Wattching Movies 2025 Reviewed: The Top 40
- Watt
- Mar 10
- 28 min read
Updated: Mar 20
40-31: I Don't Feel Pain
40. One of Them Days
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 94%
Where to Watch: Streaming on Netflix
Former Insecure staff writer Syreeta Singleton and music video director Lawrence Lamont join forces to deliver a hilarious female focused Friday riff. Keke Palmer and her space case roommate, the surprisingly hilarious SZA, spend a day desperately traversing a cartoony version of the hood in LA in order to track down $1500 for rent. Their quest is filled with hazards like payday loans, fast food bandits, and zany side characters played by the likes of Katt Williams and Abbott Elementary’s Janelle James. This has been known but it does need to be noted once again that Keke Palmer is charismatic as hell and there is great chemistry between the leads that creates a real lived in friendship. I will be seated for Another One of Them Days and Them Days Keep Coming.
Tess Thought (31): It’s been months and I am still giggling about “prosecco party with ya b****es”
39. Novocaine
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 81%
Where to Watch: Streaming on Prime
This action comedy is at least Crank adjacent in both its humor and gratuitous violence. Jack Quaid, one of our finest nepo babies, stars as an assistant bank manager with a nervous system disorder that prevents him from feeling pain. He puts this “superpower” to use to help save his new crush/co-worker who has been kidnapped during a heist at their bank. Like most films, it could have used more sequences shot on roller blades. Speaking of nepo babies, Jack Nicholson’s son Ray plays the leader of the robbery crew. His inherited pronounced brow gives him an elite bad guy face.
Tess Thought (26): Just have to keep 1.5 eyes closed at all times because man, is it gross.
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 93%
Where to Watch: Streaming on Netflix
I love that little guy. He shows us all the power of sincerity and politeness. Voiced by Ben Whinshaw, Paddington’s first two outings are some of the finest family films ever made, particularly the immaculate Paddington 2. This 8 years later follow up is still pretty good but just slightly off. Key components director Paul King and actress Sally Hawkins are missing, replaced by veteran music video director Dougal Wilson and Emily Mortimer respectively and neither are quite as good. That said, even these lower tier Paddington exploits made me misty eyed and Antonio Banderas and Olivia Coleman do get to enjoyably ham it up as the Brown family navigates Paddington’s homeland.
Tess Thought (16): Clearly the weakest in the franchise, but that bear is just delightful.
37. Ballerina
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 75%
Where to Watch: Streaming on Starz
They really chicken out on doing a John Wick without John Wick by stretching a Keanu cameo into a borderline full fledged supporting role and based on some of the better set pieces and various release delays, I’m highly suspecting they chickened out on letting someone other than Chad Stahelski direct as well. With that said, I mean, who is going “Oh no, more prime rib.” The greener killing machine protagonist fresh out of assassin school is a fun wrinkle, the more stupid mystery driven revenge quest less so. Ana De Armas was shown to be an apt combatant in No Time To Die and handles herself well here. After 4 movies you think they’ve done everything they can do with handguns and knives but then boom they duct tape the two together. Flamethrowers are the star attraction but grenades and figure skates put up a good fight.
Tess Thought (24): John Wick movies? Gimme 14 of ‘em.
36. F1
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 82%
Where to Watch: Streaming on Apple TV
Top Gun: Maverick with cars is not a particularly ambitious follow up for director Joseph Kosinski but also tough to screw up. The racing scenes all look incredible and genuinely dangerous. The script is cliches stacked on cliches but Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, and the wildly overqualified supporting cast including Kerry Condon and a giddy Javier Bardem elevate some underwritten roles to help it cross the finish line. It is very funny that the high dollar product of a competing streaming service is likely what will finally get me to check out the Netflix F1 docuseries.
Tess Thought (13): I hate racing and I hate cars, but boy oh boy do I love a nice long movie about racing cars.
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 71%
Where to Watch: Streaming on HBO Max
I did not know that you could build a bigger Rock. Through incredible makeup in Benny Safdie’s dramatization of a 2002 documentary of the same name, early mma fighter Mark Kerr is portrayed with two distinct looks and neither one looks a thing like Dwayne Johnson. There is some real shouty awards thirsty work from both Johnson and Emily Blunt as a hot and cold quarreling couple but first time actor/former mma fighter Ryan Bader walks away with this thing portraying Kerr’s close friend/competitor Mark Coleman. His well adjusted family man serves as a perfect foil to Kerr’s chaotic existence.
Tess Thought (23): I cared way more about Mark Coleman than I did about Mark Kerr.
34. Caught Stealing
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 85%
Where to Watch: Streaming on Netflix
Take this ranking with a grain of salt because I am quite partial to goofy, low rent, twisty, bloody Tarantino crime rips. I strongly support the career of Guy Ritchie. I owned a Boondock Saints poster in college. I enjoyed Lucky Number Slevin. In fact, I just recently purchased a copy of Running Scared on DVD. Let me tell you, Austin Butler does have quite a bit more juice than Paul Walker ever did. Darren Aronofsky’s whole deal makes it a bit more dour than it needs to be but there’s enough energy surrounding it to breeze along. British punk band Idles does the score which a nice treat for my fellow NHL 21 enthusiasts.
Tess Thought (25): Austin Butler took so much time to perfect his baseball butt but ran out of time to work on his swing.
33. Mickey 17
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 78%
Where to Watch: Streaming on Prime & HBO Max
In the past few years Robert Pattinson has emerged as one of my favorite working actors. From anchoring the Safdie Brothers’ anxiety adventure Good Time as an absolute dirtball, to slowly losing his mind in The Lighthouse, and of course portraying an emo recluse Bruce Wayne in The Batman, Rob Pat has been on a heater. A deeply annoyed Tess can attest that the absurd southern accent he pulled out for 2020’s The Devil All the Time is one of my favorites to imitate. Here Pattinson is doing the absolute most putting on a goofy voice, taking pratfall, and devouring unidentifiable meat while playing different cloned versions of a human crash test dummy called an “expendable” utilized for space exploration. The film isn’t near the level of Bong Joon Ho’s previous best picture winning outing Parasite but it is about even with his similarly class dynamic focused sci-fi adaptation Snowpiercer. While a little uneven, there is a lot to like here in addition to Pattinson including unique creature design, Mark Ruffalo being an absolute goon, Toni Colette going maximum weird playing a character obsessed with sauces, and a clone printing process complete with jams that cracked me up every time.
Tess Thought (21): I loved the expendable half, did not care for the bug half.
32. Jay Kelly
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 75%
Where to Watch: Streaming on Netflix
There are certainly worse people to grab than George Clooney to play an aging movie star who has regrets about his personal life choices. I loved the opening movie set scene and whenever Jay would step directly into his memories but I think if you flip this, the put upon manager character is the more compelling lead. Has my 7 year old self’s circa 2000 take come back around and Adam Sandler actually IS our greatest movie star? The script is co-written by actress Emily Mortimer which makes you wonder if the self absorbed star surrounded by a doting entourage was perhaps inspired by a previous co-star. I’m looking at you, Paddington Bear. Most importantly, a Noah Baumbach/Clooney collaboration gives me an excuse to Fantastic Mr. Fox post:
Tess Thought (34): Adam Sandler has range that no one gives him credit for.
31. Roofman
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 87%
Where to Watch: Streaming on Paramount+
I thought director Derek Cianfrance would be an odd mesh with the zany caper promised in the trailer but it turns out there IS a deep melancholy that runs throughout the proceedings. Roofman plays as a lighter version of the first half of The Place Beyond the Pines stretched to feature length. Channing Tatum is perfectly cast for the goofy guy exterior that masks a depth of sadness and longing he taps into in his too infrequent dramatic work. Ben Mendelson is given multiple musical numbers as a kindly pastor. Cinematographer Andrij Perekh utilizes a beautiful grainy 35 mm look that goes well with the early 00’s period setting featuring all the staple businesses of my childhood: McDonald’s, Blockbuster and Toy R Us.
Tess Thought (22): More fun than anticipated!
30-21 Welcome to the Headquarters of the Human Resistance
30. Eephus
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 100%
Where to Watch: Streaming on Mubi, which is a real streaming service not a Tubi typo
In this independent comedy, two old timer baseball teams meet for a final game before a shitty recreational field is demolished. As the title implies, the film is slow moving and very lowkey but as both a former baseball player and a participant in adult recreational sports this one hits home. The banter, the dire state of the playing surface, the mismatched uniforms, the utter pointlessness of the endeavor that from moment to moment can mean the world to you, it’s all captured. I loved the true to life composition of the teams made up of men of disparate ages that don’t even seem to travel in the same social circles or even like all their teammates but have the connection of the game. I don’t care if I never get back.
Tess Thought (86): So slow that it had me questioning whether I actually like baseball or not.
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 86%
Where to Watch: Streaming on Disney+
It’s not an especially high bar but this is easily the best of the 4 theatrically released Fantastic Four adaptations. As with most Marvel successes, this gets the most juice out of being its own thing unburdened by wider connections or table setting outside of a post credit tease. The retro futuristic alternate 1960’s setting is the best feature and seems like the type of thing that would be the actual value of establishing a multiverse but I’m sure the gang will just get jammed into the main quippy Atlanta backlot universe soon enough. Herbie the robot is a star. They should have let Pedro Pascal do the Mid-Atlantic accent he wanted to give Mr. Fantastic.
Tess Thought (20): I would like Pedro Pascal as Reed Richards to be my doula.
28. Wake Up Dead Man
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 92%
Where to Watch: Streaming on Netflix
A heavier, longer and less “fun” Knives Out Mystery that still delivers the goods. After two films skewering the rich, writer/director Rian Johnson turns his focus to Christian Nationalism and some larger questions of faith. Hot off his breakout role in Challengers, Josh O’Connor delivers the best and meatiest performance of the series in the non-Blanc category as an assistant pastor at an increasingly sparsely attended parish that, of course, becomes the scene of an unsolvable murder for Daniel Craig’s Kentucky fried P.I. to investigate. Josh Brolin does strong work as the tyrannical monsignor O’Connor reports to and the requisite deep roster of suspects include Andrew Scott, Jeremy Renner, Kerry Washington and a very over the top Glenn Close. The old church setting and stained glass aesthetics help Johnson and his longtime cinematographer Steve Yedlin produce the best looking of the three Blanc mysteries.
Tess Thought (30): I absolutely love these movies, but the church setting was not for me and Glenn Close was horrible.
27. Rental Family
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 87%
Where to Watch: Streaming on Hulu
George of the Jungle was one of my favorite movies as a kid, so I will always have a soft spot for Brendan Fraser. Here Fraser stars as a struggling actor living in Japan who takes a gig at the titular company where individuals hire actors to perform various roles in their daily lives. Based on actual Japanese companies that started popping up in the 90’s, the premise provides an interesting lens to view the value of any human interaction in an increasingly isolated modern world. Like Nathan Fielder’s The Rehearsal, the film also examines how quickly the lines can blur between manufactured and genuine emotions. Fraser has aged into an elite kindhearted oversized galoot and I quite enjoyed watching his large frame and big expressive eyes dodder around the busy streets and subway cars of Tokyo like a human Totoro.
Tess Thought (7): The scene where Kikuo digs up his photos will stay with me forever. Those are my favorite kinds of scenes.
26. Bugonia
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 88%
Where to Watch: Streaming on Peacock
Acclaimed director Yorgos Lanthimos (Poor Things, The Favourite) and screenwriter/former editor in chief of The Onion Will Tracy (The Menu) remake Korean film Save the Green Planet! to examine conspiracy theories and the broken folks that glom onto them. It’s a timely subject matter as when the world is increasingly nonsensical, nonsense starts making sense of the world. Returning Lanthimos collaborators Jesse Plemons and Emma Stone are fantastic as always. Plemons captures the sweaty desperation of a deeply broken man realizing despite meticulous planning, he’s in over his head after abducting a pharmaceutical CEO he believes to secretly be an alien while Stone’s cutthroat girl boss tries to corporate speak her way out of the kidnapping. Alongside these powerhouses, America’s favorite comedian Stavros Halkias is on hand in a pivotal bit role and autistic actor Aidan Delbis gives a phenomenal heartbreaking performance as Plemons’s neurodivergent cousin/accomplice.
Tess Thought (17): Oscar snub for Jesse Plemons.
25. Eddington
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 69%
Where to Watch: Streaming on HBO Max
This is the movie that grew on me the most in the months after viewing as it became increasingly prescient. Set in the tumultuous summer of 2020 in a small town in New Mexico, Ari Aster’s latest film argues unfettered internet access was a horrible mistake as each character gives themselves different forms of brain rot with their endless scrolls and ever present screens. Tackling a global pandemic, racial injustice, and the ensuing protests and unrest while human interaction devolved into manufactured personas on continuous live streams talking past one another in half understood buzzwords just shattered some people’s psyches irreparably. Other grifters and grinders were more than happy to take advantage of the situation. There’s some South Parkian throwing stuff from all sides throughout as the opportunists of Eddington, led by Joaquin Phoenix’s dimwitted sheriff/mayoral candidate, utilize differing ideologies not as genuine beliefs but rather means to whatever self serving goal they have at that given moment. Aster gets a little too goofy with the third act inclusion of one particular 2020 era conspiracy but that does set up an explosive, violent finale and I really enjoyed the Coen-esque neo-Western No Country For Dumb Men that was playing out before that.
Tess Thought (103): If you asked me to make a list of everything I don’t want in a movie, I would just be describing this movie.
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 86%
Where to Watch: Streaming on HBO Max
Daffy, the looniest of the toons, stars alongside Porky, his stuttering straight man in the very first fully animated theatrical Looney Tunes film. The pair join forces to stop a nefarious alien’s chewing gum based plot to take over the world. The film was crafted by folks that clearly love both the characters and the medium, utilizing a few different vibrant animation styles to both recall past exploits and modernize the hijinks. As both a devout Looney Tunes enthusiast and a consumer of countless hours of 90’s era Cartoon Cartoons their approach spoke deeply to my sensibilities. It feels like something that would have aired as a special presentation right after a solid block of Dexter’s Lab, Ed, Edd, and Eddy, and Cow and Chicken.
Tess Thought (48): When you see this movie with a young child (or, say, your husband) who stares at the screen with wonder in their eyes it makes it more enjoyable than it is.
23. Thunderbolts*
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 88%
Where to Watch: Streaming on Disney+
A collection of c-tier villains and antiheroes from across the MCU are brought together for a covert mission. Obviously this is a Suicide Squad rip but its a good formula that has existed in various forms in comics for years. This film looks significantly better than most recent MCU outings with director Jake Schreier (Beef) and cinematographer Andrew Droz Palermo (The Green Knight) doing some cool things with shadows, the script has underlying themes beyond “how do we get to the next big movie”, and I always appreciate when a third act mixes it up and isn’t just a giant earth threatening beam of light or punch fest. It does still contain some solid ground level action sequences as well. The mental health heavy messaging and its assembly of rogue killers for hire may not speak to younger audiences as much as a flying Captain America punching a Hulk but it’s a refreshingly mature entry in the sprawling saga. It also deploys absolute star Florence Pugh, one of the most expressive faces working today.
Tess Thought (6): The real hero of the MCU: you’re absolutely right, it’s James Buchanan Barnes.
22. Black Bag
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 96%
Where to Watch: Streaming on Prime
Legendary director Steven Soderbergh (Ocean’s Eleven, Out of Sight) and legendary screenwriter David Koepp (Jurassic Park, Spider-man) deliver some twisty, sexy, brisk, spycraft for adults. Michael Fassbender stars as a counterintelligence officer who has been assigned to investigate his fellow spy wife for potentially going rogue and selling assets. Maybe it’s just me, but if I ever found myself in a cat and mouse game with Cate Blanchett I would know for damn sure I was not the cat. Double crosses abound and finding the truth becomes increasingly complex in a world where everyone is a liar by trade.
Tess Thought (14): Another great day at the movies.
21. Hamnet
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 86%
Where to Watch: Streaming on Peacock
Paul Mescal got into acting to do two things: Get miscast in a legacy sequel to Gladiator and emotionally kneecap any viewers that dare to gaze upon his dramatic work and he’s all out of Gladiator II’s. Academy Award winning director Chloe Zhao is much more in her wheelhouse producing numerous beautiful shots of a mossy forest after her misguided adventure with Marvel Studio. She also located the little boy with the wettest eyes in all of England, Jacobi Jupe, to play the titular role in a fictionalization of the tragic loss of William Shakespeare’s youngest son. The star of the show is Jessie Buckley who gives a powerful performance through an array of emotional moments including multiple birth scenes and tackling all the stages of unfathomable grief. If Buckley, Mescal, and Jupe’s performances don’t get you welling, Max Richter’s score will swoop in and finish the job.
Tess Thought (15): I simply do not care for the little earring. Couldn’t get past it.
20-11: Call on Me
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 92%
Where to Watch: Streaming on HBO Max
This is definitely a movie I would not recommend to new parents. Having a baby entering their purple crying phase at home really made this a 4DX viewing experience. Mary Bronstein’s film is stronger than something more overtly surreal like Beau Is Afraid because its depiction of a sleep deprived and anxiety riddled perspective is close enough to reality that it feels like maybe it can just get that bad. Rose Bryne has a real heavy weariness as she navigates the chaos of a young daughter with a complex medical problem, demanding therapy clients, and a gaping hole in her ceiling that floods her entire apartment while her husband is away for work. The only folks she can turn to for support as she quickly unravels are her own hilariously apathetic therapist played by Conan O’Brien and A$AP Rocky’s kindly drug procuring motel superintendent. I’ve never seen an actor nail feeling just absolutely fried quite like Byrne does in what should be an Oscar winning performance.
Tess Thought (11): I went in knowing this movie would be stressful but had no clue that the greatest stressor in my life/bane of my existence (a feeding tube) would be the central issue. Very good movie and the best Rose Byrne since Bridesmaids, but it hit a little too close to home for me.
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 80%
Where to Watch: Streaming on Paramount+
This allegedly final entry in the series has a very convoluted setup full of callbacks and connections to previous entries, some of which are hilariously unnecessarily. However, Christopher McQuarrie and company could have given me an entire film of clips from previous entries (which it does feel like they threaten to do at times) and this third act and I’d still give it at least 4 stars. You simply can not contain the movie magic of the death defying wingwalking sequence nor Holt McCallany calling someone a “sonuva bitch.” I simply do not believe they can actually end this series without killing Tom Cruise. I don’t mean just killing off his character Ethan Hunt either. That dead eyed maniac will need to be buried in the cold cold ground before he stops risking life and limb to entertain the popcorn munching masses and save the theatrical experience with his stunt mangled bare hands.
Tess Thought (10): Regardless of any beef I have with this (too many flashbacks, pacing issues, the story arc of my favorite character), I cannot in good conscience give Tom Cruise hanging off of an airplane less than 4 stars.
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 80%
Where to Watch: Streaming on Hulu
Sure he has conjured up killer interdimensional clowns and haunted hotels but deep down Stephen King’s always been a big ole softy. He writes great prose and Nick Offerman delivering it as the narrator is a nice choice. Director Mike Flanagan’s third King adaptation is unabashedly hokey but who couldn’t use an occasional reminder that life is incredible? Not incredible in the sense that it is always full of joy and wonder, though those moments do appear, but it is just an absolute trip to think of all that is contained in each one of our indefinite length journeys. This reminded me quite a bit of Big Fish, a similarly whimsical life affirming movie about death.
Tess Thought (9): Trim down the first section and give me 30 more minutes of Tom Hiddleston dancing.
17. Twinless
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 97%
Where to Watch: Streaming on Hulu
Dylan O’Brien gives an awards worthy performance in dual roles as both a dumb guy processing unfathomably grief and the outgoing, charming, identical twin brother whose loss he tries to process. Writer/director James Sweeney co-stars in this dark comedy as the man O’Brien meets and befriends at a support group for former twins who’s hiding something from his new bff. As is required of all identity centered films Sweeney throws in some really impressive shots involving mirrors.
Tess Thought (18): Lorelai Gilmore shows up for all of 2 seconds, but the disappointment ends there. An unexpected delight.
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 100%
Where to Watch: Streaming on Netflix
I grew up in a Wallace & Gromit supporting household where the vhs tapes of their shorts were worn into the ground. Their second theatrical length adventure co-directed by series creator Nick Park is an absolute delight. The things Park and his Aardman Studio cohort can achieve through claymation are purely astounding. Gromit drives a motorcycle, there’s a submarine, a couple solid chases, and it all looks incredible. As is standard for the series, great gags and chucklesome wordplay abound. Cinema’s greatest villain, Feathers McGraw even makes his dastardly return. Fittingly, this handcrafted labor of love also feature some quality anti AI/automation messaging via Wallace’s latest hairbrained invention, the Smart Gnome.
Tess Thought (38): Cannot handle Gromit being underappreciated.
15. The Naked Gun
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 87%
Where to Watch: Streaming on Prime
Director Akiva Schaffer’s reboot of the long dormant comedy franchise is a perfect melding of the rapid-fire stupidity of the original films and the bizarre extended bits of The Lonely Island. It contains countless gags that are idiotic and incredible in equal measure but the centerpiece snowman sequence had me in absolute stitches. Liam Neeson proves to be a worthy successor to Leslie Nelson playing even the most sophomoric of jokes perfectly deadpan. Pamela Anderson scores big laughs as the jazz scatting damsel in distress that sets off the mystery plot on which the jokes are hung. The film even updates the parody aspect of the series with some inspired riffs on recent action fare.
Tess Thought (46): Dumb but I did laugh out loud a handful of times.
14. Sorry, Baby
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 97%
Where to Watch: Streaming on HBO Max
Star Eva Victor makes a staggering directorial and screenwriting debut with a film that successfully navigates the tones of both a gripping drama about trauma and a sweet comedy about friendship and healing. Creatively structured with chapters that jump back and forth between years, Victor’s script explores the alarming mundanity of the aftermath of a horrific event that left their character's whole life shattered. Even when the unthinkable happens, life continues on and sometimes there’s a deep cruelty in that inertia but other times that momentum is a blessing. America’s most beloved character actor John Carrol Lynch, lends his innate warmth to a great pivotal scene.
Tess Thought (12): Really, really lovely.
13. Warfare
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 92%
Where to Watch: Streaming on HBO Max
Alex Garland co-directs with his military supervisor on Civil War, combat veteran Ray Mendoza, to recreate a day in the life gone terribly wrong from Mendoza’s deployment to Iraq circa 2006. The film plays out more or less real time as a group of Navy SEALs on an undefined mission find themselves pinned down in a civilian home. The confined setting really ramps up the tension as a who’s who of up and coming actors including Will Poulter, Joseph Quinn, Charles Melton, Cosmo Jarvis, Noah Centineo, Michael Gandolfini, and Reservation Dogs’ D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai portray the troops in various states of distress amongst the chaos. The sound design goes absolutely crazy in this with audio sounding underwater as some fellas' brains and eardrums are rattled by an IED and screeching air support flybys sounding like they’re headed straight towards your chest. It’s not exactly a shocking revelation but war seems really, really bad. I do not wish to partake at any point.
Tess Thought (29): Very well done but not my thing and I never want to see it again.
12. 28 Years Later
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 88%
Where to Watch: Streaming on Netflix
After taking 28 Weeks off, Academy Award winning director Danny Boyle returns to the rage virus series and delivers, dare I say, the best of the bunch. There is profound tension throughout and certainly the most compelling characters and performances of the series. Incredible child actor Alfie Williams anchors the film as Spike, who ventures away from his isolated island home in hopes of finding a cure for his mother’s debilitating illness. Jodie Comer gives a heartbreaking performance as the mom who slips in and out of lucidity on their journey and Ralph Fiennes brilliantly subverts the expectations of the Colonel Kurtz figure they seek out for a cure. Boyle and screenwriter Alex Garland build out the post apocalypse world in intriguing ways, and there’s even some surprisingly big laughs. I would rate it even higher if it had a definitive wrap up but boy oh boy am I excited for further descents into the madness it teases.
Tess Thought (54): What a year for Jack O’Connell of Little Fish fame.
Rotten Tomato Score: 86%
Where to Watch: Streaming on Hulu
Not since Pacific Rim have I seen a movie so devoted to delivering splash page images that would make a 12 year old boy go absolutely apeshit. On body mass alone, 1987’s Predator has to be considered one of the greatest action films ever made. It has spawned a surprisingly reliable franchise across nearly 40 years with 2018’s studio butchered The Predator the only mainline dud. Even the first Alien vs. Predator is way more enjoyable than it has any right to be. Director Dan Trachtenberg has emerged as an ideal steward for the franchise. After first inserting the Predator into the 1700’s for a showdown against a Comanche hunter in 2022’s excellent Prey, he returns with the first film to feature a Predator as the main protagonist. The story follows a runt Predator as he goes on a quest to the deadliest planet in the galaxy to kill an unkillable beast to prove himself worthy to his clan. He’s joined on his journey by the top half of an android played by Elle Fanning that he wears like a backpack and an adorable blue monkey looking creature named Bud, whomst I would take a bullet for. Franchise fans need not fret the lack of an R rating here, the kills are just as gnarly but because it’s all aliens and robots spilling non-red goo, you can do multiple beheadings and still score a PG-13.
Tess Thought (35): Elle Fanning brought We Bought a Zoo vibes and I loved her.
10-1: Myself, I Feel Very Safe
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 77%
Where to Watch: Streaming on Prime
I don’t know how Wes Anderson can go madcap international caper mode with folks exploding in half and still have the haters declaring “same movie.” This time out the acclaimed auteur does some thematic flexing as well tackling religion and morality. Benicio del Toro is absolutely hilarious in a rare comedic lead role for the Oscar winner. Conan O’brien has often said Mr. Burns was his favorite character to write for on The Simpsons and Anderson seems to similarly revel in writing material for del Toro’s cartoonishly evil industrialist Zsa-Zsa Korda. Korda who passes out complimentary hand grenades like Cuban cigars is an excellent blustery blowhard bad dad that sits well alongside Anderson’s previous patriarchs of The Royal Tenenbaums and The Life Aquatic. After surviving his latest assassination attempt, Korda summons his daughter from the nunnery (Kate Winslet’s daughter Mia Threapleton who crushes a potential breakout role) to learn the family business of facilitating and taking a hefty percentage from incredibly shady global business dealings. Michael Cera is somehow even better than you would imagine traversing Anderson’s diorama world as Korda’s live-in tutor.
Tess Thought (75): Wes Anderson just knows how to put me to sleep.
9. Friendship
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 88%
Where to Watch: Streaming on HBO Max
A socially inept man (Tim Robinson) tries to make a friend and it unravels his entire mundane existence. Casting Paul Rudd as the local tv weatherman/neighbor that Robinson gloms onto helps to create the feel of a broken mirror version of I Love You, Man. Fans of Robinson’s I Think You Should Leave will see much of that program’s humor but melded to a darker, sadder undercurrent. Many of the best scenes, including the funniest and least profound hallucinogenic drug trip I’ve ever seen, play like extended sketches. Robinson and Connor O’Malley, who makes a brief but hilarious appearance here, have such devoted comedic followings because they are each keenly attuned to an alarmingly growing population of folks living Being There existences just consuming endless streams of media to the point where all they can do out in the real world is try to flailing approximate the behavior they have seen through a screen. Robinson’s Craig Waterson has all the practiced trappings of a regular suburban dad but just below the surface is an absolute lunatic deeply unfit for society.
Tess Thought (45): We should ALL be taking spoilers this seriously.
8. Splitsville
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 83%
Where to Watch: Streaming on Hulu
Writer/director Michael Angelo Covino and co-writer Kyle Marvin follow up their acclaimed 2019 indie comedy The Climb with an absolutely hilarious screwball comedy about modern relationship anxieties. Covino and Marvin star alongside Dakota Johnson and Adria Arjona as two highly dysfunctional couples, one headed for divorce due to infidelity and one attempting open marriage. This film includes some incredible bits of physical comedy including the best fight sequence of the year. The extended skirmish is both hilarious in execution and on the meta level of Covino and Marvin learning such extensive fight choreography and blocking for their goofy little movie. They also flip a speeding minivan at one point. There is some real, “kid in a candystore,” go for broke filmmaking on display throughout. Actor Paul Walter Hauser said of the filmmakers, “They feel like if Wes Anderson and Jody Hill had a really reckless baby.” If you enjoy either of those filmmakers’ sensibilities and handling of stunted large adult children, you’ll find a lot to love here.
Tess Thought (1): A perfect movie with the exception of that audacious attack on goldendoodles.
7. Elio
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 83%
Where to Watch: Streaming on Disney+
It seems like everyone has been chasing Spielberg riffs since Stranger Things first dropped a decade ago but this may most closely hit the mark. Cribbing from both E.T and Close Encounters, the Pixar crew nails the underlying melancholy of childhood challenges and genuine scares that helped make 80’s era Amblin adventures iconic. This reverse Lilo & Stitch about an odd lonely young boy turning to the stars as a willing alien abductee hoping to find a place where he belongs features not just abundant laughs and standard Pixar heart string pulling but some really great introductory body horror that will surely scar a generation or two. It’s been taken for granted during their recent string of lukewarm receptions how incredible Pixar animation continues to look but the array of liquid and light based extraterrestrial elements on display here truly stuns.
Tess Thought (42): Really wanted to be moved to tears but was not at all.
6. Train Dreams
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 94%
Where to Watch: Streaming on Netflix
Sing Sing screenplay writer Clint Bentley pulls double duty writing and directing an immaculately shot Terrance Malick inspired film. This was a great year for acting to be sure but Joel Edgerton was absolutely robbed to not even be nominated for Best Actor. He plays a simple turn of the 20th century lumber man who enjoys the wonder and basic pleasures of life but is haunted by guilt, grief, and the random cruelty of this world. I wish this had been shown in theaters because even at home some of the shots of the Pacific Northwest are staggering. They are all accompanied by a moving string score by Bryce Dessner from The National.
Tess Thought (8): This probably would’ve been mesmerizing on the big screen.
5. Superman
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 83%
Where to Watch: Streaming on HBO Max
Prior to this film’s release, we watched the 1978 version and the big pull quote was “Superman cares about everyone.” It is incredibly apparent that this ethos was at the core of director James Gunn and actor David Corenswet’s interpretation of the big guy as well. As was displayed in 3 Guardians of the Galaxy films, The Suicide Squad, and Peacemaker, Gunn just gets comic book storytelling. I’ve gotten more into reading comics the last couple years and his latest outing feels like reading a very enjoyable arc or miniseries. His script plops you into a world you are already loosely familiar with, because, c’mon, it’s Superman, and he stages an adventure where multiple threats and nefarious plots converge to build out his version of these icons. As often the case in event comics, lesser known supporting characters pop in where you can go “That’s the coolest guy ever, what’s their deal?” Here, the scene stealer is Edi Gathegi’s Mr. Terrific who lives up to every bit of that name. I hope the pending Warner Bros. merger/sale does not impact a thing Gunn has cooking as the Co-CEO of DC Studios and architect of this promising new cinematic universe.
Tess Thought: Puts Man of Steel to shame.
4. Weapons
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 93%
Where to Watch: Streaming on HBO Max
Jordan Peele was reportedly so mad about his production company losing the bidding war for Zach Cregger’s script that he fired multiple members of his management team. He was right to do so. Writer/director and former member of The Whitest Kids You Know comedy troupe, Cregger follows his impressive first horror feature Barbarian with an even better scary movie full of perspective flips and dread. One night an entire third grade class, save one student, runs away from their home and do not return. Written as Cregger came to terms with the shocking sudden loss of a dear friend, the script is full of potent ideas about tragedy and trauma without bashing audiences over the head with blatant allegory. Josh Brolin is fantastic in what initially appears to be a one note angry guy. Actress Amy Madigan scored a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her contributions to creating one of the most unnerving screen characters of the last decade, Aunt Gladys. Cregger once again somehow pulls off inserting a single minded deadbeat character who could not care less that he is very obviously in a horror movie scenario and it plays as an even better bit. Austin Abrams is a star, Lord and Miller are vindicated for casting Alden Ehrenreich as Han Solo, and Julia Garner shows why she was seemingly in every other movie this year. Cregger and Peele going from careers in comedy to masters of horror really illustrate the response evoking parallels between crafting a great joke and a great scare. Forget cursive, sketch writing should be taught in the schools. RIP Trevor Moore.
Tess Thought (33): I didn’t even want to see this but ended up being pretty thoroughly invested! Looooove seeing the same thing from multiple POVs.
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 93%
Where to Watch: Available for Rental
This level of performance is why Anthony Edwards named Timothee Chalamet “White Boy of the Year” in 2025. He is absolutely electric in this role. It’s fitting that Penn Jillette is in the cast because Timmy and director/co-writer Josh Safdie pull off a pure magic trick. Marty Mouser is a tremendous piece of shit with almost no redeeming qualities who brings nothing but chaos, pain, and suffering to those around him, yet, you will find yourself rooting for him like he was the 1980 Olympic team at Lake Placid. Safdie and screenwriter Ronald Bronstein must have taken an enormous amount of liberties with the guy this is loosely based on because I’m seeing that Marty Reisman lived to 82 and there’s just no way this Marty isn’t brutally murdered by any number of people soon after the events of this film. Some critics have argued this is the 3rd time Safdie has made more or less the same anxiety inducing movie in a row (Good Time, Uncut Gems) but they are all certified bangers that just keep getting bigger and better.
Tess Thought (4): I hope Leo gets the Oscar instead of Timothee and I think $19.99 to rent a movie for two days is absolutely insane, BUT this was really, really good.
2. Sinners
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 97%
Where to Watch: Streaming on HBO Max
Sinners received a record 16 Academy Award nominations ***extreme Kendrick Lamar voice *** “but it’s not enough” because this whips unfathomable amounts of ass. Honestly, Ryan Coogler’s video breaking down film size and aspect ratios may be a top 5 movie of the year for me as well. His first time writing a script not based on a true story or adapting an existing property, Coogler crafts his magnum opus. Coogler remixes creative influences and inspirations to craft a prestige version of From Dusk Till Dawn with the Tarantino first half swapped for a Delta Blues flavored O Brother, Where Art Thou? More than a mere tense as hell genre pastiche, Coogler’s script explores various aspects of assimilation alongside turning cultural vampirism literal. As Hollywood grows increasingly dependent on IP gobbling algorithms, Coogler stages a showstopping sequence about the transcendent power of truly great art. He’s not the only person that was firing on all cylinders. Ludwig Goransson’s score is elite and the songs mostly recorded live on set are even better. Michael B. Jordan gives the performance or should I say, performances, of his career as twin brother bootleggers opening a juke joint with money and hooch swiped from the Italian and Irish mobs. Delroy Lindo scored a long overdue first Academy Award nomination as a legendary Blues man the twins recruit to play their opening night. Be sure to watch through the credits both for the true conclusion and more importantly for a glimpse of an incredible sweater.
Tess Thought (2): Lives up to every bit of the hype.
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 94%
Where to Watch: Streaming on HBO Max
Director Paul Thomas Anderson is 10 films into a 30 year career and yet to produce a dud. By my count, this is his fourth masterpiece joining There Will Be Blood, Boogie Nights, and Punch Drunk Love in the upper echelon of his work. His latest is a loose adaptation of Thomas Pynchon’s novel Vineland featuring a perpetually stoned Leonardo DiCaprio as a burnout former radical revolutionary. Sean Penn channels a 5’6 version of Vince McMahon in an incredible unhinged villain turn as the military man determined to hunt Leo’s former group down. Benicio del Toro’s scene stealing Sensei Sergio is the spiritual guide we all need to give us courage in these turbulent times where everyone could use a few small beers. Actress Chase Infiniti makes a phenomenal film debut going toe to toe with these screen heavyweights playing Leo’s daughter who quickly finds out her overbearing father’s paranoia wasn’t all cannabis induced. Johnny Greenwood’s piano score was stressing me out as tensions rose. Anderson’s sterling reputation granted him access to the highest budget of his career and every dime is up on that screen. The entire film shot in VistaVision by Michael Bauman stacks stunning images throughout like silhouetted skateboard teens parkouring between buildings but the third act car chase, inventively shot on hilly desert roads, is an all timer. It was a really tight contest between this and Sinners for the top spot, but I’m a dad now and only one of these films features a Steely Dan needle drop.
Tess Thought (5): Did not hook me until we hit the time jump and Leo really started cooking. I would like to watch it again now that I know where it’s going.
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