The year started by catching up on a lot of tv shows and films that have been on the old watchlist for a while, the pick of the bunch being Paris Is Burning and Army of Shadows. I didn't find much of the Oscar contenders, that hit the cinema in January, that exciting except for A Real Pain
February:
Football: The month started with a trip to Berlin where I saw Hertha Berlin lose 1-0 to Kaiserslautern at the Olympiastadion, Berlin.
Then popped on a train down to Leipzig to see RB Leipzig beat St Pauli 2-0 at the Red Bull Arena, Leipzig.
Also popped along to see Bohs beat Shamrock Rovers 1-0 at the Aviva, the season opener back in Dublin.
Movie highlights included La Grand Illusion and The Long Good Friday, both getting five stars from me.
The Sky documentary, Boyzone: No Matter What was great tv and an interesting nostalgia trip, as was the Ladies & Gentlemen... 50 Years of SNL Music, documentary directed by Questlove and Oz Rodriguez worth watching just the mind blowing 7 minute odd opening montage
The first gig of the year was Sturgill Simpson at Vicar St, an artist I wasn't particularly familiar with, but enjoyed every minute of the near three hour set. Also got round to reading Johnny Marr's autobiography Set the Boy Free, man the guy is talented
March:
First trip to Richmond Park of the season started with a lovely 2-0 win over Derry for St. Pats but the football highlight was watching Ireland get a home win against Bulgaria, 2-1.
Cinema wise, Mickey 17 was a fun mess, that could have done with more Tim Key and Black Bag was the latest in a now long line of quality Soderbergh thrillers.
Another great season of Formula 1: Drive to Survive appeared on Netflix, coming from someone who couldn't care less about the sport. James Acaster: Hecklers Welcome comedy special was as good as I remembered the live show from the year before. FINALLY got on the Severance bandwagon, and boy was I missing out...
A trip to the Olympia to see Tindersticks live, big fan of the last album which took up most of the set, so I was happy
April:
April's highlight (other than turning 44) was getting to finally see Nate Bargatze live, and getting to watch the biggest chunk of the latest series of MAFS Australia on E4, always the best time of the year.
May:
Gig wise, May was pretty great, getting to see Bernard Butler, Supergrass and Camera Obscura. TV wise, the return of Clarkson's Farm and Conan O'Brien Must Go were very welcome.
June:
A great trip to Madeira, where a lot of hiking and eating was done, also great fun being there to witness Portugal win the Nations League. Somebody Feed Phil continued to be incredibly watchable and I enjoyed a couple of Ronny Chieng comedy specials.
July:
Saw the Supergrass: I Should Coco tour again, this time in the Iveagh Gardens and got the new album by Sparks - MAD!, and then got to see them play again in the National Stadium. The Girls ('Flickorna') was the latest film to get five stars from me
August:
Got to see Michael Shannon, Jason Narducy and Friends play Fables of the Reconstruction, not once but twice (once in London, once in Dublin).
Went to see Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's Besiktas beat Stephen Kenny's St. Patrick's Athletic quite comfortably 4-1.
September:
Saw the Republic of Ireland claw back a 2-2 draw against Hungary after being 2-0 down. The Hives new album came out, as good as always. Seeing Harry Hill live for the first time was a joy and was worth the wait. Started a Masters in Information and Library Management in DBS, so free time dried up for the next three months.
October:
Paul Thomas Anderson's One Battle After Another joined my five star club and instantly became my film of the year. Decided to re-watch the Three Colours trilogy because I hadn't seen it in years. Got insanely wrapped up in The Celebrity Traitors UK.
Saw Patti Smith and Band play 'Horses' on its fiftieth anniversary, set also included a little Television/Tom Verlaine tribute during the interval. Rory Scovel in the Sugar Club was an amazing couple of hours.
November:
Months late, but got round to finally watching How Are You? It's Alan (Partridge) and the character gets better with every new show. Slow Horses and Death by Lightning were some of the best of the dramas I watched all year.
Saw Bray Wanderers battle bravely against Waterford in the LOI Playoff final but ultimately come up short losing 2-1. The definite footballing highlight was seeing Cristiano Ronaldo getting sent off and Troy Parrott scoring a brace as Ireland bet Portugal 2-0, setting up the unbelievable result in Hungary that followed.
December:
Finished the year strong with Mike Leigh's Hard Truths, Wes Anderson's The Phoenician Scheme and an IFI preview of Saipan. TV wise: Sean Combs: The Reckoning and Fit for TV: The Reality of The Biggest Loser was a double dose of the dark side of entertainment
So that was 2025, here's to 2026...