Top Fives of 2022: Movies/shows
Hope everyone has had/is having a great holiday! This week in the newsletter, I’m going to have a series of posts on the best things I read, heard, watched, or otherwise enjoyed in 2022.
We all dip in and out of time when it comes to pop culture—even if you see a movie from 50 years ago, it might be new to you. But I’m going to do my best to limit these lists to works actually released this year. I want to make sure the fresh stuff gets its moment.
Over the next few days I’ll have lists for my favorite TV, music, books, and stories of the year. I’ll also post a list of the top five things I created (or at least had a hand in). Today we start with movies, plus a stage show I threw in because this is where it fits best.
This list is the hardest one for me, because we just didn’t see many movies this year—we barely went to the movie theater at all, and at home we tend to watch sports or TV shows. But here’s what I enjoyed most:
JUST FOR US, the one-man show by comedian Alex Edelman, stuck with me more than maybe anything else this year. I was lucky enough to be in New York for business while it was still running—my friend Joe Posnanski was there too, and we sat next to some fairly well-known people, although it took a while for us to figure that part out.
Alex’s show is about the night he attended a meeting of white supremacists without telling them that he is deeply and proudly Jewish. The show is lose-your-breath funny, but it’s also deeply thoughtful about history and identity and hate. And it’s grounded in the idea that we should try to learn about others, even others we might despise.
This is the one thing on my lists that you can’t currently experience for yourself … Alex just ended a series of shows in Washington after a long run in New York. But I have a feeling you’ll get to see JUST FOR US on a nationwide tour or a TV special sometime soon. If that happens, remember I told you so.
WE FEED PEOPLE is Ron Howard’s documentary about José Andrés, the famous chef who has devoted the past few years of his life to feeding disaster victims around the world. Andrés comes across as loud and big-hearted and willing to plunge himself into the middle of things and work out the details later. Howard isn’t afraid to show the downside of all that—Andrés can be a pain in the ass and a bully to people who help him accomplish these amazing feats. But I came away from the film wishing there were a lot more people like him—people with resources and connections who actually USE those resources and connections to help others in need.
TOP GUN: MAVERICK, to use the current lingo, understood the assignment. It’s basically a series of callbacks to the 1986 original, with the same bar and the same cocky fighter pilots and the same old Tom Cruise zipping around on his motorcycle and bending the rules. Now he’s the flight instructor to a new crew of cocky fighter pilots, including one he has a deep connection to. You will be stunned to know that Maverick ends up in a dogfight with the Russians (they’re never officially named as Russians, but they are totally Russians) and that the footage is breathtaking. I don’t remember liking the first TOP GUN all that much, but that was back when I cared more about being cool. Now I’m cool with being uncool. TOP GUN: MAVERICK was awesome.
MRS. HARRIS GOES TO PARIS was absolutely not a movie I ever would have chosen. But the other two humans at our house are in love with various British TV shows and films, and besides, the film was showing at Charlotte’s new independent movie theater, which we want to support. The bonus turned out to be a charming movie. Lesley Manville (who will turn up in another list later) stars as a London cleaning lady who falls in love with an expensive Dior dress and decides she has to have one for herself. She runs into hurdles involving money and class and other resentments. But with the help of some friends—expected and unexpected—she perseveres. That is not a spoiler alert—you know walking in how it’s going to turn out. But it’s worth the journey to see British acting veterans make the trip run just so.
MARCEL THE SHELL WITH SHOES ON has about the weirdest premise of any movie I can think of: A tiny shell with one big eye and two sneakered feet lives in a human-sized house, taking care of his grandmother and missing the rest of his family, who got taken away when the homeowners left. A filmmaker renting the house discovers Marcel and makes a YouTube film about him, which brings fame and “60 Minutes” to his door. But all Marcel wants is his family back. This sounds ridiculous even as I write it but it comes out smart and funny and dramatic and philosophical. You will feel things for that little shell.
Now it’s your turn: What are the movies and/or stage shows you enjoyed the most this year? Drop your picks in the comments. Tomorrow: TV!
I read Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris when it first came out, and it has stuck in my mind all these years. I believe there was a whole series of Mrs. Harris books. I’ll try to check out the movie.
Emily the Criminal was the best surprise of the year.