In 2025, I watched over 170 films and reviewed many of them. There were several, however, that I did not review. Whether it was day job priorities, scheduling, life events, or simply not having the energy to do so, not every film I saw got a thorough review. However, the year offered numerous outstanding films that deserved more attention. Below are ten films I want to highlight that I didn’t have the opportunity to review….
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Kicking off my coverage of the best movies of 2025, I’m starting with my favorite first-time watches in 2025. From filling in a blind spot to discovering hidden gems to catching a movie I had never heard of, I had a lot of new cinematic experiences in 2025, and I wanted to highlight my favorites. This is an unranked list of my ten favorite first-time watches of 2025 and why I liked them so much….
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Bradley Cooper’s Is This Thing On? is a more fascinating movie in Cooper’s filmography than it is a good movie. That isn’t to say the film is bad; it’s actually quite good. But the scale of the film, its subject, and how it is filmed compared to Cooper’s first two films is more interesting to think about. Is This Thing On? is a midlife crisis dramedy. The film opens with Alex Novak (Will Arnett)…
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Howard Hughes’s 1930s war epic Hell’s Angels has been added to the Criterion Collection. A high-flying feat of adventure filmmaking and a testament to the audacious, spare-no-expense vision of Howard Hughes, this landmark aviation epic remains exhilarating both for its daredevil aerial sequences and its nervy pre-Code punch. With the onset of World War I, two British brothers recruited into the Royal Flying Corps (Ben Lyon and James Hall) find their bond tested by their…
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Marty Supreme follows Marty Mauser, played by Timothée Chalamet, in an undeniably great performance, a young man who thinks he is something that he is not. Set in 1950s New York, Marty Mauser has dreams of becoming a world-famous ping pong champion. The sport is still on the rise, and nobody takes his dream seriously. Marty will literally do anything to get to the top and see his face on the front of a…
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Before my screening of New Group, director Yûta Shimotsu introduced the film and heavily emphasized that the movie was “weird.” Coming from the director himself, I knew we were in for something unique, and New Group did not disappoint. It is a bizarre, hilarious, and at times terrifying film with a strong social message. New Group takes place at a prestigious high school in Japan. Ai (Actress) is a typical student who is easily…
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Due to director James Cameron’s obsession with creating new technology for underwater filmmaking, it took over a decade for him to make a sequel to his 2009 juggernaut, Avatar. Having that technology readily available, the time between the second Avatar film, Avatar: The Way of Water, and the third and newest Avatar film, Avatar: Fire and Ash, has been only three years. Avatar: The Way of Water was a perfect mix of sequel, reintroduction,…
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Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery is a testament to Rian Johnson and his skills as a writer and director. It’s another thrilling and expertly crafted mystery from Johnson that, despite being the third entry in a franchise that’s only been around for six years, feels fresh and new. It marks the return of our charismatic and quirky detective Benoit Blanc while also delving into a darker world and asking bigger questions….
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There is a sort of “boomer” naivety to Ella McCay. Writer/director James L. Brooks’s newest film, his first since 2010’s How Do You Know, has a whimsical and idealistic point of view that could only exist in the mind of an older, wealthy person whose cinematic prime was in the 80s. It feels like Brooks has no idea what is going on in the world or in American politics. He has no idea how…
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Jay Kelly is one of the strangest movies I have seen in 2025, as I am unsure what I am supposed to take from it. Noah Baumbach’s newest film is a glossy and expensive Hollywood tale about a movie star coming to terms with his life. The film is part obituary, part vanity piece, part Oscar-bait, and part Baumbach film, and I’m not sure what to do with any of it. George Clooney plays…
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