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I did not watch as many new-to-me movies as I did last year, or the year before that. While I still managed to make it to quite a few recent releases, I missed a fair number of the big ones. I also watched fewer movies on the weekends, trading movie time for video game time. I still managed to watch number of quite good films, including older classics like Pierrot Le Fou, Beau Travail, and Persona. I also rewatched a lot of old favorites throughout the year. This is not a list of the best movies I watched in 2022, however. It’s a list of the best movies to come out in 2022. A bunch of good quality film came out this year, and people will be arguing about which was the best for years to come. There were a number of controversial movies premiering in 2022, some which I saw, and some which I haven’t yet. If only I had unlimited free time and money! As I said last week, sorry if your fav isn’t on this list. If it’s not on this list, it’s not good.
10. Kimi
Steven Soderbergh just won’t stop making movies. I’m not complaining! The man just likes to work. Soderbergh is great, able to elevate any script just through his sheer competency behind the lens. Kimi is a tight techno-thriller about the dangers of digital assistants. Zoë Kravitz is great as the titular character, a tech worker with agoraphobia that has only been exacerbated by COVID. This isn’t the most deep or intense thriller of all time, but it’s a well-told story that hits all the marks. Despite being shot mostly in one room, Soderbergh manages to convey a sense of the greater world outside his location.
9. Bodies Bodies Bodies
The hype for this one was sky-high, and it mostly lives up to it. A fun comedy-horror, Bodies Bodies Bodies mostly functions as a class satire, taking on the idle rich. The film manages to keep the tension ratcheted up while still delivering jokes throughout the whole run-time, a hard thing to do. The cast also works quite well together, everyone giving their all. My biggest complaint with this one is that the music choices were a little weak, though that might have had more to do with the budget than anything. A fun Sunday afternoon watch.
8. Smile
More than a few times throughout this film I found myself on edge. I had to remind my baser instincts that I was indeed in a movie. Despite this film’s incessant and annoying marketing campaign it still managed to scare multiple times. Clever without being too knowing, and bloody without losing the shock, Smile is a great time. Sure, it drags on a little too long near the end, but there are enough great twists and turns that it’s easy to forgive. There are also some nice arty shots, but the director overuses the upside-down camera turn just a little.
7. The Menu
Ralph Fiennes is amazing. One of the greatest working actors. In someone else’s hands, The Menu could have devolved into punchless schlock, a lesser actor just hamming it up, chewing the scenery. Fiennes manages to bridle his anger, the insanity of his character, and keep everything from boiling over until the moment is called for. He is a steaming cauldron of intensity throughout the whole film. The rest of the cast manages to keep up, with Nicholas Hoult and Anya Taylor-Joy not doing enough to be distracting. This movie is also wickedly funny at times, with more than a few laugh out loud bits. The ending doesn’t quite land, but the rest of the film makes up for that.
6. Barbarian
Go check this out. I wrote a full review of it here. Can’t recommend this enough. A fantastic movie from tip-to-tail.
5. Nope
Jordan Peele is a modern master. A keen storyteller and director, he gets the best out of his cast and crew. This is his most ambitious work to-date, a story of epic proportions. Peele handles it all with aplomb, deftly melding huge CGI shots with practical work and down-to-Earth human emotions. Nope is also Peele’s most abstruse work so far, which is certainly not an insult. Stretching his directing wings, Peele manages multiple story lines, and themeatic elements with ease. I’m excited for whatever he does next. Also, a lot of the scenes at night were shot during the day, using some crazy camera techniques. Very cool stuff.
4. Crimes of the Future
Cronenberg is the GOAT. While Crimes of the Future isn’t his best work, it’s no slouch either. Cronenberg creates a near-future world full of eco-terrorists, plastic-eaters, and outré performance artists. There are plenty of Cronenberg practical effect shots, wild props, and his typical élan behind the camera is ever present. Viggo Mortensen, Léa Seydoux and Kristen Stewart all give great performances, though Seydoux’s is probably the best. For those worried about the fear factor, this is not an out and out horror movie, though there is certainly some very creepy stuff going on.
3. Jackass Forever
When I tell you that this is the hardest I have ever laughed at a movie, you need to understand that I almost broke my damn spleen from cackling too much. What is most likely the final hurrah for the OG Jackass boys, Jackass Forever delivers like a well-timed punch to the nuts. Full of bravura stunts, incredible gags, and plenty of gross-out comedy, Jackass Forever is a riot. It focuses on what makes this such an incredible series, the love and friendship between some of the craziest people on Earth. For those worried that this might be the end, don’t. Jackass Forever introduces a few new cast members, each of them equally able to continue the tomfoolery into the future.
2. The Northman
I’ve written about this movie and its director for this newsletter already, but I’m not going to keep it off my list just because of that. This is a bold, intense, epic of a movie. Alexander Skarsgård puts on a damn clinic, glowering his butt off throughout this movie’s run-time. He does a great job of inhabiting a world where magic seems real, and transforming into a bear is just a matter of drinking a certain type of mushroom. The rest of the cast holds their own, but it's the beautiful setting, and made for the theater cinematography that throws this one over the top.
1. Everything Everywhere All At Once
I don’t know if Everything Everywhere All At Once will ever make the Sight & Sound list, but it was my favorite movie of the year. Rarely do I leave a theater jazzed about the possibilities of cinema. Everything Everywhere All At Once, made me believe in the power of movies. Sorry to be a sappy romantic on here, but it did. This maximalist masterpiece is full of heart, comedy, and bagels. It’s also full of craft, beautiful set-up shots, practical effects, and more. A full showcase of what it’s possible to do with a camera, ideas, and a little bit of know-how. I’ve written about this movie here before, but it’s one-hundred thousand percent worth a watch.
Disqualified By Release Date, Barely: The Tragedy of Macbeth
Movies I Haven’t Seen But Have Heard Great Things About: Banshees of Inisherin, Tár, Bones and All, The Whale, Glass Onion
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Great article, I love your descriptions of the movies without giving too much away. While I have not gone to the movies since the pandemic (shame), The Menu and Everything Everywhere All At Once will be must see for me.