Favourite media of 2022

We did summarize our 2022 blogging, now it’s time for books, shows and movies… we’ll see how long it gets, but we’ll try to cover it all in one post. It’s been a busy year, but a lot was consumed nonetheless, just maybe a bit different stuff than usual 🙂

Piotrek: Lets start with books, the crown achievement of human culture and our blog’s main topic. According to GoodReads I read 107 titles in 2022 and that added up to 39,400 pages. One of my better years on record. Average book length was 368 pages and that is the record, I believe. I did some re-reads, I read some books that were waiting a long time on my shelf, and I read a lot on the most important topic of the year – Ukraine and its struggle against Russian colonialism and imperialism, and not only on the battlefields, but in the minds of people all around the world.

I’ll start with re-reads. There’s been more of that than usual, and I want to mention two. Shōgun disappointed Bookstooge during his recent re-read, but he made me wanna revisit the book myself. And it was just as good! I don’t mind profanity, or even blasphemy, and it’s such an epic adventure it makes me want to also replay the excellent Total War: Shogun 2 computer strategy. But I also had my disappointment and it sadly was The Legend of Drizzt. I like R.A. Salvatore, whenever I listen to an interview on some fantasy podcast he comes out as a nice human being. But reading his books just isn’t as fun as it used to be. This one wasn’t, and neither were short stories I loved in the 90-ties… there’s always a risk in revisiting childhood favourites, sometimes it pays out sometimes it doesn’t.

Now my favourite genre fiction. This year it constituted (fantasy and sf combined) about 1/3 of my reading, probably the lowest since… early elementary school? But these were mostly solid works. And I’ve chosen three that I liked the most (in no particular order).

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Favourite Visual Media of 2021

Piotrek: Ok, so we already told you about our favourite books, now the time comes for the visual media. And it’s been a good year on this front, as well! Not so much for cinema, I’ve only been… twice, I think? But there were some great shows and a few good movies also. With frequent lockdowns there I had time to see quite a lot, but here I’ll only mention the best of the best, and only things premiered in 2021.

First, Piotrek’s favourite movies.

Dune

It was the movie of the year, definitely. Can’t wait for it to get to one of the streaming services so I can re-watch. There were several great reviews around, including a glowing one from Bookstooge that I totally agree with. SF’s ultimate classic got an adaptation it deserved, and that sadly Lynch did not deliver. Atmosphere, music, casting, scenography – all shined and played well together. It could be longer, some things are missing, and I think we deserve a Director’s Cut with extra 30-45 minutes, but even the theatrical version was excellent.

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Familiar Sunshine Territory Tag ;)

Ages ago, I’ve been tagged by Red Metal to do their 11 very intriguing questions. Many thanks for the tag!

Since Piotrek is understandably busy arranging his wedding, I’m going to do this one on my own – so no double answers this time, sorry 😉

Between music, film/television, and game critics, which do you find the least consistently reliable?

Between music, film/television, and game critics, which do you find the most consistently reliable?

I’m going to answer the two above together. I must admit I don’t spend much time following critics of any kind, not even book critics (with the exception of you guys ;)) and particularly not movie critics. I’ve been burned too many times to pay any attention to what most of them has to say 😉 These days I very rarely read commercial reviews; I prefer to form my own opinion about any form of artistic expression, be it a movie, a TV series, a music album, or a video game. From time to time I check aggregate opinions on BoardGameGeek, sometimes Polygon, IGN and IMDB 😉 I grew tired of RT, their aggregates seem skewed by arbitrary algorithms and I find myself disagreeing with the majority of the critical reviews compiled there.

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Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker (2019)

star-wars-the-rise-of-skywalker

Ola: So here we are again, at the end (I wish, but that’s not going to happen!) of the infamous Disney journey, which took us all up and down on the rollercoaster of The Force Awakens, The Last Jedi, and The Rise of Skywalker. Episode IX theoretically ends the grand saga conceived and created by George Lucas over 40 years ago, tying up all the threads from the previous trilogies and the unholy mess of this latest one.

Piotrek: I… do we need to? Poke where it hurts? I was actually pretty enthusiastic after I saw The Force Awakens for the first time, but the rollercoaster took me down, and down, and down.. our cherished franchise, something we followed, on multiple media, for decades, degenerating into… this.

Ola: You probably already know this, but let me be very upfront about one thing: yes, I have been a SW fan for over a quarter of century, and Disney’s butchery of this franchise only made me realize how much I cherish the original saga. And how furious I can become when someone mindlessly and greedily destroys it for the sake of… money? Their own self-importance? Ill-considered fan service?

Piotrek: Disney has all the money. They will get more, whenever they spout a new one. Why can’t it be good? Flawed, but great, like Rogue One?

Ola: That’s a very good question, and I’m truly baffled as to why it is so difficult for Disney to create something good here. If I were to venture a guess, I would say it might be first and foremost a matter of vision. It seems that Disney has none when it comes to Star Wars.

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Moving Pictures Roundup 2019

We discussed books highlights of 2019, now it’s time for movies and TV-series. A few of the favourites and a few of the disappointments in both categories, to round up the past year in media :).

Ola’s choices

I haven’t had much time for movies and series. I’ve watched a nice mix of old and new, and enjoyed quite many of them – though only few made a lasting impression. The absolute winner in this category is…

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