Gary Wells

Movie Logs: 2025

It’s time once again to take a look at the highlights and lowlights of my year spent watching movies. It may be my favourite pastime but its not my only one though the numbers are slightly up this year; looks like I watched about 230 this year including trips to the theatre which were up to 13 in 2025. I started off my year going to the cinema by taking a bit of a flyer. Based on my love of classic Universal horror movies, I checked out the latest lycanthropy tale, this one titled Wolf Man. I enjoyed this – though it is inferior to the Benicio Del Toro version from 2010 – and appreciated the transformation not so much from man to wolf but from sanity to insanity. I saw two films at my small local theatre that was celebrating its 85th anniversary and it was two ends of the spectrum.

So happy to have this theatre in my town

Gone With the Wind on the big screen with an audience was amazing but the first film this little theatre ever showed was terrible. Artists and Models from 1938 starring Jack Benny and Joan Bennett was a B picture and its lame comedy and silly mugging matched its low standing. I found The Amateur with Rami Malek compelling as was Flight Risk, with my man Mel Gibson directing baldy Mark Wahlberg through some taut moments. Tom Cruise has ascended to quite a position in the film community and his “final” Mission: Impossible matched the intense hype. My same little local theatre featured Becoming Led Zeppelin and Brad Pitt in F1 showed me – like the Cruise film – what movies can be like nowadays. I almost left the theatre during Eddington but I hung in there and it was not bad, the final acts quite interesting. For my thoughts on these films and others I watch throughout the year you can follow me on Letterboxd. But 2025 for me – and for many others – will be remembered as the year of Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another.

SoulRide Picks

One Battle After Another (2025) — I felt it was a unique film for me to love but I was drawn in by the multi-layers, the action and the performances. It’s a full-on juggernaut of excitement and intrigue, a hyper-real alternate universe featuring caricatures or broadly rendered characters played well by DiCap, Sean Penn and Benicio, in particular. Great use of music especially during the scenes showing the sensei getting Ghetto Pat out of Dodge; the Battle of Baktan Cross scenes were the highlight of my film-watching year. The Christmas Adventurers added much mystery to the proceedings and, as a life-long fan of the 70s TV show Emergency!, I was particularly pleased to see one of its stars, Kevin Tighe, appear as one of the leaders of that shady group. I can’t get past the feeling that its a really different film for me to have loved. But love it I did. So glad to see this film continually referenced all over social media. Made me feel like I was in on something big. I went to the theatre twice to see this one.

Falling Down (1993) — I recall my parents talking about this film when it came out and I maybe have even seen it on VHS when it was released to home video; but I’m counting this a first-time viewing. For the filming locations alone this movie is notable and great fun to watch but on top of that there are the performances. This may be Michael Douglas’s finest work as the man on the edge and Robert Duvall matches him as a cop on the other side in more ways than one. The depictions are at once relatable and also open for severe criticism. I couldn’t help but empathize with both the Douglas and Duvall characters. This can be seen more simply as frustration over life in the city in the modern age and – depending on your bent – you could see it as a treatise of hate and intolerance. This makes for a movie that invites discussion ad infinitum. Directed by the late Joel Schumacher, I still wonder how it came to be written by Ebbe Roe Smith from The Big Easy and I think it’s cool that the popularity of the bulk of the stars began in the 70s or – in Tuesday Weld’s case – even earlier. Nice to learn how Douglas defended the film upon release and has since.

Bone Tomahawk (2015) — Along with One Battle, one of the biggest surprises of the year for me. I went into it with trepidation. My stepfather was happy to give me the DVD to get it off his hands; one of the worst movies he’d ever seen, he said. And I knew it was a long movie and directed by the guy who made me sit through the tedious Dragged Across Concrete. But the title and the visual of Kurt Russell on the cover gave me hope and so I dove in. What a ride. By the time it was over and I had caught my breath, I had a great respect for filmmaker S. Craig Zahler (and will even give Dragged another chance) and particularly for this startling debut. Zahler knows westerns and many of the tropes are here in the most positive of ways. With all these classic western elements, there was certainly a modernity to the more violent and harrowing scenes. It was as if you were getting a classic western but one with the balls to show you the truth about the carnage and danger of the old west. Thrilled to see both Michael Paré and Sid Haig in small roles. I was concerned a bit that the horrific band of demons was vanquished so easily but I’m OK with the ending. It takes a while for Bone Tomahawk to gain traction but when it does, brother, look out.

Other highlights include: There were many other highlights this year and I could have featured any of them. I’m happy to be continuing to consume all of Clint Eastwood’s films. I was sad to have missed Juror #2 (2024) when it first came out but in the end I have a fond memory of watching it. It was during a work trip that I found myself in a fancy hotel room with access to a movie channel that offered this one. I watched it and found it – like Falling Down – thoroughly thought-provoking. Does this make Craig Zahler my new favourite director? His Brawl in Cell Block 99 (2017) starring my main man Vince Vaughn was outrageous and definitely one of my favourite viewing experiences of the year. And thanks to Tubi!

Some movies you are just proud to say you have seen. Such is the case with Duel (1971), Spielberg’s infamous debut that I finally got around to this year. Absolutely gripping and I was introduced to the huge following the film has after I tweeted about it. The darkest horse of the year was surely The Ghost Writer (2010 and again Tubi!), found when I went searching for “neo-noir” and this popped up and with it two names – Roman Polanski and Pierce Brosnan; Roman won awards for his work and Pierce I will watch in anything. This political thriller was excellent and has a killer ending. My youngest boy was thrilled that I finally got to Kubrick’s swan song, Eyes Wide Shut, and I was able to finally do so due to the magic of the DVD snap case which I found still sealed at a thrift store. For me, it struck the right balance of lucidity and inscrutability without drifting off into David Lynch Land. In the wake of the death of Robert Redford, I watched a few of his films that I had missed. It shamed me never to have seen All the President’s Men and I watched it on VHS. Some films exist on a higher plane and this one is of the highest quality. The same maybe could be said for Mike Nichols’ Carnal Knowledge, another one I enjoyed on VHS Theatre. Excellent performances delivered some tough material that made it uncomfortable to watch at times. I’ve talked about some surprises in 2025 but, if I’m honest, the most satisfying for me may have been A Cold Wind in August. I was shaking my head for a while after I watched this one out on the porch on a summer night. Lola Albright was smokin’ hot and I cannot imagine a steamier, sexier, more outrageous film being released in 1961.

Lola in A Cold Wind in August

Another highlight came during a good run of horror films watched during the Halloween season. This year I didn’t get to many of my regulars but instead watched the many that had built up on my various watchlists. The Invisible Man with Peggy Olsen – er, Elisabeth Moss – was absolutely gripping. The main character not being believed, the death of her sister and waiting on the edge of my seat for the truth to be reveled made for a great viewing experience. I enjoyed M. Night’s The Visit, not so much I Am the Pretty Thing That Lives in the House (2016) but I watched it for Paula Prentiss, Nosferatu in Venice (1988) was bonkers and broken, The Mist is the disappointing country cousin of the Stephen King-Frank Darabont collabs and Embryo from ’76 with latter-day Rock Hudson was interesting.

I also got after the war movies as I like to do in November and again it wasn’t the usual suspects. I was excited to see Redford’s first film, War Hunt, but then I started watching it and the excitement quickly died. I rewatched 1917 and was blown away by this cinematic achievement by Sam Mendes & Co., I rewatched Inglourious Basterds (amazing) and first-time watched The Inglorious Bastards (somewhat less so), made it through the interesting The Battle of Algiers based on Ghetto Pat’s recommendation and went to the theatre for the grandiose and magnificent Nuremberg.

Other Highly Rated First-Time Watches of 2025

  • Leather Burners (1943)
  • The Longest Yard (2005)
  • Wings for Wheels: The Making of ‘Born to Run’ (2005)
  • Pink Floyd: The Wall (1982)
  • The Turning Point (1952)
  • Dark City (1950)
  • SLY LIVES! (aka The Burden of Black Genius) (2025)
  • The Brothers Rico (1957)
  • Almost Famous (2000)
  • The Beach Boys (2024)
  • Return of the King: The Fall and Rise of Elvis Presley (2024)
  • Sully (2016)
  • Frankenstein (2025)
  • The Bridges of Madison County (1995)

Walk Out Worthy

The Killer Elite (1975) — This stinker set the tone for a decidedly unsatisfactory Cinema 75. When I heard the title and when I heard the names James Caan, Robert Duvall and Sam Peckinpah, heck, I was excited. Midway through the movie and I was totally baffled. It was one of those times when you have no idea what you’re watching and you are completely unable to gain any traction with the plot while watching a movie. I could not comprehend the tone and what kind of a movie it was trying to be. It seemed just totally broken. And then the ninjas came out. Like, what in the name of Sam Peckinpah…

Love Before Breakfast (1936) — I have said before that classic films are basically – by definition – good films. There are no bad ones; even the least of them have that intangible that old movies have. And in the golden age, they took very few risks when it came to storytelling so these movies are easy to follow and to understand. So they’re never bad but every now and then I find one to quarrel with. I’m working my way through a Carole Lombard film set and this one angered me. Maybe its because I have Carole on such a pedestal. What irked me was the Preston Foster character. First of all, I didn’t think he deserved to be in the same film with Lombard let alone play her love interest. Secondly was his technique. Particularly in the early going, I didn’t like how Preston was bum rushing Carole and forcing himself on her. That’s not cool. And then she capitulates? What the heck? Maddening. Cool poster, though.

The Baby (1973) — This one sat on my Watchlist forever. Not sure why I even put it there – I think it’s because Marianna Hill from Paradise, Hawaiian Style is in it – but no way should I have watched it. And neither should you. A social worker is keen to work with a family who has a seemingly mentally impaired son who, though in his 20s, has not advanced past baby stage. This “actor” carries on like a baby, crawling all over the floor and bawling. It’s a disgusting depiction of mental illness and I am frankly stunned that it 1) was directed by Ted Post (two Clint movies) and 2) has been elevated to “cult classic” status. The finale is pretty wild and it’s supposed to make everything make sense but The Baby remains grotesque to the end; “the most ridiculous, preposterous, repugnant film I’ve ever seen. Irredeemable”.

Other lowlights include: Add The Warriors to the list of legendary films that let me down, on the topic of classic films falling flat, I actually got rid of my copy of Week-End in Havana after watching despite my man Cesar Romero; I just don’t like Carmen Miranda, I watched poor Bruce Willis in one of his last, Paradise City and while I understand why Bruce made it I can’t help but wonder what John Travolta’s excuse is and High Fidelity (2000) is a great movie for record collectors? Nah. Boring. I may have enjoyed F1 in the theatre but Stallone’s racing movie Driven (2001) crashed into the wall at turn number one, The Adventures of Ford Fairlane was incredibly stupid though Wayne Newton was quite good, I wanted to say goodbye to both Farewell, Friend – watched in the hopes of getting a Bronson to review – and Farewell to the King – watched in honour of John Milius, Carny was disappointing and I had to watch Roustabout to cleanse my palate and I’m doing great getting the Eastwood’s watched but this year – like last – I found another clinker. The script for Blood Work seemed, I dunno, unfinished and there were many holes but it didn’t matter; all the other Clint’s of the year more than made up for it.

Lowest Rated First-Time Watches of 2025

  • Mr. Hockey: The Gordie Howe Story (2013)
  • Ringo and His Golden Pistol (1966)
  • The Killer Elite (1975)
  • The Love Machine (1971)
  • Paradise City (2022)
  • 92 in the Shade (1975)
  • Johnny Allegro (1949)
  • Driven (2001)
  • The Adventures of Ford Fairlane (1990)
  • The Maddening (1996)
  • The Reincarnation of Peter Proud (1975)
  • Maniac Cop (1988)
  • The Baby (1973)
  • Butcher, Baker, Nightmare Maker (1981)
  • Journey Into the Beyond (1975)
  • The Truth About Charlie (2002)

Leave a comment