✶ 2025 Media in Review ✶

• Film: my favourite 8 of the 40 new films I watched this year.
• TV: the 2 shows that I got up to date on and loved.
• Books: my favourite 5 out of the 13 books I read this year.
• Albums: the 3 I loved, 2 of which were new releases.
• YouTube: the videos that have impacted me the most this year from my 2025 playlist.
• Games: the two games I saw the credits for.
• Credits: links for all the unique asset on this page.

Film

These are in order of when I watched them this year. My goal to watch 50 new films was not reached (summer work really kicked my arse), but I got to 40! Which is probably the most new films I've watched in a year ever. If you want to see all of them, check out my letterboxd.

Chungking Express

This film was recommended to me in tandem with Fallen Angels by one of my closest friends. He prefers Fallen Angels, loves Takeshi Kaneshiro, and can't look at tinned pinapple without tearing up. Although I do like Fallen Angels, for me Chungking Express and it's less comedic romance themings were more impactful. The second half too, it feels more grounded and romantic and less in the spirit of Fallen Angels, I'm also a huge Faye Wong fan. I said in my letterboxd review "the way 663 and faye look at each other at the end of this film" and that sums up my love for the love and heartbreak in this film. I love all the lengths Faye goes too and the weird obsessive behaviour she engages in to deal with her feelings about the policeman who has fallen for her. Although of course if someone did that irl it would be... horrifying... There is something charming and almost childish about her behaviour. The person who recommended these films to me and the subject and actions of this film are very intertwined, which makes my feelings about it all the more raw. Kar-Wai's visual style is so distinct that I think it'd be a novel watch for anyone who's "into film". I think it will become a film I rewatch often.

Blue

After watching Fallen Angels, and browsing 90s/00s similar aesthetic films on Tumblr, I came across Blue. I'm pretty sure it was from this tumblr post recommending lesbian romance films from Asia. I chose the first one and gave it a watch, and now Blue is in my top films of all time. The quietness of this film was so engaging. I was suprised at such the long, ambient shots that are without music — there is music in the film, a peaceful, few seconds of folk style strings occasionally that reminds me of... (I think it's a children's film?? or a video game... where a little sound occurs when the character figures something out or passes something important). There are incredibly long shots of the environment or focused on a character as they walk somewhere or a group of characters chatting and it made me feel like such a fly on the wall, like I was participating in the quiet intimacy that exists between the two leads. I also like how their relationship is shown. There are not an endless amount of queer films from Japan, with the culture and law in the contry not being the most supportive, and so I wonder if the quietness and almost ambiguity of their intimacy is a solely stylistic choice or a cultural one as well. Either way their love is quietly beautiful.

Women Talking

If you saw my review soon after I watched the film then you'll know how impactful I found it. This is such an all star cast going through such an intense and difficult sitution that is based on the real experiences of (cult-like) religious groups. The rollercoaster I went on with thinking the film was set in the 1800s then early 1900s then finding out it's 2010 was very jarring. All the leads were absolutely phenomenal and the weight of their decision and the turmoil they face is captured so well. Rooney Mara's character was devastating. The kind of calm she redated contrasted by the heartbreak that was both from the trauma committed by the men of her community and knowing she couldn't stay is so masterful. Jessie Buckley's very upset character was hard to watch, understanding the fact that she is so reluctant to leave but wanting them all to... ugh! Makes me very excited to watch Hamnet. I really liked Ben Whishaw's character. Having a male character that works with the women is very hard. He wants/has to because he can write and truely cares for his community (the boys he teaches and all the women and girls), but him and us knowing the trauma the men he resides has caused creates such complicated relationships with him and the leads. Until the end I din't know if they would do nothing, stay and fight, or leave and so the whole film was so well and continously tensioned.

My Neighbour Totoro

I'm trying to watch all of Studio Ghibli's films, as you can see in my tracking page, and this is a classic that I should've watched sooner. I sadly did not grow up with Ghibli films, I watched my first at like 14 when my then-gf got me to watch Spirited Away. I wish I watched this as a child but I'm glad that I finally got to watch it now. This was unbelievably sweet but was still so emotional for me. In my review I said "it might be the perfect film" which, although it isn't ranked as my no. 1 it immediately became a comfort film. I loved Mei and Satsuki. Ghibli makes children so wonderful in their films. The mum's health and the wider family story was so well intertwined with the whimsicalness of Totoro and Catbus. As I said "it wasn't made out to be a sob story but was gently embedded and gave explanation to the family's life". It felt so natural and was such a good look at what it's like to be a child and deal with familial illness. The way the kids, particularly Satsuki, conceptualises what's going on. The way we don't see much of the mum, and how the dad is clearly affected but we only see it from the children's perspectives. I wonder if I'll love it as much on a rewatch.

They Cloned Tyrone

This was such a good watch! After I watched John Boyega's Last Meal, where he was promoting this film, I gave it a watch. This was so fun. The costuming and style were really cool, each main character looks so distinct — particularly juxtoposed with the scientists and government characters. The dynamics between the three main characters is so funny and interesting. Of course much of the film is commentary on U.S. hood culture and the position those who are in those areas hold both within wider society and in their own communities. And so the three representing very distinct but interconnect people was really cool. Similarly, when the community works together we see very distinct "characters" of people with strong senses of who they are and their place in their town. And yet, they subvert their own relaitonships and characters when they do work together to combat what's happening. We were shown the intrinsic care that everyone has for the people around them, through their plans to root out the scientist, even if they don't express it and come into conflict generally. Of course the film has a lot of strong overt messaging but it never feels unnatural or unwarrented and the humour is excellently woven in it too. Juel Taylor was a great writer/director for the film and it's clear that a lot of care went into its production.

Sinners

Easily the best film to come out of 2025 for me (although I don't really keep up with new releases well). This was a masterclass in style. From the outfits, to the sets, to the music, the staging and acting were great but the entire vibes of the film — hightened by the music — were just phenomenal. I was a tad skeptical at the casting of Michael B. Jordan and Michael B. Jordan due to the VFX and acting challenges it could pose but he was phenomenal. The more I learn about his process the more I love him and the film. The fact that he wore shoes a size too small for Stack so he'd naturally want to bounce around whereas wearing a size too big for Smoke so that he'd be more ridgid is genious. This being Miles Caton's first film is baffling because of how tremendous he was. His voice is amazing so all his songs are wonderfully powerful, and his acting is just great! All the music was wonderful and the importance of music to Black Americans, particularly in relation to the Blues and Baptist church culture, was clear through the film. Similarly, the discussion of race relations not just between white and Black American's but with Indigenous, Asian, and immigrant Americans and the different kinds privilages and lack-there-of they experience. As some have pointed out, Grace's actions are a reflection of the way Asian-Americans related to African-Americans. Also my goodness the costuming and set design were fabulous. I love Ruth E. Carter's work and so it makes sense that she did a wonderful job with such a stunning period piece.

The Shawshank Redemption

I know this is an iconic film, I had heard the title many times before and it is in some of my friends' top 5 lists. However, I thought it was a " film bro" film that I wouldn't really enjoy (which is odd because I really liked Fight Club, the no. 1 " film bro" film) but gosh I was wrong! I watched this following another Morgan Freeman film, Glory, and chose Shawshank as I wanted more Freeman and knew this was such a highly rated film. I had no idea what it was about and so was presently surprised at such a down to earth but creative prison break. When I say down to earth I mean in terms of the characters who felt very real, less so the prison itself. Brooks was my favourite character. He was such a sweet old man and I loved his dedication to his books and his bird. The twists of the film felt very organic and fun. The film was surprisingly fun for it being somewhat depressing. I liked that we never found out if Andy did commit the double murder he was put away for.

The Full Monty

As almost the last film I watched this year I absolutely loved it. Set and filmed in Sheffield, here up north, with proper geezers down on their luck and jobless. I adored it top to bottom. Of course, it's very dated, probably was for its time too. In the traditional sense that there are some not-so-funny-but-maybe-a-bit-too-funny jokes but also the amount of language and euthemisms that are so classically northern — I didn't know that keg meant trousers. I watched it with some of my family on boxing day, my Aunty and Uncle had already seen it but my Cousin and Mum and I hadn't, and we were all having a great time with it. Being slightly pissed whilst watching such a film was perfect. My Mum and I realised that my Dad had got his horrendous dancing from the film (it was hilarously scary). I loved seeing normal men, like that's the whole point of the film, but seeing average looking middle-aged men was incredibly refreshing. It felt like a very down to earth homemade film, maybe that was just the Northern charm and the it being contemporarily set (unlike some of these films that were period pieces), but it felt like we were really connected to the characters and rooting for them even if their actions and motivations were,,, misguided.

Favourites ranked:

1. Chungking Express: This film has become more and more important to me as some things in my life has changed, so it takes the no. 1 spot.

2. Sinners: It was simply phenomenal and is the best new release of 2025. I hope it sweeps at the Oscar's.

3. Blue: This film has just carved a space within me and stayed there. Although most of the other films on this list could've easily taken the no. 3 spot I just loved this on what felt like such a personal way.

TV

The Last of Us (S2)

The second season of The Last of Us aired earlier this year and it was so good! I'm a very big fan of the show (I haven't played the games yet) and was highly anticipating the second season, looking forward to more grit and conflict and more weathered versions of the characters I already love. The first season has some of the best television I've seen in the last decade. TV is getting better and better and this exemplifies that. I really loved the first season and it probably won't be beat by the following seasons. That's not to say the second season was noticably worse, but I liked how complete the first season was in telling the first game and coming to a conclusion. The second game is too big to be in one season so the story that we were shown this season was interesting if a little incomplete feeling. However, I loved the breakdown in relationships. And the respite we got mid season with the Ellie and Joel flashback, I was crying seeing him celebrate her birthday and her becoming a teenager and their father-daughter-but-not relationship. I liked the increased threat of the upgraded Clickers. Dana was a lovely character to get to know and I just feel so bad about her. Also Jesse!! No!!!

The Pitt

This show has gripped me to such a degree I cannot say. Autism I guess... I made a whole shrine to it because I've been so obssessed with it. I've even tried writing fanfiction for it, which is something I've never done before. I love how grounded this show is. It has been credited as one of the most realistic medical dramas every made (apart from the CPR of course, CPR can never be accurate even though it's painful and misleading to see bad CPR. I chatted with my friends about it and they didn't realise how much strength you need to do CPR cause they've never seen it. They were shocked when I said it literally should be rib-breaking) and that's thanks to the amazing work behind the scenes. The amount of medical professionals in the production and cast is commendable. I also really liked there's no music in the show, unless it's in headphones or the like. The fact that Robby and Dennis are the only two characters that create music is why they're my OTP (/j).

Heated Rivalry

So this is hands down the best show of 2025 and perhaps the best show of the decade. I love Shane Hollander and Ilya Rozanov so much, I loved Scott and Kip and Svetlana and Yuna and David and pretty much everyone feels real and loving and complicated in ways that are so beautiful to see. I will make a shrine for it eventually but for now... I shall rant to you here. It's one of those shows that I feel so much about but it's just static in my head like I love it and went through every emotion but I can't immediately describe what individual parts of the show are great, just that the entire show is great. I do love Shane and Ilya's changing dynamic of course. Their love and committment to each other even when they are supposedly casual and not together is vast. Ilya adores Shane and that's beautiful. As a man who loves a good break up get back together when they're meant to be together and have only broken up because of external reasons I eat that shit up. Of course Scott and Kip are just beautiful. They are simply beautiful. I loved Shane's parents and his relationship with them, even their love cannot make him feel comfortable or protect him. It felt very close to home when Yuna apologised and Shane accepted it, and didn't qualify that she had nothing to be sorry about. I'm glad they got a happy ending, and I'm excited to see them grow next season. We ignore all the hockey innacuracies.

Books

This is How You Lose the Time War

I saw this book in my university library and remembered how popular it was. I missed the hype (as I do with almost all books) but wanted something fun, sci-fi-esque, and easy to read. This was perfect! Although there is very little exposition, the history isn't explained, and I still don't know if they're humans (I guess it's so far in the future that it doesn't really matter) but that didn't stop me from connecting with them. I loved both of the characters and how diametrically opposed they seemed. That didn't stop them from knowing and loving one other even if they never met. It was an easy read and I recommend it to... everyone.

Annihilation

The 2018 film Annihilation is in my top 4 films of all time. I love cosmic horror and this is the peak of it in film for me — by it's nature I think it's hard to do well in film because it's supposed to be an unknowable and incomprehensible thing but Annihilation does a good job and creating a dawning terror, having that terror be from an unknowable source, and yet make it all beautiful through the augmentation of nature that the phenomenon causes. So I've wanted to read the book for a long while now. I knew that the book was very different from the film and I'm glad to say that they are very separate entities. In the book each character is just refered to as their job title and Area X is older and darker than in the film. Lots had to be changed for it's adaption — showing the relationship with the biologists husband and generally making the story more personal, getting rid of the tower and the creature in it, and having the main character and her husband return from Area X rather than them disappearing down the costline. I do prefer the book in many ways. It's very easy to read and the sense of confusion and slight dread is really way communicated through the biologists writing. I got chills when she finds all of the diaries in the lighthouse. I'm very excited to read the next three in the series and complete it!

The Left Hand of Darkness

I love Sci-Fi (clearly) and one of my favourite artists on Tumblr had been making fanart of Genly and Estraven, so I wanted to read this classic and I was certainly impressed! It was very engrossing, if a bit hard to read at first. I really liked how different Gethen are from the Human biologically. I knew that Le Guin was known for her almost queer writing with this book and is generally known as being a feminist author. Her use of Sci-Fi as a traditionally masculine genre and subverting it to show a society devoid of the sexually related problems of the time was fascinating. It's an interesting concept to have perpetual asexuality interupted by hemaphrodite fertility which is solely for procreative purposes being the sexual nature of a species. It was sometimes hard to keep in mind that the people of Genthen were sexless when 'he' is the universal pronoun, I found myself mistakenly looking for masculinity within Estraven. I love Genly as a main character. He's such a good lens to understand the world through. The book was almost LOTRs-y in the journey that Genly has to take. The political persecution he experiences and misunderstanding that he's an alien is fascinating. I'd love to know where the prison system he experiences is inspired by. I loved when he met the prophets(?), it was quite an ethereal chapter to read. I want to read more of Le Guin's writing and hope to get to more in this universe and read some of her Earthsea series.

Music

I'm not a music listening nerd, and I often forget what I've listened to. I don't really listen to albums or artists but I've tried to distil my listening in an easy to understand way. I'm also an avid MP3 Player user and CD listener!

(What's The Story) Morning Glory? - Oasis

One of the best selling records of all time, I finally got round to listening to Oasis' most popular album. As a Manchester local I often say I like Oasis (although I generally prefer Blur and am going to see Pulp in August) and I now actually appreciate their musical talents. I sadly was introduced to Wonderwall at age 10 when a fellow student performed it on Ukulele at our talent show... So it's safe to say I was put off and thought I didn't like Oasis generally, since that and Don't Look Back in Anger were the only two songs I knew. But as I've become friends with a fellow Manc who loves Britpop and I found the CD in the loft, I gave it a listen! My favourite songs on the album are (1) Morning Glory (2) Champagne Supernova (3) Don't Look Back in Anger. I do like She's Electric but don't choose to listen to it often. Don't Look Back in Anger is such a classic British song, one everyone shouts at the top of their lungs when it comes on. It's also significant to Manchester as since the 2017 Arena bombing it has been used to remember the 22 people that died, it's become almost like an anthem for the spirit of Manchester. I feel very grateful to be connected to such a wonderful city through all the music that has come out of it. Would I every see Oasis in concert? Nah, I'm not paying that much.

Getting Killed - Geese (2025)

Unlike last year which where seemingly every popular artist released an album, I think 2025 has been a little slower, but a rising star have been the band Geese! A few months ago my friend showed me the Au Pays du Cocaine music video and their BBC Radio 1 concert (I'm always a big fan of their concerts, I expect Geese will do a Tiny Desk soon) and I realised that I'd already been listening to Cameron Winter's music. Then after that day... I completely forgot about them. Until! a different friend was speaking about going to see them live and was gushing about his favourite songs and so I gave the album a listen. My favourite songs are (1) Bow Down (2) Long Island City Here I Come (3) Au Pays du Cocaine (4) Islands of Men (5) Cobra. I generally like their louder songs, and I li

Sequence 01 - f5ve (2025)

I found f5ve this year through I think someone I follow on tumblr posting about Jump (m-flo Remix), might've been someone on neocities. But! They've become one of my fave bands not just cause of the music but because of their YouTube and vlogs. My favourite songs across the original disc and the deluxe are (1) Underground (2) Television (3) リア女(Real Girl) (4) Sugar Free Venom feat. Kesha (Finn Keane remix) (5) I Choose You (6) UFO. I really like their pop sound and slay and inclusive vibes. I don't really have a bias, and am generally not into the k-pop obsessive culture of it all, but I do really like Rui (and Miyuu... and Kaede...). I love the visual style of the band, it's not consistent but they always look so good. I'm hoping to get some of their merch soon! I also wanna make the Flop Era top that Sayaka's worn. As I say, their YT is a big part of their appeal. It seems like they genuinely get on and like to make content together or by themselves. Whether they're pretending to do a dentist appointment on us hi-5 or Kaede is cooking with her Grandma, it's all so fun.

Playlists

YouTube

This year around March I created a 2025 yt playlist where I would add all the videos that made an impact on me. Unlike with most other forms of media, there is no real way to track, rate, and discuss yt videos and YouTubers in a centralised manner. So here are my favourite videos of this year!

It's not all of them, click here to see the whole playlist, and this list is in the order I added them to the 2025 playlist.

I hate my phone so I got rid of it

I've seen a lot of anti-phone and "dumb phone" content. As everyone does, I am on my phone and electronic devices more than I'd like to be. This is the first Eddie Burback video that YT gave to me and I am so thankful I saw it! I think he's really funny, and it was a good take on the no-phoneness. I liked him navigating public transport and the real commitment to going analog. It shows that it is possible. Similarly, getting a landline so that he still could call people, actually having a phone not a minicomputer. I find Eddie's style very comedic, and I'm glad to have watched this fun take on no-phoneness and seeing if he really connected to the world around him in a new way because of it.

The Entire History of Cat Memes

This is one of the best videos on the internet. I'm a big fan of Jam2go's videos and the calm and care he radiates through his projects. Cat memes are such an important part of internet history and culture as well as our human history and culture. I liked that he also went deep in to a lot of these memes, looking at controversies and how cat memes have changed with the way the internet has changed. I also loved that he created a cat meme index. Overall there was so much dedication to a video that seems on the surface like it should be 12 minutes long rather than over an hour. The ending, where we look at the entire human history of cat memes was so beautiful.

Fantasies of Nuremburg

Jacob Geller is known for his video game content, but this video, amassing over 1.2m views, is a slight departure from that. I, like a lot of people, know the word Nuremburg and vaguely knew that the trials held there were to prosecute members of the Nazi party after the second world war ended. However, I didn't know much else and this video was incredibly enlightening. The discussion about show trials and the deep unsuccessful nature of Nuremburg was fascinating. The research that went into this video is commendable and Jacob's distinct visual style shines in it. It's heavy but well worth a watch, history does not repeat itself but we sure as hell don't know how to learn from it.

Addiction, attention, aura, an ads

STOP SMOKING, IT'S CRINGE, IT'S COSTLY, AND IT'S KILLING YOU is all summed up very well and personally in this video. I really appreciated how personal Apri was in this video. I think addiction has changed in the last 30 years yes but in the last 5-10 years with the sheer amount of smoking among young people is horrendous. Like, we're crazy for things that are addictive (as someone who has smoked, who has an internet "problem" and so forth). It was a real kick and wake up call and I think I need to rewatch it.

The New Aesthetics of Facism

This is the third video in a series about facism by Ben Hoerman, the first being about the history and falsehoods of the aethetics of early-mid 20th century facist regiemes. As someone who has read facist works for my politics degree, it was really interesting to see how the ideology(/ies) formed itself visually. This video is far scarier. It felt like a gut punch. In the first video Ben shows and describes what "reduces your worth", particularly for the Nazi regieme, such as women who will not or cannot have children and be sexually exploited, being unemployed, opposing the regieme, creating art that is "modern", are disabled, are Jewish and so on. He then redoes the sections about what reduces our worth currently, with some overlap and some additions of current devalued people. It hit like a truck. And yet, Ben remains hopeful. By looking at tech bros, incels, Andrew Tate types and the like is really hard. But it was encouraging to see the follow up video about how to fight this new fascism.

Games

Cosmic Wheel Sisterhood

This game is so beautiful and a wonder to play. Feel free to check out my review I did after I finished playing through it. I'm glad to have finished it as now I look forward to replaying it! It feels like a story-based game that does have the player's descision be meaningful whilst telling an engaging story. Sometimes I find engaging stories throw away the player's decisions by having a ending decision that essentially rewrites the game (Life is Strange 1 being the culprit here). It's a beautiful game with a pixel style and soundtrack I loved.

Undertale

Check out my shrine about the game to read about my thoughts extensively and know random things like my favourite quotes! But I will say that I'm so glad to have finally finished the True Pacifist Route for the first time and complete a version of the game

Credits

music notes divider: @strangergraphics on Tumblr.