Ep. 56: Top 10 Films Of 2025

Alex and Lee reveal their top 10 films of 2025. 
Please note: This episode was recorded before the Oscar nominations were announced on January 22, 2026.

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Transcript

Lee Pugsley
What's up, everyone, and welcome back to another episode of The Dark Room, where two blind cinephiles illuminate the sighted. I'm Lee Pugsley.

Alex Howard
I'm Alex Howard.

Lee Pugsley
And this is a podcast hosted by two legally blind guys for film lovers of all abilities. Today, we have another very exciting episode and one of our favorite episodes that we do every year. Alex, why don't you go ahead and introduce it?

Alex Howard
Yeah, so we are doing our top 10 movies of 2025. So these are our favorite movies. Obviously, all film is subjective, and so these are our personal favorites. They might not be yours. So if you want to share your list with us, you can email us at DarkRoomFilmCast@gmail.com. We'd love to hear it. But once again, these are our personal lists. And yeah, this is just the ones we had the most fun with or that we impressed us the most, not necessarily the ones that are going to win best picture or that everyone else is talking about.

Lee Pugsley
And one of the great things about doing these top 10 lists is that film reaches so many different people on so many different levels. So it's great that you might have a totally different top 10 list than ours, and it just speaks to the power of media and how it can affect people differently. So we would absolutely love to hear from you and see how your list compared to ours and how they're different as well. It's always really fun to see what really resonates with people throughout the year. To kick it off, we always start out with some honorable mentions. From the year of film in 2025, Alex, what honorable mentions do you have?

Alex Howard
Yeah, I have five honorable mentions. I think we each have five. I have Come See Me in the Good Light, which I know we talked about on our Sundance episode. It's a documentary,\ I saw at Sundance. It's really great. I have Christy, which is a boxing movie with Sydney Sweeney. Friendship, starring Tim Robinson and Paul Rudd, which is, I think, one of the best comedies of the year. Rental Family, starring Brendan Fraser, and The Ballad of Wallis Island, which is a comedy that came out in March that I saw at Sundance as well.

Lee Pugsley
That's a great list of honorable mentions. I've seen every one of those except for Christy, which I still need to see. I know that you talked very highly about Sydney Sweeney's performance and just how much you really enjoyed this film. When it comes on to a streaming platform, I look forward to giving it a watch and giving you my thoughts on that. As for the rest of the films in your honorable mentions, I think it's a really solid list. Unfortunately, I think The Ballad of Wallis Island got swept under the radar, and it's such a good film. It's really delightful. I wish more people had seen that. Then Rental Family is great, and that will lead into my Honorable Mentions. Rental Family is the first one on my Honorable Mentions list. I think it has a lot to say about human connection and the ways that we cope with different emotional things that we're going through and how people can really be healing in those spaces.

Next on my list is K-Pop Demon Hunters. I'll be honest, I thought this film looked really stupid. It sounded really stupid. The trailer did nothing for me. I watched it a few weeks ago, and I was very charmed by it. I think it's a very innovative storytelling and has one of the catchiest scores in a very long time. All the songs are bangers and really get stuck in your head. Then there's Life of Chuck. I think this was one of the best Stephen King adaptations of 2025, and I think it has a lot to say about life and the way we live it. Then there's F1, which I just had a great time with this movie at the theater. It was a thrilling experience, nothing out of the ordinary terms of the plot. We've seen it before, but the way that it was executed was really riveting and got me really amped up. At the top of my Honorable Mentions list is, Is This Thing On? I think this is a very credible directorial effort from Bradley Cooper, and I think that Will Arnett and Laura Dern give very honest and sincere performances, and it really speaks to the humanity and challenges of marriage and relationships.

Alex Howard
Wow, those are awesome Honorable Mentions. I still have yet to see K-Pop Demon Hunters, and Is This Thing On?. My plan is to see Is This Thing On? tomorrow. But all the other ones are very, very solid, and you might see some those pop up on my top 10. We'll see what happens.

Lee Pugsley
Excited to dive into that. And I'm really interested because this year I know that our movies may not have lined up in our top 10 as much as they would in other years. So before we begin, how many films would you predict we will have in common for our top 10 of 2025?

Alex Howard
I really only think we're going to have two because I know this was such a varied year film. It was honestly hard for me to narrow it down to 10 movies, and I really love all the movies in my top 10, but I think we're only going to have two in common.

Lee Pugsley
I'm going to go out on a limb here, and I was vacillating between, are we going to have two or three in common? I think that we are going to have three films in common.

Alex Howard
Okay, we will see. Do you want to kick us off, Lee? Do you want to start with your number 10?

Lee Pugsley
Sure. My number 10 is Blue Moon, another great endeavor from Richard Linklater. And what I love about Richard Linklater films is he always brings so much humanity to his characters. He really flushes out the relationships between the characters. I think Ethan Hawke is one of the best performances of the year as Lorenz Hart. This also caters to me because me being a theater kid, I was very familiar with Lorenz Hart and Richard Rogers and their partnership. I knew a lot of their musicals they'd written, a lot of their catalog of songs. So this really just stuck out to me in such a positive way. I wouldn't necessarily say it's a fun watch, but I think it's very well paced. And I think that Linklater did a very good job of making it feel cinematic, even though it's a one location type of movie.

Alex Howard
I completely agree. Blue Moon almost made by Honorable mentions. Definitely one of the better films of the year. Ethan Hawke gives a great performance as always. And I will watch anything Richard Linklater does. I mean, he can do stuff like Hitman and Bernie, but then also the Before trilogy, which I really love. I think this one is more like the Before trilogy because it's all one setting very dialogue-driven. But I love those kinds of movies from him.

Lee Pugsley
Yeah, I understand exactly where you're coming from there. I mean, the Before trilogy is probably some of his best work. And once again, he just really fleshes out relationships between characters so well, and you feel like you really have the time to get to know them.

Alex Howard
Yeah, I think it speaks a lot like that someone like you who knows the theater very well and knows who these people are. And then for me, that I don't really know who these people are, but we both very much enjoy the film in different ways.

Lee Pugsley
Exactly. And that's the beauty of cinema, is that no matter what walk of life you come from, if a film was done well, you can bring your own human experience and emotion to it and identify with some part of who the characters are. That being said, let's go ahead and move on to your number 10.

Alex Howard
So my number 10 is Warfare, which is the new Alex Garland movie. He co-directed it with an actual Navy SEAL. It was based on the Navy SEAL's real experience in the Iraq War, and it is insane. It's one of the most intense movies I saw this year. A great audio description track, but it's like Black Hawk Down where it really throws you into it. And it's in real-time. They do some time jumps overnight, but for the most part, it pretty much stays in one place real-time through this battle out of this house in Iraq. It's a crazy movie. I definitely recommend it if you like war movies and intense movies like that.

Lee Pugsley
It's a really well-done war film, and it really puts you right in the trenches. It's not so much a narrative piece as it is just an experiential piece where you really feel like you're along for the ride. It is very intense, and there is some hard things about this movie, but I think it's a very worthwhile watch. The sound design in this movie is awesome, and the audio description track is also really, really solid.

Alex Howard
What is your number nine?

Lee Pugsley
My number nine, which will be no surprise to you or any of the listeners out there, it's Wicked for Good. I will be honest and say this is probably a step lower than Wicked Part One from last year. Still me being such a big fan of the source material and being a musical theater person, I really enjoyed this movie. I thought that they were very faithful to all of the plot beats of the stage musical. I think the biggest hurdle that it had to overcome is that by nature, act two of the show is weaker. And with this film, I think it amplifies some of those plot holes rather than fixes them. That would be my only criticism. But I think that the performances from Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo are still spectacular, especially Ariana Grande. I think that her arc as Glinda, they did a lot to improve that and to really flesh that character out. And you really see the nuanced performance that Ariana Grande is capable of giving. I think that the production design and everything else about it is pretty consistent with the first film. And for those that don't know Wicked, I understand why this may not have resonated with you in the same way that it resonated with me, but it's an emotionally satisfying ending. And overall, I was very satisfied with this, and there's no way that I could leave this out of my top 10.

Alex Howard
See, I really liked Wicked for Good as well. Like you said, it's not as good as the first one. It definitely got me a little misty-eyed during the title song. I keep forgetting that it even came out, is my first one. It's a little forgettable. I didn't go see it twice like I did the first one. The first one, I took my mom to see it as well. I didn't so much feel the need to do that on one. And I did really like it. I don't know why, it just didn't stick with me like the first one did.

Lee Pugsley
I completely get that. And I think that the best way to watch this movie would be to watch it back to back with Wicked Part One, because then you're on the journey with these characters without a year long break. I think that if you watch both films back to back, it could play better. That being said, it's a long time commitment, and I don't think anyone has five and a half to six hours of time to just sit there and watch that much Wicked all at one time. But if you do, highly recommend giving it a try.

Alex Howard
The big question is, Lee, how many times did you see it in theaters?

Lee Pugsley
This one I only saw four times in theaters. I think the first one I saw seven times. Once again, that shows you how it didn't quite match the level of the first one for me, but obviously, I liked it enough to continue going back to it.

Alex Howard
Did you do the double feature?

Lee Pugsley
I was tempted to do the double feature, but I wanted to see it in Dolby for my first viewing, and they only showed it in standard laser. That's what kept me from doing the double feature.

Alex Howard
Got you. Okay.

Lee Pugsley
Now, what's your number nine?

Alex Howard
My number nine is The Life of Chuck, which I know you touched on. It was so good. I just thought like this is... I mean, we touched on it in our Stephen King episode as well, so I won't go too much into it, but it's definitely one that if you go in cold not knowing very much, it's Stephen King, but it's not Horror Stephen King. It's more Stand By Me. It's more heartfelt than horror. And it hit so many great beats and so much about life and just very introspective. And Mark Hamill is great in it. Tom Hiddleston is great in it. Everyone is so good in this movie. And Mike Flanagan. I would say it's Mike Flanagan's best movie, which is weird because he has done such a great job with horror, and this is not that. But it's funny that he's flexing his muscles in another genre with this one, and I really, really appreciated it. I wish they had pushed the release to the fall and maybe done an awards push for it. I think it possibly could have done a bit better that way, but they put it out in summer.

It's really weird because it won TIFF two years ago. Usually, when you win TIFF, you're shooting for best picture, but they didn't do that. But I still think it's a really, really great movie.

Lee Pugsley
I think it would be very deserving of awards. I'm pretty sure it's not going to get any recognition. But I agree with you basically on everything you just said. I think that Life of Chuck is the perfect blend of heart, humanity, humor, and the three-act structure is very unique to most other movies, and I really appreciated the way that they did it. I think that there is definitely a lot to say. It makes you think about life, about the way you live your life, what you do with your time, and I'm here for it. I'm glad that this is a movie that is on your top 10 list because it's a very worthy pick. 

Alex Howard
Oh, thank you, thank you. See, I'm glad we were both on the same page on this one. What's your number eight? I feel like our number eight might be the same, but we'll see.

Lee Pugsley
My number eight, and I know that you have some issues with the classification of this film, which I'd love to hear more of your thoughts on here, is Guillermo Del Toro's Frankenstein. I think that this movie was very masterful in terms of the many Frankenstein adaptations that we've received in the past. From what I remember about the book, it's fairly faithful. I know there's a few changes that they made to the story that I felt like only strengthened it. In the midst of this being a creature film, I think there's a lot to say about human responsibility, and I like the relationship between Frankenstein and the creature. I think it ends very beautifully. And beyond that, I think Guillermo Del Toro's staple of production design and the elements of filmmaking are all here in very grand form.

Alex Howard
I definitely respect your pick. I was not the biggest fan of Frankenstein. I don't think it's a bad movie, but I think I was a little underwhelmed because I expected more of a horror aspect to it. Because I've never seen the original monster movie because there's no audio description. So I was really excited to get a monster movie in it. I felt like it wasn't. I felt like it was a little melodramatic, the formula of a classic Hollywood movie, if that makes sense, rather than a monster movie. So I was a little let down by that. But I definitely respect your pick. And I know it's getting a lot of awards buzz, so I'm in the minority on this one.

Lee Pugsley
I would say that it does have a very traditional format in terms of it just feels like you said classic cinema. There's really nothing groundbreaking or innovative about it. I know that in conversations that we've had previously, it drives you nuts that this film is classified as horror, because while there are certain horror elements to it, they're very light, and it's way more of a drama than anything horror-related.

Alex Howard
Yeah, it's funny. When we were doing our... We are working on our Blind Film Critics Society stuff yesterday, and we were debating whether it was horror or drama. I was like, Are we really going to in with Weapons and Final Destination? Because it's so much different than those. I lost that fight, but it makes sense because it is Frankenstein at the end of the day. But I just felt like, especially Mia Goth, I felt like it was very meloramatic in the movie. I've never read the book, and I love Frankenstein-adjacent things. I love Re-Animator, and I love Birth/Rebirth from a few years ago, and I love Death Becomes Her, these corpse-coming-to-life things. I don't I don't know why this one just didn't hit it for me.

Lee Pugsley
I think you can also be misleading, too, because a lot of people think that the monster's name is Frankenstein when the name of the doctor is Victor Frankenstein. So for many people that I talk to who don't know anything about the source material, they tend to be let down, and they were like, That had nothing to do with the monster or very little to do with the monster because it is more about the human behind Frankenstein.

Alex Howard
Yeah, and I do love the responsibility of, If we can, like, we can do this, but should we? It's almost like same with AI and all that stuff. I love that kind of storyline. But like you were saying, the classic cinema tropes played into this, which is like the journey, the adventures that the monster goes on. I'm like, Cool, but is it scary, though? I don't know. That's what I was hoping for. So I think it was a thing of expectations that I had that were misunderstood, I guess.

Lee Pugsley
Yeah, I get that. And since Frankenstein isn't on your list, I take it, what is your number eight?

Alex Howard
My number eight is another Netflix movie that I also saw in theaters because I saw Frankenstein in theaters. And then I went to see Wake Up Dead Man in theaters. Wake Up Dead Man was so awesome. Other two were in my top 10, Glass Onion, and Knives Out. So I thought it only appropriate to also put Wake Up Dead Man in my top 10. I think this is one of the better trilogies we've had in Hollywood, and I really hope Rian Johnson-- I mean, I'd love to see anything he does, original. But if he wanted to make a couple more Knives Out movies, I would not be opposed to that either. I thought, especially in this one, at this point, you know Daniel Craig's character pretty well. And so I felt like he could really play into his character's tropes and his character's nuances and things like that. And it made it funnier because we know him by now. And so I was even thinking, Oh, it'd be great if he got an Oscar nomination, which is not going to happen. But the detective in these movies, you start to love him as a character.

Lee Pugsley
I'm so happy that this film made your top 10, and this is one that I thought that we would have in common. So spoiler alert, this is my number two film of the year. I really, really liked this film. I think that it's not maybe quite as strong as the first Knives Out. I definitely liked it more than Glass Onion. I think that there's a lot of really nice feats of humor here. I think the mystery part of it takes a lot of twists and turns. And I also felt like it was deeper thematic exploration of faith. Regardless of if you have faith in any deity or you don't, I think that Rian Johnson makes a fair presentation of all angles of faith, of those that believe in something, of those that don't believe in something. I think it's very thought-provoking, stimulating, and gives you something to chew on in ways that the other Knives Out movies maybe haven't gone quite as in-depth with. I really appreciated it thematically. I loved Daniel Craig in this movie. He's always such a great character. But really what impressed me the most was Josh O'Connor's character. I thought that he played that character with such earnestness and sincerity and honesty that was very compelling, and I think that he would be worthy of a nomination for an acting category. He's obviously not going to get one, but I've just become more and more impressed with Josh O'Connor over the last couple of years.

Alex Howard
I think this is the first big thing, at least that I recognize him in. But I know you saw all four of his movies this year, right?

Lee Pugsley
Yeah, he did. Rebuilding, The Mastermind, History of Sound, and then Wake of Dead Man. And he's great in all of them. He's so different in all of them, too. And he really knows how to bring about nuance, subtlety, and humanity to any role that he portrays. Also, I just have to shout out Glenn Close as well, because she's spectacular in everything, and she was so good in this movie, too.

Alex Howard
Yeah, the only person I was a little disappointed by was Cailee Spaeny. I didn't feel like she had enough to do. I think she was Oscar nominated herself couple of years ago, and she was in some big awards baiting movies, and I felt like maybe she signed on for this when she was a bit smaller name, I guess. But I was a little disappointed her character didn't have more to do. But it's so stacked. You can't give everyone big roles. I mean, Jeremy Renner is in this, and Josh Brolin, and like you said, Glenn Close. So this is a stacked cast of people.

Lee Pugsley
Yeah, to that point, if there's any very, very minor criticism of this film, It might be that there's too many characters, and not all of them have much to do. And so it might feel a little overloaded in the character department.

Alex Howard
Do you think it'll get a screenplay nomination?

Lee Pugsley
I hope so. I'm rooting for it to get a screenplay nomination. I think it's a very deserving of one.

Alex Howard
Yeah, no, same here. I really hope it does. So what is your number seven, Lee?

Lee Pugsley
My number seven, and I'm so happy that I can talk about this movie because I feel like very few people saw it, and this will probably come as a surprise to you, it's Bob Trevino Likes This. It's a movie that was a very small movie. Did it premiere at Sundance?

Alex Howard
It might have. It came out February, didn't it?

Lee Pugsley
Yeah, it came out earlier this year. It's a really small indie film with John Leguizamo and Barbie Ferreira, who I wasn't familiar with before this. The basic premise of it is a young woman is trying to reconnect with her father, and she befriends someone on Facebook that has the name Bob Trevino, which is the name of her father. This is also based a true story. Spoiler alert, the man that she connects with isn't her father, but it's really about how they form this lovely friendship. It's very grounded, emotional. There's moments of sentimentality, but it's just a very pleasant watch that really had strong resonance with me. And I'm so happy that I can champion this film.

Alex Howard
That's really awesome. Yeah, this is not one that I saw. I remember being out, and I remember thinking about going, but I did not catch this one, so I have to check it out.

Lee Pugsley
It's available on Hulu and Disney Plus right now, I believe. So as long as they haven't taken it away, I encourage everyone to give it a watch. So moving over to you, what's your number seven?

Alex Howard
So my number seven is Bugonia. I really love this movie. I think I think, I mean, Emma Stone is always great. Jesse Plemons is always great. But I think if you look up in the dictionary, Commit to the Bit, I think Bugonia, there's a picture of the Bugonia poster because they really committed to it. And I definitely give them major props to that. They took this premise and this idea that he had to the max. And I love that about this movie. I don't want to spoil anything, but I love that they went there and just went crazy with it. It's shocking moment after shocking moment in this movie. So I saw this movie twice in the theater. I just had so much fun with it. And I think it also has my favorite needle drop of the year, which is the Green Day song they play in the middle.

Lee Pugsley
That's a great needle drop. And this is actually my number six film of the year. I love this film as well. I think that it's possibly up there with my favorite Yorgos Lanthimos films. I think that he did a great job of knowing the assignment, and like you said, committing to the bit. He fully just went in full force. I think the script is really solid as well. I think it's very worthy of a best screenplay nomination. Just the way that Jesse Plemons and Emma Stone face off against each other is so compelling and it's very thought-provoking. I think there's a lot of ideas that it brings up here that are very relevant to where we're at today as a society. It also does a great job of keeping you on the edge of your seat, even though a lot of it takes place in a single location. But it never feels like you're watching a play. It never feels like it's getting boring. It constantly just keeps you guessing, and there are some fun twists and turns along the way. Really solid production design, as Yorgos usually has. Really interesting score. And all around, there's really nothing negative I have to say about this film. I'm just happy that it exists, and I had a lot of fun with this.

Alex Howard
Yeah, it's definitely weird, and I feel like it might be too weird for the Academy, but I wish it would get more awards buzz. We'll see, I guess, what happens when the nominations come out on the 22nd. I could see it going either way because it's weird enough that I love it, but I just don't know if a seven-year-old Academy voter is going to love it.

Lee Pugsley
Yeah, I agree with that. It'll be interesting to see what the Academy chooses to do with this, although I will say it does seem like a little more accessible than other Yorgos films as well. I think that some of his films conceptually are way more out there than this one, but I think this one has a premise that can be easier to track with.

Alex Howard
Yeah, I could see that.

Lee Pugsley
All right. So my number six was Bugonia. So I guess we'll flip it back to you. What's your number six?

Alex Howard
So my number six is, I would say, the most fun I had in theaters this year. It was Final Destination: Bloodlines. And I know this is not an Oscar or artsy movie. It's just fun and I love it, and it's in my top 10, and you all can deal with it. But I think it's so, so, so much fun. I watched all of the Final Destination leading up to this movie. I'd never seen them before. I would say this is my favorite one, for those of you who don't know and who aren't crazy. Final Destination is franchise where a group of people usually escape death because one of them has a premonition of a disaster coming. So they save a bunch of the and then death proceeds to hunt them down and kill them in really weird, crazy ways. In this one, it is about an older woman who escapes death, and she basically locks herself up and escapes it for years and years and years. So she has kids. So now it's hunting the generations down. It's so much fun. The kills are so good, and it's funny. I actually saw this movie twice in theaters. I saw it opening weekend, and then I went to see it again right before it left. I went on a little self-date. Weirdly, cheered myself up watching it the second time. So it's just, I don't know why. It brings me so much joy in this movie.

Lee Pugsley
This is an incredibly fun movie, and I knew this was going to be on your list. You pretty much rode the wave with this movie until the very end, and I'm glad that it's still here. It's a blast to watch, and I do agree. I think it's one of the strongest entries in the Final Destination franchise. I don't think it necessarily reinvents the wheel, but with these movies, it's all about how can we create to actively kill people. And there's some really solid kills in this movie in campy but really entertaining ways.

Alex Howard
Yeah, and there's some great fakeouts, too. You're like, Is this person going to die? That's part of the fun of it. So there are some great ones where it's like, Oh, they actually survived that. So, yes, it's a lot of fun.

Lee Pugsley
The audio description track for this film is also absolutely fantastic.

Alex Howard
Oh, it's one of my favorite AD tracks, for sure. And I think that's what made the experience so enjoyable as well, because a lot of the other Final Destination movies, they either don't have AD or they don't have great AD. And for this one, they went top-notch. I mean, there's one line, I think, in the AD where it says, The skin is degloved from her hand. It's so good. It's just like they give such great detail.

Lee Pugsley
Absolutely. And whether or not you're blind or sighted, if you want an example of really good audio description, this is the movie to check out from this year. This is the one, to me, that really stands out in terms of the writing for the AD script.

Alex Howard
Oh, I totally agree. Yeah. So now we're in our top five, Lee. So we've had two in common so far. But what is your number five?

Lee Pugsley
My number five is The Testament of Anne Lee, a movie that Searchlight Pictures hasn't really promoted, and it's really not been seen by very many people. But for those that don't know what it is, Anne Lee was the founder of The Shakers, a religious group that believed in celibacy and hard work and physical labor toil, I guess, as a form of worship. It's really fascinating. It's directed by Mona Fastvold, who is the partner of Brady Corbet, who directed The Brutalist. It's basically the same team because both of them wrote the screenplay for this film. It stars Amanda Seyfried as Anne Lee, the founder of the Shakers, and she's absolutely transformative. I think that her performance is one of the best performances of the year. After a while, I forgot that I was watching her and really took her as character. Beyond that, though, I think that it has some of the best direction. Mona Fastvold's direction is excellent. I think that it's so unique in the way that she brings about different sequences, such as Anne's visions, and how she incorporates that in different montages into the story with the use of music, which, in my opinion, is one of the best scores of the year.

It's a shame that it's not even on the Oscar shortlist for best original score. They use traditional Shaker hymns, and I think that really adds a lot of authenticity to it. The Shaker dances are pretty interesting. The Shakers were known for having these jerky, jolty movements, and that's depicted very well in this film. But just the blend of choreography, music, songs, and the way that the story unfolds feels very poetic, meditative, and lyrical in a way that was so unique and really stands out from any other theatrical experience I had last year. It's not going to be for everyone, but it's a part of history. It's not a part of religious history, but it's just a part of history in general. So I think that if you're a historian or you're interested in religious history, there's something here to take away, and I think you'll find it very intriguing.

Alex Howard
That's so awesome. Yeah, this is definitely on my list of ones I want to see I know it was playing in 70 Millimeter since Christmas. It was out for a few weeks in 70 Millimeter. And you can't do audio description in 70 Millimeter. So I was waiting. And this past weekend, it's Monday today, this past weekend, it came out digital. So I still need to get out and watch it with audio description. But glad you liked it so much. I'm definitely looking forward to checking it out.

Lee Pugsley
I saw it in 70 Millimeter the first time, and I really liked it then, but watching it again with audio description really filled in the gaps of a lot of things that I missed. If you are someone from the blind or low vision community, I highly recommend that you experience this movie with audio description. Once again, such a unique experience. Going back to you, Alex, what's your number 5.

Alex Howard
My number 5 is Weapons. I was not a big fan of Barbarian when it came out, but I freaking love Weapons. I think the style of storytelling is very Tarantino-esque. They do it from different characters' perspectives. And it's all about trying to find these kids that went missing in a classroom. They all disappeared at 2:17 in the morning, and so they're trying to figure out where they went. And it's a great, great ride. I think the performance from Amy Madigan is amazing, too. I'm so happy she's getting some awards buzz for it. I'm glad this movie is getting awards buzz, too, because I think the screenplay is getting some buzz around it as well. So I was very, very impressed with Weapons.

Lee Pugsley
I agree with that. This was a very well-crafted film that almost made my honorable mentions. I do think it is one of the standout horror films from last year, if not the standout horror film. The way that the story unfolds is very unique. The performances are really great. Even some of the shots that I was able to pick up on are really interesting. So I really appreciate this movie, and I'm glad that this hasn't left the awards conversations, and we'll see if it can ride the full way until the Oscars. I hope that it picks up something, though, at the final awards show.

Alex Howard
Like you were saying, as an example, there's a shot, there's a woman in a car outside a house, and I will always remember watching this scene in a theater in a full... It was like a 400-seat theater, and she's sleeping her car and a woman comes out of the house and you see her pass the camera, and then you just hear the car door open behind and it's off screen, and everyone in the theater just gasped and said, Oh, my God, this woman's coming in the car! And it was like, the tension was so palpable in the theater. It was so great.

Lee Pugsley
It also has a really good audio description track as well, and you can watch it on HBO Max.

Alex Howard
Yes, definitely recommend. So what is your number four, Lee?

Lee Pugsley
My number four is Marty Supreme. This movie was so much fun to watch. I will say that I hated Uncut Gems, which is another film by the Safdie Brothers. I just found that film obnoxious. I found all the characters dislikable, and there's just so much aggression and stress in that movie. And interestingly enough, Marty Supreme has a lot of those same elements where I wouldn't say that the majority of the characters are likable. It still has that frenetic energy, but for whatever reason, it just worked really well for me. I think that the screenplay is great. There's some very quippy dialog and some heavy-hitting lines that you're like, Whoa, did they actually say that? Timothée Chalamet's performance is phenomenal. I do think that it is the best performance of the year, in my personal opinion. And the supporting cast, Odessa A'Zion and Gwyneth Paltrow, as well as Kevin O'Leary, all do a really fantastic job. I think that it's very tight editing and the pace just keeps moving forward. It never lets up, and it's a thoroughly entertaining ride from start to finish.

Alex Howard
That's so funny because Marty Supreme is actually my number four as well. And like you, I did not like Uncut Gems either. And this was weirdly similar to Uncut Gems, but it really clicked for me a lot better. I thought, Timothée Chalamet is amazing in this movie. This is the best he's ever been, I think. We were talking before the show about how he could sweep the season. I could totally see that happening. And it's crazy because the Academy, normally, they've only given one lead actor Oscar out to anyone who is under 30, and that person was 29 and nine months or something. So that'd be so cool if Timothée Chalamet won. But beyond that, I think Martyr Supreme is an outstanding movie. It's so intense and so funny at times, too, and just all around a really, really great time. I mean, if you know, you know, but the title sequence is hilarious in this movie.

Lee Pugsley
It's so great and something that you probably haven't seen before, at least not in the way that this title sequence is done. There's also some really good needle drops in this film as as well.

Alex Howard
Oh, for sure. Yeah. And the idea is really good, too. The ping-pong games, the way they describe the ping-pong games and stuff is really well done.

Lee Pugsley
Definitely. That's awesome that we're in alignment with our number four. So, yeah, we have three films in common so far, and now we are in our top three. And so my number three is Train Dreams. This is one of those films that I really didn't know what to expect going into it, but I think it's a very beautiful and poetic story about this logger who lives in Idaho in the early 1900s. And maybe it's just because I grew up in Idaho that it had more resonance with me. But beyond that, I think that the performance by Joel Edgerton is really nice. It's very subtle and understated, but I think that there's a lot of emotion that he conveys in it. I wouldn't necessarily call this a happy movie because there are things that happen in it that are very tragic. But I think it ends on a note that's very thought-provoking and really ties everything together so beautifully and makes you think about your own life. It's very simple. There's nothing that's really super crazy about it. But the cinematography is some of the best cinematography of the year. The score is really lovely. And I don't know, this just really resonated with me on a level that I wasn't expecting it to. There's something very poetic about it, very Terrence Malick about it. It's very peaceful, meditative. And it's more so just a character study rather than a narrative that really drives from plot point to plot point in a fast way. It really takes its time. But for those that are interested, I do think it is worth the watch.

Alex Howard
This one is also streaming on Netflix, along with Frankenstein and Wake Up Dead Man. I completely agree with you. This is a gorgeous movie. It is not on my top 10 because I also take rewatchability into account in my top 10, and this is a depressing movie. But it's really good, and it's really beautiful, and the audio description is really great. It does a great job of describing the scenery. It makes you feel the things that are intended, that the director intended you to feel, but they aren't necessarily always pleasant. And so I agree, it's a great movie. I just don't know that I'll ever watch it again.

Lee Pugsley
That's a very fair point. It's definitely not for everyone. And it's one of those films that if you have a hard time with the very slow-paced movies that just take their time, and I mean, this movie really takes its time, then it may not be as resonant for you. But if you are willing to commit to the journey and can just let it be what it is, it's a very nice breath of fresh air.

Alex Howard
It's also not that long of a movie, so it's not like it's two, two and a half hours of slow. The parts where it takes its time is needed to soak in what just happened a little bit. You know what I mean? And I also feel like the very end ends on a hopeful note, which is good. But the journey there was very sad.

Lee Pugsley
So true. And what I think I like the most about it is it's just very simple. The The character that Joel Edgerton plays is nothing extraordinary. He's just an everyday guy living his life. I think that there's something that's really interesting and also relatable about just an average person living their life and seeing the highs and the lows that go along with that.

Alex Howard
Oh, definitely. Yeah, this is a good pick, solid pick.

Lee Pugsley
All right. So what's your number three?

Alex Howard
Man, these top three, you could literally interchange any of them. I just bumped this one down today. My number three is Sinners. I really, really like Sinners. I think the reason I bumped it down is because the first half or so, I had a lot of trouble understanding the dialog, and I've been meaning to rewatch it. I've only seen it once, I think, opening weekend in Dolby, back in March. But I think the fact that it stayed with me since March also speaks to how great of a film this is. It has a lot to say in terms of society and culture and all of that. But then halfway through, it turns into a vampire movie, which is awesome. So it can be an artsy movie, but also has that horror element. And I really love that with the vampire stuff, they really went for old-school vampires where you need to be invited inside. And all of the tropes of vampires, they really took to that instead of the twilight vampire or the other things that we've had lately. I like that they went back to the vampire roots for this movie.

Lee Pugsley
This film is undeniably a cinematic achievement for 2025 and possibly even for the whole decade that we're in so far. There's so much to appreciate about this film, from the acting to the production design, to the cinematography, to the score, to the use of music. Yeah, it's interesting because everything about this movie is so well done and there's so much to appreciate about it. Interestingly enough, though, it did not have the same resonance for me as it has had with so many other people. I don't know, maybe I just need to give it a second watch. Maybe I just wasn't in the right headspace when I watched it. But yeah, I don't know. I didn't dislike it, and I would solidly recommend it to anyone. If it wins a bunch of Oscars, it's very well deserved. But for whatever reason, it just didn't hit for me. I wish I had more of an explanation of that, but I guess it is what it is.

Alex Howard
Yeah, that is very surprising to me because I know you're a big music guy, and music plays a big part in this movie. There's a really cool one-shot scene where they go through all of the decades of music. So yeah, I thought this would... I mean, I like that you enjoyed it, but I thought for sure this would be in your top 10.

Lee Pugsley
Yeah, initially, I thought it was going to be as well. I really wanted to like it more than I did. So like I said, I'm willing to give it another watch. But just to be clear, just because it's not in my top 10 or did not make my honorable mentions, doesn't mean that I disliked it. I have the utmost respect for what this film is, what it means to people, and what it represents.

Alex Howard
Oh, for sure. So then we got your number 2, right?

Lee Pugsley
Yeah, we have my number 2, which was Wake Up Dead, Man. What's your number two?

Alex Howard
Wow, I have no idea what your number one is going to be, but we will talk about that in a second, I guess. My number two is Twinless. I saw this at Sundance back almost a year ago now, in January 2025, and it stuck with me. We did an office party to watch it, and then I was really listening to the AD because the TV, I couldn't see that well. And so I could not wait for it to come out. So I waited till September. I think we've told this on the podcast before. So sorry if you're hearing this again. But yeah, so then I saw in September, and I loved it just as much. It's such a great movie. I think it's emotional and funny and just such a great idea of a... I mean, it probably does exist, the twin support group. When your twin dies, you go to a support group. But I think just the balance of drama and humor and the performances given by Dylan O'Brien and James Sweeney, I love this movie so much.

Lee Pugsley
It's a really solid film. There's much to appreciate about this movie, and it almost made my honorable mentions. It was right on the cusp. I do think that it would be my top 20 films of the year. I think this film has a lot to say about loss, grief, and loneliness. For as quirky of a film as it is with some very extreme situations, I think that it handles those things with tender care and really brings a lot of humanity and understanding to why these characters are making the choices that they're making. I think that Dylan O'Brien's performance is absolutely fantastic. And James Sweeney is also very good, but Dylan O'Brien is definitely the standout here. And I think that the screenplay would be worthy of a best screenplay nomination.

Alex Howard
Oh, for sure. Yeah. I don't know that it will, but I hope it does get a nomination. So I have no idea what your number one is going to be, which is weird because I feel like usually I can predict it.

Lee Pugsley
As soon as I tell you, you're going to be like, Oh, I totally should have known that. But to reveal it now, it is The Long Walk. And as you know, I was very big on this movie from the moment that I saw it in theaters, and it stuck with me ever since. I just think that the strength of this film is the screenplay, the way that the characters are developed. And even though you have so many of them, you really feel like you get to know each one of them and become emotionally attached. And in the midst of the horrific things that happen in it, which is definitely not a pleasant watch, you really feel the camaraderie and brotherhood of this whole cast, which I think is one of the best ensembles of the year. And Francis Lawrence does a very good of directing it in such a way that it still feels gripping. You feel the tension, you feel the suspense, but you also feel the humanity of these characters, which is not an easy thing to achieve when you're literally just watching people walk for two hours. I really love this film, and it never really risked getting thrown off from my number one spot. I thought there were things that could have pushed it down, but it's remained strong the whole way through.

Alex Howard
That's really cool. See, I didn't think this would be your number one. That's awesome that it resonated with you so much. I know we talked about this one on our Stephen King episode. I definitely like this movie a lot as well. I definitely want to revisit it now that I've had some time away from that. But yeah, it's funny that we both had a Stephen King adaptation in our top 10.

Lee Pugsley
Yeah, for sure. Now, your number one, if I'm going to guess, I have to guess that it would be Superman?

Alex Howard
No, no, no, it's not Superman. I love Superman, but no, it's not Superman. My number one is Sorry, Baby.

Lee Pugsley
Oh, of course, of course. Well, it started with an S. There you go. That's a no-brainer.

Alex Howard
No, Sorry, Baby is my number one movie of the year, which is funny because for a while, I was like, No, it's number two or three. I was like, No, if I'm being honest with myself, this is the one that really hit me this year. I think I went in not really knowing what it was about at all. I went to a Q&A at The Grove to see this. It really blew my mind how well Eva Victor, I mean, she stars, writes, and directs this movie. Just the way she balanced drama and humor in such a dark subject manner, but somehow made you feel the weight of what the character goes through, but then also be able to laugh at the parts where you're supposed to laugh at. I thought it was so amazing. And so this film really stuck with me through the whole year.

Lee Pugsley
That's such a good number one pick. And there's, once again, so many great things about this film. I think that Eva Victor has a very strong career ahead, and I'll be interested to see what they do in terms of their next project. I think that is impressive that they were the actor, writer, and director for this film. I love the way that it handles what happened with such care, but also it doesn't feel overly heavy, even though it is a very heavy topic that's being dealt with here. But I think that there's a really nice balance that this film conveys that I I think anyone that's in a healing journey can relate to and connect to in a very honest way. So I love the fact that this is your number one choice.

Alex Howard
It has really been great to see them represented. I mean, they got nominated for best actress at Golden Globes, and then they got the best screenplay nomination at the Critics Choice Awards. So I'm really hoping they'll get something at the Oscars, whether it be screenplay-- I don't see her getting an actress as much as I love it, but hopefully, they at least get a screenplay nomination because I think they definitely deserve for this movie.

Lee Pugsley
100%. So now that we're at the end of our top 10 list, just one thing that I think is very interesting for both of us, at least for me, three of the biggest movies of the year that everyone has been buzzing about, Hamnet, One Battle After Another, and Sinners, are not on my list. On your list, One Battle After Another and Hamnet did not make the cut for you. Once again, these lists are our own personal preferences. That doesn't mean that those other films are bad or we wouldn't recommend them to people. But I just think it's interesting that usually we're more in alignment with the Oscar films, and this year, I feel like it feels very different.

Alex Howard
Yeah, this year is very different. I feel like we were both a little underwhelmed by One Battle After Another. I know for me, and I think for you, too, we still very much enjoyed it, but I think we're a little baffled by everyone saying it's the best film of the decade. It's probably gonna the sweep all through best picture. It's really good. But I felt like there were other films this year that resonated with me more.

Lee Pugsley
Yeah, I feel like One Battle just didn't have the resonance that I really wanted it to on an emotional or personal level. But by no means does that make it a bad film. Anyone that wants to champion that film and ride it the whole way through, I understand why you would do that.

Alex Howard
Oh, for sure.

Lee Pugsley
And same thing with Hamnet as well. It didn't have as heavy of a resonance or as emotional of a resonance for me personally, but I think Jessie Buckley did give one of the best performances of the year. And for those that it really resonated with and they could find some relatability with that, I think that's a really beautiful thing.

Alex Howard
Oh, yeah. Jessie Buckley is the one to be definitely the best performance this year. That movie was absolutely heartbreaking. And once again, I took the rewatchability into account for my top 10, and that's one that I don't know that I'm going to be rewatching. So great movie, but I think it's a one-time watch for me.

Lee Pugsley
Yeah, I think it's fair to say that this year that this was still a good year for cinema. Maybe a little overwhelming for me personally, but also I still found some really good pics in this year, and I think it had a lot to offer. Just maybe not as much in the awards caliber films as other years.

Alex Howard
Yeah, I do think the awards caliber ones are a little weaker. Maybe not as competitive, but a very strong year for film still. And I think the only one that made it from my top 10 most anticipated into my top 10 of the year was Wake Up Dead Man, which there's usually either one or none of a crossover. So it's a very solid year for movies, though. I really love all the ones in my top 10.

Lee Pugsley
Yeah, I think the only ones that made it from my most anticipated were Wicked for Good and Frankenstein. So I guess two out of 10 from last year's 2025, most anticipated. Well, thank you so much, you guys, for listening to this episode. And once again, just keep in mind that these are our personal pics for our top 10 of the year. And we realize you may have different pics, and we love that. We think that's such a beautiful and awesome thing. So please share them with us at DarkRoomFilmCast@gmail.com. Once again, that's DarkRoomFilmCast@gmail.com. And you can also follow us on Instagram and YouTube at DarkRoomFilmCast.

Alex Howard
Yes. And we'd like to thank All Senses Go and Matt Lauterbach for making captions possible, as well as BlindCAN for helping out with editing.

Lee Pugsley
Thanks again, everyone. And we'll see you back here next time on The Dark Room.

Alex Howard
Yeah. Take care, guys.