2022 is now in the books! But before we look ahead to 2023, let’s look back on the year that was in film; What was the best movie? What studio holds the championship belt? And who will win 2022 Movie Madness? Find out all that and more with The Circuit’s 2022 Film Awards!
Circuit Artwork
If you’ve been following along all year (where the hell have you been if you haven’t!), you know that every quarter poll the number of nominees is half of the number of things I watched, or half rounded up if it’s an odd number. But for the yearly awards, we’re doing 10 nominees across the board (except for the individual genre categories which are 5 nominees). And we’re adding a bunch of new categories to further celebrate the year in film!
Here is the complete list of movies I caught in 2022:
1st Quarter: 2nd Quarter:
Death on the Nile Ambulance
Deep Water Bob’s Burgers Movie
Everything Everywhere All At Once Cha Cha Real Smooth
Jackass Forever Chip N’ Dale: Rescue Rangers
Scream Elvis
The 355 Father Stu
The Adam Project Firestarter
The Batman Good Luck to You, Leo Grande
The Lost City Hustle
Turning Red Jurassic World: Dominion
Uncharted Lightyear
Massive Talent
Morbius
Multiverse of Madness
Sonic the Hedgehog 2
Spider Head
The Bad Guys
The Black Phone
The Northman
Top Gun: Maverick
3rd Quarter: 4th Quarter:
Barbarian Amsterdam
Beast Avatar: The Way of Water
Bodies Bodies Bodies Babylon
Bros Banshees of Inisherin
Bullet Train Black Adam
Day Shift Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
DC League of Super Pets Bones & All
Don’t Worry Darling Glass Onion
Honk For Jesus. Save Your Soul. Halloween Ends
Minions: The Rise of Gru Hocus Pocus 2
Nope Pinocchio
Persuasion She Said
Pinocchio Spirited
Prey Spoiler Alert
Secret Headquarters Strange World
Smile The Fabelman’s
The Gray Man The Menu
The Greatest Beer Run Ever Ticket to Paradise
The Munsters Violent Night
The Sea Beast
The Woman King
Thor: Love & Thunder
Vengeance
Where the Crawdads Sing
75 films! But there were still a number of movies I didn’t get to. Here is a list of some of the more notable films I didn’t catch in 2022 (so if you don’t see your favorite movie nominated for anything, it’s probably because I didn’t watch it).
Downton Abbey: A New Era
Marcel the Shell With Shoes On
Pearl
Puss N’ Boots: The Last Wish
RRR
Tar
Till
The Whale
Weird: The Al Yankovic Story
Women Talking
Favorite Superhero Film in 2022
1- The Batman
2- Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
3- Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness
4- Black Adam
5- Thor: Love & Thunder
Superhero movies sucked in 2022. Absolutely sucked. The Batman was truly epic, Wakanda Forever was good, and Multiverse of Madness was perfectly adequate. Love & Thunder was more cartoon than film, Black Adam was straight out of 1997, and Secret Headquarters had Owen Wilson as a superhero. *wooow* And Morbius released, which brought the class average down at least 2 letter grades. But in the midst of the crap and mediocrity, The Batman truly shined, and might be my favorite Batman movie ever (might be. The Dark Knight is still pretty good though, isn’t it?)
Favorite Comedy/Musical Film in 2022
1- Spirited
2- Elvis
3- Violent Night
4- Bros
5- Ticket to Paradise
Spirited was the funniest movie of 2022, and was also the best musical. Elvis and Violent Night were certainly in the conversation for the win, but ultimately Spirited nailed both elements of this category, while the other two each only had one half of the equation.
Favorite Sci-Fi/Fantasy Film in 2022
1- Avatar: The Way of Water
2- The Adam Project
3- Everything Everywhere All At Once
4- Jurassic World: Dominion
5- Fantastic Beasts and the Secrets of Dumbledore
I was blown away with my enjoyment of the Avatar sequel. I was the definition of pessimistic with this movie, and left fully humbled. This movie rocked, and absolutely decimated the rest of the field.
Favorite Animated Film in 2022
1- Chip N’ Dale: Rescue Rangers
2- Pinocchio
3- Bob’s Burgers Movie
4- DC League of Super Pets
5- Lightyear
This was not a great year for animation. Pixar didn’t deliver for me. Lightyear was fine, Turning Red was not a film I overly enjoyed. Ultimately, Rescue Rangers was my favorite and even that is cheating because only about half of it was animated. If I was sticking to full animation, I would give the win to Pinocchio (the Guillermo del Toro version. Did you really just ask which version I was talking about?).
Favorite Horror/Thriller Film in 2022
1- The Black Phone
2- The Menu
3- Scream
4- Barbarian
5- Smile
What a banner year for horror! So many great choices, this was my hardest cut down to 5. If you asked me in September, I wouldn’t have believed Nope and Bodies Bodies Bodies wouldn’t make the cut. But Barbarian was really fun. Scream re-energized a franchise. Smile was the scariest movie of the year for me. (I Don’t scare easily but this one got me) The Menu was just a thrill ride and obviously Black Phone was bone-chilling. Great year for horror, and I’m very glad to recognize The Black Phone with this award.
Favorite Drama/Mystery Film in 2022
1- Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery
2- The Fabelman’s
3- She Said
4- Cha Cha Real Smooth
5- Vengeance
The Fabelman’s is easily the best drama of the year for me, but with combining drama with mystery the winner has to be Glass Onion. A really fun twist-within-a-twist and a surprisingly colorful wardrobe for one Benoit Blanc, Glass Onion is just a much more fun film than The Fabelman’s, and certainly more fun than She Said, a film I also liked a lot.
Favorite Action/Adventure Film in 2022
1- Top Gun: Maverick
2- The Woman King
3- Uncharted
4- The Gray Man
5- Bullet Train
It’s not fair to these other four quality films that they have to be in the same genre as Maverick in the same year. The Woman King would have won in most other years, so props to that film! But c’mon. Maverick has F-18’s and Lady Gaga. Need I say more???
Favorite Film Scene of 2022
1- Maverick’s Low-Level Trial Flight (Top Gun: Maverick)
2- Colonel Parker Discovering Elvis (Elvis)
3- Riddler Crashes A Funeral (The Batman)
4- Iceman Wants To Talk About Work (Top Gun: Maverick)
5- Hitting Publish (She Said)
6- Good Afternoon (Spirited)
7- It’s Been An Honor Killing Dewey (Scream)
8- Get My Husband A Bed (Spoiler Alert)
9- Where’s The Goddamn Horizon? (The Fabelman’s)
10- Dominic Gets Rejected (Banshees of Inisherin)
Every single time I see this scene, my heart stops. I know he beats the clock, but I think the off-screen pilot sums up this scene the best: “Holy shit!”
Favorite Performance By A Supporting Actress in Film in 2022
1- Mikey Madison as Amber Freeman (Scream)
2- Angela Bassett as Queen Ramonda (Black Panther: Wakanda Forever)
3- Carey Mulligan as Megan Twohey (She Said)
4- Rachel Sennott as Alice (Bodies Bodies Bodies)
5- Monica Barbaro as Natasha “Phoenix” Trace (Top Gun: Maverick)
6- Isabella Sermon as Maisie Lockwood (Jurassic World: Dominion)
7- Sheila Atim as Amenza (The Woman King)
8- Lashana Lynch as Izogie (The Woman King)
9- Sigourney Weaver as Keeri (Avatar: The Way of Water)
10- Jenna Ortega as Tara Carpenter (Scream)
Absolute crapshoot. Bassett, Mulligan, Barbaro & Sennott were all in consideration, but there was just something about Mikey Madison in Scream that made me give her the win. She was chaotic, playful, and just generally on fire in that film (get it? You got it.)
Favorite Performance By A Supporting Actor in Film in 2022
1- Miles Teller as Bradley “Rooster” Bradshaw (Top Gun: Maverick)
2- Chris Evans as Lloyd Hansen (The Gray Man)
3- Barry Keoghan as Dominic Kearney (Banshees of Inisherin)
4- Walker Scobell as Adam Reed (The Adam Project)
5- Will Ferrell as Ghost of Christmas Present (Spirited)
6- Paul Dano as Edward Nashton/The Riddler (The Batman)
7- Aaron Taylor-Johnson as Tangerine (Bullet Train)
8- Ashton Kutcher as Quentin Sellers (Vengeance)
9- Colin Ferrell as Oswald Cobblepot/Penguin (The Batman)
10- Steven Yeun as Ricky “Jupe” Park (Nope)
This was not a difficult decision. Teller was my #1 supporting actor with a bullet. Evans, Keoghan, Ferrell & Ferrell all just had to battle for 2nd (which Will Ferrell would win, by the way). Miles Teller was the best part of Top Gun: Maverick to me, and was easily my favorite supporting actor of 2022. I hope to see him get nominated for an Oscar, but it seems highly unlikely. Which is a joke.
Favorite Performance By A Lead Actress in Film in 2022
1- Michelle Yeoh as Evelyn Wang (Everything Everywhere)
2- Elizabeth Olson as Wanda Maximoff (Multiverse of Madness)
3- Viola Davis as Nanisca (The Woman King)
4- Letitia Wright as Shuri/Black Panther (Black Panther: Wakanda Forever)
5- Daisy Edgar-Jones as Kya Clark (Where the Crawdads Sing)
6- Dakota Johnson as Domino (Cha Cha Real Smooth)
7- Margot Robbie as Nellie LaRoy (Babylon)
8- Ana de Armas as Melinda Van Allen (Deep Water)
9- Florence Pugh as Alice (Don’t Worry Darling)
10- Keke Palmer as Emerald Haywood (Nope)
There were some legendary performances from lead actresses this year, but this boiled down to a two-horse race: Elizabeth Olson and Viola Davis. Letitia Wright and Daisy Edgar-Jones were great, but there was something about Olson & Davis that stood above the rest. I leaned Olson, partially because she’s my celebrity crush and partially because of my love for the MCU. A coin-flip call, but the Scarlet Witch wins the ultimate prize for Lead Actress.
Favorite Performance By A Lead Actress in Film in 2022
1- Austin Butler as Elvis Presley (Elvis)
2- Tom Cruise as Pete “Maverick” Mitchell (Top Gun: Maverick)
3- Robert Pattinson as Bruce Wayne/Batman (The Batman)
4- Daniel Craig as Benoit Blanc (Glass Onion)
5- David Harbour as Santa Claus (Violent Night)
6- Ralph Fiennes as Chef Slowik (The Menu)
7- Ryan Reynolds as Clint Briggs (Spirited)
8- Tom Holland as Nathan Drake (Uncharted)
9- Benedict Cumberbatch as Doctor Strange (Multiverse of Madness)
10- Zac Efron as Chickie Donohue (The Greatest Beer Run Ever)
Tom Cruise, Robert Pattinson & Daniel Craig were all fantastic, but Austin Butler made me care about Elvis when I never had before in my life. I am always down for a musical biopic, and Butler delivered a mesmerizing performance. (Efron is here because the winner of each quarter gets an automatic nomination at the yearly awards. The 3rd quarter of 2022 was weak, what do you want from me?)
Least Favorite Film of 2022
75- Morbius
74- Firestarter
73- Jackass Forever
72- Day Shift
71- Pinocchio (Disney+ version)
70- The Northman
69- Persuasion
68- Death on the Nile
67- Babylon
66- The Munsters
Babylon was about 9 hours too long. Day Shift sucked. Death on the Nile was just a chore to watch. Firestarter was utterly forgettable. Jackass Forever is just not my type of comedy, but I do recognize people love it. Persuasion just wasn’t my thing. Pinocchio was greatly hurt by a vastly superior version of the same movie releasing 2 months later. The Northman was overblown, and I literally fell asleep in the theater watching it. And The Munsters might be the worst movie ever made. But man, Morbius was just offensive. The movie itself was bad, but that post-credits scene was so atrocious, it pissed me off and made it my least favorite movie of 2022.
Favorite Film of 2022
1- Top Gun: Maverick
2- The Batman
3- Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery
4- The Fabelman’s
5- The Black Phone
6- Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
7- Spirited
8- Avatar: The Way of Water
9- Chip ‘N Dale: Rescue Rangers
10- The Woman King
Top Gun: Maverick was the best movie of 2022. It’s arguably the best movie of the 21st century. Or maybe any century. Maverick’s great balls are truly on fire. But shout outs to Black Phone, Violent Night & Spirited for coming out of nowhere to be in my top 10! The rest of them are not very surprising with the exception of Way of Water; I didn’t love the original all that much, and was stunned to like the sequel as much as I did. In the race for 2nd, since Maverick shot down any hopes of anyone else winning, The Batman edges out Glass Onion.
Studio Rankings
1- Paramount
2- Universal
3- Disney/Fox
4- Netflix
5- A24
6- Sony
7- Warner Bros.
8- Apple
9- MGM
This was an incredibly close race at the top, and an incredibly interesting race towards the bottom. At the top, Universal produced multiple huge box office hits in Dominion, Rise of Gru, Nope & Black Phone, as well as Best Picture contender The Fabelman’s. Disney/Fox were really carried by their 3 juggernauts: Wakanda Forever, Multiverse of Madness & Way of Water. But Paramount still won! They had THE movie of the year in Top Gun: Maverick. They put out a franchise-saving sequel with Scream. They had the biggest horror hit of 2022 in Smile. And everyone besides me loved Jackass Forever. And I didn’t even mention The Lost City or Sonic 2 (oh look, I just did!). Paramount wins. But you may have noticed Warner Bros. waaaaaaay down at #7, just behind little-studio-that-could A24. Maybe The Rock was right, they are about the same! Aside from The Batman, Warner had a bad year. Their movies just didn’t hit, and that’s without getting into all their turmoil behind the scenes.
Film Scoreboard: Nominations (Wins)
Top Gun: Maverick- 7 (4)
The Batman- 6 (1)
Spirited- 5 (1)
The Woman King- 5
Scream- 4 (1)
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever- 4
Avatar: The Way of Water- 3 (1)
Elvis- 3 (1)
Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery- 3 (1)
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness- 3
She Said- 3
The Fabelman’s- 3
Chip N’ Dale: Rescue Rangers- 2 (1)
Everything Everywhere All At Once- 2 (1)
The Black Phone- 2 (1)
Banshees of Inisherin- 2
Bullet Train- 2
Cha Cha Real Smooth- 2
Jurassic World: Dominion- 2
Nope- 2
The Adam Project- 2
The Gray Man- 2
The Menu- 2
Thor: Love & Thunder- 2
Uncharted- 2
Vengeance- 2
Violent Night- 2
Babylon- 1
Barbarian- 1
Black Adam- 1
Bob’s Burgers Movie- 1
Bodies Bodies Bodies- 1
Bros- 1
DC League of Super Pets- 1
Deep Water- 1
Don’t Worry Darling- 1
Fantastic Beasts and the Secrets of Dumbledore- 1
Lightyear- 1
Pinocchio- 1
Smile- 1
Spoiler Alert- 1
Ticket to Paradise- 1
The Greatest Beer Run Ever- 1
Where the Crawdads Sing- 1
There you have it! The Circuit's 2022 Film Awards! Make sure to check in throughout the year for our Quarter Polls, all leading up to this time next year with the 2023 Film Awards!