My Favourites of 2022 (Part 1)
Hello los and beholds! I initially wrote this as part of the December 2022 newsletter, but it would have made it too long so I decided to split the posts up. So without any other preamble, here are my favourite TV and movies I watched in 2022, and Part 2 will cover comics and games.
The Movies Zone
The Matrix Resurrections
We did a re-watch of all the Matrix movies in the lead-up to Resurrections, which reminded me how much those movies ruled. I don't think I've seen any of those movies since I first saw them as a teenager, so it was really nice to revisit them and find that they still hold up. I know there's been a critical re-appraisal of the Matrix sequels in recent years, and I'm 100% on board with that. Even with some awkward pacing, I think the sequels really do a lot to build up the themes and ideas of the original Matrix.
The Matrix trilogy didn't need another entry. It told a great story, played with a bunch of fun ideas, and had a nice, hopeful ending. It didn't need a sequel. And yet, the wheel of franchise moviemaking keeps on turning. I was curious about Resurrections because surely they couldn't pull it off. Yes, yes, wouldn't it be nice to go back and give Neo and Trinity the happy ending they sacrificed for but could not live to enjoy? Sure, I get the impulse to do that. What I wasn't prepared for was how much of the "resurrections" implied by the title was about the franchise itself; about the pressures that lead to franchises being made, about dealing with a legacy that you don't really have control over, about living up to ideas about yourself and your work. I loved the first half of Resurrections so much, and the audacity of putting that level of metacommentary into an entry of a franchise this huge, this beloved and awaited.
I had issues with the back half of the movie, mainly in how they handled Agent Smith. His relationship with Neo, his interiority, his drive were such a huge part of the original Matrix movies, as important as Neo's relationship with Trinity, and I felt he didn't get enough focus in Resurrections, to the point of confusion about the reasoning behind his actions. Ultimately, I still really enjoyed the movie, and Smith already had a whole trilogy to explore his character. However, if you have some insight into Smith's characterization in Resurrections, please do send them my way.
Luca
I missed this when it came out in 2021, and I haven't really heard many people talk about Luca but it's really such a charming movie and probably my second favourite Pixar movie (Ratatouille is still my favourite, because I love media about food) though I haven't done a proper re-appraisal of the earlier movies. It feels like what people seem to think Ghibli movies are when you talk about a "Ghibli aesthetic". It has that same "Japanese Europe" feeling of something like Kiki's Delivery Service or Porco Rosso, and the low-stakes yet everything is really important feel of something like Whisper of the Heart or My Neighbour Totoro. It's really nice comfort-viewing times and sometimes that's all you need.
Everything Everywhere All At Once
I'm just going to repeat what I said on Twitter, since it's still true and I've got a bunch more of these to write, so thank you past me:
"Everything Everywhere All At Once is like a really solid 3 volume Image miniseries, in the best way.
Thinking back to Swiss Army Man as well, I really appreciate how the (Daniels) movies ease you in to their visual and metaphoric language, step by step until you are ready to accept supposed surreal situations as logical extensions of what came before. I feel like it's a very empathetic approach to the viewer. There's something they want to say, in a language that seems strange and incomprehensible out of context, or in a way that seems "crude" or "lowbrow" but they also want you to have the best tools to accept and decipher it. It's never "lolrandom" or "look at how I'm going to blow your mind" or "look at how clever we are", it's more like "I have a way I want to express this, but it might seem weird or obtuse if you don't have my context so I'm going to try and bring you there".
I also really appreciate their commitment to the so-called "lowbrow" and how depth and humanity can be found in any situation, because the human experience encompasses all of it, the gross and uncomfortable and taboo deserves the same gravity as the loftiest ideas and symbols.
This is anime, this is comics, this is zines, this is cartoons, this is graffiti, this is speedrunning, this is tumblr posting, this is all art and humanity.
Also, the way the leads talk to each other is perfect. I'm sure this has been and will continue to be highlighted many times, but this way of language mixing and switching is true to how we talk. So Malaysian, but also so every immigrant and immigrant family."
Honourable Mentions: Glass Onion, RRR, Baahubali 1 & 2, The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, Venom, Turning Red, Onward, From Up On Poppy Hill
The TV Zone
The Bear
The Bear came as a total surprise to me. Perhaps it shouldn’t have since I love stories about food and cooking and it did remind me of some of the cooking manga I’ve read. It’s not just a show about a restaurant, though it’s a huge part of it. At its core, it is a family drama about loss and grief; about the stresses of expectations and making up for the past. And yet it’s also often very funny, because that’s the way life is. You joke and find humour in absurd situations because that’s how you survive. And The Bear is about survival. Surviving the kitchen, surviving your family, surviving the temptation to let everything burn, and somehow in 2022 a story about survival is terribly relevant. Also, hey it’s basically ProZD’s Pizza Brothers Slice of Life anime with an absolutely stellar cast and impeccable editing.
Andor + A More Civilized Age
I gushed about this at the end of the November newsletter, and I'm still amazed at how good Andor was. Star Wars never had that hold on me that it seemed to have on a lot of people I know. I liked it enough, but it just never really grabbed me. I always thought of it as the "average", the standard against which most popular sci-fi could be measured. Was it more "serious" than Star Wars? Goofier than Star Wars? More earnest than Star Wars? Star Wars was the thing that was always there, Star Wars was background radiation. All I needed from Star Wars was for it to be "good enough" to still orient my understanding of the sci-fi genre around. I never thought that a Star Wars thing could be "great".
I think Andor is great. The care and attention to the storytelling, the plotting, the production design, the score, the dialogue, the themes, the capital-A Acting, the clothing, all blew me away. And the thing about Andor is, I think it's better for being a Star Wars thing. Yes, please give me great original sci-fi stories in new settings and worlds. But. There's something to be said about being able to lean on the weight and history of an established setting, to play with its preconceptions and burdens and carve out new ways of seeing it and engaging with it. I loved Andor this year because it gave me a new foothold to appreciate Star Wars. To see what skilled craftspeople could do with the daunting hulk of "franchise" and play a new tune on its pockmarked surfaces. The last time I felt this way about something was about Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, and I cherished the opportunity to feel that way again.
I also have to give a huge shout-out to A More Civilized Age. If you don't know what that is, it's a podcast that's supposed to be about re-watching and discussing all of the Clone Wars animated series (and quite a few other Star Wars things as part of their Patreon bonus content), but took a slight detour to cover all of Andor, week by week. I'm not that big of a Star Wars fan, but I am a big fan of each of the cast of A More Civilized Age, having followed their work from Friends At The Table, Idle Weekend and Waypoint (crucially, Be Good And Rewatch It which had an incredible series watching and discussing the 1995 BBC miniseries and the 2005 movie adaptations of Pride and Prejudice), which is why I've been a faithful listener even though I have never watched any Clone Wars. It's been a joy to follow along with them as they discuss and dissect each episode of Andor, pointing out allusions I missed, providing context from the history of Star Wars and the production of Andor, and delving deeper into the themes and politics of the show. It was such a great companion piece to the show itself that I can't really extricate them from each other. Thank you AMCA for putting out a great show, and making another great show that much greater.
And Andor wasn't even my favourite TV show of 2022.
Severance
When I heard Severance described as a dark comedy and saw that it starred Adam Scott, I was expecting more “comedy” than “dark” and boy am I glad I was so, so wrong about that. I mentioned in my write up of Andor that I would love more original sci-fi stories and settings and baby this is it. Ultimately this is what pushed it above Andor for me. It has equally strong performances from its ensemble (Tramell Tillman’s Milchick might be my favourite performance of the year, next to Ebon Moss-Bachrach’s whole deal), incredible production design and editing, but it brings something new and exciting to the table with the concept of severing your work-self from your personal-self, condemning them to an eternal purgatory of labour without meaning.
It’s weird and tense and funny and also surprisingly sweet. Much of the heart of the series is reflected in the burgeoning romance between John Turturro’s and Christopher Walken’s characters, and it’s really nice to see an older queer romance anchor some of the emotional stakes of the story.
Mobile Suit Gundam - The Witch From Mercury
If we’re talking about another series that plays with the legacy and expectations of being a franchise entry to carve out new space for itself, then it’s time to finally talk about my favourite TV show of 2022. You already know it’s not Andor. It’s fucking Gundam Time. No, it’s probably not technically “more accomplished” than the other series on this list; yes, it’s not subtle at all about its themes and need to also be a show that sells you plastic model kits, but damnit I love Gundam.
It's doing some interesting things with the formula, spending time on formalized mecha duels in a school setting very reminiscent of Revolutionary Girl Utena, while the adults try and maneuver events behind the scenes to an inevitable conflict. Oh wait, why does that sound familiar? That's because I already made a game about that called Spectres of Brocken. It's been unreal to get a new Gundam series that pushes exactly all the buttons that I want it to push. It's got young pilots getting to know each other in a school setting before they end up being pushed into a greater conflict, it's interested in the ways mechs are used as prostheses and as extensions of bodies, it's interested in the burdens of the past that we put on future generations, it's interested in how people relate to each other and end up using each other, on purpose or not, it's about some gosh damn cute lesbians being incredibly awkward with each other. They got me completely.
I'm really glad that it's so easily available to watch for free on YouTube (they know they're going to get that Gunpla money from us anyway), as it has allowed a lot of new people to jump on and discover Gundam. On top of being a really fun show to watch, it's been extra fun watching it week to week with friends and sharing theories, jokes, memes, fanart and gushing over little moments and cool mech designs. I look forward to every episode not just because I'm enjoying watching it, but because I can then join in on the Gundamposting with my friends on Discord and Twitter after. I haven't had a group watch experience like this in a very long time, and I'm so glad that I'm able to have it for a Gundam show.
Honourable Mentions: Defunctland, Masquerade (Kasou Taishou), Old Enough, The Sandman, Spy X Family, Schitt's Creek, Superstore