I was working on the third 2025 Year in Review: In Memoriam Part 3 last night, and I thought to myself that I would only have one In Memoriam left. I thought that it would be fine because what are the chances that there would be any other big stars pass away before the year ended.
Oh my god.
I woke up in the middle of the night and saw on TikTok a horrible story that I never would have believed. Rob Reiner and his wife Michelle had been allegedly killed by their son Nick. I felt crushed by this news. I was a fan of Rob Reiner, especially as a director.
Then, I got home from school and I was on X and I saw tweets that kicked me in the gut. Anthony Geary, who played Luke Spencer on General Hospital for decades, had died.
I could not believe it.
Luke Spencer was one of my favorite characters on TV, period. Not just soap characters… but all characters. He was one of the best actors in Daytime, winning multiple Emmy Awards.
Rob Reiner directed some of my favorite movies of all time. The Princess Bride, This is Spinal Tap, A Few Good Men, Stand By Me, Spinal Tap II: The End Continues, Misery, The American President, and When Harry Met Sally.
Luke Spencer, along with his on-screen love Laura, became an icon in television. Their GH wedding was watched by 30 million viewers. They were on the cover of Time Magazine.
The Princess Bride is my favorite movie of all time (well, it is 1B to Endgame’s 1A).
Anthony Geary was a prime reason why General Hospital had been such an influential show for me as a youth. Luke was my idol. As a child, I watched all summer long and had my mom tell me everything on days I was at school.
Two men who were absolute icons for me, both gone within a few hours of each other. Both men some of the most influential actors of my life.
Theme originally written by César Dávila-Irizarry and then reworked by former Nine Inch Nails keyboardist Charlie Clouser.
The theme of AHS was extremely creepy and fit right into the tone that the show was going for. The iconic movie Se7en was an inspiration for the theme and what creator Ryan Murphy wanted to get across.
Seriously, that was easily one of the best finales of the year.
The use of ghost Richie in the last scenes of the conflict on the ice and at his funeral had tears coming out of my eyes. It was a beautiful use of the character that we all fell in love with and mourned his loss last week.
I loved everything about this finale. It was suspenseful, anxiety-creating, and scary. There was also so many things that were satisfying about it.
Pennywise gave us a time travel rule, how he sees time all at once. He told Marge that she would be the mother of one of the kids who would kill him. Madge would later reference this and guessed that Pennywise might go into the past to try and make a change. It is a great set up for future seasons of this.
Dick Hallorann came through big time in this episode… as did Rose with her “voice in the head silencing” tea. The scene where he was coming out of his trance was unbelievable. When Rose offered Dick the tea to shut off the voices, she asked if he trusted her. I would be grabbing that tea immediately.
The dagger doing its best “ring of power” imitation as the girls tried to get it where it needed to go. All Lilly had to do was call it “my precious.”
Going back to Rich’s funeral, that was such a lovely moment and with ghost Rich invisibly comforting his parents and Will, it was emotionally powerful. Rich’s use in this episode is sensational.
What a fantastic season. It: Welcome to Derry truly was special.
Okay. I am not sure what I can say about this one.
According to IMDB, “A couple’s vacation at a secluded estate is upended when they’re forced to share the mansion with a mysterious couple. A dream getaway spirals into a nightmarish maze of sex, lies, and manipulation, triggering a battle for survival.”
This movie started out with a scene of two naked people running through the woods. It was just a terrible season and ended in a ridiculous way and I thought to myself, “What did I get myself into.” Then, it switched from the scene and it was a story being told by a boyfriend Diego (Marco Pigossi) to his girlfriend Sage (Maddie Hasson). It was meant to show that Diego was not a very good writer, even though he had recently quit his teaching job to write a novel. So I forgave that terrible scene because it was meant to show characterization of Diego.
The premise itself was common and things were really slow and dull in the first act and a half or so. Some dumb things were happening as it seemed that it was typical type of movie like this.
A little over a half way through the film, the story suddenly went totally batshit crazy. Then, I didn’t know what was happening and, honestly, the film had my attention more than it had before.
Is it a plausible movie? No, it is not. The stuff that goes down is ridiculous. It is also very different than the beginning of the film. It does do some interesting theorizing on couples, but when the chainsaws come out… well, there is only so much time for theorizing.
I am not sure how to feel about this. I was entertained at times while at other times I found myself feeling stupider having watched it. It felt like it was meant to be a satire at times, but I do not think that was the intent. I am torn on Bone Lake.
I have always thought that Emma Thompson was immensely talented as an actor. I have an even greater respect for her after watching her as an action hero in Dead of Winter.
Thompson played Barb, who had just lost her husband of many years. She was on the way to an out-of-the-way lake in Minnesota with his ashes when she comes across a snowstorm. Stopping at a cabin for directions, she came across a suspicious couple. Barb does not think anything of it, and she continues to the lake. However, while there, she sees a young adult girl with her hands tied and being held at gunpoint.
Going back to the cabin to investigate, Barb finds the girl, Leah, tied up in the basement of the cabin.
Emma Thompson was like a combination of Marge from Fargo and Dorothy from Fargo TV show. The movie does take time to give us background on Barb and her husband. They met at the lake where he wanted his ashes scattered. Barb was a hero, ready to put her life on the line for this stranger.
The film did a great job of creating a tension while watching. It was never over the top and it kept the audience wondering how Barb was going to get out of the trouble.
Without spoilers, I loved the end of the film. It was unexpected and quite dramatic.
While this may not be the greatest movie I have seen, it was enjoyable watch. Emma Thompson is a brilliant actor and she worked in an action movie way better than I ever expected.
There have not been as many musicals this year as in the past. In fact, my winner this year is not, exactly, a musical. It does have a lot of music in the film and people in the cast sing. However, it was the one I enjoyed the most this year, so I’m giving it to them.
Movie Musicals
Inside Llewyn Davis (2013), Whiplash (2014), Pitch Perfect 2 (2015), La La Land (2016), The Greatest Showman (2017), Mary Poppins Returns (2018), Rocketman (2019), Hamilton (2020), Tick, Tick… Boom! (2021), Matilda the Musical (2022), The Color Purple (2023), Wicked (2024)
Runners-Up: Wicked: For Good, Ka-Pop Demon Hunters, O’Dessa.
Spinal Tap II: The End Continues
Spinal Tap returned for a special concert, despite their inter-band conflicts. The film had special guest cameos from Paul McCartney and Elton John (both who did songs).
Spinal Tap is always a good time and this sequel to the Hall of Fame film This is Spinal Tap was a lot of fun and creative.
EYG Comic Cavalcade is here again, with a new banner. I do love making these banners.
Ordained #1. Written by Robert Venditti and art by Trevor Hairsine. Cover art was done by Jorge Fornes (Silver Medalist). This was the book I was looking most forward to this week and it did not disappoint. The early characterization was spot on and I loved how the story kicked off.
Ultimate Spider-Man #23. Written by Jonathan Hickman with art by Marco Checchetto. Cover art was done by Marco Checchetto & Matthew Wilson. The penultimate issue of Ultimate Spider-Man brings Peter into conflict with Kingpin and Mister Negative.
Infernal Hulk #2. Written by Phillip Kennedy Johnson and art and cover art by Nic Klein. The new version of the Hulk heads to Atlantis and into conflict with Namor. This new Hulk is still quite violent and deadly.
Amazing Spider-Man #17. Written by Joe Kelly with art by Pepe Larraz. Cover art was done by Pepe Larraz & Marte Gracia. We are back in space with Peter and his crew of oddballs. Peter has to face off with one of the underlings of Hellgate. Pete will have to face off with his failure.
The Beauty #2. Written by Jeremy Haun & Jason A. Hurley with art by Emanuela Lupacchino. Cover art was done by Jeremy Haun & Nick Filardi. The virus known as The Beauty continues to spread around the nation. This has been a really strong start with Ignition Press.
Crownsville #2. Written by Rodney Barnes and illustrated by Elia Bonetti. Cover art was done by Jason Shawn Alexander. Into the asylum we head with ghosts all over the place. This has been another great new book, this one from Oni Press.
C.O.R.T.: Children of the Round Table #4. “Chapter 4” Written by Tom Taylor with art by Daniele Di Nicuolo. Cover art was done by Daniele Di Nicuolo & Rain Beredo. The kids are off to England to get training with their new, possessed weapons.
Unbreakable X-Men #3. “Like Drowning in the Dark.” Written by Gail Simone and art by Mario Santoro with Luciano Vecchio, Tiago Palma, Davide Tinto & RB Silva. The Age of Revelation series comes to a close with the death of Gambit but the return of Rogue. Gail Simone has done osme top notch work with these characters.
Absolute Batman #15. “The Joker.” Written by Scott Snyder with art by Jock. Cover art by Nick Dragotta (Gold Medalist). I picked up the B variant cover with art by Jock. The hottest book of the week is once again Absolute Batman. This week because we get the origin of the Absolute Joker. Huge book.
Assorted Crisis Events #7. Written by Deniz Camp and art and cover art by Eric Zawadzki. Another wild story of Tom, who, for some reason, has dead bodies appearing around him… all of them identical to himself. It was a weird story felt like it could be in Ice Cream Man (including a literal ice cream truck).
Sinister’s Six #3. Written by David Marquez and art by Rafael Loureiro. Cover art was done by David Marquez & GURU-eFX. We learn who the Venom in this series is and the death of yet another character in this timeline. In this case, Havok. Once again, these extra books feel like a What If …? book.
Nova Centurion #2. “Deep Space Drifter, Pt. 2” Written by Jed MacKay with art by Alvaro Lopez & Matteo Della Petit. Cover art was done by Alessandro Cappuccio & Rachelle Rosenberg. Rich Ryder’s Nova takes on the powerhouse who is Ravenous.
Iron & Frost #3. Written by Cavan Scott with art by Avairi Coleman. Another tragic end for this series. Emma and Tony, whose relationship was more than anyone thought, both died in the conflict.
Ultimate Wolverine #12. Written by Chris Condon and art by Alessandro Cappuccio. Cover art was done by Matteo Della Fonte & David Curiel. Wolverine heads into the Rasputins’ hive to find the… Ultimate Phoenix? What?
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #13. Written by Gene Luen Yang with art by Freddie E. Williams II. I picked up a couple of the blind bag version of the book. This is the new creative team. I started collecting this because Jason Aaron was so good in issue #1. I was uncertain what I wanted to do with this book now. I was not impressed with this book. It may not be long for my collection.
Geiger #19. Written by Geoff Johns with art by Gary Frank. Ashley Arden is out looking to help children in the lawless land. And the surprising end sees a cameo by Redcoat! I love that as this book was missing Geiger, and yet I did not miss him that much.
Marvel Knights: The Punisher #3. Written by Jimmy Palmiotti with art and cover art by Dan Panosian. Everett Ross was able to get Frank out from the cartel’s control and had to take time to get Frank off the zombie drug.
New Avengers #7. Written by Sam Humphries and art by Ton Lima. Cover art by Stephen Segovia & Rain Beredo. This has some questions about Natasha and what he motives are… or if she is actually Natasha. Is she part of the Killuminati?
Zdarsky Comic News #18. The final issue of this little magazine from Chip Zdarsky. I will miss this fun little, free, magazine. Zdarsky is most likely leaving this because of the huge Marvel stuff he was doing.
Defenders of the Earth: Dark Destiny #1. Written by Dan Dido and art by Alex Sanchez. Marco Santucci did the cover art. Flash Gordon, Ming the Merciless, Lothar and the Phantom are together in serious trouble. They are tied up and getting ready to be burned to death. This was fun.
Other books this Week: Death to Pachuco #3, Mad Magazine #47, DC KO: Wonder Woman vs. Lobo #1, The End 2099#1, Blood & Thunder #8, and Darkness #1.
Quick Hits: We have Spider-Man & Wolverine #8 where we got some kind of combo between the two of them. This series has been up and down for me. All-New Spider-Gwen: Ghost Spider #5 saw Gwen and Flash back in that prison with the symbiote. Good fun here. Man Cave had two books this week here with It Killed Everyone But Me #4 and Look Into My Eyes #5. We got another Mad Cave book Pop Kill #1 which, I believe is a reprint of the original Pop Kill #1, but with a different cover (which get the Bronze Medalist this week). The other Age of Revelation book this week was Longshots #3, which is probably my least favorite of these books. Transformers #27 featured several other Transformers, such as Jetfire, one of my all-time favorite Transformers. More drama from Jeff Lemire in Minor Arcana #12. I enjoyed the Han Solo: Hunt for the Falcon #4 was one of the better Star Wars books I have read. One more penultimate book with Ultimate Black Panther #23 came out this week. Terminator Metal #3 found some Western jib in the book.
This was a fascinating episode of Pluribus, as there is very little dialogue from any of the characters. It had Carol humming and singing some classic songs as she went about her daily attempts to fill the time, isolated from everyone.
Then we saw Manousos in his attempt to make his way to find Carol. Manousos is working on his English, repeating several simple phrases and eventually, “My name is Manousos Oviedo. I am not one of them. I wish to save the world.”
It is an episode about how a human being is not designed to be alone, and we see how Carol eventually breaks down, allowing a firework that she had set up, accidentally flipping right at her, to fire away. Carol had accepted death at that point, not willing to move or to stop the firework from going off. It missed her and is able to survive.
Meanwhile, Manousos is walking through the jungle, refusing any help from The Others, when he falls into a chunga palm tree and its bacteria-laden spines. He tried to save himself, but he collapsed in the jungle only to see a helicopter show up, I assume, to help him survive.
It was an interesting episode and these types of episodes standout as something different. Makes me think of episodes like Buffy the Vampire Slayer’s “Hush.”
The latest Sunday Morning Sidewalk show wrapped up this morning with the finale of The Haunting of Hill House on Netflix.
Mike Flanigan’s 10-episode horror series was a great series with some complex ideas and original storytelling. The performances of the actors in the show were really great. Admittedly, I had some trouble over the first several episodes figuring out who was who, especially with the flashbacks being so prevalent. However, once that became clearer, the show really took off.
The finale was a beautiful end to the story, which was quite unexpected. There was healing and love through the Crain children and reunions of spirits within Hill House.
I had a definite vibe between Hill House in this series and Murder House from the first season of American Horror Story. In the end, Hill House had a less evil feel than Murder House, or at any time in the previous episodes of this series.
The episode focused around the Red Room and what it truly was… which seemed to be a chameleon type room, being whatever the person needed it to be. That was an intriguing concept.
The ending did reconstruct the idea around Hill House. I did not find it as evil of a location as the Crain children had made it seem. It just felt like a resting place for many ghosts.
Overall, I found this to be a very engaging and enjoyable show, with a few gaps and holes that didn’t keep me from enjoying it.
Next week, the next Sunday Morning Sidewalk will head over to HBO Max for a two-episode documentary on Bill Joel, called Billy Joel: And So it Goes. These two episodes will be the longest single episodes we have done in the Sunday Morning Sidewalk, but it feels like a good one to end 2025 with.
Theme written and composed by Shuki Levy and Haim Saban.
Performance often credited to the Towenda Choir Orchestra
Here is an interesting tidbit for this theme. I never watched this show. I bet you could count the number of Inspector Gadget episodes I watched on one hand. Yet, the theme song has entered the zeitgeist enough for it to be in my Top 100 TV Theme Songs list. Wild.
There are other TV shows on this list that would not be considered my favorite TV shows, or even something that I would like. The only qualification for this list is the theme song, and Inspector Gadget’s theme is fun and entertaining.
Big year in matches for the WWE. Here are the top 15 for EYG.
#15. Men’s Royal Rumble Match (Jey Uso winner)
#14. CM Punk vs. Seth Rollins, cage match
#13. CM Punk vs. John Cena, Crown Jewel.
#12, Seth Rollins vs. CM Punk, 1st Netflix RAW
#11. Cody Rhodes vs. Kevin Owens, Ladder Match, Royal Rumble.
#10. DIY vs. Motor City Machine Guns vs. Street Profits, TLC Match on Smackdown.
#9. Oba Femi vs. Trick Williams vs. Je’Von Evans, Stand & Deliver
#8. CM Punk vs. Gunther, SummerSlam
#7. Iyo Sky vs. Rhea Ripley, Evolution.
#6. Kevin Owens vs. Sami Zayn, Elimination Chamber
#5. Bianca Belair vs. Rhea Ripley vs. Iyo Sky, Wrestlemania 41
#4. El Hijo del Vikingo vs. Chad Gable, World’s Collide
#3. Roman Reigns vs. CM Punk vs. Seth Rollins, Wrestlemania 41
#2. John Cena vs. Cody Rhodes, Summer Slam
#1. John Cena vs. AJ Styles, Crown Jewel- Perth.
I was unable to watch this live. I watched a replay later. I had seen highlights and knew the winner. During that replay, I had tears in my eyes. It was such a love letter to Cena and AJ and their previous opponents that it made me emotional. I can’t imagine what it would have been like if I had been able to see it live and did not know what was going to happen. It provided maybe the most emotion of the year and that is why it is Match of the Year.
Every year we have some of the best female stars in Geek culture. Here are the top 15 of the year, including the winner of the Anna Devane Kick Ass Female Award. Here are the previous winners of this award.
The Anna Devane Kick Ass Female Award
Previous winners: Rey (Star Wars), Mockingbird (Marvel Comics), Wonder Woman (DCEU), The Shirewolves, Captain Marvel, Kamala Harris, Wanda Maximoff, Pearl, Dorothy “Dot” Lyon (Fargo season five), Agatha Harkness (Agatha All Along)
#15. Becky Lynch. Becky is the best WWE wrestler ever… and it’s not just her saying it… Sports Illustrated is saying it. Becky has had a fabulous year this year.
#14. Ironheart. Ironheart had her own Marvel Studios Disney + series. It was better than I thought it would be and it ended with a major shock.
#13. Yellowjackets women. Misty. Shauna. Taissa. Liv. The Yellowjackets women were not just kick ass, but really pretty crazy.
#12. Iris (Companion). Iris is a robot, but she turned into another example of the eventual overlords of AI.
#11. Carol (Pluribus). Carol is one of the few people on planet earth who avoided the hive mind take over. She is straight-forward and hot headed, with a violent temper. I guess you can understand why.
#10. Wednesday. Wednesday’s second season was not as strong as the first one, but Wednesday is a force on that show.
#9. Storm. Storm got her own series in Marvel this year. She became an Avenger. She was being placed as a big deal in Marvel. About time.
#8. Emilia Harcourt (Peacemaker). Harcourt is co-lead of peacemaker, and her relationship with John Cena was the heart of the series. Plus, she just is kick ass.
#7. Elphaba (Wicked: For Good). The Wicked Witch of the West’s real story in Wicked: For Good shows how powerful this witch is… and retcons that ending of Wizard of Oz.
#6. Lois Lane (Superman). Lois was a huge star of the new DCU film, Superman. Played by Rachel Brosnahan, Lois was intricate to the story.
#5. Eleven (Stranger Things). Eleven is no doubt a kick ass character, but she may still have some major action in the final season of Stranger Things at Christmas time.
#4. Yelena Belova (Thunderbolts*) Played by Florence Pugh, Yelena was the main character in the ensemble film, Thunderbolts*. Yelena was sensational in the film.
#3. Rumi, Mira, and Zoey (K-Pop Demon Hunters) One of the big surprises of the year, the K-Pop Demon Hunters battled demons and sang songs.
#2. Black Canary. One of my favorite mini series this year, Black Canary: Best of the Best wa one of my favorite DC books of the year, and was one reason why I started buying as many DC books as I did.
#1. Invisible Woman
She gave birth in space. She used her invisible shields to push Galactus through a portal, and it nearly cost her her life. Thankfully her ultimately powered baby was able to save her.
Vanessa Kirby was a major star of Fantastic Four: First Steps. Her final scenes with Galactus showed the power of a momma.
And the Anna Devane Kick Ass of the Year Award winner.
It has been a big year in Geek culture. Here are the Top 10 stories according to EYG of Geek culture from 2025.
#10. Neil Gaiman controversy. Neil Gaiman was an iconic writer with some of the best work ever. However, it was revealed that he was into some really gross things including sexual assaults, and he was done. It only got worse as the year moved along.
#9. TikTok stays of execution. At one point, it seemed as if TikTok was about to be banned by the US government because of the rumors that TikTok was a Chinese company and it was collecting info. However, it has gone all year with a couple of delays from Donald Trump and other politicians. What is the fate of TikTok? Who knows?
#8. Jack the Ripper’s identity is…. This year it was reported that mitochondrial DNA was found on a shawl found near a victim (Catherine Eddowes) and was a 100% match to Aaron Kosminski, one of the all time Ripper suspects. However, there are questions about the results and many believe that this is not the final answer.
#7. Brain Rot. 6-7. Rizz. Sigma. Skibiti Toilet. Cringe. Gyatt. Ohio. Some of these are slang that kids on TikTok and classrooms around the country are using. Some of these words are becoming literally real words.
#6. AI Developments. Artificial intelligence has become a major force in the world. Google has AI to answer questions searched with Gemini. There is ChatGPT, Magic School Bus, Siri, Alexa etc. Yes, we are on the path to our eventual AI overlords to take over the world.
#5. John Cena Retirement Tour. I am getting ready to watch the final match of John Cena’s career. he has been on a retirement tour this year in WWE. He had a heel turn that was massive, but did not work out perhaps as they wanted. Still, he has been willing to do anything all year long.
#4. Box Office Struggles. The Box office struggled in 2025, which included a 27-year low in October. There were too many flops and very few major hits (Lilo & Stitch and Zootopia 2 being the exceptions). The world of streaming has taken its chunk out of the theater experience and it does not seem to be changing any time soon. Hopefully with Avatar: Fire and Ash coming and then with a major Avengers movie next year, things will be improving.
#3. Jimmy Kimmel suspended. Kimmel was suspended by ABC for a comment/joke he made in response to the assassination of Charlie Kirk. The public would not accept this, and they revolted against ABC and Disney + lost many subscribers until ABC rescinded the suspension after a few days.
#2. Stephen Colbert canceled. However, unlike Kimmel, Stephen Colbert wound up canceled by CBS under the excuse that his ratings were low (though he was the #1 rated show in late night) and was costing too much money. Speculation was that Colbert was canceled as a way to help get Paramount’s merger with Skydance approved by the Trump administration. This has never been confirmed. Colbert’s final episode will come in May 2026.
#1. Netflix buys Warner Brothers.. or do they? Netflix won the bidding war for WB… with their 80+ billion dollar bid. However, Paramount, the rival in the attempt to buy the film company, planned to do a hostile takeover of WB, stealing it out from under Netflix’s nose. It is still up in the air about what the eventual owner of WB will be. Perhaps this has a chance to be the Top Geek Story of 2026 as well.
EYG- Embrace Your Geekness 