UW Film Club Podcast #93: Top 10 Films of 2022: Part 1

2022 is now long behind us. With that in mind, it was one of the greater years of cinema we have experienced in quite some time. For this podcast, we are sitting down and breaking down our top 10 films of last year, some of our honorable mentions, and our general opinion of recent films with some of our more disliked films entering into the mix. This episode is part 1 of a 2-part series in which we will focus on our top 10 films. In this episode, we are focusing on our honorable mentions and the films that made our 10-5 spots on our lists. I hope you enjoy our 93rd episode of the UW Film Club Podcast!

 

On this episode: Drew Favors, PJ Knapke, Luke Wilhelm, Harrison Hall

You can find us on Facebook at /UWFilmClub, and on Twitter and Instagram @FilmClubUW. Make sure to rate, comment, and subscribe to our podcast on Apple Podcasts, Soundcloud, Spotify, and Google Play, and tune in every week for a new episode of the UW Film Club Podcast!

Drew Favors’ Top 10 Films of 2022

It’s easy to say that 2022 was the greatest comeback year for films since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic and even a few years before it. Films that have been in “development hell” for years, or passion projects that have slipped by various studio goalies, have emerged to create a nostalgic cinematic experience that I have yearned for but have not been able to experience in so long.

With the cinema landscape having been open to the public continuously over the past year, Hollywood, and some more silent heavy hitters, have emerged to bring beautiful films both internationally and domestically. Since the release of films this year has been so broad, I would like to start off with a few honorable mentions that didn’t quite make the Top 10 cut, but rightfully deserve recognition for their stellar achievements in filmmaking. Keep in mind, these mentions will be brief.

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Sarah Kelley’s Top 10 Films of 2022

2022 was the greatest year for cinema since COVID, and that has a lot to do with the fact theaters stayed open the full 12 months. Despite worries from top theater chains, it seems that a few years of at-home streaming has not led to the downfall of the classic cinema experience. I mean, Avatar: The Way of Water made $2 billion worldwide, people are clearly still spending money on movie tickets.

For the first full year of releases uninterrupted by shutdowns, Hollywood delivered. Many long-awaited sequels came out this year, as well as some unexpected original gems. Once again, seeing the Oscar nominations list only serves as a reminder to how much I missed, but I really tried this year. Between my newfound appreciation for indie and arthouse cinema, and my Regal Unlimited subscription, I swear 2023 will be the year I finally see a majority of the new releases. But for now, here’s 10 of the movies I did manage to see last year, and thoroughly enjoy. 

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Malia Callier’s Top 10 Films of 2022

Looking back at the past year, it’s safe to say that the cinema experience has changed for me. After spending the pandemic sitting on the couch watching movies from the comfort of my own home, it was a breath of fresh air to be able to be able to sit in a movie theater again and watch films on the big screen. It takes a lot to get oneself out of the death scroll of their phone, but here are what I thought were the best films of 2022 that were able to demand my attention and keep it entirely. While I accept criticism, I do not accept slander. So just as a warning, the trainwreck Jurassic World, Plane, and that Fantastic Beast movie with no actually notable fantastic beasts won’t even touch this list.

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Review: ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ is Mythic Filmmaking

The brutal churn of state-sanctioned violence beyond America’s borders inevitably takes its toll on the people who make up the armed forces. The original Top Gun can be read as comrades coping with intense, dangerous pressure through fierce competition, though it would require overlooking how it is chiefly a (albeit very fun!) piece of American military jingoism. However, even it acknowledges that service is not without sacrifice and that some will inevitably be put in harm’s way for the sake of protecting a nation’s interests.

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Spencer Malmberg’s Top 10 Films of 2022

2022 was certainly a year for cinema, there were a lot of movies that came out, both in theaters and digitally through streaming services with a lot of really good films, and a lot of really bad films. Notable flops include the works of Marvel’s 4th Thor attempt and the weird inclusion of Morbius into the Sony catalog that no one was asking for. Also, worth noting the thousands of awful low budget romcoms on streaming services where the only claim to fame is the fact that they got an old Disney Channel teen to be in a movie where they make sex jokes. Also, Jurassic World was bad. 

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Brenna Robinson’s Top 10 Films of 2022

I’m not sure I’m qualified to declare whether or not it’s been a “good year” for film. Like everyone else, I spent the first two years of the pandemic watching movies in my bedroom, so to have an entire year that felt almost normal– the theaters opening again, delayed projects finally getting released— is enough for me to count 2022 as a massive win. The fact that some of the new releases from this year have made their way onto my list of all-time favorites certainly doesn’t hurt either. 

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UW Film Club Podcast #91: Puss in Boots: The Last Wish

“You are down to your last life. My prescription, no more podcasts for you. You need to retire.”

For today’s podcast, we look over Joel Crawford’s latest 2022 animated film Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, and how its stunning word-of-mouth talk by fans has helped it to be one of the most surprising hits of the last year. In this episode, we go over its breathtaking visual style, amazing storytelling, complex character design, the fact we are getting a Shrek 5, and how the film has helped capture tender moments that can appeal to all ages. All that’s left to ask is, do you like gazpacho? Find out here on the UW Film Club’s 91st podcast episode!

On this episode: Drew Favors, Luke Wilhelm

You can find us on Facebook at /UWFilmClub, and on Twitter and Instagram @FilmClubUW. Make sure to rate, comment, and subscribe to our podcast on Apple Podcasts, Soundcloud, Spotify, and Google Play, and tune in every week for a new episode of the UW Film Club Podcast!

Harrison Hall’s Top 10 Films of 2022

Perhaps it’s a little too early for me to speak so boldly on this topic, but 2022 was far-and-away the most formative year of my entire life so far, something that movies played no small part in. This was the year that I really discovered my taste in film, beyond the circle of stuff like Pulp Fiction or The Shining that everybody kind of likes anyways. A Sam Raimi binge fine-tuned my brain to horror films– a genre I had previously written off as not-my-thing, now one of my absolute favorites. I’ve begun to crack the pre-1980s bubble that had long eluded me, which opened my eyes to an entire new galaxy of movies. But what’s most relevant to anybody reading this article: 2022 is the year that I set up camp and became a movie theater goblin. I visited the movie theater 72 times in 2022, finishing the year having watched more than 60 2022 releases, a fair increase from having only seen 20 films in theaters the year before (granted, COVID was a much greater obstacle in the way of theatrical releases in 2021 than it is today).  I will disclaim that my viewing habits are strongly dominated by American films, as I only have reliable access to Regal/AMC theaters– i.e., not arthouse. As such, the international presence on this “best of the best” list is more than likely underrepresenting the fantastic movies that are produced overseas– I wouldn’t know, because I didn’t get the chance to see them. But with that aside, here are my favorite films of 2022.

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Review: ‘Glass Onion’ Has Layers

Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (dir. Rian Johnson) is a murder-mystery film that follows famed detective, Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig), in his career after the events of Knives Out (2019). Though none of the other characters are the same, the centrality of Blanc’s character breeds cohesivity between the films.

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