Anime Watch of 2025

Let me start this year-end review by ripping off the band-aid and coming clean: I didn't watch a lot of new anime last year.

I can't exactly explain why beyond sheer laziness and having a stronger urge to rewatch previous favorites like Fairy Tail, Komi Can't Communicate and the first episodes of My Happy Marriage. I did try out HIDIVE, albeit only for just one show and only for a handful of episodes of said show. Why yes, I did stupidly continued to pay for the service every month for the rest of the year (and beyond!). I could at least make a valid enough excuse why I didn't watch anything new on Crunchyroll during the fall, which I'll get into more later, but there were plenty of backlog titles that I could have watched instead.

Though I didn't watch a lot of new anime series, I was able to support anime more by seeing many anime films in theaters. And oh boy, what a great year for that, what with the plethora of films that were released. The biggest one, of course, was Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Infinity Castle, which was #7 on the worldwide box office of 2025. But the best news came in the United States: it went to #1 in its opening weekend with a $70 million total, ended up as #18 highest grossing film for 2025, and made Marlon Wayans whine and cry and scream "Fuck Anime!" when the film easily beat his forgettable football horror movie. Then came Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc, which also debuted at #1 and brought in a good chunk of money (it also beat Wayans' movie as well). Most of the other movies (Attack On Titan, Dan Da Dan, Jujutsu Kaisen, Witch Watch, Gundam GQuuuuuuX) were more along the lines of television special events, often consists of previews of new series/seasons and/or reedits of past season arcs. But you could still find some hidden gems, most notably the critically acclaimed 100 Meters. Then there were the so-called one-night-only events, like the 4K restoration of Angel's Egg (breathtaking animation and sound design but pretentious as all hell, causing me to fall asleep at one point) and Clockwork Girl, the first short film of Yasuomi Umetsu's Virgin Punk series (amazing animation and gunplay but did we really need more of his lolita complex?). This is all fine and good for me as a cinephile but I still felt bad for neglecting the rest of anime in 2025.

So, to quote Thomas Jefferson, what did I miss?

It was the year of second seasons, with Solo Leveling, Dan Da Dan, My Dress-Up Darling, My Happy Marriage, Call Of The Night, Grand Blue Dreaming, and, shock of all shocks, New Panty & Stocking With Garterbelt all earning raves. However, it was The Apothecary Diaries and its highly anticipated and hugely popular second season that stood above all.

Netflix handed out more Blue Box and Ranma 1/2, premiered Sakamoto Days and a revival of YAIBA, and stunned critics and animephiles alike with The Summer Hikaru Died.

Honey Lemon Soda brought teen romance and plenty of tears, Kowloon Generic Romance brought adult romance and plenty of sex, Dealing With Mikadono Sisters Is A Breeze brought goofy romance and plenty of laughs, Okitsura also brought goofy romance but instead brought plenty of Okinawan humor, and May I Ask For One Final Thing? brought no romance because it's female lead was too busy beating the shit out of her so-called Prince Charming.

Super Sentai fans got to enjoy The Red Ranger Becomes An Adventurer In Another World, at least until Toei and TV Asahi announced the cancellation of the 50+ year franchise at the end of the year, while Kamen Rider fans got to enjoy the offbeat Tojima Wants To Be A Kamen Rider. And if you wanted more superhero stuff, there was the surprise success of To Be Hero X.

You want dark stuff instead? Okay, you glutton for punishment. You had the action fantasies Gachiakuta and Tougen Anki, "The Thing meets Groundhog Day" with the space horror GNOSIA, the yokai and yuri-fest This Monster Wants To Eat Me, and the ultra dark, holy-shit-what-did-I-watch, near universally acclaimed but you'll never watch it again Takopi’s Original Sin.

Kyoto Animation made it glorious return with the long anticipated adaptation of CITY.

Sunrise and Hideki Anno teamed up for a unique take on Gundam with the very uniquely titled Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX.

Anime critics and plenty a YouTuber express their appreciation for little seen and talked about series like Zenshu, Anne Shirley, and Medalist.

The long and tortured fight to bring the full Macross franchise to America finally ended, with many of the shows, including fan favorites Macross Plus and Macross 7, available via Hulu.

Meanwhile on Disney+, Twisted Wonderland wowed both anime and Disney fans.

Shonen series were still popular with the third season of Spy x Family, the first half of the final season of Fire Force, and the premiere of My Hero Academia: Vigilantes.

And finally, My Hero Academia went out with a huge bang with its final season, which was practically the Stranger Things of anime last year due to how many people watched it, talked about it, and raved about it (yeah, maybe the Stranger Things comparison doesn't work with that last one).

Wow, all of this make it seem like anime was very good in 2025. Well, it was. That's what makes my sheer laziness even more frustrating! Especially since I passed up on the second seasons of past beloved shows like My Dress-Up Darling and Let This Grieving Soul Retire!, not to mention forgoing the anime adaptation of I'm The Evil Lord Of An Intergalactic Empire!, which is one of my current favorite light novel series to read. At least with the latter, however, I heard fans were disappointed that it was only a full adaptation of the first volume and nothing more.

Now, usually this is the part where I talk more about the bad side of the anime in the previous year. Unfortunately, I didn't really venture much into the muck or heard a lot of ire beside there being too many mediocre to fine yet forgettable shows. The only disasters and disappointments that I consistently heard and saw online were: director Shinichirō Watanabe returning with Lazarus to mixed reviews; infamous studio GoHands unleashing another visual monstrosity with Momentary Lily; the long gestated only to flop hard adaptation of Übel Blatt, which was often compared to Berserk, particularly the infamous 2016 series with its inaccessibility and bad production values; the second season of Go! Go! Loser Ranger! collapsing due to it cramming too much plot and faulty animation; and certainly the biggest point of discussion, One-Punch Man refusing to die and giving us a third season that is apparently even worse the infamous second season.

But there were far worse things that happened to anime. Far, far worse than any bad show or season. And what a surprise, they came from major American companies! First, there was Crunchyroll. The company/streaming service continued to lose their goodwill with anime fans when it was discovered that they were allegedly using generative AI for their subtitling of shows in the summer and fall seasons. This is incredibly awful because, as someone who can attest to and witnessed the anime distribution of the past, we live in an era now where Japanese-to-English scripts can be properly executed by talented translators. But because that costs money and you have all of the annoying tech bros talking up how great AI is, despite it being practically universally loathed, Sony and Crunchyroll would rather pinch their pennies and really hope that anime audiences will forgive and forget that they are actively ruining their own business with this terrible strategy. That's really bad, hence why I didn't really watch stuff in the fall, but then came early December, when it was discovered that Amazon was also testing out generative AI but for far more devious reasons. Announced in early March but slyly integrated at the end of the year, Amazon created "AI beta" auto-dubs for shows like Banana Fish and No Game, No Life, despite the latter actually having an official English dub. Everybody, from fans to professional voice actors to creators, were utterly aghast, that is when they weren't laughing their ass off at the viral clips that were being shown across the web, most notably a scene from Banana Fish when the main character is "distraught" when a kid is shot and dying in his arms. This generated nuclear heat online, causing Amazon to quickly remove the auto-dubs from their site and they have since become lost media. However, the fact that someone tried this has woken a sleeping giant and could lead to a potential reckoning down the line.

Shit, that last paragraph was really depressing, even though I already lived through both debacles. Let's end on a positive note: you know was also great about 2025? The return of the $4.99 anime sale on iTunes! They came back in April and since then have continued biweekly, with many previous Funimation titles such as Ai Yori Aoshi, Haibane Renmei, and Level E, all of which are still unavailable on Crunchyroll, being up for grabs. And why yes again, I spent more time and money on buying up these shows than actually watching any of them.

Now, let's just get on to the main event, shall we? Here are the list of anime series that I watched last year. As always, the list goes from what I decided was the best and continues all the way down to the least liked or worst.

The rules are the same: The overall quality of the show and my response to it are the major factors toward their rank. However, other additional factors such as replayability, voice talent, and lasting impact can help sway the show's placing. Only new shows/new viewings count; rewatches are immediately disqualified and if I watch a show that I already started, only the continuing unwatched episodes will be reviewed. I treat and grade all series fairly, even ones that I haven't actually finished or may not choose to finish. If you see a * next to the title, that means I had a limited sampling of the show or didn't complete the series/franchise fully.

1. The Eminence In Shadow* [episodes 1-5]

I know a lot of people dunk on this series or simply call it trash entertainment but come on, everyone, this show is so much fun. Granted, the first episode is a bit of a throwaway outside of the ending moments. But then you get into the main drive of the show, where a chunibyo get isekaied and reincarnated into a new world, proceeds to become a darker version of Batman and create his own cult/band of superheroes, only to not realize that it shares the same name as an actual group of villainy and scum. Again, come on, people, how can you hate on a show where the protagonist buys a bunch of expensive crap, places it all around his student dorm room, and waits until nightfall just so he can look cool to an underling? And I'm not even getting into the whole "he created McDonald's" subplot or the famous "I Am Atomic!" scene. So why did I stop at episode 5? Can't really give you an answer, quite frankly. Maybe all of the torture scenes? I don't really know anymore, as I watched this last January, but I do want to get back on the crazy train and see what happens next.

2. I Left My A-Rank Party To Help My Former Students Reach The Dungeon Depths!* [eps. 1-7]

A little sad that I stopped watching this, as it was the most entertaining 2025 anime for me (which isn't saying much when I only watched two series). I liked how it went beyond the usual "banished and betrayed" tales by having the protagonist finding his groove again as a new party leader/instructor on how to adventure in dungeons. The whole live-streaming aspect is really weird at first but it gets further developed and help make the show stand out more, especially with a subplot where the main character's former party get caught spouting racist insults at a dark elf, creating a public relations nightmare. Props also to Drew Breedlove's steadily righteous voice performance and the pretty cool opening theme "Enter" by L.E.I. Definitely will pick it up again and complete it.

3. A Playthrough Of A Certain Dude's VRMMO Life

The only series that I finished entirely. Was it worth it? Eh, sorta of. I mean the show lives up to its title; it really is just some guy's misadventures while playing a VRMMO. Sometimes he ends up being a hero, other times he's spending an entire episode crafting and cooking. While I liked this laissez-faire approach to the story, it also serves as the show's biggest issue. New characters keep getting introduced, making you think that they will be important, especially since they all appear in both the opening and ending credit sequences, but they only stop by for an episode or two, save for the delightful wolf-eared fairy queen. Events and other troubles get resolved in the background without the protagonist's help. Worse, you never get any answers as to what's up with the secret boardroom of game developers that the show keeps cutting to. Then at the last episode, the showrunners are like ah screw it, bring in some random dragon guy so we can end the show with one last battle. Not great but an okay watch.

4. The Strongest Magician In The Demon Lord's Army Was A Human* [eps. 1-3]

Tries to be super serious on all fronts but it works better if you treat it as dumb but fun fantasy fluff. The scene where the hero is "assassinated" in the flattest manner ever yet his underling screams to the heavens was the most unintentionally funniest moment of the year for me. I'll probably give it a second try.

5. Possibly The Greatest Alchemist Of All Time* [eps. 1-3]

This was on the fine line of okay until it got into the whole slavery aspect. Seriously, why have that? It tries to play it off as a softer, more humane take on it but it didn't really need to be here in the first place. For God's sake, this is a show where the main guy makes a fortune after he creates a magic toilet that eliminates odors and shit! I might give it another chance but I really believe it will not stick with me at all beyond that magic toilet.

6. Bogus Skill <<Fruitmaster>>: About That Time I Became Able To Eat Unlimited Numbers Of Skill Fruits (That Kill You)* [eps. 1-6]

This show was featured on many worst anime of 2025 lists, so of course it had to be really bad, right? The thing is the show is watchable but it just so pedestrian and not awful enough for bad anime watchers. Most of my hatred of it, however, was targeted towards the show's main antagonist. Not only is the character blatantly evil in public, she runs the whole skill fruit enterprise, possesses immense control over the adventuring and merchant guilds, plus openly shepherds the so-called best team of adventurers despite them all being assholes who create public destruction everywhere they go. And nobody baits an eye to all this because everyone else is underwritten and just plain stupid. Probably will just call it and leave the rest of the show to rot.

Yeah, I know, not exactly a great crop of shows. Plus, I once again failed all of my anime-based new year's resolutions. So, what do I have planned for 2026? Well, there is a major personal project that I'm currently finalizing. It will be revealed in a couple of months from now (here's a hint: when does a certain "big number" impacts your own life and leads many people to cheer/jeer you?). I will say at least that I will, not try, finally watch Classroom Of The Elite and High School DxD for the first time and catch up/finish up Iruma-kun, Fire Force, and My Next Life As A Villainess.

Best To Worst Films of 2025

Ah, 2025. The year where every American, regardless of their vote the previous November, got to experience buyer's remorse. And like every case of buyer's remorse, the red flags were more than plentiful and flying wide and high. We were warned.

I could on and on and on about all of the shit we had to wade through thanks to the 79-year-old head honcho last year but all of it is regurgitated to us every day thanks to his sheer hubris and an unrelenting bombardment of news media. So, let's go through the rest of the year quickly before focusing on the film industry, shall we?

We had a New Year's suicide attack in New Orleans; massive wildfires that destroyed Los Angeles; multiple plane crashes and airport problems; the flip-flopping ban of TikTok; Beyoncé finally getting the Grammy for Best Album; the Kansas City Chiefs losing at the Super Bowl and signaling the end of their dynasty; Kendrick Lamar caping his musical and cultural dominance with an impressive halftime show; Rory McIlroy completing the grand slam of golf at the Masters; Pope Francis died and an American cardinal is selected to succeed as Pope Leo XIV; the Eurovision Song Contest nearly collapsing due to irregular voting and then later draws intense ire and major boycotts when Israel isn't banned from competing; a deadly flash flood in Texas that shook up the Fourth of July weekend; Stephen Colbert's late night show planned to end next May due to "financial issues"; Coldplay becoming relevant again thanks to an affair-revealing kiss cam; Taylor Swift getting engaged to footballer Travis Kelce and later releasing a best-selling but heavily mocked new album; the assassination of conservative figure Charlie Kirk and his death going viral online; a true case of political censorship when the FCC and conservative-backing television stations attempted to cancel Jimmy Kimmel and his late night show; a long government shutdown; basketball players getting arrested for a illegal gambling ring, an abundant year of quality video games ruled over by the launch of the Nintendo Switch 2 and the French "indie" RPG Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, and endless declarations of 6-7(!), the death of pop music, the future and supposed benefits of generative AI, and the releasing of the Epstein files.

Meanwhile, the world of film experienced their own set of trials and tribulations. The year started off miserably in January with the as-mentioned L.A. wildfires, which would help in part to the untimely death of legendary filmmaker David Lynch. The legal feud between It Ends With Us' Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni continued, even after everybody really stopped caring about it and failed to realize that it has nearly ended with them in the courts with Baldoni as the big loser. A serviceable Oscars was hampered by three incidents: the tragic death of Gene Hackman and his wife, the makers of The Brutalist revealed to have utilize AI in the production of the film, and most especially with Emilia Pérez, both for the growing backlash against the film itself and for star Karla Sofía Gascón, whose old racist tweets resurfaced "coincidentally" during the Oscar voting period and her decision to continue speaking out about them. The movie theater experience continued to lose popularity during the first half of the year, largely thanks to high ticket prices, poor offerings (Novocaine and The Alto Knights anyone?), original films that are catered more to critics' tastes than the American public (Mickey 17, Black Bag), and the ever expanding human urge to stay home, save money, and enjoying Hollywood releases via their debuts/drops on streaming services and/or longer-term storytelling via programs such as Adolescence and season 3 of The White Lotus. By the time we actually had a real box office winner with A Minecraft Movie, the #1 highest-grossing film of the year (yes, really), movie theaters became even more in danger literally due to the TikTok, meme-infused "Chicken Jockey!" trend causing audience members to be disruptive and engage in annoying and disturbing actions.

After a relatively ho-hum summer, you could tell the fall season was set to be a mess when anniversary screenings of Jaws beat out two new major releases (Caught Stealing and The Roses) over the Labor Day weekend. October was largely an absolute graveyard for original films, particularly those looking to score Oscar noms, and offered up substandard horror flicks. November was slow at first before managing to pick up around the holiday season, all thanks to flying witches and human-like animals dealing with human-like societal issues. Finally, it was December, where the long awaited third Avatar film was finally released to the world... and proceeded to generate a lot of money but not the shit ton of money it was expected to. Fair to middling notices from both critics and audiences will do that to you. And just to give the world a big lump of coal for the holidays, actor/director/all-around great American Rob Reiner and his wife were tragically taken away from us, with the Big Cheese and his White House bootlickers proceeding to show their true colors by making offensive remarks towards them.

Turmoil plagued the major Hollywood studios throughout the year. Disney once again had huge hits but the bombs and misfires were more spectacular to observe and laugh at, whether it was Elio, Tron: Ares, or most notably the now legendary-in-its-infamy live-action remake of Snow White. Marvel wasn't even spared, with Captain America: Brave New World and The Fantastic Four: First Steps failing to overcome sheer critical derision and quickly evaporating enthusiasm respectively. Warner Bros. had the biggest hits of the year, both critically and commercially, but it doesn't seem to matter now now that it is official that the business merger with Discovery was a stupid mistake and the movie studio side is set to be sold to Netflix, unless Paramount's attempt at a hostile takeover wins over the shareholders. Speaking of them, Paramount relied on Tom Cruise once again to save their asses, only for Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning to land not with a bang but a very quiet whimper. Universal relied on expensively made known fare (Jurassic Park: Rebirth, Wicked: For Good, How To Train Your Dragon) to boffo results but with little to no significant impact to the human memory beyond toy purchases. Even micro-studio A24 suffered, proceeding to have their "worst" year ever with a slate of films that spent more time confusing and pissing off their audiences than actually enthralling and entertaining them. Materialists. Need I say more?

But to be honest, though it wasn't always awesome and there were certainly a lot of dead spots in the release schedule, 2025 was a fun year for film, with many great movies sprinkled all around only for them to transform into big works of pop culture and/or develop a fervor of fans and critical debates. There was the true #1 film of the year, initially thrown to the public at the end of June by Netflix as their standard movie of the week, only to survive the likes of a poop cruise, Madea, and Adam Sandler and become Netflix's most watched film ever. There was the two horror-themed films that lived up to their startling trailers and prerelease hype to deliver stories and visuals that have and will continue to generate a million think-pieces and film student essays. There were the several anime films that generated a ton of capital, hit #1 at the box office, and forced many stubborn movie critics and insiders to discuss them, truly look at the current tastes of the American public and hopefully reflect on their own prejudices towards animation. There were aliens, zombies, a man-made zombie, body switches, body horror, desperate people looking to pay their rent, a desperate person looking to pay for a ticket to Japan, not one but two sentimental stories of famous film people trying to rebuild their relationships with their daughters, and four, count them four acclaimed Stephen King adaptations in the same year (well, one of those is a stretch but humor me and round it up, you know the one!). And of course, there was the off-kilter action flick by an American auteur that may not have been a big box office hit but is on course to being labeled as the best film of the year and set to win the Best Picture Oscar.

For me, however, 2025 wasn't actually all about movies. I seemingly spent more time and energy on theater and video games. My urge to watch old Tony Awards via YouTube greatly surpassed my urge to sit through a three-hour film time and time again. I always knew that I spend a lot of time playing video games but my whim to extensively document it last year greatly showed how much the medium truly means to me, even if I still can't always finish a JRPG. And when I planned out a full day trip to NYC in December, something I used to do to catch limited releases and Oscar hopefuls, I instead went to see Chess at the Imperial and Ragtime at Lincoln Center (the former was fine, the latter was amazing). Hell, 2025 was the year of Ragtime for me, as I consumed the book, the movie, the original Broadway cast album, and a live Broadway production all in one year. Add all that with a job promotion, several special training sessions, and way too many pricey car repairs, my time spent with film was dwindling. Also not helping matters is with the lack of extensive film output, movie theaters are now showing older films beyond the usual Fathom Events to draw up business and I often partook with them then say yet another bad 2025 movie starring Sydney Sweeney. One of these movies was, you guessed it, the first-ever theatrical release of my favorite film of 2020, Hamilton (spoiler: it's a whole lot better on the big screen). Still, as much as it's a thrill watching an old favorite, there's nothing like the incredible rush and excitement of a new offering.

My final total of 2025 films that I watched is 23. It's now time to arrange them in the order of my opinion, from the best to the worst.

First up is my Top Ten of the Year. It was pretty easy to figure out the top half. With the bottom half, however, I really had to get into the nitty gritty to figure out their placements.

1. Sinners

For Hollywood, the standard rule of thumb for a produced film is generality and familiarity, particularly when it comes to a genre picture. Like this movie's opening scene, artists are expected to clean themselves up, forgo their passions, drop their tools, give up their rights, and follow what the powers-that-be have deemed as gospel. Writer-director-producer-future rights holder Ryan Coogler said to hell with all of that. His extravagant mixture of horror, musical, social drama, and fantasy, with a dash of blaxploitation for good measure, is simply divine all on its own.

2. Little Amélie Or The Character Of Rain

2025 was another great year for animation fans, as there was a smorgasbord of films from around the world, many of which were thankfully granted a little-wider-than-limited theatrical release. This French-Belgian coproduction, which adapts an oddly named, unconventional French novel, was the absolute best of the medium. There's just so much to love: the breathtaking visuals, the exemplary creativity, a rich and exploratory plot that's enacted so simply, and those emotional moments that are perfectly heartbreaking or heartwarming. Coupled with the equally excellent animated short Éiru, this was the most life-affirming I ever felt in theaters last year. I must also give a shout out to the fellow audience member who sat behind me and had a really awkward, really ugly cry at the end.  

3. Blue Moon

Ethan Hawke absolutely should win the Best Actor Oscar come March, hands down. Both he, director Richard Linklater, and writer Robert Kaplow create an outstanding full-blooded portrayal of famed American theater lyricist Lorenz Hart, as he glides around one fateful, enchanting evening at Sardi's with the funny feeling that everything will soon be going his way. Save for some deliberate winking at the audience and an overextended coat check room scene, the film truly feels what a night with Hart would have been like: playful, manic, captivating, exhausting, witty, somber, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera. And yes, I am deliberately referencing a bunch of stuff created by Rodgers & Hammerstein, not Rodgers & Hart, for this sum-up. Please don't get so bewitched, bothered, and bewildered by it.

4. Weapons

Most horror films would be content with just having a popular persona of evil or a signature visual to linger in your nightmares. Writer-director Zach Cregger has both of them and more with his deeply frightening look at how a community can collapse, festering up intense anger, rampant shaming, and calls for retribution when an unexplainable tragedy unfolds. Cregger pulled off a genius maneuver with his script, telling the story from different times and perspectives to keep you guessing, while also sneakily presenting the clues alongside effective scares or strange displays of surrealism, like the forever-to-be-debated giant rifle in the sky. And man, what a wild, crazy and somehow melancholic ending.

5. KPop Demon Hunters

The film of 2025, period. You know an animated musical is gonna be good when you're getting goosebumps from the very first song. Come for the bop-filled soundtrack and delightfully anime-esque 3D animation, stay for its examination on conflicted individuality and the personal demons we can never shake off. Sure, it has some cut corners and minor issues here and there but it's just too damn entertaining to care. The biggest regret film-wise that I had last year was not going to see it at the cinema during its special engagement runs. Watching it with a sold out audience of fans would have made it truly feel like "going to the movies" again.

6. Superman

Have you ever picked up a random superhero comic book from the spinning racks, looked through it and found yourself enjoying the sudden drop into a different world? Writer-director James Gunn has, and he recreates that experience with his cut-to-the-chase reimagining of America's greatest hero. 

7. Kiss Of The Spider Woman

A hidden gem that pushes the boundaries of the musical film, yet also firmly states why musical films have been the most nourishing works of art during troubling times (see my #5 for proof). I'm not much of a fan of Kander & Ebb but director Bill Condon and his talented independent crew wisely reshaped the duo's Tony-winning musical, which was previously a book then a play then an Oscar-winning movie, into a more cohesive and easier to stomach affair. Sorry J-Lo, but this gloriously flamboyant and rigidly grim spectacle shines the greatest whenever Tonatiuh is on the screen. Fun Fact: This is a Sundance film.

8. Predator: Badlands

A straight-up entertaining franchise flick. It stumbles a bit thanks to its stubborn-to-a-fault protagonist, not to mention many scenes being too damn dark to see, but the creators eventually smooth things out to craft proper blockbuster thrills, including an thoroughly exciting, spine-ripping, stomach-slicing, skull-collecting third act. I'm still shocked and highly impressed how they got away with all of that gore, even if it was all alien creatures and synthetic androids.

9. The Long Walk

An exceptional journey of abject horror that unfortunately trips up right at the finish line (pun fully intended). This Stephen King adaptation was able to accomplish something that's practically impossible to pull off in a filmed battle royal narrative: all of the deaths are extremely disturbing to watch, even for a kill count video on YouTube. You can even say that they are Haneke-esque. They are made more unsettling by the grisly special effects and the vulnerable performances of the cast, particularly Cooper Hoffman and David Jonsson. I wish I could put this higher but that ending, that new ending to this famed tale, woof. My crowd was so pissed and loudly asking for their money back.

10. Wake Up Dead Man

Rian Johnson continues his streak of great murder-mysteries featuring the peculiar private detective Benoit Blanc with this much darker entry. It swallows up your time away with ease, thanks to its stacked cast, uniquely artistic composition and lighting, and an engrossing story about those that weaponize social hatred via their higher status versus those that wish to remain human and practice healing and forgiveness. Unfortunately, I think some of my enthusiasm with the film was impacted by seeing way too many murder-mystery television series involving priests, most notably Father Brown. Plus, it's way too obvious what the most shocking moment of the story was going to be (spoiler: look at the title) and who was going to be standing across from Benoit Blanc at the very end with the final reveals.

Next up is the one film, yes, one, that I thought was very good and a true highlight of the year. It just had a thing or two that kept it from making my Top Ten. 

11. Marty Supreme

This was my first experience with the true "Safdie" style, and boy, what a squirming-in-my-seat trip. A whirlwind of high highs, low lows, and wild finishes, all mainly caused by the cruel behavior and bad decisions of its heavily flawed protagonist, played wonderfully by Timothée Chalamet. Possessing a fantastically elaborate cast and an idiosyncratic soundtrack, this is one great "sports" movie that I most likely will not want to watch ever again.

Next are the "creamy middles", the films that are worth a viewing and were effective in their execution, engagement, and/or entertainment. I just wasn't fully enamored with them as I was with the films above.

12. Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Infinity Castle

The time for clipshows and sneak previews are finally and thankfully done. Rabid Demon Slayer fans and other curious viewers richly enjoyed this movie, making it one of the biggest films of the entire world last year. As for myself, those three hours certainly felt like three hours, made worse by the episodic structure of the film and it firmly acting as part one to a much bigger conclusion. Nevertheless, the high caliber animation helped make the fights exciting, the English dub continues to be stellar, including a shocking voice acting performance from Channing Tatum, and that tragic backstory for one of the villains that concludes the picture is a doozy.

13. Zootopia 2

Though not as stupendous and thought-provoking as the first one, the continuing misadventures of Judy and Nick and the wild takes of animals living in a human-like culture are still well executed and a joy to behold. Additional compliments to its compelling finale, albeit one that quite liberally borrows from another popular Disney animated juggernaut.

14. The Smashing Machine

Way too much focus was spent last year on this film's knockout at the box office than the actual film itself. While not truly exceptional outside of Dwayne Johnson's stunning transformation and award-worthy performance, this unique beast of a sports movie is destined to amass a cult following.

15. Warfare

An impressive experiment in human memory and the intricacies of human combat. Whether you call it pro-war or anti-war, quite frankly, this film doesn't give a fuck what stance you think it takes. All it truly cares at conveying is the sheer toll that armed conflict brings.

16. Dog Man

A fluffy, fun-filled animated ride. You know this movie is good when it can somehow make Pete Davidson into a likable, talented actor.

17. F1

Joseph Kosinski tried to work his Top Gun: Maverick magic again, featuring another aging movie star piloting a high-speed vehicle for global domination, to satisfying yet still stale results. A gas-powered blast of heightened excitement when watching it in a movie theater will all of the loud vroom vrooms, plus featuring a delightful Javier Bardem, the film stalls out too many times thanks to its bog-standard script, courtesy of shoddy screenwriter Ehren Kruger.

18. Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc

As much as I like the manga (still haven't checked out the anime series), this boffo anime hit just left a disappointing taste in my mouth for the most part. No, it's not because my tongue was also ripped out by the not-so-secret antagonist, nor because I saw this the same day as Little Amélie. It just felt long in the tooth for a such a simple story arc and the final battle wasn't as wow-inducing as I would have thought and wanted. On the other hand, the animation is top notch, the score is cool and groovy, and it sticks the landing at all of the intended poignant moments. Also, needed more Power.

Finally, we end with five of the worst films of 2025. The first two entries should have been separated and labeled as unfortunate disappointments but I frankly don't want to give them that courtesy. The other three truly deserve to be this low.

19. Tron: Ares

I originally wasn't going to place this movie this low, due to the sheer fact that I enjoyed it to a degree. The NIN soundtrack, Jodie Turner-Smith's cold as ice performance, some fun action set pieces, and crafty shifts in art direction brought much needed life to dormant Disney property. But then there's Jared Leto, who just sucks all the fun away whenever he's on the screen, then begins to doubly suck when he tries to spit out Marvel-like humor. His anti-stardom, coupled with a moldy script, a pathetic main villain, desperate use of fan service, and the audacity to be all gung-ho on AI-powered creations in this day and age, helped sink this film into its own Grid-generated ocean.

20. The Phoenician Scheme

Each year, there are plenty of movies that come and go without leaving a lasting impact. A new Wes Anderson film shouldn't be one of them. Alas, the American auteur continues his downward trend with this crummy and often unfunny movie that tries in vain to coast on all of the same artsy fartsy filmmaking and story tricks of his trade, as well as the acting talents of Benicio del Toro. Seriously, why would you give a shit about a movie whose protagonist is some old ass, cheap ass, unlikable and near lethargic swindler, requires you to keep track of all of his mathematical scheming, and force you to constantly worry about his money woes and physical safety despite informing you from frame one that he's near invincible?

21. Jujutsu Kaisen: Execution

Even with amazing animation, cool fights, top tier Japanese voice acting, a great soundtrack, and enduring popularity, I simply just can't get into this shonen property. This clipshow/sneak preview doesn't help matters. It's just a constant bombardment of death and destruction with little to no explanation for anyone that's not a fan of the show, followed by a second half that's more suited to television, with its walls of text and a pathetic ending that's more of a commercial break than an actual cliffhanger.

22. Colorful Stage! The Movie: A Miku Who Can't Sing

Nearly all year, I had this movie dead set to be at the bottom of my year-end list. Watching this was a bit of a nightmare, as I realized upfront that I had to deal with 20(!) main characters, all of whom barely have any characterization and came from a mobile game. Then you had the film's major dilemma, which stupidly stipulates that if even one version of the legendary virtual idol Hatsune Miku is rejected by the human race, the world will collapse but only for a few minutes, and all other Miku-infused music will be erased/re-edited. Oh no?! And then there's the talking, dear lord, the near endless talking that always boil down to "Should we do something?" and "We should do something!"

So, why is the film in the penultimate spot instead? Because when you finally get to the climactic musical performances, they are all solid j-pop bops and the animation is eye-catching. Plus, the movie's theme, that music is out there, patiently waiting for you to help your soul in your time of need, is a worthwhile message and conveys it strongly; post-viewing, I had a hard time shaking off the scenes involving the studying, stressed out school girl. Not a total disaster but a tough struggle to keep your attention. Fun Fact: This film outgrossed a major Julia Roberts movie at the box office.

23. Sneaks

I knew this movie was going to be really bad upon seeing its trailer. However, after being one of the very, very few who saw it, I struggled with my final assessment. I kept getting hung up on whether I should be a little lenient on it since there simply aren't a lot of American animated films featuring a majority black cast or focus on black themes and culture. But then I remembered how the handful of other viewers in my theater were all white, mainly families looking to please/shut up their kids for a bit. I remembered how utterly stupid the main human character is, with his strong refusal to just sell the ultra-rare shoes he wins in a lottery, despite living in dirt-poor conditions, always having to wear his one-and-only pair of busted-ass sneakers, and his intentions to wear and abuse them for a honestly worthless basketball game and to impress a girl. I remembered, via my extensive notes, that there was another unnecessary villain, that the narrating chorus of shoefiti just disappear midway through the story, that it keeps weirdly making romantic relationships between different shoe characters instead of, you know, between a same pair of shoes, and that it enacts the greatest sin imaginable by having Keith David do a voice and regulate him to only one scene!

As previously stated, I was all ready to crown Colorful Stage as my worst film of the year due to how much it greatly annoyed me. However, that movie truly wanted to entertain people and make an impression. Sneaks, on the other hand, is just pure nothing, and it has become just that: it barely made a half million dollars at the box office in its first weekend, it never premiered on any streaming platforms, it was physically released only on DVD (in 2025?!), and it didn't even make any Worst Of The Year lists. So, congratulations Sneaks! At least I remembered you.

Hulk Hogan - RIP

I haven't written up an obituary in a long time but with today's news, I needed to make one. Even if the deceased was a complicated individual.

Hulk Hogan has died. He was 71 years old.

I unequivocally wouldn't have been a professional wrestling fan if not for Hulk Hogan. I utterly adored him as a child. I bought his merchandise. I had his press-slamming LJN toy (still to this day!). In 1989, I was as hyped to see No Holds Barred as I was to see Batman. He was always my first pick to play as in WWF video games, from WWF Superstars on the Game Boy to WWF WrestleFest in the arcades to WWF Royal Rumble on the Genesis. I had a lot of fun seeing Suburban Commando in theaters. I spent a good deal of 1991 renting out the WWF PPV tapes to watch him clash with the likes of Sgt. Slaughter and The Undertaker. And then there was WWF WrestleMania VIII, an event that I was lucky enough to watch live on PPV in part because me and my family truly believed, like a total sucker, that Hogan was going to have his last ever match.

Even when my initial love of pro wrestling began to wane, I was still keeping track of Hulk's exploits, from Mr. Nanny to Trouble In Paradise to yes, him publicly admitting that he took steroids. I didn't tip my toe with his work in WCW until one day my beloved poppie proclaimed to me that Hogan was now a bad guy and teaming up with Diesel and Razor Ramon. That shocking development, plus one wonderful sleepover over 1997 Christmas vacation where my friend's neighbor brought WCW vs. nWo: World Tour to the Nintendo 64 festivities, got me back into pro wrestling. I once again was following his wrestling career, even though things weren't always great. I groaned at his endless promos and often poor matches (namely Hogan/Warrior II) but he could flip that switch and make me a Hulkamaniac again, especially when he came back to the WWF and faced The Rock at WWF WrestleMania X8. And I continued to follow him, from him winning the WWF Heavyweight Champion again, to being inducted into the WWE Hall Of Fame, to Hogan Knows Best, to Hulk Hogan's Celebrity Championship Wrestling, to his infamous running of TNA and beyond.

But even by 1998, I became more aware of the other side of Hulk. The tall tales. The ego. The politicking. The backstabbing. The union busting. Those ironclad contracts with creative control. His less than ideal behavior as a husband and father. And of course, the racism and his refusal to fully apologize for it.

Hulk Hogan/Terry Bollea was a very flawed human being. He caused a lot of pain to people beyond just his fans and since the beginning of the 1990's, his antics in and out of the ring became increasingly dubious and/or laughably awful. But he also helped change the art of pro wrestling. He sold sports entertainment to the masses and made it a definitive part of American pop culture. He didn't always practice what he preached but his performances in the squared circle made you want to jump to your feet, scream your lungs out, and instill in your soul to never give up when the going gets tough.

Hulk Hogan, brother, you will be greatly missed.

2025 Eurovision Song Contest Predictions

Another year, another round of predictions for the Eurovision Song Contest.

Ugh.

Man, I was so surprised when I took a look back at last year's predictions and saw that I lead the article off talking about my lack of enthusiasm. I completely forgot all about it, especially since I currently have any even worse apathy for this year's contest!

I know from experience that there's always a lot of people online that often like to spout how this year's songs suck and how this will be a bad year during the run up of a contest. I don't want to say right now that this might be a bad year, waiting to come to an assessment post-Grand Final, but there are a lot of early indictors: another controversy over buying tickets, the sheer lack of hype and fan bases snipping at each other, and the simple fact that there are no clear favorites to win. And of course there's the whole thing with Israel again participating but that's a whole different story.

My journey through this edition's national selection season was very mixed, that is when I even had the energy and spunk to watch any of them. Melodifestivalen was a ton of fun and had an unique winner for a change while my beloved little country Lithuania kept ruining my mood thanks to jury/final score shenanigans and a winner that left me baffled. Meanwhile, Ukraine produced another great show under extreme circumstances only to also have a flat winner.

Then came all of the other songs in February and March that just made me sigh constantly, to the point that I just stopped checking them out and essentially walked away from the whole thing. By the time I wanted to actually sit down and listen to them via the official album, I couldn't even do that because unexplainably this year's album was not available on iTunes previous year's have all been removed as well. And no, Spotify wouldn't help matters because I love having the actual album. Granted, it's available via Amazon but I still have major issues with their digital music store and their right to hard remove a song from your purchases.

So, after not listening to the entire album, barely gleaming the majority of the songs, and not seeing a single rehearsal photo or video, I'm going to continue my trend and try to predict this winners and losers of Eurovision. 

But before I do, here are my top four favorite songs from this year's contest, in alphabetical order. Yep, that's right, I couldn't even get to five this year. The countries are:

Finland

Luxembourg

Slovenia

Sweden

SEMI-FINAL 1 COUNTRIES THAT WILL QUALIFY TO THE GRAND FINAL

Albania - Albania does Albania and they often do it great. This year, it's fine but it's way better than a certain other country, which also just so happens to feature the only one female performer in this semi-final.

Belgium - It will get the crowd jumping and raving more than 2015 Serbia. An easy crowd favorite.

Cyprus - It's closing out the semi-final and it's pretty alright. They need to have some incredible staging to prop up this bop or else it will go quiet come the Grand Final.

Estonia - Thanks, I hate it. I know Tommy Cash is clearly trolling but this song is just so bad. I honestly like "Leto Svet" a lot more than this. However, as seen with that infamous 2008 entry and the country's pick in 2010, Estonian comedy acts often die a death at Eurovision.

Iceland - Kicks off the entire contest and delivers an easy earworm for the crowd and voters. High likely to advance.

Norway - The boy from Umami Tsunami is now a man and leading the way for Norway. Pretty standard pop song but it simply works.

Portugal - It's just so mellow and different from all of the other entries that I think that it will draw plenty of votes.

Slovenia - I seem to be one of the few people that actually really likes this song. Some think that Klemen is sure to be eliminated due to the online backlash earlier in the year when he did a YouTube video where he impersonated previous Eurovision winners, including Dave Benton in full blackface. But the majority of people will not care that much and rather will be moved by his tender and sobering song about his wife. 

Sweden - SAUNA! Able to defeat Mans Zelmerlow in a single contest, this Finnish group helped spark new life for Eurovision fans and actually made people want to cheer for Sweden to win. Though I think it has a high chance of being the top winner of the public vote at the grand final, I strongly believe the juries will not look past the comedy of it all, thus relegating them to a commendable top five position.

Ukraine - It's Ukraine! Of course their streak will remain alive. Even if their rock song can be pretty forgettable.

SEMI-FINAL 1 COUNTRIES THAT WILL BE ELIMINATED

Azerbaijan - I actually don't mind the song and kinda like it. I just think people don't really care for Azerbaijan at the moment.

Croatia - From their best ever placement to a non-contender. "Poison Cake" just tries way too hard.

The Netherlands - An okay song that barely has a hook to draw in votes.

Poland - We already have an Albania wannabe, courtesy of Albania themselves!

San Marino - Ah ha ha ha ha, yeah, no chance in hell with this crappy DJ song. DJs just never work in Eurovision.

SEMI-FINAL 2 COUNTRIES THAT WILL QUALIFY TO THE GRAND FINAL

Australia - Like Estonia, this could be a comedy disaster. The singer and the staging have to be on point and near perfect to change Australia's ways.

Czechia - I don't really like this a lot but the choreography in the music video could be fruitful on the main stage. Adonxs being quite popular with the LGTBQ+ crowd also helps their cause to qualify.

Denmark - Damn it, Denmark, I'm taking a chance on you again, even though you currently have a terrible qualifying streak. "Hallucination" is very blah eurodance but I see it sneaking in but just barely.

Finland - Hey look, we finally have a POTENTIAL WINNER, and it's my favorite of the entire contest. Erika Vikman just commands the stage and the song is sure to rock the arena. Combine that with Finland's recent track record at the contest and it looks like Helsinki is sure to get a even bigger rush of tourists next May.

Greece - A bit of a dark horse. Like Portugal, this is just so different from the rest that I think it will draw more eyes, ears, and votes.

Ireland - Like Denmark, I'm giving this the benefit of the doubt and believing it will somehow qualify. Wish it was a proper Irish singer and song but whatevs.

Israel - Remember, the semi-final qualifiers are determined via the public. It will get in, unless it gets completely booed off the stage or things get a little too hairy and the performer refuses to sing again.

Luxembourg - And we have the next POTENTIAL WINNER. Rests too heavily on the laurels of "Poupee De Cire, Poupee De Son" but it's just so damn catchy. That plus Luxembourg really wants to win, even though they just came back last year.

Malta - It will get in simply from all of the controversy and fan popularity it has already generated. Expect the crowd to shout "KUNT!" at the top of their lungs. And it better not be censored, you hear me, EBU?!

Serbia - Another fine Balkan ballad. Always a sucker for them, just like the rest of Europe.

SEMI-FINAL 2 COUNTRIES THAT WILL BE ELIMINATED

Armenia - Has a chance to qualify just from all of the booming and banging while the guy screams "I'M A SURVIVOR!" but he just plainly can't sing a lick.

Austria - I liked this when it was called "It's My Life" and the year was 2013. Too somber and not much fun. Plus the soprano voice comes off as an one-trick pony.

Georgia - Even with all of the troubling things going on in the country, this song is just a big pile of nothing pie.

Latvia - Way too folky and not much music-wise you can tap your foot to.

Lithuania - I quite frankly dislike this song to a high degree. It's so whiny and drab but, hey, some people might want that in their Eurovision. But I still see it falling flat on the night.

Montenegro - Yeah, no. Just no. Sorry Montenegro, but you don't have a chance at advancing.

COUNTRIES THAT AUTO-QUALIFY TO THE GRAND FINAL

France - I first thought that this too could be a winner for the contest but I don't see it as good as some of France's previous entries. Top ten sure, but not at the top.

Germany - I said last year that Germany could have themselves another unmemorable flop. "Always On The Run" ended up not being one but this year's certainly could be. "Baller" has absolutely no staying power whatsoever.

Italy - Dear lord, this Michael Jackson gremlin looking guy. And the song is so lame as well. I see it barely hanging in the mid-teens.

Spain - It's not "Slow Mo" but it's a pretty good dance tune. Needs some killer staging and choreography to make a top ten showing.

Switzerland - Bulgaria's Victoria much? Alright song but certainly was picked to get some votes but not repeat as champ.

The United Kingdom - Stuck in the lower teens or near the bottom. The song just sounds like a total mess and it certainly could be once on stage. Plus the title of the song just begs to be used against it.

The semi-finals take place on May 13 and 15, both starting at 3 PM EST. The Grand Final will take place on May 17 at the exact same time. All three events can be watched here in America via Peacock if you have a paid subscription to the streaming service. Viewers will able to follow along with the event's presenters, comedian Hazel Brugger, singer Sandra Studer and, for the final alone, model Michelle Hunziker.

Reaction to the 2025 Oscars

The show itself was fine. The good speeches, witty jokes, and shocking wins were negated by pointless musical numbers, some mean orchestra play offs, and one acceptance speech that will go down as one of the worst of all time and and the best example of what-not-to-do at the Oscars (for those that are wondering, that would be the one for Best Animated Short).

Conan was a good host. It has been awhile since I last saw him perform so I forgot all of his goofy and wacky antics. Luckily, he had a good hit rate with the jokes and his low blows felt more like proper jabs and didn't kill the flow of the show.

12-11 in my Oscar predictions. Big oof. The Big Four, the shorts and documentaries are what really killed me. Honestly, I can't think of a time where I ever failed completely at predicting the Big Four.

I truly, honestly didn't think that Anora would do so well with the Academy. But hey, though I still haven't seen it (I skipped my chance last year so I could see A Real Pain instead), I'm very glad for Sean Baker, the cast and crew for their achievements.

Emilia Pérez. 13 nominations. Only two wins. Seems that everyone in Hollywood finally decided to smell the coffee.

A Complete Unknown. More like A Complete Duck Egg, amirite?

So very happy for Flow winning Best Animated Feature. Would have been cool if it also won Best International Feature but then we wouldn't cheer for...

I'm Still Here with the steal of a lifetime! Man, those Brazilians know what to do when it comes to Oscar campaigning.

I think this ceremony greatly shows why the Oscar Clips for the acting categories are far and away better than the "Congrats, you're swell!" mini-speeches. Because remember people, the general public still don't know or have watched these movies and a clip showing their ACTING! is a far easier sell than "Jeremy Strong is great because this one time, he slept in the fan bleachers when I was nominated for Chaplin".

Also, seriously? We just had to do the five presenters thing for Best Costume Design and Best Cinematography? Great way to showcase the great achievements in camerawork by having a tiny box for it.

Dear lord, I wish that deliberate shot of sad John Lithgow was shown after that Emilia Pérez clip for Best Adapted Screenplay aired. "Change the soul", woof!

More mocking for Emilia Pérez came when its director Jacques Audiard was spotted wearing a production hat for the movie while sitting the audience! So lame. You sir are no Spike Lee!

Even more mocking came when Emilia Pérez won Best Original Song. Everybody finally realized, hey wait, these three very white French people wrote this "Mexican" song? Then they go up and Audiard is just walking around like a lost old fogey while the two composers awkwardly belt out a different song from the film.

Why do a song-and-dance tribute to James Bond when no new movie came out or is on the horizon? Also, Raye is an okay singer but she is certainly not Adele.

Also didn't dig the so-called tribute to Quincy Jones. At least Colman Domingo was having fun.

Ben Stiller once again got to a do a great gag as a presenter for Best Production Design. Compliments to the show director for the great camera shots of Stiller being swallowed by the set.

It was great idea having Mick Jagger present for Best Original Song and reuniting Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal as the presenters for Best Film.

At the end of the day, I'm happy for Adrian Brody winning again and completing his comeback story. Great speech as well only for it to get ruined at one point by The Brutalist director looking really ornery for some apparent reason. 

And of course, Michelle Trachtenberg was Farina'd during the In Memoriam, yet the producers were able to get Gene Hackman in time despite having three days notice. I was also pissed when I remembered that Tony Todd was left out. Seriously, freaking Candyman got cut yet TV icon Bob Newhart got in!

And that's all I have to say. See you all next year!