2022 Film & Television 1st Quarter Polls
Not sure what to watch on those rainy Sundays? Or those late Wednesday nights? Here are my awards for excellence in film and television for the first quarter (January-March) of 2022!
Circuit Artwork
If we hand out awards for sports, why not movies & television? With the first quarter of 2022 in the books, it’s time to look back at the best movies, shows & performances of the last three months! (Important to note that these are my favorites, not what I think are necessarily the best; that’s what my Oscars posts are for).
*Disclaimer: Obviously I couldn’t watch every movie and show, so if you don’t see your favorite from the 1st quarter here I do apologize. Here are the notable films & shows from the 1st quarter of 2022 that I didn’t catch:
The Lost City
Everything Everywhere All at Once
Euphoria Season 2
How I Met Your Father Season 1
Now to the awards! (Each category has five nominees, winners in bold)
Favorite Film
Deep Water
Scream
The Adam Project
The Batman
Uncharted
This really broke down to a race for second, because The Batman is one of my favorite movies in a long, long time. Scream & Uncharted were both films I really liked, and I am sincerely looking forward to future sequels in both those franchises, and The Adam Project really blew me away. Great action, great emotion and of course, great Ryan Reynolds. But I mean come on, how amazing was The Batman???
Favorite Performance By A Lead Actor in Film
Ben Affleck as Vic Van Allen (Deep Water)
Kenneth Branagh as Hercule Poirot (Death on the Nile)
Robert Pattinson as Bruce Wayne/Batman (The Batman)
Ryan Reynolds as Adam Reed (The Adam Project)
Tom Holland as Nathan Drake (Uncharted)
There weren’t a lot of standout performances from lead actors this quarter, so this really came down to Pattinson and Branagh for me. Pattinson ultimately won out because he became my favorite batman of all-time, which is no small feat.
Favorite Performance By A Lead Actress in Film
Ana de Armas as Melinda Van Allen (Deep Water)
Catherine Keener as Maya Sorian (The Adam Project)
Jessica Chastain (The 355)
Melissa Berrera as Sam Carpenter (Scream)
Zoe Kravitz as Selina Kyle/Catwoman (The Batman)
Deep Water was one hell of a film, and de Armas delivered a truly mesmerizing performance. To see her in Knives Out just two years ago to this performance is like watching two entirely different actresses; I have no doubt this will be her first of many awards.
Favorite Performance By A Supporting Actor in Film
Colin Ferrell as Oswald Cobblepot/Penguin (The Batman)
David Arquette as Dewey Riley (Scream)
Mark Ruffalo as Louis Reed (The Adam Project)
Paul Dano as Edward Nashton/The Riddler (The Batman)
Walker Scobell as Adam Reed (The Adam Project)
I struggled to come up with five nominees, but I didn’t struggle at all with picking the winner. Now you could argue Scobell was the lead actor, but given Netflix used Reynolds to sell the movie I moved Walker to supporting. He was the standout for me in that film; his ability to act exactly like how a 12 year-old Ryan Reynolds would act was phenomenal. This was one of the best child acting performances I have ever seen.
Favorite Performance By A Supporting Actress in Film
Jenna Ortega as Tara Carpenter (Scream)
Jennifer Garner as Ellie Reed (The Adam Project)
Mikey Madison as Amber Freeman (Scream)
Sandra Oh as Ming Lee (Turning Red)
Zoe Saldana as Laura Reed (The Adam Project)
Much like many of the characters she plays in movies, Mikey Madison was on fire in this movie. She pulled off an incredibly rare feat; I knew she was the killer from the first second I saw her on screen, and yet that made me like her performance even more. She was so sinister and such a worthy killer in this iconic franchise, she gets this award.
Movie Studio of the 1st Quarter
Paramount! Somewhat of an upset here, but Paramount has three films in the top 10 domestically in 2022 (now four, but Sonic 2 opened in the 2nd quarter) with Scream, The Lost City & Jackass Forever. That’s a pretty strong opening quarter for Paramount, but unfortunately I see them being the 2018 Atlanta Falcons and blowing a pretty big lead. Disney and Warner should surpass them, but for now Paramount can celebrate as the studio of the 1st quarter!
Favorite Show
Bel-Air Season 1
Ozark Season 4 Part I
Peacemaker Season 1
We Crashed Season 1
Winning Time Season 1
We’ve had some fantastic shows the past few months; Plus The Book of Boba Fett… happened. Peacemaker is in the conversation for best season of superhero television ever, and Ozark is ramping up into something truly incredible, but my love for the Lakers blinds me here, so Winning Time wins best show of the 1st quarter. The acting is great, the style is so 80’s it’s hard to comprehend, and John C. Reilly is pure “Magic”! Every Sunday night truly is Showtime!
Favorite Performance By A Lead Actor in Television
Jabari Banks as Will Smith (Bel-Air)
Jared Leto as Adam Neumann (We Crashed)
Jason Bateman as Marty Byrde (Ozark)
John Cena as Christopher Smith/Peacemaker (Peacemaker)
John C. Reilly as Dr. Jerry Buss (Winning Time)
This was the closest race on the entire ballot for me, as both the John’s turned in stellar performances. While Cena really impressed me with his acting ability, there is something magnetic about Reilly as Dr. Buss that drew me to him in this category.
Favorite Performance By A Lead Actress in Television
Anne Hathaway as Rebekah Neumann (We Crashed)
Cassandra Freeman as Vivian Banks (Bel-Air)
Hadley Robinson as Jeanie Buss (Winning Time)
Jennifer Holland as Emilia Harcourt (Peacemaker)
Laura Linney as Wendy Byrde (Ozark)
First things first, Wendy Byrde is maybe the most sinister character I have ever seen. She is truly bone-chilling in Ozark. But Anne Hathaway is giving a stellar performance in We Crashed, and there is just something about her portrayal that edges out Laura Linney. To slightly misquote Rebekah Neumann, her performance brings a “Good energy”.
Favorite Performance By A Supporting Actor in Television
Freddie Stroma as Adrian Chase/Vigilante (Peacemaker)
Jason Clarke as Jerry West (Winning Time)
John Malkovich as Dr. Adrian Mallory (Space Force)
Quincy Isaiah as Magic Johnson (Winning Time)
Skylar Gaetner as Jonah Byrde (Ozark)
Holy crap was Vigilante amazing! He was by far my favorite part of Peacemaker, and I cannot wait to see what Stroma does next with the character. This was an easy choice (despite how well Isaiah is portraying Magic).
Favorite Performance By A Supporting Actress in Television
Danielle Brooks as Leota Adebayo (Peacemaker)
Gaby Hoffman as Claire Rothman (Winning Time)
Julia Garner as Ruth Langmore (Ozark)
Rosario Dawson as Ahsoka Tano (Book of Boba Fett)
Tawny Newsome as Angela Ali (Space Force)
I mean come on, is there any question here? Julia Garner has delivered an absolutely iconic character in Ruth Langmore and wins this in a landslide. If I took away all the qualifiers and just gave one acting award for all of television, Garner would get it; she’s that good.
Streamer of the 1st Quarter
HBO Max! They had two of my five nominees for favorite show of the quarter in Winning Time & Peacemaker, so it was pretty easy to declare them the streamer of the quarter. Disney really did not have a strong opening to 2022, with Boba Fett falling pretty flat. I fully expect them to vault to the top in the 2nd quarter with shows like Obi-Wan and Moonknight, but for now HBO Max is the king of the streamers.
There you have it! The Film & Television Awards for the 1st Quarter of 2022! Make sure to check back in at the end of June to check out who will take home some hardware for the 2nd quarter!