2025 Retrospective: Movies and TV Shows
From the name this movie might sound religious, but it’s not. It’s about the last few days of Maria Callas, a soprano singer, where she recollects moments of her life to a reporter who might not be real. With that premise, you might think that it’s simply a biographical movie, but it really isn’t. I still don’t know much about her going out of it and it also contains a lot of speculation, which is not ideal. However, it was still a really good movie. It’s confidently shot, the costume design is great and the singing, of course, amazing. I think the idea of using actual recordings of Maria Callas for her younger years only to fade them out into Angelina Jolie’s voice before her death is really creative and showcases just how much her voice has changed and deteriorated. Her performance in this movie also is really good and carries it a lot.
This one is my favourite movie of the year. Glass Onion and Knives Out were both amazing, but I genuinely didn’t think Rian Johnson had it in him to write something this good. The reveal is really hard to see coming on the first watch and then becomes really apparent on the second. I watched this movie with my sister, because she wanted to see if I could predict it and while I didn’t completely, I am very proud of the part I did. Daniel Craig and Josh O’Connor also have a lot of chemistry and of all the duos this series has given us so far, I enjoyed them the most. Josh O’Connor also gives a really amazing performance and that he hasn’t been nominated for anything this award season is honestly a crime. The phone scene alone is one of my favourites of the year.
Die Drei Fragezeichen und der Karpartenhund
Yes, this is a German movie. A German movie for a franchise that has been my childhood. It’s about three teenagers who run a detective agency taking on strange cases that seem to be supernatural but always end up having a natural explanation. This particular case was actually one of the first one’s written for the entire series, which as of right now has 234 entries. It’s about an art collector inheriting a figurine from his dead partner only to be haunted by it. It’s honestly a really good mystery story, even if you already know the solution and the child actors playing the main trio are all really good. I also appreciate that after 50 years of speculation, because of vague writing, they finally clarify that the art collector and the artist were in a relationship. If you want a mystery movie that’s not about murder, I can honestly really recommend it, though I don’t know if there is an English dub.
I’ve been looking forward to this movie pretty much since it was announced and honestly, it didn’t disappoint. I love a good BL and my god, do these actors have chemistry. But even more than just the chemistry, the dance scenes really make this movie. Obviously. I think it’s really impressive how much they trained, because I’ve seen multiple dancers break it down and all of them are impressed. The director really seemed to be out for their blood. Personally, I really love the Rumba scene in the dance studio for… reasons, but the final medley is also amazing. Though, I can’t quite take it seriously with that announcer talking over it. It takes me out so hard. But everything else really is amazing. For me personally, I loved Ryouma Takeuchi’s performance as Suzuki. I think he carries the heart of the movie. Keita Machida was also fantastic though and still seems to be hellbent on topping every Kamen Rider actor.
Yeah, this movie was just an experience. I haven’t mentioned any of the music so far, so first of all: All of the songs are amazing. My personal favourites are How it’s Done and Your Idol and I think both of them deserve to be performed more than they are. Golden of course is the stand-out hit, but at least once perhaps?
Everything else about the movie was amazing too. The animation is really clean, the fight scenes are fun, and I also love the choreos for the songs. It just all seems to be a love letter to Korean pop culture. The story and characters were also really good, though I think it might have worked better as a miniseries. There seems to have been a lot left on the cutting room floor and I think it would have helped with the characters, especially Celine.
Different from the other movies, this is a documentary. A really good documentary shot entirely through body-cam footage from policemen. It’s a really cool concept, but it’s also terrifying to think about the fact that there is enough to fill 90 minutes. It’s well made and very upsetting. That’s all I really can say.
I really enjoyed Kamen Rider Gavv. The characters are a lot of fun, the story is well written, and all the rider forms look really cool. I think my favourite is CaKing. It looks like the perfect combination of goofy and cool. Nitpicking a little bit, I didn’t quite like the ending. It felt a bit underwhelming and I’m not a big fan of how Lakia’s story ended. But at least the V-Cinema corrected that. I also really like Shouma as a protagonist. He’s a lot of fun and I love that he’s bright even though his backstory is just incredibly dark. His and Hanto’s dynamic is also really great and very gay. Like, they’re not even trying to be subtle about it. All in all, I think this might just be the best Reiwa Kamen Rider show so far. Though Build is still my favourite overall.
Haunted Hotel is a pretty good, animated comedy show that very much seems to be inspired by Gravity Falls. The animation style is fine, but it really stands out in the writing. All of the jokes are written really well, especially those involving Abaddon (who is best boy). It’s very much episodical, but personally I really enjoyed it. A second season was already announced and I’m very much looking forward to it.
I don’t really know under which category Alien Stage belongs, so I’m just going to put it here. I only started following it in 2024 and the way the story wrapped up honestly is very satisfying if bittersweet. The music coming from it is all fantastic and all of the singers are amazing and deserve much more. Especially AKUGETSU and BL8M.
