Eric's 2025 Movie List

I'm sad to say there are no must-sees this year. Train Dreams is about as close as it comes for me (and bonus points for being a compelling picture that you can watch with your kids), but it's not the kind of movie you have to drop everything for and see RIGHT. THIS. MINUTE. There are a LOT of really good films though, and in fact I would say my top fifteen or so meet that standard. The next ten or fifteen are very enjoyable and I recommend them, but as far as my finding that singular "can't miss" movie this year, I came up empty-handed. Marty Supreme is a typical fun and wild Safdie brothers ride, but the ending came up a little short to make my number one slot. Hell, I thought I could have written a better ending...and that's saying something because I obviously can't write for shit. The Springsteen film came out of nowhere and wowed me. You don't even have to be a huge fan of The Boss to engage with this captivating tale of the inspiration and production behind the Nebraska and Born in the U.S.A. albums. After a disappointing Asteroid City, I thought The Phoenician Scheme was a nice return to form for Wes Anderson, though it seems a lot of folks would not agree. Sinners...don't watch the trailer or read anything about it if you haven't already. Just watch it. The same goes for #9-#13 on my list. Go in blind if you can. Hamnet isn't for everyone, but I surprisingly found the examination of Shakespeare's home life quite fascinating and brilliantly acted to boot. I'm sure several people will take issue with my criticism of Eddington. I found it to be heavy-handed, over-the-top, and much too on-the-nose for my tastes. These are the same problems I had with another darling from a few years ago: Don't Look Up, which in my book is the ultimate "dumb person's idea of a smart movie". The ridiculous writing and portrayal of these characters in the politically divided town of Eddington, New Mexico, took me out of the movie right away and likely led to my reluctance to see One Battle After Another, which seemed to be just another version of the same movie, but set in a different reality.


1 Train Dreams
2 Marty Supreme
3 Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere
4 Frankenstein
5 The Phoenician Scheme
6 Sinners
7 John Candy: I Like Me
8 Hamnet
9 Song Sung Blue
10 Weapons
11 Americana
12 Companion
13 Sentimental Value
14 When We Went MAD!
15 Blue Moon
16 The Mastermind
17 The Secret Agent
18 Elway
19 The Alabama Solution
20 Friendship
21 Black Bag
22 Honey Don't
23 Bugonia
24 My Father, the BTK Killer
25 Queen of the Ring
26 The Naked Gun
27 Roofman
28 It Was Just an Accident
29 Becoming Led Zeppelin
30 Stiller & Meara: Nothing is Lost
31 Breakdown: 1975
32 Aileen: Queen of the Serial Killers
33 Novocaine
34 ABBA: Against All Odds
35 The Luckiest Man in America
36 Unknown Number: The High School Catfish
37 The New Yorker at 100
38 The Alto Knights
39 Nonnas
40 Mr. Polaroid
41 Chaos: The Manson Murders
42 Bring Her Back
43 Death of a Unicorn
44 Anemone
45 Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery
46 The Stringer: The Man Who Took the Photo
47 The Baltimorons
48 Surviving Ohio State
49 Being Eddie
50 The Long Walk
51 The Idaho Student Murders
52 Final Destination Bloodlines
53 The Woman in Cabin 10
54 Shelby Oaks
55 Nobody 2
56 Murder in Monaco
57 Grenfell: Uncovered
58 Drop
59 Black Phone 2
60 The Ballad of Wallis Island
61 Hedda
62 Titan: The OceanGate Submersible Disaster
63 The Twister: Caught in the Storm
64 The Perfect Neighbor
65 The Carman Family Deaths
66 Spinal Tap II: The End Continues
67 If I Had Legs I’d Kick You
68 A Deadly American Marriage
69 Sorry, Baby
70 Jay Kelly
71 Eddington