My Favourites of 2025

 

 

     Welcome to my 2025 media roundup. As per the tradition, here are the films, TV shows and videogames that I have personally enjoyed the most this year, out of this list of everything here.

 

      These are just my favourites, what are yours?

 

My Favourites of 2025 - Preview

 

      Another year flown past!

 

      It’s been a busy one, but I still managed to squeeze in plenty of films, TV shows and games. The list of my favourites will be up shortly, but as is the tradition, here is the full list for 2025. For the films, those in bold were release this year:

 

My Favourites of 2024

 

     Welcome to the year in review for 2024. As per the tradition, here are the films, TV shows and videogames that I have enjoyed most this year, out of this preview list of everything here.

 

      These are just my own views so if you agree, disagree or have your own favourites let me know! In no particular order:

My Favourites of 2024 - Preview

 

 

     Hello all.

 

      It’s that time of year again where you get to see what films, TV shows and games I enjoyed most during the course of this year. As always these are just my personal favourites and not intended to be any kind of definitive ‘best of’ recommendation.

My Favourites of 2023

      Welcome to the year in review for 2023 – a brief rundown of some things I have enjoyed out of this list here.

 

My Favourites of 2023 - Preview

 

      Hello and welcome back to my year end review’s preview list for 2023.

 

      I really felt like doing things differently this year and so instead of a standard list format, I thought I would instead present my favourites as more of a single free flowing article.

My 20 Favourites of 2022

 

     So rather than separate lists or any alternate awards this year, here is one big list of my 20 favourite things of 2022.

     It will be split as 10 films, 5 TV series and 5 games. The only order is alphabetical and some honourable mentions are thrown in as well.

 

My Favourites of 2022 - Preview

 

     Another year, another list.

 

     I have been doing these for over a decade at this point and life has a habit of increasingly getting in the way. People change. Priorities change. Hopes and dreams flourish and die. Age milestones are hit, friends are growing old, getting married and having babies. But the world keeps turning and we continue to consume all kinds of media to spend our time.

 

      Writing has become a struggle for me in general as I am out the habit for so long and its hard to get the motivation to do so. Therefore for this year I have decided to re-jig the format and will instead just do one list of my 20 favourite things of 2022. These will not be in any order and will be weighted as 10 films, 5 TV series and 5 games. Who knows? This may even be the last year I do this.

Films of the Year 2021 - The Alternative Awards!

 

Continuing on from my 10 Favourite Films of 2021, up next are a bunch of other random categories.

Listen, I make the rules round here, okay?

 

My 10 Favourite films of 2021

 

     Same as last year’s list, I have now done away with a countdown format so these ten films are just presented in alphabetical order.

 

      And also just a reminder as always: this is a list of my favourite films of 2021. Your own mileage may vary.

 

      Enough talk. Have at you!

My Favourites of 2021 - Preview

 

 

     So 2021, eh? Thought things were going to go back to normal after the stinker that was 2020? Nope. Not really. Things still remain very strange out there.

My 5 Favourite TV Series of 2020

 

Continuing on from my 10 Favourite Films of 2020, next up are my 5 Favourite TV shows watched in 2020, along with 5 more honourable mentions at the end.

My 10 Favourite Films of 2020

 

     

     So as discussed in my previous rundown here, I will just present these 10 films in no particular order having done away with the traditional ‘countdown’ format. Not just because such a thing is largely inconsequential and divisive, but I also sometimes find myself looking back and wishing I had rejigged the order of things.

       

     Needless to say there will still be some people who will still ask me ‘why did you include this film and not that film instead…’ but be reminded these are just my favourites and not an objective ‘best of’.

 

      Anyway, without further ado – here are my 10 favourite movies of 2020.

My Favourites of 2020 - Preview

 

        Hoo-boy. 2020, eh? What a year. Without harping on unnecessarily it has been evident that this year has brought marked changes to absolutely everyone’s lifestyle. And as the time has come round once again for my yearly review it only makes sense for that to be a bit different as well.

 

Some Unexpected Bangers - The Music of Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga

 

     Full disclosure: I am not a Eurovision fan. I don’t watch it, I don’t follow it, I am not invested in the yearly hype, the contenders, the winners or any of it. Having said that I do have a peripheral knowledge of the event and know of some of the more memorable contestants from previous years just from how much it seems to permeate the cultural zeitgeist for the brief moment every year that it’s on. Obviously it’s not being held this year, but instead we get the Netflix comedy Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga.

Movie Musings - Extraction - Is That Rake at the End?

       I watched the Netflix exclusive Extraction a while back. It’s a decent action flick set in Bangladesh where Chris Hemsworth stars as a mercenary attempting to rescue a kidnapped kid and escort him to safety. Now the main point I want to talk about is a spoiler for the ending of the movie, so if you haven’t seen it yet or don’t want any plot points spoiled you have been warned!

The Emancipation of Harley Quinn - Film Vs Animated Series

       There is a common understanding that Margot Robbie’s portrayal of Harley Quinn was the best part of 2016’s Suicide Squad by a country mile. Despite the bombing of that film it was soon announced that Harley would star in her own spin-off entry, the end result arriving this year in the form of Birds of Prey – or rather to be complete the unwieldy full title of: Birds of Prey: The Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn.

Movie Musings: Campy Horror - The Lair of The White Worm

      Released in 1988, Ken Russell’s The Lair of the White Worm is a great example of a campy horror flick that you just wouldn’t get today.

The 5 Main Issues With Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker

     Happy May the 4^th everyone! And what better way to celebrate Star Wars Day by reminding everyone how truly awful Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker was. The last main series Star Wars film to be released was a crushing disappointment to me when it came out last year and having rewatched the film again yesterday my feelings have not changed.

      So whilst there is a huge list of things that make Episode IX a pile of steaming Bantha poop, here are the five main points that were the most problematic for me.

     Spoiler warning: Major plot points of the film will be discussed.

Primal - Pure Storytelling

       Genndy Tartakovsky’s Primal is a work of art - storytelling in its purest form.

    And that’s not just hyperbole – with no dialogue to speak of, the story unfolds purely through visuals, motion and sound design. Anybody familiar with Tartakovsky’s signature style (the original animated Star Wars: Clone Wars series, The Powerpuff Girls and Samurai Jack) will find the same thick lines and expressionistic body proportions here, but the subtle facial animations, bombastic orchestral score and kinetic action all convey absolutely everything you need to know.