2023 Pre-Oscar Ranking -- 136 Films

6 hours before this year’s Oscars, here’s a ranking of the 136 films seen since last year’s Oscars.

[Note: Titles I've seen since the end-of-2022 ranking are 𝐢𝐧 𝐛𝐨𝐥𝐝. Documentary Shorts [DS], Animated Shorts [AS], and Live Action Shorts [LAS] are identified by those initials.]

D: Babylon

D+: Barry Lyndon [1975], 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐅𝐥𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐒𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐨𝐫 [𝐀𝐒]

C-: Grateful Dead Meet-Up 2022, Ghostbusters [2016], All Quiet on the Western Front

C: 𝐈𝐯𝐚𝐥𝐮 [𝐋𝐀𝐒]

C+: 𝐄𝐎, 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐐𝐮𝐢𝐞𝐭 𝐆𝐢𝐫𝐥, Lightyear, Rurouni Kenshin [2021], The Last Duel [2021]

B-: The French Dispatch [2021], A Love Song, 𝐋𝐞 𝐏𝐮𝐩𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐞 [𝐋𝐀𝐒]. 𝐌𝐲 𝐘𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐃𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐬 [𝐀𝐒], 𝐓𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐥𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐒𝐚𝐝𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬, The Good Boss

B: 𝐏𝐮𝐬𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐭𝐬 [𝟐𝟎𝟏𝟏], 𝐑𝐨𝐠𝐮𝐞 𝐎𝐧𝐞 [𝟐𝟎𝟏𝟕], 𝐂𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐰𝐚𝐲, 𝐀𝐧 𝐎𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐓𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐌𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝 𝐈𝐬 𝐅𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐈 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐈 𝐁𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐯𝐞 𝐈𝐭 [𝐀𝐒], 𝐋𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐀𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐞𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐝𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐝, Thirteen Lives, American Underdog, Nope, Eyes Wide Shut [1999], Marcel the Shell with Shoes On, Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero, Top Gun [1986], Weird: The Al Yankovic Story, 𝐄𝐥𝐞𝐩𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐖𝐡𝐢𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐫𝐬 [𝐃𝐒], 𝐇𝐚𝐮𝐥𝐨𝐮𝐭 [𝐃𝐒], National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation [1989], Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris, After Sun, Decision to Leave

B+: The Harder They Fall, 𝐓𝐨 𝐋𝐞𝐬𝐥𝐢𝐞, 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐞𝐚 𝐁𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐭, 𝐀𝐥𝐥 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐁𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐬, 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐨𝐲 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐌𝐨𝐥𝐞 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐅𝐨𝐱 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐨𝐫𝐬𝐞, 𝐄𝐥𝐯𝐢𝐬, 𝐆𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐫𝐦𝐨 𝐝𝐞𝐥 𝐓𝐨𝐫𝐨’𝐬 𝐏𝐢𝐧𝐨𝐜𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐨, 𝐖𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧 𝐓𝐚𝐥𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐆𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐬 𝐎𝐧𝐢𝐨𝐧: 𝐀 𝐊𝐧𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐎𝐮𝐭 𝐌𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐲, Aliens [1979], The Inspection, Pig [2021], Bodies Bodies Bodies, Ghostbusters II [1989], The Phantom of the Open, You Resemble Me, The Return of Tanya Tucker – Featuring Brandi Carlisle, The Woman King, Tar, Bo Burnham: Inside, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, A Christmas Story [1983], Avatar [2008], Banshees of Inisherin, Munich [2005], The Survivor, The Duke, Free Guy [2021], Turning Red, Benediction

A-: 𝐍𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐑𝐢𝐝𝐞 [𝐋𝐀𝐒], 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐑𝐞𝐝 𝐒𝐮𝐢𝐭𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐞 [𝐋𝐀𝐒], 𝐀𝐧 𝐈𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐆𝐨𝐨𝐝𝐛𝐲𝐞 [𝐋𝐀𝐒], 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐡𝐚 𝐌𝐢𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐄𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭 [𝐃𝐒], Aliens [1986], The Territory, I Wanna Dance with Somebody, Ghostbusters [1984], Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar [2021], Crime of the Century, Fire of Love, Love Actually [2003], The Little Mermaid [1989], The Whale, The Shining [1980], The Adam Project, Bros, The Menu, Home Alone [1990], Avatar: The Way of the Water, Barbarian, The Exorcist [1974], Jurassic Park [1993]

A: 𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐃𝐨 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐌𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐚 𝐘𝐞𝐚𝐫? [𝐃𝐒], 𝐀 𝐇𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐌𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐒𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬, 𝐓𝐮𝐫𝐧 𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐏𝐚𝐠𝐞: 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐀𝐝𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐑𝐨𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐭 𝐂𝐚𝐫𝐨 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐑𝐨𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐭 𝐆𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐛, 𝐈𝐜𝐞 𝐌𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐬 [𝐀𝐒], The Terminator, Top Gun: Maverick, Vengeance, Emily the Criminal, She Said, Till, 𝐑𝐑𝐑, 𝐀𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐚 𝟏𝟗𝟖𝟓, The Fallout, The Green Knight [2021], The Batman, The Fablemans, Jaws [1975], Everything Everywhere All At Once, Aladdin [1992]

A+: 𝐍𝐚𝐯𝐚𝐥𝐧𝐲, 𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐆𝐚𝐭𝐞 [𝐃𝐒], Ghostbusters: Afterlife [2021], Hit The Road, Prince of Egypt [1998], Gabby Giffords Won’t Back Down, Cha Cha Real Smooth, Bones and All, Spoiler Alert, Louis Armstrong: Black and Blues, Moonage Daydream, 𝐀𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐋𝐨𝐯𝐞, Wildcat, Good Night Oppy, Free Chol Soo Lee, My Old School, Hustle, 𝐂𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐞, Schindler’s List [1993], Beauty and the Beast [1991], 1982, Good Luck to You Leo Grande, Terminator 2: Judgment Day [1991], Good Will Hunting [1997], E.T. [1982], 12 Angry Men [1957], Memento [2000]

2022 End-of-Year Ranking -- 101 Films

Every year from here on out will probably be defined by our kids. Riley and Brody did play a huge part in 2022 -- catapulting past where they (and we) were in 2021.

There's no question, though, that for me, Hark, Riley, and Brody, the person of the year was Danny. She made an impact on family, friends, coworkers, students, and us.

I'm most thankful for the new experiences we got to share:

Trips: NY, Philadelphia, Lowell, Salisbury, Manchester, Burlington, Disney, Tampa, Minneapolis, Richmond, and Williamsburg

Concerts: Guster, Robert Plant, Alison Krauss, Franz Ferdinand, Dispatch, O.A.R., The Killers, Arcade Fire, Noah Kahan, Jimmy Eat World, and [virtually] Bruce Springsteen

Shows: Freaks and Geeks, Frasier, The Wire, The West Wing, The Wonder Years, The Crown, Cobra Kai, and This Is Us

Last but not least, there were the films -- and all those whiteboard reviews. Danny and Hark didn't watch every film, but seeing their blue-and-orange review highlights and hearing their thoughts was awesome. Learning 300+ Spanish and English phrases on a separate whiteboard made it even better! When we return to Oaxaca one day and/or she returns to Virginia, we'll have to continue the tradition.

On that note, here's a ranking of the 101 films we went through in 2022...

D: Babylon

D+: Barry Lyndon [1975]

C-: Grateful Dead Meet-Up 2022, Ghostbusters [2016], All Quiet on the Western Front

C+: Lightyear, Rurouni Kenshin [2021], The Last Duel [2021]

B-: The French Dispatch [2021], A Love Song, The Good Boss

B: Thirteen Lives, American Underdog, Nope, Eyes Wide Shut [1999], Marcel the Shell with Shoes On, Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero, Top Gun [1986], Weird: The Al Yankovic Story, National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation [1989], Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris, After Sun, Decision to Leave

B+: The Harder They Fall, Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, Alien [1979], The Inspection, Pig [2021], Bodies Bodies Bodies, Ghostbusters II [1989], The Phantom of the Open, You Resemble Me, The Return of Tanya Tucker – Featuring Brandi Carlisle, The Woman King, Tar, Bo Burnham: Inside, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, A Christmas Story [1983], Avatar [2008], Banshees of Inisherin, Munich [2005], The Survivor, The Duke, Free Guy [2021], Turning Red, Benediction

A-: Aliens [1986], The Territory, I Wanna Dance with Somebody, Ghostbusters [1984], Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar [2021], Crime of the Century, Fire of Love, Love Actually [2003], The Little Mermaid [1989], The Whale, The Shining [1980], The Adam Project, Bros, The Menu, Home Alone [1990], Avatar: The Way of the Water, Barbarian, The Exorcist [1974], Jurassic Park [1993]

A: Top Gun: Maverick, Vengeance, Emily the Criminal, She Said, Till, The Terminator, The Fallout, The Green Knight [2021], The Batman, The Fablemans, Jaws [1975], Everything Everywhere All At Once, Aladdin [1992]

A+: Ghostbusters: Afterlife [2021], Hit The Road, Prince of Egypt [1998], Gabby Giffords Won’t Back Down, Cha Cha Real Smooth, Bones and All, Spoiler Alert, Louis Armstrong: Black and Blues, Moonage Daydream, Wildcat, Good Night Oppy, Free Chol Soo Lee, My Old School, Hustle, Schindler’s List [1993], Beauty and the Beast [1991], 1982, Good Luck to You Leo Grande, Terminator 2: Judgment Day [1991], Good Will Hunting [1997], E.T. [1982], 12 Angry Men [1957], Memento [2000]