Movies I Watched in 2022: Part Two

This year I thought it’d be fun to keep track of my thoughts on all of the movies I watch. You can find part one here with the first ten movies I watched in 2022, and now it’s time for part two! Again, this post does contain some spoilers for the movies listed. Let me know if you’ve seen any of these, and your thoughts on them!

Fantastic Beasts: Crimes of GrindelwaldFantasy/adventure, 2018 (rewatch)

This actually should have gone in my last post–Joshua and I watched it Easter weekend, I think–but I forgot to include it. Sadly, this was a disappointing rewatch for me; I’d thought it was one of my all-time favorite movies, and while it was still good, I just didn’t feel quite the same magic.

Avengers: Age of UltronAction/adventure, 2015“The world is a big place. Let’s make it smaller.”

Somehow I never watched this when I did my initial Marvel watch-through a few years ago. I had a heavy sad day and just needed to escape into a favorite fandom, at a point when everybody was alive and well.

Captain America: The Winter SoldierAction/adventure, 2014 (rewatch)“The world has changed. None of us can go back. All we can do is our best.”

I loved my Winter Soldier rewatch. It was so good–I really enjoyed it! I shrieked at the iconic “before we get started, does anyone want to get out?” and definitely teared up when Cap told Bucky, “To the end of the line.”

What About Bob?Comedy/farce, 1991

A friend mentioned this movie so I thought I’d watch it. At first I was enjoying it, but the ending was stupid. There were some funny parts, but overall I wish I’d watched something else (but my dad likes it too and I can see why–it reminded me of Elf).

Love and GelatoRomance/drama, 2022

My mom and I started this Netflix original, but didn’t finish it. I thought it was boring and cheesy, with subpar acting, no chemistry, and a storyline that didn’t stick to the book (I found this article while looking for a gif and it made me laugh).

Black WidowAction/adventure, 2021 (rewatch)“Tell me. How did you keep your heart?”

I’d been wanting to rewatch Black Widow for a while now and ended up watching it exactly a year after originally seeing it. I was a little nervous because I’ve had bad luck with rewatches lately, but man, this is still one of my top favorite MCU movies and movies, period, of all time. It. Is. Absolutely. Epic.

I was sobbing by the time the girls whistled to each other at the end. The film was also very helpful in making me think about how to write character relationships.

This time around, the main theme that stuck out to me was free will–being able to make your own choices, and choosing to do the right thing.

Also, I was definitely googling “how to do Yelena Belova hairstyle” after this. Braided crowns are in.

Where The Crawdads SingMystery/drama, 2022

I wasn’t going to see this movie; I haven’t read the book and didn’t know much about it. But my friend invited me to go and I ended up really enjoying it (the film got better as it went along). I loved the visual aesthetics and the way the light shone through the marsh; reminded me of OBX, and also of my own island story WIP. And while I don’t want to give too much away, I thought it was really interesting that we are never shown or told details about a major event in the story–so that kept my mind working after the movie was through.

The BooksellersDocumentary, 2019“A book is the closest thing there is to a human being.”
“The library will endure. It is the universe.” – Jorge Luis Borges

I went on an Amazon Prime deep dive after my sleep schedule got screwed up from being in the hospital, and found this documentary on the world of rare booksellers in New York. I cannot DESCRIBE how much I loved it! The documentary covered everything from the psychology of rare book auctions; to details on dust jackets, signed editions, and bindings; to the importance of print culture and archives in an increasingly digital world.

I still can’t quite wrap my head around how this business survives when both the supply and demand are so limited. Some parts of the documentary were discouraging about the future of the book trade, although it ended on a hopeful note. But anyone who will spend over a million dollars to structurally reinforce their apartment for their bookshelves is my kind of person. Also, I now want to write a novel about Book Row.

OnwardFamily/adventure, 2020“Long ago, the world was full of wonder.”

I don’t really like animated movies, but I’ve been interested in seeing Onward ever since the trailer snagged my attention in early 2020. Two and a half years later, I finally got around to it, and it made me ugly cry (I probably only cried so hard because I was sleep deprived) (but also, we love a good sibling story).

It was very creative! The two themes I loved the most were how the people lost their magic because they didn’t practice using it, and how the main character had what he wanted all along. His growth by the end, to give his brother the last few minutes with their dad!! This film taught me a lot about story and character. Pixar movies are good at that (not that I watch many of them, lol).

A Hidden LifeWar drama, 2019“This is what happens when a world dies.”
“You must remember what you knew at a better hour.”
“When have our prayers not been answered?”

A friend recommended this movie a few months ago, based on the true story of an Austrian Christian who refused to fight for the Nazis. It was three hours long (unnecessarily, I was zoning out by the end). There was little dialogue (much of it as narrated letters, or in German) and it was filmed in an with interesting shots–beautiful and raw–but I did sometimes struggle to understand what was going on. However, the Austrian scenery was breathtaking and the film made me think about a lot of big topics like good and evil, integrity, and doing what’s right.

And those are the next 10 movies I’ve watched so far this year! It’s the end of August and I’ve watched 20 movies this year. Have you seen any of the ones in this post? If so, what did you think of them? Let me know in the comments, and tell me what I should watch next!