Masterlist of 2022 – Every Movie, Show & Kdrama I Saw Last Year

Though I haven’t talked about movies, TV shows or even Kdramas here in over a year, I’m still watching them! Maybe not as consistently as I used to and not as eagerly every month, but I still find solace in fictional characters and their stories brought to life on screen. I just have been finding it hard to write about them. But to prove it to you and, most of all, to motivate myself to share my thoughts out loud more, I will list everything I watched in 2022. So without further ado, let’s get started!

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Instead of dividing it by months, I’m going to group movies, TV shows and Kdramas all separately. Mainly because sometimes it takes me months to finish one Kdrama, so it would be hard to define when I precisely watched it.

MOVIES

I started 2022 strong by watching The Hating Game and actually reviewing it! Granted, if I’d known this would be the only review on my blog in 2022 I would have picked a better movie to review. Not that The Hating Game was bad, but it wasn’t anything special. You can read my spoiler-free review here.

There were a few intense months last year when I watched a lot of movies, and February happened to be one of those months. I knocked off Encanto and Ghostbusters: Afterlife from my watchlist and liked both. As expected, Encanto was good, but if I had to pick, I think my favourite animation of last year was Turning Red. I can’t for the life of me remember when I watched it but I remember loving it immensely! As for Ghostbusters: Afterlife – I went in expecting very little, but walked out enjoying it a lot. It’s not incredibly memorable, but I remember enjoying the performances. Paul Rudd never disappoints!

I never enjoy Valentine’s Day, but I watched a Korean rom-com Love and Leashes to celebrate this love-filled day. It’s basically Korea’s Fifty Shades of Gray but a lot more conservative. Plus, the protagonist is a woman, and the submissive is a younger man! It was enjoyable and full of laughs and since I’m a fan of Kdramas, I enjoyed its refreshing aspects a lot. Watched it twice, actually!

Though I sense a decline in my interest towards superhero movies, I watched a few in 2022. The first of them was the newest Batman, The Batman with Robert Pattinson as the emo bat. It was rather good and it was more about emotional impact than flashy CGI. We did an episode on it over at the Across the Universe podcast too, so you can listen to my thoughts more here.

Speaking of CGI, we can’t look past Marvel. In May of 2022 me, and Sofia over at Returning Videotapes watched Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness in Portugal together! It was such a special day because we had just met for real for the first time, and as we found out days later, I had COVID on that day… So I don’t know how fair my memory of this movie is considering, but again you can listen to our thoughts in this podcast episode here.

Marvel’s other 2022 movie was Thor: Love and Thunder. It is the fourth movie of Thor’s individual franchise, a rare occasion, I think it was unnecessary. While Taika Waititi did give Thor a whole new vibe, I did not vibe with its latest movie.

The last superhero of 2022 I watched was Black Adam. I’ll leave it because we all know what happened to that franchise. I will say that Black Adam did not help to improve my interest in superhero movies whatsoever.

Now the hard part because I gave The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent four stars on Letterboxd, but I’m a little vague on the details of the movie. I just remember having a blast at the cinema; at the end of the day that’s the most important thing. Say what you want about Nicolas Cage, but he can add so much spice to a good script. I wrote back in April that Cage is actually a great actor no matter what. Some roles suit him amazingly, and I stand by that.

The only Estonian movie I watched in 2022 was Melchior the Apothecary. I watched it twice, and not by choice. It’s not the worst, and probably the most significant undertaking in our cinematic field in years but it’s not a movie to watch multiple times. I’m still proud of this one because it has some perfect moments. Probably the biggest surprise of 2022 for me was The Black Phone because I had no idea what I was getting myself into. I started the movie because I loved its poster and enjoyed it from start to finish. Mason Thames was a great choice as the kid lead. He reminds me a little of Heath Ledger in looks and also in his acting style.

I don’t remember much about The Gray Man, but I wanted to share my mom’s wise words about it. This movie is no movie. Though I watched a lot of true crime in 2021, I slowed down last year. Though I did watch a few, some of them were movies like I Just Killed My Dad and Girl in the Picture. Both are directed by Skye Borgman, and the better of the two is, Just Killed My Dad.

August was another month when I watched a lot of movies. Most of them were not good, but I did watch what I would gladly call my favourite movie of 2022 during that month. Good Luck to You, Leo Grande is a gem I recommend to everyone! It reads like a play as it takes place in a hotel and, relies heavily on the dialog. Thankfully the dialog is fantastic! As are the leads Emma Thomspon and Daryl McCormack.

As I’m nearing the end of the movies I saw in 2022, I must share the funniest review I left on Letterboxd last year. I wrote this about Bullet Train, and it states I’m still digesting what i just witnessed….. I think I’m still recovering because it was so wack but not in the worst way possible.

The end of the year for movies wasn’t the best. I watched the lukewarm Lou, the not-so-great Do Revenge and the weak follow-up Enola Holmes 2. Did manage to end 2022 on a relatiely strong note by watching Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery. While I’m still more fond of the first one and wasn’t as in love with the sequel, it was still a solid watch.

Other movies I watched in 2022 but would not like to talk about because of reasons (read: I can hardly remember anything about them) are American Underdog, The King’s Daughter, The Lost City (why Sandra, why?), The Adam Project, Tau, The Weekend Away, Romance in Style, Wildhood, The Wedding Veil, The Wedding Veil Unveiled, Wedding Season, and my apologies to JLo…  Marry Me.

TV SHOWS/MINISERIES/DOCUSERIES

Though I did not continue with many shows and haven’t watched many popular newcomers, I wasn’t entirely out of the loop in 2022. I caught up with Euphoria, which was again as dark as I expected. Continued with Young Royals, which I think came back stronger. Of course, I couldn’t miss out on the newest season of Umbrella Academy! Still as great as always and probably the most consistent Netflix series for me.

Speaking of the Netflix series I didn’t miss out on Wednesday either. While it was a little light and had some CW vibes (if you know, you know), it was still worth all the praise it got. The same goes for Heartstopper because how amazing was that first season! I’ve read all the graphic novels, so I’m fully aware of where the story is heading and I’m certain I’m going to love the adaptation until the very end.

Also watched The Sandman though I think it didn’t greatly impact me. Loved the pilot episode though, which had the best pacing for me. Also enjoyed Echoes a lot which I watched alone and then recommended to my mom. She liked it at well, and that’s high praise.

The only docuseries I watched was Keep Sweet: Pray and Obey. I realised why I dislike religion because how messed up some people can get.

KDRAMAS

If it seemed that I didn’t watch many series in 2022, it’s because of this list below. I fell deep into the Kdrama world, and I’ve been enjoying it a lot! Going forward in 2023 I want to share more of my thoughts about them, but I’m still figuring out how I will do it.

That being said, I finished, as far as I know, because I think I’m missing some from the list, a total of 13 Kdramas in 2022. And I started so many more that I still need to finish!

Let’s kick off the list with Law School. It’s How to Get Away With Murder meets Scandal, where the title says, law plays a big part. This Kdrama tested my reading skills because there was a lot of dialogs and subtitles… I’m grateful though because it was exciting and enjoyable.

Another enjoyable romantic drama was What’s Wrong with Secretary Kim. It starts like Two Weeks Notice and continues to be a hit on its own. The performances are great, and I genuinely enjoy Kdramas, where the male lead often wears suits.

Speaking of suits, what I enjoy even more is uniforms! As I mentioned above, I was in Portugal in May, which watching a Kdrama with Sofia. We picked Crash Landing on You, which was a great choice! Sofia is obsessed with Hyun Bin, who plays the lead.

In 2022 I finally finished Hello, Me!, which I started ages ago. It started off strong but had a very meh ending. The same goes for One Spring Night, so it took me months to finish them. Once I get bored, I put Kdramas aside and pick up another one. There are so many of them that sometimes I don’t feel bad.

But I do end up binging many of them. That happened with Mad for Each Other, which is a miniseries and quite an untraditional one at that. Deals a lot with mental health and depression, so recommended to those who gravitate towards something like that. As the complete, I also watched Strong Woman Do Bong Soon. This one was a joy and brightness I needed.

Two romance favourites of last year were Business Proposal and Shooting Stars. I watched it two episodes per week, which isn’t something I often do with shows these days. Both were great for specific reasons, but I will always choose fake relationships over anything else so Business Proposal is a favourite here. The supportive story lines there were also great and the supporting couple had the best kiss of the series. It was perfect!

One of the biggest hits last year was the Extraordinary Attorney Woo which got a lot of attention on social media. I ended up watching it in a few months because the season starts off a little shaky. It does get better as it goes on and it was yet another law-related Kdrama that I enjoyed in 2022.

For Korean shows, I also watched My Roommate Is a Gumiho, So I Married an Anti-Fan and User Not Found. All alright, but nothing too memorable.

But Korea is not the only Asian country I’ve been venturing into. I’ve also watched Japanese and Chinese shows. For instance, Only Just Married and Falling Into Your Smile. The last one had 31 episodes! Honestly, I’m impressed with myself because 31 seems like a huge commitment. But the other one is about a fake marriage, so… hands down the winner here.

BLs

A huge part of the Asian market these days is boy-love web series and miniseries. These are the easiest to digest because they tend to be eight episodes long, and each episode lasts around 20 minutes max.

If I’m not feeling like picking up anything long, I usually watch BLs these days, and some I have watched more than once. I will list all I’ve seen in the end (not just Korean but also Japanese, Thai, Taiwanese etc.), but there are two Korean BLs I want t bring forth as best of the best!

First one is Semantic Error which is about a very nitpicky student and a laid-back art student. Their chemistry is excellent, and it has some fantastic scenes. It also won many awards and is one of the best Korean BLs out there. I would call it the best if it weren’t for To My Star.

The greatness of To My Star lies in its second season, which is a rarity in BLs. The story follows an actor and a shy cook who become roommates. The first season is brilliant but the second season is a heartbreaking follow-up that highlights the series’ strength – the writing! It also has excellent  cinematography, and both leads are magnificent. I’ve seen this twice from start to finish, and I’m thinking of watching it again.

Others I’ve seen are Cherry Blossoms After Winter, Plus and Minus, HIStory 3: Trapped, HIStory 3: Make Our Days Count, Kissable Lips, Where Your Eyes Linger (another stronger one to be honest), You Make Me Dance, Addicted, Oh! My Assistant, Senpai This Can’t Be Love!, Old Fashion Cupcake, Happy Ending Romance, My Sweet Dear, Tinted With You, The Tasty Florida, My Love Mix-Up! (solid fake dating trope in this one), Light On Me, Mr. Unlucky Has No Choice but to Kiss!, Takara-kun & Amagi-kun and Roommates of Poongduck 304 (another enjoyable one) and Candy Color Paradox.

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And with that, I ended my masterlist of 2022, which turned out longer than I expected. It felt like I didn’t watch many things last year yet here I am, looking at this masterlist with awe. Feeling like I’ve failed as a movie fan isn’t as bad if you still enjoy fictional characters, just in different settings than before. Hopefully, I will be able to keep this up as well as I can this year.