This academic year, our editors consumed a lot of media. Here are their favorites! 

Across the board, the most popular movie in The Mac Weekly office was Everything, Everywhere, All at Once, chosen as Audrey, Elisa, Henry and Noah’s favorite. In a turn of events that surprised no one, Justine’s favorite movie was Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves. 

“It hit all the right notes, combined drama, action and comedy really well and also made my inner DND player extremely happy,” she said. 

Mandy’s pick was Amélie, saying that the film was “super witty and charming,” and she “loved the color palette and lighting which made the experience feel very warm and bright.” 

Speaking of Mandy, Cal’s favorite movie was her directorial debut!

“Although this is an unconventional choice,” they said. “I’m really big on supporting other students’ artwork. I really enjoyed Mandy’s abstract short film, Doors.”

My favorite movie I saw this year was Bones and All, a movie by the same director of Call Me By Your Name. It had all the same intense intimacy and beautiful cinematography, but now with the visceral gore of cannibalism! 

In stark contrast, Jonah and Zander’s favorite movie of the year was Puss in Boots: The Last Wish. 

“I have nothing else to say,” Jonah said. “I had chills watching it.”

Now for the rapid fire round, Dipakshi’s pick was Monsoon Wedding, Lucy’s was The Menu, Milkee’s was Paris is Burning, Rory’s was Blade Runner 2049, and Scarlet’s was… Barbie: Mermaidia.

On to the editors’ favorite TV shows of the year! We have a wide variety of genres in this category. Cal recommends Blue Lock, “an amazing sports anime,” to “anyone who likes Haikyuu or anime that makes fun of itself a little.” 

The best show I saw this year was Inside Man. Rotten Tomatoes described this show perfectly when they said it was ‘compulsively unwatchable.’ Inside Man is a snowball effect of bad thing after  even worse thing, and David Tennant gives a painfully good performance, as always.

On to the rapid fire round! Audrey’s pick was, Agent Carter, Jonah’s pick was On My Block, Elisa’s was The Glory, Dipakshi’s was Dear White People, Henry’s was Abbott Elementary, Zander’s was Carmen Sandiego, Lucy’s was Kaleidoscope, Noah’s was Animal, Scarlet’s was the classic, Criminal Minds, Milkee’s was Scandal and Justine’s was Wednesday.

To prove the editors are literate, we read a lot of books this year! In fact, Justine read three books from the 14 book series, The Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan.

Jonah’s favorite book was Thistlefoot by GennaRose Nethercott. A Jewish modern-day retelling of the Baba Yaga folktale, Jonah urges you all to read it and read about it (in the form of his review from earlier this year in The Mac Weekly)!

Out of left field comes a recommendation from Zak, who has been abroad in Italy this semester, The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula Le Guin. 

“Le Guin gifts us an interstellar future, where an Earthly traveler goes to a planet in which all inhabitants are genderless. Both the Earthling and the androgynous people struggle to understand each other, and find new ways to share love.”

Another rapid fire round! Elisa’s book choice for the year was The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins, mine was The Secret History by Donna Tart, Dipakshi’s was Dark Matters: On the Surveillance of Blackness by Simone Browne, Lucy’s was The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood, Noah’s was The Anatomy of England: A History in Ten Matches by Jonathan Wilson and Milkee’s was A Price for their Pound of Flesh by Daina Berry. 

Moving on to music we loved this year, my favorite album was definitely Avalon by Roxy Music. I also discovered a really awesome celtic-pop-new age band from the 80s called Clannad, and the lead singer is Enya’s sister!

Like many across the nation, Mandy’s favorite album was boygenius’ new album, the record. 

“It’s gut-wrenching but in the best way possible,” she said. “My favorite song from this year, “True Blue,” is also off of it.”

Audrey’s favorite song was “Brooklyn” by Malinda, which she described as “an Irish Folk influenced pop song in the 5/4 time signature, so crazy unique.”

Favorite albums of the year consisted of Noah’s pick, French Exit by TV Girl, Justine’s pick, EPIC by Jorge Herrans, Henry’s pick, Hotel Yankee Foxtrot by Wilco and Rory’s pick, Slowdive’s self-titled album. 

Favorite artists consisted of Dipakshi’s pick, FKA Twigs, Henry’s pick, LCD Soundsystem, Elisa’s pick Twice!, and Rory’s pick, Carissa’s Weird. 

Finally, favorite songs consisted of Justine’s pick, “Thunder” by Solence, Jonah’s pick, “Take A Chance” – Domi & JD Beck feat. Anderson Paak, Cal’s pick “Harvard” by Briston Maroney, Lucy’s pick “Labour” by Paris Paloma, Noah’s pick “Fall into Place” by Apartment, Rory’s pick “Stranded” by Gojira, Scarlet’s pick “Killer Whale” by Boyscott or “Care” by Freak Slug, Henry’s pick, “Young Folks” by Peter Bjorn and John, and Milkee’s pick, “Music of my Mind” by Stevie Wonder. 

That last section might have been a tad hard to read, but this section will be much easier to consume as apparently only five of us listen to podcasts!

The podcast I listened to the most this year was Artholes. Michael Anthony, the creator and host of Artholes, describes his podcast as a ‘recklessly deep dive into art and art history with someone who has no background on either topic,’ which hits the nail on the head perfectly.

Our rapid fire podcast choices include Worlds Beyond Number from Justine, The Morgan Harper Nichols Show from Dipakshi, Dungeons & Daddies from Lucy and the Fall of Civilization Podcast from Noah. 

To nobody’s surprise, the most popular video game played by the Mac Weekly editors was Minecraft, chosen by Jonah, Cal, Audrey and Scarlet. Justine and I played a lot of Hades, but she also replayed Horizon: Zero Dawn, one of her favorite games. 

Our rapid fire video game choices include Potion Permit from Lucy, Spiritfarer from Dipakshi, Fall Guys from Milkee, and Pokemon from Zander. 

Obviously, there are so many more kinds of media beyond the one’s already mentioned, so here are some of our miscellaneous favorites. 

Some Youtube creators we love are Grainydays, a photography channel chosen by Rory, and Moyawhinney, chosen by Dipakshi. Some Youtube series we love are “Critical Role,” chosen by Justine, and “Jet Lag: The Game,” chosen by Jonah. 

He described the series as “nerds race around some set geographical area and have points and power ups and stuff and it’s very silly but also somehow endearing and informative.”

And to finish off our editors’ favorite pieces of media this academic year is Cal’s favorite webtoon, “Realta” by Rachel Eaton, and Dipakshi’s favorite play, “Sugar in Our Wounds.”