If the lateness of this top-ten list is any indication, 2026 has been a very difficult year for a number of reasons, and it’s taken me this long to even try to get back into the swing of things. Still, maybe a look at the best of what the previous year had to offer is just the kind of break we need from the difficult times we find ourselves in. Maybe a simple reminder of a movie you liked and a quick trip to your favorite streaming service is all it’ll take to brighten your day! That, and a functioning government, but we should probably keep our expectations manageable. Anyway, let’s get started!!

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HONORABLE MENTIONS: Thunderbolts* & Predator: Badlands

Thunderbolts* Review; Predator: Badlands Review

This extra spot on my list is a place where I try to make some sort of point about the preceding year, and I think this time around I just want to say that movies are fun. Look, things are pretty bleak out there and have been for far too long, and while movies can help us make sense of the world around us, sometimes you just want to have fun and take a break from it all. These two movies, even with their franchise baggage, are the kind of blockbusters I seek out when times are tough. They’re entertainment first and foremost, but without being utterly asinine exercises in excessive spectacle. I’d even argue that these two work despite the franchise baggage as both work on their own as straightforward and genuinely engaging stories that just so happen to contain characters and ideas that started somewhere else, and frankly, I hope it’s a trend we see more of going forward. As much as I do still appreciate Marvel, the last phase or so has felt cumbersome with so many moving parts, and even Predator wasn’t above trying to build its own extended universe with that terrible Shane Black movie and the overabundance of Weyland-Yutani logos in this. With the one-two punch of Covid and Streaming, it does feel like the big budget spectacle films have to feel like more than just movies to catch the eye of audiences, and while these definitely sold themselves as such, it was nice to just go to the theater and see a popcorn film that didn’t feel built from the ground up by corporate mandates; only partially built that way!

There’s a movie called The Future by Miranda July where one of the characters freezes time via magic moon powers, only to realize that he didn’t actually stop the world from turning; he just disengaged from it and things kept on going while he kept himself in one place. Needless to say that the last three months have taken quite a bit out of me and my response to it all was to focus on literally anything else other than this website and writing reviews, but the world doesn’t stop just because you want to get off, so it’s time to try and get back on that horse before it’s too late. Yes, we’re doing the 2025 lists well after everyone has stopped caring, but I’ve got to start somewhere if I’m gonna get my momentum back, and talking about movies I’ve already talked about seems like a good way to get back into the groove of things!  As usual, this is not a traditional Worst Movies Ever list, but is instead a space to offer constructive criticisms to movies I at least found interesting enough to offer my unsolicited advice. Let’s get started!

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Marty Supreme & The Smashing Machine

Full Review

Perhaps I’ve said everything I needed to when I did my double-bill review of these two movies, but I think the complete shut out of Marty Supreme at the Oscars does add a little perspective to the situation. Sure, Josh Safdie seemed like the breakout star of the two with his film getting a mountain of nominations and superior box office returns, but at the end of the day, I don’t think it has the staying power of his earlier work when he was teamed up with his brother Benny. Conversely, while The Smashing Machine was, to my mind, the more interesting movie, it’s not all that surprising that it didn’t catch on with audiences and critics; lacking a strongly structured narrative and having very little to say by the end of it. With their powers combined, they made one of my favorite movies in the last decade, and perhaps it was inevitable that their first solo projects would feel lacking. I’m still rooting for them and I wouldn’t want them to be stifled creatively by feeling like they have to work together, but it’s clear that they still have a lot to learn from one another and these two movies do a great job of illustrating  that.