2025 Year in Review: Favorite Movies of the Year

Posted on December 30, 2025 by Doc

So here we are. The Year in Review arrived at the Best Movies of the Year. Again, just like the Worst list, this is my opinion. These are my Favorite films of 2025. If you disagree, that is okay. I respect your right to disagree.

We are doing a Top 30. Again, the star ratings that I give to each movie review is not what determines the final spot on this list. They help me choose the possible movies to make the list. Movies can become better or less so over time. It is just the nature of the beast.

Starting off with Honorable Mentions: The Ballad of Wallis Island, Kiss of the Spider-Woman, The Monkey, Phoenician Scheme, Black Bag, Caught Stealing, Good Boy, It Was Just An Accident, Nuremburg and The Roses.

#30. Wicked: For Good. I did not like this as much as last year’s film, but Wicked: For Good was still an enjoyable experience and had some outstanding performances, some good music, and a great story.

#29. Bugonia. One of the weirdest movies of the year. Emma Stone was great and the ending was so crazy that it really made the film special.

#28. Roofman. Channing Tatum does a tremendous job in this film about a man who has escaped from prison and decided to hide out in a Toys ‘R Us. This is a great story and an engaging script.

#27. Predator: Badlands. The Predator franchise has been hot lately, and Predator: Badlands is part of that fire. Placing a Predator in the protagonist role and giving him a sidekick of Elle Fanning worked really well. It was a lot of fun.

#26. Frankenstein. Guillermo Del Toro directed this stylish version of the classic story and dropped it on Netflix. Del Toro brought his indelible skills to this version.

#25. Marty Supreme. This was a strange film, as our protagonist was one of the most unlikable characters in the film. A strong performance by Timothée Chalamet took that complicated character and embraced the a-hole of it all.

#24. F1: The Movie. A great film with Brad Pitt that you really should see on the biggest screen you can. The story of Formula One racing was exciting and dramatic.

#23. Last Breath. A true story that tells the story of deep sea divers who have to go back to the depths to rescue a colleague who was lost in the waters. So exciting and intense.

#22. A House of Dynamite. Kathryn Bigelow’s latest film looks at a potential nuclear assault from multiple points of view. This is an excellent film with some real intensity and great performances.

#21. Naked Gun. Liam Neeson replaced Leslie Nielson in the Naked Gun franchise, as Frank Drebin Jr. , the son of Nielson’s character. The new Naked Gun was very funny and succeeded in following in the legacy of the previous versions.

#20. K-Pop Demon Hunters. This Netflix flick is one that I never would have expected to appear on this list. However, the film was exciting, was filled with awesome music, and animation that was exceptional. One of the most relevant films of th eyear.

#19. Final Destination: Bloodlines. Another that I would not have guessed would be on this list, but it was just a really great movie. The deaths were original and creative, the story was more than you would have thought and you did not know how it was going to go.

#18. Companion. A great film about an android who was built for human companionship, but finds herself in control of her life for the first time. This was a thrilling story.

#17. Dangerous Animals. A shark movie that succeeded in making the sharks NOT the villains. Jai Courtney does a great job as a serial killer who uses sharks to kill his victims. Dangerous Animals was an unexpected thrill of a movie.

#16. Captain America: Brave New World. There are a lot of people who hated this one. That is fine. I thought it was a very solid film. I loved the Red Hulk and I thought Harrison Ford was excellent. Could it have been better? Sure. I enjoyed it anyway.

#15. Zootopia 2. This sequel was funny, had great dialogue and some exceptional voice work. It is one of the most successful films of the year. It is a certified hit for Disney.

#14. Spinal Tap II: The End Continues. Spinal Tap reformed once again to play one final concert. The mockumentary followed the story of the reunion. This turned out to be Rob Reiner’s final film. This was full of music and the finale with Stonehenge was unforgettable.

#13. Strange Harvest. Another mockumentary, this time focused on a true crime type story. Two police officers look into a decades long case of serial killer “Mr. Shiny.” This was so excellent that I had a hard time thinking of it as fictional.

#12. Life of Chuck. One of my five star rated films of the year, Life of Chuck included three different arcs of the life of Chuck. There is a dance routine from Tom Hiddleston that was sensational.

#11. The Lost Bus. This Apple TV film with Matthew McConaughey was as intense as any film this year. Watching that bus drive through the burning fires was something that I will not forget.

#10. The Long Walk. This Stephen King adaptation was a tough watch. I was on the edge of my seat the whole time. The story could have been weak, but the characters were so developed and the dialogue was spectacular. There was a great performance from Mark Hamill too. A difficult watch, but highly engaging.

#9. Sinners. One of the best movies of the year. Directed by Ryan Coogler and starring Michael B. Jordan in a dual role, Sinners was one of the most original films you are going to see. Vampires. Music. Brutality. Just a fantastic film.

#8. Superman. The first main film of the DCU flew into theaters this past summer and it was just what Superman needed. James Gunn brought the humor, the action, the characters and a great start for Superman.

#7. Weapons. Such a fantastic film. A whole group of children disappear, causing the town to lose their minds. This is another movie that played with POV and it does it wonderfully. Great performances from Amy Madigan, Julia Garner, Josh Brolin, Alden Ehrenreich and Benedict Wong.

#6. Song Sung Blue. An emotional film detailing the life and career of Lightning and Thunder, a Neil Diamond tribute band. This was filled with amazing music and two top line performances from Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson.

#5. How to Train Your Dragon. The live-action version of the classic animated movie was done brilliantly. I loved what they did with the film. They kept most of the film the same, but what they did differently worked so well. I loved this movie.

#4. Thunderbolts*. A remarkable movie from Marvel Studios. The group of b-level characters came together with humor, emotion and excitement. We met Bob (aka Sentry) and his other side (The Void). This film was about the power of acceptance, and friendship and connection overcoming depression and self-doubt. Then, we learn that they are the New Avengers. This movie deserved so much better than it got at the box office.

#3. Sketch. The biggest surprise of the year, Sketch was an entertaining film that dealt with trouble kids and their sadness. It also has a magical lake that brings things to life… including the drawings of monsters done by our main character. The film was funny, engaging, and just sweeter than you could ever guess.

#2. Fantastic Four: First Steps. We finally got a FF movie worth our time. The film felt like a family. Reed, Sue, Ben and Johnny have to take on Galactus, in order to save both their world and their son, Franklin. This was more than just a super hero movie. It felt like a fantastic sci-fi movie. The scenes in space are some of the best of the year. A brilliant cast and some fantastic writing.

#1. Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery. I thought FF was going to be #1 this year. Then, I saw the new Knives Out film and it was so sensational. The story was so exceptional, with twists and turns unlike any movie before it. I thought I had the story figured out… and then I didn’t. That happened a couple of times. Greta performances from Josh O’ Connell, Glenn Close, Josh Brolin, Jeremy Renner, Andrew Scott, Thomas Hayden Church, Mia Kunis, Kerry Washington and, of course, Benoit Blanc himself, Daniel Craig. I was so enthused when I saw it on Netflix, I thought of Matilda the Musical. (What?) When I saw that movie late in the year, I debated about having it the #1 film of the year, btu I decided to leave Wakanda Forever in that spot. After posting the winner, I regretted it. I wish I had put Matilda the Musical at #1. This is the same situation, a film late in the year that was so great that I wanted to bump a Marvel movie out of the number one spot. I went ahead and did it. It deserves it.

2025 EYG Year in Review: Least Favorite Movies of the Year

Posted on December 30, 2025 by Doc

We are ready to give the list of the Worst Movies of the Year. Or more specifically, the EYG Least Favorite Movie of the Year. These are my opinions and thoughts. It is okay if you disagree with me. I encourage it. In fact, I know there are a couple of films on my list that are high on the Tomatometer. Movies are subjective and what I think is the worst, may be someone else’s beloved.

I should also state that, during the year, I give star ratings to movies. I do not use these star ratings to order them. I do use them to choose the films that would make the list, but I may have a film that got 1.5 stars higher than one that has a 1.2. Movies and thoughts about movies are fluid and change over time with reflection or hindsight. Honestly, if I redid this list in a month, there might be differences.

The list this year is the Top 20. This year has had a lot of movies in the mid-range, from star rating between 2.5 and 3.8 or so. Most of the movies fell into that range. These are the ones that were under that.

I should mention that I have nothing but respect for the creative people who made these films. I may not like the work, but I respect the efforts you have made to try to entertain us.

Here are the Top 20 Least Favorite/Worst Films of 2025

#20. Den of Thieves 2: Pantera. I hated this sequel. It is the first of my list that has FRESH reviews on Rotten Tomatoes. I still found this dull and dumb.

#19. After the Hunt. Julia Roberts gave her best for this flopper, but there was only so much she could do. It was too long, the story was mixed and it did not make a lot of sense.

#18. Tron: Ares. What a terrible film. Great soundtrack though (way to go, Nine Inch Nails). There are so many problems in this, including the lead performance from Jarred Leto. It did look great. It might be the final installment in this franchise as it flopped hard.

#17. Until Dawn. Great premise. Horrible execution. The story was boring and the killings were unoriginal or interesting. I watched this during the June Swoon and I was happy I rented it on sale.

#16. Screamboat. Here was the horror/murder film featuring a monstrous and brutal Steamboat Willie (aka Mickey Mouse) who entered into public domain recently. This was better than the Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey films (but that is a low bar).

#15. Flight Risk. Here is a good example of a film with a reasonable star rating that slipped with hindsight. A terrible and ridiculous performance by Mark Wahlberg. The characters do the dumbest things. This one has slipped down the list onto the Top 20 Least Favorite.

#14. M3GAN 2.0. The first Megan movie was such fun. The second one was far from it. I was so disappointed with M3GAN 2.0. It is too long. Too filled with nonsense. It broke into a song at one point.

#13. Friendship. Here is another one that everyone seemed to love, but I could not stand. It was a comedy with Tim Robinson that was just not funny. I did not enjoy this one at all.

#12. Five Nights at Freddy’s 2. This got worse. I did not like the first film that much, and this sequel only got worse. The actors seemed to be just going through the motions.

#11. Love Hurts. I love Ke Huy Quan. Boring and a dumb story. It could not be rescued by the wonderful Ke Huy Quan.

#10. Fear Street: Prom Queen. The first trilogy of Fear Street was so great. This one was horrendous. A sloppy, stupid slasher killer story that was so dumb, almost as dumb as it was disappointing.

#9. Together. A body horror film that most of the critics loved. I hated it. There were a bunch of scenes that were laugh out loud funny, though I do not think they were intended to be funny. It felt so silly that I was rolling my eyes at it throughout.

#8. I Know What You Did Last Summer. One of the worst remakes of the year. What was the purpose of redoing this film? I guess it was sort of a sequel, but the killer turned out to be from the original and his turn made zero sense. It was done for just the shock value.

#7. Electric State. The big Netflix action movie was so bad. The budget on it was reportedly $320 million. It had the Russo Brothers as directors. Yet there were so many problems with this. Characters without depth, various tones, and humor that did not work.

#6. A Minecraft Movie. You know there is trouble when the best part of the movie is the memes for Chicken Jockey. I love Jack Black, but this is just a film with so much stupidity, designs that were poorly constructed and a feel that made it too cartoonish. It was repetitive and dull.

#5. Into the Deep. A shark movie. However, that was the highlight of this film. Dialogue that was so unnatural. Acting that was horrendous. Richard Dreyfuss was in this movie… why? Did he need a paycheck that badly? Another film I did for the June Swoon that made me wish I had not chosen it.

#4. 2073. I found this on HBO Max and it seemed interesting. It wasn’t. It was a weird blend of documentary, post-apocalyptic wasteland and history lesson. It was depressing and full of fearmongering.

#3. HIM. Again, this is not directed by Jordan Peele. Even though they kept putting his name on the advertising, he was not directly involved. This horror/thriller with football players is about as bad as it comes. I hated sitting in the theater watching this.

#2. Star Trek: Section 31. Michelle Yeoh? Why? You won an Oscar. Do the producers have something on you? This is the worst Star Trek anything that I think I have ever seen. This would have easily been the worst movie of the year except there was a film that was historically bad that surpassed it.

#1. War of the Worlds. What can be said about this film that hasn’t already been said? It is one of the most agreed upon worst movies of all time. It did creep its way up to 4% on Rotten Tomatoes, so there is that. Ice Cube deserved better, but his acting against the computer screen was laughable. This was shot during Covid and just now released. They should have let this one stay on the shelf. It was like a giant advertisement for Amazon Prime. Who knew their gift cards were so important? The worst product placement of all time. The special effects were ridiculous. The story was dumb. The characters made me want to root for the aliens.

2025 EYG Year in Review: The Liz

Posted on December 29, 2025 by Doc

The Liz Award

Previous Winners: Frances McDormand (3 Billboards Outside of Ebbing, Missouri), Viola Davis (Fences), Charlize Theron (Mad Max: Fury Road), Rosemund Pike (Gone Girl), Sandra Bullock (Gravity), Berenice Bejo (The Artist), Michelle Williams (My Week with Marilyn), Yalitza Aparicio (Roma), Renee Zellweger (Judy), Viola Davis (Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom), Rachel Zegler (West Side Story), Danielle Deadwyler (Till), Emma Stone (Poor Things), Mikey Madison (Anora), Cynthia Erivo (Wicked)

Our final acting award is for our BEST ACTRESS which we named after Elizabeth Taylor, aka The Liz. We do have one two-time winner of The Liz, that being Viola Davis for her roles in Fences and in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom. This year there are two possible actresses who could join her as a two-time winner.

#20. Cate Blanchett (Black Bag)

#19. Terri Apple (Strange Harvest)

#18. Hassie Harrison (Dangerous Animals)

#17. Carey Mulligan (The Ballad of Wallis Island)

#16. Margot Robbie (Big, Bold, Beautiful Journey)

Some newcomers in this first five. Terri Apple and Hassie Harrison were both in movies that surprised me with how awesome they were. The other three actresses in #20-16 are never a surprise.

#15. Elle Fanning (Predator: Badlands)

#14. Olivia Colman (The Roses)

#13. Renate Reinove (Sentimental Journey)

#12. June Squibb (Eleanor the Great)

#11. Rose Byrne (If I Had Legs I’d Kick You)

Again, some consider Rose Byrne a favorite for the Oscar for her movie. She was good, but I can’t see that happening. Elle Fanning has now appeared on both Supporting Actress and Lead Actress this year. I always LOVE Oliva Colman.

#10. Rachel Brosnahan (Superman)

#9. Emma Stone (Bugonia)

#8. Julia Garner (Weapons)

#7. Sophie Thatcher (Companion)

#6. Sydney Sweeney (Christy)

Rachel Brosnahan was a perfect casting for Lois Lane and she was front and center in that movie. Emma Stone is one of the previous winners of The Liz so there will be no two-time for her. One more possible on this list. Sydney Sweeney got a lot of heat because Christy flopped. Her performance was stunning anyway.

#5. Florence Pugh (Thunderbolts*)

#4. Cynthia Erivo (Wicked: For Good)

#3. Vanessa Kirby (Fantastic Four: First Steps)

#2. Kate Hudson (Song Sung Blue)

Cynthia Erivo won the Liz last year so there will be no one joining Viola Davis as a two-time winner this year. I am sad that I have a feeling that the Academy will be overlooking Kate Hudson’s performance in Song Sung Blue. She is absolutely spectacular and only an all tie performance kept her from winning the Liz this year. Florence Pugh is so charming and engaging as Yelena that I am excited to see her in next year’s Avengers: Doomsday. Vanessa Kirby was a perfect Sus Storm casting.

And #1… winner of 2025 The Liz Award

Jesse Buckley (Hamnet)

Jesse Buckley’s performance in Hamnet is quite literally the BEST performance I have seen this year over any medium or any forum. TV. Movies. Lead. Supporting. Male. Female. Other. YouTube. TikTok. You name it! Anything. It was a generational performance. The first half of Hamnet was not that good, and her work kept that film afloat until the second half of the film when her performance transcended the film into legendary statis. If she does not win the Oscar this year, no one should. She certainly has won The Liz at EYG.

2025 EYG Year in Review: Strangelove

Posted on December 29, 2025 by Doc

The Strangelove (Best Actor in Movie)

Previous Winners: James McAvoy (Split), Denzel Washington (Fences), Bryan Cranston (Trumbo), Michael Keaton (Birdman), Tom Hanks (Captain Phillips), Daniel Day-Lewis (Lincoln), Ryan Gosling (Drive), Rami Malek (Bohemian Rhapsody), Joaquin Phoenix (Joker), Chadwick Boseman (Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom), Andrew Garfield (Tick, Tick…Boom), Brendan Fraser (The Whale), Paul Giamatti (The Holdovers), Timothée Chalamet (A Complete Unknown).

We come to the BEST ACTOR award that we have named in honor of EYG Hall of Famer Peter Sellers and his multiple roles in the movie Dr. Strangelove. Again, no actor has won this award more than once. We do have one possible two-timer on the list and we will see if he can reach the top of the list.

#20. Austin Baker (Caught Stealing)

#19. George Clooney (Jay Kelly)

#18. Paul Mescal (Hamnet)

#17. Stellan Skarsgård (Sentimental Value)

#16. Cooper Hoffman (The Long Walk)

Our first five on the list all have nice performances. Cooper Hoffman was the biggest surprise of these five as his work on The Long Walk was exceptional.

#15. Brad Pitt (F1: The Movie)

#14. Daniel Craig (Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery)

#13. Jeremy Allen White (Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere)

#12. Joel Edgerton (Train Dreams)

#11. Pedro Pascal (Fantastic Four: First Steps)

Big names in this part of the list. Pedro Pascal I expected to be higher until I stated to compile the list. I loved his portray of Reed Richards. Jeremy Allen White did a great job as Springsteen. Daniel Craig was down further than I thought too. His performance as Benoit Blanc is always sensational. Some are saying Joel Edgerton has a chance to be nominated for an Oscar. I am not sure I would go that far, but he was good in Train Dreams.

#10. Channing Tatum (Roofman)

#9. David Jonsson (The Long Walk)

#8. Russell Crowe (Nuremberg)

#7. Matthew McConaughey (The Lost Bus)

#6. Leonardo DiCaprio (One Battle After Another)

Some think Leonardo is going to win the Oscar this year. I have already said that I was not a fan of One Battle After Another. He was fine there. Heck, he was better than fine as I have him at #6. David Jonsson in The Long Walk was exceptional and extremely moving. Russell Crowe playing Herman Goering is hard to give a lot of affirmations. He was great as the Nazi.

#5. Josh O’Connor (Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery)

#4. Timothée Chalamet (Marty Supreme)

#3. Hugh Jackman (Song Sung Blue)

#2. Dwayne Johnson (The Smashing Machine)

Timothee Chalamet won this award last year when he played Bob Dylan, so no two-time winner this year. The Rock gave his best performance of his career. It is a shame it is being overshadowed by the failure at the box office of Smashing Machine. Hugh Jackman is brilliant in Song Sung Blue, a film I just saw yesterday. Josh O’Connor did the impossible… stole the Knives Out movie from Benoit Blanc.

And #1…Strangelove winner for 2025

Michael B. Jordan (Sinners)

Michael B. Jordan played twins in Sinners and he did such a great job, there were times that I wondered if it was actually him playing both roles. Both characters, Smoke and Stack Moore, were individual people and had their own traits and personalities. It was a tour de force performance from a man who has only been getting better every movie.

2025 EYG Year in Review: The Joker/Hannibal Lecter/Mister Miyagi Award for Best Supporting Actor

Posted on December 29, 2025 by Doc

The Joker/Hannibal Lecter/Mister Miyagi Award for Best Supporting Actor

Previous Winners: Patrick Stewart (Logan), Michael Shannon (Nocturnal Animals), Sylvester Stallone (Creed), Edward Norton (Birdman), Jared Leto (Dallas Buyers Club), Christoph Waltz (Django Unchained), Andy Serkis (Rise of the Planet of the Apes), Richard Grant (Can You Ever Forgive Me?), Robert Downey Jr (Avengers: Endgame), Sasha Baron Cohen (Trial of the Chicago 7), Willem Dafoe (Spider-Man: No Way Home), Ke Huy Quen (Everything Everywhere All at Once), Robert Downey Jr. (Oppenheimer), Mark Eydelshteyn (Anora)

Our theme so far with the awards tonight have been potential two-time winners. However The Joker/Hannibal Lecter/Mister Miyagi Award for Best Supporting Actor has already had an actor win it twice. Robert Downey Jr. won it for Oppenheimer and Avengers: Endgame. We do have one past winner on the list to possibly join RDJ in the two-time winners club.

#15. Joseph Quinn (Fantastic Four: First Steps)

#14. Keanu Reeves (Good Fortune)

#13. Stacy Keach (Jay Kelly)

#12. John Lithgow (The Rule of Jenny Pen)

#11. Michael Shannon (Nuremberg)

Well, there was not much suspense about that as Michael Shannon, who previously won this award for Nocturnal Animals, is in at #11. The other interesting story in the #11-15 was Keanu Reeves, who I thought was terrible in the trailers for Good Fortune, but was so much better with context in the film.

#10. Peter Dinklage (Roofman)

#9. Jeremy Strong (Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere)

#8. Josh Brolin (Weapons)

#7. Ben Foster (Christy)

#6. Adam Sandler (Jay Kelly)

Another great group of actors. Adam Sandler is not usually on my lists, but he was excellent in Jay Kelly. Peter Dinklage is always great in whatever role he is doing. Ben Foster was extremely cruel in Christy, making a character that is truly hated.

#5. Jack O’Connell (Sinners)

#4. Jacob Elordi (Frankenstein)

#3. Delroy Lindo (Sinners)

#2. Josh Brolin (Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery)

Look at that. Josh Brolin appeared twice on this list. He is at number two and eight. He had two great performances in two awesome movies. The Sinners movie had some great performances too. Jack O’Connell will show up on a different actor list later on. Jacob Elordi brought a new life to Frankenstein.

And #1…

Mark Hamill (Life of Chuck)

Mark Hamill won the I Am Groot Award this year too. His performance in Life of Chuck was not long, but it was impactful and gave us the emotional wallop for the film. Mark Hamill has had a fantastic 2025 and I am pleased to give him this award.

2025 EYG Year in Review: The Hermione Granger/Furiosa/Rita Moreno Award for Best Supporting Actress

Posted on December 29, 2025 by Doc

The Hermione Granger/Furiosa/Rita Moreno Award for Best Supporting Actress

Previous Winners: Dafne Keene (Logan), Tilda Swinton (Dr. Strange), Alicia Vikander (Ex Machina), Emma Stone (Birdman), Jennifer Lawrence (American Hustle), Sally Field (Lincoln), Jennifer Aniston (Horrible Bosses), Emily Blunt (A Quiet Place), Scarlett Johansson (Jojo Rabbit), Margo Martindale (Blow the Man Down), Rita Moreno (West Side Story), Angela Bassett (Black Panther: Wakanda Forever), Da’Vine Joy Randolph (The Holdovers), Ariana Grande (Wicked)

With Best Supporting Actress, we have two past winners who are up for the award this year. It happened in the Best Director category… could we have the first time 2-Time winner of The Hermione Granger/Furiosa/Rita Moreno Award for Best Supporting Actress?

Let’s find out…

#12. Erin Kellyman (Eleanor the Great)

#11. Jennifer Lopez (Kiss of the Spider-Woman)

#10. Chase Infiniti (One battle After Another)

So the first three are all roles that were not winning this, but were solid performances. Chase Infiniti has a chance to be nominated for an Oscar, but I think her days are still ahead of her.

#9. America Ferrera (The Lost Bus)

#8. Elle Fanning (Sentimental Value)

#7. Laura Dern (Jay Kelly)

#6. Rebecca Ferguson (A House of Dynamite)

Four solid women in this stretch of the list. Rebecca Ferguson, America Ferrera both did underrated work in their movies this year. Elle Fanning stood out in Sentimental Value.

#5. Hailee Seinfeld (Sinners)

#4. Emily Blunt (Smashing Machine)

#3. Ariana Grande (Wicked: For Good)

#2. Glenn Close (Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery)

So no double winners in the supporting actress category this year. Emily Blunt had won previously for A Quiet Place and Ariana Grande won last year for Wicked. We have a new winner this year. Glenn Close nearly snuck up and snatched this away with her amazing performance in Wake Up Dead Man.

And #1…

Amy Madigan (Weapons)

Amy Madigan was thrilling and cruel as the witch who needed to kidnap a group of kids to save herself. She was creepy and eerie. She had the strangest, yet most deserving ending to any villain this year. Her performance made this movie work. It gave us all someone to hate.

2025 EYG Year in Review: “All Right, Mr. Deville, I am Ready for my Close Up” Award for Best Director

Posted on December 29, 2025 by Doc

“All Right, Mr. Deville, I am Ready for my Close Up” Award for Best Director

Previous Winners: A.G. Inarritu (Birdman), Tim McCarthy (Spotlight), Damien Chazelle (La La Land), Patty Jenkins (Wonder Woman), Alfonso Cuarón (Roma), Anthony and Joe Russo (Avengers: Endgame), Spike Lee (Da 5 Bloods), Jon Watt (Spider-Man: No Way Home), Ryan Coogler (Black Panther: Wakanda Forever), Christopher Nolan (Oppenheimer), Robert Eggers (Nosferatu)

We have some top of the line directors up for this award this year. We have never had a repeat winner in this award before, but we definitely have some possible 2nd time winners among our list.

Honorable Mention: Scarlett Johansson (Eleanor the Great), Jafar Pasnahi (It Was Just an Accident), Rob Reiner (Spinal Tap II: The End Continues), Francis Lawrence (The Long Walk), Joseph Kosinski (F1: The Movie).

#15. Kathryn Bigelow (A House of Dynamite)

#14. Mike Flanagan (Life of Chuck)

#13. Yorgus Lanthimos (Bugonia)

#12. Jon M. Chu (Wicked: For Good)

#11. Paul Thomas Anderson (One Battle After Another)

Discussion: Many Oscar pundits have PTA leading the pack for Best Director, but I did not love One Battle After Another. There is no argument that he did a great job as the director. Jon Chu and Mike Flanagan had dance and musical numbers to deal with. Kathryn Bigelow had to show multiple POVs in her film and Yorgus had to direct one of the most crazy scenes of the year.

#10. Chloe Zhao (Hamnet)

#9. James Gunn (Superman)

#8. Josh Safdie (Marty Supreme)

#7. Jake Schreier (Thunderbolts*)

#6. Matt Shakman (Fantastic Four: Final Steps)

I thought Matt Shakman, fresh off WandaVision, created a great tone in FF: First Steps. Thunderbolts was a great ensemble and Schreier managed the group extremely well. James Gunn had a lot of pressure choosing to direct the first DCU film himself and he did a great job. Josh Safdie won the battle of the Safdie brothers this year. Hamnet had a remarkable ending, but the first half was too slow.

#5. Paul Greengrass (The Lost Bus)

#4. Zach Cregger (Weapons)

#3. Guillermo Del Toro (Frankenstein)

#2. Rian Johnson (Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery)

With this group of directors, Rian Johnson’s brilliant story was presented in a perfect manner. Del Toro brought a stylish version of Frankenstein to Netflix. Zach Cregger’s work on Weapons was great, again with a style of differing POVs. The directing job done by Paul Greengrass with the fire and the stunts in The Lost Bus should not be overlooked, although it does feel as if it has been.

#1…

Ryan Coogler (Sinners)

Here is our first two-time “All Right, Mr. Deville, I am Ready for my Close Up” Award for Best Director winner. Coogler won a few years ago for his great work on Wakanda Forever and he absolutely took the next step with Sinners. This movie was such an epic that you can’t help but be impressed by his amazing work. Vampires. Music. Dance routines. Bloody standoffs. Sinners has everything.

2025 EYG Year in Review: Frame Award-Animation

Posted on December 29, 2025 by Doc

EYG Frame Award- Best Animation

Previous Winners: Spider-Man: Into the Spider-verse, Coco, Moana, Inside Out, Big Hero 6, Flashpoint Paradox, Paranorman, Winnie the Pooh, Klaus, Wolfwalkers, Mitchells vs. the Machines, Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, Inside Out 2

We had a really great year for animation this year. In fact, I usually connect this with the Worst Animation movie too, but I could not find one that I hadn’t given a fresh review to so I am just giving the Frame Award out. All positives here and that is great.

(Of course, I did not see Smurfs, which probably would have been that place.)

2025 Animated Movies: There are a couple of films that I would not put on the list which would be Elio and Stitch Head. Both are acceptable films. Elio might be considered weak if you used the Pixar metric to judge it, but other wise, it was decent.

Top 9 animated films of 2025.

#9. Dog Man. I did not like the trailers for this, but the film itself was decent.

#8. Ne Zha 2. This made almost 2 billions worldwide, but almost nothing in the US. Fun flick though.

#7. The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Loony Tunes Movie. This was fun, but I would have rather had Bugs Bunny than Daffy and Porky. Still, it was Loony Tunes goodness.

#6. In Your Dreams. A good film on Netflix that deals with family issues (specifically divorce).

#5. The SpongeBob Movie: Search for Squarepants. One of the most recent animated films that surprised me with how funny I found it. Mark Hamill always helps.

#4. Bad Guys 2. A sequel that was just about as good as the original with some fun characters in wild situations.

#3. Predator: Killer of Killers. The Hulu animated film in the Predator franchise. It really was a solid film and led into the badlands films brilliantly.

#2. K-Pop Demon Hunters. A film that should not have been this high on my list, but it had exciting story, great music and beautiful animation.

and #1….

Zootopia 2

This is possibly the highest grossing film of the year (we will see how Avatar ends up), but Zootopia has broken the billion dollar club and is just a really awesome story as well. The voice acting is tremendous and it is a really solid film in the Disney studios.

2025 Year in Review: Documentaries

Posted on December 28, 2025 by Doc

It’s been a good year for documentaries, but there has not been one that really jumped out as the best of the year. In past years, there have been some apparent choices.

Best Documentary

Previous Winners: Won’t You Be My Neighbor?, My Scientology Movie, Tickled, Finding Neverland, Tiger King, The Beatles: Get Back, Lights & Magic, Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie, Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story

Many of these were so obvious that you could just pencil it in and plan the rest. Won’t You Be My Neighbor? was as good as it got. The Michael J. Fox and Christopher Reeve movies brought so many feels to my tum-tum that they were clear choices.

This year, I have a bunch of good ones, but none that really demands to be the winner.

Runners-Up: I have not seen the John Candy doc, which I think will be pushed to the June Swoon at this point. I watched the Wick is Pain doc this year prior to Ballerina, and it was an enjoyable time. Being Eddie was funny, but not incredibly deep. Unknown Number: The High School Catfish was an improbable story, and those always make an enjoyable doc. Peacock had the Wrestlemania IX: Becoming a Spectacle, which had a lot of background info on one of the worst Wrestlemanias of all time. A doc on the artist behind Maus, Art Spiegelman, was a nice doc. Art Spiegelman: Disaster is My Muse goes into detail of the iconic cartoonist. My most recent doc was The Secrets We Bury on HBO Max, about a man who found his father’s bones buried beneath his house. I just finished Billy Joel: And So It Goes as part of the Sunday Morning Sidewalk. Becoming Led Zeppelin was a rocking good time. The Perfect Neighbor was another story of a Karen-gone-wrong and almost got this win. The actual second place doc this year went to Titan: The Oceangate Disaster.

Documentary of the Year

WWE Unreal

I know there were a lot of people trashing this as being set up, that the backstage stuff was scripted more than it professed. I don’t care. I found this to be utterly fascinating and engaging. When the agent Chris Park was upset because the Punk-Rollins match was going too long and he kept apologizing to Bruce Pritchard, who sure seemed to be one big jerk about it. Park was consoled by William Regal. That scene was absolutely not scripted and it showed the amount of pressure the backstage agents can feel.

This was four episodes on Netflix and is leading to a second season in January.

2025 EYG Year in Review: More TV

Posted on December 28, 2025 by Doc

We have given the best shows in each of the categories (Drama, Comedy, Genre, Animation). Now let’s get a little more specific.

Best Actor Drama: Sterling K. Brown (Paradise). Runners-Up: Stephen Graham (Adolescence), Noah Wylie (The Pitt), Michael C. Hall (Dexter: Resurrection), Jeremy Allen White (The Bear), Lee Jung-jae (Squid Game 3), Josh Holloway (Duster)

Best Actress Drama: Rhea Seehorn (Pluribus). Runners-Up: Melanie Lynskey (Yellowjackets), Christina Ricci (Yellowjackets), Julianne Nicholson (Paradise)

Best Supporting Actor Drama: Owen Cooper (Adolescence). Runners-Up: Gerran Howell (The Pitt), Ebon Moss-Bachrach (The Bear), Elijah Wood (Yellowjackets), Peter Dinklage (Dexter: Resurrection), Jason Isaacs (The White Lotus).

Best Supporting Actress Drama: Uma Thurman (Dexter: Resurrection). Runners-Up: Tracy Ifeacho (The Pitt), Katherine LaNasa (The Pitt), Erin Doherty (Adolescence), Jamie Lee Curtis (The Bear), Parker Posey (The White Lotus).

Best Actor Comedy: Seth Rogen (The Studio). Runners-Up: Steve Martin (Only Murders in the Building), Martin Short (Only Murders in the Building), Owen Wilson (Stick).

Best Actress Comedy: Selena Gomez (Only Murders in the Building). Runners-Up: Natasha Lyonne (Poker Face).

Best Supporting Actor Comedy: Marc Meron (Stick). Runners-Up: Christoph Waltz (Only Murders in the Building), Ike Barinholtz (The Studio), Bryan Cranston (The Studio), Teddy Coluca (Only Murders in the Building), Peter Dager (Stick).

Best Supporting Actress Comedy: Meryl Streep (Only Murders in the Building). Runners-Up: Kathryn Hahn (The Studio), Patti Harrison (Poker Face), Renee Zellweger (Only Murders in the Building), Zoe Kravitz (The Studio).

Best Actor Genre: Gabriel Luna (Andor). Runners-Up: Charlie Cox (Daredevil: Born Again), John Cena (Peacemaker), Ncuti Gatwa (Doctor Who), Alexander Skarsgård (Murderbot), Vincent D’Onofrio (Daredevil: Born Again).

Best Actress Genre: Jenna Ortega (Wednesday). Runners-Up: Rebecca Ferguson (Silo), Bella Ramsey (The Last of Us), Dominique Thorne (Ironheart), Jennifer Holland (Peacemaker), Jaz Sinclair (Gen V), Millie Bobby Brown (Stranger Things 5).

Best Supporting Actor Genre: Bill Skarsgård (IT: Welcome to Derry). Runners-Up: David Harbour (Stranger Things 5), Tim Robbins (Silo), Stellan Skarsgård (Andor), Pedro Pascal (The Last of Us), David Dastmalchian (Murderbot), Anthony Ramos (Ironheart), Steve Agee (Peacemaker), Arian S. Cartaya (IT: Welcome to Derry).

Best Supporting Actress Genre: Danielle Brooks (Peacemaker). Runners-Up: Sadie Sink (Stranger Things 5), Matilda Lawler (IT: Welcome to Derry), Genevieve O’Reilly (Andor), Isabela Merced (The Last of Us), Lyric Ross (Ironheart).

Best New Theme: IT: Welcome to Derry.

Best Makeup: Stranger Things 5. Runners-Up: Fallout, IT: Welcome to Derry, Gen V, Alien: Earth, Wednesday.

Best Animated Show: Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man

Best Animated Show Voice Actor: Christian Borle (Hazbin Hotel). Runners-Up: Erika Henningsen (Hazbin Hotel), Colman Domingo (Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man), Jeremy Jordan (Hazbin Hotel), Will Forte (Win or Lose), Hudson Thames (Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man)

Best TV Show Cameo: Sacha Baron Cohan (Ironheart). Runners-Up: Nicholas Hoult (Peacemaker), Rob Reiner (The Bear), Olivia Colman (The Bear), Keegan-Michael Key (Only Murders in the Building), Simon Helberg (Poker Face), John Cena (Pluribus), Martin Scorsese (The Studio), Ron Howard (The Studio), Ice Cube (The Studio).

Best Season Finale: IT: Welcome to Derry.

2025 Year in Review: Movie Music

Posted on December 28, 2025 by Doc

Music is a very important aspect of the movie. EYG already gave out Best Movie Musical, which was Spinal Tap II: The End Continues. We have several categories for this post, starting out with Best Original Song.

Best Original Song -2025 Movies

Top Four

#4. “Golden” (K-Pop Demon Hunters)

#3. The Girl in the Bubble (Wicked: For Good)

#2. “Let’s Just Rock Again” (Spinal Tap II: The End Continues)

#1. “I Lied to You” (Sinners)

Best Use of Music in Movie.

This may not necessarily be a musical. This might be a film about music or a film where the soundtrack is perfectly used.

Some of the films that were runners-up: Superman, K-Pop Demon Hunters, F1: The Movie, The Life of Chuck, Sinners, The Ballad of Wallis Island.

Winner:

Song Sung Blue

The true story of Lightning & Thunder, a tribute band to Neil Diamond used the music of Neil Diamond (as well as a few other popular artists) to tell the story beautifully.

Best Score/Soundtrack

Top 5

#5. Train Dreams – Bryce Dessner

#4. Frankenstein – Alexandre Desplat

#3. Wicked: For Good – John Powell/Stephen Schwartz

#2. Tron: Ares – Nine Inch Nails

#1. Sinners – Ludwig Goransson

2025 EYG Year in Review: In Memoriam Part 4

Posted on December 27, 2025 by Doc

Part Four of 2025 In Memoriam. Hope I do not have to do a Part 5.

Rob Reiner

Anthony Geary

Diane Keaton

Richard Chamberlain

Gil Gerard

Mick Abrahams

Peter David

Alf Clausen

Bill Mercer

Buster Poindexter

Dave Parker

Devin Harjes

George Wendt

James Lowell

Kevyn Major Howard

Joshua Blackledge

Jimmy Cliff

Phil Robertson

Adam the Woo

Mick Ralphs

Rick Hurst

Kenneth Colley

Kenneth Washington

Ryne Sandberg

Sally Kirkland

Valerie Mahaffey

Emman Atienza

Isabelle Tate

Steve Regal

Bobby Sherman

David Kaff

Eileen Fulton

Shigetoshi Kotari

Rick Davies

Rudi Johnson

Perry Bamonte

Young Bleed

Lynn Hamilton

Anne Burrell

Joe Don Baker

Raul Malo

Greg Biffle

James Ransone

Lulu Roman

Wink Martindale

Chris Jasper

2025 EYG Year in Review: The EYG Stan Lee Movie Cameo Award

Posted on December 27, 2025 by Doc

The EYG Stan Lee Movie Cameo Award

Previous winners: Stan Lee (Big Hero 6*, Deadpool, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse* ), John Cena (Daddy’s Home), Chris Evans (Thor: The Dark World, Free Guy, Deadpool & Wolverine), Sigourney Weaver (Cabin in the Woods), Hugh Jackman (X-Men: First Class), Yoda (Star Wars: The Last Jedi), J.K. Simmons (Spider-Man: Far From Home), Harrison Ford (Star Wars Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker), Rudy Giuliani (Borat Subsequent Moviefilm), Val Kilmer (Top Gun: Maverick), Rhea Perlman (Barbie)

SPOILERS

I am adding a spoiler tag to this award because the winner of The EYG Stan Lee Movie Cameo of the Year Award came from a movie that I just saw and has not been out for a long time. So if you are wanting to see this certain movie and you do not want this cameo spoiled, please skip this award for the moment.

Stan Lee was the master of the cameo. He is a three time winner of this award and, of course, had it named after him. A cameo can be a great thing. It can be a sudden surprise, something that you couldn’t believe. It could be something that made the scene perfect. It could be an amazing Easter egg. It could be an inside joke that only some of the audience may get. Or it could be the appearance of a celeb or a character that shows how much respect or love they have for the content in which they are appearing.

I actually was not anxious to do this award, despite it being one of my favorites and one of the oldest we had. The reason is I do not have a great deal of cameos in movies this year. There are actually several big ones in TV (which we’ll give out with the More TV Awards later this weekend), but the movies were light for me.

Naked Gun had a couple of good ones. Dave Bautista appeared in a fun joke, replacing Liam Neeson for a bit of the film. Weird Al was in that film too. I considered giving it to Al because he has been in so many of the Naked Gun films over the year. Bradley Cooper appeared in Superman as Jor-El, which was unexpected. John Cena’s Peacemaker was also in Superman. Sarah Michelle Geller appeared in the reboot of I Know What You Did Last Summer, but that film was such a mess that I wouldn’t want to give this award for that. Then there was William Zabka at the very end of the Karate Kid Legends, which was a fun shout out to Cobra Kai.

None of these were very impactful overall. I take nothing away from any of them, but I am not sure these were going to deserve this award, in the name of Stan Lee.

Then I saw Anaconda today.

Again, SPOILERS ahead. If you do not want to be spoiled by this… I’ll give you a countdown.

The EYG Stan Lee Cameo Award goes to…

Ice Cube as himself (Anaconda)

Star of the 1997 film Anaconda, Ice Cube makes a shocking return to the screen in 2025’s Anaconda. In the film, Jack Black and Paul Rudd are filming a reimaging of the film Anaconda, and they make plenty of references to the original film. Ice Cube pulls a Deus ex machina near the end of the film to show up and save the guys from certain death. Ice Cube strolls in as bad ass as they come. J-Lo makes an appearance later in a post credit scene, but Ice Cube gets this nod for being indispensable to the story itself.

I am very pleased for Ice Cube here after the disaster that was War of the Worlds.

2025 EYG Year in Review: Best and Worst Horror Movies

Posted on December 26, 2025 by Doc

This was another great year in horror. Not perfect, of course. There is a nice balance between good films and bad ones.

Again, we have not been keeping track of the “Worst” film, but the “Best” is in the records:

Best Horror Movie

Previous Winners: A Quiet Place, It, Don’t Breathe, It Follows, The Conjuring, As Above So Below, Cabin in the Woods, Doctor Sleep, Black Box, Fear Street trilogy, The Menu, A Haunting in Venice, Nosferatu

Runners-Up: Final Destination: Bloodlines was a surprise for me. At this point, I had never seen any of the Final Destination movies (I saw the first one in the October 13), and I loved this new one. The new Conjuring movie, Conjuring: Last Rites, put that franchise to bed (or so we are told). Guillermo Del Toro’s Frankenstein is a stylish, engaging new version on Netflix. A film I did not expect to like was Dangerous Animals, but it was extremely awesome. It was a shark movie that did not make the shark the villain. So it came down to two choices… and the one that did not make it was Weapons. I loved that movie, but I think it was a little less of a horror movie than the one that turned out to be the winner.

Best Horror Movie

Sinners

Michael B. Jordan starred in this Ryan Coogler directed film. Coogler wanted to do his vampire film and what he did was Sinners. This was a fantastic film and it was something we hadn’t seen before. Jordan played dual roles and he did it so well.

Worst Horror

Runners-Up: Until Dawn was such a bad movie. It was a disappointment as it had a decent premise. Lots of people loved Together, but I hated it. I hated it so much. Fear Street: Prom Queen was such a downgrade from the awesome trilogy from a few years ago.

“Winner”:

That film is not from Jordan Peele, no matter how much the movie wanted it to be true. This football film is truly one of the worst MOVIES of the year… not just horror.