Top 10 of 2025: 1. One Battle After Another

★★★★★--Paul Thomas Anderson making a movie based sort of on a Thomas Pynchon novel staring Leonardo DiCaprio and deals with stoner/leftist politics and offers a little bit of hope. Was this made for me? To quote Bludo in the flick, “yeah, kinda.” 

How was it? Loved it. Easy favorite of the year. Hell, this is in the running for my favorite movie of the century. In the company of Mulholland Drive, There Will Be Blood, Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood, Mad Max: Fury Road, and Zodiac. 

Watched it back-to-back the first and second time it played. Theater was packed in both. Saw it again a week later, and then once more in IMAX. The only movie I’ve ever seen four times in the theater. Went as Ghetto Pat for Halloween even. I absolutely adored this movie. Anyone who didn’t is a loser and probably MAGA. 

Speaking of, the Thomas Pynchon novel it’s based on, Vineland, which I love, was a critique of Regan policies and the hippie movement. This is also a critique of right-wing BS but mostly has to do with white supremacy. Also, way more accessible. I did watch a few winger reviews. Lot of bitching about Hollywood being woke, PTA being overrated, and them not getting laid. They called it propaganda and said it glorified violence. Cry me a fucking river. Obviously probably not going to like it if you are on the right side of the political spectrum, i.e. a piece of shit, but this movie doesn’t give a shit about you, so fuck you, Nazi. 

Stellar acting. Easy to do a lot with characters written this well. Leo is an absolute legend. I think he maybe wins his second Best Actor statue, though Michael B. Jordan is ridiculous in Sinners. I was a little concerned that the tone wouldn’t be right from the first trailer. Not comedic enough. Leo’s character seemed a little unlikeable, not one of my stoner buddies. But ends up being your zany far-left terrorist flick with characters that share a lot of similarities with some of my closest friends, if ya get me. “Viva la revolución!”

Have other Academy Award winners in Sean Penn and Benicio del Toro. Benicio is throwing a 100 miles an hour in this flick. He has a Harriet Tubman situation going on. Penn is pretty amazing as a deeply unlikeable racist federal agent. Great at making him scary and also buffoonish. Both are nominated for Best Supporting. Again, a strong performance from Delroy Lindo in Sinners may box them out. Teyana Taylor is great, but her character is a real bummer. One of several hard to watch postpartum depictions this year. Best that her character is mostly out of the picture after the first act. She got the Supporting Actress nod, though Regina Hall and newcomer Chase Infiniti, from Indianapolis(!), are both amazing.

Out of PTA’s movies, where does One Battle After Another rank? For me, it’s second. There Will Be Blood still ranks as the best movie of the century, IMO, and is an untouchable masterpiece. Then I like The Master and Phantom Thread, but they aren’t nearly as rewatchable as this one. Magnolia and Boogie Nights both fell way down the list for me with my most recent rewatches. Punch-Drunk Love, on the other hand, I now see as one of his best. So, my official listing goes thus: 1. There Will Be Blood, 2. One Battle After Another, 3. The Master, 4. Phantom Thread, 5. Punch-Drunk Love, 6. Inherent Vice, 7. Licorice Pizza, 8. Boogie Nights, 9. Magnolia, 10. Hard Eight. That said, I truly love them all. 

A few final notes: Love the dark humor. Also that it is more hopeful than the novel. Good guys win. Looks at the youth as really having a lot of potential, which is refreshing with the way people generally shit on them. Lastly, there is a car chase scene where they are going up over these hills. Like riding waves. Fantastic effect. It is out of this world.