Tag Archives: Film

The Works from 2025 That Showed Off the Wonderful Glory of Animation

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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.

Our Highly Commended Films in 2025 are: The Bad Guys: Little Lies and Alibis, The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie, Elio, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Chrome Alone 2 – Lost in New Jersey & Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl

Our Highly Commended TV in 2025 are: Creature Commandos & Rick and Morty

So, without further ado, these animated films showed us the glory of animation in 2025. Be warned that there may be slight spoilers ahead.

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Cinematography That Made You Go Wow in 2025!

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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.

Our Highly Commended Films in 2025 are: The Brutalist, Frankenstein, KPop Demon Hunters, Nosferatu, The Phoenician Scheme, Warfare & Weapons

Our Highly Commended TV in 2025 are: Andor, The Diplomat, Peacemaker & PLUR1BUS

So, without further ado, these moments of cinematography took our breaths away in 2025. Be warned that there may be some slight spoilers ahead.

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Worldbuilding that Astounded Us in 2025

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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.    

Our Highly Commended Films in 2025 are: Companion, The Fantastic Four: First Steps, KPop Demon Hunters, Predator: Badlands, Primitive War, Sinners, Superman & Wake Up Dead Man
 Our Highly Commended TV in 2025 are: Andor, Foundation, Heated Rivalry, Murderbot, Paradise, Peacemaker, Silo & Skeleton Crew

So, without further ado, these films showed excellence in Worldbuilding 2025. Be warned that there may be slight spoilers ahead.

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The Costumes of 2025 That Made Us Say ‘Hot Damn’

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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!

Our Highly Commended Films in 2025 are: Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale, KPop Demon Hunters, Nosferatu, Wake Up Dead Man & Wicked: For Good

Our Highly Commended TV in 2025 are: The Diplomat, Foundation, The Residence, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds & Star Wars: Skeleton Crew

So, without further ado, these costumes made us say ‘hot damn’ in 2025. Be warned that there may be slight spoilers ahead.

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The Musical Scores of 2025 That Wowed Us

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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.

Our Highly Commended Films in 2025 are: The Brutalist, Conclave, F1, How to Train Your Dragon, One Battle After Another, Thunderbolts* &Tron: Ares


Our Highly Commended TV in 2025 are: Doctor Who, Murderbot, Paradise & The Residence

So, without further ado, these are the musical scores that moved us in 2025. Be warned that there may be some slight spoilers ahead.

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Tension That Kept You On The Edge Of Your Seat In 2025!

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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.   

Our Highly Commended Films in 2025 are: 28 Years Later, Drop, The Long Walk, The Lost Bus, Nosferatu & Sinners
Our Highly Commended TV in 2025 are: Andor, The Diplomat, Paradise & Silo

So, without further ado, these moments of tension kept us on the edge of our seats in 2025. Be warned that there may be slight spoilers ahead.

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The Works from 2025 That Put Some Fun Into Our Lives

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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.

Our Highly Commended Films in 2025 are: A Minecraft Movie, The Bad Guys 2, Companion, M3GAN 2.0, Paddington in Peru, Regretting You, Superman & Wake Up Dead Man

Our Highly Commended TV in 2025 are: Murderbot, The Recruit, The Residence &  Twisted Metal

So, without further ado, these are the works of film and television that brought the fun in 2025. Be warned that there may be slight spoilers ahead.

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The Works of 2025 That Emotionally Wrecked Us

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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.

Our Highly Commended Films in 2025 are: Elio, The History of Sound, Holy Cow, Kangaroo, The Last Journey, The Lost Bus, Nuremberg, Regretting You & Wake Up Dead Man

Our Highly Commended TV in 2025 are: The Last of Us, Paradise, PLUR1BUS & Star Trek: Strange New Worlds


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.

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Explosions, Guns, and Punches, Oh My. The Best Action of 2025

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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.  

Our Highly Commended Films in 2025 are: 28 Years Later, The Accountant 2, Companion, F1, Fight or Flight & Weapons

Our Highly Commended TV in 2025 are: Andor, The Last of Us, Murderbot, Peacemaker & Reacher


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.

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The Long Walk – Movie Review

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TL;DR – A brutal, uncomfortable film that is anchored in some of the best performances I have seen all year.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene.

Disclosure – I paid to watch this film.

Warning – Contains scenes which may cause distress.

The group walking through a field.

The Long Walk Review Introduction –

Few people have had as many adaptations to their name as Stephen King. Indeed, we already got The Running Man this year. However, before I wrap up my 2025, I knew I needed to explore the other adaptation out this year. A film full of brutality and also camaraderie in a combination that I don’t think I have watched before.   

So, to set the scene, after suffering a brutal civil war in the 20th century, America now lives under a brutal military regime amidst an economic collapse. As a way of ‘bringing the country back together’, every year there is The Long Walk, where one boy from each state has to start walking and keep walking at three miles an hour until there is only one left. If they win, they win money for their family; if they stop, they “get their ticket taken”. Raymond “Ray” Garraty (Cooper Hoffman) is assigned number 47 under the harsh visage of the Major (Mark Hamill). One gunshot, and the slow march begins with all 50, but it doesn’t take long for the first ticket to get punched.

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