Top Movies of 2022 (Part 1)
It’s January here at Do You Know What I Love The Most?, and that means it’s time to sum up the last 12 months with Year End Lists! I’ll be devoting the rest of this month to rounding up and discussing the various media released in 2022 that meant the most to me — just like every other website on the internet! Isn’t that special?
Today we’re going to talk about the best movies of 2022. As always, this is in no way a definitive list, because I cannot and have not watched every film out there to watch. These are simply my favorite movies I saw this year — all released in 2022, all (except one) that I saw in the theater, and all that I loved — in no particular order. Enjoy!
Due to size restrictions for these emails, we’ll be discussing the first half of this list today, and the remaining entries in Part 2 on Friday.
Barbarian
What a weird fucking movie. I went into Barbarian knowing absolutely nothing about it, and I do think that is the best way to approach it, but man, as a bit of a horror newbie, I was not prepared for some of the things I’d be seeing on screen throughout this film1; but what I’m learning about horror is that the genre can also be a really fun way to push and test your boundaries in what is, ultimately, a safe and harmless space. Barbarian is essentially three films in one, each captivating in their own way; the first act is tense, but also very sweet, almost a two-hander play that easily could have been expanded into a (very different) film all on its own; the second act is more of a dark comedy that brings in a surprising cult-favorite actor playing against type; the final act smashes these threads together in compelling ways as it descends into pure horror. It all works stupendously. And while the ultimate answer as to who the title “Barbarian” is referring to feels a bit rote (though the movie does not in any way beat you over the head with it), there’s a really interesting message running throughout the film about the different ways men and women are socialized and trained by society and how those unfair and sexist practices may be hurting men just as much (though in totally different ways) as they are women. Barbarian is not for the faint of heart, but if you’re up for it, it’s an experience you’ll never forget. You’ll never want to go in a basement — or to Michigan — ever again.
Weird: The Al Yankovic Story
How could a Weird Al biopic be anything but a parody of your typical Oscar-bait celebrity biopic? And how could it have ever starred anybody but beloved Hollywood Weird Guy Daniel Radcliffe? It’s a hoot to see rote biopic tropes almost played straight but with some ridiculous twist — such as Weird Al’s father not wanting him to play the devil’s polka music and banning him from owning an accordion, the one thing that leads to high school popularity in the world of Weird — and it never gets old as the film goes on. Quinta Brunson as Oprah? Divine casting. And you’ll never look at Madonna the same again after Weird. It’s almost hard to know what to say about this one besides just endlessly praise it. Weird is as delightfully clever and silly as anyone could have hoped for. Go check it out on the Roku Channel if you haven’t it — the ads are well worth sitting through.
Dragonball Super: Super Hero
Somehow, Dragonball Super: Super Hero read my mind and gave me exactly the Dragonball movie I’d always wanted to see. After nearly a decade of modern Dragonball stories focusing almost solely on Goku and Vegeta to the detriment of the rest of the franchise’s massive, popular cast, Super Hero sidelines these two and instead focuses on my two favorite Dragonball characters, Gohan and Piccolo; the film is, in fact, told almost solely from Piccolo’s point of view, which is such a delightful change of pace after several full decades of neglect (Piccolo vs. Android 17 was published in 1992). While there’s plenty of frenetic action and world-ending stakes, much of Super Hero actually feels like Dragonball fanfic, and I mean that as the greatest compliment possible — it’s a film that’s actually interested in the everyday relationships between these characters, their lives when they’re not shooting energy blasts at aliens and cyborgs, that derives its humor from Piccolo’s awkward acquaintance with Pan’s teacher or his inability to use a cell phone. It’s delightful stuff. The CG animation — something that worried me before Super Hero’s premiere — actually looks incredible, bright and crisp and full of personality, more like cel shading than a Pixar movie. Super Hero does indulge in some of the same vices as the rest of modern Dragonball — nonsensical power levels and unexplained power-ups pulled out of the hero’s asses — but it’s so damn easy to forgive that. Super Hero is, legitimately, everything I could have asked for from a new Dragonball movie.
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
Ryan Coogler had one hell of a task in front of him, trying to create a sequel to Black Panther after star Chadwick Boseman’s sudden and tragic death from cancer in 2020. The film needed to walk such a fine line, celebratory and respectful of Boseman’s life and the franchise he helped make into a sensation while still telling some kind of big bombastic superhero story and moving the relentless Marvel machine forward. Somehow, Wakanda Forever pulls it all off with aplomb. It’s an often visually dazzling and gut-wrenching film about grief, love, and perseverance that definitely had the tears flowing for me once or twice. It somehow nails the incredibly tricky task of transforming noted anti-vaxxer2 Letitia Wright and her quippy, inexperienced character Shuri into versions of themselves capable of following in Boseman and T’Challa’s footsteps. And somehow, in the midst of all that, it still finds room to be an exciting and complex superhero movie in its own right. Tenoch Huerta’s Namor — with his winged feet and all! — practically steals the movie, an imposing, regal, morally complicated, and hot as hell presence who sparks the movie to life every time he’s on screen; like Killmonger before him, he’s an antagonist we can root both for and against at the same time, which is always incredibly compelling. Despite all odds, Coogler has kept the world of Wakanda, so important to so many, alive on the big screen, and I hope he’s had to chance to appreciate how huge that actually is.
Spoiler Alert
When I was a kid back in the 90s, every Sunday night my mom and I would watch some broadcast network’s movie of the week, inevitably some sentimental schlock expressly engineered to make the viewer weep like an infant. It worked on me every time, and if there’s any kind of movie I love, it’s one that’s going to have me walking out of the theater a snotty, sobbing wreck. Spoiler Alert certainly meets that criteria, but with a unique twist — the film tells the real life story of late photographer Kit Cowan’s battle with cancer, told from the point of view of his partner, TV critic Michael Ausiello. The gays get our own Hallmark-style tearjerkers now? We’ve truly made it. Spoiler Alert is no shlock though — it depicts its complicated central couple warts and all, following them through an incredibly rough patch in their relationship that’s never really fully resolved before Cowan’s death, but one that doesn’t stop them from dealing with Cowan’s illness with grace, tenderness, and abundant love. Ausiello’s obsession with television is also used as a clever framing device throughout the film, granting a real sense of character and style to the film that could have otherwise been missing. And like all the best tearjerkers, Spoiler Alert is also a true celebration of life, joy, and love — I feel like a total jack off writing that, but it’s absolutely true. Spoiler Alert is no guilty pleasure.
The Batman
What a uniquely singular vision of Batman. Director Matt Reeves’ take on Gotham City is perhaps the bleakest ever put to film, both visually and narratively, a grimy, crime-infested city protected by a Batman who doesn’t quite know what he’s doing (or who he needs to be to do it) yet; and yet he’s by far the more competent half of Robert Pattinson’s caped crusader, with his mascara-smeared, Nirvana-backed Bruce Wayne still in many ways a petulant child barely able to get out of bed in the morning. Paul Dano’s Riddler is devoid of camp whatsoever, a red-pilled internet terrorist and serial killer. This all had the potential to go so, so wrong, yet The Batman somehow winds up not only being an exciting superhero flick, but being a rather uplifting film in the end; it’s hard to argue with a superhero movie that manages to make the whole “we’re a lot alike, you and I” conversation between the hero and the villain hit both the hero and the audience so hard, causing Batman to actively acknowledge the harm he’s done and seek to atone. Hell, the final act eschews the rote “hero vs. villain” climax entirely, instead focusing on Batman protecting and rescuing civilians. The mystery structure of the film really works too, with truly unexpected and shocking twists and turns that largely hold up to scrutiny and that continue to reveal new sides of the characters and the conflicts they find themselves in. And the cast is terrific, though none moreso than Zoë Kravitz’s Selina Kyle, who has electric chemistry with Pattinson (and just about everybody else on screen) and who makes us 4 for 4 when it comes to big screen Catwomen just fucking knocking it out of the park3. Sure it’s a bit long and overstuffed at times, but it comes from a place of ambition and vision, and that’s what helps elevate The Batman above just about every other superhero film released this year4.
Do You Know What I Love the Most’s “Best Of 2022” series:
2022 In Review
2022: A Playlist
Top Comics of 2022 (Part 1)
Top Comics of 2022 (Part 2)
Top Television of 2022 (Part 1)
Top Television of 2022 (Part 2)
Top Movies of 2022 (Part 1)
Top Movies of 2022 (Part 2)
Top Albums of 2022
And for more, check out last year‘s “Best of 2021” series!:
2021: A Playlist
Top 10 Newsletters of 2021
Top Television of 2021
Top Comics of 2021 (Part 1)
Top Comics of 2021 (Part 2)
Top Albums of 2021
As well as our “Best of 2020”!:
Top 10 Newsletters of 2020
Top Television, Podcasts, and Movies of 2020
Top Books and Comics of 2020
Let’s Talk About Substack
2020: A Playlist
Top Albums of 2020
ABOUT
“Do You Know What I Love the Most?” is a newsletter from Spencer Irwin about his relationship with the stories he loves. Spencer is an enthusiast and writer from Newark, Delaware, who likes punk rock, comic books, working out, breakfast, and most of all, stories. His previous work appeared on Retcon Punch, One Week One Band, and Crisis on Infinite Chords, and he can be found on Twitter at @ThatSpenceGuy. If you like this newsletter, please subscribe and share with your friends!
A pretty important aspect of this movie also rests on a fairly common horror trope that, as a newbie, I wasn’t too familiar with, and that was pretty hard for me to accept. It didn’t ruin the movie for me, but I really had to ignore how silly this one plot point was in order to appreciate the rest of Barbarian.
And yeah, I went and saw the movie, so I’m part of the problem. Like I said, Coogler sells Shuri’s transformation, and Wright is up for the task as an actress, but given her shenanigans over the past few years, it was kinda hard to see Wright given the mantle nonetheless.
Lee Meriwether? Michelle Pfeiffer? Anne Hathaway? Zoë Kravitz? Iconic, one and all.
I mean that as more of a compliment than it sounds; 2022 was not a great year for superhero movies. I’m pretty sure I saw every one released this year minus Morbius, but there were just a lot of middling or flawed efforts. And I’m not even a Marvel Phase 4 hater, as I really liked all of their 2021 films (Black Widow, Shang-Chi, Eternals, Spider-Man: No Way Home). Just something weird in the air this year.