Top 10 Movies of 2022

Greetings, reader!

It's the last Thursday of the year, and longtime readers of this blog (as well as people capable of reading the post's title) will know what that means; it's time for the big one. The best movies of the year. Without further ado, here they are.

But first, some honorable mentions: Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore, Halloween Ends, Mr. Harrigan's Phone, Studio 666.

10. The Gray Man

"It's me"

"Where are you?"

"Emotionally? I've been better"

"The extraction team?"

"They've been better, too"

This spy thriller runs the risk of being a bit generic, but there are two elements that help it stick out as a definitely worthwhile viewing experience: the sharply directed action sequences courtesy of the Russo brothers, and the film's thoroughly engaging villain Lloyd Hansen, played by Chris Evans. The action set-pieces are massively entertaining and well-coordinated - many have criticized the film for over-using drone shots, to which my response is "the drone shots f**king rule, they look awesome".

And as for the villain - what really makes the character so interesting is his similarity to the main heroes in many crime films (especially slightly outdated ones). In the past few years, there has been a lot of conversation on Hollywood glorifying law enforcement types who don't play by the rules, go rogue et cetera, and this film's story sheds light on what the romanticized 'wild card' CIA agent might look like in real life. With certain realities in place, the constant use of rogue methods over 'the book' suddenly has some very dark implications, and Chris Evans does a great job portraying a sociopath who, in a different movie with a less mature script, might very well be the hero.

9. Avatar: The Way of Water

"Why so blue?"

Never has a film met my expectations as perfectly as this James Cameron infinity project. The sequel to 2009's Avatar wasn't one bit better than I expected, nor was it one bit worse. It had largely the same virtues as the first one, as well as the same flaws. Those flaws are why The Way of Water is only ninth and not higher despite its masterpiece-potential; at the end of the day, the plot itself is slightly generic and inescapably predictable. And the film's message, while a powerful and important one, often feels a bit too heavily hammered and self-important.

That being said, the virtues are why the film definitely earned its spot in this top 10; first of all, the visuals are beyond breathtaking, even more so than in the first Avatar. The film looks amazing in all sorts of ways, truly taking us into other worlds in what would be perfect escapist cinema if the themes didn't hit so close to home. Some have criticized the film for being too long, but while I see the point of the story not calling for an over-3-hour runtime, I still have no quarrel with the runtime because I was happy to just look at this piece of visual art for over three hours.

Also, the film's message does make it into the positives as well. Yes, it's a bit heavy-handed, but it's still so important that there are many parts when it gets to you in a gripping manner. You won't feel like a proud member of the human race while watching this film, which is undoubtedly a good thing, as we as a species aren't doing nearly enough reflecting on how this whole colonization-and-abuse-of-nature thing has gone for us and our planet so far.

8. The Batman

"Fear is a tool. When that light hits the sky, it's not just a call - it's a warning"

The newest version of the Batman legend isn't the greatest Batman picture of all time by any means, but far from the worst as well. This is clear from pretty much any comparable factors: Robert Pattinson's take on Bruce Wayne is better than the likes of Ben Affleck or even Adam West, but not quite on the level of Michael Keaton or Christian Bale. Jeffrey Wright's Commissioner Gordon is better than the J.K. Simmons and Neil Hamilton versions of the character, but not quite on par with Gary Oldman. On the villain/anti-hero front, we actually get some all-timers, as Colin Farrell, Paul Dano and Zoe Kravitz provide what I consider to be the all-time best versions of The Penguin, The Riddler and Catwoman on the big screen.

Director Matt Reeves' take on Gotham City is gloomy and atmospheric, and the re-branding of Bruce Wayne as an extremely introverted and secluded billionaire is an interesting contrast to the playboy facade seen in most adaptations. The re-branding also works on many of the film's villains - I don't know whose idea it was to write the Riddler as a reddit-incel conspiracy theorist, but that person is a genius, as this made the character so frighteningly relevant. All in all, The Batman is essential viewing for fans of the Caped Crusader, even if it doesn't quite reach the (admittedly sky-high) standards of the Dark Knight trilogy.

7. Elvis

"The way you sing is God-given, so there can't be nothin' wrong with it"

As I mentioned in a previous post, this Elvis Presley biopic manages to stick out from an increasingly crowded field, largely thanks to its focus on the relationship between star and manager, as Colonel Tom Parker (Tom Hanks) has pretty much equal screentime with the King himself (played by Austin Butler). This dynamic is quite eye-opening, but while Hanks is as great as one can expect him to be in any given role, there's no denying that Elvis himself is the star of the show, with Butler's performance being my favorite individual element of the film.

What really gets me in his performance, in addition to meeting the pressure of playing such a next-level iconic figure, is how his nuances color the way in which Elvis is presented. The film's script isn't as introspective as many other music biopics, as the Elvis we see is largely "Elvis the product", molded my the manager and other forces to be the figure we all know - yet Austin Butler's nuances in the role make it clear in a subtle yet powerful way that beneath it all was just an idealistic and kindhearted young man, confused by the noise and the expectations around him.

6. All Quiet on the Western Front

"My son killed in the war. He doesn't feel any honor"

This remake of the classic 1930 anti-war film is an all-around impressive cinematic feat, with production values on point and the ever-relevant message clear and present. While I wouldn't go as far as to call the film overall better (or even as good) as the iconic original, I will say that in several categories, it does an even better job than its predecessor. Chief among these factors is the authenticity - though the story is about German soldiers in World War One, the original film does the classic Hollywood trope of hoping no one notices that this group of German characters are played by American actors with American accents.

This remake was made by a German director, spoken in German and starring Germans. Obviously I'm not blaming the original for not doing this, as there are some fairly sound reasons for Hollywood and Germany not co-operating in the 1930's. I'm merely stating that it's nice to see the world currently being in a place where such co-operation could be done, and objectively a film about Germans feels more authentic when it has, y'know, Germans.

5. Stutz

"You don't get to the world of meaning through big things. You get it through small things"

For a celebrity who wants to raise awareness about mental health, there are many ways to do so. You can open up in an interview, promote therapy etc. on social media, work with groups involved in mental health work, et cetera.

Or, if you're an unconventional motherf**ker like Jonah Hill, there's always the option of filming several sessions with your longtime therapist, directing and editing a feature film of them, and releasing it on Netflix for the whole world to see.

What really got me about Stutz was the somewhat surprising subject matter. Having heard of the film's general concept, I assumed that it would specifically be about Jonah Hill's struggles, with a sort of "talking about these things in therapy has helped so now I'm ready to share them with the whole world" premise. Instead, the film isn't about the client, but the therapist himself. Hill specifically wanted to make this film about Phil Stutz, because he had gotten so much help from his ideas and methods that he wanted to share these with as many people as possible. Once again, there are many conventional ways of thanking your therapist, but if you're Jonah Hill, this also works.

Stutz follows a series of fascinating conversations between two intriguing and admirable people, and the central idea of "I think you're so good at what you do that I want to use my platform to show the whole world how good you are" is very heartwarming. Stutz's ideas certainly are worth sharing, and just like a good self-help book, quite many people might benefit from watching this movie.

4. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

"The world has taken away too much for you to still be considered a child"

Plans for a second Black Panther film were in motion when Chadwick Boseman's untimely death changed everything. After thinking through several possible courses of action, the good folks at Marvel figured that their best move was to make the film anyway, but with a very different script, writing the character off instead of re-casting. Usually, such a stunt wouldn't work - can you imagine an Iron Man movie without Tony Stark, or a Hulk movie without Bruce Banner? But with Black Panther specifically, the first film had established many deeply interesting supporting characters, who were more than enough to carry a film like this when called upon.

Furthermore, the world of Wakanda on the big screen was such a vibrant and intriguing milieu, that it would've been a shame to leave it at just one movie. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever works on its own as an entertaining MCU flick, but it reaches even further heights due to the emotional power from how it pays tribute to the franchise's late great star. The film honors Boseman's legacy just as the characters within the story honor the legacy of their king, who is very much present in spirit throughout the film. In a year of otherwise quite uneven Marvel entries, this was a much-needed gem.

3. Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery

"You've taken seven people, each of whom has a real life reason to wish you harm, gathered them together on a remote island, and placed the idea of your murder in their heads. It's like putting a loaded gun on the table and turning off the lights"

The Knives Out sequel looks to be quite the opinion-splitter, and I'm most definitely pro, not anti. I mean, what's not to like? Rian Johnson's script is wickedly clever, the star-studded cast has an absolute blast playing their colorful and memorable roles, and best of all, the detective mystery genre's genuine intrigue feels strikingly high.

We've seen so many whodunit-stories that ones with a typical premise have started to feel predictable and mundane, but here we have a concept so fresh that the first act thoroughly hooks you in, in a way similar to what it was like to read your first Agatha Christie mysteries as a kid. The very setting, alongside the unique characteristics of the case at hand, make for a funny and entertaining detective story that truly stands out from a crowded genre.

2. Nope

"This dream you're chasing, where you end up at the top of the mountain, all eyes on you...it's the dream you'll never wake up from"

Critics often draw a large and broad distinction of cinema and TV into two categories: the ones designed to entertain us, and the ones designes to make us think. While this in itself is horribly over-simplified, as most cinema and TV are both to some degree in various ways and combinations, I do see the basic idea. And there's a place for my heart for both extremes: sometimes a totally mind-numbing escapist comedy film is all one needs for their Friday night, and at other times, there's nothing better than to watch a deep and cryptic 'thinking man's movie' and spend the rest of the night analyzing what the hell it was that you just witnessed. And very few films are as far in the latter extreme as Jordan Peele's newest gem Nope.

The film is so cryptic in its artistic storytelling, that you'll walk out the theater not being able to immediately form a preliminary opinion as you first must process what you saw. There are all sorts of symbols and metaphors to decipher, and I hear loud and clear why a lot of people don't like that sort of film. It would suck if every movie in the world were like this. But, when there's always the option to choose an entertaining superhero flick or feel-good rom com, it feels like a nice change to challenge one's brain and watch a film like Nope every now and then. Especially as it's so satisfying when things start to make sense - with many artistic and cryptic films, you feel totally lost when trying to wrap your head around it, but with Nope, there are enough clues and threads that one can easily blow their mind when interpreting what it all might have meant.

How does the narrative of the monkey fit in with the rest of the plot? What is the thematic point of telling these two barely connected stories in such a fashion? What about the role of the black jockey anecdote, how does that tie in? What points is Jordan Peele trying to make concerning the themes of exploitation in entertainment, and why did he choose such an odd storyline as his vessel for said points? These questions will linger with you after seeing the film, and the process of analyzing what it all might mean feels like an equal part to the viewing experience than the actual viewing of the movie.

1. Top Gun: Maverick

"Your kind is headed for extinction"

"Maybe so, Sir. But not today"

As hyped up as I was for the legacy sequel to one of my favorite action films of all time, I certainly didn't expect it to be the best movie of the year. Let's be real, Top Gun: Maverick was never going to be the best movie of the year. That is, until something funny happened...

It just f**king was.

Like, there's no way around it. Top Gun: Maverick feels like a triumphant shout of glory from the era of classic summer blockbuster cinema. It feels like Back to the Future, The Terminator, Independence Day and Ferris Bueller's Day Off saying "Hey! We see your fancy streaming services and thought-provoking concept films and interconnected cinematic universes, but HOLD UP! There's still room for us". And for a fan of classic summer blockbusters, that cry from the past was a welcome one, and one that will hopefully echo into the future.

Top Gun: Maverick plays nostalgia like a harp, beautifully plucking out everything that Top Gun fans wanted so see more of and weaving those elements to be authentic parts of the story without feeling like it's forced or mere fan service. Whether it was Top Gun Anthem composer Harold Faltermeyer working together with Lady Gaga to compose the soundtrack, Miles Teller capturing the essence of Anthony Edwards' 'Goose' character while also making the roole of Goose's son his own, or the overall story being slightly more serious and real-worldly than the original but still very much being an entertaining action flick at heart (thus avoiding the 'gritty reboot that takes itself too seriously' cliché), this film does a magnificent job in combining old and new.

That's pretty much it. I could've written a longer and more analytical review, but really, such a tribute isn't the most fitting for a film like this. For a film like this, I'll simply end by saying that there were a bunch of awesome scenes that had me pumping my fist in the movie theater. And sometimes, that's the very best thing one can get from cinema.

Thank you for reading! Tune in next week for the Other Big One: The Top 10 TV Shows of 2022.

Top 5 positive (and top 5 negative) takeaways from the 2022 FIFA World Cup

Greetings, reader!

Christmas is almost upon us, but I've already done posts on all the most interesting Christmas-related movies and TV I could think about. To read my X-mas content from previous years, click these titles:

Top 10 Christmas movies

Top 10 Christmas TV Episodes

Ranking Every Doctor Who Christmas Special

Ranking Every Netflix Original Christmas Movie

Anyways, today I want to talk about football (once again, events like the World Cup are broadcast on television around the world, therefore making it into a reality TV series of sorts, so it is NOT off-topic for a movie/TV blog). The 2022 World Cup came to a dramatic end last week, and as a whole, the tournament had a lot to offer - both good and bad. So here are my top 5 positive and top 5 negative takeaways from the World Cup!

#5 in positives: As a half-American: it was fun while it lasted, boys

When I posted my predictions for the World Cup last summer, one of them was that three North American teams would make it out of the group stage. Sadly, this never came to fruition, with Canada, Costa Rica and Mexico all falling just short despite putting on impressive performances. However, one North American team did make it to the round of 16, and it was our very own United States!

Even though their tournament came to an end in a knockout defeat to Netherlands, the American team most definitely got to come home with their heads held high. Their tournament included a victory over Iran, a 1-1 tie with Wales, and even a 0-0 draw with England, before they came up short against Netherlands (even giving them a run for their money, as the match was no blowout). I'm not sure which made me more proud as an American - Christian Pulisic's heroics on the pitch, or captain Tyler Adams's inspiring words of wisdom off the pitch. It's a blast to get to root for your home country in the World Cup, and the U.S. gave us a campaign to be proud of!

#5 in negatives: The tournament being in the winter, due to the Qatar setting, was bad on multiple levels

Obviously, there are much bigger problems with FIFA's decision to have Qatar host the tournament than this, as we'll find out later on the list. But the winter setting still belongs on the list; it never was the tournament's biggest problem, but it was a problem nevertheless. First of all, on a purely subjective and emotional level, the winter setting just made it feel less like a World Cup. The FIFA World Cup has always been a summer event, and the summer buzz is a big part of the tournament's magic, which is hard to recreate in the winter. It especially sucked the group stage was played during the busiest time of the year, as many interesting games had to be missed due to studies and deadlines et cetera.

But on a more serious level, the November-December setting meant that the tournament was shoved smack-middle into the football season, which was bad news for everyone. Professional football players are already at a constant injury risk due to the rigid schedule of national league games, cup games and European tournaments being played with the tempo of multiple matches per week, and making time for a World Cup in the middle of a season means even less time to rest and even more injury risk for everyone. It's almost like they should've considered the fact that a country that hot can't host a summer tournament before they made that decision, right?

#4 in positives: The Three Lions did well

My favorite national team (not counting my two home countries, as they're hard to compare) has been England for as long as I can remember. Yes, I know, the fans are jerks, but let's be real, every country that participates in international football has its share of those (with the possible exception of Japan, whose fans got the world's attention with their respectfulness in this tournament). England has always been home to many (or even most) of my favorite players, and I'm heavily invested in the curse of them never winning anything despite being the original home of football and constantly one of the more promising teams on paper.

Was this year any different? Well, yes and no. As you may have noticed, England did in fact not win the 2022 World Cup, despite my predictions from last summer (I might've also promised that Declan Rice would be chosen as Player of the Tournament, which, well, he wasn't). Still, England put up an impressive display, continuing my faith in this era of their national team, and making me excited to see more of them in future tournaments. Their triumphs over Iran, Wales and Senegal were among some of the best football seen in the tournament, and they came heartbreakingly close to overcoming France in the quarter finals. While it was sad to see them go, it was a joy to watch them play as long as it lasted.

Special shout-out to Marcus Rashford and Bukayo Saka - the two players owe their country absolutely fuck-all after their valiant efforts in last years EURO's were greeted with tons of racial abuse from humanity's worst. Yet they continued on with their heads held high, and rolled up as the very best versions of themselves into this tournament, scoring three goals each and being among the top tier of England's players. By the way, when Harry Kane missed his penalty against France, did you hear anyone blaming it on white people? Yeah, me neither. Strange how that works.

#4 in negatives: The corruption and bribery that lead to the World Cup being in f**king Qatar

John Oliver said it best: "I won't say that Qatar definitely got the World Cup trough bribery - but I won't say that they didn't, and I will say that they did". When looking at the multiple allegations of paid votes and other such shenanigans floating around, added to FIFA's colorful history with corruption, the general lack of ethics among the people running Qatar and the money they have at their disposal, and other such facts, it just seems that there's no way for Qatar's winning World Cup bid being a mere coincidence.

At the very least, FIFA would've ruled the country out of the running to begin with due to multiple reasons making them a bad choice of host country, but they didn't do that because of a five-letter word that starts with an 'M' and rhymes with "honey". No matter how much others had to suffer, this shady deal was objectively good for both Qatar and FIFA finance-wise, and a corrupt deal doesn't make for a great foundation for a fun global sporting event.

#3 in positives: The final was one of the greatest football matches I've ever seen

Argentina gets a penalty. Messi scores. Argentina goes 2-0 up following a beautiful sequence of passes and a graceful Di Maria finish. France seem hopeless. France gets a penalty, Mbappe scores, and suddenly they've found their drive. Within a matter of seconds, Mbappe scores again. The game is tied after 90 minutes are played, and goes to overtime. Argentina pulls ahead again. But France gets a penalty. Mbappe puts it in, completing his World Cup final hattrick (you know that feeling when you're 23 years old and you score three goals while playing your second World Cup final?). It's level at 120 minutes, going to penalties.

At this point, Community creator Dan Harmon posts on Instagram: "I have never cared about this sport and I'm about to have a god damn heart attack". Well put, good sir.

The penalty shootout is a mixture of high-stakes drama, insane pressure, and Emiliano Martinez showing he's worthy of an honorary doctorate in psychology for his mastering of mind games.

For reference, both the 2010 and 2014 World Cup finals were 0-0 at full time, with both ending 1-0 after one goal was scored in extra time. This World Cup final wasn't like that. This World Cup final felt like it was written for the stage or the big screen, with a plot equal parts Shakespeare and Marvel Cinematic Universe. This World Cup final was one for the ages.

#3 in negatives: The power of money and football overpowering peoples' incentives to speak out against the World cup being played in god damn Qatar

Sure, there has been a lot of controversy and discussion about the Qatar debacle, yet in my opinion, there hasn't been nearly enough condemnation of FIFA's utter lack of ethics on the matter. This is thanks to two very powerful elements that have been known to overcome the higher ideals of human rights and ethics: the power of money, and humankind's love for football.

The money one is pretty clear. It would've been great to see some of the high-profile football players, managers and other celebrities speaking out against the dark side of this tournament, but that was never going to happen, as this corporation-run society has a strict hold on them. Any form of athletes speaking their minds on the issue would lead to sponsors pulling out and fines being implemented, meaning that they had to accept their situation and shut up, which is a real shame.

The other factor is the people's love for football itself. Back in 2018, when Putin's Russia hosted the World Cup, there was a lot of controversy and protest - until the first ball was kicked, and everyone forgot all about the Russia problem. The 2022 tournament didn't drown the controversy out quite as thoroughly, because of the problems being so extreme this time, but the same phenomena could still be seen. Before the tournament, the ethical issues with Qatar was all anyone was talking about, with many football fans saying they'll either boycott the tournament or just otherwise have a not-great time watching it. However, as soon as the actual football started, people were very quick to either forget about the problems or to find quick justifications in their mind.

I should know, as I was quite guilty of this double-thinking myself, as the excitement of a once-in-four-years spectacle is an almost scarily powerful factor in one's priorities. Of course, I don't mean to shame anyone for being excited about the tournament as that would be ridiculous because nothing in this problem is the responsibility of us viewers. My point just is that we shouldn't let our love for football override critical thought in holding FIFA accountable for all the shit that they pull. Denial is never the answer.

#2 in positives: Morocco, Japan and other cinderella stories

Every World Cup is bound to have its share of underdog stories, but very few have this many. The streets will never forget the Morocco side that blasted its way through Belgium, Spain and Portugal to become the first-ever African team to reach the World Cup semi-finals, making their whole continent proud. Then there's Japan, who beat both Spain and Germany in the group stage, and South Korea, whose path to the knockouts seemed extremely unlikely until they went from 1-0 down to 2-1 ahead against Portugal in order to get through.

Funny how Spain and Portugal were the punching bags in so many of these upsets - I'd almost feel bad for them, if it hadn't been for Ronaldo showing that he wasn't as much upset about Portugal not winning the World Cup as he was upset about Cristiano Ronaldo not winning the World Cup.

Anyways, my point is that it was truly lovely to witness these amazing and plentiful underdog stories. I mean, Argentina's epic path to victory started with them losing to Saudi Arabia, which was both a shocking underdog tale for the Saudis, but also an event that made Argentina look like potential flops and underdogs for the tournament, making their eventual victory all the sweeter.

#2 in negatives: The gigantic middle finger that not only Qatar, but also FIFA itself, showed to the LGBTQ+ community

This one hurt like hell. Going into the tournament, we all knew one of the major controversies to be Qatar's extreme legislature against same-sex relations. The discussion around this has been quite loaded, with many western homophobes suddenly finding their anti-racist side and being way to eager about their "hey, we should respect their way of life!" rhetoric, while many western racists have made it all about blaming Islam and arab culture as a whole.

In my view, it's just a matter of religious extremism: there's nothing wrong with any religion, but there is something wrong with assholes who use fundamentalist interpretations of religion to discriminate others and spread hatred. Islam as a religion is not much different from Christianity, as both can be practiced in the peaceful way that millions around the world do, but unfortunately both have their fundamentalists. And just to be clear, the religious extremism that has same-sex marriage banned in countries like Qatar is the exact same religious extremism that the evangelical right is practicing in the U.S. with their views against gay marriage and women's rights. Just in the name of a different God.

Anyways, the problem wasn't just Qatar, but FIFA itself. The captains of many major international teams, such as England's Harry Kane and Germany's Manuel Neuer, meant to wear a "One Love" armband at the tournament, in support of the LGBTQ+ community. Until, at the last minute, FIFA criminalized wearing such an armband. It's bad enough for FIFA to host their tournament in a country with such fucked-up laws, but it hurts on a whole different level when FIFA itself takes such a strong stance against football players speaking out for minorities. FIFA basically governs all of football on the higher levels, so it felt like this decision by Infantino and company put football itself on the side of homophobia in the fight against homophobia - and as a football fan who also belongs to the LGBTQ+ community, that really, really hurt.

#1 in positives: Lionel Messi's story is a damn fairytale and I'm here for it

I'm struggling to find the words for this one. There will never be another Lionel Messi. The man is a damn alien. The human race is thousands of years old, and we're lucky enough to live in the time where we can witness Lionel Messi playing football, and it is a thing to behold.

This was always going to be his tournament, we just didn't know it yet. We were bold enough to speculate, with a lot of hype around the "how great would it be if Messi finally won the World Cup in his last-ever chance?" angle. But we didn't fully comprehend just how legendary Messi is - he wanted this win so bad (not for himself, like a certain Portuguese star, mind you - but for Argentina), that he simply decided to turn his determination up to eleven and play better than everyone else in every match.

It started with the out-of-the-box rocket against Mexico in the group stage. Mere mortals don't do shit like that. That was the sheer determination of the GOAT to get out of the group stage no matter what. We saw it time and time again, with his multiple man-of-the-match performances, perhaps culminating in Argentina's third goal in the semi-final against Croatia, as Messi gave the single greatest assist I've ever seen. No one else will ever play football quite like that. The dude is being marked, blocked and stopped by the world-class Croatian defense, yet he just decides to keep the ball and somehow wiggle his way past it all until the opportunity comes to pass the ball to Alvarez who scores.

And in the final, we saw it again. It's so damn poetic - for years, Messi was traumatized by his decisive penalty miss in the 2016 Copa America final, and now, the perhaps last thing he did in an Argentina shirt (at least on the World Cup level) was scoring in a penalty shoot-out. One that ended with Argentina winning. So that on top of his seven Ballon D'Ors, four Champions Leagues, eleven league titles and Copa America title, he now also has a World Cup. And if there ever lived a person who deserved to win the World Cup, it was the humble and modest freak of nature who overcame the obstacles of his small physique to break through as a major star who many (myself included) now see as the greatest to ever play the game.

#1 in negatives: The blood of countless migrant workers being on FIFA's hands

Yeah, this may be a hot take, but I don't think anyone should fucking die in order for some football matches to be played. Yes, I like the sport very much, but weirdly enough, I value the existence of human lives even more. You know who doesn't? Fucking FIFA.

When the decision of Qatar as the tournament's host was made, they didn't have the stadiums and facilities necessary for the World Cup, and had to quickly build it all in a few years. The only way they had for such a massive project in such a short time was the use of migrant workers, the conditions of whom were nothing short of modern-day slavery, with the workers being subjected to extreme conditions and no rights whatsoever. And as journalists have uncovered this debacle in the last few years, it has become more and more clear that FIFA knew what they were doing every fucking step of the way, but didn't care, because money.

It is impossible to find an exact number for how many slaves were killed working to build those stadiums in extreme circumstances, as Qatar and FIFA have done their darnest to cover it all up. Most estimates are way up in the thousands. As much as I enjoyed watching the actual football of this tournament, I was painfully aware of this dark reality throughout the tournament, and my blood boiled every time the cameras showed FIFA President Giovanni Infantino sitting in the stands with his smug look. I want everyone reading this to remember that that man isn't just a corrupt and greedy douchebag, he's a mass murderer. "But Veikko, he didn't kill anyone with his own hands" - yeah, neither did Charles Manson. The conscious decisions of Infantino and his cronies lead to the building of this World Cup which resulted in so many migrant worker deaths, and the man definitely knew all about it while not giving a shit.

Usually when I do a "top 5 positives and top 5 negatives" list, I like to end with the positives to leave things on a good note. This time I made an exception, wanting to end the list with what I consider to be the most important takeaway of the tournament, and the reason for why the bad taste of the 2022 World Cup will and should linger for a long time.

Thank you for reading! Tune in next week for my last post of the year - the top 10 movies of 2022.

Top 10 Forgotten/Overlooked Gems from the World of Television

Greetings, reader!

This topic was suggested by my Uncle Dan some time ago. I spend so much of my time on this blog discussing the most relevant and talked-about movies and television shows, that it feels like a thoroughly nice change to devote a post to those TV gems that have been largely forgotten by history after they aired, or overlooked by the mainstream during their airing.

The range of today's list is wide: there are some shows that you very likely haven't heard of, whereas some have quite a lot of name recognition but they belong on the list because they feel like shows that either a) everyone has heard of but hardly anyone has actually watched, or b) people used to watch when they first aired, but no one talks about them anymore. Some of these recommendations are meant to cause a "Oh, this sounds like a good series, I should check it out" reaction, and with others, I'm going for more of a "Oh yeah, I forgot all about this one, I should watch it again!" one. I hope you enjoy!

Here are my honorable mentions: the original Doctor Who (1963-1989), Fairly Legal (2011-2012), One Day at a Time (2017-2020), Ramy (2019-Present), Vinyl (2016).

10. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1994-1999)

Even the more popular Star Trek TV shows, namely the original Star Trek (1966-1969) and The Next Generation (1987-1994), seem to be a weirdly small deal here in Finland, as I never seem to find fellow fans to discuss Star Trek with. And this sense of obscurity applies even more to the less popular iterations of the franchise, including my personal favorite Deep Space Nine. The series never really made it big with mainstream audiences, even if Trek fans have always been happy to watch it; perhaps the timing was off, as many viewers were experiencing sci-fi fatigue in the 1990's.

But while Deep Space Nine is overlooked by many, I see it as the franchise's finest offering, with all the makings of a legendary TV series, had it broken in with larger audiences. It is simultaneously the darkest and least dark Star Trek series, as it deals with heavy themes, difficult politics and moral grey areas, yet the space station setting makes for off-the-charts coziness as the DS9 station truly starts to feel like home to the viewer.

9. Les Miserables (2000)

We all know the original Victor Hugo novel, the Broadway musical based on it, and the 2012 film adaptation. But how many of you know the French miniseries from 2000, starring Gérard Depardieu and John Malkovic as Jean Valjean and Javert?

We watched this 4-part series entirely through in small segments throughout our French class in junior high school, and my God, it was good. The catchy and dramatic instrumental soundtrack still rings in my head every now and then even though eight or nine years have passed from my viewing experience, and the story is adapted from the book with surgical precision. I would also like to applaud Steffen Wink's supporting performance as Enjorlas; it is without a doubt one of the most underrated acting performances I've seen, really capturing the sense of revolution and inspiration from Hugo's source material with aplomb.

8. That Damn Michael Che (2021-Present)

This very new series has dropped two seasons of quality content so far, and for some reason, no one seems to be talking about it. Whether the issue is with marketing, sketch comedy fatigue, HBO Max or Michael Che's humor being an acquired taste, it's a shame that the series hasn't taken off in a bigger fashion. What I can say is that I personally enjoy the series a lot (I've watched it through with my Dad, and many episodes have had us rolling with laughter), and I thoroughly recommend it to fans of dark humor.

Essentially, the series was born out of Saturday Night Live's (1975-Present) Michael Che wanting an outlet for those jokes and skits he's come up with that were deemed too dark/edgy/controversial for SNL. The structure of the episodes is a delightful mixture of vignettes, thematic narratives and stand-up comedy, and Che's network of comedy pals allows for fantastic guest stars like Cecily Strong, Kenan Thompson and Colin Jost to make appearances. With the episodes dealing with themes like cancel culture, the Covid vaccine, religion and police brutality, That Damn Michael Che truly manages to find laughter in the weirdest places.

7. Miranda (2009-2015)

One of the two wonderfully obscure British sitcoms on today's list, Miranda is quite the gem. Created by, written by and starring comedy maestro Miranda Hart, the series follows the awkward and lovable main character (named Miranda, implying that the series is somewhat autobiographical) as she deals with her difficult mother Penny (Patricia Hodge), her ditsy colleague and best friend Stevie (Sarah Hadland), and her long-term love interest Gary (Tom Ellis). All of the major supporting characters are well-cast and memorable, but the star of the show is undoubtedly the title character herself.

6. Episodes (2011-2017)

Had they profited from better marketing, I'm convinced that Episodes could've become one of the most acclaimed sitcoms of the 2010's - sadly, this didn't happen, as no one anywhere ever has heard of this utterly brilliant series, to my great dismay. I mean, the premise of Episodes alone is so amazing; as a means of satirizing the Hollywood show business, we follow two British TV writers who move to L.A. to work on an American adaptation of their acclaimed series.

This makes for a comedic yet very real look at why such adaptations often fail, as the writers keep getting their ideas bogged down by shallow and jaded producers wanting to make the series less nuanced and more media-sexy. It also makes for a fascinating setting for TV enthusiasts such as myself, as following the behind-the-scenes making of a fictional TV series is compelling as hell. Furthermore, a key plot point is the Hollywood producers casting Friends (1994-2004) alumnus Matt LeBlanc as the star of their show, hence one of the major Episodes characters being (a slightly over-the-top version of) LeBlanc himself, and he really has a blast playing this version of himself.

So, yeah, Episodes is pretty great. It even has one of my favorite comedy series finales, ending the show's five-season-run in the most genius and perfect way imaginable.

5. Futurama (1999-2013)

Sure, we've all heard of Futurama, know of its existence, and have maybe even watched and episode or two on a Sunday night or an airplane. But who can honestly say that they've watched the series, episode by episode, knowing the characters and stories well? By my experience, the answer is upsettingly little.

That's a heck of a shame, because Futurama is amazing. Created by The Simpsons (1989-Present) creator Matt Groening, this show is often seen as The Simpsons' dorky little brother, with the same animation style and similar humor but in a sci-fi setting and with less hype. However, I view Futurama to be (and I know this is quite the hot take) every bit as good as The Simpsons, if not even better. No, I'm not kidding.

The humor is just as funny as in the more well-known Groening series, and the characters are even better. Furthermore, Futurama isn't just laughs and satire - its storytelling vastly outdoes The Simpsons, serving as a precursor to Rick and Morty (2013-) in how silliness can be combined with remarkably creative and engaging sci-fi storytelling. In-between the many hilarious and inventive episodes, there are many surprisingly emotional ones as well - I have yet to watch season 3's The Luck of the Fryish or the series finale Meanwhile without shedding a tear or two.

Trust me, just watch the pilot episode to get a sense of how funny and exciting Futurama really is. The first 20 seconds of the pilot are easily the funniest opening moment to a television series I've ever seen.

4. Rome (2005-2007)

Fellow history buffs, this one is for you. Picture the intrigue, power dynamics, plot-stirring schemes and brutal twists of the early seasons of Game of Thrones, but based on real events. That's basically HBO's two-season wonder Rome. Based on the power struggles of the Caesar and post-Caesar eras, the series uses its ambitious HBO budget to really capture the intrigue of one of the most fascinating historical eras out there, which is why it's a real shame that the series never really got a spot among the modern classics, drowned out by more mainstream shows in an increasingly competitive field.

For the most part, Rome is very historically accurate. And the parts where it does deviate from real events are well-reasoned; mostly, they are cases of the semi-fictional soldier protagonists Lucius Vorenus (Kevin McKidd) and Titus Pullo (Ray Stevenson) having big roles in major events. The existence of these two officers as main characters is the show's way of showing what life was like for more 'ordinary' Romans, and their exaggerated role in major historical events are a narrative way of tying together interesting events from the time, that might otherwise feel a bit disconnected in the TV format of storytelling.

3. The Vicar of Dibley (1994-2007)

The even better out of the two obscure British sitcoms on today's list, The Vicar of Dibley is a gem if I ever saw one. Brought to my attention by my favorite ex-girlfriend, this quirky series follows a small village, where Geraldine Granger arrives to work as their church's first female vicar, which leads to all sorts of shenanigans.

The main cast is an absolute delight, with the town council consisting of brilliantly unique characters such as the ditsy Alice Tinker (Emma Chambers), hilariously questionable animal lover Owen Newitt (Roger Lloyd Pack), and my personal favorite: Jim Trott (Trevor Peacock), whose entire shtick is saying the word "no" several times before he says "yes", thus making his replies to various questions suspenseful and funny. Such a dumb concept for a character, yet somehow it never gets old and makes you laugh every damn episode. All in all, The Vicar of Dibley is a sweet and wholesome series with a lovable cast of characters and a cozy setting.

2. Community (2009-2015 and a movie)

Sure, my all-time favorite sitcom always had an insanely loyal cult following, and it has gained a newfound popularity many years after its ending after it returned to Netflix, thus making the series more popular and well-known than most of today's list. But it still belongs on this list, because Dan Harmon's masterpiece isn't one tenth as popular and acclaimed as it deserves to be.

Very few of the people I know have watched the series (and of the ones who have, about 83 per cent have done so due to my constant pestering). And hardly anyone I know has re-watched the series multiple times, as it should be viewed, because only then you really start to get into the hidden jokes and unique humor of Harmon's writing, as well as the layered character archs of characters such as Jeff Winger (Joel McHale) and Abed (Danny Pudi). Community combines pop culture satire, meta humor, cozy themes of friendship and community (heh), barrier-breaking storytelling and much more to create a wildly creative, absolutely genius and ultimately heartfelt series that will always be my #1 comfort series and a show that has honestly taught me a lot and made me a better person, in addition to being the most fun-to-watch series out there.

1. Person of Interest (2011-2016)

It's no mystery why this overlooked, underrated sci-fi / crime series never broke through with mainstream audiences. Really, it's all there in the genre combination. For viewers who want a conventional case-of-the-week crime drama, Person of Interest was too experimental and sci-fi. But for the experimental sci-fi crowd, it was a bit too 'conventional case-of-the-week crime drama'. For me personally, the combo is perfect; it's an intriguing take on the crime drama format, with each episode having its own unique case with its twists, yet the slowly built overarching narratives and experimental twists in the narrative make the series work on a whole other level.

The main characters are a masterfully written bunch, as each one's gripping backstory is slowly revealed across multiple seasons, which makes the viewer care for them a great deal. Jonathan Nolan's writing is endlessly creative, making for insanely memorable concept episodes, massive payoffs, and addictive storylines that just keep on giving. The series gets better with each season, culminating in the fifth and final season that I consider to be the greatest individual TV season ever made. I can't imagine anyone watching the whole series through and not crying their eyes out at the absolute emotional powerhouse that is Person of Interest's series finale.

Thank you for reading! Tune in next week for a post reflecting on the 2022 FIFA World Cup, as I list my top 5 positive (and top 5 negative) takeaways from the tournament.

Top 10 Episodes of Netflix's The Crown

Greetings, reader!

Today's list is semi-relevant for two reasons: not all that much time has passed from the passing of Queen Elizabeth II, and even less time has gone by from the topical release of The Crown's fifth season on Netflix. So what better time to share my favorite episodes from the five seasons of magnificent royal drama that Netflix has produced? From season 1 to season 5, from 1940's period piece to 1990's modernity, from Foy to Staunton, these are the best hours of television from the acclaimed series.

SPOILER ALERT: This post contains spoilers of Real Life, spanning from the early 1950's to the late 1990's.

Here are my honorable mentions: Wolferton Splash (Season 1 Episode 1), Act of God (Season 1 Episode 4), Moondust (Season 3 Episode 7), Terra Nullius (Season 4 Episode 6), Gunpowder (Season 5 Episode 8).

10. Fagan (Season 4 Episode 5)

"What is it you'd like me to do?"

"Save us all. From her"

"Who?"

"Thatcher! She's destroying the country!"

While this episode does apparently take some liberties in making the bizarre real-life story even a touch more dramatic, I've gathered that a surprisingly large chunk of it is very much based on facts. The episode details the story of Michael Fagan (Tom Brooke), the man who broke into Buckingham Palace twice (as we all do from time to time), and found himself in Queen Elizabeth's bedroom, having a conversation with her before being escorted out by security.

The episode's focus on Fagan is a classic example of The Crown presenting pretty much everyone as flawed but humane individuals instead of demonizing or romanticizing anyone; he's not presented as a mere lunatic, but rather as a victim of the poverty in Thatcher's Britain, thus tying into the larger season 4 narrative quite neatly. But the star of the show is the late great Queen herself, portrayed here by Olivia Colman; Elizabeth's capacity to have a calm conversation with the random dude who broke into her bedroom, even hearing out what he has to say instead of going into shock and panic over the situation, is quite the lovely testament to her diplomatic and steadfast character.

9. Marionettes (Season 2 Episode 5)

"It's the assumption everyone has made. Because I dare offer an opinion, I must be trying to burn the temple down. On the contrary, I'm trying to make sure it survives"

This episode's script is a classic example of twisting the viewer's expectations, and holding a mirror to how we humans tend to jump to conclusions before knowing the whole story. We begin with a flash-forward, where we see that a man called Lord Altrincham (John Heffernan) has caused great pains to the royal family with criticism of Elizabeth, after which another man arrives to publicly punch him in the face. The scene is framed in such a way that the viewer immediately assumes Altrincham to be an antagonistic jerk, and the face-puncher is viewed as the knight in shining armor defending Elizabeth's honor.

The rest of the episode fills us in on the full story, including the substance of Altrincham's criticism being a series of points that most modern-day people would easily agree on, and the fact that the man who punched him was in fact a far-right extreme nationalist. This is quite the turning of tables, and the framing of the twist makes the viewer question what it is in us humans that we tend to automatically side with the person who is punching someone else in the face. Clever storytelling by Peter Morgan, and a nice tribute to Lord Altrincham, whose thoughts on the monarchy were ahead of their time.

8. Mou Mou (Season 5 Episode 3)

"It's about a young Jewish man..."

"A Jew? Couldn't you make a film about something else?"

"...who overcomes racial and establishment prejudice, runs the 100 meters in the 1924 Olympics, and wins gold"

"Really? That's a movie?"

"It's an inspirational story. Where the outsider...ends up becoming an insider"

"I like the sound of that"

This is the only episode from the newest season to make it into my top 10 - the season was by no means bad, but the amount of especially memorable individual episodes wasn't as large as in most of the show's seasons. However, season 5 does have its high points, chief among them this narratively specific episode that zeroes in on the 'origin story' of Dodi Fayed, played here by Khalid Abdalla. A lot of focus is put on his father Mohamed Al Fayed (Salim Daw), and following their story makes for a nice change of pace from the Buckingham Palace shenanigans we're used to.

The episode is also a prime example of a historical drama drawing lines between intersting events and phenomena, as the story of the Fayeds is shown connecting to so many intriguing points in history - how the Fayeds' connection to the royal family went back to the Duke of Windsor's (Alex Jennings) visit to Egypt in the 1940's, the connection to cinematic history as Dodi was a producer for Best Picture winner Chariots of Fire (1981), and other such links. It's a very fascinating and quite moving character portrait of the Fayed family, and the most memorable hour of season 5.

7. Gold Stick (Season 4 Episode 1)

"This is your duty now, your most important task. You are more than a man, more than a Prince, and one day, dear boy, you shall be King. But now, to the sea"

You know the feeling when you're a nerd watching a Marvel movie / a film based on a famous fantasy book etc., and they introduce their version of a very iconic character for the first time, and you get goosebumps from this epic fan service? Because let me tell you, it's weird as hell to experience that exact emotion but when watching a historical drama about the royal family.

But that's exactly what happened when I watched The Crown's season four premiere, where we meet Gillian Anderson's Margaret Thatcher and Emma Corrin's Diana Spencer for the first time. Those people are (for better or worse) so incredibly famous/infamous, that most viewers were high-key anticipating what their role will be like in this series for the duration of the seasons leading up to this. Especially Diana's first scene, where the shy girl meets the Prince of Wales while in costume and hiding behind a houseplant, was very goosebumps-worthy, with the dialogue and directing style being very "we all know that this will lead to some big events".

6. Aberfan (Season 3 Episode 3)

"We can't be everything to everyone and still be true to ourselves"

I suppose I'd have to call this episode slightly 'overrated', because IMDB has it as The Crown's highest-rated episode, and I don't quite see it as the show's best offering. That being said, it's a damn good one, and I do see why some viewers consider it to be the show's #1 installment.

Following the gripping landslide of 1966 in the Welsh town of Aberfan, which killed over a hundred children in a local school, the episode most definitely is one of the show's most emotional hours. Not even in a conventionally dramatic, tear-jerking way, but in a more hauntingly depressing fashion - we see what happened and what the aftermath was, and it leaves you feeling quite empty. Olivia Colman and Tobias Menzies deliver some of their finest work in their respective roles of Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip, and the overall bleak tone of the episode makes for a memorable and powerful viewing experience.

5. Dear Mrs. Kennedy (Season 2 Episode 8)

"That's the thing about unhappiness. All it takes is for something worse to come along, and you realize it was actually happiness after all"

This might come as a shock to you, but the half-American civil rights enthusiast / history buff writing this blog is quite a fan of the Kennedys. It's always cool when The Crown does tie-ins with historical figures who had something to do with the royal family (for example the episode with Boris Yeltsin and the Romanov connections was one of season 5's best, and wasn't far from making it onto today's list) - but it's especially cool when the tie-in in question is the iconic, forward-thinking Presidential couple whose life in the White House was cut tragically short but whose names are forever seared in history.

The episode connects British history with American history in a compelling fashion, and the parallels (as well as differences) between First Lady Jackie Kennedy (Jodi Balfour) and good ol' Liz (Claire Foy) are illuminating. All in all, an entertaining and historically fascinating hour of The Crown.

4. Vergangenheit (Season 2 Episode 6)

"We all suspected it"

"These papers must never see the light of day, Winston. Ever"

"Publication could do grave harm to the national interest"

"The gravest. What is written here brings the greatest shame upon this family. Our people would, rightfully, never forgive us"

Is it shocking that a member of the royal family turned out to be a Nazi sympathizer? Well, yes and no. On one hand, the dark reality is that it makes quite a lot of sense, as the British monarchy is based on ideals quite similar to Nazi movement - the idea of keeping the royal bloodline pure, due to the implication of white British people being inherently superior and therefore in their rights to colonize half of the world, certainly sounds similar to the thoughts of famous Nazis from Hitler to Bannon and everything in between. Although modern Britain has tried to move away from these fucked-up ideals, the system's inherent aversions towards any form of change has made it so that echoes of this worldview still have a voice in that world, which explains much of why Prince Harry marrying a person of color was such a shock and upset to many royalists.

Still, the fact that a former King turned out to be actively siding with Nazi Germany during World War II is something that the royal family quite understandably wanted to keep under wraps. The Crown does a good job making this revelation extra-shocking for those of us who didn't know their royal history before watching the series- the Duke of Windsor is presented in season 1 as a flawed but humane and likable -seeming person, which makes for a very sickening feeling when this season 2 episode reveals his Nazi ties. I certainly wasn't aware of this fact beforehand, and I had become so attached to the character that this episode's events were quite a powerful simulation of what it must've felt like for people who actually knew the man to find out this disturbing truth.

3. Hyde Park Corner (Season 1 Episode 2)

"This new Elizabethan age comes at a time when mankind stands uncertainly poised on the edge of catastrophe. I, whose youth was passed in the august, unchallenged and tranquil glories of the Victorian era, may well fill the thrill in invoking once more the prayer and anthem - God Save the Queen"

I've watched many, many television shows in my life, and I can wholeheartedly say that The Crown has the best second-ever episode of all time in my books. No other series comes close in how good their 'Season 1 Episode 2' is - in shows where the pilot isn't all that good, the 2nd episode isn't much better as it takes time to grow, whereas in most shows were the pilot is a masterpiece, the 2nd episode is a significant downgrade as the pace slows down et cetera. But in The Crown, the pilot feels like a prologue of sorts, and it's episode 2 where the show really begins.

That is because this is the episode where King George VI (Jared Harris) passes away, and young Elizabeth becomes Queen. This is dealt with in an insanely dramatic manner, as the directing, soundtrack and spectacular Claire Foy performance really zero in on what a huge deal it was for this innocent young woman to suddenly feel the pressure of the whole country and commonwealth looking to her for leadership, while having to deal with her father's death at the same time. The look on Prince Philip's (Matt Smith) face, when he has just heard the news and has to break it to his wife, really says it all, and rarely has a single facial expression been more Emmy-worthy.

2. Assassins (Season 1 Episode 9)

"If you're engaged in a fight with something, then it is not with me. It's with your own blindness"

This, this right here, THIS is how you do a character study. While being first and foremost about the monarchy and its longtime figurehead, The Crown does spend a lot of time with various Prime Ministers, as they have naturally played a major part throughout modern British history and coincided with Queen Elizabeth's story. Through a majority of the first season, the PM is the one and only Winston Churchill (John Lithgow), and this episode goes hellishly deep into his psyche and personality.

The episode is very much a character portrait, told poetically through the narrative of an actual portrait - we follow the sessions between Churchill and painter Graham Sutherland (played by Stephen Dillane in one of television history's finest one-episode guest performances), as the latter works on the official portrait of the former. Through this framework, we get a deep look at Churchill's soul, flaws and virtues and all. No matter what your opinion of the man is, it cannot be denied that he if anyone was a larger-then-life personality and real-life character, and Assassins is quite the tribue to his persona.

1. Tywysog Cymru (Season 3 Episode 6)

"People will always want us to smile or agree or frown or speak, and the minute that we do, we will have declared a position, a point of view, and that is the one thing as the royal family we are not entitled to do. Which is why we have to hide those feelings, keep them to ourselves. Because the less we do, the less we say or speak or agree..."

"Or think? Or breathe? Or feel or exist?"

"...the better"

"Well, doing that is perhaps not as easy for me as it is for you"

"Why?"

"Because I have a beating heart. A character. A mind and will of my own"

On paper, it would be hard to believe that "The one where Prince Charles spends time in Wales slowly learning the language" is a better episode than more conceptually exciting and media-sexy episodes like "The one where Lord Mountbatten attempts a coup", "The one where the Queen and Prime Minister clash over Apartheid", or "The one where Princess Diana gives an explosive interview on Guy Fawkes Day". But that is the reality - nothing that The Crown has done has been quite as moving, powerful and beautiful than this slow-paced Prince Charles character study.

This is thanks to many things, chief among them Josh O'Connor's astonishing performance. This is the first time we see him in the role, after the Prince of Wales had been previously seen as a child in seasons 1 and 2, and entirely absent for the first half of season 3. When we finally meet the grown-up Charles, we spend the whole episode with him, and as described in last week's post about the show's best acting performances, O'Connor makes every scene and every line of dialogue fascinating with his nuances. He portrays Charles not as the dud the media often presents the current King as, but rather as a deeply sensitive, vulnerable and humane individual who one can completely get behind and understand where he's coming from.

The sheer power of O'Connor's subtle yet masterful acting performance keeps you hooked throughout the episode, and it all culminates in the dramatic conversation between him and his mother the Queen (Olivia Colman). While most of the series paints Elizabeth in a mostly positive light (series creator Peter Morgan has described the series as a love letter to the Queen first and foremost), this episode shows arguably the worst side of her seen in the whole series, although the larger villain is the system of the monarchy itself, with her as mere 'product' of it, and Charles as the idealistic rebel who wants things to change for the better. It is a tough scene to watch, and will have viewers who might not be the biggest Charles fans feeling for the man more than they might expect. I found Tywysog Cymru to be the most powerful and moving of all The Crown episodes, and this is first and foremost thanks to the insanely skillful and emotional performance by Josh O'Connor.

Thank you for reading! Tune in next week for a list recommended by my Uncle Dan - the top 10 forgotten/overlooked gems from the world of television!

The Crown: Top 10 Acting Performances from the Acclaimed Netflix Series

Greetings, reader!

Last month saw the release of the fifth and second-last season of Netflix's historical drama The Crown. I had many potential list ideas in mind for discussing the series in honor of the new season, and ended up polling my Instagram followers for which one would be most interesting. The people have spoken, and the winner ended up being a ranking of the 10 greatest acting performances in the series. The Crown is an exceptionally well-cast show, as it has faced the challenge of having to re-cast its main characters every few seasons due to the timeline being so vast, but they've done a remarkable job with it. Out of all the acting performances in the show, these are my favorites!

Here are my honorable mentions: Jared Harris as King George VI (Season 1), John Lithgow as Winston Churchill (Seasons 1-3), Matthew Goode as Tony Armstrong-Jones (Season 2), Erin Doherty as Princess Anne (Seasons 3-4), Gillian Anderson as Margaret Thatcher (Season 4), Jonathan Pryce as Prince Philip (Season 5), Jonny Lee Miller as John Major (Season 5), Dominic West as Prince Charles (Season 5).

10. Elizabeth Debicki as Princess Diana (Season 5)

The third and final main cast isn't quite as represented on this list as the first and second cast, and this is very likely explained by the fact that the latest cast has only one season under their belt, whereas the original cast and the one that followed have the experience of two full seasons to their advantage. I'm guessing that if I were to re-do this list after season 6 has eventually come out, members of this newest cast would move up a few spots. However, a few select names from season 5 have made it into the top 10 despite this disadvantage, and one of them is Elizabeth Debicki as Princess Di herself!

The shoes of such a famous figure, nothing short of mythical in terms of legacy and stature in modern history, are hard to fill - yet already from the season 5 trailer, it seemed clear that Debicki was right for the role. As Peter Morgan's script paints royal figures in realistic moral shades of gray, Debicki's portrayal was never going to be the mega-idealized fairytale Diana nor the villain that many royalists saw her as, but rather a nuanced individual with an admittedly big heart yet her own demons and such. She conveys all of this well, making for a complex performance that is certainly one of season 5's best.

9. Helena Bonham Carter as Princess Margaret (Seasons 3-4)

Even among the high standard of this series where pretty much every well-known British actor has been cast as some iconic historical figure, Helena Bonham Carter stands out as one of the most acclaimed names to be involved in The Crown. Her portrayal of Princess Margaret in the show's middle seasons would be even a few spots higher, if it wasn't for the minor criticism that on some occasions, the large-scale melodrama in her performance goes a bit over-the-top. It's a fine line to walk, as the real-life persona of Princess Margaret as well as the show's iteration of her certainly call for a good chunk of dramatics - but on a few occasions, I'd say that Bonham Carter takes it a tad further than it needs to be.

That being said, she still makes it into the top 10, because her Margaret has many, many moments of elite, world-class acting and for most of the time, the dramatic delivery is just right. She plays the role in a less likable fashion than predecessor Vanessa Kirby, but this makes perfect sense, because Margaret's arch in the series has a major focus on the 'wild and idealistic young woman grows bitter with age after being wronged by her family and the system multiple times' angle. And because the script makes the reasons behind her occasionally obnoxious behavior clear, it is easy to feel her even in those moments, especially since Bonham Carter manages to convey just the right undertones of sympathy and humanity beneath the more on-the-surface bitterness and arrogance of her role.

8. Emma Corrin as Princess Diana (Season 4)

On paper, the season 4 Diana should be a much easier role to play than season 5 Diana, as there is so much less complexity and high drama and much more two-dimensional idealism and naivety in the role of 1980's Diana. That being said, Emma Corrin's performance dazzled me with its overall memorability, accuracy and emotional power even more than Elizabeth Debicki's, as great as the latter was in its own right.

First of all, while many of The Crown's casting decisions have looked startlingly much like the real-life counterparts, Corrin takes it to a whole new level. I'm not very well-versed in royal history and I haven't seen all that much footage of the real Diana, yet this performance still had me going 'jeez, she is the young woman I've seen in those old news clips and newspaper covers' multiple times, as she just really managed to capture her essence in a startling manner. Her much-anticipated debut scene, where she talks with Prince Charles from behind a houseplant while in costume, gave me some serious goosebumps, as there was immediately something special about Emma Corrin in that role. She makes the role so vulnerable and lovable in those first episodes, that it is truly heartbreaking to follow the suffering she undergoes later in the season.

7. Imelda Staunton as Queen Elizabeth II (Season 5)

Okay, acting is a form of art, and acting any role is difficult (take it from someone who struggled to get into character as a background janitor with two lines of dialogue in a local play). Portraying a historical character is a tremendous challenge, because you have to balance interpreting the real-life person with their mannerisms and what you know of them, and simply interpreting a written character in a script. When Olivia Colman took over as Queen Elizabeth II in season 3 of The Crown, she had to balance being believable as the version of Elizabeth written into the season 3 script by Peter Morgan, being believable as the real-life person we've all seen on TV, and being believable as being an older version of the same character that Claire Foy played for two seasons.

So, when Imelda Staunton took over in season 5, she was basically playing four characters at once: an older version of Colman's Queen Elizabeth, a much older version of Foy's Elizabeth, a take on the real Elizabeth, and an interpretation of the Elizabeth that was written for season 5 of this series. Add to that the fact that me and millions of other Harry Potter fans went into the season absolutely flinching at the sight of Staunton, because of her performance as one of the most despicable fictional characters ever created in Order of the Phoenix (2007), and Staunton simply had to be likable enough to win us over, and you get a good sense of just how much pressure went into this role.

Yet she absolutely nails it. She picks up enough nuances from both Foy's and Colman's performances that she feels effortlessly credible as the same person as the one they've played. and as someone who has grown up knowing only the elderly version of the late Queen, I had no problem buying Staunton as being the funny old lady I had seen on the news several times. With all that pressure, the accomplished actress delivered, and I can't wait to see more of her Elizabeth in the sixth and final season.

6. Vanessa Kirby as Princess Margaret (Seasons 1-2)

I don't often besmirch my street cred as an analytical film/TV reviewer with shallow thoughts, but I've got to admit it: comparing this performance with the others was extra difficult, because Vanessa Kirby is so damn beautiful and I was quite in love with her take on Margaret for the first two seasons, therefore making the character very compelling to watch even when putting acting skill aside. So it's hard to be completely objective on this one.

However, unless I'm deluded by my (admittedly fantastic) taste in women, I'm quite sure that Kirby's performance would be up this high on my list even if it wasn't for the hotness factor - young Margaret is a terribly complex role to play, and the actress does the role justice with her multi-faceted performance. Her Margaret is idealistic yet cynical, a romantic yet a pragmatist, hopeful yet pessimistic, and all of these multitudes are believably part of the same person. Her take on Margaret is fresh and unique, and the character's on-screen chemistry with sister Elizabeth (Claire Foy) and love interest Tony Armstrong-Jones (Matthew Goode) is off the charts.

5. Tobias Menzies as Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (Seasons 3-4)

Anyone who has watched HBO's severely underrated Rome (2005-2007) will know that Tobias Menzies is one hell of an actor, and capable of much more than the fairly limited acting we see from him in his best-known role, Edmure Tully in Game of Thrones (2011-2019). Getting cast as the Duke of Edinburgh in the middle section of The Crown was certainly a big chance for Menzies to further showcase what an amazing actor he is, and the man surely delivered.

I'll admit that his take on the role grew on me quite slowly - a few episodes into season 3, I wasn't completely convinced. He certainly looked the role, but the performance didn't jump at me with the amazement that many other roles in this series have done from the get-go. However, as the storyline of season 3 focused more on Philip towards its tail end, and the viewer got used to him in the role after getting a while to detach oneself from the original cast, Menzies' brilliant nuances and steadily classy acting started to show.

For me, the point of realizing his performance is in fact one of the show's best was the season 3 episode Moondust, where Philip undergoes a midlife crisis following the Moon Landing, and gains a peculiar obsession towards the Apollo 11 astronauts. The episode is one of the deepest character studies The Crown has done (which is saying something, as usually about half of a season's episodes are in-depth looks at the life of one chosen character), and Menzies just seemed to make the show's iteration of Philip more complex and engaging with every passing line of dialogue. By the end of season 4, I was so attached to his version on Philip that it took some deep breaths to get used to the idea of Jonathan Pryce in the role for the last two seasons.

4. Olivia Colman as Queen Elizabeth II (Seasons 3-4)

In many ways, the first cast change had to be the hardest. By season 5, we all knew what we were getting into and the idea of the cast changing was a familiar concept. But when season 3 rolled around, the world had seen only one Elizabeth in The Crown, as well as one Philip, one Margaret et cetera. And the showrunners faced the challenge of finding such great actors, that viewers would accept them as the same people and let go of their attachment to the previous versions. Not an easy job, but my God, they sure came through.

All it took was one scene, or one shot really. Season 3 opens with a painting of Queen Elizabeth (as a young woman, thus modeled after the Claire Foy version) being presented to a middle-aged Elizabeth, as the camera angle dramatically shifts to show us Olivia Colman in the role. And not for a second did I think 'Woah, this is weird, it's gonna be difficult to get used to different people in the roles'. I immedialy accepted her as Elizabeth, and that is a mark of strong casting right there. Throughout the third and fourth seasons, Colman would continue to make the role her own while staying true to her predecessor as well as the real-life person they were both portraying, and she carried that portion of the series with spectacular skill.

Before we go to the top three, it should be noted that putting these three neck-and-neck roles into order was the hardest part of making this list. They come so close to each other in quality, that basically they'd deserve a joint first place. I have put them into order for now, but I wanted to note that really they're all winners.

3. Josh O'Connor as Prince Charles (Seasons 3-4)

For the first half of season 3, we don't see Prince Charles. This was probably because the character was shifting from puberty to adulthood, a period in which your look changes so rapidly that they would've had to re-cast him numerous times in the process. Anyways, when we last see him in season 2, Charles is still a young pre-teen boy - and as season 3 went on and on with his loud absence, the anticipation grew for meeting the show's adult version of the man who is now King. Finally, season 3's sixth episode opens with a scene of Charles rehearsing for a play, and immediately, there is something downright magical in how Josh O'Connor plays the role. The rest of the episode goes on to be very Charles-focused, and perhaps the best-acted individual episode of the entire series.

One very impressive thing that Josh O'Connor does is making viewers like myself feel for Charles, and even like him. Not that I've followed royal shenanigans enough to form proper opinions, but from all that I've gathered, I never was a big Charles fan as he always seemed like quite a dud. However, The Crown does a fantastic job of humanizing him while staying true to the facts: we see many unlikable and frustrating moments from him (especially in season 4), but we also see what a sensitive, vulnerable young man with a big heart there was underneath it all.

And in this case, I don't even see it as the actor properly interpreting the script to convey these nuances; no disrespect for Peter Morgan's writing, but in the case of Charles, I view the success of the character in seasons 3&4 to be very much thanks to the actor's own chops and nuances. The Charles that is written can be a bit bland sometimes, but O'Connor makes every scene interesting and complex, with his facial expressions and delicate delivery of lines conveying so much of what the character has been through and where he's coming from.

2. Claire Foy as Queen Elizabeth II (Seasons 1-2)

I'm guessing that if you took a hundred The Crown fans and asked their favorite version of Elizabeth from the series, 90 of them would think long and hard because they love all three, yet would end up singling out Claire Foy. Having discussed the series with numerous friends and acquaintances, as well as reading up on the discourse around the series online, this just seems to be the general consensus. "They're all so good and shouldn't really be compared - but, gun to my head, if I had to pick one, well, Claire Foy".

And no wonder why. While Colman and Staunton faced extra layers of challenge when playing the character in a way that had to take previous versions into consideration, the show's original Elizabeth also faced her unique challenge, as the season 1 Elizabeth undergoes far more character development than in any other season. While Colman and Staunton played a familiar version of the familiar person who has been rocking the monarchy in similar fashion for decades, Claire Foy had to play a young and unassuming princess who the weight of the monarchy is very suddenly thrust upon, as she must tough out the pressure, expectations and sheer confusion of this world while playing it cool and calm in order to reassure the nation that looked up to her.

And she does this with elegance and grace. I also find her version of Elizabeth to be the most likable and humorous - The Crown never was a masterclass in TV comedy, but any series is bound to have its amusing moments, and in this five-season run, I believe that a vast majority of the funniest moments come from the chipper nuances in Claire Foy's performance.

1. Matt Smith as Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (Seasons 1-2)

Not gonna lie, the feminist in me is a tad disappointed that my #1 favorite performance from the series where three different women have played the protagonist is still somehow a man. But I can't help it - while all three Elizabeths have dazzled me, no role performance in The Crown is quite as complete and magnificent as Matt Smith's take on a young Prince Philip.

Playing a morally complex character is a difficult task - if you're too amiable with it, the more questionable momens will seem unauthentic, but if you go too anti-hero with it, the likable moments will fall flat. And even in the performances where one masters multiple sides of the moral spectrum, these instances might often feel a bit disjointed as if the actor was playing two (or more) different characters. But Matt Smith's Prince Philip is one of the most pitch-perfect examples of believably playing a morally gray character that I have ever seen; he can be a total asshole in one scene and a thoroughly lovable class act in the very next one, and both instances will clearly be part of the same, consistent character.

Between his work on Doctor Who (1963-1989; 2005-Present), House of the Dragon (2022-Present) and this series, Smith is definitely one of the most brilliantly unique and spectacularly talented actors working in television today. And many might understandably consider his complicated, vibrant and quite mesmerizing take on the Duke of Edinburgh to be the (pun very much intended) crowning achievement of his career.

Thank you for reading! While this topic won my poll, 'Top 10 episodes of The Crown' came so close that I decided to write that one up as well, so tune in next week for more royal shenanigans!