Horror movie of the year
Movie of the year for me goes to The Black Phone 2. An unlikely choice in a sea of great horror films, but this one hit hard. We see the return of the Grabber in a much different way — more Freddy Krueger–esque, more A Nightmare on Elm Street than straight slasher. But beyond that, this isn’t just a horror movie built on jump scares.
The characters feel true and real, and the trauma they carry feels just as real. The villain may technically be the Grabber, but the true villain is trauma itself — and the aftermath of trauma, when the world moves on and you’re the one left behind trying to figure out how to survive it.
There’s almost a quiet beauty to that. The entire family — father, son, sister — each carries their own demons and each deals with them in different ways. In the end, they’re all broken: broken by the Grabber, broken by this lingering paranormal presence, and broken by life itself, which seems to abandon them and leave them to fend for themselves. That’s why this movie worked. Not because of gore or blood, but because it felt real.
The premise isn’t as grounded as the first film, but it’s real enough — enough to feel it, enough to be moved by it. I don’t often say this about horror, but this one brought me to tears.
Love felt genuine. Loss felt heavy. Trauma felt earned — and, ultimately, trauma was overcome.
BIGGEST NEWS OF THE YEAR’
The biggest news event of the year wasn’t a single headline—it was the cumulative weight of everything that has happened during season two of the Trump administration. The chaos, the controversy, the constant barrage of Truth Social posts. Yes, we had boats being blown up in the Caribbean. Yes, ICE was controversially snatching people up and placing them into detention centers. But it wasn’t just the big moments—it was everything else. The nonstop intensity. The feeling that every week carried its own breaking point. And if the first stretch of this season tells us anything, the next few episodes promise more of the same.
Horror of the year
Best horror movies of the year (And it was good for horror in 2025) includes SINNERS, BRING HER BACK, some will say WEAPONS (see below on my thoughts), CONJURING, FINAL DESTINATION, 28 YEARS LATER, and many others.. Some may even argue that BRING HER BACK and SINNERS deserves an Oscar … and as we know will never get one. 2025, however, was a certain rebirth of the genre that was needed that included not only some remakes and memories but also completely new storylines.
Biggest disappointment of the year
Biggest disappointment of the year goes to STRANGER THINGS season five, especially episodes 5 6 and 7. Great work… we have a new modern version of GAME OF THRONES for fans who had better theories than the Duffer Brothers.
The movie everyone loved to hate is the one I loved to love
The movie everyone seems to love that I hate—or at least defend against the hate— The Life of Chuck. Quiet, understated, and oddly beautiful, it became one of the most emotionally effective films of the year for me. It’s been hit with dismissive reviews and claims that it’s boring or pointless, but after seeing it twice in theaters and again at home, I don’t buy that argument. The movie knows exactly what it wants to be, and it delivers the emotion it aims for. In my book, that makes it a strong film.
The horror ‘eh’ of the year
The most disappointing horror movie of the year goes to Weapons. The hype was huge, and while it wasn’t bad—let’s be clear—it just wasn’t great. The story revolves around the kids, you know the drill, but too much is revealed too early. The narrative takes a strange turn, and the mystery collapses under its own weight. That said, we’re apparently getting a spin-off involving an ant, so… there’s that.
Honorable mention in comedy
The best Comedy Movie of the year–like really funny movie–was NAKED GUN. It made us all laugh a lot more than expected and didn’t play it safe. Perhaps the first funny movie from Hollywood in twenty years.
Least consequential decision of 2025
The least consequential decision of the year was Time Magazine naming “AI Architects” as Person of the Year—and then using a fully AI-generated image for the cover. The choice itself was probably correct, but the execution screamed irrelevance. Instead of feeling forward-thinking, the cover was mocked endlessly, turning what should’ve been a moment into a punchline.
Embarrassment of the year
Kristen Cabot was caught on the kiss cam at a Coldplay concert.
Say that 25 times fast. Unfortunately for her, she relived it about 25 million times this year thanks to meme after meme, joke after joke. And, as usual, she got the shorter end of the stick. Media shaming of women still happens faster — and harsher — than shaming of men. If there’s any other takeaway from this story, though, it’s this: people are still going to Coldplay concerts. She interviewed about it in December..
Political earthquake of the year
The biggest political shock of the year was Zoran Mamdani being elected mayor of New York City. Expectations are sky-high, whether they can be met or not remains to be seen. But in one of the strangest moments of the year, he and Trump actually met—and for a brief second, everyone involved seemed… happy? That alone felt historic.
The What the hell was that
This award goes to Erika Kirk. No judgment on the trauma.. but the reactions? Yikes. Fireworks, fanfare, threats flying between podcasters, what should’ve been a serious conversation took on an eerie, unsettling vibe that never quite sat right.
Dumbest news cycle of the year
The dumbest news cycle of the year had to be the Cracker Barrel logo redesign. A logo. And low or no IQ debating consumed us.. it sparked outrage, boycotts, think pieces, and even commentary from the president. Eventually, Cracker Barrel backed off and said the design wouldn’t change. In the middle of an overwhelmingly important year, we collectively argued about a logo far longer than we should have.
Scandal of the year
The scandal of the year was a one-two punch. The Diddy trial and the slow unveiling of Hollywood’s darkest party secrets were massive, but they were eclipsed by the Epstein files that began trickling out late in the year. Between careless redactions, copy-and-paste-friendly PDFs, and an avalanche of names, it became one of the most overwhelming stories to follow. What’s clear is this: there’s an elite club spanning Hollywood, politics, and global power.. and most of us aren’t in it. (thank God) .. After reading the files and listening to the testimony, it’s safe to say we wouldn’t want to be.
Pope of the year
The biggest historical moment no one seems to care about: an American pope. This should feel monumental, but we’re living through so much history all at once that it barely registered. Some people even thought it signaled the end times, thanks to the Prophecy of the Popes. Ironically, it feels like Saint Malachi disliked future Americans so much that he didn’t even bother including Pope Leo in his vision.
The most unhygienic moment of the year goes to Bonnie Blue, who chose to spend a day with far too many people. We’ll just leave it at that.
Meme of the year
The meme of the year belongs to the endless JD Vance “Rare Vance” memes. Creepy. Kooky. Slightly terrifying. And it is never ending. They’ve gone so far that future generations may genuinely not know what the vice president actually looked like. And when the vice president himself dressed up as a Rare Vance for Halloween, it officially crossed into cultural folklore.
AND FINALLY….
The biggest event of the century and the man who should be president..
The biggest event of the century occurred this year. AI.. it started to dominate. We are still laughing and making humorous videos, but slowly AI is creeping into our world enough that jobs will be affected or gone.. our way of living, our way of dating, our way of talking–all of it–will be changed. This is faster than other developments of economic changes in the past. A President Andrew Yang, a decade ahead of his time, would come in handy right now.