Best of 2022 Film and Music

2022 was an interesting year for film and music. Despite having more opportunities available to me than ever to see new movies now that I've made Chicago my home, I struggled to find many new films that I could really get behind as my favorites. Meanwhile, despite a once-favorite band succumbing to a #MeToo era scandal (RIP Arcade Fire), great albums seemed to roll in consistently throughout the year, many from artists I previously had not followed closely. With 2023 getting ready to be rung in as I finish this post, the following are the five new films and new albums that stood out most to me as my favorites from the last year. 

 Best New Film

5. Apollo 10 1⁄2: A Space Age Childhood

At first glance, Richard Linklater's semi-autobiographical animated film about a boy's experience living in Houston during the events of the Apollo 11 moon landing may seem like little more than an indulgent montage of nostalgia-filled memories and day dreams. But, like many of Linklater's films, there's something richly resonant and philosophical lying beneath the meandering plot that only makes itself clear at the end of the film. In this case, it's an illumination of how we remember important historical events, both in terms of how the cultural impacts permeates our everyday lives and how we're made to feel like we're part of something much larger than ourselves.

4. Nope

In a time when sequels, prequels, and reboots still top the box office, Jordan Peele created an original summer blockbuster in the way only Jordan Peele could. Tense, wildly imaginative, and darkly funny, Nope tells of a brother and sister duo from a family of Black ranchers who try to capture footage of a UFO after their father is mysteriously killed from a random object that falls from the sky. There's something deeper there too, about humans' desire to tame and exploit other beings and the erasure of Black contributions to the history of cinema. It's a film of spectacle of the highest order, but importantly one with originality and substance.

3. Aftersun

Aftersun feels a bit like watching raw home video clips from a vacation taken by a family you've never met. You're left wandering who these people are when they're not trying to escape their everyday lives and what's underlying the unusual sense of unease that seems to surface in the quieter moments when they're not engaging in corny tourist activities. But in this drama about an eleven-year old girl who goes on a summer holiday in Turkey with her loving but troubled father, the small details that are given to you through richly captured moments of intimacy are so carefully and tenderly wrought that for a brief time you are transported into the father and daughter's universe in all its emotional complexity.       

2. Everything Everywhere All at Once

The most aptly-titled film of the year, Everything Everywhere All at Once is a spellbinding trip across the multiverse that blends a host of genres including existentialist science fiction, absurdist comedy, family drama, and martial arts. You might expect nothing less from a story as wacky and layered as one about a Chinese-American laundromat owner experiencing a mid-life crisis who finds that she must jump between parallel versions of her life to save the multiverse and repair her relationships with her family members. Yet somehow the film combines its disparate elements to stick a deft landing as both a totally unique vision and a movie with as much heart as it has ambition.  

1. The Territory

The deforestation of the Amazon Rainforest and its impacts on Indigenous Peoples is a necessary and urgent topic for a film by any standard. But The Territory, chronicling the fight of the forest-dwelling Uru-eu-wau-wau people to protect their lands from development by illegal settlers, goes beyond a traditional advocacy documentary by immersing the viewer within the impacted community through direct, observational filmmaking, including footage shot by the Uru-eu-wau-wau themselves when they closed their territory off to outsiders during the early days of the pandemic. The result is a powerful and often tense portrait that makes clear the precarity of an ecosystem and people under constant threat of encroachment. Yet, the spirit of the determined Uru-eu-wau-wau people ultimately shines through as they find ways to innovate and creatively resist, using surveillance technology to document illegal activity and carrying out arrests of trespassers on their land. It's a small but inspiring win in an ongoing war that's heavily stacked against Indigenous Peoples and the lands they steward throughout the world.

Best New Album

5. Will of the People - Muse

Described by frontman Matt Bellamy as a "greatest hits album – of new songs," Will of the People features the best of the veteran band's variations on its signature grandiose alternative rock sound. It also contains some of the bands most pointed political material thus far to reflect the turbulent times. Simultaneously a call for revolution and a recognition of the inevitability of social and ecological collapse, Will of the People presents dystopia with stark immediacy – but somehow also with a fair dose of humor and fun.

4. Spirituals - Santigold

As the title suggests, Santigold's Spirituals draws upon centuries of African American struggle to create songs of human resilience for the current era. Addressing hardships both personal and political, the artist found salvation crafting these songs during the pandemic when much around her felt dark. The album fuses an eclectic variety of genres to create an ominous but enlivened tone, eventually building towards a rousing three song conclusion that reaffirms the power of hope and engaging in collective struggle.   

3. Renaissance - Beyoncé

A true summer blockbuster album, Beyoncé's Renaissance saw the artist continue to evolve musically while solidifying her status as a cultural icon. The album is structured like a DJ set with seamless transitions between tracks and boasts an impressive array of direct references, samples, and influences from the history of Black and queer dance music. Yet the sharp production and Beyoncé's modern interpretation of her inspirations give a feel of the future of popular music. But Renaissance's greatest asset may be the pure exuberance and unabashed self-confidence exuded by Beyoncé through her music and lyrics, a welcome relief coming out of two plus years of pandemic-fueled dark times.

2. American Gurl - Kilo Kish

Kilo Kish frames her experimental pop concept album American Gurl as a cheap arcade game, suggesting her status as an artist is as a commercialized enigma that people play and then abandon for their next entertainment. The rest of the album finds her trying to reveal the human beneath the consumer-oriented zeal of the modern musician, overworked and struggling with the expectations of being a Black woman artist. Though satirical and at times cynical, Kish also finds liberation in naming the difficulties of navigating the current system and unapologetically expressing her desire to be herself in spite of it all.  

1. Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe in You - Big Thief

Promoted as "a sprawling double-LP exploring the deepest elements and possibilities of Big Thief," Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe in You is the sound of a band at the top of its game, experimenting with a variety of styles with a newfound sense of fun and creative drive. But Adrianne Lenker maintains her deft, spiritually probing lyricism, finding meaning and magic in everyday happenings and natural phenomena. Notably, the album grapples with the fleeting nature of life, from small moments passing by, to relationships ending, to the ephemerality of human existence itself. On the opening track, "Change," Lenker poses the question "Would you live forever, never die/While everything around passes?" She eventually resolves on the exuberant closing track, "Blue Lightning," to accept change but live each moment to the fullest, singing, "I wanna live forever 'til I die." Fitting for a band that's willing to change its style on a dime, but sounds fully alive and present on each recording, always giving everything to their craft. 

On Demand Dating: Short Stories About Modern Dating

Since this January, I have been working on a new year-long writing project exploring modern dating in my new home of Chicago. Tentatively titled Last Date, the concept involves interviewing random people on Tinder about the last date they went on and editing the responses into a series of first person narratives about people’s dating experiences. Interestingly, many of the dating stories I’ve collected so far have been about bad dates or connections with people that didn’t amount to much. Interesting, but probably not surprising, since casual dating apps like Tinder are not typically known for their perfect love stories. In addition to the frustration of putting in time and sometimes money only to match with dozens of people who ultimately ignore you, these platforms are known to have problems with sexual harassment and assault. However, dating apps have become the norm for how many people date and how relationships often begin. 

This new project has inspired me to dabble in some fiction writing, exploring the pitfalls of modern dating. This has resulted in the two short stories you will find here. The first, "Short Term," is an exercise in concise story telling that taps into the fleetingness of connections made in modern dating culture. The second, "On Demand Date," explores the dangers that arise when love and human connection become commodified and sold as a product. Though the dating app in this story is fictional and meant to be a satirical amalgamation of existing dating apps, the app Clover has a real on demand dating feature where users can find others near them looking to meet in person and schedule a date directly through the app. A free version of Clover allows users to browse and match with people. However, to send a message or use the on demand dating feature, a Premium subscription is required with pricing starting at $9.99 per week.

Short Term

The frigid winter breeze nipped at her nose and cheeks as she walked to catch her train. As she made her way along the platform, her eyes drifted towards other people about her age. She often liked to pretend she was swiping through people on a dating app as she passed them in the crowds during her morning commute.

Today she was looking for something short-term. Something brief, exciting, and without commitment, but that would leave her wanting more.

Minutes later, she was entering the Red Line train car. It was too packed to sit down so she found a small space near the door and grasped onto a pole.

As the train lurched forward, her gaze wandered through the crowd. She tried to catch the eye of a girl scrolling on her phone further down the car, but when this finally occurred the other passenger quickly and nervously averted her eyes.

Suddenly she felt a presence behind her and turned to see a tall young man taking a place directly next to her. There was a noticeable difference in temperature as his body, inches from hers, provided some warmth. Their gazes inadvertently and momentarily met, and he gave a small but intentional smile. 

She looked down and feigned checking something on her phone to buy herself some time to think of something casual but flirty to say. The train stopped briefly and a rush of cold air skimmed the back of her neck as the doors parted. Moments after they were in motion again the line came to her. Her heart was racing now. 

She swiveled her head and frowned, finding the space empty behind her. He had gone as quickly as he had come.

On Demand Date

Don stared down at his phone sitting on the coffee table in front of him. His brow was scrunched in thought. Outside his open window a siren wailed somewhere in the distance. Slowly, he leaned over and used his index finger to scroll through a list of his messages on the dating app Spark. It seemed to be an endless list of people who had ghosted him or never responded to his first message. A feeling of emptiness increased as he went further down.

Then the ad came up again. “Are you looking for🔥HOT-N-READY🔥singles? Try the new On Demand Dating feature NOW⏲,” it read. Don sighed and rolled his eyes at the cheesy marketing. But he couldn’t deny that something about it made him feel more alive than he had in months. The new feature promised to use an algorithm to immediately match him with a compatible person nearby who was also looking for a date at that time. Don hadn’t gone out with a person in real life in months and the thought of such an easy fix was just too hard not to at least give a try.

His mind was made up now, so he punched the little textbox with his finger. A title screen came up with the words “Welcome to On Demand Dating” hovering over a video of attractive-looking twenty-somethings in swimsuits dancing on a beach. Then a payment screen. It was $15.99 per date, paid up front. “Shit,” thought Don. He had already started a Premium subscription with Spark for $29.99 per month three weeks ago so he could send prospective matches “Super Sparks,” which were four times more likely to get their attention than regular likes. But he figured he could easily pay as much for a pizza or a movie, so if this worked out it would be well worth the cost. Plus, the fine print told him that if his date backed out, he would get a $3.25 credit toward his next On Demand Date.

Don’s heart skipped a beat when he found on the next screen a button to begin the matching process. All he had to do was click and the app would instantly match him with someone ready for a date. Eyes wide, he slowly lifted his finger and touched the screen. After only a second or two delay the results came up. “Maria is looking for a date,” a message said next to a profile picture of a young woman. Don clicked on the picture to view her profile and scanned it over. She was thin and average height with bleached blond hair…drank and smoked weed occasionally…spoke English and Spanish… Her description read: “Art student.🎨 I love to paint pictures of people. Message me if you’re not a weirdo😅” Something lit up in Don’s brain. He always liked art and thought back to when he used to paint pictures of his favorite MLB and NHL players in high school when he had extra time on his hands. He felt a sure connection.

Don eagerly selected to accept the date. For a moment he started to grow a little nervous as he realized he might have to start talking to his match now to make plans for the date. He hadn’t actually put much thought into what he would say or where he would propose to go. But to his relief, the app had it all covered. It presented an address of where to meet her, and used a Google Maps integration to show him suggested routes for getting there. The location was on the north side and he didn’t have a car, so he would have to take a bus east and then get on the train to travel north…estimated travel time one hour exactly. The date was at 8 p.m. and it was currently…6:52. Don had no idea what would happen when he got there, but he had no time to think about that. Things had just gotten very real and he had to go now. 

Don rushed to use the bathroom, grab his keys, and put his shoes on. He stopped briefly to look in a mirror and did his best to pat his short brown hair down, which was sticking up in a few different directions. He hesitated for a moment glancing over his outfit, realizing Maria might be dressed nicely, as it was a date. After a few seconds of focused consideration he had a moment of clarity and swapped the Avengers hoodie he was currently wearing for a plain black one. He was good to go and headed out of his apartment building.

Don made good time as he reached the bus station, traveled east through the city, and made it to the CTA station to catch the Red Line headed north. Spark kept him updated on the directions and his estimated arrival time each step of the way, which he was grateful for. Occasionally the app would send him short validating messages like, “Hey hot stuff. 👀 You’re just Maria’s type. Ready to pull some moves?” These helped stave off any sense of insecurity Don might have felt leading up to a normal first date. In fact, he felt too wrapped up in the excitement of the situation to dwell on any nervousness he was feeling. As he sat in the train car, he found himself scrolling back and forth through Maria’s pictures on her profile. He thought about how his last girlfriend had told him when they had broken up how he needed to “work on himself” and “put in more effort” if he was ever going to make a relationship work with someone. Clearly he was willing to go to great lengths for someone else, as evidenced by the money and effort he was putting in to go on his date tonight. Maybe Maria would be the one who would finally see how hard he really tried when it came to dating.

Don was so wrapped up in his thoughts that he may have missed his stop if not for a sudden jangling sound next to his ear that brought him back to reality. He turned to see a homeless man walking by shaking a can of coins. “Change?” the man asked, holding the can out towards Don. Don managed to give a distracted “no” as he looked to see what station the train was coming up to next. The man did not press any further and continued making his way down the train car, holding his can out to other similarly unresponsive passengers with their noses tucked behind their phones. Don realized that the next stop was where he would be getting off and he sprung up to move towards the doors.

It was nearing darkness once Don was off the train and had started the remainder of his journey on foot. Spark guided him through the final quarter mile, which took him into a residential area with closely packed apartment buildings and some houses. Finally, he made it to the block where he was to meet Maria and the directions instructed him to proceed down a dimly lit alley. As he made his way through the dark space lined on either side with dumpsters and backs of apartment buildings he began to feel a little sketched out, and hoped that Maria wasn’t standing out here alone waiting for him. At last, he reached the point in the alley that was closest to where he was supposed to go. He saw that the actual point on the map seemed to be within a big brick apartment building on the right side of the alley. He found a tall metal gate that opened to a narrow passage leading toward the building and he decided to enter to get closer. When he came through the passage, he reached a tiny open space behind the apartment with a patch of grass and a picnic table with a couple of ash trays on it. There was no one in sight.

Before he could think what to do next, Don felt a buzz from his phone. It was a message from Spark: “Smooth moves 😎. You arrived 2 minutes early! Now - ready for your hot date?” Don was more than ready. The anxious anticipation was overwhelming at this point. Then, another payment screen. “Maria is nearby! Send her a message for just $4.99,” the text on the page said. “Shit!” said Don out loud. He scoured the vicinity around him for any sign of Maria, then checked the back door to the apartment building, which was predictably locked. He let out a sigh. He had come this far and couldn’t give up now. Sending that message might just be the only way they could find each other.

Don made the payment. He watched as animated sparks sprung up over the payment screen, which transitioned into a page with a message box. Above it was text that read, “Time to shoot your shot. Let Maria know just how you feel about her.🔥💋 You have 60 seconds to send your message.” Don blinked. The “60” was a countdown, and the amount of time went down with each second that passed. His mind went completely blank, and he searched for any kind of flirty one-liners he knew. 60 seconds turned into 45 seconds, then 30. He remembered he needed to tell Maria where he was so they could find each other. Where exactly was he? 15 seconds. Don panicked and started typing the first words that came to his mind. Two seconds. He pressed send.

 

Maria’s phone vibrated, drawing her attention from her computer screen. She picked the phone up from her desk to take a closer look. There was a notification from Spark that said, “New Potential On Demand Date.” Below it was a message from someone named Don: “Heyy hottie. Im here, in the back. Cant wait to finnly see that hot bod in person”. Maria shifted uncomfortably in her chair. She pressed the option on the screen that said “Decline” and set her phone back down.

She turned her attention back to her computer. On the screen was a digital painting of her parents holding each other close as they shared a dance on their wedding night. She had been working on editing the colors of the vibrant embroidered flowers on her mother’s dress, but couldn’t quite seem to find the right shades. She had been growing frustrated and increasingly distracted, but something about the disruption from her phone made her feel even less focused now. Her eyes wandered off the screen and she gazed out the window into the dark night. 

Suddenly Maria’s phone rang, piercing through the silence of her studio apartment, making her jump. She let out a sigh of relief when she saw it was just her friend Candy calling her on FaceTime and she slid her finger across the screen to accept the call.

“Oh, shit, Candy, it’s just you,” Maria said.

“Umm…who else would I be?” replied Candy, who had her camera pointed up at an awkward angle below her chin and appeared to be calling while riding on the train. Then, “Girl, are you okay?”

“Yeah, sorry. I signed up for this new On Demand Dating thing on Spark and I’ve been getting these creepy messages from guys saying, like, ‘I’m here.’ Like they’re outside my apartment or something. It’s fucking weird.” Maria gave a nervous laugh as she finished her thought.

“They’re probably just scammers,” Candy said. “I’ve heard that app is full of them. Don’t give them any personal information. They’ll steal all your money.”

“No, of course not. You’re probably right. Anyway, what’s up?”

“Oh, I was just calling to ask if you could tell Dr. Gondek, if she asks in class tomorrow, that I have the stomach flu. I’m definitely planning on being sick so I can finish my Art History paper before I go to this concert in the evening.”

“Uh, sure, why not? Hey, speaking of Gondek, have you finished your digital painting yet for that class?”

“Wha—? Oh. Yeah, that’s the other thing I need to do. Maybe tell her I have mono or something, actually. I’m gonna need more time to catch up with things… How is yours going?”

Maria didn’t bother to clarify whether Candy was serious or not about the change in her request. Her attention was focused again on the dissatisfying image on her computer. “Ugh, I don’t know,” she said. “I’m almost finished, but not really happy with it. The colors on a computer screen just aren’t the same as what I’m used to. I kinda just want to break out a canvas and my paint set and just do it the old fashioned way, you know?”

“That’s fair,” Candy said. “I mean I know why they’re having us learn digital methods, since it’s the way things are going, and it’s supposed to be easier, or whatever. But it can be a crude tool, for sure.”  

“Yeah, and hella expensive too,” Maria replied.

She waited for a response, then realized that Candy’s video and audio had started to go in and out. “Candy?” she said. “I’m losing you…”

Then she caught a little bit from Candy: “…didn’t hear what…phone’s gonna die…left my damn charger in Evan’s car.”

“Oh, okay,” Maria said hurriedly. “Catch you later I guess. Maybe we could meet up on campus soon and talk more in per—” Before she could finish her sentence the call closed and she was left looking at the disorganized array of apps on her home screen.

Maria set her phone back down and got up to stretch her legs. She walked over to her window and gazed out. Her view was pretty well obscured by the apartment building next door, but she craned her neck to look down along the space between the buildings. There was no one in sight, though after a moment she thought she heard the metal gate round the back of her building swinging closed. Then a cool breeze blew through the open window, and the visceral feeling of the air against her skin stole her attention and seemed to rejuvenate her in some small way. She turned back towards her desk, tied her bleached blond hair up, and sat back down to give her work another try.

She had just started exploring color variations again when her phone buzzed. It was another notification from Spark: “You’ve used up your last potential On Demand Date. We miss you! Sign up for more dates today so you don’t miss out on eligible singles ready to date in your area.” Maria pressed a button to turn her phone screen back off, then set her eyes on her painting again. She tried a few more shades of red on the floral embroideries in the picture, but it still felt off. The clean digital finish just couldn’t match the rich textures of the dress she knew her mother had worn in real life. She sat back and shrugged. 

Another buzz on her phone. It was Spark once again: “You’ve heard of get-rich-quick schemes, but what about find-love-quick schemes? 💖 Hint: Try On Demand Dating to find out more…😉” This time Maria gave in. She opened the app and clicked on a tab to check her list of messages. As she scrolled through them, her heart sank. As usual, it seemed to be an endless list of brief connections that went nowhere and creepy messages from men that she never responded to. 

Then an ad for On Demand Dating popped up again. “Ready to get off dating apps for good? You could be just one date away from finding ✨THE ONE✨. Try On Demand Dating now.” Maria loathed the relentless marketing Spark used, but she couldn’t deny that the concept of the new feature had excited her more than anything else had in months. Since she had moved off campus to live by herself she had found it much harder to meet people she connected well with to date. And maybe just one date (with someone who wasn’t a scammer or a creep) would be enough to pick her up from the slump she had been feeling in with her life lately. 

Her mind was made up. She moved her thumb over the ad and plunged it into the soft glow of the pixelated screen below.

<3 <3 <3