I can’t say I’ve ever been particularly punctual with these things, but the start of 2023 really threw me for a loop and it’s taken me much longer than I would have liked to put out these lists. Still, there’s no shame in taking your time with something you only do once a year, and given how little free time I’ve had the last few weeks to work on it, I’m surprised I managed to get them done at all. In any case, we’re starting with the good list and 2022 definitely had some standouts even if we were still trying to figure out how to make movies in a Post-Pandemic world; or at least in a world that is choosing to ignore the still ongoing pandemic. In any case, let’s get started!!
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Honorable Mention – The Marvel Cinematic Universe
It’s hardly an interesting choice given how pervasive the MCU has been for the last decade and even I’ll admit to feeling some fatigue in trying to keep up with it all. Still, where other franchises are struggling to adapt to the new Normal, Marvel has managed to once again stay ahead of the curve with a slew of outings this year that will cater to just about anyone still invested in this universe. Lighter fare like the Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special and She-Hulk sat alongside some of its darker outings like Moon Knight and Werewolf by Night, and all were perfectly suited for a more casual viewing experience which was greatly appreciated as things got very hectic this year. Moon Knight in particular was a highlight as it had some excellent acting to go with its moody atmosphere and I appreciated that it spent much more time on that than the action so that when things finally did ramp up it felt like a genuine escalation of stakes. The ones that did make it to theater, like Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and Thor: Love and Thunder, may not be the highlights of the MCU but were still some of the better blockbusters of the year and are the kind of movies that make theaters worth seeking out even as they cede more and more ground to the streaming services. In any case, this is less about saying that Marvel is the height of cinema as it is about appreciating how they continue to make their output more accessible with each passing year; something that DC and Warner Bros Discovery have proven is not as easy as it looks.
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10 – Ambulance
Michael Bay may not always hit it out of the park but I appreciate the times when it’s clear that he’s invested in the movie he’s making and not just churning out another paint-by-numbers summer blockbuster. Unfortunately, those films also tend to be the ones that underperform and even with such a low budget to overcome, this just didn’t grab audiences the way that it should have. It’s a shame that, once again, he makes a great film and not enough people show up to see it, but regardless of its lackluster box office, it’s still one of the better action films of the past few years. Gunfights, chase scenes, they’re all present and accounted for in Bay’s uniquely exaggerated world, but the cinematography is a standout as he manages to pull off some fantastic shots with far fewer resources than he’s used to working with; once again proving how much of a genuine auteur this guy is even if I can barely stand half his filmography. It helps that this is just as much a character piece as it is an action film with the majority of the film taking place in or around the titular ambulance, and with such a tight focus it ensures that the momentum is constantly motivated and forward moving which can often be an issue with his bigger movies that tend to spread themselves too far with no clear direction or purpose. Bay’s passion is infectious when he really puts himself into a project and I hope that those Transformers movies got him enough clout to continue making movies like this, and I’ll still show up to see them even if no one else will.
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9 – Jackass Forever
If there’s one thing you can say about the Jackass franchise, it’s that you should never underestimate it as every single entry has managed to build off the last and exceed all expectations. What started as seemingly little more than trash television, has blossomed into a genuinely clever and heartfelt exploration of slapstick and infectious comradery which has been refined for over two decades into one of the funniest film franchises out there. It’s not just about cringing at the gross stuff or counting the broken bones; there’s genuine heart between these guys who genuinely enjoy what they do and enjoy doing it with each other, and the fact that they made yet another one as funny and clever as what came before is a testament to this crew’s mastery of the bit. Has it gotten a bit long in the tooth? I suppose so, and the fact that Johnny Knoxville took perhaps the worst bump in his life doing this is no doubt a dark cloud hanging over the film, but then again I can’t exactly fault them for doing what they love. HBO recently did a Tony Hawk documentary that got into the dark side of skateboarding, and it was definitely disquieting to see the man look as old as he did when he took a pretty nasty fall toward the end of the movie. It’s not easy to confront your own mortality like that and by proxy for us the viewing audience to confront our own as we’re getting old just as fast as the cool guys from our youth. The Knoxville hit, and to a lesser extent Steve-O’s damaged neck, are clear signs that it’s time for them at least to hang it up, but I’d be lying if this last trip down memory lane wasn’t an absolute blast and one of the best movie-going experiences I had in 2022.
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8 – Pearl
Every year I try to spotlight one horror movie that stood out from the pack which is never easy as there’s always a fair amount of competition to sift through, especially in a year that gave us Terrifyer 2, Barbarian, and even Mad God. Still, the standout ended up being this prequel to X which far outshined its predecessor which I thought was kind of middling; especially for how clearly pleased the movie was with itself, despite being a rather straightforward riff on the Texas Chainsaw Massacre formula. Perhaps a little bit of that was justified though as it ultimately led to this very interesting and rather poignant story about a young woman who just never caught a break. We can all sympathize to a certain extent, I certainly was hoping to turn this whole “movie reviewing” gig into a profitable career by now, and the movie does a fantastic job of getting us in her head as she struggles against the world around her; no doubt helped by a phenomenal performance by Mia Goth. Sure, its tongue is firmly in its cheek with its garish colors and excessive violence, but there’s a heart to it that sets it apart from the rest of the horror movies that fought for this spot on the list. You can get a lot more mileage out of a sympathetic character in a twisted situation than from all the buckets of gore you can throw at the screen, though a little bit of that here and there can certainly spice things up as this movie aptly proves. It’s not the scariest movie, the goriest movie, or even the most creative movie to come out of the horror genre this year, but it stuck with me for quite a while after it was over and that counts for a lot in my book.
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7 – The Batman
In the middle of this movie, there’s a scene where Robert Pattinson’s Batman has to use a wingsuit to escape a hairy situation. In any other Batman flick, this would be a simple scene of him flying off in a heroic fashion, but in this movie, he hesitates before mustering up the nerve to go through with it, and while he does manage to escape he also crashes and burns in a manner that would make the guys from Jackass wince. The film was already winning me over with its gothic style and genuinely fantastic performance by Pattinson, but this was the moment that it became something more than just another Batman movie. Batman has been taken way too seriously in recent years and a lesser film would have been afraid to have such a vulnerable and goofy moment in it, yet this movie is unafraid to portray him in a less-than-idealistic light; confident that it can acknowledge the absurdity of the character without diminishing the core of who he’s supposed to be. I love the Dark Knight and I’d still say it’s the superior film, but where the franchise got far too cold and stoic under Nolan’s watch, this brings back a lot of the heart and gothic charm that makes Batman a fully realized character. Batman is not just a guy in a suit or a symbol of justice; he’s a guy who’s scared to death about jumping off of a roof but still manages to do it in a vain attempt to make himself whole again after the tragedy he suffered. It’s a movie that perhaps understands Batman better than any piece of media since the animated series, and while there’s still plenty to criticize about it, particularly its crushing length and extraneous fourth act, I still enjoyed this more than any other superhero movie this year. Batman can be many things, but I find him the most compelling when there’s genuine conflict within him and a few jokes at his expense.
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6 – The Banshees of Inisherin
I was very late to the party for this one but I’m glad I managed to find time to watch it before finishing this list as it was certainly an interesting experience and has definitely earned a lot of the praise that it’s received. It’s a deceptively dark movie that lulls you into a false sense of security with an affable and charming cast of genuinely good-hearted if somewhat oblivious people. It feels like a scaled-up version of a sitcom premise and everyone in town treats it as such until the reality of the situation bleeds in and no one has a real way to stop it and the consequences are staring them all in the face. The utter depths of melancholy that permeate this town are suffocating as Colin Farrell just can’t escape being drowned in it when his friend decides to leave him to his own devices. I spent the movie trying to find a way out for these people, the sitcom ending that could come if I really wished for it, but the hardest truth of the movie is that we’re molded by our environment whether we like it or not, and while personal agency does factor into things, there’s no denying that most of us simply cannot bear the weight of the world on our shoulders. The message though, as dour as it is, is where the movie saves itself from the brink of utter despair. I’m not a big fan of overly dower or emotionally draining movies, but I think there’s a certain sweetness to it that makes it clear how little anyone is enjoying the sad ending that everyone is enviably being pulled towards, and in that sadness, there’s something of a spark of hope. We as the audience, much like the titular banshees, are observers; watching the sadness play out before us as a cautionary tale of how fragile our own sense of self-worth can be when faced with despair. There’s no silver lining in the story which means the silver lining must come from how we interpret the movie; what we take away from it.
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5 – Spirited
This is the biggest surprise of the year for me as I had zero expectations of this being anything more than a fun holiday flick. Instead, it turned out to have a very impressive script that manages to not just be another copy of A Christmas Carol but an examination of its themes in the guise of a fairly typical comedy. Sure, it has a lot of the hallmarks of a Will Farrell comedy, broad humor, celebrity cameos, and plenty of yelling, but it has a sharp eye for details that manages to outdo a lot of retellings of Dickenson’s classic story. I guess it shouldn’t be too surprising given how careful Reynolds is about picking movies most of the time as I doubt he would have signed onto a movie that was just a straightforward retelling of A Christmas Carol, and the unique selling point that I’m sure sold him on it is the ways it deconstructs the formula. We all know the story of the man who was shown his wicked ways before changing for the good, and how that story can be retold in a number of ways. Straightforward adaptions, modern-day adaptations, even Muppet adaptations, but what sets this one apart is that it calls into question the core ethos of the story; can a man truly change for the better after one night of introspection? It’s a solid idea and one that I don’t believe has been applied to this story before, but what’s also great is that it asks these questions not to be contrarian, but to find an even more human answer underneath. It does what any good deconstructionist work does and puts the pieces back together in an interesting way after breaking them apart, and I’m not ashamed to admit that the end got to me and I was ultimately moved by the film’s message. Where the Banshees of Inisherin gave us a grave warning to do better, much like The Ghost of Christmas Past, this movie gives us hope that we can do better which was frankly the kind of morale boost a lot of us could have used around the holidays.
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4 – Cyrano
Technically this was a 2021 release, but it was very late in the year and I didn’t get a chance to catch it until 2022 so I’m counting it on this list. Sadly I’m not quite cultured enough to have read the 1897 play by Edmond Rostand or to have seen any of the adaptations of his work, not even Steve Martin’s Roxanne, but the broad outlines of the story have been retold enough times, and through enough mediums, so that even someone like me knew what to expect going into it. Much like the previous entry on this list, the key is to find a new way to tell us a tale we already know, and the key here is Peter Dinklage’s performance as the title character. Dinklage is a phenomenal actor with a lot of great roles under his belt, but even he has more than a few clunkers that served little more than to mock his height, so it wouldn’t surprise me to learn that he had a real connection for the story before starring in the 2018 stage play that was later adapted into this film. The range of emotions he’s meant to express in this movie, both explicitly and implicitly, reveal a depth that only the best of actors can achieve, and frankly, this movie wouldn’t have been on this list without him. The movie has solid production, a well-assembled cast, and even manages a few genuinely emotional moments outside of Dinklage’s performance, but he’s the star of this piece and relishes every moment of it to the delight of anyone fortunate enough to be a witness. Witty and urbane with a confidence that can sway any crowd, and yet utterly sabotaged by his own poor sense of self-worth that keeps him at bay from the woman of his dreams; the story remains timeless for any lovesick fool who can’t get outside of their own head, and the fact that they eschewed the use of a prosthetic nose for the character to instead hint towards Dinklage’s height as the self-sabotaging justification for his loveless fate adds a unique wrinkle to this adaptation and is perhaps a factor in why Dinklage feels so natural in the role. It’s a shame that the movie was so thoroughly snubbed by the Academy as it only garnered one nomination for costumes, but like Cyrano himself, the greats are not always recognized in their time and we can only hope that it one day receives the appreciation it deserves.
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3 – RRR
Yes, the best action movie of the year has officially been nominated for an Oscar. I mean it’s for Best Original Song and not Best Picture or Best International Feature Film, but until we get Best Fight Scene or Best Bromance added as Oscar categories, I guess giving a nod to one of its best scenes will do. I rewatched it recently just to make sure I still liked it and wasn’t just giddy at the unexpectedly bombastic action, and sure enough, it still holds up as a great movie and not just a great series of set pieces. I don’t think this movie would have captured audiences without the relationship between Bheem and Raju as their friendship growing and then threatening to crumble ended up being one of the most compelling narrative arcs of any movie this year. Sure, the movie is very loud and on the nose with a lot of its story beats, but NT Rama Rao Jr and Ram Charan are extremely compelling to watch on screen and never allow the shameless grandiosity of everything around them to undermine their performances. I still think the first half is the better part of the movie as the second half pulls focus away from their relationship to be about the bigger movement which inevitably leads to its questionable politics, and some of the scenes with Bheem in that part of the movie hit a sour note with me as the relationship becomes unbalanced between him and Raju. Still, the runtime didn’t drag as much on the second watch so even if the issues are more pronounced, they go by much faster. This is epic filmmaking in the truest sense of the word, and we’re already seeing its impact on the US market as streaming services are rushing to grab up any big-budget film from India that they can find, but will any of them capture lightning in a bottle the way this one did? It’s hard to say, but this definitely feels like a watershed moment in the global moviemaking industry, and I can’t wait to see where it will lead us in the next few years!
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2 – Turning Red
Speaking of the Oscars, while this did get a nomination for Best Animated Feature Film, it still feels like this has faded out of people’s memories and everyone just kind of forgot how fantastic this was. Perhaps it’s understandable given the fact that it came out at the start of the year and everyone’s been focusing on Guillermo Del Toro’s Pinocchio for the last few months, but I think it would be a mistake to let this get overshadowed as it’s one of the best animated films that Pixar has put out in many years. It’s funny, energetic, and has a fantastic art style that continues to resonate in many areas of animation despite the overt criticism it’s received from some corners of the internet. Still, just being really good at being an animated movie is only half the battle as you also need a story to carry it and that’s where this movie shines brightest. The central conceit is certainly not the most original out there as plenty of movies have used monstrous transformations as a metaphor for puberty, but it’s the relationships that set this particular version of it apart. Mei with her mother, the inner workings of her friend group, and even the few and far between moments where her dad gets a word in edgewise are all effective and touching in a way that few films can pull off. Mei’s mother in particular feels like it comes from a personal place and ends up being the heart of this movie. Her daughter may be the protagonist, but it’s as much about discovering who her mother is as it is forging her own path; this ultimately tragic figure that has shaped her into the woman she will become for both good and ill. It’s a heartbreaking journey that forces both of them to reshape that relationship into something new, and yet despite all that is lost, it leaves things on a positive note which I’m always a sucker for in such emotionally charged films. I’m not the biggest fan of what Pixar has been putting out recently, especially with their overreliance on sequels and whatever you’d categorize Lightyear as, but every few years they’ll remind you why they were long considered to be the best at what they do and this will hopefully be remembered as one of their highpoints. Seriously though, Disney; where’s my Abby spin-off? You’ve got to fill Disney Plus with something so why not give us more of the best character ever!?
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1 – Everything Everywhere All at Once
Yeah, not much of a surprise to see this take the top spot as it’s the clear breakout hit of the year and has received overwhelming accolades from critics and audiences alike. For the most part, it’s everything I’ve already covered in Turning Red only with a greater level of maturity to fit its older characters and an ingenious premise that allows for some of the best action scenes of the year. See, that’s where Turning Red went wrong; not enough bad guys for Panda Mei to pound into the dirt! What’s there to even say? It has a fantastic cast with award-worthy performances by the returning Ke Huy Quan and the always fantastic Michelle Yeoh, it contains some of the most heartfelt and emotionally affecting character arcs in an ostensible sci-fi epic, and within its script is a breadth of imagination that once again points to The Daniels perhaps being two of the most important filmmaking voices of our generation. To try and cover everything this movie does right would be a disservice as it’s something that needs to be experienced rather than explained. What words could get across the innate feeling of disconnect as we start to jump genres and the sheer awe with which they pull off something as audacious as this while never losing its sense of fun and joy in the process? It’s hilarious, heartfelt, bittersweet, and uplifting without missing a beat or losing focus and it’s without question the best answer as to why 2022 was a great year for movies!
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And that was the list! Did anything surprise you? Did you enthusiastically agree, or vehemently disagree, with any of the choices? Let me know in the comments below and stay tuned for the Needs Improvement list!
The Reviewers Unite 