Top 10 Movies of 2022

Honorable Mentions (in alphabetical order):

Emily the Criminal

Everything Everywhere All at Once

Pleasure

Smile

Watcher

10.X:

After multiple years as a director-for-hire on the horror/thriller TV circuit, Ti West returned to the world of feature films with a bang. While West's ode to 70's slashers eventually turns into a darkly comedic, sleazy gorefest that would've played like gangbusters in horror's grindhouse/bootleg VHS era, his ability to build up a slowly intensifying atmosphere of dread, develop every character and provide some compelling commentary on aging, body image and the power of lust and desire before the killing starts is what helps elevate X from a great genre entry to a great film period.

9.Scream:

Simply calling Scream a successful reboot or legacy sequel feels kind of disrespectful. By picking the ideal targets for satire (toxic online fandom, the concept of "elevated horror", legacy reboots) and finding a clever way to tie a new generation of characters-played by a terrific ensemble that includes Melissa Barrera, Jack Quaid, Jenna Ortega, Jasmin Savoy-Brown, Mason Gooding, Mikey Madison and Dylan Minette- to the franchise's established protagonists (Neve Campbell's Sidney Prescott, Courtney Cox's Gale Weathers, David Arquette's Dewey Riley), the director duo of Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett (Ready or Not) made something that authentically honors Wes Craven's legacy while also expanding the lore with a thoughtful examination of the scars Sidney, Gale and Dewey picked up from fighting Ghostface over the years. Seeing where the franchise goes from here with this primary cast and director team should be incredibly exciting.

8.Emergency:

The 2022 Edition of Sundance proved to be one of the most loaded lineups the indie festival has had in recent memory with very-well received flicks such as Cha Cha Real Smooth, Emily the Criminal and Fresh counting themselves among the dozens of films that premiered there. Of all the films that screened there that I was able to see in 2022, Emergency ended being my favorite. Cary Williams' remarkable directorial debut about a group of Black and Latino college students (Donald Elise Watkins, RJ Cyler, Sebastian Chacon-who are all phenomenal) that have their end-of-semester Friday night plans upended when they find a White girl (Maddie Nichols) passed out in their apartment finds equal time for goofy situational comedy, white-knuckle suspense, honest heart-to-heart conversations between close friends that seem to be heading in different directions in life and purposeful commentary on race and how people of color are viewed not only by the police, but by Whites in general situations of distress without ever feeling disjointed or overstuffed. 

7.Vengeance:

Add B.J. Novak to the growing list of actors who nailed their directorial debuts. Vengeance is a deeply cynical, consistently hilarious look at how the age of the internet has destroyed people's ability to get to really know each other and intensified the superficial human desire to create an image of yourself that is radically different from who you really are. Throw in a great mystery hook that drives the plot forward, some terrific performances by Boyd Holbrook, Issa Rae, Ashton Kutcher (he's never played a character like this before) and Novak himself and a nerve-wracking final act that hammers home its messages with brutal efficiency and you have yourself a true multi-faceted gem of a film.

6.Jackass Forever:

What a perfect sendoff to the men who taught the world just how much active torture the human penis can endure without falling off. Jackass Forever features some of the most insane, disgusting and laugh-out-loud funny stunts that these comedy icons have ever done and getting to see Johnny Knoxville and co.'s swan song in a theater with a group of people that appreciated this crew's legacy of doing stupid stuff to make the people that you love laugh was a uniquely joyous, oddly heartwarming experience that I'll always cherish.  

5.Ambulance:

Let's acknowledge how Ambulance was Michael Bay's idea of "a small, contained movie he could make during the pandemic". What Bay views as a low-key return to work birthed by COVID restrictions is an electrifying carnival of relentless chaos that dedicates 90% of its running time to a failed bank heist that immediately turns into a car chase/hostage situation that features breathtakingly frantic editing/camerawork including revolutionary use of drones that will be mimicked into oblivion by lesser action films over the next 2-3 years, crazy practical stunt driving/explosions that reenforce why real movie magic is always better than CGI and 3 veteran actors (Jake Gyllenhaal, Yaya Abdul-Mateen, Eiza Gonzalez) fully buying into the freewheeling atmosphere with performances that flawlessly sell whatever absurdity, melodrama or intensity a specific scene calls for. In other words, Ambulance represents Bay at his chaotic best and we can only hope that he blesses the world with more "small, contained movies" in the future.   

4.Glass Onion:

Glass Onion is Rian Johnson's way of showing off as he somehow made a sequel to Knives Out that tops the predecessor in every possible way. The jokes are funnier, the ensemble features an even deeper roster of terrific actors crushing their respective roles (everybody is great, but Janelle Monae, Kate Hudson and Edward Norton are the top standouts) and the mid-film twist that shattered Ben Shapiro's galaxy brain into a zillion pieces slowly builds towards an incredible final scene that couldn't have possibly provided a better conclusion to this mystery that at first seems complex but is slowly revealed to be very obvious and really silly. At this rate, I hope Johnson doesn't stop making Benoit Blanc mysteries until him and/or Daniel Craig retire from the industry.

3.The Banshees of Inisherin:

Following up his worst movie with arguably his best one is one hell of a power move by Martin McDonagh. The British-Irish playwright turned filmmaker is fully dialed into his existentialist zone on this equally hysterical and tragic film about how the sudden, inexplicable dissolvement of a relationship, feeling trapped in a place and whether or not someone is feeling fulfilled as an individual can dramatically affect the quality of their life and how they treat other people. If it were up to me, The Banshees of Inisherin would dominate the acting/writing/directing portion of every single awards show as I feel no other film in serious contention for these honors did anything as impressive as capture the wide range of human emotions McDonagh, Colin Farrell, Kerry Condon, Brendan Gleeson and Barry Keoghan did here.

2.Nope:

At a time where original blockbusters that are oozing with creativity and wonder are a depressingly rare breed, the existence of Nope feels like a minor miracle. Jordan Peele used all of the money he pocketed for Universal on Get Out and Us to leverage his way into being able to make his biggest movie to date: an eerie yet breathtaking alien invasion movie that doubles as a pointed commentary on humanity's love of exploitative spectacle and burning desire to become rich or famous by any means necessary as well as a deeply touching portrait on the powerful love/bond that forms between siblings in the wake of having a parent that didn't always give them the love or attention they needed that is played beautifully by Daniel Kaluuya and Keke Palmer. We need more films like this that meet at the intersection of ambition and entertainment, and it rules that Peele is going to continue to have carte blanche to make whatever the hell he wants for the foreseeable future.

Side note: If Brandon Perea doesn't become a big star after his hilarious, wildly charismatic performance as Angel-the electronics store employee who befriends Kaluuya and Palmer's characters after installing security cameras at their family horse ranch-Hollywood will deserves big ration of shit for actively ignoring an actor that radiates natural talent. 

1.The Batman: 

No amount of pre-release hype or tremendous trailers could've prepared me for the masterpiece that The Batman ended up being. Matt Reeves didn't just make a great Batman film, he put together the most intricate, awe-inspiring live action portrayal of the character thus far. Gotham is a place that is overflowing with darkness, danger and corruption. Bruce Wayne is a solemn recluse consumed by grief and rage who doubts his efforts to fight crime are actually making any positive impact on Gotham. So little is known about Batman that the citizens of Gotham fear him and the people actively terrorizing the city actually believe that he could be on their side. Selina Kyle is just a petty criminal seeking to find her missing friend. James Gordon is a veteran detective that is so fed up with the corruption in the Gotham Police Department that he finds himself with no choice but to trust the masked vigilante to help him achieve his goal of making Gotham safer. The Penguin is a low-level mobster who is struggling to get out of the shadow of his boss Carmine Falcone. Seeing these well-known characters transported back to the days before they became heroes or villains that inspire mass adoration or fear in an environment that is so full of visceral danger and uncertainty is exactly the fresh storytelling approach the character needed after all these years and getting to see how Reeves allows them to grow on a film-by-film basis should be an incredible gift (if the now extremely untrustworthy heads of Warner Brothers are generous enough to allow it to happen).