Mark Stay's Blog, page 35

My Favourite Movies of 2022

Now that you’ve been dazzled by my favourite ‘bangin’ choons’ of 2022, here are my favourite movies of the year. It’s been a weird year for cinema. The big hitters are drawing in the punters, but those smaller movies are struggling to find an audience. It would be a crying shame if the interesting stuff was all regulated to the streamers. Not to denigrate streaming, but there’s nothing like sitting in the dark with complete strangers and immersing yourself in a story.

These are in no particular order, although I do have one favourite above all others and that is…

EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE

I’ve seen this twice now and it’s even better the second time around. Just breathtaking on every level. It’s inventive, constantly surprising, very funny, heartbreaking and had amazing action sequences. Directed by The Daniels (friends Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert) who previously made the surreal Swiss Army Man (featuring Daniel Radcliffe as a farting corpse… yes, really) this gives me hope for cinema in a very difficult year. Not only did something this strange and personal manage to get made, it also took over $100m at the box office worldwide. Let these guys make whatever the hell they want in future!

THE NORTHMAN

I’ve seen this get a lot of flack online, but I caught this in the cinema when it first came out and was completely swept away by it. It ticks so many boxes for me: Vikings, battles, blood, witches, mythology, revenge and, er, naked men battling near lava… Well, yes, the ending is a bit Revenge of the Sith, but Alexander Skarsgård is utterly compelling, Anya Taylor-Joy is always amazing, and Robert Eggers is becoming one of my favourite directors.

BRIAN AND CHARLES

I’m so glad I got to see this in a cinema with a crowd. Simply the sweetest film of the year. Brian is an inventor who creates a robot from junk lying about his home. The robot learns English from a dictionary and names himself Charles Petrescu. What follows is an adorable story about friendship, love and growing up, and flying the nest.

CATHERINE CALLED BIRDY

Based on the book by Karen Cushman and directed by Lena Dunham this is a ton of fun. When her family’s finances are revealed to be in a terrible state, young Lady Catherine must be married off to restore their fortune. It’s very funny and Bella Ramsey is superb in the lead. I particularly related to her father played by Andrew Scott who kept blowing the family’s money on useless crap like dead tigers. This has a great soundtrack too with medieval takes on contemporary hits with Misty Miller’s take on Elastica’s Connection being a favourite for me.

BELFAST

Branagh’s most personal film and my favourite of his. Young Jude Hill as Buddy is a joy as he tries to make sense of the madness around him. A child’s point of view, memory and history mingle to make something heightened and heartbreaking,

ELVIS

A classic case of ‘Print the legend’. I’ve seen some complain about the historical accuracy of this, but Baz was never going to make a gritty biopic, was he? This could have been a complete disaster, but it’s all held together by Austin Butler who does the impossible and makes you believe that Elvis is in the building. Quite enjoyed Tom Hanks as Elmer Fudd, too…

GLASS ONION

Rian Johnson and Daniel Craig are clearly having the time of their lives making these movies, but the secret weapon in this one is Janelle Monáe. Not only is she a brilliant singer songwriter and science fiction author, but as an actor she takes on a role here that’s really tricky (I can’t say more for spoiler reasons) and knocks it out of the park. We were lucky to see this in its one week in cinemas and I’m so glad we did. These films are best seen in the company of others.

FRESH

The best flesh-eating movie of the year (ignore all the hype around Bones and All. I saw that at Sitges and wasn’t impressed). Sebastian Stan is completely charming (until he isn’t), and you completely understand why Daisy Edgar-Jones falls for him (until she doesn’t). This is on Disney+ in the UK and you should definitely watch it between meals…

HONOURABLE MENTIONS…

I saw BOWIE — MOONAGE DAYDREAM at the BFI IMAX in London and it pretty much blew my mind. I’d like to see it on a smaller screen to see if it holds up, especially as a lot of the 80s and 90s footage was shot on crappy video and didn’t look good on IMAX.

I liked Jordan Peele’s NOPE, but for me it’s the least of his movies so far. I was hooked, but it didn’t quite stick the landing for me. But I always love anyone who reaches for something even if they don’t get it (see also: my entire writing career).

SEE HOW THEY RUN was a good laugh and I hope we get to see more adventures with Sam Rockwell and Saoirse Ronan’s odd couple coppers.

PREY was a great surprise: a Predator movie as good as the first one (there, I said it)!

BLACK PHONE was an excellent adaptation of Joe Hill’s short story. Back to basics horror for Scott Derrickson and C. Robert Cargill.

TOP GUN MAVERICK was basically the trench run from Star Wars stretched out to feature length. I was never a big fan of the original, but this was terrific fun and the kind of blockbuster that Hollywood does better than anyone. Best seen on the biggest screen you can find.

NIGHTMARE ALLEY is technically a 2021 movie but it was (I think) the first film I saw in 2022. I’ll just say it: Guillermo del Toro is a bloody genius and I’m so glad he’s now in a position to make a film so visually stunning and shocking. As remakes go it’s a belter. Can’t wait for his Pinocchio.

MEN started well, and Jessie Buckley and Rory Kinnear are always great, but it unravelled a little at the end. I went in with big expectations, so it’s one I want to come back to and see how it holds up.

My Favourite Music of 2022

Yup, it’s that time of the year when bloggers litter the internet with ‘Best of’ lists. I can only offer my favourites, however, and we’ll start with music because my lovely Apple Music app handily keeps track of what I listen to the most throughout the year. You can find the whole playlist here, and here’s the top ten with videos…

HUMAN MUSIC. RICK AND MORTY. Okay, this might need some explaining. I added this to my “New Stuff” playlist as a joke and now it’s become a fixture. I’m with Jerry. “I like it.”

2. THE HEART THAT NEVER WAITS. JOE BONAMASSA. Fed up with Eric Clapton being old, reactionary and racist? Choose Joe Bonamassa instead. An incredible singer, songwriter and guitarist (arguably better than Clapton) and this is great to play along with, too…

3. TALK OVER TOWN. KATY J PEARSON. Why yes, I am that cliche of a middle-aged man who gets his music recommendations from watching Jools Holland… What else am I supposed to do? They killed Top of the Pops! This track, and Katy’s album Sound of the Morning, is so propulsive and toe-tapping. She also ends the album with a great cover of Willow’s Song from The Wicker Man.

4. ABOUT DAMN TIME. LIZZO. This is super catchy and I defy anyone not to at least bop their head to this one. Another favourite this year has been Rumors, her collaboration with Cardi B which has a video like an X-rated version of Disney’s Hercules.

5. CHARMED LIFE. THE DIVINE COMEDY. At the risk of sounding like a privileged old white bloke (which I am) this could be my theme tune. I’ve had it very good (so far).

6. LESLEY DUNCAN. LOVE SONG. I heard this in the Alex Garland movie MEN and I can’t believe I’d never heard it before. Simply beautiful…

7. HEY HEY RISE UP (feat. Andriy Khlyvnyuk of Boombox). So Pink Floyd had a number one single this year! David Gilmour took Andriy Khlyvnyuk’s heartfelt a cappella version of an old Ukrainian anthem and built a song around it. Featuring Nitin Sawhney on keyboards, I love the video’s ‘let’s do the show right here’ vibe.

8. BLACK HOLE SUN. SOUNDGARDEN. An oldie but goodie that I was reminded of it when it popped up in the end credits of an episode of For All Mankind. Chris Cornell’s voice and guitar drives this to the moon and back.

9 THE EAGLE & THE DOVE. JESSIE BUCKLEY AND BERNARD BUTLER. Now here’s a combo I never knew I needed. The genius of Butler with Buckley’s voice which soars like, well, an eagle (or a dove… take your pick). And yes this is another Jools Holland clip, but Buckley’s live voice is something else…

10 HOW DOES IT FEEL. SLADE. Another golden oldie. Just to prove that Slade are for life and not just for Christmas. I don’t recall how this got on my playlist, but once it was there I couldn’t but help play it over and over…

11. CLEOPATRA. NOVA TWINS. Okay, I lied. This is a top 11 because I had to include these two. The Nova Twins are like the bastard daughters of Muse who usurp the throne and stick their heads in spikes. Brilliant stuff.

Honourable mentions…

I’m amazed there’s no Wet Leg on here, though Ur Mum is number 12 on my list…

Same goes for Self Esteem. She should definitely be on the list as I haven’t stopped playing her new album since I saw her on… go on, guess…

Coming soon. More pointless lists of my favourite films, TV shows and books of 2022…

SJ Bennett on the Bestseller Experiment podcast

SJ Bennett is great fun on this week’s podcast. After a successful career writing award-winning YA, she made a big shift in genre and category to cosy crime with her new series Her Majesty the Queen Investigates. We talk about fear of failure, life-changing decisions, and getting publisher royalty cheques for 97p…

Harriet Tyce on the Bestseller Experiment

Great to chat with Harriet Tyce on the podcast, especially about “going too far” as an author. How far is too far for you?

We also pay tribute to Marcus Sedgwick who recently passed away far too young at the age of 54.

You can listen on all the usual podcast providers, and here’s the Youtube version…

Andor on the Authorized Podcast

I’d had such a great time discussing the novelisation of Rogue One and its prequel Catalyst, that it was real treat to be invited back onto the Authorized Podcast to discuss my favourite TV series of the year ANDOR!

We discuss all our favourite moments and characters and I ask the key questions: How many parents will be using ‘On Program!’ on their own children? How long before we see Judi Dench flying the Millennium Falcon? And why is there a frog man hopping around Ferrix?

We go into tons of detail on Andor. Even the guy who hops likes a frog in ep3… https://t.co/QlOhfQFwMv pic.twitter.com/35XPrxY2v0

— Mark Stay (@markstay) November 28, 2022

You can listen to the podcast on all the usual podcast providers, and here’s a link to Spotify.

Star Wars Catalyst on the Authorized Podcast

Delighted to be back as a guest on the Authorized Podcast, discussing James Luceno’s prequel to a prequel novel CATALYST. This follows on from the previous episode where we discussed the excellent Rogue One novelisation.

Apart from fixating on the Poggle the Lesser, I also talk about my love of Timothy Zahn’s Heir to the Empire books, seeing Return of the Jedi when I was ten and thinking that was it for Star Wars, and much more Star Wars nerdy goodness. You can listen on any podcast provider, but here’s a link to Spotify.

Unwelcome UK Release Date

I saw Unwelcome mentioned in the new issue of Film Stories magazine with a UK/Eire release date of 27th January 2023! That’s the date on IMDb and the Warner Bros. website, so… I’ll see you at the movies at the end of Jan!

PS. Not yet sure of release dates outside the UK. Watch this space!

Here’s the trailer!

Rogue One on the Authorized Podcast

I had a blast chatting with the Authorized Podcast gang about Alexander Freed’s excellent novelisation of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. We discuss capes, Andor, Tony Gilroy, whether George Lucas ever expected to make a sequel to Star Wars, and the novel’s wonderfully catty memos between Krennic, Tarkin and Galen Erso…

It’s available on all the usual podcast providers, and here’s a link to Spotify.

The Little Green Bookshop, Herne Bay, Sunday 4th December: 2pm – 4pm

I’ll be signing books at the The Little Green Bookshop’s special Christmas Shopping Day. I’ll be joined by some amazing authors, including Malcolm Dixon, Lucy Strange and Julie Wassmer, which means there’s something for everyone and you can sort your Christmas shopping in one go, and enjoy some mince pies and mulled wine in the process! Hope to see you there…

Witches of Woodville T-Shirts & Tote Bags

You can now get Woodville T-shirts and Tote Bags over at my TeeMill site here… https://the-witches-of-woodville.teemill.com

It’s what all the cool kids are wearing… apparently…