Fear

A weekend vacation turns sinister when a group of friends must confront their worst fears one by one.

This was basically your textbook January throwaway horror movie.   Takes way too long to get going because its building a bunch of characters that you honestly don't care about.  It's somewhat cool once it gets there but you will basically forget about the movie the day after you watched it.  

I wouldn't recommend anyone really bothering with this.  The recent horror movies had a pretty good run but this is definitely one of those textbook throwaway January horror releases that we have become accustomed to.

Missing

When her mother disappears while on vacation in Colombia with her new boyfriend, June's search for answers is hindered by international red tape. Stuck thousands of miles away in Los Angeles, June creatively uses all the latest technology at her fingertips to try and find her before it's too late. However, as she digs ever deeper, her digital sleuthing soon raises more questions than answers.

This was a decent watch.  Very much like Searching a few years back.  Unfortunately for me the looking at a bunch of apps and computer or phone screens takes away from all of it and pretty much kills the suspense.   It also makes me not want to look at any screens - including the one I'm using right now - for a while after seeing a movie like this.  

I would somewhat recommend this to people.  The current tik tok generation will certainly love it but the older one would probably prefer more of a straight forward suspense movie.

Infinity Pool

Guided by a seductive and mysterious woman, a couple on vacation venture outside the resort grounds and find themselves in a culture filled with violence, hedonism and untold horror. A tragic accident soon leaves them facing a zero tolerance policy for crime: either you'll be executed, or, if you're rich enough to afford it, you can watch yourself die instead.

This was another one of those artsy gory movies.  I wouldn't remotely say that it was scary at any point but it was like a twisted and artsier version of the Purge with much more gore.  I never know how to fully feel about artsy gore or horror movies.  It just feels kind of weird.  Mia Goth has really become the queen of these kinds of movies at this point though.  

I would sort of recommend people seeing this.  It's not a must see by any means.  It is disturbing and keeps your attention but is a pretty great watch even though the artsy edge to it makes it weird.

Women Talking

Women Talking takes place shortly after members of the fictional Mennonite community of Molotschna learn that the rape of many of its women over the previous two years has been committed not by demons or devils, but by male colonists, after using an animal anaesthetic to incapacitate the women.

This was a very great and disturbing content movie.   Its terrifying to think about how something like absolutely has happened and probably much closer to our time then when this was based.  I liked seeing the women communicate and work together but it still was very upsetting hearing all the different psychologies interacting with each other.  

I would definitely recommend people checking this out just because it is a necessary eye opening kind of watch although it really feels like you are watching a play.

House Party

Aspiring club promoters and best buddies Damon and Kevin are barely keeping things together. Out of money, down on their luck and about to lose the roofs over their heads, they need a huge windfall to make their problems go away. They soon decide to host the party of the year at an exclusive mansion, which just happens to belong to none other than NBA superstar LeBron James. What could go wrong?

I was a huge fan of the first movie.  I remember seeing it in theaters and very much enjoying it.  I was annoyed when I heard of the existence of this movie but decided to give it a shot.  After 40 minutes of not even smiling once forget laughing I pulled the plug and left.  Maybe it got better. . . . . . . . . but I couldn't doubt that any more if I tried.  

I would not recommend anyone bothering with this.  It's a waste of time and another massively insulting remake.

Plane

Pilot Brodie Torrance saves passengers from a lightning strike by making a risky landing on a war-torn island -- only to find that surviving the landing was just the beginning. When dangerous rebels take most of the passengers hostage, the only person Torrance can count on for help is Louis Gaspare, an accused murderer who was being transported by the FBI.

This is basically your textbook Gerard Butler action movie.  Instead of in the White House or whatever its a plane in a an ungoverned country.  Completely formula from start to finish.  That being said I have always been okay with turn off your brain action movies as long as they keep you interested enough and this one did that.  

I would lukewarmly recommend this movie to action movie fans.  As long as you don't overthink it at all the movie is a decent watch.  

M3gan

M3GAN is a marvel of artificial intelligence, a lifelike doll that's programmed to be a child's greatest companion and a parent's greatest ally. Designed by Gemma, a brilliant roboticist, M3GAN can listen, watch and learn as it plays the role of friend and teacher, playmate and protector. When Gemmabecomes the unexpected caretaker of her 8-year-old niece, she decides to give the girl an M3GAN prototype, a decision that leads to unimaginable consequences.

This movie is a testament to how a good trailer can create the best buzz for a movie.  The second I saw this I was in.  Didn't care if it was gonna be good or if it was going to be an entertaining train wreck.   It just immediately sucked you in.  The movie was pretty good.  It took a little too long to build things up and would have been a bit better if the crazy last 15 minutes or so could have been spaced out a bit more.   But even with those complaints its still a very watchable and enjoyable movie.

I would definitely recommend people checking this out.  It is an enjoyable creepy movie and basically this generation's Child's Play.  

A Man Called Otto

When a lively young family moves in next door, grumpy widower Otto Anderson meets his match in a quick-witted, pregnant woman named Marisol, leading to an unlikely friendship that turns his world upside down.

Every once and a while a very simple emotionally charged movie hits you at exactly the right time.  This is one of those movies.  I absolutely loved this movie.  I loved how real it felt.  I loved how genuine and random all the characters were.  I loved how it all came together and how the background info was told.  I loved the overall journey.  

I would absolutely recommend people checking this movie out.  I hope that it emotionally hooks and resonates as much with others as it did with me.

I Wanna Dance With Somebody

Discovered by record executive Clive Davis, Whitney Houston rises from obscurity to international fame in the 1980s to become one of the greatest singers of her generation.

This was a pretty decent biopic movie.  I very clearly remembered the rise and "fall" of Whitney Houston and this movie did a really good job of staying true to that even though it didn't really do the fall justice.  Things were alluded to and glossed over instead of really dived into which is nuts considering the movie was 2 1/2 hours long.  

I would somewhat recommend people checking this out.  It is a great tribute to her even if the pacing was definitely screwy at times.

The Ten Best Movies Of 2022

 Honorable Mention - Pearl

This movie was downright creepy as hell in all the best of ways.   Whether it was the performance or the direction it literally had you on the edge of your seat and terrified several times.  

10 - Everything Everywhere All At Once

This movie was just a lot of off the wall fun.  Great acting, pacing and story made this an almost better multiverse story then the comic book movies have done.

9 - Emancipation

Will Smith is even more of a dumbass for that slap stuff knowing he had this movie coming out this year.  He would have been a lock for back to back best actor wins if he didn't make himself such a PR nightmare.

8 - Elvis

This movie was much much better than I thought it would be.  Austin Butler was great and the pacing/progression of Elvis's life was very well done.

7 - Spirited

Easily the best Christmas movie I have seen since Elf.  Great songs, great laughs and great characters keep you completely hooked.   Will happily watch this annually.

6 - The Black Phone

In what was a banner year for horror movies really getting better for the most part this was the best one.   The trailer was awesome and the movie totally delivered on that.  It zeroed in on basically the biggest fear of my generation growing up and was well done.

5 - The Batman

One of the best offerings to come from DC since the DCEU started.  Granted time will tell if it ever connects or hell but this was very enjoyable as a standalone offering.

4 - Bullet Train

This was just straight up adrenaline fun on screen.  You sit back, turn your brain off and enjoy the very entertaining ride.

3 - The Fabelmans

This was such a great insight to the joys of filmmaking and the combination of inspirations to do so and how to do so along with the ups and downs of family.

2 - Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

This was an amazing tribute to Chadwick Boseman that did right by all of the characters from the first one and moves the story along excellently.   

1 - Top Gun: Maverick

Possibly the easiest choice for best movie of the year I have had in a long time.  You want to know how to properly do nostalgia - this should be the textbook for it.  I loved this movie a million times more than the first one.  

The Ten Worst Movies of 2022

Dishonorable mentions - Jurassic Park: Dominion & Terrifier 2

Jurassic Park: Whatever - just wow.  Like how can this movie have been sooooooooooo bad.  They brought in the recently successful nostalgia angle and completely fumbled.  This will be one of those sequels that I'm going to just pretend nothing happened.

Terrifier 2 - How is this a thing?  Honestly.  How is this a thing?  Anyone that was involved in the making of this movie needs to be on a FBI watch list or monitored at all times because what the hell is wrong with you!!?!?!

10 - Moonfall 

Remember when Roland Emmerich was the king of the disaster movie?   Well he clearly is not anymore.

9 - Father Of The Bride

Was anyone asking for a remake of this?  Better question . . . . . was anyone asking for a drama version remake of this?   No.  Nobody.

8 - Studio 666

All due respect to the Foo Fighters drummer that died this year but this is a movie that baffles the mind for ever having been made.

7 - Morbius

Sony's continued attempts to capitalize on Spider-Man being connected to MCU while these movies are not just get worse and worse.  It's brutal honestly.

6 - Blonde

This movie was just one of the most cringeworthy movies I have ever seen.   The word Daddy is destroyed forever.

5 - Honk For Jesus!  Save Your Soul 

The trailer for this actually made it seem like there might be some decent laughs based on the talent involved.  It was wrong.  There were none.

4 - The Munsters

Yet another of the was anyone asking for this remake movies on the list.   Can Hollywood just stop letting Rob Zombie make movies?  I really don't understand how this is so difficult.

3 - Firestarter

Repeat after me again.  Who was asking for a weak ass reboot of this movie?

2 - Lyle Lyle Crocodile

This might honestly be one of the biggest robberies of parents money for a family film in history.  This was honestly brutal and for all the poor parents that had to pay money to sit through this and suffer I applaud the love of your children because it must be MASSIVE.

1 - Halloween Ends

So let me get this straight.  This was the second part of the one that came out last year that was actually pretty good.  Except you are not gonna have Michael Meyers in the first half of it and the 2 hour movie really just boils down to a 15 minute fight between him and Jamie Lee Curtis to "end" the franchise.  This movie was a complete and total waste of time.