So Oscar has moved their ceremony pretty much right on the anniversary that I have rolled out the Marco Awards since their inception, which takes a little of the steam out of my Movie Awards. Thanks Oscar. So I pushed the Movies, which used to be the lead-off of the three, to after TV, and gives me at least a week or two before we discuss many of the same pictures. The one thing that sets my Awards apart from the Oscars is that their deadline for submission is in theatres by December 31. Mine is streaming for free by January 31. So I get a mix of the last of last year’s nominees blended with the first of this year’s, which gives me a different pool and some unexpected results.
But I admit, the movie industry is failing us. I bravely say there are no more great movies. There are good movies, and enjoyable movies, but no great ones. And the bigger problem is everything is a minimum of 2 hours and 45 minutes long, a full hour over the average movie length from 10 years ago til the invention of the medium. So more time to tell lesser stories? Explain.
On the bright side, I’ve been slamming the Oscar ceremony since Covid but, after a series of tragic attempts, this year’s was actually very well done. The writing was one of the most hideous ever (Hollywood, I can come to the rescue!! Please let me come to the rescue!!!), but the ceremony was fluid and the results within reasonable expectations. And the In Memoriam section, the best ever. The focus was on the memorials and not someone oversinging a power ballad. If Rachel McAdams’ touching tribute to Diane Keaton and Catherine O’Hara wasn’t enough, coaxing the reclusive Barbra Streisand out of retirement to sing “The Way We Were” for Robert Redford was more than we’ve ever hoped for. (Well, all of us except Jane Fonda, who was a little miffed they selected Babs over her and the four movies she and her longtime crush made together. You can’t please everyone.)
Anyway, after making peace with Oscar, here is is a list of my best movie recommendations from the past year, formatted into an awards show that makes sense. The rules: I am still the nominating committee and the voting body. So if a movie appeared on its first in-home streaming run for free (because that is in the spirit of Covid year entertainment, when we as viewers mattered) between February 1st, 2025 and January 31st , 2026, and I saw it, it is eligible. And the 31st is a purely arbitrary date set by the nominating committee (me) giving the voting body (me) enough time to catch up and tabulate the results for release sometime around the anniversary of Covid shutdowns.
So, with that, Welcome to the 6th annual Marco Awards for Excellence in Motion Pictures that appeared in your living room. Grab a drink. And let’s start with the opening number of all opening numbers (the infamous opening of 1989, of course). I’m your host, Mark Briner, and may the best pictures win (finally). The nominees are:
The 6th Annual MARCO AWARDS 2026: the MOVIES
BEST MOVIE
The Apprentice—This insightful tale of how a young business upstart Donald Trump learned the game at the side of the vicious, closeted, monster Roy Cohn explains a lot—including present day disastrous results.
Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale—The beloved Julian Fellowes PBS series comes to an appropriate and well-timed conclusion as we watch all the favorite characters move into a different age—and even out of Downtown Abbey, scaling down for a new society to come. Brilliant performances from the veteran cast and wonderful writing by the creator.
Frankenstein—Guillermo Del Torro’s lavish retelling of Mary Shelley’s classic horror story possesses all the visual and stylistic grandeur expected of a Del Torro vision, and surprisingly deep performances form current “It” boy Jacob Elordi.
Freakier Friday—I’m sorry but this standard sequel from less-than-visionary present day Disney turns out to be a thoroughly enjoyable summer comedy that expands on the original and brings everyone back for continuations of their stories—even Chad Michael Murray in the most fun cameo.
Lilies Not for Me—This unassuming British independent movie tells the moving story of an institutionalized gay man in 1930s England, when the medical society was toying with risky “cures” for homosexuality—with disastrous results. Sensitive and moving performances in a well-told screenplay.
One Battle After Another—Paul Thomas Anderson takes Leonardo Di Caprio on a twisted tale of an aged out former revolutionary who is called back into business to save his daughter, but, thanks to decades of excessive weed usage, isn’t even as sharp as he barely was 20 years ago. Billed as a comedy, it’s the darkest.
Sinners—This period African-American horror movie is also a pretty nifty African-American gangster movie, with superb performances from a deep cast headed by Michael B. Jordan as gangster twins who return to their hometown to open a nightspot—also with disastrious results.
WINNER: Sinners. I’m going against the Academy and rewarding the movie that tells the better story with an amazing cast of veteran and upcoming actors. Even if, like most movies, it’s too long, and takes too long to morph from the gangster story it begins as to the vampire story it was advertised as, it’s worth the payoff as the horror movie of the year, a genre rarely ever rewarded.
BEST ACTOR
Leonardo DiCaprio (One Battle After Another)—DiCaprio is his usually engaging self as a revolutionary who has been flying under the radar (and under the influence) since his partner was killed. But when his daughter becomes a target, he must pull himself together to rescue her from the elite bad guys.
Jacob Elori (Frankenstein)—The current media darling from Euphoria to Saltburn trades his good looks for a body suit of scars and a faceful of prosthetics to portray society’s most famous outcast who becomes their biggest nightmare. The pretty boy is surprisingly effective as a gothic actor.
Michael B. Jordan (Sinners)—The matinee idol Jordan plays double duty as twin brothers who start out as gangsters with a plan and transition to vampire hunters without one. One of the best twin performances on film since Bette Davis Stole her sister Bette Davis’ Life and Hayley Mills and Hayley Mills set the original Parent Trap. . Both Jordans carry the film beautifully.
Jude Law (Eden)—Law is a renowned author who retreated to an uncharted Gallapagos island with his wife to leisurely write—until an other couple expecting a child and a boisterous countess and with aspirations of opening a grand hotel resort arrives with her entourage that everyone becomes territorial in this underrated Ron Howard film.
Fionn O’Shae (Lilies Not for Me)—As the central character of the cautionary tale, O’Shae is heartbreaking as a gay inpatient at an sanitarium recounting his sad story to a young nurse while undergoing risky experimental treatments.
Joaquin Phoenix (Eddington)—As a Covid-era conservative sheriff of a small New Mexico town at war with a liberal mayor and bar owner, this tale of one-upmanship gets completely out of control and Phoenix takes us on a ride not too less violent than the Joker’s
Sebastian Stan (The Apprentice)—Stan is pretty perfect as a young Donald Trump who finds himself competing with his overbearing father’s expectations and the horrendous business advice from his horrible mentor, the monstrous Roy Cohn. The movie casually sows all the seeds to take Stan from the fledgling apprentice he is to the insecure, destructive egomaniac we know today.
WINNER: Michael B. Jordan. Jordan’s portrayal of two chararacters in two distinctly different movie genres here makes his multi-layered performance even more impressive. There is no better choice this year, or most others.
BEST ACTRESS
Jamie Leigh Curtis (Freakier Friday)—The recent Oscar Winner (Everything, Everywhere, All at Once) continues with a great act 2 of her career as a grandmother who swaps personalities with her granddaughter’s frenemy and soon-to-be stepsister as the usual shenanigans abound when Curtis is a 15-year-old trapped in an old lady’s arthritic body and fighting with her granddaughter trapped in daughter Lindsay Lohan’s body. Curtis is a comic master.
Michelle Dockery (Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale)—Finishing her run as the once haughty Lady Mary of Downton Abbey who gets knocked down a notch when, as a recent divorcee, she is no longer welcome in London society, Dockery negotiates with grace, class, and elegance. A fitting goodbye to our stalwart heroine.
Cynthia Erivo (Wicked)—Erivo made lots of enemies on the press tour but proved her worth in the first act of the Broadway magahit.
Elizabeth McGovern (Downton Abbey:The Grand Finale)—The 80s ingénue is a comfort as she lends maturity to the British saga as the matron who holds the family together in this final chapter which brings the family to their transition into the next era.
Mikey Madison (Anora)—Last year’s Oscar winner as a hooker navigating her seedy life who gets a break when a wealthy Russian student hires her as his lover and promises her a better life. But when his Russian mobster family comes stateside to derail the happy couple, things turn dark.
Demi Moore (The Substance)—Last year’s Golden Globe winner as an aging fitness model whose contract is not being renewed tries a desperation hail mary with a shady dark web fountain of youth company. Did we learn nothing from Frankenstein about man interfering in nature? If not, this dark comedy will drive the lesson home.
Michelle Pfeiffer (Oh. What. Fun.)—Pfeiffer is an under-awarded actor who has turned in a body of superlative performances, and while this movie has a bit of a Hallmark Christmas movie feel to it, Pfeiffer’s divine presence elevates it to a fun new Christmas classic. Taking a turn on Home Alone, this time it’s the devoted mother who is forgotten about by her selfish family on Christmas and left home from a family visit. By the time they realize she’s not there, Pfeiffer takes it on her own to travel cross country and have the only Christmas gift she wanted—to be recognized as a good mother on a talk show contest.
WINNER: Cynthia Erivo. I so wanted to award my favorite Michelle Pfeiffer with a career recognition award and to make up for the Oscar slight for her redefining Catwoman. But the material wasn’t strong enough to justify that. So I wavered between Erivo and Mikey Madison, who I didn’t consider that outstanding last year at Oscar time, but grew on me in the passing year. Erivo, on the other hand, impressed me last year but, but the buzz died down with this year’s disappointing second half coupled with her PR tour nonsense I ruled her out. But I realized I was holding the second movie against her and fell back on my Sissy Spacek defense—Erivo sang, and did she ever—high praise from someone who appreciates her talent but not her off-stage/off-screen antics. But, in an Oscar call I agreed with, don’t expect any laurels for next year’s lesser continuation. And know, with my personal prejudices against Erivo’s erratic to inflammatory behavior, this was a big decision.
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Yura Borisov (Anora)—Borisov is the best part of the movie as a Russian student who falls in love with (the idea of his relationship with) the titular prostitute. Until his mobster parents come over from the mother country to slap some sense into him.
Louis Hofmann (Lillies Not for Me)—Hoffman is heartbreaking as a young bisexual who comes to the cottage looking for his father (who’s already played into the sad story) and, enticed with the agenda of a doctor promoting the insane “treatment” for his sexuality, succumbs to tragedy as he gives in to the allure of being able to be true to his wife and child.
Manny Jacinto (Freakier Friday)—Jacinto is a perfect love interest for Lindsy Lohan in the sequel, and turnabout is fair play when her daughter disrupts the Lohan-Jacinto nuptials. Bonus points for the cool Patrick Swayze Dirty Dancing salute.
Delroy Lindo (Sinners)—Lindo gives a moving performance as an elderly musician plagued by the vampire takeover of his local gin joint.
Jack O’Connell (Sinners)—As the powerful vampire who comes to town and makes his attempt to seduce (or convert) the entire town is a horrifying monster. O’Connell also holds nothing back playing the personification of Evil.
Sean Penn (One Battle After Another)—Penn gives an over-the-top performances as a military miscreant recruited by the shadow organization working against DiCaprio. Penn’s been AWOL on the big screen and this Oscar-winning performance is a most memorable return.
Jeremy Strong (The Apprentice)—As the detestable Roy Cohn, the shadiest lawyer ever who prosecuted Julias and Ethel Rosenberg and mentored Donald Trump to what he is today….explains so much. Strong holds nothing back playing absolute Evil.
WINNER: Delroy Lindo. I called him for the Oscar, and while I can appreciate Penn’s bombastic big screen return, it’s a cartoon performance. A fantastic cartoon performance, but Lindo, after decades of minimal recognition, deserves this for his quiet restraint and reserve in a wise old timer who is facing the worst night of his decreasing life. It’s easy to act when you’re over the top. It’s more effective if you can be real.
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Ana D’Armo (Eden)—In an unexpected film choice for Ron Howard, D’Armo (Blonde) is the liveliest character with the best screentime as a European Baroness who wants to establish a huge commercial resort on Law’s quiet island respite. The movie doesn’t come to life until her arrival as she ignites the plot and the screen.
Ariana Grande-Butera (Wicked)—The Pop princess impresses in her movie debut, but the fact remains we’re only getting half a performance (-). But she sings (+)
Chase Infinity (One Battle After Another)—Taylor got all the attention, but Infinity is the actress who draws you in with the most real performance as DiCaprio’s daughter who develops her mother’s strength when she’s kidnapped by their old nemesis.
Jayme Lawson (Sinners)—Lawson is charming as the other Jordan brother’s love interest, an aspiring singer gaining her confidence.
Amy Madigan (Weapons)—Is exactly as over-the-top as Penn is in his category, but in a significantly more fun way.
Wunmi Mosaku (Sinners)—Mosaku is the grounding character of the supernatural crime story, the mother of one of Jordan’s brothers’ children who keeps his sensibility focused on his family
Teyana Taylor (One Battle After Another)—Taylor owns the first quarter of the movie and makes a mark you remember for the last three.
WINNER: Ariana Grande-Butera. In a totally unexpected result, the pop princess made a wonderful big screen debut and owned the movie as a prep school Glinda by way of Elle Woods was the brightest spot of the inflated first act of the musical, and her vocals were unexpectedly strong and true to the score, harkening back to her Broadway roots. Bonus points for convincing director Chu not to update the arrangements to sound more contemporary, but be true to the original score, a rarity in today’s musical adaptations.
BEST DIRECTOR
Ali Abbasi (The Apprentice)
Paul Thomas Anderson (One Battle After Another)
John M. Chu (Wicked)
Simon Curtis (Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale)
Ryan Coogler (Sinners)
Guillermo del Toro (Frankenstein)
Ron Howard (Eden)
WINNER: Ryan Coogler. Del Toro gives us meticulously executed visuals and sensations to tell his story. Howard is an underrated, solid go-to who is a master storyteller. Curtis tugs on the fans’ heartstrings with a sentimental finale to a wonderful saga. Anderson has a solid following and executes a mass spectacle of brutality here. Chu brings a beloved piece to meticulous life, even if it’s a little self-absorbed in his dedication and devotion tot he story over the pacing (minus points for the bone-headed decision to split the story into two way too long movies). But Coogler gives us a little of all of that while negotiating two genres of film at the same time and weaving music seamlessly into his tale. Sinners is an underrated achievement.
BEST DOCUMENTARY
Chaos: The Manson Murders—Once upon a time in mid-60s Haight-Ashbury, the seedlings of the future Manson Family, Charlie and the nuclear girls, lived down the street from a clinic where they were regulars getting constant treatment for the free-love STDs. Where the story gets interesting is that the doctor who ran the clinic was a big wheel in the CIA’s clandestine Project MKUltra, well-documented on researching the effects of mind control, with one study focusing on utilizing LSD as a catalyst. Put the pieces together and the control Manson had over his minions makes a lot more sense. And give our country credit for creating another disaster to mankind. The documentary is so good it makes me want to read the book, after listening to a hundred podcasts elaborating on the connection even further (like Manson’s parole officer who never arrested him for a constant string of violations was this doctor’s grad student TA at Stanford). How many stories does it to take to tell us not to trust our shitty government.
Love to Love You—This posthumous tribute to the career and legacy of the Queen of Disco, Donna Summer, is hosted by her family, which gives it less bite than some of the other career interviews (think the great insights provided by Tina Turner and Fay Dunaway in recent years) but this is a great valentine to a talent who defined a major musical movement, and the concert footage alone is worth it. However, how she allegedly turned on her mainstay gay fans later in her gospel career is glossed over
Surviving Ohio State—Another disgusting exposé about how yet another big money business (college sports here) turned their head till this day to ignore a sleazy doctor who made a tenured career of sexually molesting male athletes and later the male student body at large. His coaches at the time still defend him, including now US Republican Rep Jim Jordan from Ohio.
WINNER: Chaos: The Manson Murders. I’m a sucker for educating us on how shitty our government has always been, but this one takes the cake for the absurdity alone.
BEST ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
KPOP Demon Hunters—This KPOP tale of how since the beginning of time a trio of female singers have been appointed to guard the world against the takeover of demons—until the demons get the brainstorm to infiltrate in the form of a hot KPOP boyband. Add a great contemporary soundtrack and the first song from the actual soundtrack to gain radio play since Idina Menzel replaced Demi Lovat’s cover of “Let It Go” and we have the animated movie that Disney wishes they had made since their last hit, Frozen.
Zootopia 2—Disney’s cute sequel to a cute animal film, admittedly better than their usual present-day drivel but it’s no Lion King..
WINNER: KPOP Demon Hunters—It’s fascinating how a little movie with a little inspiration can topple the former giant of the category who has totally lost their way.
BEST SONG
“Golden” (KPOP Demon Hunters)
“Soda Pop” (KPOP Demon Hunters)
“Zoo” (Zootopia 2)
WINNER: “Golden”. Shakira’s”Zoo” was a decent entry from former leader Disney, but paled compared to her “Try Everything” from the original. And “Soda Pop”, performed by the hot demon boy band would have won any other year if not for the even better KPOP tune that got radio play from the leading lady trio.
LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT RECOGNITIONS
In 2025 I went back to the past to check out classic movies I’ve never seen and should have. The best were the original Boris Karloff in The Mummy, the only Universal Monster Classic that I had never seen and a worthy ending to the series, and The Maltese Falcon to immerse myself in classic 30s noir for a writing project. Also finally located That Hamilton Woman, a superior biopic starring two of the day’s best actors, Lawrence Olivier and the incomparable Vivien Leigh, fleshing out the affair of Lady Emma Hamilton and Capt. Horatio Nelson. Great bodice ripping love story, and it wasn’t just the magic of Gone With the Wind: nobody can work a period gown like Leigh.
Revisiting horror at Halloween, after Karloff, I saw Stanley Kubrick’s now classic The Shining for the first time in theatres, as well as revisiting the highly underrated horror comedy American Werewolf in London and the highly disappointing waste of my time Hocus Pocus 2. (Know when to jump off, ladies. That was the script you waited 30 years for?) I finished with my standbys. the movie adaption of the series House of Dark Shadows with the main cast retelling the Barnabas Collins origin story with 70s movie level horror and gore, and the less successful first viewing of Night of Dark Shadows which was apparently edited beyond making sense. Even Kate Jackson’s movie debut couldn’t save it.
Also revisited some classic 80s biopics, starting with Bob Fosse’s semi-autibiographical masterpiece All That Jazz, which, now that I know more about Fosse and his unconventional relationship with Gwen Verdon, makes all the sense it didn’t before. I followed these with what I will proclaim the two best of the genre that I love sharing with any new viewers I can find, Sissy Spacek’s Oscar-winning portrayal of the legendary Loretta Lynn in Coal Miner’s Daughter and Jessica Lange’s Oscar rob as 30’s movie starlet who bucked the studios Frances Farmer in Frances, (the best biopic you’ve never seen and the pinnacle of her distinguished 50 year career, and no, the makeup Oscar that year for Tootsie, as much as I adore it, didn’t even things out–it actually made things worse by robbing Lesley Ann Warren for the roll of her lifetime in Victor/Victoria).
It was also a year for anniversaries, including the hilarious Clue’s 40th (minus the Lesley Ann Warren intro that toured) and Jaws’s 50th . I also hit the homerun cycle of all the Batman movies in the theatres (in best to least order) Michelle Pfeiffer (another Oscar nominee slight) and Danny DeVito owning the screen as Catwoman and the Penguin in 1992’s Batman Returns, the original 1989 Michael Keaton/Jack Nicholson (the definitive Joker) Batman, Jim Carrey and Tommy Lee Jones causing mayhem in Gotham as the Riddler and Two-Face in 1995’s over-the-top Batman Forever, and the franchise killer with a laughable Arnold Scwarzeneggar and Uma Thurman in 1997’s embarrassing Batman & Robin, which is too absurdistly silly to even be considered camp, and unfortunately did not play better in the big screen as I remembered (of course in its original release there were years between that and the others, not a week).As a bonus, I had to travel to York
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but also got to see the Oscar-winning The Dark Knight, with Heath Ledger winning the only Academy Award for portraying a comic book villain as a most memorable Joker.
I also treated myself to a festival of my all-time favorite playwright Tennessee Williams with the original Katherine Hepburn/Elizabeth Taylor Suddenly Last Summer (not at all what I expected it to be about), and multiple versions of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (the original Liz Taylor/Paul Newman classic as well as the 80s Broadway on Showtime version with a rising Jessica Lange and then soap opera stud Daniel Hugh Kelly (Ryan’s Hope), and fun support from Charles Durning and Polly Holiday as Big Daddy and Big Mama), concluding with the ultimate, Streetcar Named Desire (not just the Oscar winning version starring Brando and again the still incomparable Miss Vivien Leigh, even a bit faded as is her Blanche duBois), but also the TV versions starring Treat Williams and a stellar Ann-Margret from the 80s and Alec Baldwin and again Jessica Lange in the 90s version, which I was fortunate enough to see as my first non-musical play live on Broadway). This Streetcar taught me the difference from stage and screen acting. Live, Lange was surprisingly somewhat underplayed but Baldwin was a downright animalistic Stanley full of sexual and physical power who owned the show. However, on TV Baldwin was slightly less powerful but the camera adored Lange, who was sublime as the fragile, destroyed Blanche, ready for every tight close-up. Same performances, different mediums, clearly different results.
As an aside I also finally watched the movie version of Williams’ literary cousin, Somerset Maughm’s Rain. Having spent my youth watching Cher send up the story’s anti-heroine Sadie Thompson week after week in the “Vamp” segment of the show, I decided to research the source and finally see where Cher’s vampy vixen originated. What I found is young, sensuous Joan Crawford’s island temptress was nothing like what Bob Mackie envisioned, but the story of temptation, salvation, and failures of the flesh was, like Williams’ deep dives into sensuality and sexuality, decades ahead of its time. Of course I followed up this classic with a lesser but more explicit Rita Hayworth remake and Gloria Swanson’s silent film debut of Miss Sadie Thompson. (In similar fashion, the search for That Hamilton Woman was also inspired by another “Vamp” skit about Lady Hamilton. It’s astonishing the vast amount I learned about history and classic movies from Sonny & Cher and Carol Burnett growing up.)
Come back next week for the Marco Awards for Live and Streaming Theatre and check out last week’s winners for Television if you’ve missed them.
PAST WINNERS
BEST MOVIE
2021 The Trial of the Chicago 7
2022 Promising Young Woman
2023 Everything, Everywhere, All at Once
2024 Oppenheimer
2025 Saturday Night
BEST ACTOR
2021 Taron Egerton (Rocketman)
2022 LaKeith Stanford (Judas & the Black Messiah)
2023 Austin Butler (Elvis)
2024 Cillian Murphy (Oppenheimer)
2025 Ralph Fiennes (Conclave)
BEST ACTRESS
2021 Meryl Streep (The Prom)
2022 Carrie Mulligan (Promising Young Woman)
2023 Michelle Yeoh (Everything, Everywhere, All at Once)
2024 Margot Robbie (Barbie)
2025 Andra Day (The Deliverance)
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
2021 Sasha Baron Cohen (The Trial of the Chicago 7)
2022 J.K. Simmons (Being the Ricardos)
2023 Ke Huy Kwan (Everything, Everywhere, All at Once)
2024 Charles Melton (May December)
2025 Keiran Culkin (A Real Pain)
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
2021 Viola Davis (Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom)
2022 Nina Arianda (Being the Ricardos)
2023 Jamie Leigh Curtis (Everything, Everywhere, All at Once)
2024 Rosamunde Pike (Saltburn)
2025 Glenn Close (The Deliverance)
BEST DIRECTOR
2022 Emerald Fennell (Promising Young Woman)
2023 Daniel Kwan & Daniel Scheinert (Everything, Everywhere, All at Once)
2024 Christopher Nolan (Oppenheimer)
2025 Jessie Eisenberg (A Real Pain)
BEST DOCUMENTARY
2021 Family Band
2022 JFK Revisited: Through the Looking Glas
2023 Lucy & Desi
2024 The Greatest Night in Pop
2025 Faye
BEST ANIMATED FILM
2021 My Hero Academia: Heroes Rising
2022 Raya & the Last Dragon
2023 Pinocchio
2024 Turning Red
2025 The Wild Robot
BEST SONG
2024 “I’m Just Ken” (Barbie)
2025 “Never Too Late” (Elton John: Touched By Gold)