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Post by intoanewlife on Jan 1, 2023 17:26:26 GMT
Not a great year for movies with Covid still affecting production, but I still found plenty to enjoy this year and here is my list!
1. Speak No Evil
In 1988 the Dutch handed us the most shocking ending of any film made up to that time with The Vanishing.
35 years later, this time mostly in English, they have finally outdone themselves.
You have been warned…
The feel bad movie of the year was by far the best for me. No other film made me think more about the sorry state we are all currently living in than this.
It’s hard to even try to put into words how I felt as the final scene of this nightmare played out, as complete shock gave way to blinding anger. We’ve all been there. Got ourselves into a situation we couldn’t have possibly seen coming and then had to deal with the consiquences. Never before have those consequences hit like they do here.
You know exactly where it’s all going as each simple and very human scene plays out one after the other and amps up the tension to frustratingly unbearable levels. You want to scream at the screen, then you do scream at the screen. Then the unthinkable enters your brain…no it couldn’t be that could it? Yes, yes it could. Ahhhhh ok that’s it then. No it isn’t…it really, really isn’t.
You have been warned again…
It isn’t until after it is all over that we realise this beautifully directed, scored and acted little human drama (which admittedly does occasionally clumsily trip on its own horror tropes) is about so much more that what we have just witnessed. That’s when the true horror begins and we are forced to face ourselves and the world we have created, which is probably why the film has received such middling reviews.
No one likes the truth and it rarely hits home like it does here.
2. Men
Alex Garland’s Men has also received a rather muted public response. This is completely understandable considering the internet fan boys who claimed and declared him the next great savior of cinema for his rather ordinary ‘boy’ movies, finally have the mirror turned on them.
This surreal and beautiful fever dream about generational and societal toxic masculinity borrows heavily from Lars Von Trier both visually and tonally and features some of the years most hauntingly beautiful scenes.
Part time Cabaret actress Jessie Buckley is fantastic as is the ever present Rory Kinnear. Together they create an uncomfortably bizarre 90 minutes of cinematic mystery, symbolism and mayhem.
3. Nope
For me this is the best of Jordan Peele’s trilogy of terror.
Though most of the internets seem to have stumbled about trying to understand it’s rather obvious metaphors this time around, this completely original and beautifully made film is an absolute treasure.
The penultimate moment of the film is probably the mostly perfectly edited, scored, acted and directed scene of the year and while he doesn’t really ‘stick’ the landing, the first 3/4 of the film is pure perfection.
4. The Watcher
This micro budget thriller set in winter time Bucharest was a total surprise for my partner and I.
The name literally says it all with this one and it is just a very simple great little thrill ride.
Burn Gorman’s unusual appearance has FINALLY been put to good use and it was great to see Maika Monroe, who seemed to totally disappear after It Follows, back on screen again.
The creepy location and complete sense of isolation of the lead character does the rest.
5. Triangle of Sadness/Don’t Look Up
These 2 films were pretty much 2 sides to the same coin for me.
While ToS is no Parasite, this biting social satire of the rich and not so famous but think they are, moves from boring to hilarious to shockingly bizarre by its end.
Many hated Don’t Look Up, but I think for this one it was a case of which tribe you belong to, with a dash of ‘too soon’. I thought it was hilarious and Lawrence’s constant throw back to the guy who made her ‘pay for snacks’ had me in stitches every time she did it.
Honorable Mention
‘X’
While its prequel Pearl was a major disappointment towards the end of year, ‘X’ was a wonderful and welcome return to the slow burn horror films of the 70’s.
A delicious mix of Boogie Nights (likable deviants) Texas Chainsaw Massacre (location and tone) and Psycho (if Norma lived) this was a completely macabre and bizarrely moving delight.
Literally nothing happens in the first hour other than setting up the films many likable and kooky characters and then the mayhem begins.
Apart from the first rather grizzly murder, the rest is purely slasher fun featuring some really great set pieces, so it is perfectly viewable by the non gorehounds out there.
Let’s hope the sequel Maxine which releases next year is more ‘X’ and less Pearl.
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Post by Mark on Jan 1, 2023 17:40:06 GMT
Only going on what I saw at the cinema, thanks to Odeon limitless (52 films!)
1) Good Luck to you, Leo Grande. Absolutely hilarious at the cinema, and watched it again on the flight home from New York - Emma Thompson is just fantastic.
2) Top Gun Maverick. Everything I want from a big budget film.
3) Everything Everywhere All At Once. What a trip. So funny and brilliantly done.
4) Where the Crawdads Sing. Never read the book, but absolutely loved the film.
5) Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. Definitely the best Marvel film in a while. I was gripped.
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Post by hadeswasking on Jan 1, 2023 17:53:15 GMT
1. Everything Everywhere All At Once
2. The Banshees of Inisherin
3. Aftersun
4. Nope
5. Decision to Leave
Runners up - The whale, the menu, top gun maverick, triangle of sadness and the batman
I thought this year was fantastic for really great movies. I could've listed about 10 more runners up.
This is out of the 54 new movies I've seen this year. Still a few big hitters to go. The Fabelmans and TAR.
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Post by mkb on Jan 1, 2023 18:33:46 GMT
I gave five-star ratings to quite a few re-releases. Of newly released films, my top-rated ones, in order of cinema viewing date, were:
Nightmare Alley: Vision in Darkness and Light (B&W)
Sing 2
Nightmare Alley (Colour)
The Duke
The Phantom of the Open
CODA
The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent
See How They Run
Don't Worry Darling
The Wonder
Living
Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery
The Infernal Machine
I'm not sure how to whittle that down to five as my recollections from the start of the year are fading, but Nightmare Alley impressed me most I think, especially the black and white version. Much of the stuff lauded by the critics peaked at four stars for me. (How anyone can rate Corsage that I had the misfortune to endure yesterday is mystifying.)
I think critics undervalue the ability of directors to put together a very well-crafted story, delightfully told, and perfectly cast, despite having no pretensions to be anything other than pure entertainment. Hence, why I liked films such as The Duke, The Phantom of the Open and Living.
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Post by juicy_but_terribly_drab on Jan 1, 2023 18:37:54 GMT
1. Bones and All
2. Aftersun
3. Guillermo Del Toro's Pinocchio
4. Geographies of Solitude
5. Banshees of Inisherin
I guess I was in a very melancholy mood this year lol.
Honourable mentions:
Fire of Love
Glass Onion
Turning Red
Titane
And too many more to list here. I thought it was a really good year for film. I really enjoyed my first London Film Festival experience (well first that I was actually in London for), I definitely need to book more next time though. There was also a week there where I watched Decision to Leave, Glass Onion, Bones and All, and Aftersun in cinemas which was a pretty amazing run. Excited for next year!
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Post by intoanewlife on Jan 1, 2023 18:46:11 GMT
(How anyone can rate Corsage that I had the misfortune to endure yesterday is mystifying.) I felt exactly the same way about Aftersun, Banshees, Everything Elsewhere and most of all Top Gun : Maverick (the unanimous praise lumped on that will mystify me until I draw my last breath) but as we can see we all have very different tastes. |
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Post by nottobe on Jan 1, 2023 18:52:21 GMT
Since COVID I have been getting more into films and cinema. There are films that came out this year that I am yet to see, Aftersun, Bones and All and Decision to Leave, I am particularly wanting to see.
1- Belfast- This was such a heartfelt film and one I thoroughly loved. Brilliant acting and storytelling.
2- Matilda the musical- I loved this adaption am hoping to see it again in the cinema soon.
3- Censor- This horror film really got under my skin and I found final act to be particularly captivating.
4- Everything, Everywhere, all at once- I went into this completely blind and it was such a great cinematic experience.
5- The worst person in the world- Probably the film I had the greatest emotional connection to.
I would thoroughly recommend all of these to anyone. Am very excited for the films and theatre in the year ahead.
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Post by mkb on Jan 1, 2023 18:57:15 GMT
(How anyone can rate Corsage that I had the misfortune to endure yesterday is mystifying.) I felt exactly the same way about Aftersun, Banshees, Everything Elsewhere and most of all Top Gun : Maverick (the unanimous praise lumped on that will mystify me until I draw my last breath) but as we can see we all have very different tastes. I'm with you on the underwhelming Aftersun (3 stars) that feels like it's building to something that never actually happens, and Everything Everywhere that is a five-star masterpiece for all of 20 minutes, before descending into Marvel nonsense. I hope to never hear the word multiverse again: it's the ultimate deus ex machina. We diverge on Banshees and Maverick that I thought were four-star fun. |
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Post by intoanewlife on Jan 1, 2023 19:17:38 GMT
I felt exactly the same way about Aftersun, Banshees, Everything Elsewhere and most of all Top Gun : Maverick (the unanimous praise lumped on that will mystify me until I draw my last breath) but as we can see we all have very different tastes. I'm with you on the underwhelming Aftersun (3 stars) that feels like it's building to something that never actually happens, and Everything Everywhere that is a five-star masterpiece for all of 20 minutes, before descending into Marvel nonsense. I hope to never hear the word multiverse again: it's the ultimate deus ex machina. We diverge on Banshees and Maverick that I thought were four-star fun. Aftersun is a funny one. I liked what it was trying to do and say, but it didn't actually do or say any of it. If you missed the tidbits it fed you I can imagine it was even more baffling. To top it all off it was just boring and I struggled badly trying to understand a word either of the 2 leads said most of the time. I did find some of the shots very interesting though and I liked the concept, just not the execution. I watch a LOT of 3D movies at home and a lot of them are kooky Asian films that I import that most people probably don't even know exist, so Everything Elsewhere did not offer me anything new like it seemed to do for a lot of people. Jamie was fun, but yeah I turned it off after an hour. I loved everything about Banshees except the story, but that in the end killed it for me as it just got stupider and stupider and lost me. It looked gorgeous and the acting was excellent, but the whole thing just annoyed me in the end. I just didn't get it and that is my fault not the films. I have seen Top Gun so many times I could recite the script. Maverick apart from setting up the 3 minute mission at the end and a slight re-write of the love story was a shot for shot, scene for scene, character for character ultra lazy redo of the original. While there is no denying it was technically brilliant, I had seen it all before in the original. I just could not get past the bone idol laziness and money grabbing nostalgia milking of the whole thing. It's very rare I truly hate a film, but I hated every single second of it Plus Tom Cruise should be in prison for his association to Scientology, so the fact I gave him 10 quid made me feel complicit in his crimes against humanity. |
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Post by dlevi on Jan 2, 2023 22:56:23 GMT
My top 5 ( in random order)
1. Everything Everywhere All at Once - a wild trip which delighted me.
2. The Banshees of Innisherrin - a movie which was at once hilarious, heartbreaking and a remarkable piece of writing and performance.
3. AfterSun - a remarkable work that was even better the second time.
4. RRR - a bonkers exhilarating Bollywood epic that has to be seen to be believed.
5. Tar - a mesmerizing piece of virtuoso filmmaking with a staggering performance from Cate Blanchett
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Post by intoanewlife on Jan 3, 2023 13:10:46 GMT
1) Good Luck to you, Leo Grande. Absolutely hilarious at the cinema, and watched it again on the flight home from New York - Emma Thompson is just fantastic. I watched this yesterday and it was indeed excellent! I had never even heard of it until I saw it on your list so thank you x |
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Post by Mark on Jan 3, 2023 16:28:04 GMT
1) Good Luck to you, Leo Grande. Absolutely hilarious at the cinema, and watched it again on the flight home from New York - Emma Thompson is just fantastic. I watched this yesterday and it was indeed excellent! I had never even heard of it until I saw it on your list so thank you x Oh brilliant! Glad you enjoyed, a true little gem of a film. |
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Post by mkb on Jan 3, 2023 17:13:12 GMT
Too late for my 2022 list (although it was released last week in the UK), I really enjoyed Peter von Kant yesterday.
From what I can discern from the small number of reviews on imdb, you're likely to be disappointed if you already know Fassbinder's The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant on which this is a loosely-based, gender-swapped version. I didn't, and I liked it a lot.
The style is less earnest and quite comedic. I suspect it sits somewhere between being an homage and a spoof, but despite the hysterical behaviour of the characters, it still has something to say about our need to be loved and wanted even where we know it's a sham.
Peter is quite a monster, but something of an anti-hero: you never really come to despise him. Most notable is the magnificent, wordless* performance from Stefan Krepon as Peter's personal assistant Karl.
* - My husband says Karl spoke when greeting a visitor, so I missed that if correct.
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Post by Marwood on Jan 4, 2023 17:24:21 GMT
I saw about 30 films last years at the cinema but most of them were rereleases at the BFI and Prince Charles Cinema. Of the new stuff I saw:
1. The Banshees Of Inisherin
2. Bullet Train
3. Moonage Daydream
4. Lynch/Oz
5. See How They Run
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Post by lichtie on Jan 4, 2023 19:30:02 GMT
Didn't see that many new films for various reasons this year, so don't feel like a top five, but I'd commend Brian and Charles as a suitably bonkers bit of low cost film-making. The only other new film I saw last year (though a 2021 release) that I think I'd put in a top 5 was Belfast.
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Post by Jon on Jan 4, 2023 21:15:02 GMT
My favourite films of 2022 in no particular order
1. Top Gun Maverick
2. Elvis
3. Bros
4. Matilda the Musical
5. The Batman
6. Belfast
7. See How They Run
8. She Said
9. Glass Onion
10. The Lost City
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Post by Dave B on Jan 4, 2023 21:52:11 GMT
1) Aftersun
2) The Banshees of Inisherin
3) The Quiet Girl
4) Athena
5) Glass Onion
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Post by supongo on Jan 5, 2023 0:00:12 GMT
Aftersun
Catherine Called Birdy
Banshees of Inisherrin
Everyone Everything All at Once
The Wonder
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Post by showgirl on Jan 5, 2023 14:57:36 GMT
I don't really have a "best" list (though "worst" was easy as I'm still smarting from seeing those); instead I would pick out a few which seemed different, interesting and therefore notable, including:
Licorice Pizza
The Quiet Girl
Boiling Point
Ali And Ava
Mr Malcolm's List
Wild Men
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Post by Deal J on Jan 5, 2023 15:25:09 GMT
Love this thread (and also the 'Worst' thread!)
My favourites of 2022:
1. Matilda the Musical
2. Everything Everywhere All At Once
3. The Banshees of Inisherin
4. Glass Onion
5. The Batman
Anyone else here that uses LetterBoxd? It's a fun app for logging and rating (and reviewing) films you've watched. You can connect with friends to see what they've been watching, and create/view lists of recommendations. These days I tend to check out the average rating of a film on there more than I do on rottentomatoes or IMDb.
My username there is ChuckieJay if anyone wants to make new friends on there.
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Post by mkb on Jan 5, 2023 15:27:34 GMT
Boiling Point was four-star for me but I'm pleased it's been mentioned as it deserves plaudits for its sheer intensity. I was vicariously on the edge of my nerves throughout.
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Post by hadeswasking on Jan 5, 2023 16:08:39 GMT
Boiling Point was four-star for me but I'm pleased it's been mentioned as it deserves plaudits for its sheer intensity. I was vicariously on the edge of my nerves throughout. Agreed. I saw it at a film festival last year so didn't include it on this year's list but it was such a great surprise. |
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Post by Dave B on Jan 5, 2023 16:30:51 GMT
Anyone else here that uses LetterBoxd? It's a fun app for logging and rating (and reviewing) films you've watched. You can connect with friends to see what they've been watching, and create/view lists of recommendations. These days I tend to check out the average rating of a film on there more than I do on rottentomatoes or IMDb. My username there is ChuckieJay if anyone wants to make new friends on there. Yes! I think it's great, so easy to use and track. I wish there was something like it for theatre but with so many small fringe shows I guess it's just not possible. Pinged you a connection on there - letterboxd.com/dvbsh/ |
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Post by intoanewlife on Jan 5, 2023 18:00:41 GMT
I watched The Menu last and thought it was fantastic. Dunno if it'd knock anything off my list, but it was certainly one of the best of the year.
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Post by mkb on Jan 6, 2023 0:51:28 GMT
If Hollywood insists on remaking foreign films, at least improve on them. A Man Called Otto is not bad and will do well, but it's not a patch on the original. It feels like it's been remade by Hallmark.
Sorry that was off-topic, but I had to get it off my chest.
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