Hi, it’s a new year, and there’s no better way to celebrate buying a new calendar than making random lists. I, like many people with chronic and self-induced loneliness, consume a lot of media. This isn’t even all of it, but this is the stuff I find worthy of discussing. Here’s what I enjoyed (and some things I didn’t enjoy) this year. This isn’t exclusive to things that released this year, but it just so happens that most of them are. What can I say? I’m trendy.
Film:
- Girl, Interrupted (1999) dir. James Mangold
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o I’m crazy and feminine so of course I’ve seen this fucking movie. It’s okay, but it doesn’t have much of a point of view. You just sort of watch triggering things happen and leave having learned nothing new. Besides “recovery = good”, but I don’t think I needed Winona Ryder to tell me that. I wish I could time travel to its release and see if it would have a more profound impact on me. What seems surface level in 2022 was definitely super subversive in 1999. Watching this reminded me of how white people won’t warn you when there’s something SUPER racist in a piece of media because they don’t even think about it. “Accurate for the times” my ass, I’m usually not in the mood for that shit.
- Encanto (2021) dir. Byron Howard, Jared Bush
o I cried the first time I watched it. And I probably cried the millionth time because I was so sick of it. If you were in the same room as a child this past year, chances are you had to watch this with them. I unfortunately had to watch it for my family birthday party (why was I not allowed to pick the film at my own birthday?). The vibrant colors and insanely detailed animation never fail to impress me, but would rather trip while walking on hot coals than listening to the soundtrack again.
- The Batman (2022) dir. Matt Reeves
o There’s not much to be said about The Batman that hasn’t been said by a nerdy YouTuber with rectangular glasses and a wall of collectables (no hate to them, I still love their content). Here’s my two cents anyways because this is my blog and not yours. I can’t believe how rewatchable it is for a three-hour film. I was never once interested in rewatching Avengers: Endgame (2019), but this I’ll watch every so often and still enjoy every second. I always make sure I have popcorn ready to get the whole experience going. I also just have positive memories associated with it since I saw it for my not-family birthday and grinned like a dork in the theatre even though I was in pain from having just gotten my belly button pierced. A good day. Another fun thing about this film is the fan reception, notably on Tumblr. Embarrassingly, I still avidly use Tumblr, and the Riddler obsession is so funny to me. I will never get it. Maybe I’m too gay to get it, but gay people usually know everything.
- X and Pearl (2022) dir. Ti West
o A week after I got my belly button pierced, the top ball came out and I thought it was the end of the world. Mostly because it was the end of the world. I went to the local piercer and got my jewelry changed, spilled my iced matcha on the way out, and decided I should chase my emergency with a film I had wanted to see, X (2022). Admitting this will make me lose out on my chances with alternative women, but I dislike most horror. I only sought to view it because of Kid Cudi, though its positive reception at SXSW film festival didn’t hurt. It’s important to emphasize that I dislike most horror. The mediocre horror films are all predictable, and the good ones scare the shit out of me. When I went to sleep after seeing Hereditary (2018), I had a nightmare as soon as my head hit the pillow. Plus, when I saw The Black Phone (2022), I covered my face during a quarter of it. X is a manageable amount of scary without being terrible. The setting and premise are so fun to me; duh, of course the only way you could get me to like horror is by making it related to a porno. The people working at the movie theatre looked at my deceitfully normal demeanor and assumed I wanted a ticket for Thor: Love and Thunder, and I got a rather strange look upon admitting I wanted to see murder and nudity on a weekday afternoon. I wonder why. The only other person in the theatre was someone else who looked like they were frothing at the mouth fantasizing about their future Letterboxd review. There’s a line in the film where the director character states his work will be “avant-garde, like the French do” or something to that extent, and both of us laughed audibly. When my self-loathing voice tells me I’m a pretentious douche who no one wants to talk to, I have that as concrete evidence. Seeing Pearl was another day I spent on a date with myself, since I’m self-aware enough to spare the innocent from my pretentious rants (most of the time). My expectations were sky-high after its stellar predecessor, and it somehow exceeded them. Blah blah blah every critic has beat me to the good stuff. Visually stunning. Mia Goth is incredible. So unsettling. It was freaky to watch Pearl’s character exhibit so many traits common amongst those with borderline personality disorder and other serious mental illnesses. I ended up regretfully smoking a cigarette and staring at myself in the mirror for a long time freaking out over how I share traits with murderers; that was until I realized I could never be Pearl because I’m great with auditions.
- Tongues Untied (1989) dir. Marlon Riggs
o I’ll admit, I’m not cool enough to have discovered this on my own. It was a required viewing for an Intro to Documentary class. Not to brag, but the professor said I had “interesting thoughts”. My therapists say the same! Tongues Untied is an experimental, largely autobiographic documentary depicting the experiences of a Black, gay man in the 1980s. It blends fantasy with reality with its inclusion of scripted segments and poetry with the anecdotes of real people. All these elements make for a powerful watch, and I’m not biased at all. I liked it so much, it’s in my Letterboxd top four as of when I’m typing this.
- Olivia Rodrigo: driving home 2 u (2022) dir. Stacey Lee
o SOUR came out at a freakishly appropriate time in my life. It was like Olivia Rodrigo and I have some sort of Pisces intuition. Though I’m not a superfan or anything, I can’t help but love her. When this film came out, I knew it would be a cute lil watch, but this shit went crazy. I even liked this more than Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions (2020), controversially. The aesthetic and colors for each of the songs are gorgeous and the different arrangements of the tracks themselves keep it super interesting, even for those who blasted this album on repeat while leaving a portrait of snot on their pillow. Rodrigo’s performances are sandwiched between behind-the-scenes clips and anecdotes from the popstar herself, which show a side to her that’s surprisingly emotionally mature for someone who wrote an entire album about teenage heartbreak. Her explanations added a whole new depth that felt missing from a few tracks. Also, the framing device of Rodrigo being on a road trip is genius. My only complaint is that I wish I could have styled her. Her outfits are good but not great. I don’t know, I feel like to be stylish one’s style must reflect who they are, and there’s something about Rodrigo’s outfits that seems like she’s putting in a conscious effort to appeal to a certain type of Zoomer who’s a socially acceptable level of alternative. Or maybe I’m reading too much into it and I have never met this person in my life.
- Jim & Andy: The Great Beyond (2017) dir. Chris Smith
o I had to Google the director of this film and in doing so, I went down a rabbit hole and realized the sheer amount of Jim Carrey films I had seen. What an insane filmography. The Mask (1994) was one of my favorites as a kid, and I remember watching In Living Color in secret because my parents said it was too adult for me. Now that I’m thinking of it, it’s really weird how obsessed I was with the 90s a good 10-15 years later. It's a tragic lifestyle being chronically quirky and born in the wrong generation. Anyways, this was a side of Jim Carrey I had no idea even existed. Basically, this is a documentary about Carrey’s method acting gone wrong for his Andy Kaufman portrayal in Man on the Moon (1999), wherein the lines between Carrey and his character blurred. He was almost always Andy, and the crew had an excruciating time getting him to cooperate. Carrey’s present-day recollection of these events is fascinating. He talks about how he had no control in this state in a somber, serious tone you wouldn’t expect from The Grinch or Ace Ventura. I don’t think he cracks a joke even once. It’s fucking awesome. While of course that sounds horrifying to go through, I love the rawness of real people.
- The Boys in the Band (2020) dir. Joe Mantello
o In 2018, a revival of Mart Crowley’s play The Boys in the Band hit Broadway, and I was engulfed in any bit of tea related to it that I could possibly get. You don’t know what Broadway Twitter is like until you’re there, and the catch is that you’re not permitted to leave. So it’s weird that when the film dropped, I didn’t watch it. I was probably busy or lazy or working on my -inator blueprints. When finally forced to watch the film with my roommate, I loved it. Once again, there’s crazy, period-accurate racism out of nowhere. I’ll never look at Jim Parsons the same. I should write and direct a film that takes place in the future where only white people are oppressed.
- The Banshees of Inisherin (2022) dir. Martin McDonagh
o I don’t have fun. That’s not to say I don’t do things I enjoy, but I generally do not do anything I consider fun. I just counted, and I had fun eight times this year, with this seeing this film being one of those times. A friend and I went to a theater we had never gone to with a Nalgene full of vodka cran, which totally ruled. I did find myself frustrated with the fact that I was getting too drunk to obnoxiously nitpick as I’m known to do. This shit was so funny. I typically hate comedies (see: me being anti-fun), but this actually did get some chuckles out of me because the humor was more witty than the “Hi, look at me, I’m making a joke!” vibe of most comedies. The accents were feckin fire too.
Television:
- The Great
o It’s embarrassing how much I’ve grown to like history. Real people are riveting to me, as someone who rarely leaves their room. When my mom recommended I watch a Catherine the Great series, obviously my first question was if they covered the rumor that she fucked a horse. Once I got confirmation that it was an important plot point, I opened Hulu right away. It's a raunchy comedy that I probably wouldn’t have put on had I not been urged to, but it is really funny. Nicholas Hoult’s performance as Catherine’s douchey husband, Peter, is my absolute favorite. He adds so much depth to the douchery that you almost sympathize with his lunacy. I also appreciate how the show doesn’t even pretend to be historically accurate. The opening title screen describes it as an “occasionally true” story. I highly encourage the humanities nerds out there to check it out.
- Succession
o Words don’t have the capacity to explain how much I love Succession. I can’t even say anything about it because you need to experience everything on your own. Every single day I think about how I wish I could go back in time to watch it for the first time again. Seasons two and three are probably my favorite, but there’s something to love in each episode. It’s funny, it’s topical, it’s emotional, it’s so wild that you need to know someone else who’s seen it so that you can talk about every episode. It deserves every Emmy it’s received.
- Smiling Friends
o ONE OF THE BEST CARTOONS I’VE SEEN IN SO LONG OMG GIVE ME MORE. Perfect for college stoners. The art is paradoxically hideous and great at the same time—I think it’s great at being hideous. Characters often move at lightning speed, and for some reason I think that’s the most hilarious thing in the world. The first episode is about the lead duo helping a dude who’s about to kill himself and that’s the type of darkness that I crave. The dialogue is so natural too for a bunch of weird, colorful guys. They’re my weird, colorful guys.
- Rick and Morty Season 6
o TW: Passionate hatred. I’ve loved Rick and Morty since season two. We’ve had our ups and downs, what with all the hiatuses, the fanbase, and the decline in quality, but I decided I’d stay strong. My favorite shows are The Simpsons and RuPaul’s Drag Race so I’m no stranger to shows I love getting worse over (a ridiculously long) time. This season pissed me the fuck off. I didn’t dislike everything. “Bethic Twinstinct” was good. But damn is it weird now. People aren’t joking when they talk about the fetish stuff. As if the prior season wasn’t bad enough with Summer and Morty’s incest baby, the fifth episode has Jerry trying to fight his fate to have sex with his mom. In the sixth, Rick and Morty are getting married within the first minute, and pregnant people appear four different times, two of which being Summer and Morty. In the seventh, they fight a piss-themed villain. Writers put their fetishes in their work all the time, which is weird as hell, but it’s even worse when it’s this distracting. Also, the series still can’t decide whether it wants to be episodic or have continuity, so it continues to punish its audience for having any expectations whatsoever. Every fourth-wall breaking joke from Rick is essentially, “Haha fuck you, here’s us finally doing something serialized! You all suck!!” This, plus the fact that every character has become so bitter and jaded that they’re all angry assholes, makes apparent that the writers hate their fanbase. The way they all act makes total sense at this point in the story, but it’s just frankly not written in a way that makes you want to watch it. On the topic of fourth-wall breaks, they’re getting so annoying. The second episode of this season is a Rick-and-Morty-fied version of Die Hard (1988), and if you haven’t seen it, you would still be able to get that because every other line is, “Summer’s doing a Die Hard”. Referencing pop culture is Rick and Morty’s pulsing veins, so I’m not mad at that, but it was repetitive and overall lazy. The worst part of it was that as I was sent into a tv critic frenzy, my (male) roommate felt the need to inform me that the joke was that they were referencing Die Hard every time they said that. It is so hard not to be violent. I’m like the Hulk but instead of getting big and green, I post on my Instagram story. Episode six is even more fourth wall breaking in a way that was all too predictable to a pretentious, drop out English major. In fact, as soon as the character Connie TenuityError was introduced, I was like, “I bet there’s a retcon guy. Ha! His name is probably gonna be Brett Con.” And it was. At this point in the series, it’s unfathomable to think there’s people who think you need a high IQ to enjoy this show. I think I’d like it more if mine were lower.
- Euphoria
o Euphoria Sundays were the closest we had ever been to recapturing the feeling of summer 2016. It was Pokémon Go Tweet The Worst Take You Can Think Of. There was nothing quite like choppin’ it up with the girlies about how everyone lost their goddamn mind this season. Euphoria’s sophomore season was so foul that I might have to write about it in a separate post. I have a scrapped project where I tried to rewrite the entire season, but there was so much wrong that it was far more than I could chew. I’m devastated by what Sam Levinson did to Jules. She had the most potential out of any character and should have been a lesbian. Bisexual people exist and deserve to be represented in television, but shorty literally said she was done with men in her special episode. Plus, she looks like a total lez. I mean, come on. The complicated relationship with femininity? The sailor moon aesthetic? If she were real, I would probably already be following her wlw yearning Tumblr page. The biggest sin was Lana Del Rey’s “Watercolor Eyes” being relegated to the ending credits when there are so many instances that could have been beautiful with this playing in the background. Sam Levinson have a long withstanding beef since I reviewedMalcolm & Marie (2021) for my high school newspaper, so I am biased in my criticism. I don’t care. Rapid fire positives: the decision to shoot on film was brilliant and the references within the visuals are impeccable; I love that the actors often forgo foundation to add realism; the actors clearly had Emmys on the mind; Lexi’s development is wonderful, especially since I relate to her the most; Ethan in Lexi’s play. I’m hopeful for the future of Euphoria because…well, I have no reason. Things look pretty grim as to the writing quality and amount of Sydney Sweeney titty shots. Petition for Cassie to get top surgery in season three.
- RuPaul’s Drag Race + Spin-offs
o In 2023, I watched RuPaul’s Drag Race seasons eight, 11 through 14, All Stars five through seven, Canada’s Drag Race season three, and sporadic episodes of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK season two, UK Vs. The World, and Canada Vs. The World. That’s a lot of drag. I honestly need to save my thoughts on each season for a separate blog post. I can’t believe I hadn’t watched season 11 prior to this year because it’s so good. Drag Race’s toxic fans like to think the move to VH1 and its newfound mainstream status lead to a decline in the series’ quality, which is true in some ways, but this was close to seasons five and six for me. The drama was mint, we got the “Sorry Not Sorry” lip sync, and Yvie’s rise to the top was well-deserved. For seasons 12 and 14, I thought the casts were phenomenal. Almost too phenomenal. Some of the best Drag Race moments come from more “unpolished” queens, and as time goes on, each season gets more stacked. We can’t have infinite double shantays and adding more and more queens to the lip sync for the crown twist. It makes it more devastating when your favorites go home and makes the show somewhat boring. Although there were no eliminations, All Stars 7 dragged quite a bit. My last two thoughts that I have no interest in elaborating on is that season 13 kinda sucks and All Stars 6 had some of the best storytelling of the franchise, rivaling Jinkx’s arc on season five and Alaska’s on All Stars 2. The best moment out of any of these episodes was in the season 14 girl group challenge when they say, “Look over there, can you see our man?” “Actually, I don’t, I forgot my glasses.” So stupid but makes me laugh every time.
o While this isn’t the most recent rap battle, it’s the one I listened to the most this past year. I took a course on Western civilizations from antiquity to 1500, so naturally there was an Alexander the Great question on the (virtual) final. I’m not saying I cheated, but Alexander’s verse includes him saying every place he conquered and a map in the background. My favorite ERBs are the ones dense with historical references; it adds so much more enjoyment to Google line meanings and gain appreciation for them. I won’t lie, I’m a little too proud of myself when I get the jokes. But I still didn’t realize until a few months ago that Catherine the Great’s final stinger, “Checkmate,” is a reference to Ivan dying during a chess game. There isn’t a single bad line in the whole song, and in an added twist, there’s a full-blown story arc present wherein Ivan the Terrible attempts to kill his opponents, since he later faces Frederick the Great and Catherine the Great. These are the best parts, hands down. I love it when the characters interact with each other, and the beat switches are insane. It’s so annoying the best beat only plays for, like, 15 seconds at a time. Meghan Tonjes’ guest appearance as Catherine the Great is fucking perfect. Casting plays an important role in developing a character and having a YouTuber who’s unapologetic and talented was the right choice. I believe she said on Instagram Live that this was her greatest (pun intended) achievement. As I write this, I’m realizing I’ll need a whole other post dedicated to ERB.
o Natalie Wynn, AKA Contrapoints, is my favorite YouTuber. No question. Former philosophy PhD student turned political video essayist is a near-expert at approaching leftism with a degree of empathy for the opposing side. In fact, she’s known for how she radicalizes young men who fell down the internet alt-right pipeline (see videos Men and Incels). This alone would make me a dedicated viewer, but on top of that, she also has incredibly high aesthetic production value that increases exponentially with each project. “The Hunger” in particular is visually stunning and has excellent storytelling. The premise of this sees Wynn as separate characters having a dialogue on a fictional podcast, discussing religion and transness; she does an excellent way of connecting belief in a higher power to her own struggles with identity and drug addiction in a way that feels more like a film than an essay. While this surely sounds boring as fuck to the average person, her humor never fails, especially in videos like this one where she drinks on camera. If this isn’t your speed, I also recommend Shame, my favorite video on the entire website.
o With a rise in plastic surgery’s relevance in the mainstream, in part due to influencer culture and the internet constantly reminding us how ugly we are, there’s a new genre of YouTube video wherein self-proclaimed plastic surgery experts (enthusiasts) will pick apart celebrity faces over time and speculate over what they’ve had done. Dr. Linkov’s videos stand apart because he’s an actual cosmetic surgeon and still promotes body positivity throughout all of his content. Although other people’s faces are nobody’s business, it’s still comforting to know that celebs are paying hundreds of thousands of dollars to get “the look” so there’s no reason for an average person to compare their features to puffy fillers and absent buccal fat.
o My other picks are mostly individual videos, but I would be remiss to not recommend this entire channel. I love ASMR. Or rather, my insomnia loves ASMR. Miss Manganese’s repertoire consists primarily of quick and aggressive hand movements accompanied by an entire jewelry box of rings on her fingers. Fast ASMR and jewelry sounds normally don’t appeal to me, but there’s something about her that gives me tingles every time (there’s no way of saying that without sounding like a pervert). She also coined “spit painting”, or licking her fingers and pretending to rub them on your face. It’s once again tingly, but I can’t think about it too long because I’ll get offended by the concept of a white woman spitting on me. Another notable element to her channel is how little she gives a shit about staying in character. It’s hilarious. I’ve always wondered what the process is like for ASMR creators to research how to do cranial nerve exams and reiki therapy. Miss Manganese wouldn’t know. Her videos have an almost surreal quality to them, although maybe it’s just because I watch them high and half-asleep.
o Another video essay, I know. This won’t be the last. In a similar fashion to Wynn’s film-like videos, Abigail Thorn, known under the pseudonym “Philosophy Tube”, talks politics, culture, and philosophy with a variety of costumes, sets, and great shots overall. “Is Art Meaningless” has Thorn analyzing modern art, particularly that of Mark Rothko, and seeing if there really is meaning behind it. Not only do I enjoy art history, but I’m also a huge defender of contemporary art. All the works that make people say, “anyone could do that,” or, “it’s just a bunch of colors and shapes,” always have deeper meanings when considering their historical context, medium, and tools. Plus, the takeaway of “anyone can do that,” is still a takeaway derived from seemingly meaningless art. So, you’re upset about famous and expensive pieces being meaningless? The work still made you feel that way, so you’re still getting something out of the given artwork. Unnecessary rant. And I’m pretty sure that was the conclusion of the video. Well, I saved you the time.
o Hannah Louise Poston has become my favorite beauty YouTuber in this past year. She’s a writer, which means she’s incredibly well-spoken in explaining how she feels about her products—a welcome change from hearing “so pigmented” on repeat from some larger channels. What I like the most about her content is that she focuses on spending ethically and meaningfully, encouraging her viewers to get good use out of their own collections rather than snatch up every new product they see on Trend Mood. I was so glad she gave such and honest review of this Isamaya Beauty collection because I wanted the palette so bad. It’s the dream grunge-inspired color story. But, spoiler alert, she didn’t really like it. I trust her opinions completely.
o Hautemess Tom is a makeup YouTuber who’s very similar to Hannah Louise Poston; they promote sustainability, they’re well-spoken, and they both have exciting (though different) aesthetics. Tom comes from a perspective of professional makeup artistry, so once again, very trustworthy. Their bubbly personality shines even through their harsh criticism of some products, which is the premise of their “Critical Sass” series. They go through new makeup releases each month or so and hate, hate, hate. I love a good hating session sometimes (when warranted). I’m pretty sure they have under 3,000 subscribers, and the fact that they’re a smaller creator makes the community they’ve fostered in the comments section and on livestreams immensely welcoming. So welcoming in fact that none of us are blunt enough to tell them they mispronounce “haute” every. Single. Time.
o Emma Chamberlain knows who I am. Kind of. I made a stan Twitter account at the start of the pandemic and she liked a drawing I did for her birthday on her since-deactivated account. Not to flex even further, but she only liked one other fan birthday wish. Okay, enough of that. Her new style of videos is so relaxing yet melancholy; it’s so mystifying how they emit such a relatable energy and yet they still show her going on extravagant travels for fashion shows, red carpets, and even the Met Gala. I was happy to live vicariously through her because if I could travel anywhere, the South of France is one of my top choices. I Cannes not believe she gets to do that (ba dum tss). It’s also very sweet to me that she always travels with her dad. The joy almost distracts me from my jealousy of her Instagram posts.
o This one is four hours and not even the longest on this list. As is implied, I have few friends or hobbies. Jessie Gender is another political YouTuber who centers a lot of her work around gender (duh). In this video, Jessie refutes arguments presented by conservative commentator, Matt Walsh, in his transphobic documentary, “What Is a Woman?” It gets real deep into the gender philosophy and broad and often inaccurate conceptions of what being transgender really is. Great watch.
o Quinton Reviews is currently working on reviewing most of the Nickelodeon live-action programs, and though the series is incomplete, the two-parter on Victorious is enough to get the gist. Mainly because the first video is five and a half hours, and the second is eight hours. I had to put this in the list because that’s a ridiculous amount of effort to put into reviewing a children’s show to an audience of (not to say the quiet part out loud) nerds. It paid off, however, since they’re his most viewed videos. The duration is still a deterrent along with the excess of foot fetish content “hidden” within the program. It’s so much worse than you remember. But still, good job, Quinton.
o My middle school self started every morning with the latest episode of Good Mythical Morning, and I have no idea how I fell out of it. That’s unfortunately the same with a lot of OG YouTubers; we forget them out of nowhere even though a lot are still making good content. “We Give Up” was their 2022 Thanksgiving episode that popped up in my recommended after the family festivities. Hosts Rhett McLaughlin and Lincoln “Link” Neal explain that their Thanksgiving episodes are continuously some of their least-viewed videos, in theory because people are watching the parade or making food. They decide to take the day off from challenges or structure and talk like the classic episodes, mostly roasting Link for his unsatisfactory ham-cooking skills. Their fake outrage was amusing and watching them again was so nostalgic I almost cried.
o Mr. Wendigoon is definitely on a government watchlist for some of the topics he covers. He does long-form content on true crime, horror, and conspiracy theories, with one of my favorites being his JFK assassination video. I don’t intend for this to seem like I’m trotting on my high horse as I type this, but I’m morally grossed out by true crime. That’s for another blog post. While this video technically falls under the true crime category, there is not much around the crimes actually committed, and the focus is on the reasons why children started appearing on milk cartons and whether or not the exposure was successful. I thought it was fascinating.
o Jake Doolittle is nearing the top of my ranks for commentary YouTubers. His main content is shorter, typically around 10 minutes per upload, but he posted his film-length livestreams reacting to Shane Dawson’s latest series. I’m so thankful for commentary YouTubers because I’m chronically nosy, yet I don’t want to support horrible people. Or sit through a Shane Dawson “documentary” with no buffer. Doolittle’s frequent posting schedule is making his subscriber count rise exponentially, so for the record, I knew him before he was cool.
I hope you enjoyed this list that ended up much longer than I initially expected. Sorry for saying I would post every week. I’m obsessed with lying. Maybe my consistency will improve as I go feral from my break from school this semester. Dropping out is the new Honors Program.
Take care, and happy reading!
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