Wasn't really bowled over by movies that came out in 2022, but I did enjoy these:
- The Batman: I'm weary of all the Hollywood superhero tropes, which is why I always appreciated the Dark Knight series for its more grounded approach, but this film takes it to a whole other level of rawness. It's become my favorite Batman movie (Heath Ledger's Joker performance notwithstanding). The introductory scene where Batman visits the crime scene is brilliantly staged and sets the tone perfectly.
- Elvis: This was a total surprise. I'm not an Elvis fan and I generally don't like Baz Lehrman's movies, but this one held my interest and revealed things about Elvis' life that I hadn't known. And the last scene using Elivs' actual final performance was the perfect emotional capper.
- Emergency: I thought this film did a great job of depicting aspects of the black experience in America, relative to racism and law enforcement, without being heavy handed or preachy. Parts of it were a little contrived and implausable, but given the movie straddled a line between teen comedy and sobering drama, I was okay with it.
But generally speaking, television programming definitely delivered the most engaging and satisfying viewing experiences of 2022. The TV series format has some considerable advantages over movies in terms of narrative depth, character development, and presentation, so it's not surprising. But what is surprising is that it took this long for show creators and network execs to fully commit to it.