2022 Festivus: Film and Television
Written by Andreas Babiolakis
Last year, I started celebrating Festivus here on Films Fatale. Because Festivus is all about not giving a crap and being as effortless as possible, let me just unashamedly copy and paste last year’s opening paragraph.
I decided that it would be fun to start doing a Festivus celebration on Films Fatale every December 23rd (which, Happy Festivus, by the way!). For those who aren’t familiar with this holiday, it is a part of Seinfeld lore. Created by the character Frank Costanza as a way to combat against the traditions of Christmas (especially the forced cheer and capitalist rat races that he observed), Festivus is a contradiction of the typical seasonal warmth and joy. Outside of the putting up of an aluminum pole (instead of a tree) and the serving of dinner, there are two main traditions: the airing of grievances, and the feats of strength. The former is the sharing of problems one endured from loved ones and/or acquaintances that year, and the latter is a physical contest where the first person to pin the other down is the winner. We can’t really do those as-is here, but I’ll put my own spin on Festivus to detail 2022 as a year in film and television. Firstly, this will prelude my end-of-year list that is coming next week. Secondly, it’ll be a quick wrap-up of the year that we just finished (almost), and it will be a good way to look ahead. Something to note is that these are not my picks of the best or worst elements of the year, rather just a fun selection of breakthrough surprises and slight disappointments (this is mainly just a means of celebrating Festivus more than anything).
Okay. Let’s continue.
THE AIRING OF GRIEVANCES
What will follow in this category are film and/or television moments or projects that I considered a let down, or events that bothered me. I won’t just put bad films here. Let’s see what problems I had this year (and now, you’re gonna hear about them).
Television Episodes Felt Way Too Long In 2022
Don’t get me wrong. I liked the latest Stranger Things season, and was on the fence with The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power (the later episodes won me over a little bit). Having said that, why do episodes need to be eighty minutes on average, or two and a half fucking hours at all? Even the greatest shows on Earth rarely deserve to have an episode that long without it feeling excessive and unnecessary. This makes watching series feel more like a chore than an escape or hobby.
Films Were Even Longer
Of all of the films that were two and a half hours or longer (quite a few three hour flicks here), Tár was maybe the only film that warranted this duration (okay, let’s toss RRR in there because it’s so much fun). Here are some of the films associated with this year (and this awards season) that are two and a half hours or longer:
Tár
RRR
Avatar: The Way of Water
Elvis
Babylon
Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths
The Fabelmans
et cetera, et cetera
Even of the films I like, only Tár absolutely felt like it needed to be as long as it was (in my opinion). For those of you that are behind on your awards season viewings, I wish you the best of luck.
Some Anticipated Followups Did Not Hold Up
Even if I’m willing to defend Amsterdam and Don’t Worry Darling, I can’t pretend that they’re great. Then we have some other works like Babylon that outright didn’t deliver what they were capable of. Bardo is also a massive disappointment. The list goes on and on. This is reminiscent of the films that were held off last year due to the pandemic’s backlog of releases that just didn’t really work out as well as we would have hoped. Please can this trend of disappointment finish in 2023?
Marvel Is Just Getting Irritating Now
Last year I said that Eternals was a let down but maybe was just a hiccup for Marvel. Films Fatale’s Cameron Geiser maybe liked the studio’s 2022 output more than I did, and I’ll still link to his articles should you agree, but I thought that this year’s output was mostly, well, atrocious. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness was underwhelming and limited in its scope. Thor: Love and Thunder was a fucking mess as time goes on: a tonal disgrace that prioritized stupidity over the important serious themes that could have made it one of the better Marvel releases yet (instead of the pain that it is). I wanted to give She-Hulk: Attorney at Law the benefit of the doubt, but it was so poorly mismanaged that I can barely do so. Outside of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, I can’t think of a single Marvel release that was worth a damn this year, and I suspect that it’s possible for Marvel to continue to flounder, sadly.
The Box Office Continues To Hurt While Streaming Services Pull Us From Every Direction
Unless you’re Top Gun: Maverick, a Disney property, or Avatar: The Way of Water (well, that’s also a Disney property, I suppose), I don’t expect that you’ve had a great box office return this year (oh, right: Everything Everywhere All at Once and The Batman, too). The box office continues to remain relatively empty, and it’s breaking my heart. The reason? People are used to not going outside to watch films after the height of the pandemic, and they’re comfortable watching things via streaming. That makes sense, outside of the fact that streaming has become a bit of a pain in and of itself. Now you need so many services that may offer very little (since content is being spread so thin across all of these platforms). I foresee that this will only get uglier and uglier.
THE FEATS OF STRENGTH
Since I don’t know if there is a simple way for me to have a physical competition with anyone, I’ll change how the feats of strength function in Films Fatale’s version of the feats of strength. Here, I want to highlight breakthrough successes of 2022. These can be the debuts of filmmakers and/or performers, or even a brand new series that came out of nowhere and shook up the year.
Brendan Fraser Always Deserved Better: Let Us Never Forget To Love Him
Admittedly, I’ve never been one that truly appreciated Brendan Fraser when he was working prolifically, and I was so, so, so very wrong. One of the most wholesome and natural actors in Hollywood, he has returned better than ever in The Whale. I want only the best for him to keep coming after the tough time he has had, especially because he has deserved the proper praise and the right roles for the longest time. Welcome back, Brendan Fraser. I’ll never neglect you again.
The Bear Kicked All Of Our Asses
The Bear was the surprise on television this year, and it of course became an instant success. This anxious show about a struggling kitchen got everyone’s hearts racing and binge watching. Of course this series is going to be back for a second season, and while the first season wraps up with enough closure that it being cancelled still would have worked just fine, there are enough loose ends begging to be tended to. Let’s rest for a little while until season 2 kicks our asses.
Better Call Saul And Atlanta Both Went Out With Two-Part Blazes Of Glory
Atlanta gave us a one-two punch with season 3 and season 4 (the latter being even better) after years of waiting for the series to return. It’s sadly gone for good now, but what a tremendous ending that was: I needed to rewatch the series again just to make sense of the brilliance of that finale. Furthermore, there’s Better Call Saul: the slow burn that lead to the sixth season and its two parts that blew me away. The entire series built up to this sensational season that I feel comfortable enough stating was the best television of the year; it even elevates the series to being one of the best of our time (if it wasn’t already, now it’s certainly so).
Michelle Yeoh Gets Her Much Deserved Dues
Who didn’t already love Michelle Yeoh? Well, she has finally gone from a martial arts star to a universal icon, thanks to her multifaceted, highly difficult performance in Everything Everywhere All at Once. She’s even slated to be nominated for an Academy Award (for a sci-fi, absurdist film, no less); she maybe had to defy the odds to get there, but we’ve known that she’s one of the best fighters out there for decades now.
Nathan Fielder Is Still Great: Maybe Even Better Now
Nathan For You is one of the funniest series of all time, so we were all welcoming Nathan Fielder’s next project, The Rehearsal, without hesitation. Did any of us expect just how good and profound this show was going to be? I sure wasn’t. The Rehearsal is magnificently meta, with Fielder’s project (to rehearse difficult scenarios for willing participants so they can go into these events with preparation) being seemingly endless. I expected hijinks, but not Synecdoche, New York for television. I was beyond moved for the majority of episodes, and this is easily Fielder’s most fully realized idea yet. Except it apparently isn’t, as the series has been given the go-ahead for season 2. What else can even happen in this show? I’m not sure, but sign me up!
Andreas Babiolakis has a Masters degree in Film and Photography Preservation and Collections Management from Toronto Metropolitan University, as well as a Bachelors degree in Cinema Studies from York University. His favourite times of year are the Criterion Collection flash sales and the annual Toronto International Film Festival.