Best Movies of 2025

I watched over 100 movies/series in 2025.  While most were entertaining, these were the three that were the top for me.   

The first was the 2024 award-winning television drama series “Shogun”. Based on the 1975 James Clavell novel, this TV remake was created by husband-and-wife pair Justin Marks and Rachel Kondo.  It was perfect.  Shogun relates the story of a British sailor, John Blackthorne, who in desperation seeks refuge in Edo Japan, and who gets entangled in the power play that is taking place amongst the Daimos following the death of the Taiko.  1600 Japan is no place for the faint hearted.  The movie is shot in both English and Japanese.  The cinematography, the screenplay and the story telling, and the acting was gripping.  I found myself hooked and given that I did not previously read the book, consumed the series in four sittings.  It was a masterpiece.  This critically acclaimed series won 14 awards at the 76th Primetime Emmy Awards, setting the record as the most awarded single season of television in Emmy history.  It also received four Golden Globe Awards for Best Television Series (Drama), Best Actor in a Television Series (Hiroyuki Sanada), Best Supporting Actor on Television (Tadanobu Asano) and Best Actress in a Television Series Drama (Anna Sawai).   

The second was coincidentally also a Japanese Adult themed television series called "Blue Eyed Samurai", also set in the Edo period.   It was also coincidentally, created by a husband-and-wife team of Michael Green and Amber Noizumi,  This tracks the fortune of a mixed raced warrior, Mizu, who seeks vengeance against four white men, one of whom is her father, who illegally remained in the Tokugawa shogunate after the closing of Japan's borders.  Across the series, the viewer starts to develop an attachment to Mizu, given the discrimination she has sustained being born a child of mixed race.  The series developed such critical acclaim, the Netflix has commissioned a second season which will be put out in 2026.  This fully animated series won a series of awards, including Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Animated Program and Outstanding Individual Achievement in Animation.

The third and final production was a slightly quirky Mike Flanagan movie called "Life of Chuck".  This
is based on the 2020 Stephen King book, and is done in three acts, all of which could function as a standalone story, but always featuring a guy called Chuck. Because of its quirky and deep philosophical nature, it works for some, and not for others.  Nevertheless, most on Rotten Tomatoes gave it a very positive showing, and The Boston Globe, USA Today and The Washington Post named this the "Best Movie of 2025".