In 2022, popcorn and soft drink consumption were plentiful as moviegoers once again flocked to cinemas.
"Top Gun: Maverick," "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever," and "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness" were all big hits at the box office over the past 12 months, but the film's year was more than several.
Locally owned and operated theaters and cinemas in the greater Columbus area have hosted many thought-provoking and entertaining new releases, including Downton Abbey: A New Era, Don't Worry Darling and The Fablemans.
Movie Rarity: The Art of Columbus Woman Draws Attention to Fake Scorsese Movies
Several long-running local film events have since returned or been rediscovered, and several filmmakers with local connections have shone their names in the spotlight.
A round-up of notable film events in the greater Columbus area in 2022.
The Film/Video Theater at the Wexner Center for the Arts hosts numerous screenings and series throughout February, including the annual Cinema Revival Festival of Restored Films, featuring independent films by African American filmmakers from various eras. Visitors to the Ohio State University campus Center for the Arts include documentary filmmaker Sam Greene, who hosts a retrospective in September and October; and screen legend Coffee and Jackie Brown star Pam Greer in November.
The Drexel Theater in Bexley also rolled out the red carpet for Jesus Christ Superstar actor Ted Neely, who opened Andrew Lloyd Webber's rock musical in September.
After several years of truncated screenings, CAPA's Summer Film Series returns in full force to Ohio theaters, beginning in June with the Robin Williams-Nathan Lane comedy The Birdcage and ending in August with Frank Sinatra's musical High Society. . They range from John Ford's The Grapes of Wrath to the documentary What's Up? By Peter Bogdanovich. There was a screening of classic films. – plus a silent show with Buster Keaton with live organ accompaniment from Clark Wilson.
Raise your glasses: welcome 2023 this New Year's Eve
In 2021, the classic film conference Cinevent ended its decade-long run, but the event reinvented itself in May as the Columbus Film Show , held at the downtown Renaissance Columbus Hotel. Alongside 16mm screenings of rare films, vendors were on hand to sell classic film memorabilia, posters and books.
Released last May was the thriller Private Property , starring Ashley Benson and written and directed by Upper Arlington resident Chad Herbold. Herbold also produced the new film Linoleum , starring Jim Gaffigan, written and directed by fellow Upper Arlington resident Colin West and co-produced by a third Upper Arlington resident, Chad Simpson.
"Linoleum" premiered at Cinema Columbus , a new local film festival held in late April and early May at many of the area's cinemas, including Drexel, Gateway Film Center and Studio 35 Cinemas and Drafthouse.
The Netflix limited series The Devil in Ohio, starring Emily Deschanel as a psychiatrist who takes care of a woman on the run from a satanic cult, is set in Buckeye State but filmed in Canada. The show debuted in September.
Sandler Sings: Adam Sandler will be performing and singing in stadiums across the country in February
Another Central Ohioan, Columbus native Beverly D'Angelo stars in new vacation comedy A Violent Night, which premiered earlier this month. (Of course, D'Angelo is a regular on Christmas television thanks to National Lampoon's Christmas break reruns.
Julia Reichert , the director of the documentary Yellow Springs, who won an Oscar for the film American Factory, died of cancer on December 1 at the age of 76. Richert, a longtime associate of the Wexner Center, is remembered as a friend and mentor. -and filmmakers are coming to central Ohio.
tongueauthor2@aol.com
This article originally appeared in The Columbus Dispatch: Year in Review: Local Filmmakers, Hit Film Events in 2022