Richard's Blog

Well, for better or worse, it’s that time of year when many people make a list of New Year’s Resolutions.

As I have gotten older, I have all but stopped making New Year’s Resolutions. Not because I think it is a useless, futile exercise, but rather because I have chosen to continue doing the things that work for me in my daily life and reject those that do not.

The meme above pretty well captures how I feel about the coming year. I would add to the list to keep my mind active by continuing to be a life-long learner, something I have aspired to do throughout my life.

To be sure, given that I have never smoked, don’t drink or eat to excess and exercise regularly as time permits, I don’t see the need to make a list of transformative lifestyle changes in the New Year.

One thing I will commit myself to was prompted by a recent opinion piece in The Atlantic Magazine in which Abdullah Shihipar extolled the benefits of sending handwritten Notes of Thanks at years end to those individuals who had made his year better.

“I recap my interactions with the recipient that year, put my finger on what I appreciated, and say I’m grateful,” writes Shihipar.

You can access the article here: https://www.theatlantic.com/family/archive/2022/12/new-years-resolutions-gratitude-thank-you-notes/672599/

I will let you know how I did in a future Blog.

If writing down some changes you would like to make in your life over the next twelve months is a cathartic exercise for you, soldier on. Just be realistic about what you can successfully accomplish.

Happy New Year! See you in 2023.

Want to start off the New Year with some challenging, thought-provoking bedside reading? Consider historian Yuval Noah Harari’s Sapiens series. You won’t be disappointed.

#TBT – We go all the way back to the January 2010 issue of The Beat Magazine (then known as The Beat: Arts in London). On our cover, we featured Marc Bell’s Hot Potatoe. Inside, Donald D’Haene did a Q&A with Passionfool Theatre’s co-founder and co-artistic director, Eva Blahut, Beth Stewart profiled London artist, Steve Tracy, Darin J. Addison previewed the launch of the 2010 L.O.L.A. Festival, Mary Ann Colihan previewed UWOpera’s production of Don Giovanni, Robert Pegg (Sonny Drysdale) ruminated about London’s Coolest Song and more.

A good issue to kick off the New Year.

During the pandemic of the last 2 1/2 years, like many people my movie-going was curtailed by off-and-on shutdowns, and I got into the habit of getting my cinema fix from streaming platforms like Netflix.

Strictly speaking, I don’t recognize watching a movie on Netflix as the same as watching it in a movie theatre in the company of other moviegoers. It’s just not the same, IMHO. So, I will restrict my picks to movies I saw in cinemas.

Not being a fan of comic book adventure movies like Thor, Black Adam, Spiderman or remakes like Top Gun, my choices lean towards quirky independent productions and the like.

First on my list is the German remake of Erich Maria Remarque’s anti-war novel All Quiet On The Western Front, a gripping story of a young German soldier and his comrades on the Western Front of World War I. The film’s gritty realism and outstanding cinematography capture the horrors of First World War trenches, where its sterling ensemble cast, especially Felix Kammerer as the doe-eyed Paul Bäumer, learn firsthand the futility of war.

View the Trailer here: https://youtu.be/hf8EYbVxtCY

Another film I enjoyed in 2022 was director Olivia Newman’s Where The Crawdads Sing, based on the 2018 novel by Delia Owens and produced by Reese Witherspoon. While panned by many critics and theatre-goers, I suspect that in many cases, they had not read the novel first before seeing the movie adaptation.

It’s often been said that some novels are impossible to bring to the screen. While that might be a bit of an exaggeration in this case, IMHO, an understanding of the novel is absolutely essential to appreciating this movie.

Daisy Edgar-Jones turns in an admirable performance as Catherine “Kya” Clark, the Swamp Girl, who is accused of murder in the North Carolina marsh.

Don’t believe me? Read the novel and catch the film afterwards. See for yourself.

Watch the Trailer here: https://youtu.be/ZRXAYFfRs4M

Another film I enjoyed was the highly stylized and excessive Elvis biopic starring Austin Butler as the King of Rock and Roll. Tom Hanks puts in a bizarre performance as his greedy manager Col. Tom Parker who shifted Elvis out of playing the devil’s music and into formula movies and grueling Vegas gigs that sped to his tragic physical decline. The musical scenes are mesmerizing.

Watch the Trailer here: https://youtu.be/Gp2BNHwbwvI

And finally, one of my other favourite films is Martin McDonagh’s The Banshees of Inisherin, a dark tragicomedy about two lifelong friends played by Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson on the fictional Irish isle of Inisherin, who find themselves at an impasse when one abruptly ends their relationship. The cinematography which depicts the lushness of the island is beautiful and haunting. It is a film that will have you laughing one minute and crying the next.

Watch the Trailer here: https://youtu.be/uRu3zLOJN2c

In my next Best of 2022 segment, I will identify the Live Theatre performances I enjoyed most in 2022.

Well, it’s that time of year when popular magazines and other media outlets compile Best of 2022 Lists of movies, books, albums, TV series, and so on.

To be sure, most of these lists are totally arbitrary and purely subjective.

Despite the shortcomings of doing so, I thought I would compile my own Top 10 Best of 2022 List of books, movies, TV series, events, etc. Keep in mind that this is my list. Please feel free to disagree with me or, better yet, suggest some choices of your own.

Let’s begin this segment with Books.

#1 Books

Quite frankly, I am a voracious reader of both fiction and nonfiction works. Each year I tell myself to keep a running list of the books I have read — but to no avail. Luckily, being a bit of a hoarder, most of the books I have read over the past twelve months are piled up in various locations in my home.

Let’s begin with Nonfiction.

New York Times columnist Maggie Haberman’s Confidence Man: The Making of Donald Trump and The Breaking of America is a masterful book that traces the rise of former President Donald J Trump from his time as a NYC real estate hustler to his tumultuous time in the US Oval Office. Unlike many of the other tell all books about Trump that have been published by former disgruntled insiders, this is a serious work by a serious journalist who had unlimited access to Trump before and during his time as president.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to understand Trump and his ascent to the White House.

Honourable Mentions include: Steve Brusatte’s The Rise and Reign of Mammals, The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity by David Graeber and David Wengrow, Last Chance Texaco: Chronicles of an American Troubadour by Ricki Lee Jones, and The Case of the Murderous Dr. Cream: The Hunt for a Victorian Era Serial Killer by Dean Jobb.

Now, to Fiction.

I must admit that when I purchased State of Terror by Canadian crime writer Louise Penny and former U.S. Secretary of State Hilary Rodham Clinton in the Fall of 2021, I put it aside for fear that I would be disappointed. When I picked it up towards the end of 2022, I was pleasantly surprised with this fast-paced, taut geopolitical thriller.

Drawing on Clinton’s knowledge and experience as an international player and Penny’s skills as a crime writer, the novel is a page-turner that reveals a nefarious international plot to overthrow an American government that has been out of touch with international affairs, out of practice with diplomacy, and out of power in the places where it counts for four years under a Trumpian style president.

Halting the plot falls to Ellen Adams, the former proprietor of an international media empire, who has been improbably appointed U.S. Secretary of State by Douglas Williams, the condescending president whose candidacy she had opposed. Readers will no doubt notice a resemblance between Adams and Clinton.

It’s all good fun for readers and the ending leaves the door open for a sequel.

Honourable mentions go to Act of Oblivion by Robert Harris, The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles.

In my next segment, I will identify the Movies I enjoyed most in 2022.