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So I generally make this post at the end of a year rather than at the beginning of the next, but this is my site, so I make up my own rules. So here goes.

Favorite Movie - The movies in 2022 weren't particularly impressive. Marvel was a bit lackluster in that Thor 3 was a comedy inferior to its immediate predecessor, and Dr. Strange 2 wasn't as good as most Marvel films. Moonfall and Don't Look Up were goofy but brainless movies about saving the world which ultimately fell short. My favorite film this past year was a fairly easy decision. Everything, Everywhere, All At Once. I love Michelle Yeoh, and I effing love James Hong. I also love seeing Ke Huy Quan back on the screen, given that I haven't seen much of him since Temple of Doom, The Goonies, and a childhood favorite of myself and my brothers, Breathing Fire.

I've written before about how much I love absurd humor, and this movie falls right into that, with its pinky muscles, Raccacoonie, and the hot dog fingers Bollywood film. And the Everything Bagel. This film had a heartfelt conversation between inanimate boulders, it had potbellied Jamie Lee Curtis doing wirework punches, it had deep philosophical musings about the road not travelled, and it spent a lot of time examining interpersonal realtionships. I guess all this is why it won so many awards.

Writing this article also led me to the discovery that Kevin Feige has asked Ke Huy Kwan to join the MCU, which just makes me so happy.

Favorite Game - I'd given a rundown of my favorite video games of 2022, but when I spent time thinking about it, my favorite was almost a surprise to me. It might easily have been Horizon: Zero Dawn, which was excellent, and I nearly chose that one. It could also easily have been Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous if the game-breaking bug hadn't stopped me in chapter 6. In the end, the game I had the most fun with was a decade-old game: X-Com: Enemy Unknown. The game is so difficult that I had to re-start from scratch after doing six or eight missions because I was doing so poorly. But I finished, and I really liked it a lot. This is probably why I'm hip-deep in X-Com 2 right now.

Favorite Show - I watched a heck of a lot of television in 2022, so deciding which show might be my favorite wasn't easy. I actually had to pick two, and it shouldn't be a surprise that the two I've chosen are the only two of my top 5 favorite TV shows of all time that are actually still airing.

If I had to pick just one show as my favorite for the year, it would be the fourth season of Stranger Things. To have questions finally answered and the overarching plot of the entire series finally come together and make sense was really something, and as ever the character moments were supremely entertaining.

The other show I can't leave out is season three of For All Mankind. It's gone from alternate reality exploration of the past to science fiction Mars missions, and it's done it with the same cast of excellent characters. If you haven't seen it, you need to.