Author: Mark A. Lester

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"Top Tens", and others

Top Ten Films of 2025

 It is no secret: in a world of ups and downs, 2025 had many more of the latter than the former.

Yet I will try to stay more optimistic, as I remember a moment from the 75th Academy Awards, when film legend Olivia De Havilland took the stage. As she was presenting the Past Oscar Winner reunion, she stated the following (and I am paraphrasing a bit):

“Much has changed in our world…but what hasn’t changed is our love for the movies, and their ability to inspire us and to help us through troubled times.”

Over two decades later, those words have not lost their meaning in the slightest.

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"Top Tens", and others Movies

Top 10 Worst Films of 2025

For those unfamiliar, there is a story in the book of Genesis (specifically in chapter 19) that talks about a man named Lot.

He is told by an angel of the Lord to take his family and leave Sodom and Gomorrah before they are destroyed, and not look back. As they are leaving, Lot’s (unnamed) wife looks back, and turns into a pillar of salt.

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Mark's 21st Century Movie Milestones

Number 1…

About a week ago, director Joe Russo (who, along with his brother Anthony, has helmed many of the biggest films for the MCU) sent out a tweet about how “Worst of the Year” lists need to stop.

“You wouldn’t believe how hard it is to make even a bad movie — and the filmmakers have already suffered through negative reviews and audience feedback. 

Focus year-end lists on movies you loved, not the ones you hated.”

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Mark's 21st Century Movie Milestones

Number 2…

“Our next movie is quite simply a masterpiece…”

So said Roger Ebert on one episode of Ebert & Roeper back in 2002. The movie in question was Spirited Away, and up until that point, my knowledge of anime did not extend beyond the Pokémon TV show.

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3 1/2 Stars

Avatar: Fire and Ash (2025)

Looking back at my Letterboxd ratings of the first two Avatar films, I realize that there is a slight decline. 

That is not at all to say that “The King of the World,” James Cameron, is losing his touch as a filmmaker. His original world-building of Pandora and the Na’vi is so mesmerizing to see that it is becoming redundant to say so. In Avatar: Fire and Ash, the tradition of outdoing the previous film with truly special effects continues. The problem, as has been stated, is the writing (which is also by Cameron).

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Mark's 21st Century Movie Milestones Movies

Number 3…

I know, I know. This is three movies instead of one.

Yet as the very overused meme would say, “one does not simply pick one of the films in The Lord of the Rings Trilogy.”

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Mark's 21st Century Movie Milestones

Number 4…

Of all the 25 films I have on my list, none has me more at a loss for words than 2011’s The Tree of Life.

I recently tried watching it (my Blu-ray got busted up halfway through, so it looks as though I will need to get the Criterion Collection version after all), but it was enough to remember two things: This is one of the most visually stunning films in my lifetime, and I am still not entirely sure what to make of it.

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3 Stars

Wicked: For Good (2025)

At the end of my review of the first Wicked film, I mentioned how I worried about the fact that, as someone who grew up a fan of the musical, the best songs were always in the first half. That is not to say that the second half hasn’t got its share of good tunes, but it is hard to compete against the likes of “Defying Gravity”, “Dancing through Life”, and “Popular” (which I did a spot on lip sync version to as a camp counselor this past summer. Just saying.)

Now, after a yearlong intermission, we are back in Oz with Wicked: For Good, and I regret to say that my fears were realized: It was not just the songs that did not live up to the first half, but the second half as a whole. 

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5 Stars

Hamnet (2025)

By the time her film Nomadland (2020) had won her Best Picture and Best Director Oscars, Chloé Zhao had already finished her attempt at a superhero film, Eternals (2021), considered by many to be one of the most inferior in the MCU library (I know it is not good, but it is not near as bad as some of the others).

I never once thought to blame her for that and knew that her next film would demonstrate she is still a bona fide talented filmmaker. Well, I was more than correct, because after seeing Hamnet (her fifth feature film in ten years), she exceeded my expectations as someone who is truly a cinematic poet.

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Mark's 21st Century Movie Milestones Movies

Number 5…

Looking back, most would agree that no other year this century had a more top-notch lineup of films than 2007 (although 2019 would come to mind).

That said, it is somewhat forgotten that the year was also solid in its output of musicals. You had originals like Enchanted (which showed the world how alluring Amy Adams can be) and High School Musical 2 (though not as adaquate as the original in my book, the music to that trilogy had popularity like you would not believe). Then there were stage-to-screen adaptations, such as Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (one of Tim Burton’s very best films) and Hairspray, which took delight to a whole new level. Still, no musical (of any year) had me rushing to iTunes to buy the whole album quicker than Once.

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