BEST OF 2022 : BOOKS, MUSIC & MOVIES
We know: 2022 is over, an already fading glimmer in the collective mind’s eye, but there’s just so much to read, watch and listen to, we wanted to milk every cultural drop from this doozy of a spin around the sun.
A few thoughts:
We didn’t (couldn’t) listen, watch and read everything that came out. We tried. Oh lord did we try, but the offerings are endless and we can only get through so much. Meaning: this is our favorites from what we did get to see.
The selections in this list are merely opinions. We aren’t arguing here. We aren’t saying these are objectively the greatest things of the year. We’re merely saying that in another crowded year, these are the ones that lingered.
We eschewed ranks this year. All of this stuff is great. You should give all of it a try.
Simply put: don’t at us. We’re just spreading some love.
A Pros and Cons List For Strong Feelings / Will Betke-Brunswick
You aren’t going to find a more enjoyable exploration of death, grief and transformation than Will Betke-Brunswick’s delightfully sad graphic novel. Told through the eyes of a trans penguin over the final months of their mother’s life, Brunswick is able to telegraph the immense pain losing a parent brings, but also the joy of the moments shared before they passed on.
Everything I Need I Get From You: How Fangirls Created the Internet as We Know It / Kaitlyn Tiffany
Who would of thought that a book-length discussion about One Direction superfans would be the best non-fiction we read this year? Tiffany’s deep dive into the culture surrounding Harry Styles former pop group is fascinating and just the smallest drop of what this infinitely interesting melange of history, analysis and memoir brings to the table.
Mercury Pictures Presents / Anthony Marra
After two classic books–A Constellation of Vital Phenomena and The Tsar of Love and Techno–you’d think Anthony Marra might take a break, write something merely incredible instead of drop-dead gorgeous. You’d be wrong. Mercury Pictures Presents explores the notion of immigration and where our place in the world is through a cast of characters operating a financially cramped movie studio in the 1930s. If we were picking favorites, Mercury Pictures would definitely have some skin in the game.
What’s The Furthest Place From Here, Vol. 1 / Matthew Rosenberg & Tyler Boss
We read a lot of comics and we consumed nothing better, more original, than Rosenberg & Boss’s near-future, dystopian road-trip adventure. Rosenberg and Boss have created a world where all the adults are gone and every kid is assigned to a gang (with a clubhouse and an overarching theme to boot) until they’re booted into the unforgiving world at the age of 18. Also, reaper-like guardians that prowl the night, a group of kids who only wear pig masks and the goddamned creepiest carnival you’ve ever laid your eyes on. It’s a wonder to behold every step of the way.
Kate Folk read “Tahoe” at The Racket a long, long time ago and we were floored. After consuming her debut collection in a few, delightful binges, we are floored all over again. Folk’s imagination knows no bounds, but it’s her ability to take mind-boggling concepts and layer them with emotion and meaning that left this book stuck to our rib cage.
Don’t worry, we made a playlist.
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JID has always been a rap artist to watch, and here on The Forever Story, he finally puts out the masterpiece everyone always knew was coming.
Let Julia Jacklin lull you into a peaceful lull with her propulsive, somberness. Let her tie your brain up with lyrics that pull at all the emotional knots. Let her embrace you with the rough perfection of her voice. And then let her kick you in the stomach when the drums drop.
This Is A Photograph / Kevin Morby
Morby’s released six albums, every one a stunner. This Is A Photograph doesn’t stop the trend. It’s like indie rock if you left it in the sun too long and it took on that sort of sepia look old pictures get.
I Walked With You A Ways / Plains
Jess Wiliamson and Waxahatchee’s Katie Crutchfield’s Plains is like a lost Dolly Parton album from the mid-70s suddenly laid at our collective feet. “Abilene” is like a glass of sadness on the rocks.
Pompeii feels like Cate Le Bon’s Miami album. Which isn’t to say it’s bleeding out bass, but that there’s an almost upbeat, head shake to her abstract melancholy. A skittering touch of sunlight aimed at a pop album already turned on its head.
Honorable Mentions:
Blue Rev / Alvvays, Knees Deep / The Beths, RAMONA PARK BROKE MY HEART / Vince Staples, Chopper / Kiwi Jr., JAMIE / Montell Fish, angel in realtime. / Gang of Youth, The Jacket / Widowspeak, Chloe and the Next 20th Century / Father John Misty, Why Don’t You Dance / Holm, Waterslide, Diving Board, Ladder to the Sky / Porridge Radio, Summer At Land’s End / The Reds, Pinks and Purples, Multiverse / Reptaliens, Few Good Things / SABA, Education & Recreation / Surprise Chef, In The Fade / Tony Molina, Empty Seats / TOPS, Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe In You / Big Thief, 2 P’z In A Pod / Jay Worthy & Larry June, High School / Tim Heidecker
Fields only makes a movie every decade and every one is a tour de force. TÁR has another iconic performance by Cate Blanchett and it’s not even the best part of the film. That would be final thirty seconds of the film and everything it says no matter how much we cling to our pretentious bullshit, art always prevails.
Everything Everywhere All at Once / The Daniels
It’s a movie about a woman paying her taxes who gets pulled into an interdimensional war that somehow involves an evil bagel, hotdog fingers and a buttplug battle. And it’ll bring you to tears.
Sheer, fucking spectacle. Three and a half hours of dancing, singing, tiger fighting, chain-throwing, high-fiving, ass-kicking spectacle. It’s like nothing you’ve seen and it’ll make you want to see more.
Bones and All / Luca Guadagnino
If the idea of a love story involving cannibalism turns you away, you’re missing out. Guadagnino is at the height of his power here, taking a horrific concept and using it to expose the gristle of humanity that connects us all.
When people say, “They don’t make movies like this anymore,” they’re talking about Jordan Peele movies. They’re talking about films that build strange and fascinating worlds without out losing the throbbing heart that makes them worth visiting. NOPE is just another entry in a filmography we’re one day going to refer to as “classic.”
Honorable Mentions:
Barbarian, Smile, Banshees of Inshirin, The Fabelmans, Top Gun: Maverick, X, Pearl, The Batman, The Northman, Prey, Hustle, The Menu, Jackass Forever, Decision to Leave
What’d I miss?
