Thumbnails #3

Happy New Year!

I was trying to write this post before those words would be relevant. I failed. You really hope you can sneak your reflective best-of-the-year post in before the year is through, but life comes at you fast. Or in my case, life comes at you furry.

Meet Yolanda. A podenco/manetto we’ve been fostering for a few weeks over Christmas and into the new year. She’s a sweet cuddly pup who likes to snuggle up on the sofa and at times demands a fair bit of attention or she’ll start stealing shoes. It’s been equal parts distracting and a lot of fun. A charming antithesis to our sweet sullen rescue dog Grace who sleeps all day and will only sometimes deign to let you stroke her.

It puts me in mind to recommend comic artist and illustrator Tor Freeman’s wonderful Substack, The ReposiTORy. She’s been charting her own experiences of adopting a rescue dog, and it’s been EXTREMELY RELATABLE.

Best of 2022

I’m going to be honest and say that, these days, it’s pretty rare for me to catch things when they first come out. So consider this the best of my year, catching some recent stuff with good buzz, playing catch-up on things I’ve missed from years past, and trying to fill in the gaps in my knowledge of cultural stuff well in the rear-view mirror.

Also I’m not going to break things down by artform. Consider this my Top 10 things I liked in 2022.

RRR

We’ve been enjoying watching big Indian blockbusters for a while now, but RRR absolutley blew up for everyone this year. It’s the story of friendship and revolution in Colonial India, brough to epic, singing, explosive life by director S. S. Rajamouli. His Baahubali duology is well worth a look if RRR was your thing.

As someone who grew up loving big budget Hollywood cinema, Indian blockbusters have been ticking all the right boxes of action and visual spectacle, but with just the right kind of melodramatic flair to elevate things beyond Hollywood formula. If the below musical number doesn’t convince you to watch this movie, I don’t know what will.

Banshees of Inisherin

Maybe the less said about this one the better. Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson play tragic frenemies living on a remote island during the Irish Civil War. It’s funny, it’s poignant, it’s gross. And everyone in it is amazing.

Nope

I already raved about this in a previous post, but it’s still sticking with me. A gripping thriller that explores our exploitative, troubling relationship with nature. An alien invasion movie that taps into Spielbergian vibes without ever feeling nostalgic. And a delightful exploration of the nature of the moving image to boot. Really something special.

Force Majure

I’d missed this when it came out, but boy what a treat! A family on a ski trip has a near-death experience which reveals the husband/father’s cowardice, and everything slowly, painfully, hilariously unravels from there. It’s a finely observed satire on human frailty; one that’s dramatic without feeling boring, and funny without feeling mean. Looking forward to catching this year’s Triangle of Silence sometime in 2026.

Disco Elysium

Hey, I raved about this last time, but then I finished it and it was still good! Role playing as an amnesiac cop in a post-revolutionary mess of political conflict might not sound like your thing, and you might be right, but this is the sharpest, funniest video game writing I’ve experienced. It’s satisfying as hell to curl up and play, like a good book but you can choose exactly which kinds of vices and personal failings your protagonist is going to have. It’s not about ‘winning’, it’s about being the most entertaining mess of a human being you can be, and maybe surviving to the end.

I’ve already set up my second build of the character, ready to play again - it’s that good.

Olli Olli World

I can’t skate. I managed half an ollie once when I was 15, but that’s it. Olli Olli world lets you become a pro-skater in a magical, pastel coloured dreamscape world, and pretty much all of your rad moves are controlled by the thumbsticks and your expert timing. Getting good at this game feels awesome, and the learning curve is nicely buffed to make the journey to expert skater fun and painless.

And it’s cute, funny and weird thanks to the writing done by my pal Lizz Lunney.

Neon White

I’ve always admired speed-running, from a distance. The closest I came to being a speed runner was one summer trying to get the Invisibility cheat on Archives in Goldeneye N64. This game captures all that’s fun and gripping and tantalising about speed running, and boils it down into this tasty little treat of a game. There’s a plot there that I’ve largely skipped (sorry), but something about angels and heaven and fighting your way up the rankings. Each level is a small wee thing you can complete in less that a minute once you’re good enough, full of tempting shortcuts and daring leaps that will shave seconds off your time. It’s such a smart design, and like Tunic (still to play) this year, captures some of the meta experience of gaming and puts it right there in the game design.

In

What a lovely little surprise this book by artist Will McPhail was. A beautifully illustrated, funny, and insightful look at the walls we build between ourselves and what it takes to make real human connections.

Suzanne

Tom Humberstone’s debut graphic novel gives me everything I want from a graphic biography - richly detailed recreations, nuanced character and a thrumming pace. In my opinion it’s a tricky genre to pull off well in comics form and Humberstone does a fantastic job of bringing the Jazz Age tennis pro to life, while not neglecting deeper themes and resonances.

Children of Time / Children of Ruin

The third book in this wonderful series came out in 2022 but I didn’t get round to reading it. I’m excited for it! The first two books expertly examine the same themes from different perspectives - how far can our empathy stretch when put to the test? I’m not a huge sci-fi reader, but these had me gripped, while giving space for humane, nuanced explorations of our capacity for understanding and cooperation, even across the greatest of chasms.

And the Universe Said I Love You…

An interesting tale from the world of video games, Julian Gough charts the fascinating story about how he came to write for global smash video game Minecraft, how it all turned sour, and how he ended up putting the ‘End Poem’ from the game in the public domain. It’s a truly fascinating read, well worth your time…

More A.I discourse…

It was a messy, bitter year for artists getting pulled under the wheels of the sinister juggernaut that is A.I development (see also NFTs). There are a lot of takes out there, but I’ve enjoyed none so much as the despairing, entertaining, and mercifully short videos of Caleb Gamman over on Youtube. His series Cybergunk I think lays out a pretty clear picture of the state of things, what’s worrying, and what’s bluster.

That’s all from me for now. Until next time, consider subscribing for project news (none at the moment as you can see!) and assorted thoughts and recommendations…