I usually don't think about years as either being good for film or bad for film. Given that a few of the films on my list are films that were technically released last year, that it could be argued that things this year aren't that great. However, there are several high-profile and successful films that didn't work for me. I would not let that hinder my thoughts about the year overall. Here are the ones that did work for me.
10. MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE - THE FINAL RECKONING by Christopher McQuarrie - Tom Cruise is getting an honorary Academy Award for his lifetime achievements in cinema. Over the course of nearly 30 years, Cruise has been doing awe-inspiring or death-defying stunts for this franchise. I've argued that there are a lot of derivative ones in this film, but it works as a practical series finale, if indeed Paramount Pictures ceases to make any of these, at least with Cruise as the lead. The types of stunts might be derivative, but the execution of them remains incredible and top-notch. The submarine survival and the biplane sequence are incredibly well done and absolutely top-notch. So much so, people were arguing for a spin-off involving the submarine crew, which included the amazing Tramell Tillman.
9. SACRAMENTO by Michael Angarano - Michael Cera is in several projects this year. He was in Wes Anderson's The Phoenician Scheme (2025). He's also going to be in the upcoming The Running Man (2025). He's also lending his voice to the second season of Sausage Party: Foodtopia (2024), releasing in August. However, I was most impressed with Cera's performance in this indie, road comedy, which is quirky and curious take on male friendship among older Millennials or younger Generation X. It's also a look at pending fatherhood and it could be seen as a spiritual sequel to something like SuperBad (2007).
8. THE DAY THE EARTH BLEW UP by Peter Browngardt - The Looney Tunes have returned. Warner Bros. Discovery attempted to shelve this film, but Ketchup Entertainment picked it up and actually gave it a theatrical release. It barely made a dent in the box office. Technically, it was given a qualifying run last year to compete for awards at the 97th Academy Awards. It didn't get nominated, but it should have. I actually enjoyed this film so much more than anything that got listed for Best Animated Feature.
7. THUNDERBOLTS* by Jake Schreier - Marvel Studios have not been doing as well as it used to do in the box office. Quality-wise, the films have always been hit-or-miss. Arguably, I haven't enjoyed any film in the so-called Phase Five prior to this. This one has been by far the best written in terms of providing interesting and compelling characterizations, dealing with down-to-Earth emotional issues. Yes, there's the comic book silliness that comes with any of these, but that silliness isn't the driving force. It may not be the greatest action flick, which is mostly all the MCU is, but no question it has the best acting of any MCU flick in years with Florence Pugh, Lewis Pullman and Julia Louis-Dreyfus make for more watchable characters that the MCU has provided in a while.
6. F1: THE MOVIE by Joseph Kosinski - I've never been into car racing films, as I'm not interested in car racing as a sport, but this film manages to make car racing interesting. First is how the races are shot, putting the audience in the driver's seat or in the cockpit somehow as the cars fly across the track. Secondly, the writers here probably violate all the rules when it comes to how Formula One is conducted. Yet, doing so might break the realism but it makes the narrative engaging. Plus, there are very attractive and charming actors here. Obviously, Brad Pitt is the lead, but Damson Idris is absolutely a bright spot.
5. A NICE INDIAN BOY by Roshan Sethi - This year saw four gay comedies get theatrical releases, this one and that of The Wedding Banquet (2025), Things Like This (2025) and I Don't Understand You (2025). Of all of them, this one delighted me the most. It was probably the most contrived of them all, but it also had the best acting of all of them. It also gave us the most cultural insight and reckoning with an immigrant family. I think I also found it the funniest of them all. Strangely, I think it was also the most relatable of them all.
4. ONE OF THEM DAYS by Lawrence Lamont - Forgetting the rom-coms, this film is probably the funniest film of the year. It stars Emmy winner, Keke Palmer and Grammy winner, SZA as best friends trying to find a way to pay the rent with a one-day deadline. Over the course of one day, a lot of crazy things happen, much in the vein of Friday (1995) with Ice Cube and Chris Tucker.
3. NO OTHER LAND by Basel Adra and Yuval Abraham with Hamdan Ballal and Rachel Szor - Technically, this film was released in 2024. It got a one-week, Oscar-qualifying run at the Lincoln Center in New York City. It didn't get a proper distribution deal until after it got nominated for an Oscar. It eventually would go on to win that award for Best Documentary Feature. It centers on a Palestinian activist and an Israeli journalist who work together to shed light on the injustice occurring to Palestinians. It was made before the October 7th terrorist attack and subsequent Israeli invasion that's resulted in a genocide. It gives a look though at what things were like prior to the present conflict.
2. HARD TRUTHS by Mike Leigh - This is another film that technically was released in 2024. Bleecker Street gave it a limited theatrical release in December, but it's nationwide rollout didn't happen till January 10. It comes in a long line of character studies done by Leigh. It stars Marianne Jean-Baptiste who is a veteran actress, working since the 90's. She was nominated for the Oscar for Secrets & Lies (1996), another Mike Leigh film. Many thought she should have been nominated for this and I absolutely agree. Her performance of a depressed and bitter woman is not as depressing and bitter, as one might think. Her performance works on both a comedic and dramatic level, that's absolutely brilliant.
1. MAGAZINE DREAMS by Elijah Bynum - This film was supposed to come out back in 2023, but it was shelved because its star, Jonathan Majors, was arrested and subsequently convicted on an assault charge. However, before that happened, many people who had seen the film early believed that Majors could and should use this film as his ticket to the Academy Awards. Many people thought he was that talented and that his performance here, as a repressed and socially awkward man, was also absolutely brilliant. On that, I agree as well. Majors is amazing and so incredibly talented.
