2025 Top Ten Lists: Movies, TV, Books, Music

Hi All! Happy 2026! 🙂

It’s time for me to finally wrap up my 2025 year & move on with 2026. So here’s a quick roundup of all my 2025 Top Ten lists. But I’m going to cheat a bit & make some a Top 20 or 30. Because it’s my blog & I can do that…

My Top 20 2025 U.K. Movie Releases (Full ranked list of all 120 can be found here):

The Long Walk – 8.5/10
Predator: Badlands – 8/10
The Life Of Chuck – 8/10
Flow – 8/10
28 Years Later – 8/10
A Complete Unknown – 8/10
The Last Showgirl – 8/10
Together – 8/10
The Gorge – 8/10
Spinal Tap II: The End Continues – 8/10
The Surfer – 7.5/10
Roofman – 7.5/10
Eternity – 7.5/10
Weapons – 7.5/10
The Monkey – 7.5/10
Sinners – 7.5/10
Ballerina – 7.5/10
Companion – 7.5/10
Caught Stealing – 7.5/10
One Battle After Another – 7.5/10

Honorable Mentions:

Marty Supreme – 7/10, Die Alone – 7/10, The Roses – 7.5/10, My Dead Friend Zoe – 7.5/10, All Of You – 7/10, Good One – 7/10, Train Dreams – 7.5/10, Good Fortune – 7/10, Drop – 7/10, Karate Kid: Legends – 7/10, The Fantastic 4: First Steps – 7/10, The Assessment – 7/10

Worst: War Of The Worlds

My Top 20 Older Release Movies Watched In 2025 (Full ranked list of all 212 can be found here):

Harakiri – 9/10
La Strada – 8.5/10
Cabaret – 8/10
What A Way To Go! – 8.5/10
Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore – 8/10
Throne Of Blood – 8.5/10
Nights Of Cabiria – 8/10
Your Monster – 8/10
Gas Food Lodging – 8/10
Basquiat – 7.5/10
The Kid Detective – 8/10
Le Samouraï – 8/10
Control – 7.5/10
Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me – 8/10
How To Make Millions Before Grandma Dies – 8/10
Gloria (1980) – 7.5/10
Robot Dreams – 7.5/10
Three Colors: Blue – 8/10
Three Colors: Red – 8/10
Breathless – 8/10

Honorable Mentions:

Incendies – 8/10, Civil War – 7.5/10, Paper Moon – 7.5/10, Party Girl – 7.5/10, Morvern Callar – 7.5/10, PlayTime – 7.5/10, You Can’t Take It With You – 7.5/10, Marty – 7.5/10, Judgment At Nuremberg – 7.5/10, The Defiant Ones – 7.5/10

Worst: Skinamarink

My Top Ten TV Shows Watched In 2025

Andor: S1 (Rewatch) & S2
Twin Peaks: S1 & S2
Plur1bus: S1
Squid Game: S3
Alice In Borderland: S3
Cobra Kai: S6 E11-15
The White Lotus: S3
Uzumaki: S1
The Last Of Us: S2 E1-3, E4-7
Twin Peaks: The Return

Honorable Mentions:

Black Mirror: S7, High Potential: S1, S2 E1-2, E3-7, Wednesday: S2 E1-4, E5-8, All Her Fault: S1, Cunk On Life, Cunk On Shakespeare, SNL 50: Anniversary Special

My Top Ten Books Read In 2025 (I only read 10):

Strange Pictures by Uketsu – 4.5/5
All The Colors Of The Dark by Chris Whitaker – 4.5/5
Strange Houses by Uketsu – 4/5
Never Flinch by Stephen King – 4/5
Ready Player Two by Ernest Cline – 3.5/5
The List Of Suspicious Things by Jennie Godfrey – 3.5/5
Mickey 7 by Edward Ashton – 3/5
Never Lie by Freida McFadden – 2.5/5
The Housemaid by Freida McFadden – 2.5/5
After Death by Dean Koontz – 2/5

Music: My 2025 Spotify Wrapped

My Spotify Wrapped Top 20 Artists Of 2025

1. The Beatles
2. The Cure
3. Black Sabbath
4. Joy Division
5. David Bowie
6. Grimes
7. Metallica
8. Daft Punk
9. Iron Maiden
10. Tears For Fears
11. Beabadoobee
12. Radiohead
13. Led Zeppelin
14. Rihanna
15. The Chemical Brothers
16. Billie Eilish
17. The Smiths
18. Pat Benatar
19. Gorillaz
20. Hole

Gutted that Kate Bush just missed out at 21. Here’s the rest that Spotify listed:

21. Kate Bush, 22. Chappell Roan, 23. Siouxsie And The Banshees, 24. Foo Fighters, 25. Childish Gambino, 26. New Order, 27. System Of A Down, 28. Robyn, 29. Ozzy Osbourne, 30. Slipknot, 31. The Weeknd, 32. Talking Heads, 33. Pixies, 34. Yeah Yeah Yeahs, 35. Eminem, 36. UNKLE, 37. Joe Hisaishi, 38. The Go-Go’s, 39. Massive Attack, 40. Michael Jackson, 41. Cyndi Lauper, 42. Garbage, 43. Major Lazer

And the Top 30 of My Spotify Wrapped Top 100 Songs Of 2025:

1-10:

11-20:

21-30:

Paranoid Android at 31, maybe my favorite song ever…

Watched, Read, Reviewed: December 2025

Happy New Year, Everyone! I’m making my usual blog resolutions & will do my best to keep up with reviews & especially blog comments this year. Will be catching up on replying to everyone this week. And will post my Year End Top Ten Lists soon. Because I know everyone wants to see those! (Okay, I know it’s only me who wants to see them, but humor me). 😉

MOVIES WATCHED IN DECEMBER (ranked best to worst):

The Gorge – 8/10
Eternity – 7.5/10
My Dead Friend Zoe – 7.5/10
All Of You – 7/10
Left-Handed Girl – 7/10
Jay Kelly – 7/10
The Housemaid – 7/10
The Great Flood – 7/10
Wake Up Dead Man – 7/10
Relay – 7/10
Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning – 7/10
Oh. What. Fun. – 6.5/10
Goodbye June – 6.5/10
F1 – 6.5/10
Echo Valley – 6.5/10
Scandal – 6.5/10
Caligula: The Ultimate Cut – 6.5/10
She Rides Shotgun – 6.5/10
Clown In A Cornfield – 6.5/10
Code 3 – 6/10
Five Nights At Freddy’s 2 – 6/10
Anaconda – 6/10
Fountain Of Youth – 6/10
The Family Plan 2 – 6/10
The Lost Bus – 6/10

Movies Rewatched In December: (watched a lot of Christmas stuff, obviously)

Gremlins – 9/10
When Harry Met Sally – 8.5/10
It’s A Wonderful Life – 8.5/10
Scrooged – 8.5/10
The Muppet Christmas Carol – 8.5/10
Elf – 8.5/10
American Pie – 8/10

Christmas Specials Rewatched:

A Charlie Brown Christmas – 10/10
Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer – 10/10
How The Grinch Stole Christmas – 9.5/10
Frosty The Snowman – 7.5/10

Shorts Watched:

Snoopy Presents: A Summer Musical – Most of these modern Snoopy Presents shorts have been pretty good despite the animation with the added shadows or whatever. Give me the classic Peanuts look! But the voices in this one were very off as well (especially Charlie Brown). I’m just too used to the classic Peanuts stuff from the Charlie Brown Christmas era. This was still enjoyable, though. But could do without it being a musical.

BOOKS, TV, MUSIC, MISCELLANEOUS THIS MONTH

Concert Attended

Gary Numan – This wasn’t December but I forgot to post about it at the time. Numan was at a local venue so the daughter & I went. It was a great show! We loved it. I know that in America when I was a kid in the ’80s, Numan was a one-hit wonder with Cars. Same goes for Madness (US hit: Our House). Was interesting to move to the U.K. & find that certain artists were far more than one-hit wonders. At this concert, Numan performed his album Telekon & various other songs. Very electronic & industrial (Nine Inch Nails were heavily influenced by Telekon apparently). I do especially love Are ‘Friends’ Electric? & M.E. which I certainly didn’t know as a teen in the ’80s (sadly didn’t perform those, though – but was still a great time). Photo above is one I took – we were very close to the stage. 🙂

TV SHOWS WATCHED

Plur1bus: S1 – Finally! Another weirdo sci-fi “me” type of show. Really liking this. Great idea & that crazy first episode had me hooked. Rhea Seehorn is great in it & the whole thing feels very unique. As of now as I’m writing this (in January), I’m finally giving Severance another shot. I’m liking that too but not in the same sort of way. Both are “weird sci-fi”, but Severance feels a bit aimless & maybe trying too hard to be weird? But Plur1bus seems to have its shit together more (so far). Can’t wait for Season 2.

Behind Her Eyes: S1 – I don’t normally get suckered into watching something like this based on Twitter (Sorry, X) comments, but people kept going on & on about the shocking twist in this. So, curiosity got the better of me. It’s not a good show. I wasn’t really feeling it at all, but wanted to see this big twist so I kind of binged this while admittedly doing other things & not giving it my full attention. I just didn’t care about these characters at all (except maybe the kid – that poor kid!!). It also took far too long to get to the “good” stuff (as in, the weirdo supernatural shit that I love). Think it wasn’t until the third or maybe even the second to last episode? But as soon as they showed the “thing” that they can do (trying to be spoiler-free), I instantly knew the twist. I guess I just watch too many things like this. So, I wasn’t the slightest bit shocked like everyone else seemed to be. It was fun, though. Yes, fun twist. But I’ve seen similar…

IT: Welcome To Derry: S1 E7-8 – It’s fine but I’m not really feeling it.

South Park: S28 E5 – F*^k yeah, Woodland Critter Christmas!

Down Cemetery Road: S1 E1-4 – Meh. Not really feeling this one. Don’t know if I’ll continue.

TV Rewatched:

The Twilight Zone: The Masks & An Occurrence At Owl Creek Bridge – Okay, I actually saw these early in the year when I finally bought a boxset of all the episodes, as this is my all-time favorite show. But I forgot to post about them then. The plan was to work through them all with the daughter but life has been too busy. Owl Creek Bridge is good but an odd one as it was an existing story but I think I read that Serling liked it, so it was adapted as it was a very Twilight Zone-like story? Good but has a very different feel to it. The Masks is a classic. If I were to make a Twilight Zone Top Ten, it would probably just make it into the ten (you know I probably will someday)! Sadly, I waited too long to show these to the daughter as she’s often guessing the twists (I first saw these at maybe age 8?).

BOOKS READ

Strange Pictures by Uketsu – Thoroughly enjoyed this strange mystery novel by anonymous masked Japanese author Uketsu (as shown above). Admit I’m a sucker for the mysterious artist thing. Love stuff like Banksy & especially adore Daft Punk (although do know what they look like). More artists should be mysterious!

Anyway, this novel contains several mysteries combining into one overall story & all revolve around analysing strange drawings, scattered throughout the book. It was just a very fun & unique way to tell this story. Fairly short book & a very easy read. I asked for both of his books for Christmas & I finished them both before the New Year. Is it the best writing ever? No, but that’s not really the point. There’s some very farfetched stuff as well, so suspend your disbelief & just enjoy the story. It’s no Agatha Christie mystery but it’s a very fun read. Enjoyed it a lot. It’s rare for me to just spend an entire day reading a book, as I get bored, so a book usually takes me at least a month to finish. I didn’t want to put this one down. And I’m definitely going to pre-order his next novel, which I think comes out in March. – 4.5/5

Strange Houses by Uketsu – Read this one second, and glad I didn’t start with this one. I still thoroughly enjoyed this one as well but the story is crazy & it’s WAY more farfetched than Strange Pictures. Strange Pictures is the better of the two & the one I’d recommend first if you’re intrigued. I still loved this one, though. I love “weird”, so being so crazy isn’t going to put me off. This book focused on drawings of strange floor plans, which slowly revealed the secrets of the families living in them. Again, this was such an unusual way to tell a story. I didn’t want to put this one down either. I’m definitely a new fan. – 4/5

The List Of Suspicious Things by Jennie Godfrey – Not my type of thing so much but the plot synopsis was good (from Amazon): “Yorkshire, 1979. Maggie Thatcher is prime minister, drainpipe jeans are in, and Miv is convinced that her dad wants to move their family Down South. Because of the murders. Leaving Yorkshire and her best friend Sharon simply isn’t an option, no matter the dangers lurking round their way; or the strangeness at home that started the day Miv’s mum stopped talking. Perhaps if she could solve the case of the disappearing women, they could stay after all? So, Miv and Sharon decide to make a list: a list of all the suspicious people and things down their street. People they know. People they don’t. But their search for the truth reveals more secrets in their neighbourhood, within their families – and between each other – than they ever thought possible. What if the real mystery Miv needs to solve is the one that lies much closer to home?”

Liked this, especially as it’s one of those books where you get chapters focusing on specific people (in this case the people who the girls put on their list of “suspects”). Did end up caring about the characters, which is important to me, and was interested in what would happen to each of them & their individual stories. It ends up being a much darker book than it at first seems & I didn’t like what happened with one of the characters. Not sure if/why that was necessary? This was worth a read but it overall didn’t quite connect with me despite having good characters & being set in an era I always like. Not sure why I didn’t like it a bit more. Maybe due to what happens with the one character? But it’s a good book. – 3.5/5

BLOG PLANS FOR THE COMING MONTH

I’m working on my 2025 Top Ten Lists, which I will try to post tomorrow. Because I’m a list maniac! And I’ll try to keep on top of posting movie reviews in a timely manner this year. And on replying to comments! I’m so sorry! Life has been so hectic these past few months. 😭

Upcoming Movies I Want To See:

Well, I just saw Marty Supreme so will post that review soon (I was underwhelmed). Very much looking forward to 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple (though unhappy the daughter can’t join me for it as this one is an 18 unlike the last one which was a 15. Damn). Should probably go to Hamnet as I’m sure it’ll be up for Oscars but it really doesn’t interest me. Primate looks like a bit of dumb fun.

I’m really just waiting for Project Hail Mary in March! Cannot WAIT. Absolutely adored that book.

Five Nights At Freddy’s 2, Fountain Of Youth, The Family Plan 2, The Lost Bus & The Great Flood Reviews

The Great Flood – Liked this. Starts out a disaster film, which I was looking forward to, but it got a lot better when it turned into the genre I love most. That was a nice surprise, as I’d not read much about this. A great story idea that the movie sadly doesn’t quite live up to. It was also hard to get into this at first, until you realise what’s going on. Just wish the movie was better, as I liked the story. But I still enjoyed it. – 7/10

Five Nights At Freddy’s 2 – Umm. These movies are okay. I guess. They’re very much aimed at my daughter’s age group as they played the game. She keeps getting annoyed when I say I definitely preferred Willy’s Wonderland, though. Feels like these movies should be more comedy/horror than just horror? Should be a bit more fun. – 6/10

Fountain Of Youth – Watched this a few weeks ago & at the time was thinking it wasn’t that bad. Indiana Jones-light. But I now seriously remember almost nothing about this. So…. Maybe it was a little bland… – 6/10

The Family Plan 2 – This was fine. If you liked the first one, you’ll like this one as it’s just more of the same. Not much more to say than that. We get so many straight-to-streaming films exactly like this one. It’s hard to keep them straight. I’ll forget this in a year. – 6/10

The Lost Bus – An interesting & very tense true story that this film somehow managed to make a little boring? Not sure how? Think there was maybe too much pointless setup at the start, without any true character development, before finally getting to the heart of the story. But by that point I still didn’t really know or care that much about the characters. Maybe a documentary would’ve been better for this one. – 6/10

Movies Rewatched In December: (watched a lot of Christmas stuff, obviously)

Gremlins – 9/10
When Harry Met Sally – 8.5/10
It’s A Wonderful Life – 8.5/10
Scrooged – 8.5/10
The Muppet Christmas Carol – 8.5/10
Elf – 8.5/10
American Pie – 8/10

Christmas Specials Rewatched:

A Charlie Brown Christmas – 10/10
Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer – 10/10
How The Grinch Stole Christmas – 9.5/10
Frosty The Snowman – 7.5/10

Anaconda, The Housemaid, Scandal & Caligula Reviews

The Housemaid – Trashy thrillers are a big guilty pleasure, so I was going to enjoy this. I read the book first, which ruins this type movie a bit as it’s all about the excitement of learning the big twists (even when predictable). But it was still fun seeing the audience reactions & they were clearly enjoying this. What can I say? It’s a fun trashy thriller! It knows it is & it did it well. But, yes, Seyfried is by far the best one in this. – 6.5/10

Anaconda – Disappointing. I love Jack Black & Paul Rudd, so was looking forward to this. It started out okay & I still liked Black & Rudd. Gotta love film lover friends! It falls apart when the real anaconda stuff starts happening. And then it didn’t even have much of that? Why didn’t it go full-on monster movie from that point? Could’ve done a big From Dusk Till Dawn genre switch! Missed opportunity. – 5.5/10

Scandal – Another one I saw thanks to Talking Pictures TV. I knew very little about the Profumo affair but was curious thanks to We Didn’t Start The Fire (seriously). I felt this film was more concerned with being “saucy” than informative. Didn’t feel I learned much other than that the girls were teenagers (gross). John Hurt & Joanne Whalley were good, though. I can’t say the same of Ian McKellen’s hair… Oh – I guess I learned from this film that the Fine Young Cannibals singer did some acting. – 6.5/10

Caligula: The Ultimate Cut – I never saw the controversial original version of this. It sounds like this one is very different & much better, with a lot of unused footage? Did they take out some porn? Not sure, but it still had plenty! And a far too graphic rape scene. As a film, this one isn’t terrible. And it clearly stars some good actors. I’d never watch it again but it’s worth a one-time watch for curious film fans. It’s an experience. – 6.5/10

Left-Handed Girl, Jay Kelly, Wake Up Dead Man & Relay Reviews

Left-Handed Girl – Felt a lot like The Florida Project, but with more likeable characters. The little girl was cute, I liked the setting, and nothing really happened (until the end). A good but not “great” film. Worth a watch, though. – 7/10

Jay Kelly – Almost skipped this as it’s Noah Baumbach & I couldn’t handle another Marriage Story filled with insufferable twats. This was much better, though. Maybe as I’m more interested in the life of a big actor & liked how it captured a bit of that “movie magic” feeling at the end. Clooney & Sandler are both really good. Not a lot of story & longer than needed but at least I didn’t hate a Baumbach film this time. – 7/10

Wake Up Dead Man – I like but don’t love these. Knives Out is still the best by far, but was happy this one was an improvement on Glass Onion. I liked the setting of the small village & church and the acting was quality. Was disappointed the smaller characters were very underdeveloped & I wasn’t that interested in the mystery itself. The actors in these films do help to elevate the somewhat underwhelming stories. – 7/10

Relay – Decent straight-to-streaming thriller. As far as I’m aware? It wasn’t in cinemas anywhere near me. Certainly better than several of the films in this genre that I did see in the cinema this year. Interesting story & good performances from Riz Ahmed & Lily James. Plus an ending I wasn’t expecting. – 7/10

Echo Valley, She Rides Shotgun, Clown In A Cornfield & Code 3 Reviews

Echo Valley – Didn’t mind this, even though Sweeney’s character pissed me the hell off. Her mother was far too nice! Very much my type of thriller, though. Julianne Moore & Fiona Shaw were good & I liked the ending. Good enough for me. One of the better Apple TV releases of the past year (for me, at least – I know it’s not perfect). – 7/10

She Rides Shotgun – Not too bad. Guess it’s what you’d call a slow burn. It didn’t really make me feel much for the characters, though, other than the young girl who did a great job. Worked best at the start when focusing on the father/daughter relationship. Liked its vibe, probably thanks mostly to a good score. So, I had to look up who did the score (Blanck Mass). Love a good score! (Upped my rating half a star as the girl, Ana Sophia Heger, really was so good in this). – 7/10

Clown In A Cornfield – This was kind of fun. No, it doesn’t exactly bring anything new to the slasher genre but it was entertaining enough & who doesn’t like creepy clowns? The teens were hateful, as per usual, and the backstory isn’t surprising but it’s relatable (some teens really do suck). Don’t know if it’s the start of a new franchise but appreciate its title & sense of humor, which I’d have liked ramped up more. – 6.5/10

Code 3 – This was okay. Not really my sort of genre. But it got the right level of comedy mixed with drama. Rainn Wilson, Lil Rel Howery & Aimee Carrero worked really well together. I liked their encounters with the asshole doctor. I can’t imagine a more stressful job. – 6/10

The Gorge, Eternity, My Dead Friend Zoe & All Of You Reviews

The Gorge – Really liked this, but this sort of genre is very much my thing. The best bits involved Teller & Taylor-Joy communicating & getting to know each other from their separate towers (reminded me of my favorite parts of 2004’s Dawn Of The Dead with Gun Store Andy – does this mean I like people kept at a distance or something?!). Not sure how I felt about them saying “F*^k keeping humanity safe – I need some nookie!” but, whatever – I guess they were horny. I thought they had decent chemistry & I liked the love story set next to this strange & potentially apocalyptic gorge. This is the best part of the movie & it’s more interesting while the gorge remains mysterious & unknown.

I assume most people definitely preferred this first section of the film, as it then took a turn & got far more weird than I was expecting. The weirdness worked for me, but will definitely not have worked for everyone. The “creatures”, though they looked a bit dodgy at first (a very “video game” look to them), were sort of so ridiculous that they ended up kind of cool? At least we got some unique designs. Especially as things got even weirder & we entered body horror/Society territory. Would’ve liked more of that!

I feel like, in different hands, this could’ve been a better film if maybe it had gone more full-on horror at the end. But I know that’s not for everyone. We already have The Thing, right? I can understand why they kept this a bit more “sanitized”. It works as a love story & also as a not-too-scary sci-fi monster film. It’s kind of a weird mash-up and feels like two entirely different movies but, well, it worked for me. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Easily my favorite of the straight-to-streaming films of 2025. But it’s admittedly an odd one, so is definitely a like it or hate it film. I liked it a lot. – 7.5/10

Eternity – Enjoyed this. Always love a story that feels unique & original. Was confused by everyone talking about the first husband being so handsome & then he turns up looking almost exactly the same as Miles Teller. Liked that the story wasn’t completely predictable & all the adverting in the background for the various eternities was fun (loved the one being at full capacity). Need more original films like this. – 7.5/10

My Dead Friend Zoe – This was really good. Sonequa Martin-Green & Natalie Morales were great & very believable as Army friends. I thought it handled a difficult subject very well & with sensitivity & respect. Ed Harris & Morgan Freeman were also very good & that ending hits hard. Not sure why some good films like this one get no attention. Deserves to be seen. – 7.5/10

All Of You – At first thought this was gonna be like that TiMER movie with a great sci-fi twist on the romcom but then this movie didn’t really use that at all? In fact, I forgot about that little element of this. But it’s a good “Dammit, they should be together! Why are they not together?!” story. Really like Poots & Goldstein & they had great chemistry. But her character did really piss me off sometimes… *Poots!* – 7/10

Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning, Oh. What. Fun., Goodbye June & F1 Reviews

Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning – It’s a Mission Impossible film. It plays out like all the rest of them. I’m not a huge fan of spy films for some reason I can’t explain, but I do think these are very good examples of the genre. I find I can never follow the story in between all the huge action scenes & I lose interest. But I did like the “rogue AI” plot in these last two, probably because it made it a little more sci-fi, which is a genre I do love. Meh. – 6.5/10

Oh. What. Fun. – This. was. fun. Admit it helps that I like Michelle Pfeiffer, but I did also like seeing a Christmas movie focusing on the under-appreciated mothers who work so hard to make Christmas special for everyone else. I feel so sorry for those women. Pfeiffer & Felicity Jones help elevate this average & slightly too silly Christmas film. I’ve certainly seen far, far worse in this genre. – 6.5/10

Goodbye June – This was, obviously, very sad. I thought it portrayed family & dealing with the terminal illness & impending death of their mother/grandmother in a pretty realistic way. Made me sad but at the same time happy to be an only child. It’s lonely but there’s no sibling fights. Families are complicated! Weird to make it a “Christmas movie”, as if the holidays aren’t depressing enough… – 6.5/10

F1 – This was fine. I was a little bored. Sorry. All racing movies kind of feel the same to me. Kerry Condon was good. Is Brad not way too old for this role? No clue. Preferred Ford v Ferrari. And Rush. – 6.5/10

Watched, Read, Reviewed: November 2025

Hey! Happy Post-Christmas! Almost January! I’m just glad the shortest day of the year is over. God I hate these dark months… Depressing as hell. Well, here’s the roundup of what I watched in November. Will try to start on posting my December reviews the rest of this week.

MOVIES WATCHED IN NOVEMBER (ranked best to worst):

La Strada – 8.5/10
Nights Of Cabiria – 8/10
Le Samouraï – 8/10
Predator: Badlands – 8/10
Breathless – 8/10
Incendies – 8/10
Train Dreams – 7.5/10
The Fantastic 4: First Steps – 7.5/10
Boy Kills World – 7.5/10
Wicked: For Good – 7/10
Conan The Barbarian – 6.5/10
The Running Man (2025) – 7/10
Frankenstein (2025) – 6.5/10
Freakier Friday – 6.5/10
Heart Eyes – 6/10
Locked – 6/10
Hedda – 6/10
Until Dawn – 5.5/10

Movies Rewatched In November:
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story – 9/10
Predator – 8/10

BOOKS, TV, MUSIC, MISCELLANEOUS IN NOVEMBER

TV SHOWS WATCHED

Andor: S1 (rewatch) & S2 – Dragged my feet on watching season 2 as my hubby (biggest Star Wars fan I’ve ever known personally) loved season 1 & rewatched it many times. It breaks my heart that he never got to see season 2 & I didn’t feel up to watching it without him when it came out. He’d have loved it. It was absolutely brilliant. I did like season 1 a lot, but didn’t absolutely adore it in the same way that he did. Am glad that I rewatched season 1 beforehand, as I appreciated it much more this time & was immediately hooked from the start of season 2. Why can’t all the new Star Wars content be this good?! Amazing show. And as soon as I finished it, I rewatched Rogue One again & had an even further appreciation of that as well. Am glad that Andor won some Emmys, right? Definitely deserved.

Next up: The Mandalorian & Grogu. I can’t WAIT but that’s also going to be extremely bittersweet. Can’t believe he won’t be seeing that either. It’s not fair.

Squid Game: The Challenge: S2 – I hate myself anytime I watch a reality show, as I think they’re trash. But, dammit, I like these fake Squid Game shows. I can’t help it. And why the hell are 90% of the contestants total twats? Especially those two bald guys. I didn’t really care who was gonna win, as long as it wasn’t one of them. Man, why do I watch this shit?? I enjoyed this, though. Not gonna lie. They must have quite a budget for this? Some elaborate games! Liked that Chutes & Ladders one.

All Her Fault: S1 – A twisty, trashy thriller is my guilty pleasure so this looked right up my alley. Yep, it was. Had fun with this & liked seeing both Snook & Fanning in this as well as Sophia Lillis (who I thought would be bigger after It). Decent enough twists that I didn’t immediately guess. A bit forgettable, though. In fact, I watched a similar thing the next month & started writing about that one under this one as I confused the two. They’re all interchangeable.

IT: Welcome To Derry: S1 E3-6 – I know I’m a big Stephen King dork & watch everything to do with him but I just really can’t get into this show. Plus it’s quite nasty. I dunno.

South Park: S28 E2-4 – I’ll always like this f^%ked-up show. I’m not easily offended. But found it funny that them messing with my beloved Totoro is the closest I’ve ever been to being offended by South Park. 🙃 That’s sacred!!

Grey’s Anatomy: S22 E5-6 – I’m so f^%king sick of the Teddy & Owen drama.

The Chair Company: S1 E1-2 – Thought I’d try a new show. Wasn’t feeling this.

The Rehearsal: S1 E1 – Thought I’d try a new show. Was feeling this even less. Bizarre.

BOOKS READ

No books finished in November…

BLOG PLANS FOR THE COMING MONTH

Hope to post reviews this week of all the December movies that I watched, so I can move on with 2026 after that. Maybe early next week I’ll try to post my 2025 year end Top Ten lists.

Upcoming Movies I Want To See:

Going to see Anaconda despite the bad reviews & The Housemaid because I read the book & trashy thrillers are my guilty pleasure. And will watch Marty Supreme once it’s at my local cinema after the 1st of January.

Freakier Friday, Hedda, Frankenstein, Heart Eyes & Until Dawn Reviews

Hope everyone had a great Christmas! 🎄 Just wanna get these November reviews out of the way so I can move onto December before 2026…

Freakier Friday – This was exactly what I expected from a family Disney film. It was fun & in the same spirit as the first film. A bit cheesy & ridiculous, yeah, and of course entirely predictable. As was the first film. And there’s nothing wrong with that sometimes. Fun to see these characters again & to get some new additions to the family. – 6.5/10

Frankenstein (2025) – Meh. I don’t have much to say. Feel like I’m missing something here. Why such a high rating? It’s a great original story, yes. Yet this adaptation somehow managed to be rather boring? And I thought all the acting was a bit iffy. I find del Toro very hit or miss, though. This wasn’t terrible but I was just hoping for something better based on how great Pan’s Labyrinth is, I guess. – 6/10

Hedda – This was fine but I was a bit bored. Knew nothing of the original story. One of those films where the acting is much better & more interesting than the story itself. All did a very good job in these roles but it wasn’t really enough to make me care about what would happen to any of these characters. And I wanted it to be saucier! Could’ve spiced this one up much more… – 6/10 (By the way – Imogen Poots is in this. *Poots!*)

Heart Eyes – Was hoping this would be better. An okay villain & main couple but I think they should have added much more comedy (it’s meant to be a horror comedy, right?). It should have been a lot more fun, which would’ve really worked. Instead, it just ended up another somewhat forgettable slasher film. Oh well – I’d still watch a sequel. I think they could make something better from this if they try again. – 6/10

Until Dawn – I didn’t know this was a video game. When I found out later, its complete mess of a story then made sense. Probably fun to play but boring to just sit & watch. It absolutely feels like a video game movie. Dumb story & bland characters. I didn’t care what was going to happen to them. Now I don’t feel bad that I missed out on this one in the cinema. – 5.5/10

Movies Rewatched In November:

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story – Rewatched this immediately after finally watching Andor series 2. My god, Andor was brilliant! I think Rogue One is great, although I didn’t instantly love it like others did. Think it just felt so very different to the Star Wars I grew up on. Watching Andor has given me an even further appreciation of Rogue One. Wish all the modern day Star Wars stuff could be as good as this, Andor & The Mandalorian. My Star Wars Ranking. – 9/10

Predator – Rewatched before Badlands (which I loved). My main memory of this is going on a 1st date in the ‘90s & renting a movie. He let me choose & was shocked I chose Predator as I’d not yet seen it & wanted to as I like Schwarzenegger (big Terminator fan). Date dude made me feel weird. Am I weird?! I do love this film still. It’s not quite up there with The Terminator & T2 but it’s still one of Arnie’s best. – 8/10

La Strada, Nights Of Cabiria, Le Samouraï, Breathless & Incendies Reviews 

Have to take this opportunity to quickly say RIP to Rob Reiner & his wife Michele. Tragic & heartbreaking. Reiner was one of my favorite directors by far with The Princess Bride, Stand By Me, When Harry Met Sally & This Is Spinal Tap being all-time favorites that I adore. Brilliant films. What an amazing career. Am very sad about this one. 💔

I had a post of rubbish movies scheduled for today, but changed it to this one with these great foreign films that I saw recently. Reiner deserves to be mentioned alongside other amazing filmmakers.

La Strada – Embarrassing to admit this is my first Fellini film & also that I didn’t know it was gonna be depressing. Oh but I loved Giulietta Masina! She was adorable & what an amazing stage presence. So while the film is a difficult watch thanks to Quinn’s character being a massive dickhead, Masina still adds so much heart to the film & I ended up liking it quite a lot thanks to her. I’m depressed now but also a new fan. – 8.5/10

Nights Of Cabiria – Fellini film #2 for me after absolutely loving Giulietta Masina in La Strada. What a star! Loved her in this as well, although I think I prefer La Strada as a film overall. She’s a great character in this. Loved her spirit & attitude while remaining a hopeless romantic. How could anyone break her heart?! A sad film that at least manages to be somewhat uplifting, again thanks to Masina‘s performance. 

I know I need to watch more Fellini, but now I’m worried that I won’t like his films as much when his wife isn’t starring in them? – 8/10

Le Samouraï – This was so stylish. And, man, this dude was handsome! Loved the look of this film – it reminded me of the look of PlayTime which I also watched recently. Maybe a little thin on plot & I’m not sure this dude was actually very good at his job, but who cares when you’re hot & everything looks cool AF. – 8/10

Breathless – My first Jean-Luc Godard. Sorry! Just not yet gotten around to exploring French New Wave. Jean Seberg was great! Star power. Sounds like she had quite an interesting real life, too. Her character could’ve done so much better than to be with that prick, though. I hated that guy! Again, like with Le Samouraï also watched recently, a little thin on plot but I didn’t care as it was stylish & cool as hell.

FYI – this was on Talking Pictures TV in the U.K., which has some real gems. Also saw Nights Of Cabiria this way. Check it out! I’m planning to watch Scandal on it this week too. – 8/10

Incendies – Well, thanks to social media I had the twist spoiled as they post an image from this so often that I was able to figure it out. It’s a very good film but also just so depressing & with such a sense of hopelessness the entire time, which is not my sort of thing. I think Denis Villeneuve is a great filmmaker, though, so this one is definitely worth a watch for fans of his work. – 8/10

Boy Kills World, Conan The Barbarian, The Running Man (2025) & Locked Reviews

Boy Kills World – Enjoyed this. I think it really captured the ‘70s/‘80s dystopian comic book vibe & if this had been made then, it would be a cult classic now. Loved the comedy & the video game-inspired voiceover was hilarious. Bill Skarsgård is perfect (and adorable). Rarely a modern film inspired by my childhood era gets the vibe right but this, and Turbo Kid, nailed it. Very fun. I enjoyed this much more than the similar Kick-Ass films. – 7.5/10

Conan The Barbarian – I always wanted to see this Schwarzenegger film that I never got around to. I suppose I missed out on the nostalgia by not seeing it at the time. Enjoyed this but it wasn’t as “fun” as I expected. It takes itself too seriously which maybe doesn’t quite work with the, um, acting skills? And this was so horny! And bloody. Glad I finally saw it but prefer the fantasy of Clash Of The Titans from the year before this one. – 6.5/10

The Running Man (2025) – Huge Stephen King fan so I was going to watch this version even though I’m happy with the Schwarzenegger film. Far prefer the ’87 film, which is the right level of “cheese” & has the look & vibe to work perfectly with that ’70s & ’80s dystopian view of the future that seems dated now (as stories like these are no longer far-fetched). That era just did dystopian sci-fi far better than now. I’m also sad at how soulless this version feels? I like Edgar Wright & this seemed like material he could really sink his teeth into? There is so much that could be said about the terrible state of the world now within the context of this story but this ends up being just a straightforward action film. I expected more than that from Wright. It was also longer than it needed to be & I was really feeling that in the disappointing final half hour of the film. And I find Glen Powell weak as a leading man, but maybe that’s just me as he’s so popular right now. I do really like this story so I guess I just wasn’t expecting to be a little bit bored while watching this. It’s not a terrible film & I’m glad I watched it. It just certainly didn’t live up to my expectations. The Long Walk is definitely the superior dystopian Stephen King adaptation of 2025. Oh – I loved the nod to Schwarzenegger in this, though. – 6.5/10

Locked – 100% watched this because Bill Skarsgård is in it. I like Bill Skarsgård. He’s adorable. But this movie wasn’t very good, sadly. And Hopkins felt very out of place. Certainly an original idea, though! So it gets an extra star for originality (plus for having Bill Skarsgård in it). – 6/10

Predator: Badlands, Train Dreams, The Fantastic 4: First Steps & Wicked: For Good Reviews

Predator: Badlands – Didn’t realize some people hated this? It must be sad to find no joy in anything. This was the most fun I’ve had watching an action film in quite a while. Already love Predator and, for me, this didn’t feel out of place in comparison just because there’s less gore & slightly less testosterone. It has great action scenes & a crazy amount of violence for its U.K. 12A rating (how did it manage that rating?!). But, yes, it also has quite well-developed characters for a sci-fi action film & a good story of friendship & family. Is that a bad thing? Predator had that camaraderie as well between the dudes? Is it only okay when it’s between men with their muscly handshakes?

Predator is a fun action film as is Badlands. It’s a great sci-fi concept that works really well in both films (as well as those in between, some being better than others but always enjoyable). I could do with rewatching some of them but feel like Badlands may be my second favorite after the original film. It’s a bit like Alien vs Aliens. Yes, Predator is still the best “film” but Badlands was a joy to watch and I loved our unlikely trio as well as the link to my beloved Alien franchise. And that planet with all its killer creatures was very inventive. Not sure how any sci-fi action fans could not have fun with this one. I want a sequel already. – 8/10

Train Dreams – The film looks beautiful and I know it probably deserves a higher rating, but it’s just not a very “me” film. It’s very, very sad. Edgerton & Jones are great, though, and very believable as a couple truly in love. I wanted them to live happily ever after with their sweet daughter. An emotional film, if that’s what you’re wanting. The montage & his ride in the plane did choke me up. A fantastic scene. – 7.5/10

The Fantastic 4: First Steps – Have liked very few MCU films since Endgame but quite liked this & much more than all other 2025 superhero films. I always like the first “character intro” movies the most, though (although this intro has happened many times!). I liked the story & the cast was good, especially Kirby. And cute baby! Look forward to seeing them with other Marvel characters in future films (that’s the plan, right?!). My MCU Ranking Here. – 7.5/10

Wicked: For Good – I’ve been a huge Wizard Of Oz fan since I was a little girl so was always curious about Wicked & finally went to the musical before the first film came out. It’s good but I was underwhelmed. I just don’t think the Wicked songs are very memorable (I can still only think of two, both from the first film) & the story is kind of fun but also a complete mess when you try to match it up with the events in The Wizard Of Oz. It’s just not the best villain origin story. Hell, they did better with Maleficent’s backstory. So, I admit I’m “Team Wizard Of Oz” and therefore just not going to be as big of a fan of Wicked with its weaker songs and its drab non-Technicolor world. Plus the fact that it messes with characters that I love.

It really is the second half of the musical that lost its way for me, so it was likely that I wasn’t going to like For Good as much. It’s a shame, as I thought they did do well with the first half of the musical for the first film. Ariana & Cynthia are very good & can sing the shit out of these rather boring songs. Indeed, they are far better than the films themselves & they outshine most everyone besides Jonathan Bailey. I liked seeing their friendship develop and quite enjoyed the first film. I think they did as well as they could with the weak source material for the second film but it somehow felt rushed despite being so long & it makes a mess of that great but complicated friendship from the first film. The story in Part 2 just kind of makes no sense, for any of the characters. Who am I meant to care about at the end of this film?

Oh well. I don’t think these are bad films at all & I did enjoy the first one. The second was a bit of a chore to watch unfold but still worth seeing for the central performances. I won’t give this too low of a score as it’s not awful, it’s just no Wizard Of Oz. Not even close. – 7/10


Oh, I loved this Glinda dress

Watched, Read, Reviewed: October 2025

Here’s all I watched & read in October. Added a few extra reviews below, that I didn’t manage to post in October.

MOVIES WATCHED IN OCTOBER (ranked best to worst):

Three Colors: Blue – 8/10
Three Colors: Red – 8/10
Paper Moon – 7.5/10
Roofman – 7.5/10
Good One – 7/10
The Brutalist – 7/10
Die Alone – 7/10
Good Fortune – 7/10
Three Colors: White – 7/10

Late Night With The Devil – Quite liked this, although it very much feels like a “one time watch” horror movie that you’d not feel the need to see each October. Clever idea & I really liked the ‘70s late night talk show setting. A little slow to start & the ending was a bit messy but the middle was really good & tense. Made me miss those late night American talk shows from that time. Glad to finally see this one. – 7/10

Sorry, Baby – 7/10
Presence – 7/10
A House Of Dynamite – 6.5/10
The Hand That Rocks The Cradle (2025) – 6/10
The Death Of Stalin – 6.5/10
The Woman In Cabin 10 – 6/10
Steve – 6/10
Psycho Therapy: The Shallow Tale Of A Writer Who Decided To Write About A Serial Killer – 5.5/10
The Man In My Basement – 4.5/10

Movies Rewatched In October:

Deep Red – 8.5/10
Train To Busan – 8.5/10
Day Of The Dead – 8.5/10

Poltergeist – Watched with the daughter on Halloween (first watch for her). First rewatch in a long time & still think it’s great. Love the story, characters, iconic scenes & dialogue (the daughter liked finding out that a South Park reference is from this). Wish she’d watched it younger as she’s too old to be scared now but this scared the shit out of us as young kids in 1982. Rated PG was crazy. Guy rips his face off! – 8/10

A Tale Of Two Sisters – 8/10

Zombieland – Watched a lot of zombie movies with the daughter this year, so we watched this Zom-Com after I insisted she watch the proper Romero classics first. This one is still a lot of fun. Good idea & I can relate to the love of Twinkies. I always love a comedy horror & had fun rewatching this one after all the serious zombie films. Now onto Train To Busan tonight as our Halloween movie (I love that film – and yes we did watch it on Halloween night). – 7.5/10

Breakdown – Remember liking this ‘90s thriller & thinking it was a bit better than the rest from that era (all are a guilty pleasure). Was happy to see this for 50p in a charity shop as wanted to rewatch it. Still a great, tense thriller from the decade that did them best. Quality actors also help this one stand out. A little dated now & the ending a bit over the top but that’s what I want from this kind of thing. Fun rewatch. – 7/10

Shorts Watched:

Lego Frozen: Operation Puffins – Cute. Forgettable. There have been much better Frozen shorts.

BOOKS, TV, MUSIC, MISCELLANEOUS THIS MONTH

TV SHOWS WATCHED

It: Welcome To Derry: S1 E1-2 – Well, quite a start to this show! And that episode 1 ending was f*^ked up & certainly not expected. Looking forward to seeing where they take this. They’re clearly not worried about upsetting the audience…

Grey’s Anatomy: S22 E1-4 – So happy/annoyed that this has started up again because I love/hate this show (mostly hate). They had the opportunity to kill off hateful characters in the first episode yet chose to keep Teddy?! Grr.

High Potential: S2 E3-7 – Still a fun watch. Look forward to it each week.

Pixar’s Win Or Lose: S1 – This was an odd one. It’s very much a part of the “new” (bad) Pixar era. Can’t believe the studio went so downhill in recent years after making perfection for so long. However, I quite liked this series once I got into it. Liked how each episode focused on a different character during the same time period. Some characters & episodes better than others, but this had some good humor in it. It’s still nowhere near Pixar when at its best, but I thought this series was much better than recent film releases such as Luca, Elio & Elemental etc.

South Park: S28 E1 Twisted Christian – Ah, the six seven episode. God the youth of today are annoying AF. Liked that it compared it to being possessed like in The Exorcist. Looking forward to more episodes.

Family Guy: S23 E19 (Halloween Episode) – This was okay. I never watched Family Guy regularly for some reason, even though it seems my type of thing. Just always preferred South Park. This show does make me laugh out loud sometimes, though. It’s not that great overall, but the references are fun.

BOOKS READ

All The Colors Of The Dark by Chris Whitaker – Very good book. One of those long novels that spans many years & has rich character development. This isn’t always my type of thing but the synopsis sounded intriguing. Got The Goldfinch vibes from it when it came to the main boy in it (Patch) & the trauma & how we followed his life for so long (but liked this book much much more than that one). Unlike The Goldfinch, I did care about these characters by the end (which I should hope would be the case with a long novel like this). Especially liked a lot of the smaller characters, like the grandmother & the guy who ran the art gallery. I did get annoyed at many decisions made by Patch but he goes through an extremely traumatic experience which makes you forgive a lot. My heart ached for Saint as well, who deserved better. Wouldn’t say this is going to be a new favorite of mine as it still isn’t really my type of thing but it’s one of the better books I’ve read in quite a while. Strong characters & mystery. Would make for a very good mini-series, so hope it gets made. – 4.5/5

(Here’s the synopsis from Amazon: “There is a moment when childhood ends. For Joseph ‘Patch’ Macauley and Saint Brown, it comes late one summer as Patch is abducted from their hometown. Devastated, Saint devotes her days to finding her best friend. Held in total darkness, Patch is hopeless and alone – until he feels a hand in his. Though he never sees the girl, they fall in love. When he escapes, he’s left with only her voice and name – and promises to spend the rest of his life searching for her. As Saint’s heart breaks for the boy she lost – and the man he becomes – she will shadow his journey, to uncover the truth behind who took him. Over a lifetime driven by obsession, Patch and Saint must sacrifice everything for redemption, justice, and, ultimately, love – even if that means losing each other forever…)”

BLOG PLANS FOR THE COMING MONTH

Posting November reviews. Watched 7 movies so far. Only been to the cinema once this month so far, to see Predator: Badlands. Loved it! Very fun film. Pure enjoyment.

Upcoming Movies I Want To See:

This weekend I’ll probably be going to The Running Man & the new Osgood Perkins film Keeper. Weekend after that will be Wicked: For Good. Gotta say that I like but certainly don’t LOVE Wicked like others do. I’m a Wizard Of Oz lover & it kind of ruins that for me a little. Wizard Of Oz is SO far superior…

Watched, Read, Reviewed: September 2025

MOVIES WATCHED IN SEPTEMBER (ranked best to worst):

The Long Walk – 8.5/10
The Kid Detective – 8/10
Spinal Tap II: The End Continues – 8/10
Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me – 8/10
Better Man – 7.5/10
River – 7.5/10
Playtime – 7.5/10
One Battle After Another – 7.5/10
A Big Bold Beautiful Journey – 7/10
The Plague Dogs – 7/10
24 Hour Party People – 7/10
Swiped – 6.5/10
Lilo & Stitch – 6.5/10
Wolf Man – 6/10
Novocaine – 5.5/10
The Assistant – 6/10
Love Hurts – 5/10
Skinamarink – 0.5/10

Movies Rewatched In September:

Thelma & Louise – 9/10
Kill Bill: Vol. 1 – 8/10
Kill Bill: Vol. 2 – 8/10

Shorts Watched:

Pussy – Umm. Okay, this is an animated short on Mubi about what you’re thinking it’s about. Poor woman just wants to be left alone to play with her “title of short” but it turns into a cat & starts running around her apartment. She catches it & strokes it a lot. Exactly the kind of thing you’d expect to end up on Mubi.

BOOKS, TV, MUSIC, MISCELLANEOUS IN SEPTEMBER

TV SHOWS WATCHED

Twin Peaks: The Return – After finally watching the original Twin Peaks series (I wrote about it here) and then Fire Walk With Me, I figured I better do it all & watched The Return as well. Liked the original series & movie quite a bit but was NOT feeling The Return. At all. I had to force myself to finish it quickly before cancelling Mubi (but then didn’t cancel as I got a good yearly offer – oh well). I know Lynch’s stuff is weird & you either like or hate that sort of thing but The Return just got far too weird for me. Felt like a meandering mess? Yeah, I’m probably just too stupid to “get it” but I didn’t love the characters anymore in the way that I did with the original series. Yes, I did like seeing so many of the original characters again but for the most part hated how their stories ended up (especially Laura Palmer’s & Dale Cooper’s, the most important characters of all). I’m just gonna pretend The Return doesn’t exist. I did like that many episodes ended with real musical guests performing, though.

Alice In Borderland: S3 – I do love the overall concept of this story (I think the manga would be really interesting to check out). I know I liked season 1 a lot at first but then thought it went very downhill for the final few episodes. So I wasn’t super excited when season 2 then started but ended up really loving season 2. Big improvement! And a great ending. So I was very excited for season 3 & binged it immediately. Ummm. Well, damn. Season 3 really went the way of Squid Game. I did enjoy it & liked that we got a lot more of the same again (more games, which is what we like to see just like with Squid Game). But it did feel completely unnecessary just like Squid Game did after season 1. I hate how every popular thing has to be dragged out for so long now. To be fair, though, I don’t think this or the final Squid Game seasons were awful. I still enjoyed them quite a bit & I’d still say both of these are easily two of my favorite shows from recent years. But the need to keep making more of every slightly popular TV series instead of just ending on a high note is getting really annoying. They ruin so many shows by doing that.

Wednesday: S2 E5-8 – I do love Tim Burton’s style (and his very best films – wish there weren’t also so many bad ones). So I do appreciate seeing that Gothic style in Wednesday as well. If I was a pre or early teen, I’d probably love this show as it really is aimed at them. It’s never going to be a favorite & is more of a “stick it on in the background” show but it’s fun. Ortega is great, as is the character of Wednesday. Love the big names they manage to get into this show like Steve Buscemi & Christopher Lloyd this season. I’d happily keep watching more seasons of this.

High Potential: S2 E1-2 – Another fairly lightweight show that I like to stick on in bed either early morning before work or when trying to go to sleep at night. Enjoyable (though unbelievable) stories & good characters. I’ll keep watching.

South Park: S27 E4-5 – Will always like South Park – Happy it’s still around.

BOOKS READ

Never Flinch by Stephen King – Always happy to get another Holly Gibney story. I feel like we’d be friends. Wish I could be friends with a fictional character. Maybe not the strongest of the now many King stories involving Holly (and Jerome & Barbara) but I enjoyed revisiting them all again. This one has two stories that come together and when they finally do, it just felt a bit rushed and the ending slightly abrupt. But that’s often the case with King’s books I think. Still enjoyed the book & still a big fan of these characters. Hope to get more stories with them. – 4/5

BLOG PLANS FOR THE COMING MONTH

Almost caught up! Will post my October roundup then guess I need to start working on November reviews. Not watched much in November yet as been too busy.

Upcoming Movies I Want To See:

Well, I’ll check out The Running Man as I watch all Stephen King adaptations. But I’m happy with the Schwarzenegger version. Curious about the new Osgood Perkins film Keeper coming out too.

Watched, Read, Reviewed: August 2025

Let’s do this! Gotta catch up on these posts. Here’s what I watched in August…

MOVIES WATCHED IN AUGUST (ranked best to worst – kind of – I don’t know, I watched way too much in August):

–The Life Of Chuck – 8/10
–Together – 8/10
–The Surfer – 7.5/10
–Weapons – 7.5/10
–The Roses – 7.5/10
–Caught Stealing – 7.5/10
–The Assessment – 7.5/10
–Blow-Up – 7/10
–Grand Hotel – 7/10
–A Man For All Seasons – 7/10
–Winter Spring Summer Or Fall – 7/10
–Saturday Night – 7/10
–The Naked Gun – 6.5/10
–Mystery Date – 6/10
–Nonnas – 6/10
–Happy Gilmore 2 – 6/10
–Thursday Murder Club – 6/10
–Freaky Tales – 6/10
–The Legend Of Ochi – 6/10
–The Amateur – 6/10
–Night Always Comes – 6/10
–Eenie Meanie – 5.5/10
–War Of The Worlds – 4/10

Movies Rewatched In August:

–The Lord Of The Rings: The Fellowship Of The Rings – 9/10
–The Lord Of The Rings: The Return Of The King – 9/10
–The Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers – 9/10
–Dawn Of The Dead (2004) – 8.5/10
–The Green Mile – 8.5/10
–What’s Eating Gilbert Grape – 8/10
–Memento – 7.5/10
–Welcome Home, Roxy Carmichael – 7/10

BOOKS, TV, MUSIC, MISCELLANEOUS IN AUGUST

TV SHOWS WATCHED

Uzumaki – Saw this while in America. Was happy to see this available to watch where we were staying, as I like Junji Ito’s artwork. I’ve not read this or anything of his (but did buy a collection of some of his short stories recently). So I can’t compare this TV mini-series to the original manga series but, man, this was f*^ked up! Full-on body horror madness. Which I kind of loved, as I appreciate a f*^ked-up story & amazing art. I love Japanese anime & body horror so expected to love this. Not quite, though I did like it. And I’ll certainly never forget it, which is sometimes more important.

Alien: Earth: S1 E1-4 – I dunno… I just can’t get into this. It’s November now & I still haven’t finished watching this series. And Alien/Aliens are two of my favorites movies EVER. Big time. Adore them. Masterpieces. Does anyone like this show? It’s kind of dumb so far?? And the gore in that one scene where that room full of people in costumes got ripped apart, including that one guy ripped in half who was crawling around on the floor afterwards? It made me think of the start of that Ghost Ship movie. Over-the-top ridiculousness which just made me laugh. I don’t want that from an Alien thing. Leave Alien alone. Get away from her, you bitch!

South Park: S27 E1-3 – Funny & relevant as always. Was a bizarre experience seeing the controversial 1st episode with the step-mother while we were in America. Think she’s a new fan!

Wednesday: S2 E1-4 – Think I enjoyed season 2 slightly more than season 1 but maybe I just loved seeing Steve Buscemi (Buscemi rules).

The Wonderfully Weird World Of Gumball: S1 E1-5 – The daughter was happy to be able to watch some of this while in America as she absolutely adores the original series (not gonna lie – I like it too – it’s nuts!). We were both a little disappointed with this one. The first episodes were okay & it was great seeing these characters again but it’s not as funny or quite as wonderfully weird as the original series.

And Just Like That…: S3 E10-12 – Rubbish.

BOOKS READ

Never Lie by Freida McFadden – My lightweight thriller for my trip to America. Finished the whole thing in my two weeks there, and I certainly didn’t spend much time sitting around & reading, so it was clearly a very quick read. What can I say? This type of thing is my guilty pleasure. Along the lines of The Girl On The Train, The Woman In The Window etc etc etc. Decent enough twist, I guess. Meh. I’ll remember nothing of this book in a year. It’s a “give to charity when finished” book, ya know? (I gave it to my 96-year-old avid reader grandmother when I was finished with it & she was over the moon) 🙂 – 2.5/5

Look at that terrible photo. I can’t take a picture to save my life. And look at that damn sky – I could’ve just stayed in England if I wanted shitty, rainy weather. 🙃

LIVE SHOWS

A Midsummer Night’s Dream – Went to see this “Shakespeare In The Park” performance at an outdoor theater that is near where I grew up in Wisconsin. Sadly, we only got to see about half as there was a huge thunderstorm so they had to cancel the remainder of the show. Was fun going there with the daughter, though. The place has been running for YEARS. I remember my high school class going to a performance of The Tempest there back in the early ’90s. It’s great that it’s still going strong.

BLOG PLANS FOR THE COMING MONTH

Hopefully post my September & October Roundup posts…

Upcoming Movies I Want To See:

Going to Predator: Badlands & Die My Love this weekend. Had been hoping to rewatch V For Vendetta with the daughter on the 5th of November, but she had too much homework. Stupid school! I see The Fantastic 4 is now on Disney Plus, so I suppose I’ll watch that since I didn’t go to see it (I’m superheroed out, though. And have certainly had enough of Pedro).

Watched, Read, Reviewed: July 2025

So behind on posting my monthly roundups! Here’s what I watched in July….

MOVIES WATCHED IN JULY (ranked best to worst):

–What A Way To Go! – 8.5/10
–Control – 7.5/10
–KPop Demon Hunters – 7/10
–Lost In Starlight – 7/10
–The Woman In The Yard – 6.5/10
–Superman – 6.5/10
–Strange Darling – 6/10
–No Way Out – 6/10
–Y2K – 6/10
–Death Of A Unicorn – 6/10
–Opus – 6/10

Movies Rewatched In July:

–Dawn Of The Dead (1978) – 9/10
–Before Sunset – 8/10
–Almost Famous – 8/10
–Drive – 8/10
–Bram Stoker’s Dracula – 7/10
–Sleepy Hollow – 6.5/10

BOOKS, TV, MUSIC, MISCELLANEOUS IN JULY

TV SHOWS WATCHED

Twin Peaks: S2 – I wrote a lot about this in my June roundup here so won’t go into all that again. Will just say that I didn’t see Twin Peaks at the time & have wanted to watch it for years. Was happy to finally binge it over the summer. Liked it a lot, although season 2 was weak at first until it finally got back to Laura Palmer’s story. Fire Walk With Me was great too. Didn’t absolutely LOVE it all to the degree that huge David Lynch fans do, but I definitely liked the original series & film a lot (not The Return – that was a chore).

And Just Like That…: S3 E6-9 – Just awful – Can’t believe it took three seasons for this to be cancelled.

The Osbournes – Rewatched maybe the first four or five episodes of this while preparing & packing for my trip to America. Not gonna lie – I was SO sad about Ozzy’s death. I loved that dude. Black Sabbath is my favorite band (well, it’s very close between Sabbath & The Beatles but Sabbath is more “me”). So I rewatched some of these after Ozzy’s death as I loved this show when it first aired. And I still love this crazy family.

Nine Perfect Strangers: S2 E1 – The first series was okay, so figured I’d have this as an easy thing to watch by myself. But I watched maybe 10 minutes of episode 1 & decided I just couldn’t be bothered. Especially after seeing the low IMDb ratings for each episode. Looks like it went very downhill after a decent season 1?

LIVE SHOWS

Hadestown – Went to see this in London & am glad we had really great seats close to the stage. Liked this one a lot & the actors were absolutely fantastic (the best acting I’ve ever seen live, but I’m still pretty new to live shows). I didn’t really know anything about this beforehand. Loved the story & the songs were good, although not quite as memorable or catchy as those in the Six musical. But the story & overall performance had me transfixed. Loved the New Orleans sort of vibe, too. Easily one of my favorite shows that I’ve seen live.

Next up is the Beetlejuice musical in May.

My Ranking Of Live Shows I’ve Seen:

My Neighbor Totoro
Spirited Away
The Book Of Mormon
Hadestown
Six
Avenue Q
Clueless
Wicked
School Of Rock
The Lion King
We Will Rock You
Edward Scissorhands Ballet
Mary Poppins
Stomp
A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Saw this as an outdoor performance in Wisconsin in August & it’s last because I only got to see half of it thanks to it being cancelled due to rain)

BOOKS READ

Looks like I didn’t finish any books in July – I was too busy preparing for our trip to America.

BLOG PLANS FOR THE COMING MONTH

Catch up on these roundup posts! I’ll try to post August, September & October soon. I did already post reviews for all the movies that I watched during those months, though.

Upcoming Movies I Want To See:

Well, I’m posting this in November so the one I’m looking forward to this weekend is Predator: Badlands.

Halloween Horror: All Horror Movies Watched In 2025 Ranked & Rated

Happy Halloween!!!!! 🎃👻🎃

I’ve not done a month of horror reviews & also sadly not watched a lot of horror movies this month. But I do love horror so have seen plenty this past year. Figured I’d just put links to all my horror movie reviews for all of 2025 so far in here (stuck some “thrillers” in here as well). I’ve done a list of all first-time watches & a list of all the horror movies that I’ve rewatched this year.

All First-Time Watches Of Horror Movies In 2025 (Ranked in order starting with my favorite):

The Long Walk – 8.5/10
Your Monster – 8/10
The Kid Detective – 8/10
28 Years Later – 8/10
Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me – 8/10
Together – 8/10
The Surfer – 7.5/10
Weapons – 7.5/10
The Monkey – 7.5/10
Sinners – 7.5/10
Speak No Evil (2022) – 7.5/10
Companion – 7.5/10

Die Alone – 7/10
Late Night With The Devil – 7/10
Drop – 7/10
Heretic – 7/10
Presence – 7/10
Dead End Drive-In – 7/10
Martin – 7/10
Nosferatu – 7/10
The Crow (2024) – 7/10
Never Let Go – 7/10
The Watchers – 7/10
Nightbitch – 7/10
MaXXXine – 6.5/10

The Woman In The Yard – 6.5/10
Cuckoo – 6.5/10
Y2K – 6.5/10
The Hand That Rocks The Cradle (2025) – 6/10
Smile 2 – 6/10
The Addiction – 6/10
Wolf Man – 6/10
Death Of A Unicorn – 6/10
Strange Darling – 6/10
I Am The Pretty Thing That Lives In The House – 6/10
Salem’s Lot (2024) – 6/10
Holland – 6/10
Opus – 6/10
Everyone Is Going To Die – 5.5/10
Psycho Therapy: The Shallow Tale Of A Writer Who Decided To Write About A Serial Killer – 5.5/10
Fear Street: Prom Queen – 5.5/10
Arcade – 5.5/10
I Saw The TV Glow – 5/10
The Man In My Basement – 4.5/10
Skinamarink – 0.5/10 (worst thing I’ve ever seen)

Horror Movies Rewatched In 2025:

Dawn Of The Dead (1978) – 9/10
Night Of The Living Dead – 9/10
Freaks – 9/10
Deep Red – 8.5/10
Dawn Of The Dead (2004) – 8.5/10
Train To Busan – 8.5/10
Day Of The Dead – 8.5/10
A Tale Of Two Sisters – 8/10
28 Days Later – 8/10
28 Weeks Later – 7.5/10
Zombieland – 7.5/10
Bram Stoker’s Dracula – 7/10
Sleepy Hollow – 6.5/10

Train To Busan is the movie we will be watching tonight (rewatch for me, first time for the daughter). If there’s time, am hoping to talk her into Poltergeist as well.

Hope you all have a great Halloween!!

Die Alone, Presence, The Hand That Rocks The Cradle (2025), The Woman In Cabin 10 & Horror Movie Rewatch Reviews 

Happy Halloween Eve! Sticking my reviews of all the horror movies that I watched (and rewatched) in October here (some “thrillers” in here too). Tomorrow I’ll post my ranked list & links to the reviews of all the horror movies that I’ve watched in all of 2025.

Die Alone – Thought this was quite good for a film I’d heard nothing about? Admit I’m a sucker for apocalyptic & dystopian films, so it’s very much my thing, but I thought this was a good example of the genre. It’s a bit The Last Of Us but with a good story you may or may not figure out. Liked its twist & thought it managed to have a unique story within a genre that’s been done quite a lot. Really enjoyed this.

Also made me think of another dystopian film from last year, Arcadian, which I thought deserved a bit more love. Very effective creature design in that. – 7/10

Presence – This was better than I was expecting. Like a far less boring A Ghost Story but not as good or eerie as Lake Mungo. It does start off slow but the reveal at the end made it worthwhile (although I’m not sure it’s made fully clear what that meant – it took me a minute to realise). Won’t be for everyone but is the more subtle type of supernatural horror that I prefer. Wish the brother had been less of a prick. – 7/10

The Hand That Rocks The Cradle (2025) – I’d have liked this more with a different title. It’s so different from the ‘92 film anyway?! I admit these cheesy psychological thrillers are a guilty pleasure so I quite enjoyed this. The story is exactly what I expected and wanted & the leading ladies did well with the material. I liked it. But the ‘92 film is of course the superior good/bad guilty pleasure thriller. The ‘90s did this genre the best. – 6/10

The Woman In Cabin 10 – This was ridiculous but exactly what I expected from the “Girl On The Train/Woman In The Window” cheesy thriller genre. Not read this but read the other two & loads like them. My guilty pleasure! The story was decent enough, if not very believable, and we got some well known actors. If I’m honest I enjoyed it a bit more than The Thursday Murder Club film. But both are perfect for a lazy Sunday afternoon. – 6/10

Two extra current films I didn’t love:

Psycho Therapy: The Shallow Tale Of A Writer Who Decided To Write About A Serial Killer – Wasn’t really feeling this, although I appreciate its dark humor & original story idea. Just lost its way by the end. Always love Steve Buscemi, though. He’s the reason I watched this & he’s good as always. He sure does play killers well for such a nice guy. – 5.5/10

The Man In My Basement – I don’t know what to say about this? I was bored out of my mind, which is quite a feat for a movie that has Willem Dafoe in it, again being quite unhinged. I’ll give it an extra star for having a good idea. Too bad a good idea didn’t make for a good movie in this case. – 4.5/10

And some rewatches of horror favorites that I do love:

Deep Red – My second favorite Argento film & probably the first one I’d recommend to those new to his work. Enjoyed this rewatch from the horror master of visuals & always love hearing an amazing Goblin score. Did a long review of this here right after watching it for the very first time. It’s a brilliant horror classic. – 8.5/10

Day Of The Dead – Big fan of Romero’s zombie films, especially the first three. Although this isn’t quite up there with Night or Dawn, I still love its truly ’80s look & score along with some great gore (that ’80s gore that I can stomach – I’m a wuss about the realistic current gross stuff). Some good main characters again, as expected from Romero. And of course I love Bub. What a sweetie. – 8.5/10

A Tale Of Two Sisters – First rewatch in a while of this great South Korean psychological horror film. Creepy & atmospheric, this one does manage to freak me out a little (which is rare for me with horror movies). Love the story & the relationship between the sisters. Psychological and/or supernatural horror is always my favorite, and this is a fantastic example of that. Great film. First review here. – 8/10

Sorry, Baby & Good One & The Death Of Stalin & Steve Reviews

Sorry, Baby – A good film with tough subject matter but a funny, quirky character whose awkwardness I could relate to. Loved the friendship – women who have had that in their lives are so lucky. Eva Victor is very impressive as director, writer & star (why are people multi-talented when I don’t even have one talent?!). Didn’t love this the way others have but would certainly watch more from Victor based on this. – 7/10

Good One – Good film with a great performance from Lily Collias. A slow but peaceful film with lovely shots of the Catskills & subtle tension that builds to a sadly predictable incident. One of those films that kept me thinking about it after it finished. Girls have to put up with so much shit. Hope Collias gets more roles & I’d happily watch more films written & directed by India Donaldson. 

(Collias is also good in the recent Roofman, which I really enjoyed as well) – 7/10

The Death Of Stalin – Watched this with the daughter for her A Level History but I’m NOT a history buff so honestly didn’t know what was going on. Felt like a film where you need prior knowledge of the topic (the daughter filled me in & she did like this). We both love Steve Buscemi & I did enjoy him in this. And I love dark humor but think this is a film that only those already interested in this topic would enjoy. (Sorry!) – 6.5/10

Steve – This was good. Worthy. Solid performances. Depressing. Sooooo not my type of movie. So… I probably shouldn’t be “reviewing” it. Watched it as it’s a 2025 release. If this kind of dreary drama is your type of thing, you’ll probably love this. I truly respect people who do this for a living, though. I never could. – 6/10

Roofman, The Brutalist, Good Fortune & A House Of Dynamite Reviews

Roofman – Really enjoyed this. A crazy true story that was perfect for a film adaptation. It got the blend of humor & drama just right. Loved the nostalgia from seeing Toys “R” Us in all its glory. Tatum & Dunst were great together and had a strong supporting cast. The sort of enjoyable & original story we need more of – This was the busiest I’ve seen my almost always empty local cinema in a long time. – 7.5/10

The Brutalist – I know this is a worthy film but it’s also one I have zero desire to ever watch again. It looks fantastic, it’s epic, it has great performances, it’s depressing. It’s probably the most deserving of the Best Picture nominees (I’ve just not seen I’m Still Here) and far more so than Anora. This kind of sweeping epic is what I expect a Best Picture winner to be & having seen it now I’d be happy if it had won.

I originally gave it 4 stars on Letterboxd as it’s a good film but have lowered it to 3.5 as, I don’t know, I just felt no emotion? I didn’t really care about these characters. Not sure why as the performances were good & there are plenty of “depressing, sweeping Oscar epics” that I do love & that moved me & that I’d happily watch again. I’m not really sure what was missing but I do think it’s a very good film & I hope we get another Brady Corbet film this good but one that I might love.

Oh – if you like architecture I recommend another film that I did absolutely love: Kogonada‘s Columbus. – 7/10

Good Fortune – I admit it’s mainly due to Keanu, who I’ve always loved & who is one of very few likeable celebs, but I enjoyed this one. Like a silly Wings Of Desire with a well-meaning but inept It’s A Wonderful Life-inspired guardian angel. Keanu is completely charming & Keke Palmer is very good so it’s unfortunate that Ansari & Rogen do pale in comparison. It’s a simple film but it’s “nice”. Made me smile. – 7/10

A House Of Dynamite – Not a big fan of political thrillers but watched this as I respect Bigelow & like Elba & Ferguson who both did well. Didn’t love the structure of the story, which kept going back to show different perspectives & was confusing. Good tension that kind of fizzled out at the end. But the thought does scare the absolute shit out of me, and this seemed a very realistic portrayal of how events would unfold. – 6.5/10

The Three Colors Trilogy: Blue, White, Red & Paper Moon Movie Reviews

Happy Monday on the final week of Halloween! Realised I’ve not done a Halloween Horror thing on my blog in years. So I’ve saved up my reviews of all the horror movies I’ve watched this month & I’ll try to post that on Thursday. Then on Friday I’ll post a list of all the horror movies that I’ve watched (and rewatched) this entire year so far (think it’s 40 something movies). A ranked & rated list, of course, because that’s how I roll. But for the next three days I’m gonna catch up on my reviews of all the non-horror stuff that I watched in October.

FYI: Also realised I may seem to repeat myself a lot when I post these mini-reviews, especially below, but that’s because these are all separate reviews that I post on Letterboxd then amalgamate into one post on my blog. I’m too lazy to re-word anything.

Three Colors: Blue – Happy I finally watched this trilogy. This was my favorite of the three. Juliette Binoche was great & the story was heartbreaking but also beautiful. I could relate to her character, especially her fears. It’s very hard to be alone. I’ll say this is a fantastic trilogy but maybe not quite up there with the all-time very best foreign films. Brilliant films, especially Blue & Red, but not quite the masterpieces I expected. Look gorgeous, though, as you can see by these images. – 8/10

Three Colors: White – Finally watched these! A fantastic trilogy, but this is certainly the weakest (I liked Blue the most, with Red a close second). White has an entertaining story but, man, what a toxic relationship. Enjoyed seeing Julie Delpy but… Come on, dude! Move on! Far prefer her Before love story with Ethan Hawke. As a whole, though, Blue & Red help to elevate this one & it does work as part of the trilogy. – 7/10

Three Colors: Red – Happy to finally see this excellent trilogy, although it’s not quite the masterpiece I was hoping to adore. Blue was my favorite but this is a close second, made stronger by a great ending that tied the films together. Liked that a lot. Irène Jacob was very good & I liked her relationship with the old man but the Blue story spoke to me more. White easily the weakest but all work nicely as a trilogy. – 8/10

Paper Moon – Bogdanovich’s Mask is one of my favorite films, so I thought it was time to check this out. The film looks stunning & Ryan & Tatum O’Neal are a delight. Loved Tatum’s character & the relationship & the ending. She was worthy of her Oscar. I didn’t feel the movie quite lived up to the performances but, like Mask, we got great characters & I enjoyed their scams (they’d get me with the quick change scam). – 7.5/10

Better Man, The Plague Dogs, 24 Hour Party People & The Assistant Reviews

Better Man – This was surprisingly good. I saw this from the perspective of being from America (where Robbie was a nobody) & moving to the U.K. early 2000s during his solo career & seeing he was a big star. I like him, more for his cheeky personality than his music (too mainstream pop for my tastes) but he admittedly has some very good tunes. 

I do think you’d need to like & at least know who Robbie is to truly love this film. The musical numbers are very good & look amazing, but I still feel like this film may mainly have gained Robbie some extra fans of his personality more than of his music. You either like this brand of pop or you don’t. But his talent is undeniable, his story quite sad at times but I think relatable, and you can’t help but like him in that way you like the bad boy who seems a bit of a cocky prick but is actually hiding a huge lack of self-esteem. He’s an interesting person with a big personality & life story that are perfect for a biopic.

But the majority of artists have had difficult lives, so I think the whole “monkey gimmick” was a stroke a genius to make this one stand out. It got people talking about the film & was a big risk as it obviously could have been a huge flop. But it worked?! I forgot he was a monkey after maybe ten minutes of getting used to it. I am a big music lover so I always watch music biopics but a lot of them are a bit of a bore. This one managed to be fun, to have great musical sequences, and to also have a lot of heart & character development (loved everything to do with Robbie & his grandmother). And to have its star be a cheeky monkey. Crazy! A very enjoyable watch. – 7.5/10

The Plague Dogs – This was dark. Not that a film about dogs escaping a research facility is gonna be a barrel of laughs but this made Watership Down look like Hop. As a big fan of Watership Down (book & film), I was curious about this Richard Adams story I knew nothing about. It’s a good & important story. I know I should give it half a star more but, oof, it’s probably a one-time watch. Requiem For A Dream for animation fans. – 7/10

24 Hour Party People – Saw this after watching Control, to learn more of Joy Division & Ian Curtis. Enjoyed this too, which focuses on Factory Records & the Madchester music scene. A great time that brought us amazing music from Joy Division & New Order (and Happy Mondays, less my thing). Steve Coogan & this brand of humor doesn’t work for me so much, though. Preferred the more straightforward Control biography. – 7/10

The Assistant – A realistic day-in-the-life look at a young female assistant working in a toxic male-dominated environment. I guess its message is good but the film was a little too uninteresting to change the minds of anyone who doesn’t already know that this is still a common experience for far too many women. – 6/10

Wolf Man, Novocaine, Love Hurts, Lilo & Stitch Reviews

Some quickies while I try to catch up as I’m way behind on posting reviews. 4 “Meh” films, 1 film that is probably the worst thing I’ve seen in my entire life, and 3 rewatches of excellent favorites. Can’t be arsed with adding images.

Wolf Man – Very disappointing after Whannell‘s The Invisible Man, which was quite good. This wasn’t bad, it was just… Meh? Which is kind of worse? Like, how do I barely remember a movie that I just watched recently? The acting was fine. The young girl was good. Making it an “abusive parent” allegory(?!) or whatever I guess wasn’t the worst idea. Might’ve  worked had the film been less boring. – 6/10

Lilo & Stitch – Yes, I’m SO sick of live-action remakes of animated Disney films. But I still watch them. WHY?! Shame on me. Anyway, I love Disney but have never loved Lilo & Stitch, which is probably why I was less bothered that they messed with this one. I didn’t think this was that bad? The girl was good & Stitch was kind of cute & more likeable than I remember from the original? But this was still completely unnecessary. – 6/10

Novocaine – At least this was a bit better than other similar dumb & over-violent action films from this year such as Love Hurts & Fight Or Flight. More of a story here & better characters but the “can’t feel pain” thing gets a little boring by the end. Meh. I’ll barely remember this in a year. – 5.5/10

Love Hurts – It’s greet seeing Ke Huy Quan in the lead role of a film. He was fun to watch but it’s unfortunate that the movie just wasn’t good. We’re getting way too many of these bland over-violent action movies with weak stories & even weaker characters lately. I’ve had enough. – 5/10

So bad I didn’t even want to include it in the title of the post:

Skinamarink – Half a century of never regretting watching a movie until now. – 0.5/10

And three great rewatches that I’ll stick in here too:

Thelma & Louise – A favorite film I watched multiple times as a teen. Sarandon & Davis are great. I still love the change in Thelma’s character – Some don’t realize how the more “subtle” abuse slowly destroys a person. There are a lot of Darryls in the world. And sadly too many Harlans. Glad this was made by a respected male director in a more sane time. This would get trashed if released now (some couldn’t even handle the very positive Barbie movie?!). – 9/10

Kill Bill: Vol. 1 – Still a great film & my personal favorite from Tarantino. I love ass-kicking women. I see both as one film but this half is still definitely far superior. Absolutely love everything to do with O-Ren Ishii & the Crazy 88. Tarantino’s clear love of his biggest influences is at its best in this film. Pure entertainment. – 8.5/10

Kill Bill: Vol. 2 – My favorite Tarantino film (along with Vol 1, which is definitely the superior of the two but I see them as one film). Do wish this one had kept up the momentum of Vol 1 but it still has great moments & I think the more subtle ending was fitting & appropriate after the batshit crazy (88!) Vol 1. Pure entertainment created by an extremely obvious film lover. – 8/10 on its own but 8.5 when combined with Vol 1

Spinal Tap II: The End Continues, One Battle After Another, A Big Bold Beautiful Journey & Swiped Reviews

Spinal Tap II: The End Continues – Disappointed by the low ratings. This was never going to live up to the original comedic masterpiece, was it? But it was still damn good fun. Loved seeing these characters again & got plenty of laughs out of it. Great cameos & a good finale. What the hell do people want these days?! At least the guy in my cinema, who clapped & went “F*^king brilliant!” at the end of the credits, enjoyed it like I did. – 8/10

One Battle After Another – Should start by saying I’ve never loved a PTA film. I think he’s a “good filmmaker” & I like a couple of his movies (Boogie Nights & Magnolia) but they all leave me cold. Felt the same way about this one. He always gets the very best actors to give great performances playing characters I never give a shit about, even after the overlong running times.

This started off okay & I was like “shit, it’s gonna be political”. But then it really wasn’t. And then I was like “shit, it’s NOT gonna be political & instead mostly be about Sean Penn’s ridiculous character & that’s much worse – go back to being political!”. I don’t care much if a movie has a point or not as long as I’m entertained. I think I just didn’t find this movie entertaining enough to distract me from the fact that it seemed to really have nothing at all to say considering it’s a movie about a group of revolutionaries. 

Well, at least there were again good performances, as to be expected. DiCaprio was his usual capable self but the standouts were Benicio del Toro, Regina Hall in a role it would’ve been nice to see more of, and (newcomer?) Chase Infiniti, who definitely has potential to be a big star. After losing interest for a bit, the film did pick up for me during the del Toro scenes & the car chase at the end was good. I guess I did “care” about Infiniti‘s character but, still, we didn’t get much character development for her or Leo’s characters or the father/daughter relationship. After over two and a half hours, I just want to care a little bit more than I ever do with PTA’s films. Or to have a bit more fun. Or, if not fun, to have been moved in some way. Or maybe to have something to think about if all else fails. It would also be nice to not want to check how long is remaining several times.

Decent score, at least! Maybe helps that I do love Radiohead.

And that one guy is always nothing but “that prick from Ghost!” to me. – 7.5/10

A Big Bold Beautiful Journey – Kogonada‘s After Yang was good & I loved Columbus so was looking forward to this. I was even more excited when I saw the brilliant Joe Hisaishi did the score. Enjoyed this as I love an unusual story. It’s unfortunate that something was missing. They had no chemistry plus moments meant to be emotional felt a bit empty. But it’s a good looking film with a great score & a story that kept me interested. Was just hoping it might make me feel something in the way that Columbus did. – 7/10

Swiped – An interesting look at the development of dating apps & a lifestyle & group of people I can’t relate to at all. But Lily James is good & the story is interesting (I don’t know how accurate it is). Glad things worked out in the end & she was able to get away from those dickheads. I thought the type of pricks I had to deal with in ‘80s/‘90s high school were a thing of the past, though? Guess not. Damn. – 6.5/10