I know this blog has become mostly inactive these last couple years. A lot of that is because my time at home is limited compared to what it used to be, and in prioritizing what I need to do, this blog just hasn't been one of them. At the same time, I also have not been watching nearly as many classic movies as I used to, so I feel there is little to write about over here.
However, I AM now active on my writing blog, which you can find at cimharas.com. Originally, this blog was designed for my writing, but it transitioned into movie talk, and I ended up separating the two. I write fantasy and science fiction, and I will begin publishing my novels this year. If you're interested in finding out more, sign up for my monthly newsletter at cimharas.com.
As 2022 comes to a close, I looked back over what I had seen this year. I saw five movies in the theater, all big box-office type draws: Spider-Man: No Way Home, Fantastic Beasts 3, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Top Gun: Maverick, and Avatar2. Top Gun: Maverick was the most fun of all of those. The second Doctor Strange movie was my least favorite, and I hate that I have to say that, as the movie involved some of my favorite characters.
I watched well over 100 movies on streaming or DVD or blu-ray this past year. The highlight movie there was Free Guy. I mean, when I discovered it, I watched it six straight nights in a row. Yeah. Just a wee bit of love there. Then I introduced it to family, who fell just as in love (I think they've since watched it more this past year than I have!) Definitely my favorite movie of the year.
Other standouts of the new-to-me films I saw - The Outfit (2022), The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes (1970), and The Beautician and the Beast (1997). Now, there are three different movies for you! Mark Rylance was outstanding in The Outfit.
The real viewing joys for me this year have come from watching series. From older shows, I caught up on all three seasons of Daredevil and really enjoyed it. The fact that Daredevil was going to show up on She-Hulk is what made me watch that series, and it was wacky, light, and fun, particularly that last episode. A nice change of pace from the more serious shows. I learned after the fact that breaking the fourth wall is something she did a lot in the comics, which then made the series even more fun. Ms. Marvel also was surprisingly good, and I enjoyed it as well. Rings of Power appears to be catching a lot of hate, but I don't get it. My mom and I watched the series as it came out, and we both loved it. We loved the characters, the plot, the visuals, the music. It really worked for us, and we can't wait for season 2 to see more.
As much as I enjoyed those, the stand-out series this past year for me were Moon Knight, Kenobi, and Andor. All three pushed just the right buttons and, if forced to rank them, I'd put them as 1- Andor, 2- Moon Knight, 3-Kenobi, all three shows are so head and shoulders above everything else, that they're just about tied for best entertainment of the year for me. I'd watch any one of them any day of the week (and have, LOL). They beat out everything else (except Free Guy!) this year. I'll try to write up reviews of all three soon.
