Greetings, dear readers. There’s plenty of time in a year to indulge ourselves with things that bring us joy. The current year is about to expire, and, as promised, I want to say goodbye to it talking about the geeky things I enjoyed in 2025. Take this as bunch of recommendations.

I’ve watched 106 movies this year, with a particular surge during the last quarter. Building my own streaming media platform with Jellyfin has greatly motivated me to watch new movies and rewatch old ones. I’ve selected 10 of my favourites to recommend you, in no particular order.

• Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person (🇨🇦 2023) Coming of age dramedy that portrays the struggles of a young empathetic vampire. Surprising fantastic film. 

• Conclave (🇬🇧/🇺🇸 2024) The script is so good and character driven that I kept thinking of how good of a theatre play this would make. How the hell (pun intended) this film lost the best movie academy award to Anora?

• Sinners (🇺🇸 2025) Set in a relevant historical period for African-Americans, Ryan Coogler not only does what he do best but he delivers a great addition to the horror and vampire genre with a very satisfying ending. 

  

• Fear Street: Prom Queen (🇺🇸 2025) Fun and fresh homage to 80s slasher movies. It knows how to play with the tropes and delivers what it promises. 

• Superman (🇺🇸 2025) James Gunn has successfully resurrected DC hero films, away from the grim and pretentiousness of previous iterations. This Superman is light, fun and wholesome. Exactly what we need.

• Gaua (🇪🇸 2025) Not only a magnificent folk horror movie, but a window to the rich folklore of the Basque Country. Visually stunning. 

• Bring Her Back (🇦🇺 2025) It’s not only masterful lesson on tension building, it isn’t afraid of messing with expectations. The third act of the movie had my attention glued to the screen. Visually impaired actress Sora Wong does a great job, as well as the rest of the brilliant cast.  Great horror film. 

• Weapons (🇺🇸 2025) Hype is dangerous, I had many movies spoiled by it, but I really enjoyed this one and its Rashomon-esque presentation. It leaves many questions without answer, though. Overall is a good movie.

• Frankenstein (🇺🇸 2025) OK, the hype was right. Guillermo del Toro has achieved the ultimate interpretation of Mary Shelley’s novel. Beautifully shot. Oscar Isaac carries the weight of the movie, doing a great job. The only personal disappointment comes from the underuse of Mia Goth’s talent whose character feels like a mere plot device (woman in the fridge trope). 

• Bugonia (🇬🇧/🇺🇸/🇮🇪/🇰🇷 2025) Lanthimos manages to both make a satire and validate conspiracy theorists. As usual with his work, the movie is weird and beautiful. Emma Stone and Jesse Plemons acting is… from other world. 

• I Saw The TV Glow (🇺🇸 2024) I went into it without knowing what I will find and I liked it. So many choices reminded me of David Lynch. Aesthetically is beautiful and the performances are very theatrical, in a good way.

Don’t worry, I didn’t spent much time writing all those mini-reviews now, I did add them from my letterboxd account, feel free to follow me to check which movies I watch. 😄

Regarding TV Shows, I’ve made a poor job keeping track of the series I’ve watch, I’ve try to mend that next year. I can say my favourite show of the year was Alien: Earth, with special mention to Slow Horses. This year was also the one where I watched and loved again the 9 seasons of The Office (US).

I also enjoyed my gaming time! When the year started, one my resolution was to play only games from my backlog, and I fulfilled thar promise. I played many games, but I only count the ones I’ve actually finished. That totals 43 games, where I either completed the main story or earned every achievement. While some were replays of my favorites, here is a list of 10 games I beat for the first time this year, in no particular order.

• God of War Ragnarök (🇺🇸 2022) Another gem in the God of War franchise. Beautifully crafted and with a story that doesn’t disappoints. A lot of side content for those gamers who yearn for more besides the main plot. Played on Steam (PC)

• 龍が如く7 光と闇の行方 Yakuza: Like a Dragon (🇯🇵 2020) The seventh entry of this series changed protagonist and shifted gameplay to RPG, but the spirit of it remains impeccable. Dense plot intertwined with wackiness and lots to do in the digital counterpart of Yokohama. Played on Steam (PC)

• Star Wars: Jedi Survivor (🇺🇸 2023) The sequel of Fallen Order is far superior both in terms of story and gameplay, adding more lightsaber stances and different ways of backtracking while sandbox exploring. Played on Steam (PC)

• Death Stranding: Director’s Cut (🇯🇵 2019/2021) Hideo Kojima’s Death Stranding is all an experience. The world is grim, weird, vast, dangerous and lonely. But, like in all good stories, there’s room for hope. A phylosophical take on death, afterlife, patriotism and existence where you are constantly delivering parcels. This is not everyone’s cup of tea. Played on Steam (PC)

• Life is Strage: True Colors (🇺🇸 2021) Studio Deck Nine took the baton of the series with a simpler yet gorgeous entry. It’s the most cozy entry of the series, since it happens mostly in the same little town. This one is more focused on emotions and mental health. Played on Steam Deck.

  

• Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition (🇯🇵 2010/2020) Stunning glow up of the Nintendo Wii exclusive, and a pretty good JRPG. The story is interesting enough and the premise of the world being two titans that froze during battle is pretty cool. I only played through the story, but this game has side activities to keep you hundreds of hours. Played on Nintendo Switch.

• Summer in Mara (🇪🇸 2020) Cozy game, made in València, that mixes farming and crafting with missions and exploration. It’s not perfect, but does enough to have you engaged. This was my summer game and kept me entertained during many flights. Played on Steam Deck.

• Resident Evil Village (🇯🇵 2021) Great entry of the series. It’s not as good as its predecessor, but it is as visually compelling as terrifying. It’s a shame that its main character doesn’t leave a mark as big as the other protagonists of the Resident Evil universe. Played on Steam (PC).

• Horizon Forbidden West (🇳🇱 2022) As a fan of Horizon Zero Dawn, this doesn't disappoint. The story is good enough and there are tons of things to do to keep you hours immersed in this beautiful world. Played on Steam (PC)

• Snufkin: Melody of Moominvalley (🇳🇴 2024) This cozy adventure is a beautiful recreation of the Moomin world created by Tove Jansson. An ode to friendship and a critique to mercantilist intervention on nature. Played on Steam Deck.

Again, this mini-reviews are taken from my Backloggd, which is like letterboxd, but for games. I invite you to check my profile if you want to keep up with the titles I complete.

I’m also proud of how much theatre I’ve read this year. Not only I’ve read for the first time some of the pieces of classic authors, but also wonderful plays from Catalan speaking playwrights. It has filled me with a lot of inspiration that I hope to release and materialise any time soon.

Thank you for indulging me by reading this dense and geeky special issue to close the year. My sincere gratitude to you, dear subscriber, I hope you keep tagging along for a new year.

Have my best wishes for your 2026! 🥂 ✨

📆 What is coming up

• 9th of January - Acaprov (London, UK). The first improvised a cappella of 2026! New begginings, new things to do… Come and take a look.

• 31st of January (2026) - Playback Theatre taster workshops (London, UK). We will be running a couple of Playback Theatre taster workshops throughout the last Saturday of January, running two different groups, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. Book morning workshop. Book afternoon workshop.