Favorite Thangs in 2025
Intro
This year has been absolutely a joke for America and not in a good way. So while this country continues to crash out, there’s been some good things I’ve enjoyed this year. Let’s get started!
Favorite Movies I watched
Weapons (2025)
One of my favorite horror movies of this year, not specifically because it was scary, but it played with some interesting ideas and that ending sequence, so good.
Sinners (2025)
This was a fantastic horror movie staring Michael B. Jordan. I really love the idea of a period piece taking place in the south and dealing with Vampires. It combined a lot of interesting ideas in this one.
M3GAN 2.0 (2025)
While the first movie was a “horror” movie, this one was anything but that. It was however a ridiculous movie that knew exactly what it was doing playing of the ridiculousness of the first one.
Superman (2025)
This was an amazing super hero movie, we got a very boy scout Superman in this, which is great. The Justice Gang was amazing, loved the casting there. Oh and we cannot talk enough about how good of a boy Krypto was.
Thunderbolts* (2025)
In terms of favorite Super Hero movie of the year, it has to be Thunderbolts. This one hit all the notes for me, comedy, action, and real underlying story of depression and grief. This was definitely 🧑🏽🍳😘
Beginners (2010)
I re-watched this movie this year and I’m still enamored about this movie. It’s such a good story about allowing one’s self to open up to the opportunity of something. Ewan McGregor who plays the main character, is depicted as this kinda depressed, quirky, plain human and how he tells the story of the events unfolding is lovely. The subplot about the late stage life of his father is just fantastic. If you’re a quirky kinda romantic, I think this is a good one to watch.
Babyteeth (2020)
I knew this was gonna be a kinda depressing watch, I’ve had this movie on my list for a while and only this year did I get around to it. I don’t want to give much away about it, but it deals with a young girl’s late stage cancer and how she is dealing with it. As much as it was about Eliza Scanlen’s character, Milla, the story told of the parents dealing with the inevitable loss of their child was so great. The ending scenes in this movie really got me.
The Friend (2024)
I like a lot of weird little movies that Bill Murray is in, but this one staring Naomi Watts was so good. The main challenge was that Naomi’s character, Iris has to deal with wishes of her dear departed friend and take care of this old Great Dane. Having lost my dog in recent years, it really got to me.
Favorite Shows I watched
I watched a lot of shows this year, so I’ve tried to keep this list tidy. Here we go!
The Residence
Staring Uzo Aduba as Cordelia Cupp, this detective murder mystery series was amazing. I loved everything about it, the quirkiness of the characters, the mystery of the murder, it was just great. I really wished people enjoyed it more to get a second season.
Alien: Earth
First ever Alien franchise television series, yes please. While there was a lot to accept about this story, android children and taking place on Earth being some of the least desirable plot points to me, what they did really well was the inclusion of so many weird extraterrestrial species and I mean eyeball alien is definitely my new favorite.
The Studio
Seth Rogen’s comedy satire about hollywood was an amazing rollercoaster ride of a show, each episode was absolutely insane.
Normal People (2020)
I’ve heard high praises about this romance series, so I finally got around to checking it. I have to say that I really enjoyed the long drawn romance taking place over the course of high school to uni to after. I liked the complexity of the 2 main characters, Connell and Marianne, they’re also very Neurodivergent coded.
Star Trek: Discovery
So I got on a Star Trek kick this year and watched all of Discovery and then later Strange New Worlds. I really really enjoyed the characters and world building they did in Discovery. What’s great about Star Trek as a “space” franchise is that it’s always more so focused on hope and the possibility of adventure as opposed to Star Wars being more focused on battle and attrition. You can’t help but watch an episode and be wowed.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds
For as great as Discovery is, I think Strange New Worlds is my particular jam. Seeing a young Spock nail the weirdness/struggle of his character is amazing. As always each character on the series is just fantastic, top notch.
King of the Hill (Old + Revival)
When I heard that King of the Hill was getting a revival and picking up several years after the series ended. I had to go back and re-watch all of it all. The old series still holds up. The new season was amazing, they really aged the characters in terms of progression and character development really well. The voice actor shuffling wasn’t bad, I understand why the did and don’t have any issues there. I really enjoyed how Bobby went from this kinda unsure of himself and sometimes cocky kid to this stressed out adult trying to build something he can be proud of and living life. I can’t wait to see what they do for another new season and who they can bring back.
Honorable Mentions
There were some great second and final seasons this year that I had to drop a mention below!
- Silo (Season 2)
- Severance (Season 2)
- Platonic (Season 2)
- Peacemakere (Season 2)
- Resident Alien (Season 4)
Favorite Video Games I Played
Death Stranding 2
The second and maybe final entry into this crazy game by Kojima. I have to say it’s just as weird and awesome as the first game.
Dispatch
It’s been a long while since I played a game like the Telltale ones, but this Super Hero one really intrigued me. Loved how quirky, inappropriate and funny this game was. The whole dispatching super hero game mechanic really scratched that resource management itch.
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 (Currently playing)
I’m currently still playing this one, but wow the beginning of this game really set the tone. I can’t wait to finish this. The only thing I really dislike, is the whole dodge/parry mechanic during turn based combat.
Favorite Things I read
This year I read a few different mediums, but only a handful of them I would call my favorite, so I’m combining comics, manga and novels this year.
After God (Manga)
It’s kinda hard to describe this one, it’s playing around with a lot of interesting concepts about these all powerful god like beings who exist in Japan and have devastated the land.
Hirayasumi (Manga)
This slice of life manga about a burnt out individual and his cousin living a simple life. It’s got a kind of summer cozy relaxing feel to the story.
Tokyo Alien Bros (Manga)
This was a lovely combination of weird + slice of life. Super short 3 volume series, totally worth a read.
Sex Criminals (Comic)
Obviously this comic deals with adult themes, but in terms of a premise it was interesting. While the adults are there to drive a plot, what I really enjoyed was the two main characters and how they grew throughout the series.
Silo Series (Novel)
The second season of Silo was so good when I found out it was based on a set of books (Wool / Shift / Dust), I knew I had to read them to get my fix. The first and second books are definitely my favorites in the series, the third book that wraps everything up is good, but definitely my least favorite of the 3.
Favorite Anime I watched
Tojima Wants to Be a Kamen Rider
This is hands down my favorite Anime of this year. It’s extremely meta crafting a story in a fictional world that grew up with the Kamen Rider franchise, so you have these fanatic who’s main thing is that they aspire to be like their idol Kamen Riders. All while finding out that their world actually has the alien enemies from the show. So now these adults who worshiped Kamen Rider can now live out their power fantasy of becoming a Kamen Rider and defeating evil. The music and power ups and fights goes so hard in this Anime. Also the fact that the main character is in his thirties is also a plus, it’s kinda refreshing to watch anime of age appropriate people to yourself.
Yowamushi Pedal
I re-watch this anime from time to time and this year, its just one of those wholesome sports anime that makes you want to get out there and do something.
My Hero Academia (Series Finale)
The manga finished publication last year so the anime was finally wrapping up this year. Seeing the action scenes animated from the manga was something amazing. My Hero gets kinda a bad wrap because of the fanbase or because it’s a typical Shonen, but it hits all the notes for me.
Favorite Items I own
Pixel Fold
This year I had an international trip and so digital privacy was top of mind for me leaving the country AND re-entrying the country. I decided to buy a separate phone for travel and wanted to try out these foldables. However, no way was I ever gonna pay retail price for these things, it’s just way too pricey, but a used one on ebay, definitely worth a chance. The OG Pixel Fold is a fantastic device, while I did mostly used it like a regular slab phone, it was nice opening it up to read comics, browse websites or watching youtube. It’s really made me consider getting a Pixel 10 Fold as a daily driver.
Single Speed Bike (Build)
After Watching Yowamushi Pedal, I got the itch to start riding a bike again this year. I had a old road bike from college that was long in the tooth, so I go the bright idea to build a bike this year. There is just something incredible about building something and using it, the level of satisfactions you get is indescribable. So much so that I have another bike build planed for 2026.
Ikea Donut Lamp
Orange is my favorite color and this thing is weird and whimsical for me. No notes, 10/10.
Favorite Youtube Channels of the year
I’ve watched a lot of Youtube this year, but in terms of favorite channels, there weren’t too many that I was really excited to see that was new.
Cut Transform Glue
I’ve been on a maker kick this year, and I’ve really come to enjoy this particular channel for turning found items/parts into really amazing robots, vehicles, etc.
Awkward Virgo TV
This channel created a web comedy series this year called The Comic Shop. It was such a fun nerdtastic comedy. Highly recommend checking it out.
Caroline Winkler
Primarily she makes videos about home decor and this year has been a big journey for her and her betrothed partner as they’ve moved into a 1900 old victorian home and her journey to decorate it. It’s fun and interesting to watch and I’m getting design tips for a home I’ll probably never afford.
Colleen’s Manga Recs
Colleen makes videos essay about shoujo manga. While I am not the demographic for shoujo manga, it is interesting to learn about and a good way to broaden my horizon in terms of manga. Colleen’s love of Chihayafuru is what prompted me to read it last year.
Rachel Maksy
She’s a maker of all things whimsy. I’ve really enjoyed watching her make interesting costumes, cosplay, props and even sets. It’s really pulls at the nerdy fun heart strings.
Close out
I did not do as much blogging as I would have liked this year, but here’s hoping that I’ll be it a new resolution that I can actually stick to… No promises however. While this year has been an absolute nightmare in the US, to the point I don’t think we can really even recover, let’s not end it on a complete failure of a note.
Be kind to your neighbors, be kind to yourself, happy holidays and hope in 2026 we can slowly rebuild.