Catching Up on My Thoughts on New Theatrical Movies I Saw in December 2025, aka Will Christmas Last Forever?

January 6, 2026

jmunney Cinema, Movie Reviews , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Dear Pandora Santa Claus… (CREDIT: Screenshot)

Dust Bunny

Starring: Mads Mikkelsen, Sophia Sloan, Sigourney Weaver, Sheila Atim, David Dastmalchian, Rebecca Henderson

Director: Bryan Fuller

Running Time: 106 Minutes

Rating: R

Release Date: December 12, 2025 (Theaters)

Ella McCay

Starring: Emma Mackey, Jamie Lee Curtis, Jack Lowden, Woody Harrelson, Kumail Nanjiani, Spike Fearn, Julie Kavner, Albert Brooks, Ayo Edebiri, Rebecca Hall

Director: James L. Brooks

Running Time: 115 Minutes

Rating: PG-13

Release Date: December 12, 2025 (Theaters)

Avatar: Fire and Ash

Starring: Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldaña, Sigourney Weaver, Stephen Lang, Oona Chaplin, Kate Winslet, Cliff Curtis, Joel David Moore, CCH Pounder, Edie Falco, Brendan Cowell, Jemaine Clement, Giovanni Ribisi, David Thewlis, Britain Dalton, Jack Champion, Trinity Jo-Li Bliss, Jamie Flatters, Bailey Bass, Filip Geljo, Duane Evans Jr., Matt Gerlad, Dileep Rao

Director: James Cameron

Running Time: 197 Minutes

Rating: PG-13

Release Date: December 19, 2025 (Theaters)

Hey hey, ho ho ho! And now for something completely the assessment of a few movies I saw in the run-up to the End-of-Year 2025 Holiday Season. I considered doing this before Christmas reared its festive rump, but I didn’t quite get around to it. So now here we are in January, hopefully with the benefit of a little more digestion. For this selection of flicks (whose current theatrical availability ranges from “nowhere” to “everywhere”), I shall now discuss how much seeing them and then writing about them has (or has not) kept the holiday spirit alive.

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I Chose ‘The Way of Water,’ and That Made All the Difference (In Terms of No Longer Being Parched)

December 28, 2022

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Water?! No, ‘Way’!
Way!
Excellent.
(CREDIT: Screenshot)

Starring: Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldaña, Stephen Lang, Sigourney Weaver, Kate Winslet, Cliff Curtis, Joel David Moore, CCH Pounder, Edie Falco, Brendan Cowell, Jemaine Clement, Jamie Flatters, Britain Dalton, Trinity Jo-Li Bliss, Jack Champion

Director: James Cameron

Running Time: 192 Minutes

Rating: PG-13

Release Date: December 16, 2022 (Theaters)

It’s another December in Pandora. Just as in 2009, I spent this day in 2022 at the very same theater, in the very same auditorium, along with one of my very same moviegoing companions, with the very same restaurant (albeit with a new name) for the pre-movie meal, and both times buffeted in between by some suspiciously similar extreme weather. Which is to say, it all felt like home.

I wasn’t as thrilled that Col. Quaritch was back, though. Didn’t we already take care of this guy? Villains gonna villain, I guess. The whaling expeditions were new and fascinating, at least, so thank you for that, Jimmy C. and company. Ultimately, it just felt right to be flying, running, and swimming in Pandora once again.

Grade: A Whale of a Time