Best of 2022

Courtesy of Metro

I realize I didn't blog here a lot this year, and when I did, it was about pop culture. It's been that kind of year, I suppose...

New (to me) TV shows that I enjoyed in 2022 (in no particular order):

Riverdale: Seasons 1-3, Seasons 4-6

I can't wait for season seven!

Heartstopper: I love the graphic novels and this series brings them to life in the most touching and beautiful ways. The two leads are adorable!

Courtesy of IMDb

How I Met Your Father: I was skeptical at first, but this is a fun series and I'm excited for it to return in late January. There are even some cameos from HIMYM.

Maggie: Such a sweet sitcom and I'm sad that it wasn't picked up for a second season. I hope to see Rebecca Rittenhouse in something else soon. 

The Time Traveler's Wife: This series was so much better than the movie. It gave new life to the book and went even beyond that. Three words: Naked Theo James. :)

The Sex Lives of College Girls: What comes between Never Have I Ever and Sex and the City. This is such a fun series and I'm glad it will be getting a third season. 

Courtesy of Rotten Tomatoes

Virgin River: If Schitt's Creek was my sanity saver in 2020 and Ted Lasso was my sanity saver in 2021, then Virgin River takes the title for 2022. I love everything about this show and am eagerly awaiting season five. It's such a comfort show, even with the elements of danger.

I Love That for You: Quirky comedy starring Molly Shannon and Vanessa Bayer. I hope there will be another season. It's really well written!

Reboot: I wasn't sure I was going to like this at first, but then I really got into it and it had more layers than I was even expecting. 

Courtesy of TV Insider

The White Lotus: I still can't stop thinking about this show!

Runners up:

The Beauty Queen of Jerusalem: It's an interesting show but some parts are really gross and unnecessary. It's also hard to like most of the characters.

The Summer I Turned Pretty: This is more for the Gen Z crowd and it's hard to feel sorry for someone who has multiple guys interested in her.

Courtesy of IMDb

Partner Track: I liked it overall, but it was a slow build and Ingrid could be really frustrating. I also didn't understand all the law terminology.

Queer as Folk: I had hopes this would be better than it was, but I felt like I was jumping into the middle of something that had no context and most of the characters got in their own way. 

The Kids in the Hall (reboot): It was nice to see the guys again after all this time, but a lot of the humor was tone-deaf. We did get some good inside jokes out of it though.

Courtesy of IMDb

The vote is still out on Wednesday, as I am still in the middle of it, but I wouldn't say it's a favorite even though it's really well done. It's clever and Jenna Ortega is great in the titular role.

Favorite movies from 2022 (links are to trailers):

Turning Red: One of the few recent Pixar films that had an emotional impact for me.

Better Nate Than Ever: Really cute. Follows the book for the most part, with a few changes. Definitely got me teary-eyed.

Where the Crawdads Sing: First (and only) movie I saw in the theater since the pandemic started. Followed the book really well with great acting throughout.

I Want You Back: Such a cute and fun rom-com! And there's a nod to Little Shop of Horrors.

Matilda: One of the better movie musicals I've seen lately. 

Rosaline: Another cute rom-com set in Shakespearian times. Somewhat made up for not getting to the Ren Faire this year...

Moonshot: I don't think it's available on HBO anymore, so I'm glad I caught it when I did, as it was really good. It helps that Cole Sprouse was one of the leads...

Side note: I don't see a lot of movies so the ones that are currently popular have not made this list as a result of just not seeing them yet.

Books: 

See my top five picks at Chick Lit Central, as well! I read so many amazing books this year (go to my Goodreads page and see all the five-star books) and am sad to have to narrow it down at all. Links are to reviews.

11/22/63 by Stephen King

For the Love of Friends by Sara Goodman Confino

The Friendship Breakup by Annie Cathryn

Playing With Myself by Randy Rainbow

The Maid by Nita Prose

Mad Honey by Jodi Picoult and Jennifer Finney Boylan

The First to Die at the End by Adam Silvera

The Book Woman's Daughter by Kim Michele Richardson

Kiss Her Once for Me by Alison Cochrun

Woman on Fire by Lisa Barr

Theater:

It was so nice to go see live theater again this year. It started out in February with a performance of A.D. 16 at a local professional theater. Since it was written by Cinco Paul (Schmigadoon), my oldest and I were excited to see it. While it was a fun show with good music, my son liked it more than I did. I think I was expecting it to be as funny as Schmigadoon...

In March, I took my oldest to see Rent at the National Theater. We had seen filmed productions of it, but it was so much fun to see it live with him. Most of the cast did a great job, but Roger's voice seemed weak. 

In April, we finally got to see Mean Girls. Here are my thoughts on that performance.

In July, my oldest and I saw The Band's Visit at Kennedy Center. I was excited about it because one of the actors from Shtisel played the lead male character. When we arrived, I was even more excited to find out that Janet Dacal from the Original Broadway Cast of In the Heights was playing the lead female character. The show was decent with some good music, but it was hard to follow what was going on sometimes.

Right before my birthday, we got to see Six. That was amazing!!! Here are my thoughts.

A few days later, my husband and I saw a Second City show at Kennedy Center for my birthday. It was really funny and totally on point with all the commentary about politics and today's society. 

We're supposed to see Beauty and the Beast this week, but it was cancelled twice before when we tried to see it this month, so I am keeping my fingers crossed...

I recently got into the music from Carrie: The Musical, thanks to Riverdale. I'd love to see a performance of this someday!

Famous people I want to meet:

Cole Sprouse. That's all. (Not me being a cougar or anything...)

Courtesy of Puzzle Factory

Highlights from 2022:

* My nephew's arrival in August. He's the cutest little guy and I love seeing pictures of him and doing video chats. I can't wait until the next time I get to hold him again. This is the first nephew on my side of the family and I adore him so much!

* Seeing Rocky Horror with my oldest a couple times. I still remember most of the lines and it was so much fun to shout them at the screen. My oldest thought they were really funny too. Our shared favorite is "I hate celery!" I didn't realize how much I missed the experience of Rocky Horror until I did it again. And it's good to know that most of the lines are universal and don't just apply to one theater in the Chicago suburbs. :) 

* Running blog tours for my job. It's one of my favorite things to do for the company I work with and I get good turnouts each time.

* My oldest getting his license. While I'm going to get a lot more gray hairs from this, I appreciate that I don't have to do as much driving. 

* My younger two kids graduating from elementary and middle school. 

* Seeing my oldest in his school play and musical and seeing my youngest in her camp musicals.

* Celebrating 20 years of being with my husband altogether. (Also 18 years of marriage.)

* Seeing "Will" again on our way to Chicago. 

* Reuniting with some friends while we were in Chicago. 

* Going to Pride Fest. It's been so long since I had last done anything fun to celebrate LGBTQ+ pride.

* Getting to see Liza Wiemer again. She's a fantastic author and if you haven't read The Assignment yet, you definitely should! Along with Liza, I also got to see my friend Kelly again. Liza is the one who introduced us.

* Getting to meet up with some other friends I hadn't seen in person since before the pandemic. 

* Meeting Camille Di Maio in person, as she's an author whose historical fiction novels I really like. She is absolutely lovely in person as she is online!

* Going to Philadelphia over President's weekend. We visited a really interesting museum called Wonderspaces and also got to explore the Franklin Institute. 

* The election having better results than I was expecting. While we avoided a red wave, there were still some disappointments, but we did pretty well as a country, overall. 

On a sad note, this year brought an unexpected loss to our family. In early August, my father-in-law passed away from a sudden heart attack. I am thankful that we saw him over Memorial Day weekend, but I didn't expect that to be the last time we'd ever see him again and forgot to take pictures with him. I'm still processing his passing and I know it has had an impact on my husband. He got to say goodbye to his father in person, even though it was difficult to see him that way. I feel awful for his half-sisters and stepmother, but the upside is that my husband has reconnected with them as a result. 

Anyway, I hope 2023 only brings good things to everyone. 

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A Virtual Vacation: Thoughts on The White Lotus

 

Courtesy of Rotten Tomatoes

Courtesy of IMDb

I don't know what made me want to watch The White Lotus recently. Perhaps some posts on social media? All I know is that I decided to check it out one day and now I can't stop thinking about it! For me, it's on par with Six Feet Under in terms of how it is so cleverly done. The writing is beyond incredible and I love all the acting too. (I'm surprised only three actors got Golden Globe nods.) The stories and characters are unique to each season and only one storyline carries over from the first season to the second.

I'm going to share reasons why you should watch it and then I will post spoilers further below so that you can opt out if you haven't seen it yet. (But come back once you have!)

1. Both seasons start with a mystery. There's a dead body involved, but you won't know whose it is until the last episode. So you're guessing all the time how things will unfold and who will be the unfortunate victim. 

2. It is full of celebrities. Aside from Jennifer Coolidge, season one has Connie Britton, Steve Zahn, Alexandra Daddario, and Molly Shannon. I also recognized the main actress from Little Voice, Brittany O'Grady. Season two has Aubrey Plaza, Theo James, Michael Imperioli, F. Murray Abraham, Haley Lu Richardson, Tom Hollander, and Meghann Fahy (fans of The Bold Type will recognize her). Even one of the actors from Emily in Paris is in a few episodes!

3. The settings are amazing! Season one is in Hawaii and season two is in Sicily. I literally felt like I was transported from my couch into these settings and could smell the fresh sea air and taste all the delicious looking food. It made me want to go to an all-inclusive resort again. 

4. It is really funny. Not funny in a comedic way, but in a bizarre way. I laughed out loud many times though. 

5. The lesser known actors keep it really interesting. I had never seen the actor who plays Armand in season one or the actress who plays Belinda in season one, but they were both so interesting to watch. As for season two, I loved the two Italian girls and I even warmed to Valentina after a while. 

6. The music fits so well with everything else on the show. It just accents the mood and feels so authentic to the setting.

7. It's just so intelligent. It doesn't go over anyone's head though. There is a lot of commentary made about today's society, wealth, relationships, etc. 

8. Once you've seen one episode, you'll want to very quickly binge the rest and you also won't be able to stop thinking about it. 

9. There's a decent amount of LGBTQ+ representation in both seasons. 

If I haven't convinced you to watch yet, then perhaps the trailers will. (The season two trailer may have a light spoiler for season one.)

Season one trailer:

 

 Season two trailer:

  

Spoilers ahead....

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It will take a long time to discuss each and every character, so I'm going to just share my favorites and least favorites for each season. 

Tanya (Jennifer Coolidge) is a mix for both seasons. I liked her one moment and got really annoyed with her the next. That went back and forth a lot. However, I didn't want her to be the tragic victim at the end of season two. (Just for fun, Nicole Travolta does a great impression of her.) The irony of her saving herself from being killed by Greg's gay mafia and then drowning anyway was just too much and I am still processing it. 

Season one:

Favorite characters:

Rachel: It's impossible not to like her. I just don't get why she was with Shane. She could do so much better. I was annoyed that she went back to him at the end of the season.

Belinda: An easy favorite. She was so kind to Tanya and put up with so much from her. I felt so bad that she got screwed over and never got to open her own spa. I love that Tanya made a reference to this in season two and assumed that Belinda cursed her. I kind of hope she did!

Quinn: He reminds me of my younger son in lots of ways. He was definitely misunderstood by everyone and I'm actually glad he stayed behind, even though I wouldn't have been happy about that if I were actually his mother. 

Least favorite characters:

Shane: He is such a tool. I wish he would have just gotten over the whole hotel room issue and just enjoyed getting some perks out of it instead. I'm sure Armand would have been nicer to him if he had just backed off. 

Mark: I just found him incredibly annoying. It's sad that it had to take an act of heroism, where he still ended up getting injured, for his wife to respect him again. 

Olivia: She was so vapid and I thought it was rude of her to go after the guy Paula liked. And then she wondered why Paula didn't trust her. 

Armand falls somewhere in the middle. He is a piece of work but he's also the most interesting and the most flawed. I didn't like that he stole the girls' drugs and used them and then lied about it but I also love the sick way he got revenge on Shane (even though it was pretty gross). I did not expect him to be the one to end up dead and I had actually hoped it would be Greg with all his health problems. (I originally worried it would be Rachel because of how Shane acts at the beginning of the season.) I didn't like Greg and hate him even more in season two.

Paula also falls in the middle. There are things that are likable about her, but I also didn't think it was cool for her to indirectly steal from her friend's family, even if it was for a good cause. I don't blame her for wanting to help Kai. Did he turn himself in though? Or was he caught somehow? 

I loved Molly Shannon as Shane's mom. She's always so great! If you haven't seen I Love that For You, she has a really big part on that series and she's fantastic.

Season two:

Favorite characters:

Lucia: I don't care if she was playing Albie to get all that money (I kind of had a feeling she was to begin with), I just hope she uses it for something good, like to open the store she wanted to own. Lucia is definitely girl-crush worthy. She's stunning and I love how she puts on the pathetic act to manipulate men. She reminds me a lot of Luna from Beauty Queen of Jerusalem.

Albie: He's just a genuinely sweet guy, not to mention adorable! I felt bad for him that Portia wasn't more into him. He's a catch!

Portia: I felt bad for her having to put up with Tanya's demands and that she got caught up in the whole plan to kill Tanya (in that she was being distracted away from her). She also has girl-crush appeal, but in a cute way. The nose ring adds to her overall essence. I just don't get how she didn't know her boss was the person who died. 

Bert: He is so funny with how candid he is all the time. He reminds me of my late paternal grandfather. I think the last time I remember seeing F. Murray Abraham in anything, it was Amadeus. So it's been a while. In any case, I'm glad he got a Golden Globe nomination! Well deserved.

Mia: Mia grew on me later in the season. She has a great singing voice and seems pretty genuine, even when she's being manipulative in her own way. I actually liked that she helped Valentina out like she had promised. 

Harper: I like Aubrey Plaza a lot in general and she did an amazing job in this role. Her dry wit and cynicism balanced with her party girl drunk side was a lot of fun to watch. Another Golden Globe nomination that was definitely earned.

Least favorite characters:

Greg: OMG he is such a jerk and I hate him so much. That's all. I really do wish he was the one who ended up in the ocean. I keep thinking that Tanya McQuoid married a real dickwad.

Jack: He's such an annoying tool. I didn't even think he was as cute as Albie either. At least he didn't hurt Portia and instead gave her a warning.

Dominic: He was just boring and annoying. I would have just enjoyed Albie and Bert having a grandpa and grandson trip. Dominic knew that he wronged his wife and he somehow expected her to forgive him. He also blamed Bert a lot for his problems. Seriously? Just own it! I did think it was hilarious that he had to deal with the awkwardness of knowing Lucia slept with his son.

Giuseppe: He's just gross and predatory. And definitely lacks talent. I'm glad Valentina sent him on his way. 

Ethan: He was boring most of the season until he got angry, and even that didn't seem as convincing to me. Maybe if he showed Harper more affection during the trip, there wouldn't be all the suspicion between them. 

Like Armand, Valentina also falls in the middle. It took me a long time to warm to her but then I felt bad for her when she found out that Isabella was straight. I liked how she had the power to make whatever decisions she wanted and how she used that to help Mia keep the performing gig. 

Cam falls in the middle for me, as well. He's a bit of a douche, but it's Theo James so he's total eye candy and I love how cute he gets with Daphne.

I would have totally enjoyed hanging out with all the gay men, but finding out that they were helping Greg get rid of Tanya ruined me for them. If there was a group of gay men who didn't have an agenda, I would definitely hang out with them at a resort. I also would have enjoyed hanging out with Daphne. She just seems like she's easy to be friends with. She's so chill about everything too. 

The only thing I don't like is the opening credits. They just take forever and the music, especially in the first season, is annoying. I always skipped through them. 

Anyone care to discuss The White Lotus with me?

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