We made it another year! That may seem like a low bar but after the last two years I think we should just take the W. It all still feels like "a lot" sometimes (see my favorite movie of the year) yet I'm happy to say the optimism I felt this time last year is still in place. Sonoma Arts Live, the theater company Jaime and I run, closed out a successful first season back with The Drowsy Chaperone, in which I was lucky enough to appear as a Gangster/Pastry Chef, and Season 2022-23 is off to a great start. My radio show ALL KINDSA GIRLS remains a Saturday night staple on KSVY. We wrapped up the year spending the holidays at home (good call it turns out) with family and friends. Like every year, my life in 2022 was enriched by the movies, TV shows, records and books I saw listened to and read. Classic Thursday, which we started at Jaime's urging during the pandemic, earns its own heading this year. Now, in a tradition dating back to 1999, I humbly submit my 2022 Top 5 Lists:
TOP 5 MOVIES
Everything, Everywhere All At Once (right now, this IS us)
Tár (sadly, this is also us)
Drive My Car (but maybe there's hope for us?)
The Banshees of Inisherin (at least for some of us?)
Montana Story (thankfully, yes)
TOP 5-ish STREAMING/DVD MOVIES
Sweet Thing / The Fallout (we are failing them)
Petite Maman / Our Little Sister (empathy machine endures)
The Boy Behind The Door / Hellbender (truly terrifying)
Nine Days / The Worst Person In The World (life is hard)
TOP 5 CLASSIC THURSDAY FILMS
Brief Encounter 1945 (beautiful heartbreak)
The Bad and The Beautiful 1952 (Hollywood hasn't changed)
The Man In The White Suit 1951 (true disruption)
Witness For The Prosecution 1957 (Dietrich kills it)
The Lady Eve 1941 (so much fun!)
TOP 5 ALBUMS
Sloan- Steady (SLOOOOOOO-OOOOAAAANNNN!)
Uni Boys- Do It All Next Week (see, Power Pop isn't JUST 50+)
Hoodoo Gurus- Chariot of the Gods (the OZ Masters Return!)
The Speedways- Talk Of The Town (London swings again)
The Linda Lindas- Growing Up (hope for our R&R future)
Top 5 BOOKS
The Lincoln Highway- Amor Towles (a Great American Novel)
Crossroads- Jonathan Franzen (how to live a moral life)
Velvet Was The Night- Silvia Moreno-Garcia (non-metaphorical bloody politics)
The Plot- Jean Hanff Korelitz (don't think words can kill?)
Harlem Shuffle- Colson Whitehead (American dreamer)
TOP 5 TV SHOWS
Station Eleven (The Bard endures)
Wayne (Brockton Rawks!)
Fleishman Is In Trouble (so are we all...)
Bad Sisters (deirfiúracha i réim)
Stranger Things 4 (RIP E.M.)
Hoping I get to enough non-SAL theatrical performances this year for this heading to return in the 2023 lists. If you're interested in what I'm watching, listening to and reading during the year I invite you to check out the ALL KINDSA GIRLS feed on Twitter which has 2 Rules: #1 Keep it positive (if I don't like something, I don't post about it), #2 No politics (see Rule #1). Please feel free to respond with your own 2022 favorites- I'm always looking for quality viewing, listening and reading material and perhaps you'll see your recommendations on next year's lists.
Wishing you all the best in 2023!
