The year at the movies gets a mixed review.<\/p>\n
For a hefty chunk of 2025, it felt like one flop after another \u2014 and not only at the box office.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Hotly anticipated new films from brilliant directors, such as Bong Joon Ho (\u201cMickey 17<\/a>\u201d), Kathryn Bigelow (\u201cA House of Dynamite<\/a>\u201d) and James L. Brooks (\u201cElla McCay<\/a>\u201d) fell far short of their creators\u2019 standards.<\/p>\n Sexy-sounding projects starring Jennifer Lopez (\u201cKiss of the Spider Woman<\/a>\u201c), Dwayne \u201cThe Rock\u201d Johnson (\u201cSmashing Machine<\/a>\u201c) and Julia Roberts (\u201cAfter the Hunt<\/a>\u201c) turned out to be a dud parade.<\/p>\n On the flip side, plenty of genuinely fantastic movies like \u201cTwinless<\/a>,\u201d \u201cThe Ballad of Wallis Island<\/a>\u201d and \u201cHamnet<\/a>\u201d failed to catch on with viewers because of meh marketing, lack of interest and the growing tendency of holding out until quality adult fare hits a streaming service. <\/p>\n (Note: Please go see \u201cMarty Supreme<\/a>.\u201d)<\/p>\n \t\t\tMore From\t\t\t\t\t\t\tJohnny Oleksinski<\/p>\n But there was some cinematic schadenfreude. Superheroes \u2014 Hollywood\u2019s dominant genre for more than a decade \u2014 finally crashed down to earth with a deafening thud.\u00a0<\/p>\n Marvel\u2019s \u201cFantastic Four: First Steps<\/a>,\u201d \u201cThunderbolts<\/a>*\u201d and \u201cCaptain America: Brave New World<\/a>\u201d were OK-to-miserable and got a well-deserved \u201cthank you, next!\u201d from audiences worldwide. Warner Bros.\u2019 superior \u201cSuperman<\/a>\u201d performed better, sure, but not by much. The exhausting trend has gone on far too long.<\/p>\n And some of the past 12 months\u2019 boffo hits were puerile sludge: \u201cA Minecraft Movie<\/a>\u201d had Jack Black sing a stupid song about a chicken shack, and \u201cJurassic World Rebirth<\/a>\u201d was an asteroid-level assault on the planet.<\/p>\n But a glimmer of hope came from a double act of Warner Bros. horror films \u2014 \u201cSinners<\/a>\u201d and \u201cWeapons<\/a>.\u201d Written and directed, respectively, by Ryan Coogler and Zach Cregger, they were smart, exciting and, praise be, actually popular. Critics loved them, audiences flocked and everybody was talking about the hits for months. They still are. It\u2019s like being back in 1998 when this stuff mattered.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Lifeless sequels and reboots may still be our biggest draws for now. But bold originality will always be Hollywood\u2019s greatest weapon.<\/p>\n Timoth\u00e9e Chalamet stars in \u201cMarty Supreme.\u201d Courtesy Everett Collection<\/p>\n \u2018Marty Supreme\u2019<\/p>\n The best movie of the year arrived fashionably late. Writer-director Josh Safdie\u2019s cinematic lighter fluid <\/a>starring Timoth\u00e9e Chalamet as a 1950s New York pingpong wizard named Marty Mauser throbs with youthful passion and rebellion as the arrogant spitfire jets around the globe to fulfill his dream of getting to the top of table tennis.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cSupreme\u201d is the strangest thing \u2014 mixing \u201cRocky,\u201d \u201cCatch Me If You Can,\u201d \u201cFerris Bueller\u2019s Day Off,\u201d \u201cMoonstruck\u201d and a 5-Hour Energy drink into one white-knuckle thrill ride of fun, nervous wincing and real heart. And, at the center of the madness is a career-best Chalamet, who\u2019s turning into Hollywood\u2019s last great movie star.<\/p>\n In theaters.<\/p>\n Jessie Buckley is devastating in \u201cHamnet.\u201d AP<\/p>\n \u2018Hamnet\u2019<\/p>\n While there are countless reasons to check out \u201cMarty,\u201d the No. 1 draw of \u201cNomadland\u201d director Chlo\u00e9 Zhao\u2019s intensely moving Shakespeare riff <\/a>is its marvelous lead actress Jessie Buckley. Trust me \u2014 her powerhouse performance will blow you away. Buckley is breathtaking as the Bard\u2019s wife, who endures the greatest tragedy that can possibly befall a mother. As her poetic husband, Paul Mescal is sensitive and tortured, and Zhao is among our best filmmakers at turning glorious nature into a character all its own. But Buckley is not to be missed.<\/p>\n In theaters.<\/p>\n \u201cWeapons,\u201d starring Amy Madigan, was one of the year\u2019s biggest surprises. AP<\/p>\n \u2018Weapons\u2019<\/p>\n One of the most rewarding things about being a movie critic is insider trading. You attend an early screening of something that you have zero expectations for, and you leave saying, \u201cBuy! Buy! Buy!\u201d That was best exemplified this year by Cregger\u2019s sensational \u201cWeapons,\u201d <\/a>starring Julia Garner as a maligned teacher and a tricky Amy Madigan as scene-stealing Aunt Gladys.\u00a0It\u2019s freaky, funny, mysterious and ingeniously plotted. \u201cWeapons\u201d should get a best picture nomination, but Hollywood is too pretentious for that.<\/p>\n On HBO Max.<\/p>\n \u201cIt Was Just an Accident\u201d is filmmaking at its most dangerous. AP<\/p>\n \u2018It Was Just an Accident\u2019<\/p>\n This award season is particularly crowded with a foreign-language films. Some \u2014 cough, \u201cSentimental Value,\u201d cough \u2014 are obscenely overrated. But Iranian director Jafar Panahi\u2019s riveting dramedy<\/a>, in which a group of former political prisoners in Tehran attempt to take revenge on the guard who tortured them, is truly dangerous filmmaking and phenomenal entertainment.<\/p>\n On Prime Video.<\/p>\n The most laughs to be had all year long was at \u201cNaked Gun,\u201d starring Liam Neeson and Pamela Anderson. \u00a9Paramount\/Courtesy Everett Collection<\/p>\n \u2018The Naked Gun\u2019<\/p>\n Is it as good as the original with Leslie Nielsen? Of course not. But the \u201cPolice Squad\u201d reboot<\/a> starring an off-his-rocker Liam Neeson was the funniest studio comedy in a long, long time. I\u2019d all but forgotten that laughter at the cinema was even allowed. And how can you not love Neeson\u2019s co-star Pamela Anderson\u2019s second act as an actress in actually good movies?<\/p>\n On Paramount+.<\/p>\n AP<\/p>\n \u2018The Ballad of Wallis Island\u2019<\/p>\n You won\u2019t spot this British romantic comedy<\/a> on most year-end lists, but the story of a former musician duo \u2014 and estranged couple \u2014 being brought back together by a superfan on a remote island is a perfect heart warmer. And Tim Key as the hilarious, pun-loving third wheel is perfection.<\/p>\n On Prime Video.<\/p>\n Dylan O\u2019Brien and James Sweeney star in \u201cTwinless.\u201d <\/p>\n \u2018Twinless\u2019<\/p>\n One of the standout films at this year\u2019s Sundance Festival \u2014 an indie institution which has struggled to fuel conversation recently \u2014 was writer-director-star James Sweeney\u2019s twisty comedy<\/a> co-starring a truly exceptional Dylan O\u2019Brien. You go in thinking \u201cTwinless\u201d is a buddy movie, and then it sharp turns in an impossible-to-predict direction.\u00a0<\/p>\n On Prime Video.<\/p>\n \u00a9Warner Bros\/Courtesy Everett Collection<\/p>\n \u2018Sinners\u2019<\/p>\n The \u201cBlack Panther\u201d director really outdid himself with this Southern, bluesy spin on vampires<\/a> starring Michael B. Jordan as smooth-talking twins who come home to open a juke joint only to wind up in a gory fight with the undead. \u201cSinners\u201d manages to be a popcorn movie that\u2019s visually artful and has something to say.<\/p>\n On HBO Max.<\/p>\n AP<\/p>\n \u2018Blue Moon\u2019<\/p>\n