The Film Authority Clocks Off for 2022….

It’s nearly time to close the book on 2022, and whatever else was happening in the world, it’s been a blast to connect with so many keen and enquiring minds on this blog. Last month topped 30,000 readers, and with this kind of blossoming readership, the half million milestone is in our sights for the start of 2023. The first month I was posting reviews on WordPress, I had exactly four views, so it’s been nice to be able to platform some great films to a big audience as well as put the boot into some real schlock.

In no particular order, and not a complete or official list, but here’s twenty mainsteam and accessible films I dug in 2022, so lets call them ‘film-authority.com award winners’. Many of them were not popular with my fellow critics, but my fellow critics can GIRFUT, and take their horrid little bear with them. The following films were all solid-gold winners in 2022….

Glass Onion, Matilda, The Menu, Cha Cha Real Smooth, The Harbinger, Living, 5-25-77, Double Down South, The Banshees of Inisherin, Amsterdam, Top Gun: Maverick, See How They Run, Prey, Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, Black Phone, Chip and Dale; Rescue Rangers, Father Stu, Ambulance, Licorice Pizza, The Batman.

The other key stats themselves reflect the blog’s intent to find and promote the best in new material; the most popular reviews for new films tended not to be blockbusters, but a mix of indies and films that deserved critical attention. Some of these were seen at festivals and are not yet viewable, so not eligable for the best film list. The winners of the ‘most popular’ category for films reviewed on this site in 2022 were…

Pressure Point,

Wrath of Man,

The Latin From Manhattan,

Mending the Line,

5-25-77.

There were also two hugely popular docs about aliens,  A Tear in the Sky and Ariel Phenomenon, the latter of which has just dropped (Dec 25th) on itunes, Apple tv, googleplay and others in the US. And regular readers know that there’s always plenty of retro reviews of great films from the past; here’s the five most popular classic films reviewed released prior to this year.

Mullholland Drive

An Officer and a Gentleman

Notting Hill,

Caligula (an April Fool review that went viral, so we won’t count it)

Johnny Mnemonoic

Rambo: First Blood Part Two

And of course, there’s the booby prize; yes, you can **** right off if you’ve got a visionary version of Pinocchio, or if you’re Will Smith, Tilda Swinton, The Bubble, the Justice Society, The Playbirds, The Noel Diaries, or The Wonder. We’re trying to revive cinema here, so if you wouldn’t mind taking yourself somewhere out of the way until we can get this back up on its feet, that would be great. 2022 was inevitably going to be a rough year, with cinema requiring CPR as the streaming services gnawed at its bones, but we’ve made it through the rain, and hopefully there some sunshine ahead. A Good New Year to the WP4 and all those wonderful commenters who leave me smiling as I look at my phone, and that extends to everyone who reads and comments on this website. Here’s to you all from Bonnie Scotland this Hogmanay, here’s some refreshing folk music from around these parts (BBC Scotland’s single of the week last week!) to see you into the New Year, and I’ll aim to see you on the flipside for a rocket-fuelled 2023…