I wrote a very negative dispatch before this. And after reading it over, I decided I didn't need to put out that particular brand of negativity into the world.
The World's #1 Complainer.
It was honest-to-god just a list of things that were pissing me off lately. None of which were interesting or mildly funny. So I have decided to start anew and write about some of my favourite pieces of culture from 2025.
These categories/questions were ripped from Vulture’s Culturati 50, where they interview fifty influential members of the culture about their favourite pieces of culture from the past year. It’s a fun read, they have a wide variety of subjects, from Pulitzer Prize-winning playwrights to Pop Girls. So I would definitely recommend checking it out.
Let’s get into it.
What were your favourite movies of the year?
I watch a lot of movies. Some would say, too many! But there were so many great ones I watched this year. I don’t want to risk restating my last email or my yearly movie recap video, so I’ll keep these quick.
My One Battle After Another Halloween Costume!
I loved One Battle After Another. I think it’s a masterclass in pacing. Any movie that can keep me engaged and on the edge of my seat for over three hours deserves a prize, in my humble opinion.
It Was Just an Accident was maybe my favourite movie of the year. It’s an Iranian film about a group of people who think they’ve kidnapped a man who tortured them in prison, but they were blindfolded the entire time they were imprisoned, so they aren’t sure if it’s really him. It’s a fantastic thriller, and the last thirty minutes of the movie made my jaw physically drop like I was a Looney Toon.
I watched the Merrily We Roll Along pro-shot this weekend and felt physically sick after, in a good way, I guess. Merrily is probably my favourite musical, and I think this production is so effective in its storytelling. The pro-shot is weird because you can tell it was filmed for people to watch it in movie theatres, so there are lots of close-ups on actors' faces, unlike other pro-shots I’ve seen, which try more to capture the whole stage picture with a wide shot. I liked the close-ups, though, you really got to see the phenomenal acting the main trio is doing.
I love an Old Hollywood romcom, and His Girl Friday did not disappoint. It’s a snappy second-chance romance about a divorced couple getting back together while reporting a death penalty case. Lots of whip-smart dialogue and people talking FAST and over each other, which are personal favourites of mine.
Another honourable mention is Charade. An espionage caper about a widow trying to find her husband's secret fortune before a gang of criminals do. Cary Grant really does it for me as a leading man, and Audrey Hepburn is wearing some FANTASTIC coats. Also, it has some genuinely surprising twists!
Wake Up Dead Man was fantastic. I am a big fan of the Knives Out Cinematic Universe and the Josh O’Connor Cinematic Universe. I love that this movie isn’t afraid of the murder mystery/detective genre and its trappings. These movies feel like modern classics to me.
I saw Poetic License at the Toronto International Film Festival this year. It’s Maude Apatow’s directorial debut and a genuinely charming campus comedy. Cooper Hoffman is so so funny in this. I think it comes out early next year, and I can’t wait to see it again.
Joint Security Area is the only film from this list that I added to my Letterboxd top four, so you know it’s good. I was very, very late to the Park Chan-wook hype, but hey, I’m here now and that’s what counts! This movie starts with an investigation into the murder of two North Korean soldiers at the border between North and South Korea. The first act is all political mystery, the second act takes a turn into a heart-warming buddy comedy, and the third act is full-blown emotional terrorism. The final still in this movie makes me feel nauseous. War is bad for real guys! Hot take!
Best TV shows?
I watched a lot of reality television this year. I find it's the only thing that truly soothes my brain when I am in the writing trenches.
I will watch any iteration of Traitors. My favourites are New Zealand S2, Australia S1, and UK S2. But this year we got UK Celebrity Traitors, and I think it’s some of the best television to come out of the last five years. Alan Carr is so impossibly funny, and it has a lighter vibe than regular seasons because the celebrities are competing for charity and don’t need the money.
My friend shaming me for my Traitors obsession.
I always love Taskmaster, which is a UK panel show where comedians complete weird tasks for points. Series 16 is my favourite, so I find myself coming back to i,t but Series 19 had Fatiha El-Ghorri who is maybe one of the funniest people alive.
Singles Inferno, which is basically South Korean Love Island but ten thousand times better, is a really fun watch. I don’t know if you know this, but I am not Korean, and trying to pin down the Korean beauty standard by watching this show is a wild ride. The most beautiful woman I have ever seen will walk into the island, and every man will act like she is hot garbage personified. It's a fascinating watch.
Side note: I love that Korean and Japanese reality shows have a panel of commentators and comedians who just riff on the show in between scenes. This is my dream job. Why do we not have this in the west??
I watched Devil’s Plan with my partner when we both got COVID this fall. We bodied two seasons in four days, and I would do it again! They have South Korean celebrities and regular citizens compete in different games that are basically all mental puzzles of some kind. And the house they are staying at is basically a giant escape room full of secrets. It is so good.
I also consumed all of the Secret Lives of Mormon Wives in a two-week period, but I cannot, in good faith, recommend that to you. It is so entertaining, but bad for culture as a whole.
Favourite album or songs?
I listened to a lot of K-pop this year. Some of my favourites include: JENNIE (Jennie from Blackpink's solo album,) CHUU (who I found out about on Devil’s Plan,) and LE SSERAFIM (Spaghetti is the song of the year, sue me!)
I saw Katseye in concert <3 Manon is my bias.
But this year truly was the year of Katseye for me. I went to their concert with my friend Blair and truly had the time of my life bopping next to literal children. There is something about those girls that really draws me in, probably how good they are at dancing. Gnarly was my top song of 2025, so infer what you will from that.
Outside of K-pop, my top albums of the year were brat by Charli XCX and Virgin by Lorde. I think those two are some of the greatest writers of our time. Their ability to verbalize and explore experiences I didn’t even know I was feeling floors me. Girl, so confusing, should have won the Pulitzer Prize for Literature!
A text I recieved on my way to the Virgin tour.
Personal favourite songs from those albums are Broken Glass and Hammer (Virgin) and Guess feat. Billie Eilish and Von Dutch (brat.)
Also, if you found yourself disappointed by The Life of a Showgirl, I would recommend That's Showbiz Baby by JADE. It’s a perfect pop album full of banger after banger. There are some great love songs (Plastic Box) and some fascinating/exciting looks into fame (It Girl.) I think she really encapsulates a kind of ugly insecurity that swings into delusional self-confidence, which I find maybe too relatable.
Spreading the gospel.
The books you couldn't put down?
Again, I don’t want to repeat my 2025 book ranking video, so I will try and keep this short.
Say Nothing by Patrick Radden Keefe was my top book of the year. It braids together the story of a mother who disappeared one night and never returned with the rise of the Provisional IRA in the North of Ireland. I was hooked from the first page, but the last hundred pages are genuinely insane; they had me gasping out loud.
Y'all mind if I bring up Gerry Adams and the IRA at the bar tonight?
I’ve talked ad nauseam about Everything is Tuberculosis by John Green, but I won’t let that stop me from talking about it now. This is about Tuberculosis, but also it’s the story of humanity?? You should read this. John Green is one of the best to ever do it. We interviewed him on the podcast in case you missed it.
Inherent Vice by Thomas Pynchon marked my entrance into my Male Manipulator Lit Bro Phase (which I am still in.) This is a neo-noir about a stoner detective who gets drawn into a wild conspiracy. Do I understand what happened in this? Absolutely not! But I was down for the ride.
Do I really need to recommend The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Steig Larsson to you? It’s sold over a million copies and is objectively very famous. Yet, here I am. This book is the perfect blend of literary prose with a fast-paced, gripping plot. It’s a slow burn getting into it, but once the plot starts kicking, I was HOOKED.
I'm not like other girls. I read The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo at parties.
How about podcasts? Video games? YouTube channels?
The two podcasts I loved this year could not be more tonally different.
I am a staunch listener of Maisie Peter’s podcast Twinhood, where she chats with her twin sister, Ellen, about anything and everything. I love podcasts where people just talk about their day-to-day lives.
The other podcast I loved this year was Project Unabomb, which is a podcast about, you guessed it, the Unabomber. He is a real, life-long interest of mine, which is maybe a red flag. They interview his brother in this podcast a lot and kind of present the idea that they were both troubled young men, but one is now happily married with a wife, and the other was the Unabomber. So, what happened? You have to listen to find out. I think it paints an interesting picture of the trappings of masculinity. It’s no joke! And we all suffer because of it!
Admittedly, I am not a huge gamer. I lack impulse control, and when I start playing video games, I get too into them, and my everyday life suffers because of it. So I try to limit my access to them.
A rare photo of me in gamer mode.
But I love Stardew Valley. Living in that little world is such a treat. I do not care about farming or going into the mines or fishing or whatever, but I love the story and becoming friends with the townspeople.
I also replayed Pokémon: Diamond when I got bedbugs this year because I was fully regressing, and that is such a nostalgic game for me.
YouTube-wise, I love Frankie’s Bookshelf. Their videos where they systematically roast bad books are such a joy to watch. And they are constantly playing in my house when I clean or cook dinner. My personal favourite is their video reviewing Thirteen Reasons Why.
Charley Ann has the best vlogs out there. She doesn’t post much anymore, but the backlog is such a comfort for me, and whenever she does post, it’s such a treat.
That’s all I have for you today in terms of culture favourites! Scroll down if you wanna see what I've been working on recently. I'm so excited to get this going.
Chat soon!
What's New?
Here's what I've been up to online lately, in case you missed it.
The Loch Ness Monster (and Katseye) | Girl Historians: 12 Days of Icons
We are doing the 12 Days of Icons over on Girl Historians, where for twelve days in December, we explore icons of history. The first two icons are the Loch Ness Monster and Charles Manson, so tonally it's a bit insane but lots of fun.
Every month, I make a bonus video (that isn't available anywhere else) based on a topic voted on by my patrons. If that sounds like fun to you, you should join!
Weekly(ish) dispatches featuring personal essays, thoughtful pop culture deep-dives, life updates, and recommendations. It's like I'm writing directly to you!
