Hello friends,

Greetings from Utrecht!

It’s the end of the year, and I’ve once again taken a long hard look at my media diet to come up with the books, movies, games and songs that meant the most to me this year.

As in previous years, I’ll note that I don’t restrict my media diet to the stuff that is released in a given year, so my lists won’t look like the end-of-year lists of professional reviewers. This list is very personal, and simply reflects what mattered to and had an impact on me.

Let’s dive in!

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My Favorite Things of 2023

Songs I loved

Minutes of Spotify listened: 26,573

Hi Ren — Ren

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I came across this video in early January and promptly watched it at least 5 times in a row. You’ve never heard anything like this. Ren’s music is raw and personal, vulnerable even, and simply oozes talent.

Spinning Globe — Kenshi Yonezu

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This is the title song for what will likely be Miyazaki’s final film, The Boy and the Heron. It’s a wistful, contemplative piece that sets a mood I’m very keen to explore further when the movie releases in the west.

Take On Me — Ashley Johnson

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A haunting, acoustic version of A-ha’s well-known hit that was featured in The Last of Us Part II. Sure, the pop-song-to-guitar-cover path is well-trodden at this point, but in this case I feel like they pulled it off.

Meditation — Cory Wong

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Only after discovering Cory Wong did I realize he regularly plays with another favorite band of mine, Vulfpeck. The live version linked here is LOOOONG, but so good.

Ego Death — Polyphia (ft. Steve Vai)

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I randomly stumbled across prog rock band Polyphia video on YouTube, and boy am I glad I did. Tim Henson is an incredible guitar player, and isn’t outdone in the slightest even by the likes of Steve Vai.

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Movies and shows I loved

Movies/tv seasons watched: 72

The Office

I once watched the first season of The Office and didn’t like it. This year I finally sat down and watched all of it. And I loved it. Once the cast settles into the characters, this show gets so good. But you probably already knew that.

Beef

Beef is the story of a road rage incident that just keeps escalating. The lives of the main characters become intimately intertwined through their hate for each other. Dark, hilarious, and utterly ridiculous.

Severance

What if you could separate your work memory from the rest of your life? Severance explores that concept in fascinating, surrealist detail. Can’t wait to see where they’ll take this in season 2.

Past Lives

A movie in the tradition of Richard Linklater’s Before trilogy, we watch two childhood sweethearts drift in and out of touch over 24 years, wrestling with the notions of destiny and love. Sweetly melancholic and achingly beautiful.

Reservation Dogs (S1-4)

Reservation Dogs follows a group of native American teens in their life on a reservation community. It explores their struggles in delightfully funny and deeply moving ways, never losing sight of the community at its center.

BONUS: Bluey

If you’re a parent, you probably already know about Bluey. This is, hands down, the funniest and most wholesome kids show I have ever seen. Our 5-year-old has seen all four seasons at least three times, and so have I. Not a minute was wasted.

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Books I loved

Total books read: 19

Tao Te Ching, by Lao Tzu, Derek Lin (transl.)

Ancient spiritual text on the Tao, the “way” of the natural world, lovingly translated and helpfully annotated here by Derek Lin. Chock full of timeless knowledge that I’m sure to revisit.

Turn the Ship Around!, by L. David Marquet

This book provides a powerful framework for anchoring bottom-up ownership and agency in your organisation. The perfect antidote to top-down, hierarchical management thinking.

Creativity, Inc., by Ed Catmull

Pixar co-founder Catmull shares the pillars for a thriving creative company. I love the approach he describes, which emphasizes creativity, self-awareness and being deliberate about your organizational design.

Thinking in Systems, by Donella Meadows

OK, this one is a tad theoretical, but it’s an excellent primer if you want to truly understand all the ways your company acts as a complex, interrelated and self-preserving system. Highly insightful.

Ask Iwata, by Sam Bett (transl.), Hobonichi (ed.)

A collection of interviews with the late Satoru Iwata, Nintendo’s former CEO. Not exactly a business book, but it still provides illuminating glimpses into Iwata’s business, leadership and design philosophies.

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Games I loved

Total games played: 30

The Last of Us II

A tour de force, examining how far is too far when it comes to avenging loved ones. While the resulting perspective on cycles of violence felt a bit too cynical for my tastes, there’s no denying the emotional impact of the story presented here.

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

Tears of the Kingdom is a fantastic continuation of what we saw in BotW, giving players even more freedom to explore the beautiful world of Hyrule. I never got tired of launching into the air and skydiving my way to something interesting on the horizon.

Final Fantasy XVI

FFXVI is everything you expect from a FF game, mixed with bits of Dragonball, Evangelion, the criminally underrated Capcom game Asura's Wrath, Game of Thrones, and a big ol' bag of F-bombs. What’s not to love?

Blanc

Blanc is the first full game I played through with my then 4-year-old daughter. It’s a gorgeously stylized coop adventure game about a baby wolf and deer trying to find their parents. Maya’s reaction to the ending is a memory I’ll cherish forever.

Case of the Golden Idol

This is an extremely brainy detective game, where you try to solve different murders in an overarching story that you have to piece together yourself. It reminded me of Return of the Obra Dinn, and I’m happy to say that it is just as good.

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Next week I'll share my full annual review, including my goals for 2024.

So enjoy the holidays, and see you then!

Martijn

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