (The Simpsons)
5. Elton John “Rocket Man” Jam Track
4. Nike Air Force 3 Nigo Shoes
3. "The Best Cat" Winston Sidekick
2. The Killers “Mr. Brightside” Emote
1. Xenomorph Skin (Alien Film Version, not Alien: Earth Version, which is uglier)

Brad Efford

Top 10 things I love about Bed-Stuy, my neighborhood where I live:

Ursula vegan nachos
The fact that the bodega by the Bed-Stuy aquarium changed its name to be in theme with the aquarium and then the aquarium dried up so now it makes no sense
When the Outshines at MetFresh are on sale for $3.99
The Fulton PureGym fka Blink
Running into Fran randomly #random
DJ Bird’s Soup Stop Sign
The Word is Change
Alive Herbals II / the house music that’s always playing at Alive Herbals II
The Bed-Stuy Pickleball Club WhatsApp chat
All of the dogs at Glorietta Baldy

Brendan Boyle

10 rejected needledrops from Miroirs no. 3

Cam

The Random Supporting Roles In Films That Have Haunted Me All Year (Complimentary):

Aisling Francoisi as Marcie in Twinless: A really savvy performance that threads the needle on what I believe is James Sweeney’s commentary about how gay men unfortunately view straight women as disposable playthings? The fact that Marcie & Clare from The Nightingale are played by the same person is mind-boggling to me.
Bridget Everett as Louise in Wake Up Dead Man: When she showed up on screen I immediately gasped & clenched my boyfriend’s thigh so hard. Best scene of the film by far. If the acclaim for Somebody Somewhere means Bridget gets to show up for one scene & steal movies for the next decade or so, I will die happy.
Danny Huston as Richard Cane in The Naked Gun: It would’ve been so easy for this movie to play it straight with the villain, making him actually scary & dangerous and let the loopy comedy bounce off of that, so it’s to my great delight that Downtown Danny Huston gets to cut loose here. Nothing made me laugh harder this year than his overreaction to getting punched in the “tummy” by Neeson.
Isaac Mizrahi as Merle in Marty Supreme: Of course Paltrow’s Kay Stone has a gay bestie running her shit. What does he have, two, three lines? I don’t care, Merle is fabulous. In a movie full of impressive turns from non-professional actors, Mizrahi tickled me the most.
Jayme Lawson as Pearline in Sinners: Okay, first of all, stunning. And with all of those incredible musical performances, I feel like her unbridled, post-coital, barn-storming “Pale, Pale Moon” — just as the shit stars to hit the fan — doesn’t get enough credit.
Junglepussy as Junglepussy in One Battle After Another: This one’s for all the Support The Girls super-fans out there. Centuries from now they’ll still be quoting her speech as she struts across the bank counter. “See my face? See my face!” Ugh, perfection!!!
Lucy Liu as Rebekah in Presence: I haven’t seen Rosemead yet (Sorry! Should I? I should, right?) but it drives me crazy how underutilized she’s been in Hollywood. I didn’t love every beat of this movie, but my god when she locks eyes with the camera at the end??? Goosebumps! What a star!
Marisa Abela as Clarissa in Black Bag: Nothing has made me feel like more of an idiot for having not watched Industry yet than seeing Marisa absolutely DEVOUR in this. Everything about this movie had me grinning from ear to ear, so whenever she was on screen I grinned so hard I nearly chipped a tooth.
Udo Kier as Hans in The Secret Agent: I feel like people have already talked about his big scene as a perfect grace note to his legendary career, but am I crazy or do we also briefly see him later dancing in the crowd during Carnival celebrations?1 Because, if so, I’m obsessed with THAT as an image to go out on. What a marvelous man.
Zach Fox as Swett in Lurker: Funny, but more importantly hot, but more importantly lowkey unsettling in this, and I hope we see more from him in all kinds of movies!!!

Caroline Golum

Watching sunrise on the winter solstice between the pillars of Stonehenge: A heady mix of floral garlands, Santa hats (it's a Pagan holiday!), wizard staffs and drums, every man there looked like the Ghost of Christmas Present. Wandering around the perimeter of the "Stones" watching hippies dance barefoot and chant in Gaelic I felt as if I'd just pulled an all-nighter at the world's first rave. Half-asleep and totally alone, I met cute with an older witchy lady who smoked me out - my first taste of the Devil's lettuce in two weeks (get with the program Europe!). When I told her Christianity was not indigenous to the British Isles she gave me a "fook yeah" and we exchanged WhatsApp info. I am forever changed.
World premiere of my film, with Tessa, in France!

Caroline Symons

top 10 livestreams from the NBC4 LA news chopper

May 15 - White Ford Escape - westbound 10
May 20 - Motorcycle - downtown LA west of Main east of the 110
May 22 - Dodge Challenger - Olympic Blvd to the 110 overpass
August 3 - Landscaping truck - PCH to Wilshire to Alvarado
August 15 - Mustang - southbound 5 to the 2 off-ramp
July 8 - Cop Car - stationary (plowed halfway into the side of warehouse in East LA)
Sept 9 - Shipping Containers - San Pedro harbor (they had fallen in)
October 2 - no vehicle - live feed following westbound 10 that takes a moment to zoom in on So Fi in the distance and holds for like 2 full minutes while adjusting focal length
October 27 25 - Kia Soul - southbound 5 to CA-60 to cul-de-sac in Ontario
Nov 2 - various vehicles doing donuts after Dodgers win game 7 in extra innings - Van Nuys Blvd and Haddon Ave

Claire Cohen

I got engaged this year, but more importantly I 100%'d Hollow Knight: Silksong with all mementos. If you know what that means, you already know. If you don't: I'm referring to a hard video game and bragging about how good I am at it.

TOP SEVEN SILKSONG BOSSES!

First Sinner: Most fun fight in the game. Mysterious, fast, sick music, and it builds on stuff you already know from Widow so you can jump right in and feel good at it. Canceling the heal feels awesome.
Skarrsinger Karmelita: The hardest, sexiest, and most badass. Tops many lists and for good reason. She fights with her eyes closed while singing!
Final boss of act 3: No spoilers just in case, but this is a fight worthy of capping off this beautiful game and the cutscene after made me emotional.
Cogwork Dancers: Best lore and gayest. The final "phase" where you have to kill the lone dancer is so depressing, and the more you learn about these two, the sadder it gets. Not the most challenging but so fun in concept and execution.
Groal the Great: The worst fight, the worst runback, the nastiest, the least fun. But every story needs a villain and fans of a beloved game need something to hate about it. In a way he brought us all closer together and that's the true meaning of Silksong.
Shrine Guardian Seth: Best IRL lore. An adorable design based on the drawing of a sick child who passed away before he could see the character come to life. He would be proud to know it's a super tough fight with great atmosphere.
Shakra: Best NPC. This is a fight where nobody dies! I respect her fighting skills, map skills, and beautiful singing, so making her respect me too is a really satisfying way to end her story. Poshanka!

Clare Frances

NOBU
The Tweet: "Watched Materialists last night and really what I found most striking was that Dakota’s hair was styled in a way that almost evoked the image of a hijab which I found quite stunning."

just a@F466OT

Watched Materialists last night and really what I found most striking was that Dakota’s hair was styled in a way that almost evoked the image of a hijab which I found quite stunning

5:22 PM · Aug 12, 2025 · 20.8M Views

265 Replies · 1.85K Reposts · 41.4K Likes

Austin Butler telling Kareem Rahma his friends are named "Adam, Sean, and Browne."

Seeing Steve Martin and Martin Short order soup at The Odeon, still in suits from the Disney+ Upfront.
Everything and anything that is not ALIEN: EARTH.
Addison, the person and her musical album.
Drinking alcohol and being drunk.
Austin Butler posting about his dead mom on Instagram.

@austinbutler

Austin Butler on Instagram: "happy birthday mama ❤️ i miss you …

Brady Corbet's stunning and dramatic weight loss.
WARFARE

Dayna

Top 6 Best Times to Go to Bed, From Least Good to Best

11pm
10:30pm
10pm
8pm
8:30pm
9pm

Debi

Superbon yellow paprika chips: they kind of taste like nothing but are also the platonic ideal of a potato chip
Faience blue: the color of all time, also the color of the Sambas I bought in April and Sandoz brand generic Adderall IR 10mg
Fast Blood, Frightened Rabbit (Regretting You) / I’ll Believe in Anything, Wolf Parade (Heated Rivalry): an unexpectedly beautiful choice to needle drop c. 2007 kill yourself guitar rock in a commercial romance property not once but two times this year!
Marc Marquez #morethananumber — 32-year-old La Roche-Posay spokesmodel with one working arm mounts cinematic Michael Jordan comeback to win his 9th championship in a dog walk while the entire MotoGP media apparatus commemorates the 10th anniversary of his psychosexual feud with the previous king of the sport

J.Crew 2025 rollneck™ sweater: great sweater no notes2
28 Years Later: putting “do not separate” stickers on Danny Boyle and Alex Garland's foreheads
Century of Progress Homes: One day a year you can pay $35 to ride a school bus full of retired midwestern architecture enthusiasts and tour five houses from the 1933 World’s Fair that were barged across the lake and dropped in the middle of the Indiana Dunes
Time Song: Journeys in Search of a Submerged Land, Julia Blackburn / Otherlands: A Journey Through Earth’s Extinct Worlds, Thomas Halliday / The Underworld: Journeys to the Depth of the Oceans, Susan Casey: oddly and miraculously calming to read nothing but nonfiction subtitle journeys about the vastness of geological time and the sea
Being back on Tumblr: also oddly and miraculously calming to post for nobody
Small wine glasses: I'm becoming my mother but I also just think they're chic

Eli Sands

Hearing Tortoise live, thinking they were so-so, then immediately getting VERY into Tortoise. “In Sarah, Mencken, Christ, and Beethoven There Were Women and Men.”
Pretty much looping Curse by Unknown Mortal Orchestra. Every band gets its Halloween album; this is a great one. “With a prayer to protect you from ghosts.”
Viewing Slugs (1988, dir. Juan Piquer Simón) as the last film of my 20’s. “Brady and I are going to go kill some man-eating slugs.”
Reading Jazz by Toni Morrison. “Talking to you and hearing you answer—that’s the kick.”
Reading Underworld by Don Delillo. “Because waste is the secret history, the underhistory, the way archaeologists dig out the history of early cultures, every sort of bone heap and broken tool, literally from under the ground.”
Hearing Brian Cox in conversation with Dr. Julie Craword. “And that’s why America is so fucked.”
Watching Jacob Geller’s thoughtful video essay about Breakout. “Wouldn’t the efficiency kick be short-lived?”
Epiphany-ing at MoMA’s Hilma af Klimt: What Stands Behind the Flowers, my favorite museum exhibition of recent memory. “Help me improve the spleen and (liver) of mankind.”
Rethinking the significance of marriages and birthdays. I attended six and a half weddings this year (including that of the founder and editor-in-chief of Fran Magazine). The act of speaking vows and the content of those speeches made me still and watchful. I held my 30th birthday gathering in Sheep Meadow. People I care about gathered together in one of the world’s best parks made me move and speak.
Spoiling Dick Cheney’s death in the group chat (then immediately getting one-upped).

Elias ZX

10 Things [in Media] That Made Me Say “Holy Shit!” (positive) This Year.

There is a subtle but important distinction between this list and what would otherwise be described as a ‘favorite things’ list, the difference is I think all of these things, which I was introduced to this year, made me say ‘holy shit.’ Media is a very loose definition and choices are ranked by a rough chronological order. The first draft of this list was way too long, so if you see me in person, please yell at me. I will tell you what the other contenders were.

The extended catalog of The Beach Boys (the songs She’s Going Bald, Johnny Carson, and Vege-tables in particular)
The first bite I took of Eleanor’s tuna melt from Agi’s Counter
Hearing the song “Love Takes Miles” by Cameron Winter for the first time
Season 2 of The Rehearsal, more specifically the season finale, which I spent weeks calling “the greatest television episode ever”
The first 20 minutes and every subsequent minute of Eureka (dir. Nicholas Roeg) at Walter Reade Theater
Mackerel Toast and Octopus from Theodora in Brooklyn
The election of Zohran Mamdani, both times, and the fact it was decided within an hour of polls closing, both times
The roller coaster Wildcat’s Revenge at Hershey Park
Watching Step Up 3D (dir. Jon M. Chu) on Evan’s 3D projector
The novel Summer Fun by Jeanne Thornton
The girl reading this :) Happy New Year, Fran Magazine readers!!!

Emma Kearney

Top Ten characters that most reminded me of my terrier, Steve

Monkey Robbie Williams in Better Man
Jason Mantzoukas on Taskmaster
Dennis Whitaker on The Pitt
Everand Bone in Excellent Women
Simon from Cracking the Cryptic
Ilya Rozanov in Heated Rivalry
Scott McTominay
Derpy the Magical Tiger from KPop Demon Hunters
The protagonist of Nobody's Son by Sabrina Carpenter
Mickey 17 of Mickey 17

Emma Stefansky

10 THINGS I LOVED THIS YEAR THAT ARE NOT MY CAT/FAMILY/BOYFRIEND/BUGS:

Finishing Mad Men rewatch
Sinners IMAX 70mm
Is a River Alive? by Robert MacFarlane
Last fall’s snowdrop bulbs blooming
Diptyque L’eau Papier solid balm
Regensburg, Germany with my mom
Random recipe for butternut squash wild rice soup
Oh, Mary! with Jane Krakowski
Thai bbq at Unglo
Alex Mill Nottinghill sweater

Fries McRib

A real highlight of my year has been the hashtag #YearOfSmiling (also enjoyed by Fran of Fran Magazine). I’m kind of cheating the assignment here, but here are the candidates for the hashtag of 2026:

#YearOfTheFog — Girl… the fog… We all know The Fog is closing in. Will it finally consume us next year? Excited to find out!
#YearOfHusbands — Welcome to our new member, Phil! Husbands have been on a cold streak lately, but next year could be the year we finally win it all.
#YearOfNothing — It’s entirely possible that absolutely nothing happens next year. Everything will be the exact same.
#YearOfAcceptance — In the unlikely event that things continue to happen, I think we can all agree that they will be mostly bad and not cool. It’s mostly out of my control, so all I can do is accept this.
#YearOfSmiling — Maybe we’ll all have another nice year next year. It could be our first ever back-to-back hashtag champion. Wishing all FranMag fans a happy new year and a second #YearOfSmiling to all!

Fran Hoepfner (me)

Ten great days this year

January 14th: Greenwich Park, engagement, bright and perfect sky, Manteca for dinner.
January 23rd: First day at Sundance, completely exhausted, lunch with Cameron, low oxygen, bright and perfect sky.
March 4th: Casino with my parents in a big rainstorm for Mom’s birthday, proved to them it’s easy and fun and NOT irresponsible (kidding) to play roulette.
March 29th: Beat Elden Ring.
April 18th: New roommate moved in.

the way he highkey changed my life>>>>>>>>

June 7th: Spent the day with many people I know and love in Chicago.
July 4th: Spent the day with many people I know and love in Los Angeles.
August 9th: Spent the day many people I know and love in Narrowsburg.
October 10/11th (tie): Spent the day with many people I know and love at my own wedding in New York City.
December 8th: Saw third Avatar film (which did not give me a migraine — a victory unto itself) then dragged Phil to a work-related party under the auspices of “Dua Lipa might show up.” Dua Lipa did show up. I have become mostly numb to seeing famous people from ten feet away, but she was so beautiful and tall and magnetic in real life that we were both literally speechless. Most starstruck I’ve been in my life. She wore a fur coat and kitten heels. We did not approach — just seeing her was enough.

Frank Falisi

Here’s to getting out from under grand narratives and unseating reasonable despair: here was a year with as much love in it as there was death. “The sun came up about as often as it went down, in the long run” (rest in peace Tom Stoppard, rest in peace too many others), and Bruce Springsteen unleashed 110 or so mostly-wholly new-to-our-ears recordings, poached from an archive spanning forty years or more. Even as the advertiser authors of our would-be-desires insisted that the pinnacle of Springsteen studies in 2025 was a TV movie (somehow slopped into cinemas) here was a trove to be processed in the image of its own composition: in study and consideration of an America expected to be better, doomed to be less, and mediated in melody somewhere in between. As a multi-decade circumnavigation of tastes and inspirations, this lot finds Springsteen not as rock and roll prophet or Broadway boomer profiteer (roles he’s been perhaps too-willing to play in recent years) but as tinkerer, as willing to inhabit a Bacharach schmaltz as he is an apocalyptic synth. The gifts of past (new) years offer themselves up — improbable as it may seem — only as we stomp together towards the future. Here then, is an NJ transmission of our better angels and least-requited desires, presented not in ranked order but as a theoretical mixtape from my year to yours.

10 best (sort of) new Bruce Springsteen songs:

“One Love”
“On the Prowl”
“Rain in the River”
“Blind Spot”
“Sunday Love”
“Waiting on the End of the World”
“Downbound Train” (Electric Nebraska)
“Don’t Back Down”
“Janey Don’t You Lose Heart”
“Follow That Dream”

Haley W.

Top 10 stuff from 2025 in no particular order:

Seeing Michael Clayton in theaters: you don’t want the money?
Love: so many of my friends got married and engaged this year! #yearofsmiling
Passing the bar exam: sorry I know but it had to be mentioned .
One Battle After Another: scratched my itch for a movie that is simply really fucking good.
Fort Greene farmers market: I love getting my silly vegetables and flowers while dodging children on scooters and bisexual women with baggus.
Coney Island: I have lived in New York for 10 years and I finally went on the rides! Who needs a chiropractor when we have the Cyclone?
Pokémon Go: some friends randomly got me back into this over the summer and it’s been a big part of my year.
The JellyCat fish and chips experience in London: what could be more classic.
Denzel Washington: randomly watched like 10 Denzel movies this year and basically loved most of them. He really is an American treasure.
Reading One Hundred Years of Solitude: I was inspired to read this by Dua Lipa and it really is so good, I’ve been thinking about it for months since I finished it.

Harris Mayersohn

Best Replacements for WTF w/ Marc Maron (Ranked In Terms of Fidelity)

For over a decade, “WTF w/ Marc Maron” has scratched a quite particular itch for me. Engaging. Petty. Comforting. Annoying. Confessional. Funny. With its ending this year, I’ve found a few ways to get a similar fix.

The Louis Theroux Podcast
90s Late Night YouTube clips (Specifically, Conan or Letterman when their disdain for a guest spills over into active mocking/contempt)
Journaling
Doomscroll with Joshua Citarella
Silence. Not trying to quiet a racing mind.
Non-fiction audiobooks (Funny Because It’s True, my #1 of the year)
Looking at/petting my beautiful dog, Frida (pictured below)
Old WTF episodes you passed over the first go around (often for a reason)

Jack Riedy

Trust Fall screenings at the Davis Theater: Chicago’s Oscarbate film group puts on surprise screenings of real grindhouse shit: nunsploitation, Hong Kong action, softcore, giallo, oh my. Like finding a new favorite song from an excellent DJ, but for movies.
comedian Geoffrey Asmus: If you too were relieved to see Anthony Jeselnik mock “anti-cancel culture” hacks while promoting literacy, you will like Geoffrey Asmus. one of the best comics around. A great intellect used in service of gross and stupid jokes, always brings great openers too, one of the best comics around.
Saga of the Swamp Thing by Alan Moore: Every “graphic novel” I’ve read in my lifetime has pulled something from Moore’s blend of American Gothic horror, cosmic sci-fi, and post-hippie eco-sexuality, and I can’t believe it took me until this year to read it. Best experienced outside on a humid summer day.
Miles Beyond: The Electric Explorations of Miles Davis, 1967-1991 by Paul Tingen: Tingen’s 2001 book decodes the transmissions from Miles’ electric period, when the prince of darkness sought to capture the music of the entire planet and drag it into the future, and he basically succeeded. One of the best music books I’ve read in years.
Live music YouTube playlist: The best habit I developed this year: Whenever you come across a live concert (or clip or talk show performance or acoustic set or DJ set), save it to a playlist, and put this playlist on shuffle any time you feel tempted to scroll a short-form video feed.
Percepticide: The Death of Reality by Pixel Grip: Superhard industrial beats with aggressive sound design, dance rhythms influenced by house and techno, and vocals from Rita Lukea that sound like The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo fronting a punk band.
Juke rap: “Top of Cars” by Lil M.U., “Throw Dat Mfa” by Fendi DaRappa, “Fairy” by Myaap, “Move Pt. 2” by Mello Buckzz and Monaleo
Living your dreams: This year I released my first album, started a band with my friends, and played a bunch of shows in town. And you can too.

James Odin Wade

A Bunch of Things I Enjoyed in 2025

The Crucible by Arthur Miller. As a playwright, this was a huge blindspot I finally filled in. Good play, tbh.
Ryo Fukui - Scenery. This is a lovely jazz album from 1976 that I’ve been listening to all year.
Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie. I’ve been following the exploits of these goofballs since 2009, and this might be the funniest movie I’ve seen in years.
Andor Season 2. There are so many little gifts in this show, one of my favourites being every time Ben Mendelsohn says, “Ghorman”.
The Mountain Goats. For whatever reason, The Mountain Goats just really hit this year. My spouse showed me “The Best Ever Death Metal Band in Denton” and it started me on this adventure.
Long Story Short. I was really enamoured with this animated time-jumping family portrait series from Raphael Bob-Waksberg.
One Battle After Another. What a picture, as they say.
Rilo Kiley live. A bit surreal seeing my 19-year-old self’s favourite band play all the songs I loved, 19 years later. Great band!
Twin Peaks - Fire Walk With Me. No house in any movie has ever been as scary as Laura Palmer’s house.
Having 2-4 beers with your friends. A thing of beauty.

Kyle Amato

Top ten non-2025 movies I watched in 2025 - a shockingly easy list to curate. I really do mostly watch bullshit!

Hi, Mom! (1970) dir. Brian De Palma
Targets (1968) dir. Peter Bogdanovich
The Sword of Doom (1966) dir. Kihachi Okamoto
Night of the Juggler (1980) dir. Robert Butler & Sidney J. Furie
Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia (1974) dir. Sam Peckinpah
The Company of Strangers/Strangers in Good Company (1990) dir. Cynthia Scott
Harakiri (1962) dir. Masaki Kobayashi
Ugetsu (1953) dir. Kenji Mizoguchi
Love & Pop (1998) dir. Hideaki Anno
Shall We Dance? (1996) dir. Masayuki Suo

Laura H., Fran’s mom

2025 was a deeply personal year: my milestone birthday, TWO WEDDINGS, a law school graduation on a gorgeous June day, my milestone wedding anniversary, and far too many colonoscopies. Other things that happened, in no particular order:

The thrill of reading Lonesome Dove again, 39 years after my first reading. Very humbling to now be older than every character in the book.
Going to WWE Friday Night Smackdown to see John Cena’s farewell appearance in Chicago.
Seeing my celebrity crushes Michael Urie (Oh Mary! on Broadway) and Peter Dinklage (on the NYC Subway).
Getting sprayed by a skunk for the first time. IN MY OWN BACKYARD. Hazel and Polly got the brunt of it and that was terrifying, but we were all okay. Steve was magnificent cleaning up the girls.
Money can buy happiness category (four-way tie): ethnic-specific genetic testing, a coronary calcium scan, the Coach outlet store, and the Lindt outlet store.
Spending more time GAMING at Dave & Buster’s than DRIVING there. I still miss the Addison location, but thank you Village of Schaumburg.
Fifteen uninterrupted minutes looking at the Neapolitan Creche at the Art Institute with only Steve, a security guard, and a lighting technician in the gallery. BLISS.
Bucket list achievement: finally made it to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. My Mother, her parents, and my paternal grandmother’s younger sister all arrived in America at this location. Incredibly emotional experience on the rainiest of days.
Marking the 75th anniversary of my Dad’s college graduation by creating a scholarship in his name at Roosevelt University of Chicago. It’s for undergraduates majoring in either English or Education.

LINDSEY WEBER :)

11 GREAT ROMANCE NOVELS I READ THIS YEAR (IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER)

ALICE RUE EVADES THE TRUTH, EMILY ZIPPS
DANDELION IS DEAD, ROSIE STOREY
WASP'S NEST, KAT STODDARD
FLIRTING WITH DISASTER, NAINA KUMAR
FIRST TIME CALLER, B.K. BORISON
THE HEARTBREAK HOTEL, ELLEN O'CLOVER
FAKE IT LIKE YOU MEAN IT, MEGAN MURPHY
FINDING GRACE, LORETTA ROTHSCHILD
SET PIECE, LANA SCHWARTZ (OK, BUT I LOVE EVERYTHING FROM 831 STORIES)
HEART THE LOVER, LILY KING
IT'S DIFFERENT THIS TIME, JOSS RICHARD

Marian Bull

this year I got really into manically crocheting granny squares. I am currently finishing up my second quilt of 2025. these are the top 10 movies I distractedly watched while crocheting.

Crossing Delancey
What's Up Doc?
The Bodyguard
The Lady Eve
The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (rewatch)
The Accountant
Sing Sing
10 Things I Hate About You (rewatch)
Gosford Park
The Big Sleep (no idea what happened there!)

Matt Erspamer

My 10 Favorite Things of 2025

Seeing Patti Smith perform ‘Horses’ live — Seattle was the first stop of her 50th anniversary tour for the greatest album of all time. A revelatory evening.
Vancouver International Film Festival — My first time getting festival accreditation! VIFF has pretty great programming, and I hope to see its popularity continue to grow… but not by too much because I selfishly enjoy how easy it is to navigate.
Texting random Facebook graphics to friends out of context

Starting a movie club — I love creating a community around movie-watching that, as an added bonus, does not require me to leave my apartment.
Bleak Week in Portland — I stayed in Portland for a week during a brutal heat wave, and caught 35mm screenings of some amazingly depressing films at the Hollywood Theatre: Salo, Cries & Whispers, and Dancer in the Dark.
Chicago — Visiting Chicago for the first time since moving to the PNW made a strong case for relocating… should I ever feel the need to do that again.3
Sweet Days of Discipline by Fleur Jaeggy and What Belongs to You by Garth Greenwell — The two best books I read this year: Thorny, compact tales of queer lust and longing.
Razor Clamming — Something fun and kind of strange that you can do out here is buy a license, grab a big plastic pipe, and go digging around on Washington beaches for razor clams. They are delicious when sautéed with white wine and garlic.
The Shrouds — My favorite new release of the year!
‘Tether’ by Annahstasia- My favorite new album of the year!

Matthew Schnipper

Personal Disappointments

Wasn’t cast in Marty Supreme
Still have no idea how to pronounce Eusexua
Forced to become aware of something called “Cumtown”
No Frank Ocean album
Mamdani significantly younger than me

MMF

Top Ten Bites of the Year (Unordered)

French fries from Superiority Burger every time.
Sticky toffee pudding at Cafe Luxembourg after Fran and Phil’s wedding and before Is This Thing On? at NYFF.
Smoked salmon with potato rosti at Wallse on a whim.
Miso black cod at Nobu Fifty Seven over Valentine’s Day weekend.
Chicken tenders and fries with Heinz Simply Honey Mustard at The Artist's Palette at Disney's Saratoga Springs Resort & Spa at Walt Disney World Resort in Florida.
Two Minute Calamari & Calamarata “Sicilian lifeguard style” pasta at Babbo during its soft re-opening.
Summer corn ravioli at Leon’s where we were basically the only people in the dining room on a Saturday night.
The popcorn from the post-flood AMC Lincoln Square basement level concession stand that was the freshest I have ever had at any location of the chain, into which I dumped multiple “fun size” packets of peanut and peanut butter M&M’S that Clare had brought home from Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party at Walt Disney World.
The pissaladiere “tavernetta” at Ops in the East Village, which I had twice.
The sesame focaccia and cultured butter at Foul Witch (RIP), which was on this list last year but is too good to not include a second time.

Nicholas Russell

Vanity plates in the southwest continue to astound and baffle! Haley and I clocked way more than these, and in other states, but this selection felt representative.

Nick!

Top 10 ideas I obsessed over this year with 0 follow through

Fixing my insanely deviated septum (costs $one million and I would probably still snore)
Writing prehistoric body horror novel/novella/short story in that order (still a good idea)
Getting into cardigans (got one!)
Fixing watches (replaced one watch battery with $30 kit from Amazon and rode that high for a bit, other watch still broken)
“Doing something with my hair” (asked barber to cut off a half inch less for two haircuts in a row, got scared, stopped)
Learning piano (we literally own one, didn’t even try)
Getting in shape (bought walking pad with FSA, walked/ran 5 miles/day for one month while rewatching Twin Peaks, finished The Return, never used walking pad again)
Watching the Chicago Bears football team (by all accounts this would have been the season of all seasons, and yet!)
Becoming a tinned fish guy (saw YouTube short of Marco Pierre White making a sardine sandwich, made it once/loved it, bought expensive tinned fish to make more stuff, never opened them, too nervous I won’t like them)
Living a true life without fear of judgment, failure, or regret (tried real hard)

Phil (Fran Husband)

Guys from seasons 1 thru 5 of Lost.

10. Vincent: Dog
9. Daniel Faraday: Weird guy but when he squints and half-whispers some mysterious bullshit I say “that's aura”
8. Sayid: Near endless aura and hype moments
7. Charlie: Didn’t expect myself to rank Charlie this high, but there’s something to be said for being so sick of a guy’s bullshit for three straight seasons only for you to find you look back on him fondly because his death is handled so well
6. Sun: She’s hot AND sensitive and kinda badass with it
5. John Locke: Don’t Tell Him What He Can Or Can’t Do! Definitely the most compelling arc/narrative in the show: tragic, frustrating, mysterious, very funny, and cool
4. Jin: He’s hot AND sensitive and kinda badass with it!!!
3. Sawyer: He’s hot AND sensitive and kinda badass with it and he's SUCH A BITCH
2. Ben Linus: one of the great freaks of our time
1. Desmond: DPMO

Rafaela Bassili

Top 10 discoveries, re-discoveries and experiences of 2025:

Getting married
Taking my American friends to Rio
Brown eyeliner in the upper waterline
The Custom of the Country by Edith Wharton
‘90s female singer-songwriters, but especially Aimee Mann
The return of Heavyweight by Jonathan Goldstein
Running without headphones
Sandwiches, but especially tuna melts
Earl grey tea with warm milk and honey at 4:30pm, like an English person
Getting a Russian builder gel manicure; ignoring the credit card charge

Sam Bodrojan

Assembling the perfectly tailored suit
Geek Love, Katherine Dunn
The Mortadella Sandwich from Emmer in Toronto
Attending the opera for the first time
Mirabilis By Daphné Bugey
Hollow Knight: Silksong
A Domestic Chicken My Friend And I Saw On Our Walks This Summer
Seeing The Secret Agent on Brazilian Independence Day with Kleber Medoça Filho and Wagner Moura present
Visiting Philadelphia Typewriter
Moving in with my partner

Sonia Saraiya

top ten-ish coffees in a year of cope.

Phil & Sebastian half-sweet vanilla bean latte on ice. I live in a neighborhood with a dozen coffeeshops and this local chain is my go-to for everything.
Phil & Sebastian caffe misto with oat milk (secret menu item). Sometimes I bother them for a big cup of the Smooth Operator caffe misto with oat milk, which is technically not on the menu but unfortunately, very good
McCafé instant coffee. Naturally I was like Instant Coffee? From McDonald’s?? but this beverage has truly converted me. I look forward to it every morning!!
Too fancy espresso shop soy cappuccino. Started copying my sister and ordering the soy cappuccino anytime I wasn’t sure what else to get. It’s chic and usually tastes fine.
The Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte. Iced OR hot. Oat Base, 1 or 2 fewer pumps of syrup, whip if you’re nasty
Half and half. Paul W. Downs is right (in two different videos). It is very nice to have a little bit of coffee with a splash of half and half.

@cbsmornings A half and half PSA from Hacks co-creator Paul W. Downs 🫡 #cbsmornings #paulwdowns #hacks

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Tims Hortons iced coffee with soy milk. But be warned, sometimes they don’t have soy milk. Pair it with three to five birthday cake Timbits.
Tim Hortons Iced Capp. A classic for a reason. They do not mind if you order this with three to five birthday cake Timbits.
Tim Hortons dark roast with double cream. As I learned when I googled “how to order coffee from Tim Hortons” in a panic one weekend in a drive thru, the dark roast was added to the menu for “admirers of stronger, more robust coffee.” I like a small with two creams. Pairs well, actually, with three to five birthday cake Timbits.

Spencer Williams

Matthew McConaughey’s much anticipated poetry collection Poems & Prayers features both poems AND prayers. Allegedly some of these poems were written when he was 18, and some of them even (kind of) rhyme! Poet Laureate material... also this was the year I learned he has a Professorship at UT!
Listened to Blawan’s SickElixir while having to shit so bad on my way to my FRIEND’s wedding party in New York City baybeeeee... felt like I was in Good Time. Anyways, great album, maybe my fav of the year and GREAT wedding party.
The local Buffalo urgent care’s lobby’s slushie machine. Red flavor and also blue flavor. Both indistinguishable from the other in terms of taste.
Birth mom sent me a meme starring Christ’s ultrasound picture... can't get it out of my head to the tune of Kylie Minogue.
My therapist said / nothing about the color contacts / they wore again /
for our zoom appointment.
Considered sports-adjacent hobbies involving hand-to-hand combat, but stopped on account of my hormones.
Questioned the power of vitamin D gummies “for women,” the flavor of Target tropical. Do they still work on me? Or do they clock my tea going down?
Jojo Siwa Cruise ticket prices start at $1,107.00 with a $250.00 deposit per person
Obsessed with the perfume Warm Bulb by Clue. Smells literally like if you poured warm tea all over a lightbulb (positive). 2025 was the year of spending a ridiculous amount of money to smell like objects that had fruity alcoholic beverages spilled on them.
All’s Fair starring Kim Kardashian, Glenn Close, Naomi Watts, Niecy Nash, Teyana Taylor, Sarah Paulson, Jessica Simpson, Hari Nef, some guy, and other women of Mother experience. Created by known domestic terrorist Ryan Murphy. Like watching electrocution compilations on Youtube. Need this show in the form of an IV drip.

Steve (Fran's Dad)

In late 2024, Fran gave me a subscription to Storyworth for my 65th birthday. For the next year, I received a weekly e-mail with a question that I was supposed to answer with a brief essay. At the end of the year, I had written 60 essays. Writing these essays was time-consuming, challenging, enlightening, comforting, fulfilling, habit-forming, stimulating, fun, sad — all at once.
The questions ran the gamut from mundane to meaningful. Here are some of my favorites. I challenge you to answer one or two of them yourself, or better yet, ask one of your own older relatives to answer them. They will be grateful to you for asking, and you may be surprised by the answer!

What's a small decision you made that ended up having a big impact on your life?
What games or toys did you enjoy most when you were young?
What advice would you give your 20-year-old self?
What traits do you share with your father?
How would you describe your childhood bedroom?
What were you like when you were 30?
Did you have any pets growing up?
Do you have a family member you wish you'd gotten to know better?
What do you admire the most about each of your siblings?
What’s a funny or embarrassing story your family likes to tell about you?

Sydney Jin Choi

Most nights, I have dreams. Here are some I wrote in my notes app/texted my friends.

1/2/25: Using my Rutgers MBA (fake) to figure out how to sell Kraft Mac n Cheese better.
2/6/25 (To Spencer): Had a dream you were driving us around in Buffalo. The scenery was like a city at dusk in an old video game. You drove us off the highway into the water between Buffalo and Canada. I was like, "Welp," as we sunk into the water. You were like, "I guess we die now," and closed your eyes. I was like, "What! We can just float to the top!" I started swimming and dragging you by the collar after you let your body go limp.
2/16/25: Spent an afternoon online shopping with Mom and Myles (my brother). They have some super sale, and we are gonna get like $1,000 worth of stuff for $75, but Mom gets obsessed with writing to customer service about her experience, and won't just place the order.
3/20/25: Talking about taxes is so arbitrary. "Like why do I need to measure 3 M&M's at the beginning? What if my M&M's aren't the same size? I always use the peanut ones — realizing I should maybe be using the normal ones. I guess it's the average of 3's, but what if I happen to have 3 mini M&M's or 3 large ones? That shouldn't determine how much I have to pay! Like what is the access to M&M's proving?" Whoever I'm talking to thinks I'm very stupid.
5/8/25 (To Fran): I had all these dreams about you... (TL;DR she touched a bat but wouldn't admit she touched a bat. Phil and I made her go to the hospital to get rabies shots.)
7/4/25 (To Myles): Had a dream I was pushing you around in a stroller, but you were the age you are now but small and wearing a diaper (like a medieval painting of Jesus). You were just chatting as I pushed you around. I was taking you to work.
7/9/25: Spencer and I get on a plane that is like a field of grass. We are all going in the wrong direction. Many people will miss their plans. Rocky landing. I sit on the wing with Spencer and it's very scary, but she shows me TikToks as we land, and she laughs the whole time.
10/31/25: Took out my night guard to try on more night guards.
11/20/25: Mom and I are trying to make a CD player work, but she keeps putting in CDs, so I can't figure out the problem.
12/21/25: I'm on a roof hanging out watching my laundry bag flying in the sky, but it's really long and actually a dragon. I try to take a picture with my phone, but it's too far.

Tessa Strain

Top 10 phrases I heard this year that I couldn’t stop quietly repeating to myself (and their origins)

The Shrouds…at GraveTech Cemetery (The Shrouds)
Momence: the home of experiences (the home screen of the app I have to use to book Pilates classes)
Top Christ-Following Man of the Year (The Righteous Gemstones)
Black bag 😉 (Black Bag)
Morning Pages Baby Tee (name of product on the Free People website)
a few small beers (One Battle After Another — I did eventually get sick of hearing this one)
SHOWER MISHAP (copy on an Instagram graphic about Freddie Freeman’s ankle injury)
Pulp Man of the Year (No Other Choice) (huge year for fake awards with great names)
The need for blood remains constant (email from American Red Cross that sounded like Dracula)
miscellaneous uncs (Twitter user @mjkjuice12)

Veronica Fitzpatrick

Ten Pleasures

The guys who spoon-feed heaping bites into the blindfolded judges’ mouths on Season 2 of Culinary Class Wars
Cornelia James leather gloves
Every minute of my honeymoon but especially Modena, blackout karaoke and tortellini en brodo
Severe, exacting sentences in Janet Malcolm’s The Silent Woman and Lena Andersson’s Acts of Infidelity
Languid, confessional sentences in Sylvia Kristel’s memoir Undressing Emmanuelle
When the room chanted FRAN! at Fran’s wedding reception
Handing diplomas to (and the surprise of receiving hugs from) the graduating class of 2025
Effectively cowriting something rather big with new-found kindred spirit Elissa Suh
Buying a new couch after 16 years with a Craigslist relic
Getting the last single bar seat at Raoul’s and sharing profiteroles with a nameless benefactor

Vikram Murthi

Top 10 Older Films I Saw in Repertory Cinema (Chronological Order)

The Brother From Another Planet [John Sayles, 1984, Metrograph, 35mm]
Veronika Voss [Rainer Werner Fassbinder, 1982, Metrograph, 35mm]
Passing Through [Larry Clark, 1977, Walter Reade Theater (Lincoln Center), 16mm-to-DCP]
Dance, Girl, Dance [Dorothy Arzner, 1940, Nitehawk Prospect Park, 35mm]
Platform [Jia Zhangke, 2000, IFC Center, 35mm]
The Castle [Michael Haneke, 1997, BFI Southbank, DCP]
Stay Hungry [Bob Rafelson, 1976, Nitehawk Prospect Park, 35mm]
Ruggles of Red Gap [Leo McCarrey, 1935, Anthology Film Archives, 35mm]
The Leopard [Luchino Visconti, 1963, Metrograph, 35mm]
Paris Awakens (1991) / A New Life (1993) [Olivier Assayas, 4K Restoration DCP, BAM]

Will Feinstein

This meme about Bert from Sesame Street: Nothing brought me more delight this year than this image (that I just learned is a few years old). It looks just like Bert! I showed everyone. I laughed and laughed.
Shohei Ohtani striking out 10 batters AND hitting three home runs in Game 4 of the NLCS: It’s just impossibly cool that we got to watch one of the greatest single-game performances of all time as it happened. (The World Series was also a blast. I love Vladdy Jr. and every throwback to him as a kid with his dad, but I’ll never forget the joy of watching the Dodgers win the nail-biting seventh game on an iPhone with a small, dedicated group in the back corner of a loud Halloween party.)
Happyend (dir. Neo Sora): Sora’s first fiction feature film is melancholy, prescient, and funny! Go seek it out if a) you love bittersweet high school movies about evolving friendships, and b) you dislike surveillance-based, authoritarian approaches to safety.
Buying a heated shiatsu foot massager: I run this thing under my desk like ten times a day! It feels good and also fixed the foot pain I had after not using my right leg for two months (following fracturing my tibial plateau in a freak beach accident). You too can buy one for like $70! Why would you not own one?
Two great Caroline Polachek features: Two of my favorite songs of the year featured Polachek in a guest spot. Here’s the first one, by another Caroline (the band caroline). And here’s the second one, by Blood Orange (built from a Durutti Column song!).
June Squibb in the Criterion Closet: I loved hearing her talk about seeing Children of Paradise at an arthouse cinema in the 1940s! She’s super sharp at 95.
Robot Karaoke: Let’s see if I can explain this: it’s real karaoke with songs you know, but the lyrics are replaced with rhyming phrases live-generated from a text input of your choice (say, “Mr. Brightside” but the lyrics are from Bernie Sanders email subject lines or negative Glassdoor reviews). Created by Jamie Brew (The Onion, ClickHole), Robot Karaoke is a joyful live experience, whether you’re the one singing or just watching a room full of uninitiated bystanders slowly embrace (and participate in!) the novel concept.
This weird monkey with a flat nose that makes funny sounds: Earlier in the year, I watched a lot of Instagram reels of this creature. At the time, I looked up what the species is called, but now I don’t remember. He’s just for me. Listen to that guy. Look at him.
System of A Down at MetLife Stadium: I had a great time sitting alone in the ADA section to see a band I liked in high school live for the first time. It was like a time capsule, since they haven’t put out music since then. Daron’s stage banter sure was embarrassing! I also caught the last song from Korn before System of a Down started, but I thankfully arrived too late to see this happen.
David Ortiz setting himself up to say that rookie Yankee starter Cam Schlittler’s last name “sounds like Hitler.”

Wyatt Fair!

THE TOP GUYS OF 2025

Declaring 2025 the official “YEAR OF THE GUY” (in a joking way and only as a carvable lane for this publication), let’s hope they’ll let me get away with this.

DAVID LYNCH: Apologies for being so obvious! I will miss this strange man and his unforgettable reveries…
HENRY OF SKALITZ: Sessioned more new game releases than usual — leaning toward Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 as the top dog. My type of shit, sort of an anti-power fantasy. Less swordplay, more mead drinking, painting insignias on cows, heaving bags of flour for a scheming miller.
TOM SANDOVAL/THE WEEKND: Behold! The fusion that no one but me asked for.
“DAN” x 3: Three fantastic Dan-based records this year — Dan’s Boogie, Friendship’s Caveman Wakes Up, and the second full-length dose of “ecstatic black metal” from Agriculture, The Spiritual Sound. Sometimes the list just writes itself!
BI GAN: This man is smoking on some new shit… dioramas and silhouettes…
GABRIEL SUMMERS: As the de facto Fran Mag skateboarding consultant (no one asked me) I will declare that Australian madman Gabriel Summers shed more blood to achieve a dream than any other guy this year. Watch a lovely portrait of him here — and then try not to cry after this final trick.
BRANDON DALEY: Brandon is one of my oldest friends – we GChat every day at the power tools company that we both send emails on behalf of. He also wrote and directed $POSITIONS, one of the best new comedy features that I’ve seen in a minute. When it tours your city…go see it!
THE “MAIN GUY” FROM COMMON SIDE EFFECTS???: Best TV show of the year. Props to Joe Bennett (a guy)
THE MASTERMIND: That’s right… the slick bastard who stole the paintings and drank pop-top beer at Gaby Hoffman’s house… but who created that guy… KELLY REICHARDT!!!!!!!!

Zach Low

Over the summer, I watched 35 movies directed by Robert Altman. Some I saw at the Gene Siskel Film Center as part of their retrospective celebrating Altman’s centennial, but mostly I watched them at home. Supplemented by reading Mitchell Zuckoff’s oral biography (which I highly recommend), the experience was one of the most rewarding deep dives into a filmmaker’s body of work I’ve ever undertaken.

Here are 10 performances from those films that I really loved, in chronological order:

Sandy Dennis as Frances Austen in That Cold Day in the Park (1969)
Tom Skerritt as Duke Forrest in M*A*S*H (1970)
Geraldine Chaplin as Opal in Nashville (1975)
Joel Grey as The Producer (Nate Salisbury) in Buffalo Bill and the Indians, or Sitting Bull's History Lesson (1976)
Carol Burnett as Gloria Burbank in HealtH (1980)
Marta Heflin as Edna Louise in Come Back to the 5 & Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean (1982)
Madeleine Stowe as Sherri Shepard in Short Cuts (1993)
Kim Basinger as Kitty Potter in Prêt-à-Porter (1994)
Harry Belafonte as Seldom Seen in Kansas City (1996)
Charles S. Dutton as Willis Richland in Cookie’s Fortune (1999)

📬🎊 That’s all, folks! What made your best-of list this year? Thanks as always for reading. I love you!!! 😚💌

Cam is not crazy — we do see this.

Fran note: I have this sweater also. It’s great.

Fran note: Fran Magazine endorses any and all moves to Chicago, Illinois.