I saw some movies this year and then made a list.
I’ve been thinking about this a lot recently.
The this in question is an N+1 piece documenting how we are living in “undeniably ugly times.” Here’s an excerpt:
Architecture, industrial design, cinematography, probiotic soda branding — many of the defining features of the visual field aren’t sending their best. Despite more advanced manufacturing and design technologies than have existed in human history, our built environment tends overwhelmingly toward the insubstantial, the flat, and the gray, punctuated here and there by the occasional childish squiggle. This drab sublime unites flat-pack furniture and home electronics, municipal infrastructure and commercial graphic design: an ocean of stuff so homogenous and underthought that the world it has inundated can feel like a digital rendering — of a slightly duller, worse world.
It’s tough living in a world where it feels like everything is getting worse.
This isn’t meant to depress you—it just feels like that’s where we are. Rent is more expensive, the news is just the worst possible thing you can see day after day and every week a prominent magazine or publication gets shuttered. Arrogant tech billionaires are ostensibly succeeding by accident and everyone else is struggling to make it work.
Everything new is kind of the same or a retread. Even the best ideas get corporately restructured down to their base concept.
For me, movies are a way out. Or a way in that makes everything a bit clearer.
Yes, there are your run-of-the-mill dregs, but I would argue that even most of the mediocre to decent movies this year were at the very least captivating and compelling.
And the top movies? Damn, they were good.
There’s been a common refrain that movies are dead. I couldn’t disagree more.
You may have to do some research and look past the blockbusters, but it’s there. The best of the best this year is as good as anything we’ve had in recent memory. There are startingly modern tales, love stories that transcend genre, horror movies that highlight where we’re going wrong and gorgeous sprawl that needs to be seen to be believed.
At a time when you can watch anything and everything at all times, there’s no problem with demanding something good from filmmakers, and for the most part, I think they stepped up to the challenge.
I watched a lot of things this year, as always, and found myself constantly gripped and excited by what I was able to see. Anyway, here’s a ranking of what I saw from 2022.
Some good, some bad, some transcendent.
That’s how it goes.
98. Where the Crawdads Sing
I really hated this movie. It’s a book adaptation that seems to actively hate its source material and features some of the worst acting and set pieces in recent memory. I’ll never say anything bad about Daisy Edgar-Jones though.
97. The 355
96. The Gray Man
The Russo Brothers hate movies.
95. Luckiest Girl Alive
This is like if a bot had to write a movie that included every hot-button topic in America.
94. Mad God
Very much not for me.
93. We’re All Going to the World’s Fair
This would have worked better as a short story or a 10-minute short. There’s just no there there.
92. Cyrano
I forgot that this movie was a musical and then it started and as the movie progressed I began to hate all musicals.
91. Empire of Light
A dud. May have the worst last 30 minutes of any movie from this year. You really have to do something special to make a movie starring Olivia Colman this unwatchable. Better luck next time, Sam Mendes.
90. Avatar: The Way of Water
I really can’t tell you how much I didn’t like this movie. It’s over three hours, which is fine if the movie’s compelling, but … it’s not. Seemingly written by a 2004 cliché generator, every line of dialogue feels trite and both overwritten and underwritten. It looks fine, I guess, if you love video game cut scenes and underwater art exhibits. Also, the action is near-incomprehensible with its ridiculous frame rate. About an hour in, a friend was aghast that we still had over two hours to go, and then we had to watch one of the younger Avatars become friends with Pandora’s whale equivalent for the next 45 minutes.
89. Marry Me
This movie was supposed to star Armie Hammer and after the *ahem* cannibal thing, he was replaced by Owen Wilson. That’s all you need to know.
88. The Tender Bar
If you asked me when this movie came out before putting together this list, I would’ve said 2020.
87. I Want You Back
The thing about bad rom-coms is that I hate them and they make me want to delete all dating apps on my phone.
86. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness
Ooh, the evil witch and the witty wizard shoot lasers at each other or something in front of a green screen. I don’t care. I’m sorry. I had a good Marvel run and I’m really dying out here.
85. The Lost City
84. Deep Water
There’s so much snail content in this one. That’s not a euphemism or anything. Ben Affleck’s character spends so much time just hanging out with his snails.
83. Uncharted
We saw this on an impromptu double feature with Marry Me after sneaking into this one. We ate Popeyes. Solid day.
82. Apollo 10½: A Space Age Childhood
This is a movie I saw this year.
81. Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths
This is one of two Netflix movies from the calendar year that centers a good deal of its story on a fetus.
80. Death on the Nile
79. Blonde
This is the second Netflix Fetus movie. It’s well-made, features a great Ana de Armas performance, and it’s morally bankrupt and repugnant.
78. The Whale
I hate that this movie is making me root against a Brendan Fraser Oscar run.
77. Sundown
I looked at my list of movies and saw this one and thought “maybe I saw too many movies this year.” It’s fine, if not forgettable.
76. Thor: Love and Thunder
Taika Waititi’s whole shtick is wearing a little thin. This is a real Ragnarok retread in all the worst ways.
75. Spiderhead
There’s something here. Probably would’ve been better from a non-Netflix source.
74. Don’t Worry Darling
We spoke about this one for over an hour. It’s so funny that all of the chaos around this movie resulted in a bleh Black Mirror episode with a great (as always) Florence Pugh performance.
73. Bullet Train
This is just Quentin Tarantino fanfic.
72. Elvis
You gotta respect that it goes for it in all senses of that phrase. The Austin Butler performance, the Baz Lurhmann directing, whatever the hell Tom Hanks is doing. I appreciate this movie trying to transcend the recent trend of generic biopics. Is it good? No.
71. Fresh
The generic streamification of cannibalism movies. Again, nothing against Daisy Edgar-Jones. Get a better agent.
70. The Invitation
I saw this in theaters by myself. I kinda didn’t hate it. It was fun enough and is just over 100 minutes.
69. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
This says it all.
68. Fire of Love
A beautiful documentary that looks great and tells a nice little story. I found myself a little bored during it, but that’s most likely just me being an asshole.
67. All Quiet on the Western Front
pew pew, pew pew pew, pew pew
It’s a war movie. You’ve seen bits and pieces of this one in every other war movie. It’s good at being a war movie, but it’s nothing to write home about.
66. Bros
There are some great jokes in here and some mediocre rom-com elements. Bowen Yang is a star though. Worth it alone for the Ben Stiller jump-scare that angered my friend that hates Ben Stiller.
65. Chip ’n Dale: Rescue Rangers
I would’ve preferred a live-action version of John Mulaney and Andy Samberg solving crimes instead of a messy updated version of Who Framed Roger Rabbit, but I’ll take what I can get.
64. You Won’t Be Alone
Saw this in a late-night showing at the Angelika, and it was packed. Not sure how a 19th-century Macedonian story about a witch shifting her skin was able to sell out, however, I’m not complaining. Good movie, although a bit underwhelming.
63. Weird: The Al Yankovic Story
Daniel Radcliffe is a fantasy-football obsessive that never needs to work another day in his life, so he just jumps into passion projects with comedians and actors he idolizes. What a legend.
62. Three Thousand Years of Longing
Pointless final act but the movie looks cool as shit throughout. George Miller doesn’t know how to direct an uninteresting scene.
61. The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent
The idea of this one is better than the final product. Still an enjoyable time though.
60. Ticket to Paradise
We watched this on Christmas, and it’s a perfectly charming little movie. They filmed on location which certainly helps, and George Clooney and Julia Roberts are George Clooney and Julia Roberts for a reason. Started a bit lamely, but it had me by the end.
59. She Said
This is Journalism: The Movie. It’s not as good as All the President’s Men or Spotlight or Shattered Glass or countless other movies occupying the same space, and yet there’s something reassuring about a decent film that features decent people researching and writing.
58. Speak No Evil
You know what I just said about good people? This is not that. One of the more fucked-up movies I’ve seen in recent memory. And that’s certainly saying something.
57. Windfall
The most perfectly fine movie of the year.
56. The Black Phone
The precocious kid sister part of this movie doesn’t really work for me, and still, I thought this was a pretty serviceable thriller that actually has some guts backed up with a dynamite Ethan Hawke performance.
55. Athena
One of the worst final shots of the year made only worse by how phenomenal its opening one-shot sequence is. Would’ve been a bit higher if one were to take out the last minute or so.
54. See How They Run
I’m not made of stone. I’m always going to enjoy Saoirse Ronan playing a bumbling yet clever detective in an Agatha Christie send-up.
53. Emily the Criminal
Aubrey Plaza’s gonna win an Oscar someday, and, frankly, I can’t wait for it.
52. Good Luck to You, Leo Grande
A surprisingly touching two-hander with Emma Thompson and Daryl McCormack. I usually tune out movies that are shaped so clearly as a play, but this one had enough there to keep me invested.
51. Fire Island
This movie is worth it alone for the above scene.
50. A Hero
This story is more interesting than the movie, and it was a pretty good movie.
49. The Outfit
Quietly great year for Mark Rylance.
48. Pearl
The first of two Ti West slasher films from 2022. I preferred X over Pearl, but Mia Goth gets a brighter spotlight in this one. She nails everything she’s asked to do. Fantastic final 10 minutes or so with a monologue for the ages.
47. My Donkey, My Lover & I
Not as good as the title, but that’s quite a high bar. Still fun though.
46. Hustle
It’s a real bummer knowing that not only is Adam Sandler funny, rich and constantly on vacation, but he can act better than almost anyone else in the world.
45. Turning Red
I can’t believe this one went for it in its final act the way that it does.
44. On the Count of Three
A movie about two men who decide to live it up on their last day before both committing suicide. It’s funny, raw and has one of the bigger casting twists I’ve ever seen.
43. Crimes of the Future
I don’t think I know a single person that saw this movie. Really enjoyed it. Kristen Stewart keeps giving Hall of Fame performances.
42. Men
lol
41. Resurrection
also lol (but a little bit better)
40. Triangle of Sadness
More a series of vignettes than a movie. Like its ideas and brashness more than as a singular product.
39. Armageddon Time
One of two movies in which an older white director looks back at his life and contemplates what his family really means to him, why he got into filmmaking and what it means to tell stories about your youth.
38. The Fabelmans
One of two movies in which an older white director looks back at his life and contemplates what his family really means to him, why he got into filmmaking and what it means to tell stories about your youth.
37. Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio
Very good movie but no Pinocchio content this year will give me as much joy as that trailer.
36. Bodies Bodies Bodies
35. Ambulance
I’m as surprised as you are that this ranks as high as it does, but I very much (more than I would ever think) enjoyed Ambulance. Usually Michael Bay makes startingly un-self-aware action bullshit, and this contains much of that action bullshit, but it is so over the top that it comes back around again. It looks great, Jake Gyllenhaal is giving an off-the-wall, cocaine-laden performance and Bay seems to be parodying himself. A+ time at the theater.
34. X
Umm, sure.
33. Prey
I wish I saw this on a big screen, but we can’t have everything we want.
32. Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery
I was very worried during the opening act of this one as it felt sitcom-y and a bit too broad for my taste, but once the action gets going, the story and comedy settles down. Rian Johnson is a genius putting this all together in such a subtle and smart way. I don’t know how to totally explain this, but these movies are not really murder mysteries and are more intricate storytelling vehicles. There’s not enough info at the jump for you to actually know what’s happening. Anyway, enough of that rambling. Daniel Craig is the best, the supporting cast is having a good time and I’ve already put together the third movie in this series.
31. White Noise
An interesting mess. I know that it’s been often claimed as an unadaptable novel, and yet I think Noah Baumbach did as impressive a job as one can with such difficult material. The Airborne Toxic Event in particular really comes to life.
30. The Menu
What a fun movie that doesn’t take itself too seriously. It also stars Anya Taylor-Joy, so it’s automatically going to be a must-watch.
29. Navalny
Probably the most insane scene in any movie this year…
28. Kimi
My guy, Steven Soderbergh, does not know how to make an uninteresting movie. She won’t get any awards for her work this year, but shoutout to Zoë Kravitz who makes everything she’s in a bit better.
27. Anaïs in Love
^me
26. The Bob’s Burgers Movie
Saw some people complain that this is just an extended and fun episode of Bob’s Burgers. Do you know what show is the best? Bob’s Burgers.
25. Smile
A rollicking good time. I love a feverish horror movie that really goes for it in its final 10 minutes.
24. All the Beauty and the Bloodshed
A beautiful and haunting documentary on Nan Goldin and the downfall of the Sackler family. Maybe the best use of a title in a movie this year.
23. Broker
A beautiful movie about broken people trying to find a home for a newborn. Makes me want to check out the rest of Hirokazu Kore-eda’s work and go to Asia, because the food looks so damn good.
22. Bones and All
No one’s doing it like Luca Guadagnino. A brutal love story between the captivating Taylor Russell and Timothée Chalamet along with one of the best performances of the year in Mark Rylance’s eerie Sully.
21. Sr.
The vanity project of all vanity projects (in the best ways). This Robert Downey Jr.-produced film is an insightful look at his relationship with his father and how the two’s connection ebbed and flowed over time. It’s fascinating to watch the movie progress from a retrospective to a more inquisitive plunge into what gets passed down from parent to child and how the possibility of mortality forces everything to move faster. To be honest, I didn’t know much about Robert Downey Sr.’s work and the movie assumes that of its audience going in. You don’t need to be a fan of either, but it’s so compelling to see someone in the limelight bare it all in front of the camera. Strong recommend, especially since it’s on Netflix. Felt weird to watch this and then have a trailer blaring for Bullet Train seconds after it ended. Maybe give me a second to deal with my own impermanence.
20. Aftersun
Paul Mescal could’ve cashed in on his Normal People fame and newfound celebrity. Instead, he decided to make auteur-driven projects centering on loss and humanity from budding directors. We love to see that.
19. The Woman King
Hopefully not forgotten because this movie is so much better than it has to be. Don’t know a single other person that saw it, which is a shame.
18. RRR
A blast of a movie and worth every second of its epic three-hour runtime. Made me want to check out more Indian Telugu-language stories. I’m usually lukewarm on action but certainly not here.
17. Top Gun: Maverick
Glen Powell showed up at the IMAX theater we were at and introduced the movie. It was always going to be a great time. A hell of a year for Tom Cruise.
16. Official Competition
A perfect send-up of movies attempting to win awards. Also, nominate Antonio Banderas for some of those awards.
15. Cha Cha Real Smooth
A movie about a bar-mitzvah dancer centered on being in love with Dakota Johnson hits a little too close to home.
14. Dual
I wish more people saw this one. A comic thriller that constantly keeps you guessing, Riley Stearns deserves more fanfare. Very fun Karen Gillan performance at the center here too.
13. Barbarian
Hahahahaha, yes.
12. Happening
Maybe the most important movie of the year. This French thriller focused on a young woman in the 1960s trying to get an abortion is beautifully made, terrifying and depressingly resonant.
11. Women Talking
The only problem with this movie is that there are too many actresses giving career-best performances and awards bodies don’t know who to award.
10. The Batman
This may be a very simplistic and masculine rhetorical question and answer, but do you know what fucking rocks? Batman. The “superhero” that gives us the best filmmaking, The Batman does something different with the caped crusader, providing us with a detective thriller instead of the action epics Christopher Nolan envisioned. Matt Reeves, Robert Pattinson, Zoë Kravitz and the rest of the stacked cast created a grimy and bleak version of the character that feels like a My Chemical Romance song come to life. I really love that this movie doesn’t treat its audience like idiots and builds out a complicated story that hinges on paying attention and societal unrest. Watching a Marvel movie after such a fully-thought-out idea like this is a real bummer. I can’t wait to see what Reeves and his team get up to next.
9. Decision to Leave
A movie that I wish more people I know would see, so I can discuss it at great length, Decision to Leave is a lavish and heartbreaking romance despite centering on a detective and the main subject in a case he’s investigating. Park Chan-Wook is as good a director as we have right now and the two main performances from Tang Wei and Hae il Park in this one match the very difficult balance that the film ultimately performs. It’s simultaneously very funny, beautiful to look at and a murder mystery at its core. I don’t know how PCW does it, but I’ll keep watching everything he directs for the foreseeable future.
8. Marcel the Shell with Shoes On
Maybe the most heartwarming thing I saw this year, Marcel the Shell with Shoes On is a beautiful treatise on loss and family. It’s also goddamn adorable and features phenomenal voice-acting from Jenny Slate and Isabella Rossellini. I laughed out loud both times I saw it and appreciate the ingenuity and desire of the writers to not rest on the laurels of the popular character. There are a lot of movies I see that I wouldn’t recommend to just anyone; this is one of the rare exceptions. I can’t imagine someone checking this out and not at least enjoying it.
7. The Northman
Jake and I saw this one in Dolby and I think the best way I can describe it is fuck yeah. This movie was made to be seen on the biggest screen possible with the sound blaring. A Robert Eggers epic, The Northman is the origin story of Hamlet and I’m sure there’s a lot to dissect there, but also to put it plainly … it bangs. Alexander Skarsgård is roided out, Anya Taylor-Joy is magical and Nicole Kidman is the best she’s been in a movie in a long time. I’m not totally sure how this will look on a television, but I can’t imagine many movies being more entertaining on the big screen. It’s the closest anything has been to Mad Max: Fury Road for me in quite some time, in terms of scope and brutality, and that’s a big compliment from yours truly.
6. The Banshees of Inisherin
Martin McDonagh’s wily and gorgeous dialogue pairs perfectly with the Irish backdrop, Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson. This tale centered on what it means to be alive might seem haughty, but it is constantly funny and leaves you wondering. Shoutout to Kerry Condon and Barry Keoghan that fit into a McDonagh story seamlessly. I really admire the internal war that this narrative is attempting to dissect about trying to leave something behind vs. just having a good time while alive. McDonagh’s pitch-black comedy hits me in the funny bone. I love it despite always knowing how vicious it’s going to turn out.
5. Babylon
This movie is a mess. The characters are pretty one-note, the plot itself is a maelstrom of Hollywood archetypes and the final sequence is baffling. And yet, I don’t care. I loved this one. It’s ballsy, looks incredible and features a few scenes that I’ve never seen before. This is Damien Chazelle’s attempt at a Boogie Nights-esque saga and everyone is on board. There’s such care and chutzpah putting this one together. I’m sure it’ll be divisive and that’s fine. Hollywood should make more bonkers movies. This movie starring Margot Robbie and Brad Pitt with a star turn from Diego Calva and plenty of phenomenal guest stars doesn’t give you an inkling into how unglamorizing this movie is. It’s insane that this came from the man behind La La Land. I saw a review saying that this should be the last movie ever made and that feels appropriate to me.
4. Nope
Nope is one of those movies that’s incredible in theaters and only gets better the more you think about it. Jordan Peele’s newest feature centers on a brother-sister team of Daniel Kaluuya and Keke Palmer going up against something in the sky. This is a fun-as-hell action movie that becomes a petrifying thriller time and time again. It has one of those central ideas in which you think “how have I never seen this before?” and a sequence that is so horrifying that you have no choice but to look and see. I don’t know how these ideas come to Peele but I’m glad they do. What a movie. Also, Steven Yeun is unbelievable in this as a scarred-but-powering-through-it man trying to achieve a certain amount of notoriety. What an actor.
3. Everything Everywhere All at Once
After seeing this three times in theaters, I can definitively say that this is a good movie. It’s very rare to see something that makes you feel everything all at once and balances outlandish comedy and emotional gravity. It’s tough to single out just one actor as Michelle Yeoh, Stephanie Hsu, Jamie Lee Curtis, Ke Huy Quan and James Hong all give beautiful and critical performances. Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert are what we should want all writers and directors to aspire to, fantastical premises grounded by heart that look otherworldly. You watch something like this and you feel a bit angry at other movies as they exist without the inventiveness and care that something like Everything Everywhere All at Once has.
2. TÁR
I went back and forth between TÁR and Everything Everywhere All at Once for this №2 spot but ultimately the Cate Blanchett performance puts this one over the top for me as the movie I’m most rooting for this upcoming Oscar season. TÁR is technically about a composer-conductor, but it’s just as much about talented individuals in power abusing what they’re given. It’s been labeled a “cancel culture” movie, but it’s so much more than that. This movie is a snowglobe of sorts that builds and builds its own lore and characters and then begins to shake it all up, watching it all play out. It’s a full world that feels almost too lifelike at times and is painstakingly put together. Blanchett is stellar. It’s a Daniel Day-Lewis-esque undertaking. And Todd Field gets the best out of Blanchett and the rest of the cast to create one of the best movies describing the times we’re currently living in. For better and for worse.
- The Worst Person in the World
What can I say about this movie that I haven’t said/written/spoken about already? The Worst Person in the World was technically released in 2021 in France but came out in the U.S. in February this year. It wouldn’t feel right to not have it atop one of my yearly lists, and so here we are. Renate Reinsve gives one of my favorite performances of all time in this Norwegian drama and I love Joachim Trier’s directing style and desire to have some fun with linear storytelling. It’s delightful watching something that you know you’re going to see so many more times. I saw this movie billed as a foreign Frances Ha and, yes, that’s true, and yet it’s so much more than that. It doesn’t attempt to hide from the tougher parts of life and yet feels like a pick-me-up in all of the best ways. Each vignette could be its own short story and yet piled on top of each other, it all makes perfect sense. It’s a snapshot of a life that concludes with maybe my favorite moment in movies this year. Phenomenal film and one that’s already near the top of my all-time favorites. Fuck yeah. What a gem.
