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| Mia Goth in "Pearl" Photo Credit: Imdb.com |
10. Pearl - While director Ti West gave us the highly entertaining slasher throwback earlier in the year with “X,” his prequel, which focuses on that film’s villain, Pearl, elevated the already-great material. This backstory takes place in 1918 and shows Pearl (Mia Goth) trying to become a movie star to escape a monotonous life on her parents’ farm. As she becomes more obsessed with her goals, she’ll try to achieve them by any means necessary. Goth provides a deeply disturbing performance of a farm girl who craves movie stardom and can’t imagine her life without having experienced it, all of which encapsulates in a captivating, long-take monologue that has Goth bear her character’s unsettling soul. The screenplay by West and Goth is an engagingly deranged take on classic Hollywood, particularly in its twisted use of “Wizard of Oz” iconography and story beats. It’s a narrative that adds plenty to the lore of “X,” showing layers to Pearl that were left a mystery in the previous film, all while adding some clever parallels between what Pearl and Maxine (Goth’s protagonist from “X”) experience in their respective films. Aside from the scares, West is able to create considerable tension in the interactions between the characters, particularly those that happen between Pearl and her mother, deepening the drama to Pearl’s arc as the movie goes on. West made two top-tier horror movies this year between “X” and “Pearl,” but he outdid himself with the latter.
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| Timothée Chalet and Taylor Russell in "Bones and All" Photo Credit: RottenTomatoes.com |
9. Bones and All - One of my favorite first-time reads this year was Camille DeAngelis’ 2015 novel of the same name, so I was thrilled when director Luca Guadagnino managed to create an adaptation that respected the source material, which tells the story of two young cannibals, Maren and Lee (Taylor Russell and Timothée Chalamet) who travel around 1980s America and develop a relationship, all while Lee tries to teach Maren how to deal with the cannibalistic needs that she experiences. Russell and Chamalet display strong chemistry as two lost souls who travel across America and build a relationship. Meanwhile, Mark Rylance gives a chilling performance as a cannibal whom Maren meets on her travels before coming across Lee. The screenplay by David Kajganich captures the haunting spirit of the source material and shows a command of the sprawling nature of DeAngelis’ novel. He doesn’t deviate far from the events of the book, but still offers a few changes that work. Although the movie has some pretty bloody moments, Guadagnino doesn’t linger on the gruesomeness for long in these scenes. He makes sure that it’s not the violence that stays with us, but instead the loving relationship that develops between Maren and Lee. This is a romance horror story that’s also a road film, and after you’ve traveled miles with Maran and Lee, the performances, writing, and directing make you feel like you really, really know them.
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| Gabriel LaBelle in "The Fabelmans" Photo Credit: RottenTomatoes.com |
8. The Fabelmans - While we’ve had a few movies recently where directors tell semi-autobiographical stories, the latest to do so is none other than filmmaking icon Steven Spielberg. His film tells the story of Sammy Fabelman (Gabriel LaBelle), who grows up in post-WWII Arizona and develops a love for movies, leading him on a path to follow his dream of becoming a film director. LaBelle provides an emotional breakout performance of a young man who has an unstoppable drive to make his dreams a reality. Also in the cast are Michelle Williams and Paul Dano as Sammy’s parents who try to provide a good life for their children, all while trying to work on their unstable marriage. The screenplay by Spielberg and Tony Kushner is equal parts family drama and coming-of-age drama, shedding plenty of life on both Sammy’s familial problems and the pursuit of his artistic ambitions. With many of Spielberg’s movies focusing on broken families in one way or another, that concept is front and center for his latest film, showing the impact that the tension in the family has on the characters. Aside from being a poignant story, Spielberg’s cinematic reflection is also an inspirational one, and you’ll cherish the opportunity to see this journey of a budding filmmaker who we all know becomes one of the biggest success stories in his profession.
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| Geppetto (voiced by David Bradley) and Pinocchio (voiced by Gregory Mann) in "Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio" Photo Credit: RottenTomatoes.com |
7. Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio - If you’re going to do another adaptation of a classic story, you better make sure that it’s done with a unique voice, or voices, in this case. That’s what happens with tremendous success for Guillermo del Toro and Mark Gustafson’s (the latter of whom makes his feature directorial debut) stop-motion animated retelling of Carlo Collodi’s novel. The story takes place in Fascist Italy, where Geppetto (David Bradley) carves a boy, who he names Pinocchio (Gregory Mann) out of wood after losing his son in an aerial bombardment. Soon after, Pinocchio sets out into the world. Bradley and Mann’s voice work makes you feel the deep connection between the two characters as Geppetto tries to protect Pinocchio from many dangers. Meanwhile, Ewan McGregor, Christoph Waltz, Tilda Swinton, and Ron Perlman offer terrific performances for their memorable characters. The screenplay by del Toro and Patrick McHale takes the basic outline of the story that we know and explores it from some fresh angles, offering an interpretation that doesn’t feel like just another adaptation. Adding to the richness of the narrative are strikingly detailed settings and creature designs that emphasize a beautiful vision on display. This is a bittersweet and enchanting adventure on which you must embark because to watch this movie is to see magic at work.
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| Park Hae-il and Tang Wei in "Decision to Leave" Photo Credit: Imdb.com |
6. Decision to Leave - Director Park Chan-wook is a master when it comes to building layers to a story that will keep you guessing and pull you in many directions. He does this once again with his latest film, which follows an insomniac police detective (Park Hae-il) who becomes romantically involved with a woman (Tang Wei) who’s the prime suspect in his latest case. The two leads elicit a great deal of mystery as their relationship becomes more complicated, showing not only how much they need each other, but also how bad they are for each other. The screenplay by Chan-wook and Jeong Seo-kyeong brings you a story that offers such an enticing puzzle that you feel like you HAVE to see what happens, with the inescapability of Hae-il’s situation growing stronger as the movie continues. Chan-wook’s directorial flourishes are on full display and are used to provide as many thrills as deep moments of contemplation as you try to figure out what might befall these characters. With a mix of drama, mystery, and some surprising moments of humor, Chan-wook absorbs you in the enigmatic nature of the story that has many angles to dissect. This movie begs your attention as you watch, and it begs to be seen.
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| Tom Cruise in "Top Gun: Maverick" Photo Credit: Imdb.com |
5. Top Gun: Maverick - Nowadays, it’s hard to come by a big-budget blockbuster that’s both a legitimately well-made film and a crowd pleaser. Director Joseph Kosinski’s continuation of Tony Scott’s “Top Gun” isn’t just one of the best films of 2022, but one of the best sequels in years. The story continues more than 30 years after the original, with Captain Pete “Maverick” Mitchell (Tom Cruise) being tasked with training a young group of naval pilots for a dangerous mission. Cruise gives a performance that hits all of the unexpected emotional beats as well as it does his character’s action-hero courageousness, showing a wonderful mix of dramatic maturity and movie-star charisma. The screenplay Ehren Kruger, Eric Warren Singer, and Christopher McQuarrie offers a narrative that’s not only a thundering action story, but also one that provides a poignant journey for the main character where you see how he’s been shaped by his experiences. Kosinski gives us some of the most exhilarating scenes of the year, having us slice through the skies with the pilots in breathtaking flight sequences that emphasize practical effects over barrages of CGI, making this feel like a rare modern blockbuster where you can see true craftsmanship go into the moviemaking. When it comes to films exceeding expectations, this one flies higher than you could have hoped.
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| Alexander Skarsgård in "The Northman" Photo Credit: Rotten Tomatoes.com |
4. The Northman - After director Robert Eggers gave us two of the best horror films of the 2010s with “The Witch” and “The Lighthouse,” he changed gears and brought us his revenge epic, which tells the story of Amleth (Alexander Skarsgård) who sets out for revenge against his uncle (Claes Bang) after seeing him murder his father (Ethan Hawke) when he was a child. Skarsgård gives a brutal and dramatic performance as a Viking warrior who will do whatever he can to exact his revenge. Meanwhile, Anya Taylor-Joy, who had her breakout with “The Witch,” brings a mighty performance as a sorceress who helps Amleth on his journey, and singer-actress Björk makes a memorable impression with just one scene as a seeress. Working with a much bigger canvas, Eggers makes a smooth transition from low-budget horror towards a grand, mythical scale. With a screenplay that uses a classic vengeance setup peppered with a couple of surprising revelations, Eggers and cowriter Sigurjón Birgir Sigurðsson make the most of their story’s expansiveness and considerable list of characters. Through stunning one-take fight sequences and a handling of the film’s mythological elements, Eggers shows why he’s one of our most exciting modern filmmakers.
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| Stephanie Hsu, Michelle Yeoh, and Ke Huy Quan in "Everything Everywhere All at Once" Photo Credit: RottenTomatoes.com |
3. Everything Everywhere All at Once - I don’t think anything prepared me for how out-of-the-box the new film by Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert was going to be. In their sci-fi multiverse comedy-drama, it got to the point where literally anything could happen. The story follows Evelyn Quan Wang (Michelle Yeoh), a Chinese-American woman whose mundane life is changed forever when she’s chosen to save the world from an otherworldly threat. Yeoh gives a wonderful performance that obviously shows how well of a dramatic actress she is, but it’s also a highlight to how ready she is to embrace the bonkers nature of the story. She’s backed up by poignant supporting work from Stephanie Hsu as her daughter, and a career-reawakening performance from Ke Huy Quan as her husband. While Kwan and Scheinert’s screenplay offers endless originality in terms of its joyfully outlandish premise, we also get an exploration of matters involving family and the meaning of life that offer the film’s dramatic heft, with the story never losing sight of them in between the action set-pieces. As for those set pieces, Kwan and Scheinert prove that not all special-effects-driven acton scenes should be limited to big-budget films, with them showing how much they can do on a small budget. With constant bursts of imagination at every turn, this was THE cinematic adventure of 2022.
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| Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson in "The Banshees of Inisherin" Photo Credit: RottenTomatoes.com |
2. The Banshees of Inisherin - This very dark comedy may have a simple setup, but don’t let that deceive you, because the latest from writer-director Martin McDonagh is so much more. The story follows Pádraic Súilleabháin (Colin Farrell) who’s told by his best friend, Colm Doherty (Brendan Gleeson), that he doesn’t want to be friends with him anymore. From there, the ripples get bigger as Pádraic tries to salvage their longtime friendship. Farrell gives one of the best performances of his career as a man who wouldn’t like anything more than to patch things up with Colm, while Gleeson is terrific as the stoic, set-in-his-ways Colm. Meanwhile, Kerry Condon and Barry Keoghan, who portray Pádraic’s sister and a troubled local boy, have very humorous performances that have moments of melancholy that mix well with the wit. McDonagh creates a simple scenario and uses it as a way to not only explore his main characters, but to also bring us into the goings-on of the fictional island of Inisherin and show us the layers within the setting and its inhabitants. His balance of tone is exceptional because, despite having tragic aspects, when he hits you with some humor, it really sticks. There’s much to observe with these characters, and to be invited into their lives for two hours is an emotionally enriching experience.
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| Cate Blanchett in "Tár" Photo Credit: RottenTomatoes.com |
1. Tár - Right from its lengthy opening scene, it doesn’t take long to realize that writer-director Todd Field’s latest film won’t be your typical character study. The movie follows fictional, acclaimed composer and conductor Lydia Tár (Cate Blanchett) who soon experiences the slow destruction of her career after some unsettling allegations concerning her past are revealed. Blanchett delivers a disquieting performance of someone who’s trying to do what she can to keep her life in order, even as the evidence mounts against her. There are also two strong supporting performances from Noémie Merlant as Tár’s assistant and Nina Hoss as Tár’s concertmaster and wife. The screenplay by Field is an unnerving character study of Tár, how she treats people who are close to her, how she has treated others in the past, and how she has maintained her career after many years. With superb cinematography by Florian Hoffmeister, including a standout, 10-minute long take earlier in the movie, as well as a terrific use of the film’s expansive settings, Field shows total confidence in giving us his most ambitious movie yet, making the 16-year gap between this and his last film, “Little Children,” worth the wait. Field has only directed three movie in 21 years, so one can only hope that he comes out with his next movie sooner rather than later because he has too much talent to direct a film this infrequently.
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