2022 started with news of some disappointing corporate shake-ups at The A.V. Club — my main freelance home for the past nine years. After leaving the site in solidarity with my wonderful departing editors, I went all-in on a full-time contract gig with FOX Digital only for that to rather unexpectedly end in mid-November. Add in the tumult that has taken over Twitter in the last third of the year, and I’m ending this year without any of the pillars of stability that have propped me up for my entire career, not to mention nearly my entire adult life.
And, yet, remarkably, I also feel more rejuvenated and excited than I have since the start of the pandemic. After a challenging 2021 took a fairly drastic toll on my mental health, 2022 was filled with adventures that pushed me out of my comfort zone and reminded me that I’m capable of more than I think I am.
I started the year covering virtual Sundance, which was my first experience with a major film festival like that. Then in March I hopped on a plane for the first time since 2015 (!!!) to attend SXSW, where I saw a Dolly Parton concert, watched Nic Cage watch Nic Cage play Nic Cage, and just generally had 10 of the most surreal, exhausting, exhilarating days of my life.
May brought my first-ever on camera interview, with Cha Cha Real Smooth writer/director/star Cooper Raiff, who was in town for the Chicago Critics Film Festival. Then June took me to L.A., where I watched a dear college friend get married and took my first-ever trip to Disneyland! (I also dealt with my first major cancelled flight snafu and managed to have only a minor emotional breakdown in LAX.)
The adventures didn’t stop there, as I took a relaxing trip home to St. Louis in August, dashed around like a madwoman covering the Chicago International Film Festival in October, and took a semi-spontaneous trip to New York City in November, where I squeezed in five Broadway shows amongst catching up with friends old and new.
The year wasn’t all easy, of course, especially when it came to the major mental adjustment of switching from a freelance lifestyle to the structure and demands of a full-time job creating a brand new section with a two-person team.
And it was incredibly bittersweet to say goodbye to some of the long-time anchors of my career: My episodic recaps of This Is Us (my favorite show I’ve ever gotten to write about in such an in-depth way) and especially my long-time A.V. Club column When Romance Met Comedy, which came to a close after 101 columns totaling 187,227 words.
I’m especially proud that my final four WRMC entries (Roman Holiday, Win A Date with Tad Hamilton!, 2005′s Pride & Prejudice, and How To Be Single) really sum up the scope of what I was trying to do with this four-year project. And though it was kind of nice to take a break from writing about rom-coms for most of 2022, I feel like the genre is calling me back again in 2023.
Other highlights of the year included celebrating Nathan Chen’s gold medal win at the Beijing Olympics (I’ve been following his skating career since 2016!), spotting Nate from The Bachelorette at my screening of Black Adam, re-hauling my wardrobe, getting my bivalent booster (a major turning point in pandemic safety — get yours today!) and reconnecting with friends I hadn’t seen in person in years.
I also created a public Instagram account, recapped “The Slap” Oscars, delved deep into the nerd-spheres of the MCU, Stranger Things, and House of the Dragon, and kept things going strong with my podcast Role Calling, where we covered the careers of Meg Ryan, Antonio Banderas, and Zac Efron, and released a series of Lord of the Rings specials that I’m especially proud of.
Oh and I picked my 10 favorite films of 2022, even though this is the first time in years that I didn’t actually publish any official year-end coverage:
Marcel the Shell with Shoes On
Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul.
Everything Everywhere All At Once
As we head into 2023, I’ll leave you with wishes for a Happy New Year and a roundup of all the major writing and podcasts I did in 2022. If you enjoyed my work, you can support me on Kofi or PayPal. Or you can just share some of your favorite pieces with your friends! That really means a lot.
Nearly 70 years on, Roman Holiday remains one of romantic comedy’s most delectable treats
Win A Date With Tad Hamilton! now has retro charms twice over
Joe Wright made Pride & Prejudice feel fresh all over again
Can romantic comedies teach us How To Be Single?
My last A.V. Club TV recaps
The Doctor Who 2022 New Year’s Day Special
At the SXSW Film Festival, Nicolas Cage watches Nicolas Cage play Nicolas Cage
Revisit the lighthearted nun comedy that won Sidney Poitier the Oscar
Awards show recap: The chaos Oscars
‘Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion’ is still timeless at 25
75 years of the Roswell incident — pop culture’s favorite alien conspiracy theory
Watch rare color footage of Queen Elizabeth II’s 1947 royal wedding
Cooper Raiff on his new Apple TV+ indie rom-com ‘Cha Cha Real Smooth’
Say "maybe" to Jennifer Lopez’s Marry Me (my last A.V. Club film review!)
‘The Worst Person in the World’ might be the best movie of the year
Unfortunately, ‘Uncharted’ isn’t quite a national treasure
‘The Batman’ review: Why so serious?
'After Yang' review: Colin Farrell grapples with the loss of his android son
‘Turning Red’ is Pixar at its weird, wonderful best
‘The Lost City’ almost strikes gold at SXSW
‘Everything Everywhere All At Once' is transcendent and a bit exhausting
‘Morbius’ is a boring, bloodless bat man
In ‘Apollo 10½: A Space Age Childhood,’ nostalgia becomes rocket fuel
‘Dual’ review: Two Karen Gillans, one deadpan dark comedy
‘The Bad Guys’ review: Animated baddies make for a good time at the movies
‘Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness’ review: Marvel makes a messy horror movie
‘Downton Abbey: A New Era’ review: Mamma Mia, here we go again
‘Top Gun: Maverick’ review: ‘Top Gun 2’ is a gloriously corny nostalgia fest
HBO’s ‘The Janes’ tells the story of radically empathetic abortion activists
‘Jurassic World Dominion’ review: Just going through the dino motions
‘Cha Cha Real Smooth’ is a stellar new riff on a classic indie dramedy formula
‘Elvis’ somehow has both the best and worst performances of the year
‘Thor: Love and Thunder’ review: A surprisingly bittersweet romp
‘Where the Crawdads Sing’ lacks grit
‘Marcel the Shell with Shoes On’ is pure magic
‘My Old School’ is a wild, weirdly charming documentary
‘DC League of Super-Pets’ has delightful Saturday morning cartoon vibes
‘Bullet Train’ review: Brad Pitt’s thrill ride just barely stays on track
‘Bodies Bodies Bodies’ review: A wickedly fun Gen Z slasher from A24
‘Not Okay’ and ‘Vengeance,’ two provocative comedies about narcissism
‘13: The Musical’ review: Broadway magic gets lost in Netflix translation
John Boyega gets a dramatic showcase in ‘Breaking’
‘Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul.’ review: A megachurch mockumentary masterclass
‘The Woman King’ review: Viola Davis’ crowning achievement
‘Don’t Worry Darling’ should’ve worried more
‘Bros’ review: Billy Eichner is a glorious rom-com lead
‘Black Adam’ review: The Rock goes bad — mostly for good
‘Ticket to Paradise’ review: George Clooney and Julia Roberts grin and bear it
'Call Jane' review: An abortion drama with optimism
‘My Policeman’ and ‘Causeway’: Harry Styles and Jennifer Lawrence lead quiet new dramas
‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’ review: A superhero elegy
‘Welcome to Flatch’ S1 (premiere + final recap)
‘Monarch’ S1 (premiere + final recap)
Streaming pick of the week: Hulu’s ‘Pam & Tommy’
‘The Dropout’ review: Amanda Seyfried leads TV’s latest scammer drama
Marvel’s ‘Moon Knight’ is promising but weirdly paced
‘Doctor Who’ review: A pirate-themed Easter special is a throwaway romp
Get ready to fall in love with ‘Ms. Marvel’
‘She-Hulk’ review: Marvel’s bold comedic experiment’
‘House of the Dragon’ review: ‘Game of Thrones’ is back and better than ever
‘Andor’ review: ‘Star Wars’ grows up, with a rebel yell
Oscars 2022: Where to watch the Best Picture nominees (and other movies like them)
Marvel second installments ranked — including ‘Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness’
‘Top Gun 2’: Film critic eats his shoe (literally) over ‘Top Gun: Maverick’
'Stranger Things' recap: Here's a refresher ahead of the season 4 premiere
‘Stranger Things’ season 4 storylines, ranked
Here's everything Marvel announced at Comic-Con
'She-Hulk': Three Marvel movies (and one TV show) to revisit before starting the series
The 11 best movies of the year so far: ‘Top Gun 2,’ ‘Turning Red’ and more
10 of the best streaming shows of the year (so far)
22 things we loved in 2022
‘House of the Dragon’ 101
‘Game of Thrones’ returns: Everything you need to know about HBO’s ‘House of the Dragon’
‘House of the Dragon’ 101: Who's who in this new game of thrones
‘House of the Dragon’ 101: What are the Stepstones and where’s Old Valyria?
‘House of the Dragon’ 101: What’s up with Targaryen incest?
‘House of the Dragon’ 101: That time jump (and those kids), explained
Sundance coverage part one, two, three, four, and five
The coolest, weirdest, best things at this year’s SXSW festival: Vol. 1
The coolest, weirdest, best things at this year’s SXSW festival: Vol. 2
The splashiest movies out of this year’s SXSW festival, Vol. 1
The splashiest movies out of this year’s SXSW festival, Vol. 2
Chicago International Film Festival preview, part one and two
February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October
Meg Ryan: When Harry Met Sally, Joe Versus the Volcano, Sleepless In Seattle, Anastasia, You’ve Got Mail
Antonio Banderas: The Mask of Zorro, Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!, Desperado, Evita, Pain and Glory
Zac Efron: High School Musical, Hairspray, Neighbors, The Greatest Showman, The Greatest Beer Run Ever
Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, The Return of the King
Specials: One Year Anniversary Special, Thor: Love and Thunder, Halloween Ends, The Best and Worst Films of 2022: Letterboxd Special
Other Podcast Appearances
The Filmcast: The Tragedy of Macbeth
Culturally Relevant: Breaking Down the Films of Sundance 2022
Travolta/Cage: Old Dogs/National Treasure 2: Book of Secrets
The Filmcast: The Lost City
Happy Harvest Horror Show: Hocus Pocus 2
And here are similar year-end wrap-ups I did in 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, and 2013.