Animation is a form of filmmaking that is often related to second-tier status, something just for kids. This is oddly undertaken by both the organisations giving out awards and the guilds promoting their members’ work. However, they are not second-tier films; in many ways, animated films push the frontiers of filmmaking and what is possible, and they should be championed for their work.
Animated films can be hand-drawn, stop/clay motion, or computer-generated; it does not matter, but all of them show the unique techniques of hundreds of artists that bring the work to life. And in a world full of AI slop, they should be celebrated.
Cinematography is an art form that can be as bold as a gong crashing after a moment of silence or as subtle as the tide coming in. It elevates a film to the heights of accolades or becomes frustrating when it misfires.
While at the heart of cinematography is the Director of Photography or Cinematographer, to get something from the script to the final shot takes a whole team of professionals, and it is their talent that we champion today.
One of the benefits of film and television as a visual medium is that you can do in a single frame what it might take a book several pages of description to pull off. We see this the most in its ability to build worlds in front of our eyes.
These worlds could be great space operas exploring galaxies, a small period piece that looks back in time, or anything. But when every part of the film is used to tell a story, you know it is good. It must be more than just what someone sticks in an opening scrawl, though it is also what someone sticks in an opening scrawl.
28 Years Later has a lot of heavy lifting to do; it has been so long since the last outing that you needed to introduce the world to people who have never visited before, but also they had to reintroduce it for those who did remember, given how the last film turned out. But whatever the case, we get a world dripping with story at every turn.
Flow’s worldbuilding is all subtle in the background, sitting there waiting for you to stumble across it once you start putting the dots together. It may be quiet, but it is still profound because it provides the foundation for the story, it gives you questions that sit in the back of your mind while you watch it and help bring you into this wonderful world.
Well, Mickey 17 might be the oddest film I’ve watched this year, and while not all of the bombast landed, what did work very well is the worldbuilding. It creates this fantastic science fiction world, but you can see that mirror reflecting right back at us. This odd combination of religion, science, and conquest comes together to create a fascinating story.
One Battle After Another is one of those films that feels like it could be just as appropriate to slap a “in the not too distant future” on it had America not dramatically escalated its decline over the last year. It creates a world that feels whole despite all its messiness, well, maybe, because of all its messiness.
PLUR1BUS has an oddly compelling foundation, “what if the zombie apocalypse was sentient and had a smile, only when you are looking”. For a global-spanning story almost exclusively set in one city in New Mexico, this oddness is the perfect base to build a story all about autonomy, consent, and free will.
Weapons is a film that is so in your face that it might as well be the cinematic equivalent of getting someone to follow you around with a trumpet and soundtrack your day. But it knows that, and it knows how to make that captivating at every turn. Its foundation is every parent’s worst fear, and they build that fear in every section as the horror gets ramped up a notch each time.
Directed by – Paul Thomas Anderson Written by – Paul Thomas Anderson Based on – Vineland by Thomas Pynchon
If I had to sum up One Battle After Another in one word, it would be ‘rich’. Every part of this world is so full of texture that you feel it everywhere. This is because they have spent so much time making sure that the world they are building here is grounded in reality, so when the more fantastical parts (or less fantastical now that we see them happening in the real world) come into play, you have already come into this world completely. The character’s actions in this film would not be as profound as they are if they didn’t create a world that felt tangible.
What film or television in 2025 built the best worlds?Let us know what you would have chosen as your number one in the comments below.
By Brian MacNamara: You can follow Brian on Bluesky at @Tldrmovrev, when he’s not chatting about Movies and TV, he’ll be talking about International Relations, or the Solar System.
Feel free to share this review on social media and check out all our past reviews and articles Here, and have a happy day.
Credits – All images used were created by the respective studios and artist of each film
You can use many techniques to help build your world, ground your setting, or give dimensions to your characters. You can use music and create elaborate sets, but one of the many ways, and often the first way, is through the costumes you make.
People instantly judge a character within moments on the screen, and the outfits are essential to that first impression. More than this, you can also use costumes as a way of storytelling. What do they say about this world? What do they say about how a character is progressing?
Costumes can build worlds and tell us details we can only see, but also, they can make us say, ‘Hot Damn’, look at that beading on that dress. That must have taken hours to do!
If there is one thing Star Wars properties like to do, it is go all out on the costumes. Even the supposedly gritty and more grounded Andor was filled to the brim with pomp and circumstance, though a wedding will help you do that. It is one of the many different ways that character is built and rebellions are found. See Mon Mothma’s wedding outfit.
There is a stylish decadence to every costume in Black Bag. Everything is tailored, everything fits, and everything tells you more about the characters than what they will openly say themselves. Costumes are a way to break into this world of lies and secrets, and they use them well. See anything Cate Blanchett is wearing.
This is a movie where costumes are more important than usual, because nearly everybody is wearing the same thing. However, this is not the case of quantity over quality, because it means that all the subtle changes become that much more critical in a world where choosing the next Pope could have dramatic consequences. See the moment the cardinals arrive.
Frankenstein is a film full of lusciousness in every regard, including the costumes. The gowns that Mia Goth wears throughout the film are exquisite, the opening red gown exploding across the screen like a flag marking its place in the world. It brings much-needed scope to a story that has been told many times before. See Mia Goth’s first giant red dress.
Wes Anderson films are known for a certain amount of precision that you can see in every frame. This precision extends to the costumes, which are the final bows used to create the wildly eccentric characters you can find throughout the film, like the final drop of magic that makes them come alive. See Michael Cera’s costume change.
Sinners is a film that is entirely about setting you in a place and time, with a care that extends down to items like the type of Chinese dialect that some of the characters speak to each other. This also extends to the costumes that are doing more than just letting you know which twin is which. They are bringing you into a world and telling you who lives there. See everyone in the rave.
The Best Costumes in Television or Film 2025 is: Conclave
Directed by – Edward Berger Costume Design by – Lisy Christl
Conclave is a film that exists in the juxtaposition between bombast and subtlety. Between politeness and open war. Between faith and politics. Between all of those different axis lands, the costumes that help bridge the gaps. In a sea of red, everything matters. The type of red, how they are worn, what they are juxtaposed against, and what small details differentiate a group of people wearing basically the same thing. It is one of the core foundations of the film, and one of the main reasons everything pops the way it does.
What are your favourite costumes from 2025 that exploded onto the screen?Let us know what you would have chosen as your number one in the comments below.
By Brian MacNamara: You can follow Brian on Bluesky at @Tldrmovrev, when he’s not chatting about Movies and TV, he’ll be talking about International Relations, or the Solar System.
Feel free to share this review on social media and check out all our past reviews and articles Here, and have a happy day.
Credits – All images used were created by the respective studios and artist of each film
One factor that I will always look out for in a film or tv show is the musical score. When a musical score is transcendent it can get caught in my soul in the days, weeks, months, and even the years that come. There is immense artistry in weaving emotions from music, having us slip into the world that is created, fear the oncoming dread even if we do not know why, or rejoice in the triumph of that final victory.
Music charts the cinematic world as it guides us, lifts us up, and yet it can also crush our souls with a couple of notes on a piano. This is its power.
Also, a reminder that this award is for Musical Scores and Original Songs only, so no needle drops or non-original songs.
This might be the most experimental score on this list, because it is taking some real chances here and incorporating vocal chanting, strings, electronica, oh and a muse on psychological torture. It is a profoundly compelling, if off-putting score at times.
At some point this year, you have joined Genevieve O’Reilly by having a crashout to the techno dance funk of NIAMOS, which the show uses to demonstrate the progression of time in the universe. This is a profoundly emotional series, and the music always supports it. In a way, it shows that Star Wars can find a voice that is not John Williams and still be Star Wars.
For a film without dialogue, Flow needed to use all of the tools at its disposal to bring you into this world, and the musical score is one of its best ways. Its rhythms almost mimic the water that you can see everywhere, bonding you to the world and the animals in it.
This could have stolen a spot on this list for H.E.R.B.I.E’s lullaby alone, but I appreciate that Michael Giacchino decided to bring something different to the MCU. It’s light and poppy, yet it can hit the heights you need when you need it to soar. A more optimistic musical score that fits the film well.
Kpop Demon Hunters decided that they were going to drop a group of songs so catchy that they have stayed stuck in my head ever since I listened to them. There is an energy to the music and songs that match the film in ways that you don’t often see. A joyous blast of K-pop to help define 2025.
Much like the series itself, the musical score for Pluribus is a bit of an odd duck. It helps keep you off-set with a juxtaposition of light poppy notes, and an undercurrent of vocals that puts the hairs on the back of your neck. Constantly reinforcing that something is very, very wrong here.
Few films in the modern era have been such a love letter to the Blues as Sinners was. From the moment you hear that first twang of a guitar string, you are teleported back in time to the Mississippi Delta. It is a love letter to a musical form that deserves some time in the sun; it also forms the foundation of the best sequence in cinema in 2025.
The Best Musical Score in Television or Film 2025 is: Sinners
Directed by – Ryan Coogler Written by – Ryan Coogler Music by – Ludwig Göransson
Unsurprisingly, a musical score would be solid in a film where music is central to the story. Also, I am not sure there is a Ludwig Göransson score that I have not enjoyed. But even with that foundation, I was not ready for the sheer bombast that was the musical score for Sinners. Not only was it a love letter to Blues, but it was also a musical score that was built on both integrity and grandeur.
Music is integral to every part of the film, the setting, the worldbuilding, the characters, and, most importantly, the narrative. Every part of this film is dripping in a musical voice that was a wonder to behold and helped combine with other elements of the film to land the most memorable moment of 2025.
What are your favourite musical moments from 2025 that wormed their way into your brains and lingered?Let us know what you would have chosen as your number one in the comments below.
By Brian MacNamara: You can follow Brian on Bluesky at @Tldrmovrev, when he’s not chatting about Movies and TV, he’ll be talking about International Relations, or the Solar System.
Feel free to share this review on social media and check out all our past reviews and articles Here, and have a happy day.
Credits – All images used were created by the respective studios and artist of each film
Well, we have looked at Action, then Emotion and swung wildly across the spectrum to Fun, and now we are completing that series by looking at Tension. Tension is one of the most challenging facets of filmmaking because it requires the script, direction, acting, and editing to all work in tandem to evoke the perfect pace. If just one part of that group misses, then an essential part of the film falls apart.
In 2025, we continued to see some excellent use of tension to build mystery, to be the harbinger of the coming dread, or even to tick the clock of inevitability.
We looked at the works of film and television that hit us in the feels with emotions in our last awards. Now it is time to pivot hard to the other side of the spectrum and look at the films that were a riot of fun. So today, I take a moment to champion those works that brought joy, whether through upbeat action, one laugh after another, or that silliness that brings a smile to your face.
However, I note that this might be the most subjective of all the lists because what people think is funny can vary drastically.
As I have gotten older, I am not afraid of having a good old-fashioned ugly cry in the cinemas when the time calls for it, and hell, I probably got emotional just writing this list (Spoiler: I did, and Hamnet isn’t even on this list because it’s 2026). Sometimes, they are tears of grief or tears of joy, and even still, sometimes, they are tears of anger. Okay, and sometimes they are all of those tears and more at the same time.
Emotion is a core part of the cinema experience. If you can’t get us to respond emotionally to your characters and/or the situation, I am sorry you failed to make a great work of art.
So, without further ado, these are the works of film and television of 2025 that emotionally wrecked us. Be warned that there will be significant spoilers ahead.
An explosive (both literal and metaphorical) action sequence is genuinely a delight to watch, as it can be as expansive as flames crashing across the screen or more intimate, like a duel between two people as the sun rises. This gives action scenes an incredible range, and in 2025, we were given some unique spectacles.
For me, the best action scenes excel in every element, whether they be live action, special effects, digital effects, or animation, each brings a unique joy to the genre. It is also the category that looks at some departments people don’t often fully understand, like stunt coordination or second-unit direction.
2025 was the year that action dominated both the big and small screen, so much so it was hard to get this category down to a shortlist, given how many good examples we got. However, power through I must, and here we go with the rich and varied world of action.
So, without further ado, these are the moments of action that awed us in 2025 as we dive into the best action movies of 2025. Be warned that there may be slight spoilers ahead.
TL;DR – Percy Jackson sticks the landing while making a significant change that intrigues me.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 4 out of 5.
Disclosure – I paid for the Disney+ service that viewed this series.
Post-Credit Scene – There are mid-credit scenes.
Percy Jackson and the Olympians Review –
Well, we have reached the end of season two, the part when loyalties are defined, battles are fought, and futures are determined. The series has been good at building up to this point, but shows have failed in the final execution before; indeed, that has been the very fate of a previous adaptation. Well, will a second chance work for this story? Let’s find out.
So, to set the scene, as Percy (Walker Scobell), Annabeth (Leah Sava Jeffries), Grover (Aryan Simhadri), and Tyson (Daniel Diemer) make their way back to camp, they find out that Clarisse (Dior Goodjohn) never made it to Camp Half-Blood and now monsters and enemy demigods surround. It looks like things are about to fall apart, but never underestimate a Jackson when he is backed into a corner. Now, from here, we will be looking at the episode and season as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.
TL;DR Movie Reviews and Analysis 