2025 was one hell of a year for Pop Break, and I could not be more proud.
This article is being published on New Year’s Eve 2025, just mere hours before the Stranger Things series finale, and the ball dropping in Times Square. We surpassed 400,000 views for the year — the most traffic Pop Break has amassed in quite a number of years. We’ve been to invited to SXSW (Music and Film Festivals), The Toronto International Film Festival, New York Film Festival, All Elite Wrestling PPV’s and media scrums, we were on the voting committee for the returning Asbury Park Music Awards, the Sea.Hear.Now Music Festival, the grand opening of the first-ever Netflix House, and the most wild thing of all — we were on a panel at San Diego Comic-Con this year (and by we, I mean our Podcast Director, Alex Marcus).
We’ve brought on new writers, podcasters, and photographers. The music and comic books section were completely revitalized. Our coverage of film and television became even more robust. Our podcast network continues to grow its audience with so many brand new guests joining our shows. The feeling, the vibes as the kids would say, on Pop Break this year are hitting way differently than they have in years. So many of the goals I set behind the scenes were smashed almost instantly thanks to this team.
Every time I think about this year, a smile comes across my face and I just want to pump my fist in the air. This year has been a complete team effort, and I can never thank this team for all their hard work.
On a personal level, I was able to capitalize on the Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson “fight” from last year breaking my two-year run of Writer’s Block. I set a goal for myself to write 100 solo articles on this site. I am happy to report that this article right here is my 150th. It feels great to dive head-first back into writing. It feels great to be able to interview bands in a live setting again this year as opposed to hiding behind email interviews. I learned so much more about myself, and became more confident in so many ways this year due to Pop Break.
It’s been a great ride, and I hope to continue it in 2026. So until then, I bid 2025 adieu with a list of some of my favorite films, TV shows, albums and songs from this year.
Movies:
- One Battle After Another – The best movie of 2025, as well as one of the best movies of the century. Paul Thomas Anderson creates one of the best action-comedies in forever, but never loses the sense of social and moral importance of the film. Leonardo DiCaprio and Benicio del Toro are dynamite together. Sean Penn delivers one of his best performances of all-time. Chase Infiniti and Teyana Taylor punched their ticket to super-stardom in this film. Run, don’t walk for this one. It’s currently on HBO MAX.
- Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle – I binged the entire series with my daughter this summer, and it’s easily one of my all-time favorite anime. The film, which is just part one of a trilogy concluding in 2029 (hopefully), is a fantastical sprint of a film. Infinity Castle is visually stunning, loaded with action, and yet still has the trademark Demon Slayer heart to it.
- Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery – This film inspired me to go to confession at my local church, and I had one of the best religious moments of my 40+ year Catholic life. Well done, Rian Johnson. Josh O’Connor is a damn movie star, and steals this film from Daniel Craig with grace and ease. Josh Brolin eats scenes with great viscosity, while Glenn Close gives one of her most memorable performances in the past 25 years.
Thunderbolts*: People are down on Marvel right now, and it’s obvious so many people skipped one of the best Marvel movies post-Endgame. While it has the patented Marvel action and humor, it’s also a great story about trauma, loss and rising above all that through self-love.
KPop Demon Hunters: It’s the most watched Netflix movie for a reason. It’s a crowd-pleasing, stunningly animated film that moves fast but never cuts corners with its characters. And of course, the songs are absolutely golden.
Albums:
Horizon by Daniel Donato’s Cosmic Country: This absolutely sublime blend of old school Americana, outlaw country, evergreen psychedelia, and tinges of jam and classic rock make for one of the most unique and unforgettable sonic journeys of the year. The album kicks off with “Blame The Train” which feels like it was recorded in 1912 is a throwback to classic Americana and country, while the closing track “Down Bedford” thrusts us forward into the cosmos with its psychedelic and surreal vibes.The standout track here is “Valhalla” which feels like it was lifted off a Grateful Dead album and reinterpreted through the ether of Nashville country and Sprinsteen-ian storytelling with a spike of breezy psychedelia. It’s the most wonderful song to listen to on a drive in the fall with the leaves changing colors in front of you — but it’s also a timeless song of peace and happiness — something we all could use these days.
Yellow Jacket by Dispatch: The almighty Dispatch dropped a beautiful album with breezy rock reggae vibes, and socially conscious lyrics. Listening to this album performed live only heightened this experience even more. “Trinket,” “Whisk Me Away” and the title track are first ballot entrants on some of the band’s all-timers.
Brad Corrigan of Dispatch on ‘Yellow Jacket,’ Activism & Artistry and Ileana’s Smile
For the People by Dropkick Murphys: If you ever feel the need to be inspired to pick up a social cause and help your fellow man, then listen to this album from Dropkick.
Preacher Kids by Robert Randolph: Sans The Family Band, Jersey’s favorite slide guitarist creates one of his most complete records of all hits and no misses.
Robert Randolph on Going Solo, Preacher Kids, Football & His Favorite New Jersey Meals
Feed the Fire by Pigeons Playing Ping Pong: It’s a good time jam band funk sound, and sometimes you just need that in your life.”
Top 15 Songs (Listen, it’s my column I can cheat a bit):
- “Valhalla” by Daniel Donato’s Cosmic Country
- “As Alive As You Need Me” by Nine Inch Nails
- “Melt Like Plastic” by Chali 2 Na & Cut Chemist
- “Born in the USA – Demo Version 1982” by Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band
- “Dance with the Europeans” by London Suede
- “Thatch – Live from MSG” by Goose
- “Sinner” by Robert Randolph
- “Hell Yeah” by Pigeons Playing Ping Pong
- “Lord Humongous” by Black Label Society
- “Whisk Me Away” by Dispatch
- “Broken Glass” by Neil Francis & Say She She
- “Ensenada” by Sublime
- “Baby Jupiter” by Soulive
- “Gun to My Head” by Crobot
- “Guess I’m Falling in Love” by Spoon
TV Shows:
Andor: Andor Season 2 is not just the best series of 2025. It’s the best series to ever air on Disney+. It’s the best Star Wars property produced by Disney. It’s one of the best seasons of television to air in this decade. Season 2, which dropped in three, three-episode batches, was a masterful tale of war, intrigue, love, loss and hope. The dynamite script is bolstered by out of this world performances by Diego Luna, Denise Gough, Genevieve O’Reilly, Elizabeth Dulau, Stellan Skarsgård and Kyle Soller. The season is so evergreen in its story, yet feels so prescient at the same time. The season was littered with iconic moments from rave robots, to Benjamin Bratt swearing, to the tragic massacre at Gorman … it all hits so hard and so perfectly.
Daredevil: Born Again Season 1: The bar was set so high for Daredevil: Born Again. It had to match the exquisite quality of the first three seasons which aired on Netflix. While it wasn’t as perfect as those shows were, DBA was still one of the most thrilling, visceral and engrossing weekly series of 2025. Charlie Cox and Vincent D’Onofrio were a tour de force, while the peppering of Bethel, Bernthal and Woll were the perfect bits of seasoning for this season. The finale promises that 2026’s second season will only be that much better.
Stranger Things Season 5: While this column drops before the finale, it’s still safe to say that this one of the best seasons of television for 2025. It’s paying off on the hype, it’s delivering great, memorable moments, and the structure of the series’ release is allowing us to have time to breathe and really soak in our final moments with the Hawkins crew.
AEW Dynamite: I’ll never get tired of AEW wrestling 52 weeks a year. Dynamite provides the best in-ring wrestling I’ve ever witnessed. It’s truly been a blessing to have this series running every week since October 2019.
Great British Baking Show: The best comfort television known to man. Every Friday from September through November, I sit home with my family to watch this warm hug of a show. It makes me happy.
