In 2025, I watched 46 movies and 3 different tv shows.
I watched 9 movies on planes and Siqi and I watched 10 movies in theaters. The rest, we watched on DVD or online. Also, I watched a bunch of stuff by myself when I was sick.
See below for the complete list, with comments and recommendations.
Top TV Recommendations!
Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman (1993–1997)
This 1990s TV show is a wholesome romance thinly disguised as science-fiction. Specifically, it’s about the relationship between two capable and kind-hearted but emotionally vulnerable young professionals. Rewatching the show, especially the earlier seasons, filled me with the glow of nostalgia. See this blog post for more on the characters, plot, and themes of the show. No spoilers.
Silo: Season 1 & 2 (2023–2025)
Like all good sci-fi, Silo is about big questions made into relatable stories. It’s a dystopia in which 10,000 people live in a city consisting of an underground silo. The world of the Silo, stratified vertically into different classes of citizens with different roles and lifestyles, is interesting in itself, but the characters bring it to life and drive the plot. I can’t wait for Season 3! See this blog post for more on the characters, plot, and themes of the show. No spoilers.
Ludwig: Season 1 (2024)
British comedian David Mitchell stars in this show about John, the extremely smart but hermit-like identical twin brother of a police investigator. John makes a living inventing puzzles under the pen-name Ludwig. John must assume the identity of his brother James in order to figure out why James has disappeared. The show was renewed for a second season, but they only just started filming it in September 2025, so…. we’ll need to wait a bit for the next installments. See this blog post for more on the characters, plot, and themes of the show. No spoilers.
Top Movie Recommendations!
How to Train Your Dragon (2010)
This is one of my top 5 favorite movies ever. It features a lovable geeky misfit, an adorable black cat/dragon/umbrella/dog, and a strong, beautiful, independent teen warrior girl. Shown above, one of two incredible joyrides in the movie.
Speed Racer (2008)
This is another one of my top 5 favorite movies ever. I like car movies in general, but this one goes hard in ways that none of the others do.
Monsters Inc. (2001)
Some of the humor is not my style, but I love the “magical doors” premise of the movie, and of course the emotional tie between the child and the bigshot monster.
Zootopia (2016)
This is another full-on American movie about freedom of choice, but in this case the “be anything you want” message is tempered with uncannily realistic reminders that people will surprise you in both good and bad ways.
F1: The Movie (2025)
Driver Sonny Hayes, “the best that never was,” doesn’t care about being in the spotlight. The story transforms this detachment from a weakness into a strength. Meanwhile, the audacious stuff he does is absolutely hilarious, albeit unrealistic.
Top Movie Soundtrack Recommendations!
I was obsessed with these at various points in the year.
Chicago (2002)
How to Train Your Dragon (2010)
The Greatest Showman (2017)
Other Movies
Keanu Reeves movies
Ballerina (2025)
A violent revenge story in set in the world of John Wick. I dunno, I was underwhelmed. Where’s the revenge story where the Japanese girl in John Wick 4 goes after her father’s killer, John’s blind friend Caine?
Replicas (2018)
In this unconvincing sci-fi story, Keanu tries to resurrect his dead family members using some sort of brain recording and some tanks for growing whole human bodies from scratch. But he doesn’t have enough tanks.
A Scanner Darkly (2006)
As I understand it, this is a tribute to friends of Philip K. Dick who suffered from the effects of substance abuse. I didn’t find it relatable, but the rotoscope method and Robert Downey Jr.’s twitchy performance made it interesting to watch.
Exposed (2016)
After a young Spanish-speaking Catholic woman has a strange experience late at night on a subway platform, she starts having visions. The movie is about rape and child abuse, not “police corruption.” It was disturbing; I would unwatch it if I could.
- Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure (1989)
The newness and simplicity of the premise makes the first movie the most excellent of the three in the series. - Bill and Ted’s Bogus Journey (1991)
I don’t feel like I need to see this movie again, but I did like the part where Bill and Ted win their freedom by beating death in a variety of family games. - Bill and Ted Face the Music (2020)
Not bad, actually! The premise was solid, it had a bit of genius time-travel logic, and the finale was appropriately satisfying.
John Wick Chapter 4 (2023)
People who like the John Wick movies seem pretty satisfied with this one. Same here.
Sonic the Hedgehog 3 (2024)
It occurs to me there’s some overlap between this movie and Guardians of the Galaxy 3. Both feature a sad creature imprisoned in a lab, and someone ruthless who tries to play God. This one’s got Jim Carrey in it, though… two of him, in fact!
Foreign movies
You Have to Come and See It (2022)
This is a Spanish film about a couple who visits another couple, friends who have bought a house in the suburbs. Seemed kinda pointless. I guess it’s meant to be a slice-of-life sort of thing.
Vicky Vidya Ka Who Wala Video (2024)
This silly-but-also-serious Bollywood movie is about a young couple who make a recording on their wedding night, lose the disc, and then accidentally uncover some serious wrongdoing in their desperate attempt to get it back.
The Thin Yellow Line (2015)
In this Mexican film, a lonely man with a truck is hired to be in charge of a small crew assigned to paint the dividing line of a highway. His attitude undergoes transformation along the way. This was well done, worth watching.
Pravo na Levo (Right to Cheat) (2024)
I thought this Russian comedy was going to be about a divorce lawyer who was framed as an adulterer. But I don’t think he was actually innocent.
Llenas de Gracia (Full of Grace) (2022)
This is a heartwarming semi-biographical underdog sports story. A nun sent to look after a group of unruly boys in an orphanage decides to teach them soccer.
Ne Zha (2019)
When a magical ritual goes wrong, human parents receive a devil-child (Ne Zha), while the dragons receive an angel-child (Ao Bing). But what makes us who we are? Our nature? Our upbringing? Our choices?
Sci-fi movies
Time Cop (1994)
When the protagonist succeeds, he’s the only one who remembers the events he was trying to prevent. Like, congratulations, dude, your wife didn’t die in this timeline, so now you have a ten-year-old son you’ve never met. Yay?
Logan’s Run (1976)
There’s something compelling about this dystopia. The 70s futuristic world feels appropriately strange but also real. Makes me want to read the books.
Rollerball (1975)
This dystopia was just depressing… it depicts a decadent, dissipated society where world peace prevails, but celebrity athletes fight for victory in a lethal team game called Rollerball. It’s meant to make you sick, and it succeeds.
Futuresport (1998)
This made-for-tv movie starring Dean Cain from Lois and Clark echoes Rollerball in that there’s a sport that serves as a substitute for worse conflicts. But it’s a weak echo.
Ghost in the Shell (1995)
I wish I liked it, but I don’t; I still think it’s clunky and weird.
Superhero movies
Aquaman (2018)
Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom (2023)
I mean… these are typical DC superhero movies. Lots of CGI worldbuilding, with characters and plots not up to Marvel standard.
The Fantastic Four: First Steps (2025)
This Marvel superhero movie was interesting, from the standpoint of character development, not just the 1960s visual style.
Superman (2025)
While this DC superhero movie heaps fuel on the fire of the ongoing US culture war, it also upholds the important theme of choice: you are who you choose to be.
Musicals
The Greatest Showman (2017)
The main character’s excessive arrogance, a key part of his character arc, really bothered me when I watched this movie before. This time, I just enjoyed the lights, colors, and music.
Chicago (2002)
While the lights, colors, and music are certainly enjoyable, I’ve decided I really don’t like the characters in this story.
Song of the South (1946)
I was inspired by the cheerful, award-winning song “Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah” when I was a kid. But I guess I can see why Disney doesn’t want anything to do with this movie anymore.
Everything else
Animated movies, classic movies, literary adaptations, satire, etc.
Transformers One (2024)
I didn’t know this was an origin story about Optimus Prime and Megatron. It took me waaaay too long to figure that out! Anyway… I like these Transformers better than Michael Bay’s.
King Solomon’s Mines (1950)
Mainly the difference between the source material and this adaptation is that the book has a big battle in the middle that the movie doesn’t have at all, and the movie has a love story that’s nowhere in the book.
Some Like It Hot (1959)
This historic movie features two cross-dressing male characters who pose as female musicians to escape the mafia. I found it awkward and silly. YMMV.
Persuasion (1995)
I like the 1995 version of Sense and Sensibility better; it has Emma Thompson, Alan Rickman, Hugh Grant, and Kate Winslet.
Dante’s Inferno, An Animated Epic (2010)
A clever adaptation, but horror is not my style.
Idiocracy (2006)
Yeah. I don’t really like dark humor…
Saved (2004)
…but this one was funny.
Pan (2015)
Hook was better.
Colossal (2016)
Deeper than expected. Not actually very funny, IMO. Thought-provoking, though. Disturbing. Still not sure whether I’m glad I watched it.
Inside Out 2 (2024)
Not bad, but lacks the stunning novelty of the first installment. The central new character Anxiety is so relatable! But Ennui is my favorite; every scene where he says something is such a deadpan mic-drop. Just perfect.
Zootopia 2 (2025)
I was somehow not a fan of the plot or the plot twist of this sequel. Still, I love the world of Zootopia; I love Judy and Nick and their boss, and I love snakes. Plus, this movie made me laugh out loud a lot.
Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning (2025)
I was disappointed; maybe my expectations were too high. Also, personally, I cannot enjoy tense underwater scenes. I’d rather be back on the skyscraper in Ghost Protocol!
How to Train Your Dragon (2025)
I wish they hadn’t tinkered with Astrid’s character, and while they may have fixed some plotholes, they created another one; still, it’s a beautiful movie with a beautiful soundtrack.
How to Train Your Dragon (2025 IMAX)
After seeing the movie on a regular movie theater screen, I realized I still wanted to see it on an IMAX screen. So I did!
