Movies Watched in 2025
Crazy as 2025 was, as usual it was also a tremendous year
for movies. Unlike previous recaps, this is for movies-only since this
year I did not track what television I watched. There weren't a lot of TV shows I’d finished, but one that stands out and I would like to mention is, without question, the second
season of ANDOR. As good as the first season and collectively one of the best
installments in the STAR WARS franchise since THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK (1980). If I
find an easy way to work out what I did watch for TV series, I’ll make a post later.
In the meantime, there were many tremendous movies I watched
either at the theater or through streaming – a total of 67 in all.
Choosing a Top 3 overall wasn’t terribly difficult, but I’d prefer a Top 10. I had considered breaking everything up into categories, superhero or what have you. Decided not. I'll highlight the Best Films, then list everything else I enjoyed and as usual, at the end, what I did not.
Top 3 Best Films Watched in 2025
#1: THE LIFE OF CHUCK (2025): A lot of great, and terrible, things happened in 2025, but film-wise the best thing that happened was this adaptation of Stephen King’s novella. I watched it with my daughter a week after Dad died. I have seen this movie four times this year, ending last night (as I type this) while waiting for the ball to drop on New Year’s Eve. A nearly perfect movie, with an Oscar-worthy performance by Mark Hamill.
#2: A COMPLETE UNKNOWN (2024): My friend Marty put it best when the credits started rolling at the end of this Bob Dylan biopic, “This is why I go to the movies.” Another near-perfect film. Granted, I’m at just the right age to appreciate the history and nuances of the world they built. But these people channeled those people so damned well.
Runners Up for BEST FILMS WATCHED in 2025, easily, are:
MUSIC BY JOHN WILLIAMS (2024) – John Williams
composed the soundtrack to most of my life, especially the early
years, and this documentary about him and his relationship with some of the
biggest films in recent history made me smile all the way through. Can’t
recommend this enough.
MYTH OF MAN (2025): by the creators of INK (2009), a
highly computer-generated but self-made film that tells of spiritual and
personal longing, a future dream-world told from perspective of a deaf-mute searching for her Creator. Beautiful
movie.
RYE LANE (2023): Another Andrew-recommendation, this
has to be the sweetest, fun, gorgeous romantic film to come along in years.
Loved every moment of it, and the energy between quiet David Jonsson and uber-extrovert
Vivian Oparah is the best I’ve probably seen, ever.
SUPERTRAMP – LIVE IN MUNICH, GERMANY (1983) - If I have
a handful of regrets in life, one is never getting to see this show. ...Famous
Last Words... was a key music album in my college years. I was destined
never to see them perform, since lead singer Hodgson left the band after this
tour. Then this past October I discovered someone had restored footage of their
final Munich show of that very tour, and the last concert for Hodgson as
a member. Thank you, whoever you are, for taking that regret off my list.
The Best of the Other Great Movies Watched in 2025 are:
Superman (2025); Sinners (2025); Better Man (2024); Maria
(2024); Weapons (2025); One Battle After Another (2025); Romeo + Juliet (1996);
Saturday Night (2024); Marty Supreme (2025); Sketch (2024); Small Things Like
These (2024); Thunderbolts* (2025). I recommend all of these for different reasons.
For a full list of all the movies I watched, and my reviews
visit Dan Keohane’s diary •Letterboxd
These next movies were still super-good, some even have been
in my Best of but I had to trim:
28 Years Later (2025); Captain America: Brave New World
(2025); Cuckoo (2024); Eddington (2025); Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga (2024); Harold
and the Purple Crayon (2024); Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning (2025);
The Fantastic 4: First Steps (2025); The Naked Gun (2025); The Substance (2024)
These were also good and worth watching, no
question, just not on my Best lists:
Anora (2024); Bonhoeffer: Pastor. Spy. Assassin (2024); Civil
War (2024); DEVO (2024); HIM (2025); Snow White (2025); Stitch Head (2025); Presence
(2024); The Age of Adaline (2015); The Hudsucker Proxy (1994); The Monkey
(2025); Tuesday (2023); Venom: The Last Dance (2024); Violent Night (2022); White
Christmas (1954); 28 Weeks Later (2007); A Minecraft Movie (2025); Blood Tea
and Red String (2006); Mickey 17 (2025); Omni Loop (2024); Reservoir Dogs
(1992); You Hurt My Feelings (2023)
Some other decent Family Movies worth watching with your
kids (ages may vary), just not quite as good as whatever family movies I listed
in the above categories:
Pets on a Train (2025); Playdate (2025); The Family Plan
(2023); The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants (2025); Dog Man (2025); Lilo & Stitch (2025); The
Strongest Man in the World (1975); The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes (1969)
Finally, The Movies That Just Didn't Work For Me. I finished
them, but for varying reasons they did not resonate, did not click or in the case of the last one, were simply bad movies. In order of Did Not
Workishness:
The End (2024); Elio (2025); Greenland (2020); The Wiz
(1978); Friendship (2024); Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990); The Room Next Door
(2024); Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1978)
Again, for a full list of all the movies I watched in 2025 and
my full reviews, visit
DanKeohane’s diary • Letterboxd
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