So here we are.

2022 has been an outstanding year for movies as you can tell from the fact that this list, which is normally 30 films long, is now at 40 films. I decided to expand the list instead of having ten honorable mentions on the normal length list.

Not only were there a bunch of movies on this list, they were extremely difficult to rank. I was flip-flopping these movies multiple times, with some dropping down and others going higher on the list. In fact, I can’t promise that the list that I type up will be exactly the same as what I have written down on the paper. I had more trouble organizing this list than any that I can remember in the past.

As usual, I did not include an documentaries on this list. It is not like that is a hard and fast rule, but the doc would need to be something truly special to make this list. Fire of Love was on the original possibilities list but it got dropped early in the process. Another film that I did not consider much was the DC Animation Battle of the Super Sons. I loved that film, but it got dropped because of the lack of release. I also did not include the Marvel Studios Special Presentations (Werewolf By Night and The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special) in the Top 40. Honestly, both of those would have made it had I not decided to cut them off.

Finally, as I stated with the Worst Movies List, my normal star ranking does not go into effect with this listing. I have a 5 star film currently sitting at #13. The star ratings help organize the possible films to make the list and then I look at my current thoughts on the film. Sometimes they are different than immediately after seeing a film.

So, off we go…

#40. Marcel the Shell with Shoes On. Charming and fun, they were able to take an animated short film and make it a feature length movie without any trouble. Marcel was such an awesome character, it’s a shame more people did not see this.

#39. Strange World. The Disney animated film this year was simply not promoted properly. It was a great generational film looking at father and son relationships. Great animation too. Yes, it has some issues, but it deserved better. Everyone should go watch it on Disney + .

#38. Emily the Criminal. Aubrey Plaza gave an amazing performance as a woman who turned to credit card scamming to egt by in her life. Plaza is a star in the making.

#37. All Quiet on the Western Front. The German remake of the classic was a powerful and beautiful film that was very difficult to watch. It should be a leading candidate for Best International Film at the Oscars.

#36. She Said. An investigative journalist film dealing with the controversial Hollywood figure, producer Harvey Weinstein. A great cast and a strong story helped She Said.

#35. Scream. The new film in the Scream franchise came out early in 2022 and did a great job of setting up a new direction for the franchise while still paying homage to what had come before.

#34. When the Screaming Starts. A mockumentary focusing on a serial killer who had yet to actually kill anyone. A serial killer wannabe. And this was hilarious.

#33. Pearl. The prequel to X (which also came out this year), this included a star-making performance from Mia Goth, as a brutal serial killer and her origins.

#32. Confess, Fletch. Jon Hamm took over the role of Fletch and they made a film that was smart, funny and full of surprises. This was another movie whose promotional material did not do it any favors. I want more Fletch, and I am not that much of a fan of the originals with Chevy Chase.

#31. Beast. Idris Elba is in this movie about a killer lion that was way better than I ever thought it would be. It was a lot of dramatic fun and frightful moments.

#30. The Lost City. Sandra Bullock and Channing Tatum worked well together in this Romancing the Stone-like action film. Brad Pitt gave a scene stealing performance in a short role.

#29. The Woman King. An epic film dealing with a race of warrior women from Africa, led by Viola Davis. There were excellent fights and battles too.

#28. Smile. A great year for horror included this, one of the scariest films of the year and certainly also one of the creepiest with all of those crazy smiles.

#27. The Outfit. Mark Rylance played a tailor whose ties to the mob come back to haunt him.

#26. The Banshees of Inisherin. Reuniting Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson, this Irish film was thoroughly entertaining and momentously shocking. One of the Academy Award favorites.

#25. Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris. I waited for the price on this to drop before renting it this year. It absolutely would have been worth paying full price. Full of charm and fun performances.

#24. Chip N Dale Rescue Rangers. A Disney + exclusive that was so much fun and filled with nostalgia and cameos galore. Ugly Sonic was a standout for sure. Clever and well written.

#23. Spirited. Ryan Reynolds and Will Ferrell give their spin on a version of A Christmas Carol from a new perspective. It had some great music and some fun dance scenes as well.

#22. Till. A tough film to watch because of the painful topic, but a movie with so many great performances, led by Danielle Deadwyler, our The Liz Award winner this year. Give it a watch.

#21. Elvis. Baz Lurhmann’s new film detailing the life of Elvis Presley. Austin Butler does an outstanding job as Elvis and Tom Hanks is underrated as Col. Tom Parker.

#20. Enola Holmes 2. This Netflix film starred Millie Bobby Brown as the sister of Sherlock Holmes, returning in a sequel that exceeded the original. Brown is an absolute star and she has a bright career past Stranger Things.

#19. Top Gun: Maverick. One of the most successful films of the year, Top Gun Maverick looked amazing and brought a great deal of nostalgia to a simple story. Very thrilling.

#18. Black Phone. A clever horror film with Ethan Hawke as a child kidnapper and a mysterious black phone that keeps ringing though it is not connected to anything.

#17. Puss in Boots: The Last Wish. A wonderful addition to the Shrek franchise, Puss in Boots was funny, creative and full of an energy missing form many animated films these days.

#16. Turning Red. A brilliant film from Pixar that tackles the theme of young girls growing up and uses a metaphor to tell the tale. Amazing graphics as most Pixar films have.

#15. The Batman. Robert Pattinson made a solid Batman as he battled a psychotic version of the Riddler and an imressive Penguin, who was an unrecognizable Colin Farrell. May have been a touch too long.

#14. Dr. Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Sam Raimi succeeded in making a Marvel movie feel like a Sam Raimi movie. There were some haters of this online, but I think this movie wa a victim more of over-expectations than anything else.

#13. The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent. This is the film that has bounced around the most, having been as high as six on this list. Nic Cage playing a satirical version of himself in this movie was amazing and it was a lot of fun.

#12. Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio. One of the most beautifully animated movies of the year and easily the best Pinocchio movie of 2022. The film was dark, funny, full of great music and some messages among the themes. A special film.

#11. Thor: Love and Thunder. Another film that found a lot of hate this year, but I loved. Yes, I thought the film had too much goofy humor in the first part, but I found myself engrossed in the second part. Then, on the second watch, the jokes did not bother me as much as they did in the first viewing. It was an excellent ending too.

#10. Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery. We, once again, join in the world of Benoit Blanc, and the great detective finds himself deeply involved in another murder. Glass Onion has a stellar cast and is very clever and creative.

#9. Prey. A Hulu film that reinvigorated the Predator franchise by taking it back into the past. Dialogue was limited but the storytelling was not. This should have had a theatrical release.

#8. Violent Night. A film that surprised me with how much it dove into characterization. I thought it would be just a bad ass Santa, but it was much deeper than that. Loved the performance of David Harbour as the three dimensional Santa Claus and his sledgehammer.

#7. Deadstream. A wonderful take off of YouTube streaming culture in a great found footage horror film. One of the best horror films of the year that I found on Shudder.

#6. Everything Everywhere All at Once. It was the best multiverse movie of the year. Clever, creative, fun, and filled with amazing performances, EEAAO showed that a little film can be successful.

#5. Weird: The Al Yankovic Story. Putting the Roku Channel on the map, Weird was the funniest movie of the year. As one would expect, Weird took the genre of biopics and parodied them, just like Weird Al parodied the songs. Some of this biopic is true… though not much.

#4. RRR. One of the most energetic films of the year. RRR was filled with kinetic dances, over-the-top action and some of the best characters around. It is long, but every second is a treat.

#3. The Menu. My favorite horror/thriller of the year, The Menu has everything. Ralph Fiennes leads a sensational cast in one of the most tense films you are going to find. It is also a satire of chefs and their manner in preparing meals. The Menu was an amazing tasty treat.

#2. Matilda the Musical. This almost made number one. I love this musical with the wonderful Alishia Weir as Matilda and the unbelievably transformed Emma Thompson. On re-watch, I had tears in my eyes during the Revolting Children song/dance from just pure joy. It is on Netflix right now…go watch it!

#1. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. Marvel Studios and director Ryan Coogler faced such a series of problems with Wakanda Forever, namely they lost their main character (T’Challa) played by their star Chadwick Boseman to cancer. What came from that was a film that was a beautiful tribute to Chadwick Boseman while also moving Wakanda forward in the MCU. Emotional and full of grief, but also hope.

It is time for the Worst Movies of 2022 list. This year the list is at 25, though there are also a few dishonorable mentions. Every year there are people who refute the writing of Worst lists because they claim that it is too negative. While I agree that it is difficult to make movies, in my opinion, criticizing the work does not disrespect the people involved. At lest, I do not mean to. With the Batman and Robin Awards, I talked about “celebrating” the bad movies. That is what I want to do.

And as always, the individual star ranking for each movie does not necessarily mean that they are in that order. A movie could have 1 star and be ranked blow a film that had 2 stars because it depends on how I feel about the film, the reflection of it, and compared with others. I say that because the one film that I gave zero stars to this year did not end up at number one.

Dishonorable mentions: Four films did not reach the top 25. They were Bones and All, which a lot of people loved and I did not, Crimes of the Future, a sci-fi film that just did not do anything for me, She Will, another film that failed to grab my attention, and The Independent, which I saw on Peacock and had John Cena but I had never heard of it before.

Here we go…

#25. Don’t Worry Darling. A film that people thought would be a huge Oscar contender, but flopped in poor storytelling and chaos behind the scenes.

#24. Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank. Just a dumb, childish animated film filled with fart and poop jokes. Brings the level down to the kids instead of the other way around.

#23. Halloween Ends. Not what the trailers promoted. I was excited for this after seeing the trailers, but the “final battle” with Michael and Laurie felt tacked on to the end of a film that was not about Michael.

#22. Ambulance. Michael Bay’s new film about two thieves pulling a bank heist and ending up inside an ambulance. Dumb.

#21. Hotel Transylvania: Transformations. Hopefully the last of this franchise. This is a franchise truly losing steam as it moves along.

#20. The Lost Patient. This is one of the films that I do not remember much about. Looking back on it, there is some really dumb twists that was so obvious that it ruins the film.

#19. Memory. One of Liam Neeson’s films. You see some and you’ve seen them all. Liam is forgetting things and looking to retire. Yawn.

#18. My Best Friend’s Exorcism. I had hoped this would be cheesy, campy fun. It was everything…except the fun part.

#17. Falling for Christmas. I don’t usually watch these cheesy Christmas films, but with Lindsey Lohan, I gave it a chance. Bad choice.

#16. The Invitation. Just watched this recently after avoiding it for so long. It was free on Netflix and that was the only way I could justify it. Terrible vampire movie.

#15. Disney’s Pinocchio. Who would have guessed that you have Disney, Pinocchio and Tom Hanks and this would be one of the worst films of the year? It just had no reason to exist and lacked any real purpose.

#14. The School of Good & Evil. I had hoped that this could be the next big Harry Potter-like franchise. No thnak you.

#13. R.I.P.D 2: The Rise of the Damned. Who wanted this? A prequel with no stars from the original and just a terrible story and CGI. It felt like an early 90s action film, but not as good.

#12. Firestarter. Another failed attempt to adapt this Stephen King book. Almost made her a super hero.

#11. Choose or Die. Asa Butterfield could have bene Spider-Man. Boy we dodged a bullet there.

#10. The Requin. A killer shark movie. Or at least, that is what I thought. Shark wasn’t here for much. Silly and not fun.

#9. Moonfall. If only the moon would have crashed into the earth sooner.

#8. Morbius. It’s Morbin’ Time! A film so bad it flopped twice. This could have been so great. I love the character of Morbius, but this was such a poor rendition that it became a joke meme instead of a hit movie. Plus, one of the worst post credit scenes ever.

#7. Senior Year. Oh, my goodness. Rebel Wilson as a girl who wound up in a coma as a high school student and awoke years later, still with her same mindset. It was painful to watch this seriously unfunny comedy.

#6. The Man from Toronto. Speaking of unfunny, I was shocked this film was as bad as it was with Kevin Hart and Woody Harrelson.

#5. Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2022). The remake of a horror classic was anything but a classic. What a horrendous waste of a IP.

#4. Studio 666. The Foo Fighters fighting foo. That would have been more interesting, I think. Horrible Satanic, demonic tale of a rock band. They did not die quickly enough.

#3. Babylon. This could be one of the firsts Worst Film List films to receive a Best Picture Oscar nomination. I hope the voters come to their senses. It has been a long time since I came out of a theater angry at what I watched. This was the latest time. I hated this movie.

#2. Jackass Forever. I gave this movie 0 stars because I did not find anything funny. It felt cruel and mean-spirited and featured way too many penises.

#1. The Munsters. Rob Zombie was apparently a huge fan of the TV show, but you would be hard pressed to find any evidence of that. You knew when you saw that trailer that many people thought was a joke or a misdirect, that this movie was going to be a stinker. There was potential here, but it was totally unreached. The Munsters became the worst movie of 2022.

2022 brought a major change for one of my favorite shows.

The Movie Trivia Schmoedown entered its ninth season seemingly strong. It started its own Friday night program called Friday Night Titans. It continued to have exciting and competitive matches every week in singles, teams and InnerGeekdom (Star wars too, but I rarely saw any of those).

After several years of debate, I opened the Movie Trivia Schmoedown Wing of the EYG Hall of fame and inducted the first class of inductees, with the plan of inducting three or so every year.

It was not too long after the Hall of Fame announcement that the announcement from Chairman Kristian Harloff shook the MTS to its core. The Schmoedown would be ending with season 9. There would be no more Movie Trivia Schmoedown moving forward.

It was quite the blow. It had been a major aspect of my life for many years and it felt like I had lost something. I added a few more members to the Hall of Fame, those that would have been the second year inductees and those that I almost added to the first class originally.

The show ended with the 7th Schmoedown Spectacular in October, which featured some fun matches with all of the favorites, but lacked that intensity because they all knew this was the end of the line. It was a greta opportunity to say goodbye to this show that had meant a lot to me over the years.

That brought me to the Year in Review. I normally do up a whole list of award winners for the Schmoedown, but I am not going to do that this year. Clearly, Samm Levine, who ended the Schmoedown as Champion is the Player of the Year.

However, I wanted to give out the final Match of the Year Award because the matches in season 9 were every bit as important as the previous ones.

Movie Trivia Schmoedown Match of the Year

Previous Winners: JTE defeats Drew McWeeny in Sudden Death(2017), Mara Knopic defeated Rachel Cushing in Innergeekdom Tournament (2018), Rachel Cushing defeated Mike Kalinowski in Sudden Death to win the Innergeekdom championship (2019), Dan Murrell defeated Ben Bateman in Sudden Death to win the Movie Trivia Schmoedown Championship (2020), Andrew Dimalanta defeated Alex Damon in Sudden Death to win Star Wars Championship, 51-50 (2021)

2022 Movie Trivia Match of the Year… the final winner is…

Samm Levine defeated Marisol McKee for the Singles Championship, 38-35

This is a final goodbye to the MTS. I have been watching some early matches on YouTube and I do miss it.

The Strangelove (Best Actor in Movie)

Previous Winners:  James McAvoy (Split), Denzel Washington (Fences), Bryan Cranston (Trumbo), Michael Keaton (Birdman), Tom Hanks (Captain Phillips), Daniel Day-Lewis (Lincoln), Ryan Gosling (Drive), Rami Malek (Bohemian Rhapsody), Joaquin Phoenix (Joker), Chadwick Boseman (Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom), Andrew Garfield (Tick, Tick…Boom)

We have ten actors on the list for 2022. All of them have done great work and deserve the recognition.

#10. Jonathan Majors (Devotion). Jonathan Majors is on his way to superstardom and this performance will be pointed at as a gem when he is dominating the discussion as Kang and in Creed 3.

#9. Nic Cage (The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent). Playing Nic Cage had to be more difficult than it seemed. Nic Cage is really into the joke as he brought an excellent version of himself to the screen.

#8. Mark Rylance (The Outfit). This is one of those films this year that snuck under the radar, but Rylance was exceptional in his one setting film. He showed how clever his character was with every step taken.

#7. Daniel Craig (Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery). Our Southern gentleman detective, Benoit Blanc, returned to the screen in a new Knives Out story and entertained us thoroughly once again.

#6. Jeremy Pope (The Inspection). A black gay man trying to make it in the Marines is filled with drama and tension and Pope’s performance showed every bit of that feeling.

#5. Daniel Radcliffe (Weird: The Al Yankovic Story). When you think of who could play Weird Al in a biopic, Daniel Radcliffe does not immediately come to mind. Yet, the former Harry Potter star was brilliant in bringing to life the master of the parody in one of the funniest performances of the year.

#4. Colin Farrell (The Banshees of Inisherin). Colin Farrell had a great year and he ended it with this amazing performance of a lonely man who does not understand why his friend has deserted him.

#3. Austin Baker (Elvis). This casting was weird. Austin Baker was a young guy and who thought he could be Elvis Presley? Well, anyone who doubted him has to now eat those words as Austin Baker was brilliant as The King of Rock and Roll.

#2. Ralph Fiennes (The Menu). Ralph Fiennes anchored this wonderful entourage and absolutely dominated every scene he was in. The Menu was such a great surprise and Ralph Fiennes made every moment count.

And the Number One and winner of the Strangelove is…

Brendan Fraser (The Whale). This movie made me feel uneasy and, even at times, depressed and I did not give it a positive review, but there is no denying that Brendan Fraser was utterly transcendent as Charlie. The screenplay may not have treated Charlie well, but Brendan Fraser took every second of the role and made it more than just an actor in a fat suit. Fraser absolutely overcame the cruelty of the film and gave the best performance of the year.

The Liz Award

Previous Winners:  Frances McDormand (3 Billboards Outside of Ebbing, Missouri), Viola Davis (Fences), Charlize Theron (Mad Max: Fury Road), Rosemund Pike (Gone Girl), Sandra Bullock (Gravity), Berenice Bejo (The Artist), Michelle Williams (My Week with Marilyn),  Yalitza Aparicio (Roma), Renee Zellweger (Judy), Viola Davis (Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom), Rachel Zegler (West Side Story)

Top 11

#11. Kali Reis (Catch the Fair One). A brutal performance with a character that was in search of her sister and would do anything to find her.

#10. Michelle Williams (The Fabelmans). Michelle Williams gives a solid performance in a film where her character is a little unbalanced and unhappy despite having a seemingly good life.

#9. Sosie Bacon (Smile). The daughter of Kevin Bacon came to play in the frightful horror film, Smile. There is no doubt that Smile was one of the scariest films of the year and her performance anchored it.

#8. Viola Davis (The Woman King). The only actor to win The Liz twice, Viola Davis was at it again this year with a powerhouse performance as an African warrior in The Woman King.

#7. Naomi Ackie (I Wanna Dance with Somebody). Whitney Houston herself. Ackie gave a great performance as the iconic singer, really becoming her and not just doing an imitation.

#6. Letitia Wright (Black Panther: Wakanda Forever). Wright faced the difficult task of becoming the next MCU Black Panther after the loss of Chadwick Boseman and she gave her best performance ever. She gave an emotional and deep performance that both established herself as the character and honored her on screen brother.

#5. Alisha Weir (Matilda the Musical). The “I See Kid Actors” Award winner this year also makes The Liz list. Alisha Weir was fantastic as the titular character, not only acting, but also singing and dancing. It’s an all around great performance.

#4. Cate Blanchett (Tar). The Oscar front runner falls in at number four for me. She was great in the movie, but I only liked Tar. No doubt that Cate Blanchett was the reason to see that film.

#3. Mia Goth (Pearl). Mia Goth was amazing in this prequel to X. She was great in X too, but I think she really brought the crazy in Pearl as we see how she became the dangerous psycho killer she would become.

#2. Michelle Yeoh (Everything Everywhere All at Once). Michelle Yeoh brought such a credibility to this small movie that helped elevate it to the next level. She was certainly everything to this movie.

And the number one and winner of The Liz Award for 2022 is…

Danielle Deadwyler (Till). One of the most powerful and heart-wrenching performances of the year, Danielle Deadwyler showed the anguish of a mother whose only son was brutally lynched in the south during the 1950s, but would not stand for it and helped make the world a better place through her tragedy. Not many people saw Till, but it was an amazing film with the performance of Deadwyler at the heart of it.

The Joker/Hannibal Lecter/Mister Miyagi Award for Best Male Supporting Actor

Previous Winners:  Patrick Stewart (Logan), Michael Shannon (Nocturnal Animals), Sylvester Stallone (Creed), Edward Norton (Birdman), Jared Leto (Dallas Buyers Club), Christoph Waltz (Django Unchained), Andy Serkis (Rise of the Planet of the Apes), Richard Grant (Can You Ever Forgive Me?), Robert Downey Jr (Avengers: Endgame), Sasha Baron Cohen (Trial of the Chicago 7), Willem Dafoe (Spider-Man: No Way Home)

As with the Female Supporting Actor Award, we had a name change for this award too. Named it after three of the great supporting characters in film history.

There are ten on the list of Male Supporting Actors

#10. Bokeem Woodbine (The Inspection). The drill sergeant who went out of his way to make things horribly difficult for Jeremy Pope in The Inspection.

#9. Brian Tyree Henry (Causeway). Henry was one of the standouts of the Apple TV + film Causeway.

#8. Mark Rylance (Bones and All). I did not like this movie much, but there is no denying that Mark Rylance was amazing as the crazed cannibal.

#7. Stanley Tucci (I Wanna Dance With Somebody). Clive Davis was a close friend and record executive that helped Whitney through her life and career and his care was special.

#6. Paul Dano (The Fabelmans). Paul Dano was excellent as the father who was supporting of his son while his marriage was falling apart.

#5. Tom Hanks (Elvis). Colonel Tom Parker had his fingers all over Elvis for years, manipulating him and everyone around. Hanks showed he could play an unlikable person as well.

#4. Colin Farrell (The Batman). Farrell is unrecognizable as The Penguin in the newest Batman film. He may not have been the main villain of the film, but he may have been the best.

#3. Tenoch Huerta (Black Panther: Wakanda Forever). Huerta did an amazing job with Namor, a longtime character of Marvel with a new background and culture. He was a villain who you did not want to root against.

#2. Judd Hirsch (The Fabelmans). He was there for maybe ten minutes, but he absolutely dominated the screen while he was there. Perhaps the best performance of his career.

And the NUMBER ONE Best Male Supporting Actor is…

Ke Huy Quen (Everything Everywhere All At Once). What a comeback! As a child, Ke Huy Quen was Short Round in the Indiana Jones franchise and Data in The Goonies. He was amazing in the Multiversal movie, playing a couple of different characters. I am glad that he returned to the screen and I hope that he will have plenty of great roles moving forward!

The Hermione Granger/Furiosa/Rita Moreno Award for Best Female Supporting Actor

Previous Winners:  Dafne Keene (Logan), Tilda Swinton (Dr. Strange), Alicia Vikander (Ex Machina), Emma Stone (Birdman), Jennifer Lawrence (American Hustle), Sally Field (Lincoln), Jennifer Aniston (Horrible Bosses), Emily Blunt (A Quiet Place), Scarlett Johansson (Jojo Rabbit), Margo Martindale (Blow the Man Down), Rita Moreno (West Side Story)

As you can see, I have renamed this award. The term “actress” has fallen out of favor lately and so I thought, with the chance of being referred to as ‘woke’, it was as good as time as any to rename the award.

We actually have 11 female supporting actors on our list this year. We are counting them down.

#11. Sally Field (Spoiler Alert). Field was great in the film as a mother of an adult son with cancer. She did not have that much screen time though so this is her spot.

#10. Tamara Tunie (I Wanna Dance With Somebody). Tunie played Whitney Houston’s mother Cissy and she was a great support for Whitney.

#9. Sadie Sink (The Whale). Sadie had a great year, with her work on Stranger Things and her turn as sociopathic daughter to Brendan Fraser. How horrible was her character in that film? Sadie Sink has remarkable talent.

#8. Gabrielle Union (The Inspection). Another mother on the list. Gabrielle Union played a pretty rotten mother who could not accept her son’s lifestyle.

#7. Carey Mulligan (She Said). Mulligan could really be considered a co-lead of the film.

#6. Lashana Lynch (Matilda the Musical). Lynch played the sweet Ms. Honey and brought a new flair to the role.

#5. Hong Chau (The Whale). Chau was the friend/nurse in The Whale and she created a balance to the depression of Brendan Fraser character.

#4. Jamie Lee Curtis (Everywhere Everything All at Once). Jamie Lee Curtis was a great addition to this stellar cast. You can never go wrong with Jamie Lee Curtis.

#3. Emma Thompson (Matilda the Musical). Thompson was unrecognizable as the headmistress Agatha Trunchbull, the wicked and cruel woman who was trying to put an end to the “maggots.”

#2. Evan Rachel Wood (Weird: The Al Yankovic Story). Evan Rachel Wood was a huge scene stealer in Weird as Madonna, who truly becomes the villain of the film.

And the NUMBER ONE Best Female Supporting Actor for 2022 is…

#1. Angela Basset (Black Panther: Wakanda Forever). Angela Bassett was a force of nature as Queen Ramonda, leader of Wakanda who was mourning the loss of her son, T’Challa while desperately trying to help her daughter, Shuri. There were some amazingly savage dialogue for Queen Ramonda in some powerful monologues.

Nobody tries to make a bad movie, but it happens. We are going to celebrate the rottenness of these films. These are the Batman & Robin Awards for Rottenness.

Worst Movie: We will save this for the Worst of the Year List

Worst Actor: Dave Grohl (Studio 666).

Worse Actress: Sheri Moon Zombie (The Munsters)

Worst Director: Rob Zombie (The Munsters)

Worst Sequel: RIPD 2: Rise of the Damned

My Favorite “Rotten” Movie: Black Adam

Worst Movie I Did Not See: Blonde

Cashing a Paycheck: Kevin Hart & Woody Harrelson (Man from Toronto)

Worst Superhero Movie: Morbius

Book was Better: The School of Good & Evil

Worst Reboot/Remake: The Munsters

Most Successful Bad Movie: Jurassic World: Dominion

Worst Movie Based on TV Show: Jackass Forever

Worst Performance from an Oscar Winner: Jared Leto (Morbius)

Worst Post Credit Scenes: Morbius featuring the Vulture

Worst Vampire Movie: The Invitation

Worst CGI: Jeepers Creepers: Reborn

Worst Movie Take: John Campea’s constant “Marvel is the fake death universe”. I wonder if John made any comments about Avatar: The Way of Water bringing back their main villain from the dead? No? Of course not, because that cuts into his narrative.

“All Right, Mr. Deville, I am Ready for my Close Up” Award for Best Director

Previous Winners:  A.G. Inarritu (Birdman), Tim McCarthy (Spotlight), Damien Chazelle (La La Land), Patty Jenkins (Wonder Woman), Alfonso Cuarón (Roma), Anthony and Joe Russo (Avengers: Endgame), Spike Lee (Da 5 Bloods), Jon Watt (Spider-Man: No Way Home)

2022 had a bunch of excellent directors doing a lot of great work. I had a large list of potential directors for the “All Right, Mr. Deville, I am Ready for my Close Up” Award.

Honorable Mention: I will start off by mentioning Baz Luhrmann with his Elvis work. It was a fun and well shot biopic. Dan Kusan and Daniel Scheinert are together known as The Daniels and they created one of the top films of the year with Everything Everywhere All at Once. We got a brand new look at Gotham City with Matt Reeves‘ vision of The Batman. Guillermo del Toro brought a new concept to the Pinocchio story. The Banshees of Inisherin is an Oscar favorite and Martin McDonagh may be a director nominee there. He gets a shout out in the EYG world. James Cameron did an amazing job on his sequel, Avatar: The Way of Water. Another giant epic film was The Woman King and Gina Prince-Bythewood did an amazing job with the massive battle scenes. Rian Johnson has been known to be divisive among the geek world, but that is unfair. His work is always great as it is in Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery. Sam Raimi made Dr. Strange in the Multiverse of Madness into an amazing Sam Raimi-movie. Top Gun: Maverick was a huge smash and Joseph Kosinski knocked it out of the park. One of the best foreign films this year was RRR and S.S. Rajamouli had huge dance and battle scenes to work. Another Oscar favorite is Steven Spielberg for The Fabelmans, but he is well down my list. The Menu is absolutely awesome and Mark Mylad brought some amazing tension. Finally, Matthew Warchus gave us a wonderful film, Matilda the Musical, which is now on Netflix and EVERYONE should go watch that immediately.

The 2022 winner of Best Director is…

Ryan Coogler

No director had to deal with more than Ryan Coogler did. Not only is he responsible for directing the sequel to a culturally significant film in Black Panther, but he also had to fit the new film into the gigantic MCU franchise. Then, as the script was finished, the lead of the movie, Chadwick Boseman, passed away from cancer… something that caught everyone off guard. They had to redo the entire script, but only after he, along with Kevin Feige and the Marvel Studios folks, decided not to recast. That decision stirred up the haters on the internet. He had to deal with those people who were going to hate the idea of Shuri being Black Panther for reasons that only the internet can justify. And the final film, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, had to be a way to honor Chadwick Boseman while still having a solid movie. Ryan Coogler was able to be hugely successful while having all these problems.

Congrats to Ryan Coogler on his amazing achievement despite it being one that came under terrible tragic circumstances.

There were some great songs and scores from the movies this year. We will be looking at those that we consider the best. Interestingly enough, the songs that ended up at #1 and #2 on my list did not make the short list of Academy Award songs to consider for Best Song. Hmm.

Honorable mention: Badder (Disenchanted) performed by Amy Adams and Maya Rudolph

First, Best Song…

#10. Nobody Like U (Turning Red) performed by 4*Town (aka  Finneas, Jordan Fisher, Josh Levi, Topher Ngo and Grayson Villanueva)

#9. Fearless Hero (Puss in Boots: The Last Wish) performed by Antonio Banderas

#8. Nothing is Lost (You Give Me Strength) [Avatar: The Way of Water] performed by The Weeknd

#7. Ciao Papa (Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio) performed by Gregory Mann

#6. Naatu Naatu (RRR) Performed by Rahul Sipligunj and Kaala Bhairava

#5. Life Me Up (Black Panther: Wakanda Forever) performed by Rihanna

#4. Good Afternoon (Spirited) performed by Ryan Reynolds and Will Farrell

#3. I Don’t Know What Christmas Is (Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special) performed by Old 97’s

#2. Keep Rising (The Woman King) performed by Jessy Wilson feat. Angélique Kidjo

#1. Now You Know (Weird: The Al Yankovic Story) performed by “Weid Al” Yankovic

SCORE

#8. Son Lux (Everything Everywhere All at Once)

#7. John Williams (The Fabelmans)

#6. M.M. Keeravaani (RRR)

#5. Terence Blanchard (The Woman King)

#4. Alexandre Desplat (Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio)

#3. Michael Giacchino (The Batman)

#2. Simon Frangler (Avatar: The Way of Water)

#1. Ludwig Göransson (Black Panther: Wakanda Forever)

Some more….

BEST MUSICAL: Matilda the Musical

BEST USE OF MUSIC IN FILM: Elvis

BEST DANCE ROUTINE: RRR “Naacho Naacho”

2022 was a year full of stories that very important to or affected geek culture (which truly is just ‘pop culture’ nowadays). We have compiled our choices for the Top 20 Geek Stories of 2022.

#20. ‘Don’t Worry Darling’ chaos. A movie that was supposed to be Oscar worthy sure created backstage controversy. Everything from Florence Pugh’s revolt to ‘Spitgate’ with Harry Styles, Don’t Worry Darling was a wild ride. Too bad it was not more of a wild ride on the movie screen. Someday a film about the making of Don’t worry Darling will be fire.

#19. Marvel Special Presentations. Marvel Studios started something new this year. On Disney +, they began to release special presentation- one shot shows around an hour length that focused on a smaller story. Werewolf By Night was released around Halloween and The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special was released on Black Friday. Both were critical successes and were beloved by the audience.

#18. Elton John in Dodger Stadium. Elton John’s final US tour came to an end at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles live on Disney +. Elton John performed many of his greatest hits and gave us another glimpse at what could be accomplished with the streaming services.

#17. Wednesday. Netflix found a huge surprise hit with the release of the 8-episode season of Wednesday, a ‘spin-off’ sort of from the Addams Family. Wednesday became one of Netflix’s most viewed shows of all time and exceeded all expectations.

#16. Obi-Wan Kenobi vs. Darth Vader. Though the Obi-Wan Kenobi Disney + series had a mixed response, there was no doubt that the two major conflicts between the old rivals were moments to never forget.

#15. Wordle. The New York Times found a new obsession with the public. Wordle was a game where the participants tried to discover the 5-letter word in less than six guesses and it became one of the great obsessions of 2022. Though Wordle may not be as popular as it was earlier in the year, I still go daily and work the puzzle.

#14. ‘Running Up That Hill”. The Kate Bush song from 1985 was suddenly all the rage once again after being featured in Stranger Things Season 4 episode 4. One of the best episodes of TV this year, ‘Dear Billy’ ended with Max (Sadie Sink) and her desperate attempt to escape from Vecna, perfectly scored with this song. The song became a huge hit…again.

#13. Avatar sequel. Avatar: The Way of Water finally came out this year with a December release. One of the jokes that had been going around was these Avatar sequels, which had been rumored for years, were not a real thing. However, James Cameron proved that Avatar was strong as ever.

#12. Henry Cavill back as Superman/Oops, not so fast!: Henry Cavill had a cameo in the Black Adam movie and then was told to announce that he was back as Superman. However, a few weeks later, Henry Cavill was revealed to be out as the Man of Steel as he did not fit in with the plans for the new DCU from James Gunn and Peter Safran. It was a weird flip-flop that caught everyone off-guard.

#11. Johnny Depp/Amber Heard trial. One of the most public and quoted trials of the year, Johnny Depp and Amber Heard went at each other creating clickbait and memes all across the internet.

#10. Ezra Miller-Flash movie craziness. Ezra Miller spent much of 2022 off his rocker, doing things that were horrendous and causing a major problem for WB. This is because he was starring in a new Flash movie that was intended to be a new start for the DC movies. There were calls to fire Miller and to recast or to reshoot scenes or even ditch the whole film. WB pushed the film back into 2023 and they hope that Miller can ease back on the crazy until it comes out.

#9. Marvel announces Phase 4’s end and reveals two new Avenger movies. Kevin Feige stepped out onto the Comic Con stage and broke the huge news. Phase 4 would end with Wakanda Forever (a phase that the internet seemed to hate… unfairly, in my opinion) and that everything would be building to Avengers: Kang Dynasty and Avengers: Secret Wars both in 2025. Marvel won another SDCC.

#8. James Gunn and Peter Safran new heads of DCU. Warner Brothers announced that James Gunn and Peter Safran would be taking over the running of DC movies, ending WB’s search for their own ‘Kevin Feige’. Gunn and Safran appear to be preparing for a reboot of all things DC saying that they have a ten year plan.

#7. Top Gun: Maverick makes all the money. In a surprise, Top Gun: Maverick became the biggest box office film of 2022. It made nearly 1.5 billion dollars worldwide, a number that no one saw coming. Maverick helped bring audience members back to the theater this summer after a couple of years of slow going (unless it was a Marvel movie).

#6. Elon Musk buys Twitter for $44 B. The richest man around flexed his financial might when he dropped a cool $44 billion to buy Twitter, amidst controversy and anger. Musk claimed that he was protecting free speech while his critics said he was just making it easier for hate speech to flourish on the social media account. It is still unclear what the eventual fate of Twitter will be after the purchase, but it will surely be interesting.

#5. Ryan Reynolds announces Hugh Jackman returning as Wolverine for Deadpool 3. In a shocking announcement, Ryan Reynolds revealed that Hugh Jackman would be returning to the role of Wolverine for the Deadpool sequel and that it was not just as a cameo. Despite some concerns that this would hurt the film Logan where Jackman had put the character to rest, most of the geek world flipped out, making the film even more anticipated than it was before.

#4. Queen Elizabeth died. After ruling England for decades, Queen Elizabeth died. Her son Charles took the throne as King Charles II and the world mourned, watching the royal funeral, proving that the obsession with the British Royal Family continued to be all the rage.

#3. Vince McMahon stepped down from WWE. Hell must have frozen over. Amidst several sex scandals, CEO and Chairman of the World Wrestling Entertainment Vince McMahon announced he was retiring, to the shock of the entire wrestling world. Paul “Triple H” Leveque took over the reigns of creative and started making immediate changes. There have been some rumors that indicate that McMahon wants to come back, but let’s hope that does not come to fruition as the WWE has been much more entertaining lately than it had been for years.

#2. The Slap. Controversy swirled at the 2022 Academy Award ceremony when Will Smith came up on stage live and slapped comedian Chris Rock because of a joke Rock had made about Will Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith. Smith, who would win an Oscar later that night for Best Actor suddenly became one of the most talked about celebrities in the world. The shocking moment became one of the most discussed moments of Oscar history.

#1. Bob Chapek out at Disney. Bob Iger back in. In one of the most unexpected developments of 2022, Disney CEO Bob Chapek was removed from his position and he was replaced with the man whose retirement opened the door for Chapek, Bob Iger. Chapek had been disliked by many within Disney for some of his decisions and his time finally came. Iger agreed to return to the House of the Mouse to rebuild the brand. This news was universally hailed as awesome as Chapek had been blamed for many of the recent problems with Disney.

No matter how much the internet complains about Mary Sues or Wokeness, kick ass women are a genre trope nowadays. I’ve never understood why so many of the geek brethren were intimidated by a strong woman. I’ve named this award after one of my favorite females from General Hospital who could easily kick the crap out of me.

The Anna Devane Kick Ass Female Award

Previous winners:  Rey (Star Wars), Mockingbird (Marvel Comics), Wonder Woman (DCEU), The Shirewolves, Captain Marvel, Kamala Harris, Wanda Maximoff 

I have a list of 15…

#15. Kitty Softpaws (Puss in Boots: The Last Wish)

#14. Matilda (Matilda the Musical)

#13. Nanisca (The Woman King)

#12, Neytiri (Avatar: The Way of Water)

#11. Elsa Bloodstone (Werewolf By Night)

#10. She-Hulk (She-Hulk: Attorney at Law)

#9. Naru (Prey)

#8. Thor, God of Thunder (Thor: Love & Thunder)

#7. Enola Holmes (Enola Holmes 2)

#6. Ms. Marvel (Ms. Marvel)

#5. Scarlet Witch (Dr. Strange in the Multiverse of Madness)

#4. Queen Ramonda (Black Panther: Wakanda Forever)

#3. Eleven (Stranger Things)

#2. Shuri (Black Panther: Wakanda Forever)

And the #1 Kick Ass Female…

#1. Pearl (X and Pearl)

Number one flipped a couple of times, but Pearl was in two films this year and wiped out a bunch of people in them. Maybe she is a little coo-coo for Cocoa Puffs, but there is no denying that she is not someone you want to run into.