Previously, in 2022...

 2022: A Look Back

2022 will be our 21st Oscar Viewing Project, and easily the closest we've ever been to the previous ceremony.  While we did kickoff 2021 within a year of the ceremony, we did not do it within a few months of said ceremony as it's still May (the Oscars were in March), and so we don't have a lot of distance with these categories in the ways that others have played out (i.e. what I gave these awards to in my personal awards a few months ago probably ain't changing).  But that might also be exciting-getting to instantly rewind, but still out of the shadow of the actual ceremony (we know who won, especially some surprises) before we go back a couple of decades later this summer (and by the end of this year, finally leave the 21st Century).

So sit back, and think of a time when Republicans were nominating idiotic candidates like Mehmet Oz & Kari Lake (and thinking they'd win!), we were mourning the loss of Queen Elizabeth II, and we found out that corn was a big lump with knobs (it has the juice!).  And of course, let's remember the movies...

Box Office

This is what the Top 10 at the (Domestic) Box Office looked like:

1. Top Gun: Maverick

2. Avatar: The Way of Water

3. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

4. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness

5. Jurassic World: Dominion

6. Minions: The Rise of Gru

7. The Batman

8. Thor: Love and Thunder

9. Sonic the Hedgehog 2

10. Puss in Boots: The Last Wish

Normally this many sequels (only one non-sequel, and that's a franchise getting remade for the sixth(?) time), bums me out but unlike 2021, some of these movies are genuinely good, so I feel less depressed even though this is still a sad state of affairs.  Of these ten movies, I have seen eight; I tapped out on the Minions franchise as while I like the adorable yellow fellas, the movies never gel properly, and I never got into the Sonic movies (and honestly, it keeps throwing me off how much money they make).

2022 had eighteen $100 million movies, a step up from 2021's fourteen (it helped that the box office was fully-open all year in 2022), and outside the Top 10, there were some actual originals reaching that peak, including The Lost City, Bullet Train, and Nope.  The only other $100 million movie I missed was Smile, as I'm still a novice at horror, especially in theaters.

The Films I Missed

While I've seen all of the Oscar nominees, I haven't seen every film in 2022.  In addition to the films I mentioned above, I also missed Inu-Oh, Hustle, & Amsterdam.  To be honest, thanks to seeing a movie virtually every Thursday night in 2022, I saw almost every major movie release that year, and don't intend on seeing any of the movies I just name-checked as they don't speak to me (though if you think I should, pipe up in the comments).  With that, Monday the games will begin and we'll start going to the movies!