Review 2025: My Year in Film


Film  God, where would we be without Letterboxd? That is about where I was in the first fifteen years of the blog, scrabbling around at the end of the year trying to remember which films I watched and what I thought about them. Now a quick click of my Letterboxd profile tells me I watched 278 films this year (so far), which equates to 519 and a half hours of viewing, nearly 22 days, averaging 24 films per month and about five per week (give or take a decimal point).

As to ratings. I gave 70 of those films five stars, of which 32 were released in this decade and twenty-one were released this year. But in my scoring system, the only difference between four and five stars is whether I think I'd want to buy a physical copy or not; in that case, I also rated fifty films from this year as four stars, which means I enjoyed those as much as the five-star films. In other words, there wasn't a flaw which nagged at me the whole way through.

Before I offer my top ten films, here are the films I rated with one star:

None.

But then looking at the two-star entries, I was probably a bit generous:

Happy Gilmore 2
War of the Worlds
Mountainhead
A Minecraft Movie
Star Trek: Section 31

Of those, my worst film of the year was probably Section 31 with its failed-pilot stink - Star Trek does not have to pretend to be Guardians of the Galaxy or Farscape. It has its own unique bouquet (if you will) that make it worth watching.

Now for the top ten.

The truth is I don't really have a top ten, at least one which isn't much different to anyone else's, which is in itself a change thanks to having actually been to the cinema at least weekly for most of the year and having seen some films (see yesterday).  My favourite film of the year was probably Thunderbolts* because it was a rare superhero film which made me feel seen. So instead here's a list of five overlooked movies which clearly cost a bit of money and would (probably)(maybe?)(possibly) have been crowd pleasers if they'd had a proper theatrical rollout.



High fantasy across an apocalyptic landscape. PWS Anderson's films aren't for everyone, but having recently rewatched the Resident Evil series, I've realised I'm more than satiated by Milla Jovovich outsmarting lots of enemies in slow-mo for a couple of hours. But this also has a couple of excellent twists and some beautiful aesthetic choices (on Netflix).


Die Hard at the G20 with Viola Davis as the action lead. Just tremendous fun (Amazon Prime).


It's Phone Booth on a date. Two things I loved: The way the threatening text messages are blasted across the screen to demonstrate the protagonist's various levels of anxiety and that it utilises casting as an example of Hitchcock's bomb under the table. Saw this in its one screening on one day at the Odeon, then came home that night and bought the stream on Amazon (on NowTV).


Bryce Dallas Howard, Orlando Bloom, and Celebrity Traitors loser Nick Mohammed play three out-of-work comedians who are recruited to infiltrate London's gangland. Sounds like a hokey premise, and it is, but it's elevated by some wonderfully self-aware performances, especially from Bloom and Paddy Considine as the "villain", and some superb plotting in which obvious twists are turned on their head (on Amazon Prime).


Demented sci-fi romcom in which Miles Teller and Anya Taylor-Joy fall in love across a physical and metaphoric divide. Deserved a wide release and would have looked incredible on IMAX. Has the kind of WTF plotting and casting which I'm looking for in a film (on AppleTV).


Something I've pursued less this year are films not in the English language which is partly as a result of the Odeon only rarely presenting non-genre subtitled fare.  Seeing It Was Only An Accident at the Manchester Great Northern was a rare treat.  But I've plenty of Criterion discs to catch up on and I'll hopefully next year I'll be in a better headspace and be able to seek out  more challenging fare.  
on Saturday, December 27, 2025 0 comments Labels:

All The Odeons

Film  In 2025, I began seeing films in a cinema again. Over the past ten years, the only films I've visited cinemas for have been big spoiler-prone franchise blockbusters. Partly it was the cost, but mostly it was the audiences, who generally didn't seem very interested in seeing the film, or spent the whole time masticating. But after experimenting with Cineworld a couple of summers ago, this year I took out an Odeon myLimitless subscription and have pretty faithfully been visiting these churches of cinema every week for at least six months.

The Liverpool One Odeon has always been something of a film presentation nemesis, a trend which continues to this day.  Up until this year, the last time I visited was for Fant4stic (curiosity kills the brain cells), a screening afflicted by a dodgy and quite noisy air conditioning fan which led to me receiving a refund (probably only fair considering the film itself). Actually no, it was for San Andreas where the restless audience was the problem as my seat rocked back and forth, not because of 4DX, but due to a group of teenagers kicking the back of the chair.

Which isn't to say it's been a complete cakewalk. Even during my first visit this year, Final Destination: Bloodlines, there was someone who was texting back and forth throughout the film and popping out now and then to make a phone call. Later screenings have been beset by dead pixels, light pollution through the windows of auditorium doors onto the "laser" screen, a fly which had landed on the projector during The Fantastic Four: First Steps taking up a quarter of the screen on occasion, banging auditorium doors, and persistent liquid stains on the screen.

But despite a number of issues since (and writing a lengthy email of complaint), I've kept going because it's just been nice to treat cinema as an occasion again. I've tried to train myself to be more tolerant of such issues and of audiences in general, and to keep myself focused on what's in front of me, rather than being micro-distracted by what's going on behind me (I always book for the front row, or as close to it as possible). Most of it has been Hollywood fare, but it's also nice to have seen what's in the film charts while it's still there rather than many months afterwards.

All of this preamble is to introduce the following list of every Odeon in the country in alphabetical order. A few months into visiting Liverpool, I began to wonder what other locations in the chain were like and how they compare to this city's interesting collection of architectural choices (seriously, why do the doors have windows?). So I decided to go and visit a few in other cities, a plan which quickly grew into a project to visit all the Odeons (yes, all of them) and also give a reason to go to places I wouldn't otherwise have a reason to visit.

So like all my other tick-box projects, I thought it an idea to start posting about them on the blog and then linking to them all in one place. The actual posts aren't going to be anything too elaborate, probably just a photo, a couple of observations, and a link to somewhere which has more information (because what's the point in ripping off someone else's research when I can just refer you to it). Some of them will be an expensive and logistical challenge through public transport, but let's see how far I get.

Note:  I've added some recent encounters but I'll do a proper catch up when I have a moment, plus include some which don't exist anymore at the bottom.  I'll delete this message when I'm all caught up.

Now:

Acton
Andover
Aylesbury
Basingstoke
Bath
Beckenham
Belfast
Birmingham Broadway Plaza
Birmingham New Street
Bournemouth BH2
Braehead
Bridgend
Brighton
Bristol
Bromborough
Camden
Cardiff
Chatham
Chelmsford
Colchester
Coventry
Crewe
Derby
Dorchester
Dudley (Merry Hill)
Dundee
Dunfermline
Durham
East Kilbride
Edinburgh Fort Kinnaird
Edinburgh Lothian Road
Edinburgh West
Epsom
Exeter
Gateshead Metrocentre
Glasgow Quay
Greenwich
Guildford
Harrogate
Hastings
Hatfield
Hereford
Holloway
Huddersfield
Hull
Islington
Kilmarnock
Kingston
Lee Valley
Leeds Thorpe Park
Leeds-Bradford
Leicester
Lincoln
Liverpool ONE
Liverpool Switch Island
Llanelli
London Haymarket
London Leicester Square
London Tottenham Court Road
London West End
Loughborough
Maidenhead
Maidstone
Manchester Great Northern
Manchester Trafford Centre
Mansfield
Middlesbrough
Milton Keynes Stadium
Newark
Northampton
North Tyneside Silverlink
Northwich Barons Quay
Norwich
Nuneaton
Oldham
Orpington
Peterborough
Port Solent
Preston
Putney
Richmond
Rochdale
Salisbury
Sheffield
South Woodford
Southend
Stafford
Stoke
Streatham
Swadlincote
Swansea
Swiss Cottage
Tamworth
Taunton
Telford
Trowbridge
Tunbridge Wells
Uxbridge
Warrington
West Bromwich
Wimbledon
Worcester
Wrexham Eagles Meadow

Lost in Time:

Chester
Leeds The Headrow
Liverpool Allerton Road
Liverpool London Road
Manchester Oxford Road
Oxford
on Friday, December 26, 2025 0 comments Labels: ,

Transmission of the Doctor.


TV  Since there wasn't a festive episode of Doctor Who this year thanks to Disney's dithering, I decided to watch The Christmas Invasion on its twentieth anniversary. Most of it still stands up, especially David Tennant's entrance, a proper deus ex machina. It was so good, I plan to watch the rest of the revival before next year's Christmas special, especially since there are a bunch of episodes I haven't seen since transmission.

But there are some definite rough patches. Rather than taking the logical route of working through in chronological order—which would inevitably lead to moments when I wouldn't necessarily want to go straight into the next episode—I decided to watch them in transmission anniversary order across the year, juxtaposing the various eras, actors, and approaches. This is in the spirit of the DVD releases. Find the results below.

Some statistics. There are 139 unique dates in a year that feature an episode. Christmas Day obviously has the most episodes (15), with New Year's Day a close second (5), and May 11th is third with three episodes. All the others have just one or two. The earliest a series premiered was on 1st January with Series 12, and the latest was 31st October for Series 13 (which just goes to show how inconsistent the transmission dates have been).


1 January

  • The End of Time (Part 2) (2010)

  • Resolution (2019)

  • Spyfall (Part 1) (2020)

  • Revolution of the Daleks (2021)

  • Eve of the Daleks (2022)

5 January

  • Spyfall (Part 2) (2020)

12 January

  • Orphan 55 (2020)

19 January

  • Nikola Tesla's Night of Terror (2020)

26 January

  • Fugitive of the Judoon (2020)

2 February

  • Praxeus (2020)

9 February

  • Can You Hear Me? (2020)

16 February

  • The Haunting of Villa Diodati (2020)

23 February

  • Ascension of the Cybermen (Part 1) (2020)

1 March

  • The Timeless Children (Part 2) (2020)

26 March

  • Rose (2005)

30 March

  • The Bells of Saint John (2013)

31 March

  • Smith and Jones (2007)

2 April

  • The End of the World (2005)

3 April

  • The Eleventh Hour (2010)

5 April

  • Partners in Crime (2008)

6 April

  • The Rings of Akhaten (2013)

7 April

  • The Shakespeare Code (2007)

9 April

  • The Unquiet Dead (2005)

10 April

  • The Beast Below (2010)

11 April

  • Planet of the Dead (2009)

12 April

  • The Fires of Pompeii (2008)

  • The Robot Revolution (2025)

13 April

  • Cold War (2013)

14 April

  • Gridlock (2007)

  • The Ghost Monument (2018)

15 April

  • New Earth (2006)

  • The Pilot (2017)

16 April

  • Aliens of London (Part 1) (2005)

17 April

  • Victory of the Daleks (2010)

  • Legend of the Sea Devils (2022)

19 April

  • Planet of the Ood (2008)

  • Lux (2025)

20 April

  • Hide (2013)

21 April

  • Daleks in Manhattan (Part 1) (2007)

  • Rosa (2018)

22 April

  • Tooth and Claw (2006)

  • Smile (2017)

23 April

  • World War Three (Part 2) (2005)

  • The Impossible Astronaut (Part 1) (2011)

24 April

  • The Time of Angels (Part 1) (2010)

26 April

  • The Sontaran Stratagem (Part 1) (2008)

  • The Well (2025)

27 April

  • Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS (2013)

28 April

  • Evolution of the Daleks (Part 2) (2007)

  • Arachnids in the UK (2018)

29 April

  • School Reunion (2006)

  • Thin Ice (2017)

30 April

  • Dalek (2005)

  • Day of the Moon (Part 2) (2011)

1 May

  • Flesh and Stone (Part 2) (2010)

3 May

  • The Poison Sky (Part 2) (2008)

  • Lucky Day (2025)

4 May

  • The Crimson Horror (2013)

5 May

  • The Lazarus Experiment (2007)

6 May

  • The Girl in the Fireplace (2006)

  • Knock Knock (2017)

7 May

  • The Long Game (2005)

  • The Curse of the Black Spot (2011)

8 May

  • The Vampires of Venice (2010)

10 May

  • The Doctor's Daughter (2008)

  • The Story and the Engine (2025)

11 May

  • Nightmare in Silver (2013)

  • Space Babies (2024)

  • The Devil's Chord (2024)

13 May

  • Rise of the Cybermen (Part 1) (2006)

  • Oxygen (2017)

14 May

  • Father's Day (2005)

  • The Doctor's Wife (2011)

15 May

  • Amy's Choice (2010)

17 May

  • The Unicorn and the Wasp (2008)

  • The Interstellar Song Contest (2025)

18 May

  • The Name of the Doctor (2013)

  • Boom (2024)

19 May

  • 42 (2007)

20 May

  • The Age of Steel (Part 2) (2006)

  • Extremis (2017)

21 May

  • The Empty Child (Part 1) (2005)

  • The Rebel Flesh (Part 1) (2011)

22 May

  • The Hungry Earth (Part 1) (2010)

24 May

  • Wish World (Part 1) (2025)

25 May

  • 73 Yards (2024)

26 May

  • Human Nature (Part 1) (2007)

27 May

  • The Idiot's Lantern (2006)

  • The Pyramid at the End of the World (2017)

28 May

  • The Doctor Dances (Part 2) (2005)

  • The Almost People (Part 2) (2011)

29 May

  • Cold Blood (Part 2) (2010)

31 May

  • Silence in the Library (Part 1) (2008)

  • The Reality War (Part 2) (2025)

1 June

  • Dot and Bubble (2024)

2 June

  • The Family of Blood (Part 2) (2007)

3 June

  • The Impossible Planet (Part 1) (2006)

  • The Lie of the Land (2017)

4 June

  • Boom Town (2005)

  • A Good Man Goes to War (2011)

5 June

  • Vincent and the Doctor (2010)

7 June

  • Forest of the Dead (Part 2) (2008)

8 June

  • Rogue (2024)

9 June

  • Blink (2007)

10 June

  • The Satan Pit (Part 2) (2006)

  • Empress of Mars (2017)

11 June

  • Bad Wolf (Part 1) (2005)

12 June

  • The Lodger (2010)

14 June

  • Midnight (2008)

15 June

  • The Legend of Ruby Sunday (Part 1) (2024)

16 June

  • Utopia (Part 1) (2007)

17 June

  • Love & Monsters (2006)

  • The Eaters of Light (2017)

18 June

  • The Parting of the Ways (Part 2) (2005)

19 June

  • The Pandorica Opens (Part 1) (2010)

21 June

  • Turn Left (2008)

22 June

  • Empire of Death (Part 2) (2024)

23 June

  • The Sound of Drums (Part 2) (2007)

24 June

  • Fear Her (2006)

  • World Enough and Time (Part 1) (2017)

26 June

  • The Big Bang (Part 2) (2010)

28 June

  • The Stolen Earth (Part 1) (2008)

30 June

  • Last of the Time Lords (Part 3) (2007)

1 July

  • Army of Ghosts (Part 1) (2006)

  • The Doctor Falls (Part 2) (2017)

5 July

  • Journey's End (Part 2) (2008)

8 July

  • Doomsday (Part 2) (2006)

23 August

  • Deep Breath (2014)

27 August

  • Let's Kill Hitler (2011)

30 August

  • Into the Dalek (2014)

1 September

  • Asylum of the Daleks (2012)

3 September

  • Night Terrors (2011)

6 September

  • Robot of Sherwood (2014)

8 September

  • Dinosaurs on a Spaceship (2012)

10 September

  • The Girl Who Waited (2011)

13 September

  • Listen (2014)

15 September

  • A Town Called Mercy (2012)

17 September

  • The God Complex (2011)

19 September

  • The Magician's Apprentice (Part 1) (2015)

20 September

  • Time Heist (2014)

22 September

  • The Power of Three (2012)

23 September

  • Closing Time (2011)

26 September

  • The Witch's Familiar (Part 2) (2015)

27 September

  • The Caretaker (2014)

29 September

  • The Angels Take Manhattan (2012)

1 October

  • The Wedding of River Song (2011)

3 October

  • Under the Lake (Part 1) (2015)

4 October

  • Kill the Moon (2014)

7 October

  • The Woman Who Fell to Earth (2018)

10 October

  • Before the Flood (Part 2) (2015)

11 October

  • Mummy on the Orient Express (2014)

14 October

  • The Ghost Monument (2018)

17 October

  • The Girl Who Died (2015)

18 October

  • Flatline (2014)

21 October

  • Rosa (2018)

23 October

  • The Power of the Doctor (2022)

24 October

  • The Woman Who Lived (2015)

25 October

  • In the Forest of the Night (2014)

28 October

  • Arachnids in the UK (2018)

31 October

  • The Zygon Invasion (Part 1) (2015)

  • The Halloween Apocalypse (Chapter One) (2021)

1 November

  • Dark Water (Part 1) (2014)

4 November

  • The Tsuranga Conundrum (2018)

7 November

  • The Zygon Inversion (Part 2) (2015)

  • War of the Sontarans (Chapter Two) (2021)

8 November

  • Death in Heaven (Part 2) (2014)

11 November

  • Demons of the Punjab (2018)

14 November

  • Sleep No More (2015)

  • Once, Upon Time (Chapter Three) (2021)

15 November

  • The Waters of Mars (2009)

18 November

  • Kerblam! (2018)

21 November

  • Face the Raven (2015)

  • Village of the Angels (Chapter Four) (2021)

23 November

  • The Day of the Doctor (2013)

25 November

  • The Witchfinders (2018)

  • The Star Beast (2023)

28 November

  • Heaven Sent (2015)

  • Survivors of the Flux (Chapter Five) (2021)

2 December

  • It Takes You Away (2018)

  • Wild Blue Yonder (2023)

5 December

  • Hell Bent (2015)

  • The Vanquishers (Chapter Six) (2021)

9 December

  • The Battle of Ranskoor Av Kolos (2018)

  • The Giggle (2023)

25 December

  • The Christmas Invasion (2005)

  • The Runaway Bride (2006)

  • Voyage of the Damned (2007)

  • The Next Doctor (2008)

  • The End of Time (Part 1) (2009)

  • A Christmas Carol (2010)

  • The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe (2011)

  • The Snowmen (2012)

  • The Time of the Doctor (2013)

  • Last Christmas (2014)

  • The Husbands of River Song (2015)

  • The Return of Doctor Mysterio (2016)

  • Twice Upon a Time (2017)

  • The Church on Ruby Road (2023)

  • Joy to the World (2024)

on Thursday, December 25, 2025 0 comments Labels:

Christmas Links #26 (Season Finale)

 
A Florida official wants to cancel a sold-out Christmas drag show. The queens are performing anyway:
"A Drag Queen Christmas, featuring artists from RuPaul’s Drag Race, will stop in Pensacola despite the state attorney general’s efforts to stop it."

"The elusive street artist’s latest stencil may reference the tens of thousands of unhoused children living in London."

"Join John and Neil as they unwrap some festive treats..."

"Crafting the right mix requires strategy. Here are some tips."

Doctor Who fans, or at least fans of old money Doctor Who, tend to have a greater understanding of the history of television than most people.?
Editor's Note:  Paywall.  But I'm posting it anyway as a way of imploring you to sign up to James Cooray's Smith Psychic Paper newsletter, which at £3.50 per month offers regular, thoughtful articles about Doctor Who which always offer a fresh perspective.  This one's about The Power of Kroll ratings anomaly.

"From Robert Bresson to Antoine Fuqua, from the 1950s to the 2020s, Dan Mecca takes us on a tour through many cinematic interpretations of the King Arthur legend."

"How one person’s reaction to a hurtful Christmas card caused the card to be withdrawn, although not everyone feels it should have been."

"Tony and Becs Wadley say they can't spend Christmas at home after insulation installed under a government scheme has caused black mould in several rooms, and their asthmatic son can't be inside the property."

"Ahead of the latest in the BBC’s Ghost Stories for Christmas strand airing on Christmas Eve, we revisit the atmospheric locations for the original series to see how time has changed them."

"Can we use data to prove what is and isn’t a Christmas movie and force people to stop being annoying FOREVER?"
on Tuesday, December 23, 2025 0 comments Labels:

Christmas Links #25


Timeless Christmas hit is the gift that keeps on giving for Wizzard:
"Research shows 97% of band’s streaming revenue comes from 1973 single I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday."

"Why arguing with your family about politics won’t change their minds — and what actually will."

"Sophie Aldred’s Ace Odyssey podcast series offers a ghost story for Christmas… on a spaceship."

"A group of Ukrainian performers have been telling the story of being far from home and unable to make it back for Christmas."

"Donald Macleod visits the home of Jane Austen with historian Amanda Vickery to discover some of the seasonal customs and Christmas music of late-Georgian Britain."

"Christmas is a time when many of us head back to the family home - the marae - and in the case of many Pacific Islanders - the village. People like Kayla Tuara are taking their family back to the Cook Islands for Christmas. Kayla joins Bryan from Rarotonga."

"I was working at another magazine about a decade ago when I told a colleague about plans to go to my hometown for the holidays and make lasagna with my family for Christmas Day. It's an all-day affair: stirring and seasoning the sauce, cooking the noodles, layering the dish, then finally baking (and baking) until the dish is bubbly and melty."

“Colly birds” appeared in versions of the song as early as the late 18th century.

I'm not a big fan of Christmas music, so I was happy to learn about and then listen to "enigmatic frontman and eclectic curator" David Byrne's recently posted playlist, "Christmas Music for People Who Hate Christmas Music."
on Monday, December 22, 2025 0 comments Labels:

Odeon Liverpool Switch Island

 

Film  For The Housemaid.  An "innovation" in some Odeons is the introduction of beds at the front of the auditorium.  Having tried one here, I would not say it's the "ultimate comfort" as suggested on the website.  The surface is rather hard (its the same leathery material used on seating) and its pretty difficult to decide how far up to sit.  Too low and you can't see the screen, too high and you might as well be on a recliner.  It's certainly not worth the prices.  With the Unlimited discount my single bed was £9, but for plebs its £20.50 for one, £31 for two and £37.50 for three.  It was also chilling in the screen so I'm glad I brought a blanket (history link).
on Monday, December 22, 2025 0 comments Labels:

Christmas Links #24


Christmas Movies for the Family After You’ve Watched the Ones You Always Watch:
"I love the Christmas classic movies and watch as many as I can every year, including at least a couple of versions of “A Christmas Carol” and Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye in “White Christmas.”  But there are many great Christmas films that don’t get mentioned as often and I like to remind families that these are worth making time for as well."

“A Very Elfish Situationship”

"Emma Thompson’s quiet suffering in the hit Christmas movie helped me to realise that I didn’t need to stay with someone who had betrayed me."
Editor's Note:  This shitty film has done some good.

"When you think about music in New Orleans — you probably think of jazz or blues, or maybe funk and bounce.  Christmas carols? Not so much."

"Grace Dent takes a televisual trip back in time to Christmas 1985."

"A highlight from our holiday stream to benefit World Central Kitchen."

"In the city of Saku, central Japan, Santa Claus has arrived in hot-air balloons to deliver Christmas cheer to children."

"The first edition of The Making of Doctor Who, published by Piccolo in 1972, was credited — on the front cover — to Malcolm Hulke and Terrance Dicks. The title page then reversed the names, suggesting an equity of credit. Yet, as we saw last time, I think Hulke did most if not all of the writing and took 75% of the royalties."

"TV host who came under pressure from Trump government will say: ‘From a fascism perspective, this has been a really great year’"

"Most people don't even give you the time of day but these people do, no matter who you are."


on Sunday, December 21, 2025 0 comments Labels:
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