In the year 2025, between theaters and streaming, I saw 135 new release movies. This is part 1 of 6 of my rankings and take us from 135 to 113.
Some of these movies may have technically come out earlier at a festival but I count a 2025 release as when it was more available to the masses. So even if it came out at SXSW in 2023, if it wasn’t given a wider release until 2025, then I count it as a 2025 release.
Rental Legend: (F)andango, (G)oogle, (P)rime, (Y)outube, (A)pple. If the prices vary they’ll go in order from cheapest to most expensive. Otherwise it’s whatever order I felt like at the time.
135: The Reunion (Tubi)
This is a straight to VOD movie and it was truly awful. I understand that with a limited budget there was only so much that could be done, and I’m more than willing to forgive things like that. However some of the characters were so stupid it was unforgivable. Also when you can’t afford special effects, that’s fine but try and be at least a little clever when it comes to making the movie scary.
.5 out of 11
134: War of the Worlds (Prime)
I wanted to like this film. I really did. I wanted to be that one contrary guy who was like “hey guys, this really isn’t that bad.” But my God it was hard to get through. There really is a great idea in here. This could have been really cool, but alas, Director Rich Lee dropped the ball.
.5 out of 11
133: Popeye’s Revenge (Tubi/Pluto/Peacock/Prime or rent 1.99 to 4.99 F/A/Y/G )
This was never going to be good no matter what director William Stead did. But I was at least hoping for a fun level of bad and that’s where all of these horrors based on old IPs get it wrong, they need to be fun. Bad acting? Sure! Goofy effects? Bring it! But give me interesting or funny kills and a movie that’s so out there I can’t help but laugh. But alas, this terrible.
1 out of 11
132: Beth + Jeremy and Steve (Tubi/Prime/Xumo or rent for 3.99 Y/G/F/A)
There was a good idea here somewhere that never could find its footing. If you want to watch a movie about two adults ruining a teenager’s life then this is for you. Beth (Briana Ratterman) knowingly gets in a relationship with an underage kid and Steve (Matthew DiBiaso) is the poster child for a red pill man baby. The kind of guy that would make a racist joke and then get mad at you for calling him out on it. This lost a lot of points because they make the kid underage. Just age him up to 18, even freshly 18, and this wouldn’t have been a problem. I DARE them to try and make this movie but gender bend it and pretend it’s not a problem.
1.5 out of 11
131: Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 (Rent for 19.99 Y/G/A/F/P)
I blame my AMC Stubs Alist for this one. Oh, and director Emma Tammi, I blame her too. I hated the first film because not only was it not scary but they defanged Freddy and the others so not only were they not scary, but they were friendly too? I’ve never played the games so i don’t know how accurate any of it is but the second movie was just more of the same, only worse. Abby (Piper Rubio) is such a bad character. I would have liked her a bit more if they said she was mentally disabled somehow because at least that would explain why she’s suck an effing moron.
1.5 out of 11
130: Run (Tubi and rent for 5.99 Y/A/F)
Just like War of the Worlds, this could have been so cool. In fact, the acting wasn’t bad as far as small budget straight to VOD style film. Though this did get a very limited theatrical release, I’m sorry to say it’s not quite worth it. Once again they could have been a lot more clever with this but they let it get out of hand. The CG aliens weren’t terrible but they overused them so the bad CG stood out.
2 out of 11
129: The Twits (Netflix)
Maybe I cursed myself. Maybe I set myself up for failure. I had no interest in this movie and I thought it looked ugly. But since I spent so much time in the hospital with wife, I needed movies that wouldn’t tax my brain. I wish I chose something else. This film makes me think of that Billy Madison quote. This movie is so bad that everyone who watches it is now dumber because of it. This could have been a cute animated movie but the story sucked and the animation was ugly.
2 out of 11
128: Dream Eater (Rent 3.99 to 4.99 Y/F/P/A)
I wasn’t going to see this buy my brother from across the pond, SWN’s own Raz, mentioned to me that it was making waves on the horror festival circut so I thought, why not? I’ll tell you why. Writers/Directors/and Costars Alex Lee Williams, Mallory Drumm, and Jay Drakulic wove one of the worst found footage movies I’ve ever seen. The characters were not just stupid, but the male lead Alex (Alex Lee Williams) was a terrible boyfriend who treated his girlfriend Mallory (Mallory Drumm) like crap.
2.5 out of 11
127: The Electric State (Netflix)
This latest stinker by the Russo brothers shows that maybe they do need someone micromanaging them. Even if the truly awful Chris Pratt wasn’t in this, it still wouldn’t have been good. But the sad thing is there was so much promise. This could have been a really cool world to dive into. But it’s boring and it shouldn’t have been. Also maybe someday Hollywood will realize that Chris Pratt sucks.
2.5 out of 11
126: Great White Waters (Tubi)
A lot can be said for Tubi originials. Sometimes they’re hot garbage but sometimes they’re a lot of fun and because it’s a free streaming service I’m more than willing to take the risk. But I’m sad to report that this film isn’t worth it. A story about shark attacks that needs more shark attacks just isn’t worth it. Also the story splits itself between the adventure on the boat and some crime story on the mainland. They could have taken that part out and this movie would have been better for it.
2.5 out of 11
125: Roofman (Paramount+ or MGM+ or rent for 5.99 G/A/F)
Channing Tatum and Kirsten Dunst? Sign me up! Is what I would normally say but I’m so sad to report that, at least in my oh so humble opinion, that this film fell flat. The talented cast couldn’t save this boring story. I know that they had their hands tied with this being based on a true story but Jeffrey Manchester (Tatum) was such a fucking idiot that I couldn’t give two shits about him. This was paced so badly that I kept looking at my watch waiting for it to be over.
3 out of 11
124: Rosario (Rent for 5.99 on Y/G/A/F/P)
I love some supernatural horror and I knew I was going to see this film the minute I saw the trailer. If you ever saw the horror movie called The Vigil, which you should totally watch, this gave me a similar vibe based on the trailer. However it was almost unwatchable. It wasn’t nearly scary enough and the story gets way too convoluted.
3 out of 11
123: Coyotes (MGM + or rent for 5.99 to 6.99 A/G/F)
I love Justin Long. He has done so much in the world of horror that he should wear the crown of Scream King. But this film was just bad. First off, why do we get horror movies with so few kills. Let’s up that body count! Also the pacing of the film was so off I’m tempted to call it a Myocinema Infarction. Get it? A heart attack is a Myocardial Infarction so Cinema instead of Cardial?… You know what? My jokes are wasted on you!
3.5 out of 11
122: London Calling (Hulu/Disney or rent from 1.99 to 4.99 Y/G/P/A/F)
Josh Duhamel and Jeremy Ray Taylor are what saved this movie from being so bad my eyes burned out of their sockets. But even with the talents of the two leads, this was a bad film. If this had come out back in the early 2000’s it would have been great but everything, including a lot of the jokes, are so dated that I couldn’t enjoy it. Julian (Taylor) is a fat virgin nerd who likes to LARP? Let’s all laugh at the fat kid and call him gay!
3.5 out of 11
121: Killing Mary Sue (Prime/Tubi or rent 4.99-5.99 Y/G/F/A)
This film had to make up its mind. It either had to go way darker or lighten up a bit. We have this young woman named Mary Sue (Sierra McCormick) who has more mental problems than a high school drama club and she should be totally unlikable but McCormick somehow makes her relatable. But the rest of the story was so on the fence that it never found its stride.
4 out of 11
120: Snow White (Disney+ or rent from 1.99 to 5.99 from G/Y/F/P/A)
Free Palestine. Let’s just say that right away. But even if we take the fact that Gal Gadot is a horrible human being out of the picture, she’s still not a good actress and worst part of this film. The only reason this got a 4 from me is because of Rachel Zegler’s talent. I will always support Rachel Zegler, but unfortunately she couldn’t save this from from Gal Gadummy and bad CGI dwarves.
4 out of 11
119: Flight Risk (HBO Max or rent 5.99 to 6.99 G/F/A)
My main problem with this film was Mark Wahlberg’s character. He was needlessly crude to a point where it seemed to serve no real purpose. We get he’s a bad guy, we don’t need repeated threats of sexual assault. Even though Michelle Dockery and Topher Grace were good in this, the fact that Mel Gibson directed it just left a bad taste in my mouth. But even if you take him out of the equation, this film just didn’t do it.
4 out of 11
118: In the Lost Lands (Hulu/Disney or rent 3.99 to 5.99 G/F/P/Y/A)
I knew this wasn’t going to be good. But I hoped it would be fun. But not only was I let down, I realized that this should have been a limited series. This movie tries to do way too much and if it had been a 6 episode miniseries it would have been really cool. Gray Alys (Mila Jovovich) and Boyce (Dave Bautista) could have been bad ass characters to follow. Also if this was given a 6 episode treatment the villain could have actually felt menacing. This could have even had a spinoff show. This world has so much promise.
4.5 out of 11
117: Guns & Moses (Prime or rent 1.99 to 4.99 Y/G/F/A)
This is a fun idea. A crime thriller revolving around Rabbi Mo Zaltzman (Mark Feuerstein) who is present for a murder that seems to be a hate crime but he thinks there’s more to it than meets the eye. But this movie was too serious when it felt like it shouldn’t have been. Yes, hate crimes are very serious, but the whole concept of a Rabbi with a gun investigating corruption? That sounds like a comedy to me. Also some of the conclusion Rabbi Zaltzman came to were just stupid. The anti-Semite kid couldn’t have been evil because he ate a brownie? Come on!
4.5 out of 11
116: The Pickup (Prime or rent 3.99 to 5.99 A/Y/G/F)
There were moments where I was actually entertained but I think the film moved too slowly for that entertainment to stick. The bad guys were also very lackluster as we hardly saw them so at points I forgot they existed. The acting was fine but it was the poor plot that held this film back the most. This is best used as background noise or for something to watch when you’re sick and high on cold medication.
4.5 out of 11
115: Playdate (Prime)
Meh. That’s it. Meh. It’s a shame because Kevin James can be really funny and I think Alan Ritchson has a super bright future. But this film just didn’t do it. I laughed at times and cared enough to not turn it off, but that really was it. This movie goes off the rails in the end and not in a good way. I feel that the twist was way too stupid and there are too many questions left unanswered. If this had just stuck to the basic formula it could have been a little better.
4.5 out of 11
114: Eddington (HBO Max or rent 4.99 to 5.99 G/A/F)
First thing to note is that anyone who says that this movie “both sides” the anti-masker battle, needs to work on their media literacy or just pay more attention. This could have been Ari Aster’s masterpiece but it was way too long. This needed the bloat cut from it so bad. It was too long and then the ending just kind of falls apart. The acting is what saves this from being a true mess. Joaquin Phoenix is a great bad guy.
4.5 out of 11
113: In Your Dreams (Netflix)
If you want something fun and easy to watch with your entire family, young to old, this isn’t a bad one to choose. But that’s really all this movie has to offer is something fun for kids and entertaining enough for adults. Though I do want children, my current lack of any progeny made this movie ultimately skippable. A big bonus in my eyes is that it’s not inundated with big names. Sure we have Simu Liu, Cristin Millioti, and Craig Robinson, as some moderately big names but all three of them have done voice acting in the past. So good on this movie not overloading the vocal cast with famous names who didn’t need to be there.
5 out of 11
