2022 - The Year In Cinemas

[Above: Everything Everywhere All At Once - film of the year for many people, and an instant cult classic]

    There were no lockdowns in 2022, so the cinemas stayed open all year round for the first time since 2019. But in many ways, the impact of the pandemic was still felt; we saw more indie films in multiplex cinemas (Odeon marketed the Aftersun trailer heavily on the run up to its release), and some of the larger films only had limited releases before moving swiftly on to streaming platforms. Guillermo Del Toro's Pinocchio, Crimes of the Future, and Glass Onion are notable examples of that.

   Blockbusters were back, but they were somewhat disappointing for studios and audience members alike - partly because some people prefer to wait to see such films on digital release (and, as I said, they don't have long to wait these days), and partly because of a notable dip in quality. Top Gun: Maverick and Avatar 2 seem to have bucked the trend, but the Marvel cinematic universe, which has dominated the silver screen for over a decade, suffered from bad reviews and decrease audience attendance.

   For me personally, I very much enjoyed this year's cinema trips. Back in 2018, I set myself the goal of going to the cinema at least once a month - and I managed that (and then some!) this year, partly thanks to my Odeon Limitless membership, as it persuaded me to get out the house and use it. I did cancel that membership in Summer, during the blockbuster season, as I found the films so disappointing around that time - but I renewed it towards the end of the year, to save me money as a slew of Oscar-contenders were released thick and fast.

   Here are the films I saw in cinemas in 2022 - plus a few that got away from me - and what I thought of them all (warning: mild spoilers throughout):

[Above: The Tragedy of Macbeth was a masterclass in cinematography]

JANUARY 2022

Films: The Matrix Resurrections, The Tragedy of Macbeth, Licorice Pizza, Titane, Nightmare Alley

   Since I saw a whopping five films this month, I'll try and keep my reviews short for all of them!

   The 4th Matrix film very much jumped on the bandwagon of nostalgic franchises being relaunched twenty years too late. As such, I went in with low expectations - and a little curiosity - which were unfortunately met. I did actually like the unpopular meta angle the film started out with; the feeling of creative block mixed with middle age melancholy. I almost hoped the film would go somewhere unusual, where it turned out Keanu Reeves' character wasn't Neo after all, separating it from the original trilogy. But the film chucked those ideas out about half way through, and descended into noisy, passionless action. The scene with the projectors looked beautiful, though - I'll give it that!

  The Tragedy of Macbeth was without a doubt one of the most beautiful looking films of the year. It's a masterclass in framing, and I was really hoping its cinematography would take home trophies during awards season. There are many Macbeth adaptations out there, and this one didn't offer much new - but the way it presented the three(ish) witches was inspired, and Denzel Washington was outstanding in the lead role. Frances McDormand maybe wasn't quite as believable in the role of Lady Macbeth (not every actor suits Shakespearean language), but I can forgive her anything as she's such an outstanding actor in every other part she plays.

   As with Macbeth, I saw Licorice Pizza at Derby QUAD. It was a film that my creative PIC Tommy Draper wanted to see, as he's a huge Paul Thomas Anderson fan, and I went along because I knew the film's nostalgic tone and unusual age-gap relationship would be good research for my feature script, Night Owls & Early Birds. I did enjoy Licorice Pizza a lot; the setting was cosy to watch, and the dialogue & performances were incredible (particularly that one scene in the office between Cooper Hoffman and Alana Haim). My only gripe was that I found the film slightly long, as it's a series of vignettes rather than one fluid story, and without a single plot thread it's hard to tell where it's going at times. However, I think I will enjoy it more on a second viewing.

   I went to Derby QUAD a third time in January, to see Julia Ducournau's Titane - and boy is that a film I'll never forget!! Believe the hype. It is a unique piece of cinema that achieves everything it sets out to. It isn't always an enjoyable watch - the characters are brutal and hard to root for, and some scenes are so gory that, at times, I had to watch it through my fingers. My knees also ached by the end of it, from tensing up so much, which proves that the film is, if nothing else, an experience. But I'll also say that the one-shot cinematography in the opening scene is particularly stunning, and Vincent Lindon's heartbreaking performance was one of the best I saw all year. I was so frustrated to see him snubbed by both the OSCARs and the BAFTAs.

   The final film this month (which I saw at Derby Odeon, same as Matrix) was Nightmare Alley - one of two Guillermo Del Toro releases in 2022. He's in my top three favourite directors, so I was particularly excited to see Nightmare Alley - and I was slightly disappointed as a result. Don't get me wrong, it's a beautifully-made film and all the scenes set within the circus were particularly gorgeous to look at. However, the way the story jumped to a new setting and time frame about half way through made it feel almost like I was watching two different films (from the same series), and I always find that quite frustrating as a viewer. The film also had a lot in common with Macbeth, as it was a clear tragedy from the start, with crooked characters and a clear downward spiral that you can almost predict from the start: you just need to sit back and watch as their lives get worse and worse. You get the satisfaction of knowing you were right about the plot at the end, but that doesn't mean you feel happy about it.

[Above: Belle had a unique take on Beauty & the Beast]

FEBRUARY 2022

Film: Belle

   I only made it to the cinema once in February, as I was heavily in pre-production for my directorial short A Different Place, which was shot at the end of the month. But for my one cinema trip, I went to Derby QUAD and watched Mamoru Hosoda's Belle. I'm a huge Beauty & The Beast fan - Disney's 1992 adaptation is one of my favourite films, and I find the gothic setting of the story really intoxicating - so I'm always interested to see new takes on the material. Belle was certainly inventive, comparable to Ready Player One, with dazzling animation and incredible scope. The plot also went to dark, borderline controversial places towards the end, and it was genuinely moving as a result. The songs, although a little slow, created an emotive sense of stillness at times. It wasn't my favourite film of the year, but it wasn't my least favourite either - it sits comfortably in the middle.

[Above: a particularly gorgeous shot from Matt Reeves' The Batman]

MARCH 2022

Film: The Batman

  As anyone who's seen my Poison Ivy fan film Growing Shadows will know, I am a huge Batman fan. I'm also a little weary of how many cinematic adaptations there's been, now - so I approached Matt Reeve's interpretation, The Batman, with mixed feelings. I was however pleased to discover that it's the best Batman film since the Nolan trilogy, and it'sin my top films of 2022. This version was actually more faithful to the comic books, as it applied Se7en-style neo-noir crime elements. The world building was also particularly accomplished, and I was relieved to see that this film avoided the usual origin story, which has been done to death in previous Batman films. I wasn't keen on the depiction of Alfred (much as I love Andy Serkis), as Bruce's relationship with Alfred is so important, it should be the heart of all Batman films, and it wasn't given enough attention in this version; I also found the constant Nirvana-drops on the score somewhat heavy-handed (I know I'm in the minority there!). But overall The Batman gave us the perfect mix of real-world grit and flawed humanity with comic-book action and excitement, so I'm keen to see Matt Reeves' next venture into Gotham.

  I also booked to see Clio Barnard's Ali & Ava, but unfortunately had to cancel my ticket due to other commitments, making it the first 'one that got away' film for me this year.

[Above: Anya Taylor-Joy in The Northman]

APRIL 2022

Film: The Northman

   Another single cinema outing this month, and back to Derby Odeon. The Northman was probably my most-anticipated film of 2022, as Robert Eggers' The VVitch was one of the greatest debuts in recent years (The Lighthouse was brilliantly visceral too), and the Viking period is one I particularly enjoy watching on screen. The film mostly lived up to my expectations, and it would've been my film of the year if it weren't for a certain universe-and-genre-hopping film that came out the following month... 

   Highlights of The Northman included its brutal but entertaining action sequence, particularly the supernatural battle in the moonlight when Amleth went to retrieve a sword. For me, though, I found the central romance to be a little shoe-horned into the plot, much as I love Anya Taylor-Joy and Alexander Skarsgard; there's no way a woman, in her right mind, would fall for a man that quickly after she watched him plunder and burn her village!

[Above: Sami Raimi to the max in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness]

MAY 2022

Films: Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, God's Creatures, Everything Everywhere All At Once

   May was the month of multiverse films, the first of which was Doctor Strange 2. Scarlet Witch is one of my favourite Marvel characters, and I was excited to see her take centre stage after the exceptional Wandavision which streamed last year. Also, director Sam Raimi's work is frequently entertaining, and you can tell he had a lot of fun with this one (case in point: Zombie Doctor Strange with evil spirit wings!), so I enjoyed the ride he took us on. However, there were a few times when the film's central players behaved out-of-character, compared to their previous Marvel outings, and there were too many plot holes as a result, which marred our viewing experience somewhat.

   I also went to Cannes Film Festival in month, for the first time in nearly 10 years, and this time I actually watched a film there: Saela Davis & Anna Rose Holmer's God's Creatures, released by A24. The film had a great small-town setting and built up a sense of dread well (I had multiple ideas in my head of where the film was going to go), but the conclusion was unrealistic and a little disappointing after all that growing tension, and the over-long ending shot felt like an uncertain choice by the filmmakers.

   Back in England, and back in Derby Odeon, I saw the second (and far superior) multiverse film, Everything Everywhere All At Once - which gives you exactly what the title says: every genre, every emotion, from the childishly silly (Ratatouille homage, anyone?) to the near-pornographic humour of butt-plug battles! It's a film that's so hard to define, you simply have to see it, but it goes massive with the excitement of martial arts and sci-fi action, whilst still delivering relatable and highly-emotive family drama. The In The Mood for Love homage scenes were a particular highlight, and if Ke Huy Quan doesn't win Best Supporting Actor at next year's OSCARs, I will throw all of my toys out of the pram!

   I went into the cinema knowing pretty much nothing about Everything Everywhere All At Once, and not only saw my film of the year, but an instant iconic classic that we'll be talking about for as long as films are loved.

[Above: one of the lush-looking shots from the first half of Men, at a point where it showed so much promise...]

JUNE 2022

Films: Men, Limbo

   Ok, so where do I start with Men? I've seen mixed reviews of the film, with some people loving it and some hating it... and I definitely fall into the latter camp. Men advocates say that you have to 'get it' to love it; but I get it completely, it's not as clever as it thinks it is. I get it, and it made me very, very angry in the process.

 Don't get me wrong, I think Alex Garland is a genius, and after Ex Machina and Annihilation I couldn't wait to see his next film. I also love anything set in a country village (as I grew up in a similar place), and the film's opening scenes looked beautiful as well as creating a wonderful sense of creeping terror. But from there.... urgh. 

   Look, Rory Kinnear is a brilliant actor and he played all (bar one) of the male characters really well - but does that mean that he should've been cast as all of them? The CGI child-Rory Kinnear looked ridiculous, and some of his characters felt like they were plucked from The League Of Gentlemen - particularly his OTT and old-fashioned (and borderline offensive) vicar character.

   The film was designed to be a folk horror with clear influence from the genre... and yet the filmmakers seemed to know nothing at all about who The Green Man actually was in folklore. It's like they just saw the statues and decided to make a character out of him with little to no research.

   But the film's biggest crime is the way it absolutely wasted the brilliant Jessie Buckley - particularly towards the end (one of the most ridiculous and grotesque endings I've ever seen), when she became nothing but a screaming final girl while the film made a comment about the cyclical nature of male stereotypes. I literally groaned when the final title card 'MEN' was slapped on the screen in large font, leaving the story unanswered. I am fully supportive of films that explore toxic masculinity and the dangers this brings; but I don't like it when such films pretend to tell a woman's story in the process (and then forgets about her in the final act). And no, all the shots of maternal statues and vaginal imagery were not enough to make it a feminist piece!

   ANYWAY.... rant over...

   Thank god for the second film I saw in June: Limbo, which I saw at a special charity screening at Derby QUAD. Limbo was one of my 'ones that got away' last year, so I jumped at the chance to see it when it was brought back for this one-off event. It's one of the few films this year that I'd give a full five stars to; a film that's surprisingly funny (combining the dry small-town humour of Napoleon Dynamite with the whimsical 4:3 framing of Wes Anderson), but doesn't hold back the emotional punches, particularly in the second half. I thoroughly recommend it.

[Above: Thor: Love and Thunder, featuring the somewhat-wasted Christian Bale]

JULY 2022

Film: Thor: Love and Thunder

   In July I went back to Derby Odeon for my second (and last) Marvel film of the year: Thor: Love and Thunder. I am one of the few people who prefered the serious tone of the first two Thors films to Ragnarok, but I was keen to see the conclusion of Natalie Portman's character, Jane Foster. I also usually enjoy Taika Waititi's work (Hunt for the Wilderpeople is perfection). But Thor 4 ended up being one of my least favourite films of the year; it made me laugh a few times (Russell Crowe's Zeus was a wonderfully odd role for the usually-too-serious actor), and Natalie Portman's bleaker scenes hit just hard enough, but the improvisation in the film landed badly, like no-one really knew where the story or the characters were going, leading to some nonsensical and painfully clunky dialogue as a result. Yes, the screaming meme goats were funny; it doesn't mean they belonged in the MCU!

[Above: Austin Butler and what I thought was the performance of the year, in Baz Luhrmann's lavish Elvis biopic]

AUGUST 2022

Film: Elvis

   In August, to celebrate Tommy Draper's birthday, we went back to the gorgeous little Northern Light cinema in Wirksworth, where I also watched Another Round last year. This time we saw Elvis - the latest film by one of my all-time cinematic heroes, Baz Luhrmann. I've seen Baz's style described as 'baroque', which I think is accurate, and that style really suited Elvis - even if he did turn it down to focus on the drama in the second half. It's not a perfect film, but it's Baz's best since Moulin Rouge!, and it's definitely a feast for the senses on the big screen. It taught me things about Elvis that I didn't know before (the bad as well as the good), and I thought that Austin Butler was exceptional, embodying Elvis fully even if he wasn't a physical match. I really want him to win Best Actor in next year's awards season, but I know he faces stiff competition from Brendan Fraser (for his performance in The Whale), and that guy deserves the world.

[Above: Tilda Swinton in Three Thousand Years of Longing]

SEPTEMBER 2022

Films: Three Thousand Years of Longing, Crimes of the Future

   Three Thousand Years of Longing (which I watched at Derby Odeon) was a likeable film in many ways. It took the viewer to distant, epic lands and told some unique fairytales, the best of which was the final vignette about the captive young (but highly intelligent) wife who collected glass bottles. It's the kind of film you'd watch on a sleepy Sunday afternoon - but for all its CGI vistas, it would've perhaps worked better as a book or a play. Also, in spite of its dependable central cast, I was disappointed by the film's final act, when Tilda Swinton's previously-cautious Alithea suddenly decided to start a relationship with Idris Elba's Djinn; the storytelling aspect between these two characters was more interesting then their own story, and the final scenes outstayed their welcome a little as a result.

  For my second cinema trip this month, I ventured to Broadway in Nottingham, one of the few local cinemas which screened David Cronenberg's Crimes of the Future (the most popular film at Cannes this year, so it was impossible to get tickets when I was there). The brilliant cast was very watchable, as expected, and the film flitted between sensual and near-controversial without ever losing tempo or audience engagement, as it got most of its exposition out of the way in the first scenes. All of Cronenberg's biggest hits were referenced, sometimes in near-ridiculous fashion (although I applaud the filmmakers' respect for practical effects). Some plot lines were abandoned towards the end, and the two female mechanic characters changed motivation and loyalties so often that it was like they'd walked out of a totally different film, but overall Crimes of the Future is a solid watch.

[Above: Olivia Wilde's ambitious second feature, Don't Worry Darling]

OCTOBER 2022

Films: Don't Worry Darling, Guillermo Del Toro's Pinocchio, Emily

   As I'd loved Olivia Wide's 2019 debut, Booksmart, I decided to ignore the bad (and somewhat sexist) press surrounding Don't Worry Darling and go and see it for myself, in another trip to Derby Odeon. Don't Worry Darling is only her second film as a director, as well as it being her first time working with a higher budget, and that inexperience does show; the script needed work to define the world and plan the ending more in advance, but it was an entertaining film to watch and the creative ideas shine through - even if they are thrown at the audience a little too regularly (such as the random scene where Florence Pugh is squashed by the glass wall of her house, and the too-frequently used black and white kaleidoscope shots of the female cast as 1930s dancers). I still think that Olivia Wilde is a director to watch, and she's going to do great things in the future.

   For the second film in October, I took a trip down to London. As with the pre-release screening of Dune last year, this was was organised by Directors UK (membership worth every penny!), where I got to see Pinocchio at none other than Dolby's UK headquarters, with Guillermo del Toro himself, and presented by Edgar Wright!! I'll be sure to talk about that in my general end of year review, as it was certainly a highlight.

   The film was beautiful. Stop motion is always gorgeous to look at, it really is an art form, and this is one of the best examples of the medium I've seen. I wasn't keen on the film's original songs (I don't consume a lot of modern animated films, which often tend to be aimed at families with young children, so it's not my favourite genre), and I felt that it was strange how they only really appeared in the first half of the film. I also found Pinocchio himself to be a little annoying - as he should be! But those are only minor criticisms in an overall breathtaking film with important themes about life and death (and how one is only special when paired with the other). The designs of the wood sprite and her sister were particularly stunning - I hope NECA bring out action figures like they did for Guillermo's previous films!

   I saw one more film in October, back at Derby Odeon (as I'd just renewed my Limitless), and that was Emily, the directorial debut of actor Frances O'Connor. I find the Brontes fascinating, so I was keen to check this one out, and the blustery Yorkshire landscape certainly didn't disappoint. I also thought the score was exceptional, with some unusual choices - a mix of shrieking, feral female voices among the classical instruments perfectly homaged the wild heart of Wuthering Heights. However, the script took so many liberties with the truth and the timelines of the real Brontes that it ruined my enjoyment of the film; particular disservice was done to Charlotte Bronte, my favourite of the three sisters, as the film had the nerve to suggest that Emily (and her success as an author) inspired Charlotte to write Jane Eyre, when actually that novel was released first out of all the Brontes' works.

[Above: Park Chan-Wook's Decision to Leave featured probably the best shot of the year!]

NOVEMBER 2022

Films: Decision to Leave, The Banshees of Inisherin, Bones and All, She Said

   I watched four films in November, all at Derby Odeon again; the first, Decision to Leave, felt like a wonderfully traditional film noir, a tale of a memorable femme fatale and a cop that's broken by his obsession with her, but paired with stunning modern cinematography (the scenes which took place on the mountain were some of this year's most beautiful). As with Nightmare Alley, this is another film which jumped to another place and time about half way through, and it felt a little too long as a result, but on this occasion the final pay-off made the whole journey feel worthwhile.

   The Banshees of Inisherin was a film that appeared to come out of nowhere, but immediately soaked up a lot of (worthy) hype, so I had to check it out. The script and performances were razor sharp, with some of the funniest exchanges I've ever seen in a film, and yet it also took the viewer to darker places than first expected. It's comparable to Limbo in that way. My only minor criticisms were that I felt it ended a bit too suddenly, and also I was slightly disappointed that it was a period piece, as I'd love to see more small, human dramas set in villages in the 21st century. The story was so human that it could've happened in any era (particularly in the country villages near where I live, as they've barely changed in decades!).

  Another film which got a lot of hype was Bones and All, and I enjoyed the road trip the film took its characters (and its audience) on. The film left you wondering about the wider world of cannibals, in a good way, and the eighties setting created a great sense of nostalgia (with a brilliant soundtrack and fashion choices!). But once the road trip ended, and the mission to find the lead character's mother was fulfilled, my enjoyment of the film lessened as a result; we had a sudden POV shift to Timothy Chalamet's character, which didn't feel necessary, followed by an over-use of Mark Rylance's Sully (he wasn't a bad character, but I liked the sense of mystery surrounding him, and conversely I would've liked to have seen more of Michael Stuhlbarg's terrifying Jake), and a descent into full, melodramatic schlock at the end. But these are perhaps the faults of the source material and not the filmmakers.

   And finally this month, I saw Maria Shrader's She Said, partly because I wanted to know more about the Harvey Weinstein scandal and, in particular, how our industry covered it up. It was an incredibly gripping film, shot very simply and cleanly so that the performances and the true story could do all the talking - and rightly so! Because of this, some of the none-linear moments (like the flashbacks with different actors playing younger versions of characters) felt jarring, and there were also so many characters and story threads that not every plot point had a resolution. But overall, it's a brilliant film which grips you from start to finish, and the truest moments - like the shots of the empty hotel corridor, overlaid with a voice clip of one of Weinstein's real victims - were the most powerful. Kudos to Samantha Morton, whose seething but restrained performance stole the film in a single scene!

[Above: Charlotte Wells' heartbreaking Aftersun]

DECEMBER 2022

Films: Casablanca, Aftersun, Avatar: The Way of Water

   At the start of December, Derby Odeon hosted a one-off screening of Casablanca, for its 80th anniversary - and since I've never seen it(!), I decided to check it out. The film still very much holds its own, and from the moment Humphrey Bogart enters the frame (beautifully, with a great use of shadows in the second scene), he dominates the movie. His performance is electric and surprisingly emotional for a male character of the era. Pure class.

  Next up, and back in Derby Odeon, was a very different film - Charlotte Wells' debut Aftersun. Boy was that a gut punch; a film that hits you in your childhood nostalgia and your middle-age existentialism all at once! The inventive use of framing in the opening shot, in particular, felt so unique, like something I haven't seen in cinema before - which doesn't happen very often! - and continued to be great throughout the film. I wasn't as keen on the sudden flash-forwards and surreal sequences, as these felt almost like expositional studio notes in a film which was otherwise so raw and naturalist. But those minor notes aside, Aftersun is a stand-out film, and Charlotte Wells is another one to watch.

  And the very last film I saw in cinemas this year (I actually saw it yesterday, back in the Derby Showcase cinema where I used to work, because I wanted to find the biggest screen possible) was Avatar: The Way of Water. As the film was more than 10 years in the making, and because the first film has gone down in popularity in recent years, I wasn't sure that it could possibly live up to the hype. But James Cameron knows what he's doing, and the film is definitely worthy of a big screen; all the underwater diving scenes are food for the senses, even if there are too many of them, like the filmmakers were (somewhat understandably) keen to show off their new underwater motion capture capabilities. It also didn't feel as long as I'd worried it would, even though the film is over three hours long - nearly four hours with trailers. 

   Some of the plot elements were nonsensical - like the way the space-whales could communicate full sentences with a couple of eye blinks, despite there being no scenes where our heroes learnt how to speak space-whale, and how Jermaine Clement's scientist character basically said "you can tell this whale was religious and also very musical, just by looking at this part of the brain"! All of that silliness felt unnecessary after an effective and all-too-real scene where the whales were hunted by the humans; the audience already cared enough about the whales by that point! But you don't see a James Cameron film for the plot; you see it for the scope and the battles, and this film definitely delivered the excitement beats, particularly with its Titanic-homage climax. I just hope we get more Zoe Saldana in the next Avatar, whenever it comes out!

[Above: Never Gonna Snow Again, a magical-looking film which was advertised heavily but never reached a cinema screen near me]

The Ones That Got Away

   After so many cinema trips this year, it's hard to believe that there's any films I missed, but there are a few I wanted to catch which passed me by. As previously mentioned, my schedule meant I wasn't able to see Ali & Ava, and I also missed out on a rare 35mm screening of Hero in August for the same reason, whereas I missed Moonage Daydream as I was too broke to go to the cinema at the time (I'd foolishly cancelled my Limitless membership).

   I missed Bergman Island, which had an interesting premise, as I heard about it a little too late. And due to the fact that there were no local screenings, I wasn't able to catch The Wonder (although I saw it via Netflix at a movie night last week), Never Gonna Snow Again, White Noise or The Eternal Daughter, but as the latter two are recent releases, I'm going to keep an eye out for more screenings in the New Year.

[Above: The Murmuring, Jennifer Kent's episode of Guillermo Del Toro's Cabinet of Curiosities]

Best Of The Rest

   As with The Wonder, I was able to catch some great films on their home release, and I have to give particular shout-outs to His House, Lamb, Petite Maman, and The Worst Person In The World, all of which were among my top films of the year. And, if I'm honest, Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers is up there too, as the humour was perfectly aimed at the age group of myself and my partner, Edward Harvey.

   It was also a very strong year for television, particularly for genre fans. Although I haven't watched Rings of Power (I don't currently have Amazon Prime) or all of House of the Dragon yet, I have been devouring the Willow series on Disney Plus, which captures all of the humour of the original film whilst still considering modern audiences. Also on Disney Plus, the Obi-Wan Kenobi series was an entertaining watch, answering a few of the plot questions left by the Star Wars prequel series, but the best ILM programme this year was the documentary Light & Magic, filled to the brim with geeky insights and a lot of love for its subjects.

   As with its large-screen outings, I found Marvel's television series a little disappointing this year; it took a while for Moon Knight to really grab my attention, and I thought the opening episode of Ms. Marvel was exceptional and so cleverly shot, but the rest of the series (although still very enjoyable) didn't quite match its early promise. Another visually stunning series was Netflix Russian Doll series 2, which contained some powerful messages about accepting your past and also the inevitability of death - and a certain episode where Nadia takes a trip, in more ways than one, was the best-looking television episode of the year, in my opinion! - but it didn't quite grip me in the same way that series 1 did.

   The Handmaid's Tale, Umbrella Academy, and Stranger Things all returned with their best series in years (again, in my opinion), and Stranger Things also helped to propel Kate Bush, one of my musical heroes, back to the top of the charts! But I enjoyed two of Netflix's brand new series - Sandman and Tim Burton's Wednesday - even more, as both were addictive pieces of goth-tinged fun!

   And finally, Guillermo del Toro was back, this time presenting his Cabinet of Curiosities, helmed by a plethora of brilliant and under-used horror directors. Although none of the episodes were bad, some excelled more than others - in different ways. The episode The Autopsy (directed by David Prior) was so gripping that you couldn't take your eyes away, whereas The Murmuring (directed by Jennifer Kent) was much gentler but equally as powerful, using the scares to tell a truly human story of grief. Speaking of macabre series, at the start of 2022 I finally watched Hannibal, and I adored it so much - even though it scared me - that I binged it all almost in one go, and I've been missing it ever since! It contains some of the best cinematography I've ever seen on television.

*

   So it's been a bumper year for films (and television), and this has been a bumper blog post as a result! My top films from the cinema trips are definitely Everything Everywhere All At Once, Northman, Limbo, The Batman and Aftersun, with The Tragedy of Macbeth, Titane and Licorice Pizza not far behind, but streaming services and movie nights brought some of my other films of the year - notably His House and The Worst Person In The World.

   I'm not sure what to expect for the changing landscape of cinemas in 2023. I feel as though Marvel's reign of power is coming to a close, due to its recent disappointing films and television series, and I decided not to spend my money on Black Panther 2 for that reason, much as I liked the first one - although I do plan on seeing The Marvels next year, depending on my schedule. I'm very excited about awards season coming up, as it means that the next few months will be filled with quality contenders - starting with the 'battle of the cinema movies', Steven Spielberg's The Fabelmans versus Sam Mendes' Empire of Light, both of which I expect good things from. I'm also looking forward to seeing Babylon by Damien Chazelle, as I loved Whiplash and La La Land, as well as finally checking out Brendan Fraser's performance in The Whale. But I hope, most of all, that big-chain cinemas will continue to screen independent films in 2023, presenting these gorgeous, heart-filled films in the way that they deserve, and I'm eager to see what next year's equivalent to Aftersun will be.

Sophie