2025 Cultural Highlights
Things I liked
This is not a definitive list by any means but here are my best bits of the year.
Big Screen
A truly bumper year thanks to less-than-constant employment. Check out my Letterboxd to see the full extent...
A Real Pain – Kieran Culkin does what he usually does here and steals the show as the cousin of Jesse Eisenberg’s character with the latter also on directing duty. The pair tour through Poland in honour of their dear grandmother. Both are troubled in their own way and, across bleak environments (graveyards and concentration camps), their relationship is tested.
I Swear – The first of two Scottish entries here. The film tells the real story of John Davidson, portrayed gloriously by Robert Aramayo, who is responsible for significantly raising public awareness of Tourette’s syndrome. Hilarious and heartbreaking in equal measure.
It Was Just An Accident – This was the first film I’ve watched from famed Iranian director Jafar Panahi. He has been imprisoned and censored by his country for ‘anti-government propaganda’ which some might argue is indicative that his work is worth watching. This film looks at fear and oppression through a humorous lens. The ending was really discomfiting too (compliment).
One Battle After Another – I wouldn’t call myself a Paul Thomas Anderson fan by any means so it is easy for me to say this is his best film ever. It’s phenomenal. It is so propulsive and doesn’t let up. A stellar cast and soundtrack too.
Sinners – Bold and original. It is a vampire film like no other but I am not sure that description does it justice. Ryan Coogler makes some inspired creative choices and I am sure it is a picture that will reward multiple viewings.
The Brutalist – You need to know that this film is long. So long that it has an in-built interval. But I promise it’s worth it. An incredibly beautiful and rewarding film, the story is so well told and contains exceptional performances.
The Golden Spurtle – This is the film on here you’re least likely to have heard of. But it might the best one. Or my favourite at least. The documentary, filmed in rural Scotland, tells the tale of the annual World Porridge Championships. It’s not really about the competition though, it’s about the people. They are often eccentric and nearly always charming. It is a lovely world to spend 75 minutes in. My free festive porridge tip is to chuck a Lindt ball in there. Thank me later.
28 Years Later – Danny Boyle returned with this zombie sequel that managed to back up probably one of the best trailers you’ll ever see. Spectacularly filmed.
Weapons – As I get older, I am coming to appreciate that horror is one of the hardest genres to get right. It has to be more than just cheap jump scares to inspire fear. This film, told through various intertwining viewpoints, gets the heart pumping but undercuts the tension with well-earned laughs too. Not sure I’ll ever look at a vegetable peeler in the same way again mind you.
Train Dreams – A gorgeous look at the quiet life of a logger in 20th century America. Joel Edgerton, one of my favourite actors, is perfect for the role. A sumptuous and sad film.
Some extras...
The Perfect Neighbor is a chilling documentary made almost exclusively from US police bodycam footage. Genuinely sickening. Holy Cow is a French drama with a cheese-adjacent crisis at its core. Tender and warm with excellent performances from a young set of actors. The Plague (hello again Joel Edgerton) uses the premise of a contagious virus to look at the cruelty of teenage bullying. If you’re partial to a bit of horror then Robert Eggers’ Nosferatu contains plenty of dread and stylishly so.
This beautiful stop motion short (6 mins) made entirely of wool and an Oscar-winning short film (8 mins).
Small Screen
As ever, the mountain of quality TV grew again and I scaled a fair bit of it.
Amazon Prime
Last One Laughing is such a simple concept that I cannot believe it has not been done before. Comedians trying to make one another laugh unsurprisingly resulted in the funniest show of the year. The Girlfriend was daft and trashy but undeniably enjoyable. The third season of Invincible maintained the show’s high standards with its stacked voice cast. Sci-fi! Superheroes! Gore! All animated! Yes please.
Apple
Though still fantastic, both Severance (S2) and Slow Horses (S5) were not quite as good as previous entries. Perhaps the bar is too high. Taron Egerton smirked his way through Smoke which I found to be really gripping if a little ridiculous. I am loving The Studio even though I am only a few episodes in. 2024’s Presumed Innocent really grabbed me. Apple is definitely quality over quantity.
BBC
Celebrity Traitors. Obviously. Alan Carr made me laugh so much. Civilian Traitors was also top tier, and I am looking forward to it returning in January. The fifth series of Race Across The World was life-affirming as ever. Louis Theroux gave us a terrifying glimpse into Jewish behaviour in Palestine with The Settlers. As an Aimee Lou Wood fan, I found that her new rom-com of sorts, Film Club, was a bit slow to begin with but really improved as it went on. The second season of Such Brave Girls was darkly amusing. The hour-long doc Men of the Manosphere was a somewhat concerning look at a bizarre world. And I couldn’t write this without pointing you in the direction of Blue Lights. It’s third season continued its run of form and, in my opinion, rivals Line of Duty for the Beeb’s best police-based drama.
Channel 4
Big Boys (S3) came to a beautiful end but it was a new season of Educating Yorkshire that stirred me most. It provides incredible access to modern comprehensive education, showing warts and all. Teenage years are tough for many and that is on display here. But there is so much humour and heart amongst it too. The teachers are really quite saintly. With Mr Burton in charge, the school has a great leader even if the children are a little sick of his Be Nice Work Hard mantra. The man is not a style icon but he is a hero. And the wonderful Musharaf, of stammering fame, makes an appearance.
Disney+
The Bear returned for its fourth season to mixed reviews. Personally, I loved it and think one more season would finish it off nicely. There is too much audio of teeth clunking on forks though. Talking of gnashers, Alien: Earth featured numerous British actors and the lack of Hollywood smiles was noticeable. In a good way! I’m all for a bit of dental diversity. However, the show peaked somewhere in the middle with a blistering episode that was essentially a homage to the original film. After that, it tailed off considerably which was a shame. Stars Wars spin-off Andor blasted back onto our screens spectacularly for an extended and final second season. It may be dismissed as mere sci-fi by some but it contained many unfortunately prescient themes. A sharp political thriller with talking robots.
Netflix
Adolescence was good wasn’t it. Similarly tense, The Beast In Me made for a really stylish thriller. Claire Danes does distress better than anyone else. In the dark vein, I really liked Dept Q. which somehow put a new spin on the grumpy detective trope. And I found Fred & Rose West: A British Horror Story suitably horrifying. I knew all the patio references but was not aware of the extent of their depravity. Truly heinous. On the lighter side, Sirens was some frothy fun and some of the writing in Four Seasons was fantastic although the event towards the end felt a little unearned. I was new to Love On The Spectrum and watched a few episodes of its third season. I have felt uncomfortable in the past about this kind of show, worried that it somehow patronises and ridicules its subjects. I was very wrong in this case. The neurodivergent stars of the show are so effortlessly charming and incredibly loveable. Properly heartwarming TV. Not new but I finally watched all of the Top Boy series. It deserves all the plaudits it gets.
Sky
The White Lotus went to Thailand for Season 3 but was definitely inferior to the two previous iterations. However, Mike White knows how to write about the strife of the rich and it was engaging enough. Mark Ruffalo led the gritty Task to great effect with the b-plot of his FBI agent’s family life being particularly rich.
Other
In The Assembly (ITV), celebrities sit down with a group of autistic, disabled and neurodivergent people who can ask any question they like. Some are quite hard-hitting and the celebs do squirm. Danny Dyer is, of course, the perfect guest. The whole thing is very wholesome. I don’t watch much on YouTube bar some Hot Ones episodes and rugby highlights but the Hood 2 Farm series was wonderful. An extremely charismatic rapper named Fekky purchased some farmland after getting into growing vegetables during lockdown and, across several half-hour episodes, he visits different farms to get a taste of the life he has bought into. He disarms with his charm and all the farmers he meets are very game. Genuinely interesting and funny too.
Books
I am not voracious enough to be on top of modern releases, but I really liked these books...
Birnam Wood (Eleanor Catton) – Set in New Zealand with themes of idealism and corruption, I was properly captivated by this tale.
Harlem Shuffle – My second Colson Whitehead book was an immersive trip into a 1960s New York full of characters of questionable repute.
Hotel Avocado – Of course national treasure Bob Mortimer writes excellent fiction. I devoured this follow-up to The Satsuma Complex. I am reliably informed that the audiobook, read by the great man himself, elevates this superbly silly story.
Humankind: A Hopeful History - Rutger Bregman’s book is as positive as the title suggests. A timely reminder that the world is not always the hellscape it is often painted to be. Contains the sort of information that turns a feel-good read into a feel-smug one but about 95% of it has already leaked from my brain.
I’m A Fan (Sheena Patel) – A very modern tale of obsession. A skewering of influencers and rich white folk which are two groups that make for quite the Venn diagram. Written in a unusual format and laced with convincing rage.
Klara and The Sun – The first Kazuo Ishiguro novel for me. A dystopian America provides the background for a world populated with Artificial Friends. Well, for those who can afford them…
Shantaram (Gregory David Roberts) - A cultural reference point that has sat on my to read list for quite some time. I didn’t realise it almost came to 1000 pages but I persisted. It is so worth it and I understand why its name crops up so much. An epic tale of one man’s quest to start a new life in India.
Small Things Like These (Claire Keegan) – I decided to read this short story as I had tickets for the film version starring Cillian Murphy. Opened it and didn’t close it until I was done. Sensational writing. Good film too as it happens.
Takeaway: Stories From A Childhood Behind The Counter (Angela Hui) – Had seen this recommended a few times by people I follow on Instagram. Hui’s story of growing up in a Chinese takeaway in a little Welsh town is fascinating and provides a viewpoint that many of us will not have considered.
The Trees (Percival Everett) – The darkest of comedies. This book is simultaneously disturbing and very funny. With bizarre sort-of cameos from Emmett Till, the legacy of white supremacy in America is looked at through a series of brutal murders. This is my pick of the bunch.
And a bonus recommendation for fans of sci-fi and/or George R. R. Martin - his creepy short story Sandkings is available to read online.
Music
A selection of albums from this year...
A Complicated Woman (Self Esteem)
Departures & Arrivals: Adventures of Captain Curt (Curtis Harding)
Enter Now Brightness (Nadia Reid)
EURO-COUNTRY (CMAT)
Flowers (Durand Jones & The Indications)
LOVED (Parcels)
Te Whare Tiwekaweka (Marlon Williams)
West End Girl (Lily Allen)
Shout out to my mates at Green Hands and Ophelia who are putting out some great music.
Live
Ezra Collective at the Sydney Opera House! Incredibly infectious energy from a humble group. The no standing rule was roundly ignored by the audience.
Really enjoyed Leon Bridges in the flesh - an impeccably dressed man with a lovely voice.
I am a huge fan of Kiwi singer-songwriter Nadia Reid so I was delighted to find out she was playing a tiny local venue. She does a good line in sad songs and I cannot recommend her enough.
I haven’t managed to see much theatre this year but I did get to a couple of NT Live screenings. Steve Coogan’s character in Dr Strangelove trying to forcibly stop himself doing a Nazi salute is one of the best pieces of physical comedy I’ve seen in a long time. The Fifth Step, a two-hander featuring great actors in Jack Lowden and Martin Freeman, centred on AA sponsorship. It was an intense look into why we lie to others and, in the process, ourselves. For local friends, the RSC’s staging of The BFG is quite magical whatever your age.
I saw Josie Long’s latest show Now Is The Time Of Monsters. Whilst familiar with her name, I hadn’t seen much of her output but bought a ticket on the strength of recommendations from comics I do love. A very clever, layered show using her daughter’s love of prehistoric megafauna (worth googling) as a vehicle to lament the state of the world.
The final shoutout is to a show from two hirsute Aussie blokes (Zachary Ruane of Aunty Donna fame and comedic cinephile Alexei Toliopoulos) called Refused Classification. The subject is a peculiar slice of Australian film history which they made easily accessible. I went, as a pom, knowing nothing and was thoroughly entertained.
Podcasts
Regular-ish
Elis James and John Robins are still my favourite boys. Thoughtful and fun. The biggest compliment I can pay this twice-weekly show is that it is the only podcast I play at normal speed. The Rest Is Entertainment is still insightful if sometimes a little frustrating. The Screen Rot Podcast is two fairly ‘normal’ blokes who examine viral sensations and, generally, take the piss. There is not much political correctness but not in a Joe-Rogan-free-speech-the-earth-is-flat-vaccines-are-bad type of way. They speak their mind, coarsely so, and the best part is the sensible one constantly having to save his mate from himself. Recommended with the caveat that there is a good chance you won’t like it. If you’re keen on films then you could do worse than listen to The Big Picture.
Interviews
Adam Buxton continues to be very endearing. John Robins takes a more serious angle with his How Do You Cope series which gets deep with a wide range of interviewees. Desert Island Discs and This Cultural Life are still lovely, and Amy Poehler has some great guests on Good Hang.
Other
The past is not my strong point so I have devoured Legacy in which the two hosts discuss various historical figures. Each person gets four episodes devoted to them so there is real depth. And finally, my heartiest podcast recommendation is Wisecrack. The limited series centres on a comic’s routine about a brutal incident in his tiny hometown. It looks at responsibility in storytelling, one man’s descent into madness and the importance of truth. It’s really well produced.
Games
No console for me this year but I did get really addicted to Balatro on my phone at one point. It’s poker on steroids.
Concrete
Next time you’re in London book on to the architecture tour at the Barbican. A very insightful near-two hours for less than £20. Running until the end of January and possibly beyond.
