For today we’ll focus on my top ten favorite movies of 2025. As always, these are my FAVORITE films, not necessarily the objectively best films. Also, as always, there were plenty of films I was unable to get around to watching things like Marty Supreme or One Battle After Another. While I tried to watch Frankenstein, I have never seen a movie that needed to be viewed on a big screen rather a TV more and I couldn’t maintain interested solely based on that.
I did watch Elio with my son last year, however, which is the most recent Pixar film. I want to take a moment to mention how much I liked it (he liked it too) and how wrong the modern idea that Pixar movies just not being good anymore is. It JUST barely didn’t make the list. Blame Benoit Blanc for that one.
My favorite movies of 20245 after the jump.
#10: One of Them Days
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| Unlike Friday, they do have shit to do |
This one barely stayed on the list, but it stuck with me throughout the year. This is a very fun throwback style comedy, obviously Friday-inspired. It’s genuinely laugh out loud funny, Keke Palmer is, as always, very charismatic and charming and she has great chemistry with SZA, so much so that you can put aside that it’s the singer’s film debut. Mid-size comedies are sorely needed in Hollywood these days, so this was a very welcome watch.
4 out of 5 Adorable Pandas
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#9: Predator: Badlands
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| Called "Woke" by folks Who don't know what the word means |
This is probably not surprising to hear, but I am not nor have I ever been interested in the Predator franchise. In fact, the only Predator movie I had previously seen was Alien vs. Predator, and I don’t think that counts. And, indeed, despite the rave reviews of Prey, I probably would have skipped this one too except that the premise was the idea that the Predator was the protagonist for the first time. Look, I get that some guys who really liked the first one, and pretended to the like the subsequent ones, want to act like this was a silly decision, but I became locked in as soon as I heard that. And guess what? It was f**king great! Good action, surprising emotional, Elle Fanning is great as always. It’s not a life changing movie, but I’d watch the hell out of a bunch of sequels to this.
4 out of 5 Adorable Pandas
#8: Bugonia
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| NOT THE BEES!!!! |
After watching three Yorgos Lanthimos flicks in three years, I think it’s safe to say that he has a “love it or hate” style to his filmmaking. Bugonia will not be for everyone, with its slow pacing and awkwardness of the characters. But it’s (darkly) funny, has really great performances from the three leads, and legit has my favorite ending in a movie in years. I didn’t find it surprising the way I think Lanthimos wanted to me to, but it was still a really worthwhile journey. Call it better than Kinds of Kindness but still not as good as Poor Things.
4 out of 5 Adorable Pandas
#7: Good Fortune
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| Oh, is Aziz Ansari involved in this movie? |
Funny story: while I knew he was in this film (because she was on a poster), I had no idea that Aziz Ansari was writer, director, and star of it until I was in the theater watching the opening credits. I saw plenty of advertisements for this movie but it feels like he was completely removed from any of it despite the fact that this was literally his movie. I suppose that’s kind of fair because had I known he wrote this, after watching 2 out of 3 seasons of Master of None, I wasn’t really looking to watch another “shitty guy has avoidable problems” story. Thankfully, that’s not the bulk of this movie and it focuses a lot more on an ensemble cast than you would have assumed (though Keke Palmer is horribly underused). Ansari and Seth Rogen are playing familiar characters, but they work in context and Keanu Reeves does an excellent portrayal of “good hearted but really dumb angel.” It’s quite funny yet cringy (which is very much Ansari’s brand) but also strangely hopeful (which absolutely isn’t his brand). Great flick.
4 out of 5 Adorable Pandas
#6: Rental Family
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| This is a sweet movie But this specific dynamic is actually horrific |
Speaking of good hearted and hopeful, I think it’s safe to say that I didn’t see a more feel-good movie this year than Rental Family. A story about what it means to make and have connections through the lens of an American learning to understand Japanese societal culture, Brendan Fraser is pitch perfect in this role and delivers another great performance since his return to Hollywood. It’ s a well written script and the characters are both believable and frustrating, a combination that is either a plus or minus depending solely on the project. Also, if you’re a foreigner who is interested in Japan it’s a pretty cool to see a pretty grounded film that shifts across the country. If you want a 2025 movie that will make you feel like you’re in a warm blanket, this is it.
4 out of 5 Adorable Pandas
#5: Thunderbolts*
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| One of them dies early on and does nothing They are still on every poster |
It feels like it’s been a while since Marvel Studios was the unstoppable juggernaut it was a few years ago, and this year had a somewhat disappointing Fantastic Four movie and a quite bad Captain America film. To me, the only hit they had in 2025 was Thunderbolts, a film that had a lot going against it but ultimately ended up with a thoughtful look of concepts like loneliness, isolation, depression, and found family. And it has my favorite climax of any superhero film. Easily the best movie Marvel has done in a while.
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| If, like me, you were expecting these guys Prepare to be disappointed |
That said, I’m pretty annoyed at the final fate of Taskmaster. First they introduce a completely different take on the character in Black Widow, then they kill them off before they have a chance to do literally anything. Stupid.
4 out of 5 Adorable Pandas
#4: Wake Up Dead Man
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| They call them "Knives Out" mysteries Because they think you're stupid |
The third in the Benoit Blanc mystery series, a role Daniel Craig seems to enjoy a lot more than James Bond, Wake Up Dead Man is another film where Rian Johnson does a thing and that thing ends up being really good. I actually think every movie he’s directed since Looper has been on my Top Ten list at this point. Anywho, this movie is quite good, though I think that after three of them the novelty has worn off just a bit. Call this one better than The Glass Onion, but still not as good as Knives Out.
Unfortunately, my dream of seeing Benoit Blanc teaming up with Charlie Cale from Poker Face seems to have gone up in smoke as of 2025.
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| Welp, it was a good show while it lasted... |
5 out of 5 Adorable Pandas
#3: Companion
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| This is probably a love story |
Companion is one of those movies where it’s best going into as cold as possible, so I will be sparse with the details here. Bottomline: this movies rules and you’ll like it you liked Get Out. The only reason it didn’t rank higher was because of certain issues I had that I can’t share due to spoilers. But trust me, it’s f**king great!
5 out of 5 Adorable Pandas
#2: Superman
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| Pictured: Biblically accurate Lex Luthor |
I tried to reconcile my feelings for this movie since the summer, but in the end I couldn’t deny that this was probably my favorite movie-going experience of the year; it was the only movie I saw in theaters twice in 2025. I adored this film and the new Superman and world he lives in. As someone who liked Man of Steel as an action film but who thought it was a lousy Superman story, this flick hit all my notes in every important way. David Corenswet and Rachel Bosnahan were perfect as Clark and Lois (and they had fantastic chemistry), I loved the Justice Gang, and I thought Nicholas Hoult’s Lex Luthor was the best, most comic accurate portrayal of the villain ever adapted in live action.
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| Goddamn Mister Terrific! |
I know there’s a legion of fans out there who want to shit on this movie and James Gunn, but the fact is that the man just directed a Superman movie as if it was for me specifically. This is how you make a modern version of the character without changing his core aspects.
5 out of 5 Adorable Pandas
#1: Sinners
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| GIVE THEM EVERY FUCKING OSCAR!!!! |
As I have had to say several times in the past, I am not a horror fan. I only *just* saw Scream for the first time a couple of months ago. Hell, I remember seeing the trailer for Sinners and being like “no f**king way am I seeing this.” But I ended up watching it in theaters and I cannot begin to tell you how much I loved this movie. The worldbuilding, the characters, a villain who you have to think about whether they have a point, and the fact that it’s for all intent and purposes a musical. This movie is as close to perfect as I’ve ever since and Michael B. Jordan, playing two distinct characters, may have just done his best ever performance.
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| They cousins... |
A lot of people disregarded this film, or tried to say a better version wouldn’t have had vampires and just focused on the crime drama, but I think every choice in this movie was deliberate and to its benefit. Sinners isn’t just my favorite of the year, but I have to actually see where it fits on my all-time favorite movie list.
5 out of 5 Adorable Pandas
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| I really need this to be a good movie |
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