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Best of 2022: Movies January 13, 2024

Just realized I never posted this. So I’ll dispense with my thoughts (fears?) on the movie industry. Stay tuned for 2023. Perhaps less dire?

Following are my favorites for the year. All 3.5 stars (out of five). Solid but unspectacular year.

• The Banshees of Inisherin. A terrific cast (Farrell and Keoghan are very, very good) make fine use of the feckin’ wonderful dialog. Very funny, kind of tragic, with a mostly melancholy Carter Burwell score, Inisherin feels like an old folktale.
• Nope. Classic – almost 1950s style – alien monster movie, with the quirkiest bunch of characters you’ve seen in a while. Lots of craft, minimal social baggage, tons of fun.
• RRR. Now *that’s* how to make a FUN “superhero” movie. OK, some erratic pacing after the manic first hour, some cheesy sfx, and a 3+hour runtime (with inteRRRval) – but charismatic stars, lots of color, and scenes that are over the top in the best way. “Naatu like a green chili.”
• Babylon. Sure, it’s bloated, self-indulgent, and preachy, but I kinda loved it (while rolling my eyes at monologues in praise of The Movies, mawkish melodrama, gratuitous gross-outs, and period-incorrect social justice, hair, and music.) Some great scenes and a terrific score. Chazelle apparently loves movies but hates Hollywood?

My next tier of favorites. 3 stars each.

• Top Gun: Maverick. Made me nostalgic…for BIG Movies! The flying scenes just might be better than the original though the music’s not. And I missed the homoerotic subtext. But props for a Lockheed Skunkworks logo. By all means see it on a big screen with a loud soundsystem.
• TÁR. After sleeping on this one, it’s subtler and more ambiguous than my initial reaction. For one thing, our lead doesn’t actually sin all that much onscreen. Blanchett gives a great showy performance in a twisted MeToo power play parable that looks fabulous, is rich in high-end music culture, and will sponsor post-viewing discussion. Is it a tragedy? a morality play? a political statement?
• The Batman. Emo-Batman. Pattinson is convincingly hurt and vulnerable, losing faith in his mission (Vengeance? or Justice?), and Kravitz is a lively and charismatic Catwoman. The cinematography is wet and neon, the score moody, and the crunching violence performed and shot well. The Batmobile is cool. You can credibly talk about timely themes, but this version probably has too much plot, too many characters and subplots, and too many steals from Se7en.
• Elvis. Flashy myth-making. Make that *very* flashy. The music’s great, the kid has some charisma, and Tom Hanks is a hoot. Docked a half star for a draggy third act.
• Everything Everywhere All at Once. Yeoh dominates a strong cast in a movie that’s sloppy, sappy – mostly in a good way – and a bit of a mess, but with tremendous visual imagination.
• The Woman King. Davis is ferocious. The movie looks great, the fights are violent, and there are plenty of sports-movie-like cliches (I love sports movies), but Boyega’s big uplifting speech comes out of nowhere – and should have been Davis’.