Jump to
Books | Movies | Music | Church Calendar | Anniversaries | Life | Marketplace
[BOOKS]
10 Books to Read in 2025
How do you know what books to pick up? It won’t be easy this year, so we built this surely incomplete, maybe a bit controversial, bound-to-change list to help. As always, we left off some undoubtedly good books, as well as some headline-grabbers. But since there’s no way the algorithm lets you miss those, we offer some help with everything else. —Editors
[MOVIES]
12 Movies to Watch in 2025
A new year brings new movies, which is, in my humble estimation, always cause for celebration. As we live and move in tumultuous times, good films can act as messages in bottles that we toss into the roiling seas of uncertainty and fear, in the hopes of reminding each other of our shared humanity. As a lifelong lover of movies, I am particularly fond of genre flicks: B movies, sci-fi stories, horror tales, low budget escapades. Pack a film with equal parts heart and practical effects, and I’m all in.
I’m sure I’ll be surprised by movies in 2025 that I haven’t even heard of yet, but for now, here are the 12 that I’m especially excited to see as soon as possible. —Jeremy Hunt
Companion
Directed by by Drew Hancock
Release date: 01.31.25
One of my favorite films of 2022 was Barbarian, a horror mystery that seemingly came out of nowhere. That film’s director/writer, Zac Cregger, is a producer on Companion, which is being described a psychological thriller. The first preview gives nothing away about the actual story, but the visuals look bonkers in the best way possible.
The Monkey
Directed by Oz Perkins
Releases: 02.21.25
A Stephen King story adaptation from the director of Longlegs? I’m in, hook, line, and sinker.
The Gorge
Directed by Scott Derrickson
Releases: 02.14.25
I’ve been a member of the Scott Derrickson fan club for years, going back to the first time I saw The Exorcism of Emily Rose. He regularly mixes questions of faith with horrific situations in really compelling ways, so I’ll always be game for whatever he’s creating. The Gorge appears to be a creature horror story, with a solid dose of romance woven in. Appropriately enough, it comes out on Valentine’s Day, so if you and your significant other are into creepy mysteries this might make for a perfect date night.
Ash
Directed by Flying Lotus
Releases: 03.21.25
Very little has been revealed about Ash, other than the stunning sci-fi visuals in the preview. Flying Lotus’ previous film work (he’s also a rapper and DJ) has been equal parts unhinged and wildly creative. Cannot wait to see what he’s cooked up here.
Mickey 17
Directed by Bong Joon-ho
Releases: 04.18.25
Robert Pattinson routinely makes really interesting choices with his film roles, and this sci-fi dark comedy looks to continue that streak. Bong Joon-ho is responsible for one of my favorite sci-fi films in recent years (Snowpiercer) and I’m excited to see what he’ll be bringing to this genre with this one.
The Life of Chuck
Directed by Mike Flanagan
Releases: 05.30.25
Director Mike Flanagan crafted one of the most astounding pieces of religiously minded TV a few years back with Midnight Mass. I was already a fan of his work through films like Hush, Gerald’s Game, and Doctor Sleep, but Midnight Mass was a tour de force. Flanagan returns to the world of Stephen King adaptations with this one, and it should be a lot of fun.
28 Years Later
Directed by Danny Boyle
Releases: 06.20.25
A second sequel to 28 Days Later has been rumored for so long that I’m still somewhat in shock that this is actually happening. The first two 28 … movies are two of my favorite pieces of zombie storytelling (yeah, yeah, they’re infected, not zombies, okay), so I can’t wait to see where they take us next. The first preview is tense, uncertain, and reveals a world that is still reckoning with humanity’s experiments with the rage gone wrong.
Tron: Ares
Directed by Joachim Rønning
Releases: 10.10.25
I have a lot of love for Tron: Legacy, so much so that I feel like I’m in the minority on this. Everyone loves Daft Punk’s score, but the movie itself? Seems to be a much more mixed bag on that front. Either way, I’m stoked for more stories from The Grid. Details are scarce at this point, but we should once again have a killer soundtrack as Nine Inch Nails are on board for this one.
Predator: Badlands
Directed by Dan Trachtenberg
Releases: 11.07.25
Trachtenberg is responsible for what might be the best film in the Predator series, 2022’s prequel, Prey. Focusing on an area in the Great Plains in the 1700s, the movie pitted a group of Comanches against the outer-space monster and it was outstanding, across the board. Badlands is actually the second Predator movie for 2025 that Trachtenberg has directed, but the other one is a secret project, so we’re going with the one that we actually have a title and release date for. Can’t wait to see this.
Havoc
Directed by Gareth Evans
Releases: 2025
There’s not a firm release date yet for Havoc, beyond 2025 in general. That said, given Evans’ past work on the Raid movies and the cult-horror film, The Apostle, any new work from him and his creative collaborators is to be greeted with great anticipation. His eye for pacing, detail, and quite frankly, action sequences that are head and shoulders above whatever anyone else is doing, makes Havoc a must-see as soon as possible.
The Toxic Avenger
Directed by Macon Blair
Releases: 2025 (hopefully)
To bring it all home, I conclude with an attempt at wishful thinking/manifesting. This reimagining (reboot?) of the 1984 splatter-fest actually premiered at Fantastic Fest in 2023. The early feedback from that screening (and a couple others) was largely positive, but since then, news about the film has been scarce at best. Rumors suggest that it might be too gory and graphic for any distributors to buy it, but here’s hoping that it actually sees the light of day some time during 2025.
[ANNIVERSARIES]
The Trial of the Century
Some called its weighty reporting a “headline of the century.” In 1925, John Scopes, age 24, was arrested for teaching evolution in his classroom in Dayton, Tennessee. He was convicted and fined $100 for his violation of the Butler Act, a new law that prohibited the teaching of evolution in public school classrooms. The opponents, in the eyes of many, were two: religion and science, not just the state of Tennessee and a young high-school teacher. One hundred years later, the events carry weight, as a recent article in The Atlantic put it, as “a moment when a relatively young country showed itself to be without tact or sense.” It isn’t exactly a moment left behind, either, the author of a new book released near the 100-year anniversary, Brenda Wineapple, might say. Even today, it’s the politics of fear characterizing the case that sound all too familiar.
Read more on the 100th anniversary:
The Fight for Daylight Savings Time
Just a few weeks ago, daylight savings made the news (again). President-elect Donald Trump, according to a number of reports, said he will do away with all the falling back and springing forward once and for all. Whether that will happen is yet to be seen. Regardless, people tend to have strong opinions. It wouldn’t be the first time the U.S. has experimented with major reform to the time change.
In 1974, President Richard Nixon signed year-round daylight savings time into law, which meant clocks would spring forward and stay that way. The change moved clocks forward one hour that January, but the decision was not popular. According to a New York Times report that year, Americans who supported the change in January rather quickly changed their minds because of the dark winter mornings, and support for permanent daylight savings time dropped from 79 percent to 42 percent.
In the end, clocks fell back again in October thanks to President Gerald Ford. And clocks in America sprang forward early — in February — in 1975.
Jane Austen’s 250th
The beloved Jane Austen was born 250 years ago this December. Her work has been translated into over 35 languages according to the Jane Austen literary foundation. Most famous among them are her six novels:
Sense and Sensibility
Pride and Prejudice
Mansfield Park
Emma
Northanger Abbey
Persuasion
If it is Jane’s 250th birthday, we should also celebrate that it is the anniversary of the 1995 adaptation of Pride and Prejudice from BBC TV and the 2005 adaptation from Focus Features. In the past 30 years alone there have been more than 70 film and TV adaptations of her stories.
[LIFE]
This Could Be Your Organized Era
If it wasn’t your resolution, it is now. You’re taking on that drawer in the kitchen.
Four tips
1. Commit to the bit. Don’t give yourself more to do than you’ve made time for.
2. Ask yourself what the goal is.
3. Decide what to keep and what to toss first. (You probably don’t need to organize your trash.)
4. Think in categories, not spaces.
“One of the most common mistakes people make is to tidy room by room,” organization’s (embattled) guru Maria Kondo says. “This approach doesn’t work because people think they have tidied up when in fact they have only shuffled their things around from one location to another or scattered items in the same category around the house, making it impossible to get an accurate grasp of the volume of things they actually own.”
The two-minute rule
American productivity consultant David Allen, author of Getting Things Done, says if a task will take fewer than two minutes, you’ll spend even more time on it just adding it to your to-do list. For a two-minute task, it’s better to tackle it right away.
Organizing is trending (really)
Acrylic containers, preprinted labels, or modular kits. The Freedonia Group, a market research firm, reported in early 2024: “The home organization industry is shaking off the dust of the minimalist trend as a wave of cozy TikTok design trends like ‘cluttercore’ and ‘goblincore’ redefines what it means to be organized. While demand growth for home organization products moderates from pandemic highs, sales are forecast to rise to $15.3 billion by 2028.”
[MUSIC]
We Don’t Know It All (But We Like What We Know)
Rule No.1 of the music-streaming age: Expect the unexpected.
We live in a (streaming) music age in which the most popular singer in the world may up and drop a moody, subpar album at any moment. Many artists simply don’t announce new music like they used to. But based on what we do know, the music year 2025 is shaping up. Yes, plenty of radio pop will happen — headlined so far by Lady Gaga (LG7, date unannounced) and The Weeknd (Hurry Up Tomorrow, January 24) — and a few indie favorites appear set to re-emerge — we’re looking at you, Franz Ferdinand (The Human Fear, January 10). Here’s what else we know so far.
Announced without (much) detail
Switchfoot
Debut to catch
Nolan Taylor (Atlantic) Nolan Taylor
January 10
The bare, full-throated heartbreak that caught YouTube’s attention are present, but with a gentler, more polished studio sound. And love songs.
Welcome (back) invasion
Oh! The Oceans (AWAL Recordings) The Wombats
February 21
If nothing else, the new album from the UK’s chart-topping trio wins an award for best song title: “Sorry I’m Late, I Didn’t Want to Come.”
Quietly exciting
Lefty (Thirty Tigers) Penny and Sparrow
January 31
In relative obscurity, Penny and Sparrow have been making interesting music for nearly 15 years. The song “Cheers to Good Friends ” fits that body of work.
Heat check
Curioso (Dualtone) Wilder Woods
February 7
The solo project of Bear Rinehart, frontman of NEEDTOBREATHE, continues. And the early release collaboration with My Morning Jacket’s Jim James will be worth the whole album.
Your ideal most-played of 2025
A Ghost Is Born (Expanded Edition) (Nonesuch) Wilco
February 7
Twenty years after Ghost’s original release, the Grammy-laden outfit from Chicago is rereleasing an expanded version. Jeff Tweedy’s storytelling is always worth it.
Your actual most-played album of 2025
KIDZ BOP 50 (Kids Pop) Kidz Bop Kids
January 17
No one is asking for it, but it’s happening.
[CHURCH]
The Liturgical Year
We all juggle a number of calendars — work, school, family, service, sports, clubs, holidays, and more. The church calendar, however, is consistent each year. The seasons of Advent, Christmas and Epiphany, Lent and Easter, and Pentecost remind us regularly of the miracle of Christ’s coming, his sacrifice for us, the gift of the Holy Spirit, and the promises of God. Make note of them for 2025.
Epiphany (Monday, January 6)
In opposition to pagan festivals that celebrated the Winter Solstice on January 6, Christians began to celebrate Jesus’ divinity on this day, including his birth, the coming of the Magi, his baptism, and the wedding at Cana. By the fourth century, the Winter Solstice was celebrated on December 25. January 6 is associated with the coming of the Magi or Three Kings Day.
Lent (Wednesday, March 5 – Saturday, April 19)
Lent begins with Ash Wednesday and continues through Easter Sunday. The season now known as Lent comes from an Old English word meaning “spring,” the time of lengthening days.
Holy week:
Palm Sunday, April 13
Maundy Thursday, April 17
Good Friday, April 18
Holy Saturday, April 19
Easter (Sunday, April 20)
The feast of Christ’s resurrection. Easter falls on the first Sunday after the full moon on or after the vernal equinox.
Pentecost (Monday, June 9 – Saturday, November 29)
Begins the Monday after the Day of Pentecost.
Ordinary Time (January 12 – March 4, June 9 – November 29)
A season of living in faith, outside seasons of feasting or preparation. This season begins Monday after the celebration of the baptism of our Lord and continues through the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday. And Monday after Pentecost, through the Saturday before the first Sunday of Advent).
[MARKETPLACE]
Here’s What Wall Street’s Big Players Expect in 2025
As a new year nears, Wall Street banks and investment firms publish outlooks for the coming year to inform their investors. Here’s how some of the big money brokers are looking at the coming year.
GDP growth will slow to around 1.5 percent by late 2025, predicts Barry Bannister, Stifel’s Chief Investment Strategist.
“The S&P 500 has had 4 prior P/E ratio over-valuation ‘manias’ above the 150Y [year] trendline — and 2024 is the 5th mania,” Bannister said. Source: Forbes
Interest-rate cuts from the Federal Reserve, combined with improving economic growth and (potential) deregulation by the Trump administration, should encourage investors, according to Morgan Stanley Chief Investment Officer Mike Wilson.
“A potential rise in corporate animal spirits post the election (as we saw following the 2016 election) could catalyze a more balanced earnings profile across the market in 2025,” Wilson said. Source: Reuters
The stock market will react favorably to a continued easing in monetary policy, predicts BMO strategist Brian Belski.
“If you look at monetary policy and fiscal policy, that’s what really drives markets, and the train has left the station with respect to monetary policy becoming more loose,” Belski said. Source: Business Insider
A recession in 2025 will spark a 26 percent decline in the S&P 500, predicts BCA Research strategist Peter Berezin.
“Hopes of a soft landing failed to materialize in 2025 as a trade war and a bond market riot pushed the global economy into a recession,” Berezin said, as though he were looking back on 2025. Source: Business Insider
Consumer strength shapes a bullish view of the stock market, according to JPMorgan strategist Dubravko Lakos-Bujas, who added that U.S. households are benefiting from a tight labor market and hold record wealth ($165 trillion).
“US equities should remain supported by the expanding business cycle, US Exceptionalism that is helping broaden the AI cycle and earnings growth, ongoing easing by global central banks and the wind-down of Fed’s QT in 1Q,” Lakos-Bujas said. Source: Yahoo! Finance
