The 2022 Year in Review is here. This time, I had a more concrete goal compared to 2021. The objective was to watch 300 titles. This includes new movies, documentaries, limited series, and standup specials. Basically, if it wasn’t a TV series, I included it.
The 2022 stats added up to 259 new movies and 44 limited series/specials! I was also able to rewatch 60 movies! For comparison, 2021 totals were 230 new movies and 28 specials/limited series.
I’ll use this space to again plug the Letterboxd app (also a website). As a reminder, it lets you create lists, write reviews, and rate movies up to 5 stars. You can follow people and see their activity as well.
Our biweekly Film Club Zooms continued and got me to see some interesting movies and revisit some as well. My approach to movies remains the same. I’ll give anything a chance. However, trying to get to 300 titles did become a bit of a chore at times.
As a side note on rating, I changed my methodology a bit when rating on Letterboxd. A rating of 2.0 or better means the movie was worth my seeing. In addition, I stopped assigning ratings to documentaries and stand-up specials. It was a struggle to put them on the scale, so I didn’t try.
Alright, let’s look at some TGT highlights and lowlights from the 2022 Year in Review – Entertainment!
Favorite Movie of the Year
Another Round stood above everything for me in 2022. Mads Mikkelsen is known for being a bad guy in the movie world. He plays completely against type here and gives a masterful performance. This is a poignant story that had me laughing and crying. Even if you don’t like the movie, the final dance number is one of the best things I saw all year.
Worst Movie of the Year
I saw some truly bad movies during the year. Of the 15 half-star ratings, I’ll go with London Fields. It is a truly nonsensical plot and features Jim Sturgess making some of the worst acting choices of all time.
Biggest Surprises
10 Items or Less: Morgan Freeman plays his character so well. Paz Vega is delightfully gruff and cute. For a “day in the life movie”, it hit all the right notes and left me with a great feeling.
Honorable Mentions: Hustle / Belfast / The Tender Bar
Biggest Disappointments
Blonde: I’m not sure what I expected based on the reviews. Ana de Armas was good and the only reason I didn’t rate it lower. The rest of the movie was a mix of truly baffling choices and messaging. Wonderful cinematography is overshadowed by so much bad.
Dishonorable Mentions: Don’t Look Up / Jurassic World Dominion / Promising Young Woman
General Stats and Lists
Movies By Star Rating
*Note – 2.0 stars is my baseline for saying something is worth watching. I am saddled with a compulsion to finish anything I start, so take that with a grain of salt before you start watching something! I didn’t rate everything I watched.*
0.5 – 15
1.0 – 8
1.5 – 25
2.0 – 29
2.5 – 35
3.0 – 63
3.5 – 33
4.0 – 19
4.5 – 10
5.0 – 2
Movies Watched
Cuban Fury / The Unforgivable / A Quiet Place Part II / The Trip / Fast Color / Results / One Last Thing… / The Trial of the Chicago 7 / Bruised / Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard / The Lost Daughter / Passing / Army of Thieves / Promising Young Woman / Momentum / Underwater / This Is the Night / High-Rise / The Starling / London Fields / 2 Days in the Valley / 99 Homes / Nobody / Land / Malcolm & Marie / The Harder They Fall / Bookies / The Broken Circle Breakdown / The Woman in the Window / Absolutely Anything / No Sudden Move / Voyagers / The Last Duel / Spirited Away / Maximum Risk / The Colony / Pieces of a Woman / Unicorn Store / Another Round / Risky Business / Uncorked / Hillbilly Elegy / Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb / Last Man Down / Forgive Us Our Trespasses / O.G. / Mandy / He’s All That / Please Stand By / Say Anything… / Munich: The Edge of War / The Happening / The Power of the Dog / Free Guy / Can You Keep a Secret? / Big Game / Dressed to Kill / Siberia / The Forever Purge / Palmer / Cleaner / Don’t Look Up / Please Hold / The Eyes of Tammy Faye / CODA / The Debt Collector / Home Team / Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings / Drive My Car / Montford: The Chickasaw Rancher / Joe / Birth of the Dragon / Small Town Crime / Between Worlds / The French Dispatch / Spider-Man: No Way Home / Fistful of Vengeance / Finch / The King’s Man / Striking Distance / Cherry / The Beguiled / Kodachrome / Live Free or Die / Greyhound / On The Rocks / Four Lions / The Marksman / The Hunt / The Tender Bar / G.I. Joe: Retaliation / The Tomorrow War / Jack Reacher / Love and Monsters / I Want You Back / You Were Never Really Here / All The Old Knives / The Voyeurs / Uncle Frank / Arkansas / Chick Fight / The Informer / The Protege / Old / The Batman / Moonshot / Target Number One / Blow the Man Down / Uncharted / Bliss / Being the Ricardos / Honey Boy / The Banker / El Camino Christmas / Swan Song / Brothers By Blood / Interceptor / The Tragedy of Macbeth / Assassination Nation / Senior Year / Hold the Dark / Empire State / The Card Counter / I Am Vengeance: Retaliation / Hustle / We Die Young / In a Valley of Violence / Windfall / A Low Down Dirty Shame / Stillwater / Operation Mincemeat / The Man From Toronto / Cashback / Metal Lords / Monster / Illegally Yours / The Forgotten Battle / Debt Collectors / Final Score / Colossal / The Raid 2 / The Gray Man / Legacy of Lies / A Little Help / The Adam Project / Leave No Trace / My Awkward Sexual Adventure / Lost Bullet / Day Shift / Accident Man / The Player / Jurassic World Dominion / Language Lessons / 24 Hours to Live / Searching / Hick / Kimi / Red Rocket / The Survivor / Texas Killing Fields / The Captive / Kill Me Three Times / 10 Items or Less / The Age of Adaline / Resdient Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City / Riot / Me Time / Brawl in Cell Block 99 / Lou / The Outsider / Last Seen Alive / Running Scared / Running Scared / Traveller / Moonfall / Assassins / ’71 / Diggers / The Bubble / Pride & Prejudice / The Devil’s Own / The Promotion / The Slammin’ Salmon / Management / Luckiest Girl Alive / Ghost Dog: Way of the Samurai / I Came By / Thor: Love and Thunder / Violet & Daisy / Navy Seals / A Call to Spy / The Lost City / The Worst Person in the World / The Beach Bum / AEon Flux / The Vicious Kind / The Good Nurse / Father Stu / Top Gun: Maverick / The Stranger / The Wild and Wonderful Whites of West Virginia / Shark / Three Songs for Benazir / White Hot: The Rise & Fall of Abercrombie & Fitch / Boys State / Untold: The Rise and Fall of AND1 / Lead Me Home / Anelka: Misunderstood / Trust No One: The Hunt for the Crypto King / Running With the Devil: The Wild World of John McAfee / The Tuck Rule / DMX: Don’t Try to Understand / Travelin’ Band: Creedence Clearwater Revival at the Royal Albert Hall / Girl in the Picture / My Best Friend Anne Frank / A Prayer Before Dawn / Slackers / Everly / Licorice Pizza / Ingrid Goes West / Slice / When We Were Bullies / State of Alabama vs Brittany Smith / Compliance / Ask Me Anything / Race / Belfast / Dracula Untold / Stories We Tell / Where the Crawdads Sing / All About Steve / A River Runs Through It / Powder Blue / The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent / The Noel Diary / Official Secrets / Spaceballs / Bullet Train / Mojave / Robin Robin / Heroin(e) / Nope / Rubber / Some Kind of Wonderful / Humboldt County / The Redeem Team / The Banshees of Inisherin / Emily the Criminal / Black Adam / Green Room / Into the Forest / The Bad Guys / The Wonder / She’s Funny That Way / Blonde / Audible / Blacklight / Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery / The 355 / Causeway
Limited Series Watched
Station Eleven / Mare of Easttown / Bad Vegan: Fame. Fraud. Fugitives. / The Most Hated Man on the Internet / Trainwreck: Woodstock ’99 / Tiger King: The Doc Antle Story / Untold: The Girlfriend Who Didn’t Exist / DMZ / The Woman in the House Across the Street from the Girl in the Window / Low Country: The Murdaugh Dynasty / Penguin Town
Stand-Up & Event Specials Watched
Aziz Ansari: Nightclub Comedian / Ali Wong: Dirty Wong / Mo Amer: Mohammed in Texas / Michelle Buteau: Welcome to Buteaupia / Jimmy Carr: His Dark Material / Def Comedy Jam 25 / Taylor Tomlinson: Look at You / Mike Epps: Indiana Mike / Tom Segura: Completely Normal / Tom Segura: Disgraceful / Ronny Chieng: Speakeasy / Bill Burr: Paper Tiger / Anjelah Johnson: Not Fancy / David Spade: Nothing Personal / Aziz Ansari: Buried Alive / A Farewell to Ozark / Pete Davidson Presents: The Best Friends / Bumping Mics with Jeff Ross & Dave Attell / D.L. Hughley: Contrarian / Jack Whitehall: I’m Only Joking / Judah Friedlander: America Is the Greatest Country in the United States / Jenny Slate: Stage Fright / Mo Gilligan: Momentum / Sheng Wang: Sweet & Juicy / Patton Oswalt: We All Scream / Fortune Feimster: Good Fortune / Nick Kroll: Little Big Boy / Iliza Shlesinger: Hot Forever / Chris Redd: Why Am I Like This? / The Laughter & Secrets of Love Actually: 20 Years Later / Hasan Minhaj: The King’s Jester / Hasan Minhaj: Homecoming King / Dave Chappelle: The Closer
TV Seasons Watched
Arrested Development S5 / Atlanta S3 / Banshee S3-4 / Barry S3 / Black-ish S8 / Bridgerton S1 / Cobra Kai S4-5 / Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee S1-11 / Derry Girls S1-3 / House of the Dragon S1 / Insecure S5 / Inside the World’s Toughest Prisons S6 / The Neighborhood S4 / Never Have I Ever S3 / Ozark S4 / Reacher S1 / Silicon Valley S1-2 / The Standups S3 / Ted Lasso S1-2 / Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem, & Madness S2 / Yellowstone S1
Books Read
The Last Stand of Payne Stewart: The Year Golf Changed Forever / The Wondering Years: How Pop Culture Helped Me Answer Life’s Biggest Questions