It should be noted early that the amount of newer films and television watched during 2022 was greatly cut from earlier years (even mores than the previous year where I make this same disclaimer), and some of this feels like the natural progression of an idea had as we crossed into the third year of the pandemic. Over the last few years I have become increasingly disillusioned by the importance of staying current regarding new stuff. Keeping abreast with new releases, new series drops on more streaming services than one has fingers, after a while it begins to feel like chasing ones own tail. And for what? For about a week of "cultural conversation" that is eventually beaten down to make room for the next time, designed for some kind of intense, but superficial, discussion and a way to keep one occupied for thirteen hours one weekend on Netflix. Films had the added issue of their cost, and I've observed that when I do not see a new release in theaters the odds of me seeing it in any kind of timely matter plummet. At home I look to eyeball something old, not some due diligence viewing that gives me hardly any pleasure. So something not being represented here may simply mean I have not seen it or have no interest. Or, perhaps, I just didn’t see it in the same way you might have.
And so here are the ten favorites that stood a bit above the rest followed by an alphabetical list of "runners-up". These runners-up can be found ranked and colorized in my "favorite films by year" section.
10. Three Thousand Years of Longing
Dir. George Miller, Australia/USA
108 Minutes, MGM
“You really want to see that?” one friends asked me after seeing the trailer for George Miller’s Three Thousand Years of Longing for the eighteenth time. “How could you not want to?” I replied. Surely, Three Thousand Years of Longing is a dying breed. The kind of large budget oddity that is only made when something like Mad Max: Fury Road makes a ton of money and becomes an unexpected Oscar contender, funded by a studio that would fold between its production and release and given a theatrical release by Amazon solely because of contractual obligation (where it promptly floundered). But as far as I am concerned this is the kind of film to see, both on the big screen and during opening weekend. A bizarre, excessive, big-budget, personal project that is, essentially, two people talking in a room for two hours, stories within stories and philosophical conversation about the very nature of storytelling, both frustratingly inaccessible but ultimately poignant when surrendering yourself over to it. As age and time forces Miller to begin to consider winding it down, Three Thousand Years of Longing reminds us during every minute that he is far from finished and far from losing steam, and it was very special to see.
9. Everything Everywhere All At Once
Dir. Dan Kwan & Daniel Scheinert, USA
139 Minutes, A24
Only recently have I discovered the veritable staying power of “The Daniels” Swiss Army Man (a film that I found virtually unwatchable) follow-up Everything Everywhere All At Once, and despite appearing here I must say that I am a little baffled by some of it. I certainly did not like this film to the extent of others, but I like to try and have my list provide a certain “statement” of where I was during the films of the year, and I never really let go of my two viewings. Highly creative, ambitious but often fairly confident about where it wanted to go with its narrative, the film finds a foundation in Michelle Yeoh, drifting from the comedically frustrated to the emotionally dramatic to the action parody and, finally, to the action star she is that keeps it on the rails when it threatens to drift out of control. Not all of this film worked for me, its ultra-praise feels heightened in a way that usually annoys me, but it is a piece full of detail, scope, general insanity, and (eventually) some real genuine soul that I find both impressive and graceful.
8. Holy Spider
Dir. Ali Abbasi, Denmark/Germany/Sweden/France
117 Minutes, Utopia
Ali Abbasi abandons the fantasy of Border for the harsher, darker serial killer narrative Holy Spider (still not without its moment of pitch black comedy) with a tremendous central performance by Cannes Best Actress winner Zar Amir Ebrahimi. Ebrahimi’s Arezoo Rahimi investigates a series of killings of sex workers in Iran, eventually finding the killer to be working on “cleansing” the city of the corrupt and filthy, an indictment of the way elements of society can form evil in someone. Abbasi has risked much making this film, with the Iranian government condemning the work (he found loopholes in funding from other countries to circumvent the process), but its compelling back-and-forth structure and moments of genuine tension work even outside of its political statement. A very strong film.
7. Sundown
Dir. Michel Franco, France/Mexico/Sweden
82 Minutes, Bleeker Street
Sundown slipped into theaters quietly last winter a few months after Michel Franco’s overwrought New Order, a surprise that finds success through its carefully plotted script and restrained and quiet performance by Tim Roth. Roth and Charlotte Gainsbourg are the children and core of a wealthy family on vacation with her kids in Mexico (and it almost takes a half hour before one might realize that they are siblings and not a weary and loveless married couple). When called away from the death of their mother, Roth, forgetting his passport, stays behind to catch the next flight and instead just. . . stays. For a tight eighty minutes we watch him laze about the beach, drinking beer, sitting in the sun, meeting a woman, and ignoring calls from his sister that move from worried to angry to resigned, and all for what and why? The always reliable Roth might give the best performance of his that I have seen, small looks and eye flutters going beyond exposition, which comes gradually and sometimes not at all. It is a film of quiet chaos, with sudden bursts of events out of nowhere that are so quick and clean that one wonders if they happened at all as we watch this man try to retreat but finding a full escape completely impossible and unrealistic. It is a piece of work that lingered with me and that I find even more impressive as I did last February just in the course of jotting down these notes.
6. Flux Gourmet
Dir. Peter Strickland, UK/Hungary/USA
109 Minutes, IFC Films
Peter Strickland’s grotesque, funny, and mighty uncomfortable (as are all of his films) Flux Gourmet is another bizarre exploration of a pocket of performance and art (in this case, a group of avant-garde artist/cooks who work with sounds that come from foods), power and the interplay between creatives, and sexuality. Strickland is perhaps the most acquired taste filmmaker on this entire list, but those who easily fall into his rhythm, his insanity, his fascination with the ways sounds and color can form a mixture of discomfort and beauty may find Flux Gourmet by turns his strongest (and maybe even his most accessible) work, with perhaps one of the happiest endings I have seen all year.
5. Earwig
Dir. Lucile Hadzihalilovic, UK/France/Belgium
115 Minutes, Juno Films
Earwig is a trance of a film, and it feels apt to use the short space to offer the single two sentences that drew me to the work in the first place: “A caretaker is employed to look after a ten year old girl. His most important task is to maintain her dentures that are made of ice”. Sure. Immediately Lucile Hadzihalilovic places her viewer into a fugue state, a slow crawl opening credit sequence set to a dreamy, repetitive set of bars that will be revisited throughout, taking time to establish atmosphere, and letting this strange fairy tale play out exactly as it pleases. While its narrative could occasionally become frustratingly opaque, Hadzihalilovic’s commitment to maintaining this vibe, by turns magical and eerie, does manage to sustain the work on a different, more visceral, level. Earwig is a film that works at always being just uncomfortable enough to push a tension that does not allow any ease despite its dream state. One always wonders if they are moments away from nightmare. I can still hear that theme in my head.
4. Resurrection
Dir. Andrew Semans, USA
104 Minutes, IFC Films
Stealthily delivering perhaps the best work of her career, Rebecca Hall continues to frustratingly glide over all and hardly be discussed for her efforts (seriously, ever since Christine she has become a “sight unseen” actor for me). In Resurrection, a centerpiece sequence is a static shot, close-up monologue that is compelling both through its highly disturbing content and the matter-of-fact method of delivery, the kind of thing that one suspects future acting students will try their hand during assignments but that never feels like an extended gimmick or Moment. Hall’s Margaret lives a perfectly ordered and maintained life of schedule and routine, until a Tim Roth sighting (once again, fantastic) disrupts everything that she has carefully arranged. What has occurred between these two in the past is frightening on its own, but even before answers begin to move into place the fear is palpable. Resurrection moves a bit into the realm of body horror in its climax (and I am still unsure what to make of its ending), but I must note midway through when two women left the theater with one apologizing that it just became to be “too much”, and I cannot really imagine what she would have made of what was still to come.
3. The Fabelmans
(Hon. Mention: Empire of Light)
Dir. Steven Spielberg, USA
151 Minutes, Universal Pictures
While I never really gave up on Spielberg, I have not really been so excited by one of his films (with the exception of Bridge of Spies) in nearly twenty years (and that film almost feels a part of his early 00s “darker” phase, perhaps my favorite five years in the directors entire catalogue). Finally dramatizing the childhood and eventual divorce that has remained an undercurrent across his works, Spielberg actually seems excited by his material for the first time in quite a while. It is a film that is celebratory, both of film and filmmaking, but also one that is not without its ego. But at the same time, its Spielberg, and his ability to craft a crowd pleasing visual sequence is second to none. Most striking for me is his lingering on process, and experimentation through the physical act of making film, not just the scenes of acting and location shooting, but the actual creating of a sequence using objects and tools (and, in perhaps the most beautiful of these scenes where our man discovers something unsettling about his family through this process, how much of a choreographed dance it is—a little ironic considering one of my criticisms of Spielberg in the last decade has been his moving away to stories and technology of convenience rather than what is offered here). It is difficult to sustain the child-like wonder of the first half as we move into the teenage years, and The Fabelmans does perhaps wane a bit in this last third (bouncing back for an absolutely perfect last scene and even more perfect last shot). But it is a statement of pure joy for this craft, and entertaining as can be. There was so much pleasure in letting this story move in front of me, where I almost could have continued living in this world for most of the afternoon.
While not on this ten list (but maybe an unofficial “eleventh place”), I feel the need to mention Sam Mendes Empire of Light here, another consideration of films and the collective experience of film-going (among many many many other things). Empire of Light really very nearly showed up here, and despite it being the brunt of many critical jeers (many of which I actually can completely agree with to an extent), I found it to be a quite lovingly and delicately presented story with two remarkable leading performances, as good as any I have seen this year, which really stuck with me.
2. The Banshees of Inisherin
Dir. Martin McDonagh, Ireland/USA/UK
114 Minutes, Searchlight Pictures
Martin McDonagh returns to his roots, both theatrically and in his film making career, reuniting his In Bruges stars Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson for perhaps the darkest “he’s just not that into you anymore. . .” story. On the beautiful, desolate island of Inisherin against the backdrop of the last days of the Irish Civil War, Colm Doherty (Gleeson) tells his long time best friend Padraic (Farrell) that he does not want to talk to him anymore. Led by Colin Farrell’s tremendous lead performance, an exploration of the transition from the naively happy to the vengeful and dark, McDonagh’s narrative takes several dark progressions that feel wholly natural, climaxes are inevitabilities that are the result of previously established qualities of character, and the abrupt shift of laughter to tears abundant. And it has a hell of a donkey.
1. Tar
Dir. Todd Field, USA
158 Minutes, Focus Features
It is absolutely wild to think about where I was (who I was?) the last time Todd Field has a film in the world. Sixteen years ago, I saw Little Children at the start of my senior year of high school. My favorite film of that year (and it is still is), I waited patiently as Field became attached to project after project, all of which eventually fizzled out in some way or the other. When it actually looked like Tar would be coming to be, I almost refused to believe it until a trailer came out. It was happening!
At this point I have seen Tar twice, and am eager to look at it again soon. My estimation of it on second watch only grew, and I had an admiration for it that began to go beyond the, ok we can get it out now, the electrifying performance by Cate Blanchett, who from the first second of her standing backstage listening to Adam Gopnik deliver conductor Lydia Tar’s accolades you just know that this is a work that she wants to be remembered for in some capacity. Tar is a film with much on its mind, and little to offer in terms of a concrete thesis. One might speculate that Tar’s note during an amazing one-take scene in a Julliard classroom (some lines in which I can only dream that I remember when faced with a frustrating student) that “questions are so much more haunting than answers”) as being its core argument (at, at the very least, the mantra of its writing). While it is getting much play for being a film about “cancel culture” and all that entails, both in reality and in myth, I found it more compelling as a film about the connection between art and the interpreting, and the moment where a relationship with art becomes specialized, expected, and, in many senses, superficial (this is not unlike many of the core points in Mark Mylod’s strong The Menu). On my first watch, I saw Lydia’s fate as this sort of bitter final joke, but on my rewatch it felt differently. This is a character who has moved from artist to celebrity, and needs to return to the basics and find what drew her to this art in the first place. Lydia Tar starts and ends this film in front of a crowd, but she moves from a crowd of intellectual performance (complete with people who tweet about the experience in their own thirst for likes and attention) to one of genuine excitement.
Also very good (alphabetically, but can be found “ranked” in my Top Films by Year section)
Adopting Audrey (M. Cahill, USA)
Ahed’s Knee (Nadiv Lapid, France/Israel/Germany)
All Quiet on the Western Front (Edward Berger, Germany/USA/UK)
Apples (Christos Nikou, Greece)
Barbarian (Zach Cregger, USA)
Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths (Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, Mexico)
The Black Phone (Scott Derrickson, USA)
Blonde (Andrew Dominik, USA)
Corsage (Marie Kreutzer, Austria/Luxembourg/Germany/France)
Crimes of the Future (David Cronenberg, Canada/Greece/UK)
Dual (Riley Stearns, USA)
Emily the Criminal (John Patton Ford, USA)
Empire of Light (Sam Mendes, UK/USA)
Eo (Jerzy Skolimowski, Poland/Italy)
The Eternal Daughter (Joanna Hogg, USA/UK)
Fire of Love (Sara Dosa, USA/Canada)
God’s Country (Julien Higgins, USA)
God’s Creatures (Saela Davis/Anna Rose Holmer, Ireland/UK/USA)
Happening (Audrey Diwan, France)
I Love My Dad (James Morosini, USA)
Incredible But True (Quentin Dupieux, France)
The Innocents (Eskil Vogt, Norway/Sweden/Denmark)
The Inspection (Elegance Bratton, USA)
Intregalde (Radu Muntean, România)
The Kingdom: Exodus (Lars von Trier, Denmark) (TV)
A Love Song (Max Walker-Silverman, USA)
The Menu (Mark Mylod, USA)
Miracle (Bogdan George Apetri, România)
Next Exit (Mali Elfman, USA)
The Northman (Robert Eggers, USA/China/UK)
Official Competition (Mariana Cohn/Gaston Duprat, Spain/Argentina)
One Fine Morning (Mia Hansen-Love, France/UK)
On the Count of Three (Jerrod Carmichael, USA)
Pearl (Ti West, USA/Canada)
Petite Maman (Celine Sciamma, France)
Petrov’s Flu (Kirill Serebrennikov, Russia)
The Pink Cloud (Iuli Gerbase, Brazil)
The Quiet Girl (Colm Bairead, Ireland)
Return to Seoul (Davy Chou, France/Germany/Belgium/South Korea)
Speak No Evil (Christian Tafdrup, Denmark/Netherlands)
The Tale of King Crab (Alessio Rigo de Righi/Matteo Zoppis, Italy/France/Argentina)
Triangle of Sadness (Ruben Ostlund, Sweden/France/UK/Germany)
Vortex (Gaspar Noe, France/Belgium/Mexico)
Weird: The Al Yankovic Story (Eric Appel, USA)
We’re All Going to the World’s Fair (Jane Schoenbrun, USA)
Women Talking (Sarah Polley, USA)
The Wonder (Sebastian Lelio, Ireland/UK/USA)
Favorite performances, writing, crafts, etc. etc.
Direction:
1) Todd Field-“Tar”
Ali Abbasi-“Holy Spider”
Bogdan George Apetri-“Miracle”
Lucile Hadzihalilovic-“Earwig”
Steven Spielberg-“The Fabelmans”
Lead Actor:
1) Colin Farrell-“The Banshees of Inisherin”
Ralph Fiennes-“The Menu”
Brendan Fraser-“The Whale”
Bill Nighy-“Living”
Tim Roth-“Sundown”
Lead Actress:
1) Michelle Yeoh-“Everything Everywhere All At Once”
Cate Blanchett-“Tar”
Olivia Colman-“Empire of Light”
Tar Amir Ebrahimi-“Holy Spider”
Rebecca Hall-“Resurrection”
HM: Thandiwe Newton, "God's Country"
Supporting Actor:
1) Brendan Gleeson-“The Banshees of Inisherin”
Sean Harris-“The Stranger”
Justin Long-“Barbarian”
Tim Roth-“Resurrection”
Michael Ward-“Empire of Light”
Supporting Actress:
1) Nina Hoss-“Tar”
Hong Chau-“The Whale”
Kerry Condon-“The Banshees of Inisherin”
Dolly De Leon-“Triangle of Sadness”
Claire Foy-“Women Talking”
Animated Movie: “Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio”
Voice Performance: Christophe Waltz: “Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio”
International Film: “Earwig”
Original Writing:
1) Ali Abbasi/Afshin Kamran Bahrami-“Holy Spider”
Zach Cregger-“Barbarian”
Todd Field-“Tar”
Martin McDonagh-“The Banshees of Inisherin”
Seth Reiss/Will Tracy-“The Menu”
Adapted Writing:
1) Sarah Polley-“Women Talking”
Geoff Cox/Lucile Hadzihalilovic-“Earwig”
Andrew Dominik-“Blonde”
Augusta Gore/George Miller-“Three Thousand Years of Longing”
Kazou Ishiguro-“Living”
Score:
1) Trent Reznor/Atticus Ross-“Empire of Light”
Nicolas Becker/Warren Ellis/Augustin Viard-“Earwig”
Carter Burwell-“The Banshees of Inisherin”
Hildur Guonadottir-“Women Talking”
Son Lux-“Everything Everywhere All At Once”
Cinematography:
1) Jonathan Ricquebourg-“Earwig”
Roger Deakins-“Empire of Light”
Florian Hoffmeister-“Tar”
Janusz Kaminski-“The Fabelmans”
Larkin Seiple-“Everything Everywhere All At Once”
Editing:
1) Paul Rogers-“Everything Everywhere All At Once”
Bogdan George Apetri-“Miracle”
Sarah Broshar/Michael Kahn-“The Fabelmans”
Louise Ford-“The Northman”
Monika Willi-“Tar
And, lastly, my favorite television of the year. While this is typically alphabetically organized, I would be remiss to not note this years number one as being leaps and bounds above anything else I watched on television this (or, really, any) year:
1. Better Call Saul
Abbott Elementary (Season 1)
Bad Sisters
Breeders
Derry Girls
The Dropout
The English
The Old Man
Outer Range
Severance