macro
- The Name of the Wind
- Treacle Walker
- The Vanishing Half
- Spring Cannot be Cancelled
- Great Circle
Red Notice, 2021 - ★
Needed something mindless after a hard day working in the garden… this was certainly that.
The Farewell, 2019 - ★★★
The central relationship between grandma and granddaughter was enough to keep me engaged in this story. And I found myself on a similar journey to Billi, learning to appreciate the differences in familial, and particularly intergenerational, relationships between eastern and western cultures.
I’m a little bemused by references to the film as a comedy-drama. There’s humour in it for sure, but it’s bittersweet and I think to call it comedy is a stretch.
Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, 2022 - ★★★
Ridiculous and entertaining. I think I marginally preferred this second outing for Benoit Blanc to his debut.
There were moments however where I was pulled out of the story and reminded these "disruptors" with their endless pots of money and huge egos are out there causing havoc in the real world.
Wedding Season, 2022 - ★★
A friend recently introduced me to the concept of “fake date” films and this one certainly fits the bill. One of the better films I watched in my pre-Christmas, cold induced rom-com binge.
Falling for Christmas, 2022 - ★★
There should be a special star rating system for Christmas films. This one was actually better than I expected.
Beauty, 2022 - ★★
I liked the style of this film, including the decision not to let us hear Beauty sing. Ultimately it’s a tragedy and felt reminiscent of what I know about Whitney Houston’s life, which left me wondering whether the character of Beauty was based on her.
Overall, I felt the filmmaker was trying a bit too hard and failed to create any connection for me with either the characters or story.
Inside Out, 2015 - ★★★★
Thoroughly enjoyed this. Pixar at its best.
… slightly concerned the guiding emotions in my head behave a little like those in Dad’s head though.
2022: A year in books
Here are the books I finished reading in 2022. I didn’t set myself a goal, it’s not helpful for me. Instead I prefer to aim to read a little every day. The final count of 18 feels about average for me over the course of a year.
Of these titles, the standouts were:
Joker, 2019 - ★★★
I don’t know what to make of Joker. It made me feel supremely uncomfortable and I don’t know if that’s a result of its brilliance or because it vastly missed the mark. What I do know is Joaquin Phoenix is always intriguing.
This rating could have been a 2 and could have been a 4, so I split the difference.
Good Luck to You, Leo Grande, 2022 - ★★★★
I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this film and glad I left my judgments aside when invited to see it.
2022: A year in the park
I took 12 photos from the same spot in a local park this year. One for every month of the year, just to see how things changed over time.
What surprised me is how little these pictures really differ, and those differences are mostly down to the weather and time of day the picture was taken.
January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December
