On last week’s end-of-the-year recap KVNU For the People Movie Show, I gave a rundown of my 10 favorite flicks of 2025. Here they are with my honorable mentions in tow. The idea the cinema has nothing stellar to offer is one of the biggest misnomers in entertainment right now.
Also, to watch the film’s trailer, click on the movie title. For KVNU For the People Movie Shows you may have missed, please follow this link to an archive of past shows.
A true-blue summer blockbuster that somehow didn’t “bust blocks.” Post-COVID theatrical weirdness in a nutshell: scale, stars, set-pieces, all there but audiences weren’t. The film itself hums like a tuned V10: clean character arcs, velocity you feel, and action geography you can actually read. The underperformance says more about the marketplace than the movie.
Sony Animation is on a heater, and this proves it. Wildly inventive, musically sticky, and visually clever without ever losing heart. It’s also the year’s biggest “programming fumble”: Netflix should’ve given this a full summer theatrical run. In a just world, this would’ve been the season’s word-of-mouth rocket.
Stellar in every sense. Ari Aster is undefeated, and this is the work of a director totally in command of tone, pacing, and mood. Studio dropped it in July when its DNA screams November; that’s on them. The film itself is a slow, exacting burn that rewards patience with a thunderclap final movement.
Yorgos (what’s-his-name, undefeated) delivers another precision-engineered slice of beautiful insanity. It’s feral and funny, sure, but it’s also razor-sharp in how it needles power, desire, and social performance. Pure bat-you-know-what energy, staged with a surgeon’s hand.
How do you top BARBARIAN? With this – meaner, smarter, and even more formally playful. It juggles dread and audacity without dropping either. My only plea: no Aunt Gladys spinoff. We don’t need the retread of a perfectly nasty villain who left us with dread and mystery. Not everything needs a Lucasonian treatment (read: explain every mystery).
Paul Thomas Anderson hasn’t made a bad film; this one keeps the streak. Not my PTA crown-holder (that’s MAGNOLIA), but it’s a pedal-down pressure cooker of muscular filmmaking, nervy rhythms, and performances that keep shifting the ground under your feet.
Achingly beautiful in every facet: cinematography, score, performance, direction, and screenwriting. The grief is lived-in, not ornamental, and the craft feels timeless. Should win Best Picture. I sobbed and I regret nothing.
Trailers didn’t sell it; the movie floored me. A peer to HAMNET with its elegant structure, moral clarity without sermonizing, and sequences that feel carved from stone. It hits every note with the confidence of a classic in the making. I mean, a southern, gangster, blues, vampire movie was not on my bingo card in 2025 or any year.
Like F1, this underperformed and absolutely shouldn’t have. It’s an action masterclass: tactile stunts, whip-smart set-ups/payoffs, and a final stretch that plays like a victory lap for everything the series does best. If this is Ethan Hunt’s last ride, it’s a stellar sendoff.
A year steeped in grief for me, and these were the twin poles. ELEANOR THE GREAT warms the soul with purpose, connection, and the courage to keep moving. BRING HER BACK is the equal and opposite: grief as horror, so sharp I tossed my butcher knives. Together they argue the same truth: love changes shape, but it doesn’t leave.
Honorable Mentions
Andy’s Top Ten Movies of 2025 (with 10 honorable mentions)
On last week’s end-of-the-year recap KVNU For the People Movie Show, I gave a rundown of my 10 favorite flicks of 2025. Here they are with my honorable mentions in tow. The idea the cinema has nothing stellar to offer is one of the biggest misnomers in entertainment right now.
Also, to watch the film’s trailer, click on the movie title. For KVNU For the People Movie Shows you may have missed, please follow this link to an archive of past shows.
F1
A true-blue summer blockbuster that somehow didn’t “bust blocks.” Post-COVID theatrical weirdness in a nutshell: scale, stars, set-pieces, all there but audiences weren’t. The film itself hums like a tuned V10: clean character arcs, velocity you feel, and action geography you can actually read. The underperformance says more about the marketplace than the movie.
KPOP DEMON HUNTERS
Sony Animation is on a heater, and this proves it. Wildly inventive, musically sticky, and visually clever without ever losing heart. It’s also the year’s biggest “programming fumble”: Netflix should’ve given this a full summer theatrical run. In a just world, this would’ve been the season’s word-of-mouth rocket.
EDDINGTON
Stellar in every sense. Ari Aster is undefeated, and this is the work of a director totally in command of tone, pacing, and mood. Studio dropped it in July when its DNA screams November; that’s on them. The film itself is a slow, exacting burn that rewards patience with a thunderclap final movement.
BUGONIA
Yorgos (what’s-his-name, undefeated) delivers another precision-engineered slice of beautiful insanity. It’s feral and funny, sure, but it’s also razor-sharp in how it needles power, desire, and social performance. Pure bat-you-know-what energy, staged with a surgeon’s hand.
WEAPONS
How do you top BARBARIAN? With this – meaner, smarter, and even more formally playful. It juggles dread and audacity without dropping either. My only plea: no Aunt Gladys spinoff. We don’t need the retread of a perfectly nasty villain who left us with dread and mystery. Not everything needs a Lucasonian treatment (read: explain every mystery).
ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER
Paul Thomas Anderson hasn’t made a bad film; this one keeps the streak. Not my PTA crown-holder (that’s MAGNOLIA), but it’s a pedal-down pressure cooker of muscular filmmaking, nervy rhythms, and performances that keep shifting the ground under your feet.
HAMNET
Achingly beautiful in every facet: cinematography, score, performance, direction, and screenwriting. The grief is lived-in, not ornamental, and the craft feels timeless. Should win Best Picture. I sobbed and I regret nothing.
SINNERS
Trailers didn’t sell it; the movie floored me. A peer to HAMNET with its elegant structure, moral clarity without sermonizing, and sequences that feel carved from stone. It hits every note with the confidence of a classic in the making. I mean, a southern, gangster, blues, vampire movie was not on my bingo card in 2025 or any year.
MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE — THE FINAL RECKONING
Like F1, this underperformed and absolutely shouldn’t have. It’s an action masterclass: tactile stunts, whip-smart set-ups/payoffs, and a final stretch that plays like a victory lap for everything the series does best. If this is Ethan Hunt’s last ride, it’s a stellar sendoff.
TIE: ELEANOR THE GREAT & BRING HER BACK
A year steeped in grief for me, and these were the twin poles. ELEANOR THE GREAT warms the soul with purpose, connection, and the courage to keep moving. BRING HER BACK is the equal and opposite: grief as horror, so sharp I tossed my butcher knives. Together they argue the same truth: love changes shape, but it doesn’t leave.
Honorable Mentions
SUPERMAN
WARFARE
JAY KELLY
SENTIMENTAL VALUE
WAKE UP DEAD MAN: A KNIVES OUT MYSTERY
PRESENCE
ZOOTOPIA 2
THE SECRET AGENT
IT WAS JUST AN ACCIDENT
SORRY, BABY