The State of the Art: Movies 2022

Usually, the post about movies is the last list of the year. If culture still has hierarchies, The Art of Cinema is generally considered to be at the top (though I'd argue that in recent years, television has taken that mantle). All this to say that movies will not be the grand finale post this year, because frankly, I saw precisely one terrific movie this year, and the rest were fine to mediocre. So what was that terrific movie? Longtime readers will know that I'm very stingy with the A+ grades. I only give them out if I can't think of a single thing I'd change. Well, welcome to that exclusive club, Everything Everywhere All at Once!

Equal parts funny, heartbreaking, exciting, thoughtful, and hopeful, this movie has absolutely no competition for best of the year. The story of Evelyn Wang and her family traversing a countless number of parallel universes in order to confront a threat that is pure nihilism sounds completely bonkers. And it is! But it's never confusing or disorienting, and journeying alongside Evelyn as she learns that love and understanding are often the best ways to break down seemingly insurmountable barriers brought tears to my eyes even on second viewing. Plus, the movie just looks cool as hell, and is impeccably acted by every single person in it.

Let's get to the rest of the list! A couple of caveats: I didn't see a huge amount of movies in 2022, so it's likely there are some out there I haven't gotten to yet that would rank highly on the list, though I don't see how anything could come remotely close to Everything Everywhere All at Once. Also, the grades below reflect my opinion of the movie's quality - not how much fun it was to watch them. If I ranked on the fun scale, getting together with friends to watch incomprehensible fever dreams like Moonfall and House would be much higher. So, for 2022 movies:

Everything Everywhere All at Once (A+)
Glass Onion (A-)

Enola Holmes 2 (B+)

The Bob's Burgers Movie (B+)

Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers (B+)

Werewolf by Night (B+)

See How They Run (B)

Fire Island (B)

The Adam Project (B)

Catherine Called Birdy (B)

Hocus Pocus 2 (B-)

Seeing Red (B-)

A Christmas Story Christmas (C)

Kimi (C)

Falling For Christmas (C)

Dr. Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (C)

Moonfall (D+)

And for the pre-2022 movies:

Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar (2021) (B+)
Kajillionaire (2020) (B+)
Free Guy (2021) (B+)

Spider Man: No Way Home (2021) (B)

The French Dispatch (2021) (B)

The Power of the Dog (2021) (B)

Luca (2021) (B-)

Dear Evan Hansen (2021) (B-)

The Darjeeling Limited (2007) (C+)

The Shadow on the Window (1957) (C+)

Don't Look Up (2021) (C+)

The Eternals (2021) (C+)

Ruthless People (1986) (C)

Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990) (C-)

The Matrix Resurrections (2021) (D+)

House (1977) (D+)

Christmas in New York (2005) (F)