Every year, I try to compile a list of games, books, and movies I experienced. For the complete list, check the Ratings. Here we go (sorted by rating then alphabetically)!

NOTE: I believe this list is the one that is mostly incomplete. I will probably make additions to it time to time.

1. Anora (9★★★★★★★★★): My pick for the best movie of the year. The actress shows drama, comedy and sexuality.
2. Conclave (8★★★★★★★★): Superb performances. Tense with a plot twist.
3. I'm Still Here (8★★★★★★★★): The Brazilian movie about dictatorship from 70s. In other words: modern as ever.
4. Im not a Robot (8★★★★★★★★): Amazing short movie about the consequences of a CAPTCHA.
5. Prisoners (8★★★★★★★★): A dark and haunting exploration of morality and justice, with powerhouse performances and a gripping narrative
6. Star Wars The Empire Strikes Back (8★★★★★★★★): The only movie from the saga that I did not have a VHS to watch 1000 times. It’s really good, even for today’s standards.
7. The Brutalist (8★★★★★★★★): A visually stunning drama. An intersection of architecture, history, and personal resilience. Brody is Oscar-worthy.
8. The Day the Earth Stood Still (8★★★★★★★★): Cold War sci-fi at its most elegant. A film that trusts its message enough not to shout it.
9. The Princess Bride (8★★★★★★★★): I was told time after time that is goofy but memorable movie. I cannot agree more.
10. The Skin I Live In (8★★★★★★★★): Almodovar delivers one plot twist after another.
11. What We Do in the Shadows (8★★★★★★★★): A group of vampire friends with humor and absurdity in the best Monty Python style. I always like Taika Waititi’s directing and acting style.
12. A Quiet Place Day One (7★★★★★★★): The origins story.
13. After Hours (7★★★★★★★): One of the earlier Martin Scorsese movies, it’s a darkly comedic odyssey of unpredictability of a single chaotic night.
14. Dredd (7★★★★★★★): Lean, mean, and criminally underrated. Karl Urban never lifts the helmet and never needs to. The platonic ideal of a B-movie that knows exactly what it is.
15. Full Metal Jacket (7★★★★★★★): I’m definitively not a fan of Kubrick style.
16. Identity (7★★★★★★★): A psychological thriller filled with plot twists.
17. Scarface (7★★★★★★★): Excess, ambition, and violence in pure De Palma style. Iconic, but its length and melodrama can test patience.
18. The Apprentice (7★★★★★★★): If you already dislike Donald, it will just reinforce your vision. If you like him, it’s time to change sides.
19. The Substance (7★★★★★★★): Its visuals insist on sensations: desire, disgust, wants. It’s a mix of social criticism and B-movie horror.
20. Thief 1981 (7★★★★★★★): A gritty heist drama with existential undertones
21. Wicked (7★★★★★★★): Ariana Grande is really well. All the rest, passable.
22. Déjà Vu (6★★★★★★): The premise of seeing the past “in real time” is interesting. Once you get past that, it gets silly.
23. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (6★★★★★★): Sharp, self-aware neo-noir with crackling dialogue. Underrated at the time, still a fun ride.
24. You Were Never Really Here (6★★★★★★): The film itself is more mood than movie.
25. Emilia Pérez (5★★★★★): 13 nominations? It’s a boring movie, the songs are bad and forgettable (not to mention the ASMR presence). Unfortunately, it was caught in pointless controversies.
26. Ghost In The Shell (2017) (5★★★★★): Scarlett’s version is substantially more confusing and less engaging than the original animation. Only worth it if you’re marathoning both.
27. Mountainhead (5★★★★★): Ambitious ideas buried under murky execution.
28. The Day the Earth Stood Still 2010 (5★★★★★): A fraction from the original.
29. Crimes of Future 1958 (4★★★★): Cronenberg’s embryonic vision, interesting only as an artifact.

Documentaries

1. Incident (7★★★★★★★): A tense, meticulously assembled account that lets footage speak louder than commentary. Unsettling in the best documentary tradition.
2. The Elephant Whisperers (7★★★★★★★): Quietly beautiful. It says more about humanity than wildlife.
3. I am Ready Warden (7★★★★★★★)I am Ready Warden (6★★★★★★): Sobering and humane, but struggles to find a fresh angle on familiar ground.
4. The Only Girl in the Orchestra (5★★★★★)The Only Girl in the Orchestra (5★★★★★): You leave admiring the film, not the subject.

Animations

1. Robot Dreams (10★★★★★★★★★★): Beautiful, interesting, and moving.
2. Wander to Wonder (9★★★★★★★★★): great short stop motion animation.
3. Ghost In The Shell (8★★★★★★★★): Visual and thought-provoking spectacle. But it’s not easy to understand everything it proposes. A classic I had already watched in 2009.
4. In the Shadow of the Cypress (8★★★★★★★★): post-traumatic stress disorder

TV Shows

1. Adolescence (10★★★★★★★★★★): Four single-take episodes that hit like a gut punch. Devastating, precise, and impossible to shake.
2. The Last of Us (S1) (9★★★★★★★★★): Faithful where it matters, inventive where it dares. Episode 3 alone justifies the whole season.
3. 24 (S1) (8★★★★★★★★): Real-time tension that still holds up. Jack Bauer’s first day remains a masterclass in procedural propulsion.
4. Murderbot (S1) (7★★★★★★★): A lovably anxious killing machine just wants to watch TV shows. Charming adaptation that nails the voice if not always the pace.
5. Senna (2024) (7★★★★★★★): A series that is neither a documentary nor a work of fiction. And it’s average at both. Entire plots of no importance.
6. Severance (S2) (6★★★★★★): The mystery deepens but the momentum stalls. Gorgeous and maddening in equal measure — not always intentionally.
7. The Last of Us (S2) (6★★★★★★): Ambitious but overstretched. Loses the intimate focus that made S1 special, trading earned emotion for sprawling setup.

Every year, I try to compile a list of games, books, and movies I experienced. For the complete list, check the Ratings. Here we go (sorted by rating then alphabetically)!

Finished

1. Ghost of Tsushima (10★★★★★★★★★★): A love letter to samurai cinema that earns every frame. Stunning, emotional, and mechanically sublime — one of the finest open worlds ever crafted.
2. Kingdom Come: Deliverance (9★★★★★★★★★): Brutally authentic medieval RPG where you’re nobody and have to earn everything. Janky in places, unforgettable as a whole.
3. Is This Game Trying To Kill Me (8★★★★★★★★): A clever meta puzzle where the game-within-the-game bleeds into your cabin in creepy, inventive ways. Short (as a complement).
4. Outer Wilds: Echoes of the Eye (8★★★★★★★★): Darker and more oppressive than the base game — almost uncomfortably so. A bold detour that rewards patience with genuine dread.
5. Paradise Killer (8★★★★★★★★): CRAZY! Do not let the visuals fool you. Amazing. Loving this amazing true detective game where, as far as I know, you can draw any conclusion you want.
6. Stray (8★★★★★★★★): Beautifully crafted, like most Annapurna games. Playing as a cat is delightful, despite being more of a dog person.
7. Exit 8 (7★★★★★★★): A liminal horror loop built on observation and unease. Ingeniously simple premise that punishes distraction — and boredom.
8. Mouthwashing (7★★★★★★★): Psychological horror at finest. Since I’m not particularly fan of horror, the short length is very welcome.
9. The Operator (7★★★★★★★): A tense dispatch puzzle with moral weight lurking beneath each call. Quiet and unsettling in the best way.
10. The Outer Worlds (7★★★★★★★): Playing a lot due the fact I’m recently folowing it’s creator, Tim Cain, channel.
11. The Still Wakes the Deep (7★★★★★★★): Claustrophobic Scottish horror on a collapsing oil rig. Atmosphere thick enough to drown in, even if the gameplay is thin.
12. Dying Light (6★★★★★★): Parkour zombies done well. The gameplay is tense; the story is not.
13. Overtime Anomaly (6★★★★★★): A competent anomaly-hunter that does its job without overstaying its welcome.
14. Trash Goblin (5★★★★★): Charming little hoarding sim with a cozy loop.

Currently Playing

1. Doki Doki Literature Club: Out of the ordinary for your taste, but the reviews piqued your interest.
2. Lorelei and the Laser Eyes (6★★★★★★):
3. Card Shark (8★★★★★★★★): A clever, daring game of wit and deceit. Masterful storytelling paired with sleight-of-hand mechanics keeps you hooked.
4. Ghost Trick (8★★★★★★★★): A fresh take on puzzle-solving with a quirky Japanese humor.
5. Inscryption (8★★★★★★★★): Starts as a clever card game, but quickly spirals into a narrative masterpiece with layers of meta-storytelling. It’s a wild ride through different genres.
6. Paradigm (8★★★★★★★★): old style adventure game with a amazing, but not for everyone, humor.
7. The Dungeon of Naheulbeuk: The Amulet of Chaos (8★★★★★★★★): Didn’t see it coming, a genuinely funny classic turn-based RPG with top-notch humor.
8. Death's Door (7★★★★★★★): A charming yet challenging journey through a world of souls and secrets. Sharp combat and quiet melancholy blend perfectly.
9. Desktop Dungeons (7★★★★★★★): I’ve played a demo web version of it ages ago and i liked so much that I’ve even bought Dungeons of Dredmor by mistake. I’ve never remembered the name the one I liked but recently they created a remaster and gave the original for free. Very clever and hard.
10. Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit Remaster (7★★★★★★★): High-speed thrills with a nostalgic edge, but the polish only goes so far.
11. Overland (7★★★★★★★): A puzzle game with a post-apocalyptic theme.
12. Tunic (7★★★★★★★): In the very early stages. I do not like games that too vague stories. But this one seems to have a reason.
13. Very Little Nightmares (6★★★★★★): Atmospheric dread and fun scaled down.
14. Ghost of a Tale (7★★★★★★★): Followed the development process for quite some time because it was made using Unity. Looks charming and intriguing.
15. XCOM 2 (6★★★★★★): Time to dive into this much-praised strategy game.

Not finished yet (for one reason or another)

Many projects barely begun. Installed to test, but mostly in limbo—WIP or collecting dust. Unfinished tales of exploration and hesitation.

1. Disco Elysium: The Final Cut (9★★★★★★★★★): Holy moly! Got it from my brother on my birthday, had only a couple of minutes to play, but it’s already shaping up to be a favorite.
2. Gris (8★★★★★★★★): Beautiful first level.
3. Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun (8★★★★★★★★): Liked the thinking in this game. Definitely one I’ll try to complete sooner than later.
4. Deus Ex: Mankind Divided (7★★★★★★★): liked the first title, Deus Ex: Human Revolution (8★★★★★★★★), but this one is a far inferior game. The story is not nice and the gameplay is not fun so far.

Continuous playing

I play them eventually. Most of them, are strategy games. Nothing new from last years list, except:

1. Crusader Kings 3 (8★★★★★★★★): Time sucker, like many Paradox titles.
2. while True: learn() (8★★★★★★★★): Logic programming puzzles. Amazingly fun and challenging for a programmer. The special bonuses for optimized solutions request multiple plays for each scenario.
3. Baba Is You (7★★★★★★★): Played some levels, up to the second or third “world.” SUPER clever.
4. Horizon Chase Turbo (7★★★★★★★): A love letter to classic arcade racers. Pure, nostalgic fun, though it occasionally lacks depth.

Next games on my radar

Finally, here is a list of games that I already have in my collection that I plan to play in the next months. Its a bit ridiculous to talk about next game, considering the amount of unfinished ones, but the catalogue is so vast that I can afford to play ahead.

1. Heavy Rain: Anticipating another story-driven experience to enjoy with your wife.
2. Hitman: Hoping to take a more relaxed approach this time after a perfectionist run of Contracts.
3. Prey Mooncrash: I’m a fan of time travel/time loop ideas. I bought it but days later I got Deathloop (9★★★★★★★★★) (following game from the same company) for free.
4. We Are There Together: Bought to play with my wife, but not included in Play Together on Steam. Considering convincing another soul to play with me

Every year, I try to compile a list of games, books, and movies I experienced. For the complete list, check the Ratings. Here we go (sorted by rating then alphabetically)!

I’ve maintained the habit of reading, mostly through audiobooks during my daily dog walks, for several years. It adds a layer of engagement to my routine, turning a no-brainer task into an opportunity for thought. Without it, I’d feel like I’m merely walking without purpose.

Here’s a list of books from this year, a selection not exhaustive but those that linger in my memory. As I often forget to update my GoodReads records or write about them on this blog, these are the ones that come to mind. I’ll edit this post if I recall additional entries.

Fiction

1. Doce Cuentos Peregrinos (8★★★★★★★★): García Márquez at his most playful. Twelve tales of Latin Americans adrift in Europe, each soaked in magical realism and melancholy. Uneven.
2. Lock In (7★★★★★★★): Not the best from Scalzi. Near-future politics feel thrillingly urgent. A brisk, clever mystery wrapped in smart worldbuilding — great fun, if a little lightweight.

Non Fiction

1. Que bobagem! (9★★★★★★★★★): A delightful dismantling of everyday myths and pseudoscience. Accessible, sharp, and surprisingly funny — science communication done exactly right.
2. How to Keep House While Drowning (7★★★★★★★): Compassionate and practical. A gentle reframe of household tasks for those struggling mentally — short, kind, and worth every page.
3. Your Author Business Plan (6★★★★★★): Solid foundations for writers thinking about their career strategically, but feels generic at times. Better as a checklist than a read.
4. Poverty America (6★★★★★★): Well-intentioned and sobering, but uneven in depth. Raises the right questions without always digging far enough into the answers.

The USA’s Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is about to host the annual Oscar Awards. These are the movies that I watched and can comment on.

1. Anora (9★★★★★★★★★): My pick for the best movie of the year. The actress shows drama, comedy and sexuality.
2. Conclave (8★★★★★★★★): Superb performances. Tense with a plot twist.
3. Dune: Part Two (8★★★★★★★★): A sci-fi epic of stunning scope and spectacle. Villeneuve balances grandiosity with intimate character moments.
4. I'm Still Here (8★★★★★★★★): The Brazilian movie about dictatorship from 70s. In other words: modern as ever.
5. The Brutalist (8★★★★★★★★): A visually stunning drama. An intersection of architecture, history, and personal resilience. Brody is Oscar-worthy.
6. The Substance (7★★★★★★★): Its visuals insist on sensations: desire, disgust, wants. It’s a mix of social criticism and B-movie horror.
7. Emilia Pérez (5★★★★★): 13 nominations? It’s a boring movie, the songs are bad and forgettable (not to mention the ASMR presence). Unfortunately, it was caught in pointless controversies.

Documentaries

1. Incident (7★★★★★★★): A tense, meticulously assembled account that lets footage speak louder than commentary. Unsettling in the best documentary tradition.
2. I am Ready Warden (7★★★★★★★)I am Ready Warden (6★★★★★★): Sobering and humane, but struggles to find a fresh angle on familiar ground.
3. The Only Girl in the Orchestra (5★★★★★)The Only Girl in the Orchestra (5★★★★★): You leave admiring the film, not the subject.

Animations

1. Wander to Wonder (9★★★★★★★★★): great short stop motion animation.
2. In the Shadow of the Cypress (8★★★★★★★★): post-traumatic stress disorder

Every year, I try to compile a list of games, books, and movies I experienced. For the complete list, check the Ratings. Here we go (sorted by rating, then alphabetically)!

NOTE: I believe this list is the one that is mostly incomplete. I will probably make additions to it, time to time.

1. One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest (10★★★★★★★★★★): A timeless exploration of rebellion, freedom, and madness, with Nicholson delivering an unforgettable performance. A film that captures both hope and despair in one breath.
2. Game Night (9★★★★★★★★★): A chaotic, clever, and hilarious rollercoaster where every twist lands perfectly. Surprisingly sharp and self-aware for a comedy.
3. Leaving Las Vegas (9★★★★★★★★★): Raw, heartbreaking, and utterly devastating. Cage and Shue lay their souls bare in this tragic descent into addiction.
4. Past Lives (9★★★★★★★★★): A delicate, melancholic meditation on love, fate, and missed chances. Quietly profound and achingly human.
5. The Invisible Guest (9★★★★★★★★★): Our first movie entirely in Spanish since we moved to Peru. Twists and tension done right, keeping you guessing until the very end. A sleek, tightly-woven thriller.
6. The Thing (1982) (9★★★★★★★★★): Paranoia, horror, and practical effects at their peak. Carpenter’s chilling masterpiece.
7. The Whale (9★★★★★★★★★): A gut-wrenching portrait of redemption and regret, anchored by Fraser’s vulnerable and transformative performance.
8. Tropic Thunder (9★★★★★★★★★): Hollywood satire dialed up to 11, skewering industry egos and excess with wild, unfiltered humor. Somehow both ridiculous and incisive.
9. All The President's Men (8★★★★★★★★): Journalism’s finest hour on film, unraveling a scandal with a relentless pursuit of truth.
10. Bernie (8★★★★★★★★): Dark humor meets small-town crime with charm. Jack Black shines in one of his most nuanced performances.
11. Dune: Part Two (8★★★★★★★★): A sci-fi epic of stunning scope and spectacle. Villeneuve balances grandiosity with intimate character moments.
12. High and Low (8★★★★★★★★): A Akira Kurosawa masterful moral thriller of ransom and class, showing the fine line between privilege and desperation.
13. Palm Springs (8★★★★★★★★): Groundhog Day meets millennial cynicism with a heart. A time-loop comedy that’s surprisingly existential. Better than I expected.
14. Poor Things (8★★★★★★★★): Surreal, inventive, and delightfully strange. Stone’s performance is fearless, and the world is bizarrely beautiful.
15. Popstar Never Stop Never Stopping (8★★★★★★★★): Satirical absurdity in perfect harmony, mercilessly mocking the music industry while delivering bangers.
16. Seven Samurai (8★★★★★★★★): Kurosawa’s blueprint for action epics, combining heart, strategy, and heroism.
17. Silence (8★★★★★★★★): A quiet descent into faith and suffering. Scorsese’s understated masterpiece asks hard questions with haunting beauty.
18. A Most Violent Year (7★★★★★★★): Crime and integrity clash in a snow-covered 1980s New York. A slow-burning, tension-filled character study.
19. Anatomy of a Fall (7★★★★★★★): A courtroom drama that dissects more than just a case. A slow-burn character study wrapped in ambiguity.
20. Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (7★★★★★★★): Stay classy, comedy fans. A ridiculous, quotable romp that never takes itself seriously.
21. Colossus: The Forbin Project (7★★★★★★★): AI paranoia before it was cool. A chilling look at humanity’s hubris in the face of technology.
22. Donnie Darko (7★★★★★★★): Disturbing, puzzling, and oh so cult-worthy. A time-twisting tale of teenage angst and existential dread.
23. Metropolis (7★★★★★★★): The foundation of sci-fi cinema, a vision still ahead of its time. Note that today, only heavily edited versions of it exist.
24. Take Shelter (7★★★★★★★): A slow-burn descent into anxiety and uncertainty.
25. This Is the End (7★★★★★★★): Self-aware apocalypse, dripping with absurdity, with celebrities roast themselves while the world burns.
26. Upstream Color (7★★★★★★★): A hypnotic puzzle only the boldest try to solve.
27. The Zone of Interest (7★★★★★★★): The horror lies in its mundane perspective. Oscar worthy of either “international movie” or “best picture”, but not both.
28. Civil War (7★★★★★★★): A tense and unsettling exploration of a fractured, grim and plausible America.
29. Primal Fear (7★★★★★★★): A gripping legal thriller with a twist that lingers. Norton’s breakout performance steals the show.
30. Killers of the Flower Moon (6★★★★★★): A tragic epic that loses its sharp edge. Brilliant performances can’t quite save the bloated runtime.
31. The Thing (2011) (6★★★★★★): Decent. A shadow of its predecessor’s brilliance.
32. Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning (5★★★★★): Tom Cruise runs; the thrill fades. 85% what they talk is one-liners.
33. Mr. Nobody (5★★★★★): The concept is interesting, but the movie in boring.
34. Waking Life (4★★★★): Interesting visuals drags.

Documentaries

1. RoboDoc: The Creation of RoboCop (8★★★★★★★★): Super nostalgic documentary about the creation of the first movie.
2. Period. End of Sentence (8★★★★★★★★): A powerful, concise look at the fight for menstrual taboos.
3. Nai Nai (7★★★★★★★): A tender and simple portrayal of family bonds across generations.
4. The Last Repair Shop (7★★★★★★★): A heartfelt tribute to unsung heroes keeping music alive, one instrument at a time.

Animations

1. Nimona (9★★★★★★★★★): Bold, vibrant, and full of rebellious energy. A dazzling blend of sci-fi, fantasy, and self-acceptance.
2. Elemental (5★★★★★): I did not like even the visuals, over-saturated.

TV Shows

1. Arcane S1 (10★★★★★★★★★★): A stunning explosion of art, lore, and character depth.
2. Shogun (10★★★★★★★★★★): A masterclass in historical drama, rich and ruthless.
3. Arcane S2 (8★★★★★★★★): Continue to be stylish, but abuse of numerous character timelines with looong playoffs. In several episodes, you end up without knowing what you’ve just watched.
4. House of the Dragon S2 (7★★★★★★★): Dragons characters are cool, but the humans ones are most lame.
5. Severance S1 (7★★★★★★★): Clever, eerie, and just a bit too enigmatic.
6. 3 Body Problem S1 (6★★★★★★): Sci-fi that starts strong, then it becomes less than Lost or Heroes final seasons.