You ready for this? For those unfamiliar, every January I do a movie ranking from the previous year, where I place everything I watched in order of worst to best. When I began doing this back in 2014, it started out as a very ambitious undertaking. I would keep a meticulous list of ever single movie I watched and when I did my ranking, there would be more than a hundred movies on the list. But ever since the birth of my son, my movie watching has gone WAY down. I stopped keeping track. I also do not have time to break down each and every single movie I watched, so my rankings have been noting more than a few sentences long. You can tell I've been paring back slowly year by year. Last year in 2021, I only ranked my top five favorite movies.
This year I'm upping it to my top ten. Woot! I'm even throwing in a couple of honorable mentions. How fancy. My goal for 2023 is to go back to keeping track of each movie I watched and try to restore this yearly ranking to its past glory. Until then, please enjoy my 2022 ranking.
Honorable Mentions:
I really wanted to like this movie, but it was bad. Laughably bad at times. My wife and I kept exchanging looks as we watched this movie, like "WTF is this shit?" It's a shame how far the MCU has fallen since Avengers: Endgame. It only gets a nod for honorable mention because of a lack of other options.
Another movie that only gets an honorable mention due to a lack of other options. I liked parts of this movie. I didn't mind Pattinson as Batman. They take Batman to darker places they usually don't in other forms of media. I'm all for darker movies, but this film takes itself way too seriously - and is also waaaayyyy too long for its own good. I found myself drifting off so many times as I watched this. It took me multiple installments just to slog through this. They were so close to hitting the mark with this movie. It is a shame they didn't.
This movie exceeded my incredibly low expectations. It's very similar in tone to the original Mortal Kombat, but far superior in many ways, such as its storytelling, acting, and visual effects. This movie was close to making the top ten, but will fall short only because I was distracted while watching this and can barely remember much of it when I think back on it. I'll definitely have to watch this again at some point in the future.
These Jurassic World movies aren't anywhere near as good as we want them to be, but this one wasn't bad. I saw it in the drive-in theater, which was a fun experience.... except for the part where our battery died in the middle of the movie and we had to get a jump - and ended up missing a good 20 minute chunk in the middle of the film. Good times. Like Mortal Kombat, this is one I'll definitely have to rewatch at some point in my life.
Prey is a major return to form for the Predator series. I like how they scaled back and took the action to an earlier time in Earth's history, where there aren't machine guns and grenades being used to fight back against the Predator. It's very man vs beast. Or in this case, woman vs beast. Like a couple of my honorable mentions, this is something I'll have to rewatch again at some point, due to the fact that I was multitasking as I watched this and feel I didn't get the full experience. Also, I watched this much earlier in the year and I can barely remember what happened in the movie aside from its basic premise.
I watched this in preparation for the new Willow series on Disney Plus (which is not a great show, but that's a topic for a different discussion). I loved this movie as a kid, and it still holds much of the magic for me that made it so special back in the 1980s. It's a fun movie with a simple yet engaging storyline. What little you see of the world of Willow makes you want to see and experience more. It's an enjoyable frolic but I wouldn't rank it up there with Lord of the Rings or Star Wars or anything like that in terms of being an all time favorite. The only reason it doesn't make the top ten is because I've already seen it a million times before - and I think it is only natural that when you've seen a movie so many times it makes it harder for it to engage you.
On to the top ten!!
#10:
It's a sad state of affairs for the MCU when this movie was the best one I saw over the course of a calendar year. Keep in mind that I have not seen Wakanda Forever, but I hear that one is only so-so as well. What's up Marvel? Have we seen you at your peak already?
Anyway, this isn't a bad movie, as evidenced by its ranking, it's just not as great as the standard that had been previously set. It's a perfectly fun, entertaining little romp with some good moments of humor and sadness mixed in. I feel it is completely forgettable, however, and will go down as a mere footnote when the MCU is all said and done.
#9:
Barbarian probably isn't as good as its #9 ranking would indicate, but I was starved for good horror movies last year and this one more than hit the spot. It keeps you guessing, it has some genuinely scary moments, and it is something that stayed with me after I watched it. I wouldn't put it in the pantheon of all time great horror movies, but it is better than most movies I've watched in recent memory. It has some similarities to Don't Breathe, so if you liked that, you'd probably like this.
#8:
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This is not a movie I ever would have sought out in a million years, but my wife wanted to go for our anniversary to support it, and who was I to say no? I actually ended up really enjoying the movie. I am not one for rom coms, but Bros has enough shocking adult humor in it to keep it entertaining for all mature audiences. It's not just some schmaltzy rom com with gay people - think The Hangover, Bridemaids, etc. and you are on the right path.
#7:
How can you go wrong with the Shawshank Redemption? You really can't. I tried to nitpick this movie in my head as I watched it, but I just couldn't. It's almost a perfect movie. The only reason it doesn't rank higher is because I've seen it a million times already, and towards the end of the movie I whipped out my cell phone and stopped paying attention, so much of the emotional impact was lost on me. Still a classic, though, and I'd encourage anyone to watch it. Even at about 65% strength, this movie still manages to nab high honors on my ranking.
#6:
I first saw this movie about ten or so years ago. It was before I started this blog, actually. But I used to do similar movie rankings at a message board where I was a big poster, and Spoorloos, to the surprise of many, ended up snagging the #1 spot. It blew me away as a "youngster" with its mystery and its shocking ending. One of the best gut punch endings in movie history.
I didn't have any intention of revisiting this movie until I listened to a podcast about it (Staff Picks by Mario Lanza - check it out if you haven't already), and the deep dive the hosts went into really got me interested again. There was so much stuff I missed out on, or didn't pick up on the first time through - and watching it again only helped enrich the experience for me. It won't rank #1 because the ending is no longer such a shock to me, but I still think it ranks as one of the best mystery/suspense/horror movies of all time. Don't let the foreign title and the subtitles keep you from this masterpiece.
#5:
#4:
This movie has no business being as good as it is. I initially turned it on to keep the toddler entertained, thinking if anything it would be a good background movie for me instead of the usual Blippi or 44 Cats. Turns out, I ended up watching it closely while he wandered off to play with blocks or some shit. If you are a child of the 80s/90s like me and you grew up with this cartoon, you are going to like this movie. It is filled with a ridiculous amount of Easter Eggs, cameos, and pop culture references. There is ALWAYs something to look at on screen, and never a dull moment. The movie is hilarious too, and has some good action scenes and a plot that keeps you guessing. I can't say enough how much you need to check this out. It is brilliant.
#3:
I used to like this movie when I was younger, but I have never watched it through the lens of a parent or an actual adult with responsibilities. Watching it at age 40 really opened my eyes to how heartbreaking and real this movie is. So much of it hit home for me. Not only is it a very emotional movie that tackles hard hitting issues like suicide and mental illness, it is also a wonderful period piece as well - which I had completely forgotten about. It brings the 60s to life in a way that I'm not sure I've seen before - focusing on the sadness and the confusion of its youth rather than glorifying hippies and counter culture. The acting in this movie is out of this world as well. I still think this is Angelina Jolie's finest moment.
#2:
I've always enjoyed these movies, but at the same time I have always felt myself caring less and less about them with each passing installment. By the time the last Mockingjay movie came along, I was pretty much mentally checked out. The long gaps between movies probably didn't help. This time, I watched them all in order within the span of two or three weeks.
It was my first time watching these movies from the perspective of a father, and holy crap they are grim. I didn't realize just how dark this was my first time through the series. It made my most current rewatch a lot more intense. I was on the edge of my seat the whole way through. I don't remember crying so much the first time I watched these movies. This time, the tears they were a flowin'.
This is a great series of movies, and it is kind of a shame how quickly they've been forgotten.
#1:
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This time through it, however? Magic. I was invested from the word go. The music, the acting, the great cast, that feeling of heightened tension that kicked in even before the Apollo 13 ever took off... I was in love. How did I not like this as a kid? The movie is amazing, from beginning to end.
Even knowing what was going to happen, the feeling of suspense this movie builds is astonishing. Couple that with the wonder and the mystery of being in outer space. The loving detail that was put into making this as authentic to the time period as possible. The great cast and the amazing acting.
My wife doesn't really care for this movie, but she came in at the end and watched when the shuttle was coming back into the atmosphere - and the families reactions during it. I could tell just from ten minutes she watched that she was invested too. We both were wiping away tears by the time the credits began to roll.
There you have it folks: Apollo 13. The single best movie I watched in 2022.
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