2025 Look Back – “Recap.”

Something Popped started in 2025 was an early & mid look into the year. Well, we’re now into the following year of 2026, so let’s look back and “Recap” the year of 2025.

Were my top 10 predictions correct? What surprises occurred? Misses, swings & hits. Let’s get into it!

Let’s start with my top 10 predicted vs officials.

Ouch! Let’s start with my misses! – Love Hurts, seriously hurts to see this on my top 10 list when I gave it a 4.5. Ballerina, sadly, I fell asleep, so I don’t have a review of it, and never re-watched it to catch the middle parts I missed. Jurassic World & Black Phone 2 were fine movies with a mixture of good & bad elements.

The remainder were good to great, with scores ranging from 7.5 to 8.5.

So what’s my actual top 10 for 2025: (Not Actually Listed 1 through 10)

Ranking 2025 – Top 10	Movie Title
1	Ne Zha 2 – 9/10* – #1 Oscar Animated Feature
2	Bring Her Back – 9/10*
3	Sinners – 9/10*
4	Better Man – 9/10*
5	Sarah’s Oil – 9/10
6	Song Sung Blue – 9/10
7	David – 9/10
8	The Life of Chuck – 9/10
9	F1 – 9/10
10	One Battle After Another – 9/10

Ne Zha 2 came out of no where. Like, wasn’t even on my radar and seriously loved this movie and watched the first & second movie over 3 times each. First one probably closer to 5/6.

Same with Bring Her Back – Watched this twice and thoroughly enjoyed it. Was surprised placing a horror movie into my top 10 but then Sinners feels so right in here :D.

Better Man I’ve watched twice and thoroughly loved the nostalgia of the story, setting & music.

True stories were big for 2025 and Sarah’s Oil & Song Sung Blue were incredible. Moved me emotionally and tales I’d re-watch again.

Life of Chuck is one of those movies you’ll sit and ponder. Reflecting and taking in what the movie meant to you individually. A lot can be broken down by this. Love to hear your thoughts.

One Battle After Another vs Sinners are my two best picture plays. Haven’t re-seen OBAA yet but Sinners, I loved even more the second watch.

Dark Horses of 2025:

Minecraft blew up with Chicken Jockey. Captain America came out same time as Ne Zha 2. You can read my thoughts on those in their respected “Reviews”. Mortal Kombat 2 got pushed to 2026 so let’s hope it actually releases this year. Once again in my Dark Horse but I’m backing Street Fighter based on their trailers.

Looney Tunes was a lot of fun but didn’t do great. Hopefully Coyote vs Acme performs this year. Until Dawn & M3gan 2.0 flopped. With Mickey 17 not being my cup of tea but did decent. Fantastic Four faired better than Captain America but I’m hoping Doomsday is worth this recent era of Marvel :S…..hopefully….

Here’s to a solid year of movies for 2026! Looking forward to seeing how wrong I am again :P. Honestly this year has so many good movies I’d be surprised not seeing my predicted list being a little closer than my 2025 list was :D.

Next Popped Date to be end of January when we discuss the Oscar Nominations! Snubs, potential winners & my disappointment for Ne Zha 2 not being nominated based on how it’s going with Critics Choice & Golden Globes.

Until next time though fellow movie-goers – Happy Watching 😀

January 4, 2026 0

2026 Early Look Ahead

Welcome, fellow moviegoers, this update will go over an early look at 2026. Currently scheduled as of 1.3.26, breaking down month to month what’s planned to be “reviewed”. Maybe some hidden secret gems. Some disappointments? We’ll review in 2026 December to see the outcome.

By each month in bold will be movies I’ll lock in a review of, all going well. The Italic number is either a polled or a surprise random movie watch to add to the month’s reviews. Most likely, based on 2025, I’ll be watching far more than what’s here. But these catch my interest early on.

January 2026 –5 | 7

I usually don’t cover movies released outside the theatre, but maybe 2026 will have exceptions? 2025 Didn’t really have any for me personally.

February 2026 – 8 | 3

March 2026 – 5 | 4

April 2026 – 4 | 2

May 2026 – 6 | 0

June 2026 – 4 | 4

July 2026 – 6 | 1

August 2026 – 5 | 3

September 2026 – 4 | 1

October 2026 – 5 | 3

November 2026 – 4 | 2

December 2026 – 6 | 0

This was using firstshowing.net on January 3rd, so I’m sure more releases get added toward the middle of the year, just as they did with 2025 by our Mid-Year “Review”.

62 Locked in movies with a possible 92 with the added 30. In 2025, the goal was 100 movies. We ended up reviewing 140 Movies! – Crushed the hopeful 75 that I had expected early 2025! Goal for 2026? Maintain that 100, but hone in on my Oscars Nominations earlier? Any thoughts on this year’s goal to set? – Love to hear your suggestions in the comments. Fingers crossed we get accepted into the Rotten Tomatoes Reviewer <3.

Top 5 from the above list? Will be:

Avengers: Doomsday | Dune 3 | Street Fighter | Spider Man | Super Mario Bros ?

My hopes of a top 10:

Narnia | The Odyssey | Toy Story 5 | Super Girl | The Mandalorian & Grogu

Dark Horse Shoutouts:

Love to hear your thoughts on this list – Anything stick out / Missing from the list? Let’s jump into 2026 with awesome movies ahead of us. Lots to be added, I’m sure, so keep an eye on future announcements or on this update tab :D. Happy Watching All!

Check back tomorrow for a look back at what I got right, way off, or fun surprises of 2025 in the next Popped! Update ❤

January 3, 2026 0

2025 Mid-Way look “Review”

Welcome fellow movie goers, this Pop Date will go over a look at 2025 thus far and what’s planned to be reviewed. Maybe some hidden secret gems. Some disappointments? We’ll review in 2025 December to see the outcome.

By each month in bold will be movies I’ll lock in a review of, all going well. The Italic number is either a polled or a surprise random movie watch to add to months reviews.

August 2025 – 8 | 3

September 2025 – 4 | 2

October 2025 – 7 | 1

November 2025 – 5

Predator | Running Man | See Me 3 | Wicked | Zootopia 2

December 2025 – 4

Freddy’s 2 | Avatar 3 | SpongeBob | Housemaid

This was using firstshowing.net on August 6th – 100 Movies for 2025 is looking certain!

Currently at 82 with 2 of those movies having caveat – 1 Streamer 1 Released 2024 Christmas going wide in America 2025 January…. Does it count ? :p either way 80 currently with a potential of adding at least 25 movies form the bold minus the re-releases. Yet along bonus movies and surprises along the way :D.

Top 5 thus far from 2025:

Ne Zha 2, F1 & Bring Her Back (Wasn’t even on my radar!) | Sinners | Life of Chuck (Glad I Watched) | (Betterman if allowed)

My hopes of a top 10:

Dark Horse Shoutouts:

Captain America (In a different universe) | Looney Tunes (Still had fun!) | Mickey 17 (Ouch) | Minecraft (HAHAHAHA Dark Horse – slayed) | Until Dawn ( It is what it was) | M3GAN 2.0 (Way to not read the room) | Fantastic Four (Can we switch marvel movies to Thunderbolts :D) | Mortal Kombat 2 (Let’s GO!! There’s still hope!)

Love to hear your thoughts on this list – Anything stick out / Missing from the list?

Lots added to wrap the year up. Podcast R.I.P haha. Happy Watching All ❤

Last shout outs:

Weapons | Long Walk | Predator | Wicked | Avatar 3

My last hopefuls to make the top 10 list of 2025 – Let’s see if there’s any surprises and fails.

Thus far, here’s my personal bottom 5:

1	Screamboat – 2.5/10
2	The Legend of Ochi – 2.5/10
3	A Minecraft Movie – 2.5/10
4	Death of a Unicorn – 2.5/10
5	Hurry Up Tomorrow – 3.0/10

How’s your 2025 looking thus far? In line with your expectations or having surprises along the way like Ne Zha 2 did for myself :D.

August 7, 2025 0

Oscars 2025

Howdy everyone and welcome to Popped.blog where today is the big day for Oscars!

Goodluck to those voting / participating, this is my first year to get into the Oscars after seriously committing to “reviewing” movies. When 2024 Oscars came around and I watched 1/10 of the Best Pictures. I knew something had to change haha. By the way, that movie was Barbie. I purchased Oppenheimer and still to this day have yet to watch it…. hopefully by time Oscars 2025 starts I would have :S?

That being said, let’s have fun and all the love for everyone voting differently to what I place. May we have fun and have enjoyed awesome content along the way.

Here, the full list of the 2025 Oscar nominations:

Best Picture – Anora

Anora – 8/10 Popped Score – Winner 5x Oscar Winner
The Brutalist – 8/10 Popped Score
A Complete Unknown – 8.5/10 Popped Score
Conclave – 6/10 Popped Score
Dune: Part Two – 8.5/10 Popped Score – (Reviewed Prior to Score Changes)
Emilia Pérez – Sadly wasn’t able to watch in time
I’m Still Here – Sadly wasn’t able to watch in time
Nickel Boys – Never Finished the Review it seems! 7/7.5 /10 Good Movie
The Substance – 9/10 (Would LOVE IT to win)
Wicked – 9/10 (My Vote)

Best Actress – Mikey Madison

Cynthia Erivo, Wicked (My Vote)
Karla Sofía Gascón, Emilia Pérez
Mikey Madison, Anora – Winner
Demi Moore, The Substance (Would Love her to win)
Fernanda Torres, I’m Still Here

Best Actor – Adrien Brody

Adrien Brody, The Brutalist – Winner
Timothée Chalamet, A Complete Unknown (My Vote) – Dune Part 2 & Complete Unknown
Colman Domingo, Sing Sing
Ralph Fiennes, Conclave
Sebastian Stan, The Apprentice

Best Supporting Actress – Zoe Saldaña

Monica Barbaro, A Complete Unknown
Ariana Grande, Wicked (My Vote)
Felicity Jones, The Brutalist
Isabella Rossellini, Conclave
Zoe Saldaña, Emilia Pérez – Winner

Best Supporting Actor – Kieran Culkin

Yura Borisov, Anora (My Vote)
Kieran Culkin, A Real Pain – Winner
Edward Norton, A Complete Unknown
Guy Pearce, The Brutalist
Jeremy Strong, The Apprentice

Best Director – Sean Baker

Sean Baker, Anora – Winner
Brady Corbet, The Brutalist
James Mangold, A Complete Unknown
Jacques Audiard, Emilia Pérez
Coralie Fargeat, The Substance (My Vote)

Best Original Screenplay – Anora

Anora – Winner
The Brutalist
A Real Pain
September 5
The Substance (My Vote)

Best Adapted Screenplay – Conclave

A Complete Unknown (My Vote)
Conclave – Winner
Emilia Pérez
Nickel Boys
Sing Sing

Best Cinematography – The Brutalist

The Brutalist – Winner
Dune: Part Two (My Vote)
Emilia Pérez
Maria
Nosferatu

Best Original Score – The Brutalist

The Brutalist – Winner
Conclave
Emilia Pérez
Wicked (Would Love)
The Wild Robot (My Vote)

Best Original Song – El Mal

“El Mal,” Emilia Pérez – Winner
“The Journey,” The Six Triple Eight
“Like a Bird,” Sing Sing
“Mi Camino,” Emilia Pérez
“Never Too Late,” Elton John: Never Too Late (My Vote)

Best Editing – Anora

Anora – Winner
The Brutalist
Conclave (My Vote) – Should have been Challengers though
Emilia Pérez
Wicked

Best Production Design – Wicked

The Brutalist
Conclave
Dune: Part Two
Nosferatu
Wicked – Winner (My Vote)

Best Costume Design – Wicked

A Complete Unknown
Conclave
Gladiator II
Nosferatu
Wicked – Winner (My Vote)

Best Makeup and Hairstyling – The Substance

A Different Man
Emilia Pérez
Nosferatu
The Substance – Winner (My Vote)
Wicked

Best Sound – Dune: Part Two

A Complete Unknown
Dune: Part Two – Winner
Emilia Pérez
Wicked (My Vote)
The Wild Robot

Best Visual Effects – Dune: Part Two

Alien: Romulus
Better Man (My Vote)
Dune: Part Two – Winner
Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes
Wicked

Best International Feature – I’m Still Here

I’m Still Here (Brazil) – Winner (My Vote)
The Girl with the Needle (Denmark)
Emilia Pérez (France)
The Seed of the Sacred Fig (Germany)
Flow (Latvia) (Would love)

Best Animated Feature – Flow

Flow – Winner – My Runner Up Choice
Inside Out 2
Memoir of a Snail
Wallace and Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl
The Wild Robot (My Vote)

Best Animated Short – In the Shadow of the Cypress

Beautiful Men
In the Shadow of the Cypress (My Vote) – Winner
Magic Candies
Wander to Wonder
Yuck!

Black Box Diaries
No Other Land – Winner
Porcelain War
Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat
Sugarcane (My Vote) – Sounded Cool 🙂

Best Live-Action Short – I’m Not a Robot

A Lien
Anuja
I’m Not a Robot – Winner (My Vote)
The Last Ranger
The Man Who Could Not Remain Silent

Best Documentary Feature – No Other Land

Technical issue deleted this segment 😵

Best Documentary Short – The Only Girl in the Orchestra

Death By Numbers
I Am Ready, Warden
Incident
Instruments of a Beating Heart
The Only Girl in the Orchestra – Winner (My Vote)

I’ll update this page during / after the Oscars declare / announce the winner. Again good luck to you all. I’m not winning for sure haha but went with my heart for the love of Wicked and Substance. Shame Challengers wasn’t mentioned :(. Next year, Ne Zha 2 Let’s GO! 😀

7/23 I got right 😀 for 2025. Maybe better luck next time? Despite getting it wrong, 1/23 was my runner-up / 2nd choice 😀

March 2, 2025 0

2025 Early look ahead

Welcome fellow movie goers, this update will go over an early look at 2025 currently and break down month to month what’s planned to be reviewed. Maybe some hidden secret gems. Some disappointments? We’ll review in 2025 December to see the outcome.

By each month in bold will be movies I’ll lock in a review of, all going well. The Italic number is either a polled or a surprise random movie watch to add to months reviews.

January 2025 – 6 | 2

I usually don’t cover movies released outside the theatre but maybe 2025 will have exceptions?

The Damned – Reviewed | Wallace & Gromit (Netflix) | Better Man | One of Them Days |

Wolf Man? | Flight Risk | The Colors Within? | Dog Man

February 2025 – 7 | 3

March 2025 – 3 | 1

Mickey 17 | Night Zoopocalypse | Black Bag? | Novocaine | Suggestions?

April 2025 – 5 | 1

May 2025 – 5 | 2

June 2025 – 5

Ballerina | Elio | Train Your Dragon | 28 Years Later | M3GAN 2.O

July 2025 – 5 | 1

August 2025 – 4 | 1

Bad Guys 2 | Naked Gun | Freakier Friday | Nobody 2? | Insidious Tale

September 2025 – 1

Conjuring | Eeep please release more movies this month

October 2025 – 4

Tron | Black Phone 2 | Good Fortune | Mortal Kombat 2

November 2025 – 4

Predator | See Me 3 | Wicked | Zootopia 2

December 2025 – 3

Freddy’s 2 | Avatar 3 | SpongeBob

This was using firstshowing.net on January 5th so hoping more releases get added toward middle of the year. Some months look bare :S.

52 Locked in movies with possible 63 with the added 11. 2024 the goal was 50 movies. We ended up reviewing 75 Movies! – Maybe 100 would be a lot? However I’d like to hit 75 Movies again in 2025 with the hope of hitting 100 😀 – All depends on those lack luster months mentioned above.

Top 5 from the above list I feel will be:

Avatar 3 | Wicked 2 | Black Phone 2 | Bad Guys 2 | Superman ?

My hopes of a top 10:

Dark Horse Shoutouts:

Love to hear your thoughts on this list – Anything stick out / Missing from the list? Lets jump into 2025 with awesome movies ahead of us. Lots to be added I’m sure so keep an eye on the podcast for future announcements or on his update tab :D. Happy Watching All ❤

January 5, 2025 0

Reviews in bound!

Good afternoon popped readers and I wanted to start with apologizing for the massive delay in reviews. With the lull in February with not such great movies draining my excitement I hadn’t been typing up reviews promptly. Then I got sick with several things which I’m feeling better now and despite awaiting appointments I’m raring to go to get back on track.

Yakuza Infinite Wealth also got in the way along with the upcoming FF7 Rebirth haha so lots and lots. That being said Dune Part 2 is this weekend so I’ll have that up in the next day and I’ll catch up with Argylle, Madame Web & Lisa Frankenstein. Possibly depending on timing I’ll have Drive Away Dolls also. P.S Does Demon Slayer Movie count? Okay maybe I’ll type one up for that also haha.

Now I’ve mentioned before this site is more so for my records of memory to look have and reflect on the year with movies I’ve watched and rated. However the community of popped enjoyers is growing and I’d love to hear from you on movies you’d like me to see or for movies I may have missed and you recommend I catch up on.

Some recommendations I’ve been suggested: The Beekeeper, Ordinary Angels & Anyone But You.

March movies I’ll be watching: Kung Fu Panda 4, Ghost Busters & Godzilla X Kong. – Anything missed I should be keeping an eye on?

Possible list I have in mind are the following – (Click for Poll): Imaginary, The American Society of Magical Negroes, Arthur the King & Problemista.

It’s a juicy month for movies and totally has me excited to get back to the theatre and eat some delicious POPCORN :D. April is a little like so I’ll be able to catch up with my possible list. Movies looking ahead for April: The First Omen, Monkey Man & Civil War. Possible list: Don’t Tell Mom the Babysitter’s Dead, Sasquatch Sunset & Challengers. (Click for April Poll)

Thanks for reading to the end and again apologize on the delay but kept the reviews page to start being flooded :D. Let me know if you like the addition of Popped Updates and I’ll catch you next time in the next batch.

February 28, 2024 0