2025 1st Quarter Top 10/Bottom 5

 First Quarter Top 10/Bottom 5

Hello, and welcome to Cinema Wellman. I am your host, David, and today we will be highlighting the Top 10 & Bottom 5 films we screened here during the 1st quarter of 2025, so that covers movies screened during the months of January, February, and March.

There were 157 films screened during these months, and, no surprise, there was the good, the bad, and the ugly. 

As usual.

Our best list includes a few Academy Awards winners that I wanted to talk a little more about even though I did mention them in our last episode. 

We will begin, however, as we always do, which is at the bottom. Here are a few I’d suggest you stay away from.

Bottom 5

Old Dads (2023)

R/104 m/IMDb: 6.2/directed by Bill Burr

Let me begin by stating that I am not easily offended. Anyone who knows me can attest to that. 

I may not be easily offended, but I’m really not very good at thinking hurtful and insulting jokes at others' expense are funny.

I like Bill Burr. I like Bill Burr quite a bit. His SNL episodes are among my recent favorites, but Burr pushes the envelope. That’s what he does.

Most of the time I find that pushing funny, unfortunately Old Dads is not an example of this.

I have an aversion to the “c” word, and find it vulgar and repulsive, so when it’s used for laughs, it’s even worse. 

It’s possible that that one word landed Old Dads on this list, but I’ll stand by it. 

This old dad says there’s no need for that shit. 

Valmont (1989)

R/137 m/IMDb: 7.0/directed by Milos Forman

United Kingdom

If you’re a regular here, you know how I despise those period piece costume dramas that were all a rage for, I don’t know, the past 40 years.

I am “forced” to watch them due to my self-imposed goal of trying to see everything ever nominated for any Oscar (a goal I question at times), and 95% of these period pieces are only nominated for Costume Design.

So, I watch, check out the decolletage, and try not to pay too much attention to the stories because they’re dreadful. 

The characters are usually horrible people. And we all know that horrible rich people are worse. 

All of that is true in Valmont.

What makes this worse is that the main plot of this trash (7.0, IMdB?!?) revolves around a bunch of creepy rich dudes vying to take the virginity of a 15-year-old girl.

Yep. You heard that right.

People were all sorts of gross back then. 

Some still are.

Can we please leave young girls alone?! Let them decide when, and if, they’re ready for such things. 

Their choice, dudes, not yours!

Kongo (1932)

P/86 m/IMDb: 6.5/directed by William J. Cowen

Rhino (1964)

NR/91 m/IMDb: 5.4/directed by Ivan Tors

These two “adventure” films are being combined as one because they were pretty much the same exploitative mess.

As you can probably tell by the titles, these adventure films involve Africa; a place that has been exploited for centuries for a variety of reasons.

These films do not dabble in the blood diamond industry, nor do they take part in the slave trade.

But…they certainly exploit Africa’s people and animals for a buck.

Rhino was shot in South Africa, and Kongo in California, but both are hard to watch once you get past the “novelty” of seeing big game animals.

No surprise that the native people are poorly represented, and there is no way any animal rights organization would abide by some of what is depicted on screen. 

Much of what both films had to offer was sad to see.

College Hounds (1929)

P/16 m/IMDb: 5.4/directed by Jules White

If I just told you the title and not the year, you’d assume College Hounds was an R-rated sex romp about “dudes” on the prowl during Spring Break or some other nonsense. 

Instead, I’ll let IMDb give it a shot. 

“This Dogville comedy is a spoof of college football movies. A man in debt to a loan shark uses his daughter to stop football hero Red Mange from playing in the big game between Airedale College and Spitz University.”

Get the picture?

Okay, so all that, but there’s not a human in this movie. The entire film is acted out by dogs. 

Real, actual dogs. 

To be totally honest, I did a 180 about 3 minutes into this 16-minute short. 

Here’s me watching this and realizing what I was actually seeing; “Hey, look at these cute dogs! All dressed up as humans and acting in human situations. Look! There’s a doggie bar! The dogs are drinking beer! Wait, that’s not a real paw. That’s fake. Then where’s his real paw? Is he all bound up so he won’t reach for the beer with his real paws? Why are most of the dogs on their hind legs? Stop doing that. Nobody wants to see that. Let them walk on all four legs! Damn, they look uncomfortable. They look so unhappy. They’re in pain! Someone stop this! Get in there and put a stop to this and save those poor dogs!”

That’s pretty accurate.

I then read that I was right about all of that and these types of films were deemed cruel to the animals, and they were banned. 

I mean, I was a fan of Lancelot Link back in the day, and I’m pretty sure those monkeys were not treated the best, but these poor dogs. 

Aftermath (2024)

R/97 m/IMDb: 5.1/directed by Patrick Lussier

We’re going to start with IMdb because I need to be reminded of why I watched this in the first place. 

“A returning war veteran, stricken with PTSD, unwittingly gets trapped with his teenage sister on Boston’s Tobin Memorial Bridge as a heavily weaponized group of ex-military revolutionists take everyone hostage.”

Ok. Got it Tobin Bridge. That’s the bridge Charles Stuart tossed himself off of!

So, I was intrigued enough to tune in and see Boston. 

I think five minutes of it was filmed in Boston.

The rest of it was filmed in an airplane hangar. 

So much for seeing Boston.

I’m watching the opening credits and see “Dylan Sprouse,” and my first thought is, “Jesus Christ, another “Suite Life of Zack and Cody” movie?! Are those kids making a comeback? Who asked for that?”

Not only was the premise and plot of this thinner than one ply toilet paper, can we please stop with everyone caught in a life-threatening situation in movies being an ex-military, former black ops/black bag operative?

Are there that many of those people out there? Do I know any of them?

I should’ve known better and skipped this, so this one’s on me.

But it still makes the list. 

Let’s get to the good stuff!

Top 10

(#10) Cleaner (2025)

R/97 m/IMDb: 4.9/directed by Martin Campbell

IMdB: “Criminal activists hijack a gala, taking 300 hostages. One extremist plans mass murder as a message to the world. An ex-soldier turned window cleaner…”

Hold it! Hold on one minute! 

Didn’t I just complain about this trend in movies when I was giving Aftermath a beating?

Isn’t this the same thing? 

What’s the difference?

Daisy Ridley over whichever Sprouse that was?

Pretty much.

This is just more proof that film is subjective and so many intangibles factor in including what kind of mood you’re in at the time. 

Is Cleaner ridiculous at times? Are there plot holes? 

Yes, and yes. 

Just like Die Hard.

Except Cleaner isn’t a Christmas movie. 

I took this on face value and enjoyed it for what it was, mindless escapist entertainment. 

Nothing wrong with that now and then. 

(#9) Opus (2025)

R/103 m/IMDb: 5.9/directed by Mark Anthony Green

Let’s begin with IMDb and then I’ll mention something that blew my mind when it came to casting.

“A writer travels to the compound of a pop icon who disappeared years ago. Surrounded by his cult of sycophants, as well as a group of fellow journalists, she soon discovers his twisted plans for the gathering.”

The writer is played by a great young actress whose name I always savage; Ayo Edebiri, but her casting wasn’t the mind-blowing part.

The reclusive pop icon, who is like Elton John mixed with Howard Hughes and the Reverend Jim Jones, is played by the one and only John Malkovich.

He sings, he dances, he wears outrageous costumes, he chews all the scenery.

Malkovich is just fantastic in this as Alfred Moretti.

It’s so different from any other role I’ve ever seen him in, and I’m glad he took this role to once again prove what a talented actor he is.

The music from Moretti’s pop career is so well done. The songs seem totally believable and real for the genre. 

We have Nile Rodgers to thank for that. The legendary musician, producer, and composer wrote the songs that Malkovich delightfully belts out. 

Opus falls flat at the end a little, but this psychological thriller is worth it just to see Malkovich as Moretti. 

Great fun, great music!

(#8) I’m Not a Robot (2023)

NR/22 m/IMDb: 7.1/directed by Victoria Warmerdam

Netherlands

I love short films, and I love the Dutch, so no surprise that I loved this short Dutch film.

You know those little “tests” we get on our computer now and then to make sure we’re not robots?

That’s what this Oscar winning live action short is all about. 

Those are called Captcha tests by the way. I was not aware of that before seeing this movie.

IMDb: “After repeatedly failing Captcha tests, music producer Lara becomes obsessed with a disturbing question: could she be a robot?”

There you go.

That’s all I’m telling you, other than this was a mind-bending little movie that I thought about for days after screening it.

I think you’ll enjoy this even if you’ve never wondered if you were a robot or not.  

(#7) Becoming Hitchcock: The Legacy of Blackmail (2024)

NR/72 m/IMDb: 7.2/directed by Laurent Bouzereau

France

You know the love we have here at Cinema Wellman for Alfred Hitchcock. 

The “Master of Suspense” is responsible for quite a few of my all-time favorite movies, so why wouldn’t I be interested in a documentary detailing the evolution of Hitchcock as a filmmaker?

Blackmail is an early film of Hitchcock’s made in 1929 that actually laid the groundwork for many of the techniques and themes that he made famous in some of the best suspense/thrillers ever made. 

I thoroughly enjoyed how the filmmakers focused on a technique used in Blackmail and then showed how Hitchcock used that same technique (many times improving it) in later films. 

We did an episode about Hitch last season which featured a list of his “Director’s Trademarks” things that pop up over and over in his films. 

That’s exactly what this film does while showing how most of them were born in Blackmail.

This is a must see for any fan of Alfred Hitchcock.

(#6) The Damned (2024)

R/89 m/IMDb: 5.7/directed by Thordur Paisson

United Kingdom

IMdB: “A 19th-century widow has to make an impossible choice when, during an especially cruel winter, a foreign ship sinks off the coast of her Icelandic fishing village.”

Her “impossible choice” is whether or not to rescue the people who are on that sinking ship.

The winter is relentless and there’s not enough food to feed the people already living in the village. Taking in more people would make that food situation even more dire. 

So don’t rescue them. Let them drown. 

BUT….

If you don’t help them, there’s a chance that they all turn into Draugr.

And that’s not good for anyone.

A Draugr is an undead spirit from Old Norse mythology that typically haunts the area where they died.

Draugr resemble a reanimated, decaying corpse and are noted for their disgusting stench of rotting meat. Yum!

They have inhuman strength and are able to visit the dreams of the living, often leaving behind a tangible gift or physical sign assuring the victim that their dream was real. 

And they can kill victims with bad luck or a curse. 

Holy shit. That’s absolutely terrifying. 

I really enjoyed this film and its portrayal of humanity. Filmed entirely in Iceland in a place that is beautiful, but also very bleak and claustrophobic.

These Draugr are the real deal. 

(#5) Wicked (2024)

PG/160 m/IMDb: 7.5/directed by Jon M. Chu

This film will always have a special place in my heart.

I’m not saying it’s the best movie I’ve ever seen, or the best movie I watched last year, or even last month. 

Wicked will always be special to me because of the screenings I held here at Cinema Wellman for my work friends.

And I do realize that I used the plural of “screening,” because we actually got together to watch Wicked TWICE!

Pretty much the same crew both times. 

Can my enjoyment of this film be linked to the people I watched it with both times?

Pretty much.

Not saying I would have disliked it, but when you see a film with someone or a group who are REALLY into it, your happiness level goes up as does your feelings about the film.

If you’re a fan of the OG WOZ, or you like musicals, you can’t go wrong with Wicked.

The sets were amazing, the costumes were amazing, Cynthia Eviro was stunning, and it won a couple of Oscars!

What’s not to like?

Ariana Grande?

Maybe? 

But get over that.

And the monkeys weren’t nearly as terrifying as they were in the original.

(#4) September 5 (2024)

R/95 m/IMDb: 7.1/directed by Tim Fehldbaum

This film chronicles something that happened when I was 10 years old, but I remember like it was yesterday. 

At the Winter Olympics in Munich, Germany on September 5, 1972, eight members of the Palestinian terrorist group known as Black September entered the Olympic Village and took Israeli athletes and coaches hostage.

When it was all over, approximately 21 hours later, 11 members of the Israeli team, a German police officer, and five of the terrorists were dead. 

Those 21 hours are the focus of this film, and the story is told in a very unique way. 

Sports reporter and Olympic host Jim McKay, who IS the Olympics to everyone my age, is the star of this movie even though no one was cast to play him. 

McKay appears in the actual archival footage from that day and is never seen outside of his monitors.

Peter Sarsgaard plays head of ABC Sports Roone Arledge, who was faced with not only programming decisions that day, but also legal and ethical decisions as well.

Was it a sports story? Was it a news story? Could they risk showing live feeds that may have resulted in on-air deaths for the world to see?

This is an extremely tense film even though we all know how the real events played out. 

If you’re old enough to have watched this back in 1972, this will bring it all back to you.

If you weren’t around in ‘72 or know nothing about this historical event, September 5 is a very capable docudrama that tells the behind-the-scenes story of a tragic day in a peaceful setting. 

(#3) Presence (2024)

R/84 m/IMDb: 6.1/directed by Steven Soderbergh

Since I am an AMC A-List member (for what that’s worth) and I pay up front every month, I tend to go to movies that I wouldn’t ordinarily go out of my way to see. 

That’s really my main reason for being a part of that subscription. That and it gets me out of the house once in a while.

Because of this, I find myself going to more than a few movies “blind.”

I may know the director, a star or two, the genre, etc., but I don’t read about it or watch the trailers before I go.

And that leads to me being surprised every now and then. Almost always in a good way.

Presence was one of those pleasant surprises. (Even though it had nothing to do with Led Zeppelin’s most underrated album)

IMdb: “A family becomes convinced they are not alone after moving into their new home in the suburbs.”

Although this sounds like a typical psychological horror premise, director Steven Soderbergh and cinematographer Peter Andrews (who is actually Soderbergh! And he’s ALSO editor Mary Ann Bernard), well, the three of them create something here that elevates it past your typical psychological horror film.

The camera work in this film alone is worth the price of admission. The handheld camera seems to be floating through the house as we are oftentimes given the point of view of this “Presence” as it interacts with the family in their new home. 

This is an atmospheric and tense psychological thriller that keeps you wondering throughout.

And Soderbergh brings it in at 84 minutes!

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

(#2) Nosferatu (2024)

R/132 m/IMDb: 7.3/directed by Robert Eggers

I am a HUGE fan of the 1922 original silent film Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror. 

Director F.W. Murnau’s classic horror film starring Max Schreck (who may or may not have been a REAL vampire) as vampire Count Orlok is a must see for any horror fan.

It’s still among the creepiest of the creepy for me. 

When I heard there was going to be a remake, I wasn’t happy. I never am when I hear a movie I really love is being remade.

Then I heard Robert Eggers was going to direct, and I enjoyed his creepy film The Lighthouse, so I figured the story was in good hands.

Turns out I was right.

Is it as good as the original?

No, but you expected me to say that.

Was it an excellent horror film that did a wonderful job reimagining what Murnau brought to the screen in 1922?

Yes!

I wish it was entirely in black and white, but that’s just me.

And I’m pretty sure Bill Skarsgard isn’t a real vampire.

Pretty sure. 

(#1) Flow (2024)

PG/85 m/IMDb: 7.9/directed by Gints Zilbalodis

Latvia

I am going to go out on a limb here and tell you that if you see Flow, it is going to become your all-time favorite Latvian film!

That may sound like a sucker bet, and it probably is since I’m coming up on 10,000 films and Flow is only the SECOND Latvian film I’ve ever seen.

If Flow is any measure, we should hope Latvia’s film program keeps making more movies.

IMDb: “Cat is a solitary animal, but as its home is devastated by a great flood, he finds refuge on a boat populated by various species and will have to team up with them despite their differences.”

Sounds like a nice allegory to me!

Too bad people don’t team up despite their differences anymore. It’s disappointing.

Flow is NOT disappointing, that’s for sure. 

And no worries if you don’t know Latvian and/or don’t like to read your movies; this one has zero dialogue.

Just music, and excellent music at that. 

This is a harrowing, uplifting adventure that will have you rooting for Cat, Capybara, Secretarybird, Dog, and even the Ring-Tailed Lemur!

Flow was awarded the Oscar for Best Animated Feature this past year, and that award was well deserved.

And, not that it’s ANY way to judge movies here at Cinema Wellman, but I did cry.

Like I said, that’s not saying much. 

Well, that is a wrap from here at Cinema Wellman as we broke down the Top 10 and Bottom 5 of the 1st quarter of 2025.

We hope you’re back with us next time for what I’m sure will be an episode about some movies I’ve seen.

Not much of a limb I’m out there on, but…

Until then, take care.