Welcome to my post! Today I thought it would be fun to share the films I watched last year and rank all of them! I watched 40 films, 4 less than the books I read, with a mixture of re-watches, catching up on older films and new releases. I used Letterboxd to rank the films, which you can see here. Let’s get on with the post!
40-36
These are the worst films I watched this year, and most of them aren’t even that bad, so I’m glad I enjoyed most of the films I watched in 2022. Fall was the worst, and it probably didn’t help that I just randomly watched in one afternoon with my boyfriend on TikTok. Moving on from that one, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing felt shallow and didn’t say much in terms of commentary which made the entire plot feel pretty exploitative. And it’s a boring film in general so don’t recommend. Do Revenge was fine, probably better than My Policeman looking back, but a lot of the dialogue was pretty cringey and I didn’t really care for the characters or story much. My Policeman was just boring, it felt quite cliche in terms of how it explored queerness and I don’t normally enjoy this genre of film anyway so I knew I probably wouldn’t like it. Harry Styles’ acting didn’t help it either. Don’t Worry Darling was better and I liked individual parts of it but as a whole it felt incohesive and didn’t end up saying much even though it seemed like it was supposed to.
35-31
You’re about to see a strong them in these lists because I re-watched all the Spiderman live action movies before No Way Home. The Amazing Spiderman 2 is my least favourite of all of them, it was just forgettable. I watched Friday the 13th on my birthday and it was a fun film but didn’t really have much purpose to it and just wasn’t very scary. Thor: Love and Thunder was another average marvel film, some of the comedy was good, some bad, and the storyline was decent. No Country for Old Men was good but I can’t remember anything about it oops. Doctor Strange: Multiverse of Madness was the first film I watched alone in the cinema and I enjoyed it, nowhere near as good as the first one as you’ll see but I liked the concept.
30-26
Spiderman: Homecoming is maybe a bit too high because I can’t really remember it, but it was fun. Tangerine was a random film I went to see in the cinema on a whim and I’m glad I went because I would have never heard of it otherwise. It was a little slow at the start but it was a raw film with humour integrated in and cool camera shots. Spiderman 2 is next. My least favourite of this trilogy but still pretty strong. Kiki’s Delivery Service is as usual for Studio Ghibli very cute, but it was a bit forgettable for me. Only Yesterday, another Studio Ghibli film, was beautiful if a little slow.
25-21
La Lengua de las Mariposas (Butterfly Tongues) is an amazing film set as the Spanish Civil War is about to start, which I watched to practice my Spanish. It dragged a little in places, but it was heart-warming (and then heart-breaking) with a strong historical aspect. I’ve seen the first Spiderman film so many times and I still liked it on another re-watch. Spree was another fun film, which I’m not sure if it deserves to be this high, but I enjoyed it either way. Tenet was a clever but confusing action film and I liked the creativity, but might have to watch again to completely understand everything that happened. The Lighthouse was tense and beautifully shot with great performances from Willem Dafoe and Robert Pattinson, which again I didn’t 100% understand on the first watch but was still entertaining if that’s the right word.
20-16
I didn’t realise how high I ranked Doctor Strange but this was a re-watch that made me like it more than originally, and it was a concept and magic I hadn’t seen before so I enjoyed it. Hot Fuzz is another one that I didn’t expect to be so high but it was funny and didn’t take itself too seriously. A re-watch of Insidious was essential for some Halloween films, although I didn’t get round to watching the sequels. It wasn’t as amazing as watching it the first time but still a strong horror. I watched X around the same time, and it was really good. I think it was hyped up to much and it wasn’t quite what I was expecting when I finally got to it, but it was still a unique slasher. Saint Maud is a short, insane film like most of what A24 has done and I’m glad I went in knowing nothing about it. The ending is crazy.
15-11
The last two Spriderman films on here I promise! Honestly did not realise Spiderman 3 was this high, I think it’s mostly because of Bully Maguire and the memes associated with it which makes the movie for me. There was a lot going on but I did enjoy the Venom plotline. Spiderman: No Way Home was great, mostly for the other Spidermans coming back and nostalgia of past villains and including other heroes in it. It was also emotional at points. Then Coherence I watched near the start of the year. I liked how it was a contained film done on a very low budget with lots of twists. Of course I watched Black Panther: Wakanda Forever and it was a lovely tribute to Chadwick Boseman with plenty of action and unique villains challenging other characters’ world views. I love films like Whiplash with spiralling obsession. It was so tense and the music element was well done too.
10-6
Into the top 10! 10th is The Babadook, a Halloween re-watch. Still amazing, scary and with compelling characters. Hereditary is another film I re-watched around Halloween and I loved it more on the second time around, fully grasping the story an anticipating the scary moments around unsuspecting friends. I watched The Witch for the first time and really enjoyed it, especially as I was studying Early Modern witches at the time so it was a perfect movie for me then. Coraline was another re-watch which solidified my love for it. Whisper of the Heart is, like all Studio Ghibli films, beautifully animated and a heart-warming story.
5-1
Onto the best of the best! I re-watched My Neighbour Totoro in anticipation of the play adaptation (I talk about it in this blog post!). It was as good as I remembered it and the first Studio Ghibli film I watched so holds a special place in my heart. Then I watched Princess Mononoke for the first time and I don’t know why I waited this long! A perfect amount of action, social commentary and focus on characters; it’s a new favourite. The next three were really hard to rank. Looking back, I might switch Princess Mononoke with this third place, but either way The Grand Budapest Hotel was great. Wes Anderson’s well-known style is the most beautiful in this film, with the colour palettes and shots. I enjoyed the storyline and there were really funny parts. My second favourite film of the year is Everything Everywhere All At Once, which was obviously going to be a very high ranking. Everything about it is amazing, the acting, the action, the editing, the concept, everything!. It made me feel almost every type of emotion, from anger to pity, from hope to defeat. I just loved it. And at number 1, although in my head the top two are at the same level, is Nope directed by Jordan Peele. I don’t care what anyone says about it, it was thrilling, scary and funny, with a lot of different themes explored well. Daniel Kaluuya and Keke Palmer had great performances and I liked the contrast between them.
Well, that’s all the films I saw in 2022! What were some of your favourites? Are there any placements on here that you disagree with?
—ella♥
ella isn’t writing 
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