Andy’s 2025 in Review

Here’s a table of contents, for ease of navigation:

• My Writing
• The Podcast
• My Movie-Watching
  • New Movies
  • “New” to Me
  • Movie-Watching Memories

2025 in review

2025 was an interesting mix for me as a film enthusiast and journalist. It was a phenomenal year for my film viewing, a very good year for the podcast, and an altogether pretty piss-poor year for my film-related writing. In the interest of a more rewarding article, I’ll start at the “piss-poor” and work up.

The Piss-Poor: My Writing

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My written output for the year began with this primer for a series which I wholeheartedly expected would become my primary outlet for written criticism, reflection, and analysis moving forward. “Blindspotting” was born out of a desire to have a consistent vessel through which to share my various veins of cinematic exploration. I was feeling pretty disillusioned with writing reviews for new-release movies, so I wanted something else I could regularly pour into outside of the pod. A series that would catalogue my evergreen efforts to check off “blind spots” in my film consumption—movies and genres that greatly interested me or otherwise felt vital to enriching and expanding my understanding of the medium—felt like the perfect solution to that need.

I spent a lot of time thinking about the shape “Blindspotting” would take, and very much enjoyed laying it all out with that primer. I was genuinely excited for it. But a combination of laziness and self-doubt resulted in my never writing another piece for that series—to my embarrassment.

I didn’t write much else either. I wrote a total of five articles in 2025, which is an all-time low since I started writing professionally in 2017.

Quantity isn’t everything though, and the five articles I did write serve as recent reminders that both the passion and skill for written criticism are still there, despite my laziness and irregularity.

I did three pieces for our “Mission Accepted” series in the spring, which Logan spearheaded, and I’m very happy with how those turned out, particularly my nostalgic reflection on the 1960s TV show as it pertains to Ghost Protocol‘s emphasis on team dynamics, and my meditation on the hard choices in Fallout—both those faced by the IMF crew in the film and those made by the film’s creators throughout its development and production.

I also wrote the concluding article to Midwest Film Journal’s July series, “Dafoe? Dafriend,” celebrating the achievements of legendary actor Willem Dafoe. My article, titled “The Willem Dafoe Drip Check,” was an oddity for two reasons: that it was a reality/Internet-based diversion from the otherwise film-focused nature of the series, and that the premise was originally a joke I threw at Nick when he came around to his peers soliciting submissions for the series.

Nick ended up being right to take my cheeky suggestion at face value. My wife called the article “my favorite thing you’ve ever written,” and likewise, I felt very satisfied with both the comedic and heartfelt turns the piece wound up taking. I’ll always be thankful that Nick took me seriously and encouraged the idea as a legitimate premise even after I confessed I was just funnin’. I’m blessed with many wise supporters.

So maybe “piss-poor” is unfair when my output, as it existed in 2025, was strong work. But I maintain that it is not up to my personal standards for regularity and variety, and that will be a major point of improvement I work on in 2026.

The Very Good: The Odd Trilogies Podcast

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I think Logan and I both feel that 2025 saw us “hitting our stride” in a lot of ways regarding how we approach, plan, and execute the podcast.

Chiefly, I think we struck a strong balance in our schedule and selections.

In past years, I’ve felt, at times, like we’ve leaned too heavily on coming up with timely topics — trilogies and freakquels with clear ties to new film releases or calendar events like holidays and anniversaries.

There’s nothing inherently wrong with timeliness; in fact, it’s great for SEO and the algorithm, and it often serves as the foundation of content structuring for most online creators, particularly in the world of editorial film journalism. But I think—for our humble, little pod, anyway—it’s ever more important to remember, with each passing year, that Logan and I do this for fun and because it’s intellectually stimulating for us, and if we want to keep it fun and stimulating, that personal excitement and curiosity should be the dominant force behind our topic choices, not relevance to current events.

But 2025 felt like maybe our most refined roster yet: a good mix of trilogies with calendar relevance and those inspired simply by our eclectic interests—and the ones that were tied in some way to new releases were also right up our alley, creatively, and in most cases, very satisfying ventures.

We released 26 episodes last year (one every two weeks, consistently), 22 of which were full trilogies, 3 of which were single-film Freakquels, and the first of the year being our 2024 recap special. That amounts to 69 films covered on the main pod alone, our highest in a year since our first full calendar year of podcasting, 2021.

To boot, the year marked our highest number of guests yet with 10—well, 9 different people making 10 total appearances, thanks to Matt Hurt (The Obsessive Viewer) graciously making time for us twice in the year. With any luck, 2026 will feature even more guests and appearances, hopefully featuring some new voices among them.

Some of my favorite episodes of the year—generally defined by which trilogies/films inspired the most gratifying cinematic explorations, which resulted in the most fun discussions, or both—include:

• Ep. 100: The Rise of Hess, in which my oldest friend, Adam LeClerc, joined us for a gleeful discussion featuring what might be, collectively, the most beloved (or at least personally influential) film among all participants in the history of the pod, Napoleon Dynamite.
• Ep. 102: The Schwarzenegger-Reitman Comedies, a delightfully eclectic blend of sensibilities resulting in three very different films from an already odd pair of collaborators. Key factors that made it satisfying and worthwhile:
  • The earnest sweetness of Twins in spite of its bizarre premise and plot.
  • The graphic violence and explicit horniness of Kindergarten Cop, given, well, its premise.
  • The sensitivity and nuance with which Junior, however imperfectly, addressed pregnancy and gender roles.
  • The blanket enhancement to the whole discussion provided by the whimsical presence of MFJ contributor, IFJA colleague, and friend Sam Watermeier and his passion for that era of film history and his familiarity with the key players in the films.
• Ep. 107: The Naked Gun Trilogy, a personally long-overdue deep-dive into a seminal comedy franchise guided by the well-informed funnybone of MFJ editor, returning OT guest, and friend Nick Rogers.
• Ep. 108: The Qatsi Trilogy, which introduced me to the latest addition to all-time favorite films and musical scores, Koyaanisqatsi. The subsequent two in the trilogy aren’t nearly as good (the third being embarrassingly bad), but there was still so much to mine from them in discussion. Extra special that the first film seemed to resound just as powerfully for Logan.
• Ep. 109: Ozu’s Noriko Trilogy, my simultaneous introduction to both iconic director Yasujiro Ozu and the heart-melting Setsuko Hara. The tranquil, meditative experience of those three films and the ensuing conversation with Logan about life, family dynamics, death, and Chishū Ryū chameleonic abilities was one of my favorite experiences on the pod to-date.
• Ep. 112: The Twilight of Kurosawa, an exploration of the oft-overlooked final stretch of Akira Kurosawa’s career, which allowed me to experience one of the most transfixing cinematic depictions of dreams and nightmares (in Dreams), and maybe the best short film about a cat ever made (contained as a vignette within Madadayo). Matt Hurt blessed us with his presence for this one, and the fact that all three films were new to all three of us made sharing the experience even better.

If I have a complaint about the year on the podcasting front, it’s a personal gripe that I fell into a bit of a complacent rut with my independent study of each trilogy. I think I could have done deeper dives on the development and inspirations behind each film, as well as taking more thorough notes during my viewing. Certainly all things that can be improved this year.

The Phenomenal: My Personal Viewing

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Despite not doing much to document my viewing in a formal way, I nevertheless did a lot of really fun and satisfying exploration of my favorite artistic medium this year.

I’m going to rely on my Letterboxd stats for a lot of the bones of this, as the platform is pretty much the foundation of my personal tracking and comprises the bulk of my written expression outside of this site.

In terms of features, I watched 266 distinct films, and I rewatched eight of those, totaling 274 movies watched, or a little over 5 films per week.

That’s fewer than 2024, which totaled about 300. But I’ve reached a point of comfort in my relationship with cinema where I don’t necessarily feel the need to cram more and more movies into my schedule by any means necessary. A lot of my peers watch way more than that, but I have plenty of other passions and pastimes I enjoy dedicating my time to, and frankly, if all goes according to plan, I hope to spend less time on movies and more time on those in 2026. I want to build more gunpla, watch more anime and TV, play more video games, and read more books. And, I dunno, maybe go outside more.

New Movies

Since Logan and I are publishing our dueling Top Tens of 2025 via our podcast special on Saturday, Jan. 3rd, I won’t spoil mine here. (I’ll edit this article later to include them, once the special is out.) I can, however, share my 20 favorite new films, in alphabetical order:

“New” to Me

My favorite films that were new to me in 2025 but not newly released this year are as follows:

High and Low – An endlessly parseable Akira Kurosawa crime thriller that deftly navigates moral quandaries related to class, family, justice, revenge, and more, all packaged in a perfectly shot, sharply blocked style that enhances the meaning of every scene. Some of the best work from one of the best to ever do it.

Koyaanisqatsi – Changed my life.

Fail Safe – A starkly shot and powerfully acted thriller whose climax and ending are equally spinetingling and depressing.

The Timekeepers of Eternity – What if you printed out every frame of a TV miniseries onto paper and re-shot those printouts, tearing, folding, and creasing them to add an abstract dimension to the characters’ emotions and psyches? Fucking awesome.

Bad Biology – My next-door neighbor recommended this to me after we found out we both like weird movies, and I loved it immediately. I loved it even more after showing it to the pervert cohort of the IFJA at last year’s horror edition of the Fuck, Yeah! Film Festival, to elated responses. It’s so goofy and deeply stupid, but I genuinely admire its batshit ambitions as a screwed-up failed love story between two individuals who seem biologically made for each other.

Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair – I’ve always really enjoyed the two Kill Bill films, but seeing Tarantino’s original, seamless vision was a treat. I especially loved the choice to save the B.B. reveal until the finale, which reinforces the drama of that scene so much better than the earlier reveal in the initial theatrical versions.

Throw Down – A recommendation from IFJA colleague and friend Evan Dossey, this was a really pleasant surprise. The chillest martial arts movie I’ve ever seen, but it still kicks a ton of ass. Made me think of Mobile Fighter G Gundam, which is probably a reductive way to say I really liked it.

Movie-watching Memories

Finally, here are some of my favorite viewing experiences from the year:

• Watching Jaws outside in a swimming pool with a gaggle of friends, hosted by my friend Adam’s lovely parents. One of my favorite movies, watched under ideal conditions.
• Seeing the 4K restoration of Ran with Logan and Adam on the big screen at the local Kan-Kan Cinema. It was my second time seeing the film but the first for both of them. What a transfixing film. Tatsuya Nakadai’s utterly haunted lead performance is burned in my brain forever.
• Revisiting Napoleon Dynamite with Logan and Adam for our Rise of Hess episode, which involved a lot of hysterical laughter and verbal acknowledgement of how much that movie altered our DNA as kids.
• Going to see Sinners on a whim, on opening night in 70mm IMAX, with friend and colleague Mitch Ringenberg. We chose the film simply as an excuse to go to the Indiana State Museum’s IMAX theater, and I don’t think either of us expected it to be as wonderful as it was or as big a deal it has been all year. But both were lovely surprises.
• Seeing Mobile Suit Gundam: Char’s Counterattack, the capstone to the original Gundam run and one of the great anime films of all time, in theaters with Logan and fellow Newtype Evan Dossey.
• Showing Logan, Adam, and their roommate Ray Golgo 13: The Professional, one of my favorite anime films. It’s so stupid and sleazy, yet cool as hell and bafflingly beautiful, and their reactions did not disappoint.
• Showing The Legend of Hei 2, which became something of a focus of mine in awards-season campaigning to both friends and IFJA colleagues, to Logan, Adam, Ray, and Austin Webster. It’s just the kind of animation where someone drops a jaw or says, “holy shit,” every few minutes. A ton of fun.

TV & Anime

Below is the list of TV shows and anime I watched, in descending order of how much I enjoyed them. Severance was awesome, but I don’t have much to say about it that everyone else hasn’t. Glad I’m finally getting around to Fullmetal Alchemist, and I’m keen to finish it in 2026. The last episode I watched was one of my favorite episodes of anime ever; at least one of my favorite endings to an episode.

Severance Seasons 1-2 – ★★★★½
Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood Parts 1-2 (episodes 1-26) – ★★★★
Chainsaw Man – ★★★★
Police Squad – ★★★★
After War Gundam X – ★★★★
Jujutsu Kaisen Seasons 1-2 – ★★★★
The Chair Company – ★★★★
The Tatami Galaxy – ★★★½
The Big O Season 1 – ★★★½
Turn A Gundam – ★★★½
Macross Plus – ★★★
Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX – ★★★
Kaiju No. 8 Season 2 – ★★★
FLCL – ★★½

My attempt to get in-touch with current, mainstream anime was to watch Chainsaw Man and Jujutsu Kaisen (JJK), both of which I thoroughly enjoyed. They’re both playing with shonen tropes in different ways, (Chainsaw Man more extremely so), which makes them really interesting to watch at the same time. I’m officially a fan of both now, which is cool because now I have ongoing anime to look forward to. The 17-episode “Shibuya Incident” arc, which makes up the bulk of JJK second season, melted my brain with absurd power-scaling and acid-trip animation, and the last few episodes of Chainsaw Man were equal parts satisfying, perplexing, and emotionally hollowing.

Longtime listeners, readers, and friends know that I’m huge Gundam fan, and this year was a productive one on that front. Early in the year, I watched the oft-forgotten After War X, which I was pleasantly surprised and charmed by as a something-different riff on classic Gundam tropes. I kept up weekly with the new GQuuuuuux series this spring (more thoughts below), and I crammed in Turn A Gundam right at the end of the year (more thoughts below). I also went to see the compilation film of GQuuuuuux’s first few episodes, -Beginning-, with Logan and Evan in theaters before the series aired. I love finding occasional opportunities for the three of us to go see big robot cartoons on the big screen.

My intent was to finish Andor Season 2 by the year’s end, as I’ve repeatedly heard it’s one of the best Star Wars things ever and some of the best TV of the last few years, but alas, in the opening days of 2026, I still have a few episodes left to watch. Enjoying it a lot, though.

The biggest disappointments on the TV front were:

• FLCL, widely regarded as a modern-classic masterpiece but which I found to be insufferably juvenile and obtuse in its metaphor
• Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX, which started out as a really fascinating reimagining of ideas from the original Gundam series, but then devolved into little more than cheap fan-service that ultimately felt like it was about nothing. I admit to still being entertained week-to-week, but looking back after it was done, it felt completely disjointed and meaningless.
• Turn A Gundam, which is often cited by Gundam fans as the greatest series the franchise has ever produced. I enjoyed it, but I found that it lost a lot of its hope-filled, steampunky charm when the conflict moved into space and it began to resemble other Gundam plots in a way that felt boring. I do, however, love the protagonist, Loran, and how much the show plays on his androgyny. Still not a bad show; I just wish it was as conceptually inventive as fans suggest and as distinct in its finale as it is in its earlier episodes.

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In all, it was a really fun year with movies for me, full of new favorites and memories I’ll cherish. Even if I’m disappointed with my output, I still got to watch a lot of great stuff, and the lower output in 2025 is just fuel for 2026.