As the beginning of spring finally rears its head, many are prompted to reflect on the long, grey, colder months that came before. Though winter never truly came, we anticipatorily got used to huddling indoors and working in silence waiting for the sun. During such times, we turn to art to keep us entertained and thinking about the world. As we reflect on the year and get excited for the summer, let us also reflect on the great art we have enjoyed.
Not everything in these couple of categories was created this year, but they are works enjoyed this year. Each category will come with some of my own personal favorites as well as the favorites of a couple of the lovely members of our newspaper.
As the Oscars have just announced their ultimate “Best Picture” of the year,, I thought it would be appropriate to start with movies.
There have been many exciting movies this year. The Oscars zeroed in on a couple of movies like Marty Supreme (2025), One Battle After Another (2025), KPop Demon Hunters (2025), and others. However, many other films flew under the radar and delighted many.
Clue (1985) is a movie many people I know have a secret love of. One of our Phoenix team members discovered it this year and brought it to my attention. Clue has an interesting history as one of the last films to have a theatre gimmick ending. When the movie ran in theatres,, different theaters screened different endings to the story. The version released onto streaming services has each of these endings together with a super-ending that retconns all previous ends. If that’s not in theme with the bizarre flip-flopping in weather and news this year then I do not know what is. If you want a laugh and to see Tim Curry flailing around dramatically, this is the movie for you.
I would personally recommend watching Endless Cookie (2025). I have written about Endless Cookie in a previous article but I really want to stress how good this movie is. The movie follows many different facets in the lives of brothers Seth and Peter Scriver, in Toronto and Shamattawan respectively. The movie starts as a few small stories told by Peter and animated by Seth, but is continuously interrupted by many other, subsequent stories which create a portrait of the family and their histories. It is a delightfully funny and personal movie that gets into the realities of being an Indigenous person in colonial Canada.
There has been an abundance of good music this year. I have received many recommendations from friends for albums that have blown me away.
WILLOW’s new album Petal Rock Black is classified as a jazz album, but it is also an album full of experimental fun, especially in how WILLOW utilizes her vocal range. It was recommended to me by a friend who thought it was not getting due attention, which I agree with. My favourite track, “sitting silently”, is fun and experimental while being equally complex and artistic. “ear to the cocoon” is a more emotional track that still maintains the artistic and experimental qualities of the album. Another one of my friends told me her favourite album of the year was Rosalía’s new album LUX. LUX is a beautifully composed and sung album based on the lives of multiple different female saints.
The Phoenix team seems to have decided that relaxing sandbox games are the theme of the year. Games like Minecraft and Stardew Valley provide gentle reprieve from real life small tasks and chores by providing you with in-game small tasks and chores.
However funny the paradox of these chore based games, they are fun in the sense that the digital chores are often easier and more fun to do than their real-life counterparts. Ask anyone if they would rather punch a tree or write an email and you would have your proof.
I would also recommend checking out Itch.io if you like cheap indie games that explore more personal topics. Consume Me is a cute game about the struggle of maintaining expectations under extreme stress, and it was developed by a very small team.
This year has been tough on many. Let this article be a reminder that art keeps us running in dark moments and often reminds us why we were running in the first place. Let this also be an appreciation of the wonderful Phoenix team.
Thank you all very much for an excellent year, and a special thank you to you, who picked up a copy of the newspaper along the way.
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