Here’s a look back at the year that was at the movies. From a pro ping pong player to a melancholy musician and some vicious vampires, here’s my list of the best movies of the year.
TOP PICKS:
Marty Supreme: At 2 hours and 29 minutes “Marty Supreme” is an epic, Sammy Glick-style story of a guy who feeds off confidence and daring. A grand tale of aspiration and consequences, à la “Boogie Nights” and “Goodfellas,” it’s one of the year’s best films.
Blue Moon: Anchored by a tour-de-force performance from, Ethan Hawke, Blue Moon is a deceptively simple character study of an artistic genius who was equal parts brilliance and frailty.
ALL THE REST:
Black Bag: Like John le Carré meets Mr. and Mrs. Smith, Black Bag is a dialogue driven spy drama fueled by star power rather than fire power.
Bring Her Back: Bring Her Back has graphic moments, but it doesn’t rely on jump scares to make its point. It is the psychological horror, the very core of the film’s exploration of grief, that disturbs and devastates.
F1 The Movie: A story of rivals, high speeds and a mentor with something to prove, F1 follows a very identifiable sports movie blueprint, but you’ll likely be too busy taking in the adrenalized spectacle to feel the déjà vu.”
Hamnet: Intimate and raw, Hamnet is an open wound; a profound portrait of heartache that is as uncompromising as it is emotionally involving in its depiction of a mother’s loss of a child.
If I Had Legs I’d Kick You: A study of a relentless panic attack, If I Had Legs I’d Kick You is a vital, intimate, but difficult, watch featuring a career best performance from Rose Byrne who delivers a raw nerve of a performance that impresses and devastates.
The LongWalk: The Long Walk covers a lot of ground. The story of march to the death is a harrowing look at authoritarianism and the extremes that despairing people will go in search of hope.
The Naked Gun: A mix of absurd humor, sight gags, and deadpan delivery The Naked Gun breathes new life into franchise by not playing it safe and delivering big laughs. Surely, the reboot can’t be as fun as the original movies. Yes it is, and don’t call me Shirley.
Nouvelle Vague: A love letter to Jean-Luc Godard and the French New Wave, and to storytelling and imagination. It stylishly captures the style and playfulness of the French New Wave, but more importantly, the spirit of change that fueled the movement that changed cinema.
The Secret Agent: Richly layered with political commentary, absurdist humor and thrills, The Secret Agent is an entertainingly convoluted tale of resistance against Brazil’s authoritarian government circa 1977.
Sentimental Value: With stellar performances and nuanced, grounded storytelling, Sentimental Value hits the heart in its portrayal of family bonds and the spaces that sometimes can bring people closer together.
Sinners: Director Ryan Coogler calls the movie mashup ‘genre fluid,’ and even that clever descriptor doesn’t come close to capturing the width and breadth of the story.
Sorry, Baby: An idiosyncratic comedy, Sorry, Baby is a simultaneously heartwarming and heartbreaking look at a very difficult subject, handled with care by writer, director and star Eva Victor.
Train Dreams: Train Dreams is a lovely, contemplative movie about the attempts to understand the ephemeral aspects of life. There’s no spectacle, no grandstanding, just intimate, poignant grace notes of one man’s existence.
Weapons: Director Zach Cregger navigates the story’s tonal twists and turns like a pro, bending the film’s unusual structure to his will to deliver an exciting, entertaining movie that is as hilarious as it is horrifying.
Sometimes my slogan, “I watch bad movies so you don’t have to,” is more than just a slogan. Here are my least favorite movies of the year.
Ballerina: Ballerina delivers on the franchise’s promise of a high body count but suffers from low stakes and a serious case of off-shoot-itis. it’s a shame that the movie’s storytelling isn’t quite as agile as its main character.
Bride Hard: A cumbersome mix of comedy and action, Bride Hard aims to be a blend of Bridesmaids and The Spy Who Dumped Me, but isn’t funny or action-packed enough to earn a recommendation.
Ella McCay: A mix of family drama and political underdog tale, Ella McCay is a kernel of a good idea with a good cast wrapped up in an over-stuffed melodrama.
HIM: A candidate for the Most Overwrought Sports Movie Ever, HIM is a jarring look at football culture but plays like a muddled mix of “Any Given Sunday” and “Rosemary’s Baby.”
Honey Don’t!: Sleek yet aimless, Honey Don’t displays an obvious love for its pulpy style but doesn’t show the same affection for its story which is essentially ninety minutes of red herrings.
Hurry Up Tomorrow: What do you get when you mix and match state-of-the-art, moody hook-driven pop music with a riff of Kathy Bates in “Misery,” a hint of tortured artist syndrome and trippy, experimental visuals? You get “Hurry Up Tomorrow,” a movie so self-indulgent it plays like a parody of a vanity project.
M3GAN 2.0: In its aping of Terminator 2, M3GAN 2.0 mostly says, “Hasta la vista, baby” to new ideas as it trades the kitschy horror vibe of the original for an action spy-thriller feel.
The Phoenician Scheme: The Phoenician Scheme is a carefully crafted film but it is more concerned with style than substance. As a result, there is an air of artificiality that settles over the movie like a shroud, sucking way much of the emotional depth.
The Pickup: By the time the end credits roll, The Pickup reveals itself to be less than the sum of its parts. All three leads are charismatic, and promise fireworks, but deliver a dud.
Smurfs: Smurf’s scattershot hodgepodge of music, gentle mayhem, intergenerational humour and good messages may leave you feeling blue, just not in the way the filmmakers intended.
The Strangers: Chapter 2: “The Strangers: Chapter 2” ends with a “To Be Continued” title card and scenes from Chapter 3, which, given how bad this movie is, seems like a warning rather than an advertisement.
Swiped: As formulaic as its subject is innovative, Swiped swipes left when it comes to aspiring to being anything other than a Wikipedia page come to life on screen.
I appear on “CTV News at 11:30” with anchor Natalie Johnson to talk about the weekend’s best shows including the Paramount+ movie “All the Devils Are Here,” the Prime Video video game adaptation “Fallout,” the Jack Black comedy “Anaconda” and the Korean satire “No Other Choice.”
On the December 27, 2025 edition of The Richard Crouse Show we meet firector James House and producer Caroline Sciama of “Elizabeth Taylor: Rebel Superstar,” a compelling three-part docuseries that reexamines Taylor’s life through a modern lens, highlighting her evolution from child star under MGM’s control to a trailblazing activist, businesswoman, and feminist icon. It features exclusive interviews with Taylor’s son Chris Wilding, granddaughter Naomi Wilding, and stars like Sharon Stone, Joan Collins, and Paris Jackson, alongside rare archival audio and can be seen on Hollywood Suite.
Then, we meet Atom Egoyan and Amanda Seyfried of the new film “Seven Veils.” In this a new psychological thriller, now playing in theatres, Seyfried is Jeanine, a director dealing with repressed trauma as she mounts a production of her mentor’s most famous work, the opera “Salome.” Rich with metaphor and suspense “Seven Veils” is an intellectual thriller about art imitating life.
Finally, we’ll meet Keira Jang, star of “Can I Get A Witness?” a Canadian eco-sci fi/coming-of-age film now on streaming sevices. It’s set in a future where climate change and world poverty have been eradicated. To mitigate these modern-day issues, travel and technology are banned and every citizen must end life at 50. Documenting the process are artists as witnesses, like the character Kiera plays, a teenager on her first day on the job.
Each week on the nationally syndicated Richard Crouse Show, Canada’s most recognized movie critic brings together some of the most interesting and opinionated people from the movies, television and music to put a fresh spin on news from the world of lifestyle and pop-culture. Tune into this show to hear in-depth interviews with actors and directors, to find out what’s going on behind the scenes of your favourite shows and movies and get a new take on current trends. Recent guests include Chris Pratt, Elvis Costello, Baz Luhrmann, Martin Freeman, David Cronenberg, Mayim Bialik, The Kids in the Hall and many more!
All iHeartRadio Canada stations are available across Canada via live stream on iHeartRadio.caand the iHeartRadio Canada app. iHeartRadio Canada stations are also connected through Alexa, Siri, and Google Home smart speakers.
Fast reviews for people busy wrapping and unwrapping gifts! Watch as I put you in the holiday spirit with reviews of the historical drama “The Man Who Invented Christmas,” the gooey and gory “Silent Night, Deadly Night” and the classic “Gremlins.”
