Zach Cregger took all the right lessons from Pulp Fiction and the original script for True Romance when he was writing this film. Structure makes the film. This is definitely a step up from Barbarian, which is a fun, wild ride. Amy Madigan is next-level fucking good in this one.
9. Wake Up Dead Man [dir. Rian Johnson]
Another crowd-pleasing Benoit Blanc mystery. What a magnificent movie written and directed by Rian Johnson. This may be the best of the Knives Out mysteries yet. It’s wonderfully astute in its humanity and its critiques. I can’t wait to revisit this one again and again and again. If only I could have this and its predecessor on 4K or even Blu-ray. If only…
It’s now an undeniable fact. James Gunn can do whatever he wants. The writer/director has gone five for five in his big-budget event films. The short review is Superman (2025) is a big, silly, fun, funny, thrilling, and beautifully made event film that gives us all the hope and goodwill one could want. Different from Richard Donner’s 1978 classic in all the right ways and so good a film it will make you forget there was a 2015 film (wait, there was a 2015 film?).
7. Marty Supreme [dir. Josh Safdie]
Timothée Chalamet (a huge screw-up aside) is going to be a giant movie star. Yes, a giant movie star. He’s well on his way. Marty Supreme is the proof. It is also proof that he will test the boundaries of his image as a star.
6. Bugonia [dir. Yorgos Lanthimos]
Yorgos doing Yorgos things. The result is another weirdo freaky deaky comedy.
5. The Phoenician Scheme [dir. Wes Anderson]
I welled with emotions as the film, toward its end, reminded me of my grandfather (long story) once Korda finds his true purpose. Michael Cera continues to prove that, when deployed properly is an unmatched vortex of charisma and strange comedic energy unlike anyone working currently.
Writer/director Bryan Fuller has made big swing television. Wonderfalls. Pushing Daisies. Hannibal. It should surprise no one familiar with his unique vision that his debut feature film, Dust Bunny, is as big a swing as anything he did on television. The film starring Mads Mikkelson and Sigourney Weaver is the kind of debut film in the same visually impressive genre-bending vein as the work of Jean Pierre Jeunet or Guillermo Del Toro. Part action. Part comedy. Part dark fairy tale. All Bryan Fuller.
3. One Battle After Another [dir. Paul Thomas Anderson]
How a studio financed this is beyond me. It’s radical filmmaking in the way that PTA’s mentor and favorite filmmaker, Robert Downey Sr., was. In fact, this feels like Downey Sr. would have made if he were given $150 million and a major star. It’s ironic that Bob (DiCaprio) gets stoned while watching The Battle for Algiers … because this is essentially a stoner Algiers. There is imagery that’s as searing as anything you’ll see this year or any year. This action-comedy thriller is a revolutionary text without being a revolutionary text. Somehow it feels unbearably tense but lighter than air at the same time. It hits you in the face as it makes you laugh and smile at the humanity of it all.
2. If I Had Legs I’d Kick You [dir. Mary Bronstein]
Mary Bronstein went hard for the moms. If I Had Legs I’d Kick You like motherhood is an assault on the senses that doesn’t relent. A horror film that never gives its central protagonist an out. Just constant pecking. Peck-peck-peck-peck-peck. Many may be turned off by the tidal wave of discomfort, but that’s the point. If one can bear it, and you should, one will be privy to an amazing film and a revelatory performance by Rose Byrne. Harrowing at times, but also darkly hilarious in the way that it understands not just the plight of Bryne’s Linda but every character she comes in contact with. If there is justice in the world, Bronstein will already be working on her next project. This should be required viewing for every dude that wants to have a kid because they are most certainly the Christian Slater in this film.
The Top Films of 2025
10. Weapons [dir. Zach Cregger]
Zach Cregger took all the right lessons from Pulp Fiction and the original script for True Romance when he was writing this film. Structure makes the film. This is definitely a step up from Barbarian, which is a fun, wild ride. Amy Madigan is next-level fucking good in this one.
9. Wake Up Dead Man [dir. Rian Johnson]
Another crowd-pleasing Benoit Blanc mystery. What a magnificent movie written and directed by Rian Johnson. This may be the best of the Knives Out mysteries yet. It’s wonderfully astute in its humanity and its critiques. I can’t wait to revisit this one again and again and again. If only I could have this and its predecessor on 4K or even Blu-ray. If only…
8. Superman [dir. James Gunn]
It’s now an undeniable fact. James Gunn can do whatever he wants. The writer/director has gone five for five in his big-budget event films. The short review is Superman (2025) is a big, silly, fun, funny, thrilling, and beautifully made event film that gives us all the hope and goodwill one could want. Different from Richard Donner’s 1978 classic in all the right ways and so good a film it will make you forget there was a 2015 film (wait, there was a 2015 film?).
7. Marty Supreme [dir. Josh Safdie]
Timothée Chalamet (a huge screw-up aside) is going to be a giant movie star. Yes, a giant movie star. He’s well on his way. Marty Supreme is the proof. It is also proof that he will test the boundaries of his image as a star.
6. Bugonia [dir. Yorgos Lanthimos]
Yorgos doing Yorgos things. The result is another weirdo freaky deaky comedy.
5. The Phoenician Scheme [dir. Wes Anderson]
I welled with emotions as the film, toward its end, reminded me of my grandfather (long story) once Korda finds his true purpose. Michael Cera continues to prove that, when deployed properly is an unmatched vortex of charisma and strange comedic energy unlike anyone working currently.
4. Dust Bunny [dir. Bryan Fuller]
Writer/director Bryan Fuller has made big swing television. Wonderfalls. Pushing Daisies. Hannibal. It should surprise no one familiar with his unique vision that his debut feature film, Dust Bunny, is as big a swing as anything he did on television. The film starring Mads Mikkelson and Sigourney Weaver is the kind of debut film in the same visually impressive genre-bending vein as the work of Jean Pierre Jeunet or Guillermo Del Toro. Part action. Part comedy. Part dark fairy tale. All Bryan Fuller.
3. One Battle After Another [dir. Paul Thomas Anderson]
How a studio financed this is beyond me. It’s radical filmmaking in the way that PTA’s mentor and favorite filmmaker, Robert Downey Sr., was. In fact, this feels like Downey Sr. would have made if he were given $150 million and a major star. It’s ironic that Bob (DiCaprio) gets stoned while watching The Battle for Algiers … because this is essentially a stoner Algiers. There is imagery that’s as searing as anything you’ll see this year or any year. This action-comedy thriller is a revolutionary text without being a revolutionary text. Somehow it feels unbearably tense but lighter than air at the same time. It hits you in the face as it makes you laugh and smile at the humanity of it all.
2. If I Had Legs I’d Kick You [dir. Mary Bronstein]
Mary Bronstein went hard for the moms. If I Had Legs I’d Kick You like motherhood is an assault on the senses that doesn’t relent. A horror film that never gives its central protagonist an out. Just constant pecking. Peck-peck-peck-peck-peck. Many may be turned off by the tidal wave of discomfort, but that’s the point. If one can bear it, and you should, one will be privy to an amazing film and a revelatory performance by Rose Byrne. Harrowing at times, but also darkly hilarious in the way that it understands not just the plight of Bryne’s Linda but every character she comes in contact with. If there is justice in the world, Bronstein will already be working on her next project. This should be required viewing for every dude that wants to have a kid because they are most certainly the Christian Slater in this film.
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