You know the part of movie theater previews when they show whatâs basically an in-house ad for the host theater chain, along with housekeeping items like silence your phone, no talking, etc.?
Iâve learned these are called policy trailers and that many of them are available online. I was curious if Iâd be able to find the one for Marcus Theaters, which dominated my adolescent theatergoing in Madison, WI, circa 2000-2006.
Lo and behold:
This is burned into my being. The movie clips did get updated over time with newer movies, but in my recollection the format stood for a long time. Just like the various movie studio intros, these trailers conditioned me to know I was about to (hopefully) see something great.
It’s one of the many theaters that COVID-19 killed, so Iâll cherish this video (like the abandoned movie posters) as another relic of a lost era.
Pretty much every year Iâve done this list (since 2007), Iâve published it soon after the beginning of the year to coincide with the bevy of other year-end lists. But every year Iâd end up watching more movies after publishing that would have been eligible and affected my list.
So I realized: whatâs the rush? This year I took my time and saw what I could to give myself the best chance at an accurate accounting of my favorites of the year. I didnât see everything I wanted to, but I did my best.
What makes my 2022 film year unique is that, according to my Letterboxd profile, I gave 4 stars (out of 5) to 18 movies, with nothing rated higher that stood out above the crowd. Maybe that says more about me than the movies themselves, but that still left me without a clear frontrunner.
Given that unusual parity, I thought it fitting to do an unranked, alphabetical list this timeâsomething I havenât done since 2014. All of these movies, plus many of the honorable mentions, stuck with me for different reasons.
On to my top 10…
Apollo 10 1/2: A Space Age Childhood
Richard Linklaterâs latest film synthesizes elements from two of his previous ones: itâs the memoiristic nostalgia of Boyhood mixed with the rotoscope animation style of A Waking Life. This is a closely observed, gently told, fantastically wrought, and personally held story that shows off Linklater’s knack for capturing the beauty of the quotidian. (Streaming on Netflix.)
Athena
Come for the absolutely gangbusters opening 10 minutes and stay for the tense, heart-pounding drama of Children of Men-meets-The Battle of Algiers in a French apartment complex. Itâs hard to watch at times, but also has a âcanât look awayâ quality that makes it both deeply cinematic and compassionate at its core. (Streaming on Netflix.)
Avatar: The Way of Water
Much like Top Gun: Maverick, James Cameronâs long-gestating sequel offers incredible spectacle, impressive CGI, and powerful emotional beats that elevate its rather rote plot and character development into epic myth. Though, unlike Maverick, the resplendently rendered fictional world itself is the star even above the performers. Bring on the sequels!
Babylon
Iâve been on a slightly downward trajectory with writer-director Damien Chazelleâs filmography: high on Whiplash, mixed-to-positive on La La Land, then kinda bored with First Man. His latest on Hollywoodâs bacchanalian early years is everything but boring and jolted my Chazelle Meter back upward. Also a great (unofficial) prequel/double feature with Spielbergâs cinema-obsessed The Fabelmans.
Decision to Leave
South Korean writer-director Park Chan-wook is back after 2016âs The Handmaiden with a riveting slow-burn whodunit featuring Park Hae-il as an insomniac detective on a murder case and Tang Wei as his prime suspectâand complicated love interest. Part Gone Girl, part Vertigo, yet fully its own creation, the film combines Parkâs technical prowess with a terrifically twisty narrative and a haunting conclusion. Donât sleep on this one.
Emergency
In this impressive debut feature from Carey Williams, three college roommatesâtwo Black and one Latinoâready for a night of partying when they discover a young white girl passed-out drunk in their house. How they deal with that turns into a high-wire racial reckoning, tragicomedic social satire, and beautiful portrait of male friendship. Like Superbad meets Get Out. (Streaming on Amazon Prime.)
The Fabelmans
In a year full of autobiopics (Inarrituâs Bardo, Mendesâ Empire of Light, Grayâs Armageddon Time), Spielbergâs personal tale of the dark magic of moviemaking reigns supreme, and serves as a cinematic Rosetta Stone for his iconic decades-long career. Itâs also the funniest Spielberg has been in a while. Michelle Williams and Paul Dano deliver top-notch performances, but itâs Gabriel LaBelle who wins the movie and our hearts with his earnest and affecting turn as the teenaged Spielberg stand-in Sammy. That kidâjust like the man he representsâis going places!
Jackass Forever
A dirty, cringey, and gut-bustingly funny soul-cleanse. Thereâs just something about this crew of delightful degenerates debasing themselves for the sake of entertainment that warms my heart and makes me laugh harder than just about anything else.
Top Gun: Maverick
Much like Avatar: The Way of Water, this dominated the box office, saved movie theaters (according to Spielberg), and provoked couch-jumping enthusiasm among its admirers. Though, unlike The Way of Water, it did so with sheer movie-star charisma atop the spectacle. Maverick, Cruise, and movie theaters: not dead yet.
The Wonder
I’ve realized that I will appreciate almost any movie that has something to say about religion, and that’s the case with this adaptation of Emma Donoghue’s excellent novel starring Florence Pugh as a skeptical nurse tending to a “miracle” child in mid-19th century Ireland. (Double feature recommendation: Anne Fontaineâs 2016 film The Innocents.) (Streaming on Netflix.)
Rewatching Ratatouille recently made me think of a line from the Guardians of the Galaxy Honest Trailer, which portrays Marvel as so dominant and drunk on its own powerâand its fans so eagerâthat a weird movie with a trash-talking raccoon and monosyllabic tree can be a smash success. Their tongue-in-cheek name for the studio: “Fâ You, Weâre Marvel.”
Ratatouille is Pixarâs “Fâ You, Weâre Pixar”moment.
A movie about a rat becoming a chef by controlling a human through his hair? Oscar win for Best Animated Feature. Portray the critic as a cadaverous meanie? 96% on Rotten Tomatoes.
(Somehow Ratatouille is ranked only #7 on my Pixar rankings, which feels low. Though in my 4 year oldâs unofficial Pixar rankings itâs tied for #1 with WALL-E.)
Itâs hard for me to watch The Lion King objectively as an adult when itâs so deeply ingrained into my being, having been released when I was 7 years old and subjected to countless subsequent rewatches in our family VCRânot to mention inspiring my own adult creative endeavors.
But rewatching it nowâwith my 4-year-old son next to me wide-eyed and raptâmade me appreciate just how top-notch everything in the movie is, including:
the balance of meta and wacky humor with deadly serious drama
the stunning animated vistas
the strangely sensual âCan You Feel the Love Tonightâ sequence
the delicious scenery-chewing voice work of Jeremy Irons
Rafiki keepinâ it real and real weird (in elementary school a buddy and I would reenact the Adult Simba/Rafiki scenes over and over again because we thought they were the funniest. thing. ever.)
Along with Moana, itâs one of the rare Disney musicals that gives me several goosebumps moments.(Though unlike most modern animated films for kids, it achieves all of this with aplomb in under 90 minutes.)
Thereâs so much fascinating stuff going on about family and trauma and destiny and shame and other things that went completely over my 4 year oldâs head, but reminded me why it was such a massive hit at the time and endures in its appeal to all ages.
Two stray notes:
Weâve watched it on DVD and Disney+ and both versions obscure the legendary SEX/SFX conspiracy momentâthe former by seeming to blur the design and the latter by cutting past it entirely. This feels like a win for the conspiracy theorists.
It felt wrong to have the modern, post-2006 Disney castle intro at the beginning of the Disney+ version. Use the classic version, you cowards!
Kindle Paperwhite. After years of holding out, we got one last Black Friday and I finally started using it. I wasnât against e-readers before; I just usually prefer print or audiobooks. But the e-ink screen and appealing handling of the Paperwhite is quite nice.
Safari browser. Iâve been a longtime Firefox devotee since ditching Chrome, but recently it started throwing me error after unresolvable error that made using it on my MacBook Pro a nightmare. So I resorted to Safari and have found it much more enjoyable than I remember.
Not Twitter. Twitterâs ownership change was an excellent impetus for me to step away. Itâs always been a time-suck, and Iâve mostly been a lurker anyway. Not fully deleting it since I want to at least hold onto my username, but happily finding other ways to use my time online.
I say that in spite of the apparently real investigation into this internet-famous debate by National Geographic and James Cameron himself:
All the evidence you need is from the scene itself: When Jack tries to get on the door, it almost capsizes. Putting two grown, soaking-wet adults on it amidst the post-sinking chaosâespecially without Jack being able to act as bodyguardâwouldâve sunk it easily.
So RIP to Chippewa Fallsâ favorite son and cinemaâs most famous manic pixie dream boy.
Yoto. He uses his mini Yoto audio player every day, which is an excellent screen-free source of âedutainmentâ. Heâs always ready to spout facts he’s learned from the many nonfiction cards he enjoys. (Some terms heâs learned and repeated: hominid, pyroclastic flow, and bioluminescence among others.) Current favorite cards on repeat these days include Volcanos, Creepy Crawlies, Ancient Egypt, and many more.
Prehistoric Planet. This Apple TV+ documentary series is just Planet Earth with dinosaurs (David Attenborough narration included), therefore it rules.
Floor Is Lava. Since he was really getting into volcanoes, we gave this Netflix game show a spin and found it to be goofy fun. He started making his own courses at home and implementing the rules and tropes from the show, like the teams cheering for themselves.
Paw Patrol. Welp, it finally happened. Weâd avoided exposing him to this until he listened to a Paw Patrol Yoto card, and now heâs all about itâeven sometimes above Bluey.
The Book with No Pictures by B.J. Novak. This isn’t a new one for him but we checked it out from the library recently and he’s fallen in love again.
Priestdaddy by Patricia Lockwood. Hilarious and insightful memoir/biography of Lockwood’s Catholic priest father and her experience living with her parents.
Blankets by Craig Thompson. A stunning graphic novel memoir about small-town life, religion, young love, winter, and so many more things.
The Climb. An excellent indie film told through episodic, slice-of-life sequences that add up to a deeply funny and humane portrait of male friendship.
Jurassic Park. Amazing just how leisurely this feels compared to modern action blockbusters, with its long shots and deliberate storytelling pace. Yet still thrilling and not a wasted minute. So refreshing!
Babylon. A great prequel to (and double feature with) The Fabelmans.
Arrival. Masterful work from Denis Villeneuve and Amy Adams, and an excellent metaphor for the creative life.
The Twilight World by Werner Herzog. Happened to stumble upon this bewitching creative-nonfiction novel on a Best Books of 2022 list. In my mind I read it in Herzog’s iconic voice, so that probably made it even better.
Yojimbo. Some incredible shots sprinkled throughout this 1961 Kurosawa classic. âWhether you kill one or one hundred, you only hang once.â
I realized this year that I’ve pretty much stopped watching traditional TV, i.e. shows with 22-ish episodes per season and an undetermined end date.
Iâm much more interested in limited series and shows with short seasonsâthe key being intentional and self-contained ideas from the show and a predictable time commitment from me. Luckily thatâs becoming the norm, as what defines a series, a movie, or something else entirely blurs with every new release.
The clear winner of my “television” watching in 2022 is HBO Max, which accounted for 5 out of my 7 picks. Given the corporate and creative upheaval happening there now I assume that wonât be the case moving forward, but Iâm grateful for the shows it provided while it could.
That said, here are my favorite shows from 2022 (listed alphabetically):
Bluey (Disney+)
The Last Movie Stars(HBO Max)
Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power(Amazon Prime)
[CEO James Daunt] used the pandemic as an opportunity to âweed out the rubbishâ in the stores. He asked employees in the outlets to take every book off the shelf, and re-evaluate whether it should stay. Every section of the store needed to be refreshed and made appealing.
As this example makes clear, Daunt started giving more power to the stores. But publishers complained bitterly. They now had to make more sales calls, and convince local bookbuyersâand thatâs hard work. Even worse, when a new book doesnât live up to expectations, the local workers see this immediately. Books are expected to appeal to readersâand just convincing a head buyer at headquarters was no longer enough.
Daunt also refused to dumb-down the store offerings. The key challenge, he claimed was to âcreate an environment thatâs intellectually satisfyingâand not in a snobbish way, but in the sense of feeding your mind.â
His crucial move was refusing to take promotional money from publishers in exchange for purchase commitments and prominent placement of only certain books:
[Daunt] refused to play this game. He wanted to put the best books in the window. He wanted to display the most exciting books by the front door. Even more amazing, he let the people working in the stores make these decisions.
This is James Dauntâs super power: He loves books.
âStaff are now in control of their own shops,â he explained. âHopefully theyâre enjoying their work more. Theyâre creating something very different in each store.â
This cheered me to read, not only because of my interest in the success of bookstores but also because I worked at Barnes & Noble for about six months back in 2011.
Freshly stateside after months abroad, I was nearly broke and working at a grocery store when my friend Brian let me know heâd be leaving his job in the Music & Movies section at our local B&N store and would put in a good word for me if I applied. I did so immediately and got the job, which boosted my pay (from âenough to avoid destitutionâ to âmeagerâ) along with my spirits.
It turned out to be one of the best jobs Iâve ever had, despite lasting only about six months before I got full-time work elsewhere.
Since whoever was working in the Music & Movies section couldnât leave it unsupervised, I would be stationed there during my shifts no matter how busy it got elsewhere in the store. Some might have found that suffocating, but as a movie lover I relished being sequestered with thousands of Blu-rays, DVDs, and CDs to browse through and organize when I wasnât helping customers.
Another big factor of my enjoyment of that job was the manager of the Music & Movies section, Joe. He was the most laidback of the store managers but also probably the most effective because, as my friend Brian said after I sent him the above article:
This strategy reminds me of how Joe would run the music section. He gave us a lot of power over the music that was on the shelves and it allowed us to sell CDs when the industry was in decline. Well done, Barnes.
I guess thatâs the takeaway for Barnes and for all purveyors of the fine arts: Be like Joe.
Gotta be honest: 2022 wasn’t a great reading year for me. I read 22 books, which was much worse than 31 in 2021 and just barely better than the 18 in 2020.
A lot of my potential reading opportunities were either taken up by movie watching, Cinema Sugar, or other leisure activities. Not a bad thing, to be clearâjust the result of the ongoing calculus I have to make with my limited free time.
But reading is about quality, not quantity. And because my quantity of titles released in 2022 doesnât justify a top 10 list, I’m gonna try something different and just list the titles I did read this year according to the star rating I gave them out of 5.
There were no 5-star books for me this year (my main man Steven Johnson got the closest), but enough good reading to keep me turning pages. Enjoy!
4.5
Extra Life: A Short History of Living Longer by Steven Johnson (2021)
Haven by Emma Donoghue (2022)
4
Blood, Sweat & Chrome: The Wild and True Story of Mad Max: Fury Road by Kyle Buchanan (2022)
Brooklyn by Colm TĂłibĂn (2009)
How the Word Is Passed: A Reckoning with the History of Slavery Across America by Clint Smith (2021)
The Nineties: A Book by Chuck Klosterman (2022)
Office BFFs: Tales of The Office from Two Best Friends Who Were There by Jenna Fischer & Angela Kinsey (2022)
Salty: Lessons on Eating, Drinking, and Living from Revolutionary Women by Alissa Wilkinson (2022)
The Twilight World by Werner Herzog (2022)
Why Fish Don’t Exist: A Story of Loss, Love, and the Hidden Order of Life by Lulu Miller (2020)
A World Lit Only By Fire: The Medieval Mind and the Renaissance by William Manchester (1992)
The Writing of the Gods: The Race to Decode the Rosetta Stone by Edward Dolnick (2021)
3.5
Book Lovers by Emily Henry (2022)
The End of Education: Redefining the Value of School by Neil Postman (1995)
3
The Bowery: The Strange History of New York’s Oldest Street by Stephen Paul Devillo (2017)
Everyday Sisu: Tapping into Finnish Fortitude for a Happier, More Resilient Life by Katja Pantzar (2022)
Hero on a Mission: A Path to a Meaningful Life by Donald Miller (2022)
Index, A History of the: A Bookish Adventure from Medieval Manuscripts to the Digital Age by Dennis Duncan (2021)
The Story of You: An Enneagram Journey to Becoming Your True Self by Ian Morgan Cron (2021)
We Had A Little Real Estate Problem by Kliph Nesteroff (2021)
The World’s Worst Assistant by Sona Movsessian (2022)
2.5
American Buffalo: In Search of a Lost Icon by Steven Rinella (2008)
One of my Christmas presents was Bluey: The Album on vinyl. My wife got it as a joint present with my son since we’re both big Bluey fans.
The first song on it is an extended version of the theme song I’d never heard before called “Bluey Theme Tune (Instrument Parade)”:
After the standard opening, it continues the theme but gives solo breaks to the different component instruments: first violin, then trumpet, guitar, saxophone, and finally all of them back together before concluding with a reprise of the standard theme.
I love this on many levels. First, it’s just a great song. The part when all the elements recombine (“Everyone!”) is a joy explosion. Kudos to Joff Bush and the other composers involved for their high-level musicianship, which reminds me of Fred Rogers’ insistence on not just doing “kiddie” music for Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood because kids deserved great music too.
Second, it sneaks some music theory into a fun and danceable tune by breaking itself down, Song Exploder-style, to show how a song can be comprised of several different instruments.
Which, in a way, represents Bluey in musical miniature. By that I mean the show, like this particular song, isn’t meant to overtly teach anything: it’s just trying to convey the best version of itself and whatever idea it has in each episode. But along the way it manages to communicate sophisticated lessons and everyday truths, all wrapped up in small yet beautiful vessels.
As I’ve been going through my old journals and digitizing the entriesâa tedious and time-consuming process that will eventually yield a much more accessible and searchable archiveâit’s been fun and enlightening to rediscover things I was thinking about at any given time.
Like this entry from March 10, 2020:
A few pop culture references have come to mind as the coronavirus COVID-19 marches on:
the general escalation of uncanny surreality in Signs, as things progress and get ever close to home
Arrival and its shaky coalition of countries trying to understand an opaque, unsettling presence
Station Eleven [the book] and the global pandemic flu that paralyzes the world and makes humanity wonder what it is
Idiocracy with its president so not equipped for the moment
I hadn’t seen Contagion at that point, otherwise that would’ve been there too.
I love how I wrote “the coronavirus COVID-19” as if I’d possibly get it confused with another global contagion sometime in the future. But hey, I’m all about clarity.
“To be an artist, you donât have to compose music or paint or be in the movies or write books. Itâs just a way of living. It has to do with paying attention, remembering, filtering what you see and answering back, participating in life.” – Viggo Mortensen
âThe modern dogma is comfort at any cost.â – Aldo Leopold
âAnybody who doesnât change their mind a lot is dramatically underestimating the complexity of the world we live in.â – Jeff Bezos
âTo be able to hold comfortably in oneâs mind the validity and usefulness of two contradictory truths is the source of tolerance, openness, and, most important, a sense of humor, which is the greatest enemy of fanaticism.â – Neil Postman
âTo know fully even one field or one land is a lifetimeâs experience. In the world of poetic experience it is depth that counts, not width. A gap in a hedge, a smooth rock surfacing a narrow lane, a view of a woody meadow, the stream at the junction of four small fieldsâthese are as much as a man can fully experience.â – Patrick Kavanagh
“One of the biggest problems with school is it teaches kids to assume that fun things are trivial and important things are boring.” – David Perell
