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

Times critic Amy Nicholson published her top 10 list for 2025 this week, with “Sinners” taking the top spot alongside such titles as “One Battle After Another,” “Eddington,” ““Sirāt” and “The Naked Gun.” It’s an incredible sum-up of the best the year had to offer.

On 2025 in film, she noted, “These 10 filmmakers all know that the most vital part of the storytelling business has stayed exactly the same. They have to wow an audience. And they did.”

Among the week’s new releases is Kleber Mendonça Filho’s “The Secret Agent,” Brazil’s entry for the international feature Oscar. Set in an era of fear and paranoia during the 1970s under a corrupt regime, the film stars Wagner Mour

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