by Harry Duke

I see a lot of live theatre in year, but my first love was the movies. Some of my earliest memories are of going to see double features at the movie theatre in my hometown. (That certainly dates me.) It’s long gone, but the memories are still there.

When my family moved to Puerto Rico for a few years in the 70s, the movies were one of the few English-language entertainments available. There was very little TV with the audio simulcast in English on the radio – usually Quinn Martin crime dramas like Cannon and The FBI – and the only radio station with English-speaking DJs converted to Spanish while we were there. I saw a lot of movies I probably shouldn’t have for my age (Chinatown?), but the 70s were a great decade for film and I was fortunate to see a lot of what are now considered classic movies in the theater. I also saw a lot of “popcorn” movies like the great disaster films of the era and classic Mel Brooks and Pink Panther comedies.

My love for movies continues unabated. Before turning to live theatre, I would typically see 125-150 movies a year, and most of them in a theater. This year, I saw 50, and most of them through the courtesy of Ky Boyd and Rialto Cinemas. (Yes, I occasionally sneak off to the Elmwood and El Cerrito.) My thanks to Ky and the crews at the Rialtos.

Here, in alphabetical order, are my Top Torn Movie Tickets for the best and/or most interesting films I screened in 2025:

Black Bag – A whipsmart cat-and-mouse espionage thriller that’s a throwback to the great spy movies of the past. Sometimes ya just want to have fun at the movies.

Blue Moon – A movie for theatre lovers. It’s two hours of talk… about Richard Rogers, about a “protege”, about the insipidness of “Oklahoma!”, about writing, about love and emotion, mostly delivered by Ethan Hawke giving an incredible performance as Lorenz Hart.

Bugonia – Probably Yorgos Lanthimos’ least weird movie… well, until the very end. A conspiracy theorist’s wet dream.

Eddington – An absolutely engrossing, utterly fascinating, and incredibly depressing film, whose underling message (and I don’t necessarily disagree with it) is a simple one – we’re fucked. An extremely divisive movie to many, but aren’t we living in extremely divisive times?

Good Fortune – It’s sort of “Trading Places” meets “Freaky Friday” with a bit more of a celestial bent and a focus on income inequality, particularly those working the gig economy. Keanu Reeves is quite funny as an angel discovering the good things in life… like dancing and tacos.

Jay Kelly – George Clooney as a gigantic film star who’s coming to regret the decisions he made to get where he is. Adam Sandler is phenomenal as his constantly put-upon manager. This film reminds me a lot of The Swimmer with Burt Lancaster. You’ve probably never heard of it. You should.

One Battle After Another – It’s bleak, it’s funny, it’s infuriating, it’s ridiculous, it’s unsettling – all hallmarks of this particular filmmaker. It’s also filled with great performances and one helluva soundtrack. It does veer close to parody, and it kind of falls apart at the end, but…

Rental Family – Brendan Fraser continues his late career renaissance with this very sweet film about making real connections in a too-often artificial world.

Roofman – If ever there was a movie undermined by its trailer and advertising campaign, this is it. Give this one a chance, but know it is NOT a comedy. It’s a movie about bad choices and the people who make them… repeatedly. Channing Tatum and Kirsten Dunst are terrific.

Sinners – Part gangster movie, part vampire flick with two great performances from Michael B. Jordan. This film operates on so many different levels (crime drama v. horror film while addressing Jim Crow America, the power of music, faith, family, us vs. them when you’re not sure who’s really ‘us’ and who’s really ‘them’) that repeat viewings may be necessary.

Train Dreams – A simple, quiet, elegaic film about one man’s life in the Pacific Northwest in the early 20th century, and all that comes with it – love, loss, regret, pain, and resilience. Beautifully shot, beautifully told.

Please continue to go see and support movies in the theater.

See ya at the picture show…