For the seventh year in a row, I tracked all the movies, documentaries, and television shows I watched over the past 365 days. Most people use apps or websites for tracking these things, all of which are more elegant solutions than a Google Docs spreadsheet, but here we are.
MOVIES
In 2022 I watched 103 movies, which is just approximately 2/3 the number I watched in 2021, which was 155. Of those 103, 80 were films and 23 were documentaries. With Covid restrictions lifted and businesses reopening, we spent more time doing things than we had over the past two years. Somewhere along the way I stopped recording movies I watched that I’ve previously seen, which is silly as I have a tow in the spreadsheet for documenting that. It seems impossible that I didn’t average two movies a week. I will focus on keeping better records in 2023.
The first movie I watched in 2022 was Caddyshack. The last movie I watched was Chopping Mall, one of my favorite horror movies from the 1980s. I recently picked up the special edition of Chopping Mall on Blu-ray, which contains three commentary tracks.
Last year I watched 49 movies released in 2022. A couple I enjoyed were Confess, Fletch, Weird: The Al Yankovic Story, Ghostbusters: Afterlife, and Licorice Pizza. Unfortunately, I was let down by two movies I was looking forward to, Clerks III and Halloween Ends. The oldest movies I watched last year were Gunga Din (1939) and 1957’s Monster from Green Hell.
In 2022 I watched 23 documentaries and several of them were great. In Search of Darkness 1 and 2 and In Search of Tomorrow were fantastic looks at movies from the 1980s. Some of the best music-related documentaries I watched included This is Gwar, Who You Gonna Call, The Go-Go’s, Blondie’s New York and the Making of Parallel Lines, ABBA: The Missing Years, The Rise of the Synths.
Last year was a big year for horror films. Along with the disappointing Halloween Ends, Scream, and Bones and All. I watched two Christmas themed horror movies, Violent NightChristmas Bloody Christmas. I watched two horror reboots, Hellraiser and Texas Chainsaw Massacre, both from 2022. I also re-watched every Nightmare on Elm Street film, including the remake.
I forgot to track most of the movies I had previously watched, but a few I remembered to capture were The Big Lebowski, The NeverEnding Story, and Caddyshack. Next year I’ll try to remember to capture them all.
TELEVISION
In 2022, I watched six complete television series: The Book of Boba Fett, Is It Cake?, Star Trek: The Original Series, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Stranger Things (Season 4), and 2022’s Beavis and Butt-Head. I had never watched Star Trek: The Original Series before and really enjoyed watching them. Obi-Wan Kenobi and The Book of Boba Fett both had ups and downs, leading to Star Wars burnout. (I’m waiting until next year to watch Andor.)
I watched episodes of lots of other shows including the original Twilight Zone, reruns of ailed It!, and a few episodes of The Master, but didn’t finish seasons of any of those. Maybe next year!
SUMMARY
I have a list of 120 classic movies I’ve been wanting to watch, so getting through that list will be one of my primary goals for next year. Also, last year Morgan bought me a poster full of 1980s films that I’ve been meaning to work my way through. Between those two lists, I should have my hands full!