What are everyone’s top ten lists for the year of movies that was?
I posed the question so I guess I should go first. My moviegoing experience in 2022 was very solid, but weaker at the top than any year since maybe 2014. I saw one movie that was great and a whole buncha movies that I thought were very good. After my number one the ordering is pretty loose and could change by the day.
10 - Cha Cha Real Smooth
I’m a softie who will still defend Garden State.
9 - The Fallout
I’m hip. I can hang with the Z-ers and the joy and excrement we’ve burdened them with.
8 - We’re All Going to the World’s Fair
Shoutout to @DrCrypt for introducing me via the frame game. Imagine if you will: some people spend too much time on the internet.
7 - Sundown
Tim Roth just wants to drink his beer in Mexico, alright?
6 - Stars at Noon
[Cue “Baby Did a Bad Bad Thing” by Chris Isaak] A film by Claire Denis. Qualley. T-Swift’s boyfriend. Central America. Stars at Noon.
5 - The Banshees of Inisherin
A nearly perfect movie. Then it becomes less than perfect as it becomes more of a Martin McDonagh movie.
4 - The Northman
If this is the type of movie Bob set out to make it sure is a good one. Bill Dafoe does a pitch perfect Kellywand “ooOOOoo!” early on.
3 - Crimes of the Future
It’s not nearly as good as mother!–if it is even good at all–but it is a similarly strange oddity that was somehow released into mainstream theaters. I had to rewatch as soon as it came out on “video”.
2 - The Wonder
I had a warm physical reaction while watching, not dissimilar to a lice check in school.
1 - Tár
He’s back, baby.
Honorable Mentions:
Armageddon Time
Bones and All
The Fabelmans
Murina
Another wonderful year for film! I will try to post a more detailed list later but my top pick was Aftersun, a devastating debut from Charlotte Wells that’s kind of haunted me since I left the theatre. I don’t want to risk spoiling anything, but I loved the performances and confidence with which the filmmaker played with subjectivity and her command of technique. It brought my wife and I to tears.
I enjoyed the two coming of age honorable mentions you highlighted, Crispy - The Fabelmans and Armageddon Time. They were personal and open, and James Gray, in particular, deserves praise for the unsentimental way he depicted his family, which extends to his screen surrogate, as contradictory and flawed. It provides a very clear illustration of privilege without, I feel, being preachy.
I have to admit I was initially thrown by Tar’s seemingly jarring shift when I first saw it but it’s since really grown on me. Banshees was also excellent and easily my favorite McDonagh movie. For my vegemite pick, Albert Serra’s Pacifiction is unlike anything else released this year. There’s a filmmaker whose art cinema bona fides suggests he’s time traveled from the 1960s into the present.
I still haven’t seen loads of these films that are landing on the top ten lists (I haven’t even seen 2022’s new Richard Linklater film yet! WTF?!) but here’s a Top 3 followed by seven more movies I really enjoyed:
Tar
Everything Everywhere All at Once
The Fabelmans
Turning Red
Top Gun: Maverick
Aftersun
Prey
The Northman
Nope
Bodies Bodies Bodies
(I predict more than a few of those seven will easily be bumped off when I finally get around to seeing, for example, Marcel the Shell With Shoes On, Petite Maman, The Menu, RRR, Decision to Leave, After Yang, Emily the Criminal, Banshees of Inisherin, Triangle of Sadness, GDT’s Pinocchio, The Woman King, She Said, Smile, etc, etc.)
(This was originally a top 10, then it turned out that one of the movies was actually a 2021 release, but having now anchored the quality bar for “top 10” to this, I can stomach putting anything else I saw on the list.)
There were a lot of disappointing movies this year (Death on the Nile, Glass Onion, Thor, Doctor Strange), as well as predictably shit ones (ha, ha, I paid money to see Moonfall, Uncharted and Jurassic World). But damn, there were still a lot of great movies.
I’m imposing the release restriction on my own list. Otherwise, it’d be too much a pain to sift through all the older films I only saw for the first time this year: Autumn Sonata, Persona, Thief, Stalker, Blue Velvet, etc… And did I watch Defending Your Life in January 2022, or was it December 2021…?
The Batman Everything Everywhere All At Once Nope Moonfall Death on the Nile Dog Uncharted The Lost City Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness Fantastic Beats: The Secret of Dumbledore The Bad Guys Top Gun Maverick Jurassic World Dominion Thor: Love and Thunder Minions The Rise of Gru Black Adam Wakanda Forever Puss in Boots The Last Wish Turning Red Lightyear Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent The Bob’s Burgers Movie The Sea Beast The Man From Toronto DC League of Super Pets Bullet Train Prey Samaritan Clerks III See How They Run Enola Holmes 2 Weird Al: The Al Yankovic Story Glass Onion
I went through the wiki and my pre-order ticket email confirmations - I normally feel like I don’t watch a lot of movies, but man I did good in 2022 keeping up with the new stuff.
If I had to pick a top 5 and order it, I’d probably do this:
Bullet Train
Weird Al The Al Yankovic Story
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness
The Batman
Puss in Boots the Last Wish
Movies are hard for me to put into a list like this, I like them based on my mood and when I saw them. I look back on the list of all the movies I saw last year that had come out in 2022 and I enjoyed each and every one, but I also don’t see movies I’m not interested in seeing so it’s rare for me to turn something off halfway and come away feeling negative.
I just recently watched The Batman again on HBO and it’s so good, and just saw Puss in Boots on Saturday and was grinning ear to ear the entire time - also that movie is fucking gorgeous so see it if for no other reason than watching 24 incredible paintings fly by per second for over an hour and a half.
I just got this on Criterion bluray for Christmas! I think I might screen it for my students on week 1 this coming semester… seems a good movie to introduce all the story structure mechanics, but especially flaw/epiphany since it makes the main character’s flaw and the release of that flaw such a prominent part of the story.
It would probably be fun to compare/contrast it with Pixar’s Soul. Both feature the protagonist’s unexpected death in Act 1 but the story is actually structured around meeting a character in the afterlife who will be a friend (Soul) or a lover (DYL).
I guess I watched more new movies last year than I usually do; fox.mrs and myself got cinema passes to help motivate us get out the house more often (we’re both home workers). I won’t bore you with a complete recounting of all of them, my memory sorta sucks anyway.
Everything Everywhere All At Once - Re-watched this for the 4th time a few days ago with my niece and it still made me tear up.
Avatar: The Way of Water - There isn’t a film I’ve seen, or will likely ever see, that makes me feel the same way about certain things as either Avatar film. I’ll admit I don’t care that much about the characters; but I also don’t care that I don’t care that much about the characters (they’re not bad rly but w/evs)
Banshees of Inisherin - I think it shared a few themes with EEAAO, tho here they’re examined through a much more cruel lens. But life is cruel and I think this did a good job pushing the camera into a lot of that, without forgetting that sometimes life can be also be… fuckin’ tragically hilarious.
Bullet Train - Kinda enjoyed the vibe of this through and through, tho it could’ve done with a bit less… tank engine.
RRR - Probably the most (ignorantly) bromance-y action film I’ve ever seen, and totally over the top. A bit long though, there were a few of moments where I started to tune out a bit… but then something totally absurd would happen and draw me back in.
Everything Everywhere All At Once - Went in blind and it blew me away. Not been this dazzled since The Matrix. It had big ideas and a big heart.
Apollo 10 1/2: A Space Age Adventure - I loved how this (presumably, it was long before my time) captured the era and lots of little human details. It made this Brit nostalgic.
Glass Onion - Bad accents usually kill me but Craig owns it, again, and I just found the whole thing so entertaining. Monae was also great in it.
RRR - Totally absurd and, again, so entertaining.
Turning Red - I’ve been going off Pixar movies in recent years but this feels like their best in a while.
The Sea Beast - I didn’t expect much from this, and maybe that’s why it surprised me, but I really enjoyed the character arcs and turns it took.
There’s a lot I haven’t seen this last year so this is a great thread for brushing up! :D
