2025: A Year in Review

Still sorting through my thoughts of 2025 and there are not many frontrunners in my mind. Here's what I got so far (subject to change in the coming weeks):

Best of 2025 (in no particular order):

Bugonia: Paranoia realized

Eddington: 2025 summed up in 2020

Eternity: How will you choose to spend it?

Friendship: Friendship is rare...

Hamnet: Shakespeare takes on the great tragedy

I Swear: Sometimes you just can't help it

The Legend of Ochi: A throwback fantasy adventure

Love Me: AI takes on the concept of romance

Marty Supreme: Ping-pong for the big leagues

No Other Choice: When you've been dragged to your limit

One Battle After Another: If it's not one thing, it's another...

Presence: A POV ghost story

Rental Family: Loneliness, far from home

Song Sung Blue: Neil Diamond fans unite

Superman: Best superhero flick of the year

The Surfer: Suffer...Surfer...

The Life of Chuck: Currently my favorite film of the year

Honorable mentions (too many not to mention):

Americana: Coen meets Tarantino in a modern-day Western

Avatar: Fire and Ash: Yep, another one...

A Big Bold Beautiful Journey: Working through the traumas of the past

Cheech & Chong's Last Movie: Hope it's not the last we see of 'em...

Companion: Try not to spoil it for yourself

Die My Love: Romance, motherhood, mental illness; not in that order

Dracula: A Love Tale: An oft-told tale, done well

Dust Bunny: Always check underneath your bed

Exit 8: Faithful adaptation of the Japanese horror game

Frankenstein: Beauty on the outside, ironically

The Great Flood: Wash away our sins...

If I Had Legs I'd Kick You: Life is a kick in the nuts

Is This Thing On?: Healing, through comedy

It Was Just an Accident: Revenge is a dish...

The Long Walk: Get busy walkin' or get busy dyin'

Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning: Or is it...?

The Rule of Jenny Pen: The inmates have taken over

The Secret Agent: A shaggy dog leg tale

Sentimental Value: Reconciliation through art

The Smashing Machine: Rock, smash... our hearts

Together: Make sure you're in it for the long haul

Train Dreams: Food for thought

28 Years Later: They never left...

The Ugly Stepsister: Cinderella with a dark twist

Wake Up Dead Man: Murder in the ranks of the church

Weapons: Wicked good fun

Wicked: For Good: I know when I've been beat

The cream of the crap (mmm...nutty):

Back in Action: First POS of the year

Bambi: The Reckoning: Shitting all over the memories of the original

Ebony & Ivory: So bad, it's brilliant?

Fear Street: Prom Queen: I don't even remember seeing this one

The Home: I wish I stayed home instead

I Know What You Did Last Summer: Didn't we do this already?

Ick: Infects the brains of the viewer as well

In the Lost Lands: My poor memory is sometimes a blessing

Kinda Pregnant: Kinda mostly awful

A Merry Little Ex-Mas: Made my holidays much less bright

Now You See Me, Now You Don't: I wish I didn't

Peter Pan's Neverland Nightmare: Childhood ruined, one movie at a time

Primitive War: Jurassic Park, minus everything great about Jurassic Park

Regretting You: I'm definitely regretting something...

Sacramento: Insufferable pricks to the end

The Strangers: Chapter 2: We still got one more of this shit to go...

The Toxic Avenger: Just when you thought Troma couldn't sink any lower...

Troll 2: I liked the old one better

Tron: Ares: At least the neon lights are cool...

War of the Worlds: Worst film of the year and a personal affront to H. G. Wells

Note: I will be going dark for a little while, while I recharge my batteries....

-bud

(Disclosure: AI was used to generate the above banner, and that is the only time AI has ever been employed on this blog.)

2024: A Year in Review

Following in cuckoo's tradition of annual year-end lists (although delivered in a more timely manner) and submitted for your approval: here is my wrap-up of 2024 [liable to change in the upcoming weeks; keep an eye on this post].

Top 10 (in no particular order):

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice: In terms of nostalgic entertainment value, this gave me the best bang for my buck. Comfort food for the weathered soul.
Deadpool & Wolverine: Pure joy at the cinema. Rewards 20+ years of watching Fox superhero films. Ryan Reynolds has completely won me over at this point.
Joker: Folie à Deux: We get what we fuckin' deserve. It's a winner in my book, even if audiences prefer the cookie-cutter shit instead. 
Anora: Anti-mainstream and nonconformist "romance" for the ages.
Nosferatu: An unsettling mood piece that feels unmoored from time.
A Real Pain: The real pain was the friends we made along the way.
Sometimes I Think About Dying (2023; released in 2024): Loneliness and pain; repeat.
Strange Darling: Go into it knowing nothing for best results.
The Substance: Body horror is alive and well in 2024.
I Saw the TV Glow: Apparently a metaphor for the trans experience, it works on a completely different level for those of us trapped in the past by nostalgia. (Currently my favorite film of 2024.)

Honorable mentions (unlike cuckoo, I will not limit myself to just 10!):

Perfect Days: Simplicity at its best.
Flow: The best animation to come out of 2024.
Better Man: Robbie Williams is an ape man; a unique take on the biopic genre.
A Different Man: A deeply strange film that still rubs me the wrong way, which seems like a triumph on its own.
Kinds of Kindness: WTF for WTF's sake!
Hundreds of Beavers: Technically produced in 2022, it wasn't widely released until this year. It's too fucking weird to discount.
Sasquatch Sunset: A funny and surreal journey.
Ghostlight: A grieving man finds an outlet for pain.
The Room Next Door: Two friends come to terms with loss.
Hard Truths: Life Sucks: The Movie
I'm Still Here: A family torn apart by politics.
The Brutalist: An immigrant struggles with the American dream.
Civil War: Hits a bit too close to home.
Nickel Boys: POV: Racism
Sing Sing: Convicts put on a play for their own sanity.
A Complete Unknown: Bob Dylan is an asshole. There, I said it.
Wicked: God damn it.
Hit Man: Better than it has any right to be.
Touch: Simple and sweet.
Here: High concept schmaltz.
Thelma: Grandma strikes back!
Tuesday: A modern-day fable.
Orion and the Dark: Inside Out as scripted by Charlie Kaufman.
Robot Dreams: A unique, traditionally animated silent film.
The Wild Robot: AI finds harmony with nature.
IF: A cute family film with its heart in the right place.
Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl: The return of old friends.
Memoir of a Snail: Deeply affecting and hard to shake.
Stopmotion: A tribute to a dying art form.
MaXXXine: An homage to giallo set in the '80s.
Smile 2: The rare sequel that is as good as the original.
Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire: The best we're gonna get at this point.
Heretic: Hugh Grant is in a league of his own.
Oddity: Hard to define.
Longlegs: See above.
In a Violent Nature: A slasher from the killer's POV.
Late Night with the Devil: A host's descent into madness.
Cuckoo: We miss you, buddy.

And last but definitely least, the cream of the crap:

Bad Boys: Ride or Die: No review at this time.
Borderlands: Soulless, corporate consumerism.
The Exorcism: A metaphor for sum or another.
Megalopolis: I feel bad for shitting on auteurism, but I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy.
Not Another Church Movie: Not even worth nutting.
Red One: A big red shiny no.
Sam and Colby: The Legends of the Paranormal: The worst "movie" I've ever had the displeasure to sit through at the theater.
Tarot: It's even worse on reflection.
Transformers One: A brain-numbing, watered-down children's film that was apparently well-regarded by fans. (Sorry.)
Werewolves: A piece of shit if there ever was one.

Note: I will be reducing my Nut activities in 2025 to focus more on my first passion: fapping. But worry not; I will continue to post as long as there is still blood left flowing through these veins (also applies to fap).

-bud

2016 - Cuckoo's Year in Review

In keeping with tradition, I hereby submit my yearly film favorites ridiculously late.  This year being half-way through the next year and my Favorites of 2017 list is already piling up.  😃
This year, I ended with a list of 38 films and, unlike previous years, I had no problem narrowing it down to a Top 10.  It was a good year for the craft but I found I only found 3 movies worthy of a full five stars, while there were 35 four stars all worth recommendations.

You know the rest...

Here's my Top 10 Favorite Films of 2016:

click on the titles for mini-reviews

10.  The Witch
9.  Hunt for the Wilderpeople
8.  Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
7.  Busanhaeng
6.  La Tortue Rouge
5.  Captain America: Civil War
4.  Moonlight
3.  Hacksaw Ridge
2.  The Handmaiden
1.  Arrival

Honorable Mentions:
20th Century Women
Don't Think Twice
Eyes of My Mother, The
Forushande
In a Valley of Violence
Kubo and the Two Strings
La La Land
Lion
Ma Vie de Courgette
Neon Demon, The
Nice Guys, The
Sausage Party
Swiss Army Man
Under Sandet
Zootopia

...and even though it wasn't particularly a great movie, one can't let this WTF film go unnoticed:
The Greasy Strangler
It took me weeks to shake this one out of my brain.

We can't let this list go without mentioning the obligatory Cream of the Crap.
Luckily I managed to avoid Nine Lives or Inferno but the following five managed to find their way onto my screen and into the bottom of my toilet:

Alice Through the Looking Glass
Cell
Divergent Series: Allegiant, The
Forest, The
Holidays

And that's that.

Agree?  Disagree?
I'd love to hear your comments.

2015 - Cuckoo's Year in Review

In true cuckoo tradition, I'm submitting my annual Year in Review post a bit later than most might expect it to fall out of my ass.
I had a hefty list of 42 films I had to narrow down to this little list here before you and I cried as I watched some favorites get the boot.
Real tears.  Real manly whimpering tears.
Like all the previous years, I realize a few of the films are produced the previous year before but they didn't get a proper nationwide release until 2015, so I included them on this list.

Here's my Top 10 Favorite Films of 2015:

click on the titles for mini-reviews

10.  Mad Max: Fury Road
9.  Sicario
8.  Brooklyn
7.  Anomalisa
6.  Kumiko, The Treasure Hunter
5.  Victoria
4.  Mustang
3.  The Revenant
2.  Room
1.  Inside Out

Honorable Mentions:
Amy
Beasts of No Nation
Dope
Ex Machina
Goodnight Mommy (Ich seh Ich seh)
I Am Big Bird: The Caroll Spinney Story
Lobster, The
Look of Silence, The
Me and Earl and the Dying Girl
Shaun the Sheep Movie
Spy
Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Steve Jobs
What Happened, Miss Simone?
Winter on Fire: Ukraine's Fight for Freedom


And where's the fun if one doesn't list off the crappy cream of the crappiest of crap?
Attack on Titan: Part 1 (Shingeki no Kyojin)
Fantastic Four
Fifty Shades of Grey
Gallows, The
Get Hard
Human Centipede 3: Final Sequence, The
L.A. Slasher
Last Witch Hunter, The
Strange Magic
Wrecker

...and there we have it, kids.

Agree?  Disagree?  Have a list of your own?

2014 - Cuckoo's Year In Review

Due to a number of reasons I wasn't able to complete my annual Year In Review until now.  "Better late than never", a late person once said.
Like the previous years here at the Nutshell we reviewed more films than we can actually remember, so I like to save a list of the ones I highly recommend.
Like last time, many of these films were produced the previous year but didn't get a proper release until 2014, so yes, there are technically a few 2013 films on the list.

Here's my Top 10 Favorite Films of 2014:

click on the titles for mini-reviews

10.  JACK & THE CUCKOO CLOCK HEART
9.    JOE
8.    THE CONGRESS
7.    WHIPLASH
6.    VIRUNGA
5.    IDA
4.    SONG OF THE SEA
3.    BIRDMAN OR (THE UNEXPECTED VIRTUE OF IGNORANCE)
2.    FORCE MAJEURE
1.    CALVARY    

Honorable Mentions:
BABADOOK, THE
BIG HERO 6
DOUBLE, THE
DROP, THE
ENEMY
FINDING VIVIAN MAIER
FRAME, THE
GIRL WALKS HOME ALONE AT NIGHT, A
GONE GIRL
GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL, THE
GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY
NIGHTCRAWLER
ONLY LOVERS LEFT ALIVE
SNOWPIERCER
UNDER THE SKIN

And of course 2014 had it's fair share of festering piles of cat shit as well.
Here's the cream of the crap:

BEFORE I GO TO SLEEP
CAPTIVE, THE
COBBLER, THE
EXPENDABLES 3, THE
LEPRECHAUN: ORIGINS jesus, no.
OUIJA
SABOTAGE
TRANSFORMERS: AGE OF EXTINCTION
V/H/S: VIRAL
ZOMBEAVERS

There you have it, kids.

Agree?  Disagree?  Have a list of your own?

2013 - Cuckoo's Year In Review

Of the 816 films we reviewed last year, over 170 of them were released in 2013 and so it's time for me to narrow that list of films down to my personal favorites.
Unlike 2012, I had a helluva time trimming down my 46 favorites to only ten but it was done with many a cringe and buckets of real tears while hitting the chopping block.
I realize many of these were produced a year before for single screenings at festivals or simply to collect dust on the shelf but I'm basing this on nationwide theatrical releases.

Enough babbling....

Here's my Top 10 Favorite Films of 2013

click on the title for mini-reviews

10)  MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING
9)    ONLY GOD FORGIVES
8)    HER
7)    THE PLACE BEYOND THE PINES
6)    PRISONERS
5)    LA GRANDE BELLEZZA
4)    MUD
3)    LE PASSE
2)    INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS
1)    JAGTEN

Honorable Mentions:
ABOUT TIME
BERBERIAN SOUND STUDIO
BYZANTIUM
DISCONNECT
DRINKING BUDDIES
FRANCES HA
KINGS OF SUMMER, THE
LA VIE D'ADELE: CHAPITRES 1 & 2
THIS IS THE END
WOLF OF WALL STREET, THE

Usually I only subject myself to a few real stinkers a year but this year I found myself sitting through more than my fair share of shit and feeling sorry for myself when I realized how bad the film actually was.
Instead of scraping the bottom of the barrel to make up a list of at least 5 I found I had to narrow a longer list down to only 10.

Here's the Cream Of The Crap:
BULLET TO THE HEAD
CANYONS, THE
GOOD DAY TO DIE HARD, A
HOST, THE
IDENTITY THIEF
INSIDIOUS: CHAPTER 2
I SPIT ON YOUR GRAVE 2
KILL FOR ME
RAPTURE-PALOOZA
TEXAS CHAINSAW 3D

...and there you have it, kids.  Another year gone by.

Agree?  Disagree?  Have a list of your own?

2012 - Cuckoo's Year In Review

The Nutshell reviewed nearly 100 films that came out in 2012, so you'd think it would be difficult to narrow them down to a list.  Not so.  I saw only a few that really stuck out as being really good or really bad.  I saw several that were really decent and would be more than willing to recommend but just couldn't make the "best of" list in my opinion.

Here's my Top 10 Favorites of 2012:

click on the titles for mini-reviews

10)  FRANKENWEENIE

9)    KOTOKO

8)    HOLY MOTORS

7)    THE CABIN IN THE WOODS

6)    ARGO

5)    ZERO DARK THIRTY

4)    AMOUR

3)    BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD

2)    IT'S SUCH A BEAUTIFUL DAY

1)    LIFE OF PI

Honorable Mentions:

AMERICAN MARY

THE AVENGERS

THE IMPOSSIBLE

LAWLESS

LOOPER

PARANORMAN

THE PERKS OF BEING A WALLFLOWER

ROBOT & FRANK

SEVEN PSYCHOPATHS

SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK

...and of course, there's the cream of the crap.

Granted there's worse films released last year (Will Ferrell, Tyler Perry, Nicolas Cage & Adam Sandler, I'm looking at you) but these are the ones I was able to stomach subjecting myself to. So here they are...

The 5 worst films of 2012:

ABRAHAM LINCOLN : VAMPIRE HUNTER

BAD KIDS GO TO HELL

BATTTLESHIP

CHERNOBYL DIARIES

PROJECT X

Agree?  Disagree?  Have a list of your own?

I'd love some thoughts from other folks.