2022 in Review -- Movies

If you've been reading my blog over the last couple of weeks, you've seen me posting a lot of movie reviews. What little "suspense" there might be about my favorite movies of 2022 has largely been spoiled. Nevertheless, I'm now caught up enough to post my movie overview for last year.

2022 marked another big drop off in the number of movies I saw: I watched only 47 movies during the calendar year. I ascribe the downturn to a rise in the number of "must watch TV shows" I tried to keep up with. And generally failed to do. TV is an entertainment hydra at this point; by the time you finish one show that people say you simply have to see, three new shows have sprung up in its place. (And Netflix has already cancelled one of them.) Perhaps for 2023, I should try to build a list of Top 10 TV shows?

Anyway, only 6 of those 47 movies I saw were viewed in a theater, with "wait until I can stream it on a service I already pay for" becoming the default way for me to view most movies, it seems. Partly because I'm operating on that delay, I've so far seen 21 movies officially released in 2022. To me, that felt like just barely enough to come up with a credible Top 10 List, and I fully expect titles near the bottom to drop off in the weeks ahead, as I continue to watch more movies. (Indeed, I watched some of the movies on this list in the first weeks of 2023.)

With links to my earlier reviews:

1. Roald Dahl's Matilda the Musical
   
2. Spirited
3. Good Night Oppy
4. Turning Red
5. Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery
6. Descendant
7. Bros
8. Prey
9. Nope
10. Avatar: The Way of Water

I feel like there's a decent mix there -- popcorn flicks, musicals, documentaries, animation, action, suspense. There aren't any what you might call "Oscar bait" movies, though. I have seen a few of those that simply didn't make the list. (Still more movie reviews for the weeks ahead.) But moreover, conventional Oscar bait seems not to be in fashion this year. The Producers Guild of America announced their nominees this week; they usually overlap 8 or 9 out of 10 Oscar nominated Best Pictures, and their list this year had far more "popular movies" on it than usual.

I think my biggest 2022 "blindspots" may be in the horror genre. I've seen a couple of online articles touting 2022 as a banner year for horror films, with numerous breakout hits and less-talked-about releases that have been declared worthwhile viewing for fans of the genre. Perhaps I'll focus my catching up there.

We'll see what 2023 brings to the local theater. (And, ultimately, to my streaming device and couch.)

Updated 5/2/23:

1. Roald Dahl's Matilda the Musical
2. All Quiet on the Western Front 
   
3. Spirited
4. Good Night Oppy
5. Turning Red
6. RRR
7. Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio 
   
8. Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery
9. Descendant
10. Bodies Bodies Bodies