Every new movie I watched in 2022, ranked
Plus, a quick update on the future of The Long Shot.
Hello movie friends — a quick update before today’s post:
I start my last semester of law school next week, so the newsletters will be sparse over the coming months (I do have an Academy Awards post planned).
But The Long Shot will be fully armed and operational soon. This year, I’ll get back to writing deep dives on the movies I love — just as soon as I graduate from law school in May and
passtake the bar exam in July.Today’s rankings are entirely personal to me. So, I’m not saying Don’t Worry Darling is an objectively better movie than, say, The Banshees of Inisherin. I’m just saying one is more my vibe than the other.
The list is limited to movies that came out in 2022 that I watched in 2022.
Onto the rankings.
24. Amsterdam
Margot Robbie revealed that police shut down the filming of Amsterdam, telling the crew and cast that they “have to stop. Like, you guys have to stop. Please.” That’s how I felt watching the final product. It’s one of only three movies that I’ve ever considered walking out of. David O. Russell’s 12th film is a catastrophe. The entire movie hinges on the strength of the relationship between the three main characters, played by Robbie, Christian Bale, and John David Washington, and it constantly tries to tell us why they’re such great pals, but outside of a brief and unconvincing montage set in Amsterdam, it never shows us why. Exacerbating the problem is the complete lack of chemistry between the leads. Robbie and Bale are two of my favorite actors, and I generally like Russell’s films, but Amsterdam is a failure in storytelling — a movie that thinks it’s both far better, smarter, and more emotional than it actually is. It’s so bad that I haven’t been able to stomach a Bale film since because he reminds me too much of Amsterdam.
Score: 1/10
23. Devotion
Devotion squanders the remarkable true story of African American naval officer Jesse Brown (Jonathan Majors) and his friendship with fellow aviator Tom Hudner (Glen Powell) during the Korean War by telling the story through Hudner’s eyes. The result is a movie that tries to tell us about the hardships Brown faced rather than allowing us to experience it through his eyes. The movie tries too hard to force emotion into every scene even though the story itself is naturally emotional. Instead of letting the story speak for itself, the filmmakers try to squeeze every ounce of emotion out of the story to the point where it becomes overwrought. The flying sequences lack the tension and innovation of Top Gun: Maverick; it almost felt like I was watching someone play a video game with zero stakes. Powell undeniably oozes charisma, which allows him to flourish in a supporting role in Maverick. But in the lead role that requires emotion beyond charisma in Devotion, he delivers a flat performance. One of my biggest disappointments of the year, because it should’ve been so much better.
Score: 3/10
22. Men
Alex Garland is one of my favorite filmmakers (I wrote about my love for Ex Machina here), but Men is his first miss as a director. I admire his ambition, appreciate what he was aiming for, Jessie Buckley carries the movie, the beginning is intriguing, and the ending is a stunning visual display, but the concept as a whole doesn’t quite work as a feature film. If anything, it would’ve been better suited for a short film.
Score: 3/10
21. Glass Onion
I wrote about my issues with Rian Johnson’s sequel to Knives Out here. In short, entertaining but empty with too many inexplicable plot holes to ignore.
Score: 3/10
20. 13 Lives
There’s nothing inherently wrong with 13 Lives. Per usual, Ron Howard provides a perfectly entertaining movie, a moving portrayal of the Tham Luang cave rescue starring Viggo Mortensen, Colin Farrell, Joel Edgerton, and Tom Bateman. But, through no fault of its own, the movie’s impact was a bit lost on me, as I had recently watched the (very good) documentary on the same topic a few months prior, and the movie is almost a beat for beat dramatized version of the documentary. If I had seen 13 Lives first, I probably would’ve liked it more. If you haven’t seen either, I’d recommend watching either 13 Lives or The Rescue, but not both.
Score: 7/10
19. Beast
I have a soft spot for animal vs. human movies — from The Shallows to Crawl. Beast is about a lion vs. Idris Elba (and his family). It’s pure entertainment with some forced family emotion shoved down our throats. It’s perfectly fun and fine. Next for fans of the genre? Cocaine Bear, baby.
Score: 7/10
18. Bullet Train
Empty calories that taste good. There are a few too many cameos that detract from the story, but with a charismatic cast anchored by Brad Pitt, Bullet Train is fun as heck and nothing more. I had a good time, but haven’t thought about it since.
Score: 7/10
17. The Woman King
Viola Davis rules. Outside of a half-baked attempt at a love story that could’ve been cut from the story, The Woman King is great fun. But I don’t really understand the Best Picture buzz.
Score: 7/10
16. Nope
Nope felt like the rough draft of a great movie. I’m not the biggest horror fan and I didn’t particularly like Us (Jordan Peele’s follow up to the great Get Out), so it might just be a me thing. At the very least, Nope kept me engaged from start to finish. I’m just not entirely sure all of it worked. As an aside, Daniel Kaluuya is at the top of my wishlist for the next James Bond, but it sounds like Aaron Taylor-Johnson is on track to get the gig (hyphenated last names, unite).
Score: 7/10
15. Avatar: The Way of Water
Doubt Big Jim at your own peril. After a decade of the internet telling us that nobody cares about Avatar, James Cameron’s sequel is nearing the $3 billion threshold at the global box office, likely ensuring that Avatar 3, 4, and 5 will be made — also meaning that Cameron is now responsible for three of the 10 biggest movies ever made (Titanic and Avatar 1-2). I enjoyed The Way of Water. Like the first Avatar, it offers an incredible theatrical experience. But I didn’t enjoy it as much as the first. Some of the wonder of exploring Pandora has dissolved, there’s a little too much action for my liking, and the Spider story didn’t do it for me, but as a moviegoing experience, it’s undeniable. Plus, there are whales. The ocean is dope. See it in theaters because it won’t hold up at home. The visual experience alone is worth it.
Score: 7/10
14. The Outfit
Now here’s a movie that is as clever as it thinks it is. If you’re looking for a crime thriller starring the great Mark Rylance, set entirely within a small tailor shop in 1950s Chicago, with a brisk runtime of 106 minutes, fire up The Outfit. One of the most pleasant moviegoing experiences I had in 2022, but there’s no reason the film’s quality won’t hold up at home.
Score: 8/10
13. The Banshees of Inisherin
Colin Farrell is sensational and his performance provides a reminder that he could be a full-fledged movie star if he wanted to be one rather than making quirky movies about loneliness and friendship. But the movie is delightful — not entirely my preferred type of movie, but that’s on me, not the movie. It wasn’t my favorite of the year, but I’d have no qualms if it emerges as an Oscars darling.
Score: 8/10
12. White Noise
I never read the book it’s based on, but Noah Baumbach’s adapted film is great for the first two acts before offering diminishing returns in the third. But those first two acts are engrossing. Adam Driver’s performance as a professor of “Hitler studies” is good enough to almost make me want him to win Best Actor and the second act, when the airborne toxic event brings anxiety and mayhem to the college town, is where the movie hits its stride. It reminded me in so many ways of Spielberg — a combination of fun, humor, and terror as a family flees disaster and grapples with the unknown. As someone who spent his mid-20s thinking about and fearing death, I connected with the material. Although the third act is a disappointment, Baumbach at least sticks the landing; the ending works.
Score: 8/10
11. The Batman
Brooding, dark, emo, Nirvana, and nearly three hours, The Batman is the superhero film designed for me — someone who hasn’t seen a Marvel movie since Captain Marvel (it was fine) and hasn’t mostly enjoyed one since Black Panther. On first watch in a loud theater, I was convinced that it would end up in my top five of the year. But a subsequent rewatch dragged at times. I still think it’s good. It’s the exact kind of superhero movie I want to watch. But the runtime hangs heavy outside the theater. As an aside, the score by Michael Giacchino is perfect working music, and just writing this paragraph got “Something In The Way” stuck in my head again.
Score: 8/10
10. Causeway
Causeway is the return to form that Jennifer Lawrence desperately needed. A couple years ago, I wrote about J-Law’s unfortunate downward trajectory, ending with this note: “After proving her viability as the star of a blockbuster franchise and then experimenting with riskier choices over the past few years, it might be time for Lawrence to get back to basics by playing a more normal human being going through more normal human being shit.” That’s exactly what Causeway is: a story about an Army engineer (Lawrence) who returns home to New Orleans after suffering a traumatic brain injury abroad and forges a friendship with a car mechanic (Brian Tyree Henry) who is dealing with his own trauma. It’s small and simple; even though they filmed war flashbacks, director Lila Neugebauer decided to cut them from the film entirely and focus on the relationship between Lawrence and Henry’s characters. It works. Causeway is a poignant examination of trauma, grief, and trying to move on.
Score: 8/10
9. The Northman
Visceral, a visual masterpiece, and with two great performances from Alexander Skarsgard and Anya Taylor-Joy, The Northman was one of my favorite moviegoing experiences of 2022. I regret not seeing it twice. The action sequences floored me and Taylor-Joy continues to win every movie she’s in (must be that hyphenated last name).
Score: 8/10
8. Babylon
Chaotic and three-plus hours in length, Babylon ain’t for everyone. But if you love movies about movies, dazzling sequences, big performances (hello Margot Robbie), and a movie that feels like it’s running on enough drugs to sedate Manhattan, Long Island, and Queens for a month, then Babylon is the movie for you. It’s not my favorite Damien Chazelle movie, but it’s my favorite of his since Whiplash. It’s a touch too long, but it never feels like Chazelle is filling time — if anything, the character arcs demanded another 20 or 30 minutes. It's flawed, but I appreciate a movie that is going for it, and Babylon is really going for it. Most of the time, it hits its target, and when it inevitably misses the mark, it’s easily forgiven. This feels like a movie that’ll grow in esteem as the years pass. There’s a sequence between the beginning and middle of the film that might be my favorite 30 or 40 minutes I saw on screen this year — when Diego Calva’s character shows up on a movie set for the first time in his life and is given an impossible task integral to the completion of the film and Robbie’s character acts on camera for the first time and we witness a star being born — which turned me into the living embodiment of that Martin Scorsese meme: This is cinema.
Score: 8/10
7. Kimi
Finally, a pandemic movie that doesn’t feel forced. In a star performance from Zoe Kravitz, an anxious and agoraphobic tech worker uncovers a murder overheard by the tech company’s Alexa-like device. Kimi is straightforward and to the point, clocking in at a brisk 89 minutes, and Steven Soderbergh’s distinct filmmaking style shines as he finds effective ways to put us in her head as her anxiety makes us feel like the air around her is slowly suffocating her.
Score: 8/10
6. Don’t Worry Darling
Add this to the list of movies that I like far more than the critics and well, nearly everyone else. It’s certainly not perfect; Harry Styles is out of his depth acting opposite the great Florence Pugh and the twist might not do it for you. But the cinematography of the idyllic setting, Pugh’s performance, and Olivia Wilde’s direction were enough to win me over, perhaps preying on my low expectations after seeing the mostly negative reviews. Above all else, the story and concept — yes, including the twist — worked for me, and Pugh is electric. I loved it.
Score: 8/10
5. Tar
In which Cate Blanchett submits the best acting performance of the year and Todd Field directs the best scene of the year (if you’ve seen it, you can probably guess which one I’m talking about). It’s a mesmerizing and grueling film that I’m still thinking about, mostly because of Blanchett’s commanding performance, but also because of the subject matter and how far Field is willing to push the film into the grey.
Score: 9/10
4. She Said
She Said is methodical, understated, and procedural in nature, from the way the story is told (there’s a lot of phone calls) to the performances of both Carey Mulligan and Zoe Kazan, and that’s why I love it, because that’s often what print journalism is: methodical, understated, and procedural, and practiced by the unsung. It never reaches the heights of Spotlight, but it fits somewhere between Spotlight and The Post. If you’re a sucker for journalism movies like me, you’ll love it. I’ve seen some complaints that Hollywood is indulging itself by making a movie about the predator that Hollywood itself enabled, but the movie is not a celebration of Hollywood. To the contrary, She Said is a celebration of the journalists who helped bring down a predator despite a system that enabled him and a touching tribute to the victims. It’s an upsetting but ultimately moving picture — demonstrating the power of principled journalism in a modern world. And it handles the delicate subject matter tactfully.
Score: 10/10
3. Top Gun: Maverick
Tom Cruise still got it. But Maverick is more than just Cruise; it’s also a testament to director Joseph Kosinski, who I reckon is the most underrated filmmaker in Hollywood today (Only the Brave is one of my favorite movies of the past decade). The flying sequences are sick, the film manages to capture the spirit of the original without feeling redundant, and the story adds a layer of emotion that the first one lacked. Maverick is the rare example of a sequel exceeding the original. This is peak blockbuster moviemaking. For what it’s trying to be, Maverick is perfect.
Score: 10/10
2. The Fabelmans
If not for that one Tar scene, The Fablemans would’ve featured my favorite scene of the year, a scene that captures the entire spirit of the movie, a semi-autobiographical film directed by Stephen Spielberg. It’s prom night. Sammy, a high school senior, has just shown the entire senior class his movie documenting their trip to Santa Cruz. But instead of accepting his accolades, Sammy is sitting alone in the hallway, against the lockers. His bully leaves the dance to confront him. He wants to know why Sammy shot the film in a way to flatter him — why Sammy made him look like a god. The scene is a reflection of Spielberg realizing how to harness the power of cinema beyond using it merely as a vessel of entertainment, but also as a way to change people by making them confront hard truths about themselves and the world. The Fabelmans is Spielberg’s best film in decades. It’s the one that he needed to make before he calls it quits. It’s the most earnest, heartbreaking, and heartwarming film I’ve seen in years, maybe since Boyhood (2014).
Score: 10/10
1. Prey
Prey is the only film I watched three times in 2022. Its single flaw? The release was limited to Hulu and it never received a theatrical run — a crime against movies. I pray subsequent sequels don’t suffer from the same fate. I won’t go long on Prey right now, because it deserves its own post at some point in the future, but for now I’ll say this: When I first saw it, I didn’t love it. I wanted a redux of Predator — a movie that succeeded not just because of Arnold and his crew of jacked commandos, but because it was more a horror film than action film, as the predator hid in the jungle, eluding sight until its final showdown with Arnold. When I watched Prey for the first time, I was thrown off by director Dan Trachtenberg’s decision to give the predator its own scenes, independent of the movie’s protagonist, showing off its design in broad daylight. But I returned to it a few months later and without the weight of my own expectations, Prey floored me. I was wrong. Trachtenberg was right to make Prey a pure action movie. Prey is a perfect example of how to do a sequel right. There are callbacks to the original, sure — from the mud to “If it bleeds, we can kill it” — but it doesn’t feel like a carbon copy of the original. Amber Midthunder is sensational as the heroine. Her dog is the perfect companion. And the action sequences are some of the best of the year. This is the definition of a rewatchable. As I wrote when they announced Prey, I hope the Predator franchise sticks with this conception: Drop a single predator into a cool historical setting and let it wreak havoc. So, it’s good news then that the next installment reportedly will be set in feudal Japan. Predator v. Samurai? In the words of Little Richard, “Oh baby. Yes baby. Woooooo baby.”
Score: 10/10
Movies I missed, but want to see:
All Quiet On The Western Front
Armageddon Time
Barbarian
Crimes of the Future
Decision to Leave
Elvis
Everything Everywhere All At Once
Pale Blue Eye
RRR
The Whale
X
Did I miss a movie? Leave a comment and I’ll add it to my list.
Maverick was a recycled movie plot that mirrors the last movie or any other Cruise movie. The plane scenes keep the movie moving. But think , without the F-18’s, what’s the point? They could send cruise missles and do the same thing. Why send your best pilots to die?
Typical Cruise movie line. Tom has his last chance not to screw up. Gets himself and or others in shape to win the challenge. Has a hard time getting the challenge. Does the challenge. Some people die, but never Tommy! Tommy fights his way out. And wins the girl in the end. Boring….