Awww yeah!!! It’s that time again! Time to list out all my favorite films right before the Oscars so I can see all of the wrong movies win the awards that rightfully belong to the ones that I like! In all seriousness, 2022 was a FANTASTIC year for films. There were so many good ones from all types of genres, each scratching a different itch I had. I don’t think I’ve ever had this many honorable mentions before, so let’s get into it!
Honorable Mentions
Puss in Boots: The Last Wish
Probably the most unexpected entry on my list. I like the first Shrek movie and I don’t remember the rest, so I’m mostly indifferent towards the franchise. However, that does not stop this from being a surprisingly excellent film. The animation style is very much in the same vein as Into the Spider-Verse, and the action sequences especially between Puss in Boots and the main villain, the Wolf, are electric. It’s just a really entertaining film that can be appreciated without seeing any of the previous movies.
Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery
I think my appreciation for Rian Johnson has continued to grow over the past year, especially with his TV show Poker Face, and obviously with Glass Onion. It’s nowhere near as good as Knives Out, contrary to what the critics led us to believe, but it was a lot of fun and made the most with what I honestly thought was a bit of a lackluster cast. That signature “Rian Johnson moment” in the film when he flips the mystery on its head was really entertaining for me and honestly, for as much as I love Daniel Craig as Bond, I love seeing him happy and having fun doing these movies because he’s easily the best part about them.
All Quiet on the Western Front
One of the best looking films of the past year, and equally brutal in its portrayal of WWI. It’s always refreshing to see a part of history like this depicted from the side of the “enemy” and reminds us that they’re just like us too. Felix Kammerer’s debut acting role is terrific and it’s the best war movie since Sam Mendes’s 1917 back in 2019.
Mama Boy
It’s always a delight to see good movies come from Taiwan, my parents’ home country. It’s got quite a controversial premise but Arvin Chen’s lighthearted approach to it grounds it and makes a seemingly unique situation feel totally relatable for all of us. It’s funny, it’s got great performances (especially from Vivian Hsu), and most importantly it makes me want to go back to Taiwan.
Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris
If you’ve ever seen Phantom Thread and thought to yourself “man, I wish Daniel Day Lewis was replaced with Paddington Bear,” then boy do I have a incredibly random and niche movie for you! Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris is pretty much just that, and having been in the aforementioned Phantom Thread, Lesley Manville plays a completely different character and simply exudes charm throughout, making this film the cinematic equivalent of a warm hug. I really enjoy films where the location itself is one of the characters, and this one is no exception.
Marcel the Shell with Shoes On
A24 doesn’t just make traumatizing horror movies, they also make wonderful family films, apparently! This mockumentary style drama pulls at your heart strings more with an animated shell with shoes on than most dramas with weeping A-listers could ever hope to achieve. Jenny Slate is very funny as Marcel, and the whole concept is about as weird as it is clever, and it totally works.
Navalny
A powerful documentary that highlights the cost of speaking up and being a patriot in an oppressive nation. Alexei Navalny was poisoned and nearly killed by his government and is currently is serving over a decade-long prison sentence in one of the most dangerous countries in the world, and his only crime was speaking up for others in a country that seeks to silence their citizens. Documentaries can often prove the truth is crazier than fiction and the phone call scene in this documentary is one of those moments.
Tar
A deeply complex film that starts off really slow, but once things begin to unravel it becomes one of the most thought-provoking films of the year. Cate Blanchett’s performance as Lydia Tar is definitely one of my favorite performances of the year, and if you’re a fan of a certain franchise, this movie has one of the most surprising endings that I’ve seen all year.
Petite Maman
A really sweet and tender film that has the emotional density and gravity of a three-hour long film, but is surprisingly just over an hour. This story about a little girl who bonds with another little girl that looks exactly like her in a forest seems like a bit of a fairy tale, but the emotional depth is very much grounded in reality and at the end of it, it just makes you want to go hug your parents.
10) Barbarian
I think the horror genre is in a really good place right now, because contributors to the genre get really creative and use the most of their small budgets. Barbarian, much like a lot of the greatest horror films, is best when you go in not knowing anything. The film has one of the most tense sequences all year but it’s also balanced out with an equal measure of comedy, and in my opinion, it all works. I really liked Zach Cregger’s style of filmography and I’m so excited that he went from being a humble youtuber to big shot horror director.
9) RRR
I haven’t seen many Indian films in my life, because they’ve always been a bit intimidating to me. I’ve always feared that I’d roll my eyes over how stupid and ridiculous their action setpieces are, but RRR just seems to hit different. All the characters are great and the emotional beats have weight to them, which makes the insane action setpieces work that much more effectively. It’s a romance, a historical drama, a musical, an action thriller, and in some ways sci-fi fantasy. It’s probably the most glee I’ve felt watching a movie in many years, and it’s hopefully a gateway for Indian films to enter the purview of western audiences.
8) The Batman
I remember when this film was first announced and that Robert Pattinson would star as Batman with Matt Reeves directing and I knew it was going to be good. By this time I was already on the Robert Pattinson hype train because of his work on Good Time and The Lighthouse, so I was excited for him to provide a much needed reprieve from Ben Affleck’s Batman. This film is easily the most faithful looking to the Batman from the comics, and all of the vibes are perfect. I think the DC Comics Extended Universe excels when it’s not trying to play catch-up to the MCU, and as a result I enjoy films like these a lot more than the average comic book film.
7) Everything, Everywhere, All at Once
I was so sure I wouldn’t like this film because of how weird the premise sounded and because of my previously bad experience with Swiss Army Man was, but the Daniels’ were able to prove me wrong and I think the film ended up being one of the most creative and clever low-budget films I saw all year. Michelle Yeoh is at the top of her game here, but I loved Ke Huy Quan’s resurgent performance and hearing that adorable high-pitched voice of his, bringing me back to my childhood when I watched him in The Goonies and Temple of Doom. I think the film really captures the public thought of Nihilism well and I’m sure that’s why a lot of people are so captivated with the film, even though that’s probably my least favorite aspect of the movie. I still really the film despite that because of the journey the characters go on. The concept combined with the absolutely bonkers fight scenes make this film a rewarding watch, but at the end its the characters that tie it all together.
As an Asian person, I know it’s really trendy to give the spotlight to films that primarily feature non-whites and minorities and heap loads of praise upon them, and that stuff really drives me nuts because I think everyone should be graded on the same curve regardless of the color of our skin. I think that Everything, Everywhere, All at Once for all of the awards that its receiving, does actually deserve a lot of them, and I feel so much relief for being able to say that.
6) The Quiet Girl
Colm Bairéad’s The Quiet Girl is a pretty straightforward film that reveals how it’s going to end about halfway through the film. However, that still doesn’t prepare you for how powerful the ending is, and that’s because there’s really good character development throughout. The cinematography is stunning, and reminds me the most of Paweł Pawlikowski’s works. I love how quiet the film is and how intentional it is in its silence, because there’s a lot being said through the visual storytelling and not through ham-fisted dialogue. Catherine Clinch’s performance is really wonderful, and the ending is guaranteed to produce some waterworks.
5) The Northman
I love it when a director makes a huge effort to keep things as authentic as possible, and Robert Eggers’s The Northman is supposedly the most accurate portrayal of Viking culture that we’ve ever seen in a movie. It probably helps that Alexander Skarsgård probably comes from a lineage of vikings because the dude is super jacked and has that really sexy hunched over bad-posture walk, but it works so well for him. I actually watched this film 3 times in the past year because it’s just one of those films that is so rich in atmosphere it makes you want to live in the world, even though a lot of horrific and brutal murders happen in this movie. I just loved the exposure this movie had to a culture I’m not overly familiar with and I think Eggers’ way with mixing the mythical and reality just works so well.
4) The Banshees of Inisherin
I really enjoyed Martin McDonagh’s work on Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri and In Bruges, so I was very excited to see Brendan Gleeson, Colin Farrell and McDonagh reunite for this film. This film has the best ensemble performance out of anything I’ve seen this past year. I think this is Colin Farrell’s best performance ever, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a Barry Keoghan performance I didn’t like, and Kerry Condon as Irish Rebecca Ferguson is amazing as well. It’s so well written, the dialogue is brilliant, funny, and thought-provoking, and I love how it tackles this juxtaposition of contentment versus finding success using the male ego. I definitely want to visit Ireland someday.
3) Blonde
I know that most of Hollywood hated this movie, but I found it to be a deeply sympathetic and tragic look at one of America’s biggest icons. I pretty much didn’t know anything about Marilyn Monroe going into this, but I came away feeling really sorry for her and what the film industry did to her. I think the reason a lot of people hate this film is because it seems overindulgent on abusing her, or exploitative, and also because it takes a pro-life stance, but everything I saw I felt like director Andrew Dominik wasn’t doing out of contempt for Monroe. He’s equally mad at what the world did to her and I think he conveys that in his film. I actually thought that Ana de Armas’s portrayal of Monroe was the most distracting part because her accent kind of slips in every now and then, but regardless she delivers a haunting and admirable performance. The cinematography is the best I’ve seen from 2022; I think it’s cinematography serves to show the dichotomous nature of Hollywood in all its glitz and glamor, but behind closed doors its a whole different beast. It’s probably something I won’t ever watch again but I was really affected by it.
2) Aftersun
I had to think long and hard about whether or not this film should be #1. Between this and my #1 film, they fulfill two completely different emotional responses for me on the spectrum of movies, and this one legit left me shaking after the credits rolled. Paul Mescal is fantastic and totally deserves that Oscar nomination, Frankie Corio delivers one of the best child performances ever, and I think Charlotte Wells’s directorial debut has to be like top 3 best first movies ever. I’m thinking Sidney Lumet’s 12 Angry Men, and then this. This is one of the best examples of storytelling in movies as a visual medium. Similar to The Quiet Girl, there’s so much subtext that it’s easy to miss the first time around. On the surface it’s a seemingly pleasant and low-stakes vacation between father and daughter, but underneath lies something far more meaningful at its core, and unpacking that through Wells’s masterful direction was something that left me with an unforgettable impression.
1) Top Gun: Maverick
What else needs to be said about this movie that hasn’t been said already? Tom Cruise is the last true action star on the planet. Making serviceable action movies has never been easier with special effects, and the box office numbers prove that point. You really have to go out of your way and take a risk on films like the ones that Tom Cruise makes. No one else is going to surround himself with a team that can achieve the near-impossible for our enjoyment. No one else is gonna make his co-stars go through an extremely tough “Top Gun training regiment” to prep them in the way that they did with this movie, even though they don’t actually fly the planes. He does everything in his power to make everything you’re seeing is the closest representation to what it’d be like in reality. You’re just not gonna see that kind of dedication anywhere else. Much like Robert Eggers’ dedication to authenticity of Viking history with The Northman, Tom Cruise dedicates himself to making the most realistic action movies that ups the stakes like crazy. He’s the GOAT. At the end of the day, it’s all about going to the theaters and enjoying yourself. There’s plenty of films you can enjoy in the comfort of your own home, but nothing beats the theatrical experience, and Top Gun: Maverick reminded us of that beautiful, beautiful truth.
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