Thing Seen in 2022

On TV

The Bear - The only real binge I pulled this year.  Its short, entertaining and made me hungry.

The Office - Finished a very slow binge that lasted more than 12 months mostly watching while riding the exercise bike.  It starts out solid, has some amazing episodes and man that last season is a chore.  Even the finale was a letdown.  Coulda been better.

Rockford Files Season 1 - Watching these 25 episodes became something of a ritual on my bus ride home.  Amazing 70s style, good writing, great characters (RIP Stuart Margolin) and James Garner.  Favorite episode was "Sleight of Hand" because angry ass-kicking Jim Rockford is the best.  Followed many episodes up with the accompanying 200 a Day podcast.  Excited to pick and choose some of the best episodes in 2023.

Movies from 2022

Nope - Great characters, good story, great filmmaking. Puerto Rican summer viewing.

Everything Everywhere, All at Once -  Feels like what we would be getting more of if the superhero craze never happened.   Really good theater experience that left me with a smile plastered on my face.

Barbarian - Overhyped but solid horror comedy.

Confess Fletch - Having read the 1976 book and seen the 1985 icon, watching this one take place in 2022 is quite a time warp.  Fun and breezy.  Would watch more.

Weird - Surprisingly clever and funny.  Its hard to judge comedy but this one gave me some good Airplane vibes and made me think people will still be watching it ten years down the line.  

Older Movies I'd Never Seen

Kiss Me Deadly - Fantastically misanthropic and apocalyptic.  I waited a long time to see this and it was worth it.  Mike Hammer is a mean mother.

The Squeeze/Road Games - Speaking of Mike Hammer, I watched several Stacey Keach flicks that had me re-evaluating his value.  The Squeeze has him playing a British (?) shit stain on the tighty whiteys of life while Road Games has him playing a truck driver in Australia hell bent on out Dueling a serial killer.  Both are entertaining.  Tried to watch more Keach in William Blatty's 9th Configuration but couldn't get through the midway.  Not Keach's fault. Maybe I'll try again in 2023.

The Tenant - Slow, weird and starring Raman Polanski.  Sad to say I found this one pretty damned good.  

McCabe and Mrs. Miller - First time through I couldn't make it past 20 minutes.  Second time through I loved it, particularly the ending.  Perhaps you got to be in the mood for the Altman effect.

California Split - Another Altman.  Prime Elliot Gould and George Segal.  Speaking of George, I gotta get the Hot Rock on my early 2023 viewing list.

The Silent Partner - Another prime Elliot Gould flick this time with a very nasty Christopher Plummer (and a very young John Candy).  There's not a lot of hidden gems left these day but this is one.  Canadian thrills!  What's that all aboot?

The Parallax View - Pretty cool, stylish thriller with some super weird/artful cinematography and editing.   

Ariel - Should be the most depressing Finish film I've ever seen but somehow stays upbeat and enjoyable through all the hardships. Easy to see the Down By Law (Jim Jarmusch) ties.

Zardoz - 007 in a diaper for 2 hours is a lot to handle but John Boorman takes big swings.  I can dig it.

Performance - A wild British take on identity and sexuality straddling the 60s and 70s that features a great (wait for it)..performance from Mick Jagger.  Me and the Devil Blues is awesome.

Dark of the Sun - Trashy, violent B movie splendor.  Its got action.

Alligator - Silly Jaw-esque creature feature written by John Sayles and starring Robert Forrester is 1000x more entertaining and watchable than it should be.  

Strangers on a Train - The good guys are all terrible but Robert Walker is a creepy villain and Hitchcock's wild Merry Go Round crash ending is nightmare fuel.