Top 10 Films of 2025 Review

This is The Brain, and you're listening to the

Geekcast Radio Network. Yes! Hello and welcome

to episode 233 of The Cinema Geeks. I am one

of your Cinema Geeks Optimus Solo, and joining

me, as he usually is, is Dan. Hello. Hey, how's

it going? It is going well. We have... Made it.

I feel like across some sort of finish line It

feels like in my head like I feel like I just

crammed for a final and like it's about to be

over the finals about to be over and then I'm

just gonna be able to be like What TV shows have

I missed in the last? Yeah, cuz I feel like that's

gonna be a thing so we are here today to Do what

we haven't done in a while Dan. I looked back

and the last time we did one of these was 2019

so it has been a while. Yeah, pre -COVID was

I think the last time we did a top 10 of the

year for films. So we're getting back into the

swing of things. Last year we did do the box

office in the most anticipated, but we didn't

do like the top 10. So we're going to actually

give you guys our top 10 films of 2025. It feels

good to finally be doing this again, Dan. It

does. I mean, this is the most movies I've watched

in one year. Like to put in perspective into

all of 2024. I watched like 17 movies total I'm

not like new movies just total but last year

Looking at letterbox. It was like 250 something

beyond so there was a lot of reasons for that

but also just getting back to the podcast and

all the retrospectives we did to certainly contributed

to it, but yeah, so and then this last few Last

few weeks just cramming in all the 2025 movies.

It's been been fun I should have done a count

of what I I don't know what the number is for

what how many films I watched last year I feel

like it has to be the highest since At least

2019 if not a little bit before I I did look

at like the number of films. I watched strictly

from 2025 and Back when we were like really pumping

out movie reviews and and movie content from

I would say like what 2015 to 2018 -19, somewhere

in that range. I feel like I watched over 100

films every year that was from that specific

year. I think like the most I got to was maybe

120, 130 -ish. And I believe for last year, I

at least eclipsed the 70 mark. I think I'm like

72 -ish films from 2025. So it feels good. Like

it feels good to be kind of like back in that

kind of... uh frames mind working and then i

guess if you add all of our stuff that we watched

for hitchcock and carrie grant and things of

that nature i probably uh got up there in the

number i don't know what that number is off to

look after the fact i guess but um so we're going

to do a little back and forth where we count

our 10 through one films down at the end we will

give a few honorable mentions that we want to

call attention to that haven't been talked about

so far in the podcast and we'll kind of just

wrap it up with our experience overall for 2025

what we thought of the year and film and maybe

any themes that popped up or just however we

want to kind of summarize our experience with

the films of 2025 dan anything else that we need

to cover before we just get into our number 10

pick um i'll just say like we'll probably get

to it but there's still a lot of stuff i haven't

seen so oh yes and so You know, Marty Supreme.

I was going to say we could just call this the

yeah, we could call this the Marty Supreme slash.

What's the other one that I there's another one

that I haven't been able to see, but like the

the Marty Supreme Memorial list, we have not

been able to see that. So Marty Supreme, there's

a few other mention. Yeah, Marty Supreme secret

agent and I think Ham Hamnet work some of the

big ones. Oh, Hamnet. Yes, that's the one I was

thinking of. Yeah, for sure. But yeah, but yeah,

the. But yeah, so but still I think even with

not seeing those it was so hard to or down the

10 movies So, you know interesting how about

that before we start giving them like I know

we it's always a struggle to get to your 10 right

and also a struggle to Put them in the order

that you want them in etc And you know, that's

an ever -evolving thing like every as time passes

some film stick more with you some films seem

to fade or you know the increase or decrease

in your kind of like what you think about them.

But overall, how good do you feel about the the

films that include are included in your top 10?

And then just kind of a thought of like how deep

in your list do you go before you get to a film

where it's like. Maybe now we've started entering

the the films that I'm not as high on, like how

many how many deep are you where you're still

like, I really could recommend this film. I like

it and enjoy it. Let me take a look at my overall

so I watched a hundred I made it to a hundred

film But my goal was to watch a hundred films

because that way I think like top ten is top

ten percent. Yeah, just a good Amount that also

includes some shorts though. So I don't know

if that's cheating but So looking at my list

of out of the hundred that I watched all the

way up to Safe I rated 50 More of them like three

and a half stars or more. So, okay. And like

for me, like three stars is like, you know, fine.

So I would say more than half the films I watched,

I rather enjoyed or at least had a positive experience

with how deep do I go with? Honestly, like I

feel like my list is very much in tears. Like

my top three are very much close to one another.

Then same thing for like four through seven.

And then then eat and eat tool about like. Maybe

twenty four or so maybe twenty or like those

are very almost interchangeable a little bit,

but they have very depending upon the day. So,

but I feel very strong. I don't know if I would

say like there's a movie this year that like

blew me away per se or like. Oh, this is going

to be like one of my all -time favorite films,

you know, five years from now, maybe, you know,

with rewatches and things like that. But I can't

really compare it. Like I said, I can't really

compare it to like previous years because I have

missed a lot. But I could very as the last time

we did this, I looked like at my top tens and

previous years. I think it's pretty strong. I

some surprises. I think a lot of variety as well.

So that's that's a good thing. How about yourself?

I'm super happy with my 10. Like I did. I did

have films that were, that ended up in the 11,

12, 13 spot that at one point towards the end

were still in the top 10. So there was a little

bit of movement probably between like nine and

13 for me. But other than that, I was pretty

set on like the ones that I had involved. And

I would say probably I go at least 35 deep before

I get to ones where I'm like, well, like I liked

it, but. Don't you know what I mean? It's just

kind of like average so to speak so I think like

There's just about half of the films that I feel

pretty strong about and then there's like a portion

in the middle after that That's like there's

nothing wrong with them. Like they're fine. They're

entertaining or whatever I just wouldn't like

necessarily like raise them up or Put them on

a pedestal or like get excited about recommending

them, but I didn't dislike my experience with

them I think the only I think there was maybe

ten films that and the 13 films that I didn't

care for, but that's not too bad out of, like

I said, 75 -ish films total. So I didn't have

like dreadful experiences watching them too much.

So I do feel, I feel a little bit like you. Like,

I don't know if there's going to be one that

I, I don't know if my one, two or three necessarily

are going to be as strong in my mind as I've

had some of my number ones in the past. But that

could change, you know with time and with rewatches

there's been one specifically that has been climbing

that was not in my number top ten like when I

first saw it I didn't put it in my top ten but

between when I saw it and Today like it has climbed

quite a bit. So it's like you said just some

films just stick with you and the more they make

you think about them after the more they kind

of climb in my rankings, because I feel like

that's a testament to the movie if I'm still

thinking about it, you know, weeks or months

later or so. Yeah. Makes sense. All right. So

let's get on into the nitty gritty. I can go

first and then we'll go to you afterwards. So

let me actually this might shock you. How much

crossover do you think? Oh, how much crossover?

I am going to say that we have. Four. OK, yeah,

I think 234 yeah. What do you think? Yeah, four

is a good number. I'll I'll set it the over under

three and a half and see where we go from there.

I mean, it could be surprising. I'm not sure

like we'll have to wait and see how it goes like

I do keep track. Like obviously we kind of keep

track of each other. There as we stuff on letterbox

and rank stuff, but. Once you're into that number

of films that we've seen, not that it's like

this huge amount, I know there's a lot of film

podcasters and critics out there that have probably

seen like 200, 250 plus films that came out this

year. So I'm not saying we're like in that league,

but once you get so many, it's really hard to

be like, well, I know he gave that one four stars

or I know he gave that one four and a half stars,

but like, does that mean to make it the top 10?

I have no idea. So it's kind of interesting.

But I feel pretty strongly that I would predict.

I feel real good about two of them, and then

I think there's two or three others that have

like an outside chance. We'll see. Could be way

more. So I'm going to start somewhere where I

maybe don't do very often. I don't know. I would

have to go back through. I think I started ranking

these on letterbox maybe 2015 was the first year,

even though I think we covered quite a bit in

maybe 2014. But I think 2015 was the first year

I put it on letterbox in a ranked order. Order

to go through to see if I've ever done this before

because I don't know if I have but I actually

have a documentary In my top ten, which is rare

for me just not because documentaries aren't

great It's just I tend not to watch as many of

them for whatever reason I feel like that has

shifted a little bit in the last couple years

and I've started to watch a little bit more on

the documentary side so I do have I had two documentaries

that were really fighting for a spot in my top

10 and one of them made it here at the number

10 spot. So I have the film titled The Alabama

Solution, which was a documentary film by Andrew,

I'm going to say this name wrong, Jarecky and

Charlotte Kaufman, which follows the prison system

in Alabama from the perspective of the incarcerated

leaders of a movement there. And interesting

side note, I don't know What bearing this has

on anything but the the filmmaker Andrew Jarecki

was the founder of the movie phone And like when

you called in to like yeah schedules for movies

way back in the day before he sold it so I think

he sold it to AOL or Time Warner or somebody

in like 1999 or whatever I mean, I guess has

then since become like a documentarian and different

things like that But that has really nothing

to do with why this is my number 10. I just think

this outlines Just another part of our quote

unquote American story that just gets swept under

the rug and nobody talks about. And it was kind

of a devastating watch to, not that anything

should shock us in 2025 or 2026 anymore. I think

we're past that point. anything that you thought

was impossible in our country definitely is and

is happening. But it's just another one of those

things. It's like, really, this is still something

that's going on. This is still something that

has not been solved. This is injustice, like

tenfold, and just outlines a system that not

enough people spend time caring about or crusading

for or different things. And it was just a A

hard watch, I guess, in some respects, because

you in a way feel helpless. You just want there

to be like a white knight that comes in at the

end of this documentary to be like, and the government

shut this crap down and fixed everything and

blah, blah, blah. But we just don't have a government

that's capable of doing that apparently. So not

to get too political, but I mean, it's just a

sad story about this whole prison system. And

I know it's called the Alabama Solution, as they

outlined in the documentary, though this has

far more reaching than just Alabama. It's the

United States prison system, basically, from

state to state. And they showcase that a little

bit towards the end. I just thought that this

one was an important one, which is why I kind

of The other documentary and we'll talk about

it when I get to my honorable mentions was just

as devastating But I feel like this one may be

a more important More people know about so that's

why I kind of gave this one the edge. So I know

you saw this one, too What did you think of the

Alabama solution? Yeah higher in your list and

then you can not talk about it. I Didn't I do

a documentary at my top and usually I back in

the day I used to separate them, but I'm gonna

I just concluded it one less to make it easier

But yeah, I have seen the Alabama Solution. I

think it was just recently nominated for Best

Documentary for the Oscar, and deservingly so.

As you mentioned, it's a difficult watch. It

feels like a good continuation of, I don't know

if you saw the Ava DuVernay documentary, 13th,

that kind of talks about, it's more like a holistic

look at the prison system, but specifically looking

at Alabama. And as you mentioned, it's brutal.

And the fact that there Are able how this movie

came about was? Basically through the smuggling

of cell phones and most of this or you know the

prisoners being able to tell their own story

Just and being able to then And it was kind of

crazy too because it covers things like they

went on a work strike and think and I don't remember

that not being covered at all in the news and

wasn't that long ago, but As you said, what's

really impactful, too, is that it brings up all

these issues. And then, of course, there is the

album of solution is that there is no solution,

unfortunately, or just it's more of a continuation

of that problem. But yeah, I thought it was a

great piece of Journalistic investigation which

we need now more than ever, of course So we you

always were very with newspapers dying and news

more and more corporations owning more and more

news You know, are we gonna get stories like

this? So it was glad to see that it still exists

in documentary format at least so Okay, what

do you guys your number 10 damn speaking of news

my number 10? Is called good news this is actually

a korean film and this was a film that was like

on my netflix netflix queue like what i like

about netflix is i tend to like i'll go to the

international films and i see i'll just peruse

around and see what's available what catches

my interest and this one just the the idea the

premise sounded interesting it's basically this

true life story based upon the true life story

of uh in the 1960s when hijackers took control

of this airplane, and they wanted to fly to North

Korea. They were, you know, they were communists.

They wanted to take this plane and fly to North

Korea. And what kind of the Japanese, the Korean,

and, you know, of course, the American government

kind of worked together to try to construct this

ruse to make that And land they were would actually

land in South Korea, but think it's North Korea

in order to like free the hijackers it's kind

of like the way I describe it is like Argo by

way of Dr. Strangelove because it's very satirical.

You may think based upon that premise It's you

know, it's about hijackers and terrorists and

things like that that it's very tense and there

are some tense moments, but it is definitely

met It's actually one of the funniest films I

watched last year, or 20 films, 25 films I watched.

As it takes aim at like the you know the relationships

between the korean government japanese government

american government you know like you have of

course isn't that long after twenty years after

world war two and how that impacts the relationship

between japan and the u .s. and how they're trying

to like butter up the u .s. but also korea is

also trying to butter up japan uh and it's just

it's really funny and entertaining center of

the story is this character called nobody and

he's kind of kind of the guy who's quietly pulling

the strings a bit, like you're not really sure.

He seems like he's aloof, almost like a homeless

person, but clearly he's gotten some insight.

Like he's a kind of like a fixer, you would say,

for the Korean government. So I just, I thought

it was well, really well executed in the idea

and premise and its comedy with some really good

performances as well. You have another Korean

soldier who gets kind of put Who they think can

be even manipulated to do certain things within

this whole process But I thought it was just

a really well put together Idea that kind of

that had a lot to say that's still really relevant

today really funny and like I mentioned it does

feel like it is like a new age doctor strange

love and you almost Very so much like war room

scenes that you saw in that it's not maybe a

surreal but it is very intriguing and also i

was hugely bought in because one of the hijackers

there. The icon they go to is this character

Ashita Nojo, which is a manga, which I also just

started reading. And I'm like, they brought up

Ashita Nojo. And I'm like, hey, I know that,

you know, the Captain America, I know that reference.

So I'm like, I actually kind of know, because

that, it's actually, it's a manga that came out

in the late sixties, but it just started coming

over to the U .S. recently. So I'm like, oh,

wow, I actually kind of have an understanding

of what they're talking about. So, and that's

when I realized, oh, this is actually, is this

based on reality? Because that's a weird thing

to kind of bring up, but it was. And I kind of

did a deep dive into the real life story as well.

But yeah, I really enjoyed it. Partially, like

I said, I knew nothing about it quality -wise.

It's just on Netflix. And sometimes that surprise

watch is often the best. So now maybe giving

it too much expectation. I really enjoyed it.

And I don't see many people talking about it.

I kind of really flew under the radar. I don't

know if it even got a theatrical release. I think

it was just released on Netflix, at least in

the US. So it's still there if interested, but

it's good news. Like I said, I was directed by

Bung Sung Kong. It's probably wrong, but I tried

my best, but I quite enjoyed it. I have to add

that to my list. I've not seen that one as a

today. So sounds interesting though, so I will

add it to the queue. For my number nine, I am

going to an international film here. This one

is directed by Joachim Trier. I'm talking about

the Stellan Skarsgård vehicle here, Sentimental

Value, and I enjoy films that Kind of deal with

and this is going to be a theme that you probably

hear brought up at the end and maybe a couple

different times throughout my conversations of

some of the films I have on my top ten but the

deal with the passage of time in different ways

and It reminds me of like what I was hoping for

out of Robert Zemeckis is here movie with Tom

Hanks from a year or two ago like I thought that's

what we were gonna get something more similar

to this in that film and we didn't quite, but

it's just an interesting setting here where we're

gonna have a house that we get to see throughout

the years as different people within this family

are residing there and how that works. And then

the relationship here between Skarsgard and his

two daughters who are wonderfully performed and

acted by these two, I'm assuming Norwegian actresses,

which I am not going to try to pronounce their

names because it'll be terrible. But Renee and

Inga are their first names and they just do a

fantastic job in this film and showcasing kind

of a strange relationship with their father,

the Stellan Skarsgård character, who is a filmmaker,

writer, director. And then how that kind of intertwines

with their lives. One of them appeared in one

of his films as a child actor, actress, and another

one is a stage performer. And obviously there's

some things that have to do with their mother

and the different generations of parents are

involved in this. And I just kind of think it

was very well executed way to look through the

lens of time within this house and within this

and the generations that make up this family

of kind of how different trauma can impact each

other in different ways and how time plays a

part in that. And I just thought it was a captivating

film that also has a very clever ending, I guess.

I don't know if clever is the right word, but

I didn't. Realize what I was watching until it

was all the way over and it kind of had me for

a second. So I thought that was a nice little

touch to at the end and I just I don't know the

I didn't expect myself necessarily to like it

as much as I did but it kept sticking with me

after I had watched it and Thought it was worth

the recommend I know it's getting a lot of talk

and it was on a lot of people's probably top

ten list So it's not one that's out of left field

or anything. But if you haven't seen sentimental

value I would at least do give it a chance That

is one that was on my I have not watched it list.

It was I really wanted to get to it but like

Kind of it was still like like $20 to rent and

it was I was racking up the charges when it came

to renting film. So Unfortunately, I was just

like I'm gonna wait a little bit But I I do plan

on certainly catching it very soon. Awesome.

So looking I think you'll enjoy it Nice. I mentioned

that I have a documentary on my list and that's

where my number nine is. And this is actually,

I think most of my films are streaming different

places. This is streaming on Apple. It's one

of the earlier films I watched in 2025, but it

is Deaf President Now. It is about a story of

the first ever deaf college. It was established

early on, but in 1988, they had an opportunity

to elect a new President of the college and the

people who went there really wanted it to be

a person who was deaf because it never was someone

who was deaf before they wanted to be represented

on the highest level and it. did not turn out

like they wanted to. There was a lot of controversy

behind it. And then they kind of rallied to try

to protest the decision of the school board and

like what they went through. That's part of the

story. That's kind of the main trucks of the

story is them. And it interviews a lot of the

key players and that and also like how There

was a lot of different ideas in different way

like didn't disagreements regarding the approach

you had some of them that were maybe wanted to

be a bit more rebellious and a bit more. Your

face with the decisions are making other ones

wanted to take more of a. specific approach so

maybe they weren't ruffling too many feathers

and how that dynamic worked. But I think where

it goes beyond just being that story and what

enhances it even further and why I put it in

my top 10 is also it touches upon the way in

which special education existed specifically

within teaching deaf students and how a lot of

it was often to the detriment of those individuals

and it was less about making lives better for

them but making people around them more comfortable.

They kind of forced them into acting and behaving

a certain way like everyone else did. For example,

kids weren't allowed to learn sign language.

It's like, no, you're not going to learn to do

sign language. You're not going to learn ASL.

You're going to learn how to speak. You're going

to learn how to act like the way everyone else

does. As more research went into it, realizing

that approach actually was extremely harmful

to individuals and led to a lot of lack of self

-esteem. It lacked a lot to depression. And that's

a big reason why this moment was so important

was because It was kind of an opportunity to

kind of overcome that and show that often people

weren't helping them because they wanted to do

good. It was more about what the way it made

them feel and their actions rather than actually

helping out the individual. And it speaks a lot

to like that's an issue throughout special education

in a lot of ways, like even recently with the

way in which we taught students with autism and

kind of the approaches finding out a lot of the

things. that people were doing were not neurodiverse

affirmative and how that actually had some hugely

negative impacts. And I think why it's even,

you talked about Alabama solution, how it's really

relevant. So is this, because a lot of the regulation

and the guidelines when it comes to ensuring

that... Everyone's getting the best out education

for themselves and not making it easy but equally

as difficult Considering that's being gutted

in the moment like idea which is kind of the

driving force of that Now with the department

education now going away the dodo a lot of questions

regarding how that will handle So and this was

made clearly this was it doesn't touch upon that

directly but indirectly a lot of the issues it

brings up Reminds of where as how far we've come

so places to go just the concern of like or return

to the misgivings of the past so I thought the

central story was really strong, but just this

ability to encapsulate that and also just By

being more relevant as the days go on I wanted

to call it out. So it's deaf president now it

is currently streaming on Apple TV. So if you're

interested, you check it out there. I think this

is one I'll have to bring up with Amanda too,

cause she went to school for, you know, sign

language interpreter, um, licenses and things

of that nature. So she might find this especially

interesting. It's not probably will make her

very mad. Um, with some of the things that are

done, but you know, um, rightfully so. So Yeah,

I imagine it will, but yeah, I have not seen

this one either yet, so you're adding more films

to my queue, Dan. I don't know if I should feel

good or bad about this. Anyways, going into my

number eight, it's gonna continue a theme, I

guess, that I started with sentimental value,

which I forgot to mention, I think Alabama Solution

is streaming on HBO Max and possibly Prime, but

I think it's for sure on HBO Max. I think, yeah,

it's Prime at the pay, but it's free on Max,

so. Gotcha. My next one is streaming on Netflix.

You can definitely see this one as well, but

it also touches like sentimental value did on

time and the passage of time, which I just think

is a big through line from a lot of the really

good films I saw in 2025. I am going with my

number eight film as a film directed by Cliff

Bentley and co -wrote by Greg Quidar who also

did the movie Sing Sing from last year which

was in my top 20 and they followed that up with

Train Dreams from 2025 and I This film would

not necessarily be for everybody I don't know

if I can recommend it to like all of the different

people that asked me for recommendations for

films but I think for the right person and the

right fit there that it really works obviously

we're dealing with a relative... Joel Edgerton

plays basically a person of non -importance,

right? Like, nothing he does in the grand scheme

is changing the world or having some type of

pivotal effect on society or anything like that.

Like, he is just a regular guy, right? And it's

kind of rekelling or going through the 80 years.

of this gentleman's life named Robert Grenier,

who was living in Idaho. And this is during the

time of when railways were being built and constructed

and things of that nature. So it's obviously

a little bit of a blast for the past, but it

just kind of shows this. guy's life over time

and the house over time and the the area that

he lives over time and it's just a very interesting

look at how different people can affect people

long after they're gone and how almost like that

whole sentiment of like how your like some people's

life can just echo uh throughout time even though

this guy necessarily You know didn't have a big

impact on the world and there's not like this

this Family tree that he's leaving behind that's

gonna remember him like once he's gone like there's

probably nobody that's going to remember him

at all, but it's still this clever way that they

connected the human experience and nature and

all of these different elements I mean there

is some tragedy that happens in here which seems

like another through line with a lot of 2025

films where they're dealing with some sort of

tragedy or loss and things of that nature but

I was just captivated by the environment by the

cinematography of this one which is I'm not always

someone that's like championing cinematography

but like I think it's very well done here with

you know the way they look at these ginormous

trees that are in existence in Idaho and all

the different stuff that goes into them clearing

a path for these railways and things of that

nature. So I was captivated by it. I think it

touched something in me that enjoys kind of reflecting

and thinking about how time can affect not just

people but locales. It's like one of those like

when you see the Don't know if you've ever seen

this like on memes or in social media or different

things where they do like the Like a time -lapse

almost picture where they're showing something

and then they're showing what it would look like

You know 50 years from now if it was like uninhabited

or whatever like that I've seen some of those

where it's like nature is just taking over the

house or taking over the building or The business

or whatever and it's like kind of reminded me

of those and like that just always strikes a

chord with me For some reason so this one just

kind of connected with me in ways that I didn't

expect and I really enjoyed train dreams So that's

my number eight. Yeah, I saw train dreams. I

enjoyed it a great deal I do wish is when I was

able to see in theaters. I think it would As

you mentioned the imagery is really strong and

it almost feels like a time travel movie because

you have you he's you know he's in the wilderness

he's building these trains you get a sense of

like what the time period is but then he steps

out and he gets into like more of the industrial

like city area and it's like oh wow this is happening

at the same time they seem like Enthetical to

one another. It's like you have Oregon Trail

over here and then like Bustling 20 now the 1920s

30s over here. It's like I think it helped represent

how quickly the world can kind of pass you by

within that and then there's some just quiet

moments of beauty like the the scene with him

flying in the plane again, I think that was just

you know, I'm in Georgia and like you mentioned

really good also he was really good in that too

and I feel like I was I thought he might get

more some award recognition, but maybe just because

it's such a you know, it's a busy year, but William

HBC like his character is such a his Usually

a lot of the best parts of that film are surrounded

by his character So yeah, I enjoyed it a great

deal as well the image like of a Like a pair

of boots or shoes or hat like nailed to a tree

is something that like I'll never forget. I don't

think Yeah, I I I yeah that Didn't even know

if that was something that actually did like

putting those You know putting in the boots on

trees to represent someone being Killed or anything

like that, but it's very striking like I mentioned

that it does show as you meant like that time

-lapse is a good a good allegory for it because

it very much is that like how much time how much

can change within time and how much of that change

you really can't control Yeah, mother nature

father time is undefeated. It just keeps marching

through what is your number eight? Speaking of

imagery, that's a big reason why my number eight

is a movie that impacted me as much as it did.

And I think this is one you saw, but I don't

think you were nearly high on it as much as I

am. Another one I saw, one of the earlier films

I saw in 2025, and it is on because... Coming

a gay foul the story centers on basically this

woman is driving along her early in the film

It's almost like looking like Missy Elliott in

this costume kind of odd and strange and then

you see she drives it along and she finds someone

a dead body in the road and Then the story unfolds

from there The relationship becomes a bit more

apparent as the movie goes on and I think it

touches upon a lot I mentioned imagery the use

of water it like this There's so many scenes

in this that just there's a level of like surreal

design where you see people kind of like soaked

in water. There's a scene of her like walking

through this hallway and it's not fully clear

if it's meant to be literal or not, but I just

it's been stuck in my mind ever since. The director

who directed this I think a few years ago did

another film which I have not seen but I still

want to check out I'm not a witch which I've

heard great things about but I also thought this

too gets into that complicated relationship of

death and grief when maybe the person who died

is not the greatest person and how families will

tend to In a way protect themselves by maybe

hiding the truth and the conflict and if that's

really a great idea or not and how that impacts

women especially And speaking of scenes like

the end scene of this is one that sticks with

me I don't want to give it away for anyone who's

not seen it but basically involves a lot of disagreement

regarding What should happen because of certain

events and how a lot of it is just based upon

people? unable to face the reality unable to

kind of see what's really happening because I

simply Think that's impossible because he's a

great guy or whatever that may be So that has

really stuck with me as well again I went in

this I did not know any of actors or directors

beforehand So I thought that was quite a way

of approaching it and like I said just that imagery

just it just has stuck in my mind ever since

the beginning of it like Never heard of a guinea

fowl before this no idea. I mean I've heard of

a fowl, but I didn't know the bird but learning

also what that means eventually but So with that

it just it's one I had it It was one of my favorite

films halfway through the year and it still remains

here at number eight for me I think it too like

even though you're probably learning a whole

different culture and a part of the world that

most of us maybe are not as well -versed on,

so it has that element, but I think at the same

time, it speaks to, I think, Dan, and especially

anybody of our age, for the generation that are,

depending on how things worked out, the generation

that either your parents or your grandparents

were a part of, which I find interesting at times,

because it is definitely that generation that

doesn't talk. about anything uncomfortable, right?

I feel like there's a certain generation within

the baby boomer, those that are probably between

the ages of, I don't know, 70 and 95 these days,

I guess. But they don't talk about stuff that

was uncomfortable. They don't talk about trauma.

They don't talk about anything bad that happened

in their past or in their family history or just

anything. Maybe not... I'm not speaking like

100 % of all people that age don't do that, but

it seems like it's a common thread where certain

members of that generation just won't speak of

that or won't go there. And you did get a lot

of that from a lot of the elders in this society

that didn't want to entertain it, didn't want

anybody to... make waves and things of that nature.

So I definitely did connect with that part, part

of it for sure. I think it's almost frustrating

to watch, right? Because you're like, you're

just wanting to scream at the people that are

involved and be like, knock some sense into them

somehow. Like be like, do you not get this? Do

you not understand what is happening? But it's

definitely a decent, interesting look at, like

I said, a culture that most of us probably don't

know a lot about. All right, for my number seven,

I'm gonna actually have to thank you for this

one because we did a check -in about mid -year,

I think, as to far as how 2025 in film was going

at that point and what kind of stuff we had seen

in the first half of the year that we liked and

things like that. And you brought this film to

my attention. I watched it, I think, within that

first week after that, and it has been in my

top 10 ever since. It's been in different spots

in the top 10. It's kind of bounced around from

here and there, but it ends up here at number

seven at this point in time. For me, this is

the funniest film I saw this year, I believe.

I don't know if there was anything I laughed

more at. Maybe it just hit the right type of

humor for me, but I am actually going with the

comedy drama British film, The Ballad of Wallace

Island. with directed by James Griffith written

and starring Tim Key and Tom Basden As well as

Kerry Mulligan, but this is about a folk duo

who reunites to perform for a wealthy fan on

a remote island in the in the UK and Everything

that happens again another way that you could

tie in time to this one because we're talking

about this folk duo who had you know previous

mega success and then had gone their separate

ways, you know, the broken up as far as the musical

group goes, et cetera. And we're talking about,

you know, a passage of time that has taken place

and then they are being kind of forced to be

together again for this quote unquote concert

that has been put on for a an audience of I guess

what ends up being an audience of two. But it's

just Interesting how they navigate that dynamic

of being with each other, another theme of kind

of exploring past trauma or past relationships

that may not have worked out and how that's going

to play all these different years later. And

I just found this film, I don't know if it's

just because of Tim Key and his comedic stylings

if they just work for me more than others, but

I found this movie absolutely hilarious. So I

had a lot of fun with this one and the music

part wasn't too bad to kind of, I like, I like

films that have a little bit of music, writing,

singing or whatever involved in it too. So it

kind of worked on that level, but I thought all

three of these characters, you know, Carrie Mulligan

and Tim Key and Tom Basden really played well

off of each other. And I just, I don't know if

there was, too many films. I had just more of

a not really. There wasn't too much. I know it's

a comedy drama. I know there's a little drama

here, but like I honestly was just having fun

with the film the whole time. Like I didn't feel

necessarily any weight where a lot of these other

films that we're talking about carry some hefty

like dramatic weight to them. And this was a

nice change of pace for me. So the ballad of

Wallace Island. Thank you, Dan, for recommending

comes in at number seven for me. Well, I'm super

excited that you enjoyed it as much as you did.

And I'll just say, we'll talk about it maybe

soon. So there you go. What's your number seven?

My number seven was my most anticipated film

going into 2025. So you would think maybe it

being at number seven is a disappointment. It

really wasn't. But it is 28 years later. I was

really looking forward to it because 28 Days

Later is one of my favorite horror films of all

time. One that I tend to rewatch more than any

other movie. And knowing that we're finally getting

this, Danny Boyle was coming back to it. I was

really intrigued. And then the trailer came out

and legitimately like, what are the best trailers

I can see it can think of in quite some time.

So a lot of, you know, with that, you know, you

just think maybe it'll be disappointing. And

it really wasn't. And for a lot of reasons, and

it was very different experience than what I

thought it was going to be going into it. It

starts off conventional enough, you know, you

have Your idea of you clearly the world has changed.

You see that also it's interesting that this

completely ignores 28 weeks later It's kind of

just shows that to a side, but it's fine. I don't

I like that movie well enough It's got his issues,

but there's some it's I enjoy it Then it keeps

developing I did just seeing how the world has

been Changed just seeing how they also kind of

had the idea. It's like evolving the idea zombies

similar to how the first one did where i know

but not zombies they're infected whatever you

want to call them but you know they were fast

and now it's added to that even further seeing

them evolve and they're what i really did not

expect from this was the level of humanity that

it had it had the thrilling sequences you know

i know danny boyle so like they put up use a

bunch of like iphone cameras and things like

that and you have some of those kind of in your

face editing techniques and things and those

had a lot of splash but it was the humanity of

the film and also like the empathy of it as well

um especially where i don't think i guess it's

not a spoiler since the third one has just come

out uh refines when his character shows up and

it it the film drastically changes uh in a way

that you wouldn't expect for Like a blockbuster

franchise movie. I don't know if it if it's a

blockbuster franchise, but I it's within that

vein So I just I found that approach actually

quite moving in the way, you know It becomes

this father or mother son story It's a father

-son story to begin with and then kind of changes

into our mother -son story and where that goes

and so and certainly I feel You can see how maybe

the impact of something like COVID may have changed

the way they approach this. I don't know. I'm

not sure. But I really enjoyed it. It felt like

one of the smarter summer blockbuster films we've

gotten in some time. I have not seen the third

one yet. I hope to see it soon. But I just haven't

had the opportunity. to do that but I do think

this is one I'll probably return to more. I've

only seen it once and I really wanted to go back

to it but I didn't have the opportunity but quite

enjoyed it and looking forward to seeing like

where this franchise goes because I know it's

supposed to be the first of a trilogy. So I would

say the ending is kind of weird. It is, again,

another drastic change. That's maybe the one

element of the film I wasn't the biggest fan

of. But beyond that, I quite enjoyed 28 years

later. I think Ralph Fiennes and Alfie Williams

are pretty fantastic in this film. Alfie Williams

playing the main child character, Spike. I think

it's probably the best made film out of the trilogy,

obviously. I mean, and I know it's not fair because

28 Days was on like a they had like bubble gum

and like scotch tape that they got to make it

with. But which adds to kind of how. Kind of

authentic and. why so many people respond to

it well is because they were able to pull off

what they did with, you know, with no money.

Basically, it seemed like involved in, you know,

obviously, obviously, 28 weeks later is a kind

of a different story. I'm this one's one that

I think can either go up or down for me, depending

on what they do with the next one or two installments.

Like, I feel like it's hard for me to judge until

I know. Not that it doesn't stand on its own

and it can't be its own film, but I feel like

some of the The bone temple that's that's already

been released this year And if there is another

one after that could alleviate some of the issues

I had with 28 years later So I don't want to

like unfairly judge it if you know if some of

the it still worked for me I mean, it's still

one of those like we talked about when I talked

about like, you know those the top half of my

list like 30 35 films that I Felt pretty darn

good about it's in that group for me There was

just some minor things that I was like, I don't

know if this part worked for me, but it could

completely work if you know they address it in

a different way in one of the other films so

it's it's it's kind of hard for me to to judge

it prematurely i think um but i enjoyed it overall

uh for my for my number six if you had told me

so dan just followed this with uh his most anticipated

film of the year right was like boom here it

is it made my top 10 that always feels good right

like half the battle is just making sure that

your most anticipated film comes out that year.

And then, you know, if you rank it in your top

20, I feel like that's a win because a lot of

times you get disappointed because you've hyped

yourself up too much. So you're going off of

one that you had like very highly anticipated.

I'm going to go one that I would have never predicted

in a million years would have made a top 10 of

mine. This is way more Amanda's bag than it is

mine. But this film just I feel like it's the

best version of this story I've ever seen. And

it's a fantastic director. So like, let's give

some love to good old Gilmore. I can't say that.

Gilmore. Gosh, I'm going to have to edit that.

Gilmore Del Toro with Frankenstein from 2025.

I am not someone that loves like the Gothic supernatural

Nosferatu, Frankenstein, Dracula universe of,

you know, and all the different films that come

out within those. That's way more of my wife's

jam. And she loves all of that. But so I went

into this with like, I'll watch it because I

know my wife's going to enjoy it and I do like

del Toro. So I think that'll be fun. And my goodness,

like I was blown away by this one. I just thought

this was like the best version of Frankenstein

I've ever seen. I think Jacob Elordi is magnificent.

I thought this is kind of like what you were

just talking about with 28 years later. Like

if we got blockbusters every summer that were

like Frankenstein and 28 years later and some

of that stuff, I'm fine with that. Like I'm good

with that. Like granted, you know, not all of

them necessarily get theatrical releases these

days and all that jazz, but like I'm fine if

the summer blockbusters have a little bit more

to them than just these paper thin things like

we get with like the. The Jurassic Park's and

the Transformers and the you know some of that

that we seem to get on repeat every year but

And I know some people have issues with the first

half or the second half or different things within

this film I thought it all worked like Oscar

Isaac's Fantastic pairing him up with you know,

Jacob Elordi and get into seeing that and Christoph

Waltz like I'm a big fan of his so there was

just a whole lot I liked how much time they or

maybe not how much time, but how well Del Toro

was able to make me, it's his specialty, right?

Like he gives the monsters, quote unquote, in

his movies, heart, and how much he made me care

about Elordi's character here as the creature

was just impressive to me. Like I think there's

a lot of visual stuff to love. I think there's,

a little bit more nuanced than you get sometimes

with this. And it didn't go necessarily just

like the gore way that you sometimes get with

some of these films where it becomes almost more

of a slasher and things of that nature, which

is not my cup of tea at all. So I just had a

lot of fun with Del Toro's Frankenstein and I

was not anticipating that. And maybe that's why

I liked it so much was because I had somewhat

set the bar low. I'm a big fan of Frankenstein

from 2025 here. I will say, yeah, I am. I am

shocked that is in your top 10. I never guessed

that you going into it. Like, you know, that

was, you know, I don't know what the odds were,

but I certainly would not have put it down. It

wouldn't have been good. Yeah. Well, yeah, I

will. Um, I liked it too. It's not, not my top

10. It's like, I think outside of that, but,

uh, I did the, um, Jacob Lord. Like his to me

is up. There's one of my favorite of the of the

year Just like he's I think he you certainly

see see like him being influenced by like Borlaus

call off like, you know from the original Universal

films, but he puts his own spin on it I always

think when people say he's acting with his eyes

because I'm like, you know who does that everybody

dogs But he a lot of that is like his his like

there's speaking of humanity like there's those

scenes with um, he's like in the basement and

there's like a little stream and I see leaves

going through and there's just so much to that

um in the way he approaches it so and it's not

easy to do when you're under all that makeup

something about del toro like he's able to get

people who can great performances like you know

the doug jones Right even though the most elaborate

costume possible not easy to do so Very nice.

I'm I'm that's awesome. I'm so glad that you

enjoyed that as much as you did Yeah, I think

it was the first time I've ever felt like the

creature in this story was like Real like a real

like I don't know like somebody with emotions

and depth and stuff like that. I've always viewed

like the creature in all the frankenstein stories

of someone that was very hard to like relate

to or very hard to like view as anything but

a creation and like this one definitely made

it feel like an actual like living feeling emoting

breathing like being so I think that a lot for

me which is like I said it's del Toro specialty

I don't know why that surprised me yeah have

you seen the like the any of the original like

universal Freak inside movies like from not in

there like from beginning to end so like most

of my is most of my experience with this is like

probably schlocky like 90s nonsense and stuff

like that. Interesting well going from one well

regarded directed to another I would spend a

lot of time in this is probably the most one

of the most talked about films of the year I

don't. I don't know if it'll make your top 10,

maybe it will. But my number six is one battle

after another. Unfortunately, I do wish I was

able to see this in theaters as well, especially

the final car chase sequence. I can imagine that

must have been even more thrilling. But again,

I feel like this is one of those films that's

going to, because it's... i'm guessing this is

winning best picture seems like a lock for that

and it's going to win a lot of awards so with

those accolades it tends i feel like it just

you get the overrated banner and all that but

ultimately the film itself i thought was it was

not at all what i thought it was going to be

like it the way it opens up it brings you right

into this world it's just it's just ultimate

casts it's bit weird in a lot of ways, like it

was just taken back by it, but in a good way.

And then it kind of settles in and kind of goes

off from there. There's a lot more comedy than

I expected, some odd comedy, but have great performances

throughout. Sean Penn is playing a character

with a capital C. You know, the Caprio is just

kind of going out of his mind, but it's certainly

a film that Feels of of today very much a reactionary

piece of what's going on in this world in a lot

of ways like I love the scenes of paying upset

because he doesn't know the code and it's like

this is not important let's focus on what's important

that feels like it's very much speaking to a

lot of what's going on today so overall just

really like that a great deal and I am you know

I do tend to like Paul Thomas Thomas Anderson

films like. Don't love everything like to not

like an Aaron vice that much. I love the master.

Like, there's pizza was Luke warm on didn't love

Phantom Thread, but love there would be blood.

So I guess I'm more hit and miss than I realized.

But one battle another was definitely a hit for

me. And yeah, so I have it at number six. I will

save my thoughts on that one. For my number five,

let's just keep the director's role in here so

we can go from Del Toro to Paul Thomas Anderson

and then just let's go ahead and throw a Steven

Soderbergh into the mix. This was one of those

that, it's interesting because you have films

that you see early on in the year and I feel

like they're fighting an uphill battle to make

your top 10 at the end of the year. like i don't

know if it's just because of how much time passes

between when you watch them and when you've finalized

your top 10 or just because you know i have so

many movies that come out after that that can

can you know be better than them necessarily

but every once in a while you get one of those

that you watch like in the beginning of the year

that just stays the test of time and sticks there

the whole year this film has been in my top 10

the entire year so i'm talking about black bag

i think this was the second film I saw this year.

It might've been the first film I saw this year.

Either way, I feel like it's literally been,

it was in my top 10 before I had seen 10 movies,

obviously. And then as time progressed, I never

saw enough movies to knock it out of the top

10. Like this is just a, again, perfectly executed

film from Soderbergh, I think. Like a spy thriller

in a completely different way. I mean, how are

you not gonna love? spy thriller led by Michael

Fassbender and Kate Blanchett like that just

seems like it's a good recipe and then Soderbergh

directing and You know David Kep is the I believe

the writer on this Who has been a little bit

hit or miss but he's done some some pretty decent

stuff as well and I just feel like They were

able to do so much in this film that was Not

necessarily predictable. I mean these dinner

sequences that they have are just crazy the the

interaction and the relationship between Blanchett

and Fassbender's character are It's like Sexy

without having any sex in it almost, you know

what I mean? Like it's just like Rico suave sexy

because of like the people involved and how they

do all this um and whatnot in it you know it

keeps you guessing a little bit with the thriller

part um but i i think they were able to do a

lot with not involving too many set pieces too

many like there's not like there's these you

know usually you think spy thriller and you're

like oh we're gonna get some car chases and we're

gonna get some like all this other stuff and

like this is like nope let's dial it all back

and let's just rely on acting and dialogue and

you know just a little bit here and there and

I just thought it was expertly crafted. I know

some people are just like in love with all of

Soderbergh's things that he's done. I don't know

if I have seen as much as everybody else has

but I liked Kimi, you know, Logan Lucky recently.

I'm not going back to like obviously the stuff

that everybody knows him for from earlier on,

but like I feel like this is near the top of

my list of Soderbergh films and it just stuck

with me the whole year and nothing really bounced

it from my top 10. So Black Bag came in here

at number five for me. Yeah, I enjoyed Black

Bag a lot. I feel like we had a lot of movies

in 2025, maybe a lot, but a good amount of movies

that were adaptations of Plays and black bag

feels like a movie that could easily be adapted

into a play because like you said so much of

it is just People in rooms having conversations,

but you have great actors that can do that You

know, it's a it's a by thriller that you Were

you're kind of stick sticking with the guy in

the chair. You're not really even going on, you

know, there's no James Bond. No, nothing like

that. But and even though even the times where

they go out into the world We're watching it

through cameras Yeah, we're mostly part. I mean

not like a hundred percent of it, but it's like

even then we're still behind the chair watching

it from a distance I don't know. It's interesting.

Yeah, so it was quite good I was like I like

you mentioned it's right now at 16 for me, but

like I said like through like 20 something like

20 or 25 or very close so It was quite good overall

with great performances throughout Again number

five is another one. I'm not going to spend a

lot of time on it because it's again probably

this and You know, he was a 2008 it was there

would be blood and no country for all men and

like it was like those are the two movies that

were like everyone got on different teams and

like People got ridiculous and then we had wild

all and And was it moonlight i think i might

see yeah so this year it feels like it's one

battle after another and on the other side is

centers and that's my number five another week

again i wish i saw in theaters especially because

even seeing it at home the way it uses the aspect

ratio and kind of slowly gets into like what

was like the iMac screen even on your home was

still really great to see even in like you know

what my my tv in general i think. if anything

hurt centers for me was that i did see it so

late so it was built up to be this you know it

was hard to meet those expectations going into

it but i still love so much about it i was so

excited to see because there's been a lot of

conversation regarding like michael b jordan's

performance and like timothy chalmain which i

got but to me like the performance of this movie

was actually um neither I wasn't that wasn't

neither of michael jordan's performances which

i thought he did a great job but i thought that

the star of the show was very much delorey lindo

who's been an amazing actor forever and finally

he got an oscar nomination for the first time

ever which is great to see i thought he was so

good in this as well the music the approach of

course people talk about the infamous scene Behind

it that you know of like going through generations

and what it's saying. I think it's going to be

one of those movies that certainly has staying

power and just Ryan Coogler kind of He's been

like a director. I think people have long respected

for You know, he did fulfill station when that

came out that was in my top ten that year So

was Creed Black Panther wasn't but I do like

Black Panther But it was interesting seeing him

work to create this movie out of, you know, whole

cloth. You know, this isn't based on a real story.

It's a completely original idea. He's the writer

and director. And I feel like this is going to

be one of those movies that it's like, it's like

center -esque. It becomes its own thing that

people then refer to. You know, I'm like, so

I liked it a lot. Like I said, performances are

great throughout. Haley Steinfeld as well. She

was really strong. back o 'connell who i was

so happy to see he's in one of my favorite films

over the last like 10 15 years start up he was

so so good in that i'm like oh he's gonna be

the biggest star ever and he just he kind of

kind of like didn't happen he he got in a couple

movies that just didn't like unbroken which thought

would be something and kind of thought it had

an opportunity to become something and it wasn't

so but then he comes back and he's like the You

know the villain here, but also clearly movie

that has a lot to say about Culture the idea

of oppression and Immigration they call that

ties in the tie -in to the story of the Irish

and the story of you know black America as well

and how those are connected there's a lot to

take out of it and like I said, it's I said I

wasn't going to say a lot, but I guess I am saying

a lot, but yeah. So sinners. And again, I think

it's a movie I'll probably end up liking more

and more as I watch it again, but it's my number

five for right now. Sweet. I'm feeling real good

about my four prediction, Dan. Um, so I will

move on to my number four, which I think might

be the icing on the cake here. We'll see. Um,

so this is going to be my, let's see, I gotta

do some real quick. One, two. This is gonna be

my third international film, I guess you could

say, that's on my list. So I feel like I've evolved

since 2019 here. All of a sudden, I got documentaries

and international films and all that kind of

stuff flying into my top 10. This was one of

the cram session films that I actually watched

leading up to this record. And it was one of

those where you have like, whatever, 10 or 12

or 15 films in your queue. That you're trying

to decide which ones you like I'm down to like

only being able to pick like a couple more like

There's gonna be two more. There's gonna be three

more like which ones I'm so happy that this was

one of the ones that I selected to watch before

we did this. So I am going with the Jafar Panahi

film. It was just an accident here at my number

four. So this is obviously a film by the Iranian

director He is Iranian, right? I don't wanna

get my countries wrong here. And again, another

one that indirectly plays with time, right? Like

we're dealing with a fact that there is a group

of former Iranian political prisoners who our

main character, Vahid, believes himself to have

found one of the main people that was in charge

of torturing them, questioning them, tormenting

them, whatever, however you want to like describe

that, and basically kidnaps the individual and

then gets involved with some of his other political

prisoners to try to figure out if this is in

fact the person that he believes it is or not

like he's ready to Get his vengeance and justice.

He's dug this guy a grave already and you know

at one point early on This isn't a spoiler alert

really because it happens really early in the

film. He's basically ready to you know kill this

man bury him alive and be done with him and then

you know there comes into play the question on

whether this is in fact the right person that

he thinks it is or not. And then the rest of

the film is kind of exploring these prisoners

over time now. They've been removed from this

event. I'm not certain as far as how much time.

It could be a short amount of time, could be

a longer amount of time, but there's been some

time that has passed since this all happened

and how they decide to cope with that trauma

and the whole idea of justice and or vengeance

or revenge and you know how they balance that

within themselves like you know these are what

we're led to believe are mainly you know good

people overall and are they able to do something

that they would probably otherwise have viewed

you know, bad people doing and in order to get

this justice or this vengeance against this individual.

And how do they cope with that? Whether they

do it, whether they don't do it, whether this

is the right guy or is not the right guy. And

I just think it's just so expertly crafted by

Panahi. And it just has you, even though it's.

In some respects. Almost I don't want to say

like, oh, home, but like. It's somewhat like

the slow pace, like a bumbling group of people

that doesn't really know what they're doing.

So they're not 100 % executing this on like a

professional level, right? Like they're struggling

with this whole situation. And so it's kind of

like the slow progression as they deal with this

individual. But somehow that still has you like

on your edge of your seat, like waiting to try

to see like how. everything is going to happen

and what the end game is and what choices these

individuals are going to make. And I just thought

it was a brilliant film by Panahi. So it was

just an accident. Comes in here at my number

four. And yeah, you know, we may talk about that

later. Who knows? But I think this is the first

time we're actually with my number four going

to officially cross over. And this was my favorite

film halfway through the year. And it still remains

here within my top five. And you've talked about

it already, and that's the Ballad of Wallace

Island. You said a lot about it already, but

I think when I think back to this, the thing

that comes to mind most, the top of my mind is

just the performance of Tim Key. Who may give

my favorite like supporting performance of the

entire year he's he just has a sense of humor

that very much clicks with me when you feel like

it could be easily get character in the office

or something like that very like. Matter of the

fact like he's not trying to be funny. Like he's

not trying to make jokes or when he is trying

to make jokes It's funny because of how done

unfunny it is, but there's just a lot a lot of

heart with it Also, I do love folk music I know

that probably makes me super run cool, but that's

okay. I haven't been cool me too day So I'm not

I'm not not worried about that So I and the fact

it's all original music too like it's not and

it feels like music that could actually exist

so that that And that has me bought in like I

didn't even check to see if it has like a soundtrack

that's available But I probably should because

I'm sure I would like to revisit some of those

songs But as you mentioned like we're talking

about a lot of films here that are very heavy

very even something like 28 years later It's

still about like, you know, very heavy themes

while silent has some of that. I mean it certainly

especially there's a scene involving Someone

walking in the ocean and where that goes, but

also ends up being a bit comedic as well. So

it is a nice, I don't know if you'd call it a

romantic comedy, would it fit into that? Almost

like an unromantic comedy, if anything. But yeah,

had a lot of fun with it. If I were to look at

my top 10 and which is the movie I'm probably

going to watch the most, it's definitely gonna

be this one because it's not one I need to have

to be in the right head space for because I'm

gonna just enjoy myself the most. I think too,

another thing about this one is, I like that

because the trendy thing these days it seems

like is to have like a super fan or almost an

obsessed fan that is painted in such a negative

light right like it's it's like all the evils

of being like of liking something too much in

pop culture whether it be a celebrity or a singer

act or whatever like it's always about that like

stalking aspect or about that like unhealthy

obsession and this guy is like Obsessed I guess

in a way with this duo but. It's nice to see

it executed and delivered in a way that it's

just innocent like it's just he just likes them

and like there's nothing wrong with it and it's

OK to like you know a group or a show or whatever

to the extreme. I guess in this situation if

you're doing it in the way that he does it. So

I just found it like even though it like seems

absurd at the on the surface value. It's like

you just. You just fell in love with everybody

involved in this and you're like rooting for

him even though he's kind of crazy Yeah, just

cuz you could easily have this set up and it'd

be a horror film because it doesn't take much

change But yeah, it is not that he's his earnestness

I think is a is what really powers it even though

I mean, I guess you could argue he's the main

character, but I I don't know but he he is the

Jim keys perform is and it has me wanting to

go back and person who directed it directed like

that Cuban dressing dancing film with which I

thought looked like was awful, but maybe it's

better than I realized. So I might go back and

check it out. Who knows? But yeah, I just give

him credit. Like the fact that he was able to

pull off what he pulled off and got these two

on this little remote island. Yeah, like kudos

to you, my guy. And they didn't just turn around

and leave like they stuck around. So yeah. For

my number three, and man, I really internally

battled with myself on where to put this one,

because I was really tempted to put this at number

one. And I was just worried that it was too much

recency bias for me that was causing me to want

to do that, or it was because there was such

an unexpected enjoyment from a film that I got

that I was like, Do I put this as my number one

film of the year or not? And right now I have

it at number three, but I have a feeling it may

stick with me and may raise up as time goes.

So, you know, Ballad of Wallace Island was a

UK film. And then we had the sentimental value

was an international film, Swedish, I think.

And then we had the Iranian with it was just

an accident. So let's just keep that going and

let's go to another International film here.

This is if you were going to tell me that going

into this year that a a Belgian Dutch film independent

film about the kind of a coming -of -age drama

about a 12 year old boy, that's kind of having

a sexual awakening and you know coming -of -age

story like In my top 10, I probably would have

been like, I don't know if that's really going

to connect with me. Like I am not 12 anymore

and I'm not familiar with much about, you know,

the Belgian Dutch area of the world and everything

else that's involved with this. I was like, maybe,

maybe that would work. Maybe it doesn't. I don't

know, but. Young Hearts is a film that just blew

me absolutely away. It came out in most of the

world in 2024, but it was released in the United

States in 2025. So I'm qualifying it here. But

this is about a boy named Elias who is just living

his life as a whatever, a 10, 11, 12 year old

kid here in this area. And then a new neighbor

moves in basically directly next to him. next

door neighbor and it's a boy of the same age

named Alexander and it just kind of explores

their relationship, their friendship as we have

this kind of coming of age tale I guess as you

know what happens with most boys as they are

in that age period you know somewhere between

10 -11 and probably 14 -15 and how they start

coming to terms with a new world for them and

and and what it's gonna be like for them to you

know, go from being a kid to being an adult and

things of that nature and You know the director

of this film was his name's Anthony I Don't know

if I can say his last names Shateman Shateman,

I don't know. I can't find anything else that

he's really done that I can watch Or or base

it off of so it seems like this is his feature

film debut. I think he's done some other smaller

works and things like that but I was just super

impressed with how he crafted this one and directed

it and and how this was shot and I think one

thing I really was able to execute in my mind

almost perfectly was when you're dealing and

maybe this comes because I've you know spent

some time teaching kids of this age as well so

maybe that played a part in to it but And just,

you know, like our own experiences when we can

think back to that age, I think this film really

captures the twists and turns that go on in the

life of a 12 -year -old, or 11, 12, 13, whatever

age you might be when you're kind of going through

that. But like all the different ways that you

view, how your view of the world changes, what

you view as important, your different relationships

like... how your coming of age impacts those

around you, whether it be your friends, whether

it be your parents, siblings, things of that

nature, it deals with all of that in different

ways. And I just, I think there's a way that

when you are that age that you just really have

that tunnel vision, right? Like the only thing

that you can see is your world and your perspective.

And you don't really, you can't step back and

see things from a larger scale. And also it's

something where everything at that age feels

like it is the most important thing in the world,

right? Like you probably see that a lot with

kids of this age where, you know, something happens

and it's like, oh, their world's over. Like just

kill me now. Like I want to go hide in a corner

and never be seen again. Like that's how you

think when you're that age. And this film like

captures that mentality so well in a lot of respects.

You know, he has a, I wouldn't say necessarily

a strange relationship with his father, but he's

going through what I think a lot of boys go through

with their relationship with their dad at this

age. I can't speak for myself because I didn't

get to experience that, but I assume that that's

kind of what happens. You know, fathers don't

know exactly how to interact with, you know.

their kids as they become teenagers, and especially

when it's a male -to -male situation, like how

we, because a lot of males struggle to understand

each other's emotions and kind of navigate that.

So I think there's a little bit of that. He has

an older brother, which there's some stress or

strain between them. And I just think it's an

interesting way how it navigates all of that.

His classmates, his... friends, his significant

others, his family. Like it just does a brilliant

way of kind of following. And like the two actors

in this, like Lou Goossens who plays Elias and

Marius de Seger who plays Alexander are freaking

phenomenal. Like I don't know where they came

from, what their experience was before, but they

like knock it out of the park in this. Like they're

so, especially Like obviously Elias gets a lot

of the attention. He's the main character that

we're following but this Marius de Seger who

plays Alexander is just so charismatic on screen

that it's like it's easy to buy into everything

that's that's happening here and There's just

some very cool shots involved that I'm not usually

someone that sees that but I think from a cinematography

standpoint or from a Photo standpoint like they

do some very cool Shots of this this may also

have like if you're ever Doing like a top five

list for best grandpa's in film You should watch

this film because there is a grandfather figure

in here who may be like the best grandfather

figure I've ever seen portrayed in film like

he's just so wonderful as far as how he interacts

with Elias and I just I have heard nobody talk

about this film Like maybe I'm in an island here

and everybody else will be like you're crazy,

but yeah, I haven't heard any attention. I haven't

heard it come up on any like conversations. I

haven't heard anybody do a review on it. I even

check letterbox and I'm not friends with everybody,

but I have. I follow quite a few people and like

once I reviewed it, I always check to see like

how other people. Talked about it and like there

was nobody there was nobody in that little thing

that had seen it So I'm like, well can somebody

go see this so I can talk about it with somebody

but so I highly recommend this it's called young

hearts Belgian Dutch independent film from This

past year. So that is my number three. I Do have

good news. I actually did see it I I saw you

review it and like gave it such a high rating.

I'm like, oh wow, I like like you mentioned I

have heard nothing about it. I'm like, what is

this? And then I saw it was streaming on Canopy,

which also let me investigate the fact that my

library has Canopy, which I didn't know. So I

was able to create a campaign account. I watched

it, literally finished it like 20 minutes before

we started recording. So I didn't feel like I

could put it on my list because I still kind

of processing it. But like you, I thought it

was. Really well done. Like you mentioned the

grandfather character is great like his little

speech near the end which felt like sometimes

those can feel like very manufactured like this

this old folksy farmer has the wisdom of you

know a Thousand years, but it felt true to heart

though. It didn't feel too it wasn't overly written.

It felt very just honest and I think that was

a key element to it to it as well and how it

approached it like often when you see a film

especially about like kids in high school and

ninth grade all the kids feel much older than

they really are but these like these are actually

ninth grade kids they feel like of that age um

and obviously so yeah i feel like i some very

some people may have i feel like some people

may have a problem with the fact that there isn't

more um may feel it's unrealistic that there's

many people accepting of what's going on and

what choices Elias is making, but I don't necessarily

view it that way. And I think it's another thing

that's interesting is he's like so convinced

that everybody is going to react that way. So

it's like, I felt like that was a good way that

they could show how much you get inside your

own mind without realizing that everything that

you're worried about is actually fine because

all the people that you've surrounded yourself

with are actually gonna support you. Like that

thought never crosses his mind. Like he's convinced

that this person or that person is gonna very

much react in a different way than they do. So

I thought that was interesting. Did you see,

did you happen to notice the sequence that I

was talking about at all with the shot where

they're sitting side by side with each other?

And it's fairly, I think it's in the first half

or the first third maybe. And then it goes into

like a reflection shot. I can't remember if it's

reflecting off a water or a window or I think

it's water or something. And then you just see

like Elias turn and look back at Alexander. I

don't know, like that shot for me was like wonderful.

Think I think I know it was that when they kind

of did their day trip they kind of went away

and they're on the train is that There's a sequence.

There's a sequence where they're sitting next

to each other. I think I'm like it outside somewhere

I'm gonna have to rewatch it because it was one

of those where you're like, I wonder if You're

starting to feel like he's thinking about this

individual in a different way It's like yeah,

it's panting. It's panting away and you're like,

oh, we're not gonna get to see it But then you

know reflection you get to see him turn around

and kind of look back at the other child and

you're like, oh, yep That's definitely what's

happening. So I would recommend as many people

as possible go go watch this one Definitely.

Yeah, he certainly struggles. You certainly see

like he's not like he has you know, those the

people that are initially like, you know, you're

you're changing, you're different than I thought,

so you get a little rejection, but it's a good

progress overall. And oh, I forgot to mention,

I also really appreciated, maybe some people

would say it's too on the nose, and I know I'm

talking a lot about this, but I'm sorry. The

whole Romeo and Juliet line that's kind of threaded

very differently throughout this whole film I

thought was very interesting because again, that's

another. Forbidden love story and yeah, you know,

they're living their own like forbidden love

story So to speak and I thought that was kind

of clever how they intertwine that throughout

the story Yeah, I will say Felt like parents

are gonna let like Kids like have a sleepover

like that and like not be like just be okay with

it Yeah, it was definitely like something that

we're foreign to now in our society. Yeah I'm

like, I don't, maybe that's, maybe that's the

thing there. I don't know. But then I'm like,

I guess maybe they're nice. They're also riding

their bikes, like throughout the, the land with,

I don't feel that's done anymore in the United

States. Like, I don't feel like it was when I

was a kid, like, yeah, we could grab our bikes

and go wherever we want to do. I feel like that's

not happening anymore. No, they had much better.

Yeah. And much better public transit as well.

Um, all right. So that you said that was a director

debut and it looks like at least future director

debut. My next my number three is the same as

well though. This one is getting a much more

conversation about it and a lot more people talking

about it and that is Ever Victor's sorry, baby

It was her directorial debut. She also is the

star and the writers. She's kind of kind of doing

it all Which not easy not easy to do but also

can kind of understand why? And I was luckily

able to go into this even though I saw it late

like not I just know people are talking about

it. I had no idea what the story was. So I'll

try not to spoil it for those that have not seen

it, but kind of just centers. She's kind of the

main character. The story begins where like her

friend comes visitor comes to visit her. In a

while she's currently like working at a college

and then it flashes back to kind of get you caught

up to where they're at. Clearly something happened

in her past and it. Can i learn what that is

and how it and like how it's impacting her in

the future as well as in the past so what struck

me about this mostly was. How specific that is

within this because there are so many bits that

are very that they kind of turn and have elements

of comedy that you would not expect and how but

it also kind of feels right and how it kind of

manages that throughout is. Quite amazing and

this being her direct order to debut. I think

you do have some like the one of the most impactful

shots is just sitting in the outside of a house

and where that envelopes. But also when she,

you see it, how it approaches anxiety and how

it represents anxiety. I thought was really quite

remarkable. You have other great performances

as well from. Naomi Ackie who places her friend

who I think adds a lot of personality to it as

well And you could say this is a bit of a message

film, but that's not necessarily it's not just

about one event per se But it's kind of the driving

force as well. And then you know you have Some

like really great performance like really great

scene with John Carroll Lynch who? Every time

I see him. I just think of the thing I think

about is his entry the Drew Carey show But we

forget like always actually a really good actor

that's been in like a thousand movies and probably

has like the seals I think seals almost steals

the movie with like one of the scenes in this

the kind of Kind of comes out of nowhere, but

I think helps bring it all together. So I just

thought you know it was I just the way it approached

all those different pieces of trauma and how

it was able to have that delicate touch while

also being kind of like slyly comedic at times

really struck a chord with me. Um, and like I

said, I thought the performances were very natural

and so it was for a while it was my number one,

but then I watched mine two and number one, but

like this, my one, two and three are very close.

So right now it's at three, but who knows what

the future holds. So, so you know, the problem

with watching like, 15 films in the last two

weeks before you do this. Sometimes you may watch

a film and you may even go onto your letterbox

and write a review for it and give it a star

rating. And then you may forget to add it to

your. list of films that you watched that year.

So that's exactly what happened with Sorry Baby

for me. And you can see my review and you can

see the star score. If I had put it on the list

of films that I had seen in 2025, I'm thinking

it probably would have ended up in my top 10.

But it's not on my list anywhere. So I'm just

scrolling as you're talking about. And I'm like,

wait, I know I have this somewhere. Why is it

not in my list here? And I think it might have.

made it all the way up to my number eight, if

I had remembered to rank it. So yeah, I thought

this was for somebody filling the role of the

writer, director, and lead actor, like Naomi

Ackie was like, I'm gonna have her on my radar

for like, what does she do? Because like, it

was so impressive. And what I really, really

enjoyed on this film is that it didn't Need to

spoon feed us anything and it didn't need to

do what happened so many times when it's dealing

with the types of subject matter it's Dealing

with it didn't have to show us Like it didn't

need a shock factor. It didn't need Any graphic

representation of what this whole thing is kind

of juxtaposed against like it it made it I don't

know Not just it wasn't that it was just easier

to watch it was that that's not needed and it

was able to instead focus on The aftermath of

it and the coping mechanisms of it and all of

the other things I'm trying to dance around this

but I Just really appreciated that part about

it So yeah, I definitely had this as one of my

highest rated films of the year and I'm just

dumb for forgetting to put it in my list of movies

I watched this year that happened that a little

bit of time passed and I was thinking about it

more and it kind of crept a little bit closer

to like the 12, 11, 10 stage and then a little

more time passed and it got into like the 6,

7, 8 stage and then eventually it crawled itself

all the way up to number 2. So this is one that

I just feel like has grown on me the more time

has passed and I feel like once I finally get

a chance to watch it a second time it would definitely

solidify itself. but this is where I have Paul

Thomas Anderson's one battle after another. I

am like you, I think, when it comes to Paul Thomas

Anderson, because I was not a big fan of Inherent

Vice. The Phantom Thread was okay. I actually

missed Licorice Pizza, so I'm not 100 % sure

on that, but obviously, There Will Be Blood is

fantastic, and I feel like this is kind of a

return to that type of feel of his. I mean, Leonardo

DiCaprio is. Every bit of a movie star in this

one, right? Like he is he is showing like why

he's stood the test of time and Benicio del Toro

is just freaking amazing this film. I could have

watched a bunch of more sequences of him being

involved and then the. What do they call the

group? The Christmas Adventures Club or something.

yes yes yeah that's just hysterical but not hysterical

because it's like yeah maybe that's not so far

removed from reality uh man things of that nature

so it's like well it's like it's on one hand

like satirizing or kind of poking fun at everything

we're dealing with but at the other time it's

like so not because it's so real and it's just

i don't know but i was definitely not anticipating

what I was gonna get with this one. I didn't

really know what to anticipate with Paul Thomas

Anderson. Cause I'm like, he's been all over

the map for me. So how does, how is this going

to work out? But you know, chase infinity is,

is fantastic. Like there's almost everybody involved

in this is I don't know if there was anybody

that I didn't think was fantastic in this. So

again, I think with a second watch, it'll probably

make it even more solidified on my spot here.

But I just felt like the more time had passed,

the more it kept climbing the ranks. I was like,

there's so much to this film to digest. And then

hearing some of the discourse on it, I was like,

oh, you know what? That's right. And, you know,

I did agree with that and things of that nature.

So and it is even though the Ballad of Wallace

Island to me is the funniest film that I saw

this year, probably there is some hysterical

moments in one battle after another for sure.

And again, another one that you could kind of

tie that thread with the passage of time, because,

you know, Leonardo DiCaprio's character. It you

know is part of this movement in the thick of

it at one point and then we really fast forward

You know, whatever it is 15 years or however

many years and that's like, you know this guy

that's completely I don't know. I feel like this

would be me if I tried to go play softball again,

right? He can't remember the pass codes to his

thing and I'd like would forget how to swing

a bat or something I was like so like I feel

like he's definitely kind of in that like rusted

The guy has to shake the rust off before he gets

this figured out, and it's hilarious. The sequence

where the group that Benicio del Toro gives Leonardo

DiCaprio, and they're bouncing from rooftop to

rooftop, and DiCaprio is trying to follow them.

Leads to one of the funniest moments of the year

to me And I just yeah, it was absolutely hysterical.

So yeah, so one battle after another I know it's

not a surprise. Everyone's talking about it's

probably gonna win best picture, but it's number

two for me Yeah, I guess I could see it especially

if it ever gets if I get the chance to see in

theaters even Going it more and more crossover

because with my number two is one that you talked

about already again another international film,

so And that being of course it was just another

accident and what really took me and you kind

of touched upon a little bit was like how. Bench

and comedy there's like a good amount of comedy

in this as well you would this would easily you

can easily. Change this one need to change a

lot only a few things in this could easily be

an episode of curb your enthusiasm with like

just the the way in which things unfold and you

know they it's the complication of errors that

you know that series of fortune events where

things are going a certain way and then. The

kind of take a turn and come back it is written

like a joke in that way like with callbacks and

what punch lines always you don't expect but

i think that's all. probably purposeful because

it starts, as you mentioned, with him discovering

this element. He's going to kill this guy. He

has all this righteous anger, but then doubt

seeps in. And then after that, you know, righteous

anger subsides, it kind of brings you into a

little bit of a lull. And you're wondering like,

so it has you questioning it too. And it has

you wondering like, what is truth? What is not?

What are they going to do? And then you get this

like even the like even seeing the poster It's

just which I think is like legitimately one of

the best posters of the year in the sense of

the simplicity of it But it also just is pretty

striking because you have this van in the desert

and you see It will look like a woman in a wedding

dress and the guy next to him in a van like what

exactly this is this about? And how that all

comes together is quite something And then the

ending it like that after that wall They're like,

okay, I guess maybe the soul, you know end at

you and everyone go home or how it's going and

then that ending comes and it's like, oh All

that comes back up and it becomes all the more

devastating and how it stays within that scene

And just keeps going and you have like the brake

lights to like add a red tinge to it You know,

like you're entering, you know to be a little

literal again entering actual hell and then the

other ending after that and and how it all comes

back so it I thought I was just so well -crafted

within that. And, you know, I've seen a few other

of Travolta's films, like this is not a film.

I believe he did as well, but I just, I found

it, especially considering like he was actually

in jail for a while, you know, there was him.

Making this and it's a it's pretty much it's

a pretty big critique like we talked about brave

when it comes to making art and sometimes it's

overused but it seems very Very poignant here

and it's also very There's not a lot of specifics

in sense of like in a good way like what why

were they? Jailed like what did they do? What

is what is the issue or that because that's not

really necessarily important like what ties all

together and I think that also makes it more

impactful because There isn't a specific thing.

It could be anything. It could be anyone. And

I think that very much is the point of it. So

yeah, like I said, my top three are very close

to one another. But it was kind of disappointing.

It didn't end up getting the best picture nomination

just because I hoped more people would see it.

But I don't know. If you haven't, Definitely

check it out. It is it is streaming like you

have to it is only available for rent now But

I think it's worth it. So, you know the six bucks

I think is certainly worth your time might be

the best use of sound effect in the of the year

to yeah true true Yeah, there we go. Alright,

so that leaves us to our number one films of

the year at this point in time But as we said,

since the time passages and changes a lot of

stuff, you never know how that evolves over time.

But this one to me is similar to Black Bag. It's

been in my top 10 the entire year. And I didn't

know if that would be the case or not after watching

it. I had a feeling that it would, but I didn't

know it would stay at number one. It's not only

been in my top 10 all year, it's been my number

one film all year. So again, another chalk pick,

but I am definitely going here. with Ryan Coogler's

Sinners. It is just a fantastic film. Like getting

to see Michael B. Jordan and another Michael

B. Jordan like next to each other doesn't always

work. Like we've seen it in different things

where it does. And it worked in spades. And I

think the way that they were able to distinguish

those two versions of this character, the two

brothers, Smoke and Stack, like it was just.

very well crafted and artfully done. And I think

Delroy Lindo has been one of my favorite kind

of undersung people for a long time. I'm not

just saying that because he's in this film and

getting a bunch of praise, but I've always kind

of liked him and thought that he should get more

roles and more acclaim. And it was fun to see

him get that. I feel like the way they intertwine

the different like you said, both the Irish and

African American journey throughout America and

through oppression and things of that that they've

dealt with. The way they tackle the music aspect

of this throughout time was a lot of fun. There

was some obviously a very cool sequence that

has gotten a lot of praise dealing with that.

And the fact that it wraps this all up in this

vampire setting and that that that It's going

to be a hard one for him to live up to. So I

don't envy him in any way, shape or form as far

as that goes. But I just think that there's so

much to like, there were so many people in this

cast and so many characters to kind of enjoy

as they kind of went through this. You do get

like the the limited setting, which I'm always

kind of a big fan of. And I just think again,

like I've only watched this the one time. I feel

like both this one and one better after another

will just become better the more. I watch them.

And that's what kind of led me to leave centers

where I had it all year, which was in that number

one spot. Nice. I'm glad. Yeah, that's awesome

that it's stuck there and I guess I completely

understand why. And it's certainly deserving

of that spot. Yeah, that's interesting. Again,

like going into this year or if you were told

me the plot of that film and what it was about.

I would not have guessed that would be like a

movie that would hit your top 10. So the fact

that it is, I think, speaks to it as well. I'm

breaking things through here, Dan. I got I got

Frankenstein. I got vampires. I got like four

international films. I got a documentary. I don't

know who I am, Dan. I know. I know. Not one animated

film, you know, you know, but not the greatest

year for animation. Maybe that's why. But right.

But my number one, one we have not talked about

yet, another one of which I think probably isn't

getting a lot of attention and part of it, I

think, reason why it was number one was because

it's that unexpected watch, because I didn't

went into it similar to like my number 10. Didn't

hear much about it. One that I had stored in

my Netflix queue because it looked interesting.

It looked like it was my vibe and exactly was

my vibe. And that is Left -Handed Girl, directed

by she, Also, there is some connection that people

may be aware of because one of the producers

of this as well as one of the co -writers is

Sean Baker, who's, you know, known for Nora,

which of course won Best Picture, Florida Project,

and Florida Project was one of my favorite films.

I still haven't seen a Nora yet, so I can't speak

to that, but I love Florida Project and Left

-Handed Girl has a lot of... similarities in

the way that film is approached. The story is

very different. The story is very simple, honestly.

It's about this family in Taipei. It's a mother

and two daughters. They've come back to their

home city and the mother is kind of trying to

make... Things work. She has this little like

noodle stand street stand that she's working

at her daughter Her oldest daughter is has her

own thing clearly. There's a lot of friction

between them She's kind of a bit of rebellious.

She's more like leader teens. I would say maybe

early 20s she Recently grabbed. Well, she has

a younger daughter probably five or six or so

around that age Probably not quite old enough

for kindergarten were maybe around that and it's

called and she's the start of the show Nina Yi

she is the the actress and she's remarkable You

know, it's again another performance similar

to Florida project where you have a lot of kids

in that and it's kids acting like kids They feel

very authentic thing it felt like you probably

almost like documentary ask in the way it approaches

the story she's kind of going around just kind

of living her life and it's called left -handed

girl because she uses her left hand and the reason

why that's a big deal is because in their culture

and there's a lot of traditional teachings where

the left hand is a devil's hand. And so her grandparents

don't, speaking of like, we talked about a movie

with great grandparents, this has the opposite

of that with grandparents who are not that great

for a lot of different things that I wanna spoil,

but they kind of pass judgment. And there's a

lot of family drama within this, but I just,

it's my favorite type of film because it's just

people living their lives. Like you see that

with britcher link later should see that with

sean banker and and i was interesting to you

is the person who directed this they actually

drug co directed a film like early two thousands

together so i'm interested to see like it seems

these individuals. Charlotte and Sean Baker,

this movie take out in 2004. So they have a lot

of connections throughout the year. So a question

is, is it that person informing Sean Baker or

vice versa? I don't know. But I say this, if

you enjoy his other films, I think you would

definitely enjoy a left handed girl as well.

And you see like this conflict of tradition versus

today, conflict of A mother trying to protect

her daughter and how sometimes I can go too far

and kind of double back and end up causing more

harm than good. There's some plot developments

near the end that I did not know what were going

to happen, but certainly adds a lot to it as

well. But I didn't even need that and I was already

bought in. It also doesn't have like any specific

Easy Anders anything like that, but it just it

was completely my vibe completely type of movie.

I really enjoy and because of that that it ended

up as I look back in this year the movie that

I felt like Had the biggest impact on me the

one that I felt the most invested in surprised

By like checking all those boxes. I thought has

great performances throughout it as well. Um,

it ended up being left handed girl. Uh, I feel

like I'm probably selling it too much for a lot

of people, which maybe, you know, uh, people

will think it's just fine, which I get, but,

uh, for me, it just ended up being of 2025. Yeah.

This was another one that you had mentioned to

me kind of, uh, uh, towards the end here. And

I just, I just didn't find a way to just stream

me somewhere. I forgot to ask you. Yeah, it is

on Netflix. That's where I saw it. Yeah. Oh,

that's how it's Yeah, that's how I watched it

because it kind of came up as like recently released

and I saw it like oh Reduced by Sean Baker. I'm

like that's interesting. And so I was you know,

just one of those things for you put a movie

on don't know what to expect I do nothing about

it beyond the title and sometimes That's like

the the you know, the blind watch is like the

favorite It's really hard to do especially now

because there's so much Conversation out there

like you had with um on heart Uh, so that this

basically was my young heart, but I had i've

watched this There's been enough time since I

watched it. So I felt comfortable putting it

at number one. But uh, yeah, it's uh I quite

enjoyed it. Yeah, so if you want to check it

out yourself, you can check it out on netflix

As of this taping who knows because they right

things come on and off there But I think it's

I think it'll probably be on there for at least

a few months So, Dan and I, we're going to give

a few more thoughts with some honorable mentions

and some thoughts on the year overall. But one

thing that we are going to be doing is we're

going to be giving you guys our own version of

the Oscars, our Cinema Geek Awards. Lead Oscars

and in the leading up time to that. I'm going

to make a point to watch the three films on your

top 10, Dan, that I have not seen. Hopefully

you'll get a chance to see Sentimental Value.

And then obviously, hopefully both of us get

a chance to see like Hamnet and Marty Supreme

and maybe a few others. So we'll come locked

and loaded with that when we get into that award

show. So I guess because I'm silly and forgot

to include one, we did end up with four crossovers.

Dan, it would have been five had I put Sorry

Baby in its rightful spot. But otherwise we did

have Sinners one. Battle Afternoon was just an

accident and the ballot of Wallace Island. So

more crossover. If we had Sorry Baby in there,

we would have half our list on the same. So that

was always a surprise. So that was kind of cool.

Is there any ones that just didn't, that hasn't

come up in either one of our discussions that

maybe was in that 10 through 20 or something

that was just kind of missed your countdown that

you want to bring up? Yeah, at 11, I had Wake

Up Deadman. I watched all the Knives Out films

for the first time this year, so that was the

experience. That was right on my top 10. I really

did like that a lot. Another kind of blind watch

Netflix movie that I knew nothing about, and

this was also in my top 10 for a while, but that

was Homebound. This is an Indian film about basically

two friends that are trying to like find a way

to rise above their station. They apply to become

police officers, but there's like, there's a

thousand applications or a thousand openings

and like three million people applying, but it

kind of goes through their journey and the impact

there. And then also how COVID impacts that part

of their life. Weapons, another really popular,

I actually did really like weapons this year.

Maybe moving I'm giving a little bit of a hometown

bump, but I really love the Baltimore on by Jay

Duplass. It's kind of It's a bit of a romantic

comedy like a one -day movie about kind of this

Unexpected couple that kind of finds themselves

through a series of strange events roof man a

movie that I Ended up really liking I because

I it was not at all what I expected I should

have realized it being Derek's it's in a fence

But I thought it was gonna be more of like a

slapstick comedy, but actually had some real

drama behind it So I enjoyed that a great deal.

He mentioned black bag had a one of the most

Uncomfortable watches but in a good way that

movie is so intense. I just watched this yesterday,

but twinless Really like that a lot it has The

way it structures its film, I thought was actually

quite impressive and how it impacts your experience

with certain characters. I'm trying to say vague

because there's things happen and I don't want

to reveal, but I like that a lot. And then Pagonia,

I really liked, Nouveau Vogue, I'm just naming

movies. And then the last one, another movie

I don't see a lot of conversation about, but

is Sovereign, which with Nick Offerman. Yeah,

which is now in Hulu and it's tough. It's a tough

watch. Nick Offerman is great in it. But yeah,

so anyways, that's a lot for me. I'll send it

back over to you. Yeah, there's a couple that

I haven't seen in my still on my watch list and

they're also no other choice is still on my watch

list. I haven't been able to catch up with those,

but as far as ones that did. Did just miss. It

was in my top 10 for quite some time, but got

bumped out due to the last minute cramming. So

I did have a house of dynamite actually up towards

the top. I know a lot of people didn't go for

that, but I thought it was a very intriguing

look at kind of almost this like vantage point

type deal where we're going to go through the

same situation, you know, multiple different

angles and different perspectives and it worked

for me. So I had that on there. I agree I had

roof man in this group as well. I really enjoyed

that's probably one of the other films. I had

a ton of fun with this film that or this year.

That was also I thought good a couple more documentaries.

I have the perfect neighbor thought that was

another one that was really unsettling and Kind

of weighty. I'm a huge John Candy fan. So the

I like me documentary was I thought pretty well

done and an interesting watch as well As far

as a couple other ones, I wanted to mention Lurker.

I guess a different side of a crazed fan from

a ballad of Wallace Island. This is like the

complete opposite. So I thought that had some

interesting points to it. I actually dug the

last breath with Woody Harrelson. I thought that

was fun. And Big Bold Beautiful Journey with

Colin Farrell and Margot Robbie. I thought that

was something that worked for me from Koganata.

Unlike black bag and sinners which were on my

list in my top 10 and survived the whole year

Mickey 17 was on my top 10 list early on and

it got bumped quite a bit over the time of the

year that went there but it did end up still

in my top 20 and Then I think the last one I

do want to rewatch a few like I probably want

to rewatch weapons highest to lowest If this

I want to rewatch all of those they're in my

top 30 But I just didn't feel comfortable knocking

them or putting them up too high because I had

some issues with it on the first go -around But

I feel like I want to watch it again. Like you

said sovereign. It was in my top 25 as well Well

about her in the watch and she loved it and she's

become obsessed with that whole franchise So

now I've seen almost everything that you can

see about that, but I thought it was for me the

entry point into that franchise So I did like

that and then the last one I will mention did

not get love from anybody. It got panned by quite

a few people, but it is up my alley because it's

just kind of like this sci -fi, make you think

and make you debate things. And that was Alicia

Vikander in the assessment, which also starred

Elizabeth Olsen, Himesh Patel. And I get why

some people didn't care for it, but I love those

types. Like that's my type of sci -fi jam. So

that worked quite a bit for me. So those would

be the ones that I would highlight. Dan, when

you think back at the year overall, how do you

feel like 2025 was, or was there any takeaways

for you that you kind of were left with at the

end? I thought 2025, like, you know, I had a

good time with it. I had a lot of, like we said,

a lot of films I felt really comfortable with

making my top 10. It certainly seemed like we

mentioned a lot of movies that are very pointed

regarding The world today and and that makes

sense in a lot of ways, especially with the documentaries

things like that, but even some of the you know,

the More blockbuster your film is like a 28 years

later But I thought it was a strong year and

like I still have a lot I you mentioned that

I haven't seen or other films But it feels very

spread out this year. Like it's I think it's

Like I guess like I don't know if they're I guess

you could say one battle another and sinners

are going to be the ones that stand out throughout

Probably as people look back at this year, but

I also think it's very deep like it's like it's

got a deep bench You know, it's like the spurs

right? It's not you don't necessarily have a

Michael Jordan That is the the franchise player

me But you have just a lot of really good solid

Movies that was my experience with movie this

year overall. So a lot of surprises. I didn't

have many disappointments like Not a lot of movies.

I was open for ended up disappointing me Um,

there was a few here and there, but nothing,

nothing huge. I also stayed away from a lot of

the, like, I didn't watch like the Amazon, uh,

war of the world, for example, cause I know like

everyone hated that. So, uh, but yeah, how about

yourself? I think like the only disappointment

for me was probably the Phoenician scheme. I

thought that was slightly disappointing. Um,

but I, it was not majorly disappointing. It was

just slightly disappointing, but I, for me, I

think there was a couple of different things

that stood out to me. Obviously I talked about

the passage of time, so I won't. like beat that

into the ground. But I think you get that in

a lot of these as like how somebody, whether

it be a person, a place or just society changes

over time. I think that's explored. And I also

think there's a lot of these that deal with reactions

or how to deal with trauma, whether it be in

the immediate aftermath or as you grow and you

know, age, how you deal with it. I think that's

seen in quite a few films that we see. And I

don't know if it's just because everybody feels

like we're going through a traumatic time. So

they're trying to like dive into that and be

like, hey, this is how some different ways you

can cope with this. But I feel like that was

definitely evident in quite a few of the better

films that that I saw this year. And I agree.

I again, I don't know if there's one that's like

the her for me or like the I don't know, like

ex machina was for me. Like, yeah. those years

that came out and things of that nature, but

I think it was just so solid from, you know,

half the films I saw, I would highly recommend

to folks. So I don't know if that's always the

case. I haven't done the math, but I feel like

there was just quite a few that I, I was given

a whole lot of three and a half and four star

ratings this year for sure. I think that's probably

the majority of my ratings are three and a half

or four and then like a decent amount, just three,

but I didn't give a whole lot of anything underneath

the three. Also didn't give out a five so it's

kind of like in that that ballpark so it's definitely

a fun year to get back involved with movies on

this level and Kind of to catching up with a

few more of these and kind of seeing how it all

plays out All right. So if you guys have any

comments for our films that we listed in our

top 10, you can obviously reach out to us on

social media to just look up Comic Concierge

or Optimus Solo or Cinema Geeks. You can find

us on the various social media platforms. What

we have coming up for you guys soon is we're

going to have probably our most anticipated films

of 26. We will work in there. Relatively shortly,

maybe our next episode. I don't know and then

like you said as we get closer to the Oscar season

We'll do one more look back at 2025 and hand

out some Awards as we get ready for that day

and any closing thoughts on episode 200. No,

I like I said, it was good year looking forward

to now taking you know Taking time to look forward

to 2026 see what this year has to offer I know

we did it with the box office predictions, but

now it's more so seeing like What what what is

going to be in our top ten this time next year

and that's always fun Yeah, I'm definitely looking

forward to it. I've already kind of done some

brief preliminary looks, but I'm interested to

kind of Focus in here and decide especially with

some stuff that I've been hearing already about

some other films may have knocked some of them

out of contention for me But we'll see you see

where we go with all of that So alright that

does it for this episode tune in next time for

another chance to listen to more of the cinema

geeks