I watched 225 movies in 2025. Here's my rating and two* sentences on each with my thoughts (Part 2: A-P)
I watch a lot of movies, I don’t necessarily have a yearly goal however I like keeping a record, so here is what I watched with some thoughts
- My rating scale is .5-5, and my review philosophy is “how well does the movie succeed at what it is trying to do?”
- Thus Pacific Rim would be rated highly, whereas Transformers would not. Obviously Lawrence of Arabia is better than Batman Ninja vs Yakuza League despite both getting 5 stars here
- Asterisks after a title indicate how many rewatches I had this year
- I’ll limit myself to two sentences on each movie, possibly 3 for the top 5. Mostly for brevity because apparently some of you will read this
- This list is everything from prior to 2025, my process made it so that articles (A, The) in titles are included and frankly I can't be bothered to fix it, expect a LOT of "The" movies tomorrow
After I post all of these I’ll add some wrap-up thoughts
| Name | Year | Rating | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| 300 | 2006 | 3 | It's a bunch of really hot dudes glistening in the sun. Do you think they use the same baby oil guy as Diddy? |
| (500) Days of Summer | 2009 | 4 | I missed this somehow when it came out and was skeptical when it said it wasn't a love story. I think I took a full half star off for the pun at the end |
| 28 Days Later | 2002 | 3.5 | I get what they're trying to do. I just don't think it's as poignant as they do |
| 28 Weeks Later | 2007 | 3 | The weakest of the 3, though it gets a few points for basically predicting Brexit |
| 7 Days in Hell | 2015 | 4 | I really like The Lonely Island movies and I think when they realized they don't need to be feature length the movies improved a lot. Plus sports people are way funnier than you'd expect |
| A Fistful of Dollars | 1964 | 3.5 | A great western, and a classic for a reason. I have a problem with the bad guys who are willing to murder innocents for profit but won't kill Clint because he's the main character, even after he kills their buddies |
| Aliens | 1986 | 4.5 | It's a total genre shift from Alien but Jim is a miracle man. I know the Alien$ story is probably BS but it feels real after seeing this |
| Army of Darkness | 1993 | 4 | How we went from the classic Cabin in the Woods horror to medieval monster fighting is nonsense, but very fun to watch. This furthers my thesis that horror and comedy have similar DNA |
| Auto Focus | 2002 | 3 | I never knew about Bob Crane and had heard about this movie. Honestly I was surprised he was just a pervert and not a criminal |
| Avatar: The Way of Water | 2022 | 3.5 | This film is just stunningly beautiful, and that's all that matters. However if you make something this beautiful, you need to work on the variable frame rate, it was actually nauseating at times in IMAX |
| Back to the Future* | 1985 | 5 | I hold this to be one of the single best screenplays ever written. Every single detail in this movie has built in payoff later in the movie, there's not a second wasted |
| Back to the Future Part II | 1989 | 4 | Not quite as good but continues the excellent writing to set up plot details in this movie and the next. Also making Biff into Trump is almost prophetic in hindsight |
| Backdraft | 1991 | 2.5 | For the fact that this is a star studded movie about firefighters, it's not that sexy. Also there's a reason we never hear from this Baldwin brother, he's bad at acting |
| Barbie | 2023 | 4 | Strangely enough I compare this movie to the anime Solo Leveling. Nothing in it feels particularly novel, but everything in it is done extremely well |
| Better Man | 2024 | 3 | I didn't know much about Robbie Williams and was told this would make me cry over him. I didn't cry but it was an engaging "biopic" |
| Blades of Glory | 2007 | 2 | This one is just a little too rooted in its time. Maybe there's a reason Jon Heder didn't do much else besides Dynamite |
| Brokeback Mountain | 2005 | 4.5 | Just a heartbreakingly beautiful tragedy. It's one of those movies where everyone keeps making their life worse but you don't fault them for it |
| Bubba Ho-tep | 2002 | 2 | On paper this sounds so much better than it is. It has a common problem I find with B-movies which is too many plots in the same movie |
| Chronicle | 2012 | 3 | Pretty good for the "found footage" genre which never really got back to Blair Witch levels. Young Dane DeHann and Michael B Jordan do have good performances |
| City Hunter | 2024 | 4 | Shockingly kind of the same plot as season 1 of My Hero Academia Vigilantes. Lots of style and flair |
| Conclave | 2024 | 3.5 | Pope drama? Don't forget the stellar wardrobe |
| "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" | 2000 | 4.5 | Hot take: if this was in English this would be more people's bisexual awakening than The Mummy. Great wire work, kung-fu, and story telling |
| Death Becomes Her | 1992 | 4 | At first I was trying to understand why they were fighting so hard for Bruce Willis, then I realized this movie is bonkers. This walks so The Substance can run (spoiler for tomorrow) |
| Death Race | 2008 | 3 | Basically a video game movie. It's pretty mindless action but fun to watch |
| Die Hard | 1988 | 4 | Is it a Christmas movie? I say yes |
| Dragon Ball Super: Broly | 2018 | 4 | Riding high on the Tournament of Power we bring back a fan favorite. I'm curious if they'll ever resolve this and Kale in the main series |
| Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero | 2022 | 3 | I'm super on board with giving Gohan and Piccolo a movie and a new transformation. Otherwise pretty standard |
| E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial | 1982 | 3 | I understand that they laid the foundation throughout the movie for "love saves everyone in the end". That still doesn't make it less cliché |
| Elevation | 2024 | 2.5 | What if A Quiet Place, but for tall? I didn't think we were scraping the bottom of the barrel this quickly, what happened to A Quiet Place but for Smell? |
| Emilia Pérez | 2024 | 0.5 | This offended me on a deeply personal level as a latina woman. And I'm a white man |
| Event Horizon | 1997 | 4.5 | One of the smartest horror protagonists of all time. Also one of the few movies to understand what cosmic horror really means |
| Falling Down | 1993 | 2.5 | I expected this to be about a guy having a shitty day and then snapping. A dude just going on rampage of his own making is way less fun in 2025 than I assume it was in 93 |
| Fargo | 1996 | 3.5 | Not the strongest Coen brothers movie. The mystery is good and the jokes are funny |
| Ferris Bueller's Day Off | 1986 | 4.5 | Lots of wit and charm from all the main characters and you understand Ferris' magnetic appeal. I don't fully buy the "Ferris is in Cameron's mind" internet theory but it has legs |
| Final Destination | 2000 | 2.5 | The OG Rube Goldberg of murder. Very rooted in its time |
| Final Destination 2 | 2003 | 3 | Who else refuses to drive near logging trucks because of this one? Less set-up helps this one |
| Final Destination 3 | 2006 | 2.5 | If I'm being entirely honest I don't remember much about this one. Except the sunbed cooking death (that I definitely rewound the blockbuster tape on a lot as a youth) |
| Final Destination 5 | 2011 | 4 | Establishing that you can "steal" from death by killing someone else is a neat twist that gives the series a more concrete villain. Personally my favorite and I'd recommend 1,5, and 6 as the watchable ones |
| Flow | 2024 | 4.5 | Incredible work out of Latvia. Done entirely in Blender and without a line of dialogue and still more moving than most of its cohort |
| For a Few Dollars More | 1965 | 4 | This was really good as my first in the trilogy. I appreciate the runtime |
| Forgetting Sarah Marshall | 2008 | 4 | One of the better break up movies out there. Also nice hog Jason Segal |
| From Dusk Till Dawn | 1996 | 4 | I want to hear the conversation where Quentin Tarantino convinced Salma Hayek to pour booze down her leg into his mouth. It's insane how quickly this movie shifts genres but the line is so clear I don't really mind it |
| From Russia with Love | 1963 | 4 | There's a lot of classic Bond stuff that gets established in this and it all works very well. I have a pet theory that everyone's favorite Bond and Ghibli is the first one they saw, and anecdotally it holds up |
| Godzilla | 2014 | 3 | Passable godzilla. It does set up the Monsterverse which I do think at least competes with its block buster contemporaries (Fast, Mission Impossible, Planet of the Apes, etc.) |
| Godzilla vs. Kong | 2021 | 3.5 | These franchise movies are a little goofy when you know they don't have the balls to kill either of the leads. Still, monkey vs lizard is fun |
| Godzilla: King of the Monsters | 2019 | 3.5 | Look at all these Kaiju! I bet I would have liked this WAY MORE in theaters |
| Goldfinger | 1964 | 4 | What an absolute classic of a theme song. This is some peak supervillain shit too, "we're going to steal all the gold in Ft Knox" |
| Gran Turismo | 2023 | 4 | Racing is oddly compelling to me on the big screen for how dull I find it in real life. The gamer to athlete story is also cool and the actual guy did the stunts for the movie |
| Hackers | 1995 | 4 | I know people shit on this for being unrealistic but it all but stares down the barrel of the camera and says "deal with it". The music rips, the cast all make wild choices, and it all comes together in one batshit story |
| How to Train Your Dragon | 2010 | 3 | It's a pretty good kids movie. I'm not the target audience but I have no major gripes |
| I Know What You Did Last Summer | 1997 | 1.5 | The plot gets way too complicated way too fast for a pretty generic horror movie. If it wasn't one of the sexiest casts in horror I might not have gotten through it |
| "I, Tonya" | 2017 | 3 | I think this over glamourizes some aspects, but it is an olympic ice skating movie. It turns out you can place an entire movie on Margot Robbie's back |
| Iron Man | 2008 | 3.5 | I wanted to see how old marvel holds up, and it's nice that is less full of the "OMG, I recognize that thing from the place". It's still lands too much on the libertarian "good guy with a gun" motif that I can't stand |
| Jaws | 1975 | 4 | Somehow my first time ever seeing this. I did have a hard time taking the U.S.S. Indianapolis speech seriously because of the WKUK |
| John Wick | 2014 | 4.5 | Keanu out fucking nowhere with this absolute banger of a movie. The club scene is still one of the top action scenes of all time a decade later |
| John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum | 2019 | 3.5 | This one gets a little too bogged down in the high table stuff and gets a little too goofy. The stakes also don't really make any sense in light of what happens immediately in the 4th |
| Jurassic Park | 1993 | 4.5 | Proof that good artistry is far more important than technology. This still looks incredible today |
| Justice League: Doom | 2012 | 4 | The DC animated movies are significantly better than the MCU. Fight me |
| K-PAX | 2001 | 3 | I read the book first and this is a good adaptation. An interesting little sci-fi mystery |
| Kick-Ass | 2010 | 3.5 | What if super heroes but vaguely grounded in reality? Oh, we give that up immediately, odd choice |
| Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair | 2006 | 5 | The superior way to watch these movies. It's a much more cohesive experience |
| Kong: Skull Island | 2017 | 3 | Look, Kong is not the strength of this franchise, it's Godzilla. It's still fine for a monster movie |
| Late Night with the Devil | 2023 | 5 | I saw this in theater in 2023 and remember shouting at the screen during the ending with everyone else. It still rocks on a rewatch. |
| Lawrence of Arabia | 1962 | 5 | 3 hours and 48 minutes and the only thing I'd cut the is black screen orchestral opening. This is an undisputed classic for a reason and it's shocking Alec Guinness gets away with his role but fuck does he nail it |
| Life of Brian | 1979 | 3.5 | Parodying the messiah is bold, but they pull it off. Fun fact, Always Look on the Bright Side of Life is the most requested song at British funerals |
| Looper | 2012 | 3.5 | I view time travel movies on a spectrum from Looper to Primer in terms of how much sense time travel makes. I have a lot of respect for a movie that stares at you and says "stopping thinking to hard about it nerd" |
| M3GAN | 2022 | 3.5 | I found this to be surprisingly funny. There's one joke at the end of the commercial they play for M3GAN that just absolutely kills me |
| Marcel the Shell with Shoes On | 2021 | 4 | I love this little shell so goddamn much. He's so earnest and hard working that you just can't help but be on his side |
| Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World | 2003 | 3 | This is a peak dad movie. Just great ship drama with a stellar soundtrack, if only I was a dad |
| Miami Connection | 1987 | 1.5 | Wow, these guys do not know how to make a movie. There's a lot of heart and some good music videos but that's about it |
| Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning | 2023 | 3.5 | Huh, you dropped the "Part 1" interesting. It suffers from being a lead-in to another movie but still is better than most action |
| Molly's Game | 2017 | 3.5 | Sorkin writes really engaging stories. Unfortunately it makes it hard to believe anything but the core of the story is actually true (though rumor has it Player X was Tobey Maguire) |
| Monty Python and the Holy Grail | 1975 | 3.5 | First shalt thou watch the movie. Then shalt thou rate it 3.5, no more, no less |
| My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom! The Movie | 2023 | 2 | Look, you can just say your movie isn't canon to the story, you don't have to handwave it with some bullshit. Also it's not as good as the decent show |
| Ocean's Eleven* | 2001 | 4 | This is an incredible heist movie with 2 obvious flaws. The weird side plot to steal an EMP from a school, and whatever the fuck Don Cheadle is doing |
| One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest | 1975 | 4 | There's a lot of great acting in this by a lot of people early in their careers. I'm not sure we need indictments of the US medical system but in '75 we probably did |
| Paddington* | 2014 | 4.5 | Since I saw the first 2 of these the franchise has become comfort films for my household. That little bear might be one of the most lovable creatures to ever grace the big screen |
| Paddington 2** | 2017 | 5 | This may be the greatest children's movie of all time. I cried the first time I watched it and honestly depending on the day I still come close. When I lose my grandma I'll probably watch this and bawl my eyes out |
| Parasite | 2019 | 5 | Man, capitalism sucks doesn't it? |
| Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl | 2003 | 3.5 | I saw this with an orchestra backing it which was a very cool way to see it. If you ever think you want to watch the others, just watch this and then the wheel fight on youtube and you'll have a better time |
| Pitch Black | 2000 | 3 | Did you know this was the first Riddick movie? It's pretty clear the actors in this hadn't worked with much CGI (if any) and it suffers a little for it, but is a pretty interesting sci-fi |
| Police Story | 1985 | 4 | This is some A+ Hong Kong kung-fu. There's some hiccups in the story, but really that's not what you're there for |
| Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping | 2016 | 3.5 | There's some all time bangers like Bin Laden and Equal Rights in here. As I previously mentioned, these got better when they didn't try to make them feature length |
| Predator | 1987 | 4 | This movie will make you a goddammed sexual tyrannosaurus. It's really effective making these elite macho commandos into the prey to really sell how strong the Predator is |
| Predators | 2010 | 1 | This shit was wack as hell. It does the stupid marvel thing where it can't take anything seriously or treat it with reverence and on top of all of that is wildly offensive to the autistic community |
| Prey | 2022 | 4.5 | It's a little unfair for me to like this more than Predator because it is so clearly a love letter to it. However it just gets better and better on rewatches as you see Naru internalize and grows from every mistake she makes |
| Princess Mononoke | 1997 | 4.5 | Some of the most beautiful animation ever that I had the pleasure of seeing in IMAX. The themes remain persistently timely and it works in English and Japanese |
| Pulp Fiction | 1994 | 5 | I already said I'm a white man, of course this is one of my favorite movies. The artistry of how all these seemingly disparate stories weave together is so incredible. The acting, music, direction, really everything is just unbelievably good |
You got to see Princess Mononoke in IMAX? I'm so damn jealous, I've always wanted to see a Ghibli movie in theaters but never got the chance.
Judging from your instance you're Canadian but American Regals and AMCs seem to be celebrating "Ghiblifest" more often than they aren't in the past few years with showings on regular screens. This one happened to be an unrelated anniversary screening though
Hackers is campy and unrealiatic, but i love.it for the fact that it brought the nerds and geeks out of the basement, gave them a social live and their own culture.
Fucking Saved! You have a way with words.
Thinking about Gimping some of these onto movie posters.
::: spoiler Fun Fact GIMP was released 1 year after Pulp Fiction, which likely explains the name.
:::
Letterboxd. You can export lists as CSVs from it. My biggest gripe is a movie can't be on a list multiple times
This is great. I agree with you on so many of these. Also, Falling Down was not any better in 1993.
Good to know, I figured there was a possibility opinions on movies like that may have been different pre/post Columbine
I think it's fine to rate some influential movies lower. I wouldn't call them cliché if they basically invented the tropes, but it's OK to say they didn't age that well.
I wish you sorted the table by rating instead of alphabetical order.
I'll probably post the whole sheet on Monday for people to play with since it seems like there's some interest
::: spoiler spoiler BttF is remarkable to me because it's one of the first(?) Time travel movies made but it feels like something you'd make nowadays as a love-letter to the entire genre, a bow tied on a christmas present.
I ask myself "where did he get all those good ideas from? What movies inspired him?" But the answer is that it's all original - one of the most satisfying and layered time travel stories out there :::
::: spoiler spoiler I thought Looper actually had very sensible time travel rules, and the nose scene, as absolutely HORRIFYING as it was (please don't look it up) perfectly communicates the rules of the time travel.
On a tangent, I really like how liminal the movie is; their workday is spent sitting and standing around on a highway by themselves waiting for the occasional drop. The loopers live like they're in a world between life and death and can be killed off any day (true) but as soon as we see MC's future self escaping, we almost know his younger self is guaranteed a few decades more. Everything in this movie seems to be done to capture the fragility of life, ready to be snuffed out. :::
::: spoiler spoiler Don't know how old I was when I watched this, I was 6 when it came out, but to me it's a perfect kids movie for ages 8-11. You might not know but it also lead to an entire cinematic univerae of spin-offs, with maybe 2 or 3 seperate TV series with multiple seasons and 3 movies. The movies kind of expect you to have watched these seasons and even I as a kid got bored of them.
I can't remember why but the 3rd movie is incredible, pure kino, and I'm going to rewatch it soon. The 2nd movie i remember as being bad and frustrating but the plot between Hiccup's mom and dad is highly praised. :::
::: spoiler spoiler To me that theory defeats the entire point of the film - Cameron gains confidence from his friends to stand up to his dad. :::
For BttF the ones that stick out to me are Superman, The Time Machine, Planet of the Apes, and Le Jetee. The last I haven't seen but know as the inspiration for 12 Monkeys. The others don't really deal with time travel in the way BttF does, so it does feel very visionary
Looper: like the other guy said, the whole memory merging, losing limbs, and the whole ending of the movie don't really make sense upon close inspection. If the crime syndicate doesn't exist in the future, how do the Loopers exist to incite the movie? Or more specifically the chain of events Joe sets in place
HttYD: Yeah, my fiance and her friend are in on the universe and it skipped me by. That's how I saw both movies. They're fine
Bueller: agreed, which is why I don't fully buy it
About Looper:
::: spoiler Tap for spoiler In the amputation scene, one guy is literally cut to pieces in the past, and you see him fall apart in real time in the future. How does that make any sense? If his legs were cut off years ago, how did he even make it to that scene?
This goes for the scarring/tattoos as well, at that point they have had those scars/tattoos for years, surely they would know what they say already.
It doesn't make any sense. :::
Okay fair points, I haven't watched it in a while
It is very cool and horrifying though, absolutely agree.
I love that you’re kinda implying that the Substance is a spiritual successor to Death Becomes Her.
Was I? I thought I made that clear, I'm pretty sure The Substance would not exist if Death Becomes Her was not a film
It’s only interesting to me because I never heard Fargeat mention it despite mentioning other movies as inspiration.