It’s a new year and time for my semi-regular list of Nine Things! As ever, it’s nine because I like to leave a room for something I missed this year. Though I think maybe that speaks to a need for lists like these to be exhaustive due to the implication that the writer has, in fact, seen everything this year and thus can make a truly definitive list. But that’s a ridiculous task; maybe a list like this should be seen as what the writer enjoyed that year, omissions be forgiven (I haven’t had the chance to play Clair Obscur yet!).
On to the list!
Sinners, movie
It’s a vampire movie, but it’s also a movie about race, and it’s also a movie about music. Somehow it all comes together into a remarkable movie that feels so complete in its variation.
One Battle After Another, movie
This is a thriller that really epitomizes what makes thrillers so, well, thrilling. It grabs you from the jump and does’t let go through all its twists and turns. And that’s saying nothing of its chillingly prescient story.
Severance, Season 2, tv show
Speaking of thrillers. Severance’s second season doubles down on the mystery, existentialism, and satire that made its first season so compelling. It ends in a delightful limbo that makes me both yearn for a third season but also would be completely happy if it left us in the lurch.
Death Stranding 2: On The Beach, video game and soundtrack
Man, I loved the first game and though the second is a little shaggier narratively, gameplay-wise it feels like the fulfillment of what Death Stranding can be. The game is just so much fun and feels so good to play. That’s to say nothing of the music choices which extend beyond Low Roar to include acts like Magnolian and Grimm Grimm. A game that feels good to play while introducing me to great new music? Aces across the board.
Mickey 17, movie
If Robert Pattinson’s future career consists of nothing but him playing weird little guys I will be content.
All That We See Or Seem, novel by Ken Liu
It feels weird to describe this as a work of cyberpunk fiction as its future feels barely a few shades away from where we are right now. Yet cyberpunk is probably the best way to describe it, a world where people still try to find meaning in a world where tech invades every aspect of their lives.
Andor, Season 2, tv show
A show about fascism and rebellions set in a galaxy far, far, away that strikes all too close to home.
Thunderbolts, movie
I will admit that there is some Stockholm Syndrome here — I pulled so much overtime working on the ad campaign for this movie. But Thunderbolts is also a movie that reminds me that I do, in fact, like Marvel movies. It’s irreverent, it’s fun, and it has a strong cast of characters. Plus, the final boss is depression!
Wake Up Dead Man, movie
These Top Nine lists are usually in no particular order, but I think Wake Up Dead Man would be number one on the list if it were. I love this movie.
Essays, Not Rants! 