Absent Friends 2025

 I post this poem every New Year's Eve.  But this year, it means more.

   

On this night of New Year's Eve,

I do much very much believe

that we should try to make amends

and call to mind our absent friends.

A year has past and all the while

they stood with us in times of trial

and joy for what fortune sends

even though they be absent friends.

Yet pulled and torn from one another,

though loved as dear as sister, brother.

The bonds we make, life often rends,

and fills our lives with absent friends.

But friends, though distant, are always near

they live in minds and hearts most dear

in deeper ways than man comprehends

So raise a glass to our absent friends.

-WL GRAYSON

Catholic Skywalker Awards: Best in Movies 2025

 

With 2025 coming to a close, it is time for us to choose what the best entertainment of the year was.  And just as the Academy Awards have their "Oscars", so too the Catholic Skywalker Awards have their "Kal-El's"

 I have gone through as many movies as possible this year. This year I have seen only about 47 movies to come out this year.  There are some (like Is This Thing On?) that I did not get a chance to view before the end of the year.  Also, of the movies I've seen, I will only be counting theatrical movies.  For the last few years I have included streaming-only films as well because COVID limited our choices.  But now that everything is open and has been open for a while, I will no longer be including those streaming movies for award consideration.  

So of the movies  I've seen this year, here are the winners:

(My appreciation and judgment of a film should not be taken as a recommendation. Choosing to watch any of these films is the reader's responsibility)

BEST PICTURE

Superman

 

From my review:

Writer/Director James Gunn throws you into the deep end at the very start of the movie.  He completely skips the entire origin story.  In fact, he skips what would normally be the first act of a movie.  We are told that three weeks earlier Superman (David Corenswet) stopped a war between two nations and that three hours earlier one of those nations sent a metahuman to Metropolis who beat Superman so badly that he had to retreat.  The movie begins with that shot from the teaser of Superman crashing into Antarctica to get to the Fortress of Solitude.  There are no flashbacks to get you caught up, instead the movie pushes forward at breakneck speed.  In the Fortress, we encounter a looped message from Superman's Kryptonian parents Jor-El and Lara who tell him that he is to do good for the Earth.  But the rest of the message has been corrupted and has never been heard.  But this message established Superman's whole mission of being a hero.

The story centers around Lex Luthor (Nicholas Hoult) and his obsession to take Superman down.  During these exploits, Superman is sometimes assisted by "The Justice Gang," consisting of Guy Gardner "Green Lantern" (Nathan Fillion), Mr. Terrific (Edi Gathegi), and Hawkgirl (Isabela Merced).  As Luthor's plans continue to unfold Superman's life begins to fall apart all the while Lois Lane (Rachel Brosnahan) and Jimmy Olsen (Skyler Gisondo) work behind the scenes to help him.

I don't want to give away too much of the plot, because watching it unfold is part of the fun.

Why did I love this movie so much?

Part of it is that it feels like the comic books I read come to life.  Moreso than most superhero films, is able to translate that feeling of reading good comic books.  Most of the time these either go too goofy and campy or they go too "realistic."  This movie is bright and colorful with imaginative spectacle while at the same time having clear, distinct, and interesting characters along with a strong dramatic through-line.

Perhaps my feelings are colored by the fact that Gunn nails the essence of the comic characters.  Superman is the ultimate aspirational hero.  He embodies goodness.  I can tell you when I went from liking to loving the movie is when in a moment of frustration Superman yells, "Good Gosh!"  His refusal to take God's name in vain won me over.

But the other characters are also interpreted very well.  Guy Gardner is a jerk who you love and that is how is portrayed.  He is frustratingly dismissive and arrogant, but you just can't help but love him because of this as he knocks people down with a giant green middle finger.  Gunn also perfectly translated Mr. Terrific to the big screen.  He is a genius who is always the smartest guy in the room who and it frustrates him so much to have to slow down and explain everything.  I love how Mr. Terrific's biggest problem with Luthor doesn't seem to be his evil, but his shoddy science.  In the James Gunniest scene in the film, we also get to see Terrific take down an entire group of bad guys while an obscure pop song plays in the background.  Luthor is played with an energetic evil.  Lois is portrayed as smart and strong without having to take Superman down a notch.

A note here about the dog, Krypto. I was skeptical about his incorporation into the movie as too campy.  But Gunn makes it work.  While Krypto is often present to help Superman get out of a jam, he is almost as unruly and destructive as some of the villains.  The best way I can describe him is chaotic good: when he shows up he could just as easily make things worse as better.  The movie captures that love you have for an unruly dog that doesn't understand how you could be upset when he loves you so much.

...

Thematically the movie works incredibly well.  This Superman is a young man who is still trying to find who he is.  He has the simple trust of a Kansas farm boy and he sees the world in those very simple terms.  There is a scene towards the beginning where Lois interviews Superman.  The scene actually goes on for a long time and should grind the movie to a halt, but instead I found it fascinating as Lois pushed Superman to reflect on his actions.  Lois questions everyone and everything as a good skeptical reporter should do.  Superman trusts his moral compass because he feels the responsibility to protect the innocent.  Neither are necessarily wrong, but the conflict leads to some great character sparks.  

In one of the movie's most touching scenes, Pa Kent (Pruitt Taylor Vince) has a heart to heart with Clark about the role of parents and children and identity.  It is a simple moment but profound in its simplicity.  And it is the simple, country decency of Pa and Ma Kent (Neva Howell) that form the invisible backbone of the movie.

The performances are generally excellent. Corenswet steps into the role perfectly.  His Superman is not the legendary icon that Christopher Reeves was.  Nor is he the angsty and brooding Henry Cavill.  There is an innocence to Corenswet's performance that is different than in most interpretations of the character on screen.  I heard a reviewer say that he plays him like a large boy and his dog trying to do his best in a complicated world.  Brosnahan is a fantastic Lois.  I completely buy her chemistry with Corenswet along with their conflicts.  Her strength and intelligence is always present but always in a feminine and not masculine way.  Hoult's Luthor is a step above Jessie Eisenberg's.  He talks fast and thinks fast and is so casually cruel about life that he is the perfect foil to the life-loving Superman.  Fillion plays Guy Gardner to perfect.  But a real standout is Gathegi as Mr. Terrific.  On the page, this character could come off as robotic, because he is at times rather cold.  But instead of cold, Gathegi makes him cool.  He has a swagger and a confidence that make you want to be like him.  And the Kents play there part with an honest country simplicity.  Ma keeps calling Pa a "mush" because he is overly emotional, but it comes off with less of a criticism but more of a tender teasing.  These two aren't secretly sophisticated sages.  They are just a plain man and his wife who seem to embody hard work, love, and family.  

...

But above all, in 2025 particularly, I left the theater feeling good.  I was shocked how few theatrical movies this year were capable of doing that.  

RUNNERS UP

Fantastic Four: First Steps

David

Song Sung Blue

Wicked: For Good

BEST DIRECTOR

James Gunn- Superman

Original photo by Erik Drost

James Gunn is a very hit and miss director for me.  I loved Guardians of the Galaxy and loathed The Suicide Squad.  He is a very Jekyll and Hyde director, indulging in both his aspirational and deviant tendencies.  Fortunately for Superman, he was more akin to the Guardians than The Squad.

As I wrote in my review for the movie:

"Gunn definitely brought his A-game when directing this movie.  Even now some of his visuals are sticking with me.  He knows how to make Superman look iconic (as when he is rising out of a destroyed building) or romantic (as when he flying in air while kissing Lois) or vulnerable (as when he is beaten up in the fetal position in the ice of Antarctica).  This is a fun movie to watch.  He wisely incorporates the John Williams score that Zack Snyder avoided so much.  But Gunn uses it to maximum effect for both thrills and inspiration."

I was also shocked at how well he was able to keep you engaged in the non-superheroics.  The long interview scene with Clark and Lois is just as interesting and fascinating as any other part of the movie and it did not require tights and CGI.  He showed that he understood that unless we cared about the characters as people, no amount of spectacle would draw us in.

RUNNERS UP

James Chu - Wicked: For Good

Joseph Koskinski - F1: The Movie

Craig Brewer - Song Sung Blue

Christopher McQuarrie - Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning

BEST ACTOR

Dwayne Johnson - The Smashing Machine

From my review: 

"The thing that sticks out the most about this movie are the performances.  This is hands-down Dwayne Johnson's best performance.  The makeup job on him is so good that he is sometimes unrecognizable.  In his career, Johnson has leaned heavily on his natural charisma and it has gotten him far.  But here, he has to let go of most of those tricks and builds a subtle, complex character.  His Mark Kerr is absolutely fascinating.  He is a savage in the ring.  But when he is in public he is so measured and gentle.  You can feel the realism of the performance, where Mark's size would scare people so he has to go out of his way to put people at ease.  But when his temper flares, its terrifying.  He is not an oversimplified gentle giant.  Instead, he is a shaken soda can with the cap ready to explode."

RUNNERS UP

Hugh Jackman - Song Sung Blue

Timothee Chalamet - Marty Supreme

Jack Quad - Novocaine

Brendan Fraser - Rental Family

BEST ACTRESS

Kate Hudson - Song Sung Blue

What I appreciated most about Hudson's performance in this movie was how realistic it felt.  Some my find her accent a little thick, but to me it felt very natural to someone native to that area.  Hudson plays someone who, in many ways, is an ordinary working-class woman.  But in that ordinariness, she reflects so much of our own lived experience.  She has very modest life-goals, but still has the desire to shine as someone special.  And in her ordinariness, she is not a simplistic saint.  Hudson shows us all her flaws, petty desires, and other foibles alongside her basic decency.  And when the story takes a turn, Hudson reveals even more depth as a woman who loses herself and tries to find the strength to find herself again.  All the while, she shows off her wonderful singing talent so that you can see her charisma shine through.

RUNNERS UP

Vanessa Kirby - Fantastic Four: First Steps

Emily Blunt - The Smashing Machine

Cynthia Erivo - Wicked: For Good

Elizabeth Olson - Eternity

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Mark Hamill - The Life of Chuck

I actually think is one of Hamill's best on-screen performances.  His character plays the grandfather of the main character, who is a young dreamer.  Hamill's accountant grandfather tries to steer young Chuck away from an artistic

life with music and into a practical and stable life of accounting.  What could have been a stereotypical wet-blanket of a character instead has surprising depth.  He gives a beautiful speech about how noble it is to be an accountant and magical math is.  Credit is due here to the writer, but Hamill is the one who makes that speech come alive with a sense of gentle, generous wisdom.  All the while you see as his character carries a dark secret that he tries to shield away from his young grandson.  While I did not like the movie, this performance was excellent.

RUNNERS UP

Calumn Turner - Eternity

Nicholas Hout - Superman

Mason Thames - Regretting You

Joseph Quinn - Fantastic Four: First Steps

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Mia Sara - The Life of Chuck

 

Mis Sara still has all the charisma she had in Ferris Bueller's Day Off without behaving like she did when portraying a teenager.  She plays her part as Chuck's grandmother with life and energy to directly foil her fuddy-duddy husband without ever coming off as a henpecking girlboss.  Her affection and chemistry with Hamill is excellent as her performance does not dominate his, but gives it balance.  She encourages Chuck's creativity with spirit and energy and comes off as the fun grandma that many of us had.  Because of her, you understand Chuck's deep emotional connection to music because it essential to Sara's performance.

RUNNERS UP

Kerry Condon - F1: The Movie

Mari Yamamoto - Rental Family

Karen Gillen - The Life of Chuck

Ella Anderson - Song Sung Blue

BEST SCREENPLAY

Hikari and Stephen Blahut– Rental Family

Rental Family is such an interesting movie because it challenges you with its premise: selling emotional catharsis with performance.  In the film, a company hires actors to play parts to live out moments for emotional fulfillment for clients in Japan.  For example, they act as mourners for someone who pretends to be having a funeral so that he can hear people say good things about him before he dies.  But the company also sells lies.  The main story revolves around Brendan Fraser's character lying to a little girl pretending to be her American father.  

Normally, I would reject this premise out of hand as a horrible set up of deception.  But to the credit of the writers, they draw us in to the complexity of the situation.  First, they point out that there is a big stigma around mental health counseling in Japanese culture, so what they do is the equivalent of therapy.  Second, the story plays out the complications and consequences of telling lies in a way that confronts its own premise head on.  What I loved about the writing was that it invited me as an audience member to look at the situation and use my own judgment regarding the character's actions.  It allowed me to see both sides of the situation without putting its thumb on the scales.  And even when I decided who I felt, there was enough depth for me to have complicated feelings about it.  Depth of this kind is rare in movies and I greatly enjoyed it here.

RUNNERS UP

The Naked Gun

Novocaine

KPop Demon Hunters

Fantastic Four: First Steps

BEST MAKEUP

Wicked: For Good

As with the previous Wicked film, the makeup was excellent.  It seems obvious, but the green skin on Elphaba feels so natural to the character that you never once question it.  As as some of the transformations occur throughout the movie, you can feel the textures of the characters in the makeup.

RUNNERS-UP

Superman

Fantastic Four: First Steps

Predator: Badlands

Captain America: Brave New World

BEST SPECIAL EFFECTS

Superman

 

Not only are the special effects excellent, but James Gunn knows how to use them.  He knows how to make Superman look iconic, but he also knows how to have fun with the effects, as when Guy Gardner destroys tanks with the middle finger.  

RUNNERS-UP

Fantastic Four: First Steps

How To Train Your Dragon

Tron: Ares

Thunderbolts

BEST SCORE

John Powell and Stephen Schwartz - Wicked: For Good

There was a lot of good music this year, but you cannot beat the score for one of the great Broadway musicals of all time.

RUNNERS-UP

Superman

David

Fantastic Four: First Steps

How to Train Your Dragon

BEST COSTUMES

Wicked: For Good

 

As I wrote last year when the Wicked won this award: These were some of the most inventive and creative costumes of the year.  Everything in Oz feels like it has a touchstone in the real world, but it hyper-stylized from the overly-feminine wardrobe of Galinda or the unique frames of Elphaba's eyeglasses.  The entire costume plot transports you to a whole new world.

RUNNERS-UP

Superman

Fantastic Four: First Steps

Tron: Ares

Song Sung Blue

BEST SONG

"Follow the Light" - David

I was surprised by the fact that this award did not go to something from Wicked: For Good, but "Follow the Light" is not only a banger of a song, but the movie uses it to maximum effect both in its introduction and its reprise that it is staying with me and inspiring me.

Below are the list of all the films of 2025 that I have seen, ranked in order of excellence (movies highlighted in blue originated on streaming:

Superman

Fantastic Four: First Steps

David

Wicked: For Good

Song Sung Blue

Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning

How to Train Your Dragon

F1

Novocaine

The Naked Gun

John Candy: I Like Me

KPop Demon Hunters

Rental Family

Fackham Hall

Nonnas

Thunderbolts

Tron: Ares

The Smashing Machine

Nobody 2

From the World of John Wick: Ballerina

Predator: Badlands

Anaconda

Captain America: Brave New World

The Accountant 2

Karate Kid: Legends

Regretting You

Playdate

Guns Up

Avatar: Fire and Ash

The Gorge

Thursday Murder Club

Jurassic World: Rebirth

Weapons

Sinners

Merv

Love Hurts

Happy Gilmore 2

Spinal Tap II: The End Continues

Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere

The Running Man

Roofman

The Life of Chuck

Wake Up, Dead Man

Eternity

Marty Supreme

Snow White

A Minecraft Movie

So that is my list and the conclusion of this year's Catholic Skywalker Awards.  

Thoughts?

Catholic Skywalker Awards: Best in Television 2025

  With 2025 coming to a close, it is time for us to choose what the best entertainment of the year was.  And just as the Academy Awards have their "Oscars", so too the Catholic Skywalker Awards have their "Kal-El's"

To reiterate:  the reasons for choosing a Superman statue as it's award, and not something from Star Wars are 3-fold:

1.  The Catholic Skywalker Awards will cover movies, television, and comic books.  Superman is an icon for all three.
2.  The pose he has here, revealing his inner hero, is symbolic of the revelation of truth and beauty that we should find in all good art.
3.  It's a statue I actually own, so I can use this photo on my blog.

And now we here at Catholic Skywalker would like to celebrate the best in Television this year.

There are a lot of wonderful (so I'm told) programs out there that, unfortunately, time has not permitted me to see such as  Pluribus (I only was able to watch one episode) or Reacher this year.

Shows we watch:

DRAMA	COMEDY	REALITY
Will Trent	Going Dutch	Dancing with the Stars
Paradise	George and Mandy's First Marriage	Survivor
High Potential	The Paper	The Amazing Race
The Chosen	DMV	Welcome to Wrexham
Cobra Kai	Only Murders in the Building	The Floor
Severance	A Man on the Inside	The 1% Club
The Rookie	SNL	On Brand
Poker Face	Animal Control	Celebrity Weakest Link
Pluribus	St. Denis Medical	What's in the Box?
Andor	Simpsons
Sheriff Country	Tumbled
The Pitt	Mythic Quest
Suits LA
Stranger Things

DISCLAIMER:

More so than in years past, it has been difficult to find television shows that are not morally compromised.  This is not a new problem.  Television throughout the years has portrayed and promoted lifestyles that are contrary to the Gospel.  Shows like Cheers, Night Court, Friends, The Big Bang Theory, etc have characters living in immoral ways without addressing that context.  This is especially true of the comedies.  In drama, you can deal with the complexities of human sin in a more ambiguous way than in the modern comedy.

That does not mean that just because a show has good morals that it is therefore a good piece of art.  But a show with bad morals makes the show less artistically excellent.  In fact, there are many people who will not engage with any of these shows because of their content.  I am someone who does engage with the content.  Particularly in the area of the sitcom, my choice of the best of the year is not something that excuses the content.  It is a statement of the shows excellence in comparison to the other shows in the category.  And as I said, almost every show has something that is morally compromising.  Therefore, keep that in mind when I am awarding the shows.

Best Drama:

Severance

This show could easily fall apart as "mystery box" show.  This is where there is a high-concept hook in the beginning that eventually goes nowhere.  This show is only in season 2, so the eventual payoff could be a let down.  But this second season was fantastic (with only one bad episode).

The season begins from Innie Mark's perspective, having just come back to the severed floor after spending time in the outside world.  Being trapped into his perspective helped lock the audience in to his dillemma of not knowing what is real and false.  This narrative device of forcing you take the character's perspective is one of the things that bonds you to them and drives the story.

But two things make this show work so well: the intellectual and the emotional.  Sometimes shows emphasize one over the other, but this show does a fantastic balance of both.  The show makes you stretch your imagination and perspective.  In an episode where the innies are out in the woods, one of them is freaking out because he sees the sky for the first time and says, "There's no ceiling!"  The show also offers you a number of unexpected ethical questions.  For example, when a woman begins to fall in love with the innie version of her outie husband, is that infidelity or not?  If someone is a bad person as an outie but a good person as an innie, does at least part of them go to heaven.

All of this is great, but the show pulls you in with such a strong emotional hook, especially for Mark.  Both the innie and outie versions are in such a state of desperation and emotional struggle that your heart breaks for both versions of him.  This is true all the way to the very last scene of the season where you are filled with so many contradictory emotions that you feel like you are going to explode.

As I said, the series could end up being a shaggy dog story.  But as of now, I am still completely hooked and desperately want to know where the story will end.

Runners-up

-The Chosen

-The Pitt

-Andor

-Cobra Kai

Best Comedy

A Man on the Inside

For the second year in a row, this is the best comedy on television.  There are a number of reasons for this.

First of all, the comedic performances are great.  Veteran actors like Ted Danson and Mary Steinbergen are at the top of their game, making it look easy.  The story brings you in with an intriguing mystery.  The story has nice twists and turns while making great comedy from the feeling that the modern world is passing you by.

But above all, when the show is over, you just feel better.  I know this may sound like a simply and modest reward, but it should not be overlooked.  While awkward comedy, biting satire, and slapstick all of their place, there is something special about watching a show where you become quickly endeared to the characters and enjoy spending time with them.  

And as I am getting older, I am beginning to appreciate more and more the feeling that life still has great joy, adventure, and value even as we age.

Runners-up

Mythic Quest

Georgie and Mandy's First Marriage

Simpsons

Animal Control

Best Actor in a Drama

Adam Scott - Severance

Adam Scott's performance has been strong for the entire series.  This year, he showed even more range and depth than I have ever seen in him before.  This is especially true as his innie and outie have a "conversation."  What is amazing about that performances is that they are so clearly two different people but Scott does not cheat by giving one a fake affectation to clearly differentiate the two.  Instead, you get a feel for each character based on the subtle differences in how they look, move, and talk.  

But the moment that stayed with me and still stays with me is a simple line that broke my heart: "But I want to live with you."  It was delievered with such depth of pain and yet an almost child-like innocence that it felt almsot like Scott was taking his heart out of his chest and putting on display to the whole world.  A beautiful performance.

Runners-up
Noah Wyle - The Pitt

Diego Luna - Andor

Sterling K. Brown - Paradise

Jonathan Roumie - The Chosen

Best Actress in a Drama

Britt Lower - Severance

If I had to describe this performance in one word it would be this: layers.

Lower had to play a character who was pretending to be another character who was faking feelings that also became partial real.  She had to work in all of those layers of performance while never giving away the mystery completely so that it was there if you were looking for it, but you couldn't tell if you were reading into the performance too much.

That is such a tricky balancing act while maintaining a true core of emotion.  It would be so easy to play on character completely evil and the other as good, but there is enough nuance in her performance that she lets us see the humanity and flaws in both.

Runners-up

Julianne Nicholson - Paradise

Natasha Lyonne - Poker Face

Genevieve O'Reilly - Andor

Katherine LaNasa - The Pitt

Best Supporting Actor, Drama

Stellan Skarsgard - Andor

One of the things about Andor  that I resisted for a long time was the moral ambiguity that was introduced into the galaxy far, far away.  But one of the reasons that I was able to embrace all of the show's complexity was because of Skarsgard's performance.  His Luthen must live in the duplicity of spycraft while making hard moral decisions.  I know he comes off as cold to some, but what I saw in this performance was someone who hardened his heart to do what he perceived as the greater good.  This season particularly saw his life and usefulness begin to wane, which is something that he always expected to happen.  And despite all of his flaws, Skarsgard let us into his morally complex world and invite us to know him and not judge him.

Runners-up

James Marsden - Paradise

John Turturro - Severance

Elijah Alexander - The Chosen

Kyle Soller - Andor

 

Best Supporting Actress, Drama

Adria Arjona - Andor

This could have been a simple, flat, "strong female character" that actresses like Emily Blunt lament are ubiquitous in the movie industry.  But Bix is given such a rich emotional life.  She is alternately terrified, brave, compassionate, cold, faithless, and faithful all without feeling false or forced.  Arjona never loses her charisma as she drags Bix through the emotional depths, moving us with her strength as she pushes on step by step against impossible odds.  There is not a moment that feels sure for the character and so we want her desperately to make it to a happy ending.

Runners-up

Elizabeth Tabish -  The Chosen

Pattie Harrison  - Poker Face

Fiona Douriff - The Pitt

Maggie Grace - Suits LA

Best Actor, Comedy

Ted Danson - A Man on the Inside

Danson continues to make this one of his most endearing characters and that is saying a lot.  His Charles Nieuwendyk is this wonderful combination of exceedingly brilliant and obliviously clueless.  Forty years ago, he may have been a suave Sherlock Holmes.  But with his age, he feels almost like a time traveler who has come to a distant, exotic future.  

While this year he did not have to go to the emotional depths of last season, Danson continues to draw you in with comedic and dramatic skill.  His character is almost Chestertonian in his delight at the adventure he is on.  That isn't to say he plays him like an idealized innocent.  Danson lets us laugh at him and with him as he begins to navigate the complexities of new relationships.  But Danson is so charming that I will continue to watch him should the show return for another season.

Runners-up

Rob Mac - Mythic Quest

Montana Jordan - Georgie and Mandy's First Marriage

Joel McHale - Animal Control

Martin Short - Only Murders in the Building

Best Actress, Comedy

Charlotte Nicdao - Mythic Quest

Nicdao's Poppy Li is one of the most high-strung characters I have ever seen on television.  She plays her with all of her flaws in a way that could almost repulse you.  She captures so well the self-centered nature of so many of those with the artistic temperament.  But Nicdoa infuses Poppy with enough vulnerability and humanity to keep you hooked, even through all of her tantrums and hysterics.  Nicdao lets us see the vulnerable core of Poppy not just for dramatic effect, but especially for the comedic payoff.  

Runners-up

Taylor Misiak - Going Dutch

Selena Gomez - Only Murders in the Building

Chelsea Frei - The Paper

Emily Osment- Georgie and Mandy's First Marriage

Best Supporting Actor, Comedy

David Hornsby - Mythic Quest

Hornsby has been brining his A-game to his character of David Brittlesbee on Mythic Quest for all four seasons.  This year he pushed his character even more by making him simultaneously sympathetic, pathetic, and hysterical.  His frustration at working with those with artistic temperaments is incredibly relatable as he tries to bring some kind of practical perspective to insane plans, all the while getting flummoxed by how everyone walks over him.  He is a man with no backbone who cannot understand why he is a doormat.  Hornsby lets us laugh at him while also feeling for his every hurt feeling.

Runners-up

Danny Pudi - Going Dutch

Danny Pudi - Mythic Quest

Will Sasso - Georgie and Mandy's First Marriage

Tim Meadows - DMV

Best Supporting Actress, Comedy

Mary Steenbergen - A Man on the Inside

Steenburgen proves in this season why she has been a popular working actress for several decades.  She effortlessly plays the brilliant, free-spirited love interest of this season.  She is fascinating and frustrating, delivering her lines with her trademark falsetto voice that imply innocence but cover her clever mischief.  Her chemistry with Danson is obvious and natural, but she has a great ability to annoy you without ever repelling you.  And all the while, she remains a suspect in this season's caper so that she plays the character with enough ambiguity to keep you guessing.

Runners-up

Jessie Ennis - Mythic Quest

Rachel Bay Jones - Georgie and Mandy's First Marriage

Grace Palmer - Animal Control

Molly Kearney - DMV

Stay tuned for the Catholic Skywalker Awards for Best Movies of 2025