Released in 1971, the film follows New York City detective Jimmy "Popeye" Doyle — based on real NYPD detective Eddie Egan, with partner Sonny Grosso inspiring the character of Russo. Doyle pursues a massive heroin operation with little regard for the law or the people around him. As a result, the film won five Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actor. It remains one of the defining films of the New Hollywood era.

This Movie of the Year podcast episode is one of the most anticipated of the 1971 season. Before diving in, check out our recent episodes on The Last Picture Show and A Clockwork Orange.

A screenwriter, director, and filmmaker based in Los Angeles. An alum of Columbia University, NYU's Tisch School of the Arts, and USC's School of Cinematic Arts, Patterson brings serious cinematic credentials to the table. His short film Fathead won the Cannes Film Festival Best Student Short Award and earned an NAACP Image Award nomination. His scripts have been recognized by the Sundance Screenwriters Lab, The Black List, and the Academy's Nicholl Fellowship. Patterson also directed the critically acclaimed Roy Wood Jr. comedy special Imperfect Messenger for Paramount+. With projects currently in development at Paramount and Epic Games, he is one of the most exciting emerging filmmakers working today — and exactly the kind of guest who makes a film like The French Connection worth revisiting.

The central tension of this French Connection 1971 podcast discussion is what to make of Popeye Doyle. Gene Hackman plays him as a force of nature — relentless, racist, reckless, and completely compelling. He is not a good man, and he is barely a good cop. Nevertheless, the film frames his obsession as heroic, his instincts as genius, and his victory as worth celebrating.

Ryan, Mike, and Greg dig into what Friedkin and screenwriter Ernest Tidyman were doing with Doyle. Is the film a critique of the kind of law enforcement he represents? Or is it simply in love with him? The answer is probably both. Ultimately, that ambiguity is what makes the character so difficult and so fascinating fifty years later.

The real detectives, Eddie Egan and Sonny Grosso, consulted on the film and even appear in small roles. Consequently, knowing the story is grounded in a real investigation makes Doyle's behavior harder to dismiss. These were not fictional excesses invented for dramatic effect, and the panel takes that seriously.

Gene Hackman won the Academy Award for Best Actor for this role, beating out Peter Finch, Walter Matthau, George C. Scott, and Topol. Furthermore, it remains one of the most celebrated performances of the 1970s. The panel uses this episode to look back at Hackman's broader career and make the case for where he stands in the pantheon.

For more on Gene Hackman's career, visit the Internet Movie Database.

Director William Friedkin approached The French Connection as a documentary-style thriller. He shot on location in New York City with handheld cameras and natural light, refusing to glamorize either the city or its characters. As a result, the film feels unlike almost anything else from 1971 — raw, kinetic, and deeply uncomfortable.

The Taste Buds explore how Friedkin's direction shaped the film's identity. Most notably, the legendary car chase under the elevated train tracks in Brooklyn is widely considered one of the greatest action sequences ever filmed. Friedkin shot it on live New York City streets without fully stopping traffic, with a camera mounted to the front of the car. For critical analysis of the chase, the Criterion Collection offers essential reading.

Just two years later, Friedkin directed The Exorcist, cementing his place as one of the defining filmmakers of the decade. The panel discusses what the two films share and what The French Connection reveals about Friedkin's sensibility. In both cases, his camera feels like it is barely keeping up with reality — and that is entirely by design.

For more on Friedkin's influence on American cinema, visit the American Film Institute.

At its core, The French Connection is about the gap between justice and the law. Popeye Doyle operates outside the rules, endangers civilians, shoots an unarmed man in the back, and ultimately fails to bring the main target to justice. Despite all of this, the film presents his pursuit not as tragedy but as the cost of doing business.

Ryan, Mike, and Greg examine what the film says about the American justice system in 1971 — a moment of profound national disillusionment. Vietnam, the civil rights movement, and the early signs of Watergate were all in the air. Meanwhile, the "good guys" in this film are not good, the "bad guys" are not caught, and the audience is asked to root for the pursuit anyway.

Moreover, the film's racial politics are impossible to ignore. Doyle's racism is presented as character texture rather than moral failing, and the film never fully grapples with the implications of the policing it depicts. That discomfort is an important part of the conversation this week.

For historical context on the real case, visit the DEA's history of the French Connection.

This episode includes a special segment on Gene Hackman's best performances. The Taste Buds make their case for the defining Hackman roles and debate his greatest work. In particular, they discuss what made him such an unusual screen presence: his everyman quality, his capacity for rage, and his refusal to tell the audience how to feel about his characters.

His breakthrough came in Bonnie and Clyde in 1967, and his Oscar followed here in The French Connection. Subsequently, classics like The Conversation, Mississippi Burning, Unforgiven, and The Royal Tenenbaums cemented one of the most extraordinary bodies of work in American cinema. This segment celebrates an actor who never got quite enough credit for how good he really was.

More than fifty years later, The French Connection remains essential viewing. Beyond its technical achievements, it functions as a moral document — capturing a specific American mood: exhausted, suspicious, and uncertain about its own institutions.

Ultimately, this French Connection podcast episode revisits the film as a living argument about power, obsession, and the stories we tell about law enforcement. It asks hard questions, and this episode doesn't let them off the hook.

If you enjoyed this episode, check out the rest of the Movie of the Year 1971 series:

1. The Last Picture Show — Bogdanovich, nostalgia, and a dying Texas town
2. A Clockwork Orange — Kubrick, free will, and the limits of the state
3. Browse all Movie of the Year episodes

What is The French Connection podcast episode about?

Ryan, Mike, and Greg discuss William Friedkin's 1971 Best Picture winner. Topics include Popeye Doyle, Friedkin's direction, justice, and a Gene Hackman career retrospective.

What is The French Connection about?

It follows NYPD detective Popeye Doyle, based on real detective Eddie Egan, as he pursues a massive heroin smuggling operation using methods that are often illegal and always reckless.

Who directed The French Connection?

William Friedkin directed the 1971 film and went on to direct The Exorcist two years later.

How many Oscars did The French Connection win?

Five: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor (Gene Hackman), Best Film Editing, and Best Adapted Screenplay.

Is The French Connection based on a true story?

Yes. It is based on Robin Moore's 1969 book about the real investigation by NYPD detectives Eddie Egan and Sonny Grosso into a French heroin ring in the early 1960s.

What makes the car chase in The French Connection so famous?

Friedkin filmed it on live New York City streets with a camera mounted to the front of the car. It is widely considered one of the greatest and most dangerous action sequences ever filmed.

Why is Gene Hackman's performance so celebrated?

Hackman plays Popeye Doyle as a flawed, driven, occasionally reprehensible human being. The performance refuses to make him likable while making him impossible to look away from.

Who were the real detectives behind The French Connection?

NYPD detectives Eddie Egan and Sonny Grosso led the real investigation. Both consulted on the film and appear in small on-screen roles.

Few films in the history of cinema have provoked as much discomfort — and as much genuine philosophical debate — as A Clockwork Orange. Stanley Kubrick's 1971 adaptation of Anthony Burgess's dystopian novel arrives like a punch to the temple: stylized, brazen, and engineered to make you complicit in its protagonist's point of view before you've had a chance to object.

Alex DeLarge, played by Malcolm McDowell with an almost seductive ferocity, is not an antihero in the conventional sense. He's a rapist and murderer who narrates his own crimes with lyrical delight. And yet Kubrick frames him with such wit, such visual command, that discomfort becomes almost pleasurable — which is, of course, entirely the point.

On this episode of Movie of the Year, we engage with the three central tensions that make the film impossible to dismiss: the philosophical minefield of morality and free will, the sheer sensory experience of watching it, and the film's deeply troubled relationship with women and sexuality.

In this episode of Movie of the Year: 1971, Ryan, Mike, and Greg revisit The Last Picture Show, Peter Bogdanovich’s landmark film about youth, loneliness, and a fading Texas town.

Released in 1971, the film helped define the early New Hollywood era, blending classical Hollywood craftsmanship with a more modern emotional realism. From its black-and-white cinematography to its quiet performances, this portrait of small-town America remains one of the most discussed films of its decade.

Director Peter Bogdanovich approached the film as both a tribute to classic cinema and a break from it. Drawing on older storytelling traditions while embracing the moral ambiguity of the 1970s, he created a work that feels suspended between eras.

The Taste Buds explore how Bogdanovich’s direction captures the melancholy of a town in decline and how his cinephile instincts shape the movie’s visual language. In doing so, the film becomes a bridge between old Hollywood nostalgia and the more personal filmmaking that defined the decade.

For more on Bogdanovich’s influence, see the American Film Institute:

https://www.afi.com

One of the film’s most enduring elements is its honest portrayal of intimacy. Love and sex are not romanticized; they are awkward, transactional, vulnerable, and deeply human.

Ryan, Mike, and Greg examine how the characters navigate desire and disappointment. Whether it’s teenage experimentation or adult loneliness, relationships in this story reveal more about isolation than fulfillment. That emotional candor is part of why the movie still resonates today.

For historical background and cast details, visit Turner Classic Movies:

https://www.tcm.com

At its core, this 1971 drama is about transition. Older characters cling to memory and routine, while younger ones struggle to imagine their future beyond the town’s limits.

The panel discusses how the generational divide shapes the narrative, turning a coming-of-age story into a meditation on cultural change. The closing of the town’s movie theater becomes symbolic—a quiet acknowledgment that an era is ending.

This episode also debuts a new segment called IP Freely, where the panel imagines modern franchise films directed by filmmakers working in 1971. The Taste Buds pitch hypothetical Star Wars entries through the stylistic lens of early-70s auteurs.

The exercise highlights just how dramatically cinematic tone and scale have shifted since this film’s release.

To close the show, Ryan, Mike, and Greg assemble a Mount Rushmore of the 1971 It Girl, celebrating the performers who defined the year’s screen presence and cultural energy.

More than five decades later, The Last Picture Show remains essential viewing. Its exploration of youth, longing, and generational change captures a moment when American cinema was reinventing itself.

This episode revisits the film not just as a classic of 1971, but as a living text that continues to influence how audiences understand small-town storytelling and emotional realism.

What is The Last Picture Show about?

It follows teenagers and adults in a declining Texas town, exploring love, loneliness, and generational transition.

Who directed The Last Picture Show?

Peter Bogdanovich directed the 1971 film.

Why is it important?

It helped define the early New Hollywood movement and won multiple Academy Awards.

Is it based on a novel?

Yes, it is adapted from Larry McMurtry’s novel.

What are the Best Movies of 2025?

That question drives the biggest episode of the Movie of the Year season.

Hosted by Ryan and joined by Mike, Cassie, and Greg, this flagship episode brings together 25 of the most talked-about films of the year in a massive competitive bracket designed to determine one definitive answer: what is the Best Movie of 2025?

This is not a ranked list.

It’s not a polite retrospective.

It’s a full-scale movie showdown.

Twenty-five contenders enter the bracket.

One film leaves as Movie of the Year.

The Best Movies of 2025 come from everywhere: theatrical releases, streaming premieres, international cinema, prestige dramas, comedies, franchise entries, and bold originals. This year in film refuses easy categorization.

To qualify, a film simply had to:

1. release in 2025
2. make a real cultural or artistic impact
3. hold up under comparison with the year’s strongest work

Sequels compete with originals.

International films face studio giants.

Streaming releases battle theatrical spectacles.

Everything is on the table.

The bracket for the Best Movies of 2025 includes a wide-ranging field representing the full landscape of modern cinema. Among the contenders:

1. One Battle After Another
2. Sinners, one of the most discussed films of 2025
3. No Other Choice
4. The Secret Agent
5. It Was Just an Accident
6. Weapons, a major genre standout
7. The Naked Gun
8. and many more filling out the 25-film field

Each matchup forces direct comparison. Reputation alone isn’t enough to advance.

Every round of the bracket asks the same core question:

Which film actually deserves to be remembered when we talk about the Best Movies of 2025?

Debates center on:

1. directing vision
2. performance strength
3. originality
4. cultural impact
5. rewatchability
6. long-term staying power

Ryan drives the bracket forward. Mike focuses on craft. Cassie champions bold swings and emotional impact. Greg looks for longevity and structural strength.

No film advances without a fight.

As the bracket narrows, favorites fall, and unexpected contenders rise. Prestige releases collide with genre filmmaking. Big swings face meticulous craftsmanship. By the final round, only two films remain.

From there, one movie is crowned the Best Movie of 2025.

No spoilers here.

You’ll have to listen to find out which film survives.

The movie landscape of 2025 is crowded and fragmented. Streaming, theatrical, and international releases compete for attention at a pace that makes it hard to keep up. This episode cuts through the noise.

By forcing direct comparisons, the bracket reveals which films truly defined the year and which simply dominated conversation. The result is a definitive snapshot of the Best Movies of 2025 and how they stack up against each other.

If you’re exploring the full year in entertainment, continue with:

1. Best Horror Movies of 2025
2. Best Television Shows of 2025
3. Best Unscripted Shows of 2025
4. 2025 Year in Review – Century of the Year
5. 2025 Mixtape

Together, these episodes create a complete 2025 pop culture time capsule.

What is the Best Movie of 2025?

This episode crowns one definitive winner after a full 25-film bracket.

Are streaming movies included?

Yes. All platforms and release types are eligible.

Are international films included?

Yes. Films from all countries compete equally.

Is this a ranked list?

No. It’s a competitive elimination bracket ending with one winner.

By the end of the episode, one film stands above the rest. Through argument, comparison, and elimination, the panel determines the Best Movies of 2025 and names the official Movie of the Year.

If you want the clearest possible answer to what defined cinema this year, this is the episode.

🎧 Listen now to hear the full Best Movies of 2025 bracket

📩 Email your picks: [email protected]

⭐ Subscribe to Movie of the Year for more year-end episodes

The Best Television Shows of 2025 didn’t rise to the top by accident. They survived hype cycles, second-season expectations, streaming saturation, and cultural overload.

In this episode of Movie of the Year, Greg hosts a 16-seed competitive bracket—with play-ins—to determine the Best Television Shows of 2025. Joining him are Cassie, Ryan, Mackenna, and Mike, ready to debate prestige drama, ambitious limited series, breakout comedies, and the year’s most talked-about streaming hits.

This isn’t just a 2025 TV year in review.

It’s a showdown.

Sixteen scripted contenders enter.

One show leaves as the best TV show of 2025.

This bracket includes:

1. Returning seasons like Andor (Season 2) and Severance (Season 2)
2. Limited series such as Adolescence
3. Bold new scripted debuts
4. Comedy, drama, satire, and genre television
5. Network, cable, and streaming releases
6. International series (though primarily English-language)

If it aired in 2025 and was scripted, it was eligible. The goal: determine the top television series of 2025 across all platforms.

Before the bracket locks, two play-in battles determine the final spots in the field. The play-ins ensure that no prestige favorite automatically advances and that breakout surprises earn their place.

Once finalized, the bracket includes:

1. The Pitt
2. Andor (Season 2), one of the most anticipated streaming shows of 2025
3. Pluribus
4. The Rehearsal (Season 2), pushing formal experimentation
5. Adolescence, a standout limited series of 2025
6. Severance (Season 2), a defining second season
7. The Lowdown
8. Dying for Sex
9. Long Story Short
10. The Studio

Every matchup forces hard choices. Reputation means nothing without performance.

As the eliminations unfold, several themes emerge:

1. Can a second season surpass its original impact?
2. Does a limited series compete differently from an ongoing drama?
3. Is cultural buzz equal to narrative achievement?
4. Do streaming shows dominate the best TV shows of 2025 conversation?

Greg maintains structure. Cassie pushes for ambition. Ryan defends emotional resonance. Mackenna highlights audience connection. Mike dissects craft and execution.

The format separates hype from longevity and distinguishes conversation from quality.

The central question of the episode becomes unavoidable:

What is the Best Television Show of 2025?

Through quarterfinals, semifinals, and a final clash, the bracket narrows. The discussion sharpens. The arguments become more precise.

Ultimately, one series emerges as the definitive winner among the Best Television Shows of 2025.

No shared podium.

No split vote.

One champion.

Television in 2025 is fragmented across platforms, genres, and release models. Determining the best TV shows of 2025, ranked through competition, forces clarity.

Across the bracket, the standout series share:

1. narrative ambition
2. tonal confidence
3. strong ensemble performances
4. formal experimentation
5. staying power beyond premiere week

This episode serves as both a competitive bracket showdown and a thoughtful 2025 TV year in review.

What is the Best Television Show of 2025?

The episode crowns one clear winner after a full 16-seed bracket.

Are limited series included?

Yes. Limited series like Adolescence compete alongside multi-season dramas.

How does the bracket work?

Play-in rounds finalize the field, followed by elimination matchups until one show remains.

Are streaming and international shows eligible?

Yes. All platforms and countries were eligible.

If you’re catching up on the full 2025 coverage, also check out:

1. Best Horror Movies of 2025
2. Best Unscripted Shows of 2025
3. 2025 Year in Review – Century of the Year
4. 2025 Mixtape

Together, these episodes form a complete 2025 year-in-review podcast slate.

When the dust settles, the bracket delivers a decisive answer to the season’s biggest question. This episode doesn’t hedge. It names the Best Television Show of 2025 outright.

If you care about prestige drama, bold streaming experimentation, or the evolution of limited series, this competitive showdown delivers clarity.

🎧 Listen now to hear the full Best Television Shows of 2025 bracket

📩 Email your picks (or outrage): [email protected]

⭐ Subscribe to Movie of the Year for more Best of the Year 2025 episodes

The Best Unscripted Shows of 2025 reflect a television landscape that is bigger, stranger, and more carefully constructed than ever. In this episode of Movie of the Year, Mike hosts a high-stakes bracket to determine which unscripted series truly stood above the rest, joined by panelists Cassie, Greg, and Mackenna.

Eight shows enter the bracket, spanning competition series, long-running institutions, comfort viewing, and chaos engines. What follows is a sharp, opinionated unscripted TV year in review, focused on craft, format, and why these shows continue to dominate the cultural conversation.

Early in the episode, the panel draws a clear distinction: unscripted is the better word.

In 2025, unscripted television includes:

1. competition shows built on structure and fairness
2. formats refined through years of iteration
3. personality-driven series that reward consistency
4. shows designed for communal viewing

The Best Unscripted Shows of 2025 aren’t judged on mess alone. They’re judged on execution.

The contenders competing for the title of Best Unscripted Show of 2025 are:

1. The Traitors
2. Game Changer
3. The Great British Baking Show
4. Project Runway
5. Not Her First Rodeo
6. Taskmaster
7. Love Island USA
8. Below Deck

Network, cable, streaming, and niche platforms all collide here. No show advances on nostalgia alone, and no platform gets preferential treatment.

As eliminations begin, the debates sharpen quickly.

Some unscripted shows dominate through:

1. airtight format design
2. fairness and repeatability
3. long-term audience trust

Others succeed through:

1. personality
2. escalation
3. social dynamics
4. controlled chaos

Mike pushes the panel to separate enjoyment from achievement. Cassie argues for innovation and tone. Greg interrogates longevity and consistency. Mackenna focuses on watchability and audience loyalty. Every matchup forces a real question: what makes an unscripted show great in 2025?

Across the bracket, a clear set of standards emerges:

1. the format must sustain tension
2. the rules must be legible
3. the show must reward repeat viewing
4. the experience must feel intentional, not disposable

The Best Unscripted Shows of 2025 prove that this genre isn’t filler between prestige dramas—it’s some of the most precise television being made.

After multiple rounds and no shortage of disagreement, one series emerges as the clear winner.

No ties.

No qualifiers.

No “it depends.”

The final choice reflects the panel’s belief in format strength, cultural relevance, and staying power. To hear which show survives the bracket—and why—it’s time to listen.

This isn’t a trash-TV roundup.

It’s a serious look at why unscripted television thrives when scripted TV often struggles.

As a Best Unscripted Shows of 2025 discussion, the episode doubles as a snapshot of how audiences engage with television now: socially, competitively, and consistently.

What is the Best Unscripted Show of 2025?

The episode crowns a single winner after an 8-show bracket.

What counts as unscripted television?

Competition shows, docu-reality, and format-driven series across all platforms.

Are streaming shows included?

Yes. Network, cable, and streaming series all compete equally.

🎧 Listen now to hear the full Best Unscripted Shows of 2025 bracket

📩 Email your picks or disagreements: [email protected]

⭐ Subscribe to Movie of the Year for more 2025 year-end episodes

Every year tells a story — but rarely this fast.

In this special episode of Movie of the Year, the panel presents 2025 – Century of the Year, a bold and chaotic 2025 year in review that attempts something simple, ambitious, and wildly entertaining: 100 of the biggest moments of the year, discussed in just 100 minutes.

This isn’t a countdown.

It isn’t a competition.

It’s a real-time replay of the year as it unfolded.

If you’re looking for a 2025 year-in-review podcast that values memory over rankings and chaos over consensus, this episode delivers.

Across 100 minutes, the episode touches on a wide range of moments that defined the year, including:

1. major film releases and pop-culture events
2. TV moments that dominated conversation
3. internet and media chaos
4. stories that felt huge in the moment
5. robot chickens

The goal isn’t to judge what mattered most — it’s to remember what actually happened, when it happened.

Unlike traditional year-end lists, Century of the Year moves chronologically, creating a true 2025 year in review rather than a retrospective ranking.

Each moment gets:

1. one minute
2. one burst of conversation
3. One chance to capture why it mattered then

January flows into February, February into March, and suddenly the year is racing by. The format mirrors how 2025 actually felt: relentless, noisy, and impossible to fully process in real time.

To keep pace with the format, Movie of the Year brings together a full PopFilter lineup:

1. Greg
2. Mike
3. Ryan
4. Cassie, host of The Superhero Show Show
5. Katelynn
6. Mackenna

With six voices rotating through the moments, the episode becomes a rolling conversation — jokes collide with reflection, and no one has time to overthink. The result is a loose, funny, and surprisingly emotional 2025 year-in-review podcast.

There are no winners.

No awards.

No arguments to settle.

Instead, this episode leans into playful chaos. One minute forces instinct. Tangents get cut short. Opinions are stated boldly and sometimes abandoned just as quickly. That’s not a flaw — it’s the design.

This 2025 year in review captures how memory actually works: incomplete, emotional, and shaped by timing as much as importance.

Traditional year-end content flattens time.

This episode restores it.

By moving forward instead of counting down, 2025 – Century of the Year shows how early-year moments echo later ones, how narratives evolve, and how the year’s meaning changes as it unfolds.

By the final minute, listeners have effectively lived through the year again — a full 2025 year in review preserved as a time capsule rather than a verdict.

What is the Century of the Year?

It’s a Movie of the Year special episode covering 100 moments from the year in 100 minutes.

Is this a ranking or a “best of” list?

No. It’s a chronological recap, not a competition.

What makes this different from other 2025 year-in-review shows?

The format emphasizes speed, memory, and real-time reaction rather than hindsight judgment.

Years blur together.

Moments don’t.

This 2025 year-in-review captures the noise, contradictions, jokes, shocks, and emotions that defined the year — not as a polished list, but as it actually felt to live through it.

Fast. Messy. Human.

🎧 Listen now to experience the full 2025 year in review

📩 Email us the moment you think we missed: [email protected]

⭐ Subscribe to Movie of the Year for more 2025 recap episodes and deep dives

Every year leaves behind more than movies — it leaves a sound.

In this episode of Movie of the Year, the Taste Buds come together to create the 2025 Mixtape, a curated playlist designed to capture what the year felt like through music. Rather than ranking songs or chasing chart placement, the panel builds a living soundtrack that reflects the moods, moments, and cultural undercurrents of 2025.

The goal of the 2025 Mixtape isn’t consensus.

It’s memory.

The 2025 Mixtape isn’t about declaring “the best songs of the year” in isolation. It’s about sequencing, contrast, and flow — how songs interact when placed side by side, how energy builds or collapses, and how a playlist can tell a story.

This episode explores questions like:

1. What song opens the year?
2. Where does the emotional peak land?
3. When does the mixtape need to slow down?
4. And what track closes the door on 2025?

The playlist is treated as a narrative, not a ranking.

As selections are made, the panel debates what qualifies a song for inclusion on the 2025 Mixtape. Is it cultural impact? Longevity? Personal obsession? Or the ability to instantly transport listeners back to a specific moment in the year?

The conversation weighs:

1. singles versus deep cuts
2. mainstream hits versus discoveries
3. songs that grew over time versus immediate standouts

Together, the picks form a portrait of how music functioned in daily life throughout 2025.

One of the episode’s central tensions is the extent to which the musical landscape of 2025 is truly diverse. The 2025 Mixtape moves across genres, tones, and emotional registers, reflecting a year that resisted easy categorization.

The discussion touches on:

1. pop’s evolving extremes
2. hip-hop’s shifting center
3. Indie music’s changing role
4. genre-blurring experimentation
5. and songs that moved from background noise to personal anthems

The result is a playlist that mirrors the year’s complexity rather than flattening it.

More than any single song, sequencing becomes the battleground. A great track can still feel wrong if it breaks momentum or disrupts the mood. The panel debates transitions, tonal shifts, and the extent to which a listener can handle emotional whiplash.

This is where the episode gets deeply nerdy — and deeply satisfying.

The 2025 Mixtape isn’t just assembled.

It’s designed.

Years blur together.

Playlists don’t.

The 2025 Mixtape is an attempt to preserve a feeling — something listeners can return to years from now and immediately remember how the year sounded, what mattered, and what lingered. It’s subjective by design, imperfect by necessity, and meaningful because of it.

🎧 Listen now to hear the full 2025 Mixtape come together

📩 Email us your own version: [email protected]

⭐ Subscribe to Movie of the Year for more year-in-review episodes

🎶 And tell us which song had to be on the tape

The world of 2025 horror movies is a battlefield, and in this episode of Movie of the Year, Mike, Ryan, and Taylor wage war over which film deserves to stand above the rest. Instead of assembling a list or reading off favorites, the panel builds a brutal bracket to determine the best horror movie of 2025 — from studio monsters to indie nightmares to streaming shocks.

This isn’t just a celebration — it’s a confrontation.

Sixteen titles enter.

One claims the crown.

Before the eliminations begin, the panel confronts the evolution of horror in 2025.

Is horror now:

1. a metaphor for social collapse?
2. a space for spiritual terror?
3. a conduit for bodily dread?
4. Or simply the movie that makes your heart race and palms sweat?

2025 horror movies refuse to stay in one lane.

The conversation traces how audiences now crave:

1. original horror films over sequels
2. daring stylistic swings
3. unpredictable stories
4. atmosphere over explanation
5. new monsters and mythologies

This episode takes seriously the project of defining what horror in 2025 feels like.

This year’s bracket includes a mix of theatrical releases, streaming originals, and buzzy festival darlings hoping to break through.

The contenders for best horror film of 2025 include:

1. Sinners (religious terror with real teeth)
2. The Ugly Stepsister (fairy tale dread reimagined)
3. Good Boy, a streaming sleeper hit with claws
4. The Monkey, a Stephen King adaptation built for nightmares
5. Frankenstein, prestige monster cinema reborn
6. Death of a Unicorn, indie black magic meets satire
7. Bring Her Back, folk horror with bite
8. Wolf Man, classic creature feature updated
9. Weapons, conceptual terror from filmmakers pushing boundaries
10. I Know What You Did Last Summer, the latest evolution of the reboot
11. Companion, don’t-look-away psychological dread
12. The Shrouds, Cronenberg-tinged existential rot
13. 28 Years Later, the long-awaited apocalypse continuation
14. The Conjuring: Last Rites, the franchise’s closing exorcism
15. Final Destination: Bloodlines, fatalism done fresh
16. Presence, minimalist supernatural anxiety

Every movie enters the ring with a chance to win—until someone eliminates it.

Bracket eliminations begin, and the knives come out.

This year’s bracket is designed to expose taste, blind spots, and biases.

Upsets are inevitable.

Favorites fall early.

Beloved films don’t get a pass simply because audiences showed up on opening weekend.

Patterns emerge:

1. Sequels struggle against original concepts
2. Indies land harder punches than anyone expected
3. Prestige horror keeps growing
4. Streaming horror competes toe-to-toe with theatrical releases
5. And certain titles prove more resilient than anyone thought

Mike comes ready with structured and crafted arguments.

Ryan defends the morally twisted, bleak, unforgettable entries.

Taylor stakes her claim on the films nobody saw coming.

When emotions flare, so do eliminations.

Across the bracket, one portrait becomes clear:

2025 is a genuinely great year for horror movies.

This episode surfaces key trends:

1. Original horror dominates sequels
2. Folk and myth-based horror resurfaces
3. Religious fear returns in force
4. Indies drive imagination and innovation
5. Prestige stars are taking bigger swings
6. Streaming is no longer second-tier
7. And monsters—literal and metaphorical—are fully back

In short:

Horror in 2025 is bold, ambitious, unpredictable, political, and willing to break form.

What is the best horror movie of 2025?

The bracket determines a single winner — listen to discover which film claims the title.

Are these 2025 horror movies theatrical only?

No. The bracket includes streaming originals, festival discoveries, and major studio releases.

Why bracket instead of ranking?

Brackets force tough choices and eliminate safety picks.

There can only be one winner.

Is original horror better than franchise horror this year?

The episode suggests the answer might be yes, but the bracket results tell the story.

After sixteen contenders face the executioner’s blade, one title emerges as the official Movie of the Year pick for the Best Horror Film of 2025.

No ties.

No cop-outs.

No shared podium.

If you want to know whether the champion is a blockbuster, an ignored masterpiece, an indie miracle, or a risky experiment that paid off, you’ll need to listen.

🎧 Listen now for the full debate and surprise cuts

📩 Email us your bracket or disagreement: [email protected]

🌕 Subscribe for the rest of the 2025 season

🩸 And tell us what we snubbed — we know you will

Movie of the Year is back with a brand-new season, and there’s no better way to kick things off than with our first-ever Oscar Draft 2025. Hosted by Cassie, this episode sees panelists Ryan, Mike, Greg, and Taylor engage in a deadly serious competition to predict which films will dominate awards season.

Each drafter is tasked with assembling a roster of films they believe will rack up the most Academy Award nominations—across any and all categories—once Oscar morning finally arrives. It’s prediction, strategy, taste, and fortune-telling rolled into one.

The Taste Buds are back, and this time they’re playing for keeps.

To ensure fairness—and maximize tension—the draft follows a snake format, meaning the order reverses each round.

Key Rules:

1. Drafters select movies, not individuals or categories
2. Any film is eligible—first half, festival darling, delayed release mystery, whatever
3. No two panelists can draft the same film
4. Five rounds total
5. The winning team is the one whose final slate earns the most nominations when the Academy announces them

Every pick is a bet—on the movies themselves, their campaigns, their distributors, their word of mouth, and even the voters’ unpredictable tastes.

One wrinkle that defines the episode: panelists must decide what kind of drafter they want to be.

Do you swing for awards-season favorites blessed with early buzz?

Or gamble on late-breaking discoveries nobody else notices yet?

Some draft with spreadsheets and precedent. Others reach for films they want to see recognized. Every strategy has holes—and every smart pick someone else was eyeing can change the entire board.

Unlike the usual Movie of the Year chaos, this one is deadly serious.

No bit is too small, no argument too granular, and no accusation too petty.

Ryan, Mike, Greg, and Taylor:

1. block each other’s picks
2. steal films out of sheer spite
3. argue over festival credibility
4. negotiate control of the board
5. and, occasionally, wonder if they’ve made a catastrophic mistake

With no immediate winner declared, the true victor won’t be revealed until Oscar nominations are announced.

Which makes the waiting—and the trash talk—that much sweeter.

Between picks, Cassie guides the panel through the critical questions that define this year’s awards landscape, including:

1. Are we preparing for a heavyweight Best Picture category?
2. Does streaming still have power?
3. Are studio campaign budgets shrinking—or going nuclear?
4. How do the festivals signal real contenders vs early hype?
5. And is there a surprise indie waiting to shake up the field?

Consider this episode both a draft and an early contender roundtable.

If you’re:

1. a serious Oscar nerd
2. a casual awards-season watcher
3. a data-brained analyst
4. or someone who wants to scout movies before everyone else gets loud

this episode is your roadmap to the 2025 season.

🎧 Listen now to the Oscar Draft 2025—and start keeping receipts.

💌 Email us your draft board or predictions: [email protected]

⭐ Subscribe to Movie of the Year for the full 2025 season

🏆 And return in a few weeks, when we crown the Oscar Draft champion