The Best Movies I Watched in 2025

Another stellar year in movie watching featuring friends like Frederick Wiseman, Don Siegel, Éric Rohmer, and Ed Wood.

At the end of 2024, after setting a personal record for most films seen in a year, I claimed that I would watch less movies in 2025…

Whoops!! I went ahead and set another record. It’s no use fighting it anymore, I’ve come to accept that nothing restores my soul quite like cinema. Like exercise and drinking lots of water (been working on that lately), I need constant movie watching for my own nourishment and self care. If I look at it through that lens, well, then I took pretty good care of myself in 2025.

Here are my 105 favorite movies that I watched in 2025, in ascending ranking from 105 to #1. All first time watches and all released before 2025.

#105 - Den of Thieves (Christian Gudegast, 2018)

#104 - New Nightmare (Wes Craven, 1994)

#103 - The New Centurions (Richard Fleischer, 1972)

#102 - I Am My Own Woman (Rose van Praunheim, 1992)

#101 - Repulsion (Roman Polanski, 1965)

#100 - Safe in Hell (William Wellman, 1931)

#99 - The Animal (Walter Ungerer, 1976)

#98 - Slingshot Cops (Charles Roxburgh, 2016)

#97 - Destiny (Fritz Lang, 1921)

#96 - A Chinese Ghost Story (Tony Ching Siu-Tung, 1987)

#95 - The Gorgon (Terence Fisher, 1964)

#94 - Party (Manoel de Oliveira, 1996)

#93 - The Seven Beauties (Lina Wertmüller, 1975)

#92 - Torso (Sergio Martino, 1973)

91 - Le Beau Serge (Claude Chabrol, 1958)

#90 - A Woman’s Torment (Roberta Findlay, 1977)

#89 - Salem’s Lot (Tobe Hooper, 1979)

#88 - Glen or Glenda (Ed Wood, 1953)

#87 - Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai (Jim Jarmusch, 1999)

#86 - Offside (Jafar Panahi, 2006)

#85 - Bronco Billy (Clint Eastwood, 1980)

#84 - The Marquise of O - Éric Rohmer, 1976)

#83 - Stray Dogs (Sam Peckinpah, 1971)

#82 - The Tall T (Budd Boetticher, 1957)

#81 - The Beguiled (Don Siegel, 1971)

#80 - City of the Living Dead (Lucio Fulci, 1980)

#79 - Requiem for a Vampire (Jean Rollin, 1972)

#78 - Whirlpool (Otto Preminger, 1950)

#77 - She Killed in Ecstasy (Jesús Franco, 1971)

#76 - The Three Stooges (Bobby and Peter Farrelly, 2012)

#75 - Vanilla Sky (Cameron Crowe, 2001)

#74 - On the Occasion of Remembering the Turning Gate (Hong Sang-Soo, 2002)

#73 - That Old Dream That Moves (Alain Guiraudie, 2001)

#72 - The Limits of Control (Jim Jarmusch, 2009)

#71 - How Do You Know (James L. Brooks, 2010)

#70 - Crimes and Misdemeanors (Woody Allen, 1989)

#69 - The Crimson Kimono (Samuel Fuller, 1959)

#68 - Miss Me Yet (Christopher Jason Bell, 2023)

#67 - Bamboozled (Spike Lee, 2000)

#66 - A Lizard in a Woman’s Skin (Lucio Fulci, 1971)

#65 - The Swimmer (Frank Perry, 1968)

#64 - Rome Open City (Roberto Rossellini, 1945)

#63 - Revenge of the Dead (Ed Wood, 1959)

#62 - Basic Training (Frederick Wiseman, 1971)

#61 - 24 City (Jia Zhangke, 2008)

#60 - Hail Mary (Jean-Luc Godard, 1985)

#59 - 7th Heaven (Frank Borzage, 1927)

#58 - The One-Armed Swordsman (Chang Cheh, 1967)

#57 - All About My Mother (Pedro Almodovar, 1999)

#56 - Grown Ups 2 (Dennis Dugan, 2013)

#55 - Naked Childhood (Maurice Pialat, 1968)

54 - Juvenile Court (Frederick Wiseman, 1973)

#53 - Crooklyn (Spike Lee, 1994)

#52 - The Leopard Man (Jacques Tourneur, 1943)

#51 - Zoo (Frederick Wiseman, 1993)

#50 - There Was a Father (Yasujirō Ozu, 1942)

#49 - It Happened One Night (Frank Capra, 1934)

#48 - Resident Evil: Retribution (Paul W.S. Anderson, 2012)

#47 - Mountains May Depart (Jia Zhangke, 2015)

#46 - Charley Varrick (Don Siegel, 1973)

#45 - The Store (Frederick Wiseman, 1983)

#44 - Turkish Delight (Paul Verhoven, 1973)

#43 - Kaili Blues (Bi Gan, 2015)

#42 - Peking Opera Blues (Tsui Hark, 1986)

#41 - Passing Summer (Angela Schanelec, 2001)

#40 - Running Out of Time 2 (Johnnie To, 2001)

#39 - Girl 6 (Spike Lee, 1996)

#38 - The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 (Tobe Hooper, 1986)

#37 - The Lineup (Don Siegel, 1958)

#36 - The Mission (Johnnie To, 1999)

#35 - The Bellboy (Jerry Lewis, 1960)

34 - Succubus (Jesús Franco, 1968)

#33 - Detour (Edgar G. Ulmer, 1945)

#32 - Another Woman (Woody Allen, 1988)

#31 - Escape from Alcatraz (Don Siegel, 1979)

#30 - The Story of a Three-Day Pass (Melvin Van Peebles, 1967)

#29 - Central Park (Frederick Wiseman, 1990)

#28 - Eastern Condors (Sammo Hung, 1987)

#27 - No Regrets for Our Youth (Akira Kurosawa, 1946)

#26 - Dr. Mabuse, the Gambler (Fritz Lang, 1922)

#25 - Spanglish (James L. Brooks, 2004)

#24 - Iguana (Monte Hellman, 1988)

#23 - Happy-Go-Lucky (Mike Leigh, 2008)

#22 - Bloody Spear at Mount Fuji (Tomu Uchida, 1955)

#21 - Trouble in Paradise (Ernst Lubitsch, 1932)

20 - Welfare (Frederick Wiseman, 1975)

#19 - Reflections of Evil (Damon Packard, 2002)

#18 - Model (Frederick Wiseman, 1981)

#17 - A Woman Under the Influence (John Cassavetes, 1974)

#16 - Red River (Howard Hawks, 1948)

#15 - It’s a Gift (Norman Z. McLeod, 1934)

#14 - Once Upon a Time in China (Tsui Hark, 1991)

#13 - The Valiant Ones (King Hu, 1975)

#12 - Artists and Models (Frank Tashlin, 1955)

#11 - A Tale of Winter (Éric Rohmer, 1992)

#10 - Two Moon Junction (Zalman King, 1988)

#9 - India Song (Marguerite Duras, 1975)

8 - Titanic (James Cameron, 1997)

#7 - The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant (Rainer Werner Fassbinder, 1972)

#6 - The 47 Ronin (Kenji Mizoguchi, 1941)

5 - Public Housing (Frederick Wiseman, 1997)

#4 - Jeanne Dielman, 23, quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles (Chantal Akerman, 1975)

#3 - Abraham’s Valley (Manoel de Oliveira, 1993)

#2 - The Green Ray (Éric Rohmer, 1986)

#1 - Aspen (Frederick Wiseman, 1991)