2025 at the Movies

Every holiday season, it is important that we all keep in mind the things that are truly important. Like cataloging the movies we've seen as if it was some kind of contest.

The usual disclaimer: My lists are not necessarily in order of best to worst. Movies that have the same number of stars can probably be reordered depending on how I feel and what kind of day it is. But a four star movie is unambiguously better than a two star movie. If you disagree with me, let me know. There is no shame in being wrong!

2025 movies

This was a very good year for seeing movies in theaters. This year, I saw 23 new releases, and three old films in theaters. 

Most of my top movies this year are on lots of people's lists of acclaimed movies. But I think one of the top movies this year was overlooked by many: Novocaine was very funny, and extremely well made. Go see it. 

The biggest disappointment of the year was Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning. It is not necessarily a bad film. But the huge drop off in quality from the previous five Mission Impossible films was almost shocking. 

Luckily, most of the new movies that I saw this year were able to deliver on their premises. And some were actually great. 
★★★★ Sinners
★★★★ Wake Up Dead Man
★★★★ Novocaine
★★★★ Nosferatu (2024)
★★★★ Marty Supreme
★★★★ F1
★★★½ Superman (2025)
★★★½ Last Breath
★★★½ Wolfs [on TV] 
★★★½ Zootopia 2
★★★½ The Phoenician Scheme
★★★½ Thunderbolts*
★★★½ Death of a Unicorn
★★★☆ The Fantastic Four: First Steps
★★★☆ The Running Man (2025)
★★★☆ Predator: Badlands
★★★☆ Jurassic World Rebirth
★★★☆ The Naked Gun (2025)
★★★☆ The Comeback Trail [on TV]
★★★☆ Captain America: Brave New World
★★½☆ Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning
★★½☆ Cleaner
★★½☆ The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie
★☆☆☆ Flight Risk
★☆☆☆ The Legacy of Schwarzkopf [on TV]
★☆☆☆ The Brutalist (2024)

Older Movies

This year, I watched a number of Jackie Chan films, since I had heard that the first two Police Story films were amazing. They were both pretty great! But the movie that impressed me most was Miracles. It is a delightful fish out of water crime comedy with great action scenes and a fantastic script. 

★★★★ His Girl Friday (1940)
★★★★ Back to the Future Part II (1989)
★★★★ Sunset Boulevard (1950) [in theater]
★★★★ Jaws (1975) [in theater]
★★★★ Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988)
★★★★ Miracles (1989)
★★★★ The Muppet Movie (1979)
★★★★ Road to Perdition (2002)
★★★★ Airplane! (1980)
★★★★ Carrie (1976)
★★★★ Mary Poppins (1964)
★★★½ Police Story (1985)
★★★½ Extra Ordinary. (2019)
★★★½ The Wages of Fear (1953)
★★★½ My Favorite Wife (1940)
★★★½ Foreign Correspondent (1940)
★★★½ The Adventures of Bullwhip Griffin (1967)
★★★½ The Walk (2015)
★★★½ Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009)
★★★½ Muppets Treasure Island (1996)
★★★½ When Ladies Meet (1941)
★★★½ Police Story 2 (1988)
★★★½ Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989) [in theater]
★★★½ Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar (2021)
★★★½ An American Werewolf in London (1981)
★★★½ Trading Places (1983)
★★★½ The Founder (2017)
★★★½ The Fog (1980)
★★★½ Vengeance (2022)
★★★☆ Back to the Future Part III (1990)
★★★☆ The Mad Miss Manton (1938)
★★★☆ Stagecoach (1939)
★★★☆ Lady Be Good (1941)
★★★☆ Twentieth Century (1934)
★★★☆ My Dinner with Andre (1981)
★★★☆ Sherlock Jr. (1924)
★★★☆ Saturday Night (2024)
★★★☆ Smart Money (1931)
★★★☆ The Man Who Knew Too Little (1997)
★★★☆ Juror No. 2 (2024)
★★★☆ Naked Gun 33 1⁄3: The Final Insult (1994)
★★★☆ Young Frankenstein (1974)
★★★☆ Drive-Away Dolls (2024)
★★★☆ The Pentagon Wars (1998)
★★★☆ The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2 (2012)
★★★☆ See How They Run (2022)
★★★☆ Ginger Snaps (2000)
★★★☆ Lady Killer (1933)
★★★☆ The Naked Gun 2½: The Smell of Fear (1991)
★★★☆ Field of Dreams (1989)
★★½☆ Starship Troopers (1997)
★★½☆ King Solomon's Mines (1950)
★★☆☆ Sleepaway Camp (1983)
★★☆☆ Volunteers (1985)
★★☆☆ Friday the 13th Part 2 (1981)
★★☆☆ The Nitwits (1935)
★★☆☆ Dragon Seed (1944)
★★☆☆ The Suicide Squad (2021)
★½☆☆ Cool as Ice (1991)
★½☆☆ The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1 (2011)
★½☆☆ Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge (2018?)
★☆☆☆ Friday the 13th (1980)
★☆☆☆ Chopping Mall (1986)
★☆☆☆ Popcorn (1991) 

In Memoriam of the Theater from My Youth

This year has also been somewhat tough. The theater I frequented in high school closed for good this August.

In 2021, I discovered that it had maintained excellent presentation quality through covid when many other theaters cut maintenance budgets. So, whenever I went to see a movie in my home town, this theater was my first choice.

The theater originally opened the same day as Spider-Man (2002), and I am pretty sure I was there that weekend.

On the summer a close family member passed away, I went to see Ratatouille and Hot Fuzz five times each at this theater. It is where I took my wife on many of our early dates. And it is where my friend who worked there made me see Transformers (2007). So, I guess some of the memories there weren't as important. But Transformers wasn't the theater's fault!

In 2025, it closed the Monday after The Naked Gun opened. So, I was there to see it off. It will be missed. 

Closing Thoughts

Overall, 2025 was a pretty good year for me to see movies. But with 91 total for the year, it was a step down from last year's 102. Hopefully, in 2026 I will be able to prioritize the important things in life over things like family, work, and friendship.

2024 At the Movies

Every year, I vow to write at least one blog post. This is my annual review of the movies I saw over the past year. If this makes it out of my drafts folder, mission accomplished!

The oldest movie I saw in 2024 was made over 107 years ago. And a huge proportion of the older movies I watched this year were excellent or very good. So, even though I think the new releases this year were a bit on the weak side, the tremendous back catalog of movies made it very easy to watch lots of great things.

The usual disclaimer: My lists are not necessarily in order of best to worst. Movies that have the same number of stars can probably be reordered depending on how I feel and what kind of day it is. But a four star movie is unambiguously better than a two star movie. If you disagree with me, let me know. There is no shame in being wrong!

2024 movies

 

Over the past year, I watched 14 movies in the theater. 12 of these were new releases, and two were re-releases (I watched Rear Window (1954) at the 70th anniversary Fathom Event, and I saw Noelle (2019) in a movie theater on a cruise ship). In 2023, I saw 20 movies in theaters, so this year was a significant reduction. I think most of that had to do with the reduction in output caused by the two major strikes, because there were a few times I wanted to go to the movies and nothing appealing was playing.

 

Everyone knows that The Holdovers, Dune: Part Two, and Wicked: Part I were good. But I want to suggest that The Fall Guy was much better than its reputation.

 

 

Also apparently I was one of six people who paid money to see Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 1 in theaters. This movie was deeply flawed, but not nearly as terrible as its reputation suggests. It was an hour too long, and it felt like it was all setup. But with the exception of some painfully bad Native American phonetic pronunciation line readings, everything in the movie was good, or at least interesting. I actually was excited to see the now cancelled sequels. 

 

★★★★ Dune: Part Two

★★★½ The Wild Robot 

★★★½ The Holdovers (2023) [on TV]

★★★½ Wicked: Part I

★★★½ The Fall Guy 

★★★☆ Deadpool & Wolverine

★★★☆ Beetlejuice Beetlejuice [on TV]

★★★☆ Conclave

★★★☆ Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes

★★★☆ Dear Santa [on TV]

★★★☆ Anyone but You (2023)

★★★☆ Trap [on TV]

★★★☆ Lisa Frankenstein [on TV]

★★★☆ Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga

★★½☆ Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 1 

★★☆☆ Moana 2

★★☆☆ Fly Me to the Moon 

★½☆☆ Argylle [on TV]

Older movies

I intended to watch some more Billy Wilder films this year, but for whatever reason, I didn't see any. But I did see a bunch of other great movies. One of the movies I saw this year for the first time is a relatively lesser-known Danny DeVito comedy called Other People's Money, a rare film about business that is both funny and gets the economics right. The basic plot is that Larry The Liquidator (DeVito) is a corporate raider who is attempting the hostile takeover of a publicly traded "mom and pop" manufacturing company so it can be stripped of its assets, which are worth more than the company. This film, directed by the great Norman Jewison (Fiddler on the Roof (1971), Moonstruck (1987)), allows the people who run the company to make heartfelt speeches to the shareholders (and the audience) about why this shouldn't happen. But the magic tricks this movie pulls off is that it then allows Larry the Liquidator to makes his case that he is a good guy, and what he is doing is right. A lesser movie would pretend that the little guy is always right, and this movie knows the audience is predisposed to feel that way. But by letting both parties make their case, one can't help but see the topic differently. It is really good!

 

★★★★ Back to the Future (1985)

★★★★ Rear Window (1954) [in Theater]

★★★★ Jaws (1975)

★★★★ Other People's Money (1991)

★★★★ Bottoms (2023)

★★★★ Wayne's World (1992)

★★★★ Die Hard (1988)

★★★★ Aliens (1986)

★★★★ Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003)

★★★★ White Men Can't Jump (1992)

★★★★ Raising Arizona (1987)

★★★★ Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023)

★★★★ To Have and Have Not (1944)

★★★★ Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One (2023)

★★★★ Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation (2015)

★★★★ The Blues Brothers (1980)

★★★★ Stop Making Sense (1984)

★★★★ Hot Fuzz (2007)

★★★★ The Descent (2005)

★★★½ The Muppet Movie (1979)

★★★½ Drowning Mona (2000)

★★★½ They All Laughed (1981)

★★★½ The Enemy Below (1957)

★★★½ Tetris (2023)

★★★½ Neighbors (2014)

★★★½ Confess, Fletch (2022)

★★★½ When Harry Met Sally... (1989)

★★★½ Wonka (2023)

★★★½ The Lady Vanishes (1938)

★★★½ The Good Earth (1937)

★★★½ Gremlins (1984)

★★★½  Greyhound (2020)

★★★½ Everything Everywhere All at Once (2021)

★★★½ Barbarella (1968)

★★★½ Why Worry? (1923)

★★★½ Beetlejuice (1988)

★★★½ Bros (2022)

★★★½ Twilight (2008)

★★★½ The Italian Job (1969)

★★★½ Speedy (1928)

★★★½ 49th Parallel (1941)

★★★☆ Mean Girls (2004)

★★★☆ No Hard Feelings (2023)

★★★☆ Happier Than Ever: A Love Letter to Los Angeles (2021) 

★★★☆ Innerspace (1987)

★★★☆ Pitch Perfect (2012)

★★★☆ The Player (1992)

★★★☆ The Long Voyage Home (1940)

★★★☆ Ghosted (2023)

★★★☆ Hot Shots! (1991)

★★★☆ Dr. Jack (1922)

★★★☆ You've Got Mail (1998)

★★★☆ Magic Mike's Last Dance (2023)

★★★☆ The Natural (1984)

★★★☆ Hooper (1978)

★★★☆ Noelle (2019) [in Theater]

★★★☆ The Holiday (2006)

★★★☆ The Craft (1996)

★★★☆ Amistad (1997)

★★★☆ Small Time Crooks (2000)

★★★☆ Pokémon Detective Pikachu (2019)

★★★☆ The Asphalt Jungle (1950)

★★★☆ Serendipity (2001)

★★★☆ Paint (2023)

★★★☆ Blithe Spirit (1945)

★★★☆ Home Alone (1990)

★★★☆ The Twilight Saga: Eclipse (2010)

★★★☆ Finding Nemo (2003)

★★★☆ A.C.O.D. (2013)

★★★☆ The Toll (2021) (AKA: Tollbooth)

★★★☆ Empire Records (1995)

★★★☆ The Kid Brother (1927)

★★★☆ Why Can't My Life Be A Rom-Com? (2023)

★★½☆ Lust for Life (1956)

★★½☆ Wish (2023) 

★★☆☆ Luck (2022)

★★☆☆ The Italian Job (2003)

★★☆☆ The Beanie Bubble (2023)

★½☆☆The Twilight Saga: New Moon (2009)

★½☆☆ The Covenant (2006)

★½☆☆ I Married a Witch (1942)

★½☆☆ Flubber (1997)

★½☆☆ The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (1947) 

½☆☆☆ The Super (1991)

Didn't Finish

 

I decided I should continue to include movies that I turned off part way through because they are bad. I was hoping Cool World would be strange, and I guess it is. But it was strange in such an unpleasant, cynical way I couldn't make it through because my time is worth more than that. And Crazy on the Outside? Woof.

 

☆☆☆☆ Cool World (1992)

☆☆☆☆ Crazy on the Outside (2010)

Short Films

 

Finally, I added a list of the theatrical shorts that I watched this year, because they are interesting and I liked a lot of them. The streaming service Max has a lot of the old Harold Lloyd silent comedies available. So I watched all of them. When they are good, they are great! The pacing is fast for a silent film, and I found them to be consistently funny and well worth a watch if you think you might like this sort of thing.

 

 

 

★★★☆ Captain Kidd's Kids (1919)

★★★☆ Bumping into Broadway (1919)

★★★☆ An Eastern Westerner (1920)

★★★☆ Never Weaken (1921)

★★★☆ His Royal Slyness (1920)

★★★☆ High and Dizzy (1920)

★★★☆ The Marathon (1919)

★★★☆ A Sammy in Siberia (1919)

★★★☆ Young Mr. Jazz (1919)

★★★☆ Spring Fever (1919)

★★☆☆ Just Neighbors (1919)

★★☆☆ Next Aisle Over (1919)

★★☆☆ Take a Chance (1918)

★½☆☆ Lonesome Luke Messenger (1917) 

 

Overall, I had a pretty great year, with 102 completed feature-length films, an increase over last year's 78 movies. I almost bested my personal record of 2021, when I saw 113 movies. I am sure I will get my priorities straight this year and do what matters most: watching movies!

2023 at the Movies

At the end of the year, it is time to reflect what is truly important: family; our contributions to society; and cataloguing every movie we saw in the last year.

As usual, my lists are not necessarily in order of best to worst. Movies that have the same number of stars can probably be reordered depending on how I feel and what kind of day it is. But a four star movie is unambiguously better than a two star movie. If you disagree with me, let me know. There is no shame in being wrong! 

2023 movies

In 2023, I saw 20 movies in the theaters. Many of the great ones you have already heard plenty of people talk about, so I don't feel like I need to add anything. But it may be worth pointing out a few great movies you probably didn't hear about, or heard things that were just wrong:

The Flash is actually really good! It is funny and has some great character moments. The story has real stakes and characters grow and change throughout the film. It is a superhero multiverse movie that gets it right, and forces characters to make difficult choices about things that we actually care about. To me, it is the third best DC Extended Universe movie, after only Wonder Woman (2017) and Shazam! (2019). 

Don't believe the bad press about The Flash. It's not a perfect movie, but it is better than most of the new movies I saw this year.

The Sea Beast is one you probably haven't heard about. Netflix released it directly to their streaming platform in 2022, along with a bunch of straight-to-DVD-level garbage, so it was easy to overlook. If it had a more substantial theatrical release, it really would have stood out (I see a lot of movies in theaters and didn't hear about this until months after its release).

Directed by Chris Williams (Big Hearo 6, Moana), The Sea Beast is about a sea monster hunter and a young orphan girl who joins him on their search for an elusive menace to shipping in a fictionalized 17th century European setting. This movie has some fascinating world building, interesting plot twists, and only a few minor Kristen Visbal-esque missteps. But otherwise is one of the best recent new releases.

The biggest disappointments of the year were Shazam! Fury of the Gods and Disenchanted. I loved the first Shazam! film, so this dramatic drop-off in quality was heartbreaking. Disenchanted was a sequel to 2007's Enchanted. Unfortunately, the parts of Enchanted that worked least well were on full display in its sequel, while few of the charms of the original remained.

★★★★    Godzilla Minus One

★★★★    Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

★★★★    Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One

★★★★    The Sea Beast (2022) [on TV]

★★★★    Puss in Boots The Last Wish (2022) [on TV]

★★★★    John Wick: Chapter 4

★★★★    The Creator

★★★½    Oppenheimer

★★★½    Barbie

★★★½    Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem [on TV]

★★★½    The Flash

★★★½    Next Goal Wins

★★★☆    A Haunting in Venice

★★★☆    Please Don't Destroy: The Treasure of Foggy Mountain [on TV]

★★★☆    Plane

★★★☆    The Marvels

★★★☆    Fast X

★★★☆    Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves [on TV]

★★★☆    The Last Voyage of the Demeter

★★★☆    Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken [on TV]

★★★☆    Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania

★★★☆    Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3

★★★☆    The Super Mario Bros. Movie

★★½☆    Blue Beetle

★★☆☆    Haunted Mansion (2023)

★★☆☆    Shazam! Fury of the Gods [on TV]

★☆☆☆    Aquaman and the Lost City

★☆☆☆    Disenchanted (2022) [on TV]

 

Older movies

A few of the older movies that I watched this year were favorites that I had seen before, like American Graffiti, My Cousin Vinny, and Big Trouble.

This year, I read Conversations with Wilder by Cameron Crowe, an interview book with the great film director Billy Wilder. I have been trying to make a point to watch Billy Wilder movies, since I haven't seen one I don't like.

I watched the excellent Sunset Boulevard (1950) and the very good film Sabrina (1954). Kiss Me, Stupid (1964) is a bit of a misstep, although it was still very interesting. I will continue to be on the lookout for more Wilder movies into next year.

★★★★    Sunset Boulevard (1950)

★★★★    The Abyss (1989)

★★★★    Hobson's Choice (1954)

★★★★    My Cousin Vinny (1992)

★★★★    Easy Living (1937)

★★★★    Moonstruck (1987)

★★★★    Big Trouble (2002)

★★★★    Wonder Woman (2017)

★★★★    American Graffiti (1973)

★★★★    Dune: Part One (2021)

★★★★    Keanu (2016)

★★★½    Fletch (1985)

★★★½    2001: A Space Odyssey

★★★½    The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension (1984)

★★★½    The Full Monty (1997)

★★★½    The Sting (1973)

★★★½    Hello, Dolly! (1969)

★★★½    Sabrina (1954)

★★★½    Losin' It (1983)

★★★½    Addicted to Fresno (2015)

★★★½    Encanto (2021)

★★★½    Vacation Friends (2021)

★★★☆    The Trial of the Chicago 7 (2020)

★★★☆    Three Men and a Baby (1987)

★★★☆    The Ratings Game (1984)

★★★☆    Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa (2013)

★★★☆    The Love Witch (2016)

★★★☆    Spirited (2022)

★★★☆    Hot Tub Time Machine 2 (2015)

★★★☆    The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004)

★★★☆    Dropping the Soap (2017)

★★★☆    Davy Crockett and the River Pirates (1956)

★★★☆    The Curse of the Jade Scorpion (2001)

★★★☆    Why Don't You Play in Hell? (地獄でなぜ悪い) (2013)

★★★☆    The Boxtrolls (2014)

★★★☆    Life with Mikey (1993)

★★★☆    Keeper of the Flame (1942)

★★★☆    Kiss Me, Stupid (1964)

★★½☆    Magic Camp (2020)

★★½☆    Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990)

★★½☆    Meet the Robinsons (2007)

★★½☆    The Argument (2020)

★★☆☆    Griff the Invisible (2010)

★★☆☆    Miracle (2004)

★½☆☆    Bachelor Party (1984)

★½☆☆    Beverley Hills Ninja (1997)

★☆☆☆    Cobra (1986)

★☆☆☆    The Invisible Woman (1940)

 

Didn't finish

New this year, I have included the movies that I started but was unable to finish because I disliked them so much. Note that I gave these films zero stars, but the rating is not as certain as a zero star rating for a movie I completed, since I guess it is possible that these movies could turn around in their second acts.

☆☆☆☆    Flamin' Hot (2023)

☆☆☆☆    The Out-Of-Towners (1970)

Flamin' Hot started out like an episode of Cake Boss, with Buddy Valastro going around saying "I just did that thing I just did because I'm Italian!". It's shallow. It's stupid. And it probably would have set back Mexican-American relations a few decades had anyone actually seen it. Its makers had good intentions. And I love a good movie about people inventing something great. But this movie was not doing it for me.

The Out-Of-Towners should be a great movie. Jack Lemmon is one of my favorite actors. Neil Simon is a great writer. But Lemmon's George Kellerman character is always complaining, unreasonable and unfunny. It is like if Planes Trains and Automobiles (1980) just had a shallower, more unlikeable version of the Steve Martin character. Give it a miss.

As is the tradition, I was not able to see all the movies I wanted to see this year. But I did see 78 movies, an increase from 2022's 73 movies. But still well short of 2021 when I saw 113 movies. I really need to get my priorities straight.

Did I miss anything I should have seen? 

2022 At the Movies

Nothing in life is sure except death, taxes, and my list of movies I saw in the previous year. 2022 continued the decline in the annual number of movies I saw from the peak in 2020.  In 2022, I saw 73 movies, considerably less than 2021's total of 113 movies. This year saw a combination of factors leading to this lower total, including a new dog in my family, a long vacation, and greater responsibilities at work taking more of my time. 

As I contemplate my goals for 2023, I need to consider what is truly important: watching more movies. 

My list of new films includes all the movies that I saw that were released in 2022 or 2021. I have indicated which movies were seen outside of a theater by prefixing them with an *asterisk. If the movie was released in 2021, that is indicated in parentheses after the film's title. Finally, I have included my rating on a scale of [zero] to ****, with four stars being the best.

This year, Matt Reeve's hugely successful followup to his excellent Planet of the Apes trilogy in The Batman was my favorite new movie of the year. But after that, the comic book superhero movies were fairly disappointing. I was really looking forward to Thor: Love and Thunder, but a lot of the magic from Thor: Ragnarok (2017) seemed to be gone, and both Black Adam and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever were forgettable. 

This year also saw a number of strange choices about which movies had theatrical releases and which movies were discarded like straight-to-video throwaways. Disney spent $175 million on Pixar's Turning Red, a very good movie that Disney just dumped on Disney+ as if it was Better Nate Than Ever (also released direct to streaming, and I haven't heard of it either).

On the other hand, they tried giving Walt Disney Animation Studio's $180 million Strange World a theatrical release. But that movie was embarrassing to watch and it made less in its entire domestic run (~$38 million) than the other big animated flop Lightyear made in its opening weekend alone ($50.5 million). 

Disney isn't the only studio making strange decisions about which movies to discard into the anonymous trash heap of a streaming library: Netflix gave Glass Onion a one week limited theatrical release in approximately 600 theaters before unceremoniously dumping it on their service along with Hallmark Christmas Movie ripoffs like I Believe in Santa. And WarnerMedia cut the legs off of The Batman by releasing it to HBO Max after only 45 days in theaters. 

I am optimistic that the movie studios will come to the conclusion that a theatrical release adds value to the contents of their streaming libraries. Because without a theatrical release, it is hard to tell the potential audience that a given movie is more than just some made-for-streaming library filler. But I have always enjoyed the movie-going experience. So maybe I am still missing something because I don't want theaters to go away? 

Now, on to the list. Is this the only list that places Violent Night above The Fabelmans? 

New Movies

Source: Amazon

The Batman ****

Glass Onion ***1/2

The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent ***1/2

Violent Night ***1/2

The Fabelmans ***1/2

Top Gun Maverick ***1/2

Halloween Ends ***1/2

Jurassic World Dominion ***1/2

*Turning Red ***1/2

Uncharted ***

Bullet Train ***

Ticket to Paradise ***

Thor: Love and Thunder ***

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness ***

*Minions: The Rise of Gru ***

Death on the Nile (2022) ***

The Lost City ***

*The Bad Guys ***

*Hocus Pocus 2 ***

*Red Notice (2021) **1/2

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever **

Black Adam **

*Don't Look Up (2021) *1/2

*Strange World *

Older movies

source: Amazon

Casablanca (1942) ****

Midnight (1939) ****

Dog Day Afternoon (1975) ****

It's Always Fair Weather (1955) ****

Get Shorty (1995) ****

Last Action Hero (1993) ****

Beverly Hills Cop (1984) ****

Mutiny on the Bounty (1935) ****

The Third Man (1949) ****

The Big Lebowski (1998) ***1/2

The Mask of Zorro (1998) ***1/2

It Happened One Night (1934) ***1/2

For a Good Time, Call... (2012) ***1/2

The Caine Mutiny (1954) ***1/2

Bridget Jones's Diary (2001) ***1/2

Love in the Afternoon (1957) ***1/2

Let's Make Love (1960) ***1/2

The Talk of the Town (1942) ***1/2

Cleopatra (1963) ***1/2

Funny Face (1957) ***1/2

Crazy, Stupid, Love. (2011) ***1/2

In a Lonely Place (1950) ***1/2

Blind Date (1987) ***

Road to Bali (1952) ***

Rapture-Polooza (2013) ***

Hudson Hawk (1991) *** 

The Great Muppet Caper (1981) ***

Backdraft (1991) ***

Roberta (1935) ***

Dave Made a Maze (2017) ***

The Boy Friend (1971) ***

Davy Crockett, King of the Wild Frontier (1955) ***

Office Christmas Party (2016) ***

Innerspace (1987) ***

To Catch a Thief (1955) ***

Free Solo (2018) ***

Kentucky Fried Movie (1977) ***

Get to Know Your Rabbit (1972) ***

The Harvey Girls (1946) ***

The Mummy Returns (2001) ***

The Girl Next Door (2004) ***

Pretty Baby (1950) **1/2

Can't Stop the Music (1980) **1/2

You Said a Mouthful (1932) **1/2

Du Barry Was a Lady (1943) **1/2

Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine (1965) **1/2

Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter (1984) **

In Like Flint (1967) *1/2

Caprice (1967) *

2021 At the Movies

Another year and a week has passed, so I have decided to publish the list of movies I saw over the past year. There was a noticeable decline in the total number of movies I saw this year over last year (113 in 2021 vs 129 in 2020), but it was less of a decline than I would have expected, considering how much less time I spent in my home starting in May.

I finally got back to seeing movies in theaters this summer, and I really missed the movie-going experience. This effect may have impacted my opinions of a number of the movies I saw. Out of the 10 films I saw in theaters, only Eternals gets less than ***.

In reviewing this list, one of the things that stands out to me is how many good animated films were released recently, with many of the best coming from studios other than Disney or Pixar.

The other big trend I have noticed is the relative lack of genre diversity in the new movies I saw. This says more about me than the state of the industry as a whole, except that there really was almost no films released theatrically that were (non-Superhero or action) comedies. In an effort to have the coldest take ever, I believe that TV has replaced the wide-release theatrical comedy over the past few years. 

Now, on to the lists.

My list of new films includes all the movies that I saw that were released in 2021 or 2020. I have indicated which movies were seen outside of a theater by prefixing it with an *asterisk. If the movie was released in 2020, that is indicated in parentheses after the film's title. Finally, I have included my rating on a scale of [zero] to ****, with four stars being the best.

The specific order of the movies on the list was based on their relative ranking at the time of seeing the movie, but if I was in a different mood, the specific placement of many of these movies could probably change.

So, off to the list:

New Movies

source: Marvel

Spider-Man: No Way Home ****

*Vivo ****

Free Guy ****

*An American Pickle (2020) ****

Dune: Part One ****

*The Willoughbys (2020) ****

*The Mitchells vs the Machines ****

*Hamilton (2020) ****

Encanto ***1/2

No Time to Die ***1/2

*Luca ***1/2

The Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard ***1/2

The King's Man ***1/2

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings ***

*Father Christmas is Back ***

*Ron's Gone Wrong ***

Black Widow ***

*Over the Moon (2020) ***

*Raya and the Last Dragon ***

*Home Sweet Home Alone ***

*Cruella ***

Eternals **1/2

*He's All That **

*The Boss Baby: Family Business **

*Jungle Cruise *1/2

*Halloween Kills *1/2

 

I also have kept a list of all the older movies I saw in 2021.

Of the **** movies, the one that surprised me the most was Coneheads (1993), which I found to be shockingly relevant and much smarter than I had been expecting. If you've never seen it, but thought it looks terrible, I think it might surprise you.

I also spent a fair portion of the year trying to see as many of the Alfred Hitchcock films as I could. I read Hitchcock/Truffaut and really enjoyed pairing the comments in the book to each of the movies. It was a really good experience that I would recommend to anyone with an interest in the subject.

Older Movies

source: Mike Saputo Mad Duck Posters
 

Touch of Evil (1958)(1998 restoration) ****

Captains Courageous (1937) ****

It Started With Eve (1941) ****

ParaNorman (2012) ****

Almost Famous (2000) ****

Being John Malkovich (1999) ****

On Moonlight Bay (1951) ****

Shadow of a Doubt (1943) ****

The Awful Truth (1937) ****

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (2009) ****

Coneheads (1993) ****

Love Me or Leave Me (1955) ****

Christmas in Connecticut (1945) ****

Compulsion (1959) ****

Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982) ****

I'll See You in My Dreams (1951) ***1/2

Death on the Nile (1978) ***1/2

Evil Under the Sun (1982) ***1/2

Love Actually (2003) ***1/2

The Hitman's Bodyguard (2017) ***1/2

The Band Wagon (1953) ***1/2

Titanic (1997) ***1/2

Casino Royale (2006) ***1/2

Into the Woods (2014) ***1/2

Third Man on the Mountain (1959) ***1/2

Patton (1970) ***1/2

Mr. Hobbs Takes a Vacation (1962) ***1/2

The West Point Story (1950) ***1/2

The Emperor's New Groove (2000) ***1/2

The Kentucky Fried Movie (1977) ***1/2

Murder by Death (1976) ***1/2

Being There (1979) ***1/2

The 'Burbs (1989) ***1/2

BlacKkKlansman (2018) ***1/2

The Trouble with Harry (1955) ***1/2

Easy A (2010) ***1/2

Peeper (1975) ***1/2

Scent of a Woman (1992) ***1/2

Halloween (1978) ***1/2

Marnie (1964) ***1/2

Big Business (1988) ***1/2

White Christmas (1954) ***1/2

The Searchers (1956) ***1/2

Zathura: A Space Adventure (2005) ***

Romance on the High Seas (1948) ***

Boom Town (1940) ***

Blow Out (1981) ***

MacGruber (2010) ***

By the Light of the Silvery Moon (1953) ***

Von Ryan's Express (1965) ***

Notting Hill (1999) ***

Arsenic and Old Lace (1944) ***

The Great Train Robbery (1978) ***

Smokey and the Bandit (1977) ***

Rope (1948) ***

Halloween (2018) ***

Monsters University (2013) ***

An Evening with Beverly Luff Linn (2018) ***

Why Him? (2016) ***

American Pie 2 (2001) ***

The Thin Man (1934) ***

Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984) ***1/2

My Fair Lady (1964) ***

American Pie (1999) ***

Flying Down to Rio (1933) ***

The Tunnel of Love (1958) ***

Please Don't Eat the Daisies 1960) ***

Anchors Aweigh (1945) ***

Death Becomes Her (1992) ***

April in Paris (1952) **1/2

The Cat from Outer Space (1978) **1/2

Invitation to the Dance (1956) **1/2

Tea for Two (1950) **1/2

The Incident (1967) **1/2

Torn Curtain (1966) **1/2

All the King's Men (1949) **

Beethoven (1992) **

Jingle All the Way (1996) **

Oh, God! (1977) **

A Bridge Too Far (1977) **

Battleship Potemkin (1925) **

High Anxiety (1977) **

Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo (1977) **

Little Monsters (1989) *

The Life of Brian (1979), 1/2

The Honeymoon Machine (1961) *1/2

Lucky Me (1954) *

2020 at the Movies

For some reason, I wasn't able to get out to the movies as much as I like to this year. So I only saw six new movies. The good news is that they had a very high average quality.

These movies are rated on a scale from [zero stars] to ****, with a four star rating as the highest rating. 

2020 Movies

Onward ****

1917 (2019) ***1/2

Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga ***1/2

Desperados ***

Godmothered 1/2

I still haven't had a chance to see Tenant, Soul, and Wonder Woman 1984. So when I eventually get around to seeing them, they will go on my list for next year. 

Although I was lacking in new movies, I made up for it in the volume of old movies I got to see. Some of the movies on this list were a real surprise. For instance, Return to Oz (1985) is a famous flop, with a reputation for being free of the magic of the original 1939 film adaptation. However, I found it to be a really impressive movie. It was scary in a way that gave it a sense of mortal stakes. This, along with the incredible production design and amazing special effects, completely blew away my expectations for the film. And I think I like it better than the more famous original. 

As always, the specific order of the films on the list is not as relavent as the more general placement. So although on some days I like Singin' in the Rain more than His Girl Friday, I always like it more than Hocus Pocus. And any movie with at least three stars would get a recommendation from me. 

Older Movies

His Girl Friday (1940) ****

Singin' In the Rain (1951) ****

Citizen Kane (1941) ****

The Great Muppet Caper (1981) ****

Anatomy of a Murder (1959) ****

Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967) ****

Roman Holiday (1953) ****

Double Indemnity (1944) ****

The Thomas Crown Affair (1968) ****

Fury (1936) ****

The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948) ****

Some Like It Hot (1959) ****

My Favorite Year (1982) ****

The Night Before (2015) ****

Safety Not Guaranteed (2012) ****

Return to Oz (1985) ****

Footlight Parade (1933) ****

Guys and Dolls (1955) ****

The Lady from Shanghai (1947) ****

Sullivan's Travels (1942) ***1/2

In a Lonely Place (1950) ***1/2

A Face in the Crowd (1957) ***1/2

Cabaret (1972) ***1/2

Treasure Island (1950) ***1/2

Splash (1984) ***1/2

The More the Merrier (1943) ***1/2

Brewster McCloud (1970) ***1/2

Phantom of the Paradise (1974) ***1/2

Kiss Me Kate (1953) ***1/2

Safety Last! (1923) ***1/2

Victor/Victoria (1982) ***1/2

The Martian (2015) ***1/2

Brewster's Millions (1985) ***1/2

That Touch of Mink (1962) ***1/2

Sabotage (1936) ***1/2

Pop Star Never Stop Never Stopping (2016) ***1/2

Mission: Impossible III (2006) ***1/2

Ship Ahoy (1942) ***1/2

Kramer vs. Kramer (1979) ***1/2

Annie Hall (1977) ***1/2

The Money Pit (1986) ***1/2

Wings (1927) ***1/2

The Firm (1993) ***1/2

The General (1926) ***1/2

Suddenly (1954) ***1/2

To Catch a Thief (1955) ***1/2

Casino Royale (1967) ***1/2

The Sweatbox (2002) ***1/2

Casper (1995) ***1/2

The Great McGinty (1940) ***

Porco Rosso (1992) ***

Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990) ***

They Drive By Night (1940) ***

Doctor Zhivago (1965) ***

The Front Page (1931) ***

Adam's Rib (1949) ***

The 39 Steps (1935) ***

The Thing from Another World (1951) ***

The Three Caballeros (1945) ***

Broadway Melody of 1936 (1935) ***

Elevator to the Gallows (Ascenseur Pour L'échafaud) (1958) ***

The Great Escape (1963) ***

The Thrill of It All (1963) ***

His Kind of Woman (1951) ***

Blackbeard's Ghost (1968) ***

42nd Street (1933) ***

Broadway Melody of 1938 (1937) ***

Noelle (2019) ***

The Philadelphia Story (1940) ***

The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad (1949) ***

Howard the Duck (1986) ***

Sex and the Single Girl (1964) ***

The Key (1934) ***

Waking Sleeping Beauty (2009) ***

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954) ***

San Francisco (1936) ***

Whistling in the Dark (1941) ***

Whistling in Dixie (1942) ***

Mr. And Mrs. Smith (1941) ***

The Great Race (1965) ***

Treasure of Matecumbe (1976) ***

The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms (1953) ***

My Bloody Valentine (2009) ***

Shall We Dance (1937) ***

Lady Be Good (1941) ***

The Princess and the Frog (2009) ***

Annie Get Your Gun (1950) ***

Movie Crazy (1932) ***

Baywatch (2017) ***

The Circus (1928) ***

The 7th Voyage of Sinbad (1958) ***

Tokyo Joe (1949) **1/2

Land of the Lost (2009) **1/2

The Grinch (2018) **1/2

For Richer or Poorer (1997) **1/2

Mission: Impossible II (2000) **1/2

The Great Dictator (1940) **1/2

Topper (1937) **1/2

The Girl Most Likely (1958) **1/2

Calamity Jane (1953) **1/2

Million Dollar Mermaid (1952) **

Ski Party (1965) ** 

Fashions of 1934 (1934) **

Whistling In Brooklyn (1943) **

Ziegfeld Follies (1946) **

Batman Returns (1992) **

Tron (1982) **

Woman in the Moon (Frau im Mond) (1929) **

The Barkleys of Broadway (1949) **

Third Finger, Left Hand (1940) **

The Magnificent Ambersons (1942) **

The Big Sky (1952) **

I Confess (1953) *1/2

Meatballs (1979) *1/2

Three Smart Girls (1936) *1/2

Head over Heels (2001) *1/2

Malificent Mistress of Evil (2019) *1/2

Jules Verne's Mysterious Island (1961) *1/2

Can of Worms (1999) *

Gymkata (1985) *

Hocus Pocus (1993) *

Plan 9 From Outer Space (1959) 1/2

Valentine (2001) 1/2

The Great Morgan (1946) [zero stars] 

Did my placement of Hocus Pocus below Gymkata cause your blood to boil? I stand by it. The only thing about Hocus Pocus that I enjoyed was its consistent strangeness. But it was never actually good, or even partially entertaining. 

Anyway, I look forward to hearing how I am wrong! 

Let's hope we all can get back to the movie theaters soon. It's definitely nowhere near as good as home.