The Films I Watched, Old and New, in 2022

I fell out of reviewing each and every movie I watched in 2022, although a fair number still ended up on the blog (search by category on the home page if you are weird and want to go back and read them!), but I did keep a running list of what I watched. The ones I blogged about weren’t on that list, so it messed up my chronological ordering. I do know 1960’s Peeping Tom, and 1998’s Jack Frost were my first and final films of 2022, which is a fun juxtaposition reflecting my mind and eclectic tastes.

I think the most surprising, but not surprising fact about this list for me personally is the lack of theater-viewing and new release watching; I just didn’t get to the theater in 2022 as much as I would have liked. There are still a number of big 2022 films I have yet to see (not counting documentaries and foreign films) and would like to see, such as Everything Everywhere All at Once, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Top Gun: Maverick (even though I watched Top Gun for the first time in preparation!), Jurassic World Dominion, Lightyear, Elvis, The Black Phone, Thor: Love and Thunder, Smile, All Quiet on the Western Front, Black Adam, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, and Avatar: The Way of Water.

Brett of two years ago would be astonished at that list, particularly the superhero films he hadn’t yet seen. Those used to be appointment viewing at the theater! But life, she gets busy and has other plans! Anyhow.

A few of the themes I noticed while eyeballing my list below:

• I had a Sandra Bullock kick early in the year and was devouring as many of her films as I could. I’ve always been a huge fan of Bullock; she’s a legitimately great actress, and even films that aren’t the best, they’re made better by her presence, such as The Net.
  • A subset of this one is that I had a minor Julia Roberts kick as well, watching Pretty Woman and Stepmom.
• Nostalgia wins the day, of course. Sometimes, when I’m browsing the various streaming platforms I subscribe to, I rely on nostalgic picks, those films I remember loving as a kid and now, as an adult, wanting to revisit and see if they hold up. Films like Remember the Titans, Liar Liar, Mr. Deeds, Bruce Almighty, Big Momma’s House, and Jack Frost, and teen nostalgia, too, like Signs, Eraser, Eagle Eye (my 15-year-old self was obsessed with Shia LaBeouf), John Q, and Jeepers Creepers.
• Or maybe horror does; I started the year, after all, with a classic horror film I’d never seen before in Peeping Tom, I revisited The Exorcist for the first time in years, made the trip to the theater to see Halloween Ends (and watched Halloween II, and for the first time in full, Halloween III) and Scream, and there’s a slew of other horror films throughout the year that I watched, including the much talked about Terrifier II, and some surprisingly good low-budget horror films, like Pussycake (don’t let the name fool you; it’s more like the band Pussy Riot) and Dashcam. I also watched three of the I Know What You Did Last Summer films, and one that could also fit in the nostalgia category, Panic Room. Perhaps the best horror on my list, though, belongs to Barbarian (among new horror films).
  • A subset of my horror watching is I had went through a series of creature features, like Anaconda, Deep Blue Sea, and Lake Placid. Man, those are fun!
• Lights, Camera, Action! I love my action/thriller films, including a few Jason Statham vehicles, but also Shooter, Enemy of the State, The Terminator, and the new release of the year, Ambulance.
• I’m also a sap, though, and enjoy light-hearted films and/or rom-coms. Those included Date Night, Dirty Dancing, Something’s Gotta Give, Love and Basketball (also a nostalgic one), and I Want You Back.
• And finally, I did slip in one more classic film (definitely wish I had watched more classics!) toward the end of the year, watching Miracle on 34th Street for the first time. My issue with the film: Where’s the miracle?! The United States Post Office stepping in to save Santa isn’t a miracle, especially because of the bad motives on the part of the postal workers! I digress …
• Buuuut, what’s the best of the bunch? What’s the best of this list of films I watched in 2022, at least among new releases? The film won the prize in the first three months of the year: The Batman, with close runner ups being Nope and Barbarian.

My 2022 in film:

1. Peeping Tom
2. Remember the Titans
3. Scream (2022)
4. Jackass Forever
5. Texas Chainsaw Massacre
6. The Batman
7. The Rental
8. The Net
9. Stepmom
10. Anaconda
11. Coming Home in the Dark
12. Premonition
13. The Proposal
14. The Unforgivable
15. Lake Placid
16. Deep Blue Sea
17. Miss Congeniality
18. Murder by Numbers
19. The Heat
20. A Time to Kill
21. Liar Liar
22. Hollow Man
23. Mr. Deeds
24. Bruce Almighty
25. Pretty Woman
26. Shooter
27. Wrath of Man
28. Dirty Dancing
29. Something’s Gotta Give
30. Gerald’s Game
31. Enemy of the State
32. A Few Good Men
33. Parker
34. War of the Worlds
35. US Marshals
36. Signs
37. John Q
38. The Substitute
39. Eagle Eye
40. The Terminator
41. Date Night
42. Panic Room
43. Ambulance
44. Jeepers Creepers
45. Eraser
46. Love and Basketball
47. Meet the Parents
48. I Know What You Did Last Summer
49. Don’t Look Up
50. I Want You Back
51. Valentine
52. Stand by Me
53. Eternals
54. I’ll Always Know What You Did Last Summer
55. I Still Know What You Did Last Summer
56. The Shining
57. Prey
58. Girl in the Picture
59. Top Gun
60. Halloween 2
61. Army of One
62. Pussycake
63. Run Sweetheart Run
64. Terrifier
65. Terrifier II
66. Barbarian
67. Halloween III: Season of the Witch
68. The Hills Have Eyes (2006)
69. The Exorcist
70. Halloween Ends
71. Evil Dead (2013)
72. Censor
73. The Vanishing (1988)
74. Nope
75. Land of the Dead
76. Night of the Living Dead
77. Dashcam
78. The Ring
79. Big Momma’s House
80. Miracle on 34th St.
81. Jack Frost

Are any of your favorites, new or old, on this list?