My 10 Favorite Movies of 2025

I was lucky enough to see a lot of movies in 2025. Much more than I have in the past few years. As a whole, I think 2025 was a great year for cinema. While the industry is in a messy state and faces an uncertain future, we're at least still getting a lot of good stuff for now.

Here are my top ten movies of the year, plus a special (not honorable; it'll make sense when we get there) mention. This post will be briefer than usual, as I'm currently finishing up a book about the roots and rise of Nazism in Germany, but hopefully these short explanations for why I liked each movie will do them justice.

A few honorary mentions before we get to the list: Train Dreams, Jay Kelly, and Sorry, Baby. 

Happy reading! 

 

10. Marty Supreme

Timothée Chalamet really has been on a tear as an actor the last few years. With recent roles in movies like A Complete Unknown and the Dune series, he's been making a name for himself as a genuinely talented actor. His performance in Marty Supreme just may be his best, though. Taking place in 1950s New York, the story follows Marty Mauser, a twenty three year old shoe salesman, table tennis ace, and relentless hustler. Mauser's goal is to became a champion in the table tennis world despite not having the means or connections to be able to fully dedicate himself to the game. He makes up for those shortcomings through his constant scheming. Watching everything unfold can be extremely anxiety-inducing at times, but it is always gripping. While certain elements of the movie don't work for me, overall I found it an entertaining, pulse-pounding exploration of the scummy side of the US striver-hustler mentality.

 

9. Left-Handed Girl

Left-handed people of the world unite! Left-Handed Girl is a sweet little slice of life movie about a young Taiwanese girl and her family as they try to make ends meet in Taipei, the capital city of Taiwan. The girl is quiet and observant, taking in the world around her as her family goes through a variety of trials and tribulations. There's something comforting about this movie, yet it also has enough drama and emotional stakes to pull you in. That drama culminates in an ending that will have you almost gasping despite the relatively low stakes, as those low stakes nonetheless feel momentum to those going through it all. This is not the most ambitious movie ever made, but it does what it's trying to do well and is a lovely experience as a whole.

 

8. Superman

Superman has been my favorite superhero ever since I was a kid. As a teenager I briefly went through a Batman phase around the time of The Dark Knight simply based on the Bat's more celebrated movie and comic output, but in recent years I've fully gone back to team Supes. While this year's Superman isn't my definitive favorite movie adaptation of the character, there's a lot I love about it. More than anything, I love how sincere it is, and how the love for the character shines so brightly through it. Its anti-war message felt unfortunately relevant, too.

For a more detailed breakdown of what did and didn't work for me in this movie, I wrote about it on here after seeing it back in July. 

 

7. Highest 2 Lowest

Akira Kurosawa is one of the greatest and most influential filmmakers of all time. He also happens to be my favorite director. When I saw that the great Spike Lee was remaking his classic High and Low, I was intrigued. I went in seeing it not quite knowing what to expect, since Lee called it more of a "re-imagining" than a remake. It turned out to be a great time. While not quite as strong as the original, Highest 2 Lowest is still entertaining while having a lot on its mind. It follows Denzel Washington as a music executive who, like many successful creatives, is caught in the struggle between art and profit. When his son is supposedly kidnapped, things get complicated quickly. Whether you've seen the original or not, this one is a great time.

 

6. The Secret Agent

During the Cold War, Latin America became a battleground between US-backed military dictatorships and popular leftwing liberation groups. In recent years, Latin American countries have made many movies about that era of tragedy and atrocity. Like I'm Still Here last year, The Secret Agent is Brazil's latest great movie about its own period of dictatorship. It's a political thriller that follows a professor played by Wagner Moura, who puts in my favorite leading performance of the year. It's a vibrant, well-crafted movie that does a great job establishing its sense of place. While certain aspects didn't work for me, this is still one of my favorite movies of the year.

 

5. Hamnet

William Shakespeare is one of the most celebrated storytellers in human history. In real life, there are records that he and his wife Agnes had a son named Hamnet, who died at age eleven. The movie Hamnet is an adaptation of a book by the same name that fictionalizes what that loss must have been like for the couple, and how it may have inspired William to write the play Hamlet. It is a devastating watch, but the ending is beautiful and life-affirming. While the movie took a little bit in the beginning to fully pull me in, I was completely absorbed by the middle and found myself crying at the end. In fact, the ending scene may be my favorite single scene of the year.

 

4. Sentimental Value

Just about everyone can relate to having a difficult family in some way or another. Sentimental Value is a heartfelt but understated family dramedy about a pair of sisters and their strained relationship with their father, a famous director. The main character is the older of the two sisters, Nora, who grapples with some serious mental health issues. The sisters remember and deal their childhood somewhat differently, but both agree things were tough with this father. What's interesting, though, is that as we see more of the father character, we learn he himself is a victim of fairly severe family traumas. He is only able to express himself through his art, which is part of why in the past he put it above everything else, including his own daughters. The movie makes no attempt to either forgive or condemn him, but instead just tries to understand him, his daughters, and their attempts to make sense of everything.

 

3. No Other Choice

We are in a tough stage of global capitalism where automation and outsourcing have taken a toll on job markets across the world, and therefore the ability of people to provide for themselves and their families. No Other Choice is a brilliant dark comedy about a Korean man whose company is bought off by a US company, which then lays off about 20% of the company's workforce. The protagonist is among those laid off. What unfolds is a dark and thoughtful, yet hilarious, quest for him to find some sort of employment. A lot of people have compared it to Parasite. Ultimately I'd say it doesn't hit quite as hard, but it is funnier and easier to rewatch. This and the next two movies are not only my favorite movies of the year, but already among my favorite all-time movies.

 

2. Sinners

Sometimes you're in the mood for a creepy vampire movie, sometimes you're in the mood for a gripping period drama, sometimes you're in the mood for a movie that celebrates music and culture. But what if you want all three- and not only that, but all three of them done well? That's where Sinners comes in. Like both the previous entry on this list and the one coming up next, it shows that you don't have to choose between artistic depth and popcorn entertainment. You can have both. Ryan Coogler really outdoes himself in this vampire movie set in the Mississippi Delta in the 1930s. It could have easily not had vampires and still been compelling, but the vampires come in both as entertainment and as a thoughtful metaphor about the commodification of cultures.

If you'd like a more thorough breakdown of why the movie is great, I wrote about it for the website Taste of Cinema. 

 

1. One Battle After Another 

Few movies do it all the way One Battle After Another does. It works in terms of the deeper stuff like character and theme, but it also works as a propulsive, perfectly paced piece of entertainment. It'll make you laugh, it'll make you cry, it'll remind you why we go to the movies in the first place. There's a lot packed in here, including some of the most memorable movie characters of the decade (Colonel Lockjaw is an instantly iconic villain, and Sensei Sergio is a new all-time favorite movie character of mine), but ultimately it's a movie about a father and a daughter, and how they can be there for each other despite everything that has come between them. The only question that remains for me is whether it will eventually dethrone There Will Be Blood as my favorite Paul Thomas Anderson movie.

 

Special Mention: The Voice of Hind Rajab

I really am not sure how to talk about The Voice of Hind Rajab, let alone how to rank it on a list like this as if it were a normal movie. It's isn't. Not only is it about the very real, very desperate call for help of a six year old Gazan child killed by Israel in January of 2024, but it actually uses the voice recordings of the child herself. It follows call center workers at the Palestinian Red Crescent (basically their version of the Red Cross) who receive a call from poor Hind and try to organize a rescue mission to save her while comforting her over the phone. It's extremely well-crafted. But it also just doesn't feel right ranking it on a list like this, as if it's just a piece of entertainment. It's not. It's a desperate plea for help from a people undergoing a genocide. With that said, though, it is also a damn good movie, hence why it gets a special mention here. See it and support it if you can.

Top Everything of 2025

Another year in the books. Like every year, there were too many worthwhile things for me to make a single list for only one category. So, also like every year, I'm dropping a list with my top picks for a variety of categories. With that said, though, expect an upcoming post or two about movies from 2025, since I did get the chance to watch more movies last year than usual.

A quick note: I am in the process of writing a book right now (an introductory guide to the roots and rise of the Nazis), so most entries will be shorter than they have been in past years. I was initially going to have less categories than usual, but none of them felt right to get rid of. So, brevity will be the key for much of this year's list.

Anyway, these are my picks for what stood out to me in 2025. Enjoy! 

 

Movie: One Battle After Another

This almost feels like a boring pick considering how much attention it has received, but sometimes a near-universally acclaimed movie gets that much praise for a reason. Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, it follows Leonardo DiCaprio as a burnt out ex-revolutionary trying to protect his daughter as his and his baby mama's past come back to haunt them. The main villain, a goofy yet terrifying military officer played masterfully by Sean Penn, is an imposing foe.

Everything about One Battle After Another is incredible: the directing, the writing, the acting, the editing, the score, everything. It all comes together to make something special, something that perfectly balances style and substance. It's one of those rare movies that everyone from hardcore movie buffs to people who only watch movies once in a while can enjoy. I don't want to say too much more because it's one of those movies you don't want to know too much about beforehand, but if you haven't seen it, check it out!

 

Comedy Movie: No Other Choice

While this movie won't release widely until early 2026, it had a limited release in December. I was lucky enough to catch an early IMAX screening of it. It's directed by Park Chan-wook, who made Oldboy, The Handmaiden, and Decision to Leave, among others. He's not only arguably South Korea's most celebrated filmmaker, but one of the best filmmakers working today of any country.

Getting to the movie itself, No Other Choice is a black comedy thriller about a man (played by the incredible Lee Byung-hun) who works as a senior employee at a paper company. When the company is bought out by a bigger US company, it lays off a huge chunk of the Korean employees, including the protagonist. He then has to try to find a new job, but that proves harder than expected considering the job market. This then pushes him to try more... drastic measures to get a new job.

The thematic focus of this dark comedy is the struggles created by modern capitalism. It's reminiscent of Parasite in a broad sense, though there are some key differences. I'd say, as a whole, Parasite is a better film in terms of how it executes tension and theme, but this movie is funnier. You'll very rarely go more than a minute or two without at least chuckling, and you'll be laughing often. There's one scene in the middle that had me and the audience I watched it with howling. It was easily the funniest scene I saw in 2025. While the subject matter of this film is actually pretty heavy when you think about it, it's told in such a funny, entertaining way that it all goes down smooth.

  

Animated Movie: K-Pop Demon Hunters 

Unless you spent 2025 in a Tibetan monastery, you probably heard about K-Pop Demon Hunters. The story follows a trio of Korean girls who live a double life: they are both world-famous K-pop stars and demon hunters. The two feed into each other, in fact. Their music helps them keep the world of demons at bay. The main character of the movie, Rumi, is one of these girls, but she has a secret. She herself is part demon. Not even her two squad mates know this. A central question of the movie is: should you hide a 'bad' part of yourself?

The answer, of course, is no. As things unfold, she learns to be herself and embrace that side of her, as you could imagine from a kid's movie. There is also a bad boy love interest who himself is part demon; also as you can probably guess, he's not as bad as you would initially think, and ultimately has a change of heart. The story of K-Pop Demon Hunters is good but predictable, and drops the ball with the demon metaphor. In fact, I've also heard Korean friends criticize the portrayal of Korean spirits and deities as villainous demons, but that's only a message I can pass along, not one I can meaningfully comment on. What works about the story is the dynamic between the main character and her two best friends, as well as her dynamic with the bad boy love interest. It may be relatively predictable, but there's a real sincerity to it.

The best part of this movie, though, is the music. That's what really elevated it above the competition for me this year. While I didn't like any of the Saja Boy songs that much, I like all of the main group's songs. Golden and This is What it Sounds Like in particular are two of my favorite songs of the year. Maybe even two of my favorite songs from a movie soundtrack this decade. 

 

Actor: Benicio del Toro  

This was an incredible year for acting, making this a difficult category to narrow down. Stellan Skarsgård was great in Sentimental Value and Andor, Lee Byung-hun was great in No Other Choice and Squid Game, and Michael B. Jordan (my choice for actor of the year in both 2018 and 2015) was great in Sinners and... well, Sinners again, since he played two roles. And those are just the actors who had multiple roles this year. Wagner Moura in The Secret Agent, Timothee Chalamet in Marty Supreme, and Joel Edgerton in Train Dreams were all incredible in their singular roles this year.

Ultimately, though, I had to go with the actor who gave life to my favorite film character of the year. In One Battle After Another, Benicio del Toro plays Sensei Sergio, a Mexican-American karate instructor who is coolness personified. Though he is dragged into the mess that transpires around DiCaprio's character, he manages to always keep calm, despite certain things that he has going on himself that could get him in huge trouble if found out. He is easily not just my favorite movie character of the year, but one of my favorite movie characters of the decade.

In addition to that role, he also plays a ruthless yet perpetually calm businessman named Anatole Korda in Wes Anderon's The Phoenician Scheme (funny to think that del Toro played two stoic characters with lots of influence on the people around them in a movie directed by a guy with the last name Anderson this year). Korda is trying to form a relationship with his daughter, who makes his heir in an attempt to connect with her. Like with most Wes Anderson movies, there a lot of emotional distance between the characters and the viewers. By the end of the movie, though, you see that there's a lot more to Korda than you initially think. That is, in large part, thanks to del Toro breathing so much life into the role.

Benicio del Toro is one of the best actors working today, and great representation for Latinos. He's got a lot of range, but really seems to be most at home when he's playing calm, cool, collected characters. I'm glad we have him.

 

Actress: Jessie Buckley 

Like with best actor, this is another extremely stacked category. Unlike best actor there aren't as many actresses pulling strong double duty (or at least among the movies/shows I've seen), but quite a few actresses put in excellent singular performances. Eva Victor in Sorry, Baby, Tessa Thompson in Hedda, and pretty much all the women in One Battle After Another (Chase Infiniti, Teyana Taylor, Regina Hall) and Sentimental Value (Renata Reinsve, Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas, Elle Fanning) really knocked it out of the park this year.

But, if I had to go with one actress/performance, I have to go with the one that moved me more than any other I saw this year. That would be Jessie Buckley as the protagonist in Hamnet. It stars Buckley as Agnes Shakespeare, the wife of William Shakespeare. The story follows the couple as they meet, fall in love, start a family, and have kids. Then tragedy strikes. It's a tragedy that actually did take place for the couple in real life, though the details around it aren't known. In fact, because there are no records about what actually happened during this tragedy, the story of the movie is based on a novel that simply speculates on what happened.

If the title sounds like his iconic work Hamlet, that's not a coincidence. According to this movie, it's William's grief channeled into his play. Agnes, though, is the protagonist. Initially, after the tragedy hits about halfway through, it creates distance between her and William. She blames him for seemingly caring more about his plays than his family. The rest of the story follows her on a really moving journey that I don't want to say more about in case you're reading this without having seen it.

What I will say, though, is that Buckley does an incredible job in her role. The way she carries the final scene in particular is one of the most emotionally affecting performances I've ever seen. She's been talked about as the favorite to win the Oscar this year for best actress, and I think she completely deserves it.

 

TV Show: Andor

While I don't watch that much TV, I do have series that I pay attention to. One series I really like, Righteous Gemstones, did a great job with its final season this year. In other years that could've been my pick for this category. Unfortunately for Danny McBride's hilarious dramedy series, however, Andor (which was also my TV show pick for 2022) really knocked it out of the park.

Like with the first season, this season does a great job of being a Star Wars show for adults (and smart teens). It's not just interested in lightsabers and Jedi (in fact, it's not interested in those things at all), it's interested in its themes, characters, and world-building. Rather than many other Star Wars spinoffs, which focus on what fans already like from the universe, Andor makes the universe more complicated and interesting by delving into exactly what it takes to spark a rebellion against an evil galactic empire.

If there's one different between this season and the first, it's about the role of the protagonist, Cassian Andor. In the first season, he goes from cynical rogue to dedicated revolutionary. In this season his character is already set. While he is still the main vantage character, there is more attention paid to the characters and world around him as the series moves toward its conclusion, which ends right where A New Hope begins. It's a fantastic season of television that really is the best sort of storytelling for an existing franchise. The Andor series is easily my favorite Star Wars saga next to the original trilogy. It may even be better.

 

Male MMA Fighters: Islam Makhachev

Islam Makhachev has come a long way in his MMA career. Starting as a one dimensional grappler, he has now beaten some worthy opponents and developed other aspects of his game, even if his wrestling is still by far his strong asset. Despite the worthy opponent's he's beat, though, his biggest issue is that he has yet to face enough of them. This has mostly not been his fault (he's had fights with good opponents fall through, plus the lightweight division in general has fallen off in recent years), but he does what he can in the position he's in.

In 2025, Islam first faced and defeated Renato Moicano. He had originally been scheduled to face Arman Tsarukyan, a more championship-caliber opponent, but Tsarukyan pulled out the day before due to injury. Moicano offered to step in. Islam accepted in order to save the event and beat him in the first round by submission. In doing so, he broke the record for UFC lightweight title defenses (4). 

Islam's next was far more impressive. He moved up in weight and fought the welterweight champion, Jack Della Maddalena. He won by a dominant decision, managing the incredibly difficult task of becoming the champion for the weight class above him. This is impressive on its own, but especially against Della Maddalena, one of the better fighters in the UFC today. He now has tied former middleweight champion Anderson Silva for longest winning streak (16).

Overall, Islam had an incredible 2025 for the records he set and the fact he became champion for the weight class above his own. While his quality of opposition isn't the strongest, it's not really his fault that he has had so many fights either fall through or end with last minute replacements. he has beaten just above everyone put in front of him, which is damn impressive.

 

Female MMA Fighter: Valentina Shevchenko

What more can be said about Shevchenko? She's one of the best women to ever compete in combat sports. She was my pick for 2020 female fighter of the year and, honestly, could've easily been my pick a couple other times. She's well-rounded, composed, and strategic.

In 2025, she beat Manon Fiorot and Zhang Weili. While Fiorot is a solid opponent, Zhang is a world-class one. While Zhang did move up in weight (and indeed looked much smaller than Valentina in their fight), she's still a tough, skilled opponent who is a difficult fight for anyone. Beating her is no small feat.

 

MMA Fighter I Hope Bounces Back: Zhang Weili

I love Zhang and what she brings to MMA. Aside from her skills as a fighter, it's clear that she is a true martial artist in spirit. All of her social media posts about training are a true celebration of martial arts, and by all accounts she always is nothing but respectful and attentive wherever and whenever she trains. She is a great ambassador for MMA and the true beauty of martial arts. I hope she is able to recover from her loss to Shevchenko and come back better than ever. The MMA world needs martial artists like her. 

 

MMA Fight: Lopes vs Silva

Sometimes a good old fashioned brawl is just what you need. While there was some good fight technique on display, ultimately this was mostly a fun barn-burner where both fighters put it all on the line. Diego Lopes remains one of the most entertaining fighters in the UFC.

 

Scientific Discovery: Life On Another Planet?

I know it seems like I choose something involving possible life on another planet every other year on this list, but what can I say? I love astronomy, and I'm fascinated by the idea of life on other planets.

In April, the James Webb Space Telescope gave us data about the planet K2-18b. By looking at the light that filtered through the planet's atmosphere, scientists saw a sign of possible life. Specifically, they saw two gases (dimethyl sulfide and dimethyl disulfide) that, on our planet at least, are produced by living things like algae. What's extra interesting is that, even before this, K2-18b was already in the conversation as a planet that may contain life due to being an ocean-covered planet that may be temperate enough to host living organisms. This new discovery only adds to the tantalizing possibility that there may indeed be life on the planet.

 

Scientific Achievement: Pig Organ Transplants

Any scientific achievement that preserves human life is worth celebrating (assuming those achievements don't come at the expense of others, of course). In recent years, scientists have experimented with transplants using pig organs because their organs have similar traits to our own. Usually, however, transplants don't really work because our bodies reject the non-human organs.  

In this case, surgeons gave a gene-edited pig kidney to a man named Tim Andrews. This is the fourth such transplant that has happened, but this one is noteworthy because Andrews lived with the kidney for a record 271 days before it had to be removed. The gene-editing of the kidney and medicine schedule for Andrews worked incredibly well, considering the human body would never accept such an organ at all otherwise.

If this technology can be further developed, people will be able to live years with pig organs. Maybe even longer. It may not be sexy to think about people having pig organs inside them, but in a time where there is a shortage of donated organs for medical use, anything we can do to help others is worth doing.

 

Bullshit News Story: "Venezuelan Drug Traffickers"

In September 2025, the Trump regime began killing random fishermen in the Caribbean, accusing them of being cartel members. They did so without giving any sort of evidence that the individuals killed were involved in the drug trade. They also bizarrely accused them of smuggling fentanyl, rather than cocaine (you'd think they would at least try to lie better.

Later on in 2025, President Trump pardoned former conservative Honduran president Juan Orlando Hernández, who had been sentenced to forty five years in prison for conspiring to smuggle over four hundred tons of cocaine into the United States. And we're still supposed to believe that the murders of these fishermen in the Caribbean were able drug smuggling.

 It's a bit surreal writing this post in January after the Trump regime invaded Venezuela and kidnapped President Maduro. While Maduro is certainly not my favorite world leader, he is the sovereign leader of Venezuela. The US does not have the right to decide it can just invade a country for no real reason. These killings of random fishermen were the ugly pretext, an attempt to claim they were on a mission to fight drug cartels. But, again, the flimsy evidence alongside the pardoning of Orlando Hernández shows how little the truth matters in any of this.

 

Actual News Story: Continued Murder in Gaza

The genocide in Gaza started under Joe Biden. It was a genocide which he gave just about unconditional support to. Kamala tried to distance herself from the genocide in rhetoric, but gave no concrete policy explanations for exactly what she would do different. Donald Trump did something similar, except even more chaotically, stupidly, and dishonestly; sometimes he claimed he would bring peace between the two sides, other times he crudely referred to political opponents as "Palestinians" in a bizarre, gross case of 1800s-style racism.

Upon becoming president, Trump more or less continued Biden's policy of letting Israel to whatever it wanted. There were some differences in the details (he applied a bit more pressure on Israel than Biden had, yet also cracked down more on refugees coming from Palestine), but the broad outline was the same. Eventually, however, Trump did force Netanyahu to come to the table, leading to negotiations that created a ceasefire in October. That could have been a positive (if not way too late) development, if not for the fact that the ceasefire never really happened.

Yes, fighting between the two sides largely stopped. Mostly from the Palestinian side. Meanwhile, Israel has killed more than 400 Palestinians since the "ceasefire" went into effect. They may have slowed down the slaughter, but they're still consistently killing Gazans. Mostly civilians. The genocide has already been an incredible stain on humanity; unfortunately for the people of Gaza, there is still no real end in sight for the suffering.

 

Photo: Immigrant S.O.S. Call for Help

Another absurd aspect to everything the US is doing to Venezuelans (and Caribbean fishermen in general) is the fact they're pretending to do this out of concern for Venezuelans themselves. Meanwhile, Venezuelan migrants held in US detention centers formed an S.O.S. sign, signaling both the awful conditions they faced and their worry that they might get shipped off to one of the many shady super-prisons in El Salvador. It's a striking reflection of just how barbaric our immigration system is.

 

Badass: Gaza Aid Flotillas

Since the genocide in Gaza began, many around the world have tried to help in whatever small ways they can. Most of the time that meant demonstrations, donations to aid groups, and boycotting Israeli goods. In June of 2025, there was a group of particularly noble people who wanted to do more. They wanted to break the siege Israel imposed on Gaza and deliver aid directly.

Twelve brave souls rode aboard a boat called the Madleen through the Mediterranean to deliver vital aid to the people of Gaza. On the way, people who supported Israel's genocide harassed and even attacked the Madleen, but they rode on. On June 9th, however, the Israeli military seized the Madleen, imprisoned everyone aboard, and eventually deported them. The aid was not given to the people of Gaza.

This only inspired more action, with more people. More waves of flotillas departed, trying to get aid to the people of Gaza. An especially big wave of vessels set sail in October. Some governments, including Spain and Greece, claimed they would protect the flotillas. Unfortunately, while a few of these governments did follow through on sending escorts, they abandoned the flotilla vessels once they got close to Israel. None ever made it to the shores of Gaza.

It's a hard pill to swallow to know that the murders won. But, we can at least celebrate the courage of those on the vessels themselves. There have been more attempts since for flotillas to bring aid to Gaza. There are even more attempts being planned for 2026. Hopefully there will be a break and Gaza can get relief from the outside world that isn't controlled by the very people massacring them. 

My 10 Favorite MMA Fights of All Time

Recently I posted about what martial arts does and doesn't give its practitioners, which was more or less me talking about both the beautiful and ugly sides of the martial arts world. After writing the piece, I started thinking about my time in the MMA world specifically. I thought about all the cool fights I've seen and all I've learned as a martial artist from watching them. Then a friend on Twitter asked what our favorite MMA fight was and I just kept thinking of all the fights I love. So, I decided to make a top 10 list for fun.

This is, of course, my list, not an objective list of the 10 "best" fights of all time (if such a thing even exists). As a martial artist who not only trains but studies fight craft, I have a bias toward fights that are both exciting and technically impressive in some way or another, rather than fights that are just slugfests (though I do have a couple of those on my list as well). Also, I'm much more likely to have fights on this list that I saw as they were happening, since there's something more exciting about watching a fight you don't know the outcome of ahead of time. Some of the most beloved fights of all time (like the Yoel Romero vs Robert Whitaker and Robbie Lawler vs Rory MacDonald fights, for example) are fights I like, but I caught them on replay and just don't feel the same connection to them.

Anyway, enjoy! Just to be clear, these are listed chronologically, not in order of favoritism. I'm not sure I could neatly rank these fights because they're all great in different ways.

1. Lyoto Machida vs Rashad Evans (May 2009)

This one is a little different than the other fights on this list. While it's a good one, it's not quite as good as the others listed here. But this is the fight that actually got me into MMA. Before that I would catch a fight here and there, but really didn't like the sport. In large part because I hated the subculture around it (it really was the sport of shitty white guys who drive raised trucks). This fight changed my perception of the sport and drew me in. Machida's expert ability to use the timing and control of range he had cultivated in his karate days was truly something to behold. Seeing him become champion while retaining his character as a real martial artist made me a fan.

2. Dustin Poirier vs Korean Zombie (May 2012) 

Dustin Poirier is so popular now as a lightweight that his featherweight career is often overlooked. And to an extent, for good reason- he had a lot of room for growth in his earlier years. The trademark excitement he is known for, however, was there since the beginning. Put him against the Korean Zombie, one of the most exciting fighters of all time, and you get one of the most entertaining fights of all time, exciting whether on the feet or on the ground. Bonus points for Korean Zombie finishing the fight with my favorite submission of all time, the d'arce choke! 

 

3. Carlos Condit vs Johny Hendricks (Mar 2013) 

The ultimate "kickboxer with good jiu-jitsu vs wrestler with heavy hands" fight. Often when you have that match up, the wrestler tries to smother their opponent and the fight you get is a boring one. This... is not that type of fight. Not only because of Condit's exciting pace, whether striking or grappling, but also because Hendricks clearly wasn't just trying to lay on top of Condit, either. Both fighters wanted to put on an exciting fight just as much as they wanted to win. Few times in MMA history have these two styles of fighter actually delivered in such an exciting way against one another.

4. Jon Jones vs Alexander Gustafsson I (Sept 2013)

As I said at the top, this list isn't ranked. If it were, though, this might be my number one choice. You see every aspect of mixed martial arts here. Against Jon's well-rounded game, Gustasson really helped keep himself competitive through his boxing, but he was by no means one dimensional. Heck, he became the first fighter to ever take down Jon Jones, despite having no wrestling background against Jon's decorated background in Greco-Roman wrestling! What's incredible about this fight, though, is how both fighters adapt throughout against each other's tactics. You actually see them get better throughout the bout in real time. While there is a lot to criticize about both the light heavyweight division in general and Jon Jones in particular, this is both of those at their best. 

5. Gilbert Melendez vs Diego Sanchez (Oct 2013)

Even the most technically astute fight fan has that all-out slugfest that they remember for nothing more than its primal intensity. For me, this is that fight. Gilbert Melendez was definitely a technical fighter with tricks up his sleeve (which is why he had the clear upper hand and ultimately won the fight), but my goodness. Sanchez was as tough as they come. That third round is barely a professional fight; it's an absolute brawl. Fight commentators often over-use the phrase "all-out war", but that's exactly what this was.

6. Tony Ferguson vs Edson Barboza (Dec 2015)

Tony Ferguson in his prime was really something to behold. His combination of pace, creativity, and mastery of fight tactics (despite having generally clumsy actual technique) overwhelmed just about every opponent he fought until the wheels started falling off around 2020. Edson Barboza, of course, is one of the most entertaining fighters of both the lightweight and featherweight divisions. In this fight the two were competitive in the beginning, with Barboza having the upper hand thanks in large part to his fast kicks and better overall striking technique. In the second round Ferguson's pace seemed to be tiring Barboza, though it was still a very competitive fight. When Barboza threw a sloppy shot, Ferguson capitalized and sunk in the d'arce (my favorite choke once showing up!). A beautiful fight between two fighters with a great combination of skill and entertainment value. 

7. Amanda Nunes vs Cris Cyborg (Dec 2018)

This is a special one for me because the event at which this fight happened, UFC 232, is the one UFC event I actually attended in person. I came into the event primarily to see the Jones/Gustafsson rematch and root for Carlos Condit against Michael Chiesa, but I was interested in this fight too. Very few people gave Nunes a chance. The conventional wisdom was that while both Nunes and Cyborg where scary, impressive fighters, Nunes was ultimately just a smaller version of Cyborg and therefore have no real advantages. Things played out differently. When the fight began, the two women went all-out against each other. Nunes caught Cyborg early and pounced on that advantage, defeating her a mere 51 seconds into the fight. The whole crowd was on its feet. While the rest of the card may not have gone how I wanted, this one moment may be my favorite moment as an MMA fan.

8. Kamaru Usman vs Colby Covington I (Dec 2019) 

It's hard to explain to people who weren't MMA fans at the time of this fight what the stakes felt like going in. Colby was the loudmouth MAGA guy who was (and remains to this day) easy to hate, Kamaru Usman the humble immigrant from Nigeria who was going to shut him up. The reality is more complicated (Kamaru himself flirted with the right at the time, and later endorsed Trump in 2024), but in the moment the narrative mattered more than the reality. Then the two fought an exciting, high-energy fight. Then Usman shut Colby and his corny ass up in the fifth round by knowing him out. It's the only time I've ever yelled in excitement at a TV screen over a fight result.

9. Zhang Weili vs Joanna Jedrzejczyk I (Mar 2020)

A lot of people call this the greatest women's MMA fight of all time, which I agree with. But to stop there is selling it short. Zhang and Joanna put on a fight leagues better than 99% of fights in all of combat sports history, regardless of the participants' gender. It's that ideal combination of aggressively entertaining and technically impressive, especially with Joanna's gorgeous muay thai technique. Her head may have looked like an alien's head by the time the fight concluded, but both women cemented their legacy in the halls of Valhalla with this fight.

10. Deiveson Figueiredo vs Brandon Moreno I (Dec 2020) 

For some reason, casual MMA fans often dismiss fighters at the lower weight classes. This sometimes means dismissing the men's featherweight and bantamweight divisions, but always means dismissing men's flyweight. It's pretty unfair considering the pace and technique the smaller fights put on, but ultimately a lot of casual fans want to see power and finishes/near finishes. Welp, this fight is the best of both worlds. It truly includes everything any MMA fan, casual or hardcore, could ever hope for. It really helped revitalize the men's flyweight division, which was rumored to be in danger of being dropped entirely. Luckily, this fight came along just when it needed to. After watching such a masterpiece of a fight, no one could say men's flyweight is boring.

Thoughts on the New Superman Movie

Superman has just about always been my favorite superhero. Ever since I was a kid, I wanted to be the big, blue boy scout. Not just in terms of his powers, but to truly be like him. Of course I wanted the super strength and ability to fly, but I also wanted to live up to the example he set.

During my high school years I turned away from superheroes in general, but then The Dark Knight got me back into them again. I jumped on the Batman hype train like everyone else, but within a few years I was back to Superman being my favorite. Every time a big Superman project got announced, I was paying attention. Whether a show or movie, I was there- sometimes for better, sometimes for worse.

This time around was no different. The moment James Gunn's Supes project was announced, I was interested. As more and more came out about it, I was genuinely excited. Then, finally, the day came. My wife and I watched it last Friday. We wore Superman shirts to the theater; her with the new logo, me with the more classic one. 

Ultimately, I really liked the movie. The fun and sincerity James Gunn and everyone else infused into it brought me a lot of joy. For those who like straightforward movie ratings, I'd give it an 8/10 and call it one of the better Blockbuster movies in recent years. If you're a fan of Superman (or even just the genre in general), check it out. You'll likely have a good time.

When it comes to a Superman project, though, I can't just give a simple score and leave it at that. Especially for one like this- one where so many things work, but not quite everything. Like I said above, I really liked this movie- but I didn't love it. I've been thinking about it quite a bit since seeing, trying to sort through exactly what did and didn't work for me. This post is what I've come up with.

Note that I will not have any spoilers here, other than talking about stuff that either happens within the first couple minutes of the movie or stuff that was revealed in the trailers. With that said, if you haven't seen the movie and want to go into it relatively fresh, it may be good to hold off on reading this post anyway. I personally prefer to go into movies relatively uninformed so that I can be surprised (hopefully pleasantly) by what I see. So don't worry about spoilers, but maybe considering holding off anyway.

Either way, enjoy! 

 

WHAT DID WORK FOR ME

1. What We Get of Lois and Clark

A lot of Superman fans say that, despite the relative overall quality of any given Superman movie, Superman and Lois themselves are usually cast pretty well. I agree with that statement for the most part. Still, sometimes even a well-cast Lois and Clark duo have no chemistry (looking at you Henry Cavill and Amy Adams). Luckily, this pairing of Lois and Clark work really well, both individually and as a couple.

Very early in the movie we get a great scene of a date night turning into Lois interviewing Superman after she pointed out she's rarely gotten the chance to do so. The interview starts off well, but Lois completely transitions into journalist mode and grills him to the point it starts a fight between them. It's a perfect scene to show their dynamic, including how different they are and how Lois's dedication to being a tough, quality journalist can get in the way of her personal relationships.

Later on in the movie they reconcile and talk about what they love about each other. I'll leave it at that because it's further into the movie and therefore much more of a spoiler to talk about even in general terms, but what I like about it is that it captures why these two always fall in love with one another in every iteration of Superman. This and the previous scene are two of my favorite scenes in the movie. I wish they could've been built toward a little better, and that we could have had maybe another scene or two to trace out the arc of their relationship in this movie overall (consider this foreshadowing for later in this post), but the scenes in and of themselves are fantastic. 

2. Green Lantern and Mr Terrific

If you've seen any of the promotional material for this movie at all, you know that Green Lantern, Hawkgirl, and a guy named Mr Terrific are part of this movie as the "Justice Gang." Unfortunately Hawkgirl simply does not get much screen time or interesting things to do (other than one amazing moment at the end I won't spoil). Green Lantern and Mr Terrific, however, get plenty of shine in this movie.

Starting with Green Lantern, he's played in this movie by Nathan Fillion, probably best known for his role in the show Firefly. This Green Lantern he plays is named Guy Gardner, the most conceited and arrogant of the humans who have wielded the Green Lantern ring. In this movie, his high opinion of himself is played for effective laughs. He steals a lot of the scenes he's in with his big personality. Of all the times I laughed in the movie, Fillion's Green Lantern was usually involved.

Mr Terrific is a very different character. He's also a much more obscure one. He's basically a super genius inventor, but his costume is a cross between a tech genius and a cool 1970s black guy who would probably say stuff like "dig this, cool cat." The outfit reflects the character more broadly; he has all the smarts of the former, but all the style of the latter. It makes for a really compelling, original character. The fact he gets much more screen time than his teammates (and even many of the main cast) gives him even more room to shine. Ed Gathegi takes advantage of the opportunity in the role and creates one of the most memorable superheroes in years.

3. The Sincerity and Kindness

The sincerity and kindness of this version of Superman was a focus for James Gunn in the beginning. Gunn said in one interview: "for me, the center of it was about kindness in a world that isn't kind." In another interview he points out Superman is "an immigrant that came from other places and populated the country, but for me it is mostly a story that says basic human kindness is a value and is something we have lost."

Those quotes really set the tone for what's at the heart of this movie. Superman doesn't just defeat bad guys. He interactions with the people of Metropolis, remembers their names, cares about them, and tries to save everyone and everything he can- even a squirrel! In fact, this Superman is earnest to a bit of an embarrassing degree. He's teased more than once in the movie about what a boy scout he is. This is not a movie that views Superman the figure with the same sort of reverence the Richard Donner movies had for Superman.

But there's something lovely about that. Reeve's Superman is almost a guardian angel for humanity. This Superman is an overly earnest, vulnerable, borderline dorky human being who happens to have powers. It's so corny it goes back around to being cool again (which is part of why this movie has inspired so many people to say "kindness is the new punk rock"). I think that's great. Heaven knows we could use more kindness in this world. Especially in some of the areas on Earth suffering most right now. Speaking of which...

4. The Message Against Warmongering

The beginning fight happens in this movie because a fictional country called Boravia wants to invade another fiction country called Jarhanpur. Superman, who doesn't want people to die, rightfully stops Boravia from invading Jarhanpur. That ends up being a controversial move for him to make, however, especially considering Boravia is "an important US ally." Superman, though, defends his actions and continues to oppose Boravia's continued attempts to invade Jarhanpur.

Audiences have understood this message to be a criticism of Israel for their invasion of Gaza and a criticism of Russia for its invasion of Ukraine. James Gunn has disavowed the Israel/Palestine comparison, if not the Russia/Ukraine one, but that doesn't seem to matter too much. Maybe it shouldn't. Sometimes art reflects reality so precisely that it doesn't matter what its creators intended. Sometimes art can point things out that are so relevant to our moment in history that it can channel and comment on that moment even if an overt, direct connection wasn't intentional. 

The similarities to Israel/Palestine and Russia/Ukraine start out only in a general sense, but throughout the movie there are some oddly specific parallels that make it hard to believe there weren't at least a couple people involved with the movie who wanted to make a direct comparison. Again, though, we cannot know true intent. All I can say is that this movie unapologetically opposes wars of aggression. Even if watching this movie is not some sort of act of anti-war resistance, it is nice to see a major blockbuster directly, earnestly make that point. 

 

WHAT DIDN'T WORK FOR ME

1. Lack of Time Building Key Relationships

Earlier I said that I really liked the Lois/Clark relationship in this movie, but wish the key moments had been built toward better. That's where this entry comes in. As much as I liked that relationship, it just didn't feel like it was given the attention it deserved. Neither did a number of other important relationships in this movie.

Take Jonathan and Martha Kent, Clark's adopted parents. They are barely in this movie for two scenes. I won't talk about those scenes in detail. I will say this, though: like the Lois/Clark scenes, they're lovely. But they're just not built toward at all. For as perfectly executed as those scenes are, I just didn't feel much emotion in them. Because there is no groundwork laid by getting to know these characters, how they relate to one another, and what they have done for each other. In writing, you can't just have big, meaningful, cathartic scenes without setting them up. The first scene we get with the Kents is supposed to be a powerful one, but it's also basically the first time we meet them as characters.

A big problem is that this movie starts with Superman already facing down the main villains of the movie. You're basically thrown into the middle of the action. The advantage of this approach is that you start off on an exciting foot and can get to the action more quickly. What you lose, though, is setting up the world, its characters, and- once again- the relationships between them. It's not the most glamorous parts of most movies, but it is the setup that allows for bigger payoffs later. We just do not get enough of that in this movie. Hell, the Daily Planet staff (other than Jimmy Olsen) are basically just background characters.

I think the reason the movie doesn't take time to develop its world, characters, and relationships better is because, well... 

2. It Was Pretty Crowded!

This movie has a lot going on. As we already covered, it starts already after the conflict that defines this movie has popped off. By skipping all the setup, we start off with a bang. The movie still needs to set up it world and introduce its characters, though, even if they don't start at the "beginning" per se. And wow is there a lot in here! We have Superman, Lois, Krypto, three members of the Justice Gang, a couple additional heroes who get introduced throughout the film, the Daily Planet staff, the Kents, and a whole stable of villains. And those are just the central characters! It's a lot to balance. Frankly, it's too much.

Some people have said that this movie almost feels like watching the second or third entry in a Superman film series, rather than the first. I think there's a lot to that take. Because what they're getting at really combines this entry and the previous one: things aren't fully set up, yet a ton of things are introduced. I think if this were the sequel to a previous Superman movie that had fully brought in Superman, Lois, Krypto, the Daily Planet staff, the Kents, and maybe Lex Luthor, and defined their relationships and done the less flashy but necessary legwork to build our connection to them as an audience, then this movie could be one of the greatest superhero sequels of all time.

But it isn't. Instead, the first movie we get with this version of Superman is so crowded that no one character has full room to breath. Each character gets some great movies, and sometimes great scenes with other characters, but very few threads are woven throughout the whole thing because no character other than Superman can get the necessary attention to be fully fleshed out. This issue also pairs with...

3. The Lack of Emotional Gravity

 

A problem with a lot of Blockbusters over the past decade is that they don't have the dramatic weight they should have in order to make their more emotional moments hit harder. This movie doesn't fully have that problem (I've already made allusions to big, sincere moments that work really well), but it does have it to an extent. It's not helped by the previous two issues, either. The fact that the movie is so crowded it has trouble fully developing character relationships (and therefore, deeper emotional stakes for when those relationships are tested or those characters are put into danger) means sometimes things aren't felt as strongly as they should be.

A related problem to all of this is that when something serious and potentially impactful does happen, that thread is not woven into the fuller story beyond the next couple scenes. In writing, creating conflict is something that's supposed to build upon itself and have ripples throughout the story. Bad or important things that happen should accumulate throughout the story, and consequences should continue to mount. I don't just mean in terms of the action, like the consequences of a villainous action or mad science experiment gone wrong. But every character's inner conflict, every strain in a relationship between people, and especially every death should reverberate throughout the story. Again, this movie isn't totally absent any of that stuff, but it's much less fleshed out than it could. Often it's pushed to the wayside so that we can get more fun comic book moments, silly jokes, and big action set pieces.

The fun, airy, action-focused approach of this movie makes for an enjoyable time. Without better developed emotional stakes, though, it's almost designed to be surprisingly forgettable beyond the few standout moments. Again, I liked the movie. I think creating a story that is fun with a few genuinely memorable moments of sincerity and real emotional impact is a good thing! I loved a lot of what Superman did on screen! I just can't help but feel we could've gotten something more.

4. Lex Luthor is Too Interesting to be a Billionaire

This entry is, of course, not actually a problem I had with the movie at all. I just can't help but compare how compelling Lex Luthor is as a billionaire mega-villain compared to the more banal villainy and lamer personalities of our real life billionaire baddies. He's not nearly as dull as the off-putting Peter Thiel, the deeply unfunny Elon Musk, or the black hole of humanity Jeff Bezos. Where Lex Luthor is driven by an interesting blend of different motivations, resulting in some of the best villain monologues in years, these guys are driven by pretty mundane combinations of greed and egomania.

I'd rather we not be oppressed in real life by villainous billionaires. But as long as we are, couldn't they at least be a little more interesting? One can only wish.