Well, 2025 has been a year. A year women on reality dating shows got fed up with “apolitical” men; a year a pair of filmmaking brothers both released solo projects about semi-famous athletes; a year a series finale ended in fecal waste. So much happened, and frankly, much of it feels like a blur.
For better or for worse, these cultural moments stood out.
Film's nerdiest moment: “Aspect Ratios with Sinners Director Ryan Coogler”
This Kodak video is a most perfect union of art and commerce, just like Sinners itself. In his distinctive, soothing Bay Area drawl, Coogler got super technical about the differences between each of his movie's available formats, while breaking things down in easily digestible layperson's terms. At a time when theater attendance continues to struggle, he made the best case for big screens, and he didn't need existing IP to do it.
Best running joke at an awards show: “Thank you, Sal Saperstein!” The Studio
In retrospect, host Nate Bargatze's dreadful Boys & Girls Club donation bit at this year's Emmys only made The Studio‘s parody of running gags on awards shows that much funnier. The bit starts when Adam Scott, playing himself, accepts a Golden Globe and impulsively thanks the guy who let him crash on the couch before his career took off: studio exec Sal Saperstein (Ike Barinholtz). Soon, every other winner â Quinta Brunson, Jean Smart, Aaron Sorkin, ZoÃŦ Kravitz â is thanking Sal, too. Most of them have no idea who Sal is. But even better is how each iteration of the corny, beaten-to-death joke eats away at Seth Rogen's spotlight-seeking studio head Matt Remick.