It's that time of the year again....the dead early months of a new year where we have nothing better to do than look at the previous year that's over and gone! Yay!
But really folks, 2022 was actually a very, very stacked year. There was absolutely minimal daylight between the films in the upper half of this list, any of my honorable mentions are justified being on other Top Ten lists, and there are STILL numerous, highly-regarded, awards-nominated films that I haven't had the chance to get to yet. This is a year that could very well end up looking a whole lot different for me in a few years once I'm caught up. But for now, this is the ranking of my current favorites.
Honorable Mentions: Turning Red, The Northman, Sunday Runoff, The House, Three Thousand Years of Longing
10. Avatar: The Way of Water (James Cameron)
I'm just gonna say it up front; this is here exclusively thanks to the massive, „Whale Hunters Can Get Borked,“ action-smorgasborg of a finale. Sure, the 3-D is once again jaw-dropping, the world-building effective and immersive, and in spite of all its narrative simplicity and occasional shortcomings, these characters do work in the context of the film. That's all well and good. But none of that raises the film above its constituent elements. Certainly, none of those factors have made me think twice about wanting to see the film again.
But that finale? Absolute chef's kiss of a sendoff and one of the single greatest big-screen experiences of recent years. And for that alone, this film has earned my admiration and praise. It is a wonder and delight to experience, enjoyable in the most cathartic way possible. I'm sorry I doubted you, James.
9. Belle (Mamoru Hosoda)
Hosoda always manages to make something interesting and memorable. Though if I'm being nitpicky, his early films still hold more weight for me. And it IS rather unsettling how the middle portions of this film ape Beauty and the Beast wholesale. Also Hosoda retains an optimism about humanity in the digital age that is, let's say, something of a stretch post-2016.
NONETHELESS. When he wants to hit you right in the Feels, he always manages it. I don't know if the narrative direction of the film succeeds to the same extent that, say, Summer Wars does, but when it goes for broke and the main character overcomes all her shyness and trauma to lead the masses in a gentle, melodic song....damn if it doesn't hit the perfect sweet spot. Plus, as with all his films, his work is absolutely gorgious to look at.
8. Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (Rian Johnson)
All aboard the Benoit Blanc Train, CHOO-CHOOOOOO!
I love how Rian Johnson has managed to create a whole new character-driven whodunnit franchise, based on absolutely no previous IP, almost on the fly. Sure, the social commentary of the films is a bit on the nose, but honestly, most of humanity has spent the past decade proving they will ONLY listen if you hit them square on the nose (and even then it's iffy if the message is retained). Craig has truly found his element as a weirdo, gay, middle-aged Kentuckian with a penchant for ruining people's mystery games, but what puts both this film and its predecessor over the top is that each one pairs him up with a woman of color with the mettle and will to tackle injustice. I could watch a million of these and never get bored.
Also, in the light of the, let's say, unique way the ending plays out, I motion to formally replace the phrase Tchekov's Gun with Johnson's Mona Lisa in the greater cultural lexicon. I will elaborate no further; those who have seen the film will understand why.
7. Nope (Jordan Peele)
I find it absolutely fascinating how increasingly cerebral and dense Peele gets with each new entry in the latest „Horror as Social Comedy“ (also known as „Horror“) phase of his career. Each one adds on new layers of commentary on the nature of racial and social inequalities, the nature of filmmaking and where it intersects with business, how movements for justice can be so quickly turned on their heads, and so much more. Get Out remains the most „accessible“ of the three to date, but you can spend hours dissecting all of them and still leave plenty of stones unturned.
Nope is on a whole other plane of existance though, a riveting and fantastically shot monster-mystery about the capacity of humanity to fool itself into thinking it can control what is so clearly beyond its understanding. Daniel Kaluuya and Keke Palmer are the perfect leading duo, two siblings with a believable, lived-in dynamic that allows us to infer much and to understand why they decide to react to the situation the way they do.
6. The Woman King (Gina Prince-Bythewood)
This is the film on the list that felt most like a throw-back to old-school Hollywood scale in the best way possible. A story that sprawls through space and time, this chronicle of a real-world, all-female military unit and one girl's journey of self-realization via its ranks, this has some of the best music, action, and ensemble work of anything that came out this year. There are more narrative nitpicks I could make with this film compared to others on this list, but in the moment, when the spectacle is playing out in front of you, there was nothing that could keep me from feeling invested in how it all would play out. And that- being able to rise above any possible tears in the fabric- is the stuff classics are made of.
Also, I....I may be desperately in love with Lashana Lynch. I could not take my eyes off her for one second in every scene she was in. Does my dear Saoirse Ronan have cause for jealousy???
5. The Batman (Matt Reeves)
I expected it to be awhile yet until another Batman iteration would be able to stand alongside Nolan's modern classics, but, amazingly, Matt Reeves pulled it off, the bastard. All the classic elements of what we all inevitably associate with Batman are here- though Pattinson's take on Bruce Wayne is a touch more gothic than most- but it never feels tired or repetitive. Each character and story aspect is able to feel different in just enough ways for this to work as its own mystery thriller that builds and builds over a runtime that, while long, never feels overdrawn. Paul Dano and his utterly terrifying smile is absolutely perfect for this new, alt-right-flavored version of the Riddler, and I think it's clear to all of us that Colin Farrell was nominated for the wrong film. I had the sudden urge to rewatch this one two weeks ago, and it was a very good decision.
4. Prey (Dan Trachtenberg)
Fucking hell, man. I have long since internalized the lesson that all new Predator and/or Alien films are to be avoided like the Goddamn plague. And I was all set to ignore Prey forever....but then the hype train started up, I was made aware that it centered a Native American woman and featured a legit Native cast, and in spite of myself I took out a flyer....
….and the result was one of the best films I saw all year and one of the best pure action films this side of John Wick. Like its both its heroine and the titular Predator, this movie is a lean, mean, fighting machine, with great music, perfect setup, a great camraderie between its mains, and effective and brutal fight scenes that cover quite a lot of ground in terms of variety. This should absolutely be the movie that puts Amber Midthunder on the map and makes her a fucking star.
And that's all there is to say. A Predator film has cracked my Top Five. Fucking hell.
3. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (Ryan Coogler)
I haven't found the emotional courage to rewatch this one yet, because I know it might break something in me. This movie should either not have existed at all, or been a disaster. There were certainly enough reasons for either to end up being the case, and even though I picked Coogler as my favorite director of the 2010's....I confess, I was worried.
Somehow, they pulled off a miracle, and made a movie that works as a great sequel to a modern classic, while ALSO being an emotional sendoff and tribute to a good man taken from the world far too soon. Every part of the film, from the design to the music to the characterizations, is an evolution from the first, not just the retreads most sequels tend to fall victim to. There is real emotional pain in seeing the two singular places on Earth untouched by colonialism come very, very close to destroying each other via the same feaux-Darwinist, dog-must-eat-dog principles, and only just managing to pull themselves back from the brink. It's an amazing accomplishment that defies ranking or direct comparison to other comic book movies, MCU or otherwise.
2. The Banshees of Inisherin (Martin McDonagh)/
Ah. There's my McDonagh. I was one of the few people on Earth willing to go to the mat to defend Three Billboards, though like with my Hobbit defenses, that effort has not aged well. This, though, this is what made McDonagh one of the best playwrights of the 21st century, what underwrote the masterpiece that is his debut film In Bruges; pure, undiluted Irish self-loathing and an endless capacity for self-sabatoge.
The whole gang is back. Not just McDonagh, but also Farrell and Gleeson as another duo trapped by their own flavors of patheticness. Even Carter Burwell is back with another fantastic score, one of the year's best. However, what I think really elevates the material and grounds it, keeping it from sinking too far down the sinkhole of its own nihilism, is the presence of Kerry Condon. As Siobhán, Pádraic's sister and most likely the only person on the whole island with anything close to intelligence and a moral compass, she gives the perspective of the „eyes unclouded“ that this sort of story always needs. She was the one character I wanted to make it through okay, and thank God she did. Not much else does, though, which is just the way things go in McDonagh's version of the green country.
1. Everything, Everything, All At Once (The Daniels)
Sometimes, picking out my number one out of a pool of equally-worthy competitors is an agonizing blood sport. Sometimes, it's astonishingly easy. EEAAO was the easiest pick I've had for my #1 since at least Mad Max: Fury Road, with nothing ever really coming close to knocking it off its perch. This is everything I want in a movie, the reason I keep going to cinemas and don't just sit back and take whatever the streaming services permit me to enjoy. It literally does try to encompass EVERYTHING; comedy, drama, fantasy, action, random references to media I grew up with, awesome music, challening philosophical or theological content, at least a little mystery at the start, and by the end the feeling that I have experience a grand journey of the sorts that is only possible via great storytelling.
Thankfully- and this too is worth appreciating- much like Parasite a few years back, this is an instant classic that IS getting its due now, when it's out and fresh, and there is no need to wait a generation before people finally catch on to its brilliance. It profited well in theaters and has been one of the biggest awards contenders of the season. As it absolutely should, because this is a masterpiece that everyone- and I do mean everyone, everywhere, all the time- has to see and experience at least once.
-Noah
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