Films That I Saw: December 2025

 

2025 sucks. There is no other way to say it. The year sucked and I am glad it is almost over as the past few months have been awful. Dealing with sycophantic, parasitic family friends who have no respect for boundaries and no respect for my mother really soured everything. Then in November there was a car accident as the anxiety of being sued when I did nothing wrong loomed over my head. Things after Thanksgiving started to get worse due to a long-standing cold that has not gotten any better as I am still coughing and barely went anywhere. Then for about a few days, I had no medication due to some insurance reasons as not being on my medication really fucked me up. I was able to finally get it on Christmas Eve but the stress of everything around me was too much to bear as I just cried during dinner and could not stop. After what had been a horrible few days with not being on my meds and now back on it. I am OK for now.

For years, I had always wondered why my sister had been so negative towards those longtime family friends and it finally dawned on me as she saw what happened back in October. While my mother still talks to them, my sister and I do not want to do anything with them anymore as I have always had issues with the presents, they give me and all the gifts they try to give me. A year ago, they gave me a t-shirt for WWE because I love pro wrestling, but I was offended by the gift. Given my many issues with the WWE that I still have now more than ever. That is a shirt that I just donated to Goodwill along with pajamas they gave me a few years that I really did not like because the pants had no pockets. This year, it was just another stupid piece of clothing from Costco of all places that I would never wear, and my mother is keeping it even though she hates the pajamas they just gave her.

All these things I have been dealing with mentally right now has thinking about what happened this month in relation to the horrible deaths of filmmaker/actor Rob Reiner and his wife Michele in the hands of their son Nick. This is a tragedy and it all blew up at a party at Conan O’Brien’s house with other famous people as it would later end that night at the Reiner’s home in the most horrible way possible with their daughter Romy finding her father dead unaware that her mother was also killed. This whole thing has made me worried about my own mental state as I do get angry but not at this extreme. Just because someone has mental issues does not excuse that person for doing what they did as Nick Reiner should not receive any mental help. He should be in prison for killing the people who have helplessly tried to help him. Yes, their approach to help has been flawed but there is no excuse over what happened to them. I feel awful for Romy and Jake Reiner for losing their parents like that but also lose a sibling who they tried to help and is in a path to nowhere. I also feel awful for their friends who have been supportive. Of course, our human shithead of a dictator had to say something stupid, and you know you have fucked up when one of your loyal followers in James Wood going against you. Another admirer of Rob Reiner in wrestler Mick Foley also did something brave as he has announced that he is leaving WWE after June of 2026 when his WWE Legends contract will have expired.

Usually before the end of the year, I always announce some kind of plans for the New Year but given a lot of my own mental/emotional turmoil I had been through the past few days. I have decided that other than the films I will watch for the 2026 Blind Spot Series. There are no plans as my attempts to create new Auteur profiles have fallen apart as I have pushed all of them to 2027 as I would rather focus on updating a few past entries. I also had been trying to create a list of 250 films for the 4th of July as it would be the 250th birthday of the United States of America that is more of a reflection of the American Nightmare. So far, I only have 38 films listed as that will not come into fruition for next year. Instead, what I will do is… nothing. I am just going to take a step back and watch ever I am interested in watching as I have lost a lot of enthusiasm for a lot of things.

In the month of December 2025, I saw a total of 11 films in 7 first-timers and 4 re-watches and a year total of 180 films in 115 first-timers and 65 re-watches with 21 first-timers being films directed by women as part of the 52 Films by Women pledge. In all honesty, it is terrible and I have no one to blame but myself for this as it just reflected a horrible year in general. The highlight of the month is my final Blind Spot film of the year in A Star is Born.

Monthly Mini-Reviews/What Else I Am Watching

WAR IS OVER! Inspired by the Music of John & Yoko



The 2023 short film that won the Oscar for Best Animated Short earlier this year by Dave Mullins and co-produced by Sean Ono Lennon is a short with good intentions. Unfortunately, I understand why people are not fond of it as it is just overly-sentimental and uninspired. It is set in World War I where a carrier pigeon is carrying a message between 2 soldiers from opposite sides of the battlefield in a game of chess. Then battle must come in as the animation is not bad. It is just mediocre at best while the message of the film with the song by John Lennon and Yoko Ono in Happy Xmas (War is Over) being the centerpiece. It just feels shoehorned and never really does much to inspire while who the hell wants to watch a short film about a rat with wings?

Crack Glass Eulogy



One of two short films by Stan Brakhage that I saw this month, as this one from 1991 is a six-minute short made in collaboration with the avant-garde musician Rick Corrigan, is among one of Brakhage’s finest shorts. It plays into a dizzying world of images that plays into what the world has become through entrancing visuals in the way Brakhage captures footage from the sky at night. It also play into a world that is broken as it is a short film anyone interested in Brakhage should see.

The Lost Chapter: Yuki’s Revenge



Made as an extra to coincide with the limited theatrical release of Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair is this short film Quentin Tarantino made in collaboration with the creators of the video game Fortnite. With contributions from Uma Thurman, Zoe Bell, Miyu Ishidate Roberts, and Chiaki Kuriyama doing voice work and motion-capture, the short revolves around Gogo’s sister Yuki traveling to America to hunt the Bride over what happened in Tokyo as it is a fine little animated short film. It will not get me to play Fortnite while I see this as a stop-gap release for whatever new film Tarantino will do next.

The Wonder Ring



The 2nd of two short films by Stan Brakhage that I saw this month is another 6-minute short film made in the 1950s where it takes place on a city train. There is something intoxicating to see things from the viewpoint of a passenger riding on a train in New York City. The imagery is wondrous where something ordinary in riding a subway train in a city that is vibrant and entering a new phase shows a lot of who Brakhage is.

Life



Made in 2021 for the anthology film The Year of the Everlasting Storm is a short segment that is preceded by a short interview conversation between its director Jafar Panahi and Martin Scorsese about the former’s short film. It is this incredible segment shot during the 2020 pandemic in which Panahi’s mother makes a visit to his home where she is annoyed by the presence of his pet iguana Iggy who is fascinated by two eggs laid by a pigeon. The short is lively in its setting and an ending that is touching in how something good can happen in the darkest of times.

The Beatles-Free As a Bird: A Song Reborn



This five-minute short film that is an extra bit from The Beatles Anthology is about the making of Free As a Bird through some rare footage and interviews with the then-surviving Beatles as they made the song from a cassette demo from John Lennon made in the late 1970s. It shows how Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr were able to turn this demo into a full-fledge song with help from producer Jeff Lynne while the 2025 remix of the song does not stray from what made the original 1995 mix so brilliant.

Percy Jackson & the Olympians (season 2, episodes 1-5)

The second season of Rick Riordan’s young adult novel series is based on the second book in The Sea of Monsters which had been adapted into a shit film back in 2013 that Riordan was not involved in. Fortunately, he participates in the series as the second season revolves around Camp Half-Blood’s barrier dying as Percy and Annabeth go on a quest to search for the Golden Fleece to save the camp and the tree where Zeus’ daughter Thalia is buried under. The new addition in Percy’s half-brother cyclops in Tyson, played by Daniel Diemer, brings a new complexity to the story as a growing development between the two sons of Poseidon while Annabeth also deals with her own past relationships with Thalia and Luke as the latter has aligned himself with Kronos. The season also serves as a break-out season for Dior Goodjohn as Percy’s rival Clarisse who is given more to do in this season where she is trying to prove herself as she has been chosen to find the Golden Fleece. The show has some other new additions such as Timothy Simon as the new camp director that Percy does not like as he is an imbecile. The most recent episode featured guest appearances from Rosemarie DeWitt and Andra Day with the latter being Annabeth’s mother Athena. The season has a lot of adventures and humor as well as an inspired usage of Mariah Carey’s Emotions in a scene where a flight of birds wreaked havoc on camp. Remember folks when you need something loud that will annoy freakish birds. Go to Mariah Carey. I do not fuck with Mariah Carey. Anyone who saw Popstar knows what will happen when someone tries to fuck with her.



Well, that is all for December and 2025. I have no idea what I will do to begin the new year other than make an unofficial list of the best films of 2025. Other than reviews of films, I have prepared in the past few months of films I had been wanting to watch. I have no plans for the new year.



Before I bid adieu, I want to express my condolences towards those who passed away this month with Rob and Michele Reiner being notable in how tragic their deaths have been as they will be missed. Also having passed this month include actor Isiah Whitlock Jr., Brigitte Bardot, Tatiana Schlossberg, Perry Bamonte of the Cure, music executive Howie Klein, filmmaker Bahram Beyzai, actress Melanie Watson Bernhardt, filmmaker Amos Poe, filmmaker Mohammed Bakri, Imani Dia Smith, Pat Finn, Chris Rea, video game developer Vince Zampella, James Ransone, Helen Siff, journalist Peter Arnett, Gil Gerard aka Buck Rogers, Anthony Geary aka Luke of General Hospital, pro wrestler Solomon Grundy, Peter Greene, casting director Susie Figgis, May Britt, novelist Sophie Kinsella, voice actor Jim Ward, Raul Malo of the Mavericks, music producer Jerry Kasenetz, music manager Michael Lippmann, Frank Gehry, Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa aka Shang Tsung, and Steve Cropper of Booker T. & the M.G.s. We will miss you all. This is thevoid99 saying… fuck you 2025.



© thevoid99 2025

2025 Blind Spot Series: A Star is Born (1954 film)

 

Based on the 1937 film written by Robert Carson, Dorothy Parker, and Alan Campbell from a story by Carson and its director William A. Wellman, A Star is Born is the story of a film star who meets and discovers a young singer/actress whom he would marry and make her famous only for his career to go downwards. Directed by George Cukor and screenplay by Moss Hart, the film is the 2nd version of the story from 1937 as it explores a woman who falls in love with an actor as her career goes on the rise while she struggles to watch her husband spiral into descent. Starring Judy Garland, James Mason, Jack Carson, Tommy Noonan, and Charles Bickford. A Star is Born is a majestically rich and intoxicating film by George Cukor.

The film is the story of a fading film star who meets a singer at an event as he is amazed by her talent as he helps make her into a film star where she would succeed beyond his expectations with his own career going on decline. It is a story that is a rise-and-fall story of sorts, yet the rise is towards this young woman trying to get a break to become a singer and the fall is towards the man who would fall in love with her with his own career going into decline. Moss Hart’s screenplay opens and ends with a ceremony that celebrates the film stars as the opening scene revolves around the fading film star Norman Maine (James Mason) who arrives late at the event, intoxicated on alcohol. Also, at the show there is a singer in Esther Blodgett (Judy Garland) who is also part of a band as she sings on the stage where she saves Maine from embarrassing himself. Realizing what she did for him, Maine would find her singing at a nightclub with the band as he is amazed by her singing talents as he would get the attention of a film studio head and longtime friend in Oliver Niles (Charles Bickford) to sign her as she would be known as Vicki Lester.

The script does have a traditional narrative structure where Hart show the signs of Maine’s decline as he would act in films that were successful for a time, but his alcoholism has made him a liability. The film’s second act is about Blodgett’s sudden rise and Maine becoming unemployed though Blodgett does want a simple life for herself and Maine without the demands of Hollywood. Even as Maine starts to lose his identity as a star with Blodgett rising as Lester to the point that she would eclipse him. The third act is about Blodgett rising further with Maine descending further as Niles offers to help him but one of Maine’s faults as a person is his pride as it is one of the reasons for his own self-destruction.

George Cukor’s direction is wondrous in its grand setting as it is shot on various locations in California including studio lots at Warner Brothers. The film opens and ends at the Shrine Auditorium where it will be 2 pivotal events for Blodgett. The opening sequence has Cukor using some wide and medium shots through the Cinemascope format where he captures the spectacle of this event. Even as he shoots a shot from Blodgett’s perspective where Maine is on the side of the stage about to make a fool of himself where the compositions and movements of the cameras have Cukor show a sense of suspense and drama in an otherwise lively and musical moment. Cukor also maintains simplicity in some of the musical numbers as well as the dramatic scenes with the usage of medium shots and close-ups. There are also these extravagant musical numbers where shots would linger for a while through dolly-tracking shots in some scenes. Aiding in the musical numbers is choreographer Richard Barstow where there is a lot that happens in the dance numbers.

Notably the scenes where Blodgett is doing dance numbers that are being filmed where there is a lot of detail into the overall presentation of the dancing and where Cukor would move the camera from one part of the location to another. Cukor’s approach to melodrama is also riveting in a scene late in the film where both Blodgett and Niles lament over Maine’s state as well as what to do. It adds poignancy to the conflict that is in Maine over his own pride and what he wants for Blodgett. The version of the film that is available widely to the public is a restored 178-minute cut (including a 2-minute intermission) in 1983 from the original 1954 182-minute premiere version of the film. A lot of footage was cut from its premiere version much to the dismay of Cukor but the 1983 restoration that includes a lot of still pictures and audio from lost scenes from much of the film’s first act does play into Blodgett’s own fears about making and what Maine wants to do for her. The small moments that got cut for the version many saw in the theaters in 1954 with a 154-minute running time does lose a lot of the weight into the drama that would loom for the second and third act. Overall, Cukor crafts a heart-wrenching yet exhilarating film about a fading film star sacrificing his own career for a talented singer/actress whom she would eclipse his own fame.

Cinematographer Sam Leavitt does brilliant work with the film’s colorful cinematography through the Cinemascope format as there is a vibrancy into many of the film’s interior shots for some scenes at night along with some subtle touches of naturalism for some of the daytime exterior scenes at the studio lots. Editor Folmar Blangsted, with additional work by Craig Holt for the 1983 restoration version, does excellent work with the editing in some rhythmic cuts to play to some of the musical numbers as well as in some of the dramatic moments in the film. Production designer Gene Allen, with set decorator George James Hopkins and art director Malcolm C. Bert, does amazing work with the look of the Maine house where he and Blodgett would live as well as the sets created for some of the musical numbers. Costume designers Jean Louis and Mary Ann Nyberg do fantastic work with the costumes with the clothes and gowns that Blodgett would wear being the major standout.

Makeup artists Del Armstrong and Gordon Bau, along with hair stylists Helen Young and Sydney Guilaroff, do terrific work with the look of Blodgett in some of the musical numbers she does for the films she is acting in plus one key scene in the first act where she is given one of the worst Hollywood makeovers ever. Special effects supervisor Hans F. Koenekamp, along with the work of Lisze Bechtold, Eric Durst, Kevin Kutchaver, and Ken Rudolph in the 1983 restoration version, does nice work with some of the visual effects for a few dance numbers and rear projection for some of the driving scenes while the pictures used for the restoration allow the film to bring more weight into what Cukor wanted originally in the film before it got re-cut. The sound work of Charles David Forrest and Charles Lang is superb for the sound work in how sound is presented on set as well as how sound appears from another room and in that room for some of the dramatic moments.

The film’s music by Ray Heindorf is wonderful for its soaring orchestral score that plays into the excitement of Blodgett’s rise as well as themes that play into Maine’s decline. The songs by Ira Gershwin and Harold Arlen are incredible for the musical numbers that Blodgett performs in that include some of the songs she sings for the movies she is in as well as a song she sings at home and the ballad at a nightclub where Maine visits.

The film’s marvelous ensemble cast feature some notable small roles from an un-credited Strother Martin as a deliveryman, Hazel Shermet as Libby’s secretary, Irving Bacon as a singer in the film’s opening number Graves, Amanda Blake as the radio host Susan Etting, and Lucy Marlow as a young starlet in Lola Lavery who works for Niles. Tommy Noonan is fantastic as Blodgett’s bandmate, who is unsure about Maine’s claims into making her a star though he would be supportive of her as well as giving a great monologue towards the end of the film about everything that had happened. Jack Carson is excellent as the studio publicist Matt Libby who does what he can to clean up Maine’s mess and such until late in the film where he proves to be unsympathetic towards Maine’s own issues. Charles Bickford is brilliant as the studio head Oliver Niles as a man who is Maine’s best friend as he does what he can to make sure Maine gets work, but he also must run a studio where he later converses with Blodgett about how to help Maine.

James Mason is great as Norman Maine as a fading film star who laments over his decline as he discovers Blodgett and helps her becoming a big film/music star where he later copes with his alcoholism, wounded pride, and a career that is going nowhere. Mason does have moments where he is upbeat and full of energy as it highlights the man at his best, but it becomes fleeting where he is often faced with uncertainty in his life. Finally, there is Judy Garland in a spectacular performance as Esther Blodgett/Vicki Lester as a singer who wows Maine where she would gain a career only to unknowingly eclipse the man she loves. It is a performance where Garland displays a lot of charisma and energy as well as a vulnerability that plays into a woman that wants to help the man she loves to the point that she is willing to sacrifice her own career as it is one of her iconic performances.

A Star is Born is an outstanding film by George Cukor that features tremendous leading performances from Judy Garland and James Mason. Along with its supporting cast, a riveting screenplay by Moss Hart, a gorgeous presentation, and a dazzling music soundtrack with musical performances that are insatiable to watch. It is a film that is not just this compelling musical drama but also a film about ambition and love. In the end, A Star is Born is a magnificent film by George Cukor.

Related: A Star is Born (1937 film) - (A Star is Born (1976 film)) – A Star is Born (2018 film)

© thevoid99 2025

The Beatles Anthology (2025 Expanded/Restored Edition)

 

Directed by Bob Smeaton, Geoff Wonfor, and Oliver Murray and written by Bob Smeaton and Oliver Murray, The Beatles Anthology is a multi-part TV documentary series about the life and career of the Beatles featuring archival footage, rare audio, and interviews with the then-surviving members of the Beatles in the mid-1990s. The film breaks down events in the individual lives of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr along with perspectives from personnel who were around the band at the time. Even as the surviving members would create new music with demos from John Lennon during the making of the documentary. Expanded in 2025 based on VHS/DVD expanded releases from the late 1990s/early 2000s with a new episode directed by Bob Smeaton, the newly remastered and expanded edition of the documentary series showcases missing gaps from the story of the Beatles as well as showcase rare footage from the mid-1990s of McCartney, Harrison, and Starr creating new music to Lennon’s demos. The result is a tremendously rich and intoxicating documentary series about one of the greatest music acts of the 20th century as they tell their own story.

From their formation in 1960 to their dissolution in 1970, the Beatles were four lads from Liverpool who changed the world with their music as they became a cultural phenomenon. For years, the story of the Beatles had been told by many following their break-up and John Lennon’s death in 1980. However, the story has often been told by outsiders who had seen their ascent from afar but not from the band themselves where in 1991 following years legal and personal strife. The then-surviving members in Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr decided to do a documentary series where they would tell the story of the Beatles from their words and perspective as well as archival footage from Lennon before his passing. Along with interviews from associates close to the Beatles including music producer George Martin, longtime assistant/road manager Neil Aspinall, and press officer Derek Taylor. The project that would become The Beatles Anthology would be a multi-media project featuring a TV documentary series, a book, and a trilogy of double-albums featuring rare and unreleased material including two new songs in Free as a Bird and Real Love based on cassette demos Lennon made back in the late 1970s.

Through archival footage, newsreels, clips from various TV performances, music videos, films, and other material including some rare footage, the original broadcast of the TV documentary series was shown in three episodes each with a 2-hour running time although it did not tell the whole story. Then in 1996 through VHS cassette tapes and Laserdisc, the documentary series was expanded into eight episodes as it would later be released on the DVD format in 2003. The documentary series has McCartney, Harrison, Starr, Martin, Aspinall, and Taylor talking about the Beatles and their ascent into mega-stardom as well as the difficulties of success and chaos of Beatlemania during the mid-1960s. The narrative does tell a lot into the many periods of the Beatles though it ends in August of 1969 where the band did a final photoshoot where it would be the last time all four men were in a room or a location together. The series does not dwell too much into the break-up and the official announcement of their dissolution in 1970 as it was a subject that the surviving members of the Beatles were uncomfortable talking about at length.

With the aid of cinematographer Eugene O’Connor, directors Bob Smeaton, Geoff Wonfor, and Oliver Murray would have the surviving Beatles talk in certain places whether it is McCartney on a tugboat or in the woods, Starr in Los Angeles, and Harrison in his home in London. The interviews that are conducted by Smeaton and musician Jools Holland are fascinating as it highlights the three members in casual moments including scenes at Harrison’s home where all three members would talk casually including some bits where they would play a bit of music. There are also these inserts with audio from the band’s BBC interviews with deejay Brian Matthews that are shown in a typical bedroom in Britain during the heyday of Beatlemania. Editor/sound supervisor Andy Matthews, along with sound editor Danny Longhurst would gather a lot of the footage and audio tapes used from the past including archival interviews Lennon made during the 1970s to get things from his perspective.

The ninth episode of the series from Bob Smeaton is about the making of the project with interviews from McCartney, Harrison, Starr, Martin, Aspinall, and Jeff Lynne of Electric Light Orchestra who would produce the new songs the Beatles made through Lennon’s demo tapes. The episode also highlight the band creating new songs through the demos yet their attempt for Now and Then was hampered by the technology they had at the time in which Harrison was the one who stopped the recording. The series is overall restored by the people at Wingnut which is the same company from Peter Jackson who worked and restored footage for the 2021 documentary film Get Back. While there are bits from the original broadcast cut out, a lot of it is minor as it does not do much to change the story the band is telling. The music is also restored thanks to the work of music supervisor Giles Martin through the MAL audio-learning device.

The Beatles Anthology is a magnificent documentary series from Bob Smeaton, Geoff Wonfor, and Oliver Murray. It is a series that fans of the Beatles should see as it is a documentary series that allows the Beatles to tell their story. Even as they go into depth over stories of moments in their lives of the Beatles even though it is an incomplete story due to their reluctance in talking about the things that led to their break-up. Still, the documentary series does allow audiences to hear the story of the Fab Four along with a few who were around the cultural zeitgeist that were the Beatles. In the end, The Beatles Anthology is an outstanding documentary series about the Beatles.

The Beatles: The Albums: Please Please Me - With the Beatles - A Hard Day's Night - Beatles for Sale - Help! - Rubber Soul - Revolver - Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band - Magical Mystery Tour - The White Album - Yellow Submarine OST - Abbey Road - Let It Be

Compilations: (1962-1966) - (1967-1970) - Past Masters - (Live at the BBC) - (Anthology 1) - (Anthology 2) - (Anthology 3) - (1) - (Let It Be… Naked) - (Love) - (Anthology 4)

The Beatles Films: (A Hard Day’s Night) – (Help!) – Magical Mystery Tour - (Yellow Submarine) – Let It Be - The Beatles: Get Back

Related: Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band - Across the Universe - Nowhere Boy - George Harrison: Living in the Material World - Good Ol' Freda - (Eight Days a Week-The Touring Years) – (Beatles ’64) – (The Beatles: John) – (The Beatles: Paul) – (The Beatles: George) – (The Beatles: Ringo)

© thevoid99 2025

2026 Blind Spot Series Announcement

 

2025 is coming to end with George Cukor's version of A Star is Born from 1954 starring Judy Garland being the final Blind Spot for the year. With that film set to be watched this month. The time has come to look ahead for the next Blind Spot Series as making the selection for the 2026 edition was not easy. I was hoping to do films that I have heard about for years but some of them are not available for streaming while wanting to purchase the films in a physical form is also too expensive or too hard to find. Instead, my selection is based on films that are available to watch digitally and physically as including films I currently own on Blu-Ray including a few I hope to get in 2026. My selection once again is largely films that have been released from the 2nd half of the 20th Century with one film being released in the 21st Century. 2 of these films are films by women as I felt that women are underrepresented as I chose 2 different filmmakers for this Blind Spot Series as they are from different continents yet are films from the 1990s. Another reason for the selection with this list is to choose films from different countries and continent including by revered filmmakers whose films I had seen before. Here are the 12 films in chronological order that I will watch for the 2026 Blind Spot Series:

Cairo Station by Youseff Chahine

It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World by Stanley Kramer

The Gospel According to St. Matthew by Pier Paolo Passolini

7 Women by John Ford

Network by Sidney Lumet

That Obscure Object of Desire by Luis Bunuel

Altered States by Ken Russell

A Confucian Confusion by Edward Yang

One Hundred and One Nights by Agnes Varda

The Watermelon Woman by Cheryl Dunne

The Wind Will Carry Us by Abbas Kiarostami

Lilya 4-ever by Lukas Moodyson

© thevoid99 2025