Rob Price
We truly live in a golden era of genre television and movies. The sheer amount of material that is being released is daunting and to try to narrow the list of what premiered in 2022 to the “Best of” is nearly impossible. Instead, here is a list of the television shows and movies that I remember the most fondly. The ones that have stuck in my mind, made me think or at least moved me emotionally.
Television
Favorite Star Wars Story: For me, Obi Wan Kenobi wins this category hands down. The story arc was excellent with excitement and adventure, emotionally charged and with some excellent light saber duels.
Favorite Marvel Series: If you discount the television series, I feel that Ms. Marvel just barely edges out Moon Knight for me, which is saying something as Moon Knight is one of my favorite Marvel characters, but Iman Vellani was just so good in the title role of Ms. Marvel and the in depth look at a culture that I know very little about, just made the series really interesting and the characters really relatable. That being said, if you count the Marvel television specials, then Werewolf by Night wins this category. The art direction was so wonderfully stylized like an old 1940s horror film.
Favorite Horror Show: This needs to go to 1899. The great performances, the eerie atmosphere, the intriguing story all lead to a very well put together show.
Best Comic Book Adaptation: This one is a no brainer, Sandman hit this out of the park.
Best Sitcom: I am not sure there are a lot of shows in this category, but I just wanted to mention Ghosts (Season 2). This show, now in its second season is just a lot of fun to watch.
Favorite Overall Show: I know a lot of people will disagree with me on this, but I absolutely loved Wednesday. Jenna Ortega is amazing with a wonderful supporting cast and the storyline was fun and intriguing. Once I started watching it, I couldn’t stop and binge watched the entire season in a single day.
Movies
Favorite Comic Book Adaptation: There were quite a few movies, both mainstream and indie that fit into this category, but the winner here has to be Doctor Strange In the Multiverse of Madness. It was such a well told story following up both the first Doctor Strange film and the television series WandaVision. A close runner-up for me, and I know I am going to get some hate mail for this I am sure, but I really enjoyed Black Adam more than I enjoyed Wakanda Forever or Thor: Love and Thunder, and we won’t even really mention Morbius. The Batman should also be mentioned with a great story and some good performances.
Favorite Action Film: Maybe because it is so fresh in my memory, but I really liked Violent Night, and feel like I have a new Christmas movie I need to watch each year. With a good story that is a mixture of Miracle on 34th Street and Die Hard with a little touch of Home Alone, this movie has a little something for everyone. That being said, it lives up to its title. It is very violent. Runner ups in this category are The Northman and The Gray Man these are two very different films, but both give great action and adventure with some twists and turns and a lot of suspense.
Favorite Horror: In reality, nothing really stands out in my memory when looking over the year. There were some good horror films, there were some really bad horror films. I am one of the few that really enjoyed Halloween Ends, but to say that it was my favorite horror film of the year is a bit of a stretch. There are two films that stick in my mind that I think tie for the top spot, Fresh the horror comedy with a cannibalistic twist and Prey the latest episode in the Predator franchise. I also want to give an honorable mention to The Black Phone which I also really enjoyed.
Favorite Mystery: There were some really good “whodunits” released in 2022, but I think my favorite was Enola Holmes 2. Where I enjoyed Glass Onion and Death on the Nile. The story, performances and action in Enola Holmes was just a lot more fun!
Favorite Overall Movie: It is very hard to choose I single film as a favorite of the entire year. There were so many films that I watched and even more that I have yet to see which very well could become my favorite, but when looking back, the film that I remember the fondest was Black Adam. I know…I know! I have already said that the sequel to Doctor Strange was a better film, and it is. But in Black Adam I finally got big screen versions of two of my favorite comic book characters, Hawkman and Doctor Fate, and honestly, I just remember walking out of the theatre feeling happy with what I had just seen.
I am sure there are movies I left out, I am sure there are categories that I should have put in, but there are the films that I remember the best over the year and that I really enjoyed. Like I mentioned, these are only the movies that I had an opportunity to see, there are several films on my watch list that may usurp the top places on this list.
