Well it's been quite a busy year. In 2025 I managed to see a total of 350 films, 90 of which were at various big screens. I coordinated the first ever free film festival in the town where I now live, showing nine films over one week to big and small appreciative audiences; I hope it's the first of many.
I've also done a couple of film introductions, something I used to do a lot. With thanks to Dom and London's micro grindhouse cinema, The Nickel, I've been able to talk about the films of Arch Hall Jr and my beloved Ray Dennis Steckler.
In terms of written publications, as well as my (ir)regular DEoL blog posts, I was pleased to have a major piece on Japanese filmmaker Nobuo Nakagawa included in the 'We Belong Dead' publication Japanese special, which won a prestigious Rondo Award earlier this year. So I'm an award winner! Ok sort of. I also contributed some pieces for their recent book on UK 1960s 'fantastic' cinema, 'Mods and Shockers'.
My thanks as ever go to Paul Downey for opportunities given to me to cover London launches of new films and several film festivals, including this year's FrightFest and Grimmfest, for his wonderful Bloody Flicks website. This year I've covered 29 films for BF (plus a couple of book reviews), and 2026 will be my tenth year of working with him.
In terms of 'on the air' activities my friend Larry Brookes and I have continued, when personal and business commitments allow, to bring you episodes of 'Larry and David's Film Salon', this year covering The Servant, Le Mépris, Sunset Boulevard, Ran, Cutter's Way and The Wages of Fear. You can hear all the episodes here.
I also launched my own podcast under the 'Dark Eyes of London' brand. The brief here is pretty wide, and my first 'season' has been a four parter covering the work of US maverick director Jerry Warren. The second one, on director Larry Buchanan, will be out early in 2026. All episodes here.
Oh and on a musical note (arf) this December saw the release of the second album from my band Detronics. 'World Goes Bang' is the usual, as someone recently commented, "Bowie fronting Pink Floyd" stuff. It may be your bag - it may not, but you won't know unless you've had a listen.
Anyway, to my usual end of year round up. Unlike some critics I don't differentiate between 'fantastic' and non fantastic titles in my selections: if a film's great, it's great. Notes on the films where I haven't covered them, links for those I have. They're in no particular order:
Nickel Boys (USA 2004: Dir RaMell Ross) This one made a lot of critic 'best of' lists last year; it's a bold film which utilises an unusual 'first person' filming technique to tell the story of events at Arthur G Dozier’s Florida School for Boys between 1900 and 2011, told through the experiences of two friends, Elwood (Ethan Herisse) and Turner (Brandon Wilson). The racism experienced is as much via set text as in the actual classroom; it's an occasionally overstaged piece but exudes a mystery way beyond the average.
A Real Pain (USA 2024: Dir Jesse Eisenberg) The director's second feature is a bittersweet two hander between Eisenberg and Kieran Culkin; they are David and Benji, two cousins from New York, who go to Poland to visit the childhood home of their late grandmother. Benji is querulous (matching his Roman Roy role in Succession) and hyper, David apologetic and seemingly long suffering. The road they take, ending up on a Holocaust tour, produces the emotional heart, the 'real pain' of the film. A Real Pain is superbly acted, knowing and sad, with some lovely support performances.
Time Travel is Dangerous (UK 2024: Dir Chris Reading)
The Ugly Stepsister (Norway/Denmark/Romania/Poland/Sweden 2024: Dir Emilie Blichfeldt)
Sinners (USA/Australia/Canada: Dir Ryan Coogler) A film of two halves in the spirit of Robert Rodriguez's From Dusk Till Dawn, Coogler's film dwells at the crossroads where Robert Johnson sold his soul, gives us a potted history of a black community living through the Depression, gang running and star crossed lovers; oh and vampires. It's a rich, witty ride and its halfway point narrative pivot disappointed as many as it won supporters. I'm definitely in the latter camp, and it's a movie that sustains multiple viewings.
Weapons (USA 2025: Dir Zach Cregger) Cregger gave us Barbarian back in 2022, a film about which I had mixed feelings. Weapons is no less high concept and, at times, awkward, revolving around 17 missing schoolchildren who have mysteriously vanished from their class, the impact of the incident on the local community and, latterly, an explanation for the event. Like Barbarian I enjoyed the first part of Weapons more than the second (the more we know the less it intrigues) but it's an enthralling ensemble piece with a superb performance by Julia Garner as Ms Grady, the teacher at the heart of the story.
The Presidents Cake (Iraq/Qatar/USA 2025: Dir Hasan Hadi)
One Battle After Another (USA 2025: Dir Paul Thomas Anderson) I blow hot and cold with Anderson's films. I didn't get on with 2021's Licorice Pizza, but I can never rewatch 2017's Phantom Thread enough. OBAA may be as much of a shaggy dog story as his last feature, littered with set pieces and a playfulness that shows a mastery of the form, but Anderson's take on counterculture, conspiracy theory, messy relationships and freewheeling road movies is nothing short of astounding. I mentioned when I originally wrote about the film, that halfway through I had to go to the cinema and buy some popcorn, because to watch it without seemed criminal.
Honey Bunch (Canada/UK 2025: Dir Dusty Mancinelli, Madeleine Sims-Fewer)
The Ice Tower (France/Germany/Italy 2025: Dir Lucile Hadzihalilovic)
Honorable mentions: The Girl with the Needle, Pink Floyd Live at Pompeii, 28 Years Later, Hallow Road, Bring Her Back, Dead of Winter, A Desert and The Housemaid.
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