Alec's Top 10 of 2022

A wonderful year for film with picks you won't see anywhere else.

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I watched 302 movies in 2022 … of these 197 were released last year. Between reviews, podcasts, interviews and one television appearance I unleashed 137 pieces of content upon y’all (up from 112 in 2021 … yay!). Please feel free to check out my backlog here. My random cinematic comings and goings are also available for your viewing pleasure over on Letterboxd.

Despite watching a butt-ton of stuff – there are some important titles I missed (“Aftersun,” “All Quiet on the Western Front,” “Athena,” “Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths,” “Close,” “Decision to Leave,” “Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio,” “The Inspection,” “Sr.,” “Thirteen Lives,” “Turning Red,” “Women Talking” and “The Wonder” all spring to mind), which I intend to catch up with in the new year.

Anyone who follows my work knows I watch and review a lot of garbage. Most of these movies are of the low-budget variety and I’m certain the creatives behind them did their honest to goodness best. I’d prefer to punch up as opposed to down, so I’ll single out some higher profile releases as my least favorite of the year. “Morbius” was moribund upon arrival despite Matt Smith’s amusing dancing. Kevin Hart and Netflix weren’t the best of bedfellows between “The Man from Toronto” and “Me Time.” Despite liking and even sometimes outright loving a lot of Judd Apatow’s work, his “The Bubble” was burst in 2022.

My Honorable Mentions listed in order of admiration are “Avatar: The Way of Water,” “The Survivor,” “The Whale,” “Three Thousand Years of Longing,” “Amsterdam” (I’m right about these last two and the rest of y’all are wrong … I keed, I keed!), “Bros,” “The Woman King,” “Tár,” “She Said,” “The Banshees of Inisherin,” “Armageddon Time,” “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery,” “After Yang,” “God’s Country,” “The Menu” and “Cha Cha Real Smooth.”

With no further ado, here’s my Top 10 of 2022 …

10.) Apollo 10 ½: A Space Age Childhood – Insanely charming and sorta magical. I didn't grow up in Houston in 1969, but after watching this I kinda feel like I did. This is a wonderful thematic companion piece to three of writer/director Richard Linklater’s better films … those being “Dazed and Confused,” “Boyhood” and “Everybody Wants Some!!” … and a fitting stylistic companion piece to his “Waking Life” and “A Scanner Darkly.” (Now available to stream on Netflix.)

9.) Scream – "Scream" made me feel a lot like I did when I saw the original with a buddy as a 15-year-old kid on opening weekend in December 1996.

Everything involving the Hicks' (Marley Shelton, Dylan Minnette) was chef's kiss. I dug almost all of the new kids. I especially enjoyed Melissa Barrera (who I'm really kinda loving between this and 2021’s "In the Heights") and Jenna Ortega (who’s vying for scream queen of the year alongside her “X” co-star Mia Goth) as the Carpenter sisters and Jasmin Savoy Brown as Mindy Meeks-Martin (niece of the late, great Randy (Jamie Kennedy) and his franchise heir apparent). I'm also beginning to wonder if filmmakers just really love setting Mikey Madison ablaze?

Despite the absence of Neve Campbell, I’m eagerly anticipating Radio Silence’s “Scream VI,” which drops in March. (Now available on 4K UHD Blu-ray, Blu-ray and to stream on Showtime.)

8.) Bullet Train – An absolute blast and possibly the most fun I had in a theater in 2022. It's like an 87North production meets one of Guy Ritchie's funner flicks or Quentin Tarantino doing his take on “Murder on the Orient Express.” Less the Brad Pitt star vehicle that was advertised and more an ensemble showcase. Definitely my favorite film from director David Leitch thus far. (Now available on 4K UHD Blu-ray, Blu-ray and to stream on Netflix.)

7.) Marcel the Shell with Shoes On – There are so many admirable elements packed into this film’s svelte 90-minute runtime.  The voiceovers by Jenny Slate and Isabella Rossellini are endearing and exemplary (Strangely, I now find Slate way more attractive after she’s voiced a male mollusk. I don’t know what this says about me?) and they’re ably supported by the comedic likes of Andy Richter and Nathan Fielder as Marcel’s father and brother respectively. Disasterpiece’s score sweetly and sensitively ups the emotional ante.

"Marcel the Shell with Shoes On" cut much deeper than I expected it to, but I can’t lie … crying to a shell singing the Eagles was strangely therapeutic. (Now available on 4K UHD Blu-ray, Blu-ray and VOD.)

6.) Top Gun: Maverick – This was better the second time out with expectations in check. It also probably didn't hurt that my second viewing of this tale about surrogate fathers and surrogate sons was taken in alongside a young man who's the closest thing I have to a son. Additionally, Glen Powell's a big, bright, shining star. Somebody cast this cat in the MCU or the DCEU stat! (Now available on 4K UHD Blu-ray, Blu-ray and to stream on Paramount+.)

5.) The Adam Project – I don’t much cry at real life – but boy howdy – will I cry at some movies. One out of every four films I watch seems to result in tears. Hell, I’ll cry at Budweiser commercials – can you believe that horse and dog were reunited?!!! “The Adam Project” left me a blubbering mess to the point where my wife exclaimed, “Get it together, Toombs!”

This is a classic four-quadrant movie. I really dug it and think a lot of you will too. I recommend watching it with those you love and having Kleenex on hand. One last note – the scene between Ryan Reynolds and Jennifer Garner in a bar is one for the time capsule IMHO. (Now streaming on Netflix.)

4.) RRR – This isn’t a great film … it’s more like four awesome movies jam-packed into one. Whether it’s schooling bigots with the dance-off to end all dance-offs or riffing on the Mel Gibson shows his kids to shoot sequence from Roland Emmerich’s “The Patriot” (with a dash of movie-within-a-movie “Nation’s Pride” from Tarantino’s “Inglourious Basterds” thrown in for good measure), “RRR” is absolutely RRR-ridiculous. I need more Tollywood flicks in my life. I need to see more of director S.S. Rajamouli’s shit post haste. I’ve also never wanted to give one of my buddies an on-the-shoulders piggyback ride more in my entire life. (Now streaming on Netflix.)

3.) Stutz – Jonah Hill’s documentary about the relationship between he and his therapist Phil Stutz is like years of therapy doled out in 96 minutes in the absolute best way possible. It’s been a long time, but I’ve gone to therapy in the past and found it to be an immensely useful exercise. With “Stutz,” Hill is attempting and succeeding at sharing Stutz’s methods and destigmatizing mental illness. It’s beautiful to see two men being emotionally open with one another … if more folks followed suit we’d all be a lot better off. If you don’t have insurance or access to mental healthcare – but are feeling down or depressed and have a Netflix subscription – “Stutz” could prove to be a useful tool. (Now streaming on Netflix.)

2.) The Fabelmans – I'm 35 years younger than Steven Spielberg, I'm not Jewish and my parents are still married, but I felt this movie in my bones and loved it with every fiber of my being. Go figure. Spielberg’s my all-time favorite filmmaker and watching his stand-in Sammy Fabelman (Mateo Zoryon Francis-DeFord, Gabriel LaBelle) fall in love with movies and moviemaking was complete catnip to me. (Now in theaters and available on VOD.)

1.) Everything Everywhere All at Once – Michelle Yeoh and Ke Huy Quan give two of the year’s best performances for their visually-inventive directors The Daniels (Scheinert and Kwan). This flick's gonna launch thousands of Halloween costumes and hundreds of college courses if it hasn’t already. I laughed a lot. I cried even more. I can't wait to watch it again while high. “EEAaO” also afforded me the opportunity to talk to my parents about butt plugs and dildos, which is fun in and of itself. (Now available on 4K UHD Blu-ray, Blu-ray and to stream on Showtime.)

That’s a wrap on 2022’s movies. It was a great year for cinema and here’s hoping 2023’s as good if not better. Many thanks for reading and happiest of New Year’s to you all!