As you can probably guess, we here at CinemaBlend love movies, and every year every member of our staff attempts to watch as many new releases as we have time for. That was far from a chore in 2022. While there certainly were titles that our staff on the whole didn’t care for, we all also got to see a great number of them that blew us away. A total of 253 new films were watched by at least one member of our staff this year – but 10 of those titles stand out as favorites.
Every year, CinemaBlend’s writers, editors and video staff contribute to a screening log rating all of the movies that we see on a scale from one (a candidate for worst of all time) to five (as good as filmmaking gets). Only films seen by at least five members of our staff were taken into consideration for our ranking, and you can see the Top 10 that resulted from the number crunching below.
#10. Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio
Average Score: 4.25/5
The work of Guillermo del Toro is most definitely appreciated by the CinemaBlend staff (The Shape Of Water was ranked #1 in our 2017 Top 10), and he has delivered another remarkable work this year with his stop-motion adaptation of Pinocchio. It’s a darker take on the story than most are probably used to, but the design is stunning, and it has a beautiful message about loss, grief and love.
You can stream Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio on Netflix.
#9. The Menu
Average Score: 4.277777778/5
Between the finance bros, the sell-out actor, the snooty critic, the sycophantic assistant, the photo-obsessed foodie and more, Mark Mylod’s The Menu is full of characters who are easy to hate… but that’s ultimately just part of the joy of the film. It’s a sharp satire about modern class warfare that has some dark and delightful twists embedded in its meal course-centric story structure. Anya Taylor-Joy and Ralph Fiennes shine as the brightest stars, but the entire ensemble is wonderful.
The Menu will be available to stream on HBO Max on January 3, 2023.
#8. RRR
Average Score: 4.3/5
A lot of great action movies arrived in theaters in the last 12 months, but none of them blew our minds quite like S. S. Rajamouli’s RRR. It’s a fantastic and fantastical historical epic about star-crossed friends (N. T. Rama Rao Jr. and Ram Charan) individually fighting against oppressive colonizers, and it’s a visual feast that will delight any genre fan. The choreography, both combat and dancing, is remarkable, and the story is propulsive and dazzling – earning every second of the film’s outsized 182 minute runtime.
You can stream RRR on Netflix.
#7. The Batman
Average Score: 4.326923077/5
Given that we’ve seen five different actors play live-action versions of Batman in the last 33 years, it was understandable to be skeptical about yet another incarnation of the Caped Crusader… but Matt Reeves demonstrated that there is still a lot more that can be done with the character on the big screen. Robert Pattinson delivers a tremendous, rage-filled performance as a Bruce Wayne who has let the cape and cowl consume his identity, and The Batman introduces a vast Gotham City that is populated by brilliant takes on classic characters. It’s still hard to believe that it’s Colin Farrell playing Oswald Cobblepot a.k.a. The Penguin.
You can stream The Batman on HBO Max.
#6. The Fabelmans
Average Score: 4.388888889/5
Steven Spielberg will forever be remembered as one of the greatest artists to ever express himself through the medium of cinema, and his The Fabelmans is a gift to fans who are ever fascinated by the way in which he tells stories and sees the world. On beyond highlighting early inspirations like the train wreck in The Greatest Show On Earth, and the western action in The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, it also has an emotional story that sees the director’s young, on-screen counterpart in the movie understand hard truths through the prism of film.
You can rent/buy The Fabelmans on Amazon Prime Video.
#5. Emergency
Average Score: 4.416666667/5
Carey Williams’ Emergency is a sharp and impressive Trojan horse of a movie. At its outset, you think you’re getting a straight comedy about college kids getting in trouble during an epic party crawl, but it surprises you when the stakes shoot through the roof – with the protagonists discovering a passed out white girl in their living room and fearing jail time or death should they call the cops. Even with all the drama and commentary on race and policing in 21st century America, it maintains a sense of humor and strikes a fantastic tonal balance.
You can stream Emergency on Amazon Prime Video.
#4. Top Gun: Maverick
Average Score: 4.416666667/5
As you can see, Joseph Kosinski’s Top Gun: Maverick got the same average score as Emergency, but it earns the higher ranking because it was seen by three times as many members of our staff – all of whom were wowed by the stunning cinematic experience that the movie provides. At this point in his career, Tom Cruise’s name is practically synonymous with spectacle, and he delivers eye-popping thrills with a fun legacyquel that succeeds in being better than its predecessor. It’s a blast to see on the big screen, and it’s a shame that it can’t be a permanent installation in theaters worldwide.
You can stream Top Gun: Maverick on Paramount+.
#3. Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery
Average Score: 4.6/5
Writer/director Rian Johnson faced a great deal of pressure in trying to craft a worthy follow-up to his beloved 2019 mystery Knives Out… but one of our principal takeaways from watching Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery is that we want Johnson to continue telling these stories for the rest of his career. Johnson once again puts together a brilliant and talented ensemble to play a group of suspicious characters, and anchoring the whole experience is another amazing turn from Daniel Craig as Benoit Blanc.
You can stream Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery on Netflix.
#2. Everything Everywhere All At Once
Average Score: 4.76/5
Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, credited collectively as Daniels, made one hell of an impression in 2016 with their farting corpse survival dramedy Swiss Army Man, and doubling down on weirdness for their follow-up has yielded a masterpiece. Michelle Yeoh is captivating and remarkable as an unwitting multiverse warrior who has to save existence from destruction, and in addition to featuring a phenomenal breakout performance by Stephanie Hsu, the movie has a jaw-dropping comeback turn from Ke Huy Quan. After watching Everything Everywhere All At Once, we want to see everything that everybody involved is doing next.
You can stream Everything Everywhere All At Once on Paramount+.
#1. Marcel The Shell With Shoes On
Average Score: 4.833333333/5
Dean Fleischer Camp’s Marcel The Shell With Shoes On is a reminder that movies are magic. The mockumentary’s titular character is simply a shell with a single googly eye and a pair of pink doll shoes, and yet the film is able to inspire tears as you yearn for the little guy to be reunited with his lost family and community. Jenny Slate, who is also credited as a co-writer, brings brilliant life and depth to the character in her voice performance, and it’s just impossible not to love. Everyone on the CinemaBlend staff certainly does, which is why it’s ranked as our number one movie of the year.
You can rent/buy Marcel The Shell With Shoes On on Amazon Prime Video.
Be on the lookout for more of our end-of-year features here on CinemaBlend, and you can get a preview of the titles scheduled for release in the months ahead with our 2023 Movie Release Calendar.
