Things I Enjoyed in 2022 That Weren’t Books

“Possibly because French made it sound fancy and respectable, the wake-up call for the prisoners was called reveille.”

First line in The Half Life of Valery K by Natasha Pulley

2022 isn’t completely over yet, but I think it’s time I start wrapping it up. I’m going to be talking about the stuff I enjoyed this year that weren’t books because I don’t actually spend all my time reading. I did this for the first time last year and found that I really liked going off-topic for an entire post so I hope you like it too. Enjoy!

Movies

• Thor: Love and Thunder. It’s no Ragnarok but it’s definitely among my favorite Marvel movies. It’s just a bit ridiculous which is totally allowed when you have a villain like that played by Christian Bale. I loved how the movie found that balance between “this is so stupid it’s funny” and “okay now we’re crying”. It made room for both which is the best thing about Thor’s development across his four movies.
• Lightyear. I’m not a huge fan of Toy Story but this movie felt like a breath of fresh air so I really liked it. It took me by surprise several times and had me feeling very emotional.
• The Goldfinch. I have not read the book and might have only watched the movie for Finn Wolfhard, but I also really liked him in this one.

(I don’t watch a lot of movies so that’s all I have)

TV Series

• Wir Kinder vom Bahnhof Zoo. Yes, I watched something in German and really liked it. It’s a miniseries based on the story of Christiane F and while I knew the overall story because of an old movie, I was excited to see what a modern miniseries could do with it. And I think it really works. The acting in particular really made me feel all the terrible things these characters go through. They were not holding back by any means.
• She-Hulk. This was just FUN. And so clearly targeted towards women in a way we haven’t seen superhero stuff be before, and yes, we absolutely needed that. I love how they incorporated the breaking of the fourth wall because something like that is always about balancing the fine line between hilarious and tacky. I think they nailed it. Also, can we get more shows where the episodes are between 20 to 30 minutes long? I don’t need to watch an entire movie every time.
• House of the Dragon. Well, I did post a very long review of this so you might already know how much I love this show. It’s perfect in every way. However, my own personal experience watching it also added a lot to my excitement because I found out that a colleague of mine was also very into it. Basically what happened was that whenever he and I had 2 minutes of working next to each other, we’d be talking theories, hidden meanings and beautiful shots. I had a very good time with that.
• Moon Knight. So much Oscar Isaac means this series was guaranteed a spot on this list. Seeing him play two completely different people and arguing with himself was just pure gold, and I would love to see him in other Marvel movies/series. Also, while I do like that all the Marvel stuff is connected, it was nice to watch a series that was so contained that people can understand everything without having watched the entire MCU.
• The Bastard Son and the Devil Himself. Okay, so I had no idea this was a thing until it arrived on Netflix but it’s the adaptation of Half Bad by Sally Green, a book I was completely obsessed with when I read it. The show was surprisingly good! It was a little awkward in the beginning but I think it found its footing after a couple of episodes. I was skeptical about the casting of Gabriel (the best character) but he also won me over so I have nothing to complain about. They made quite a few changes based on the book but I think they were necessary and added a lot to the series. Most significant was that they made Nathan (the MC) less depressing and unlikeable by giving his personality some humor and some sarcasm. I think that choice generally helped the vibe of the series. However, Netflix being Netflix has of course already canceled the series 🙃

Honorable mentions: Stranger Things (season 4), Umbrella Academy (season 3), Andor, Young Royals (season 2)

Sports

• Tour de France (cycling). Just wow! I’ve watched the Tour since I was a child but no edition has ever been as perfect as the 2022 one. It began in my home country Denmark so I actually went to see it and the excitement we all had for it made it an unforgettable experience. Then it also became the most successful Tour for Danish riders ever with four stage wins and also the overall victory! It shouldn’t be possible for a rider living in flat Denmark to be the strongest in the mountains but Jonas Vingegaard somehow accomplished that. I also want to say that I love him a lot because he’s such an introvert and some of his interviews are kind of painful to watch because of it, but I relate so I love him.
• Arsenal (football). I’m an Arsenal fan and Arsenal currently holds the top spot in the English Premier League. And you might have to be an Arsenal fan to know how utterly unlikely that scenario is. Like, I don’t even know how to deal with it because it’s so unlike them as I’m used to short good periods from them ending in major fuck-ups. Arsenal fans have been bracing for that fuck-up since August but it’s not happening. I’m really just trying to enjoy it as long as it lasts because they play some of the best and most entertaining football I’ve ever seen. I have absolutely no expectations of them actually winning the league!
• Copenhagen (football). My favorite Danish club, Copenhagen, won the championship this summer, which is not all that surprising but it’s been a couple of years since the last time so it was great to finally win again. My personal highlight, though, was when I went to their game against Trabzonspor where they were trying to qualify for the Champions League. I support Copenhagen but I don’t actually live in Copenhagen so I only attend one or two of their games per year, and this one was just something special. The atmosphere was unlike anything I’ve ever experienced at a Danish game, and it was just insane! And they did end up qualifying for the Champions League! (Where they got annihilated and only scored one goal in six games 🙈).

Music

• BTS and V. I already talked about my music year and my sudden obsession with BTS in my post about my Spotify Wrapped, but in case you missed that, my favorite song of 2022 was Sweet Night by V. I know I’m very late to all of this and they’re on a break now or something, but I’ve basically listened to nothing but BTS for the past three months. They have so much music that no matter my mood, there’s always something to listen to. And I’ve obviously started learning Korean on Duolingo.

• Scarlet Pleasure. My artist of the year according to Spotify, and I did also experience them twice in concert this summer. Out of the songs they released in 2022, my favorites were Sunshine and Space.

• Other than that, my music listening was all over the place in 2022. Looking at my top 100, very few artists are represented with more than one or two songs. A part of the reason is that I had a phase where I primarily listened to music that was popular when I was a teenager so, you know, nostalgia (Sk8er Boi by Avril Lavigne and Year 3000 by Busted are both in my top 60 if you were curious). But I also found some new artists to love so I thought I’d share a couple of songs that stood out to me in my top 100.

For some reason, I didn’t learn last year that I need to update this post throughout the year but I think I’ve got that lesson down now. It’s so hard to remember stuff! Anyway, did we enjoy some of the same things? Or did you enjoy something else? Please share what stood out to you in 2022!