An interesting year in movies, as the industry recovers from the pandemic. A number of big movies held over for the return of audiences to the cinema hit early in the year, and a few of the US summer blockbusters landed well, but it was also clear in the second half of the year that the pandemic had effected the movie pipeline, and there just wasn’t the content you’d expect.

Lots of really good and fun movies this year, less great movies.

The industry is also getting much better at making good smaller budget movies.

41 movies seen in the cinema this year, which isn’t bad considering the circumstances.

As I’ve done in the past couple of years, I’ll list new movies which I saw on streaming (either because they were direct to streaming, or I missed the cinema window), but as I didn’t see them in the cinema they don’t get a number.

1. Belfast

Belfast won the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay, and for my money should have won Kenneth Branagh the Best Director Oscar this year. It’s a delightful and perfectly crafted film, which tells the story of Belfast in the late 1960s through some wonderful characters. It always feels real and personal, and is just lovely. Judi Dench with her best role in years.

2. Elvis

This was a spectacular show; the colour and the movement and the sound were at the peak of what a film can do. Austin Butler was incredible in the title role, making Elvis seem both real and legend, and surely deserves a Best Actor nomination come awards time.

Most Elvis biopics very obviously can’t wait to get to the “fat Elvis” part of the story, so this one gets big points for instead focusing on the earlier part of the story. Only downside was Tom Hanks’ bizarre performance.

3. The Menu

Hard to find anything wrong with this movie. I was utterly gripped by the plot and the performances, and genuinely had NO idea where the movie was going to go, or what would happen next. Visually sumptuous, it was just an excellent movie.

However, don’t think about the plot too hard; I fear if I do it’ll all fall apart a little too easily!

Glass Onion

Even better than Knives Out, this was just an engaging movie. Packed with a cast of actors and actresses big at the moment, and directed with a light touch which keeps the pace up without every seeming forced, and uses neat tricks without ever seeming showy.

Possibly Daniel Craig’s most enjoyable role.

But I did think Hugh Grant was the butler.

4. The Batman

This makes the top 5 because of the cinematography and sound. Another truly spectacular movie from 2022. Paul Dano was excellent as The Riddler, easily the best Batman villain for quite a while. Went a little off the rails in the last act, but then, so did The Dark Knight.

5. Sublet

An Israeli film set in Tel Aviv, about a gay travel writer who sublets a room from a younger gay local. The film explores the beauty of life in Tel Aviv, whilst exploring the cultural clash between two gay men from very different generations. The script often leads you to expect the characters will follow movie conventions, but then has them act like real people instead. A really lovely film.

6. Top Gun: Maverick

Whilst not a fan of the rather dull original, I walked out of the highest grossing movie of 2022 just smiling! It’s just incredible fun, even more visually exciting than the first, but actually has a plot and characters, setting it above the 1980 version. Tom Cruise shows why he’s such a successful actor, and Miles Teller is the perfect foil. Sometimes movies should just be FUN, and this is INCREDIBLY FUN!

7. See How They Run

A very witty and enjoyable tribute to The Mousetrap, starring Sam Rockwell and Saoirse Ronan, which is a hoot from end to end. Plenty of laughs, and some very clever moments.

8. Everything Everywhere all at Once

One of the movies in 2022 which really grew an audience by word of mouth, and rightly so. This clever sci-fi premise throws some big and bizarre concepts at the audience, but never leaves them confused. Michelle Yeoh is superb, and deserves high recognition, as do the directors.

9. The Banshees of Inisherin

A simple tale set on an island off the coast of Ireland, as the end of the Civil War. Director Martin McDonagh uses the scenic Irish coastal location perfectly, but it’s the performances which make this story work. Colin Farrell gives a career best performance full of depth and subtlety, and Barry Keoghan deserves the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for this film. The plot is unusual, raw, and leaves the audience guessing. Very worthy of the Top10.

10. Where the Crawdads Sing

Another film which seemed to come from nowhere this year, and find a strong audience over several weeks. The story starts in one place, and finishes in a very different place, with a couple of nicely played twists. The beautiful North Carolina location is a big party of the story, which is part murder mystery and part coming of age. Daisy Edgar-Jones & Harris Dickinson the stand outs.

11. Jurassic World Dominion

A fun film with lots of cool dinosaurs, which I really enjoyed.

The lack of really following through on the “dinosaurs out in the world” premise though means it doesn’t make the top 10.

12. Scream

There are a lot of Scream sequels which are “ok”, but this one was really good! Hits all the notes you want a Scream movie to hit, and throws in a couple of fresh ideas as well which build neatly on the “meta” concept of the franchise. Another film this year with lots of cast members for stuff you’ve seen recently.

13. The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent

It’s Nicholas Cage and Pedro Pascal having a lot of fun, in a silly little movie. What’s not to love? It’s not groundbreaking or profound, but I walked out very happy.

14. The King’s Man

I’m a fan of this franchise, and this movie delivered well. All the action and adventure you’d expect of these movies, along with the darker moments and throwing a few effective story punches. Harris Dickenson strong in his first lead role.

15. Black Adam

The DC movies aren’t sure where to go at the moment, but this was a solid entry for them. A good superhero movie, with some good laughs, which didn’t outstay its welcome. All things rarer than they should be at the moment.

16. Speer Goes to Hollywood

This documentary is a fascinating insight into how history is formed, as we see first hand accounts of how Albert Speer tried to create a legacy as “the good Nazi” contrasted with the reality we now know.

17. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

It’s very hard to fairly rate this movie, given the death of Chadwick Boseman. The tributes to Boseman are classy and powerful, and the story works well. There are plenty of nice set pieces. But I didn’t find much of it really lasting. A very good job in the circumstances, but good rather than great.

18. The Lost City

A really enjoyable romp! Sandra Bullock and Channing Tatum are a perfect pairing, but remembering to enjoy the movie, whilst Daniel Radcliffe is ideal as a fun villain. Brad Pitt takes the whole think to another level. A fun adventure!

19. Ticket to Paradise

George Clooney and Julia Roberts paired up in a rom-com almost feels like cheating, but it works just as well as you’d expect. The scenery is beautiful, and whilst the plot is entirely predictable, you’re watching for the cast.

20. Uncharted

Tom Holland pairs up with Marky Mark in another adventure romp for 2022, and equally enjoyable. Lacks the knowing winks of The Lost City, but has the advantage of some great locations. Perhaps gets a little too silly in the end, but still plenty to enjoy.

21. Woman King

This is a well shot and very interesting film, with incredibly strong female leads, especially Viola Davis. As a film it all works, but the film makes both the protagonists AND the antagonists slave traders (set long after the British banned the slave trade), without ever giving the impression the film is about that deliberate moral ambiguity.

22. Margrete: Queen of the North

A Danish historical movie, this was an solid story set in Scandinavia.

23. Dalek Invasion Earth 2150AD

My first time seeing this movie in the cinema, and it was impressive as a piece of the UK’s 1960s movie age.

24. Dr Who & the Daleks

With all the colour of a movie from the era of Dr No or The Pink Panther, this was a very fun, very camp movie, although weaker than the sequel (see #23).

The Adam Project

Ryan Reynolds does his usual excellent job of taking a simple family sci-fi-adventure film and making it really enjoyable.

Better Nate than Ever

A Disney+ movie about a boy who wants to make it on Broadway, there’s a lot of heart in this movie, but it never takes itself too seriously. It has a few too many clichés to be great, but it’s all very watchable. Avoids outright labeling the main character as gay, but doesn’t avoid it either; the scene on the bus were an older New York lady says she’ll explain to the girl with a crush on Nate why he isn’t noticing her works really well without needing labels.

25. Armageddon Time

A nice tale of a Jewish family in 1980s New York. Nothing especially profound, but it’s Anne Hathaway and Anthony Hopkins, so just enjoy.

26. Thor: Love and Thunder

Although a lot to enjoy here, it often feels like it’s trying TOO hard to make us laugh, lacking the effortless humour of the previous Thor movie. Christian Bale is great, but in a completely different film to everyone else. Very watchable, but a step down.

27. I Wanna Dance With Somebody

This Whitney Houston biopic is a very good movie, with plenty of exceptional musical moments, and a lovely performance from Stanley Tucci. The nature of Houston’s life however means there’s a very discordant vibe to the whole thing, which bumps it a little further down the list.

28. Everything in Between

An Australian film so small it doesn’t even have a wikipedia page. It’s a nice film, a sad film, and tells the story it wants to tell really well.

Weird: The Al Yankovic Story

This is a lot of fun, as the film is a perfect point by point skewering of the musical biopic genre, and Daniel Radcliffe throws himself into the role. Like many parody films however, it struggles a little to fill the length of a full movie, or to land a dramatic ending.

29. Don’t Worry Darling

This was a really interesting movie. The mystery builds well, with a strong sci-fi premise at the heart. The direction is very effective, with a lot of great colour. I found myself nicely engaged by the whole thing, and trying to piece it all together. It does require a little TOO much suspension of disbelief however, with some things happening in the final third that really don’t make sense. Chris Pine is great, though.

30. Death on the Nile

A reasonable adaption, but often looks a little cheap. Branagh’s choice of accent and comedy mustache makes too large a portion of his dialogue unintelligible, and his character seems too much of a dick to be the great detective he insists of continually telling us he is.

31. Triangle of Sadness

A movie of three parts. The first part – focused on Harris Dickinson and Charibi Dean – is the most entertaining. The second part however really struggles, trying just a little too obviously to be weird. Woody Harrelson turns up for this segment to play his usual character. The final third – as it goes full Lord of the Flies – is the most interesting, and works well. I’m not sure the ambiguous ending works, though. Lots to like, but doesn’t hang well enough together to be in the top half of the list.

Munich – The Edge of War

George MacKay gives a strong performance, but overall this soft and historically wrong tone just doesn’t work.

32. Ghost Busters: Afterlife

This was a perfectly ok family movie. I suspect if I’d ever managed to finish the original Ghost Busters it would have meant more to me.

33. Dr Strange 2

Unlike the first Dr Strange movie, I was able to finish it. Much like the first Dr Strange movie, I don’t really remember much about it. Some ok ideas, but it didn’t amount to much.

34. King Richard

I’m not quite sure what the point of this movie was. I’m not quite sure what it was trying to say about the lead character. And I’m not entirely sure what note Will Smith was going for. All a bit pointless, in my opinion.

35. Avatar 2: The Way of Water

Yes, the visuals were spectacular, and the change to a water location works well. There was slightly more plot than the first, but that’s coming off a very low bar. Made tighter and more focused this could have been great, but it’s all just a bit too indulgent, and outstays its welcome.

Not Okay

Like a lot of made for streaming movies, Not Okay has a reasonable premise – what happens when someone fakes a story on social media and is caught. But also like a lot of these movies, it’s better suited to a 50 minute episode of something than an 100 minute movie; there just isn’t the material in there.

36. Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore

So it wasn’t as boring as the second Fantastic Beasts movie, and had a few nice set pieces, mostly involved Eddie Redmayne and actual fantastic beasts. But mostly it was a mess.

37. Bones and All

It’s possible there’s a really profound message in this film which I missed, and would make it all work as a film. But lacking that, there was a lot of gore, and very little actual plot.

Being the Richardos

As a tribute to I Love Lucy there were some nice moments, but again, didn’t really have a plot, or a point, beyond nostalgia. I think it meant a lot more to the industry than it did the public.

38. House of Gucci

Lots of unlikable people I don’t care about doing unlikable things I don’t care about. Adam Driver was good, but I didn’t think Lady Gaga was all that great. Jared Leto was embarrassing, and made large sections of the film cringeworthy.

39. The Railway Children Return

This wasn’t a bad film, with a nice little story and a nice English location. But… in the end I didn’t really know what the point of it all was, and it tries just a little too hard to be twee.

40. Bros

I really don’t like putting this movie so low, as the first twenty minutes was quite good, and had some genuinely funny moments. But the main character is incredibly unlikable, so there’s no one in the movie to root for, or relate to. Most of the scenarios were equally unrelatable, and there was nothing very original about the plot.

Don’t Look Up

On first watching I assumed this movie was an attack on Dr Fauci, but apparently it wasn’t. Whilst the movie thinks it’s making clever points, it’s mostly just treating everyone as stupid, so misses landing any genuine satire. The cast all seem to be doing different things on different pages. So basically a mess, trying to tell you you’re stupid.