To catch you up, again, but quicker: I’m turning forty-two tomorrow. Below is an extrapolated version of my annual list of all-time favorite films. Also, I have decided to hang up my film critic hat. Ok let’s do this!
Here’s Monday’s post listing films #100-76.
Here’s yesterday’s post listing films #75-51.
And now for #50-26…
Why: I don’t think there’s an “artsier” film on this list, nor is there an actor with more interesting and impressive performances than Robert Pattinson over the last 10 years.
Favorite Scene: Thomas Wake’s guttural, bellowing sea curse… “Hark!”
Why: The funniest SNL film adaptation (sorry, Wayne’s World). This movie has an IV line of humor flowing directly into my bloodstream.
Favorite Scene: MacGruber recruits his super soldier team.
Why: There was a group of costumed fans at the advance screening. I bet they were really happy with what they saw. I know I was. Fury Road is the most “how did they do that” movie of the century.
Favorite Scene: The whole thing is basically one long chase, but the final gas truck chase sequence takes the cake. “Witness me!”
Read my full review
Why: Guns. Throwing knives. Horses. German Shepherds. Swords. John Wick 3 has everything!
Favorite Scene: When the German Shepherds join the fight.
Why: Nosferatu is on this list despite my wife’s misgivings that its too much of a “possession” movie. It quickly became my favorite vampire movie (and favorite Eggers movie, see #50 The Lighthouse). There are three pieces of literature I’ll never get tired of seeing adapted (good or bad): The Odyssey, A Christmas Carol, and Dracula.
Favorite Scene: Thomas Hutter arrives at Count Orlok’s castle.
Read my full review
Why: Two great performances, a stellar soundtrack, and a classic all-in-one-night storyline. I wish Cruise would be a villain more often.
Favorite Scene: Jazz club hit.
Why: Superbad‘s female-centered spiritual sequel has tons of heart, humor, and “oh shit!” moments.
Favorite Scene: The principal’s Lyft ride.
Why: One of the funniest and most quotable movies of my lifetime. Half of my humor was shaped by this movie (the other half by The Simpsons).
Favorite Scene: Harry drops Mary off at the airport.
Why: One of the most romantic movies ever produced? I think so.
Favorite Scene: The car ride conversation.
Why: An important romantic film for me and foundational in my ongoing personal goals to live more ‘in the present.’
Favorite Scene: Charlotte ventures outside the Tokyo hotel for the first time.
Why: The most fun I had watching a new movie in 2025. The music, the sensuality, the folklore, and the entire world within the film are so beautifully crafted.
Favorite Scene: The “Rocky Road to Dublin” vampire song and dance.
Why: I mean, it’s Jaws. I’ve seen it a bunch, love it, and respect it.
Favorite Scene: The beach attack featuring the dolly zoom shot.
Why: My favorite Austen adaptation.
Favorite Scene: Elizabeth and Darcy’s rain-soaked standoff/lust-off.
Why: A wonderful adaptation that bends the narrative structure while fleshing out tertiary characters sidelined in the novel.
Favorite Scene: Laurie confesses his love for Amy.
Why: A thematically deep and vibrant Marvel film with Oscar-winning music, acting, and production design.
Favorite Scene: The casino brawl.
Why: Beautiful, hilarious, sad, imaginative, and memorable.
Favorite Scene: The singing competition. The one dude dancing to the nuns’ music gets me every time.
Why: Arrival is an intellectually stimulating and awe-inspiring piece of sci-fi storytelling.
Favorite Scene: The twist of time-circling fate.
Read my full review
Why: I think I watched Casino Royale three times in theaters. I knew I was in for a different kind of Bond when, amid the film’s opening chase sequence, Bond runs through a wall in pursuit of a bombmaker.
Favorite Scene: The extended poker game in Montenegro.
Why: Of all the classic Arnold movies, this one rocks the most! From the bicep-flexing bro-shake to the echoing alien cackle as the nuke detonates, Predator is 107 minutes of ’80s action glee.
Favorite Scene: The squad spraying the jungle with bullets.
Why: Please see film #30 below.
Favorite Scene: First sand worm appearance, swallowing a spice mining crawler.
Why: It’s very difficult for me to decide which Dune part, Part One or Part Two, is superior (probably Part Two by a hair), but I also didn’t want to cheat and put them together as “one movie” on this list. Dune‘s technical achievements are as good as anything ever seen on the big screen, and fingers crossed, the team can stick the landing in Part Three.
Favorite Scene: Feyd-Rautha arena fight on Giedi Prime.
Read my full review
Why: A top-five film of the twenty-first century. A horrifying yet exhilarating portrait of obsession and vileness in a time when serial killer mysteries sparked national curiosity and anxiety.
Favorite Scene: “Favorite” may not be the most appropriate description here, but: the Lake Berryessa attack.
Why: The inspiring, eerie, and devastating future of AI, as told through the eyes of fallible tech bros. Ex Machina puts humanity on full display; our strengths, weaknesses, and unsustainable lust for God-like power.
Favorite Scene: Oscar Isaac “tearing up the fucking dance floor…”
Why: An underappreciated (though it’s gained more popularity over time) comedic adventure that inspired me to dream, travel, and dare to venture out of my comfort zone.
Favorite Scene: The evening soccer game in the Afghan mountains (filmed in Iceland).
Why: The “Entertainment Weekly” summer and fall movie preview issues were the best! Starship Troopers had multiple EW spreads, promising giant alien bugs, explosions, spaceships –and was rated R for graphic violence, sex, and nudity. I was 13 at the time, so you can imagine how excited I was. Nowadays, I get all that plus an understanding of its military satire. Plus, remember the film’s TV ad featuring Blur’s “Song 2”? Woo-hoo!
Favorite Scene: The bugs’ aerial and ground assault on the alien planet outpost.
That’s all for part three. Tune in tomorrow for the final countdown: #25-1.
