December 26, 2025 • 19 mins
If you want some phenomenal movie recommendations that don't look like anyone else's list, or if you want to go deeper than the top grossing movies of 2025, look no further than this episode! Amy and T.J. discuss their favorite movies of the year, including the one they took the family to on Christmas Day.
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
Hey there, everybody.
Speaker 2 (00:03):
It is Friday, December twenty sixth, and yes, we now
begin that period of time where no one really knows
what to do, what day it is, where they are.
Speaker 1 (00:17):
If they should work.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
It's that time between Christmas and New Year's And you
know what, a lot of us do.
Speaker 1 (00:22):
We watch movies.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
We relax, we have fun with our family, and so
we thought it would be fun to put together our
list of the best movies of.
Speaker 1 (00:31):
Twenty twenty five.
Speaker 2 (00:32):
And warning here it looks nothing like anyone else's list
or even the top box office results of the year.
Speaker 3 (00:39):
This is so we're going with the best movies based
on critics or the top movies based on numbers.
Speaker 2 (00:49):
Well, the best movies based on critics would be highly subjective,
and every list is different.
Speaker 1 (00:55):
I do have the box office results, but the best
movies we're.
Speaker 2 (00:58):
Talking about are our favorite movie. We're gonna recommend our
favorite movies of twenty twenty five.
Speaker 3 (01:04):
And we don't follow along with the critics.
Speaker 1 (01:06):
We're not even close with where the critics are.
Speaker 3 (01:08):
Critics hate us.
Speaker 2 (01:09):
Actually, yeah, we would not do well in a mingling
like situation with them because we would get into.
Speaker 1 (01:14):
Like, no, what you think that was good. Uh uh No,
we just have a very specific taste.
Speaker 2 (01:20):
Now we I think we should start with what we
saw last night Christmas Day. We have now kind of
established a tradition of going to the movies with our kids,
and it's really fun last night. Would you put that
as one of your favorite movies of twenty twenty five? Uh?
Speaker 3 (01:38):
If I stopped and thought about it a little longer,
it might be in the top five of twenty twenty five.
It was such an certainly nostalgic for us, but it
was an unexpected treat and delight with a hell of
a cast.
Speaker 2 (01:50):
Yes. So last night we saw the an account Conda
twenty twenty five version, and we'll explain it's not a reboot,
it's not a redo. It's such a clever way to
have a follow up movie or an adjacent movie to
a movie that we loved with j Lo that was
in the nineties.
Speaker 1 (02:09):
Correct, we watch us ad nausey.
Speaker 3 (02:11):
Absolute cult classic. Everybody knows that movie. It's not the
greatest movie type of thing you would put in that
kind of category. It is a cult classic, wonderful every
time in delivery.
Speaker 1 (02:20):
It's just fun.
Speaker 2 (02:21):
So last night we went into it not really knowing
what to expect to see Anaconda. This one stars Jack
Black and Paul Rudd. It was an absolute blast. You
know those movies where you laugh out loud and you
can hear other people in the theater where in New
York's a week and hear other people in the theater
all the time laughing out loud.
Speaker 1 (02:37):
It was amazing. So the critics only gave.
Speaker 2 (02:39):
It fifty one percent on Rotten Tomatoes, but the audience
already up to seventy nine percent, so that is a
big deal. And I always like those movies where the
audience likes it more than the critics. That usually means
we're in. But I just wanted to read the synopsis
for you because if you haven't seen it, that would
be our biggest recommendation. Run out of the theaters and
see Anaconda. It is so much fun for the whole family.
(03:01):
By the way, it's an entirely original comedy inspired by
the classic Anaconda.
Speaker 1 (03:06):
It features yes, Jack Black and Paul Rudd.
Speaker 2 (03:09):
Who've been best friends since they were kids, always dreamed
of remaking their all time favorite movie. When a midlife
crisis pushes them to finally go for it, they head
deep into the Amazon to start filming, but things get
real when an actual giant anaconda appears, turning their comically
chaotic movie set into a deadly situation.
Speaker 4 (03:27):
It was perfect. I loved that movie. It had heart,
it had some meaning, It was funny as all get out.
There are two scenes in this movie that are extended jokes.
If you will, you will be laughing for minutes.
Speaker 1 (03:41):
Yes, on end, you were crying.
Speaker 3 (03:43):
It was it was so unexpected. Oh my god, what's
the guy from White Lotus? We can never come up
with his name? He was the dad the first season.
Speaker 1 (03:51):
Oh yeah, I can never.
Speaker 3 (03:51):
We can never come up with his name.
Speaker 1 (03:53):
He is amazing.
Speaker 3 (03:54):
You see him and you love him. Oh and Dandy Newton.
Speaker 1 (03:58):
Oh, Sandy Newton was incredible. How did I not mention
her either?
Speaker 3 (04:01):
Yes?
Speaker 1 (04:01):
Oh so the dad from White Lotus.
Speaker 2 (04:05):
I was like, first this joke that he was a
part of I thought was stupid, and then it because
they were they leaned into everything. They went full force
with all jokes. Yes, they didn't half ass anything, and
so when people are all in, you're on board too,
and it just worked. We were all laughing so highly
highly highly recognized. Okay, so wait, we'll start with the
(04:25):
box office top ten. This is what Americans went to
go see or this is a yeah, this is domestic.
Speaker 1 (04:32):
This is not international. It's a little bit different when
you do international.
Speaker 3 (04:35):
You know, cool, this is a good way to do it, but.
Speaker 1 (04:37):
I wanted to do domestic results. Yes, okay.
Speaker 2 (04:38):
So the number ten movie of twenty twenty five, Captain
America Brave New World. We didn't see it, did not
see it. Number nine, How to Train Your Dragon, didn't
see it, didn't see it. Number eight, The Fantastic Four
First Steps, didn't see it, didn't see it.
Speaker 3 (04:53):
Can you tell me number ten? There? How much money
did you make?
Speaker 1 (04:56):
Number ten?
Speaker 2 (04:57):
Mate? This is just domestically two hundred point five five million.
Speaker 3 (05:00):
And it was considered a little bit of a failure, Yes,
a little bit, right, a box office bus to a.
Speaker 2 (05:05):
Certain Yeah, they would they probably would have thought it
was going to get into the top five.
Speaker 1 (05:08):
Yes, okay.
Speaker 2 (05:09):
So How to Train Your Dragon, the Fantastic Four, number
seven Sinners, Oh yeah, of course, that is the only
movie on the top ten list that we actually, you're kidding.
We only saw one movie.
Speaker 3 (05:20):
You're telling me America's favorite movies. We only gave a
damn about seeing and you saying to the theater or
to the theater.
Speaker 2 (05:27):
So there's one that we saw halfway through and stop, yeah,
you know which one it is, all right? So okay,
So Sinners was the one we saw. Number six. Both
of my daughters were begging us to see this Zootopia too.
They were like, Mom, you and TJ. I know it
sounds silly and childly, you will love this movie.
Speaker 1 (05:46):
They were raving about it.
Speaker 3 (05:48):
First one was delightful. I do want to see it.
I didn't run out to the theater, but yeah, oh
those movies are.
Speaker 2 (05:52):
When it starts streaming, we will watch the Sopia too.
She's like, you will laugh, you will cry, it has
heard is everything? Number five Wicked for good Now we
saw the first one. We didn't see the second half. Okay.
Members of our family represented us and saw number four
Jurassic World. We didn't see that, and that's something we
(06:13):
would have normally seen. I don't know why we didn't watch.
Speaker 3 (06:16):
You know, it takes a lot to get us to
the theater. And there were a number of horror movies
this year. We go to movie theaters for horror movies.
We kind of exclusively almost even last night, even though
it was a common comedy, but it had its horror
thrillers agreement to it. But now I think that's it.
We get excited about a new horror movie coming out.
We don't get excited about anything nothing. I don't care
(06:36):
how big of a blockbusting, even Sinners. It was the
one horror movie I know.
Speaker 2 (06:41):
That's I know, that's the why, that's why we saw
the one. Okay, number three, here's the one we saw
halfway through. And to be honest, we get up really early,
so it has nothing to do with the movie. We
fell asleep and we just didn't fully commit. Recommit to
watch it, Superman.
Speaker 3 (06:54):
I want to see it.
Speaker 2 (06:55):
Curious about all everyone talks about how wonderful this film was.
I the original is such a huge part. It's one
of the first movies I remember loving.
Speaker 3 (07:05):
But this was a significant for the reboot for DC
and James Gunn being in charge, and the movie did
well and people, so it looks like this was the
one that finally put him on some kind of good
footing with Marvel, and we didn't get him. We just
heard exactly.
Speaker 2 (07:19):
Will recommit at some point maybe this week, to watch
to finish watching Superman number two, Lilo and Stitch to
Man four hundred and twenty three point seven million domestically.
Speaker 1 (07:30):
That is remarkable.
Speaker 3 (07:31):
Wait a minute, so you're telling me Minecraft movie was
the big movie.
Speaker 2 (07:34):
The Yes, the Minecraft movie number one domestic movie. That's
pretty remarkable. So don't know how many of them you've seen.
We've seen one point three.
Speaker 1 (07:45):
We saw about a third of the top ten. Yeah,
that's it.
Speaker 3 (07:48):
I think we were rare. Yeah, we were rare, all right.
Speaker 2 (07:50):
So we put together a list of the movies that
we did love, and you won't be surprised that they
all kind of fit in the horror genre.
Speaker 1 (07:58):
I searched, I looked.
Speaker 2 (08:00):
I actually spent a lot of time going through all
the movies of twenty twenty five, thinking, my god, we
had to have gone to the movies.
Speaker 1 (08:07):
To have seen something other than a horror movie. And
turns out it's none. We did not. So on the list,
we'll start with The Long Walk. Your first impressions of
The Long Walk.
Speaker 3 (08:20):
Shockingly emotional. That was I wasn't expecting Stephen King. I
didn't know this Stephen Ling story. Stephen King store. That
movie was intense from start to finish, and there was
a friendship that formed black guy, white guy in the
midst of the highest stakes possible, only one of us
(08:41):
can survive, and we still found a way to connect
and be friends. That's I was shocked and how emotional
I was watching the movie.
Speaker 2 (08:50):
We loved this movie. Honestly, it almost felt like because
Stephen King wrote this story, so it was a short
story adapted to a film long, long, long ago, and
yet it reminded me of The Hunger Games, like he
was almost the original Hunger Games it really. I mean,
obviously it's a it's a more it's a simpler story
than The Hunger Games, but I got those same vibes
(09:10):
from it.
Speaker 1 (09:10):
But it's funny.
Speaker 2 (09:12):
In the actual write up or in the description of it,
you said intense the long walk and intense, chilling and
emotional thriller that challenges audiences to confront a haunting question,
how far could you go?
Speaker 1 (09:25):
So you actually nailed it?
Speaker 2 (09:27):
Okay, yes you could, all right. Eighty eight percent from critics,
eighty four percent from audience, So the rotten Tomatoes. Everyone
agrees this was a phenomenal film, and namely, yes, obviously
Stephen King, the author of being the huge reason why
it was great. But Cooper Hoffman, Philip Seymour, Hoffman's son
stars in this He is remarkable. The apple does not
(09:48):
fall far from the tree. And then David Johnson, he
was a black guy. He was amazing. They call it
a soulful performance, but they say brings a lot of
heart to Stephen King's dystopian tailor, making The Long Walk
a life or death ordeal for its characters and a
riveting ride for audiences.
Speaker 1 (10:05):
That was the critics consensus.
Speaker 2 (10:07):
So agreed. And Mark Hamill is phenomenal in this film too.
Forgot to mention him.
Speaker 3 (10:12):
He was great because that makes you hate him, yes,
and you don't want to.
Speaker 1 (10:17):
But who hates Luke Skywalker?
Speaker 3 (10:19):
Yeah, you will in this one.
Speaker 2 (10:21):
It made sixty three million dollars internationally against a twenty
million dollar budget. You can rent it on Prime or
Apple highly highly highly recommend. Actually, look, it's a little gory,
want to mention, like if you're going to have the
family around. It's heartwarming and it's emotional, but it's gory.
Just wanted to let you guys.
Speaker 3 (10:38):
Know, and disgusting at time just for really not going
over the top, but it was necessary at times just
for the realism of it, and you know, I encourage folks,
if you don't see his name, you probably won't piece
together before the end of the movie that that's Mark Hamill.
You've been looking at that.
Speaker 2 (10:53):
That's true, all right, that's true. He looks very different
and because his character is so evil, you just wouldn't think, oh,
there's Luke.
Speaker 3 (11:01):
But he stars in it the whole time. Yeah, he's
a special one in this movie. He makes this movie
work a lot.
Speaker 1 (11:06):
You're really good, all right.
Speaker 2 (11:07):
I want you to talk about I think you said
this might be your favorite. It's at least in your
top two hard eyes that we have to put that
on for a must see. If you haven't seen it,
please please please. I can see why people might have
skipped over it. But this movie is.
Speaker 3 (11:22):
Incredible because we said they nail it. Could have you
take out the horror and it would have been a
rom com. You take out the rom com elements and
it's a legit horror movie. And it's difficult to get
both of those genres genres. Right. It was great. And
I love Cuba Gooding Junior son. He's just a charming dude.
I love watching him.
Speaker 1 (11:42):
Mason Gooding, I.
Speaker 3 (11:43):
Love that dude. But I hope he gets more and
more opportunities. God like do like watching him. But this
was for folks like us who love horror movies. For
someone like you who loves rom com. We immediately recognize
this as a special movie, and it.
Speaker 2 (11:55):
Could have gone horribly wrong putting those two things together,
but it went. Everything went exactly as it should. So
the synopsis is, for the past several years, the Heart
Eyes Killer has wreaked havoc on Valentine's Day by stalking
and murdering romantic couples. This Valentine's Day, no couple is
safe and it is great. Seventy eight percent from the critics,
(12:16):
seventy six percent from the audience. The critics consensus was
a mixture of gory, slasher and sweet rom com that
ingeniously nails both formulas. Hard Eyes serves up a bloody
Valentine that will make the heart skip a beat, perfectly said. Yes,
this was a brilliant mashup of genres, amazing kills, good fun.
(12:37):
I think this is the perfect date night movie. So yes,
Olivia Holt and Mason Gooding were fuhenomenal in this.
Speaker 3 (12:43):
Well. Please discuss with your date that you're going to
watch this movie and why because if you just, you know,
put it on, I might look at you like you're crazy.
Speaker 2 (12:50):
Hay, So she or he has to be okay with
a little more and a lot of fun. But you
can watch it on Netflix. I'm surprised weapons wasn't higher
up just I saw where it fell. And this movie
was remarkable. It made two hundred and sixty nine million
dollars internationally, but this movie was incredible. Critics gave it
a ninety three percent. The audience gave it an eighty
(13:11):
five percent. The synopsis is at all but one child
from the same class mysteriously vanish on the same night,
at exactly the same time, and a community is left
questioning who or what is behind their disappearance.
Speaker 1 (13:26):
Why did you love this movie?
Speaker 3 (13:28):
The con The promotional campaign was pretty brilliant. It's that simple.
All these kids from one class left and nobody knows
where they went, and only one kid has left. Let's
figure out the mystery. They sold it as that and
this whole all the campaign, everybody right now can still
see kids running with their arms down outstretched. It's just
(13:49):
kind of freaky, the whole thing. I think they did
a great It reminds me of the Megan campaign for
the first Megan. It just gets going. There's a clear
message of what this is and a mystery that needs
to be figured out and they I thought they did
a great job with that. And what's the young lady
from Mom?
Speaker 1 (14:03):
I did Julia Garner?
Speaker 3 (14:04):
I didn't watch Ozar.
Speaker 1 (14:05):
Oh, she's so good. I love her.
Speaker 2 (14:07):
She's one of my favorite favorite actresses right now. Julia Garner,
She's pretty wonderful. And Josh.
Speaker 3 (14:13):
They carry this movie in a lot of ways. There's
a couple other characters in there you recognize, and you
know the Asian guy who was.
Speaker 1 (14:20):
The principal Benedict Want isn't this.
Speaker 3 (14:22):
The guy who was also I think in the Marvel
movies who yes, sidekick of Doctor Strange. So you see that.
The performances are great. Yeah, this is a this is
a god. And some people had a problem with the
way they told the story. It was kind of through
each person's eyes through the same day. I liked it.
Speaker 1 (14:38):
I did too.
Speaker 2 (14:38):
I thought it was phenomenal. The acting was just obviously
so incredibly good. I liked the pacing, I like the
way they told the story. I loved the mystery and
I liked the payoff in the end. I liked what
the answer was to the mystery. A lot of times
I don't and a.
Speaker 3 (14:55):
Lot of people didn't. I didn't mind it, but I
liked how this movie ended almost a comedic horror way.
Speaker 1 (15:02):
Exactly this movie I forgot. How did I not mention that? Oh?
Speaker 2 (15:07):
That makes every horror movie better? All right, you can
watch this on HBO Max. All Right, when we come back,
we're going to tell you our final two movie recommendations
for the best or at least our favorite movies of
twenty twenty five. Welcome back, everyone. We are talking about
(15:33):
our favorite movies of twenty twenty five. Our list does
not mirror anyone else's and certainly not even close to
the highest box office or the highest grossing box office movies.
But there are favorites and we hope you might want
to check them out as well if you have some
extra time on this week between Christmas and New Year's
so also on our list. This is one that everyone
(15:53):
agreed with, including the box office. Was one of the
best movies of the year. Sinners, it was remark the
synopsis is trying to leave their troubles behind Twin brothers,
both played by Michael B. Jordan by the way, returned
to their hometown to start again, only to discover that
an even greater evil is waiting to welcome them back.
This is a vampire movie and a musical almost mashed
(16:18):
up in one, and I loved.
Speaker 3 (16:20):
It, and quite frankly, the soundtrack is something we listen
to quite a bit around here. So the music is great.
But yeah, Michael G. B Jordan is just Michael B. Jordan.
He's wonderful. But the story here is pretty, is pretty cool,
and it's original, an original horror movie. This is not
some ip they got sitting around on a show. If
they had to dust off, you just don't see it
(16:40):
a lot. This is a I give it more credit
because it is a new is a fresh and an
original story, and they pulled it off.
Speaker 1 (16:46):
So yes, you see. Ryan Coogler's genius.
Speaker 2 (16:49):
He was the writer and director and this is his
first original blockbuster. But the critics say it was a
rip roaring fusion of masterful visual storytelling and toe tapping music.
That is exactly the perfect way to put it. Yes,
we love the music, the visuals, the stories. You know,
it felt like an event more than a movie like
you were watching an event.
Speaker 1 (17:11):
Does that make any sense? That's how it felt to me.
But Michael B.
Speaker 2 (17:14):
Jordan stars in it, Hailey Steinfeld and just it's just
a blast to watch and to listen to. It made
three hundred and sixty seven point nine million dollars internationally,
so kudos to them.
Speaker 1 (17:27):
You can watch it on HBO Max.
Speaker 2 (17:28):
And finally, this seems like a good one to end
on Final Destination. Bloodlines were huge, huge Final Destination fans,
but this last one man, they saved the best for
last and perhaps among the reasons why we love this
movie so much. Two words for you, Tony Todd.
Speaker 3 (17:49):
Yeah he was. I think that is why the movies
at the top of the list. If he were not
in this movie, I wonder if we would feel the same.
But there was just an emotional connection. And then look,
any horror movie fan, you know who Tony Todd is,
and Candy Man is on somewhere your list of moments.
You remember, movies, you remember lines, you remember, and to
this day you will not say Candy Man in the mirror.
(18:09):
So for this, oh God, now, that guy to be
in this movie and have the send off that he
had made it really really special for us. But the
movie was fun how they kind of brought the whole
story of Final Destination together. So this was this was
a go.
Speaker 1 (18:25):
It really was.
Speaker 2 (18:26):
Rotten Tomatoes agrees ninety two percent from the critics, eighty
six percent from the audience. Yeah, they really liked this film,
and I liked how the critics consensus put it. Adding
some surprising emotional layers onto the ghoulish bones of Final
Destinations mythology. Bloodlines ingeniously executes grizzly set pieces with precision
(18:47):
and turns impending doom into outrageous fun. We said this
was the best of the series. The production value was incredible,
the deaths, the storyline.
Speaker 1 (18:57):
I thought it was cool that they found a way
to expand it. They went back in time.
Speaker 2 (19:00):
This is supposed to be the beginning basically a Final Destination,
and it was just really smart how they brought it
and made it intergenerational, like there were a lot of
folks they had to kill, and they just did such
a brilliant job bringing it home. But Tony Todd made
it our favorite movie.
Speaker 1 (19:17):
All right. It made three hundred and fifteen million dollars internationally.
Speaker 2 (19:20):
Yeah, it did really really well, But if you haven't
seen it, that is absolutely one to check out. You
can find it on HBO Max and Without. Everyone, we
hope you enjoy your time. We hope you get a
little time off actually away from work and with the family,
and hope that maybe some of these suggestions will help
you have some fun passing the time until you get
to party on New Year's Eve. And with that, everyone
(19:42):
on behalf of my dear TJ.
Speaker 1 (19:44):
Holmes. I'm Amy Robock. We'll talk to you soon.
Hey there, everybody.
Speaker 2 (00:03):
It is Friday, December twenty sixth, and yes, we now
begin that period of time where no one really knows
what to do, what day it is, where they are.
Speaker 1 (00:17):
If they should work.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
It's that time between Christmas and New Year's And you
know what, a lot of us do.
Speaker 1 (00:22):
We watch movies.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
We relax, we have fun with our family, and so
we thought it would be fun to put together our
list of the best movies of.
Speaker 1 (00:31):
Twenty twenty five.
Speaker 2 (00:32):
And warning here it looks nothing like anyone else's list
or even the top box office results of the year.
Speaker 3 (00:39):
This is so we're going with the best movies based
on critics or the top movies based on numbers.
Speaker 2 (00:49):
Well, the best movies based on critics would be highly subjective,
and every list is different.
Speaker 1 (00:55):
I do have the box office results, but the best
movies we're.
Speaker 2 (00:58):
Talking about are our favorite movie. We're gonna recommend our
favorite movies of twenty twenty five.
Speaker 3 (01:04):
And we don't follow along with the critics.
Speaker 1 (01:06):
We're not even close with where the critics are.
Speaker 3 (01:08):
Critics hate us.
Speaker 2 (01:09):
Actually, yeah, we would not do well in a mingling
like situation with them because we would get into.
Speaker 1 (01:14):
Like, no, what you think that was good. Uh uh No,
we just have a very specific taste.
Speaker 2 (01:20):
Now we I think we should start with what we
saw last night Christmas Day. We have now kind of
established a tradition of going to the movies with our kids,
and it's really fun last night. Would you put that
as one of your favorite movies of twenty twenty five? Uh?
Speaker 3 (01:38):
If I stopped and thought about it a little longer,
it might be in the top five of twenty twenty five.
It was such an certainly nostalgic for us, but it
was an unexpected treat and delight with a hell of
a cast.
Speaker 2 (01:50):
Yes. So last night we saw the an account Conda
twenty twenty five version, and we'll explain it's not a reboot,
it's not a redo. It's such a clever way to
have a follow up movie or an adjacent movie to
a movie that we loved with j Lo that was
in the nineties.
Speaker 1 (02:09):
Correct, we watch us ad nausey.
Speaker 3 (02:11):
Absolute cult classic. Everybody knows that movie. It's not the
greatest movie type of thing you would put in that
kind of category. It is a cult classic, wonderful every
time in delivery.
Speaker 1 (02:20):
It's just fun.
Speaker 2 (02:21):
So last night we went into it not really knowing
what to expect to see Anaconda. This one stars Jack
Black and Paul Rudd. It was an absolute blast. You
know those movies where you laugh out loud and you
can hear other people in the theater where in New
York's a week and hear other people in the theater
all the time laughing out loud.
Speaker 1 (02:37):
It was amazing. So the critics only gave.
Speaker 2 (02:39):
It fifty one percent on Rotten Tomatoes, but the audience
already up to seventy nine percent, so that is a
big deal. And I always like those movies where the
audience likes it more than the critics. That usually means
we're in. But I just wanted to read the synopsis
for you because if you haven't seen it, that would
be our biggest recommendation. Run out of the theaters and
see Anaconda. It is so much fun for the whole family.
(03:01):
By the way, it's an entirely original comedy inspired by
the classic Anaconda.
Speaker 1 (03:06):
It features yes, Jack Black and Paul Rudd.
Speaker 2 (03:09):
Who've been best friends since they were kids, always dreamed
of remaking their all time favorite movie. When a midlife
crisis pushes them to finally go for it, they head
deep into the Amazon to start filming, but things get
real when an actual giant anaconda appears, turning their comically
chaotic movie set into a deadly situation.
Speaker 4 (03:27):
It was perfect. I loved that movie. It had heart,
it had some meaning, It was funny as all get out.
There are two scenes in this movie that are extended jokes.
If you will, you will be laughing for minutes.
Speaker 1 (03:41):
Yes, on end, you were crying.
Speaker 3 (03:43):
It was it was so unexpected. Oh my god, what's
the guy from White Lotus? We can never come up
with his name? He was the dad the first season.
Speaker 1 (03:51):
Oh yeah, I can never.
Speaker 3 (03:51):
We can never come up with his name.
Speaker 1 (03:53):
He is amazing.
Speaker 3 (03:54):
You see him and you love him. Oh and Dandy Newton.
Speaker 1 (03:58):
Oh, Sandy Newton was incredible. How did I not mention
her either?
Speaker 3 (04:01):
Yes?
Speaker 1 (04:01):
Oh so the dad from White Lotus.
Speaker 2 (04:05):
I was like, first this joke that he was a
part of I thought was stupid, and then it because
they were they leaned into everything. They went full force
with all jokes. Yes, they didn't half ass anything, and
so when people are all in, you're on board too,
and it just worked. We were all laughing so highly
highly highly recognized. Okay, so wait, we'll start with the
(04:25):
box office top ten. This is what Americans went to
go see or this is a yeah, this is domestic.
Speaker 1 (04:32):
This is not international. It's a little bit different when
you do international.
Speaker 3 (04:35):
You know, cool, this is a good way to do it, but.
Speaker 1 (04:37):
I wanted to do domestic results. Yes, okay.
Speaker 2 (04:38):
So the number ten movie of twenty twenty five, Captain
America Brave New World. We didn't see it, did not
see it. Number nine, How to Train Your Dragon, didn't
see it, didn't see it. Number eight, The Fantastic Four
First Steps, didn't see it, didn't see it.
Speaker 3 (04:53):
Can you tell me number ten? There? How much money
did you make?
Speaker 1 (04:56):
Number ten?
Speaker 2 (04:57):
Mate? This is just domestically two hundred point five five million.
Speaker 3 (05:00):
And it was considered a little bit of a failure, Yes,
a little bit, right, a box office bus to a.
Speaker 2 (05:05):
Certain Yeah, they would they probably would have thought it
was going to get into the top five.
Speaker 1 (05:08):
Yes, okay.
Speaker 2 (05:09):
So How to Train Your Dragon, the Fantastic Four, number
seven Sinners, Oh yeah, of course, that is the only
movie on the top ten list that we actually, you're kidding.
We only saw one movie.
Speaker 3 (05:20):
You're telling me America's favorite movies. We only gave a
damn about seeing and you saying to the theater or
to the theater.
Speaker 2 (05:27):
So there's one that we saw halfway through and stop, yeah,
you know which one it is, all right? So okay,
So Sinners was the one we saw. Number six. Both
of my daughters were begging us to see this Zootopia too.
They were like, Mom, you and TJ. I know it
sounds silly and childly, you will love this movie.
Speaker 1 (05:46):
They were raving about it.
Speaker 3 (05:48):
First one was delightful. I do want to see it.
I didn't run out to the theater, but yeah, oh
those movies are.
Speaker 2 (05:52):
When it starts streaming, we will watch the Sopia too.
She's like, you will laugh, you will cry, it has
heard is everything? Number five Wicked for good Now we
saw the first one. We didn't see the second half. Okay.
Members of our family represented us and saw number four
Jurassic World. We didn't see that, and that's something we
(06:13):
would have normally seen. I don't know why we didn't watch.
Speaker 3 (06:16):
You know, it takes a lot to get us to
the theater. And there were a number of horror movies
this year. We go to movie theaters for horror movies.
We kind of exclusively almost even last night, even though
it was a common comedy, but it had its horror
thrillers agreement to it. But now I think that's it.
We get excited about a new horror movie coming out.
We don't get excited about anything nothing. I don't care
(06:36):
how big of a blockbusting, even Sinners. It was the
one horror movie I know.
Speaker 2 (06:41):
That's I know, that's the why, that's why we saw
the one. Okay, number three, here's the one we saw
halfway through. And to be honest, we get up really early,
so it has nothing to do with the movie. We
fell asleep and we just didn't fully commit. Recommit to
watch it, Superman.
Speaker 3 (06:54):
I want to see it.
Speaker 2 (06:55):
Curious about all everyone talks about how wonderful this film was.
I the original is such a huge part. It's one
of the first movies I remember loving.
Speaker 3 (07:05):
But this was a significant for the reboot for DC
and James Gunn being in charge, and the movie did
well and people, so it looks like this was the
one that finally put him on some kind of good
footing with Marvel, and we didn't get him. We just
heard exactly.
Speaker 2 (07:19):
Will recommit at some point maybe this week, to watch
to finish watching Superman number two, Lilo and Stitch to
Man four hundred and twenty three point seven million domestically.
Speaker 1 (07:30):
That is remarkable.
Speaker 3 (07:31):
Wait a minute, so you're telling me Minecraft movie was
the big movie.
Speaker 2 (07:34):
The Yes, the Minecraft movie number one domestic movie. That's
pretty remarkable. So don't know how many of them you've seen.
We've seen one point three.
Speaker 1 (07:45):
We saw about a third of the top ten. Yeah,
that's it.
Speaker 3 (07:48):
I think we were rare. Yeah, we were rare, all right.
Speaker 2 (07:50):
So we put together a list of the movies that
we did love, and you won't be surprised that they
all kind of fit in the horror genre.
Speaker 1 (07:58):
I searched, I looked.
Speaker 2 (08:00):
I actually spent a lot of time going through all
the movies of twenty twenty five, thinking, my god, we
had to have gone to the movies.
Speaker 1 (08:07):
To have seen something other than a horror movie. And
turns out it's none. We did not. So on the list,
we'll start with The Long Walk. Your first impressions of
The Long Walk.
Speaker 3 (08:20):
Shockingly emotional. That was I wasn't expecting Stephen King. I
didn't know this Stephen Ling story. Stephen King store. That
movie was intense from start to finish, and there was
a friendship that formed black guy, white guy in the
midst of the highest stakes possible, only one of us
(08:41):
can survive, and we still found a way to connect
and be friends. That's I was shocked and how emotional
I was watching the movie.
Speaker 2 (08:50):
We loved this movie. Honestly, it almost felt like because
Stephen King wrote this story, so it was a short
story adapted to a film long, long, long ago, and
yet it reminded me of The Hunger Games, like he
was almost the original Hunger Games it really. I mean,
obviously it's a it's a more it's a simpler story
than The Hunger Games, but I got those same vibes
(09:10):
from it.
Speaker 1 (09:10):
But it's funny.
Speaker 2 (09:12):
In the actual write up or in the description of it,
you said intense the long walk and intense, chilling and
emotional thriller that challenges audiences to confront a haunting question,
how far could you go?
Speaker 1 (09:25):
So you actually nailed it?
Speaker 2 (09:27):
Okay, yes you could, all right. Eighty eight percent from critics,
eighty four percent from audience, So the rotten Tomatoes. Everyone
agrees this was a phenomenal film, and namely, yes, obviously
Stephen King, the author of being the huge reason why
it was great. But Cooper Hoffman, Philip Seymour, Hoffman's son
stars in this He is remarkable. The apple does not
(09:48):
fall far from the tree. And then David Johnson, he
was a black guy. He was amazing. They call it
a soulful performance, but they say brings a lot of
heart to Stephen King's dystopian tailor, making The Long Walk
a life or death ordeal for its characters and a
riveting ride for audiences.
Speaker 1 (10:05):
That was the critics consensus.
Speaker 2 (10:07):
So agreed. And Mark Hamill is phenomenal in this film too.
Forgot to mention him.
Speaker 3 (10:12):
He was great because that makes you hate him, yes,
and you don't want to.
Speaker 1 (10:17):
But who hates Luke Skywalker?
Speaker 3 (10:19):
Yeah, you will in this one.
Speaker 2 (10:21):
It made sixty three million dollars internationally against a twenty
million dollar budget. You can rent it on Prime or
Apple highly highly highly recommend. Actually, look, it's a little gory,
want to mention, like if you're going to have the
family around. It's heartwarming and it's emotional, but it's gory.
Just wanted to let you guys.
Speaker 3 (10:38):
Know, and disgusting at time just for really not going
over the top, but it was necessary at times just
for the realism of it, and you know, I encourage folks,
if you don't see his name, you probably won't piece
together before the end of the movie that that's Mark Hamill.
You've been looking at that.
Speaker 2 (10:53):
That's true, all right, that's true. He looks very different
and because his character is so evil, you just wouldn't think, oh,
there's Luke.
Speaker 3 (11:01):
But he stars in it the whole time. Yeah, he's
a special one in this movie. He makes this movie
work a lot.
Speaker 1 (11:06):
You're really good, all right.
Speaker 2 (11:07):
I want you to talk about I think you said
this might be your favorite. It's at least in your
top two hard eyes that we have to put that
on for a must see. If you haven't seen it,
please please please. I can see why people might have
skipped over it. But this movie is.
Speaker 3 (11:22):
Incredible because we said they nail it. Could have you
take out the horror and it would have been a
rom com. You take out the rom com elements and
it's a legit horror movie. And it's difficult to get
both of those genres genres. Right. It was great. And
I love Cuba Gooding Junior son. He's just a charming dude.
I love watching him.
Speaker 1 (11:42):
Mason Gooding, I.
Speaker 3 (11:43):
Love that dude. But I hope he gets more and
more opportunities. God like do like watching him. But this
was for folks like us who love horror movies. For
someone like you who loves rom com. We immediately recognize
this as a special movie, and it.
Speaker 2 (11:55):
Could have gone horribly wrong putting those two things together,
but it went. Everything went exactly as it should. So
the synopsis is, for the past several years, the Heart
Eyes Killer has wreaked havoc on Valentine's Day by stalking
and murdering romantic couples. This Valentine's Day, no couple is
safe and it is great. Seventy eight percent from the critics,
(12:16):
seventy six percent from the audience. The critics consensus was
a mixture of gory, slasher and sweet rom com that
ingeniously nails both formulas. Hard Eyes serves up a bloody
Valentine that will make the heart skip a beat, perfectly said. Yes,
this was a brilliant mashup of genres, amazing kills, good fun.
(12:37):
I think this is the perfect date night movie. So yes,
Olivia Holt and Mason Gooding were fuhenomenal in this.
Speaker 3 (12:43):
Well. Please discuss with your date that you're going to
watch this movie and why because if you just, you know,
put it on, I might look at you like you're crazy.
Speaker 2 (12:50):
Hay, So she or he has to be okay with
a little more and a lot of fun. But you
can watch it on Netflix. I'm surprised weapons wasn't higher
up just I saw where it fell. And this movie
was remarkable. It made two hundred and sixty nine million
dollars internationally, but this movie was incredible. Critics gave it
a ninety three percent. The audience gave it an eighty
(13:11):
five percent. The synopsis is at all but one child
from the same class mysteriously vanish on the same night,
at exactly the same time, and a community is left
questioning who or what is behind their disappearance.
Speaker 1 (13:26):
Why did you love this movie?
Speaker 3 (13:28):
The con The promotional campaign was pretty brilliant. It's that simple.
All these kids from one class left and nobody knows
where they went, and only one kid has left. Let's
figure out the mystery. They sold it as that and
this whole all the campaign, everybody right now can still
see kids running with their arms down outstretched. It's just
(13:49):
kind of freaky, the whole thing. I think they did
a great It reminds me of the Megan campaign for
the first Megan. It just gets going. There's a clear
message of what this is and a mystery that needs
to be figured out and they I thought they did
a great job with that. And what's the young lady
from Mom?
Speaker 1 (14:03):
I did Julia Garner?
Speaker 3 (14:04):
I didn't watch Ozar.
Speaker 1 (14:05):
Oh, she's so good. I love her.
Speaker 2 (14:07):
She's one of my favorite favorite actresses right now. Julia Garner,
She's pretty wonderful. And Josh.
Speaker 3 (14:13):
They carry this movie in a lot of ways. There's
a couple other characters in there you recognize, and you
know the Asian guy who was.
Speaker 1 (14:20):
The principal Benedict Want isn't this.
Speaker 3 (14:22):
The guy who was also I think in the Marvel
movies who yes, sidekick of Doctor Strange. So you see that.
The performances are great. Yeah, this is a this is
a god. And some people had a problem with the
way they told the story. It was kind of through
each person's eyes through the same day. I liked it.
Speaker 1 (14:38):
I did too.
Speaker 2 (14:38):
I thought it was phenomenal. The acting was just obviously
so incredibly good. I liked the pacing, I like the
way they told the story. I loved the mystery and
I liked the payoff in the end. I liked what
the answer was to the mystery. A lot of times
I don't and a.
Speaker 3 (14:55):
Lot of people didn't. I didn't mind it, but I
liked how this movie ended almost a comedic horror way.
Speaker 1 (15:02):
Exactly this movie I forgot. How did I not mention that? Oh?
Speaker 2 (15:07):
That makes every horror movie better? All right, you can
watch this on HBO Max. All Right, when we come back,
we're going to tell you our final two movie recommendations
for the best or at least our favorite movies of
twenty twenty five. Welcome back, everyone. We are talking about
(15:33):
our favorite movies of twenty twenty five. Our list does
not mirror anyone else's and certainly not even close to
the highest box office or the highest grossing box office movies.
But there are favorites and we hope you might want
to check them out as well if you have some
extra time on this week between Christmas and New Year's
so also on our list. This is one that everyone
(15:53):
agreed with, including the box office. Was one of the
best movies of the year. Sinners, it was remark the
synopsis is trying to leave their troubles behind Twin brothers,
both played by Michael B. Jordan by the way, returned
to their hometown to start again, only to discover that
an even greater evil is waiting to welcome them back.
This is a vampire movie and a musical almost mashed
(16:18):
up in one, and I loved.
Speaker 3 (16:20):
It, and quite frankly, the soundtrack is something we listen
to quite a bit around here. So the music is great.
But yeah, Michael G. B Jordan is just Michael B. Jordan.
He's wonderful. But the story here is pretty, is pretty cool,
and it's original, an original horror movie. This is not
some ip they got sitting around on a show. If
they had to dust off, you just don't see it
(16:40):
a lot. This is a I give it more credit
because it is a new is a fresh and an
original story, and they pulled it off.
Speaker 1 (16:46):
So yes, you see. Ryan Coogler's genius.
Speaker 2 (16:49):
He was the writer and director and this is his
first original blockbuster. But the critics say it was a
rip roaring fusion of masterful visual storytelling and toe tapping music.
That is exactly the perfect way to put it. Yes,
we love the music, the visuals, the stories. You know,
it felt like an event more than a movie like
you were watching an event.
Speaker 1 (17:11):
Does that make any sense? That's how it felt to me.
But Michael B.
Speaker 2 (17:14):
Jordan stars in it, Hailey Steinfeld and just it's just
a blast to watch and to listen to. It made
three hundred and sixty seven point nine million dollars internationally,
so kudos to them.
Speaker 1 (17:27):
You can watch it on HBO Max.
Speaker 2 (17:28):
And finally, this seems like a good one to end
on Final Destination. Bloodlines were huge, huge Final Destination fans,
but this last one man, they saved the best for
last and perhaps among the reasons why we love this
movie so much. Two words for you, Tony Todd.
Speaker 3 (17:49):
Yeah he was. I think that is why the movies
at the top of the list. If he were not
in this movie, I wonder if we would feel the same.
But there was just an emotional connection. And then look,
any horror movie fan, you know who Tony Todd is,
and Candy Man is on somewhere your list of moments.
You remember, movies, you remember lines, you remember, and to
this day you will not say Candy Man in the mirror.
(18:09):
So for this, oh God, now, that guy to be
in this movie and have the send off that he
had made it really really special for us. But the
movie was fun how they kind of brought the whole
story of Final Destination together. So this was this was
a go.
Speaker 1 (18:25):
It really was.
Speaker 2 (18:26):
Rotten Tomatoes agrees ninety two percent from the critics, eighty
six percent from the audience. Yeah, they really liked this film,
and I liked how the critics consensus put it. Adding
some surprising emotional layers onto the ghoulish bones of Final
Destinations mythology. Bloodlines ingeniously executes grizzly set pieces with precision
(18:47):
and turns impending doom into outrageous fun. We said this
was the best of the series. The production value was incredible,
the deaths, the storyline.
Speaker 1 (18:57):
I thought it was cool that they found a way
to expand it. They went back in time.
Speaker 2 (19:00):
This is supposed to be the beginning basically a Final Destination,
and it was just really smart how they brought it
and made it intergenerational, like there were a lot of
folks they had to kill, and they just did such
a brilliant job bringing it home. But Tony Todd made
it our favorite movie.
Speaker 1 (19:17):
All right. It made three hundred and fifteen million dollars internationally.
Speaker 2 (19:20):
Yeah, it did really really well, But if you haven't
seen it, that is absolutely one to check out. You
can find it on HBO Max and Without. Everyone, we
hope you enjoy your time. We hope you get a
little time off actually away from work and with the family,
and hope that maybe some of these suggestions will help
you have some fun passing the time until you get
to party on New Year's Eve. And with that, everyone
(19:42):
on behalf of my dear TJ.
Speaker 1 (19:44):
Holmes. I'm Amy Robock. We'll talk to you soon.
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