Top 10 of 2025

NOW we're talking! Here are the best films I saw last year!

10) Code 3 (2025)

Rainn Wilson is perfectly cast as a burned-out paramedic, who must try to make it through his last shift, while training a young, unjaded apprentice. It's funny and serious. Wacky and grim. Goofy and heartfelt. The film effortlessly strikes a perfect balance between these opposing styles and moods.

I love discovering little indie flicks like this. F**k off with your $400 million, 2500 CGI-shot movies. Give me this any day.

9) Long Distance aka Distant (2024)

For some reason this clearly expensive science fiction film has barely been released. Not sure why, it's better than most of the dreck that makes it to the theaters. Effectively a 2-hander, Anthony Ramos play Andy Ramirez, a mand who crashlands on an alien planet, and must try to make his way to another survivor before his air runs out.

Love the framework for this story. Two characters. One journey. A tight deadline. And alien monsters. What more can you ask for? Someone get this film released properly, so I can get a 4K disc version.

8) Vicious (2025)

Dakota Fanning, who has turned into a powerhouse of a little actress in the last couple of years, plays a lady who... receives a weird box. And then sh*t starts happening. Simple. Moody. And very, very grim. This is another one of those "the less you know the better" movies. But know this: it's awesome!

7) Stone Cold Fox (2025)

The adorable Kiernan Shipka plays a young woman who tries to escape the clutches of drug-dealing queenpin Goldie, played with gusto and sass by Krysten Ritter.

This little low-budget charmer connected with me in all the right ways. I love the 70s aesthetic - the digitally shot film manages to look like it was shot on grainy 70s film stock. I love the lead character, Fox. I love the music. I loved everything about this movie, except the fact that you haven't seen it. Why haven't you seen it? Why are you a bad person?

6) Until Dawn (2025) 

Horror movie Groundhog Day! Except, every day is a new kind of horror! Brilliant! I didn't know a thing about the computer game behind this film before I saw it, but that didn't matter. I loved the inventive, engaging story, the likeable characters (except THAT guy, I'm glad he died like that), and lead Ella Rubin was an extremely solid guide down this road of horrific horror. I've already rewatched this a couple of times. It holds up very well, which is more than can be said about most horror movies.

5) Jurassic World: Rebirth (2025)

An absolutely fantastic return to form for the beloved franchise. In no small part thanks to Scarlett Johansson's committed and convincing turn as the lead action hero. The most surprising aspect of this film is that it actually manages to bring back true awe to the franchise for the first time since the first film! The visual effects are way above par. The exciting three-pronged story works extremely well. And did I mention just how absolutely fantastic Scarlett Johansson is? I've seen this film three times already. And I'm gonna see it again. You can't stop me.

4) Weapons (2025)

One of the most unlikely sleeper hits of the year! The chilling mystery at the heart of this story is unraveled with the patience of a saint by director Zach Cregger. Meticulously, he puts all the pieces into place until the full horrific image is revealed to the viewer. And then he steps on the gas! The less you know about this, the better, so if you haven't caught this film yet, get on it. It's a rare treat indeed.

3) Predator: Badlands (2025)

In the midst of the enshitification of Hollywood blockbusters, it's an absolute delight to come across a film like this that actually works. A fun adventure story that takes a different approach to its story, compared to previous Predator films, but retains the jungle setting that worked so well in the original and in the underrated 2010 Predators.

Elle Fanning is the MVP of the show, with a delightfully enthusiastic performance as the broken android who must assist our unlikely Predator hero in his mission to get his trophy.

2) The Gorge (2025)

I know what you're thinking. Why would a film like The Gorge be my second favorite film of the year? It's just a dumb Apple streaming run-of-the-mill film, right? No, it is not. It's a love story. And it's super cool. And shut up!

I liked The Gorge the first time I saw it, but I ended up returning to the film several times during the course of the year. In fact, this is the film I saw the most times in 2025! I love the setting, the two leads are adorable, and once I got tuned in to the somewhat uneventful first half, I found myself enjoying the hell out of these quiet and melancholic parts of the film even more than the inevitable science fiction spectacle that follows. I guess I'm just a big old softy after all.

1) September 5 (2024)

Grim and focused. This film tells the story of the reporters responsible for covering the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich, who suddenly had to change gears and become an actual breaking news team when the Israeli athletes were attacked by terrorists.

I love stories about news teams and live reporting, and this film does a fantastic job of covering the event from the perspective of the reporters, who were frantically trying to figure out what the hell was going, and passing that information on to the viewers at home, amidst a barrage of technical and ethical challenges. Simply flawless filmmaking.

WRAP-UP

That's it! All done for 2025. Got any problems with this? Don't sound off in the comments below.

Now, let's get ready to 2026!

Bottom 10 of 2025

Well, I finally got my s*** together for a timely post on my best and worst film experiences from last year. We'll start with the worst.

10) Mickey 17 (2025)

I like Robert Pattinson. I want to like director Bong Joon Ho. Obviously, I'm a science fiction fan. But I just couldn't stand this film. Everything about it annoys me. The story. R-Paz's character. His f**king moronic narration. The girl. The bad guy. That Asian dude. The Hulk. The poster. The message. Toni Collette's disgusting smoothies. That's a giant f**king nope from me on this one.

9) Nosferatu (2024)

I guess you could say that Nosferatu isn't actually a bad film, but I found it excruciatingly dull. And also, haven't we seen enough versions of this exact story? Comparisons to Coppola's delightful Bram Stoker's Dracula are inevitable, and not many films can stand up them to that creative powerhouse of a film. Robert Eggers just doesn't make movies for me. I get why he might appeal to some people, but I spent the entire 132-minute running time of this film wishing I had put the Coppola version on instead.

8) The Alto Knights (2025)

A surprising case of inept filmmaking from the man who brought us several stone-cold classics, but seems to have lost the ability to make good movies. Barry Levinson used to make movies like Rain Man, Sleepers, and Good Morning, Vietnam. Now he creates scenes that look like they were made by a first-time director. And let's not even waste time trying to figure out why anybody on this film thought it was a good idea for Robert De Niro to play both leads. It makes absolutely no sense and adds nothing but confusion to the endeavor.

7) Cleaner (2025)

What a wet noodle of a Die Hard rip-off! Made by the man who rebooted The James Bond franchise not once, but TWICE, both times knocking it out of the park. There's no sign of that talent in this cheap-looking and dumb movie. Not even Daisy Ridley can save this for me. And that should tell you everything you need to know, Mr. Campbell.

6) Ice Road: Vengeance (2025)

The first Ice Road was bad, but it did at least look somewhat like a film. This does not. The effects are so terrible! And the cheap video look is even worse. The story actually isn't all that bad (though it could do with a bit of trimming), but visually this film is on the level of an in-house corporate instruction video, made by Stu from accounting, who shot his cousin's bar mitzvah, so he kinda knows which way the camera should point.

For the record, I'm completely on board with Liam Neeson getting with his almost 30-years-younger co.star - the adorable Fan Bingbing - but could he please do it in a better film? And also, guys, if you're making an Ice Road 3 (or Ic3 Road), you might want to consider including some f**cking ice roads to the story!

5) The Electric State (2025)

Anthony Russo and Joe Russo, the least talented filmmakers working in the $200 million-plus realm at the moment, thought they could make an interesting non-Marvel film. They apparently did not learn their lesson on the equally stupid The Gray Man.

Chris Pratt resembles a slightly less porny alternative to John Holmes. Millie Bobby Brown, despite playing a teenager, looks like a 40-year-old prostitute. Sorry! That was uncalled for. She just looks like she's actually the mother of the character she's supposed to be playing. And that there was a special offer on cheap makeup at Costco.

The story is sh*t. Those robots are just creepy as all hell. And the less said about the nonsensical world-building, the better. And this cost a reported $320 million! Netflix, you're out of your f**king mind.

4) In the Lost Lands (2025)

This is even MORE dull than the soulless Monster Hunter. I hope Paul W.S. Anderson is sending a fruit basket the size of a garage to Paul Thomas Anderson every month, because PTA's insistence on making progressively worse and worse films is the only reason I can still call W.S. "the good Paul Anderson", as I am wont to do. W.S. himself has done nothing to earn that moniker in the last 15 years. This guy COULD actually make movies once. Come back to us, Paul. Make a great movie again. You know, like Resident Evil.

3) A Minecraft Movie (2025)

What can be said about a film like this...? It makes the Battleship movie look sophisticated? I'd rather watch someone play a video game for 117 hours? I wish they had done a Minesweeper movie instead? How about this: it grossed almost a BILLION dollars!? What the f**k is wrong with you people!?

2) 28 Years Later (2025)

Danny Boyle is not a bad filmmaker, but he's prone to bad filmmaking decisions when it comes to this zombie franchise. The choice to shoot the first film, 28 Days Later, on laughably low-res video, because of the damn Dogma vibe that was in vogue at the time, is nothing short of heart-breaking. You'll never know how cruel the world can be, until you've seen a MiniDV-shot film on a 65-inch TV. To some extent that choice made sense at the time. The artistic choices here, however, are baffling.

Why shoot the film, on consumer-level iPhones? Why those incredibly awkward visual choices that just didn't work? Why those goofy cosplay characters (that apparently get more screen time in the next film)? Why the giant zombie schlong? And on top of all that, the story was underwhelming at best, and very rarely scary or dramatic enough.

1) One Battle After Another (2025)

Without a doubt THE most insufferable movie of the year. The grotesquely bloated 160-minute running time isn't even the worst part. Whatever message the film may have about the current state of the world, and America in particular, is suffocated by the cartoonish Leonardo DiCaprio performance, the film's obnoxious lack of tonal commitment, and Sean Penn's ridiculous villain, whose every second of screen time is more annoying than the last. Oh, and the core story is also just bad.

Kindly f**k off, Paul Thomas Anderson. And don't bother us again until you're ready to make something that's actually watchable and entertaining. And under two hours. You know, like Resident Evil.

WRAP-UP

We made it! That last one nearly did me in. Keep that in mind when it wins a gazillion Oscars. Or in three years when everybody wakes up from their collective hangover, and realize what a piece of sh*t it really is. Can't wait for that! But enough badness. Time for some goodness.... Next up, the top list.

2025: The Stats

We're back, with the stats! Time for the traditional counting of the movies and TV-shows I watched last year.

After a disappointing number of movies watched in 2024, I got a bit closer to a solid number this year. Watched a lot of 90's movies for the first time, and skipped a number of 2025's big movies, just because they looked like shit.

And with that, here are the stats....

THE STATS

Number of films watched in 2025:

259

Comparison:

2024 (234)
2023 (263) - 2022 (262) - 2021 (292) - 2020 (329)
2019 (263) - 2018 (290) - 2017 (263) - 2016 (288)
2015 (307) - 2014 (331) - 2013 (401) - 2012 (405)
2011 (343) - 2010 (338) - 2009 (302) - 2008 (361)

Breakdown:

Films watched for the first time: 110
Re-watched films: 149

Films in play for the top/bottom lists: 67

Quality distribution (of new films):

Good: 23
Okay: 22
Bad: 22

Format distribution:

4K: 37
Blu-ray: 134
DVD: 2
VOD: 83
Cinema: 0
Other: 3

Decade-of-release distribution:

1930's: 3 films
1940's: 2 films
1950's: 2 films
1960's: 4 films
1970's: 11 films
1980's: 26 films
1990's: 32 films
2000's: 37 films
2010's: 39 films
2020's: 103 films (2023: 6 / 2024: 21 / 2025: 63)

Most watched films:

The Gorge (4 times)
September 5 (3 times)

TV-SHOW STATS

Solid TV-stats this year as well. With a great variety of great shows. There were some bad shows this year too, but I was better at dumping them fast and moving on. Yeah, I'm looking at you Murderbot.

Number of TV-show episodes watched:

562

Number of different TV shows watched:

49

Complete seasons watched:

41

Best Shows of the Year:

Pluribus
The Day of the Jackal
Foundation
The Last of Us
Tracker

FINAL THOUGHTS

So much for the numbers. Time to figure out what was the best and worst movie experiences last year. I forgot to postmy top/bottom lists for 2024, I'll try get those done this year, and hopefully relatively soon!

Stay tuned.

The Best of 2024, The Worst of 2024

Confessions time. I got stuck, trying to write my top and bottom lists for 2024. I usually do those every year, but the vibe just wasn't there. I kept putting it off and now we're at the end of the year, and I'm out of time. So I'm doing something else this year. Instead of two ranked lists, I've made two alfabetical lists, inspired by the likes of AFI and National Board of Review, with the best and the worst new films I saw last year.

Without further ado'ing.... Here they are:

THE 10 BEST FILMS I SAW IN 2024

• Abigail (2024)
• Damsel (2024)
• Mars Express (2023)
• A Quiet Place: Day One (2024)
• Restore Point (2023)
• Saturday Night (2024)
• Thelma (2024)
• Trap (2024)
• Twisters (2024)
• The Watchers (2024)

THE 10 WORST FILMS I SAW IN 2024

• Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F (2024)
• Blackbird (2022)
• Borderlands (2024)
• Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire (2024)
• I.S.S. (2023)
• Lift (2024)
• Madame Web (2024)
• Rebel Moon - Part Two: The Scargiver (2024)
  with Rebel Moon: A Child of Fire - Part One (2023)
• Slingshot (2024)
• The Zone of Interest (2023)

2024: The Stats

We're back, with the stats!

Once again we take a look back at the media consumption of the previous year in pure numbers.

It was an appalling year on several fronts, but my final number of movies watched last year, was the lowest since I started the count in 2008! It wil be very easy to top that this year!

But enough talk, here are....

THE STATS

Number of films watched in 2024:

234

Comparison:

2023 (263) - 2022 (262) - 2021 (292) - 2020 (329)
2019 (263) - 2018 (290) - 2017 (263) - 2016 (288)
2015 (307) - 2014 (331) - 2013 (401) - 2012 (405)
2011 (343) - 2010 (338) - 2009 (302) - 2008 (361)

Breakdown:

Films watched for the first time: 125
Re-watched films: 109

Films in play for the top/bottom lists: 73

Quality distribution (of new films):

Good: 34
Okay: 22
Bad: 17

Format distribution:

4K: 21
Blu-ray: 127
DVD: 2
VOD: 82
Cinema: 2

Decade-of-release distribution:

1930's: 3 films
1940's: 1 film
1950's: 2 films
1960's: 3 films
1970's: 8 films
1980's: 32 films
1990's: 46 films
2000's: 15 films
2010's: 30 films
2020's: 94 films (2022: 10 / 2023: 23 / 2024: 55)

Most watched film:

Alien: Romulus (3 times)

TV-SHOW STATS

At least the TV stats are a bit more impressive. Last year I managed to finished my run through the complete Mission: Impossible (1966) series! I finished Unforgettable. And I finally got to some shows I've been meaning to check out for a while, such af Monk and Warehouse 13.

Number of TV-show episodes watched:

652

Number of different TV shows watched:

34

Complete seasons watched:

34

Best Shows of the Year:

Red Eye
The Tourist
Tracker
Silo

FINAL THOUGHTS

And so, with these practical details out of the way we can get on to making the top and bottom lists of the year. Stay tuned!

Top 10 of 2023

Overall 2023 was a disappointing year at the movies, but we did get a couple of handfuls of excellent movies along the way, so it wasn't hard to fill this top 10.

HONORABLE MENTIONS

First a few honorable mentions, worth checking out.

Polite Society (2023)
The Princess (2022)
Renfield (2023)
To Catch a Killer (2023)
Door Mouse (2022)

And now, the actual list....

THE LIST

10) A Lot of Nothing (2023)

I wrote a review of this film on this very blog. Read it here.

As a TL:DR, let me just add this: You should watch this film. It's doesn't look like much, but it is. It's a whole lot more than a lot of nothing.

9) Rosaline (2022)

Utterly charming, completely irresistible movie that takes Billy Shakes' Romeo & Juliet for a modern ride, by focusing on the unseen reason for the eponymous hero's romantic woes. Kaitlyn Dever (keep a close eye on this one) stars as "the other girl"- the one who didn't get Romeo. Smart, insightful, goofy, fun and cute. Don't be fortune's fool and sleep on this one.

8) No One Will Save You (2023)

Well, I'll be a monkey's uncle, another Kaitlyn Dever film finds its way to the top list! Didn't I just say you should keep an eye out for her? This film is as brilliant as it is simple. Most of the running time is spent with a girl alone in her house, as an alien invasion advances outside. Oh, and it's almost completely dialogue-free. Daring and highly entertaining.

7) Inbetween Girl (2021)

I completely fell in love with this film. The story about a girl who starts a clandestine affair with "the hot guy" at school, who's already got a girlfriend, while her family-life collapses around her. It's a quiet, unassuming film, but first time director Mei Makino gets everything right. And relative newcomer Emma Galbraith is heartbreaking in the lead. They DO still make brilliant teen movies, it's just a little harder to find them these days.

6) The Moon (2023)

The second manned Korean mission to the Moon threatens to end as disastrously as the first, when a single astronaut is stranded alone in space. What follows lies somewhere between the reality of Gravity and the sheer preposterousness of Armageddon. A dedicated action/science fiction film that isn't afraid to turn the volume way up on the emotional elements too.

5) The Banshees of Inisherin (2022)

The In Bruges team is back! Director Martin McDonagh and actors (and obvious friends) Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson return with an even more grim story, this time detailing the end of a friendship between two men on a quiet island off the coast of Ireland.It would be hilarious, if it didn't cut so deep. This is not an easy film to enjoy. That doesn't mean it shouldn't be seen, though.

4) Limbo (2021)

Two cops must find a serial killer who leaves severed hands in the gutters of a trash-covered Hong Kong slum neighborhood. The stark black and white images look like something out of Frank Miller's Sin City, the core story is reminiscent of the brilliant Se7en, and yet Limbo finds its own vibe with this devastatingly cruel tale that takes place on the dark side of humanity, where light and hope is almost completely absent. Almost.

3) Knock at the Cabin (2023)

Holy shit, perpetually overrated M. Night Shyamalan actually made a brilliant film! After his breakthrough with the over-hyped The Sixth Sense, Shyamalan has struggled to deliver anything remotely as good as everyone claimed that film was. He finally did it with Knock at the Cabin. The film works with a simple concept, but manages to be both thrilling, dramatic, outrageous, sad and deeply disturbing. All the players are good, but Dave Bautista and 10-year old Kristen Cui are the MVPs.

2) Women Talking (2022)

27 years ago my friend said "That Sarah Polley is gonna win an Oscar one day", Neither of us expected that it was going to be for writing! Of course the film is talkative, the title gives that part away, but Polley manages to bring some impressive directorial flourishes to the project that removes any feelings of staginess. She should have been nominated for directing as well.

Women Talking is a fiercely appropriate attack on the patriarchy, by way of a unique situation, abused women in a religious cult, but the themes and message remain universally relevant. This really is the kind of film everyone should watch.

1) The Menu (2022)

One of those "the less you know going in, the better" movies. This is a wild, sublimely unhinged film, layered with social commentary and biting satire, in turns both sad, funny and scary. And it loses nothing on repeated viewings. It's rare these days to be as presently surprised and impressed with a film as I was with this.

WRAP UP

Well, what d'ya know, we made it through another year at the movies! Now 2024, it's time to show what you got!