I don’t know what Oscar is thinking. It might be fair to say I never know what Oscar is thinking. However, this year was especially bad. Only two of my top 10 made their top 10 (and one was my very last entry); meanwhile, more than half the annual overrated list showed up on nomination night to party.
This wasn’t a bad year for film by any stretch of the imagination. BUT, my picks are not their picks.
HONORABLE MENTIONS
Painfully maligned film for what reason? The clever tongue-in-cheek thriller was not only
quite a ride, it is the only 2022 film I’ve already seen twice.
I saw the original Predator film on a failure of first date back in 1987. Ever since, I have been “meh” on the franchise … until now. If all the Predators were like this, I wouldn’t root for Alien.
From my POV, Aubrey Plaza was in one exceptional production last year … and it wasn’t “White Lotus.” This film speaks to anybody who has ever sought employment as an American. That’s an awful lot of us. And
many of our stories aren’t pretty.
All Quiet of the Western Front
A little 1917 … a little Saving Private Ryan. A lot of feeling sorry for Germans in 20th Century wars. Never thought we’d be here.
I know we all hate Will Smith these days, but this slavery memoir is a little instructional and a whole lot of entertaining.
Perhaps the best shot film of the year, and easily one of the most memorable. I fault it on the count that its most powerful scene is a complete non-sequitur. A cleaner script would have made
this an easy top 10.
In a year of weird horror, this was the weirdest. I could easily see putting it on a “worst” list; it’s that kind of film … both disturbing and everlasting, Men joins films like Midsommar and Hereditary among the toughest watches in recent years.
A criminal procedure thriller in which everybody in this ultra-religious Iranian town knows who the serial killer is and doesn’t care because his targets are perceived prostitutes. Perhaps the most hard-hitting film of the year in its attack on all society, not just the murderer. Could it happen here? Ummmm … this is precisely the world that Ron DeSantis and his supporters envision. That world is one of tiered demographic
importance and “rules for thee, but not for me.” Republicans, think very hard about the world you want, not the one you talk about, the one you really, really ant, and then see this film if you can.
The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent
FYNC poking fun at FYNC. As much crap as I’ve given Nicolas Cage over the years, it’s hard not to enjoy that.
THE TOP TEN
Hate the origin
All replaced with winning moves
Much different film
9. Bros
LGBTQ
Is becoming mainstream just
In time for the hate
.
8. Apollo 10½: A Space Age Childhood
Nineteen sixty-nine
Was the year to be a Yank
Houston, we have youth
7. Barbarian
Hey, don’t go down there!
Did you hear? You listening?!
Dude, DON’T GO DOWN THERE!
6. Vengeance
Blue douchebag, red land
Mystery, commentary
I think we all suck
5. The Whale
Whoa! Enormous dad
Crap. He’s a real person
His story? Tragic
Ignore Oscar snub
Iconic role of the year
Viola Davis
3. The Menu
Foodies, non-foodies
The Menu contains something
For everybody
2. RRR
Have you got Netflix?
Then you have no excuse not
To have seen this film
1. Everything Everywhere All at Once
Easy number one
Perhaps the best cinema
Of the last decade
Four of my top ten made yours! I had the same exact top 2 but recently flipped then after rewatching RRR in theaters in its original Telugu and EEAAO for the third time on BluRay. Both 5* but damn if RRR isn’t the film I’d watch again right now if I had the time.
Definitely going to try to make time for Vengeance soon. It’s the only Top 10 film I haven’t seen (though I’ve wanted to since I first heard an interview with Novak about the film… )
My rankings of your 10 through 1: 5, 11, 66, 51, TBD, 8, 52, 42, 1, 2
https://letterboxd.com/agrajag/list/agras-2022-ranked/
We were much more in sync this year than last, I think. ;)