Opinions are like arseholes – you show me yours and I’ll show you mine. Something like that, anyway.
You definitely didn’t ask but here are my best-ofs from the 168 films, 110 TV shows, 37 albums, 28 live shows, 19 video games, 18 books and 7 podcasts I imbibed in 2025. It’s not a competition but that’s quite a lot isn’t it? Albeit less than last year.
🍿 TOP TEN NEW FILMS
My top four are all British this year, yay!
- ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ The Ballad of Wallis Island
- ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ I Swear
- ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Pillion
- ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Rose of Nevada
- ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Bring Her Back
- ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Nickel Boys
- ⭐⭐⭐⭐ The Girl With the Needle
- ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Final Destination: Bloodlines
- ⭐⭐⭐⭐ One Battle After Another
- ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 28 Years Later
I also loved Sinners, Novocaine, Dangerous Animals, Becoming Led Zeppelin, Deaf President Now!, Warfare, A House of Dynamite, The Mastermind and Together.
I thought Hamnet, F1, Marty Supreme, Frankenstein and Weapons were all overrated. Especially Weapons. I hoped The Naked Gun would be better, it was OK. Seriously, fuck Weapons.
I haven’t seen these which feature in other people’s top tens yet: It Was Just an Accident, Little Trouble Girls, The Secret Agent, Train Dreams, Vermiglio, Predators Badlands.
🎬 TOP FIVE OLDER FILMS
New to me:
- ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Troll Hunter
- ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Picnic at Hanging Rock
- ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Audrey
- ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Caught in the Net
- ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Black Pond
In the so-bad-its good category I also loved The Beekeeper and Trap.
Best rewatches (this list could be much, much longer):
- ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Dancer in the Dark
- ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Blue Velvet
- ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
- ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ The Gift
- ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ It Follows
📺 TOP FIVE NEW TV
A bias for reality and comedy contests this year. Sign of a tough year at work?
- ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ The Traitors (S3 and Celebrity)
- ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Ink Master (various seasons)
- ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Last One Laughing (S1)
- ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Taskmaster (S19 and specials)
- ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Simon Cowell: The Next Act
I also loved How Are You? It’s Me Alan (Partridge), F1: Drive to Survive, The 1% Club, Larger Than Life: Reign of the Boybands, Sean Combs: The Reckoning, Anatomy of Lies, American Murder: Gabby Petito, Fred and Rose West a British Horror Story, Trainwreck: American Apparel, Con Mum, and The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley. And all the Big Fat Quizzes.
I thought Adolescence was overrated and Project Runway S21 was ropey.
I tried a bunch of new TV dramas, but nothing stuck or troubled my top 5.
📼 BEST OLDER TV
This year I came late to:
- ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Here We Go (all episodes)
- ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Stath Lets Flats
I loved rewatching these belters:
- ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Chernobyl
- ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Succession
- ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Twin Peaks
- ⭐⭐⭐⭐ The Thick Of It
🎮 TOP FIVE NEW GAMES
I managed to pick up a controller more often this year, and invested in a Switch 2.
- ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Death Stranding 2
- ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Blue Prince
- ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Time Flies
- ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Puzzle Bobble Everybobble!
- ⭐⭐⭐ Mario Kart world
I disliked and abandoned Donkey Kong Bananza. My kids played the excellent Split Fiction and I watched. EDIT Jan 2026: Nintendo’s 2025 wrapped subsequently reminded me I’d played 4 games I totally forgot about, including some good ones: Fast Fusion and Lorelei and the Laser Eyes.
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is topping a lot of lists so I’m keen to give that a go.
🕹️ BEST OLDER GAMES
I quite enjoyed playing these for the first time:
- ⭐⭐⭐ Bear & Breakfast
- ⭐⭐⭐ Alan Wake 2
- ⭐⭐⭐ Arranger: A Puzzle Role-Playing Adventure
🎤 TOP TEN LIVE SHOWS
I also got out more this year. Here’s the standup, theatre, talks and gigs I loved most, in one weird list:
- ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Adam Ant at the Roundhouse
- ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Hamilton (for the 3rd time)
- ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Witness for the Prosecution
- ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Arooj Aftab, Weval and Max Cooper at Polygon Live
- ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Kerry Godliman, Fern Brady, Ian Stone, Dane Buckley, Michelle De Swarte and Jen Brister at The Norwood School PTA Comedy Night*
- ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Tom Cruise in Conversation at the BFI
- ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Stewart Lee Vs The Man-Wulf
- ⭐⭐⭐⭐ NOWISEHENWEARE (The Stars)
- ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Rob Auton, Stanley Arts Theatre
- ⭐⭐⭐ Tyler The Creator, Chromakopia tour
*Kerry Godliman is a mum at my kid’s school and these fundraisers are therefore incredible.
I also enjoyed Stevie Martin and Kyle Smith-Bynoe (Spitta vs String) at Soho Theatre, and The Lehman Trilogy.
Less good were Derren Brown Only Human, An Inspector Calls, and SXSW London.
🎧 BEST NEW MUSIC
This lot were music to my ears:
- ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Ethel Cain: Perverts
- ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ HAAi, Humanise
- ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Ninajirachi, I Love My Computer
- ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Florian D Zeisig, A New Life
- ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Tourist, Music is Invisible
- ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Clark, Steep Stigma
- ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Kim Gordon: The Collective
- ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Joanne Robertson, Blurrr
- ⭐⭐⭐⭐ FKA Twigs, Eusexua
- ⭐⭐⭐ Lily Allen, West End Girl
(There were more, but I don’t log all my listening)
🎙️ PICK OF THE PODCASTS
- ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Wisecrack
- ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Stalked
- ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Swindled (the one about the Titan sub)
- ⭐⭐⭐⭐ HDTGM (the one about M Night’s Trap)
- ⭐⭐⭐ Broken Veil
- ⭐⭐⭐ Curse of ANTM
Lots of people seem to like Bill Nighy’s pod, I might give it a go.
📚 BEST BOOKS
Not sure how useful this is given I tend to read easy stuff to switch off, or work stuff. But fwiw:
- ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ The Advantage, Patrick Lencioni
- ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Impact First Product Teams, Matt LeMay
- ⭐⭐⭐⭐ I am Not a Serial Killer, Dan Wells
- ⭐⭐⭐⭐ There is No Antimemetics Division, qntm
- ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Garth Marenghi’s Incarcerat, Matthew Holness
- ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Holy Island and Sycamore Gap, L.J. Ross
- ⭐⭐⭐ We Used to Live Here, Kliewer Marcus
- ⭐⭐⭐ Aspirationally Idle, Martin Sadler
- ⭐⭐⭐ Filterworld: How Algorithms Make Everything the Same, Kyle Chayka
- ⭐⭐⭐ Dungeon Crawler Carl, Matt Dinneman
I thought Orbital (last year’s Booker) was piffle. I read the newer Garth Marenghi too but got bored of the schtick. I was disappointed by Murderland: Crime and Bloodlust in the Time of Serial Killers. I DNF’d Seveneves by Neal Stephenson.
That’s it for another year. Congratulations to all the winners of prestigious Neillys.
Hopefully some recommendations here you’ll find useful, and I’d love to hear what you agreed or disagreed with!
Unless you liked Weapons, you can keep that to your fucking self.
