The Best and Worst of 2022

The Best and Worst of 2022

        It's once again that time of year when we are bombarded with list after list after list of the best and the worst of absolutely everything you can possibly imagine. We get them from anyone and everyone and they cover topics such as food, fashion, television, and of course, movies. 

        We here at Cinema Wellman thought we'd jump into the ring and give our three cents worth and take a quick rundown of what stood out during the past year. 

        The final statistical breakdown is not yet available, but let's just say that we saw an awful lot of movies here in the cinema in 2022. Some were phenomenal, some were dreadful, others I forgot ten minutes after the closing credits. That's the way things usually work when you tend to watch so many movies. 

        Here are just some thoughts as we close out 2022. It's the Best and Worst of Cinema Wellman!

        Let's start with the best!

        *If you're a frequent visitor to Cinema Wellman, you know we love to watch documentaries here! Truth tends to be stranger than fiction as the saying goes. We screened 158 documentaries this year including both shorts and feature length docs. 

        I've already mentioned how much I loved Prater and Coney Island, and a great third film for a triple feature of amusement park docs would be Class Action Park. That was just bananas.

        From Cinema Wellman's March Screenings blog:

        "One of the first things I did while watching this documentary was text people I grew up with. I asked if they remembered Action Park in New Jersey or the commercials. Most did and mentioned that the place looked insane. This was essentially a water park run by teenagers that pushed its visitors to the limits of safety and good judgment. 

        Zero oversight. No rules. Very little concern for safety. Well, it was the 80s...

        If you needed to be rescued by one of the lifeguards during your visit they put a wristband on you and sent you back in the water. On that wristband they wrote, "C.F.S." which stood for "Can't Fucking Swim." Amazing!

        It does get grim in the second half when they start to get into the number of people that actually died there without much being done about it. The guy that owned the park was a notorious douchebag who only cared about money and not people. 

        The wave pool was so large and could fit so many people that they had to stop it every 15 minutes or so to "look for bodies."

        I plan on watching this again at some point. It's a great little peek into what the time was like and how nobody really gave a rat's ass for your safety."

        

        I can't imagine what that place must have been like back in the day. Glad I never went, that's for sure!

        *We also love our foreign movies here at Cinema Wellman, and 2022 was no exception. 141 foreign films were screened from 48 different countries including Bhutan, Kyrgyzstan, and Papua New Guinea. We even watched four movies from countries that no longer exist! Always willing to watch a foreign film since you never know when Hollywood is going to steal their ideas and ruin them. 

     *A big thank you once again to TCM! They were responsible for 133 movies screened in the cinema this year. My favorite part of each month is when the TCM schedule comes out and I can set my DVR to capture gems from the silver screen. Especially movies that appear on one of my lists! The movies are exceptional, as is the commentary pre/post film by Ben Mankiewicz, Alicia Malone, and Eddie Muller. Love the noir, TCM, keep it coming! 

    *Speaking of platforms, a major part of 2022 here at Cinema Wellman was the discovery of kanopy and hoopla. I cannot thank them enough for making so many films of all genres available commercial free and "free free!"

           I watched 100 movies on kanopy this year and 76 on hoopla! And I didn't even know they existed until April. Looking forward to more from both services in the coming year.

           As I've mentioned before, all you need is a library card to sign up! And, yes, you can also get books!

    *Another genre we dabbled in this year is the short. Wonderful little tidbits of film that try to tell a full story in a very short amount of time. Just like short stories vs. novels. I sometimes marvel at how something I watched for less than 20 minutes could impact me the way some shorts have. Hot Mother, On My Mind, and The Beaning were three amazing shorts I watched this year that affected me even though the three of them together added up to only 41 minutes. It's no wonder that I like shorts since my major complaint about a lot of movies is that they were just too damn long. 

 

    *The motto here at Cinema Wellman is "Yeah...we watched that." And we prove that over and over by watching anything and everything. When this is common practice, you tend to run into some odd stuff that's bad. It's really bad. It's unusually bad. And yet...there's something about it that's absolutely wonderful. I will admit that it's a very fine line on which to tread, but when it happens, it's really great fun! Three standouts of "Loveable Junk" from 2022 were Stunt Rock, Hell Squad, and Troll. If you see any of these, you'll understand what I mean. Chef's kiss in front of a plate of garbage.

     *The first annual Cinema Wellman Director of the Year Award has to go to our good friend Richard Linklater. Director of one of our favorites, Dazed and Confused, seven Linklater movies were screened this year and the only bad one was that one with Ethan Hawke. Stop making those, Richard. 

          Apollo 10 1/2: A Space Age Childhood was an unexpected delight. It's a love letter to Houston and the "Space Race" that had me from the very start. Tender, sweet, and funny.

          I had never seen his early film Slacker and I was blown away by it. The stream of consciousness layout of the movie was very unique. You really need to pay attention to catch it all.  

        And then there's Heads I Win/Tails You Lose which is in a category all of its own. That's the one that's over four hours of film leader. Nothing else like that exists as far as I know. Keep doing what you're doing, Richard! Except for that Ethan Hawke junk. 

And now.....the woooorrrsssst!

    *I don't want to spend too much time on the "Worst of 2022" because I'd rather concentrate on the positive, but I do have to rant one more time about the following:

        Ambulance was so bad that I've had friends tell me it may be the worst movie they have EVER seen! It's up there! It's really that bad. 

        Breaking the Waves actually broke my spirit. I hated that so much that it left a stain on my soul for quite a while. 

        The Voyeurs was a prime example of what happens when you make something that looks enticing but nobody took the time to read the script. Or write the script for that matter.

        My hatred of romantic comedies is well-known, but a final shout out of scorn to Something's Gotta Give, My Best Friend's Wedding, Teacher's Pet, Starting Over and One Fine Day. Your advice for me may be to just avoid the genre altogether, but when they show up on a list, you must watch. It's one of the rules of having a list. 

        And then there's the hateful double feature of Mondo Cane and Faces of Death. The only proper way to watch that twin bill would be sitting next to a bucket. 

        Final analysis: Go away, Michael Bay. 

        Before we wrap it up for the year, I would just like to thank everyone who has read the blog or watched/listened to the podcast for their support. It's nice to know that there are some people out there who choose to watch me for a half hour a week as opposed to the millions of hours of content available elsewhere. 

        This project has been great fun for me and I'm already looking forward to Season Two which will launch in January. 

        Best Wishes for a happy, healthy, positive 2023 from all of us here at Cinema Wellman. Yeah, that's just me. But it doesn't make it any less sincere.

        I hope you'll be back for more in the new year. Thanks again for listening and subscribing and spending time with me here at Cinema Wellman. 

        Until next year...take care.

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