Every year I try to compile a list of games, books, and movies I experienced. For the complete list, check the Ratings. Here we go (sorted by rating)!

Slow year, I assume.

1. CODA (10★★★★★★★★★★): a heart-melting story about a girl that wants to be a singer. Her parents, however, are all deaf and need her to manage work and fit in. It was my favorite movie for the 2022 Oscars.
2. Being Ricardos (8★★★★★★★★): very interesting movie about the production of the “I Love Lucy” TV show that I did not know. Both Nicole and Javier are superb, deserving acting award nominations.
3. Dune (8★★★★★★★★): I read Dune to prepare myself as I did with Foundation. But unlike Asimov’s weird adaptation, this Frank Herbert novel movie is phenomenal. It’s just part 1, which leaves several subplots opened, still: gorgeous, fun, and well-written and acted.
4. Marighella (7★★★★★★★): the first black leader against the military dictatorship in Brazilian history.
5. Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (7★★★★★★★): lighthearted MCU movie. Funny characters and a fun story. One of the best comic MCU movies. Yet, it’s not my cup of tea.
6. King Richard (7★★★★★★★): the story of Serena and Venus Williams’ father and their beginnings in the tennis world. Nice performance of Will Smith (not my pick for the best actor performance, like at the Oscar), but the character is so annoying that I got annoyed.
7. The Menu (6★★★★★★): my first movie at the theater. Nice thriller.
8. The Matrix Resurrections (4★★★★): meta meta meta. And boring. Despite the very first movie, the Matrix franchise is a big disappointment.

Documentaries

No one this year :(

Animations

1. Forky Asks A Question (10★★★★★★★★★★): holy molly… I laughed out loud at this Pixar mini-series.

TV Shows

1. Ted Lasso (S2) (9★★★★★★★★★): showrunners tried to innovate the formula by telling whole episodes from the perspective of secondary characters. Not all that great. Still, among our favorites.
2. Bad Sisters (S1) (9★★★★★★★★★): A Rotten Tomatoes recommendation, it was a blast. The Prick is a prick. Recommend.
3. This is Us (S1) (8★★★★★★★★): great premise and lovable characters. Themes of adoption, family bonds, and personal differences. I cried in several episodes. Great start.
4. Sandman (S1) (8★★★★★★★★): I loved the comics. I read exactly the amount of the source material that was used in this season, so I knew the references. Very well produced. The side stories are odd at first but then we get the overall arch, just like the comics.
5. Succession (S3) (7★★★★★★★): the worst season so far. It tries to give at least one full episode for each main character, but many episodes are fillers. Also, the number of cataclysmic events that are just ignored in the next episode is getting old. Unlike “Game of Thrones”, no one will die. One day the audience will not care because nothing is really at the stake. Kendall is too annoying for my taste.
6. The Devil's Hour (S1) (6★★★★★★): Thriller about a woman and her boy having some kind of paranormal abilities. Murders and police investigations are in the mix. A Rotten Tomatoes highly rated that did not click for me.
7. Foundation (S1) (4★★★★): I loved the book, but this adaptation drifted from the source material to the point is unrecognizable. I could not pass the 4th episode.

Just a list of movies that I’ve seen this pandemic year.

1. Be Kind Rewind
2. Best in Show
3. Borat
4. Borat Subsequent Movie
5. Bridesmaids
6. Coming 2 America
7. Cruela
8. Don’t Look Up
9. Enola Holmes
10. I Care a Log
11. I’m Thinking of Ending Things
12. Incendies
13. Judas and the Black Messiah
14. Lady and the Tramp
15. Last Knights
16. Live Twice, Love Once
17. Mank
18. Minari
19. News of the World
20. Okja
21. Radioactive
22. Roma
23. Shadow
24. Sound of Metal
25. Sound of Silence
26. The Chamber
27. The Dig
28. The Father
29. The Informer
30. The King
31. The Midnight Sky
32. The Trial of the Chicago 7
33. Us
34. Wasp Network
35. White Tiger

Documentary

1. American Factory
2. Honeyland

Animations

1. A Cat in Paris
2. Luca
3. Soul
4. Your name

Shows

1. Loki (S1)
2. Mandalorian (S1, S2)
3. Morning Show (S1)
4. Queen’s Gambit (S1)
5. Ted Lasso (S1 S2)
6. The Spy (S1)
7. This is Us (S1)
8. Tiger King (S1)

I was wandering in the giant wasteland of TV shows, changing channels every 15 seconds, when I noticed that animation Sing was about to start. I decided to give it a try, but I had no expectations about it. For me, it would be another cashing animation movie.

When it ended I felt super surprised about how good it is. I was crying like a baby, but it is something I do often. 😛

The movie is about a theater owner that dreamed about having a great and successful show but got failure after failure. Deeply in debt, he decided to create a singing competition. It attracted hundreds of contestants, which one with a unique style. The narrative is very predictable, but nevertheless very emotional one. The main theme is believing in your dreams. But there is a bit of father-son relationship for some characters. They don’t run away from the typical stereotypes. And there a very few surprises along the way.

Visually stunning, the song selection is very nice (could be great, however) and the characters are very well realized. My personal favorite is the chameleon assistant. 😛 The cast is very good here, with solid performances. Some of them I did not notice who as whom. I don’t know if the actors actually sang for the movie, but I doubt it.

Very good pop corn time movie to watch with the family.

Just after watching a fun and light comedy with Sing, another channel started to show Queen of Katwe. I heard good comments when it was in theaters, so I decided to keep up the marathon.

It tells the story of Phiona Mutesi, a real life girl from the village of Katwe, in Uganda, that end up being a very good chess player. It is a very typical against-all-odds and follow-your-dream kinda story. The poor girl has to face all the prejudice for being women and poor (but not about being black, because the whole movie is basically on Uganda, which such thing is nonsense) to get a place under the sun.

Her unexpected success transformed the lives of her family and of the many people of her village. She became a celebrity at very young age, which influenced her personality. Year after year, she started to behave as a spoiled kid, believing that she was invincible. With the family support, she realizes the most valuable things in life in the end.

The acting of the protagonist, from Madina Nalwanga, is excellent. The entire media focused the attention to the beautiful Lupita Nyong’o that plays Phiona’s mother, but the real star here is Madina. Phiona is portrayed as a timid, introspective girl, but Madina played in a way that it still makes the character very, very likable. You cheer for her. Even being in a chess match!

The other kids are also surprisingly good. It is always a challenge to work with children.

My main complaint with the story is the sub-plot of her older sister. I don’t know if the book that was based on uses this character to a greater purpose, but in this motion picture this subplot, while gives hints about the whole situation of Phiona and her mother, does not go anywhere relevant.

The visuals are great. The poverty is displayed in a way that brings emotions but is not there to provoke shock. The African colors and styles gives it a very distinctive and beautiful look.

This 30 years old cartoon is still a charm.

This Japanese animation showed me the importance of being open to alternative views. The theme and pace of the movie is completely different from the western animations.

The story is about 2 girls (and their dad) moving to a new house. Nearby there are some fantastical creatures that co-exist in this world.

The pace is super slow. But not dragging-type of slow. It is contemplative kinda slow. They present the characters step by step, through small events. The two kids will slowly conquest your heart. They are so adorable. It was a great pleasure to care about someone, on the contrary of many of the western movies and games, that I could not care a thing about them. I loved  Mei and Satsuki.

The visuals are great. Like watercolor paintings and classic anime style of drawings. The Totoro character is particularly funny! The other creatures are cool, but they are not thoroughly explored, so I cannot say they are great. The music is a bit sparse, with long moments of silence.

My mainly, maybe only, complain is the abrupt ending. With many spoilers, at a certain point of the story there is a big problem that the characters try to solve. But at any point it as said it was the major final concern. I was personally expecting to, after solving it, to get to this issue. It ends in moment that I was not expecting to happen. It left the story with too many open questions, too many mysteries. When the credits started to roll I was shocked.

It is a short excellent movie. It ends suddenly, but the whole ride is an enjoyable one. Totoro (the character) is now among my favorite anime characters ever.

Totally recommend you to watch it.