I thank you for putting together this Golden Brick list because otherwise I would not have watched well almost all of these movies. But I've managed to track all of them down apart from Zodiac Killer Project. I can't even find that on the, er, unregulated streaming sites.
Anyhow Grand Theft Hamlet was the first one that I saw from the list and for me it still holds up. It's such a fresh and life-affirming film but with dark humour. In comparison the other films left me somewhat cold (even Boys Go to Jupiter) because they don't have as much heart.
I loved some contenders that were not shortlisted (Twinless, The Plague), and I loved some shortlisted titles that didn’t make the cut (Lurker and Eephus).
A part of me wishes those options were offered here rather than the nominees leaning so heavily on animation and documentary. But the truth is, I probably would not have ended up seeing Boys Go to Jupiter, The Zodiac Killer Project, Gramd Theft Halmlet, or even Predators without the Golden Brick push, so who am I to complain?!
And I did give my vote to The Zodiac Killer, a movie exploring so many ideas in so many creative ways.
Being an English Lit major with a focus on Early Modern Renaissance lit, and an avid gamer, it's should be obvious where my vote went this year. Grand Theft Hamlet reminded me of two things: humanity can always endure hardships through the communal beauty of art, and also that I never want to go back to the anxious seclusion we all felt during that time.
Every film on this list is great and worth seeking out. Thanks Adam and Josh for giving me hidden gems to seek out every year.
Aaron Biship - 2 weeks ago
Predators, with a bullet. Any movie that forces upon the viewer empathy for people they wouldn’t otherwise have, is worth its weight in gold.
Jonathan Anderson, Denver CO - 3 weeks ago
I, admittedly, have not seen all the options.
I have seen Sorry, Baby though and it is sitting at number four on my top ten, so I feel like it would be dishonest were I not to vote for it anyways.
Olin P - 3 weeks ago
I fear I may be jumping the gun (having not seen all the Golden Brick nominees yet this year) but Grand Theft Hamlet was such a shockingly special film that I wanted to throw my support towards it before this poll closes.
The premise is an obvious initial draw, but what you quickly realize, is that the documentary is so much more than it's initial premise, encompassing such a wide breadth of emotional beats (sometimes spanning several in a single scene).
I'm very happy I caught up with this before the end of the year, and I look forward to completely catching up on this list of Golden Brick nominees over the next couple of weeks.
Maggie Gilmore - 4 weeks ago
Sorry, Baby completely transfixed me and deftly handled a traumatic experience that 1 in 3 women will go through in their lifetimes with humor, grace, and space unlike I've seen on film before. Truly a meditation on female friendship, grief, and how much of a struggle it is to reclaim your life after you go through something horrible. Cannot wait to see what this director does next.
Devan Suber - 4 weeks ago
SORRY, BABY is maybe my second or third favorite film of the year but since it's already getting so much attention, I'm throwing my weight behind PREDATORS. One can imagine a much simpler version that's just "Why To Catch A Predator is bad" but David Osit asks more uncomfortable questions, explicitly and otherwise. I don't think I've seen a more excruciating scene this year than a YouTuber saying his pithy catchphrase while someone's entire life is collapsing in front of him.
As usual, I also want to give a shout-out to a couple films that either haven't been released yet or haven't gotten widely seen. The first is Charlie Polinger's THE PLAGUE, a psychological drama about the sociopathy and learned bullying between preteen boys. The other is Akinola Davies Jr.'s MY FATHER'S SHADOW, combining the memory sorting of AFTERSUN with a harder political examination that's absolutely breathtaking.
Dione Anderson - 4 weeks ago
I can’t really vote because of these 5 films, I have only seen “sorry, baby” and like Alison Wilmore said on the podcast, I didn’t think it really worked. In fact, I only saw it about 6 weeks ago and I am having difficulty even recalling much of it. Obviously it didn’t make an impact
I WOULD like to suggest a few films that could have been considered that did leave much more of their mark on my memory.????.
Urchin—Harris Dickinson’s feature directorial debut about a London street person portrayed flawlessly by Frank Dillane.
Timestalker—Alice Lowe’s second film (I believe her first was a tv movie) about a woman who falls for the wrong guy over and over again throughout history.
Eephus—Carson Lund is the writer-director of this wonderful slice-of-life film about a bunch of guys playing their last small-town baseball game on a field that’s going to be torn down as part of a construction project. This movie was a delight—it reminded me of “Bloody nose empty pockets”, another great little movie about a last-time event in a small town.
Sigh. I know nominations are over…but these could have been contenders.????
Pat O'Shea - 4 weeks ago
I voted for GTH because it’s a completely original take on loneliness, lockdown, Shakespeare and violent video games. As an English grad in my late 70s, I’m familiar with all except the last and now I’m working on my avatar. It’s a close call with Zodiac Killer Project which I saw with Q&A with director Charlie Shackleton - a funny and engaging meta film that’s quite literally about itself- the unmade absent film behind the film we’re watching is the vehicle for some incisive film criticism of the true crime genre.
There are others on the ballot that haven’t been released in UK yet, but I’m about to email you about the film I’ve just seen at our little community-owned cinema in Oxford, the first candidate for Golden Brick 2026 because it’s not released in US until Feb 2026: Pillion, debut feature of director Harry Lighton. Gay leather biker BDSM romcom, rated 18 by BBFC (=NC-17 in US), and completely fabulous. You heard it here first.
Pat, Filmspotting Family member in Oxford UK.
I thank you for putting together this Golden Brick list because otherwise I would not have watched well almost all of these movies. But I've managed to track all of them down apart from Zodiac Killer Project. I can't even find that on the, er, unregulated streaming sites.
Anyhow Grand Theft Hamlet was the first one that I saw from the list and for me it still holds up. It's such a fresh and life-affirming film but with dark humour. In comparison the other films left me somewhat cold (even Boys Go to Jupiter) because they don't have as much heart.
I loved some contenders that were not shortlisted (Twinless, The Plague), and I loved some shortlisted titles that didn’t make the cut (Lurker and Eephus).
A part of me wishes those options were offered here rather than the nominees leaning so heavily on animation and documentary. But the truth is, I probably would not have ended up seeing Boys Go to Jupiter, The Zodiac Killer Project, Gramd Theft Halmlet, or even Predators without the Golden Brick push, so who am I to complain?!
And I did give my vote to The Zodiac Killer, a movie exploring so many ideas in so many creative ways.
Being an English Lit major with a focus on Early Modern Renaissance lit, and an avid gamer, it's should be obvious where my vote went this year. Grand Theft Hamlet reminded me of two things: humanity can always endure hardships through the communal beauty of art, and also that I never want to go back to the anxious seclusion we all felt during that time.
Every film on this list is great and worth seeking out. Thanks Adam and Josh for giving me hidden gems to seek out every year.
Predators, with a bullet. Any movie that forces upon the viewer empathy for people they wouldn’t otherwise have, is worth its weight in gold.
I, admittedly, have not seen all the options.
I have seen Sorry, Baby though and it is sitting at number four on my top ten, so I feel like it would be dishonest were I not to vote for it anyways.
I fear I may be jumping the gun (having not seen all the Golden Brick nominees yet this year) but Grand Theft Hamlet was such a shockingly special film that I wanted to throw my support towards it before this poll closes.
The premise is an obvious initial draw, but what you quickly realize, is that the documentary is so much more than it's initial premise, encompassing such a wide breadth of emotional beats (sometimes spanning several in a single scene).
I'm very happy I caught up with this before the end of the year, and I look forward to completely catching up on this list of Golden Brick nominees over the next couple of weeks.
Sorry, Baby completely transfixed me and deftly handled a traumatic experience that 1 in 3 women will go through in their lifetimes with humor, grace, and space unlike I've seen on film before. Truly a meditation on female friendship, grief, and how much of a struggle it is to reclaim your life after you go through something horrible. Cannot wait to see what this director does next.
SORRY, BABY is maybe my second or third favorite film of the year but since it's already getting so much attention, I'm throwing my weight behind PREDATORS. One can imagine a much simpler version that's just "Why To Catch A Predator is bad" but David Osit asks more uncomfortable questions, explicitly and otherwise. I don't think I've seen a more excruciating scene this year than a YouTuber saying his pithy catchphrase while someone's entire life is collapsing in front of him.
As usual, I also want to give a shout-out to a couple films that either haven't been released yet or haven't gotten widely seen. The first is Charlie Polinger's THE PLAGUE, a psychological drama about the sociopathy and learned bullying between preteen boys. The other is Akinola Davies Jr.'s MY FATHER'S SHADOW, combining the memory sorting of AFTERSUN with a harder political examination that's absolutely breathtaking.
I can’t really vote because of these 5 films, I have only seen “sorry, baby” and like Alison Wilmore said on the podcast, I didn’t think it really worked. In fact, I only saw it about 6 weeks ago and I am having difficulty even recalling much of it. Obviously it didn’t make an impact
I WOULD like to suggest a few films that could have been considered that did leave much more of their mark on my memory.????.
Urchin—Harris Dickinson’s feature directorial debut about a London street person portrayed flawlessly by Frank Dillane.
Timestalker—Alice Lowe’s second film (I believe her first was a tv movie) about a woman who falls for the wrong guy over and over again throughout history.
Eephus—Carson Lund is the writer-director of this wonderful slice-of-life film about a bunch of guys playing their last small-town baseball game on a field that’s going to be torn down as part of a construction project. This movie was a delight—it reminded me of “Bloody nose empty pockets”, another great little movie about a last-time event in a small town.
Sigh. I know nominations are over…but these could have been contenders.????
I voted for GTH because it’s a completely original take on loneliness, lockdown, Shakespeare and violent video games. As an English grad in my late 70s, I’m familiar with all except the last and now I’m working on my avatar. It’s a close call with Zodiac Killer Project which I saw with Q&A with director Charlie Shackleton - a funny and engaging meta film that’s quite literally about itself- the unmade absent film behind the film we’re watching is the vehicle for some incisive film criticism of the true crime genre.
There are others on the ballot that haven’t been released in UK yet, but I’m about to email you about the film I’ve just seen at our little community-owned cinema in Oxford, the first candidate for Golden Brick 2026 because it’s not released in US until Feb 2026: Pillion, debut feature of director Harry Lighton. Gay leather biker BDSM romcom, rated 18 by BBFC (=NC-17 in US), and completely fabulous. You heard it here first.
Pat, Filmspotting Family member in Oxford UK.