Dear Readers,

No one can watch everything, but for 2022 I created a “media diet” for myself to take in as many movies and TV series as possible, while still living a responsible, fun, and functional life:

• 365 movies
• 52 seasons of television

“But, why?” asked every member of my family. True, I don’t receive any prizes or accolades for these perverted (usually late-night) accomplishments - mostly the opposite. But the rationale for me is part math, part professional, part pleasure, and part academic.

I like clear goals, and sticking to a film per day and season of TV per week, I could easily track my pace and plan ahead for times I knew watching something wasn’t possible. As someone who makes a living making film and TV shows, I also want to stay on top of what’s new and not be like the far-too-many people I know take pride in saying “I don’t have time to watch film and TV, I’m too busy making it” (barf - yeah, I can tell). The pleasure part probably doesn’t need explanation, other than to say I derive even more pleasure in being organized and somewhat completionist in what I watch, rather than only watching things I’m predisposed to liking. And that leads to the academic part, which is to fill the giant holes I still have in film knowledge for classic, cult, and world cinema - not to mention the “greatest films of all-time” cannon that is always changing.

Case in point: it was a strange gut-punch for the venerable Sight and Sound poll to come out this year (once every decade) and declare the Greatest Film of All-Time to be not only a film I hadn’t seen - but hadn’t heard of: Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles (1975) by Chantal Ackerman. Even after that kind of accolade, I might struggle to find time to watch a 3.5 hour ultra-low budget, Belgian feminist film with virtually no plot, no score, no camera movement, no dialogue for huge stretches of time, etc. But part of committing yourself to watching a film a day means you can stop putting off the films you’ll “get to eventually” or feel like you “have to be in the mood for.” Good movies get you in the mood every time, so here's the ones from this year that did that the best:

TOP 10 FILMS of 2022

1. RRR
2. Triangle of Sadness
3. All Quiet on the Western Front
4. The Banshees of Inisherin
5. Elvis
6. Broker
7. The Woman King
8. Babylon
9. Viking
10. The Northman

Didn’t Disappoint
Avatar: The Way of Water
Women Talking
Top Gun: Maverick

Better Than Necessary
Dog
The Batman
Everything, Everywhere All at Once

Overrated By Everyone Else
TAR
Aftersun
Confess, Fletch

Want to Love, But Not There Yet
The Fablemans
Nope
Decision to Leave

Inexplicably Underseen
The Greatest Beer Run Ever
Devotion
Smile

Satisfying Sequels
Jackass Forever
Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery
Enola Holmes 2

Foreign But Not Forgotten
Athena
Argentina, 1985
Silverton Siege

Extra Special Indies
Emily the Criminal
The Stranger
Fall

Unapologetically Awesome
Ambulance
The Menu
Barbarian

Big Swing (and a Miss)
The Gray Man
Bullet Train
Moonfall

Best of the B-Movies
Beast
Last Seen Alive
Black Crab

Top-Notch Animation
Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio
Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers
Turning Red

Kick-Ass Canadian Films
Crimes of the Future
Black Ice
Bandit

Funny Enough
Bros
I Love You Dad
Weird: The Al Yankovic Story

Docs to Watch Now
Navalny
The Princess
Jennifer Lopez: Halftime

Diamonds in the Rough Stuff
Pearl
X
Orphan: First Kill

A Year Late to the Party (but Wow!)
Ascension
A Hero
PleasureThe Shadow in My Eye (aka The Bombardment)
Attica
The Hand of God
Flee
Nightmare Alley
The Worst Person in the World
The Novice
Drive My Car
Malignant

Wasted My Time Watching
Interceptor
Deep Water
Cha Cha Real Smooth
Thor: Love and Thunder
Wolf Hound
Fresh
The Man from Toronto
Blacklight
See How They Run

50 Great Films I Finally Saw (from 20th Century)
But I’m a Cheerleader (1999)
Croupier (1998)
The Cutting Edge (1992)
White Men Can’t Jump (1992)
Homicide (1991)
Misery (1990)
Close-Up (1990)
Blue Steele (1990)
The Abyss (1989)
The Killer (1989)
The Beast of War (1988)
Dirty Dancing (1987)
Evil Dead II (1987)
The Last Emperor (1987)
House of Games (1987)
Near Dark (1987)
Something Wild (1986)
River’s Edge (1986)
Runaway Train (1985)
Body Double (1984)
Terms of Endearment (1983)
Bad Boys (1983)
The Verdict (1982)
Mad Max 2 (1981)
Ordinary People (1980)
Escape from Alcatraz (1979)
All That Jazz (1979)
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978)
Marathon Man (1976)
Three Days of the Condor (1975)
Jeanne Dielman, 23, quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles (1975)
California Split (1974)
The Taking of Pelham 123 (1974)
Fantastic Planet (1973)
The Swimmer (1968)
In the Heat of the Night (1967)
Persona (1966)
Au Hasard Balthazar (1966)
The Spy Who Came in From the Cold (1965)
High and Low (1963)
The Great Escape (1963)
Lolita (1962)
Witness for the Prosecution (1957)
Wild Strawberries (1957)
The Killing (1956)
Ace in the Hole (1951)
Rashomon (1951)
Modern Times (1936)
All Quiet on the Western Front (1930)
The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928)

Bold = My Favourite 10 of these 50

TOP 10 TV Shows of 2022

1. The Rehearsal - HBO/Crave
2. The Bear — Disney+
3. Andor — Disney+
4. Euphoria (Season 2) — HBO/Crave
5. We Own This City — HBO/Crave
6. Barry (Season 3) — HBO/Crave
7. Station Eleven — HBO/Crave
8. Cheer (Season 2) — Netflix
9. The White Lotus (Season 2) — HBO/Crave
10. Severance — Apple TV+

The Next 10 Best TV Shows of 2022

1. The House of the Dragon — HBO/Crave
2. _Industry (Season 2) — HBO/Crave
3. After Life (Season 3) — Netflix
   
4. _Borgen: Power and Glory (Season 4) — Netflix
5. _Better Call Saul (Season 6) — AMC
6. Jack Ryan (Season 3) — Amazon Prime
7. Cobra Kai (Season 4) — Netflix
8. _How to with John Wilson (Season 2) — HBO/Crave
9. _Stranger Things (Season 4) — Netflix
10. Winning Time — HBO/Crave

Top 5 Funnies

1. Hacks (Season 2) - HBO/Crave
2. Life & Beth — Disney+
3. Sex Lives of College Girls - HBO/Crave
4. Only Murders in the Building (Season 2) — Disney+
5. Children Ruin Everything — CTV

Don't Regret, but Don’t Really Recommend
Pam & Tommy - Disney+
Physical (Season 2) - Apple TV+
The Dropout - Disney+
Outer Range - Amazon Prime
Tokyo Vice — HBO/Crave

Finished but Forgettable
Yellowjackets — HBO/Crave
WeCrashed — Apple TV+
SuperPumped — HBO/Crave fatal: bad object refs/heads/master Roar — Amazon Prime
Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power - Amazon Prime

Boy, That Went Downhill
Ozark (Season 4) - Netflix
Atlanta (Season 3) — Disney+
For All Mankind (Season 3) — Apple TV+
Mythic Quest (Season 3)- Apple TV+

Peer-Pressured into Watching
Dahmer — Netflix