I saw 290 movies in theaters in 2025. Here is my full ranking

Every year, I go to the movie theater as much as possible. It’s my favorite place in the world. I first started keeping track/scores/reviews/ticket stubs in 2015. Since then, I’ve seen 1,827 different movies in theaters: 5 in 2015, 9 in 2016, 146 in 2017, 162 in 2018, 192 in 2019, 44 in 2020, 86 in 2021, 270 in 2022, 325 in 2023, 298 in 2024, and 290 this year.

For this ranking, I’m only counting movies I saw in theaters, nothing that I watched at home. I’m not counting re-watches. I don’t have a specific scoring system, it’s just a rating I give to the movie right after watching. I’ve included a few re-releases, short films, and TV series, as long as they were seen in a theater (and for the first time). This is all just for fun and not meant to be taken super seriously, I’m not a professional movie critic. I just like going to the movies.

I attended 9 film festivals in 2025 for a total of 124 movies. 97 movies had cast and/or crew in attendance for Q&As. There were 26 World Premieres, 11 North American Premieres, 11 Canadian Premieres, 11 East Coast Premieres, 17 Southeast Premieres, 20 Florida/Georgia/Orlando/US/Tampa/South Florida/International Premieres:

Toronto International Film Festival – 29 Movies in 7 Days
SCAD Savannah Film Festival – 29 Movies in 8 Days
Fantasia Film Festival – 18 Movies in 6 Days
Florida Film Festival – 13 Movies in 5 Days
Miami Film Festival – 11 Movies in 5 Days
Popcorn Frights Film Festival – 11 Movies in 8 Days
Gasparilla International Film Festival – 6 Movies in 3 Days
Miami Jewish Film Festival – 5 Movies in 3 Days
Rendez-Vous Cinema Quebec – 2 Movies in 2 Days

There were 11 movies that I re-watched in theaters:

One Battle After Another – x7
Hamnet – x3
Nouvelle Vague – x2
Sinners – x2
If I Had Legs I’d Kick You – x2
The Testament of Ann Lee – x2
Highest 2 Lowest – x2
The Life of Chuck – x2
Him – x2
Twinless – x2
Sentimental Value – x2

I have AMC’s A-List, Regal’s Unlimited, Cinemark’s MovieClub, as well as memberships to the Fort Lauderdale, Miami, and Toronto film societies.

I saw 290 movies in theaters in 2025. Here is my full ranking (shortened to 7):

The Testament of Ann Lee – 10/10 – It’s a sprawling, intoxicating, and beautiful historical-epic with some of the best dance-sequence choreography I’ve ever seen on film. All of the performances are perfect, the songs/prayers are all memorable, the narration grabs you from the first second and never lets go, and it’s got the most confident directing of the year. I wanted 5 more hours of Mother Ann’s story. In a fair world, Amanda Seyfried is the runaway Best Actress Oscar winner. This’ll go down as one of the best period-dramas of the 21st century. There’s one or two masterpieces per year, Ann Lee a no-doubter for one of those spots.
One Battle After Another – 10/10 – Green Acres, Beverly Hillbillies, and Hooterville Junction.
Marty Supreme – 10/10
The Perfect Neighbor – 9/10 – I’ve not cried in a movie theater this much since Moonlight. It’s the kind of movie that will make your blood boil and will make you melt to your seat by the end. The bodycam footage where the dad has to tell his two sons that their mother isn’t coming home is something that will leave a scar on your heart forever. It’s also very impressive on a technical level, the best documentary editing since Apollo 11 in 2019. I can’t imagine all of the work that went into piecing this thing together.
Sinners – 9/10
Brokeback Mountain (Re-Release) – 9/10 – I’m a bit late to the party here, this 20th anniversary theatrical-release was the first time I’ve seen this movie, and goddamn was it worth the wait. One of the most powerful love stories ever shot. It’s the ultimate “what could’ve been” love story. Heath’s performance is generational. I’m now a card-carrying member of the Brokeback Mountain Was Robbed for Best Picture by Crash Society™.
Warfare – 9/10 – You can’t talk about Warfare without first shouting out the insanely-great sound design. You could watch this movie with your eyes closed and still be impressed. An impossibly-tense war movie that makes 95 minutes feel like 10 minutes. It’s really this generation’s Black Hawk Down (huge compliment). It’s a lot more grounded and believable though, with an outstanding ensemble cast. I love that nobody is a supersoldier in this, just guys in a bad spot in a bad point in time. It doesn’t glorify but it also doesn’t minimize. This movie will stand the test of time as one of the best war films of the decade. This thing was custom-built in a movie-lab just for me.
Sorry, Baby – 9/10 – Eva Victor is 2025’s major revelation. This movie is heartbreaking, hilarious, bittersweet, and soul-warming. It’s probably the best Original Screenplay of the year too. This made me realize how much I really missed Lucas Hedges. So cool to see him pop up again.
Bugonia – 9/10 – Yorgos doesn’t miss.
Hamnet– 9/10 – An all-time child-actor performance from Jacobi Jupe. This movie is equally soul-crushing and hopeful. Jessie Buckley’s close-up when Hamnet dies is pound-for-pound the best single scene of the year.
F1 – 9/10 – As far as fun-summer-blockbuster movies go, F1 is as good as it gets. It’s this year’s Top Gun: Maverick. Was it cliche? Yes. Was it predictable? Yes. Did I have a fucking blast for 2 hours? Also, yes. Keep pumping these out, Apple.
The Phoenician Scheme – 9/10 – Asteroid City & The French Dispatch were slight missteps, but Wes Anderson is officially back. This movie overflows with heart & laughs. (with 10/10 production/set design as usual)
Sacrifice – 9/10 – Anya Taylor-Joy was born to play an Icelandic eco-terrorist and Chris Evans was born to play the narcissitic, A-List actor in a rut suddenty thrust back into the limelight. Gorgeously shot, laugh-a-minute first act. I had a really great time with this one, it reminded me a lot of Don’t Look Up. Very surprised everyone hates it.
The Smashing Machine – 9/10
Magazine Dreams – 8/10 – Jonathan Majors comes in with maybe one of the most physically-demanding performances of all time. Without the real-life drama, this might’ve been an Oscar-winning role for him. Great movie.
Highest 2 Lowest – 8/10 – If it wasn’t for an extremely uneven first act and some classic weird Spike quirks in there, like insane transitions and some “how do you do, fellow kids?” moments , this would be one of the best movies of the year. It’s still really really great, and the insane score kind of grows on you as it goes. Denzel is at the top of his game. My favorite Original Song of the year at the end.
Train Dreams – 8/10 – It takes a while to grow on you. It might take an hour, it might take 5 days, but it’ll eventually hit you like a….train (sorry). It’s a beautiful slow burn about appreciating life’s fleeting and rare moments of joy. The world keeps going on without you, and that’s okay. It’s extremely reflective and existential. Beautiful stuff. It did what A Ghost Story did for me a few years ago.
Presence – 8/10 – Lucy Liu. No notes.
It Was Just An Accident – 8/10 – A lot more humor than I expected. The most impressive longshot of the year with that interrogation scene near the end. Mariam Afshari deserves more attention. And holy fuck does that pin-drop ending hit. There’s a few ways you can interpret the ending too which is really cool.
The Threesome – 8/10
Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie – 8/10 – If you like satirical comedies (like Borat), just do yourself a favor and check it out. You’ll laugh more in the first 30 minutes than in any movie of the past 5 years.
I’m Still Here – 8/10
Black Bag – 8/10
Nouvelle Vague – 8/10 – A fun, sweet, breezy, delicate ode to the French New Wave. A movie for movie nerds. Zoey Deutch is a delight and Guillaume Marbeck is one of the year’s breakout actors.
Left-Handed Girl – 8/10 – A beautiful slice-of-life family drama that’s right up my alley. Wonderful performances from the 2 young leads (their first major roles) and possibly the catchiest theme track of the year. All fans of Sean Baker should check this one out. Nina Ye killed it at the Q&A.
Splitsville – 8/10 – Hilarious, sharp, sexy. One of the better recent romantic-comedies (big emphasis on comedy). I laughed more during the first fight sequence than probably any other single scene this year. Advice for any shlubby screenwriters out there: co-writing a sharp, funny screenplay where your romantic interestes are 10/10s like Dakota and Adria is a good move.
It Ends – 8/10 – Sometimes you’re lucky enough to catch a great movie from a first-time director and you know they’ll blow up soon. This is that movie for 2025.
The Count of Monte Cristo – 8/10 – You don’t get these types of epics much anymore. Really well made and crafted. It’s the best Monte Cristo has ever looked on screen.
Oh, Hi! – 8/10
Sacramento – 8/10 – Michael Cera, how I’ve missed you.
Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning – 8/10
Is This Thing On? – 8/10 – Career-best stuff from Will Arnett. If only Laura Dern’s character wasn’t so poorly-written and shitty. Great, improv-like scenes in the comedy club.
Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery 8/10 – Doesn’t quite reach the peak of the first one, but it’s a step up from the 2nd. It’s a lot more personal and dark than the other 2, which I really liked, and it keeps the (sometimes-outdated) humor.
Fucktoys – 8/10 – It’s Anora on mushrooms. It’s weird, it’s gross, it’s got a ton of sex and some violence. It’s kind of a modern nasty fairy tale. It’s everything you want. Would recommend. Annapurna Sriram is a major talent to watch out for.
Urchin – 8/10 – Part Safdie, part Glazer, part Leigh. A really confident and impressive debut film from Harris Dickinson. Harry Dillane is magnetic.
Eternity – 8/10
Predator: Badlands – 8/10
A Quiet Place w/ Live Commentary (Re-Release) – 8/10 – This was the first “live commentary” screening I’ve ever attended. It was with co-writers Scott Beck & Bryan Woods (who also co-directed Heretic), moderated by Josh Malerman (who wrote Bird Box). A very fun screening, very insightful and amusing. Think Mystery Science Theater 3000, but for an actually-good movie.
Final Destination: Bloodlines – 8/10
Companion – 8/10
No Other Land – 8/10 – Incredible achievement in documentary filmmaking. almost unfurls like a narrative drama. The only documentary other than 20 Days In Mariupol that’s made me want to look away. It’s really impressive how angry it makes you but also weaves in beautiful little funny moments of humanity that bring you back down to earth. You would think that “pouring cement down village water wells” was a cartoonish movie-villain move that would never actually happen in real life, but nope, it happens.
The Girl with the Needle – 8/10 – Sometimes you just need a Cristian Mungiu-like hit of depression. This filled that hole.
28 Years Later – 8/10
The Long Walk – 8/10 – Not shying away from the brutality/violence is this movie’s biggest strength. David Jonsson and Cooper Hoffman are perfect together. It’s a very unique post-apocalyptic film, a different feel from the usual YA slop. Mark Hamill is very goofy and bad though. Rough casting there.
Sentimental Value – 8/10 – This was a lot better on 2nd watch. In her limited screentime, Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas puts in the best supporting performance of the year. She is the heart & soul of this movie. Truly heartbreaking stuff when Renate reads her the monologue at the table.
The History of Sound – 8/10 – Shoutout to this movie for introducing me to Silver Dagger, probably the greatest folk song ever. I’ve had different covers of it playing on repeat since the minute I left the theater. Paul Mescal was amazing in his rendition. Beautiful, Brokeback Mountain-like love story about what could’ve been and regrets.
A House of Dynamite – 8/10 – It’s only fair to score this by act: First Act: 10/10 – Movie-of-the-year potential. Thrilling and engaging. I wanted to cry everytime Rebecca Ferguson was on screen. Second Act: 8/10: The greatest TV pilot episode you’ve ever seen. Greta Lee keeps getting done dirty though. Third Act: 3/10 – What a fumble nooooooooo Kathryn noooooooo.
My Mom Jayne – 8/10
Sirat – 8/10 – Sound design that will have your clothes shaking during the rave sequences and have you jump during the (extremely) unexpected death scene(s). A great (but extremely bleak) odyssey through the desert set against the backdrop of the world falling apart. Good shit.
She Dances – 8/10 – Whenever Steve and Audrey Zahn are on-screen together, the scenes burst with authenticity and genuineness. The script is sweet, funny when it needs to be, and sometimes brings out a few tears. Really great little family-drama.
Hamilton – 8/10
Bring Her Back – 8/10 – Danny and Michael Philippou should be thrown in fucking jail for that scene of the kid chewing on the knife.
Sovereign – 8/10
Weapons – 8/10
Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair – 8/10 – Confession: I had only seen bits and pieces of both Kill Bill movies prior to this. I had an abolute blast. The 2nd half doesn’t quite live up to the first though.
Avatar: Fire and Ash – 8/10 – Oona Chaplin awoke something in me. i’m now a Varangsexual.
Mile End Kicks – 8/10 – Chandler Levack is Canada’s brightest up and coming filmmaker since Xavier Dolan. Pls keep her on your radar. Now she needs to make a movie without an annoyingly-unlikeable lead.
Nuremberg – 8/10 – Your dad’s pick for Best Picture. I had really low expectations, a 2.5-hour WW2 courtroom drama sounds like Oscar-bait 20 years too late, but a really tight script and perfect pacing kept me thoroughly engaged. It’s also the best Russell Crowe performance since…Gladiator? Good stuff. I’m back on the WW2 movie train. Leo Woodall knocks it out of the pack with his monologue too. Out of nowhere.
The Naked Gun – 8/10
Twinless – 8/10
Rebuilding – 8/10 – Lowkey family-drama set in the aftermath of a fire that destroys a man’s family ranch. Josh O’Connor is outstanding as usual.
Eric LaRue – 8/10
The Life of Chuck – 8/10
Frankenstein – 8/10 – It’s undoubtedly technically impressive, probably deserves Oscar nominations in most tech categories. The cast and crew is stacked, and it’s solid, but there’s a major thing keeping it from being truly great/top 25 of the year: an interesting story. It’s really good but classic GDT style-over-substance like Crimson Peak.
Megadoc – 8/10 – Almost makes up for the actual movie. Almost. The Francis/Shia and Aubrey/Dustin dynamics were really fascinating to watch. Really great doc about the chaos of filmmaking. It’s a shame Adam Driver and Nathalie Emmanuel didn’t want to be filmed for it, but I can’t say I blame them.
Jay Kelly – 8/10
Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere – 8/10 – Everyone else is wrong, this thing was good. Atlantic City forever.
Rosemary’s Baby (Re-Release) – 8/10
Hurry Up Tomorrow– 8/10 – Maybe throw me in jail for this but I thought this thing rocked? Part Vox Lux, part Misery, part Good Time. Jenna Ortega absolutely smashes it (wish the whole movie was from her POV tbh) and Keoghan/Abel are pretty solid as well. If you can look over the self indulgence (which is kinda the point) and a bad 5-minute sequence near the end, this is a banger. The score and camework alone make it watchable. Trey Edward Shults fan until the day I die.
Together – 8/10
Americana – 8/10 – It does jump the shark a bit near the end when like 45 people die and it becomes a bit unbelievable, but it’s a fun Tarantino-like crime story and Sidney Sweeney/Paul Walter Hauser are great together.
It’s Never Over, Jeff Buckley – 8/10
The Fantastic Four: First Steps – 7/10
The Damned – 7/10 – Claustrophobic period-pieces are my shit. An overlooked January-dump movie that deserves more praise.
The Ballad of Wallis Island – 7/10
She Rides Shotgun – 7/10
Christy – 7/10
Roofman 7/10 – A perfectly-solid action-crime-comedy with a stellar Channing Tatum and Kirsten Dunst. This would’ve made $200M domestic 20 years ago. It doesn’t have the usual emotional devastation that you’d expect from a Derek Cianfrance film, but that’s fine.
Thunderbolts – 7/10 – Like most people, I’m kinda “over” the Marvel formula, and in general this was a bit more of the same, but Pugh and Harbour commit really hard and keep it very engaging and just-different-enough. It’s one of the better recent MCU efforts. I liked Julia Louis-Dreyfus in a Veep-adjacent role.
Materialists – 7/10
Dead Man’s Wire – 7/10
Rental Family – 7/10
Sisu: Road to Revenge – 7/10 – A nice improvement over the first one, rare for a sequel. Some really impressive kills.
Mickey 17 – 7/10
Shin Godzilla (Re-Release) – 7/10
The School Duel – 7/10
Eephus – 7/10 – A local beer league baseball team plays their final game at the local park. Makes you feel nice and fuzzy and warm.
Dangerous Animals – 7/10 – Some actors are born for a certain role. Jai Courtney is that actor in this movie.
Ballerina – 7/10
Vermiglio – 7/10
Violent Ends – 7/10
Good Fortune – 7/10 – There are some glaring flaws (like Aziz’s acting & delivery), but it does a lot of things very well and has a sweet enough ending to keep this pretty good. Keanu’s character is a highlight and has a ton of great lines (“I used to be a celestial being and now I’m a chainsmoker”, etc)
Secret Mall Apartment – 7/10
Blue Moon – 7/10 – Ethan Hawke is outstanding and basically shows off and runs circles around everybody for 100 minutes, but chamber pieces just aren’t reaching “great” level for me recently.
Wicked: For Good – 7/10
The Surfer – 7/10
Eleanor the Great – 7/10 – Pure boomer catnip. Your grandma’s favorite movie of 2025. June Squibb is a national treasure. Protect her at all costs.
Blue Heron – 7/10 –
An Officer and a Spy – 7/10 – Polanski still has a bit of juice. Nobody is doing courtroom-dramas like the French recently.
California Schemin’ – 7/10 – It gets a bit repetitive but it’s a solid directorial debut effort from James McAvoy.
A Big Bold Beautiful Journey – 7/10
Villes Jacques-Carton – 7/10 – Quebec represent. (weak year for Quebec cinema I’ll admit)
Normal – 7/10 – If you like John Wick and John Wick-like clone films, you’ll like this. Lots of fun kills. Lots of blood. Good popcorn flick. Not breaking any new ground though.
The Ballad of a Small Player – 7/10 – Macau is a sick setting for a film, and I really dug the first hour, a degenerate gambler just digging his own grave, and the score from Volker Bertelmann is a standout of the year, but it loses its way a bit when he dies (or maybe he doesn’t? who knows). Also, more Fala Chen please.
Jurassic World: Rebirth – 7/10
Superman – 7/10 – There’s some funny lines, solid needledrops, and Rachel Brosnahan is great as usual, but it’s not enough to make it really pop. Solid movie, another decent entry in the comic book movie category, but it doesn’t reinvigorate my enthusiasm for the genre as a whole like I’d hoped it would.
Tatami – 7/10
One of Them Days – 7/10 – Katt Williams being the highlight of a movie in the year of our lord 2025 was not on my bingo card. We need more crowd-pleasing comedies like this in theaters.
The Seed of the Sacred Fig – 7/10
Fackham Hall – 7/10 – The Trainspotting poster bit was so good. Non-stop bits and easter eggs, a fun time.
The Wizard of the Kremlin – 7/10
Caught Stealing – 7/10 – Zoë Kravitz is gone far too soon.
I Love LA (TV Series) – 7/10
Fight or Flight – 7/10 – It sequel-baits a bit too hard and the tech-villains are way too cartoony, but some solid kills, great lines/editing, and Josh Hartnett fully committing to the alcoholic, down-on-his-luck assassin bit really keeps it entertaining enough.
Jane Austen Wrecked My Life – 7/10
Sisters – 7/10
Parthenope – 7/10 – It’s a gorgeous-looking movie, I could stare at Celeste Dalla Porta for 10 more hours, and I’m a big Paolo Sorrentino fan but this feels a bit more style-over-substance than his usual output.
The Monkey – 7/10
The Luckiest Man in America – 7/10 – When an indie budget is stretched to the limit and puts out a good movie.
Terrestrial – 7/10
Two Women – 7/10
Sharp Corner – 7/10 – I watched this dubbed in French so the performances definitely took a hit, but it was a pretty biting look at the pressures of the workplace and family leading to a man’s downward spiral. Ben Foster is always solid (even when he’s dubbed in French-Canadian).
Sweetness – 7/10
Spinal Tap 2: The End Continues – 7/10 – I have still not seen the original, but this was good enough as a standalone. The final performance scene leaves a bit to be desired, but there’s enough humorous dialogue to keep it chugging along (“in the daytime, ghosts are just rumors” is my personal favorite”.
Almost Popular – 7/10
My Dead Friend Zoe – 7/10
I Am Frankelda – 7/10
The Amateur – 7/10 – It’s basically Bourne-lite, but they don’t make these globe-trotting spy movies enough anymore. I enjoyed it. Torture-by-pollen was a wild move though.
On Swift Horses – 7/10
Merrily We Roll Along – 7/10 – As far as theatrical pro-shots go, it’s below Waitress & Hamilton. At first the constant cuts are a bit annoying/nauseating, but it works itself out. Radcliffe has one really amazing/impressive song number (during the TV interview), Groff is outstanding throughout. Was not a fan of Lindsay Mendez at all. I wanted a bit more emotionally from the whole thing. The theme song is amazing.
Heart Eyes – 7/10
No Other Choice – 7/10 – good but kinda very long, innit?
Freaky Tales – 7/10
The Wedding Banquet – 7/10 – Fun little rom-com brought down a bit by rough acting and awkward line/joke delivery from Bowen Yang and the Korean guy. Lily and Kelly carried them big time. Loved the “we have to de-gay the house!!!” bit. Great ending too. (never saw the original)
Freakier Friday – 7/10
Rust – 7/10
The Ugly Stepsister – 7/10
Come Closer – 7/10
La Grazia 7/10 – Location scouts for Sorrentino movies need special recognition.
The Accountant 2 – 7/10 – The story is a bit overcooked (the X-Men-like school for autistic super-hackers is a crazy turn for this movie to take) and it gets a bit too Sound of Freedom-y, but the Affleck/Bernthal scenes together keep it from falling apart completely.
Rise (Short Film) – 7/10

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