I’m doing it differently this year, since I kept running into two somewhat similar (in one way or another) films that presented a coin-toss conundrum over which was “best.” So instead of doing my usual “nine favorite films of the year in alphabetical order followed by my one outright favorite,” I’m doubling up and offering a kind of “best of show” rundown. As always, my list won’t be your list, because what fun would that be? And you should assume that any film you think deserved to make the cut, like (deep breath)… Together, Splitsville, Materialists, No Other Choice, Blue Moon, The Phoenician Scheme, The Testament of Ann Lee, Train Dreams, The Secret Agent, Wake Up Dead Man, Eternity, Bring Her Back, Sirāt, and Die My Love were metaphorically tied for 11th place. Without further ado, let’s start with a weird one…
Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 and/or A Minecraft Movie are not among this year’s best pictures. While it worked on its own merits as a 120-minute episode of television that stuck the character > plot landing, I also won’t argue that Stranger Things delivered one of the all-time great series finales. However, if we want Hollywood to make good on that aspirational “state of moviegoing” report offered up by Cinema United, which noted that A) Generation Z moviegoing jumped 25% over the previous year and B) the youngest such generation showed up last year an average of 6.1 times over the course of 2025, we gotta take a few for the team. That A Minecraft Movie is currently 2025’s top domestic earner as Demon Slayer Infinity Castle globally outgrossed every Marvel/DC movie in 2025… that’s a net positive.
My 14-year-old dug A Minecraft Movie, which was a harmless, colorful Jumanji riff with an unexpectedly funny Jared Hess-ian first act. He liked Five Nights At Freddy’s 2 more than I (or my 18-year-old daughter. He had a grand time watching the final episode of Netflix’s definitive “rip-off, don’t remake” pop culture triumph in a massive (and crowded) AMC auditorium. Hell, I thought How to Train Your Dragon was akin to watching “HTTYD on Ice,” but my initially ambivalent ten-year-old ended up loving it. Yes, we need more adult-skewing programmers and more non-franchise star vehicles that make money. But Hollywood must prioritize the kids who want to go to the movies, with new(er) franchises and IP aimed at them, over the “nostalgic” adults who will complain about nothing good in theaters as an excuse to just Netflix-and-snore.
Okay, the rest will actually be “good movies,” I promise…