The best of article is an end of year tradition. Some might say an obligation. Yet this year, it was a little harder to compile.
As 2022 became a relatively ‘normal’ one (whatever that means), I found myself in an odd position. I hadn’t been going to the cinema as much. After two years of virtual festivals, physical ones had less of an appeal. I’d bought a new TV and sound system and was quite content with the quality that served up. I was travelling more.
Of course, I’d also spent the first half of the year either waiting for or recovering from (minor) surgery, so it’s fair to say that 2022 was far from typical. So, in that spirit, here’s an atypical round-up for the year. While I’m not sure I saw all the Important Content™️ of the year, I’ve tried to capture my favourite things I’ve seen, read, attended or binged this year.
Jump to: Films | TV | Theatre | Books | 2023 and beyond
Best films
EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE came in hard as a leader in March, and stayed at the top of my pile for the duration of the year. As the film builds to a crescendo of simultaneous fight sequences, rapid-fire scene switching and frankfurter funnies, you might just find you’ve have been watching one of the most original films of the year.
Taking the same basic open-hearted approach that worked for Shithouse, CHA CHA REAL SMOOTH is an excellent character piece that manages to get you to invest a whole lot of emotion in a very compact space. In TURNING RED, Disney-Pixar returns with one of their most heartfelt, hyperkinetic, and genuinely fun coming of age films in years. More importantly, it’s a film that recognises the importance of being seen.
In APOLLO 10 1/2: A SPACE AGE CHILDHOOD, Richard Linklater returns to the world of rotoscope animation. Part autobiography and part fantasy, it’s a bit like all those memes that tell you ‘you’re this old’ but done with such self-effacing charm that it’s endearing. Meanwhile, Andrew Ahn’s FIRE ISLAND is a LGBTQIA+ spin on both Jane Austen and a John Hughes film. Everyone in this is amazing, and I can easily see this being a perennial favourite.
Then there were those films that slipped past widespread attention. CONFESS, FLETCH, the third adaptation of Gregory McDonald’s character, is a satisfying whodunit with a seriously unserious attitude. Let Jon Hamm play this role forever! Oran Zegman’s HONOR SOCIETY got a very low-key release, but was bloody delightful. Sitting somewhere at the Venn juncture of Election, a John Hughes movie and Easy A, it still managed to feel fresh, witty, and endlessly surprising. Australia’s THE PLAINS is an incredibly layered piece that partly channels Abbas Kiarostami or Jafar Panahi.
By now, you’ve no doubt seen S. S. Rajamouli’s RRR turning up on people’s lists, with hyperbole in either direction making it a must-see. Does it have some issues? Unquestionably. Is it one of the most high-octane and unique films you will see this or any year? Hell yes. The action sequences alone make this a massive experience, bringing the energy of a hundred martial arts films combined with the CG of a major studio production.
Speaking of action, in TOP GUN: MAVERICK Joseph Kosinski and Tom Cruise delivered something that is every inch the throwback blockbuster we needed this to be. It takes what it needs from the 80s (right down to sweaty beach games and dangerous zones), and the sports movie formula, and transplants it seamlessly into a contemporary setting. The dogfights are nothing short of spectacular and the last 30 minutes will have you white-knuckling all the way to the credits. What a blast.
Other films worth a mention include Yuki Tanada’s MY BROKEN MARIKO, Amanda Kramer’S GIVE ME PITY, Rian Johnson’s GLASS ONION: A KNIVES OUT MYSTERY, and Andrew Dominik’s I KNOW THIS MUCH TO BE TRUE, a performance film/documentary about Nick Cave and Warren Ellis.
You can see my full ranking of all new 2022 films I managed to catch over at Letterboxd.
Best TV
Unquestionably the best show of 2022 was OUR FLAG MEANS DEATH. Arguments will not be entered into. It begins as parody, but creator David Jenkins has made a LGBTQIA+ narrative within the guise of a pirate comedy. Ryhs Darby and Taika Waititi so gradually work their characters in your hearts that you won’t notice that you’re still weeping in between the laughs — even on your third viewing.
STAR TREK: STRANGE NEW WORLDS reminded us of why we love Star Trek. As wonderful as some of the stories in Discovery and Picard have been, Anson Mount as Captain Pike leads a diverse cast in a swashbuckling standalone episodes that get back to just seeing what’s out there.
In the Star Wars universe, ANDOR has now set a high bar for what the fictional world can be. Structured as three movie-length arcs (each made up of three episodes), it doesn’t try to pander to nostalgia the way the disappointing The Book of Boba Fett or Obi-Wan Kenobi did. It was adult storytelling that just looked phenomenal as well.
In September, Amazon finally unveiled THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RINGS OF POWER after a massive lead-up of hype. Some rightly say it changes Tolkien’s meaning while others could just as readily point to the series playing fast and loose with timelines. As I say in my review for the first season, if it proves anything over the course of eight episodes, it’s that it very much wants to build a Tolkien tale in its own fashion. Here is a truly epic start to a series that has dug its heels in for the long haul.
Marvel had a patchy year, but really hit it out of the park with MS. MARVEL, acting as a great entry point into the universe for viewers of all ages who may feel fatigued or overwhelmed by the saga to date. An important step in both representative and inclusive storytelling in the world of Marvel. WEREWOLF BY NIGHT and THE GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY HOLIDAY SPECIAL also paved the way for smaller one-off stories that aren’t as reliant on understanding the rest of the MCU.
Over at the DC Comics camp, Suicide Squad spin-off PEACEMAKER was as irreverent as you’d expect from the mind of James Gunn. Star John Cena continues to prove his comedy chops in this violent, sweary, and very tongue-in-cheek antidote to the grimdark side of the DCEU.
THE BEAR took us by complete surprise. Set in a Chicago kitchen, it is as stressful as it is impeccably performed. It’s a tough watch, but ultimately rewarding. The HBO comedy special JERROD CARMICHAEL: ROTHANIEL is hands-down one of the best stand-up sets I have seen in a long time. Raw, intimate, heartfelt and disarmingly funny, it it is the antidote to a certain other streaming giant’s insistence on safeguarding prejudicial comics.
Other shows I still enjoy in their return seasons include RESERVATION DOGS, HACKS, WHAT WE DO IN THE SHADOWS and RUSSIAN DOLL.
Best theatre
Live theatre was back in a big way in 2022, and the return of Sydney Theatre Company’s THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY (STC) was a crowd-pleaser. I really didn’t know what to expect from Eryn Jean Norvill’s one-woman show going in, despite reviews from an earlier season, but the use of multiple screens made this a completely immersive take on Oscar Wilde’s story. Not sure it all worked but loved the central performance and the spectacle.
Of all the Australian originals, writers Daniel and James Cullen’s DUBBO CHAMPIONSHIP WRESTLING (Hayes Theatre) stands out as something unique, hilarious and charming. Zoe Ioannou is a star. Hayes always does wonders with the space, and the tunes are catchy. Oh, and Fuck Orange.
After two years of waiting, A CHORUS LINE (Darlinghurst Theatre Company) rocked the Drama Theatre at the Sydney Opera House. Front row seats were a must in this phenomenal bit of dance, with amazing emotive performances (especially from Angelique Cassimatis). I may have almost cried during ‘What I Did for Love.’
It’s hard to believe, but 2022 marked the first time a professional production of Lorraine Hansberry’s A RAISIN IN THE SUN (STC) was staged in Australia. Let that sink in for a moment. This classic is told with a top cast (Nancy Denis, Bert LaBonté, Angela Mahlatjie, Zahra Newman), a slick set, and a powerful mood.
BELLS ARE RINGING (Hayes Theatre) is a joyous addition of one of my favourites to the Neglected Musicals canon. Penny McNamee is wonderful in the lead, and the light 1950s costuming looked terrific. Still humming the tunes months later.
My theatre year finished in late December with a production of A CHRISTMAS CAROL (An Old Vic Production) starring David Wenham. Based on the Award-winning Old Vic production, it emphasises the relationship between Scrooge and his father, his sister, and his lost love. Wenham is terrific and it’s filled with carols, impressive sets, and a rousing finale that will help you keep Christmas in your heart through all the year.
Best books
In October and December 2022, Cormac McCarthy released his 11th and 12th (and probably last) novels after a 16 year absence from our shelves. THE PASSENGER and STELLA MARIS are companion novels about sibilings Bobby and Alice Western. Building on his first non-fiction work, his 2017 essay The Kekulé Problem, they touch on maths, Oppenheimer, and the separation of language from the unconscious human mind. Alternatively genius and utterly perplexing, the 89-year-old writer is waiting for an ending, and he’s shared some of his void with us as it closes in.
How can we follow that? Yes, but only with some minor difficulty. Most of my reading in 2022 was catching up on past to-read piles, but there were a few new releases that stood out. After loving Daisy Jones and the Six, author Taylor Jenkins-Reid delivered CARRIE SOTO IS BACK. Like the titular character, it holds you at an emotional arm’s length at first, but one can’t help but root for the underdog (and the slowly blossoming romance).
Ali Smith’s COMPANION PIECE, as the title implies, could have easily been another entry in Smith’s seasonal quartet if she hadn’t already used up the four western seasons as a naming convention. Filled with the same immediacy (set during the pandemic), wry observations, and delightful wordplay as the previous entries, this one seems a little more coloured by anxiety.
In LESSER KNOWN MONSTERS OF THE 21ST CENTURY, Kim Fu has a real ability to weave real people and snappy dialogue into fantastical situations, whether it is a Philip K. Dick style virtual world or the magical realism of kids sprouting leg wings. A mixture of sci-fi and a speculative fantasy mingles with some sharp observations of the modern condition (as it were) ponders the ambiguity of grief, trauma, love and absence in equal measure.
The other stuff I want to mention is a bit of a grab bag. It’s been almost a year since I read JOAN IS OK, but Weike Wang’s ennuied prose still lingers with me. While part of me wondered if it was too soon for such an account of the pandemic, Wang deftly spins her modest narrative towards exploring the Asian-American experience in its totality through the lens of the last few years.
PERPETUAL WEST is slow-burning thriller of sorts that asks us to question that distance (or lack thereof) and perceptions of both the US and Mexico. Mesha Maren’s prose is exquisite as always, drawing us completely into her microcosm.
It’s so rare to find a book that’s so impeccably and lyrically written as BROWN GIRLS. As Daphne Palasi Andreades’ words tumble poetically across the pages, it draws us into the lived experience of the titular girls around the world.
Other stuff I thoroughly enjoyed this year included Stephen King’s FAIRY TALE and GWENDY’S FINAL TASK, Don Bluth’s autobiography SOMEWHERE OUT THERE: MY ANIMATED LIFE, and THE FALL OF NÚMENOR, Brian Sibley’s edited collection of J.R.R. Tolkien’s writing on the Second Age of Middle-earth.
Check out my year in books on GoodReads.
The future
Next year will be a little bit different here on The Reel Bits. I’ll be doing a lot more travelling and a little less film watching. Travel has long been a passion, so now that borders are open we’ve got the next couple of big trips booked and planned. Look out for an exciting new project next year.
It’s a reflection that while this used to be The Main Outlet of all my things, it’s increasingly just become one of the things I do between work, travel, and watching movies. That said: The Reel Bits isn’t going anywhere, nor will it become a travel site.
For now, I want to thank all of the visitors and readers of this site for your patronage and support over the years. This is my little playground of thoughts and I love that other people enjoy reading about my hobbies as much as I enjoy writing them. Have a terrific 2023!
