THE KRIEGER LIST: I ON THE ARTS' TOP 2025

Hello dear readers! 

Before I get into my 2025 lists, I wanted to share a little info about my big project this year. I co-curated an exhibition at Louis Stern Fine Arts, where I am the Outreach and Research Manager. You can learn more about Perspective and Plane here, and/or enjoy this video overview!

And now....

Here's my year-end round-up of media I liked in 2025, including media from 2025 and media that I experienced for the first time in 2025. Everything is in chronological order (where possible).

 Enjoy!

• Movies
• Rope, directed by Alfred Hitchcock, 1948
• That Thing You Do!, directed by Tom Hanks, 1996
• In the Mood for Love, directed by Wong Kar-Wai, 2000
• Paprika, directed by Satoshi Kon, 2006 
• I Saw the TV Glow, directed by Jane Schoenbrun, 2024 
• Sinners, directed by Ryan Coogler, 2025 
• Wake Up Dead Man, directed by Rian Johnson, 2025 
• Marty Supreme, directed by Josh Safdie, 2025 
• Television
• Heated Rivalry, 2025-present
• The Beast and Me, 2025 
• The Pitt, 2025-present
• Severance, 2022-present
• Books
•  Hench, written by Natalie Zina Walschots, 2020
• The Tainted Cup, written by Robert Jackson Bennett, 2024 
• Music
• The Wonders, "That Thing You Do!" 1996
• Eddie Vedder, "You've Got to Hide Your Love Away," 2002 (Beatles cover) 
• Les Misérables in Concert: The 25th Anniversary, 2010
• Feist, "My Moon My Man," 2007
• Fleet Foxes, "White Winter Hymnal," 2008 
• CHVRCHES, "Miracle," 2018 
• Normani, "Motivation," 2019
• Halsey, "Hometown," 2024
• Doechii, "Anxiety," 2025 
• Chloe Slater, "Harriet," 2025 
• Chappell Roan, "The Subway," 2025
• Sabrina Carpenter, "My Man on Willpower," 2025 
• Boys Go to Jupiter, Meet Me After Practice, 2025 
• Taylor Swift, "The Fate of Ophelia," 2025 
• Artists
• Maria Martorell (1909-2010)
• Georg Karl Pfahler (1926-2002)
• Sofia Loeb
• Jessica Woo Jung Ghil 
• José de Jesus Rodriguez
• Christopher Page
• Ben Cowan
• Alfie Caine
• Art/Cultural Experiences
• Live Read: Conclave, February 10, 2025, The Wallis/Film Independent, Los Angeles
• Dan Herschlein from King's Leap Gallery at Post-Fair, Santa Monica, February 20 – 22, 2025 
• Portland Japanese Garden, visited August 2025
• Manet & Morisot, October 11, 2025 – March 1, 2026, Legion of Honor, San Francisco
• Lucy Williams: Radiant City, November 6, 2025 – January 8, 2026, Berggruen Gallery, San Francisco
• Alejandro Cartagena: Ground Rules, November 22, 2025 – April 19, 2026, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
• Black Cowboys: An American Story, June 14, 2025 – January 4, 2026, Autry Museum of the American West, Los Angeles
• Articles 
• Andrew Dubbins, "The After Dark Bandit," The Atavist, December 2024
• Andrea Long Chu, "The Romance of Being Unreadable," Vulture, May 6, 2025
• Gideon Lewis-Kraus,"Did Lead Poisoning Create a Generation of Serial Killers?" The New Yorker, June 25, 2025
• Mary Jane Gibson, "My Best Friend's Murder Was A Tabloid Circus. Now, I'm Looking for the Truth," Rolling Stone, June 29, 2025 
• Toby Buckle, "The Politics of Humiliation," Liberal Currents, July 21, 2025 
• Emma Dexter, "The Sick Shall Inherit the Earth," East of Borneo, October 17, 2025 
• Video Essays
• "How Austin Powers Predicted the Future of Cinema," Patrick Willems, 2020
• "The Wire, Police Reform, and Capitalism," by Skip Intro, 2020
• "Three Stories at the End of the World," by Big Joel, 2022 
• "We Must Destroy What the Bomb Cannot," by Big Joel, 2023
• "Panem's Capitol is where?? Geographer talks the Hunger Games," by Dove Makes, 2025
• "Love, Lust, & Disaster Capitalism: HBO's True Blood," by Biz Barclay, 2025 
• "The Wizard of Oz at Sphere Is Nightmare Fuel," Be Kind Rewind, 2025
• "The Bluth-Fünke Family Explained: A Psychological Analysis of Dysfunction," let's talk about it, 2025