best of 2025: movies

 A few notes before I begin:

- This list is in random order, but I did make note of my favorite.

- Not all of these were first released in 2025, but that's when I watched them.

- Obviously the year isn't over yet, but if I watch something between now and the end of the month that belongs here, I'll update accordingly.

- And, as always, your mileage may vary.

1. A Real Pain:  Benji and David (Kieran Culkin and Jesse Eisenberg) are cousins who take a Jewish heritage trip through Poland to honor their late grandmother.  Sharply written and bittersweet.

2. Anora:  The titular stripper (Mikey Madison, who won the best actress Oscar) thinks she's found the man of her dreams when she gets involved with the super rich son of a Russian oligarch, but suffice to say his parents don't approve of the match.  Very immersive (probably helped by the fact it doesn't have a score, just background music at clubs and such), raunchy, funny, and sad.

3. Weapons:  When several children run off into the night and vanish, a devastated community searches for answers.  A clever horror movie liberally laced with pitch black humor and some great camerawork.

4. KPop Demon Hunters:  A Kpop girl group moonlights as demon hunters, but a new boy band might cause some complications for them.  Colorful and fun, with some real bangers on the soundtrack.

5. My Old Ass:  Elliott (Maisy Stella) is anxious to leave her small town for college.  She still has a few weeks left, so she decides to do shrooms with her friends, and she's visited by her future self (Aubrey Plaza), who has an extremely important bit of advice for her.

The title does it a real disservice (I think My Old Self would have worked better, especially with the double meaning); it makes it sound like a raunchy comedy, but although it has some funny lines and moments, overall it's a bittersweet coming of age movie that really moved me.  This was my favorite movie of the year.

6. The Life of Chuck:  This is a hard movie to describe without ruining it.  I'll just say it's beautiful and you shouldn't watch it with anyone you wouldn't want to see you crying.

7. Ballerina:  An elite assassin (Ana de Armas) seeks revenge for her father's death in this action thriller set in the John Wick universe.  The plot is standard revenge thriller, but man, the action is top notch!  It's gory, innovative, and a lot of fun.  

8. Fight or Flight:  A man (Josh Hartnett) tasked with protecting an important person discovers the plane they're on is full of assassins.  Funny and absolutely packed with terrific action scenes.  

9. Heretic:   Two Mormon missionaries stop by the home of Mr. Reed (Hugh Grant, who's excellent), a seemingly pleasant man who has some sinister tricks up his sleeve to test their faith.  An engrossing thriller with some really sharp and clever dialogue.

10. Thunderbolts:  A group of antiheroes is forced to work together to stop a man with especially threatening superpowers.  Lots of great action and a terrific performance by Florence Pugh as Yelena Belova, Black Widow's sister.

MADE ME CRY (OR AT LEAST TEAR UP):  The Wild Robot; My Old Ass; Flow; Wicked; Paddington in Peru; Anora; Never Let Go; Peninsula; Kpop Demon Hunters; My Mom Jayne; Thunderbolts; Elio; Superman; A Real Pain; The Fantastic Four: First Steps; Bring Her Back

MADE ME SOB:  The Life of Chuck; The Perfect Neighbor

best of 2025: nonfiction

 A few notes before I begin:

- I read much less nonfiction than fiction, so this list only has five titles.

- This list is in random order, but I did make note of my favorite.

- And, as always, your mileage may vary.

1. You'll Never Believe Me by Kari Ferrell:  The author gained notoriety for being the "Hipster Grifter" (who I'd somehow never heard of despite being terminally online), committing check fraud, lying her way into (and out of) a job at Vice, and spending time in prison.  It's no surprise that Cat Marnell has a blurb on the front cover, because like Cat's book, I read it feeling like I should despise the author but I very much didn't.  It's a funny and acerbic book that's perfect for Orange Is the New Black fans.

2. Sweet Nothings by Sarah Perry:  I have a sweet tooth and I loved the author's previous book, so I was excited to read this.  It's a wonderful exploration of different kinds of candy mixed in with associated memories and highlighted by simple but evocative illustrations.  Just a heads up that not everything in this book is lighthearted; the author talks about a chronic vaginal infection and her mother's murder, for example.  I wasn't bothered, but I figured I'd mention it for those expecting a strictly sweet read.  My favorite nonfiction book of the year.

3. Care and Feeding by Laurie Woolever:  An absorbing and funny memoir about the author's time working in the food industry with superstars like Mario Batali and Anthony Bourdain.

4. The Tell by Amy Griffin:  The author felt like she had it all, but chronic pain and a comment by her daughter led her to try microdosing.  She recovered memories of sexual assault and began the arduous path to healing. Raw and vulnerable, but be warned that the description of the abuse she suffered is absolutely horrifying and very graphic.

Side note: since I first read this book, there have been some allegations about its veracity.  If it is proven that the author lied, I'll remove this from my list.  (I will excuse some artistic license for nonessential things, or changing details to protect someone's privacy or avoid a lawsuit, but not outright lying about the assault.)

5. Murderland by Caroline Fraser:  A look into why so many serial killers were rampant in the Pacific Northwest during the 70s and 80s.  The author won a Pulitzer for a previous book about Laura Ingalls Wilder (quite the topic switch!), so it's more scholarly and less lurid than most true crime books.  It's also fascinating.

best of 2025: fiction

Somehow, it's December, so it's time for my "best of" lists!  A few notes before I begin:

- It was an unusually lackluster reading year for me, so this list doesn't go up to 10.

- These are in random order, though I did make note of my absolute favorite.  

- Not all of these were or will be first published in 2025, but that's when I read them. Numbers 6 and 7 on this list were advanced reader copies (thank you to NetGalley and the publishers!) and don't come out until next year.

- Obviously the year isn't over yet, but if I read something between now and the end of the month that belongs here, I'll update accordingly.

- And, as always, your mileage may vary.

1. Blob by Maggie Su:  Vi finds a blob of unknown origin in the alley behind a bar and impulsively takes it home.  As it starts to become more sentient, she decides to mold it into her dream man, which doesn't quite go to plan.  Original and weirdly touching.

2. Soft Core by Brittany Newell:  Ruth is a stripper and dominatrix whose life is disrupted when her boyfriend Dino mysteriously vanishes.  She struggles to hold herself together while she tries to figure out what happened.  Beautifully written and propulsive.  

3. Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng by Kylie Lee Baker:  After her sister's horrific death during the height of the pandemic, crime scene cleaner Cora Zeng starts to notice a pattern of Asian women being murdered.  Gory, tense, and compelling, with one of the best opening chapters I've read in a long time.

4. Eat the Ones You Love by Sarah Maria Griffin:  In an Irish shopping mall on its last legs both financially and physically, a sentient orchid controls a young florist.  Think Little Shop of Horrors but played completely serious, with the added bonus of nasty body horror.  

5. We Are All Guilty Here by Karin Slaughter:  Small town sheriff Emmy Lou Clifton investigates the disappearance of two local girls, one of whom is her best friend's  stepdaughter.  This book was really good until about the last fifty pages, at which point it became gasp out loud great.  As with almost everything Karin Slaughter writes, though, it has a LOT of potentially triggering content, so read with care.

6. Whidbey by T Kira Madden:  Told from different perspectives, this novel is about the wake of destruction left by a serial sexual predator and how the effects ripple across years with unexpected results.  Beautiful and devastating; I'll happily read anything T Kira Madden writes in the future.  This was the best novel I read in 2025.

7. The Keeper by Tana French:  When the suicide of a well-liked young woman rocks her small Irish town, former Chicago cop Cal Hooper smells a rat.  It's a bit of a slow burn, but Tana French's writing is so rich and atmospheric that I knew I'd enjoy the ride.  And, as ever, she completely sticks the landing.

media update: November

Asterisks denote something I particularly enjoyed or found especially worthy of my time; double asterisks are reserved for the creme de la creme.  As always, your mileage may vary.

FICTION

1. Whidbey** by T Kira Madden:  Told from different perspectives, this novel is about the wake of destruction left by a serial sexual predator and how the effects ripple across years with unexpected results.  Beautiful and devastating; I'll happily read anything T Kira Madden writes in the future.

Thank you to NetGalley and Mariner Books for the ARC!  The book is scheduled for publication on March 10, 2026.

2025 TOTAL SO FAR: 20

NONFICTION

Nothing this month.

2025 TOTAL SO FAR: 11

MANGA/GRAPHIC NOVELS

1. The Apothecary Diaries vol. 14 by Natsu Hyuuga and Nekokurage

2025 TOTAL SO FAR: 13 volumes of manga and 7 graphic novels

MOVIES

1. Bring Her Back*:  A teenage boy and his visually impaired sister are sent to live with a foster mom (Sally Hawkins) whose sunny smile belies a dark nature.  Extremely gory and surprisingly sad.

2. Nobody 2:  Desperate for a vacation, assassin Hutch (Bob Odenkirk) takes his family to a tourist town he loved as a kid.  Unfortunately, he also runs into trouble there.  In a year that gave us some bona fide action bangers like Ballerina and Fight or Flight, this fell very flat.  Also, there is some truly dreadful acting in this.  Not Bob, I hasten to add, but you'll know who I'm talking about if you watch this.

3. F1*:  Thirty years after a devastating accident, race car driver Sonny Hayes (Brad Pitt) returns to the track.  The racing sequences are super fun to watch!

4. Maximum Overdrive*:  Thanks to a comet causing a radiation spike on Earth, machines come to life and start attacking humans.  I know you're probably wondering why the hell I gave a cheesy horror movie from 1986 a star, and I'll tell you exactly why: I was stoned, and under those conditions I enjoyed this movie tremendously.

5. 28 Years Later:  Almost three decades after the "rage virus" decimated Great Britain, a young boy leaves the protection of his community in search of another survivor who might be able to help his sick mother.  There are some very weird choices in this movie as far as directing and music, but Alfie Williams is really good as the kid.

6. House of Dynamite:  The president and his staff must quickly figure out a plan when a nuclear missile is launched towards Chicago.  If this movie had stayed as good as its first thirty minutes, it would easily have gotten a star.  It's still very tense and absorbing, but I sure wish it had stuck the landing.

7. The Ice Road:  Ice road truckers (led by Liam Neeson) embark on a dangerous journey to get supplies to a collapsed mine.

8. Drop*:  A woman's return to the dating world goes south when she starts getting ominous text messages.  Implausible but lots of fun.

9. Playdate:  A playdate turns into a wild afternoon for two stay-at-home dads and their sons.  I thought this would be unwatchable, but weird ending aside, it was enjoyable, and Alan Ritchson is pretty funny in it.

10. The Naked Gun*:  Inept police detective Frank Drebin Jr. (Liam Neeson, who's terrific) tries to unravel a conspiracy.  Perhaps a little overhyped, but the jokes that land are great, and there's one sequence that's the funniest thing I've seen since Ice Cube's meltdown (uh, no pun intended) in 22 Jump Street.

11. The First Omen:  A novitiate nun (Nell Tiger Free) discovers that she's been chosen to birth the antichrist.

12. Eddington*:  Tensions boil over in a small New Mexico town at the beginning of the pandemic.  Strange and thought provoking.

13. Caught Stealing*:  Former baseball player Hank lands in hot water when a favor goes horribly wrong.  Technically a 3.5, but I'm rounding up for Austin Butler and the unbelievably cute cat in this.

2025 TOTAL SO FAR: 97

media update: October

Thanks to the addition of a third person mode, I was finally able to play Resident Evil Village!  (RE7 unfortunately remains first person only, and because it leads straight into Village, I watched a recap on YouTube.)  It was pretty good, with lots of tense action, and the DLC was really creepy.  Despite the third person mode, I did have to pass off to G a few times when tight spots led to nausea (and literal projectile vomiting when I didn't pay attention to my body's signals), but for the most part I was okay.

Asterisks denote something I particularly enjoyed or found especially worthy of my time; double asterisks are reserved for the creme de la creme.  As always, your mileage may vary.

FICTION

1. Play Nice by Rachel Harrison:  When Clio inherits a supposedly haunted house after her estranged mother dies, she thinks it will be fun to remodel it for Instagram views; she is very wrong.

2. The Exorcist by William Peter Blatty:  A desperate mother calls on a priest to exorcise her possessed daughter.  This book is over fifty years old and reads like it (at one point someone exclaims "Cheezus peezus!") but it still retains some of its shock value.

2025 TOTAL SO FAR: 19

NONFICTION

1. Uncanny Valley Girls by Zefyr Lisowski:  An incisive look at horror films as glimpsed through a trans perspective.  Candid and raw, and I hope it gets people to watch Saint Maud since that's one of my favorite underappreciated horror movies.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Perennial for the ARC!  The book is out now.

2. Replaceable You* by Mary Roach:   A look at human body modifications, including artificial parts, grafts, implants, and bionics, in the author's trademark "weird science" style.  Even the footnotes are interesting!

2025 TOTAL SO FAR: 11

MANGA/GRAPHIC NOVELS

1. In Mourning* by Paula Cheshire

2025 TOTAL SO FAR: 12 volumes of manga and 7 graphic novels

MOVIES

1. Jurassic World: Rebirth:  A group of operatives go to a remote island to gather genetic material from dinosaurs.  It has some fun sequences, but there's an unnecessary subplot with an imperiled family.

2. The Monkey:  A wind-up toy monkey causes grisly deaths whenever its key is turned in this gleefully grisly movie based on a Stephen King story.

3. Locked:  A petty thief (Bill Skarsgard) gets trapped in a smart car modified by its owner (Anthony Hopkins) to have some decidedly illegal features.  Tense and fun.

4. Presence:  A family moves into a house with an unexpected tenant.  More sad than scary.

5. The Three Caballeros:  Donald Duck visits Latin America with a couple of avian friends.  Not much of a plot, but the Mary Blair design work is gorgeous.

6. The Life of Chuck*:  This is a hard movie to describe without ruining it.  I'll just say it's beautiful and you shouldn't watch it with anyone you wouldn't want to see you crying.

7. Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning*:  This picks up immediately after its predecessor, so I can't go into detail lest I spoil something.  It's not quite as good as the last several M:I movies, but it still has some killer action sequences.

8. Hell of a Summer:  Camp counselors try to survive when a murderer in a devil mask starts picking them off.  It's a horror comedy, but it's neither scary nor funny enough to be worth watching.

9. The Perfect Neighbor:  Told mostly through police bodycam and security footage, this documentary is about the murder of Ajike Owens by a "Karen" who was constantly harassing kids in the neighborhood.  Warning: it doesn't show the shooting, but it does show Ajike's family (including her young children) learning that she had passed away, which is distressing.

10. A Real Pain*:  Benji and David (Kieran Culkin and Jesse Eisenberg) are cousins who take a Jewish heritage trip through Poland to honor their late grandmother.  Sharply written and bittersweet.

11. Weapons*:  When several children run off into the night and vanish, a devastated community searches for answers.  A clever horror movie liberally laced with pitch black humor and some great camerawork.

12. The Fantastic Four: First Steps*:  The titular superheroes face off against a huge threat in this fun flick.

2025 TOTAL SO FAR: 84

media update: September

Asterisks denote something I particularly enjoyed or found especially worthy of my time; double asterisks are reserved for the creme de la creme.  As always, your mileage may vary.

FICTION

1. Jigsaw by Jonathan Kellerman:  Dr. Alex Delaware and his homicide detective buddy Milo Sturgis investigate when the dismembered body of a former cop is found in a freezer.  A quick and enjoyable read.

Thank you to NetGalley and Ballantine Books for the ARC!  This book is scheduled for publication on February 3rd, 2026.

2025 TOTAL SO FAR: 17

NONFICTION

1. The Man No One Believed by Joshua Sharpe:  A deep dive into the 1985 murders of Harold and Thelma Swain at their rural Georgia church.

2025 TOTAL SO FAR: 9

MANGA/GRAPHIC NOVELS

1. Cat + Gamer* vol. 8 (final volume) by Wataru Nadatani 

2. Super-Dimensional Love Gun by Shintaro Kago:  This is one of the grossest things I've ever read, which is really saying something!  It's a collection of stories with grotesque themes (one example: a woman collects everything her crush touches, with unfortunate consequences for his new girlfriend).  I definitely don't recommend it for anyone with a weak stomach; I had a difficult time finishing it and I'm hardly a horror noob.  

2. Adabana by Non

3. Hi, It's Me Again by Asher Perlman

2025 TOTAL SO FAR: 12 volumes of manga and 6 graphic novels

MOVIES

1. Together:  A couple (Dave Franco and Alison Brie) take codependency to a whole new level when their bodies start fusing together after a night in a mysterious cave.  It's nowhere near as gross as The Substance, but stay far away if you don't like body horror because it still gets gooey.

2. A Working Man:  Levon (Jason Statham), a former soldier now working in construction, puts his former skills to good use when his boss's daughter is abducted.  Look, the thing about a lot of Jason Statham movies is that they ain't necessarily gonna have a coherent plot, but Jason will always deliver the goods.

3. Warfare:  An incredibly intense movie about an attempt to rescue severely wounded soldiers during the Iraq war.  Based on a true story.

4. The Thursday Murder Club:  A group of seniors at a retirement home solve cold cases in their spare time, but then a fresh case hits close to home.  

5. Elio:  The title character is an orphaned young boy who wants to be abducted by aliens, but when he gets his wish, he gets caught up in an intergalactic conflict.  Hardly one of Pixar's masterpieces, but better than I thought it would be.

6. Superman*:  The Man of Steel tries to stop Lex Luthor from starting a major war.  Enjoyable, and although writer-director James Gunn had to rein in his notoriously irreverent sense of humor a bit, it still has some funny lines and scenes.

7. Ballerina*:  An elite assassin (Ana de Armas) seeks revenge for her father's death in this action thriller set in the John Wick universe.  The plot is standard revenge thriller, but man, the action is top notch!  It's gory, innovative, and a lot of fun.  I'm sorry it tanked at the box office, but I hope people catch it on streaming or DVD because it deserves an audience.

8. Elvis:  This biopic about Elvis Presley spends a bit too much time focusing on his predatory manager (an oddly hammy Tom Hanks) and glosses over Elvis' grooming of Priscilla, but it's visually stylish and features an astonishingly good performance by Austin Butler, who not only nails the look and voice but the vulnerability.

9. M3GAN 2.0:  The title character, a self-aware android created as a child's companion, returns with her trademark attitude to take on a new threat.  To paraphrase G, it's as fun as it is goofy, and it is very, very goofy.

10. Kandahar:  An undercover agent and his translator have to travel through hostile territory to reach an extraction point.  A lot more serious than you'd expect considering Gerard Butler is in it (and that is NO shade to Gerard Butler, whose work I generally enjoy quite a bit, but he does tend to make, shall we say, more popcorn-y flicks).

2025 TOTAL SO FAR: 72

media update: August

This is a pitiful media update, at least as far as books go!  A couple reasons for that:  I was finishing up Pirate Yakuza and I spent waaaaaay too much time on Reddit and match 3 mobile games.  I did finally stop playing Hidden City after almost ten years and god knows how many hours, so I thought maybe that would help free up at least an hour a day, but nope!  Mindless scrolling and matching.  I know nobody is keeping a scorecard of how I spend my free time, but next month I definitely want to read more.

Asterisks denote something I particularly enjoyed or found especially worthy of my time; double asterisks are reserved for the creme de la creme.  As always, your mileage may vary.

FICTION

1. The River Is Waiting by Wally Lamb:  After a tragic accident caused by his drinking, Corby is sent to prison, where he tries to find out if he can ever be forgiven.  I had a major problem with numerous aspects of this book, which---combined with a massive amount of melodrama, some breathtakingly offensive homophobia, and an unlikeable narrator---made me very happy when I finally finished.

2025 TOTAL SO FAR: 16

NONFICTION

Nothing this month.

2025 TOTAL SO FAR: 8

MANGA/GRAPHIC NOVELS

1. Confessions of a Shy Baker vol. 5 by Masaomi Ito

2025 TOTAL SO FAR: 9 volumes of manga and 5 graphic novels

MOVIES

1. I Love You Forever:  Mackenzie is thrilled when she begins dating handsome and charming Finn, but he begins to show a darker side.  It's a very tonally dissonant movie; it's a stark look at an emotionally abusive and manipulative relationship, but there's a lot of funny dialogue too.  I was also distracted by how much Ray Nicholson looks like his father Jack, which is hardly his fault, but it took me out a little.

2. Final Destination Bloodlines*:  A new generation tries to cheat death with predictably brutal results.  A wild opening scene and some delightfully complex kills.

3. Freelance:  An ex-soldier (John Cena) takes a job as security for a journalist (Alison Brie), but things go haywire.  A mediocre action comedy slightly elevated by the cast.

4. Until Dawn:  Clover and her friends go looking for her missing sister, but they get caught in a time loop fighting killers and monsters.  Ostensibly related to the video game, but they basically only share a title, plus the game is actually good.  

5. Thunderbolts*:  A group of antiheroes is forced to work together to stop a man with especially threatening superpowers.  Lots of great action and a terrific performance by Florence Pugh as Yelena Belova, Black Widow's sister.

Side note #1:  the title of this movie officially has an asterisk after it, but I did also give it a star!  I just didn't want to add "their" star because then it looks like I gave it a double star, and it's really good, just not double star good.

Side note #2: one of the writers' names looked familiar, so I looked it up and she writes for The Bear, which might explain why some of the more dramatic scenes hit so well.

6. Novocaine*:  Nathan Caine (Jack Quaid) is a mild-mannered assistant manager who is unable to feel physical pain.  When his bank is robbed and a coworker he has a crush on is kidnapped, he uses his unique ability to go on a rescue mission.  It's BRUTAL---I covered my eyes a couple of times---but it's got solid action and some exquisitely dark humor.  A lot of fun if you can handle it!

7. Fight or Flight*:  A man (Josh Hartnett) tasked with protecting an important person discovers the plane they're on is full of assassins.  Funny and absolutely packed with terrific action scenes.  

8. Karate Kid: Legends:  After moving to New York City, Lee Fong decides to enter a karate tournament with the help of two especially accomplished sensei:  Mr. Han and Daniel LaRusso (Jackie Chan and Ralph Macchio).  Predictable, but it has some enjoyable martial arts scenes.

9. Borderline:  A stalker breaks into the home of the celebrity (Samara Weaving) he's obsessed with.  More of a quirky black comedy than a horror movie, but still fun.

Side note: this is the THIRD movie I've watched starring Ray Nicholson this month (1 and 6 on this list being the others) and the fourth this year (Smile 2 in January). Someone's agent is working overtime!

2025 TOTAL SO FAR: 62