This was pulled from my Letterboxd account from January 2023: https://letterboxd.com/otikrecords/
2022 was another weird year. It was filled with uncertainty again, which I'm starting to think is the norm, but it was super accelerated which gave it all a dream-like quality. Perhaps since 2020, time has fulfilled its purpose as an actual construct. The interesting thing with time now is how we, as a film loving culture, spent our time with the movies in 2022. The byproduct of being able to watch basically anything at any time at home scatters the market. We are paralyzed by choice, but we have the choice and that's enough. Why follow the FYC ads for Tar if your vibe is Glass Onion and you can stay home with it? By the way, I loved Tar. The point is we aren't told what's good or what's bad as much anymore. It's up to us! No consensus.
However, there were a lot of films about the "transformative nature of cinema" and in a way it seemed a desperate attempt for the industry and its creators to claw at us to stay in our seats and consume in person. It seemed to have fallen on deaf ears though, save for the ra ra Individualistic hot dog of a movie Top Gun: Maverick and a sequel about blue aliens that hadn't been in the cultural conversation for over a decade and of course, your obligatory Marvels. The only enigma hit (but deserved) was Everything Everywhere All At Once. The rest of the films are just germ molecules flying through the air waiting for someone to catch them.
What I caught this year (aside from COVID) was both a lot of hot air and disappointment but I was also pleasantly surprised. Some picks here may seem obvious, others not so much. I toed the line of commercial and semi-commercial for the most part so unfortunately, I missed a lot of the supposed great art house and smaller films and docs - my "to watch" list is at the end. Time is precious but I did my best to use some of it watching films. Over 100 this year, which certainly isn't a brag. I wish I'd have time for more, honestly.
1. Banshees Of Inisherin
No movie thematically hit me harder than this one. As a neurotic with tendencies to both need to be remembered and loved, but also fears being hated, both Colin Farrell and Brenden Gleesons characters jumped out of the screen and into my spaghetti brain and cold heart. These feelings didnt hit me until after my initial review, which was more surface based, but after sitting with it, the film really tore me apart.
2. We're All Going To The World's Fair
Being a part of something and the need for acceptance is certainly on most people's minds after COVID. Forget literal lockdowns and the abandonment we felt, what about after that when people internalize group dynamics and intentions. Sometimes, we want someone to talk to and that's it. This was the scariest and saddest film of 2022.
3. Decision To Leave
The most technically sound film I saw this year. Its showiness is balanced perfectly and done tastefully. I sensed Park Chan Wook was making fun of everybody comparing him to Hitchcock so he seemed to double down and perhaps out-Hitchocked himself. It's also beautifully tragic, not just "look at me" camera work.
4. Pearl
Speaking of belonging and acceptance. This accidental sequel to X bested it with its Oz era technicolor visions and the nothing-but-all performance from Mia Goth.
5. Everything Everywhere All At Once Can't say more than what everyone else has said. It's a sensory overload in all the right ways.
6 and 7. Jackass Forever and Beavis and Butthead Do The Universe
Somehow the two biggest sophomoric, dumb, MTV 90's holdovers came back in 2022 as if nothing changed. The cool thing is, a lot has changed and the idiots of Jackass and Mike Judge are smart enough to know this and apply their timeless "dudes being dudes" into a way that just makes sense now. They're aging gracefully and I hope to as well.
8. and 9. Emily The Criminal and Prey Two lean, 90 minute gunless action films. The characters have no time to waste and neither do we.
10. The Munsters
The biggest surprise of the year for me. I am an unabashed Munsters fan and when the trailer hit, I groaned with everyone else, but unlike everyone else, I actually sat through the (kinda too long) whole thing. It's exactly what it was intended to be and frankly, you dont see that often. Rob Zombie gave it his all and it was a weird, awkward, and goofy experience, just like the show.
11. Nope
The second biggest surprise for me. I went in thinking this was gonna be the best film of the year and it let me down, until I thought more about it and wrapped my head around what I actually saw. Movies like this (Speilberig-ian if you will) tend to be all surface and the excitement is in the moment. For me, the excitement came later after I got over my disappointment and understood what Jordan Peele was up to. I have yet to see it twice, but I am excited to do so. Maybe I'll like it less, but the experience was memorable. We'll see.
12. The Menu
My favorite of the "Over the top, too on the nose take down of the 1%" genre this year.
13. Tar
It's a slog, but it's also a really interesting movie. Cate Blanchett is playing every Cate Blanchett character ever all at once and Todd Fields lack of political side while still poking the bear made this as maddening an experience as it comes. It truly felt like we were losing it with Lydia Tar.
Best 2021 movie hold out: The Worst Person In The World
Favorite Stand up Special: Rothanial
Favorite Documentary: George Carlin's American Dream
Favorite Los Angeles Fixated Film: AmbuLAnce
Honorable mentions: Fall, Scream, Watcher, Kimi, RRR, Elvis, The Fabelmans, Glass Onion, Bones and All, X and the lovely Marcel The Shell with Shoes On.
Still Want to See: Eo, After Sun, After Yang, Moonage Daydream, Fire Of Love, Smile and about 100 more
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