James Cameron-Wilson Looks Back at the Year of 2025
Image courtesy of Altitude Film Distribution
The box-office perked up again at the UK box-office, at least for the first nine months, and exhibited the best showing since pre-pandemic levels. And while eight of the top ten movies were either remakes or sequels, the number one blockbuster was a true original. Although it depends on one’s definition of original. A Minecraft Movie, the first of many more in the franchise to come (obviously), was based on the video game and witnessed four losers who are sucked through a portal into a parallel universe made up of blocks. Hardly an original concept, and with Jack Black in the cast, one can’t help but think of the later Jumanji films, in which four losers are sucked through a portal and get trapped in a video game, a sort of parallel universe made up of blockheads. It was so successful that a fifth Jumanji is due in your local multiplex next December. Ho hum. Fans of Jack Black will be elated to know that the actor is already working on it, as well as on Minecraft 2 and has completed his voice role as Bowser on The Super Mario Galaxy Movie.
The year was also notable for the proposed acquisition of Warner Bros. by Netflix, described by the Writers Guild of America as an existential threat. This means that Netflix would not only own Warners’ studio space and HBO Max and HBO, but all the films that come with WB, titles like The Jazz Singer, The Wizard of Oz, Casablanca, A Star is Born, 2001: A Space Odyssey and Barbie. As cinemas struggle to entice cinemagoers back into their auditoria for that unique communal experience, the streaming giant will be luring more subscribers into their living rooms to binge on Stranger Things, Squid Game and, um, My Fair Lady. Another dose of bad news also arrived in December with the murder of Rob Reiner and his wife Michele by their son, Nick. One of the most beloved figures in Hollywood, Reiner’s untimely death drew deeply moving messages from the likes of Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. The only dissenting voice seemed to be Donald Trump’s, who called Reiner “a deranged person.”
And so to the movies themselves, which offered a true range of excellence. Of course, it’s an impossible task to whittle down just ten and, as always, I judge my picks based on their respective genres, be they documentary, superhero escapism or even horror. Ocean with David Attenborough was really one of a kind, though, being a genuine cinematic spectacle that celebrated the wonders of our world, and then warning us of its demolition at the hands of our own species. It really is essential viewing. It was painful to exclude The Wedding Banquet, which was wonderful on so many levels and which I enjoyed on multiple occasions, every time I saw it afresh with another member of my family (all of whom adored it too, and thanked me for the pleasure). I would also like to mention One Battle After Another, which has already received inordinate praise, After the Hunt, The Choral, Julie Keeps Quiet, Spike Lee’s Highest 2 Lowest and Train Dreams, the last named available now on Netflix. If only you could see Clint Bentley’s masterpiece on a giant screen….
James Cameron-Wilson’s Favourites:
