My Top 25 Most Anticipated Films of 2025

It’s a new year, and there is so much good cinema to look forward to in the coming twelve months. Today, I want to highlight specifically twenty-five of these films and count down to the film that I am the most excited to see in the new year. Now, granted, some of these films could theoretically be moved to 2026, but all of the films on my list are either currently listed as 2025 films or are expected to come out this year. If available, I’ll also post trailers for films, but, of course, not every film production has begun its marketing campaign. Also, if you are interested in a longer list of films that I am excited to see in 2025, then allow me to point you in the direction of my Letterboxd list, which contains 80+ films — click here to check it out! But let’s now count down from 25 to no. 1. What are the films that I am the most excited to see in 2025?

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Why did ‘Dune: Part Two’ underperform? | 97th Oscars – Nominations

Timothée Chalamet as Paul Atreides in DUNE: PART TWO — PHOTO: Warner Bros. Pictures.

It was a good morning for horror fans as Nosferatu received several Oscar nominations, while The Substance broke through in the above-the-line categories, as it was nominated for five categories in total. It wasn’t, however, the best nomination morning for science fiction fans hoping to see Dune: Part Two get the recognition the critical acclaim would suggest it deserves. Sure, it, too, got five nominations, but it was a serious step down from the ten it got for part one, and it missed out on nominations in categories that some thought it was, frankly, a frontrunner in. So, what gives? Today, I’ve laid out ten reasons for why it had a somewhat disappointing nomination morning. So, let’s get to them.

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Who Will Be Nominated? – Final Predictions | 97th Oscars

It’s finally that time again. Tomorrow, AMPAS is announcing its list of nominees for the upcoming 97th Academy Awards. So, of course, now is the time to fill in your final Oscars nominations predictions. This is exactly what I’ve done here. Below you’ll see what I’m predicting along with a few comments here and there. The choices are ranked from either one to five or one to ten based on how confident I am that something is getting nominated with 1 being the most confident. Let’s get to it.

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Wolf Man (2025) | REVIEW

Christopher Abbott in Leigh Whannell’s WOLF MAN — PHOTO: Universal Pictures (Still image from trailers).

Directed by Leigh Whannell — Screenplay by Leigh Whannell and Corbett Tuck.

It’s strange to think back to now, but the final film that I saw in theaters before the world shut down as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 was Universal and Blumhouse’s The Invisible Man from Upgrade director Leigh Whannell. Now, almost five years later, Leigh Whannell has taken another Universal Monster under his wings with Wolf Man, as he has taken over a project that was once envisioned as Ryan Gosling vehicle from Blue Valentine and The Place Beyond the Pines director Derek Cianfrance,. Instead, Whannell’s leads are Christopher Abbott (Sanctuary) and Julia Garner (Ozark). With an early-to-mid-January release, is Whannell’s second Universal Monster adaptation as good as his first? Well, let’s have a look.

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‘Fly Me to the Moon,’ ‘Late Night With the Devil,’ ‘Dear Santa,’ and ‘Five Nights at Freddy’s’ | Bite-Sized Reviews

Top Row (L-R): ‘Fly Me to the Moon (Apple TV+ / Columpia Pictures);’ ‘Late Night With the Devil (IFC Films).’
Bottom Row (L-R): ‘Dear Santa (Paramount Pictures),’ ‘Five Nights at Freddy’s (Universal Pictures).’

In this edition of Bite-Sized Reviews, I reveal my thoughts on a horror video game adaptation, a Jack Black-led Christmas film, an Apple TV+ film whose title references a Frank Sinatra song, and an indie horror film with an interesting premise.

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Emilia Pérez (2024) | REVIEW

Zoe Saldaña in EMILIA PÉREZ — PHOTO: Shanna Besson.

Directed by Jacques Audiard — Screenplay by Jacques Audiard.

As was already evident based on Julia Ducournau’s Titane and Coralie Fargeat’s The Substance, modern day French filmmakers sometimes gravitate toward these ambitious and unique films that defy genre conventions and classifications (and that are difficult to describe to acquaintances without getting strange looks) with great success. Un Prophet and Dheepan director Jacques Audiard, a Palme d’Or winning filmmaker, had similar aspirations recently with his Emilia Pérez, which is arguably most succinctly described as a gender transition musical crime film (mostly set in Mexico and mostly in Spanish) despite the fact that it contains even more sides than even that brief description encompasses. Emilia Pérez has already earned Audiard and his cast plenty of awards attention including the Jury Prize and Best Actress award (for its four female principal actresses) at the Cannes film festival. Nonetheless, the film has also been met with criticism from both Mexican audiences and the LGBTQ+ community. Setting aside all of the praise and all of the controversy, how good is the actual film itself? Well, let’s have a look.

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‘Night Swim,’ ‘IF,’ ‘For Evigt,’ and ‘Birthday Girl’ | Bite-Sized Reviews

Top Row (L-R): NIGHT SWIM (Universal Pictures); IF (Paramount Pictures).
Bottom Row (L-R): FOR EVIGT (Nordisk Film); Birthday Girl (Nordisk Film).

In addition to all of the other reviews I’m publishing by themselves, and other relevant articles to kick off the year, I am also starting the year by publishing a small handful of bite-sized review compilation posts. In this edition, I’ll give you my thoughts on two Danish films from last year that didn’t fully win me over, as well as an American horror film released 12 months ago, and John Krasinski’s family film about imaginary friends.

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Juror #2 (2024) | REVIEW

Toni Collette and Nicholas Hoult in JUROR #2 — Photograph by Claire Folger/Warner Bros.

Directed by Clint Eastwood — Screenplay by Jonathan Abrams.

Movie-star-turned-filmmaker Clint Eastwood is a 94-year-old four-time Oscar winner who is still working with some of the industry’s best actors and studios. Although we’d all love for him to keep making films forever, this could theoretically be the final film from one of the very few stars of Hollywood of which adults of all ages will have had some kind of knowledge. It could even, given his status and talent as a filmmaker, have been a genuine Oscar contender. You would think, then, that this film — which stars actors like Nicholas Hoult, Toni Collette, J.K. Simmons, Kiefer Sutherland, and others — would be a film that Warner Bros. would proudly release in theaters as prestigious cinema for grown-ups. And yet, that’s not exactly what happened. Eastwood’s potentially final film was released in fewer than 50 theaters across the United States, as well as modest theatrical releases in only a select few territories around the world. Instead, it was prioritized as a holiday streaming release as a ‘Max Original’. It sounds like a headscratcher even before you see the film, and, frankly, it’s still a headscratcher after you see it because, well, Juror #2 is a gripping legal thriller that shows that Clint Eastwood, even at 94 years old, still has what it takes to make compelling films.

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10 Most Read Articles and Reviews: 2024

We’re now in 2025. Granted, it’s only the first day of the new year, but, hey, we have to accept that 2024 is now in our collective rearview mirror. Like has become tradition on this website, I start every year by listing the ten articles or reviews written in 2024 that were the most popular based on views. At the very end of the article, I’ll even reveal what non-2024 written output was the most popular in the year to which we have now all said goodbye. Let’s get to it!

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Top Ten TV-Shows of 2024

Colin Farrell and Cristin Milioti in THE PENGUIN — PHOTO: Macall Polay/HBO.

I watched so many television (and/or streaming) shows this year. In my notes, I was trying to jot down all of the shows that I had seen and, given that I also watch a lot of movies every year, I was even a little bit shocked at how much time I spent watching entertainment (especially because I was very busy with other stuff this year). But, hey, I do love crashing and/or chilling in front of the television, watching a good show, and then jotting down my notes. And, you know, there were a lot of good shows this year. Some of the shows that it hurts to have to leave off the list this time around are Bad Sisters, Disclaimer, The English Teacher, Under the Bridge, The Boys, and Sugar (and I could, honestly, go on). But there can only be ten shows on this list, and let’s now have a look at what shows made it!

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