The Breakdown of Looking Back at 2024 and the Most Anticipated Movies of 2025

'The Movie Breakdown' is back, and Christopher looks back at some of the noteworthy movies of 2024, and looks ahead at the 10 movies he is most excited about in 2025. It is a fun way to kick off the new year as we relaunch the movie review podcast. 

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:12):
They're coming to get you, Barbara. They're coming for you, Barbra.
Look that comes one of them. Now, welcome to the
latest episode of the Movie Breakdown. That is right, your

(00:36):
ears are not deceiving you. Right here, in twenty twenty five,
there's actually a new episode of the movie Breakdown, and
I am your host, Christopher Spicer, and I owe you
a huge apology because the last time you had an
episode of the movie Breakdown, it was way back in July,

(00:58):
and that is when I announced that my wonderful co
host Scott Martin was going to be taking an indefinite
leave of absence, a hiatus from the movie Breakdown. But
I had promised that I would continue. I would keep
on doing the Movie Breakdown with solo episodes. And the

(01:20):
evidence points to I didn't do that at all. I failed.
But if you're also a reader of Beyond the Balcony,
I know not all of you are. I have readers,
I have listeners, and they don't always intersect. But you
know I didn't do a great job of writing reviews
or writing articles on Beyond the Balcony for the for

(01:42):
a lot of twenty twenty five. And on top of that,
my career didn't do great. It was doing all right
in the summer, and it really struggled when it comes
to sort of having things out there for a byline
for you to read. And I am not someone who
just wants to keep on pedaling out the excuses. I

(02:03):
have talked about my mental health in the past, but
the reality is at the end of the summer it
took a huge dive. One of those reasons is we
had a mass flooding in our basement, and not only
did that mean the entire basement had to be torn up,
but it destroyed a lot of family memories and memories

(02:30):
of my children in their younger years, and that when
I'm already kind of really fragile when it came to
mental health, it really sort of knocked me down. And
then it meant that I wasn't doing the best with
my work, which meant I'd lost some clients and things
started drying up, and that really my mental health in

(02:50):
a bad spot, and so I really had to take
a serious decision. I really had to sort of confront
this at the end of twenty twenty four because I
knew that this was doing some serious harm to my relationships,
but also a serious harm to myself, and so I

(03:12):
went to my doctor. I saw a psychiatrist and basically
I was dinosed with depression, which was not a big shock,
but my doctor thought that there may be some other
triggers that was leading to my depression, and so I
was tested and I've now been dinosed as neuro divergent

(03:33):
at forty seven years old. I am realizing that my
whole life, I've been iro divergent, and that's why maybe
certain things have been more challenging to me through the years.
Maybe why I'm learning why my brain sort of works
differing to other people. That was some answers, and so
I have ADHD, I have I am autistic, or at

(03:54):
least on the spectrum, and so those are some big discoveries,
which is sort of a relief in some ways, but
it's because now I have some answers for certain things.
But now it's sort of trying to figure out what
does this mean who I am. One of the strategies
of going forward, I am also taking a medication for
ADHD and also for my depression. I am seeing a

(04:18):
kind of Behave behavioral therapist CBT, who is going to
be giving me strategies of working through not just my
ADHD but also my depression and hopefully making twenty twenty
five a much more successful year where I can be
a better husband, a better father, a better friend, a

(04:40):
better person, a better creator, a better writer, getting my
career back on track. But one of the things that's
really important to me is the creative outlet. So I mean,
my first focus really does need to be getting my
career back in place, landing clients again. Currently I am

(05:01):
writing for Psychoed Movie Web, but it really doesn't pay
a lot. It's more of an exposure based position. So
I need to start getting the work that's a bit
more reliable, which tends to be sort of ad copy
and working for different clients and do the advertising for
them and do the marketing for them and doing the
social media. But I would love to also land some

(05:24):
more bylines this year, different publications. Yeah, you can have
a podcast for a while. I'm stumbling over my words,
but I also realized how important is for me and
my mental health to be creative and to create. And
so even though beyond the balcony in the movie, Breakdown
is nowhere near being able to see as a part

(05:47):
of my career nowhere near making any type of money
basically from it at this point. It is right now
more of sort of a calling card, and it's sort
of a way of landing their work at something where
I can show people the stuff I've done on the site,
the stuff I do on the podcast, and it could
potentially lead other work showing sort of accounts in that way.

(06:10):
But I do want to expand. I do want this
to become something that can become a major part of
my career and something that I can make money from
and possibly living for, so I can create more and
do some great things and kind of do more deep
dives and create stuff that entertains people. It gives people

(06:32):
sort of inspiration but maybe a little bit of light
in their life every day and in a way to
champion great art. And I also want to continue to
tell stories, which is an aspect I want to use
beyond the Balkye four. And so I've got a lot
of big plans and so all that to say, I
plan on this year be far more active on Beyond

(06:55):
the Balky, writing articles as much as I can on
a daily basis. Are real. We are halfway through January
already and I've only written like five pieces, but trying
to get trying to piece myself, trying to feel like
I getting back into control things. And the plan is

(07:15):
to start going back to being daily on that and
making the Movie Breakdown a weekly thing again. And for now,
as I'm sort of just kind of trying to get
things back into routine and creating things again, It's likely
going to be solo for the first several weeks, potentially

(07:38):
the next several months, made the first half of the year,
it will likely be solo. And if Scott is not
able to return anytime soon, if he has to continue
to be on hiatus, I will be looking into getting
a rotation of guest reviewers, a guest host to join
me on this podcast. I've reached out to a few people,

(08:01):
some people have reached out to me, and so that
is something that once I feel like I've got a
grasp of a podcast again, I will bring in guests
because I think that's important because the vision of this
podcast has always been being discussion and I can't really
discuss myself. I do talk to myself, but I don't

(08:23):
know how entertaining that will be for you people. So
I don't feel since you know, I have my opinions,
and my alter ego has the same opinions. Because it's me,
that's probably not going to be overly entertaining for you,
or at least it's not going to give you different insights.
So the long term goal is to either get guest

(08:44):
hosts or the ideal would be for Scott to return,
But for now it's solo and hopefully that remains entertaining.
I would love your feedback, even if it is no.
You really need to get a second host as far
as possible, as quickly as possible, because we I don't
want to just hear you. We need someone who's actually entertaining.
I do want to also mention before we get into

(09:06):
the show proper, when I talk about creativity and twenty
twenty four is not all just a complete disaster. There
were positives, and one of the big pouzos was the
opportunity to perform on stage with my family and being
able to bond with them and having some shows that

(09:30):
were great for my mental health and getting some great
responses from the audiences, and finding a new creative outlet.
I have the podcasting, I have the writing, I have
the storytelling, and it was great to find another form
of creativity that I love, and that was performing and acting.

(09:52):
I did several We did several shows with Playful Fox.
Way back in December at the wonderful iconic historic Sarisence,
we performed Viewing the Beast, and then we did Anastasia
where Danica was little Anastasia. Ever played her played the
brother of Anastasia. And then the really big one for
me was Lying the Witch of a Wardrobe in the Summer,

(10:13):
where I played mister Beaver alongside Emily who played Missus Beaver.
The kids played our children, and it was just awesome
to show to see the great chemistry I had with
my wife and what a great team we were. We
were sort of the comic relief in some ways, but
we also were a big kind of the heart of
that show, and it was awesome to get the audience responses,

(10:36):
but just to realize that me and Emily make a
great team on that stage and it was a definite
highlight of the year for me. And then I ended
the year with James the Giant Peach where I was
Aunt Spiker and Earthworm. But the best part of that
show was Ever. It was in the lead role as
James and I'm just one proud dad. He nailed it.

(10:57):
He was absolutely amazing. He just really kept the entire
show together. He brought the spirit, the heart, the energy
of that show there. He was an amazing lead. Of
course I'm biased, but that was just such a great
moment for me. And as we go into twenty twenty five,
I do write about all these experiences on Beyond the Balcony.
Every show has hats sort of a reflection, so you

(11:19):
can read about those more in depth on the site.
And going forward, I do have Murder on the Orient Express,
which will be coming out very soon. Actually, the upcoming
weekend is going to be the first show run in Fergus,
so if you're in the southern Ontario area, you can
get tickets and check out the Own Express. And then

(11:42):
I will have music Man, which is the return of
the Hole Spicer Clan in that one, and so that'll
be great, and that's in May, and that's with a
new company called Community on Stage, So I'm looking forward
to that opportunity. But this is the movie.

Speaker 2 (11:57):
Breakdown, and we're going to talk movies and as what
we are normally supposed to do, even though we're quite
a bit now in it's way past intro time.

Speaker 1 (12:08):
But this is a part where I just want to
do a little shout out to Spreaker Prime, who is
our hosting provider, and they've got a lot of great
podcasts that can check out on there, from different subjects.

Speaker 3 (12:23):
And from just different types of hosts and different types
of shows, and we are so honored to be part
of that team.

Speaker 1 (12:35):
And as well as since day one, we have been
on my humble little site Beyond the Balcony, where you
can also read the things I've written. Like I said,
I do have some new stuff up for twenty twenty
five that you can check out, also detailing all my
recent theater career that you can check out, and we
would also love it. One way that you could really

(12:56):
help the movie Breakdown is listen to us on the
Spreaker app and that allows for maybe a little bit
extra money coming my way. Of course, nobody because our
weigh unless there's a large amount of listeners. But if
you do it through this week or app that helps
out the show. It allows us to grow. And if
I grow, then there's more things I can do. And

(13:19):
what I mean my ideal would be to actually be
able to pay my guest hosts if I'm in a
spot to do that, which I most definitely am not
right now. Since I'm not making any money, I can't
really pay my guess hosts either, but that would definitely
help out the show a lot. Now, Like I said,
I want to get back to making the Movie Breakdown

(13:43):
a weekly thing. And if you're a longtime listener, I'm
talking all the way back to twenty thirteen, you know
that for over ten years that's what we were. We
were a weekly show Me and Scott Oh He's debating
and discussing movies and that it's just not the case
of the last two years. But because of many reasons,

(14:04):
and a lot of it was struggling with mental health there,
we were not a weekly show. But that's what we
were for over a decade. And during not period when
we were consistently doing shows every week, we.

Speaker 4 (14:15):
Always had a best of show, a worst of show,
and in the last few years we also had our
Underrated show where we're trying to champion the movies that
either Maypiel didn't watch or movies that sort of had
a poor critical consensus that we thought were better than
their reputation.

Speaker 1 (14:34):
But I always loved the Best of show because you
really get to discuss those great movies. And we didn't
do one last year because we decided we hadn't seen
enough movies. And I doubinitely did not see enough movies
this year, as I started secluding myself the last few months,
and so I can't do another best of show, but
I do, I mean, the player is definitely do do

(14:55):
a best of show in twenty twenty five. Get this
podcast going right, get back to reviewing movies. But I
do want to quickly reflect.

Speaker 5 (15:03):
Upon some of the movies that I did see in
twenty twenty five as kind of a mini look at
sort of what I thought were some of the best
things from twenty twenty four.

Speaker 1 (15:16):
I mean, sorry, not twenty twenty five. I just wanted
to kind of reflect upon what were the highlights. And
I mean, even though I did not see enough movies
to do a best of show, I definitely know that
there was a few movies that would have still made

(15:37):
my best of list for sure, and the one guarantee
gave it four stars. I did review it on this
podcast earlier in the year. Dune Part two.

Speaker 6 (15:48):
I loved the first Dune, but this sequel was just
so epic, so sweeping. Everything it did one in the
first one was done even better in this sequel.

Speaker 1 (16:00):
I love how it went about exploring the Messiah, the
Chosen One and challenging that concept. So we really have
someone who is going to that we see as a leader,
especially in modern times when we are so tribalistic, we're
so divided politically, and there is this idea of we

(16:21):
need someone to lead us out of this challenge. It's
challenging idea of elevating someone to that Messiah level. What
happens when you have that hero worship and what can happen,
how that can corrupt someone when they're put in that position.
It was just a very interesting picture and that I

(16:43):
love the idea that I was exploring these complex themes
while still being a big, sweeping, epic sci fi adventure movie.
I love pictures that are not afraid to look at
social issues, use the fantasy to look at modern times,
but still being just a sweeping, exciting adventure. And that

(17:05):
is one hundred percent with done. Part two was. It
would have easily been on my best of list. I'm
a huge fan of Dellity. Denny Villeneu I am looking
forward to Doom three, and he's a director that just
continues to deliver instead of his movies in the past
have been in my Best of the Year. Another movie

(17:26):
that would have definitely been on my Best of list
if I made one, because I just don't think it
would have been eight movies that could have knocked it
out of the list because I loved it that much.
It's Inside Out Too. It was a sign that when
people started saying that Pixar lost it steam, Pixar is
not what it used to be. Inside Out Too says, no,

(17:47):
that's not correct. It could still deliver amazing movies and
Inside Out Too. I love the first Inside Out, but
Inside and Out To did a great job of showing
sort of what there was emotions and the new emotions
that could come when you become a teenager. Is a
great look at sort of puberty and the challenges of

(18:08):
growing up and what happens when you're moving past your
friends and when sort of acceptance from your peers becomes
more important than your parents. And I thought that was
a great exploration. The first movie was great and how
it showed that sometimes you need sadness in your life
to appreciate joy more. And I like how this picture
looked at the fact that anxiety is not always bad.

(18:31):
Sometimes we need an anxiety in your life, but it's
finding that balance. And that's definitely something I've learned this
year with mental health. It's finding the balance. The balance
is the big thing. It's not that all negativity is bad.
It's not that all anxiety is bad. It's not that
you shouldn't be sad. Sometimes it's finding that balance and

(18:51):
not let a one emotion control you so much. And
I thought Anxiety too, did that great. It has a
fun adventure in her mind again, lots of great jokes,
the new characters were colorful. I just thought it was
such a fantastic picture. And I was the other one
I gave four stars too, and I started did not
review that one a movie I did review, but I

(19:12):
just want to bring it up again because it I
feel like it sort of got lost in the talk
and people focus more on the fact that it didn't
make the money that was expected. But the Fall guy,
Ryan Gosslin, Emily Blunt, they were fantastic. They had great
chemistry together. I loved the mix of comedy, romance, adventure.

(19:33):
Incredible stunts. This just felt like the type of movies
that we don't get enough of anymore. It was just
great fun. This is one that wasn't necessarily trying to
tackle complex themes, that was just trying to be a great, funny,
romantic action picture and I thought it nailed all that
and I really enjoyed it. Another picture I did review,

(19:54):
but I was also a big fan of Kingdom of
the Plan of the Apes, and this is one I've
enjoyed the whole Plan the Apes series. I love the Apes,
but what I love about this series is how the
fact that these talking apes are used in a way
to show a reflection on current society, and it challenges religion,

(20:14):
it challenges politics, and the interesting in this one is
showing how the legacy of Caesar, the message of Caesar,
gets distorted and changed with different groups. And I think
that is so fascinating because it's something that truly happens

(20:35):
in real life. This idea, they have one person who
had a message, but it got it either gets distorted
or it's perceived differently in different groups. Different groups will
take this same person his same message, but make it
further their own means. They will take it their own way,

(20:56):
and that's really what came to plan in Apes is about.
It's that there's always different actions, and they all view
the legacy of Caesar differently. But on top of that,
it's just incredible special effects, great action sequence, is a
compelling story, and I'm really interested in this series going forward.
As people know, I haven't been as hot on Marvel

(21:19):
the last few years, but I felt Deadpool and Wolverine
was a great return. This is another one that I
did not review, but I gave three and a half
stars to and I just thought it again, it was
a great mix of comedy and action. It definitely is
a little self deprecating, making a little bit of fun

(21:39):
of the current state of Marvel and the multiverse, but
it also was a nice kind of love letter to
the old Fox characters, a bunch of cameos, a bunch
of characters returned. I enjoyed all that mix. And then
Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman are apparently best friends in
real life, and that meant you had some great chemistry

(22:02):
on the screen there. I thought they were great together,
and it just led to what I thought was one
of the most fun summer movies in the last several years.
I thought it was blockbuster done right. I don't The
movie doesn't seem overly connected to the rest of Marvel,
so I witness to say that this was like a revitalization,

(22:23):
or that it even got me in a spot where
I feel like, oh, well, Marvel's back on track. This
movie was great, and we'll see what the future leads.
Another movie that I want to mention that I also
did not review last year, and that was Long Legs
by Osgoode Perkins, which it's kind of a horror thriller.

(22:46):
Some people sort of tied it to sort of a
Signs of the Lambs type. Movie Maker Monroe, who is
someone who me and Scott have championed many times on
this podcast, is in the role, and I thought she
was fantastic. I guess she would be kind of the
Jody Foster character, and she seemed to be playing an

(23:08):
autistic character, which obviously connects to me a bit more now.
I like the little nuances she did, the nervousness, how
she feels uncomfortable in her skin, uncomfortable in this world,
but focused in trying to find this serial killer who's
played by Nicholas Cage, who longtime listeners know I love
Nicholas Cage. I think he's fantastic and he plays a

(23:28):
really creepy, really bizarre villain here. I thought he was fantastic.
I was all in the atmosphere, the pacing, the characters,
the mystery, the twist and turns. It ends up in
a three and a half instead of a four because
I thought the ending was disappointing. It fell flat on me.

(23:51):
But getting there was quite a ride. And another picture
that was like that, another three and a half where
I loved everything until the very end, Love Lies Bleeding,
which I just thought was an interesting thriller. And Kristen Stewart.
Kristin Stewart is someone who also off championed on the show.

(24:12):
She's moved way past the Twilight days. She has proven
to be a very engaging and exciting actor who just
takes on many challenging roles and she's great here as Lou.
It's a bit of a dark love story as she
has a romance here with Katie O'Brien and Katy O'Brien.

(24:37):
I think this is the first time I've seen her,
and she's just great as this woman obsessed with becoming
a bodybuilder stuck in this small town and how she
starts this relationship with Kristen Stewart, but the challenges that
brings as Christian Stewart's tie to this really seedy criminal

(24:57):
type figure her father. And Ed Harris is great as
this creepy kind of villain. Dave Franco also plays a
scum bag, but she does a great job. Gennlem Alone
is someone who I've always been a big fan of.
She plays a great role here as Kristian Stewart's sister
who's in an abusive relationship. This is a neonce soaked picture,

(25:21):
a movie set in the eighties that feels it's bright
and colorful in some ways, but also just scumming in
dirty in other ways. And it is a very engaging picture,
a very confident picture, and it's gory and it's bloody
in a lot of ways. So I would challenge you
in that part. But it is something unique, something different,

(25:45):
and I'm kind of bummed that it was only in
theaters for like one week here in Branford. I would
have loved for the opportunity for more people to catch it,
because we need more movies like this. We need to
support movies like this, something that's different and exciting, you know.
Brazishkakov awful should be pointed out. She plays sort of
a former lover one night stand type character of Christian Stewart,

(26:07):
someone who is definitely hooked on drugs, an addict, and
in some ways she becomes a little bit of an
antagonist because she's opposed to sort of this new relationship
and she's got a very challenging role. Just great performances
across the board, and it's kind of sad it's still
not being talked about. I don't think there's any kind

(26:27):
of Oscar talk. Maybe it's too small of a movie,
but check it out, especially if you like sort of
darker thrillers, dramatic thrillers. And I did mention how I
was hooked this movie until the very end. The end
makes a decision that doesn't totally work for me, but
I still think it's a great movie. It gave three

(26:49):
and a half and for those who are new, I
rate my movies out of four stars. Longtime leaders would
know that, so three and a half is a very
good score. Of course, looking at sort of more of
this past year, like I said, I didn't really see
a whole lot of movies, but I just want to

(27:10):
quickly actually before I move. I also just want to
mention I did review this movie, and it made a
whole bunch of worst of lists, but I recommended it.
I gave it three stars, and I'm gonna own up
to it, and that's our guy. I had fun. I
like Matthew Vaughn, I like Sam Rockwell, I like Bryce
Dallas Howard. Obviously, you don't come see this movie if

(27:31):
you want to see Henry Cavella, John Cena. They have
very small rules. It is overly long. It's not a
perfect movie, but I'd liked a lot of the action sequences.
I like the sense of humor. I like the chemistry
between the two leads, and I just thought it was
a really fun movie. It does hitt hold up to
scrutiny when it comes to realism, but it wasn't supposed

(27:53):
to be that. It's a fantasy picture, and I felt
little bits of callback to Romancing the Stone, which is
one of my faceavorite movies, and so I have a
soa spot for sort of those comedy romance action adventure movies.
I like the different locales. Again, it's not a perfect movie.
But I think it's way better than its current critical reputation,

(28:15):
so I thought I should bring that up too. But
looking at twenty twenty four, let's just see some of
the quick lessons we can learn looking here at sort
of the box office, as pundits predicted certain things of

(28:35):
the future of cinema, and what is obvious from looking
here at the box office one is it was probably
a year ago where people were saying, oh, the Disney
plus kill their animated movies. Is this the end of
Pixar being able to be a draw an Inside Out?
To prove that's very much not the case, And this

(28:56):
is the highest grossing movie of the year. It's the
number one Grocy movie domestically Inside Out two, So clearly
Pixar is fine, and animated movies are very much still
a drawn theaters and streaming has not taken away their magic.
And both Disney animated movies really were huge successes. Is

(29:19):
this year is that out too? In the number one
spot and then the number four spot you got Malwana two,
which delivered, So their animated movies were not harmed in
any way by Disney plots, or they've recovered now and
they're drawing people out. I also want to look at
so you've got Inside Out two, You've got Wicked, which
was the number three highest grossing movie, you got Malwana

(29:42):
two as a number four highest grossing movie. And what
those successes show to me is the importance of not
just focusing on one demographic. There seems like for the
longest time, you're looking for the commer book crowd or
you felt that sort of boys, males in their teens

(30:09):
and their early twenties. That is who they want to
focus on. That is who they want to try to
get into the box office.

Speaker 7 (30:19):
And it has been proven the importance of I think,
not just focusing on one type of genre or one
type of demographic, because if you do create pictures that
are going to connect with other groups, other demographics, they
are going to come out.

Speaker 1 (30:35):
And so I mean, Mauranitu and Wicked are both musicals,
and they still a marketing try to hide the fact
that certain movies are musicals and Wicked and want to
have obviously proven, I mean, not every musical is a
massive hit, but its proven that there is a group
that's looking for those type of movies and they will

(30:56):
come out to the theater. And so it's showing the
importance of sort of having different types of movies. And
I think that is a great sign. Of course, you
had Barbie in previous year that was a big, massive hit,
showing you know, women come out to movies, or I
mean it's not just women. I came out to see

(31:18):
all those movies too. It's just people who like something
more than just comic book movies or big action pictures.
And having female leads is not scary and doesn't hurt
the box office, just like Black Panther proved many years
ago that having a black lead does not hurt the
box office. It doesn't all have to be straight white
males in the lead role. Diversity is a good thing.

(31:43):
Of course, dead Pull and Wolverine shows that comic book
fatigue doesn't mean that people won't come out and see
any comic book movie. It means they're just getting a
little bit pickier and they have to have certain draws.
And obviously Deadpool Wolverine together was a massive draw. It's

(32:04):
also a well regarded movie, and so it showed its success.
We just got to kind of focus on that quality
when it comes to comic book movies. This was also
a year that really kind of showed that nostalgia has
a place for sure Beetlejuice. Beetlejuice number six highest grossing movie,

(32:27):
Twisters the number eighth highest grossing movie, Bad Boys writer
Die Now I had a more recent sequel, but still
the twelfth highest grossing movie, Glare To the fourteenth highest
grossing movie. So we can expect a lot more movies
from the nineteen eighties. I think, obviously glad Arras from

(32:48):
the two thousands. But this idea of sequels to older
beloved pictures are definitely delivering. But I don't think nostalgia loans.
What brings out people has to be stories that people
are interested in being continued to see continued. It has
to be stories the half characters that people want to

(33:11):
see again. And so I think it's going to be
a very interesting ground to take. I mean, there's not
a lot of older movies that I necessarily haunt sequels to.
I mean, I love Amassing the Stone, I've mentioned many
times on the show, but I don't think I necessarily
need to see Kathleen Turner and Michael Douglas coming again

(33:36):
in another jungle adventure. I have those movies. I can
rewatch them. Obviously, Ghostbusters Grint Deliver as well this year
as the twentieth highest grossing movie still did okay, but
it's also showing that there's only so many returns that
you can get from these movies. I also want to
point out, of course, there's only big successful anime movies.

(33:58):
But the cool thing is there's an original anime movie
that just fell out of the top ten in The
Wild Robot. At it was in the seventeenth spot, so
it was a bit away from the top ten, but
it definitely shows that not every anime movie needs to
be part of an established series. And it also shows

(34:19):
that anime movies are willing to be a bit more
challenging emotionally. I mean, Inside Out Too was challenging emotionally,
and then The Wild Robot really delved into some interesting
themes about parenting and loss and it ended up being
a massive hit, and so that is a great thing.
Another thing I want to sort of mention is it's

(34:42):
sad that again that Hollywood keeps on going back to
series and established franchises in ips, but there's a few
pictures that now they they're based off like certain movies
may be based off books or whatever. But movies that
aren't your traditional big blockbuster did have success this year.

(35:04):
The Blake Lively starting it ends with us. I know
it's part of a popular book, but the sixteenth spot
a picture that's going to be targeted definitely. It's it's
a romance dream were not even romance because it's about
an abusive relationship, but it's it's something that looks at law,
that looks at relationships, even if they are toxic. There
is that a healthy romance in it as well. And

(35:27):
it is very much a drama. And it's a picture
that I think nowadays a lot of people would say,
oh that should go to streaming, Maybe it should be
a mini series, maybe it should be a streaming movie.
And it showed that there's a place for some of
these movies and stories that we've now said, oh that's
kind of for streaming. Now it's not going to draw
people out. It's now a comic book. We thought a

(35:48):
big action picture make its still do well and that's
why it ends with us. I think is a big success.
It shows the importance that diversity, different type of stories
can be successful. And now I know Red One it's
the twenty third more highest grossing movie, and it's largely
considered kind of a flop, but that's because its budget

(36:11):
was so huge. If it's budget wasn't big, if they
actually kept that in control, you can look at a
potential hit. This is a movie that's a completely original
idea that grossed almost one hundred million dollars and so
to be that shows there is a place for original ideas.

(36:32):
Now this one, obviously there's Santa and so, and it
has Dwayne Johnson, so there has I think the big
thing is I don't think studios need one hundred percent
rely on ips are established characters and franchises, but you
need to have something recognizable. I think the big tip
to a hit is that the marketing needs to show

(36:53):
something that people can understand or connect to. And obviously
Santa is something that people understood. To Johnson means you
know the type of movie it's gonna be. And so
it did well in the box office, and it would
have been a hit if its budget wasn't ridiculous, which
it shouldn't be for something that is not as established
a civil war, A smaller picture that maybe wasn't quite

(37:18):
the hit that the studio was hoping for, but I
mean it made sixty eight million as sort of like
an independent movie in a twenty four movie. I think
that should still be considered a win in a lot
of ways. And so again it's showing the sign that
there is potential kind of these original ideas. I mean,
it is kind of depressing looking through this list, and
there isn't really a lot of super original ideas, but

(37:41):
there's little moments of glimmer that showed to me that
different type of movies do have a place and they
do have a chance for success. Now, speaking of looking ahead,
looking ahead to twenty twenty five, I want to now
look at my top up ten most anticipated movies of

(38:03):
twenty twenty five. These are the movies that I am
the most excited to see this year. These are the
ones that I think have a great chance of being
a lot of fun and maybe being on my best
of list at the end of the year. Will they
all make my best of Probably not. There's a good
chance some of these will disappoint. But right now, these

(38:24):
are the ones I'm the most optimistic about. And if
we want to talk about optimism, if we want to
talk about a series that's got a good friend, a
good sort of record a success rate. Then we have
to talk about Paddington in Peru, because that's my number ten.

(38:46):
Because the first two Paton movies were absolutely delightful. They
looked like a children's book come to life, a candy
coded adventure. And why the first two movies were so
wonderful is the fact that they are charming, and they
are good spirited, they're positive, they've got a good heart,

(39:11):
and there's just a whimsy to them. And you just
come out of those movies floating and feeling good about yourself.
And look at the state of the world, looking at
social media and the mess and the division. We need
more things like Paddington. Pattington just is soaked in positivity

(39:35):
and love and it's just such a good hearted series
and you just cannot leave those movies just feeling wonderful.
Batt To two the year came out, was Scott's number
one movie of the year. It's his favorite movie. And
there's just no I mean to be yeah, I mean

(39:58):
it didn't make my number one movie that year, but
they're beautiful movies. They're wonderful movies. And this one they're
now going to Peru, and you'll look at it and
the visuals look great based off the trailer. It's some
fun locations. It's a new adventure. They're trying to tell
a very different story, I think from the previous two

(40:19):
and I am totally set of following Painting on this
adventure again. It's a new director, dougle Wilson, but I
feel like you've got just such the toesment set with
the first two movies that I feel this movie has
all the chance in the world of delivering once again.

(40:41):
And just where I am at right now and my
own struggles with mental health, this is what I need,
just a wonderful, beautiful posem movie. And so that's why
Painting in Peru is my number ten most anticipated movie.
My number nine movie is The Bride because I love marriage. No,

(41:07):
the reason that it's my number nine movie is this
is a different take on the Bride of Frankenstein, and
The Bride of Frankenstein is one of the true classic
horror movies of all time, one of the consider one

(41:28):
of the best, maybe the best universal monster movie ever,
and so I am really excited to see The Bride.
Maggie Jill and Hull direct and wrote this picture based
of course, off of Mary Shelley's, or at least Mary
shows the influence of the original Frankenstein story, and so

(41:52):
I'm really interested in this one. It's not going to
be it's going to be set in the nineteen thirties,
so except as far back as whe the original Frankenstein's
story is or what the original movie was said in
that time period, but it's obviously still going to be
a period piece. And looking at this, it's labeled also

(42:14):
musical is in the description romance, sci fi, horror drama.
I get that, but I didn't know that there was
going to be a musical element to it. So that
really excites me too, because also I'm a big fan
of musical, so I'd love to see how all these
genres are going to be blended. I'm misterressed to see
what making jillen Hall is going to deliver, but like
this cast is one of the reasons to be excited.

(42:36):
Her brother, Jake Jillenhall is in this picture, Christian Bell
is in this picture. Jesse Buckley is in this picture,
and she is playing the bride. And she's been in
a few movies in recent years that I've been really
interested in, including I'm thinking of Ending Things, a movie
I felt very highly of. You've also got Penelope Crew

(43:00):
who's Julian Hoff and Nett Benning, and so this is
a pretty solid cast with iconic story, and I'm interested
in what her take is. Now. This is the Frankenstein
picture I put because one of the things that I
wanted to say before I went into this list is

(43:21):
I am only putting movies that already have an established
release date on my most anticipated, because I feel like
every time you do an anticipated there's always like one
or two movies that get pushed and then ended up
not coming out that year. And so I did not
put the uh Gamil del Toro picture on my most anticipated.

(43:44):
He is doing a new take on Frankenstein too, which
excites me very much, but it's not on my list
because there is not a release date for that one yet,
and so I just, I mean, I believe apparently it
is near completion.

Speaker 8 (44:02):
But in my eyes, until you have you have a
release date, I kind of wanted to stay away from
it just because it's always it's a downside.

Speaker 1 (44:15):
It's a bummer to anticipate something and then it's the
next year and they got a part of your list
for the next year, but obviously the Gilmo del Toro
movie I'm very trusted in because it's awf of got
an exciting cast, Oscar Isaac Mia Goth. I believe it
might be coming to Netflix this year, so definitely one
to keep your eye on. But the one that made

(44:35):
my list is The Bride, and it is based off
The Bride of Frankis Steinist, a different take set in
nineteen thirties Chicago, and I am very excited for that one.
My next one, my number eight, is not a movie
I thought it was going to be on my list,
but in the end I decided Avatar, Fire and Ash

(45:00):
is probably one of the blockbusters I'm most excited to
see because James Cameron always does something different. He's always
very ambitious, and he always knows how to make a
real visual, immersive experience on the big screen. And the
previous Avatar after Our Way of Water, I saw in

(45:23):
the theater with Everett and we were just absolutely captivated.
We were absolutely just taken in by the visual experience,
amazing use of three D, and I thought the second
one did some interesting things with sort of the water
and making it look so realistic and make it feel
like they're really under the water and some interesting creatures

(45:45):
and just a great, big scale that they did with
the second one that there's a lot of reason to
be excited for the third. They're not the most engaging
stories in the world, they don't have the best character development,
but these movies they end up making my best of lists,
I end up connecting with me because they truly are

(46:06):
unique and what they do on a technical scale and
on a visual scale. So for that reason, I'm excited
to see what's the new thing that James Cameron has
under his sleeve for Avatar Fire. And it's not really
the story as much I'm excited about, but the experience.
So as an experience, it's something I'm excited for, and

(46:29):
so that's why it's my number eight. My number seven
is the only superhero comic book movie that made my list,
and it's Superman. I really don't care about this being
the launching pad of the new DC cinematic universe. To

(46:51):
be honest, in twenty twenty five, I'm done with cinematic universes,
I mean Marvels. I feel the last few years have
really lost their way, and I don't think we need
a whole bunch of movies again that are interconnected and
you have to see everyone to know the bigger story.
That's not where I'm interested in. Just give me a
great standalone story. And if there's a few little sprinklings

(47:12):
that tease future movies, sure, but let's focus on a
great story. Why am I excited about Superman, Well, part
of is James Gunn. I love almost every movie James
Gunn has done, and I think he is just his
ability to do great action and have great colorful visuals,

(47:36):
and his ability to set a mixed drama with humor,
and he really cares about his characters and have you
connect with them. Those are the things that I want
in a Superman movie. I wasn't a huge fan of
Man of Steel. I did not like Zack Snyder's take
on Superman. I like my Superman being more positive and
optimistic and hopeful. I like the boy scout version of him.

(48:00):
That's the Superman I remember when I collected comics, and
so I think James Gunn's gonna bring more of that.
The trailer when you saw Crypto and you know Crypto
is gonna be in it, The Superman Dog, Okay, sign
me up. That Instantly it showed me, Okay, this is
a movie that's gonna have a more playful tone. It's

(48:21):
gonna have a more lighthearted tone. It's gonna be more
about having some fun. Now. Obviously, the trailer shows are
is gonna be drama and it looks like the world
is kind of rejecting him, and so clearly there is
gonna be those aspects, and that is fine. I mean
that you gotta have that. You want, you want the layers.
You want a movie that has funny moments, dramatic moments,
sad moments, happy moments. But this is a movie that

(48:43):
seems to realize the pointance of having a heart and
the crypto thing man. That just that sold me. But
on top of that, Nicholas Holt, I'm a huge fan
of him and I'm really excited to see what he
will do with Alex luthor Isabellam the last few years
has really proved to be a talented actor, and so

(49:03):
I'm excited to see what she'll do. She's playing a
character called Kendras Sanders. Rachel Brosshan is being Lois Lane,
and we'll see what David korn Sweat does with Clark
Kent and Superman. Obviously, Frank Grillo is in this, and
so Alan Tudik, another person that I love. It's so yeah,

(49:28):
I'm Nathan Fillian Philo Canadian eha. So I am looking
forward to this Superman. It's a cor movie I'm most
excited to see. I think it's got the best chance
of being the best of the superhero movies this year.
And DCU needs a great movie. They need to get
things back on track, and so I'm looking forward to
seeing if this delivers, and I think it has potential

(49:52):
to be one of the best movies of the summer.
Now my next one, it's another franchise, it's another series,
and a few years ago this would have been nowhere
near my list because I lost all interest in this series.
The last theatrical Predator I did not like. Me and
Scott disagreed on that. But number six is Predator Badlands,

(50:17):
and the reason it made my list is Prey. If
people who listened to this podcast, you know that Prey
made my best of lists the year it came out.
I absolutely loved Prey. I thought it really revitalized Predator.
I really thought it should have came to theater. It
had great action sequences had just amazing the cinematography, and

(50:39):
it showed the scope with the forest and the world
that she was in and the battle that she had
with the predator. And I just thought it was an
interesting take on the Predator because it was Predator battling
First Nations before or like, well, I guess it, we're

(50:59):
calling or at least frontiersmen that were there. But it
was the very early stages before North America truly had
Europeans there. It was still a land that very much
had the First Nations people being prominent figures there. And
so I love that take. I love the fact that
this was the first time a predator ever came to Earth,

(51:24):
and so I thought that it was a fresh take
and it was to me one of the best Predator movies.
It's right up there the first one, Prey and Predator.
We did a versus episode Predator versus Prey, and I
think at the end it was a tie, but I
thought they're too great. I loved the first Predator, and

(51:46):
I thought Prey was almost as good as the original.
And so it's now on the right hands. Dan tracton
Berg is doing this one again. I've liked almost every
movie he's directed. He also did clover ten, and so
he's done some really incredible pictures in the last few years.

(52:08):
He knows how to do monster creature features. It's ten.
Cloverfield Lane is what I should have said, not Cloverfield ten.
It's only been three Cloverfield movies, but ted Cloverfield Lane.
I really enjoyed that movie, and like I said, I
was a huge fan of Prey, and so I'll have
all the confidence in the world that Dan Tracktorberg will
deliver again. Ellie Fanning a very, very talented performer, and

(52:33):
so she's in the lead role. There isn't a lot
of information on this movie. I don't know the plot
at all. With it be called bad Lands, my guest
is again it's gonna be a period piece. It's gonna
be set before the Swartznaker picture, That's my guess, and
so I'm interested and what they're gonna do this time,
if there's any gonna be connection through a line with

(52:54):
Prey or any of the previous movies. But I really
love Pray and so I have all the confidence the
world the bad Lands Preyer Badlands is going to be
something special. I love the original PREDI I can't say
I love the Prayer series because they don't all deliver.
But I love creature features. I love these type of movies,
and I have confidence this is going to be a
great movie. So that's why it's my number six. My

(53:17):
number five is one I don't know tons about, but
it is the people involved in it that make it exciting,
and that is Mickey seventeen, a picture that was supposed
to come out last year, but I got pushed to
this year. Bong June Hoe is the director. Pung Ju
Ho is an incredible storyteller, an incredible director. He has

(53:42):
given us some amazing movies. Of course, he gave us
the Best Picture winner Parasite, which I absolutely loved, and
that was one of the best movies of its year.
Twenty nineteen Snoel Piercer was a movie that me and
Scott heavily praised. He has delivered some fantastic pictures. Akja
another movie that we had great reviews for, The Host,

(54:05):
which was a creature feature from many years ago, and
so he has made some great stuff. This time he's
going back to the world of sci fi, and as
far as I know, it's sort of about these clones
and so Mickey seventeen, it might be like the seventeenth
version of this Mickey, and how sort of it works

(54:27):
in this colonized planet. And so again I don't know
a law of the plot, but I have all the
confidence in the world of the director from the trailers.
I've loved the visuals, and then the lead role, the
person who's playing the clones, Howart Pattissitzen, I didn't really
say that very well, let's say again, Robert Pattinson, who,

(54:51):
like Kristin Stewart, has gone way past the days of Twilight. Obviously,
he was awesome Batman and the Batman Movie, and he
has been in some really good movies the last few years,
good times. He's proven to be a very exciting director
or actor, an actor who is totally open to pushing
himself and challenging himself. And so I'm excited to see

(55:13):
what he will do in Mickey seventeen. I'm excited to
see sort of a sci fi movie that's not based
off an established ip, a fresh, new type of movie.
I'm excited to see where that goes. Tony Klatz in this,
Mark Ruffalo's in this, Stephen Yune's in this, This is
an exciting picture. I am all in on Mickey seventeen,

(55:35):
and I'm always excited for an original story, an original
story coming from such talented people. So there you go.
I can't wait to see Mickey seventeen. I really hope
it ends up being the theater near me. This is one
where there's a chance that it doesn't get a full
wide release. Speaking of original ideas, that's also my number

(55:57):
four sinners and I love a good creature feature. I'm
all for a movie about scary vampires. But the reason
I'm excited about this unique take on vampires is it
directed by Ryan Kugler. Not only is it directed by
Ryan Kugler, but it's starring Michael B. Jordan. You put

(56:20):
Ryan Kugler Michael B. Jordan together and you get hits.
They were in Black Panther, where Michael B. Jordan was
the villain. He They did fruit Vale Station, which is
just such a heartbreaking but incredibly directed, powerful drama, and
of course Creed, which made my Best of lists the

(56:40):
year came out. Black Panther made my Best of Us
the year it came out. Creed made my Best of
Us that year came out. I mean Creed was amazing,
and Ryan Kugler made me interested in a rocky movie
again in a different take, this time the Son of
a Donnis Creed and Michael B. Jordan was incredible in that,
and so there's absolutely no reason not to think that

(57:01):
this is gonna be one of the best movies of
the year. When you've got the team of Ryan Cougler
Michael be Jordan again, they just collaborate amazing together. Michael B.
Jordan does any credible performance in every picture he's been
with in Ryan Cougler. Ryan Cougler, every movie he's made
I have loved, and now he's doing what seems to
be kind of a horror picture, maybe a horror thriller picture.

(57:23):
I am excited to see what he does with the
horror genre. I'm excited to see what he does with vampires.
And the cast. Haley Stanfield, who's someone who I constantly
champion on this I absolutely love her. I think she
is one of the best actors going. She's in this
and she's gonna be terrific. I'm sure Delroy Lindo a

(57:45):
fantastic actor. It will be great to see him in
this picture as well. Jack O'Connell someone who's definitely rising
and getting bigger parts. I'm excited to see what he'll
do here. There is a lot of reasons to be
excited for Sinners, and so that's why it is my

(58:06):
number four And that now leads me to my number
three picture, which is a kind of remake. The reason
why I say a kind of remake is The Running
Man from nineteen eighty seven. Arnold Schwarzenegger was obviously based

(58:27):
off the Stephen King novel, but it was very different
than the original novel, which he did under the pen
name Richard Bachmann. It was different because it was more
about an average guy being stuck in this dystopian world,
this dystopian game, and he was on the run through
sort of the city. It was much more sort of

(58:51):
bigger in scope, and again it was him sort of
just this average guy who is trying to survive. While
the Ronald Swarzenegger version is much more of a action picture,
big huge, Arnold Schwarzenegger doesn't do a lot of actual
running in The Running Man. He fights all his bad guys,
He kills all his bad guys, and so it was
a very different picture. And so I'm very interested in

(59:14):
seeing an adaptation that is closer to the Stevie King
novel rather than something that is gonna be a remake
of the action picture. And so I'm interested to see
that take. And the big, big reason to be excited
is the director Edgar Wright, who he has delivered on

(59:34):
every single movie he has ever made. He has proven,
even though he's largely considered a comedy director, he does
several genres in every single movie. I mean, Scott Pilgrim
Versus the World is one of my favorite movies. It's
an incredible picture, and it's got comed it's got comedy,

(59:56):
It's probably one of the best takes ever on a
comic book movie. It's got the incredible, memorable visuals, but
it also has great action. And Edgar Wright does an amazing
job of juggling genres, and he is one of the
most visual directors. He is incredible at incorporating action, not
just for jokes, but for those action sequences. You think

(01:00:18):
of the stuff he did with Simon Peig, Shot of
the Dead, Worlds and Hot Funds, all three of those
Yester comedies. But Hot Funds is also a great Buddy
Cup action picture. World's End's got that sort of dystopian
End of the World, Invasion, Feel Sean of the Dead's
got great horror elements. And then in the last few

(01:00:38):
years Last Night in Solo, he delivered a horror movie
that's an incredible picture with McKenna Grace and Ann Taylor
Joy in great roles. He gets great performances out of them.
And then Baby Driver is a straight up action picture
which he delivers on. And so he's proven to me
that he could definitely do an action picture, he could
definitely do a riller, and he can create a great

(01:01:02):
visual masterpiece. And Glenn Powell is one of the sort
of big names in recent times. People have enjoyed him
in recent pictures Top Gun, Maverick, Twisters, and I'm to
see what he'll do in the lead role, his version
of Ben Richards. I think he's gonna be more of
an every man. I think it's gonna be more of
that thing being on the run. Coleman Domingo being given

(01:01:24):
a big role in this. Kay You O'Brien, who I
praised earlier for Love Life's Bleeding, She gets a major
role in this. Josh Brosla Josh Brolin, Brolin, Oh boy,
but yes, it's Josh Brolin, who I also I've championed
so many times on this show. I think he is incredible.

(01:01:45):
It'll be great to see what he does. He's playing Killian,
which means we get to see Brolin as a villain.
I don't think he'll look like a Grimace on steroids.
Will probably very different than Thanos, but I may drest
see his take on Killian Lee. He's played villains before.
He was in a Marvel movie. He's an interesting actor

(01:02:06):
as well. William H. Macy. That's what it's telling me
an IMDb. He's in this. So I'm there's a lot
of reasons to be excited about The Running Man, and
it's this high on my list because I really think
I have every expectation of this being high on my
best of the Year list, because I love the source material,

(01:02:28):
I love the director, I love the cast. I love
a good, well made dystopian sci fi thriller. Running Man,
put on your calendars. I think it's going to be
a great one, and we're now. As much as I
say I love original movies, my last two pictures are sequels,

(01:02:48):
but sequels to movies that I loved. One of the great, great,
great Disney anime movies the last decade was Zootopia, and
I think that is one of the movies where they
set up an interesting enough world where there's a lot
more stories to tell. There's some movies where it ends

(01:03:12):
and you're great, and you're like, that doesn't really lead
itself to a sequel. Utopia does because it ended with
Judy Hops and Nick Wilde becoming partners. This time, both
of them being in the police force and being respected,

(01:03:32):
so there's crimes for them to solve. There's more of
this world to explore. We've only already established it. There's
all these different sectors in Zutopia. There's all these different
cultures and different places to explore in a variety of
different characters, and I'm sure there's so many more characters
that they can add and visually it was just such

(01:03:54):
a captivating picture. My hope is this one, unlike One
to two, was not originally set to be a series
and now they're remaking it for a movie. I hope
the plan was always for this to be a movie.
I have high hopes. I have very high hopes for
this because the first Utopia is a masterpiece, one of
the best anime movies now. I said the same thing
about Mowana. I love the original Mowana too, but I

(01:04:17):
think this is gonna be a good one. I think
there's an interesting story here. They got a new case
to crack, and I'm ready to follow my team for
z Utopia too. I think it's gonna be one of
the best anime movies, and like Inside Out too, I
have every attention that this one's gonna be a great
sequel that will make it on my best of list,
I hope, and we end not with an original movie

(01:04:40):
the guy who champions original movies. No, it's another sequel,
but it's a sequel to one of my favorite, maybe
my favorite action franchise of modern times, or at least
tied because john Wick would challenge this one, but there
is not a john Wick five coming, though there is Ballerina.
Ballerina is coming this year, but no, this is Mission Possible,

(01:05:03):
Final Reckoning. I think this is gonna be the best
movie of the summer. I think this is going to
be an epic. They're called it Final Reckoning, which even
though Tom Cruise says he wants to make more Mission Impossibles,
I feel this is going to be sort of a
closing of recent story arcs. I think this is going
to have the feeling of kind of being a finale.

(01:05:25):
I think they are going to try to make this
an epic just in case. I feel there's gonna be
some finality to this one, just because they don't make anymore.
I think they are going to really sort of make
this feel like a big final chapter. And if they
make more than they can put in different arts and stuff.
But I think this is just gonna have the feeling
of a big, massive epic. Since Ghost Protocol, Mission Impossible

(01:05:49):
have delivered basically the best action movies every single year
that they've come out, this has just been such a
near perfect series. I love the stunts, I love the
epic scope, I love Tom Cruise in this. The cast
is great, there's amazing action sequences, so much of it
scens realistic, it's not just covered in CGI. There is

(01:06:14):
a lot of reasons to feel this is gonna be
an unforgettable action picture. Christopher mccruary, he is an incredible director.
He's great when he's with Tom Cruise. I think he
will deliver here as a director, and it's just gonna
be fun to see the team together and you've got
again like a pretty solid cast here. Palm klementiitif from

(01:06:38):
Guardza Galaxy. I totally said her name wrong. She's in
this one. I think she's playing a villain, so I'll
be interested to see what she does there. Nick Offerman's
in this one. Hopefully he's not doing Civil War. He's
only in one scene. And it's always fun to see
Vin Raims again. Angela Bassett word on the street as
she's in it, word being IMDb again. But I love

(01:07:01):
the Mission Impossible movies. I know a lot of people
love The Fast and Furious. I just feel these ones
just have so much more substance, so much more interesting
action sequences. And this is another one that I am
completely confident is gonna be on my Best of the
Year list at the end of the year and ranking high.

(01:07:22):
I just I love a good blockbuster. I love a
great action picture. Mission Impossible almost delivers. Now, of course,
with me being this confident making a list where I
think a lot of these movies are gonna be my
favorite movies at the end of the year, there's potential
that this is gonna be a year I get disappointed
a lot. I have no idea if any of these
movies are gonna be great, but they're are my lists

(01:07:44):
because they have the best potential. And I mean there's
probably movies that I thought should have been on this list,
and either it's not on my list because it just
missed it, or maybe it didn make my list because
the previous ones is a sequel to something that burned me,
or I'm just not that interested in it, or like
I said before, it doesn't have a release date yet,

(01:08:06):
or I just don't know about it. There's gonna be
a lot of great festival movies that could be on
my best of the Year list at the end in
twenty twenty five. I just I don't know about it
right now. But right now that is my list. I
will quickly go over them for your benefit one more time.
My number ten is Panting in Peru, Number nine, The Bride,

(01:08:26):
number eight, Avatar, Fire and Ash seven, Superman six, Predator,
bad Lands five, Mickey seventeen four, Sinners three, The Running
Man two, Utopia two, and my most anticipating move of
the year, Mission Possible Final Reckoning. Another thing I wanted.

Speaker 9 (01:08:44):
To mention I didn't because I forgot was like many
years I didn't necessarily have that one movie that was
super super excited about, like I am working for the
mission possible, but I'm thinking years of like Dune or
Force Awakens, where my number one was something that I
was just.

Speaker 1 (01:09:03):
Absolutely giddy about. This year, these are movies I'm really
looking forward to, but I just don't feel there's that
one movie that's really really driving me. So it's a
bit of a harder list to come up with. Part
of that it might be just my emotional state struggling
with things that I don't get as excited about things
as I used to. But I think also it's just
there isn't sort of that big event feeling movie as

(01:09:26):
maybe there has been other years. But I think it's
gonna be a good year. I'm excited and I'm looking
forward to doing this podcast every single week and being
able to review a whole slew of movies and really
getting a good feel of what this year is gonna be.
Like the Movie Breakdown, it's gonna be a lot of
fun this year, beyond the best. And they'll also write
reviews this year. And I just want to tell you

(01:09:48):
I appreciate all of you who have been listening to
us for over a decade. I appreciate my readers who've
been reading me since twenty ten. You guys are amazing.
Thank you for your support, and I really hope I
deliver great stuff for you this year. And I'll also
try to be open and honest with this year. I
think there's a lot of value in that. With my

(01:10:10):
I feel this year, we really need, at this time
in twenty twenty five to build a community and to
show compassion, show empathy, show understanding, show open minded this
and I hope I can display that on this show
and in my writing and make this a place where
people feel connected and that there's always a sense of

(01:10:34):
positivity and love. And I do plan sometimes of sharing
a bit not just my creative journey, but about my
mental health and about sort of coming to terms with
being able to virgin and what I've learned about that.
I just hope this is a way to connect with
you and a way for you to get to know
me better. But it's also gonna be a place where
I discuss movies. I promise, I promise. Now you want

(01:11:00):
to tell me what is your most anticipate in movies
of twenty twenty five, you can do that. You can
do that at the Movie Breakdown at gmail dot com.
We're still on x at the Movie Breakdown one or Twitter,
I always call it Twitter, and then on Facebook you

(01:11:22):
can reach us at the Movie Breakdown. We have a
Facebook page and so all those places you can let
me know what is your favorite or the movie you're
most looking forward to in twenty twenty five. You guys
will tell me about youravorite movie of twenty twenty five
Forward Woods. I just would love some discussion. Let's build
a community here in twenty twenty five and how many

(01:11:42):
times can I say twenty twenty five in one podcast. Also,
another way you can really help me is subscribe and
rate us. You can find us on Spreaker, of course,
and you can listen to us on the Spreaker app.
That's the one that helps us the most, but you
can also listen to us on Spotify, cast Box, Apple, Paul,
Amazon Music, or basically almost anywhere where you listen to

(01:12:04):
your podcasts. And subscribing and rating us, especially if you
give us a five star review, really helps us in
the algorithms where more people can see us, and then
we can grow. My hope this year is maybe looking
at doing sort of a substack connected Beyond the Balcony
and to doing maybe a Patreon for the podcast and

(01:12:26):
just really help it grow. And because that allows me
to be able to focus more time on it, I
don't have to do as much freelance work if I
can actually make some money off this, and then I
can create more entertaining things for you amazing people. Another
way you can support me. Please check out Beyond the Balcony.
I have made the return of the media diary, where

(01:12:46):
I look at all the things that I have watched, played,
listened to in a week. There's also a look at
what were some of the most popular pieces Beyond the
Balcony and the most listened to episodes last year. And
as well, I have a reflection upon James and the
Giant Peach, and I talked about how proud I am

(01:13:07):
of Effett. And there will be reviews and movie analysis,
movie news analysis inside my creative journey, all that type
of stuff throughout the year Beyond the Balcony, as well
as promotion of work from other publications. This hopefully is
a successful year, So please follow me there, please follow
me here once again, thank you so much. The plan

(01:13:32):
is for this episode for to go back to how
we used to do things, which is Monday morning. An
episode drops on a weekly basis every Monday morning, so
if the plans are executed properly, I'll be back here
next Monday and there will be some reviews for you.

(01:13:53):
I definitely will be reviewing the new Wallace and Grommet
picture that has come out on Netflix. I just love
Walson Grammts. I'm looking forward to that one there. I
also have my eyes on Cameron Diaz's returned to movies
back in Action, and I also hope to get out

(01:14:15):
to the theater and review wolf Man. So those should
be the three to expected. Who knows what else I
will toss in. This ended up being a lot longer expected.
I'm one person and somehow I went over an hour.
I talk too much, so you can also here let
me know how I need to shut up and be
more concise when you review or when you email me.

(01:14:37):
But that's all for this week. I'll see you next
week when we get back to reviewing movies. Thank you
so much. I am Christopher Spicer, and have a great
week at the movies.

Speaker 5 (01:15:00):
Uh uh