Honorable Mentions:

Scream

I wanted to put this on my top 10 list, but it got bumped off at the last minute by the movie at number 10. "Scream" is the fifth movie in the franchise, and it finds a way to keep the "Scream" movies relevant. The first ones were commentaries on horror movies and were (mostly) brilliant. This new "Scream" comments on these reboots/sequels that Hollywood is putting out while also being reboot/sequel of the franchise. It was the best "Scream" since the original in 1995. The sixth is coming out this year, and I am incredibly excited to see it.

Babylon

My main criteria for the movies on this list is how much fun I had while watching them, and "Babylon" is a blast. Some of the more frantic and non-stop scenes can leave you exhausted and can be overwhelming, but I was never bored. My biggest critique is that some side characters did not get the satisfying story arcs that others did. If you can handle the subject matter and want to spend over three hours in this world, you could do worse than "Babylon."

10) Glass Onion

I might not have liked "Glass Onion" as much as "Knives Out," but I still had a ton of fun. Rain Johnson has a knack for making interesting movies: I stand by the opinion that "The Last Jedi" was the best of the "Star Wars" movies. I want these mystery movies to become his legacy as much as I want Daniel Craig's legacy to be Benoit Blanc and not James Bond. These movies are thoroughly enjoyable and I will always be excited for a new Benoit Blanc mystery movie to be released.

9) Marcell The Shell With Shoes On

You will cry watching a movie about a shell, guaranteed. Marcell is a shell looking for his family. This movie is so delightful. Marcell (voiced by Jenny Slate) is one of the most optimistic characters you will ever see in a movie. He never gives up hope of reuniting with the family one day. It is a movie that will leave you feeling hopeful and one of the few on this list that I can easily recommend to everyone.

8) Banshees of Inisherian

One of my favorite movies of all time is "In Bruges," so when the director (Martian McDonagh) and two actors (Colin Ferrell and Brendan Gleeson) came out with another one, I was going to see it. This one follows the end of a friendship. Gleeson and Ferrell are phenomenal and make every scene of them together very uncomfortable to watch (but in a good way).

7) Barbarian

The less you know about this one, the better. It is a horror movie, so take that into account. When it starts, you think you know where it will lead, then it does something completely different and then does it again later. This movie is totally bonkers and fun to watch. If you like horror and get a chance to see this in a theater full of people, do it.

6) The Batman

Marvel has been the king of comic book movies for a long time, and DC has had a hard time keeping up. Their best movies have been the ones where they took wild swings (The Suicide Squad, Aquaman). "The Batman" is not one of those but it is one of their best. Robert Pattinson plays Bruce Wayne/Batman and quickly becomes one of the best. My absolute favorite parts are the scenes of Batman being a detective. One of the many nicknames of the character is "The World's Greatest Detective," and it is the one thing he has never done in any of the movies.

5) Prey

If you had told me one of my favorite movies of the year was a prequel to "Predator," I would have laughed in your face, but this came out of nowhere and blew me away. Set 300 years ago in the Comanche Nation, a Predator comes to earth to hunt the fiercest creatures. Naru (Amber Midthunder) is a woman struggling to find her place amongst her people and comes face to face with the galaxy's deadliest warrior. "Prey" strips Predator down to its barebones, manages to be the best of the series, and makes a star out of Midthunder.

4) RRR

There are very few movies being made like "RRR." The Indian Telugu-language movie from director S.S. Rajamouli became a huge hit this past year. "RRR" is a fictitious telling about two revolutionaries, Bheem (N.T. Rama Rao Jr.) and Raju (Ram Charan Teja), and how they fought together and against each other in India in the 1920s. There are incredible action sequences, touching friendship drama, and a fantastic dance scene. "RRR" is the only three-hour movie that did not feel like it. Given its massive success, a sequel is in the works. If you want something a little different, check it out on Netflix.

3) The Northman

"The Northman" is, by far, the bleakest movie on the list. "The Northman" is the Norse legend from which "Hamlet" is inspired. Alexander Skarsgård plays Prince Amleth, who, after his father is killed, becomes enslaved and vows to get revenge on the man who killed his father and kidnapped his mother. "The Northman" is a vast, epic movie and takes no time for fun. It is brutal and dark. The performances are excellent, particularly Nichole Kidman, who is giving a master class as Queen Gudrun.

2) Top Gun: Maverick

Pete "Maverick" Mitchell (Crusie) is brought back to Top Gun to train a new squad to complete a highly complex mission. "Top Gun: Maverick" was a lot of fun to watch on the big screen. Cruise famously demanded this not be an online release, and it was worth the wait. Before that movie with the blue cats came out, this was the highest-grossing movie of 2022. It was 36 years between the original and "Top Gun: Maverick," and no one expected this to make over a billion dollars (except maybe Tom Crusie).

1) Everything Everywhere All At Once

The second I left the theater after seeing this, I knew it would be my favorite movie of the year. Michelle Yeoh is great as Evelyn, the woman at the center of this multiverse-hopping family drama. It was a resurgence in the career of Ke Hay Quan, who played Short Round in "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom." He had just about given up on acting because the roles he was getting offered were not good. It is also a breakout for Stephanie Hsu, whose most significant role is a secondary character in "The Marvelous Ms. Masel." I love so much about "Everything Everywhere All At Once" that I can't cover it all here. I have never had so much fun watching a movie. If you have yet to watch this, do yourself a favor and fix that.