2025 in Pop Culture

This page is under construction. Last updated October 26, 2025.

I'm aetataureate, or aeta. I'm an artist and writer.

Scores are just my own feelings. I'm happy you like whatever you like or not.

books

5.0

The Handyman by Bentley Little
Vantage Point by Sara Sligar

4.5

The Garden by Clare Beams
Beautiful Ugly by Alice Feeney
The Stranger Diaries (Harbinder Kaur #1) by Elly Griffiths
The Gifted School by Bruce Holsinger
The Influence by Bentley Little
CyberStorm by Matthew Mather
The Rules of Fortune by Danielle Prescod
Winter World by A.G. Riddle * Knock Knock Open Wide by Neil Sharpson

4.25

Sphere by Michael Crichton
Now That You Mention It by Kristan Higgins
100 Fathoms Below by Steven L. Kent and Nicholas Kaufmann
The Fisherman by John Langan
Journey to the Center of the Earth by Jules Verne

4.0

El Dorado Drive by Megan Abbott
You Shouldn't Have Done That by Liz Alterman
The Boy from the Woods (Wilde #1) by Harlan Coben
The Life We Bury (Joe Talbert #1) by Allen Eskens
If You Only Knew by Kristan Higgins
The Grandmother by Jane E. James
Imposter Syndrome by Joseph Knox
The Madness by Dawn Kurtagich
The Ritual by Adam L.G. Nevill
Children of Ash and Elm: A History of the Vikings by Neil Price
The Maw by Taylor Zajonc

3.75

The Remaking by Clay McLeod Chapman
The Witch Elm by Tana French
The North Woods by Douglass Hoover
The Third Wife by Lisa Jewell
You've Lost a Lot of Blood by Eric LaRocca
An Age of Winters by Gemma Liviero
Bone White by Ronald Malfi
Hidden by Fern Michaels
One by One by Ruth Ware

3.5

Three Mothers by Hannah Beckerman
The Midnight Feast by Lucy Foley
Selling the Dream by Jane Marie
Fear Thy Neighbor by Fern Michaels
The Perfect Stranger by Megan Miranda
The Last Party by A.R. Torre

3.25

Do Not Disturb by Freida McFadden

3.0

In My Dreams I Hold a Knife by Ashley Winstead

DNF

The Clinic by Cate Quinn
The Great Zoo of China by Matthew Reilly
The Strange Case of Jane O. by Karen Thompson Walker

games

I think I should sort this by "size" of game at the end of the year. For now just dumping them in, alpha order

Birdigo
Crop Rotation (replay)
Digseum
Dragonsweeper
Dungeon Clawler
Fields of Mistria (replay)
Horticular
If Letters Had Pants, Would They Wear Them Like This?
Jack Move
Let's! Revolution
Night Stones
Promise Mascot Agency
Proverbs
Seablip
Shinehill
Story of Seasons Pioneers of Olive Town
Things Too Ugly
Trash Goblin
Unfair Flips
Yes Your Grace

movies

5.0

Sinners, Ryan Coogler, 2024

4.5

Groundhog Day, 1992 (rewatch)

4.0

Death on the Nile, John Guillermin, 1978
Edge of Tomorrow, 2014 (rewatch)
I Love You Man, John Hamburg, 2009 (rewatch)
Moonstruck, Norman Jewison, 1987
Next Goal Wins, Taika Waititi, 2024
A Real Pain, Jesse Eisenberg, 2024

3.5

Bad Guys, Pierre Perifel, 2022
One of Them Days, Lawrence Lamont, 2025
Red Eye, Wes Craven, 2005
Role Models, David Wain, 2008 (rewatch)

3.0

Fountain of Youth, Guy Ritchie, 2025
Mothers' Instinct, Benoit Delhomme, 2024
Twisters, Lee Isaac Chung, 2024: it's true I didn't love this, but I watched a wonderful video about Chung's approach and the filmmaking details and it was really interesting and good.

2.5

Fools Rush In, Andy Tennant, 1997
Out of Time, Carl Franklin, 2003
A Star Is Born, 2018

1.0

Mission: Impossible The Final Reckoning, Christopher McQuarrie, 2025

television

5.0

The Better Sister, 2025
School Spirits (season 1), 2023
School Spirits (season 2), 2025
Overcompensating (season 1), 2025

4.5

Dept. Q (season 1), 2025 based on Jussi Adler-Olsen books
Severance (season 1, part of 2) I think?

4.0

Adam Conover Unmedicated, 2024
Anthracite, 2024
Gianmarco Soresi Thief of Joy, 2025
Josh Gondelman Positive Reinforcement, 2025
Orphan Black (season 1-2), 2013-2014
Shiny Happy People (season 2), 2025
Wayward, 2025

3.5

Full House (season 1-4), 1987-1991
Star Trek Lower Decks (season 1-4?), 2020-2023
Supernatural (season 1-2)

2.0

Full House (season 5-8), 1991-1995. season 8 is a total turd
The Librarians. this was very disappointing

0.25

Chad Powers, 2025. did you know people still say r-slur