Movies I Watched in 2022

It’s always an exciting time of year, with the opportunity of closing a book on a sample of movies I’ve watched. Seeing what genres I’ve leaned towards, what stood out as good in my mind. What has grown in my estimation since watching it, what has shrunk. What inspired me to fall down the rabbit hole of other things like it.

As I have put many of the true-blue mainstream classic critical and commercial hits behind me, I’m entering into a phase that might be considered slightly more niche, but still contains many movies that are considered movie canon to the likes of true hardcore cinephiles. I think only Singin in the Rain, Touch of Evil, Evil Dead, and Breathless and Le Samourai are the only movies firmly in that category, and you may even quibble with French New-Wave being considered in that standard. Basically my bar is if it’s not on Ti West’s Sight and Sound List, it’s slightly more niche.

Some of these you may recognize from my 75 films of the past 75 years list. Some I had prematurely picked for the year, so even if they weren’t the best of the year, I kept them on the 75 list. It gives me a chance to discuss or allude to a greater variety of what I saw. If you’re wondering why there are less new movies, that is in part because I opted to leave off movies from 2022 and 2021, as they have been dissected enough elsewhere as of late, naturally.

Below is my top fifty movies I watched this year, in the order I watched them:

• The Hudsucker Proxy (1994)
• Carnage (2011)
• The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)
• The Evil Dead (1981)
• Lethal Weapon 2 (1989)
• Mississippi Burning (1988)
• Poltergeist (1982)
• Cape Fear (1962)
• Panic in the Streets (1950)
• A Face in the Crowd (1957)
• Blade (1998)
• Rush Hour (1998)
• Cinema Paradiso (1988)
• In the Mouth of Madness (1994)
• Police Story 2 (1988)
• Death on the Nile (1978)
• Candyman (1992)
• The Pianist (2002)
• Mulholland Drive (2001)
• Army of Darnkness (1992)
• Slacker (1990)
• Air Force One (1997)
• In the Soup (1992)
• Merry Christmas, Mr Lawrencea
• Backdraft (1991)
• Cop Land (1997)
• The Poseidon Adventure (1972)
• Touch of Evil (1958)
• Walkabout (1971)
• Silver Streak (1976)
• Year of the Dragon (1985)
• Paprika (2006)
• Once Upon A Time in America (1984)
• Sweetie (1989)
• Hud (1963)
• Breathless (1960)
• Le Samourai (1967)
• Blue Collar (1978)
• Prince of Darkness (1987)
• The Blob (1988)
• Glengarry Glen Ross (1992)
• Lincoln (1992)
• Deep Cover (1992)
• Singin’ in the Rain (1952)
• The Wild Bunch (1969)
• A Hard Day’s Night (1964)
• The Odd Couple (1968)
• Carol (2015)
• Brazil (1985)
• The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964)

You can probably notice that I found myself really gravitating towards mid-80s / early 90s movies, of which many of my less heralded favourites really lie. I find quintessential “80s movies” really start in 1982 or so — after Raiders of the Lost Ark really maps the blueprint. Even Raiders has an older feel to it, it is the essence of it that becomes the formula in the years to follow. To me, that era really carries all the way through to 1997 or so. By 1999, it feels like there is a shift. The Matrix (1999) feels different than Air Force One. Blade (1998), is teetering closer to The Matrix, in an aesthetic more influential to the early 2000s than reminiscent of the prior decade. That is a tangent — but I wanted to make mention of it as I am seeing less clean delineation between decades as I see more movies within each era.

There’s a bunch of mid 80s/early 90s movies that really surprised me in a positive way. Mississippi Burning, Cinema Paradiso, Sweetie, Deep Cover, Glengarry Glen Ross, Brazil, Backdraft, Cop Land Year of the Dragon, Once Upon a Time in America, Slacker, In the Mouth of Madness and In the Soup, to name a few, are all very different movies. I knew very little about all of them going in. And they all make it here as truly quality films with very little schlock (save maybe Cop Land Backdraft), that take what they’re doing and what they have to save quite seriously. With the pleasant surprises I felt from them, I definitely found myself yearning for more in the era like it as I sat down unsure of what to watch many nights of the year.

Above there are many great horror movies that I have continued to knock off my list as I get more familiar with the genre. John Carpenter’s In the Mouth of Madness, Prince of Darkness blew me away, as well as The Fog. The Blob, Poltergeist, and Evil Dead are mainstays in the genre, and I thoroughly enjoyed them all.

Top 10 (in no order)

• The Hudsucker Proxy
• Singin in the Rain
• Cinema Paradiso
• Touch of Evil
• Silver Streak
• Once Upon a Time in America
• Hud
• Le Samourai
• Glengarry Glen Ross
• Lincoln

Honourable Mentions: Deep Cover, In the Mouth of Madness, Slacker, The Odd Couple, Best Years of Our Lives, Brazil

This is really tough. I do like having a mix that represents the year. It’s hard to measure best/greatest/favourites/influence, etc. It’s hard to parse out my actual feelings with great theatre experiences. I opt for some unique blend with those criteria. You might be slightly turned off by the age of many of these movies. Try not to be. I think they are all eminently watchable. I’m finding myself gravitating towards older movies as I continue to drain the swamp of more recent first time watches.

The Hudsucker Proxy (1994)

I wrote about The Hudsucker Proxy watching it in early January of this year. I was told it was A — underrated, and B — applied as a wintery Christmas-type movie. It totally delivered for me as a Coen brothers gem. Coming into this December, I wanted to watch a few Christmas-adjacent movies. Ones that definitely aren’t Christmas films, but capture the spirit in memorable scenes. Goodfellas, Miracle, Catch Me If You Can, Die Hard-type flicks. Hudsucker applied to this list. Three I watched this past December; Carol, Brazil, and Umbrellas of Cherbourg, were all unbelievable movies with Christmas settings to them.

More interestingly, Brazil (1985) — directed by Terry Gilliam — is clearly a massive influence on the Hudsucker Proxy. Hudsucker came out 10 years later, but the corporate, bureaucratic droll that drives people to sheer insansity is a primary theme in both movies. Seeing the juxtaposition in British melancholic absurdism versus the somehow still American-dream warmth that Hudsucker still refuses to relinquish makes for a would-be fascinating double feature.

Singin’ in the Rain (1952)

I expected greatness from this — the pagentry, the costumes, wow, what a musical. I didn’t realize just how monumental this was. It’s not difficult to see why it’s one of the biggest hits in the history of movies. What I didn’t know was that it’s a period piece portraying silent film stars transition to “talkies” in the 1920s. Movies about movies always intrigue me, and it’s cool to see traditions of the medium already being discussed about in 1952. When it feels like cinema was still in its preteen years — there was still plenty of tradition to discuss.

Singin in the Rain goes big and small, modest and ambitious, and the narrative arc itself is cliched (at this point) but perfectly executed. It also holds one of the best solo numbers I’ve ever seen.

Cinema Paradiso (1988)

It’s not a coincidence that there are a slieu of movies from this past year I could write about that I watched at The Hamilton Playhouse theatre. To state the obvious, they are typically curating a schedule of good to great movies. But as I’ve made more of an effort to go to the theatre since the pandemic, I’m realizing more and more just how much my mood and setting affects my enjoyment of what I watch. Phones are huge part of this issue, but even without them, the distraction at home are too many to count. Even if watching movies isn’t the most necessary of unselfish exercise, giving something your entire attention for two hours straight can be refreshing.

Cinema Paradiso is about a small town boy falling in love with movies and film with the help of an old projectionist. A movie with more tragedy, heart, and romanticism about movies than I thought possible, with somehow never overstepping the boundaries of pretentiousness (in my opinion), it fully lived up to the hype as an excellent movie. Though in Italian, the subtitles shouldn’t dissuade anyone, as the Italian culture and je ne sai quois (or Italian equivalent) adds to the versimilitude of the film. Like most movies for me, it is better going in as blind as possible. It’s not meant to be twisty or plot heavy, however it maintains a strong level of surprise not easily predicted.

Touch of Evil (1958)

A canonical noir film, Touch of Evil features the villanous Orson Welles in a terrifying role. The sultry Mexican border-town setting, the clear influence the movie has had, the iconic shots, the lighting, all formulate into a blue blood all-time noir.

Silver Streak (1976)

The first of the Gene Wilder / Richard Pryor comedies I’ve seen. Silver Streak is about a man named George Caldwell (played by Wilder) taking a cross country train (the titular Silver Streak), and getting caught up in some nefarious activity. Not a true comedy, the movie takes a bunch of turns you cannot expect, and then twists right back into what you do. Wilder is a fascinating actor to me, and Pryor is capable of stealing an sceene with a singular line. Watching the mix of character actors dance alongside Wilder, the panning shots of the train crossing America, and the seventies vibes of Silver Streak was some of the most fun I’ve had and suprised I’ve been all year.

Once Upon a Time in America (1984)

A four hour epic the likes of which we may never see again — this would surely be made as a mini-series nowadays — there is something wonderful about the isolated nature of a chaptered movie of such length. The patience it takes in crafting every scene, every character, nothing actually feels superfluous because the aura of the movie wouldn’t exist without it.

Hud (1963)

A sad sack alcoholic thirty-something year old who can’t escape his self-destructive adolescence, Hud is an early portrayal of the stunted rural / suburban “youth” that continue to define post-war America in so many undersdiscussed ways.

Hud deserves to be right alongside Cool Hand Luke, The Verdict, and The Color of Money for Newman’s best performances as the titular Hud.Newman’s charisma is critical here. Hud is a terrible person. But if we don’t like him, or understand how others like him — and therefore how he often gets his way — then the movie probably falls apart.

As I said about The Hudsucker Proxy — there is almost always glints of optimist hidden within American movies. Hud feels like one of the true portrayals of a story where that is not the case.

Le Samourai (1967)

After the death of Jean-Luc Godard, I decided it was high time to dip my toes into French New Wave. I started with Breathless — the movie that arguably started the genre — and then jumped right into one of the classics. A French New Wave neo-noir, it’s easy to see how this is considered one of the first modern movies. Visually it stands up to anything today. It’s a simple, straightforward story, with fantastic levels of tension throughout. I often have trepidation recommending old movies. Breathless was a fun watch, but it entered the Blade Runner camp for me, in that I can see the influence it had, but feels somewhat dated. Nothing about Le Samourai doesn’t hold up to today.

Glengarry Glen Ross (1992)

Maybe purely the “easiest” movie to watch on this, because GGR absolutely rips. Glengarry Glen Ross manically bounces around the room sentence by sentence as low-rent real estate salesmen battle for flex for dominance beneath their thin veneer of masculine impropriety. These dudes are rough and tumble bad dudes who have taught themselves they can talk their way out of any hole, with a little more shoeshine and hair gel, and a lot more hard work, they have tricked themselves into thinking they make any amount of money they want. A true star studded Oscar-laden cast, every single major actor gets their time to cook. No line reading, glance, or eye twitch is put to waste. Much like the characters, the actors are in a dick swinging contest with each other. The story itself at times feels like its playing second fiddle, yet its undercurrent keeps things chugging along at breakneck speed, culminating in a worthy payoff to cap everything off.

Lincoln (2012)

Once again, Spiely does it. A potentially boring premise and runtime that’s probably kept many away, DDL and Spielberg are masters, and deserve credit. Genuinely I think wins the award for movie with the most actors I know — comfortably 20 (including a younger Jeremy Strong). There is real versimilutude to feeling like you are in the room with Lincoln as these decisions are being made. A modern version of Barry Lyndon in that “every scene feels like a painting.” Not sure why I put this off — watching it on a plane shows you my expectations for it — and I am excited to revisit it on a better screen.