2022 was honestly a really great year for movies. Now that the year is over it’s time for me to share my top 10 favorite movies of the year. Pretty much every film on this list are movies I would watch over and over again. As usual this list is based on my personal opinions.
Honorable Mention: Top Gun: Maverick
10. Elvis:
Like Baz Luhrmann’s other films, this one is pure eye candy thanks to Baz’s terrific directing and Matt Villa’s amazing editing. Austin Butler is perfect as Elvis and his downward spiel is very tragic to watch. Tom Hanks as the Colonel is enjoyably despicable and it’s very refreshing to see Hanks as villain.
9. The Batman:
Never thought a DC movie would top all the Marvel movies this year. Robert Patterson is a great Batman and the Riddler was a great villain. This film also has one of the best Gotham Cities I’ve seen since 1989 thanks to the great cinematography and directing from Matt Reeves.
8. The Bad Guys:
Sly Cooper is one of my favorite game series so this film spoke to me. The cell shaded animation and cartoonish character designs make this one of the most amazing DreamWorks films to look at. Every character has a great design and great voice that gives them so much life.
7. Nope:
Like Jordan Peele’s other films, Nope manages to balance being both scary and funny. I love the sibling’s dynamic and the unique take on the spaceship. Tying the alien ship to the central theme on the spectacular and trying to tame the untamable is handle very well.
6. The Bob’s Burgers Movie:
Before I start, I just want to say that the Christmas episode this year, The Plight Before Christmas is a fantastic episode and one of my personal favorites. It has all the charm of the show along with flued 2d animation. Anyone who watches and loves the show will love this.
5. Weird: The Al Yankovic Story:
FYI, my review of this film was a parody review. This is probably the funniest movie of the year. The idea of doing a parody biography of a song parody singer is genius. Every actor gives a hilarious performance but of course the real stand out was Daniel Radcliffe as Weird Al.
4. Puss in Boots: The Last Wish:
I think this was DreamWorks’s best year for animation in a long time. I loved all the new characters and I love that this film managed to do multiple villains perfectly. The animation is some of the best the studio has ever done and I love that DreamWorks took inspiration from Spider-Verse for their films this year.
3. Everything Everywhere all at Once:
Everything about this movie is like a drug trip. Every actor from Ke Huy Quan, Jamie Lee Curtis and James Hong is at their A game here, especially Michelle Yeoh and Stephanie Ann Hsu. The action is both badass and hilarious and the different universes were all unique and visually amazing.
2. Glass Onion A Knives Out Mystery:
Technically this is my favorite movie of 2022 since number one was released in Japan last year. Benoit Blanc is one of the greatest characters ever thanks to Daniel Craig nailing it again. Much like the first film both Rian Johnson’s directing and writing are pitch perfect and the cast pull off great performances.
1. Belle/Pompo the Cinephile:
They say the best movie is one that touches you personally and emotionally and each of these films has accomplished that along with having both great animation and great relatable protagonists. Pompo the Cinephile touched me personally because I am also a cinephile and I took editing classes in college. This film also gave me great advice about editing and directing. Belle touched me emotionally, there were scenes that made me choke up especially the “A Million Miles Away” scene. I watched this around the time I just started my Letterboxd account. It’s a great commentary on the escapism and deceptiveness of social media. These animes aren’t just my favorite movies of the year, there also both my favorite anime films of all time and two of my favorite movies of all time.
You can also check out my ranking of all the movies I’ve seen here. What were your favorite movies of 2022?
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