Well, like a lot of places, it depends when you go. I was there in late Spring/early Summer and it was lively but not overrun. It was definitely not as quiet as the movie, which was emphasizing what a boring “podunk” town it was for a couple of bad guys.
Song Sung Blue
I liked this a lot more than I expected. I usually hate films “with a lot of heart” but I totally surrendered to this one. 50% story and 50% filler, but the filler is first rate.
More Wes Anderson: Rushmore
I almost gave up on this early on because Max was really (deliberately) annoying, but I stuck with it and it got increasingly enjoyable as he got less annoying. As always, extremely heavy suspension of disbelief is required but on the whole it’s worthwhile. And the school play at the end is just insane.
ETA: On a separate note, I’ve been to Bruges twice. It is a very lovely town, but you can see everything worth seeing in it in less than a day. Worth going if you’re in the area (I think it’s about an hour by train from Brussels).
One Battle After Another last night. I just don’t understand what makes a “Best Picture.”
What was your top movie of 2025? For me, it was Weapons. One Battle was about 6th best.
It is always tough for me to pick my “top movie”, because there are a number of good movies each year and a lot depends on my mood at any given time. I’m not sure I can decide between Hamnet and She Rides Shotgun as the 2025 movies I will most likely remember for the longest time. Hamnet will probably continue to evoke feelings reminiscent of Aftersun many years after I forget details of the plot, just as She Rides Shotgun’s final scene will stick with me in the same way as the final scene in Shoplifters. One Battle After Another, which is in my top 10, is well made, topical, and never bores the audience, but I don’t think it will age well.
Those are numbers one and two in my book, closely followed by Bugonia but I suspect you saw a whole lot more films than I did last year.
I’ve decided that there’s no point in my “predicting” the winner for Best Picture for the Oscars. My favorite movie of the year is no more often the winner than once in five or ten years Sometimes my favorite isn’t even among the nominated pictures. So a “prediction” by me is no better than random among the nominees. I see a lot of movies every year. If I wanted to do a prediction, I would have to be constantly talking to many people working in the film industry and creating a computer program that examines many things about the industry. It would also have to look at many things in the world in general. Prediction is very difficult. If you want to read a good book on how difficult it is, read Superforecasting: The Art and Science of Prediction by Dan Gardner and Philip E. Tetlock.
That’s at the rock bottom of my preferences for Best Picture. I cannot imagine how it even got nominated. And Leonardo for Best Actor can suck it.
Which I suspect means that both will win. 
ETA: Actually, I think Sinners will win Best Picture, for mostly superficial/political reasons. Sinners is unquestionably a very good movie, but the best movie of 2025? I don’t think so.
Do tell! What exactly do you mean here?
Just saw the documentary. Yeah, they took a bit of artistic license in the movie, especially with regards to timings. Lightning and Thunder were married for 17 years; the movie implies 3 or 4. That being said, all of the events shown did happen.
The kids were very important characters and it would have been distracting to use multiple actors to show them aging.
I saw just over 100. My list remains:
- Weapons.
- Dhoom Dhaam
- Bring Her Back
- Dead Mail
- Sisu - Road to Revenge
- One Battle After Another
- V/H/S Halloween - specifically “Kidprint”, one segment
- Good News
- Naked Gun
- Dangerous Animals
Honorable Mention:
Deathstalker (2025)
Your question encouraged me to actually check out what movies were released. The only one I saw and enjoyed was F1.
I enjoy watching movies, but I watch movies to be entertained. On RARE instances, I will appreciate a movie that is thought-provoking but not entertaining. But I perceive there is enough unpleasantness around me that I generally don’t seek more unpleasantness out for recreation. As I observed elsewhere, when discussing either Bugonia or Sinners with one of my kids they said, “It isn’t entertainment - it is art!” I guess I have lowbrow tastes. So I should just stay out of these arguments. Other than Fq, the only other 25 releases I watched - Bugonia, Sinners, One Battle - I thought nigh unwatchable.
We often take DVDs out from the library. I have no problem finding movies we’ll enjoy. But apparently we just do not understand or appreciate what constitutes a Best Picture nominee. My wife and I have discussed pulling up a list of Best Pic noms for the past decade or so, and see how many of them we enjoyed.
My favorite movies of the past year:
It Was Just an Accident
Sentimental Value
Left-Handed Girl
I just watched The Big Empty starring Jon Favreau with a few unexpected co-stars. Very surreal.
Huh. I think it’s one of the best movies I’ve ever seen. It instantly hit my top ten ever list.
I had several issues with One Battle After Another. For a movie ostensibly about race and politics, it said very little about race or politics. It said very little about anything, except possibly parenthood. The acting was great and it was entertaining, though. I wouldn’t call it a bad film, just a film that seemed to aspire to a greatness it failed to reach.
One Battle and Sinners are my number 1 & 2 films of 2025 so I will be thrilled no matter which one wins! OBAA has won almost every single precursor so it’ll be a huge upset if Sinners wins. I’m not expecting that at this point, but it would be really cool.
Huh, I thought it said plenty, but not “hit you over the head” with it; it was just baked into it. The audience comes in in the midst of it. Not my favorite, though. I don’t really like how Anderson tells a story. I call it “One Scene After Another”.
Paul Thomas Anderson movies typically don’t have a strong perspective or message on issues the way a movie like Sinners does. I think of them more as holding up a mirror to you – do you see this in society? Do you see it in your relationships? What do you think about it, how does it make you feel? The messaging is more subtle and open to each viewer’s interpretation.
In Sinners, I felt like I understood and could empathize with each character’s motivations and journey. OBAA created more open questions for me to think about. I don’t think one is better than the other, it’s just a different way to telling the story and immersing the viewer.
I probably liked Sinners a little better, but OBAA made me think more.