It’s always a bit embarrassing when I announce “I’m back and plan to blog more” (as I did with my New Year’s post) and then go incommunicado for months. I had a good, if sad, reason this time, which was the health decline and passing of my mom, which has made 2026 a pretty crummy year thus far, to put it lightly. Struggling with… all that is also the reason I opted to skip NaPoWriMo this year, as much as it pained me to break April tradition.

Nevertheless, as I move on from years of caretaking and its natural ending in heartache, I’m trying to reclaim my inspiration and write more. That includes returning to Rhyme and Reason, and I can’t do that without properly closing out 2025. Thus, I’m kicking off my comeback with a very belated blogiversary post to list my Top 12 films seen last year. This includes both 2025 releases and any older movies watched last year, nine of which have earned a spot on my ever illustrious Top 365 list.

I’ll first give a fond mention of films that I still liked but didn’t make the cut for this list, including A Real Pain, Marty, Here Today, The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, I Am Sam, We Live in Time, The Host (2006), Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle, Looper, Prey, and Captain America: Brave New World. Plus, there are How to Train Your Dragon (2025), The Naked Gun (2025), and Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning, which didn’t make the Top Twelve but are still List-Worthy thanks to their franchises. I certainly didn’t watch as many films in 2025 as I used to, but there were still some definite gems. I will say that 2026 is already outpacing it with how many good movies I’ve gotten to see, so it’s shaping up to be a strong movie year at least.

Thanks to any and all who have read, followed, liked, or commented on this blog over the past 12 years. It’s been a fantastic creative outlet and one I hope to continue utilizing for years to come. Plus, if I’ve gotten even a few people to check out a film they wouldn’t have otherwise, then I count it as a win. Without further ado, here are my Top 12 Films Watched in 2025:

12. The Gorge (2025)

I’m not usually drawn to open Apple TV+ despite its bundled availability to me, but every now and then a real gem drops there. Not everyone found The Gorge as appealing as I did, but I thoroughly enjoyed this tale of boy-meets-girl-with-a-giant-hellish-ravine-between-them. The chemistry of the leads was electric, and it cemented Anya Taylor-Joy as one of my celebrity crushes. Even when the romance gave way to full horror-action mode in the latter half, it was never less than entertaining.

11. Bonnie and Clyde (1967)

I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised that a celebrated classic like Bonnie and Clyde turned out to be deserving of celebration. I just wasn’t expecting its subject matter to appeal to me, but a great film is a great film. Chronicling their romance and bank-robbing spree in the Depression era, the movie finds ways to humanize the title duo without justifying their deeds, giving a full picture of their legendary infamy.

10. Lost in Starlight (2025)

While non-Ghibli anime films have been typically ignored by the Academy, it’s unfortunate that Korean animation can’t even get a nod from something like the Crunchyroll Awards, leaving Lost in Starlight to be an overlooked footnote in the Netflix catalog. Which is a real shame, because this near-future tale of a woman falling in love with a musician shortly before embarking on a voyage to Mars is absolutely beautiful. The science admittedly falters toward the end, but it’s a tale of cosmic love that deserves more attention.

9. Wicked: For Good (2025)

I won’t deny that Wicked: For Good is a step down from the first film (my #2 for 2024), but I always thought the second half of the original musical was kind of a mess too. Nevertheless, it delivers a darker-toned but mostly satisfying conclusion to the story of Elphaba and Glinda, so ‘twas better than I was expecting honestly. I still think it’s ridiculous that the Oscars snubbed it entirely.

8. Sinners (2025)

Perhaps this seems low for a film that was universally loved last year, but I was still rooting for it during the latest Oscar season. A brilliant genre mish-mash of Southern music and vampire horror, Sinners only increased the cultural cachet of Ryan Coogler and Michael B. Jordan. Many films struggle to get even one right, but it excelled at both the music and the scares.

7. Thunderbolts* (2025)

While I liked Captain America: Brave New World more than most and Fantastic Four: First Steps less than most, Thunderbolts* was (for me) the clear stand-out from Marvel’s roster last year. Bringing together a bunch of who-cares side characters from past projects seemed like a tall order (without James Gunn), but they successfully plumbed their trauma and managed to make heroes out of losers while elevating Florence Pugh’s Yelena to Marvel star.

6. Predator: Badlands (2025)

This was perhaps my biggest surprise of the year. After catching up on Prey and the animated Killer of Killers (also quite good), I respected the Predator franchise but was not ready to embrace its gory glory. Then this effects-heavy romp came along, injecting more aliens, more humor, found-family themes, and a Predator protagonist, somehow making a fan out of me. One of my coworkers called it “a Predator movie for Alien fans,” and that fits perfectly. Between this and Alien: Earth, both franchises are on the upswing.

5. Dead Man Walking (1995)

A “message movie” is always tricky, whether in the hands of Hollywood or Christian filmmakers, so the script of Dead Man Walking had quite a tightrope to walk in tackling the controversy surrounding a Louisiana death row inmate and the nun who advocates for him. Yet writer-director Tim Robbins knocked it out of the park with a carefully balanced portrayal of institutional revenge and spiritual grief, matched by stellar performances from Sean Penn and Oscar-winning Susan Sarandon.

4. Zootopia 2 (2025)

Among Disney’s animated films of the last decade, Zootopia especially felt like it had a universe wide enough for another big case alongside Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde. It took almost the full decade, but the wait was worth it. Expanding the world-building and its themes of prejudice via the introduction of reptiles in a mammal-centric society, Zootopia 2 proved to be another funny and thoughtful adventure (while keeping the shippers happy).

3. Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery (2025)

I wasn’t sure exactly where to place Wake Up Dead Man, since it’s not quite as good as the original Knives Out, but I’m simply too big a fan of Rian Johnson’s mystery sensibilities. (Poker Face is very good if you want more at a TV level.) I was afraid it would be too much of a takedown of Christianity, thanks to the ardent atheism of Daniel Craig’s Benoit Blanc, but Josh O’Connor’s conflicted but earnest priest is an excellent partner/foil as they investigate the death of his divisive superior. The end result is another excellent chapter in a series I hope will continue for many more years.

2. Kpop Demon Hunters (2025)

I had a good feeling about this movie as soon as the trailer dropped, and I watched and loved it the first day it premiered on Netflix, so I feel like I was ahead of the curve before it became a pop culture juggernaut. Yes, I sound like an animation hipster, but I don’t care. With a soundtrack full of bangers, strong Korean representation, and brilliantly vivid animation, Kpop Demon Hunters was an absolute treat for animation lovers like me.

1. Superman (2025)

The jury is still out on how well the new DC Universe will pan out in future installments, but James Gunn certainly kicked things off with a bang. Wacky, aspirational, action-packed, and perhaps a bit overstuffed, David Corenswet’s inaugural appearance as the Man of Steel hit all the right notes for a great superhero movie. It was the highlight of the summer blockbuster season and, in my book, the whole cinematic year.

And so concludes another year of blogging, even if we’re already halfway through the next. As always, here are my own unofficial awards for the year’s films:

Best opening scene:  Thunderbolts*

Best final scene:  Superman

Coolest scene:  Superman

Biggest emotional impact:  Dead Man Walking

Oldest film:  The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948)

Most recent film:  Wake Up Dead Man (2025)

Longest film:  Wake Up Dead Man (144 minutes)

Shortest film:  Marty (90 minutes)

Best soundtrack:  Kpop Demon Hunters

Best score:  Sinners

Best special effects:  Predator: Badlands

Most mind-bending: Looper

Most family-friendly:  Zootopia 2

Most mature:  Dead Man Walking

Funniest:  The Naked Gun (2025)

Scariest: Sinners

Best male performance:  Sean Penn in Dead Man Walking

Best female performance:  Susan Sarandon in Dead Man Walking

Personal favorite poem written: Bonnie and Clyde

Most represented year: 2025, with ten films

So that’s that. There is still a lot I’m dealing with in the wake of this year’s loss, so I can’t make any promises on post frequency or how “back” I truly am, but I do plan to be more active for the rest of the year. After all, there are so many good movies worth reviewing and poeticizing. Thank you to any readers still out there who haven’t forgotten me, and I wish you all a wonderful remainder of 2026!