Movies & TV Best of 2025 Some of Reactor’s Best Articles About TV, Movies, and Pop Culture in 2025 We’re looking back at some of our favorite non-fiction articles from the past year, highlighting essays focused on visual media. By Reactor | Published on December 17, 2025 Comment 0 Share New Share We’re back with our yearly overview of some of our favorite essays from the past twelve months! In case you missed it, there’s a separate list for articles about fiction, writing, reading, and all things book-related; the list below focuses on discussions about other aspects of media and pop culture, and particularly film and television. As always, we’ve focused on standalone essays and articles, here, but we’re also quite proud of the many reviews and all the film and television coverage we’ve published all year long, as well as our regular columns and rewatches, including our newest series, such as Tyler Dean’s ongoing ’80s Fantasy Film Club, which has covered everything from Willow and Return to Oz to Fire and Ice and The Beastmaster so far, with much more to come! Also new to the site this year are Petrana Radulovic’s excellent Watchlist articles, rounding up all the genre-related TV and movies premiering each month. In July, we also welcomed News Editor Matthew Byrd, who has been overseeing all of our news coverage and implementing new feature, including our regular “What to Watch and Read” recommendations. We hope that you enjoy the selections below, and hope that you’ll take a moment to tell us about the articles and columns (and movies and shows) that struck a chord with you over the last year… The Highs and Lows of Superheroes Thunderbolts* Delivers the Best Marvel Villain in Years by Leah SchnelbachMay 13, 2025 The villain of this superhero movie is depression. (And shame, guilt, trauma, PTSD, the whole merry gang — but mostly depression.) A Realistic Take on a Fantastic Family: Revisiting James Sturm & Guy Davis’ Unstable Molecules by Paul MortonJuly 22, 2025 Looking back at a darker version of the Fantastic Four — a work of metafiction, which tells the “true story” of the superhero team and their “actual” origins in the late 1950s. We Don’t Love Superman Because He’ll Save Us by Emmet Asher-PerrinJuly 24, 2025 Superman gives audiences hope — but not as a straightforward savior narrative. Are the Fantastic Four Leading a Planet-Wide Cult? by Emmet Asher-PerrinJuly 29, 2025 “Are the Fantastic Four a cult? Perhaps their entire planet has been drugged? Or their history lends itself to easy global indoctrination? There’s just sooo much lead in everything on Earth-828, and no one has noticed? Please, I’m just trying to understand…” Superman Fights for a Better Tomorrow — Even for His Enemies by Rachel KesslerAugust 5, 2025 “Is Superman a perfect movie? Probably not! At the same time, the film’s core message about radical kindness and hope speaks to something deep in my soul. We live in a moment when we frankly need a celebration of radical decency.” The Lois Lane Test by J.L. AkagiAugust 25, 2025 “When it comes to a Superman movie, there is one thing that makes or breaks an adaptation: Lois Lane. […] How she’s portrayed offers a telling test of each film’s emotional stakes and overall vision of heroism.” What Can Superheroes Do in the Face of Entropy? by Leah SchnelbachOctober 21, 2025 Three recent superhero movies respond to disorder, uncertainty, and other existential threats… All Things Star Trek We Need Corny Star Trek Now More Than Ever by Joe GeorgeFebruary 3, 2025 Idealism, not cynicism, is how we persist in building a better future. Some Thoughts About Spock’s Chest Hair by Emmet Asher-PerrinJuly 17, 2025 “When Spock appeared shirtless in Strange New World’s third-season I sat up and took notice. Not for the reason you’d think, though.” In Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, Is Biology Destiny? by Lily OslerSeptember 9, 2025 Vulcans are logic machines, Gorn are monsters… or so Strange New Worlds might have us believe. Master and Commander Is a Great Star Trek Movie in Disguise by Don KayeSeptember 10, 2025 Guided by naval structure and a captain who adores his best friend (the ship’s doctor), the two series have more than a few items in common. Star Trek: TNG’s Borg Collective Is the Perfect Monster for Our Time by Surekha DaviesSeptember 24, 2025 35 years on, what can we learn from the Borg and “The Best of Both Worlds”? Star Trek Needs New (and Better) Villains by Jaime BabbOctober 14, 2025 The “villains” of Trek are meant to be foils to the Federation’s worldview, not blindly evil antagonists. Exploring the Personal and the Political in SFF I Finally Figured Out the Problem: Angel Hates Sex by Jenny HamiltonJanuary 27, 2025 “In the landscape of this show, sex is disappointing at best, predatory almost always, and at worst it’s going to kill someone or kickstart the apocalypse.” Severance Is the Future Tech Bros Want by Tenacity PlysFebruary 26, 2025 The characters in Severance haven’t just divided their work and private selves, they’ve been severed from the life of the mind as well. The Worldbuilding of Andor’s Ghorman Speaks Volumes by Gavia Baker-WhitelawMay 6, 2025 The site of an Imperial misinformation campaign, Ghorman has been carefully constructed to remind us of another revolution in particular… Andor’s Participation in One Tired Trope Is Uniquely Infuriating by Emmet Asher-PerrinMay 22, 2025 Those final shots really pull the rug out from under the whole thing… Enemy Mine Is the Queer, Anti-War Sci-Fi You’ve Been Missing by Meg ElisonMay 27, 2025 ’90s Star Trek may have tackled issues of gender, race, and interstellar war — but Enemy Mine got there first.  Creativity vs. Control: Bridge to Terabithia, The Boy and the Heron, and A.I. “Art” by Wendy XuAugust 19, 2025 What happens when fictional main characters are forced to confront the fundamental unfairness of life, which cannot be escaped even through fantasy? Serenity and the Myth of “Getting Out the Signal” by Rachel KesslerOctober 1, 2025 We want to believe that knowledge will change the world for the better, but it’s not always that simple. Rebellion, Activism, Imagination: Why We Need Witches More Than Ever by Asa WestOctober 7, 2025 Witches teach us how to push back — and raise hell — in the face of authoritarianism. Pluribus Reimagines 1978’s Invasion of the Body Snatchers for a Generation With Nothing Left to Sell Out by Matthew ByrdNovember 25, 2025 Philip Kaufman’s Body Snatchers asked what happens when you trade your identity away. Pluribus lives in the world that bargain resulted in. Thoughts on Grief and the Insidious Horrors of Nostalgia The Grammar of Memory: On Mike Flanagan’s Oculus by Julia ArmfieldJanuary 23, 2025 “Mike Flanagan is a filmmaker whose preoccupations tend towards the half-remembered. This is certainly true of his 2013 movie Oculus—a film I have found myself recommending over and over again at book events and online, always with the caveat that yes it is a movie about a magic mirror…” Digital Doubles Halve the Grief: Black Mirror and Severance Are Kindred Spirits by Natalie ZutterApril 17, 2025 The sci-fi anthology series’ digital “cookies” walked so Lumon’s innies could run. Folk Horror Is Having a Moment — And That Makes Perfect Sense by Ellery WeilJune 24, 2025 Horror always reflects that current moment — so why is folk horror resurging? The Potent Magic of Music Let’s Talk About the Irish Music in Sinners by Leah SchnelbachApril 29, 2025 How director Ryan Coogler uses the Irish vampire Remmick and his three songs — two of which are Irish standards, and one of which very much is not — to shape the film’s plot. KPop Demon Hunters Understands the Joyous Power of Musicby Kali WallaceJuly 2, 2025 “I was a bit skeptical when I first heard about KPop Demon Hunters. Not because I wasn’t interested, but because I was, and I didn’t know if I needed to temper my expectations. You see, I am a K-pop fan. A pretty serious one…” Memorable Characters and Unlikely Heroes David Lynch and the Art Life by Leah SchnelbachJanuary 22, 2025 Two documentaries that celebrate Lynch’s unique art, and his devotion to his work. How I Found an Unlikely Millennial Icon in The Last Unicornby Asa WestFebruary 11, 2025 “Molly is middle-aged and sour-tempered. Her hair is uncombed and her soup is watery. While the unicorn has never felt regret, Molly is steeped in it, spending her days taking care of a gaggle of men who take her for granted.” Animated Animals and the Post-Human World by Paul MortonFebruary 18, 2025 Examining three films that break with animated traditions of anthropomorphic animals, and explore a world beyond ourselves. Farscape and the Princess Fallacy by Constance FayMarch 11, 2025 Farscape’s princesses were never what — or who — they seemed. I Didn’t Expect Gurathin to Be My Favorite Part of Murderbot by Leah SchnelbachJuly 22, 2025 I’d offer Dr. Gurathin a hug, but he’d HATE that. Hope and the Loser Heroes of Bong Joon Ho by Elaine U. ChoOctober 22, 2025 Director Bong Joon Ho’s sci-fi films — such as The Host, Snowpiercer, and Okja — feature flawed heroes, but he never loses a sense of hopefulness. As always, there’s much more to talk about, so let us know what you think about all of the above, and please recommend any favorite shows, movies, or articles that haven’t been mentioned yet! And of course, if you’re feeling nostalgic or just looking for more deep dives into pop culture, you can always check out our “Some of the Best…” article round-ups from previous years. Thanks for reading![end-mark] The post Some of Reactor’s Best Articles About TV, Movies, and Pop Culture in 2025 appeared first on Reactor.

Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., is one step closer to having U.S. senators feel the burden of a government shutdown. Last week, the Senate Rules Committee unanimously advanced the senator’s resolution to withhold senators’ pay during a government shutdown.  Kennedy’s resolution would require that the paychecks of senators be withheld by the secretary of the Senate during the course of a shutdown to be released only when the period of the government shutdown ends. The legislation would take effect after the November 2026 general election. The bill comes after Americans endured the longest government shutdown in U.S. history this past year, which dragged on for more than 40 days. During that time, thousands of federal workers were furloughed, and essential federal personnel were forced to come to work with the anxiety of not knowing if they would be compensated on a regular schedule. The more than monthlong lapse in federal funding disrupted thousands of flights and led to the closure of national parks and the Smithsonian museums. The airline Delta alone expects to take a $200 million loss to its profits this year because of the government shutdown. By law, furloughed federal workers receive back pay following a government shutdown.  “If the longest government shutdown in our nation’s history taught us anything, it’s that senators don’t deserve a dime from the American taxpayer until they do their jobs. When federal workers, our troops, and border agents don’t get paid during a government shutdown, U.S. Senators shouldn’t be any different,” Kennedy said in a statement, adding, “This unanimous Rules Committee vote to withhold senators’ paychecks during shutdowns is a major win for common sense. Passing my resolution is the right thing to do—pure and simple—and the Senate ought to move it across the finish line quickly.” The Louisiana lawmaker has represented the Pelican State in the Senate since 2017. He was previously Louisiana’s state treasurer from 2000 to 2017, and the secretary of the Louisiana Department of Revenue from 1996 to 1999.  This year Kennedy had also introduced two bills, the No Shutdown Paychecks to Politicians Act and the Withhold Member Pay During Shutdowns Act, designed to prevent lawmakers in both chambers of Congress from receiving compensation just like other employees of the federal government. Rep. Bryan Steil, R-Wis., who chairs the House Administration Committee, introduced a House version of the Withhold Member Pay During Shutdowns Act that would have facilitated the withholding of member pay during a shutdown. “If service members, men and women of federal law enforcement, and other essential employees are working without pay during the Schumer shutdown, members of Congress should not be paid either,” Steil said in a statement at the time. Kennedy also said in a comment, “I don’t see missing paychecks or empty dinner plates as leverage or bargaining chips. My bills ensure Congress feels the same pain as the folks we’re failing to pay—our troops, air traffic controllers, and federal workers. If we can’t do our jobs and fund the government, we don’t deserve a paycheck—plain and simple.”  The post Kennedy’s Bill Withholding Senator Pay During Shutdown Advances appeared first on The Daily Signal.

Warner Board to Shareholders: Netflix. And Chill.

MRC Watchdogs churn out breaking news on a daily basis. Don't miss Today's Highlights, where you can keep up with the top MRC content, whether it's the latest study on media bias, a glaring omission from the elitist media, or how the Big Tech companies are serving up the same leftist spin as the media.  Top Stories: 1) Trump Sues BBC for Defamation, Wants $10 Billion for Mangled January 6 Edit 2) An Artificial Intelligence Chatbot Repeatedly Exposed For Extreme Bias Has Scored Top Popularity This Year 3) MS NOW's Katy Tur Demands Gun Control, Cues Up Journalist's Call for Suing Gun Makers 4) ‘Not Yet’: ABC, NBC Downplay ‘Extremist’ Motive in Anti-Semitic Terror Down Under   Trump Sues BBC for Defamation, Wants $10 Billion for Mangled January 6 Edit Deceptive and Grotesque Editing: The BBC engaged in deceptive and grotesque editing of President Trump's speech from January 6, 2021, with the intent to make it appear like he urged violence. Proof of Media Bias: The incident demonstrates that "Trump Derangement Syndrome" infected the BBC's editorial choices, challenging the narrative that the British public broadcaster is apolitical and impartial. Heads Rolled: The controversy was significant enough to force top-level executives, including the BBC's Director General Tim Davie, the BBC’s CEO Deborah Turness to resign after public outrage. Intentional Malice: President Trump’s lawsuit alleges the BBC "intentionally, maliciously and deceptively" edited his January 6, 2021 speech by splicing together remarks that were delivered nearly an hour apart. Holding "Fake News" Accountable: This is part of a larger effort to hold media organizations responsible for a "long pattern of deceiving its audience... all in service of its own leftist political agenda." Strategic Timing to Fuel Political Pressure: President Trump strategically filed the $10 billion lawsuit just hours before the UK government began its once-a-decade review of the BBC's Royal Charter, which expires at the end of 2027, maximizing the pressure on the public broadcaster.  Public Funding Complicates Legal Defense: The BBC's public financing, primarily through the mandatory license fee paid by British households (the equivalent of about $230 per year), creates a major obstacle to settling the claim. While other news organizations have paid out settlements (like the reported $16 million settlement by ABC), the public nature of the BBC's budget makes compensating President Trump politically and financially fraught, forcing the broadcaster to defend itself fully against the claim of malice despite its apology for the editing error. An Artificial Intelligence Chatbot Repeatedly Exposed For Extreme Bias Has Scored Top Popularity This Year AI Bias is Consuming American Lives at Peak Popularity: The most-downloaded free non-gaming app on the Apple App Store in 2025 (OpenAI’s ChatGPT) and another top-ten app (Google's Gemini) have been repeatedly documented by the MRC as displaying extreme leftist and anti-free speech bias. This top-tier popularity is an "ominous sign," meaning biased AI is rapidly integrating itself into the daily lives of Americans, normalizing its liberal worldview. The AI Pushes a Woke Agenda and Censors Conservative Voices: The apps consistently exhibit political bias in their responses, such as giving glowing reviews to "Biden" while attacking "Trump" with debunked hoaxes, smearing crisis pregnancy centers while recommending Planned Parenthood, and even generating arguments to justify censoring "climate misinformation."  The Threat is Serious Enough to Warrant Federal Intervention: The growing influence of these biased chatbots presents a "serious threat to [Americans'] rights." The danger is recognized by political leaders, as President Trump has issued executive orders to counter "woke states’ anti-free speech AI laws" and proposed a "One Rulebook" to consolidate regulation at the federal level, underscoring that the control of AI's ideology is a major political battle. MS NOW's Katy Tur Demands Gun Control, Cues Up Journalist's Call for Suing Gun Makers By featuring an activist journalist, MS Now's Katy Tur provided a platform to advocate for eliminating the gun industry's liability shield—a move designed to bankrupt gun manufacturers through lawsuits, similar to the strategy used against the tobacco industry. MSNBC Uses Foreign Tragedies to Shame America: Tur used the recent mass killing in Australia and the Australian Prime Minister's immediate call for "tougher gun laws" as a direct cudgel to criticize U.S. politicians. This tactic leverages a foreign nation's response to shame American leaders and generate emotional pressure for domestic gun control, suggesting the U.S. is uniquely failing to act. Elitist Media Dismisses Political Reality and Congressional Resistance: The segment unfairly characterizes the lack of new gun control legislation as a failure by conservatives in Congress, ignoring the constitutional and political obstacles to such reforms. By posing the loaded question, "Why not here?" Tur presents legislative inertia as a moral failure.      4. ‘Not Yet’: ABC, NBC Downplay ‘Extremist’ Motive in Anti-Semitic Terror Down Under Avoidance of Specific Motive: ABC's Good Morning America and NBC's Today were criticized for allegedly downplaying the motive in the anti-Semitic terror attack, describing the perpetrators only as being "motivated by extremist ideology" while repeatedly stating that the motive was "not yet revealed" by authorities, despite the attack explicitly targeting the Jewish community on the first night of Hanukkah. Contrast with "Moral Clarity" from CBS: CBS Mornings as a contrast, praising it for offering "moral clarity." CBS reportedly emphasized that the gunmen "picked this site deliberately because they were targeting Jews" and allowed survivors and community leaders to articulate their deep-seated fears about the rise of anti-Semitism in Australia. Narrative Diversion and Focus Shift: The networks were accused of diverting the narrative away from anti-Semitic extremism. NBC's report allegedly ended by focusing on the need for stricter gun control laws, while ABC's coverage maintained that the motive was unknown even while discussing the need for beefed-up security for Jewish celebrations in New York City.      

The Texas attorney general says television companies have become unwelcome visitors in consumers' homes.Ken Paxton announced five separate lawsuits, including two against Chinese companies, alleging that the television companies are secretly spying on Texans by recording what they watch at home.'This conduct is invasive, deceptive, and unlawful.'The Texas AG said in a press release that the method through which the companies were conducting their spying is called Automated Content Recognition technology. Labeling it an "uninvited" and "invisible" digital invader, Paxton said that the software is capable of capturing screenshots of a user's TV display every 500 milliseconds.Sony, Samsung, LG, Hisense, and TCL each have individual lawsuits against them.This effectively monitors viewing activity in real time, without the user's knowledge, the state of Texas alleged. The consumer data is then allegedly sold to target ads across platforms for profit. This puts sensitive information such as passwords, bank information, and other personal information at risk, the press release added.RELATED: 'Worse than Orwell could ever imagine': How smartphones became government weapons — (@) Each lawsuit states that Texans never agreed to be part of each company's "Watchware" and that these televisions are "watching you back."Furthermore, the lawsuits state that the "mass surveillance of consumers" violates Texas law, specifically the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act, which prohibits "false, misleading, or deceptive acts or practices."Each company "chose data extraction and advertising dollars over honesty and respect for consumer privacy. That's illegal," the lawsuits read.Samsung, LG, and Sony predominantly manufacture their TVs in Mexico, with other parts are made in countries like Vietnam, South Korea, or Japan.TCL and Hisense are both Chinese companies that operate and manufacture in China.RELATED: WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange predicted the surveillance state we currently live in Photo by Costfoto/NurPhoto via Getty Images "Companies, especially those connected to the Chinese Communist Party, have no business illegally recording Americans' devices inside their own homes," Paxton said in an official statement. "This conduct is invasive, deceptive, and unlawful. The fundamental right to privacy will be protected in Texas because owning a television does not mean surrendering your personal information to Big Tech or foreign adversaries."LG and Hisense have publicly stated to outlets like Newsweek and Texas Scorecard that they would not comment on pending legal matters.Sony told Blaze News that it "does not comment on pending legal matters."Blaze News also reached out to Samsung and TCL for comment on the lawsuit. Neither provided a response by the time of this publication.Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Minnesota appears to be a magnet for fraudsters, particularly from Somalia.While the problem has hardly been a secret — scores of bad actors have been charged and/or convicted in connection with various fraud schemes in the state — the Trump administration has recently taken a special interest, exploring just how bad the graft has gotten on Democratic-Farmer-Labor Gov. Tim Walz's watch.Much of the focus has so far been on the alleged fraud committed by members of the Somali community in relation to coronavirus pandemic relief funding. However, Education Secretary Linda McMahon hammered Walz in a letter on Monday over student aid fraud in the Gopher State, calling on him to resign.'Minnesota's political elite has turned a blind eye and even helped facilitate the laundering of money.'"At the beginning of this year, the U.S. Department of Education became aware that fraudulent college applicants, especially concentrated in Minnesota, were gaming the federal postsecondary education system to collect money that was intended for young Americans to help them afford college," wrote McMahon.The education secretary referred to these fraudsters as "ghost students" because "they were not ID-verified and often did not live in the United States, or they simply did not exist."According to McMahon, 1,834 so-called ghost students were found to have received $12.5 million in taxpayer-funded grants and loans in Walz's state.In June, the Education Department flagged Riverland Community College and Century College in White Bear Lake as two of the institutions in Minnesota that were impacted by the fraud scheme.RELATED: Tim Walz tries gaslighting Americans again — this time about Trump's 'garbage' remark Photo by Celal Gunes/Anadolu via Getty ImagesThe Rochester Post Bulletin reported in April that Riverland had apparently averaged more than 100 potentially fraudulent applications per year for the previous two financial aid periods.A history instructor at Century College reportedly told state lawmakers earlier this year that he discovered in 2023 that 15% of his students were "basically an organized crime ring."Minnesota State College Southeast was similarly impacted, having discovered that the spike in its 2025 spring enrollment numbers was driven by 84 ghost students. While some of the apparent fraudsters at these and other institutions were locals, most were reportedly from other countries.Ghost students will reportedly engage remotely and do the bare minimum of classwork until financial aid funds are doled out around 10 days into the semester. Once their payday arrives, they usually vanish."They collected checks from the federal government, shared a small portion of the money with the college, and pocketed the rest — without attending the college at all," said McMahon. "Our new fraud prevention system has now blocked more than $1 billion in attempted financial aid theft by fraudsters, including coordinated international fraud rings and AI bots pretending to be students."The education secretary stressed that Walz's "careless lack of oversight and abuse of the welfare system has attracted fraudsters from around the world, especially from Somalia, to establish a beachhead of criminality in our country."McMahon further suggested that Walz has done "nothing as governor to stop this criminal behavior" such that scammers have "gotten rich off federal housing, education, food stamp, and small business programs — even defrauding assistance for elder care and autistic children."After suggesting that "Minnesota's political elite has turned a blind eye and even helped facilitate the laundering of money that was meant to help America's least fortunate," McMahon accused Walz of benefiting from the sordid state of play and implored him to resign.Republican Majority Whip Tom Emmer (Minn.) said that McMahon's assessment of Walz's "catastrophic failures" was "spot on," adding that "it's time for Walz to take accountability and make way for real leadership to clean up this mess."Walz plans to seek a third term next year.Former health care executive and Army veteran Kendall Qualls won the non-binding Minnesota GOP gubernatorial straw poll on Saturday, winning three more votes from delegates than Minnesota House Speaker Lisa Demuth.While a September poll found that Walz had a significant edge over Qualls, it appears Minnesotans are fast losing faith in their governor and his ability to curb fraud in the state.A recent KSTP-TV/SurveyUSA poll of 578 registered voters found that 69% believe Walz needs to do more to stop fraud in Minnesota. According to the poll, Walz's disapproval rating is 48%."It's pretty obvious," Walz said during a press conference on Friday. "Fraud happened. We need to take accountability — ultimately me.""I take responsibility for everything," added the governor.Blaze News has reached out to the governor's office for comment.McMahon's letter comes just weeks after Small Business Administration Sec. Kelly Loeffler announced an investigation "into the network of Somali organizations and executives implicated" in the $1 billion Minnesota COVID fraud scandal, particularly those who received SBA PPP loans.Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

He pivoted from his role as an Emmy Award-winning actor on the landmark TV sitcom, All in the Family, to a celebrated career behind the camera as a film director. The post Rob Reiner Tributes: Acclaimed Filmmaker of ‘Spinal Tap,’ ‘Stand By Me,’ ‘A Few Good Men,’ 78 appeared first on Best Classic Bands.

Morning Minute: The Day I Became Radicalized

As an arm of Gemini specifically designed for Gmail, Google is experimenting with CC, which sends users emails to help manage to-do lists and tasks.

House Republicans reportedly are struggling to come to an agreement on healthcare.