Best of 2025

The year is almost over, so: behold, my favourite media! Some of it came out this year, and some of it I only just got around to discovering.

Hover over the images for details. (Sorry, not even remotely optimised for mobile.)

Music

My favourite albums of 2025

My Top 3, plus some other favourites

Euro-Country CMAT
Man's Best Friend Sabrina Carpenter
viagr aboys Viagra Boys
Black Star Amaarae
Switcheroo Gelli Haha
Ego Death at a Bachelorette Party Hayley Williams
That's Showbiz Baby! JADE
For Melancholy Brunettes (& Sad Women) Japanese Breakfast
Mayhem Lady Gaga
Lotus Little Simz
choke enough Oklou
Panic Shack Panic Shack
Fancy That PinkPantheress
Salvation Rebecca Black
Louder, Please Rose Gray
The BPM Sudan Archives
Don't Tap the Glass Tyler, the Creator
Moisturizer Wet Leg

Bonus "sorry I missed you" round

New discoveries from previous years

Heaven or Las Vegas Cocteau Twins (1990)
3AM (La La La) Confidence Man (2024)
Starfucker Slayyyter (2023)
Wallsocket underscores (2023)
Cave World Viagra Boys (2022)
Street Worms Viagra Boys (2018)

My favourite songs of 2025

Links go to YouTube, but listen however you prefer

Film

My favourite films of 2025*

My #1, plus the runners-up (*based on UK release date)

Sentimental Value
28 Years Later
The Ballad of Wallis Island
Black Bag
Final Destination Bloodlines
I'm Still Here
It Was Just an Accident
KPop Demon Hunters
The Long Walk
The Naked Gun
One Battle After Another
Pillion
A Real Pain
The Seed of the Sacred Fig
Sinners
Sorry, Baby
Wake Up Dead Man
Weapons

Older films I loved this year

Big shoutout to Japan I guess. Nice one brothaaa!

The Battle of Algiers (1966)
Blow Out (1981)
Hellzapoppin’ (1941)
High and Low (1963)
House (1977)
Human Traffic (1999)
Kamikaze Girls (2004)
The Long Goodbye (1973)
Morvern Callar (2002)
Perfect Days (2023)
The Player (1992)
PlayTime (1967)
Ran (1985)
Rye Lane (2023)
Seven Samurai (1954)
Swing Girls (2004)
The Taking of Pelham 123 (1974)
Yojimbo (1961)

Television

Andor appreciation corner

I did not watch a lot of quality television in 2025 so there is only one winner here. It's Andor. I fucking love Andor and I think this show is really great!!!! Sometimes I like to rewatch all the best monologues and have a little cry to myself, which I think is a normal thing to do.

There will be times when the struggle seems impossible. I know this already. Alone, unsure, dwarfed by the scale of the enemy. Remember this. Freedom is a pure idea. It occurs spontaneously and without instruction. Random acts of insurrection are occurring constantly throughout the galaxy. There are whole armies, battalions that have no idea that they've already enlisted in the cause. Remember that the frontier of the Rebellion is everywhere. And even the smallest act of insurrection pushes our lines forward. And then remember this. The Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear. Remember that. And know this, the day will come when all these skirmishes and battles, these moments of defiance will have flooded the banks of the Empire's authority and then there will be one too many. One single thing will break the siege. Remember this. Try.

Books

The best books I read in 2025

Shipwrecks, revolution and Eimear McBride

An Autobiography Angela Davis (1974)
The Education of a British-Protected Child Chinua Achebe (2009)
Fan Service Rosie Danan (2025)
The Gadfly Ethel Voynich (1897)
Giovanni's Room James Baldwin (1956)
Human Acts Han Kang (2014)
The Lesser Bohemians Eimear McBride (2016)
The Madhouse at the End of the Earth Julian Sancton (2021)
Strange Hotel Eimear McBride (2020)
The Wager David Grann (2023)
The White Boy Shuffle Paul Beatty (1996)
Woodworking Emily St James (2025)

Theatre

The Seagull

In March, I saw Thomas Ostermeier's production of The Seagull at the Barbican. I don't go to the theatre very often (i.e. never) so this absolutely knocked my socks off. All the performances were amazing. Also I got totally starstruck seeing Cate Blanchett in person.

Things that got stuck in my head afterwards: "Golden Brown" by the Stranglers, which was played at several key moments; Trigorin's monologue about how his need to write is consuming the rest of his life (relatable).

As a bonus, I got to meet up with a fandom friend the next day and we had a great time and she gave me some cool bracelets :)

The Barbican

Video games

I will be honest: I just played exactly the same shit I always play. I am very boring. It was Animal Crossing: New Horizons, Civ 6, Minecraft and nothing else. Maybe some day I will play another game? No. Probably not.

END.


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