Slice of Lime

Absolutely Fabulous

Adolescence (four-episode season)
Adventure Time
Adventures of Jimmy Neutron, Boy Genius, The
Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle, The

Afterparty, The

Agatha All Along
Agatha Christie's "The ABC Murders"
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

ALF
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
Alias
All in the Family
Alphas
Alvin and the Chipmunks
Always a Witch
Amazing Race, The
Amen
America's Next Top Model
American Crime Story (The People v. OJ Simpson)
American Horror Story (Coven)
American Vandal

And Just Like That
And Then There Were None

Andor
Angel
Angie Tribeca

Animal Control

Animaniacs!
Apprentice, The

Arcane
Archer

Archive 81
Around the World in 80 Plates
Arrested Development
Arthur
Astronomy Club

Aunty Donna's Big 'Ol House of Fun
Avatar: The Last Airbender
Awake
Battlestar Galactica (2004)
Beakman's World

Bear, The

Beef

Beetlejuice
Being Human (US)
Benson
Beverly Hills, 90210
Bewitched
Big Bang Theory, The
Big Comfy Couch, The

Big Door Prize, The
Big Love
Big Mouth
Bill Nye, the Science Guy
Black-ish
Black Books
Black Lady Sketch Show, A
Black Mirror
Bleak House
Blossom

Bluey
Bob's Burgers

Bodies
BoJack Horseman
Book Club, The

Boyfriend, The
Brain Games
Breaking Bad

Bridgerton
Brooklyn Nine-Nine
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Burning Love
Call the Midwife
Carmen Sandiego (2019)
Castle
Castlevania
Celebrity Deathmatch

Central Park

Changeling, The
Charles in Charge
Cheers
Chef's Table
Chip and Dale's Rescue Rangers
Chopped
Chuck
Clarissa Explains It All
Clatterford
Clone High

Close Enough
Comeback, The
Community
Cosby Show, The
Cosmos (2014)
Cougar Town
Crazy Ex-Girlfriend
Creature Comforts (US)
Critic, The
CSI

Cunk on Earth

Cuphead Show, The
Cyberchase
DangerMouse
Daria

Dark

Dark Matter

Dead Boy Detectives
Dead Like Me
Dead Zone, The

Death and Other Details

Delicious in Dungeon
Dennis the Menace
Derry Girls
Designing Women
Desperate Housewives

Devil's Plan, The
Dexter's Laboratory
Diff'rent Strokes
Dirty Jobs
Dirty Sexy Money
Disenchantment
Dollface
Dollhouse

Donna Reed Show, The
Don't Trust the B---- in Apartment 23
Doogie Howser, M.D.
Doug
Downton Abbey
Dr. Katz: Professional Therapist
Dragon Prince, The
Drawn Together
Drew Carey Show, The
Drunk History
DuckTales (1987)

DuckTales (2017)
Electric Company, The
Erased (The Town Without Me)
Eureka

Explained

Exploding Kittens

Extraordinary
Facts of Life, The

Falcon and the Winter Soldier, The
Family Guy

Family Matters
Family Ties

Fantasmas
Fillmore!

Fired on Mars
Fleabag
Flintstones, The
Food Wars

Four Seasons, The
Fraggle Rock

Franchise, The
Frasier
Freaks and Geeks
French Chef, The
Fresh Off the Boat
Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, The
Friends

Fright Krewe
Full House
Futurama
Galavant

Ghosts (US)
Ghostwriter
Gimme A Break

Girls5eva
Girls on Top
Glee
GLOW

Goes Wrong Show, The
Good Omens
Good Place, The
Good Wife, The
Golden Girls, The

Golden Palace, The
Grace and Frankie
Gravity Falls
Great American Baking Show, The
Great British Baking Show, The
Great Food Truck Race, The
Great News
Grey's Anatomy
Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy, The

Grimm
Grinder, The
Growing Pains
Happy Endings

Harley Quinn
Harper's Island

Harriet the Spy
Harvey Birdman, Attorney At Law

Haunted Hotel

Haunting of Bly Manor, The
Haunting of Hill House, The

Hawkeye
Head of the Class

Heated Rivalry
Hell's Kitchen
Herman's Head
Heroes
Hilda

History of Swear Words
Hoarders
Home Movies
Hot in Cleveland
House of Cards (US)
How I Met Your Mother
How the States Got Their Shapes

How to Get to Heaven From Belfast
Hunter X Hunter
I, Claudius

Insecure
Inside Amy Schumer
Inspector Gadget

Irregulars, The
Iron Chef
Iron Chef America

IT Crowd, The

iZombie
Jane the Virgin
Jeeves and Wooster
Jeffersons, The
Jessica Jones
Jetsons, The
Joe Millionaire

Joey

Julia

Jury Duty
Kantaro: The Sweet Tooth Salaryman

Kaos
Keeping Up Appearances

Kevin Can Fuck Himself
Kids in the Hall, The (1989)

Kids in the Hall, The (2022)

Kids Incorporated
Kim Possible

King of Queens, The

King of the Hill
Kitchen Confidential
LA Law
Lady Dynamite
Lambchop's Play Along
Last Man on Earth, The
Law and Order
League, The

Legend of Korra, The
Letter People, The
Leverage
Living Single
Locke & Key

Lodge 49

Loki

Long Story Short
Looking
Los Espookys
Louie

Love Life
Lovesick
Mad Men
Magic School Bus, The
Making a Murderer
Mama's Family

Man on the Inside, A
Man Seeking Woman
Manhunt: The Search for America's Most Gorgeous Male Model
Maniac
Marry Me

Marvel Rising
Master of None

Masters of the Universe: Revelation
Maude
Melrose Place

Mid-Century Modern

Midnight Club, The
Midnight Diner: Tokyo Stories

Midnight Mass
Mind of a Chef, The
Mindy Project, The

Minx
Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries
Miss Guided
Mission Hill
Mister Rogers' Neighborhood

Mob Psycho 100
Models, Inc.

Modern Family
Monk
Monkees, The

Moon Knight
Moonlighting
Most Extreme Elimination Challenge
Mother Love

Mr. Belvedere
Mr. Wizard

Ms. Marvel
Muppet Babies

Muppet Show, The

Muppets Now
Murder, She Wrote

Murderville
Murphy Brown
My Boys
Mystery!
Mystery Science Theater 3000

Mythic Quest
Nailed It!
Nanny, The
Never Have I Ever
New Adventures of Old Christine, The
New Girl
NewsRadio
Next Iron Chef, The
Night Court

Nobody Wants This
Numb3rs
Oblongs, The
Office, The (US)
Once Upon a Time
One Day at a Time (2017)

One-Punch Man

Only Murders in the Building
Orange is the New Black
Ordeal By Innocence

Other Two, The
Out of Control

Out of This World

Overcompensating

Over the Garden Wall

Owl House, The
Parks and Recreation
Party Down

Patty Duke Show, The

Peanuts
Pee-Wee's Playhouse
Peep Show
Penn & Teller: Bullshit!
Pinwheel
Planet Earth

Pluribus
Poirot

Pokemon: Indigo League

Poker Face
Portlandia
Powerpuff Girls, The
Private Life of a Masterpiece, The
Project Runway
Project Runway Canada
Psych
Punky Brewster
Pushing Daisies

Q-Force
Quantum Leap
Queer As Folk (US)
Queer Eye for the Straight Guy
Quest, The
Raising Hope
Reading Rainbow
Reaper

Reboot
Recess
Regular Show

Residence, The
Rick and Steve
Robot Chicken

Rocky & Bullwinkle Show, The
Roots
Roseanne
Rosemary & Thyme
Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In

Running Point
RuPaul's Drag Race
Russian Doll

Sandman
Salt Fat Acid Heat

Saturday Morning All Star Hits!
Saturday Night Live
Saved by the Bell

Schmigadoon!
Schoolhouse Rock
Science Court
Scooby-Doo

Scott Pilgrim Takes Off
Scrubs
Search Party
Sealab 2021

Secret Level
Seinfeld
Sense8
Series of Unfortunate Events, A
Sesame Street
Seven Deadly Sins

Severance
Sex and the City

She-Hulk: Attorney at Law
She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Shear Genius
Sherlock
Silicon Valley
Silver Spoons
Simpsons, The
Sister Wendy
Six Feet Under

Small Wonder
Smurfs, The
Soap

Somebody, Somewhere
Sopranos, The
South Park
Space Ghost, Coast to Coast
Square One TV

St. Denis Medical
Stephen Fry in America
Steven Universe

Steven Universe: Future

Strange Planet
Stranger Things
Strangers With Candy

Strip Law

Studio, The

Sunny

Survival of the Thickest
Superstore
Tales of the City
Tales from the Crypt

Ted Lasso
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Terriers
That 70s Show
That's So Raven

Third Rock From the Sun

Three Busy Debras
Three's Company
Timeless
Tiny Toon Adventures
Toast of London
Today's Special
Tom and Jerry
Top Chef

Top Chef: Just Desserts
Trading Spaces
Trial & Error
Trophy Wife
True Detective
Tuca & Bertie
Twilight Zone, The
Twin Peaks
Two Fat Ladies
Ugly Betty
Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
Undone

Unicorn: Warriors Eternal

Up Here
Up Series, The
Veep
Venture Brothers, The
Veronica Mars
Voltron (2016)

WandaVision

We the People
Webster

Wedding Season

Weeds
Welcome to Sweden
West Wing, The
Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp

What If...?
What We Do in the Shadows
Where on Earth is Carmen Sandiego? (cartoon)
Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? (game show)
White Collar
Who's The Boss?
Whodunnit?
Will and Grace

Win or Lose
Wings
Wire, The
Wishbone

Woman in the House Across the Street from the Girl in the Window, The
Women's Murder Club
Wonderfalls
Wonder Years, The
X-Men (1990s)

X-Men '97
Xena: Warrior Princess
You Can't Do That On Television

The State of the Art: Movies 2025

Well. That's better. Last year, the slate of movies I saw wasn't bad, but nothing really captured my attention in a super-special way. Pop culture across the board left me in a sad state of sluggish ennui, but pretty much every category stepped up this year, which I'm immensely relieved by. Movies are no exception, because my favorite one of the year was incredible.

It'd be so easy for Sinners to just be another vampire movie. I almost just let it slip by, even as it was getting a tidal wave of positive word-of-mouth. It took some convincing from my husband and friends that 1) I could handle the gore level, and 2) I really, really needed to see this. They were right. Michael B. Jordan plays a set of twins who blow back into their small town after years away to open a juke joint with the help of their blues-playing cousin Sammie (Miles Caton) and other local friends. The twins reconnect with old flames (Wunmi Mosaku and Hailee Steinfeld), and while their opening night is wildly successful, their success draws negative attention of more than one kind. Sinners is fun and scary and beautiful and enchanting and unpredictable and sad. It's about love and music and racism and found family. It makes you root both for and against the villains (well, some of them). It's outstanding in every respect, right down to the shifting aspect ratios.

Let's get to the full 2025 list!

Sinners (A)
Twinless (A-)
The Naked Gun (B+)
Superman (B+)
Black Bag (B+)
Thunderbolts* (B+)
Wake Up Dead Man (B+)
Eternity (B+)
Drop (B+)
KPop Demon Hunters (B)
Materialists (B)
Hedda (B-)
Fantastic Four: First Steps (B-)
Splitsville (B-)
Megan 2.0 (B-)
You're Cordially Invited (B-)
Merv (C+)
The Parenting (C+)
Kinda Pregnant (C+)

As usual, though, a lot of the year was spent catching up on movies from previous years. It bears a reminder that grades reflect how much I enjoyed watching these, weighed against how successful it was at achieving the level of quality it was going for. Long story, short: No, Tammy and the T-Rex wasn't angling for any Oscars, but it was a blast. Also, I'm not listing A Goofy Movie because while it was shown on a screen that my eyes were pointed towards, I was sleepy and...in a bit of an altered state, so I don't remember a single frame of it. Without further ado, here's the pre-2025 ranking!

Flow (2024) (A)

Promising Young Woman (2020) (A-)

Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (1927) (A-)

My Old Ass (2024) (A-)

A Nice Indian Boy (2024) (A-)

Bound (1996) (B+)

Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl (2024) (B+)
Conclave (2024) (B)

Dark City (1998) (B)

The Marvels (2023) (B)

Orion and the Dark (2024) (B)

North Avenue Irregulars (1979) (B)

Tammy and the T-Rex (1994) (B)

Twisters (2024) (B-)

Shag (1989) (B-)

The Commitments (1991) (B-)

Bagdad Cafe (1987) (B-)

The Assassination Bureau (1969) (C+)

Hair (1979) (C+)

White Chicks (2004) (C+)

Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark (2019) (C)

Superman III (1983) (D+)

Highlander (1986) (D)

Pokémon the Movie: Secrets of the Jungle (2020) (D)

The State of the Art: Television 2025

It can be difficult to identify what area of pop culture was the "best" in my tastes in a given year. Often, there's a year where, for example, there was one standout book that captured my heart above everything else, but movies as whole were better than my reading year. On the other hand, there can absolutely be years where one media type dominates. In 2022, the year's video games were so outstanding that I don't know if it'll ever be matched again. Well, it looks like we're in another of those years where one kind of entertainment dominates.

This has been a wonderful year for television. I was able to watch a lot of shows this year, and that usually means a pretty standard bell curve of quality. In 2025, though, an unprecedented ten shows earned a grade in the A-range, the most of any year since I've been measuring. So, great year for TV. That must mean that picking an overall favorite must have been agonizing, right? Nope. Choosing the best show of the year was simplicity itself, because how could anything even come close to matching Long Story Short?

This show was incredible. I shouldn't be surprised, since it comes from the minds that wrote and animated terrific shows like Bojack Horseman and Tuca & Bertie, but at the same time, those shows had a lot of fantastical elements. This show is just about a family and their interpersonal relationships, telling their stories while jumping back and forth in time. And it's amazing. It's laugh out loud funny, but can be heartfelt at the same time. It tackles issues as small as what to write in a congratulatory speech to ones as massive as how to handle the religious upbringing of your child. It's the most Jewish show I've ever seen, and that's saying something - at times it felt like it was spying on my own family's conversations. It's so good that editing this list of favorites has me wanting to watch the whole season for the third time.

But, like I said, while it was easily my favorite of the year, the year itself was no slouch. Let's get to the full list!

Long Story Short (Season 1) (2025) (A)
Pee-Wee as Himself (documentary) (2025) (A)
Overcompensating (Season 1) (2025) (A)
The Studio (Season 1) (2025) (A-)
The Residence (Season 1) (2025) (A-)
Pluribus (Season 1) (2025) (A-)
Adolescence (Season 1) (2025) (A-)
Win or Lose (Season 1) (2025) (A-)
A Man on the Inside (Season 1) (2024) (A-)
Ghosts (America) (Season 1-2) (2021, 2022) (A-)

Somebody Somewhere (Season 2) (2023) (B+)
The Devil's Plan (Seasons 1-2) (2023, 2025) (B+)
Black Mirror (Season 7) (2025) (B+)
Dark Matter (Season 1) (2024) (B+)
A Man on the Inside (Season 2) (2025) (B+)

Survival of the Thickest (Season 2) (2025) (B)
Poker Face (Season 2) (2025) (B)
Great British Baking Show (Season 16) (B)
King of the Hill (Season 14) (2025) (B)
Bob's Burgers (Season 15-16) (2024, 2025) (B)
Fright Krewe (Season 2) (2024) (B)
Nobody Wants This (Season 1) (2024) (B)
Grimm (Season 1-2) (2011, 2013) (B)
Haunted Hotel (Season 1) (2025) (B)
St. Denis Medical (Season 1-2) (2024, 2025) (B)
Harley Quinn (Season 5) (2025) (B)

Mythic Quest (Season 1) (2020) (B-)
Joey (Season 1) (2004) (B-)

Only Murders in the Building (Season 5) (2025) (C+)
Mid-Century Modern (Season 1) (2025) (C+)
The Four Seasons (Season 1) (2025) (C+)
Running Point (Season 1) (2025) (C)
Secret Level (Season 1) (2024) (C)

The State of the Art: Games 2025

In years past, I've often thought of myself as on a diverging path when it came to what the best games of the year are. Not that I thought the crowd had bad taste or anything; it's just that I always preferred whatever weird little indie I had discovered to any of the big releases everyone else was obsessed with. In 2025, however, the wisdom of crowds certainly asserted itself. While there were certainly still a couple of buried gems, I tended to enjoy what everyone else was playing, too. This year also had a lot of remakes, sequels, and spiritual successors, which makes it tough to categorize what constitutes a "new" game. Luckily, it's my list, so I can handle the taxonomy however I want. Yay!

To that end, I've done splits in a couple of different ways before. I've done the favorite-released-this-year paired with favorite-played-this-year, and left-brained favorite paired with right-brained favorite. I can actually do both simultaneously this year. When it comes to right-brained favorite game released this year, it's got to be the runaway hit that took everyone by surprise.

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 shares a lot of gameplay DNA with JRPGs, but its French style, along with its impeccably-voiced characters, gave it a really fresh take. Fun and gorgeous, with an Act I reveal that left my jaw on the ground, it far and away deserved all the accolades it's won.

As awesome as Clair Obscur was, however, it was nowhere near the most fun I had this year. That honor goes to a left-brained game that I've already played. Two years ago, I mentioned The Roottrees Are Dead, a free-to-play browser game that I became obsessed with. It gained enough popularity for the creator to update it for release on Steam, with professional art instead of AI, actual voice-over, and tweaks to some of the story clues to make it more intuitive. Since I had such a great time with the original, I happily handed over my money to play the new version, and was delighted to discover that they've actually added content; the most welcome surprise of the year was diving into that sequel mystery.

Both of these games had stiff competition. Ghost of Yotei was a terrific sequel to Ghost of Tsushima that gave Clair Obscur a run for its money, and Unheard - Voices of Crime was neck-and-neck with The Roottrees Are Dead as my favorite mystery game. Any and all of these games would get a strong recommend from me. I also had a good time with some new tabletop games -- Earthborne Rangers and Here to Slay in particular -- but as for video games, let's get to the loosely-ranked list!

The Roottrees Are Dead (updated)
Unheard - Voices of Crime
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
Ghost of Yotei
Blue Prince
Botany Manor
Dispatch
The Lamplighters League
The Case of the Golden Idol
Metaphor: ReFantazio
Age of Wonders 4
Date Everything!
Robocop: Rogue City
Indika
Vampire Therapist
The Outer Worlds 2
Type Help
Open Roads
Little Problems: A Cozy Detective Game
Tactical Breach Wizards
Wanderstop
Avowed
Medium
Viewfinder
As Dusk Falls
Lost Records: Bloom & Rage
Welcome to Goodland

The State of the Art: Books 2025

As a year, holistically, 2025 has been terrible. For society, that is. I can't claim a lot of personal tragedy, but I'm certainly attuned to how bad things are in general. Normally, when things are dour like this, I turn to bright, cheery music or upbeat movies. Books, however, are where I go to wallow. Nothing enhances a bad mood like a grim or pensive book. As always, I looked over the year's offerings to see if I could identify a "theme":

2019: "Anywhere But Here"
2020: "Dealing with Loss"
2021: "What We Owe to Each Other"
2022: "Look Behind the Curtain"
2023: "Stay In Your Lane"
2024: "The Ones Who Are Overlooked"

In 2025, to my initial point, it appears that I'm embracing this downbeat year with a theme of "The End". Whether it's suicide, pending apocalypse, an apocalypse that has already happened, war, revolution, or murder, the books I read this year tended to focus on humanity reaching the end of the road, in one way or another.

I didn't read as much as I'd have liked in 2025, but the good news is that I achieved my evergreen resolution to make sure that I'm reading books by authors from a wide spectrum of races, genders, sexual orientations, and nationalities. That's always something to celebrate. There was a lot of genre-hopping, too. From sci-fi to mystery to non-fiction to fantasy, I had a little of everything this year. So what earned the top spot? Let's get to the list!

Sea of Tranquility (Emily St. John Mandel) (2022) (A)

Lincoln in the Bardo (George Saunders) (2017) (A-)

Cuba: An American History (Ada Ferrer) (2021) (A-)

She Who Became the Sun (Shelley Parker-Chan) (2021) (A-)

Pandora's Jar: Women in the Greek Myths (Natalie Haynes) (2020) (B+)

The House in the Cerulean Sea (TJ Klune) (2020) (B+)

When the Moon Hits Your Eye (John Scalzi) (2025) (B+)

Landline (Rainbow Rowell) (2014) (B+)

The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires (Grady Hendrix) (2020) (B+)

Starling House (Alix E. Harrow) (2023) (B+)

Gardens of the Moon (Malazan Book of the Fallen #1) (Steven Erikson) (1999) (B)

The Restaurant of Lost Recipes (Hisashi Kashiwai) (2014, translated 2024) (B)

The Cautious Traveller's Guide to the Wastelands (Sarah Brooks) (2024) (B)

Someday, Maybe (Onyi Nwabineli) (2022) (B)

Everyone In My Family Has Killed Someone (Benjamin Stevenson) (2022) (B)

The End of the World as We Know It: New Tales of Stephen King's The Stand (edited by Christopher Golden, Brian Keene) (2025) (B)

We Used to Live Here (Marcus Kliewer) (2024) (B)

What If It's Us (Becky Albertalli, Adam Silvera) (2018) (B-)

They All Fall Down (Rachel Howzell Hall) (2019) (C-)

The City We Became (N.K. Jemisin) (2020) (abandoned)

The State of the Art: Television 2024

Playing catch-up with TV has never been more complex. Attempting to keep pace with currently-airing shows, while simultaneously trying to find time for shows from the past that I haven't been able to get to yet would be challenging enough, but then you also have to consider that there are shows I watch by myself, shows I watch with my husband, and shows I watch with my friends, which all have to be watched at particular times. I've officially given up on trying to get to everything, and sadly, there are tons of critically-acclaimed or friend-approved shows that'll just never get a slot on the packed schedule.

Fortunately, several of the shows I did make time for this year were terrific. In fact, everything that got a grade in the A range is a 2024 show. Also, a lot of the shows I watched flipped the script in interesting ways. A sitcom that's actually a tense drama. A murder mystery that's actually a comedy. A cartoon with extremely adult themes. A story about the frustrations with bureaucracy that's absurd and surreal. And sitting atop the pile, a show that managed to be heartfelt, funny, cute, serious, had unsurpassed world-building, and also...made me hungry.

I don't watch a lot of anime, so Delicious in Dungeon came out of nowhere. Ostensibly, it's about a very RPG-ish party that explores a local dungeon in the usual hopes of treasure. Their motives change when one of their members gets taken by a dragon, and the rest have to (literally) dig deeper to get her back. Along the way, they meet a new member who introduces the concept of staving off hunger by eating the monsters they defeat. Half D&D, half Julia Child, it's really surprising that a show that can often be so silly is also really great at telling stories and building characters.

Let's get to the year's full list!

Delicious in Dungeon (Season 1) (2024) (A)

X-Men '97 (Season 1) (2024) (A-)

Agatha All Along (Season 1) (2024) (A-)

Fantasmas (Season 1) (2024) (A-)

The Afterparty (Season 2) (2023) (B+)
Kevin Can F**k Himself (Seasons 1-2) (2021-2022) (B+)
What We Do in the Shadows (Seasons 5-6) (2023) (B+)
Minx (Season 2) (2023) (B+)
Dead Boy Detectives (Season 1) (2024) (B+)

Girls5Eva (Season 3) (2024) (B)

Harriet the Spy (Season 2) (2023) (B)

Severance (Season 1) (2022) (B)

The Franchise (Season 1) (2024) (B)

Abbott Elementary (Season 3) (2024) (B)
Only Murders in the Building (Season 4) (2024) (B)

The Great British Baking Show (Season 15) (2024) (B)
The Big Door Prize (Season 2) (2024) (B)

The Boyfriend (Season 1) (2024) (B)

Extraordinary (Season 2) (2024) (B)

Party Down (Season 3) (2023) (B)

Bob's Burgers (Season 14) (2023) (B)
Exploding Kittens (Season 1) (2024) (B)

Modern Family (Season 1) (2009) (B)

The Bear (Season 2) (2023) (B)

Ted Lasso (Season 2) (2021) (B-)

One Punch Man (Season 1) (2015) (B-)

Mob Psycho 100 (Season 1) (2016) (B-)

Modern Family (Season 2) (2010) (B-)

Sunny (Season 1) (2024) (C)

Death and Other Details (Season 1) (2024) (C)

The State of the Art: Movies 2024

When I started putting together my final ranking for this year's movies, I became a bit alarmed. While I definitely saw some highly-entertaining films this year, on the whole, the movies of 2024 can be summed up as "Yeah, not bad." There was (almost) nothing as thoughtful and interesting as a Past Lives I feel the need to spread the word about, and definitely not an Everything Everywhere All At Once to light my heart aflame. Part of the reason seems to be me. I've only seen 14 new movies this year, and I still haven't gotten to a couple that have gotten very good word-of-mouth. But part of the reason seems to be Hollywood. The Golden Globes nominations are incredibly dull, and when it comes down to it, I seriously doubt future generations will be heralding 2024 as an incredible year for movies.

That doesn't mean there weren't good movies, though, and the top of my list is a thriller that actually thrilled.

Blink Twice is pretty amazing, especially given that it's Zoë Kravitz' directorial debut. When cocktail waitress Frida (Naomi Ackie) gets herself noticed by tech billionaire Slater King (Channing Tatum) at a party she's working at, he invites her and her friend Jess (Alia Shawkat) to his private island. King has been recently publicly disgraced, and is attempting to work his way back into the public's good graces. The privacy of his island affords him and his guests an opportunity to cut loose, with endless days and nights of incredible meals, and booze- and drug-fueled partying. Frida and Jess are having the time of their lives, but eventually begin to notice that not all is as it appears. And things...devolve. Rapidly.

There are countless thrillers - not to mention the recent spate of social message movies - about how douchey and awful the American upper class is, and it can be really easy for these movies to fall into the trap of being too predictable, too on-the-nose, too hamfisted, and entirely too pleased with themselves. Blink Twice expertly sidesteps those traps, making Frida's plight gripping and tense. I should also make special mention of Adria Arjona, who gives an amazing performance as Sarah, a intimidating fellow guest that Frida clashes with.

Let's get to the full 2024 list!

Blink Twice (B+)

Wicked (B+)

The Fall Guy (B+)

Hundreds of Beavers (2022, 2024) (B+)

Inside Out 2 (B+)

Carry-On (B+)

Babes (B)

Dune: Part Two (B)

I Saw the TV Glow (B)

Welcome Home Franklin (B)

Challengers (B-)

Night Swim (B-)

Tarot (C)

Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire (C-)

Of course, the majority of the year was spent catching up on movies from the past, so for the pre-2024 ranking:

The Apartment (1960) (A)

American Fiction (2023) (A)

Marcel the Shell with Shoes On (2022) (A)

River (2023) (A-)

Beyond the Infinite Two Minutes (2021) (B+)

Anatomy of a Fall (2023) (B+)

Godzilla Minus One (2023) (B+)

Problemista (2023) (B+)

Hot Fuzz (2007) (B+)

The Holdovers (2023) (B)

Three Minutes: A Lengthening (2021) (B)

Perfect Days (2023) (B)

Under the Shadow (2016) (B)

Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret. (2023) (B)

Hit Man (2023) (B)

Downton Abbey: A New Era (2022) (B)

Saltburn (2023) (B-)
The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra (2001) (B-)

Dream Scenario (2023) (B-)

Being There (1979) (B-)
The Boy and the Heron (2023) (B-)

Drinking Buddies (2013) (B-)

27 Dresses (2008) (B-)

Shrek Forever After (2010) (B-)

Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget (2023) (B-)

Zone of Interest (2023) (C+)

All of Us Strangers (2023) (C+)

Cry Wolf (1947) (C+)
Who Is Killing the Great Chefs of Europe? (1978) (C+)

Anyone But You (2023) (C+)

Puss in Boots (1988) (C+)

Pokémon: The First Movie - Mewtwo Strikes Back (1998) (C+)

7 Women and a Murder (2021) (C+)

Stay Tuned (1992) (C)

Waiting (2005) (C-)

Speed 2 (1997) (D)

Nothing But Trouble (1991) (D)

Madea's Big Happy Family (2011) (D-)

The Very Excellent Mr. Dundee (2020) (F)

The State of the Art: Games 2024

It's become clear that I'm going to be chasing the gaming high from 2022 for many years to come. That was an outstanding game year, but I shouldn't expect that I'm going to have such a wealth of favorites all the time. And I don't. 2024 was a perfectly cromulent year for games, but there were only a few that I'm super-excited about, and even of those, most weren't released this year. That's not to say there wasn't plenty of fun stuff to immerse myself in, but if I'm picking a favorite game played this year, rather than released this year, the choice becomes pretty obvious.

Ghost of Tsushima was originally released in 2020, and then on the PS5 in 2021, but I only just played it this year. Such a shame that I waited so long, because it is one of the most gorgeous games I've ever played. Some of the Assassin's Creed games were great, but none of their settings come close to the visual splendor of Japan during the first Mongol invasion. If it were only pretty, though, it wouldn't be top of the list. It's also really, really fun. This style of game can sometimes fall into the trap of having too much going on. The map becomes overwhelmingly littered with icons of people to talk to or pieces of parchment to find or whatever. Ghost of Tsushima keeps it to a perfect, manageable size, and goes a step further of doing the outstanding job of weaving directions and side content in organically. No need for a pop-up message telling you where to go next if a gentle gust of wind does it. You can bet that I won't be so slow to play Ghost of Yotei when it comes out next year.

If we're sticking to games released in 2024, just like last year, I won't be wandering off from the crowd. My choice, like so many others', is Astro Bot.

I used to really get into platformers such as Spyro the Dragon, but there hasn't been one that's grabbed my attention in a long time. It's almost confusing why something like Astro Bot hasn't come along, because its concept is simple: Go to various worlds, rescue your bot friends, and pick up some loot along the way. Of course, it helps that the visuals are terrific, and the music is the most joyous score I've heard in years (I actually often put it on my headphones to listen to while I'm working). This style of game also means they can add additional worlds, so I can see myself enjoying this one for a long time to come.

There were some other standouts as well this year, from the mystery solving hotel maid in This Bed We Made, to the cheeky British humor of Thank Goodness You're Here! to the soothing zen of PowerWash Simulator. There's even a late entry that I just started called Rolling Hills - Make Sushi, Make Friends, which is so right up my alley, I'm surprised the idea wasn't taken straight from my dreams.

And let's not forget tabletop gaming, either. We're still going strong with the Arkham Horror card game, but as far as new games, we had a lot of fun with Aeon's End and Dominion. But for video games, let's get to the loosely-ranked list!

Ghost of Tsushima

Astro Bot
PowerWash Simulator

Rolling Hills - Make Sushi, Make Friends
This Bed We Made

Thank Goodness You're Here!
Dragon Age: The Veilguard
Riley & Rochelle
Miles Morales

The Thaumaturge
Coral Island

Lake
Alone in the Dark

428: Shibuya Scramble

Marvel Rivals

Balatro

Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden
Scene Investigators

Coffee Talk

Immortals of Aveum

Lorelei and the Laser Eyes
Frog Detective
Murderous Muses

Book of Hours

The State of the Art: Books 2024

When I kicked off list-making season this year, I got an unfortunate sense of ennui while I was looking over all the cultural offerings I consumed. Usually, there's something in every category that I get really excited about, but in 2024, even the titles that took the top spot sometimes only got a "Eh, it was pretty good," out of me. Happily, I don't have to say that for the book category, because I had a handful of really great reads this year. As ever, I looked over the list to see if I could pick out a "theme":

2019: "Anywhere But Here"
2020: "Dealing with Loss"
2021: "What We Owe to Each Other"
2022: "Look Behind the Curtain"
2023: "Stay In Your Lane"

For 2024, it appears that the starkest theme I can see is "The Ones Who Are Overlooked". Whether it's because of their gender, nationality, sexual orientation, physical appearance, or... you know, because they've been cursed by a literal demon, the characters in the books I read this year aren't given the attention and credibility they deserve.

Thanks to Goodreads, I have some actual stats, and as a fellow with a pretty busy life, I'm satisfied with my total of 20 books (7008 pages). I've got a good range of authors from different backgrounds, too, which is an evergreen resolution of mine. Hopefully, I can keep up the pace next year. I constantly wrestle with the concept of "best" vs. "favorite". Sometimes, I can recognize that literarily, one book is superior to another, but I just happen to like the latter more, so I guess suck it, impeccably-written novel! Let's get to the list!

How to Be Eaten (Maria Adelmann) (2022) (A)

The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida (Shehan Karunatilaka) (2022) (A)

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue (V.E. Schwab) (2020) (A)

Oscar Wars: A History of Hollywood in Gold, Sweat, and Tears (Michael Schulman) (2023) (A-)

James (Percival Everett) (2024) (A-)

How to Sell a Haunted House (Grady Hendrix) (2023) (B+)

The Kamogawa Food Detectives (Hisashi Kashiwai) (2013, 2023) (B+)

The Memory Police (Yoko Ogawa) (1994, 2019) (B)

Stone Blind (Natalie Haynes) (2022) (B)

The Annotated Northanger Abbey (Jane Austen, David M. Shapard) (B) (1817, 2013)

Six Wakes (Mur Lafferty) (2017) (B)

Zodiac: A Graphic Memoir (Ai Weiwei) (2024) (B)

The Leavers (Lisa Ko) (2017) (B)

A Haunting on the Hill (Elizabeth Hand) (2023) (B)

The Song Machine: Inside the Hit Factory (John Seabrook) (2015) (B)

The Thief (Megan Whalen Turner) (1996) (B-)

A Botanist's Guide to Flowers and Fatality (Kate Khavari) (2023) (C+)

The First to Die at the End (Adam Silvera) (2022) (C+)
The Anti-Book (Raphael Simon) (2021) (C)

Wilder Girls (Rory Power) (2019) (C)

The State of the Art: Movies 2023

It's been an exciting year for movies! Sometimes, I feel like the types of movies I watch over the course of a year can get too similar to each other; lists in the past have had an overabundance of superhero movies, or light comedies, or historical dramas, or whatever. In 2023, though, the movies I saw were all over the map, and I always feel happier when I've sampled from a wider cultural range.

As ever, the grades I give here are about the quality of the movie and how well it did at accomplishing what it was trying to achieve. If I were grading these purely on the experience of watching them, something like getting together with friends to ingest illicit substances and mock a piece of crap like Queen of the Damned would get an A. Speaking of good grades, it's interesting to note that while this year had double the number of movies in the A range as last year, there were no A+ movies in 2023. That seems about right; an A+ should be extremely rare.

As to my favorite movie of the year, I waffled quite a bit. It took me a long time to reach a decision, but ultimately, I went with one that was not only well-acted and had a tight and suspenseful plot, but cleverly avoided all of the traps and pitfalls that usually afflict romance stories.

Past Lives is remarkable. In 99% of movies, the dramatic tension of the story of a woman (Nora) who immigrated to North America as a child, grew up to marry an American, then reconnects with her old crush from Korea (Hae Sung) would be about the will-they/won't-they of cheating on her husband. This movie is a lot smarter than that, and is more interested in exploring Nora's inner conflicts in reconciling the person she was then with the person she is now. The word "bittersweet" is overused, but definitely applies here. The care taken with these characters' reminiscing about their real emotional connection in the past, while still treating their relationships in the present with intelligence is like an oasis of fresh water after wandering through a desert of hackneyed tropes for decades. It's a beautiful movie that I'm still thinking about, months after seeing it.

Let's get to the full 2023 list!

Past Lives (A)

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (A)

Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves (A-)

Totally Killer (A-)

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem (B+)

Barbie (B+)

Poor Things (B+)
M3GAN (B+)
Asteroid City (B+)

No One Will Save You (B+)

Joy Ride (B+)

Polite Society (B+)

Roald Dahl shorts (The Wonderful World of Henry Sugar, The Rat Catcher, The Swan, Poison) (B+)
One More Time (B+)

Guardians of the Galaxy: Volume 3 (B)
Theater Camp (B)

No Hard Feelings (B)

May December (B)

Wonka (B)
One-of-a-Kind Marcie (B)

Elemental (B-)

A Haunting in Venice (C+)

Leave the World Behind (C+)
Magic Mike's Last Dance (C+)
Slotherhouse (C+)

The Super Mario Bros. Movie (C)

And for the pre-2023 movies:

The Shining (1980) (A-)
Tár (2022) (A-)

Theater of Blood (1973) (B+)

RRR (2022) (B+)

Sea Beast (2022) (B+)

The House (2022) (B+)

Triangle of Sadness (2022) (B)
Swiss Army Man (2016) (B)
Matilda the Musical (2022) (B)

Come From Away (2021) (B)

Shiva Baby (2020) (B)

Puss in Boots: The Last Wish (2022) (B)

Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1992) (B-)

Gremlins (1984) (B-)

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022) (B-)

The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent (2022) (B-)
The Producers (2005) (B-)
7 Days in Hell (2015) (B-)
The Brave Little Toaster (1987) (B-)

Bros (2022) (C+)
Unicorn Store (2017) (C+)

Top Gun: Maverick (2022) (C+)

Scooby Doo on Zombie Island (1998) (C+)

Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971) (C+)
Barbarella (1968) (C)
Sabrina the Teenage Witch (1996) (C)

Critters (1986) (C)
Twilight* (2008) (C)

Forbidden Planet (1956) (C)

D.E.B.S. (2004) (C-)
Vibes (1988) (C-)

Critters 3 (1991) (C-)

Critters 2 (1988) (C-)

Queen of the Damned (2002) (C-)

Arena (1989) (C-)

Hansel & Gretel (2002) (D+)

Blackenstein (1973) (D)

Critters 4 (1992) (D)

*We watched the Rifftrax version of this to make it palatable - grade reflects the actual movie

The State of the Art: Television 2023

It seems that television and books have swapped places this year. In 2022, there were several books that I loved, but on the whole, TV was entertaining, but not terribly exciting. This year, it was tough to find a book that grabbed my attention (though fortunately it happened), but TV was terrific. If there's an overarching theme to my experiences with television this year, it's that there's just no way to stay current, and I'll always be playing catch-up, even with shows I love. I'll absolutely get to the current seasons of Minx, The Bear, Julia, What We Do in the Shadows, Severance, Somebody Somewhere, etc. But there was absolutely no way to squeeze it all in.

Picking a favorite show is actually pretty agonizing this year. I could make an argument for any of a handful of shows taking the top spot, but ultimately I had to pick one. If you're looking for recommendations, though, there are plenty to choose from here. When picking a favorite, I took a few aspects into account: Obviously, it had to be a show that I loved, but there was only one show that I couldn't stop myself from bingeing. It stars actors I love in other properties. It has a sense of mystery and wonder without jumping up its own ass. I also like highlighting a show that didn't get a lot of attention, so my favorite television show of 2023 has to be:

The Big Door Prize. Never heard of it? You're not alone. I think I first heard this mentioned as a throwaway "here's what I've been watching" kind of comment on one of the podcasts I listen to, and it sounded intriguing enough to check out. Thank goodness I did, because this show is utterly fascinating.

If you've ever read the Machine of Death books (which are great, by the way), you're familiar with the concept of a mysterious machine that shows up without explanation and dispenses information that fundamentally changes people. Instead of informing the townsfolk of how they're going to die, though, the machine in The Big Door Prize gives them a word or phrase that promises to encapsulate their true potential. That sounds less dramatic than mode of death, but upon reading what the universe has decided you can be if you applied yourself, what sort of changes would you make in your life? What if the card is confusing? What if it's upsetting? What if it indicates you'll never be anything more than what you are right now, despite your ambitions? What if embracing your potential means you'll be forced to give up something that you love in the present?

I love a good dose of magical realism when it's done well, and this show does it beautifully. It's acted impeccably, it packs an emotional wallop while still being funny, weaves together a terrific overall story told from multiple points of view, and it spurs a lot of self-reflection about the kinds of people we are and who we want to be. I'm thrilled that it's been renewed for a Season 2.

While we wait for that, though, let's get to the year's full list!

The Big Door Prize (Season 1) (2023) (A)
Schmigadoon! (Season 2) (2023) (A)
Only Murders in the Building (Season 3) (2023) (A)
Poker Face (Season 1) (2023) (A)

The Other Two (Season 3) (2023) (A-)

Scott Pilgrim Takes Off (Season 1) (2023) (A-)

A Black Lady Sketch Show (Season 4) (2023) (A-)

Never Have I Ever (Season 3) (2022) (A-)

The Afterparty (Season 1) (2022) (A-)

Harley Quinn (Season 4) (2023) (B+)

Never Have I Ever (Season 4) (2023) (B+)
Survival of the Thickest (Season 1) (2023) (B+)

Bodies (Season 1) (2023) (B+)

Extraordinary (Season 1) (2023) (B+)

Abbott Elementary (Season 2) (2023) (B+)
Schmigadoon! (Season 1) (2021) (B+)
Fright Krewe (Season 1) (2023) (B+)

Julia (Season 1) (2022) (B+)

Insecure (Season 1) (2016) (B+)

Somebody Somewhere (Season 1) (2022) (B+)
Girls5Eva (Seasons 1-2) (2021-2022) (B+)

Jury Duty (Season 1) (2023) (B+)

Ted Lasso (Season 1) (2020) (B)

Harriet the Spy (Season 1) (2021) (B)

Cunk on Earth (Season 1) (2023) (B)
Bob's Burgers (Season 14) (2023) (B) [still airing]

Bob's Burgers (Season 13) (2023) (B)

Black Mirror (Season 6) (2023) (B)

Beef (Season 1) (2023) (B)

Central Park (Season 1) (2020) (B)
The Great British Baking Show (Season 14) (B)
Unicorn: Eternal Warriors (Season 1) (2023) (B)

Futurama (Season 11) (2023) (B-)

Clone High (Season 2) (2023) (B-)
Indian Matchmaking (Season 3) (2023) (B-)

Fired on Mars (Season 1) (2023) (B-)

The Changeling (Season 1) (2023) (C+)

And Just Like That (Season 1) (2021) (C+)

Muscles & Mayhem: An Unauthorized Story of American Gladiators (Season 1) (2023) (C+)

Up Here (Season 1) (2023) (C)

The State of the Art: Games 2023

Let's be real: There was no way that this year of gaming would ever be able to match 2022, which was probably the best single year for video games I've ever experienced. That said, there was still a lot to enjoy this year from all over the gaming spectrum! One thing I did for the first time last year was to pick a favorite "left-brained" game, and a favorite "right-brained" game, which I think worked out really well, and that I'll carry forward. Normally, I'd say I'm more of a left-brained person in general, but last year, the right-brained choice took top spot, as it does again this year, because how could I pick anything other than Baldur's Gate 3?

It's exceedingly rare for me to pick a AAA game as my favorite. I tend to like smaller, indie games. Also, I played this game in early access, and wasn't impressed. At the time, I thought that the exponentially-cheaper Solasta had a better user interface than this extremely-hyped, massive game, and I sensed disaster in the offing when this went live. Never have I been happier to be wrong. I don't believe I've ever played a game where there are so many different possible outcomes to your choices. Everyone else I talked to who played this (which was basically everyone who games) conducted themselves in slightly different ways, which led to totally different results. NPCs I became friends with were dead in their games, and vice versa. NPCs who treated my character like dirt were sweet as pie to theirs.

The attention to detail didn't stop there, as every single NPC (and there are hundreds of them) can be approached and talked to. Even if they don't have full conversation trees, they all have something different to say, making the world feel very lived-in. The graphics are top-notch, it's acted well, and it has an intuitive control system. If you can't play tabletop D&D, this is far and away the next best choice.

As to my favorite left-brained game of the year, it came to me by way of a friend who said "I looked into this game, and it seemed totally annoying to me. It's right up your alley." Boy, was he right. And on top of that, it's free! If logical analysis and late '90s internet research is your thing, be sure you try The Roottrees Are Dead.

It's the late '90s, and Carl Roottree, the billionaire candy company magnate, has just died in a plane crash, along with his wife and three daughters. The inheritance will be a knotty matter, and your mysterious benefactor has charged you with filling in the entire Roottree family tree, based on magazine articles, internet searches, and library books.

This game drew me in like a magnet. I literally put off social plans, because I was thisclose to cracking the information I needed to fill in a branch of this fictional genealogy chart. This is a real if-you-know-you-know type of game, but to the group of folks who are into this type of thing, this is an enthralling experience.

There were certainly other games that are worth your time that I discovered in 2023, from the musical mythological murder mystery Stray Gods, to censoring the news reports in Not For Broadcast, to the battles between rival steampunk carnival troupes in Circus Electrique. There were a lot of fun tabletop gaming experiences this year, too. Standouts include Descent: Legends of the Dark, Cthulhu: Death May Die, and the tabletop version of Fallout. But for the video games, let's get to the loosely-ranked list!

Circus Electrique

Stray Gods

Agatha Christie - Murder on the Orient Express

Final Fantasy XVI

Lord Winklebottom Investigates

The Past Within

Chants of Sennaar

South of the Circle

Venba

Forspoken

Not For Broadcast

The Room

Deathloop

Beacon Pines

Saltsea Chronicles

The Isle Tide Hotel

Dave the Diver

Memoranda

Underdog Detective

Deliver Us the Moon

Vampire - The Masquerade: Swansong

Harvestella

In the past handful of years, gaming has been getting better and better at conveying a rich cultural experience. I certainly never thought that a simple game like South of the Circle, in which you do little more than choose which emotion to express in conversations, could rival prestige television and movies in the ability to tell a compelling story, but with each passing year, video games are starting to overtake their respectable older siblings more and more. I can't wait to see what 2024 brings.

The State of the Art: Books 2023

As I read The Night Circus for the dozenth time (I only allow myself to read it in winter), I'm painfully reminded that for some reason, books seem to have a higher bar than other media to clear in order for me to give them a good grade. 2023, especially, had a few bright spots, but the reading year in general was kind of a shrug. I always like to look over the books I read over the course of a year to see if I can assign a "theme":

2019: "Anywhere But Here"
2020: "Dealing with Loss"
2021: "What We Owe to Each Other"
2022: "Look Behind the Curtain"

For 2023, I'd have to say the theme was "Stay In Your Lane". From unnecessary sequels to disappointing reimaginings of classic characters, this year was rife with books that failed to freshen up old ideas. For the first time in a long time, reading was kind of a chore, leading to a smaller list than in other years. You'll note that I put Louise Fitzhugh in quotes below, because Sport was published by her estate after her death, which goes a long way towards explaining why it's so awful. It wasn't all bad news, though. A few books managed to grip my attention, and happily, they came from different genres, from horror to non-fiction to a cheerful dystopian novel about the strength of community across multiple nations. Hopefully, next year will bring with it a better batch (I'm always open to recommendations). In the meantime, let's get to the list!

The Hacienda (2022) (Isabel Cañas) (A)

Dark Tide: The Great Boston Molasses Flood of 1919 (2003) (Stephen Puleo) (A-)

Scattered All Over the Earth (2018) (Yoko Tawada) (A-)

The Candy House (2022) (Jennifer Egan) (B+)

The Devil and the Dark Water (2020) (Stuart Turton) (B+)

Food Fights & Culture Wars (Tom Nealon) (2017) (B)
What is Not Yours is Not Yours (2016) (Helen Oyeyemi) (B)

Emily of New Moon (1923) (L.M. Montgomery) (B)

Marple: Twelve New Mysteries (2022) (Various) (B)

A Botanist's Guide to Parties and Poisons (Kate Khavari) (2022) (B)

Exile From Eden (Andrew Smith) (2019) (B)

You Think It, I'll Say It (Curtis Sittenfeld) (2018) (B)

Lesser Known Monsters of the 21st Century (2022) (Kim Fu) (B-)

The Chinese Groove (Kathryn Ma) (2023) (B-)

The Other Black Girl (2021) (Zakiya Dalila Harris) (B-)

After the People Lights Have Gone Off (2014) (Stephen Graham Jones) (C+)

The Gone World (Tom Sweterlitsch) (2018) (C)

Mycroft Holmes (Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Anna Waterhouse) (2015) (C)

Sport ("Louise Fitzhugh") (1979) (C-)

Kismet (2018) (Luke Tredget) (D)

The State of the Art: Games 2022

I mentioned in my movie post that while films would usually be the finale of the favorites lists, it wouldn't be this year, because overall, the films I watched in 2022 were not very memorable (aside from a couple of fun exceptions at both the top and bottom of the list). Usually, that would mean books or television would have been the medium to capture my heart. Nope. For the first time ever, we're closing out with games. Video games have had an absolutely phenomenal year, and they've earned their place at the top of the cultural mountain.

Normally, I'd say I play about three good games per year, with hopefully one standing out as excellent, and then a handful of pretty-good ones filling out the list. This year, there were nine outstanding games (!), and those are just the ones released in 2022 (!!). That is unprecedented. So while I did have a favorite, I want to be sure and call out those other eight as well, because they are all over the tonal map, and yet each struck a chord. However, there can only be one at the #1 spot, and this year, that spot goes to Immortality.

I knew Sam Barlow was special when I played Her Story, but I never expected he'd top it. This game made my jaw drop. Immortality is about an actress named Marissa Marcel, who worked on three unreleased movies in three different decades. She disappeared after her work on the third movie, and the purpose of the game is ostensibly to figure out what happened to her. I say "ostensibly", because while I was, of course, very curious to solve that mystery, it's really not the most interesting aspect of what's going on. The game works by watching behind-the-scenes clips of the movies being made, from chemistry tests to location scouting to table-reads to scenes being filmed. If you click on something within a clip, it will go find a match in another clip. So you might, for example, click on an apple in a scene shot in the 1960s, and be taken to a bowl of apples in a scene in the 1990s. As you click around, you begin to piece together the three stories of the movies, as well as the overall story of Marissa Marcel. And that's just the surface. I won't even get into the mysteries within the mysteries. It was absolutely brilliant, and not only from a gaming perspective. Once I was done with the gameplay, I actually just sat down and watched all of the clips again, beginning to end. Though it can be tough to recommend a game to others in which you just click around watching fake movies, for me, this game was, in a word, enthralling.

Now, let's get to those other eight, because they certainly deserve their time in the spotlight as well:

2) The Centennial Case: A Shijima Story: If Immortality was the best right-brained mystery game of the year, this one was far and away the best one for left-brained mystery solving. It also happens to contain multiple stories spanning decades, but instead of soaking in a game of pure atmosphere and story like Immortality, this game is about sifting through clues and using your reasoning, both deductive and inductive, to solve each case and then how they weave together into one overarching puzzle. It's beautifully-shot, well-written, impeccably-performed, and was an absolute joy to play.

3) Marvel: Midnight Suns: I'm told this is very similar to the XCOM series of games, but I never played those, so this style is new to me. At its core, it's a comic book story just like any other. You're a person trying to fight a demonic presence that's attempting to take over the world, and you have a bunch of famous Marvel characters on your team to help out. Sounds pretty standard, right? It probably would be if the gameplay weren't so frigging engaging. Each character has a customizable deck of cards that improves over time, and those cards (along with some environmental attacks) are used to battle enemies. But aside from that, you're also crafting cards and items, cultivating friendships with your teammates, solving the little mysteries of the creepy Abbey you inhabit, and of course, snuggling with your hellhound. Thankfully, the battles are turn-based, so it's not about hysterical button-mashing chaos. It rewards strategic thinking, while still lighting up the primal part of your brain that loves it when Spider-Man fwips into a Hydra minion.

4) Pentiment: It's nervy of me to even include this game, let alone put it so high on the list, because really, I just started playing it. And it's completely hooked me. Once again, it's a mystery game of sorts (sense a theme?), only this time, you're an artist in 16th century Bavaria who's trying to get your mentor off the hook for a murder, using the tried and true investigative technique of: Gossiping with your neighbors. You might talk to them about God or taxes or how so-and-so isn't a valuable member of the community. Maybe you'll question them over a simple meal on the farm, or join the ladies' wool-spinning bee, but whatever you do, do it fast, because time is against you. The art style is a big part of why this game works. For instance, the written dialogue shines with wet ink before drying into the parchment. But also, it does a terrific job of challenging the player of learning all they can, while in an oppressive religious environment, always knowing that people are hiding secrets that have nothing to do with murder.

5) Strange Horticulture: Oh, hey! Another mystery game! I played this one before any of the others on this list, and was convinced at the time that it was going to be #1, so it coming in fifth place shows just how terrific games were this year. This one is also drenched in atmosphere, even as you barely ever leave the single room of the plant shop you run. People show up with all sorts of requests. They want to sleep better. They want to attract the attention of someone they like. They want to...curse their enemies. They want to............face an ancient evil that lives in the forest? Your plants can help with all of these requests, but which plant will fit the bill? And should you help your customers, or are there ones you'd rather circumvent? Who keeps sending mysterious notes for you to seek out new plants in the wild? Is the local witch a friend or foe? This game may test your logical deduction skills, but it also asks you to go with your gut. It's up to you not only to find the right plant, but to decide what is actually right.

6) NORCO: For all the games above, honing in on solutions to the puzzles presented brings a burst of accomplishment. Even if the premise is murder, you're left with a sense of things moving in a positive direction. But not all terrific games are feel-good. Hell, my favorite game of 2020 was all about embracing sadness. And this one, in which you play a woman who has returned to a fictionalized, futuristic version of the real town of Norco, Louisiana after her mother's death to settle affairs, is definitely not feel-good. The town is dominated by refineries, and the entire community is afflicted by urban decay. Everyone you meet, even if they're relatively well-off, is mired in depression and seemingly insurmountable obstacles. Finding out what happened with your mother and where your shiftless brother has wound up is no easy feat, as everyone is too wrapped up in their own problems to lend you a hand. It's a fascinating narrative, and the retro art style really sells its setting.

7) Disney: Dreamlight Valley: OK, this is a silly pick, but I can't deny that many, many hours of 2022 were spent in Dreamlight Valley. This game is basically what would happen if you smashed Stardew Valley, Animal Crossing, and The Sims into one game, populated by Disney characters. It's extremely chill. You walk around, talking to folks like Ariel and Remy. You farm. You cook. You give out presents. You go on quests for your friends. You decorate your home. Is it a ground-breaking achievement in the craft of video games? No. But if you need to de-stress after a long day of work, hopping into this game and spending some time collecting blueberries so you can bake Elsa a pie certainly does the trick.

8) Stray: I'll admit up front; I'm a dog person. But even I was not immune to the charms of this game, in which you play as a curious cat in a post-human world, attempting to find their way back home with the help of some polite robots. As you navigate the detritus left behind after the apocalypse, and do your best to avoid the critters that brought about this extinction, there's a sense of nostalgia about humans, and the decent run that they had. Plus, with the touch of a button, you can purr and make your controller rumble pleasantly.

9) Elden Ring: This style of game is generally not my speed. I had no interest in playing other popular games that FromSoftware produced (Dark Souls, Bloodborne, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, etc.), mostly due to their inherent difficulty. There was some terrific animation, but I watched others play, getting one-shot by a wandering monster or falling off a hidden ledge and losing all their progress. Thanks, I hate it. So while I didn't come close to even getting to the halfway point of this game before I abandoned it, the fact that I put any time into it at all speaks volumes about how well-made it is. It's that fascinating. The story is incredibly sparse, and the dangers that await you in every part of the map are no less frustrating than they appeared in those earlier games. However, the art is gorgeous, and I have to grudgingly admit that trying to get past a valley of giants with a combination of spellcasting, guzzling healing potions, and running my ass off was a lot of fun.

Those are just the standouts from 2022! There were a ton of other video games that were solid, or that were excellent, but that were released in previous years. Here's a quick list of other games that are worth your time:

Overboard!
Lucifer Within Us
Cyberpunk 2077
Life is Strange: True Colors: Wavelengths
Solasta: The Lost Valley
Alt-Frequencies
Assassin's Creed: Valhalla
Tick Tock: A Tale for Two
Potion Craft
Unpacking

And a couple of others, which I won't say much about, because I'm either just getting started (A Little to the Left), or that, um...weren't good (Who Pressed Mute on Uncle Marcus?). There was also a ton of fun had with tabletop games this year. Mostly it was the reliable standards (D&D, Arkham Horror LCG), but thanks to the holidays, I'm starting to delve into some intriguing new ones as well (The King's Dilemma, Cthulhu: Death May Die).

All in all, I couldn't have asked for a better year, and I can only hope that the trend continues. Happy gaming! Well, unless you're playing NORCO.

The State of the Art: Movies 2022

Usually, the post about movies is the last list of the year. If culture still has hierarchies, The Art of Cinema is generally considered to be at the top (though I'd argue that in recent years, television has taken that mantle). All this to say that movies will not be the grand finale post this year, because frankly, I saw precisely one terrific movie this year, and the rest were fine to mediocre. So what was that terrific movie? Longtime readers will know that I'm very stingy with the A+ grades. I only give them out if I can't think of a single thing I'd change. Well, welcome to that exclusive club, Everything Everywhere All at Once!

Equal parts funny, heartbreaking, exciting, thoughtful, and hopeful, this movie has absolutely no competition for best of the year. The story of Evelyn Wang and her family traversing a countless number of parallel universes in order to confront a threat that is pure nihilism sounds completely bonkers. And it is! But it's never confusing or disorienting, and journeying alongside Evelyn as she learns that love and understanding are often the best ways to break down seemingly insurmountable barriers brought tears to my eyes even on second viewing. Plus, the movie just looks cool as hell, and is impeccably acted by every single person in it.

Let's get to the rest of the list! A couple of caveats: I didn't see a huge amount of movies in 2022, so it's likely there are some out there I haven't gotten to yet that would rank highly on the list, though I don't see how anything could come remotely close to Everything Everywhere All at Once. Also, the grades below reflect my opinion of the movie's quality - not how much fun it was to watch them. If I ranked on the fun scale, getting together with friends to watch incomprehensible fever dreams like Moonfall and House would be much higher. So, for 2022 movies:

Everything Everywhere All at Once (A+)
Glass Onion (A-)

Enola Holmes 2 (B+)

The Bob's Burgers Movie (B+)

Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers (B+)

Werewolf by Night (B+)

See How They Run (B)

Fire Island (B)

The Adam Project (B)

Catherine Called Birdy (B)

Hocus Pocus 2 (B-)

Seeing Red (B-)

A Christmas Story Christmas (C)

Kimi (C)

Falling For Christmas (C)

Dr. Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (C)

Moonfall (D+)

And for the pre-2022 movies:

Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar (2021) (B+)
Kajillionaire (2020) (B+)
Free Guy (2021) (B+)

Spider Man: No Way Home (2021) (B)

The French Dispatch (2021) (B)

The Power of the Dog (2021) (B)

Luca (2021) (B-)

Dear Evan Hansen (2021) (B-)

The Darjeeling Limited (2007) (C+)

The Shadow on the Window (1957) (C+)

Don't Look Up (2021) (C+)

The Eternals (2021) (C+)

Ruthless People (1986) (C)

Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990) (C-)

The Matrix Resurrections (2021) (D+)

House (1977) (D+)

Christmas in New York (2005) (F)

The State of the Art: Books 2022

The two things I generally start with when assessing my year of reading is 1) Did I read enough books to avoid embarrassing myself, and 2) What's the "theme" of the year, if any? As to the first question, I'm in the clear; 28 books isn't bad. I mean, it would be if you were my sister, but she doesn't play video games, so it's not hard to see where all that extra reading time vanished to. As to the second question, as a recap, themes in previous years were:

2019: "Anywhere But Here"
2020: "Dealing with Loss"
2021: "What We Owe to Each Other"

In looking at the reading list for 2022, I'd have to say that an overarching theme is "Look Behind the Curtain". In many areas of life, from love to sex to sickness to crime to grief to death, how we respond to society's expectations of what our reactions should be aren't always so cut and dried. If there's one thing a lot of these books have in common, it's a re-examination of how we internally process the challenges life throws at us, and how we package our reactions into acceptable stories to tell others. Of course, there's also a handful of books that were just for giggles, so let's get to the list!

The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle (2018) (Stuart Turton) (A-)
Anxious People (2019) (Fredrik Backman) (A-)
A Suitable Boy (Vikram Seth) (1993) (A-)
The Glass Hotel (2020) (Emily St. John Mandel) (A-)

The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper (Hallie Rubenhold) (2019) (B+)
Poison for Breakfast (2021) (Lemony Snicket) (B+)
Mexican Gothic (Silvia Moreno-Garcia) (2020) (B+)
Three Left Turns to Nowhere (Jeffrey Ricker, J. Marshall Freeman, 'Nathan Burgoine) (2022) (B+)
Providence (2020) (Max Barry) (B+)
Hits & Misses (2018) (Simon Rich) (B+)

American Fire (2017) (Monica Hesse) (B)
Red, White & Royal Blue (Casey McQuiston) (2019) (B)
The Midnight Library (Matt Haig) (2020) (B)
The Final Girl Support Group (Grady Hendrix) (2021) (B)
Taco USA: How Mexican Food Conquered America (2012) (Gustavo Arellano) (B)
Open Borders: The Science and Ethics of Immigration (Bryan Caplan, Zach Weinersmith) (2019) (B)
Moonflower Murders (Anthony Horowitz) (2020) (B)
I Hold a Wolf by the Ears (2020) (Laura van den Berg) (B)

The Windfall (2017) (Diksha Basu) (B-)
Manhattan Beach (2017) (Jennifer Egan) (B-)
Snobs (Julian Fellowes) (2004) (B-)
It Wasn't Me (2018) (Dana Alison Levy) (B-)
The Elephant Vanishes (1993) (Haruki Murakami) (B-)
No One is Talking About This (2021) (Patricia Lockwood) (B-)

Slow Horses (Mick Herron) (2010) (C+)
Full Service (Scotty Bowers) (2001) (C+)
The Grammarians (2019) (Cathleen Schine) (C+)
Alive (Scott Stigler) (2015) (C-)
Ghouls of the Miskatonic (Graham McNeill) (2011) (Abandoned)