Top 10 Films of 2025

 My usual end of the year list of the top 10 films. Explanations coming in a week.

1 - Flow

2 - Mickey 17

3 - Superman

4 - F1

5 - Roofman

6 - Nosferatu - I don't normally put any explanations in this version of the post but this was the most frustrating film of the year. It has literally been every position on this list from 2 to 8 depending on how I feel on the day. It may move before next week. It may move before the next hour.

7 - Predator: Badlands

8 - The Phoenician Scheme

9 - Thunderbolts/New Avengers

10 - Mission Impossible: Final Reckoning

Formula 1 2025 - Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

 Part of everyone's suspicion of how neatly everything came together for a finale at Abu Dhabi is they have paid for the final race, presumably in the hope of getting excitement.

And this year they still didn't get it.

They did get tension.

A horrible building tension, with a lot of "are the McLaren strategy team going to screw this up?"

Spoiler - they didn't.

Which makes me, if not happy, relieved.

Obviously, I wanted Ferrari to win, but that went out of the window early on.

After that, I don't really mind. None of the drivers I actively cheer for had any chance so I was neutral for the finale, which is a very odd sort of feeling.

If we're talking about which of the final three I think is the best driver - that's Verstappen. This title does not change that.

At the same time, I was relieved, because I feel there would have been actual and lasting psychic damage to the McLaren team if one of them hadn't won. As to which driver, I'm papaya-neutral.

L is very happy because Norris was his favourites of the wave of rookies Norris was in (mine is Russell. It remains the right choice.).

A Data Visualiser's Lament - World Cup 2026 version

While there are many good reasons to be happy about the expansion to 48 teams (say hello to Curacao, Jordan, Cape Verde and Uzbekistan) and reasons to be unhappy about it (they have blatantly made it easier for the big teams to qualify, only Italian [hand gestures] has prevented all the big teams already being in), I fear I may have the most pathetic reason for objecting.

Bother, I have to put 48 x 26 players into my Gephi chart by hand.

I suspect my diagrams will be late.

There must be a way to do it automatically, but I have not found it yet. 

James Ashford wrote a really nice post on how to do all of this with Python - https://james.ashford.phd/2023/08/25/analysing-the-2023-fifa-womens-world-cup-with-graph-theory/ and I swear I will learn Python at some point.

Formula 1 2025 - Qatar Grand Prix

 I'm going to start with a complaint about the Lusail circuit. It's a perfectly fine, and indeed occasionally excellent, MotoGP track. Because the bikes are narrower so you can race. The F1 cars are broad, and the track is so narrow they can't overtake each other even with the DRS button. A piece of technology whose only purpose is to allow overtaking does not work at this track - for goodness sakes, even Monaco, king of the moving traffic jam races, is wide enough for DRS to do its joy-ruining thing.

So there's a race with no overtaking, even with the magic over-taking button, and then they've removed some of the strategy wiggle room and deviousness by mandating two pit stops and twenty-five lap maximum tyre strategies.

I cut Pirelli some slack because they have to make the tyres to the FIA's specifications, but given those specs, why are they racing somewhere that they know kills the tyres?

The start was the last time the race was interesting, and Norris not fighting Verstappen was the sensible thing to do.

I'm not going to say McLaren made the wrong strategy call because, if it had worked out, they would have been geniuses, and it could have worked. The F1 coverage always gives the percentage change of there being a safety car, but not the chance of their being multiple safety cars. However, choosing not to pit was always a bit of an odd choice on a track where track position is king.

There were a few cars that broke at the end, but none of them broke in a way that required a safety car. I did feel most sorry for Gasly, who performed heroics in the qualifying, only for the car to break out from under him at the beginning of the race and then he had to nurse the car round for the rest of it.

Sainz jnr's car deciding to try to break right at the end gave me coniptions. So glad he made it to the end in one piece. I am enjoying telling people "I told you he was good".

Another note - is it me or are more teams screwing up their drivers's 5 second penalties? I swear this was the second time that's happened to Ocon this season!

End note: I am aware I am supposed to be a Ferrari-focussed blogger, but my team depress me (I recognise, with my soul, the noise the "Cleveland Browns" fan makes from 2.26-2.32 in this video - https://youtu.be/SFCPNT7FafI?si=0dVDR_Y6_CAP_xsF).

Formula 1 2025 - Las Vegas Grand Prix

I mean, it's the Las Vegas Grand Prix, was anyone expecting any decent racing? It's a race where the interest is always the externalities, and often the manhole covers (again). (And separately, the US circuits as a whole, but Vegas in particular, really need to improve their procedures for letting marshals on the race track and bits of bodywork on track.) 

Other than Antonelli doing an excellent defensive job to protect Russell who was nursing a sickly car, all the interesting stuff happened after the race. I'm not a conspiracy theorist, and I just accepted it when this happened to Ferrari earlier in the season, but it's awfully convenient that the disqualification of both McLarens almost makes a last race decider inevitable.

Formula 1 2025 - Sao Paulo Grand Prix

I wrote this last week, I thought I'd posted it. Obviously not. Apologies for the delay.

Poor Bortoleto, done over by the home driver curse. Twice!!!

Sometimes, I hate being a Ferrari fan - why are my drivers being caught up in other people's chaos?!!! This has done terrible things to our Constructor's championship standing.

I am not blaming Antonelli for the crash, much though commentary wants me to.

McLaren did some weird things with the tyre strategy - I understand Piastri's doubts, and I still don't understand their plan for Norris. I know he won by miles but I just don't understand it. On the other hand, given Red Bull had a much shorter stint on the medium tyres than expected - did that medium tyre just not hold up as well as expected?

Red Bull's performance as a whole was odd. Verstappen seems to be doing well despite the car and the team, certainly his performances this year are more impressive than some of his all-conquering races.

But they really stuffed up Tsunoda's race. Screwing up a 10 second stop go penalty is not something I'd expect Red Bull to do.

Oli, Oli, Oli, oi oi oi. Dear Ferrari, when you call Bearman up, do not ruin this child!

I'm also very impressed with Gasly. Who is definitely doing things despite the team.

Budapest at Night

Some pre-COVID years ago, I was lucky enough to travel to Budapest with work. 

It started off well because there was a very pretty train on the other platform at Birmingham International.

   

Sorry, I'm a 3rd gen train weirdo. Like all airports, there's different flight paths into Budapest and we were lucky enough to be on the one that takes you along the Danube. Absolutely amazing. The people I was working with were kind enough to give us a very quick tour of central Budapest. Here are some highlights.

   

This is where I hit a small problem. If I am not thinking straight it's the Kettenbrücke, I am aware in English it's the Chain Bridge and I need to copy and paste from Wikipedia to get the accent right on Lánchíd. The names will be used interchangeably. 

We walked past the Parliament building.

    

 

 

Hopefully the photos get across just how big the parliament is. 

Then we walked through the park to St. Stephen's Basilica.

  When we were there, there was an memorial to the 1956 Uprising - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hungarian_Revolution_of_1956 

View of Budapest Castle from the other side of the river.  

We were taken to Pater Marcus - https://www.patermarcus.hu/ - which has delicious food. And drink. But especially the food. 

 

And then, back over the bridge to the hotel.

Formula 1 2025 - Mexico City Grand Prix

Most important thing first - there was actual racing! At the Mexican Grand Prix! For the last couple of years, I've said it was really unfair that the marvellously loud fans in Mexico didn't get a decent race. But this year they did. 

Okay if we ignore that the leader finished almost a pitstop ahead of everyone else. 

But there was racing everywhere else, even if that was partly due to tyre life offsets. 

It was a proper, "I can't tell if God is a Ferrari fan, or if he hates us," race, because on the one hand, a driver getting a 10 second penalty for doing what three other drivers did when none of the others got penalised, on the other, the only thing that stopped Verstappen overtaken Leclerc was a virtual safety car. 

It was most definitely not Carlos Sainz jnr's race. There has to be a way for a team to say "listen, our pit limiter is doing stupid things." Then again, they'd all use it to cheat ... 

Not quite sure why the crowd were booing Norris. It's strikes as pointless. He is too inoffensive to hate properly. He's not Lorenzo. (Sorry, but Jorge Lorenzo enjoyed being booed and that made it fun. [Also, because I enjoy pain, I was a Pedrosa fan.]) 

If they'd chosen to boo Russell after all that radio whinging, I could live with it. Normally I like you, George, but that was unnecessary. But at least he gave the place back to Antonelli without complaint. 

BBC commentary have reverted to Sam Bird from Damon Hill. This is most definitely not a good thing. Bird is so risk averse, it may explain why he hasn't won anything!!! 

The second most important thing was, of course, Ferrari junior driver Oli Bearman getting 4th in a Haas. Or am I fixating on the wrong part of that ;) 

Understandably, everyone is focussing on the OMG! there's only one point in the Driver's championship, but the Constructor's championship is also squeakily close in points.  

Okay, not the top, because McLaren have already won it, but there's 1 point between second and third, 10 points between second and fourth, and further down, there's 9 points separating seventh, eighth and ninth. How many millions per point down there!!!

Formula 1 2025 - United States Grand Prix

The racing at the Grand Prix supports my belief that the US Grand Prix is the best of the US races.

Is it also the only one on a purpose-built track? Yes.

Do I think there's a correlation there? Yes!

The DRS button still kills joy, but hey at least Ferrari came up with a strategy that got one of the cars into the mix to be overtaken by DRS rather than skill.

(Yes, I am bitter)

Leclerc did some excellent defensive driving, and totally deserved driver of the day.

While I understand why the press are focussing on the remarkable gains Verstappen has made in the last couple of races, I'm not sure it's as bad for Piastri as they are painting it. At a circuit that he just did not gel with, he still got 10 points. It's vanishingly unlikely that the rest of the races are going to be that bad for him.

Book Review - The Periodic Table: A Field Guide to the Elements by Gail Dixon and Paul Parsons

 The only reason this isn't 5 stars is entirely a me-problem, and I'm trying to be reasonable.

I wanted more science to go along with the pictures.  A couple of elements had two pages of text and I think I would have liked more elements to have got that.

The pictures are amazing and I really like the inclusion of the crystal structure space for each of the solid elements.

LibraryThing Suggestions

1 - Periodic Tales: A Cultural History of the Elements, from Arsenic to Zinc by Hugh Aldersey-Williams

2 - Science in Seconds: 200 Key Concepts Explained in an Instant (Knowledge in a Flash) by Hazel Muir

3 - Uncle Tungsten: Memories of a Chemical Boyhood by Oliver Sacks

4 - The Elements: A Visual Exploration of Every Known Atom in the Universe by Theodore W. Gray

5 - Big Bang: The Origin of the Universe by Simon Singh

6 - The Disappearing Spoon: And Other True Tales of Madness, Love, and the History of the World from the Periodic Table of the Elements by Sam Kean

7 - The Planets by Brian Cox

8 - Seven Elements that Changed the World: An Adventure of Ingenuity and Discovery by John Browne

9 - Stars and Planets by Jay M. Pasachoff

10 - The Secret Life of the Periodic Table by Ben Still

Not read any of them, but I want to.