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Logan’s 10 Favorite Movies of 2025

Posted on January 3, 2026 by Logan Dalton

Even though I didn’t quite live up to my personal goal of writing a full length film review every week, 2025 was a really fun year for me at the cinema. If I had to sum up my viewing in one word, it would be “auteurs”. Seriously, let talented filmmakers like Ryan Coogler, Guillermo Del Toro, and Paul Thomas Anderson cook and have massive budgets, and they will make art that won’t just be discussed on opening weekend, but by posterity. (I’m definitely including/referencing Sinners in my popular music library instruction.)

Here are my 10 favorite movies of 2025. I didn’t watch everything that came out this year, but I loved most of what I saw. (Sorry, Captain America: Brave New World.)

10. The Naked Gun (Akiva Schaffer)

Conservatives claim that comedy is dead, but they just haven’t watched The Naked Gun yet. Liam Neeson is oblivious, deadpan perfection as Lt. Frank Drebin Jr., and he and Beth Davenport (Pamela Anderson) have silly chemistry that addsa dollop of romance to the spoof flick. To sweeten the deal, The Naked Gun is under 90 minutes and the most joke-dense film I’ve seen in the cinema in some time. It also roasts the hell out of tech bros and has the most hilarious end credits.

9. Lurker (Alex Russell)

Lurker is a frighteningly intimate look at the relationship between artist and fan as retail clerk Matthew (Theodore Pellerin) grows closer to British R&B star Oliver (Archie Madekwe). Alex Russell does an excellent job progressively showing Matthew cannibalizing Oliver’s clout while simultaneously ending up becoming the inspiration he needs. A lo-fi score from Kenny Beats and grainy, intrusive cinematography from Pat Scola makes Lurker even more voyeuristic and uncomfortable.

8. Pavements (Alex Ross Perry)

Alex Ross Perry’s Pavements is a five layer movie burrito of documentary, biopic, musical theater, performance art, and tribute all centered around seminal, fiercely anti-commercial 90s rock band Pavement, who has recently reunited and gone on tour. (I was able to see them in 2024 at Riot Fest.) The film hits the right balance between irony and earnestness, and my favorite bits were seeing footage of the Pavement jukebox musical as well as Joe Keery’s quirky performance as the band’s frontman Stephen Malkmus during the biopic segments. As a band, Pavement didn’t care about appealing to the masses and/or Lollapalooza/Alternative Nation, and neither does this film, which makes it great in an era of estate-massaging ego trips disguised as art.

7. Marty Supreme (Josh Safdie)

Marty Supreme is another stressful, entertaining movie from a singular Safdie Brother about a table tennis protege named Marty Mauser (Timothee Chalamet), who must gather enough money to go to the World Championships in Japan with the help of an evil businessman (A perfectly cast Kevin O’Leary), a silver screen star in decline (Gwyneth Paltrow still has her fastball.), and his pregnant childhood friend/situationship (A breakout performance from Odessa D’Azion). The film is set in the 1950s, but is chock-full with 1980s New Wave needle drops that give it that sports movie sheen although Mauser is the epitome of narcissism. However, Chalamet gives his all in the role, and you can’t help but root for him in the end and then shudder about the college boys watching this movie on winter break and seeing him as an aspirational figure. (I want one of those orange ping pong balls though.)

6. The Secret Agent (Kleber Mendonça Filho)

The Secret Agent is a tense sociopolitical thriller set at carnival in Recife, Brazil during the height of the country’s military dictatorship. However, it’s also a film about constructing identities, misinformation, and maybe even the research process. Director Kleber Mendonça Filho and cinematographer Evgenia Alexandrova tap into 1970s sleaze in creating the film’s visual palette with plenty of yellow evoking the classic Brazilian football kit. This, of course, turns to red when shit hits the fan. The main takeaway from the film is the magnetic, yet earnest Wagner Moura as ex-professor/wanted man Armando, who really deserves a Best Actor nomination.

5. Superman (James Gunn)

Like both the epic poems and comic books of yore, James Gunn’s Superman skips the origin story and plunges into the Man of Steel’s career in media res as he tries to mediate a conflict between Jarhanpur and Boravia, uncover a conspiracy connected to tech billionaire Lex Luthor (Nicholas Hoult), dog sit, and maybe even get the girl. In the best way, Superman feels like picking up a random trade paperback with Gunn crafting an entertaining supporting cast that doesn’t take the spotlight away from its titular protagonist’s arc. Above all, Superman is a sincere film, and that starts with David Corenswet’s performance as the Big Blue Boy Scout, who can say “Kindness is the real punk rock” and mean every word. It’s a near-perfect tone setter for James Gunn and company’s vision of the DC Universe.

4. Queens of the Dead (Tina Romero)

Tina Romero queers the horror comedy in the hilarious instant cult classic Queens of the Dead. This film has an elevator pitch to die for, namely, Brooklyn drag queens, queer folks, and one homophobic plumber fight zombies and try to find safety. However, Queens of the Dead isn’t just jokes, gore, and fabulous fits, and Romero and co-writer Erin Judge and actor Jacquel Spivey give anxiety-ridden drag queen Sam a beautiful heroic journey as they try to express themselves artistically in a late capitalist hellscape. And speaking of hellscape, Tina Romero brings plenty of pointed satire to the film that would make her father smile. We should really be on our phones less.

3. Sinners (Ryan Coogler)

Sinners is an exciting vampire thriller meets blues musical that explores the concept of race and whiteness in the United States. The main juke joint sequence is worth the price of admission alone as director Ryan Coogler and star Miles Caton demonstrate that the history of popular music in the United States is the history of Black music. Caton’s triple threat performance is bolstered by Michael B. Jordan playing a dual role as Stack and Smoke. He has charming chemistry with Hailee Steinfeld, his bi-racial ex-girlfriend. Sinners has real heat to it, and you can smell the sweat and sex of the juke joint as carnal, supernatural, and spiritual unite, and Remmick’s (Jack O’Connell) Irish vampires try to break off a piece of it just like real life artists like Elvis Presley would in the near future. Finally, Sinners might have the best post-credits sequence of all time. (I feel like Buddy Guy playing himself slightly edges out Samuel L. Jackson’s debut as Nick Fury in Iron Man.)

2. One Battle After Another (Paul Thomas Anderson)

Bob Ferguson (Leonardo DiCaprio) juggles fatherhood and rekindling the ashes of revolutionary spirit in Paul Thomas Anderson’s epic film One Battle After Another. Just like the works of the author that inspired it (Thomas Pynchon), OBAA is more encyclopedia than film with the most exciting car chase scene, the most tender father/daughter moments, and the funniest supporting performance as Benicio Del Toro has the time of his life as the beer-guzzling “Sensei” Sergei. One Battle After Another doesn’t have any clear answers about being a good parent or fighting a cause while still trying to have a life and family, but that makes it all the more compelling and a lovely use of Warner Brothers’ $130 million.

1. Frankenstein (Guillermo Del Toro)

My favorite film of 2025 was Guillermo Del Toro’s none more Goth adaptation of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein that I was thankfully able to see in theatrically courtesy of my local independent theater, The Belcourt. Frankenstein is truly the loveliest film of 2025 with Del Toro and cinematographer Dan Lautsen conjuring frames that look like English Romantic oil paintings, Gustave Dore woodcuts, and Berni Wrightson’s pencil and ink illustrations depending on the mood. This attention to visual detail extends to the exquisite costuming and set design, especially anything Mia Goth’s Lady Elizabeth/Baroness Frankenstein wears. (Yes, this film is quite Freudian.) Frankenstein isn’t a plot beat by plot beat adaptation of the novel, but Del Toro captures the overarching themes about the destructive nature of technology (*cough* Generative AI) and the hubris of humanity. To top it all off, Jacob Elordi gives a truly tragic performance as The Creature, especially in one poignant scene where the Blind Man (David Bradley) teaches him to read and engage with art. (John Milton’s Paradise Lost, of course.)

Honorable Mentions: The Ballad of Wallis Island (James Griffiths), The Bad Guys 2 (Pierre Perifel), Hamnet (Chloe Zhao)

James Gun Teases Man of Tomorrow, the next Superman film for 2027

Posted on September 3, 2025 by Brett

Superman is a hit grossing over $600 million so far with many millions to go before its run is over. The film is such a success it’ll get multiple sequels with the first, Man of Tomorrow, arriving July 9, 2027.

Writer/director/DC Studios co-head James Gunn made the announcement on social media with an image by Jim Lee (with the date of 2025) of Superman and Lex Luthor, but Luthor wearing his Warsuit. Maybe we’ll be seeing David Corenswet fighting Nicholas Hoult in the armored suit? Maybe they’ll have to team up against a greater threat?

What’s interesting is the upcoming Supergirl film was originally titled Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow and now just Supergirl. Gunn has said he’s not a fan of film titles that were “Character Name: (XYZ).”

The next few years will be busy with Supergirl arriving in June 2026 and Clayface currently set for September 2026. There’s also the television series with Peacemaker‘s second season currently airing and Lanterns expected in early 2026. The Batman Part II i also expected to be released October 2027, though it currently isn’t connected to the current DC Studios universe.

Man of Tomorrow. In theatres July 9, 2027

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— James Gunn (@jamesgunn.bsky.social) September 3, 2025 at 12:46 PM

Movies

James Gunn’s Superman is a crowd pleasing blockbuster that revives the classic superhero

Posted on July 9, 2025 by Jon Carroll

James Gunn has done the impossible with Superman. Yes, it’s a crowd pleasing blockbuster based on a comic property but that’s been done so often it’s starting to become boring. Yes, it revives the fortunes of a superhero franchise that’s seen better days but that’s been done to great effect with Batman, Spider-Man and (hopefully) Fantastic Four.

What James Gunn has done with his masterpiece film is to create a comic book movie that simulates the experience of reading a comic book.

Most people reading this review are fans of characters who were created long before we were born. At some point all of us walked into the local comic shop (or pharmacy, stationary store or 7-11) and picked up an issue of a publication featuring a hero in colorful, skin-tight clothing doing battle with the forces of evil. The adventure had already begun when we arrived but we didn’t care. The story at hand pulled us in and made us want to know more.

Gunn’s movie opens with a block of text filling us in on the background of what is to come. It’s a move that can’t help but evoke Star Wars’ legendary opening in media res. From there the movie is a frantic dash to the finish line with threat following threat as the plot begins to develop.

Gunn uses exposition sparingly, letting the characters speak for themselves. He doesn’t waste time telling you the history of the Green Lantern Corps or that Mister Terrific is an Olympic gold medalist and the third smartest man in the world. He lets Nathan Fillion and Edi Gathegi tell you what you need to know with their performances and pithy, to-the-point dialog. I don’t know if Isabella Merced’s Hawkgirl is a reincarnated Egyptian princess or a Thanagarian space-cop and I don’t care. She has a chip on her shoulder, a big mace and a pitch perfect battle cry.

For his main cast Gunn relies heavily on archetypes. David Corenswet’s Superman lacks the wry wit of Christopher Reeve and the majestic gravitas of Henry Caville but he makes up for it with an appealing earnestness and a desire to do good in a world that is more complicated than he’d like to imagine. Nicholas Hoult’s Luthor is a more peevish take on the character then we’ve seen but turns up the menace in one of the movie’s few genuinely disturbing scenes that also brought tears to my eyes. The real standout performance is given by Rachel Brosnahan. Past attempts to render Lois Lane on the big screen have all been missing the essential combination of toughness and compassion that attracts Superman’s attention but makes her more than just his girlfriend. Brosnahan displays these traits in spades making her the definitive movie version.

Superman isn’t perfect. The humor, which I enjoyed, may come across as heavy handed to viewers who prefer more serious superhero fare. There’s also a third act reveal that makes the plot seem more complicated than it needs to be in retrospect. Most damning of all is a revelation about Superman’s homeworld Krypton that undermines the movie’s pro-immigrant message at a time when it is sorely needed in the real world. For all its flaws Superman is well worth your time. It’s a beautifully shot, superbly acted film full of color, action and memorable moments with characters that you will come to love if you didn’t go in loving them already. I enjoyed it more than any movie I’ve seen this year and more than any superhero movie I’ve seen in a long time.

And yes, Krypto does steal the show.

Overall: 9/10

Superman gets a sneak peek before coming to theaters in July

Posted on April 3, 2025 by Graphic Policy Team

Krypto, take us home. Superman is coming to theaters July 11

Superman, DC Studios’ first feature film to hit the big screen, is set to soar into theaters worldwide this summer from Warner Bros. Pictures. In his signature style, James Gunn takes on the original superhero in the newly imagined DC universe with a singular blend of epic action, humor and heart, delivering a Superman who’s driven by compassion and an inherent belief in the goodness of humankind.

DC Studios heads Peter Safran and Gunn are producing the film, which Gunn directs from his own screenplay, based on characters from DC, Superman created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster.

The film stars David Corenswet (“Twisters,” “Hollywood”) in the dual role of Superman/Clark Kent, Rachel Brosnahan (“The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”) as Lois Lane and Nicholas Hoult (the “X-Men” movies, “Juror #2”) as Lex Luthor. The film also stars Edi Gathegi (“For All Mankind”), Anthony Carrigan (“Barry,” “Gotham”), Nathan Fillion (the “Guardians of the Galaxy” films, “The Suicide Squad”), Isabela Merced (“Alien Romulus”), Skyler Gisondo (“Licorice Pizza,” “Booksmart”), Sara Sampaio (“At Midnight”), María Gabriela de Faría (“The Moodys”), Wendell Pierce (“Selma,” “Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan”), Alan Tudyk (“Andor”), Pruitt Taylor Vince (“Bird Box”), and Neva Howell (“Greedy People”).

Superman is executive produced by Nikolas Korda, Chantal Nong Vo and Lars Winther. Behind the camera, Gunn is joined by frequent collaborators, including director of photography Henry Braham, production designer Beth Mickle, costume designer Judianna Makovsky and composer John Murphy, along with editors William Hoy (“The Batman”), Jason Ballantine (the “IT” films, “The Flash”) and Craig Alpert (“Deadpool 2,” “Blue Beetle”).

Superman will be in theaters and IMAX nationwide on July 11, 2025, and internationally beginning 9 July 2025, distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures.

Nicholas Hoult will take on the Man of Steel as Lex Luthor in Superman: Legacy

Posted on November 20, 2023 by Brett

Superman has his Lex Luthor in actor Nicholas Hoult. Deadline has reported the actor has landed the role for Superman: Legacy joining a cast that features David Corenswet as Clark Kent/Superman and Rachel Brosnahan as Lois Lane. It has also been reported that María Gabriela de Faría landed the role of villain The Engineer.

Hoult isn’t new to comic franchises. He played Hank McCoy, aka Beast, in X-Men: First Class, X-Men: Days of Future Past, X-Men: Apocalypse, Dark Phoenix, and uncredited in Deadpool 2, all from Fox and based on a Marvel Comics character. He has also been in over 56 films or shows including About a Boy, Tolkien, The Menu, Mad Max: Fury Road, and Renfield which was written by The Walking Dead creator and comic publisher Skybound founder Robert Kirkman.

Superman: Legacy is the first film as part of the relaunched DC film universe helmed by James Gunn and Peter Safran. Gunn will direct the film and written the screenplay.

Superman and Lex Luthor were created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. Luthor first appeared in Action Comics #23 in 1940.

Superman: Legacy is slated for worldwide release on July 11, 2025.

Movies

Movie Review: Mad Max: Fury Road

Posted on May 17, 2015 by Brett

In a stark desert landscape where humanity is broken, two rebels just might be able to restore order: Max, a man of action and of few words, and Furiosa, a woman of action who is looking to make it back to her childhood homeland.

36 years since the first Mad Max film, and 30 years since the last George Miller returns to pen the script for (with some help) and direct the apocalyptic world he created with a new actor to fill the role of Max Rockatansky, actor Tom Hardy. Mad Max: Fury Road is a throwback film to many ways, but with a modern sensibility about it. Joining Miller and Hardy is a fascinating cast but most notably Charlize Theron as Imperator Furiosa and Nicholas Hoult as Nux. It is through Hardy, Theron, and Hoult’s three characters we get the crux and much of the theme of the film.

Much has been made about the film being a feminist plot, but after watching it, the film could be called an environmentalist plot, a call for redistribution of wealth, a condemnation of blind and fanatical faith, and a look at post-industrial society. It’s a political film no doubt, but if this is what you’re focused on, you’re probably missing the visual assault and pulse pounding action. The fact is, the film doesn’t raise the women above the men in any way as characters, they hold their own in even footing, the way life and a film should be. The women play both warrior and damsel, but so does Max, and so does Nux. I don’t want to focus too deeply on the political subtext, that’s a post for another day.

The film is brilliant in many ways, Miller clearly had a vision and the film is unequaled so far this movie season. The script maybe contained 500 words between the cast, instead this is a film of action, both through the movement of the actors, but the movement of the machinery. The film at it’s most simple is a chase and disaster film with Max and Furiosa pursued by Immortan Joe and his disciples.

The visuals are the draw here, as you’re thrown directly into the action for a sequence that goes on for quite a while before a proper break. It’s an assault, in a good way, pushing visuals in front of you that left my jaw agape. The film takes us back to practical special fx, forgoing computer animation as much as possible, it’s both refreshing and exciting to see it all again on the big screen.

There’s not much to say about the acting. It’s good, not great, but there’s also not a whole lot there as far as dialogue. There’s lots of grunts and looks, but we’re not talking Shakespeare. While dialogue isn’t prevalent those three main characters of Max, Furiosa, and Nux each have interesting arcs taking them each from subjugation through liberation. It’s all fascinating and gets into the themes of the film.

By the end of the film, I felt spent, the length felt like a perfect amount of time that had me drained when the credits rolled. Miller hasn’t lost a step in his time away, and when you take the story, visuals, direction, fx, and characters it all feels revolutionary in many ways.

30 years later, and Miller has returned at what he does best, and has put Hollywood on notice of how to do a film right. It’s my favorite film of 2015 so far. What a lovely day. What a lovely film.

Overall rating: 9.5