Best Movies of 2022

TGC (The Gospel Coaltion, U.S. edition) ^ | December 27, 2022 | Brett McCracken

[sphinx]

Are movies still relevant? ... Even as Hollywood rebounds a bit at the box office (up 21 percent in 2022), critics rightly observe that innovation is suffering. Sequels, reboots, and franchises rule the day and artsy “prestige films” can’t find audiences. Part of the problem: audiences have a growing (and justifiable) sense that Hollywood is increasingly less interested in entertaining them than in force-feeding them progressive ideals.

As I put together my list, I focused on films that didn’t pit entertainment against artistry or confuse the difference between having something to say and telling audiences what to think. The best movies captivate audiences because they’re artistically excellent. And the best movies provoke audiences to wrestle with ideas rather than be bludgeoned with arguments.

As a reminder, don’t take my commendations as wholesale endorsements of the content. Just because I loved a film doesn’t mean I loved everything in it, and a “best” movie doesn’t mean an appropriate movie for all audiences. Though the films highlighted below are all in some way edifying—depicting goodness, truth, or beauty in ways Christian viewers can celebrate—a few are rated R and should especially be viewed with caution and discernment.

[sphinx]

I had been on the lookout for a good "best movies of 2022" list for discussion. There have been scads published since last December. I came close to posting a couple of them but was not quite satisfied. I just came across this one today. It's the best I've seen, so here it is.

The list was compiled by a senior editor for TGC (The Gospel Coalition). Note: I had never heard of this group and have no sense at all of where it stands in the intra-Christian battles now underway. All I can say is that the author's top ten movies include both of my top two (one of which is on most reviewers' best of lists; the other, on a few), as well as six more that I've seen and liked. Eight out of ten ain't a bad batting average. I've also seen three of his honorable mentions. I can therefore say with authority that this is an excellent list.:)

My personal preferences aside, I think most freepers will appreciate the author's selection criteria, which are discussed in the excerpt. His intent seems to be right up our alley. IMHO, his execution is pretty good too.

I'd debate a couple of his picks, but he at least gives serious reasons for me to reconsider a film, which is exactly what a good reviewer should so. And I'd add a few other films that he overlooks. But if some evening you find yourself looking for a good, reasonably conservative/Christian/morally serious film, well made and (most of them) with something serious to say, keep this list handy. It sure beats whatever Netflix's or Amazon's algorithms will push into your viewing queue. They might even beat rewatching The Godfather for the 27th time.

If you overlooked it, Signalman's recent thread on the Oscar nominations provoked a good discussion. Brett McCracken has a better eye than the Academy (a low bar, to be sure), but it's interesting to compare the two lists: The Downfall of the Oscars

[sphinx]

For the movie ping list.

[ifinnegan]

Thanks sphinx.

[NWFree]

“Hollywood is increasingly less interested in entertaining them than in force-feeding them progressive ideals”

They’ve been writing this crap into their production even revising supposed historical accounts based on woke libtard nonsense for a long time

I don’t even waste my time trying to sift through all their garbage to try and find a tiny bit of actual redeeming quality work

[rktman]

Thanks.

[Getready]

put a fork in Hollywood. don’t waste another minute or dollar on their product.

[sphinx]

I don’t even waste my time trying to sift through all their garbage to try and find a tiny bit of actual redeeming quality work

Sifting through the garbage is what reviewers are for. I pay attention to lists -- yes, even the awards nominations, but also selection lists for major festivals and reviewers' "best of" and "most overlooked" lists. They're a place to start. It takes a few minutes to scan a list and read the one paragraph blurbs. If something catches my eye, I'll read a couple of reviews. I also make note of freepers' recommendations on our many movie threads. What I DON'T do is passively scroll through whatever the streamers algorithms throw at me.

Take a look at the films listed in the attached article. The reviewer is talking our language about them. You don't have to agree with him, but he makes a serious argument for them.

[whinecountry]

Thank you for what you do.

[Albion Wilde]

They made a big fuss over “Everything, Everywhere All at Once” and “Banshees of Inisherin” at the Golden Globes, but they didn’t make this cut.

I’ve actually been doing some time-intensive volunteering this past few months and have seen none of these films this time. Appreciate a discussion thread to sort them out by OUR standards around here!

[stanne]

In 2022 we watched Monty Python and the Holy Grail. That was the best movie of 2022 here

What else…

White Chicks
The Dark Knight Rises
Angels in the Outfield - the original w Janet Leigh
Why Didn’t they ask Evans- an adaptation of Agatha Christie by Hugh Laurie. Well it wasn’t a movie as much as a three part series, but it was put out in 2022
Speaking of British miniseries of 2022, All Creatures Great and Small is very nice

And speaking of good tv, we re watched the first 3 seasons of Blue Bloods with one of the top 3 tv characters of all time- Jennifer Esposito as Det. Jackie Curatolo

Those and the first 3 seasons of Brooklyn 99. Some Seinfeld

Conan’s podcast

And Die Hard at Christmas. With Elf.

[leaning conservative]

Love, love, love “All Creatures Great & Small.”

[the_Watchman]

The Gospel Coalition is a reliable organization. Among other things, they champion expositional preaching instead of topical preaching.

The ubiquitous topical sermon is created by a pastor choosing a topic, building a sermon, and then tacking in Scriptural references chosen to support his conclusions.

On the other hand, expositional sermons start by choosing section of Scripture to exposit (explain). The pastor figures out the “big idea” of the passage, explains it to the congregation, and then preaches through the passage verse by verse. Thus, Scripture is acknowledged as Revelation from God and is central to the presentation. An added bonus is that by preaching verse by verse, the pastor is taking the opportunity to teach the congregation on how, and why, to read their Bibles.

I was part of part of a team of trainers from our church who engaged in a Latin American outreach in 2020/2021. We went to a Nazarene district office in the middle of a Guatemalan rain forest (even though we are essentially Baptist). We held a three day conference training Nazarene pastors who had never been to seminary. We taught the basics of the Gospel, Biblical theology, Systematic theology, expository preaching, and hermeneutics.

Later we taught 16 week 1.5 hour/week Zoom sessions to about 130 pastors in Ecuador. They were Baptists, Nazarenes, and Missionary Alliance.

Our group used material from The Gospel Coalition and 9Marks.

[sphinx]

Banshees made his Honorable Mention list.

I don’t want to write long at this hour, but fans of great acting might want to note that Banshees got four Oscar nominations in the acting categories: Colin Farrell for Best Actor and three more for Best Supporting Actor/Actress. The nominations are well deserved. It took me awhile to settle into the film, but once I did, I very much enjoyed it. The actors completely sell their characters, and if they were any more Irish, the film would have needed subtitles.

[rlmorel]

I like it too. I think much better than the first one. Big fan of the books, read them all multiple times.

Masterfully cast.

But it has been a while-I can’t tell-are they deviating from the books?

[Nifster]

Thank you for posting this list. Has peeked my interest in at least a couple. Have seen none yet

[sphinx]

Thanks. Good to know. I’ve bookmarked the site and will check from time to time for movie references ... and whatever else I might find. Following links leads to interesting discoveries.

[leaning conservative]

I’m going to be honest: I was already to mock the person who wrote the article. And then....I read his reviews. He’s a really good writer & I got excited about some of his choices & he compelled me to really want to watch some I had brushed off or hadn’t heard about. Really great read!

[leaning conservative]

Bkmk/movies

[leaning conservative]

All ready

[rlmorel]

I am not a fan of Hollywood. I saw a list, and was surprised because I could not remember seeing a movie made in 2022, but...I did a few. I even went to a theater.

I saw Jurassic World: Dominion, and I liked it in the same way I like pizza. Even bad pizza is something I can eat and enjoy. I am a sucker for the dinosaur movies.

---

I saw Top Gun: Maverick. This was one I saw in the theater. Liked it, fun to watch. Silly, stupid silly, but fun. Can't help it. Having spent that much time on the flight deck of a carrier, I am fully engaged in the concept of someone stealing and flying a vintage F-14 Tomcat, one of the most beautiful jet fighters ever built.

I get emotionally entertaining flashbacks watching flight deck operations in a movie like that. It makes me remember being a young man, when my back didn't hurt, I had hair, and I didn't have to remember the location of every Men's room all the time.

There was one part in the movie where they were retracting the arrestor cables after a trap, and...I heard that sound of the thick, steel cable slithering across the flight making a hissing, scraping sound. I remember it because when I was on the JFK, my berthing compartment every deployment was all the way aft on the O-3 (or is it O-2? I cannot remember now!) level right under the wires...and my first cruise, not knowing any better, I chose the top rack right on the main passageway on the port side. My philosophy after that was: Never choose the top rack or the bottom rack if you have a choice! Even worse, I had one of those 1MC speakers buried in the overhead only feet right above my head!!!!!! I hate to admit this, but I ended up after a month or two taking a fine wire and poking it through the little holes in the speaker cover with little to no success in trying to diminish the sound. I don't know if that thing even had a real speaker in it, or if it was more of a megaphone type of speaker, but...I had to try something for my sanity!

When I was in my rack, I could hear through the flight deck the planes coming in. Faint...then louder, and louder until WHAM, the thing would land right above me, the whole place would shake, and then the machinery sound of the arresting cables playing out with that loud whine. I could often hear the plane taxiing away, and then the slither of the the cable sliding across the flight deck until it reached the metal leaf spring-like devices that held the cable a few inches off the deck. As the cable tautened up, it would go click-click-click as it swayed fore and aft, until it finally stopped.

Then, the cycle would repeat itself over and over again with each trap! I can remember hearing the E-2 Hawkeye's coming in, because the thrum of their approaching turboprops sounded so different.

I heard this hundreds and hundreds of times as I slept. I heard it in my subconscious, in my sleep. I heard it when I would wake up after dreaming I was home with my friends, partying the way all of us did back in the Seventies. I was nearly numb with homsickness at that moment when I awoke.

I was in a peacetime Navy, so I didn't have to worry as much about being maimed or killed except by my own stupidity or inattention, or an unfortunate accident.

But watching a movie like that makes me remember how much I wanted to go home again back then, and I can feel a longing inside of me to be young again and want so badly to go back home again.

---

I saw Minions: The Rise of Gru, and was completely underwhelmed by it. Very disappointing to me. I love all the minion movies, and could have enjoyed it in the same way I said I enjoyed eating pizza, even lousy pizza. But it was so unimaginative that I felt disappointment. I was not entertained.

I saw Jackass Forever, and I enjoyed it about as much as the others, because every chance I get to see guys aggressively mining the depths of male stupidity, it makes me fully remember all the stupid, insane, useless, and downright dangerous things I have done as a dumb guy, and it reminds me again that I am only three square meals and a few thousand dollars away from being a thoughtful, law abiding, hardworking, and responsible guy who becomes a jackass. All boys have this capability in them.

I saw Bullet Train. I was entertained. Kind of silly. Like eating movie theater popcorn. It satisfies you in a way, but only in the moment. You forget it when you are done, except for the cheap stale corn seed husks stuck in your teeth accompanied by a salt and fat induced thirst that makes you want to drink a flat, bladder-busting soda that has been diluted with melted ice that was made from semi-polluted water. It was worthwhile for the entertainment it provided.

In the end, I can't watch much out of Hollywood these days. I plumb the depths of old movies now, and enjoy them. I watch favorites like "The Best Years of Our Lives", "The Searchers", and things like that.

I do re-watch some series, my wife and I are re-watching Boardwalk Empire, and I am also watching "Turn" which I very much enjoy.

But not enjoying much out of Hollywood. No imagination. So it was a surprise to me that nothing I saw in 2022 had that much of an effect on me except for Top Gun: Maverick, but that wasn't as much that the movie itself was that good, but more about what it made me remember.