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