2025 Mid-Year Film Roundup and Box Office Check-in

Sentinel online now loading the geek cast radio

network of podcasts Hello and welcome to episode

219 of the cinema geeks I am one of your hosts

comic con seers Dan and joining me As always

is Kevin Optimus Solo. How's it going, Kevin?

Going well, it's going well. I'm happy to be

here excited for the topic for today. Yes, if

you did not check out the title, you'll know

that today we're going to take a little bit of

a break from the Alfred Hitchcock retrospective.

I think we got maybe one or two more films to

go through, but we're actually going to look

at. the movie year that we're actually in. You

know, we're a little over halfway through the

year thus far. We thought we would kind of take

a look back at how the year's gone, kind of catch

up with our box office predictions to see how

good or bad they have been, and also look forward

to seeing what movies we're most excited about

that are still yet to come out this year, some

of which are still on our anticipated list that

have not come out. Hopefully they will. You know,

we don't get any delays and stuff like that,

but... You never know. But I guess kind of start

this off. So far, Kevin, how has your year in

film been when it comes to 2025? First, I just

want to say that it is interesting when you are

doing a retrospective and then also watching

current movies. So like you keep jumping like

70 years into the future and going back and forth

like that. I also feel like it's probably the

plight of a lot of movie podcasters that they

spend the first quarter of the year, it seems

like, or at least the January and February still

trying to catch up with the year before. As a

lot of films come out, you know, in November,

December timeframe that are, you know, award

worthy or noteworthy, you know, get, get a lot

of buzz with critics and stuff like that. So

I definitely did that. This was probably like,

I would say last year was the first year I felt

like I was back in the swing of like watching

a decent amount of movies. Like maybe not as

much as we were watching when we were like doing

reviews, like almost weekly of new films and

things of that nature, but. obviously COVID and

then moving across the country and getting married

and having a child and all this other stuff.

There's lots of things that were up in the air

that were preventing me from seeing films. And

I feel like last year I kind of got back in the

swing of things. So I would probably spend all

of January, February, and most of March still

catching up with 2024 films. I was a little late

to start joining in on the 2025 film. So I've

only probably seen a dozen, but it's also not

unusual for me to have a much lighter first half

of the year and then like go bananas in the second

half and watch a ton of films. So yeah, I've

only seen about 12 films yet, but overall I it

was a long time before I saw one that I rated

lower than a three. I'll say that much. So I

think it was probably. Just this like. End of

June maybe like within the last month was the

first time I saw a film that I didn't rate three

or higher Now granted now I have three of those

on my list So I'm on a little bit of a pad stretch

here in this last month, but up until that point

I had generally at least Enjoyed the films I

had watched like and they weren't all four or

five star films But you know to have you know,

eight or nine three three star four star You

know that type of deal was was a good start to

the year because a lot of times in the first

half it's a little bit more hit or miss because

that's not when a lot of the really acclaimed,

you know, award circuit movies come out. Sometimes

there can be a dumping ground in the spring.

So I didn't experience that this year. I experienced

quite a number of good films that I appreciated.

And I did notice that you've been chalking up

a lot of recently viewed films on your letterbox

as well. So how has 2025 been for you so far?

Yeah, so I have like the last few years I've

been really out of the movie game for a variety

of reasons Like you said mostly having kids,

you know I just and I've kind of gone with limited

time focus mostly in comics like last year Total,

I watched 17 movies the entire year And a lot

of those were most of those were just family

films We watched together and I like one or two

were like movies. I watched myself This year

just so far this year Have watched I'm pulling

up my letterbox right now and I have watched

over around 55 movies thus far oddly like part

of it was doing the Alfred Hitchcock retrospective

that kind of just like that helped me fall in

love with movies again it just because we're

watching those and it just reminded me of why

I love movies and kind of Ended up like watching

other movies along like I just watched them like

it hot for the first time because that's been

on my To watch lists forever I have been trying

to catch up with a lot of movies over the last

few years that haven't watched either But I have

watched a good amount of 2025 films. This is

gonna sound weird but like I've been trying to

get back into shape and doing that has helped

me get back into loving movies because Part of

it like I do like a walking track. So while I'm

doing that and nothing else to do so I'll watch

some films, um, mostly like movies that don't

require you to pay a lot of attention. Um, you

know, kind of mostly like action movies like.

Novocaine and love hurts. Uh, just recently watched

G 20, which is the. Viola Davis, a movie of hers

and like president, uh, that, but where he plays

like John McClain claim as president. Uh, she's

a former army soldier and they try to take over

the G 20 summit and she fights back. Um. You

know and then head to state with Don Sina you

just Alba kind of these movies that like you

kind of know what they are there You know, I

like to call them the Saturday afternoon movies,

you know after Saturday morning cartoons you'd

always get those movies that would come on and

You kind of know when you saw them there weren't

your all -time great films They were like usually

good enough to get the attention of both the

kid as well as maybe the parent that was with

them. A lot of Chuck Norris, a lot of, I think

of Airborne, that classic roller skating movie,

stuff like that. So I've watched and I've watched

some actual good movies too, but that just kind

of then like I started doing that and started

watching more. And I've actually gone to the

theater. Twice in one month that we went to go

see whereas we're recording this I went we went

to go see Jurassic Park one weekend and then

A few days ago. I went to go see superman with

my son. Um, we went to dress park as a family

and then superman and then Potentially next week

again to see fantastic four and I can't tell

you the last time I saw I went to the theater

three weeks in a row It's been extremely rare

to do it two weeks in a row. So Yeah, so that's

one of the things too with like, oh, sorry to

interject, but that's one of the things with

like little kids like that. That's what becomes

the hard part, right? It's not necessarily watching

films at home, but it's going to the theater

to watch films. So then you're always stuck waiting

for something to be available streaming or something

of that nature. So like I'm in the same shape.

Like we don't use we really don't use daycare

or like a babysitter or anything like that. We've

very we have one babysitter that we've used a

few times. so basically one of us is always home

with my daughter so it gets really tricky and

the weird thing is like she does not like animated

films like it's really at all like they scare

the crap out of her she does not like it I guess

it's a rule that every animated film just about

has to have a villain yeah and they they have

certain musical cues and different stuff like

that and it freaks her out because she doesn't

want to see it But yeah, she doesn't mind live

-action stuff. So we have been to the theater

twice now both for birthday trips one for a friend

of our family's I had a their Son had a birthday

and then with Circe's birthday So we've been

to how to train your dragon and Jurassic World

in the last month as well So it's kind of interesting

like we've also been to the theater twice now

in the last few weeks. So that's kind of Rare

occurrence, but yeah, it's it's definitely a

different world when we're going through that

but go ahead and continue your thought I started

just had to interject. Yeah, I so yes, basically

that's you know, I Rarely go to the films and

it's funny, but my oldest is getting like my

my son's ten So now he's getting interested in

like some like Superman like my youngest had

no interest in Superman But my oldest did although

my youngest is more in the Marvel. So he wants

to see fantastic four that feels good but and

I've been very adamant of not trying to force

that stuff on them. He just kind of gone He's

got in the marble. But yeah, so I've been able

to watch a lot more and then I've also Since

everyone getting some streaming stuff. There

are some big movies. I still haven't seen like

I still haven't seen sinners This is probably

the biggest one Mostly because my wife wants

to see it. So we're just trying to find a night,

you know It's hard to find movies. We both want

to see so it's one of those things. We just gotta

find the right night Where the kids go to bed

on time and we can sit down and actually watch

it But I have watched a lot of good movies. I

enjoyed you know, there's so many things available

now via streaming and whatnot, but you know,

I have got me got me back into and I've been

also just doing a lot of I'm like right now reading

watching the Apu trilogy for the first time and

you so I've been trying to just like Like you

said going back to old and new It's kind of weird.

I have this weird thing where I'm watching one

of the up who films and then one of the John

wick movies and it's like cinematic whiplash

going back and forth can really I mean like you

said Hitchcock to heads of state, you know, it's

not yeah exactly So it's been interesting. But

yeah, so I've enjoyed most of the movies I have

seen Are there any specifics? I know you recently

saw Jurassic Park or anything else specific specific

films that you wanted to call it that you rather

enjoyed this year I'm so far. I'd say probably

at the top by the way I've seen Jurassic Park.

It is not at the top of my list when it comes

to rankings Yeah, no, I didn't I just know that's

one that you saw so yeah. Yeah. Yeah, my daughter

loved it, and that's what matters so But as far

as like some films, I saw a couple, I've seen

two of the films that were on my most anticipated

list going into the year, my top 10. Obviously

I have other ones that I was anticipating too,

but out of my top 10 that we recorded the episode

on, I've seen the Altel Knights and I've seen

Ephis. So it was fun to see those two that I

was definitely looking forward to. So I'd probably

call both of those out. I know the Altel Knights

probably is not going to get a whole bunch of

love or praise or critical acclaim or things

like that. But honestly, like I enjoyed it. Like

I enjoy it. My time seeing, you know, De Niro

do the mobster thing. I don't know what the purpose

of him playing both roles was exactly, but I

don't think it added or really. Played like a

key part in the movie or whatever, but it was

still kind of fun to see him play off of himself,

I guess. But just him in that world is fun, so

I enjoyed it for what it was. I mean, it's not

going to be in my top 10 at the end of the year

or anything like that, but I had fun with it.

And if it's I enjoyed like I'm a huge baseball

person. I played for, you know, over a decade.

I umpired for anywhere from Little League through

high school baseball. I coached, I played adult

softball. So like, that was like right up my

alley. Like these, um, basically it's a story

for those of you that don't know of a kind of

a beer league softball team that's playing their

last game on this field because it's going to

be torn down and a school is putting there. So

it's not like the, the greedy, like, uh, industrial

or like, um, The rich people coming in and taking

like the the poor people's field type of story

It's like a legit reason that they're putting

a school there But it's it just follows this

group of these two these two teams I guess and

the players that play on these two teams as they

play their last game and kind of come to terms

with some things that you come to terms with

at that point when you're aging and Becoming

less able to play the game you love or something

like that So it's definitely right up my alley

and I think baseball enthusiasts would enjoy

it it for some reason did not pack the emotional

punch that I was hoping it would because I've

kind of been in that situation where like before

we moved across the country, I had to stop playing

softball because I played for years up there

and I figured that last game I was playing may

be the last game I play because I don't know

anybody down here. I'm getting old. My body is

breaking down, things of that nature. So I expected

a little bit more of an emotional punch than

I got, but I still enjoyed the baseball aesthetic

and kind of just what they were going for there.

So if you like baseball or kind of that coming

to terms with with aging type motif, I would

suggest. I believe it's on Apple TV. You can

watch it if you're not a baseball fan. I don't

know if you will enjoy it that much or if you're

not a sports person in general. I don't know

if you'll enjoy these people that are just kind

of. Shooting the, you know, the S .H .I .T. with

each other and razzle each other and. playing

terribly and stuff like that. And it's interesting.

It's a game that just like seems like it's never

going to end. So they're trying to play and it's

dark and they're using their cars as headlights

to try to lighten the field so they can keep

playing and finish the game. But it's interesting.

So that was kind of two more of the maybe under

the radar, they're not getting a lot of talk.

Ones that were on my most anticipated list that

I wanted to call out. What about you? Is there

anything on your most anticipated list that you've

seen already? there is I wiki 17 was number two

on my most anticipated list and I Don't know

if you could say like it was I want to say it's

a disappointment Do I expect it to show up in

my top ten this year? Probably not but there

was a lot I enjoyed it was a very uneven movie

and it's one probably movie that Like like Bong

Ju Ho he he goes out he goes for it and I kind

of appreciate that about him like like he'll

just Be strange and odd and take chances and

kind of all over the place. It's kind of a it's

a mess in some ways, but it's still Remarkably

watchable and rememberable and Robert Pattinson

is great in it Tony collects really places weird

kind of villain Mark Ruffalo. It's like a combination

of Trump and And what is this stupid name? Elon

Musk put together. It's interesting. Yes So I

liked it Definitely it's I perhaps it's not gonna

be you know, one of my favorite films of the

year It's one of my favorite thus far like I

have it seven out of my favorite list. I saw

Superman I actually was a bit more mixed on that

than a lot of people were I liked it overall,

but I Had some you haven't seen it yet. So I'm

not gonna know. I don't think so, right? You

haven't so I'll just know I have not so maybe

we'll talk about it later. I'll just say that

There's I overall was positive on it, but I there's

a lot of things that kind of not a lot of things

But there are certain at certain to earn decisions

that didn't sit well with me, but I'm so glad

I saw it and I haven't seen Also one of those

with death of a unicorn that's coming on HBO

soon actually I think on the 25th So I'm looking

forward to finally seeing that like I mentioned

haven't seen sinners yet. I had predator badlands

that Is not out yet, but I did see predator killer

of killers, which is that animated film and I

like that It was interesting like it was you

know, it was three What technically four short

stories that take place during different periods

of time of you know, you had a Viking you have

a samurai ninja and then a war two segment and

I thought it was a you know it cool way of continuing

that franchise Will say like I want to watch

a predator movie where the predator wins like

They there were they're supposed to be these

like ultimate hunting creatures and at the end

of the each movie They always lose. I just want

to see one. They actually Walk away the winner

because they never do there, you know, it's like

that That wrestler that's built up They take

all this time and effort to make them into like

this ultimate machine and then they get pinned

by John Cena, you know, so But no, I like the

I thought the animation was Okay, it felt like

it felt Like a animation on a budget like if

it felt like a TV show, so but overall I enjoyed

it. I'm glad I watched it. It has me excited

for The next predator moved badlands. It's coming

up. I do think dead tracking bird gets the predator

franchise gets that world pretty well, so No,

I have not seen that and I thought I read something

that the next predator film was going to somewhat

Have some strings to the alien world as well

again. Yeah, it's like a starting I think the

From the trailer it seems like one of the main

characters is a predator. So, okay I don't know

how that's gonna work out, but we'll see that

shit. There's a couple films I haven't seen yet

too that were on my most anticipated unit You

mentioned death of a unicorn. I have not been

able to see that yet I know warfare is out streaming

which alex garland had a hand in and I have not

had a chance to see that And the other one that

was probably in my most anticipated list that

I haven't seen yet is the Phoenician scheme from

Wes Anderson. I have not had a chance to I don't

even know if that's available. Yeah, it just

came. It's like one of those you have to buy

it for 30 bucks. I'm just kind of waiting for

it to drop. Just because you mentioned Superman,

you saw Captain America Brave New World, correct?

Yeah, I did. With this you don't have to spoil

anything about Superman, but did you put Superman

ahead or below Captain America? Yeah Well ahead

like right now on my I am you know, I am one

of those people in letterbox. I have a 2025 list

I'm keeping ranking everything as I watch it

And right now Superman is 11 after the America

brave new world is 25 out of 20 out of 26 just

And like I where's the rest of world Ten I actually

have a right above Superman. Yeah, and I think

and I think a lot of people would scoff at that

and dress a dress a world I feel like that's

a movie that its flaws are very evidence in and

it's It's very like, you know, it's kind of the

characters are paper -thin you it The plot is

kind of nonsensical I feel like everything I

thought was going to go wrong with them like

everything all the issues it has I feel like

you're just kind of part of that franchise in

a way Um, but I just thought the set pieces and

I thought it was just an exciting. It was as

cliche as it sounded. It was basically an amusement

park ride that I really enjoyed being part of.

And like you said, my, my oldest really loved

it as well, but yeah. Um, so, so I would probably

say Superman's a better movie, but I, I had,

I was more excited watching Jurassic world. I

think the action sequences and the visuals of

Jurassic world were great. Think that part is

where they thrived obviously I think what obviously

what you expect with the story and like you talked

about the characters Leave a little to be desired.

I guess. Yeah, it's like it's basically the plot

was made by Mad Libs and they just inserted like

Scarlett Johansson in Yeah, and I would say though

if like my favorite film that I watched this

year two were really close on Becoming a guinea

fowl, which is probably I think the best You

know, it's the objective best film I've seen

this year. It's just really powerful film about

a woman who finds her dead uncle and kind of

on the road and kind of you know unearth these

The secrets that have been hidden throughout

this family and you just it just gets into Just

the burden and the horrors that a lot of women

are put through especially in this conflict between

old and new. It's a remarkable movie. It's on

HBO Max right now. But like the movie I enjoyed

the most watching, it's currently on Peacock.

It's The Ballad of Wallace Island. And it's kind

of like a dramedy type of film. It stars... It's

about this guy who's won the lottery twice. And

with that money, he's actually brought in his

favorite like folk singer and his favorite folk

singers ex -wife They used to be this like duo

Think trying to think of famous folks that he

do host like Peter Paul and Mary are yeah Something

like that and but they have slongs put up but

he's kind of reuniting them and that's not a

spoiler that's the trailer but it's just it's

really charming and funny the The guy who does

it I can't think of the actor's name Legitimately

like he's just so naturally funny. It's just

my sense of humor perfect. It just it's it's

my speed of a film It's nothing surprising in

the sense of storytelling, but I just think it

has a nice heart to it. It's It was a really

enjoyable watch and again and I started watching

it that was like the first like real movie I

watched this year that was like not a Random

action movie. I was walking in the treadmill.

So perhaps that's why it hit me so hard, but

I really enjoyed that It's probably my favorite

film Can you give the name of that one again?

Sure. A Ballad of Wallace Island. Adding it to

my list. It is on Peacock, like I mentioned,

and it's for free. So you can check it out there.

Yeah, I hadn't heard of that one yet. I had heard

on Becoming a Guinea Fowl. I've seen that on

a couple people's list or in their conversation

of like their favorite movies of the year so

far. So I had that one on my watch list as well,

but I have not seen that one yet. So I'll have

to add the put those two a little bit closer

to the top of my list here As for me, I did have

I did have Mickey 17 ranked fairly high That

was the first movie I saw this year and I did

enjoy that I probably the biggest surprise for

me so far even though it's not like anything

Complicated or complex here, but my biggest surprise

was how to train your dragon. Honestly, like

I'm not huge into the three, I think there's

three animated films, right? I am not like a

huge fan. I shouldn't say a huge fan. I enjoy

all of those films, but they've never been anything

that was like that special to me. And seeing

this live action one, first of all, I didn't

realize it was like basically a shot for shot

retelling of the animated film just in live action.

Format I didn't know that my wife told me that

after the film So that was news to me because

that's how much I I don't remember from the animated

films but I don't know if it was just seeing

it with my daughter and how much she enjoyed

it or I just I don't know. I really enjoyed what

they did with it and I thought the choices they

made it were were Good I I guess maybe changing

the color of somebody's hair seems like a weird

choice That's not that important to make like

it's not adding anything to the the overall story

or whatever but but i just felt like um from

a visual standpoint and from like this grandiose

like i feel like that's the type of film you

should see in a theater and it just like immerses

you in that world it almost like it felt like

you were almost watching not i don't want to

put it on the same level of like lord of the

rings or something like that but it made you

feel like you were in that type of a world where

you're just completely escaping from your life

And you're just in this world. And I thought

it was really well done. So I was not anticipating

liking that film that much. And it's actually

in my like top five so far. So I don't think

it'll last that long in my top five. But I just

I know I enjoyed it. And I thought it did its

job. And I think it introduces this world to

like a whole new generation. So I get the people

that are like diehards on the animated film might

be like. Why is this necessary type deal? But

I think when you do it in a different format

and you introduce it to a whole different generation

of children, there's a point for that. So I appreciated

that. But my two top ones that are kind of battling

for the top spot at the moment would be you mentioned

centers that you haven't seen. I have that in

my top spot. And then like one A or one B, however

you want to say it would probably be a black

bag for me right now. Yeah, that was really good.

So I just I. It's been a while. I think for I

guess it was interesting because sinners is like

very big, right? Like it's going for a lot of

things. Mickey 17 is very out there, right? It's

doing a lot of stuff. And then you have stuff

like we've talked about, like all the Hollywood

type movies with Jurassic World and Superman

and Captain America and how to train your dragon

and stuff like that. And I feel like Black Bag

is just like. It was a nice change of pace for

me out of all the films I've seen in 2025 to

just kind of be stripping all that away and and

really base it on a movie that you you have to

be into the acting and the dialogue and kind

of the interactions of these people and You know,

he's just a good director So he's got two films.

I haven't seen his other film this year that

came out presence But black bag worked for me.

So right now I have centers in black bag kind

of duking it out at the top of my list Nice.

Yeah, I didn't mention black bag. I did really

like that. It's such a Such a different take

on like the spy film. It's crazy Like that film

was like all dialogue, which I love and I thought

that I was that number to be a Hitchcock film

It really you're it's good point. Yeah, it really

could have been so You'll be and then some other

like comedies. I enjoyed This one and some of

these are all streaming um deep cover, which

is on amazon prime. It's about These got people

who are in an improv troop. I know that might

turn people off right away, but they kind of

get involved in It's like crazy crime adventure.

It's very akin to like game night like in style

and tone And it stars brice ellis howard orlando

bloom and nick muhammad Like legitimately like

one of the better performances i've seen holando

bloom bloom do in like years. He's like really

good at it But that's a really fun film one of

them days. I love movies that take place in one

day and that this is that it's basically two

women who Cool up his best friends and it's kind

of a day of craziness that happens like it starts

off normal and then basically lose their rent

money and they have to go through a lot of crazy

things in order to try to get it back and Great

kitty Palmer kiki Palmer. I should say kiki Palmer.

It's fantastic in it She's the huge probably

gonna be huge star cat Williams plays a really

funny character in that too So those that's something

I really enjoyed and then I haven't watched a

lot of documentaries but one I didn't want to

mention because I do love myself a good documentary,

especially a good sports documentary is Surviving

Ohio State that's currently on HBO right now.

This is a tough watch though. It's about the

sexual abuse scandal that Ohio State went under

and kind of unearthing really what happened and

it's it's a brutal watch but I think it's also

really important because I think it's feels beyond

sports because it shows that Victim of special

sexual abuse can really be anyone all shapes

and different sizes and I think it really gets

to that like that Racing that stigma in an important

way. So it is it's it's on HBO Max now I would

say obviously something you don't want to watch

with kids or anything like that, but I do think

it is um, it's Structurally like craft wise is

pretty straightforward like talking heads documentary,

but I think the subject matter is what really

makes it work I've scrolled past that a couple

times and been curious about it. So i'll have

to give that a watch I also did have one of them

days on my watch list as well as well. So i'm

looking forward to seeing that one And you mentioned

also nights. I didn't enjoy it. It felt like

old classic filmmaking Like, you know, it's that

I that I did enjoy and then some of the action

films i've enjoyed uh ko which is a french action

movie um about um an mma fighter that tries to

help find the son of a fighter he accidentally

killed in in a combat and then like a ufc fight

uh that's not a spoiler because like that's literally

the first scene that happens Good action. It's

good like beat -em -up style. Nothing crazy I

never watched the accountant and so I did watch

the accountant I ended up watching both the accountant

and the accountant too. I enjoyed the accountant

too. I think the first one's probably I don't

know which one I thought was better, but weirdly

that's Ben Affleck and Don Baranthal like they

make a good duo like they actually work well

together because they kind of they play brothers

But that was enjoyable. I was crazy. I never

saw the account and I'm like, oh I haven't watched

that movie and it came out a couple years ago.

It came out a decade ago. I didn't realize how

That's why we haven't watched account in two

yet either because we keep going we keep scrolling

past it and being like Do you remember what happens

in the first accountant and neither one of us

does so we're like well We got to go back and

watch the first one and now that that makes it

a two movie commitment and it hasn't happened

yet Yeah, same. I forgot I forgot it has nothing

to do with 2025 But I have to say that in adding

to the films that I have watched in 2025, I did

watch all four of the Jaws films. Not that all

four again, all four. Yep. All four in in like

consecutive nights, basically like to celebrate

the 15th anniversary, I guess. And I wasn't convinced

that I had ever seen the original Jaws straight

through, like since I've been into like more

into movies. So I was like, I really need to

like sit down and watch this thing from beginning

to end. No distractions. you know, just let's

pay attention to it and like make sure I didn't

miss it. And then like, I was like, well, I watched

Jaws. So let's watch the other one since it's

this anniversary thing. And then I had to watch

the other one and then I had to watch the last

one. It was it was a fun little experience. My

daughter watched part of them with me because

that type of stuff just doesn't scare her. You

know, the the villain and minions. No, thanks.

Sharks or dinosaurs like tearing at people. I

guess it's fine. I don't know. Yeah. I wondered

about because I wonder I thought about showing

my kids jaws. I'm like because it's like, you

know, 70 I don't know if it would be a scary

but I ended up not um, yeah, I gave the movie

one only other one movie I want to talk about

just because it is the biggest movie of the year,

I think still Minecraft have you seen Minecraft?

I have not seen Minecraft. I feel like I would

be so lost in that world that I I've never I've

never been exposed to anything Minecraft. So

I have no idea what I'd be getting myself into

Okay, I have seen it my kids love minecraft so

We didn't somehow I didn't and I did not see

it in theaters I was actually worried about seeing

in theaters with how crazy people are being But

yeah, um, I it was one of those things where

it's like they loved it So that's what I took

out of it. So I don't think it was like the worst

thing I've ever seen I've certainly seen like

worst kids movies and No, I have like playing

minecraft with them. So I have some idea but

They you know, it was like, oh i'm like now I

know how my family felt when I was trying to

get them to watch power rangers Absolutely, right?

I know my daughter got a minecraft toy and a

happy meal and she thought it was cool Well that

kind of brings us, you know into the next piece

because one of the movies we did one of the episodes

we did early this year was Looking at the box

office and trying to predict what we thought

it was going to be So I was curious to see how

we're doing so far. So you want to maybe remind

us of what our picks were? Yeah, absolutely.

So, Dan, your number 10 pick was Michael, which

would be the Michael Jackson biopic film that's

supposed to be out in October. So that hasn't

come out yet. Your number nine pick was Snow

White. We'll talk about that in a second. Ah,

that was not a good call right there. Your number

eight pick was the Fantastic Four for Steps.

Seven was Jurassic World. Six was How to Train

Your Dragon. Five was Lilo and Stitch. Four was

Superman. Three, Wicked for Good. Two, Avatar.

One, Zootopia. Your top half's looking fairly

good. And then you had a wild card pick of Dogman

and Elio. So we'll get into the results in a

second. First, my two wild cards were the Michael

film that you had at number 10 and I threw a

really crazy wild card at the Passion of Christ

Resurrection thinking that it may come out in

2025 and it definitely is not. And then my number

10 was Elio, nine Mission Impossible, eight Snow

White, seven a Minecraft movie, six Captain America,

five Jurassic World, four Superman, three Zootopia,

two Wicked for Good and one Avatar, Fire and

Ash. So. I will do this as I guess I will go

through what is currently the top 10 at the box

office. Now, some movies have just come out.

And then obviously we have. Five, we have six

films that we talked about in those rankings

that have not come out yet. So obviously we don't

know what Avatar, Wicked, Zootopia, Michael and

the Fantastic Four film. And I guess I can't

count Passion of the Christ two. So those films

are not out. As far as the movies that are obviously

right now, Minecraft movie is number one. It's

sitting at 423 million. So I had that ranked

number seven. You had that not ranked. So that's

for sure. That's for sure going to be one of

your misses. Cause I don't think I've ever seen

a 400 million movie not make the top 10. So that

one's a for sure lock in the top 10. The only

other for sure lock I think in the top 10 so

far that we could safely say without a shadow

of a doubt is going to be Lilo and Stitch, which

is at 415, which you had ranked five and I did

not have ranked. So I feel like we're even there.

Like you didn't rank Minecraft. I didn't rank

Lilo and Stitch. We're both going to be wrong

on those picks for sure. Number three right now

in the box office, and I would say three through

six all have a shot of being in the top 10 at

the end of the year, but they also could all

be ousted. How to Train Your Dragon is number

three right now. It's at 241, which should be

safe, but you just never know. Um, you had how

to train your dragon ranked at six. I again did

not have that one ranked. So that would make

me over two out of the three that we've talked

about so far. So it's not looking good. Um, number

four at the box office still somewhat early on

in its run is Jurassic world at 237 million.

You had this at seven. I had this at five. So

I think we're both in the running for getting

that one close. Um, next. At the moment, and

this is these next two are probably not going

to make the top 10, but they are there at the

moment. So after Jurassic World right now is

Captain America with 200 million. You wisely

did not rank this one. I unfortunately had this

one at number six. And then the next one is Mission

Impossible, which is sitting at 194, but that's

just about pretty much done. And you did not

have that one ranked probably wisely again. And

I had this ranked at number nine, which I would

be very lucky if that. ended up being true. So

how are you feeling about those so far, that

top six there between Minecraft, Lilo and Stitch,

How to Train Your Dragon, Jurassic World, Captain

America, and Mission Impossible? I actually forgot

I ranked Lilo and Stitch. I was like mad at myself.

So I'm glad I did that. And I know I didn't rank

Minecraft, but like that's where like I got to

like. The first time I gave into like internet

chatter because I know it seems crazy But at

the time we did that it was just so overtly negative.

I thought it was gonna be like another Like I

know snakes on a plane. I don't know it so that

was silly I probably should include that in the

top ten. I'm feeling pretty good The Michael

pick like I don't know. I'm clearly you know,

I don't I think it's gonna be tough See like

I'm worried if Avatar actually even comes out,

but I'm feeling okay. I'm feeling okay. I I don't

think Captain America or Mission Impossible will

be making it. I'm pretty sure like Looking at

the food that are coming out. There's a good

there's probably little chance that they stay

there So I'm glad I didn't include those till

kicking myself. I didn't include them And I should

say I should correct myself because it may be

misinterpreted Those six were the top six out

of the ones that we have ranked So there was

some movies that one movie in particular that

is in the top It's number three right now at

the box office that neither one of us ranked

and that would be sinners So sinners is sitting

at two hundred and seventy eight million. I would

say that's pretty sure fire to be in the top

ten So if you give minecraft Lilo and stitch

and sinners the top three right now and say that

those are locks and Then you have to assume as

long as they come out this year, which I think

they all are going to Zootopia Wicked and Avatar.

Probably for Sherlock's, right? And then that's

six films. We have Superman, who had a phenomenal

first weekend, is getting great word of mouth.

We both had ranked as coming in number four.

So you assume that that one's going to have some

legs. So that would be your seventh film. So

that only leaves three spots. And we have Fantastic

Four still. And then you have How to Train Your

Dragon and Jurassic World. Out there, so it's

it's gonna be real tough for Captain American

Mission Impossible to hang on to any shred of

the top 10 I would think So Superman would have

been the next go ahead I would say I am a little

worried about Fantastic Four just because it

is coming off as it like if it's gonna get drowned

out because it's People shift focus to Fantastic

Four after like Superman To be taking all the

conversation. I don't hear anyone talking about

Fantastic Four So I do wonder if that will have

any impact at all, but we'll see Yeah, Superman

will be out at that time. I assume Jurassic World

will still be playing in theaters at that point

as well Even though it'll be torn, you know a

little bit older now So it's gonna be a lot of

competition in July here for the latter part

for box office money But I think that's good

for the box office if they all get some Buzz

and some attention. So we'll see So right now

Superman is sitting at 137 and then Dog Man,

which you had as your wild card that ended at

97. So probably not going to play a factor. We

had Snow White ranked eight and nine and that

ended at 87. So Snow White did not do well, did

not get good word of mouth. I think it has like

a 10 or 15 % on Rotten Tomatoes or something.

It's real bad. And then Helio which I forgot,

I haven't ranked that one yet for 2025. We have

seen Elio. I've seen three movies in the theater

now, Dan. Holy cow. Wow, there you go. So that

was actually the one that we went to the birthday

party for. How to Train Your Dragon, we just

convinced her to go on her own. But Elio is only

at 64 million and it looks like it's just about

done. So that is not a good pick for my number

10 spot. You had it as a wild card. Any reactions

to Elio doing so poorly? Add like it's it is

like cuz It being a new original idea what people

say they want all the time and you get it and

then it no one goes to see it so It makes it

sad. I think is the same thing with like elemental

last year Or that that ended up doing pretty

well because like like it just stayed consistent

and I was hoping the same thing with Elio But

for whatever reason just I don't know. I don't

know it I think it just didn't have something

to hook kids like it didn't have that like it

it just There is nothing like there to like latch

on to you. Like there was no crypto or something

like that I don't know for whatever reason I

just didn't and I think It's kind of sad like

that doesn't do well But like how to train your

dragon not saying it's a bad movie, which is

legitimately like a shopper shot remake does

fantastic or minecraft, which I guess is an original

movie, but have you so I can't speak to its quality

because I haven't seen it yet, but It is interesting

how much people rave about or like rant about

wanting new stuff and then they they never go

see it So it's it's really hard for those videos

to keep putting out new stuff And I will say

Elio in my opinion is not a good film Yeah, I

think it's one of Pixar's bottom tier and it

seems like the non -comedy version of the movie

home which was an animated film that was a who's

the guy from the sitcom that does the the voice

I'm gonna kick myself because I didn't watch

the sitcom but there's a very famous person that

does the the main voice of the alien and it's

just a lot like that to me so yes it's an original

film but it seemed like it was taken straight

out of like the playbook of a film that had already

been made just tried to be more drama and less

comedy I guess in person I was yes yes Jim Parsons

okay yes And so that's where we're sitting right

here. The only other movies that even came close

to the 200 million mark were just one of them,

really. Thunderbolts at 189. You know, F1, the

movie's at 138. Final Destination Bloodline's

137. So. It's not looking, you know, out of the

200. million plus movies, I think we have about

four that are in the running so far, and I think

Superman won't take long to join them. So I think

we have our first five kind of rounding out,

and then we'll see if those other five get taken

up by the likes of, you know, Avatar, Wicked,

Zootopia, Fantastic Four, and then there may

be one wild card spot in there for somebody,

depending on how things go. So any other thoughts

about our little box office wrap up so far? Like

our one, two, and threes for both of us have

not come out. Our number four was both Superman,

so that's still young, but it looks like it's

doing well. So you have probably just the Minecraft

one that you didn't rank that could be problematic,

where I have Lilo and Stitch and How to Train

Your Dragon, which I did not rank. So it's looking

good for you, I think. Yeah. And I will say one

thing, you know, we talk about failure, Elio,

but I guess we should at least the sinners were

super, super successful. So that was good to

see. So. Yeah, that's the most original one in

the mix which there always seems to be that one

Film right like we've looked at this a number

of different times. There's always like that

one early part of the year that kind of comes

out of nowhere that is either original or you

know Just like a certain genre maybe but not

like a franchise movie that just seems to do

well So it's it's hard to pick that one. That's

like the hardest one to get in your top ten pick

So yeah, it's good to see that though for sure

So we were talking about movies that haven't

come out yet So let's kind of continue that as

we look we've done our most participated for

this year But I know now we kind of even have

a better idea of other movies that will be coming

out So are there any big movies small movies

that are coming out on the second half that you're

really looking forward to? yeah, absolutely the

other thing that has happened since we did this

episode is movies actually have titles now and

yeah and some of them actually have release dates,

so I do have to say that one of my top 10 most

anticipated films for this year, sadly, is not

coming out. So Wildwood, the Leica movie from

Travis Knight, who did Kubo and The Two Strings,

is slated for January now. So I guess I'll have

to wait on Wildwood a little bit. But I still

am very much anticipating three of the films

that were in my top 10 list. And then I have

a few that has snuck in that I didn't know existed

when we did that episode. So I'll start with

the three that I had originally on my top 10

because now I've been able to see trailers for

them. So highest to lowest is definitely keeping

it spot in my most anticipated list. This is

the Spike Lee film starring Denzel Washington.

I saw the preview of that and it's like all Denzel.

So I'm in like just it's cool. He's not playing

a side character. It looks like this is his his

his movie and it's Spike Lee. So like I'm still

in for that one. The Lost Bus. which is definitely

coming out in 2025. Maybe not for a wide release,

but it's going to be shown, I believe in a few

different festivals. And then I want to say it

said, I read that it was going to be on Apple

TV or something towards the end of the year.

So that's the Paul Greengrass film starring Matthew

McConaughey. So that one I'm definitely in and

the Paul Thomas Anderson film has a title now.

It's not a Paul Thomas Anderson film. It's called

One Battle After Another. And it looks like the

main star is going to be Leonardo DiCaprio, and

I saw the trailer and I'm all in. Like, I don't

know if you've seen the trailer yet, but yeah,

it showed before Superman, which is a random

movie to show before. But I guess, you know,

I have. Yeah, I really like the trailer, too.

I'm really looking forward to that going into

this year. It was number three for me. So I'm

still just as much looking forward to it. Yeah,

it was number two for me. So, yeah, it's keeping

that spot for sure. And then a couple that have

snuck in, I guess. Number one, let's go with

the one that I'm maybe the highest on, which

I saw the trailer for before Jurassic World,

and that was Project Hail Mary. Have you seen

the trailer for that one yet with Ryan Gosling?

Yeah, was that this year? I thought it was 2026.

Maybe I'm wrong. Oh, maybe I'm maybe I'm missing

the date. I thought I saw that it was 2025, but

perhaps they're just showing trailers for it

super early. Yeah, whenever it's a okay 2026

while I'm well put it on my list for next year.

It's gonna be one of the movies for next year

already Yeah, right cuz that one's done by the

people of Phil Lord and Christopher Miller and

the writing team from or the team behind the

Martian So I'm definitely for that. So put that

ahead on my list for 2026 I guess Just a couple

other ones. I'll throw out there. There is a

movie called the long walk I don't think this

movie is going to be good, necessarily, but I'm

anticipating it. It's a there's two Stephen King

adaptations, at least coming out this year, because

there's The Running Man, which is being done

by Edgar Wright, starring Glenn Powell, which

I did see the trailer for and that looks interesting.

And then there's The Long Walk, which is apparently

a contest where you have to like walk so long

to like get something. But if you stop, you get

killed. I don't know 100 percent, but I. But

I know Mark Hamill's playing like the villain.

So a live action Mark Hamill villain that is

like in charge of this game that's going on or

something. So I'm intrigued by that one, I will

say. There's a film called J. Kelly by Noah Baumbach

that there's literally no information out except

for it stars George Clooney and Adam Sandler.

And I'm hearing that Adam Sandler is giving another

like potential award worthy performance as like

the I assume the supporting role, but I don't

know much about the film. Also, Laura Dern, Greta

Gerwig, Riley Keough, Billy Kurtup. It seems

like a pretty good cast. I know nothing about

the plot, but I'm intrigued by that. The two

more I'll throw out there for you. Catherine

Bigelow's film now has a name. It's called A

House of Dynamite, starring Idris Elba, Rebecca

Ferguson, Jason Clarke. It's a political thriller

and Kathryn Bigelow seems to know her way around

that type of material. So I am looking forward

to that one for sure. And then there's just like

a bananas looking movie that originally I had

listed here as like the Buffalo Bill movie, but

now it's called Heads or Tails. I don't know

if this one's for sure coming out in 2025 either,

but it stars John C. Reilly as Buffalo Bill Cody,

which seems like an odd choice, but I'm definitely

looking forward to that one too. What about you?

So the movie I'm probably the most looking forward

to a lot of the ones you mentioned I know I'm

bomb back film house of dynamite. I love zero

thought 30 loved her locker So that's up there

and I'm excited. That's actually it's a come

out in October But the one I'm most looking forward

to is blue moon, which is gonna be Richard Liglietta's

new movie It's starring Ethan Hawke and they

kind of just do magic together also Andrew Scott

whom a huge fan of big fan of Parks and Rec I

think he actually Should fit perfectly in a Richard

Langer movie. So You know, it's uh, it is a music

biopic though and those Those are always a bit

tough, you know We've seen how well those can

sometimes go but it's already already gotten

debuted at the berlin international film festival

and Adam scott actually got nominated for an

award and stuff like that. So Has me excited.

I'm a huge link later fan. He's probably my favorite

director of all time You mentioned the running

man. That does look fun. I think that That looks

exciting. I do wonder if that was one that if

that movie is gonna do well or not. Oh, yeah,

good and then Chloe's owl has a new movie coming

out ham knit. I don't know much about it, but

it's obviously Taking you know Shakespeare inspired

Which can go either way, you know, sometimes

we get some great movies with Shakespeare inspired.

Sometimes we do not Uh, there's going toxic avenger

is coming out. I don't know i've only reason

to bring this up It's actually been reading the

toxic avenger comic recently and been enjoying

it This movie is also I think was made like two

years ago. It's just coming out now Which is

not the best sign in the world if we're being

honest but You know, maybe and who knows? Uh,

there is michael showalter has a new movie coming

out. It's called. Oh wait fun Which I have a

crazy cast Michelle Pfeiffer Chloe grace Felicity

Jones and it's leery of all people so Makes me

wonder how well that will do I just saw recently

zizou that the movie about the guy who kills

a bunch of Nazis During World War two. It's only

getting a sequel that may be coming out. I don't

know if it'll US this year, but it's currently

slated for November We mentioned wicked wicked

for good Interested to see how that's I saw the

trailer for that. It looks it looks solid. It

looks you know, right? So I wonder Hopefully

does well just you know, just not nothing that

not that I don't have That on our top ten or

anything, but I think there's so like you said

there's it's good Good to see and then last one

one that was on my list going into this year

is the New Yorker slam for the most film set

set for October so I Batch is still up there

looking forward to seeing that but there's a

ton and seems like more stuff is getting announced

as we go and I'm sure there'll be a bunch of

things that like Will come out of nowhere. Yeah.

Well, you know tiff is still has to come out

So you'll see a lot of films kind of hit there.

I know con has already happened. So I don't know

but those You mentioned the music one and there's

a couple other music ones that I saw when I was

just looking there's a a Bob Dylan Pick coming

out and a Bruce Springsteen. I think I want to

say I saw them little ads for both of those So

that's kind of interesting. I think the Bob Dylan

one's called Marty Supreme. I Can't remember

what the Bruce Springsteen one is and then there

I forgot to mention also There's a Jordan Peele

produced movie called him. He's not directing

it but he's producing it and it looks like it's

similar to the ones that he's directed so I'm

interested to see what that is it's like a high

school football player that comes to that the

Looking favorable for 2025 and there are two

big comedies. I'm curious. I'm not I'm curious

about I'm As mystic on but maybe they'll be good

the naked gun new movie curious how that's gonna

go I do like the fact that they're making it

a sequel and I don't know. It's wonderful to

capture the spirit and then also spinal tap to

which I didn't think would actually Get released

but it's already it's been made it's they actually

were doing like a revival spinal tap in a few

the original film and they Released some footage

with that already. I don't know, you know trying

to seek comedy sequels are Rarely good. Yeah,

so they have probably the lowest percentage of

any sequels But we'll see did they show the trailer

for roof man at any of the movies you saw recently

No, I did see the trailer for The movie mentioned

the lost bus but not I haven't seen roof man

Yeah, they showed a roof man in front of Jurassic

world as well which is from Derek C in France,

which is the guy that did a blue Valentine and

place beyond the pines and the light between

oceans as starring Channing Tatum as this person

that broke in he breaks into like a Toys R Us

and it's hiding out there from something and

he's like Just living there. And then Peter Dinklage

is the I believe the manager of the Toys R Us.

I don't know. It's a it's it came across as a

fun and interesting film starring Channing Tatum.

I mean, I do I do love his film. So and yeah,

I'll have to check that out. So like he I love

the Place Beyond the Pines and Blue Valentine.

See if I haven't still haven't seen the light

between oceans. I know he was I don't think you're

gonna like that one as much as the other two

like Amanda and I Amanda especially really enjoyed

that. I don't know if you're gonna like it as

much as I think Did I see that movie? I think

I might actually I don't know if I did or not.

You just and some I can't remember the female

that's in it No, I have it. Okay, so Yeah Already

then so yeah, what a lot of movies thus far a

lot of movies are looking forward to You know,

we're getting out to the theater more. It's like

old times. Yeah Anything else you want to talk

about before we bring this episode to a close?

Um, no, I think there's a lot of stuff to look

forward to we'll have to keep our eyes on the

box office and see how far superman shoots up

the list there and I'll have to watch some release

dates for a couple these films to see if we're

actually gonna get them or not but i'm looking

forward to the second half it looks like there's

a wide variety of things is I guess what i'm

seeing when I look at all these different things

like Yes, we're going to have some blockbusters

and we're going to have some more animated films

and some of the big, you know, probably the top

three or four at the box office still to come

out. But I just think there's a wide variety

from a lot of different directors that we're

both familiar with and both fans of. So it's

definitely another reason why I feel like I've

been more motivated to get back into the movie

thing as well and try to keep up as much as I

can from the streaming confines of my house.

Yeah, it's. Intriguing I'm still trying to catch

up with like I said the movies from the last

few years But the thing is there's been a lot

from this year I've been excited for and lots

of really like I really like my 2020 for like

top 20 So if you're just still catching up with

that, I feel like you have a lot of good stuff

that's coming. Oh, yeah Yeah, I've still got

a bunch that need to catch up with so alright

Well next week though, we're gonna get back into

the norm and get back to our Hitchcock retrospective.

I think I think it might be the last movie we

do right? I think it's or we're we're talking

about what we're to move to next But next week,

we'll be talking to catch a thief Which is will

kind of be the 15th movie. I think we've covered

so far with Hitchcock. So We've been really enjoying

that thus far. Hopefully we end end strong quality

wise and then we'll probably do a wrap -up episode

and then maybe talk about you know, where will

we going next because we have a lot of ideas

for Retrospectives that kind of keep that going

so but for now Kevin if people want to get a

hold of you How can they do that? Just search

out at optimus solo on all the different social

medias and you'll be able to send me a comment

or question And for me comic con seers and all

the social media platforms, you can find me there

That'll bring us to the end of this episode Check

out us next week to listen to more of the cinema

geeks