Featured Movies and Series I Watched in 2022

In order to remember that I started blogging again in 2023, I decided to transfer the part of my local notes related to movies and TV series by expanding and adding some of the contents. Here is a list of movies and TV series that impressed me, worth talking about and maybe a recommendation, I watched in 2022. I would like to publish before it was too late.

Movies

Don’t Look Up

Even if I mean a satirical science fiction movie directed and scripted by Adam McKay for Don’t Look Up, it’s a complete criticism of the system. In terms of the details, it refers to today’s corrupt, narrow-minded, self-interested political system structure and consumption addiction that has reached its peak with capitalism. A redneck that looks ordinary but shoots at a falling asteroid. The last supper of the common mind, which is tired of speaking out to people. But most importantly, while watching, I think it is an important production in terms of seeing the global problems we experience as humanity. As a general fiction, I can say that it deserves 7.2, which is an IMDB score.

Avatar 2

Avatar 2 “The Way of Water” James Cameron’s sequel, which came to the big screen exactly 13 years after the first movie, was among the big budget productions of 2022. I really liked the first movie. I watched the second movie in the cinema again and frankly, I was wondering how they would wrap up the issue and continue. In this movie, we watched another region on the planet Pandora as a visual feast decorated with turquoise colors. It doesn’t have to be superhero or action, but some movies really need to be seen in the cinema. Especially Avatar 2 got plus points from me in terms of the color palette it offers and its progress by unlocking the mystery of Pandora. However, I expected the flow of the script, the editing and the cliché parts of some episodes to be of better quality. Still, it’s quite satisfying and I think it opens the door well for sequels.

RRR

I have a dislike for Indian movies, I won’t lie. My reasons for exaggerated scenes, long sequences, costumes, etc. are countless :) I was in front of the screen with serious prejudices for this movie, but contrary to what I thought, it was the best Indian movie I’ve ever watched. Even if they told me that you will watch an Indian movie for three hours, I would not have opened it. On the contrary, I met a wonderful Bollywood movie that never ends as I watch it. I’d be down on my own notes. Instead of conveying my impressions, let me present a small section to anyone who wants to say “do you know naatu?” :) and watch it. I recommend without hesitation.

The Batman

When a Batman movie is mentioned, the first thing that comes to my mind is who plays it, how Gotham looks, and whether there is the Joker. The general consensus is that Nolan’s The Dark Knight is the best Batman movie. Honestly, I thought so too, until I saw this movie. Robert Pattinson gave a very successful performance in the movie where he plays Batman. Additionally, the way Gotham’s dark atmosphere was presented made The Batman best Batman movie in my eyes. On the other hand, Nolan’s Dark Knight will always make me remember Heath Ledger for being the best Joker performance.

12 Angry Men - “Re-visited”

I watched this movie about 20 years ago, and it remained in my mind as an excellent movie in which the concept of justice was handled from every angle to set a precedent. I watched it again in 2022 for my wife to watch and I experienced again how well the concepts of social psychology and justice were handled. I won’t go into the details of the 1957 movie 12 Angry Men but the shooting technique of this black and white film, its progression by immersing you in the story in one room, and most importantly, even after years It also presents the permanent global elements of the concept of justice and it structure that appeals to everyone. I would definitely recommend watching it without getting caught up in details such as the year of production and black and white.

Gladiator - “Re-visited”

It is one of the films I watch again to go over the history of Rome before my trip to Italy and to see its historical story before seeing the Colosseum. On key figures in Roman history Commodus; He is the son of Emperor Marcus Aurelius and heir to the Roman throne. Maximus, on the other hand, is a General who brought success to Rome while Marcus Aurelius was on the throne. Commodus, who took the throne after the death of Marcus Aurelius, always seized Rome and the administration with the ambition of staying in the shadow of Maximus. The aim of Maximus, who fought as a slave in the Colosseum arena, is to take his revenge and save Rome.

Watching this movie again in 2022 gave me the opportunity to observe Russell Crowe and Joaquin Phoenix again. In the 2000 movie, Russell Crowe played Maximus and Joaquin Phoenix played Commodus. Exactly 19 years later, I watched Joaquin Phoenix do wonders in the movie Joker. Russel Crowe appeared as Zeus in Thor 4 Love and Thunder after a long time. It’s like this time Commodus surpasses Maximus as he ages :)

Series

For me, the first half of 2022 passed with details in history and war series. My research on the characters in these series in terms of their roles in history went beyond the pleasure I enjoyed watching the series. I’ve included some just because of these history readings they’ve given me.

Barbarians

The most active period of Roman civilization is the 150-year period between 100 BC and 50 AD. During this period, there were many events that determined the course of history and shaped today’s modern states with their effects. The War of Varus is one of them, and perhaps the most important for Rome and Germany. This battle took place in the Teutoburg Forest in the north of Germany in AD 9, and the Roman legions led by the Germanic Roman captain Arminius, a Roman Empire general Publius Quinctilius Varus and More than 20,000 Roman legions were destroyed by the 15,000 Germanic army, as he ambushed his auxiliary troops. As a result, this war resulted in the withdrawal of the Romans from the east of the Rhine, or in other words, the Saxons staying in the north, the seeds of the German empire and the beginning of a process that goes back to the Vikings.

The series deals with this process leading to war and allows us to meet important characters Arminius and Thusnelda . The general setup of the series and the way it handles the process leading to this already known historical event is fine, but naturally I compare it to “Vikings” and “The Last Kingdom” and unfortunately the acting in Barbarians was not enough. Still, I think it reflects that period in a simple and realistic way.

Vikings

Let’s get to the Vikings series. Frankly, I didn’t watch it specifically for three years when it first came out, I saved it to watch it collectively. When I broke my toe in March 2022, I understand better now as I write that I made the best possible choice to make use of the time my mandatory home rest gave me.

Vikings is a historical drama series written and produced by Michael Hirst that aired on the History Channel. Based on the life of the legendary Viking “explorer (I think)” and king Ragnar Lothbrok, the production is based on his wife [Lagertha], another warrior. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lagertha), his brother Rollo and their legendary sons Björn, Ivar the Boneless, Ubbe the famous siege of Paris, Alfred the Great, England and Kiev of that era in a realistic way. I say close to the truth because although the series progresses in accordance with its historical counterpart, it is also very successful in integrating fiction or ambiguous elements into the story.

Let’s take Ragnar’s brother, Rollo, as an example. Although Rollo did not go down in history as Ragnar’s brother, [Siege of Paris](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris_Ku%C5%9Fatmas%C4 After %B1_(845)), he converted to Christianity. In return, the king allowed him to marry his daughter Gisela and the region known today as Normandy. He asks him to protect the coast of France from Viking attacks. The real Rollo went through the same process and indeed Normandy actually started its historical process as a place where the ancestors of the region were Vikings, meaning North-men-ia.

It wouldn’t be right for Travis Fimmel to be the person who played Ragnar, I can say that he lived the character directly. Likewise, the character of Floki, who found Iceland and played by Gustaf Skarsgård, was inspired by Flóki Vilgerðarson. Vikings has a very good cast in this regard. Overall, all the side characters, from Ragnar to his sons, did an excellent job.

I don’t want to extend it further, but when it comes to the Vikings series, the things that it added to me are really significant. This production has taught me a lot about Roman Christianity, how the England of the time was shaped or how it became the United Kingdom, Paganism and the beauty of discovery.

The Last Kingdom

A complementary production for the same period is The Last Kingdom. The series is based on events from The Last Kingdom and The Pale Horseman, the first and second novels of The Saxon Stories by Bernard Cornwell.

In The Last Kingdom, we witness the detailed relationship of Uhtred, who was born as a Saxon and raised by the Vikings, and Alfred the Great, which we saw a part of in the Vikings series. As a result of the developing events, Uhtred had to choose between the country where he was born and the people he was raised, and we see how the duality of Paganism and Christianity was reflected in that period. Although The Last Kingdom is a bit more fictional about the people in history, it was the strongest production among the period series I watched this year.

Kleo

If you haven’t watched it, Kleo is an espionage series and it’s a Netflix German production. The story of a girl who, while spying for East Germany, wants to avenge the injustice she suffered after the fall of the Berlin wall. Maybe a bit like Kill Bill, but we can talk about a much better cinematography. Kleo Jella Haase played great. There is Dimitrij Schaad who plays Sven, which we cannot pass without mentioning. After a point, the dialogues of these two put the series in a very different atmosphere.

Every scene of Kleo is meticulously decorated, and all the details of the period are presented in a perfect color scale. There are some very good references. Like Kleo’s relaxation and snacking even when she crosses the wall (from east to west) even at the beginning of the series, or Sven’s mockery of socialism in the following episodes is terrific and complementary. Obviously, Kelo is an indescribable and livable production. So I don’t want to go into too much detail. In my opinion, perhaps one of the best works of the year. Highly recommended.

Trapped

The Trapped (Ófærð) series brought to life by Baltasar Kormákur is about a murder and the police chief in a small town, accompanied by the breathtaking winter landscapes of Iceland. Andri’s Ólafur Darri Ólafsson describes the events that unfolded while trying to solve this. First of all, from a photographer’s point of view, the series offers an insatiable viewing with the naturalness of Iceland and the cinematographic visual feast it offers. The plot and the situation of being trapped, as the name suggests, are both the town’s closure to transportation due to the snowstorm during the investigation of the murder, and the presentation of the mysterious unsolved secret of the small townspeople, stuck in the eyes of the police chief Andri. Definitely on the must watch list. By the way, another series with the same taste and beauty Chestnut Man can be viewed as a Danish production.

Star Wars: Andor

Yes Star Wars “Andor”. I’ve added it to my list because it finally gives us the answer to the question of what a realistic Star Wars story would be like if it wasn’t marketing for babies or selling more toys. The series chronicles the events before Rogue One. If you don’t know, let me give you a spoiler. In Rogue One, we watched how resistance was put up to R2D2 until the plans of the Death Star arrived, and what losses were given when everyone died.

Yes, Rogue One is the work of the same person, Tony Gilroy. The character of Andor dies in Rogue One anyway, but while he narrates his path to resistance with a very serious and great viewing pleasure, it reminds us once again of the quality of the Star Wars universe. Mandolorian and Andor came to our rescue with the quality and seriousness they offered, especially when considering quitting the series after the Star Wars Episode VII, VIII and IX disasters. I hope it continues unabated.

The Recruit

I am adding The Recruit series because I see it as a production worth mentioning. The life of rookie lawyer Owen Hendricks, who has just started working for the CIA, is introduced to bureaucracy and power, while telling the audience how things go inside, in a simple and sometimes tragically funny way. As Owen Hendricks, played by Noah Centineo, is experienced on this journey, every detail he encounters is very well thought out and groundbreaking. In fact, in one episode, when he was given an old computer, he made a sentence like “When I joined the CIA, I thought I would be given computers like in Mission Impossible”. Although it looks like a spectacle, it got full marks from me in terms of general flow, acting and script. I even met the 26-year-old teenager Noah Centineo.

The Sinner

The Sinner is a psychological thriller detective series. It’s produced by Derek Simonds, but here’s a separate parenthesis for Jessica Biel. She is both the producer of the series and the person who accelerated the series with Cora’s performance in the first season, which is quite striking. Of course, the character Harry Ambrose, played by Bill Pullman, is the detective who interrogates and solves unsolved murders in all seasons, matching his own psychological problems. Yes, the first season of the series was incredibly successful. I cannot say the same for the second and third seasons in between, but the fourth season, which I watched in 2022, is as successful as the first season and is a good reason to talk about the series. The Sinner is based on the book of the same name by German author Petra Hammesfahr.

Candy: A Death in Texas

I mentioned Jessica Biel on Sinner. The lead role in Candy goes to her again, and frankly, I think she does very productive and good work in her 40s. The series is set in the 1980s and is based on disturbingly true events (see I emphasize. Filming, costumes, details of that period are simply perfect. Acting is just like that. Especially Melanie Lynskey who plays Betty Gore and Jessica Biel for Candy Montgomery. Even if there are times when you forget that the story is based on a true event, the bitter truth of the final episode hits you in the face.

Seinfeld - “Re-visited”

In 2022, I watched Seinfeld, one of the iconic productions for me, for the third time. “Everything about nothing.” To me, Seinfeld is different from the sit-coms that were made at the time. It can be called a comedy based on criticizing the most cynical parts of contemporary social life. More precisely, he cleverly finds out the details in the elements we come into contact with in our lives, and while doing this, he sprinkles elements from all walks of life and psychology with four different characters.

Echoes

Echoes is the story of identical twins Leni and Gina. Leni and Gina are identical twins who have secretly changed their lives since childhood, and both are played by Michelle Monaghan. This does not change when they become adults; They maintain this secret life by sharing the house, husbands and children. The disappearance of one of the twins disrupts the plan that went on perfectly, but meanwhile, we, as the audience, are stuck in the dilemma of which Leni and which is Gina, and we complete the process. My last memory of 2022 is a medium scale production that I watched for the sake of Michelle Monaghan, which was not very perfect.

It’s been a long write-up, but I hope I can do this every year with the same energy.