Welcome to the TWELFTH Annual Skinny!
Hello to all 3 of my readers!
It is time to take a look at 2022, henceforth known as “The Year That shall not be named: Part Three”!
The purpose of this blog is to review the films I see in the theater. I cover some TV stuff as well. I do this in list format. As is standard for this site, I give “Skinnys”, short blurbs, on each subject. If available, I will provide a link to my original review.
Before we get started, I have provided links to all 536 films I have seen in theaters up to this point. I will repeat; these links are the list of EVERY MOVIE I have seen in a theater. As a film lover, that means a lot to me. The act of sitting in a darkened theater is almost religious. It is a sacred space where artists transport us to different worlds, hopefully free of distraction. It took quite a while to compile this list. It represents 35 years of film-going, and I am honored to share it with you.
- Part 1 (1987-1997)
- Part 2 (1998-1999)
- Part 3 (2000-2004)
- Part 4 (2005-2009)
- Part 5 (2010-2014)
- Part 6 (2015-2019)
- Part 7 (2020-2024)
Disclaimer: This is the place where I mention that I have not seen everything. I am not a professional reviewer and am only able to see a very small fraction of the major releases, never mind every indie movie that is the darling of film festivals. This is also not a list of the BEST films of the year. This is a subjective list of my personal favorites. My biases will influence my choices. Judge me accordingly.
2022 was yet ANOTHER asshole of a year. The bad juju carried over for another year of bullshit. a recap:
2018: Was laid off
2019: Almost died to an infection
2020: World got infected
2021: World still infected, shit show continues.
2022: Wife dumps me, life upended
I’m honestly not watching that many tv shows anymore. What little I do watch is overwhelmingly from Disney +.
MCU -Marvel gave us 4 TV shows in 2022 and I enjoyed them all. Ms Marvel was lots of fun, She Hulk NAILED the feel of the comic, Moon Knight was awesome but the BEST was Werewolf by Night. My God, it was amazing. A love letter to 1930’s monster movies.
Star Wars – Lucasfilm gave us Obi Wan Kenobi and Andor, two of the best Star Wars shows of them all. Andor in particular was fantastic.
Cobra Kai Season 5 – 1000X better than it has any right to be. Cobra Kai is phenomenal.
Star Trek – 2022 was a great year for Star Trek. Picard season 2 was a step up from season 1. Discovery Season 4 was excellent, but the jewel in the crown is Strange New Worlds. It is the best Trek show since DS9.
The Crown – Another outstanding season. Unfortunately it was all about divorce, something I am currently navigating. It did impact my enjoyment of the show. The Mohamed Al-Fayed episode was excellent though.
Best of 2022 – this is a bit of a cheat. The best new show was Andor. The best I watched, however was a tie between Queen’s Gambit and Seasons 1 & 2 of Stranger Things. It took me a while to get around to these shows, but MAN! So good.
Streaming debuts, all three were pretty good. Disenchanted was a nice twist on the Stepmother fairytale stories. Hocus Pocus 2 was pure fan service, but welcome fan service. Jason Momoa, the world’s most likeable dude, stars in this Little Nemo adaptation – Slumberland. All great!
These weren’t bad, but weren’t my favorites. They were OK.
- Thor: Love and Thunder (Review)
- Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (Review)
- Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (Review)
5: Avatar: The Way of Water -I honestly thought it wouldn’t do as well as the original. Never bet against James Cameron. (Review)
4: Elvis – I am partial to Baz Luhrman films as it is, but an Elvis movie by Baz?! Fantastic. (review)
3: Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery – Daniel Craig returns as Benoit Blanc! That was enough to get me into the theater for its one week release window. (review)
2: The Batman – My God. This was the Batman movie I’ve been waiting my life for. FINALLY he is the Dark Knight Detective. Fantastic. (review)
Black Adam – I debated whether to make this the worst of the year, but there was really no choice in the matter. A complete whiff. (Review)
1: The Menu – This was a tough battle with Batman and Glass Onion nipping at its heels, but The Menu held strong. Great writing, great acting, phenomenal filmmaking. The BEST damn movie of 2022. (Review)
Well, that is all for this year. Let’s hope that 2023 goes a bit smoother! (note: I am writing this in late February 2023. Too early to tell, but we’re off to an okay start.
The Skinny from the Fatty 