Frederic Bourgeois-LeBlanc

What 2022 made clear for me, and surely for all of you dear readers, is that going to the theatres to enjoy the latest releases is a ‘niche’ activity, and a lot more exclusive, so surely less accessible. No kidding, I think the only times I went to theatres were to see blockbusters and superhero movies (minus a few exceptions). For one of those reasons, we have known filmmakers like Quentin Tarantino, Martin Scorsese and Steven Spielberg saying loud and clear that this is a difficult era for films. Auteur movies seem to be confined to streaming platforms and video on demand, where the guarantee for profit is more important. Many good movies in 2022 though, especially for big-budget productions. There are two clear winners on that front I think: The Batman and Top Gun: Maverick. The former is a reboot of the Dark Knight universe with a darker, grittier and detective movie tone, where there are similarities with classic thrillers like Seven (1995), Zodiac (2008) and Insomnia (2002). The latter is Tom Cruise’s biggest hit at the Box Office in his whole career and proof that sequels CAN in fact be better than the original. Again, both were specially made for the cinemas and were memorable experiences.

Although I still have to see many of the strong Golden Globes and Oscar contenders, my list will give you interesting finds that are easily available on streaming services and Apple TV (or soon-to-be). Enjoy 😉

His favourite movies:

1) The Batman (directed by Matt Reeves)
2) The Menu (directed by Mark Mylod)
3) Top Gun: Maverick (directed by Joseph Kosinski)
4) The Banshees of Inisherin (directed by Martin McDonagh)
5) Fresh (directed by Mimi Cave)

Honourable mentions:

– Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio (directed by Guillermo del Toro)
– Kimi (directed by Steven Soderbergh)
– Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (directed by Rian Johnson)
– Everything Everywhere All at Once (directed by Dan Kwan & Daniel Scheinert)
– Halloween Ends (directed by David Gordon Green)
– Good Luck to You, Leo Grande (directed by Sophie Hyde)
– The Woman King (directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood)
– Prey (directed by Dan Trachtenberg)
– Bodies Bodies Bodies (directed by Halina Reijn)
– Confess, Fletch (directed by Greg Mottola)
– Don’t Worry Darling (directed by Olivia Wilde)
– Bullet Train (directed by David Leitch)
– Avatar: The Way of Water (directed by James Cameron)

His favourite TV series:

– House of the Dragon, season 1 (HBO Max/Crave)
– Stranger Things, season 4 (Netflix)
– Andor, season 1 (Disney +)
– The Crown, season 5 (Netflix)
–  My Next Guest… with David Letterman and Volodymyr Zelenskyy (Netflix)

His bad apples:

– Blonde (directed by Andrew Dominik)
– Jurassic World Dominion (directed by Colin Trevorrow)
– Black Adam (directed by Jaume Collet-Serra)

Sean Gallagher

I have my yearly wrap-up posted on the site, which includes brief paragraphs explaining my picks. So for a full top ten, you can check that out here. For the condensed version, read on! In short though, 2022 was a great year to get away from the superhero genre I found. Sure, there’s one in my top five, but you’ll notice I skewed away from the genre more this year, something that becomes more evident when my most anticipated 2023 comes out. So I hope this list is refreshing for you.

His Favourite Movies

1-Top Gun: Maverick

2-The Batman

3-All Quiet on the Western Front

4-Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio

5-The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent

Honourable Mentions:

Prey

RRR

Everything, Everywhere All At Once

Bad apples

Jurassic World Dominion

Thor Love and Thunder

His Favourite TV

Andor

Alexander Abbey

Favorite Movies

Prey

Puss in Boots: The Last Wish

The Northman

Uncharted

Eric Hanson

His Favorites.

1 – Everything Everywhere All At Once

2 – Avatar: The Way of Water

3 – Halloween Ends

4 – The Whale

5 – Violent Night

As always, we’d love to see your ranking and favourite films of the year! So sound off in the comments!