My Top Ten Films for 2022

 MY TOP FILMS FOR 2022-

#1 Everything, Everywhere, All At Once- Completely original with terrific performances. It's a lot to take in upon first viewing but so worth the journey.

#2 The Fabelmans- A minor masterpiece from Steven Spielberg. His most personal film is a love story to his family and to the movies themselves. Wonderful cast.

#3 The Banshees of Inisherin- Martin McDonough's dark comic/drama is beautifully filmed and acted with a standout performance from Colin Farrell.

 #4 Avatar: The Way of Water- while it comes up short on a plot, the immersive experience of the visuals, both flora and fauna are remarkable Nothing else like it, especially in IMAX 3D.

#5 Babylon- A love it or hate it film that worked for me. A bit too long but a wonderful love letter to film with an energy all its own.

#6 TAR- Cate Blanchett's remarkable performance alone makes this a must see.

#7 All Quiet on The Western Front.- a wonderful remake that puts you in the center of the madness that was World War One, told from the German perspective.

#8 Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio- A brilliant stop motion miracle that reexamines the fairy tale from a different, darker perspective. A  beautiful work of art.

#9 The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent- Nicholas Cage is a blast playing Nicholas Cage in this gonzo comedy.

#10 Emily the Criminal- Aubrey Plaza is terrific in this original and surprising crime drama.

Honorable mention-

EO- a remarkable journey through a life of a donkey, told from the donkey's perspective. Encounters both good and bad can be  heartbreaking. Don't expect a Disney film.

Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio

 

      Guillermo del Toro co-wrote the script with Patrick McHale which was based on the 1883 novel and co-directed the film with Mark Gustafson. Most people know the Disney version of Pinocchio but while there are some similarities, it's much darker in tone, set in fascist Italy with a slightly different supporting cast.  And while the Disney version was full animation, this version is stop-motion, and the visuals are outstanding.

       The film opens with Geppetto (vocal by David Bradley) , the carpenter enjoying life with his real son Carlo. When Carlo is killed by an aerial bombardment, Geppetto plants a pinecone near his grave and mourns his loss. Years go by and the pinecone is now a tree. Geppetto cuts it down and creates Pinocchio (vocal by Gregory Mann). Of course, we must have a talking cricket, in this case, Sebastian J. Cricket (vocal by Ewan McGregor). The main villain is Count Volpe (vocal by Christoph Waltz) who wants Pinocchio for his traveling carnival. His assistant is a monkey named Spazzatura (Vocal by Cate Blanchett). Ron Perlman does the voice of Podesta, a fascist town official who wants to turn Pinocchio into a soldier. Finn Wolfhard does the vocals for his son, Candlewick. Tilda Swinton does double vocal duties as the fairy who brings Pinocchio to life and her sister Death. Tim Blake Nelson does the voices for Death's Black Rabbit assistants.

       There are lighthearted adventures juxtaposed with much darker scenes, but the story does follow a familiar path.  Mr. del Toro even throws in a few songs along the way. The vocal work by the cast is perfect but the brilliance of the film is the stop-motion animation and it's attention to detail. 

This version of Pinocchio is definitely not for small children since it contains many mature themes but older kids and certainly adults should absolutely enjoy this remarkable work of art.

Babylon

      The newest film from writer/director Damian Chazelle is a two-hour masterpiece trapped in a three-hour bloated extravaganza. With some choice editing and unnecessary gross out moments, this would have been a perfect love letter to the early days of "talkies" and the death of the silent age. 

      The year is 1926 and silent films are all the rage but "The Jazz Singer" will soon change everything. Brad Pitt stars as Jack Conrad, the biggest star of the silent screen, Margot Robbie as Nellie LaRoy, a self proclaimed star forging her way to the top and Diego Calva as Manuel "Manny" Torres, a Mexican immigrant and aspiring filmmaker. The three leads are all terrific.

      Mr. Chazelle opens the film with a Hollywood party filled with total decadence. Drugs, excessive alcohol, sex, a sexual fetish we really don't need to see, and even an elephant (unfortunately with loose bowels). He obviously wants to expose the underbelly of the glamour of Hollywood in those days with all its excess. And for three hours, we see it all, the trajectory of the three leads against a background of both glitz and mud.

        We get treated to the world behind the camera to watch how the early films were made in many terrific sequences. When the "talkies" finally arrive, we watch as studios try to understand the new medium and one scene in particular with Nellie trying take after take to get it right is priceless. We watch Jack Conrad's star begin to fade as he copes with the "new Hollywood" and Mr. Pitt's acting intensifies as Jack's world starts to crack. We see Manny successfully rise through the system, but a toxic love continues to hold him back.

       The film costars Jean Smart as Elinor St. John, the leading Hollywood gossip journalist, Li Jun Li as Lady Fay Zhu, a cabaret singer and title card writer, Jovan Adepo as Sidney Palmer, a Jazz trumpet player, Lukas Haas as George Munn, a producer and Jack's best friend. Also, co-starring is Spike Jonze, Flea, Jeff Garlin, Olivia Wilde, Eric Roberts, Katherine Waterston, Samara Weaving, Max Minghella and Toby Maquire (a criminal who leads Manny into LA's version of Dante's inferno).

        There is a wonderful sequence towards the end, that takes us through a montage of movies through the years as Mr. Chazelle closes his love letter, reminding us of the magic of movies but sometimes at a heavy cost.

Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery

       Writer/director Rian Johnson brings his master detective Benoit Blanc back for another case is this lighthearted romp. If you are looking for light entertainment, this will fit the bill but if you like your films (especially murder mysteries) with a little more weight, you'll be disappointed with this onion.

        Mr. Johnson brings his all-star cast together inside a literal glass onion to solve a murder that reveals itself as figurative layers of the onion are peeled way. Besides Daniel Craig, returning as Detective Blanc (with an awfully weird southern accent), the cast includes Edward Norton as billionaire, Miles Bron, Janelle Monae, Kathyrn Hahn, Leslie Odum Jr., Kate Hudson, Dave Bautista, Jessica Henwick, Madelyn Cline, and Noah Segan. 

       The film takes its time establishing an actual murder mystery but gives the cast ample time to chew the scenery. With the exception of Ms. Monae, everyone is quite over the top and intentionally (hopefully) annoying. The last act relies completely on an old murder mystery device to twist the plot and much too much time is taken breaking glass sculptures for no particular reason. Mr. Johnson also throws in a senseless "Red Herring". We are forced to endure a rewind of the whole story, late in the film, told from a particular character's point of view to fill in pieces that are deliberately withheld the first time around.

       Much of the film reminded me of the HBO show, "The White Lotus" minus the detective.  It's a bunch of annoying characters behaving badly but "Lotus" has  much better writing. "Glass Onion" is superficial fun but take the time to peel it apart and you will find it rotting at the core.

Women Talking

     In an unnamed geography and time, a group of women living in a Mennonite colony discover a horrible truth. After one of the colony's men is caught assaulting one of the women after being drugged, they realize they have been assaulted and raped for years by men in their colony. What they were told was hysteria, the work of the devil, or a lack of faith, is suddenly very real.

      Written and directed by Sarah Polly, the film picks up right after the latest assailant is arrested and taken to jail. The men of the colony go as a group to post bail and support the man while the women have twenty-four hours to decide what to do now that they know the truth. After all the women take a vote, a smaller group is left to decide between three choices, do nothing, stay and fight or leave the colony forever.

       Ms. Polly weaves her camera around the women as they discuss their options. Her dialog is sensitive and honest. She shows the assaults in flashbacks with only quick flashes of their aftermath. The group is divided as they argue the pros and cons of their choices. Only one man (played with sincere sympathy by Ben Whishaw) remains to take the minutes of their meeting. Rooney Mara, Jessie Buckley, Claire Foy and Judith Ivy are the most vocal of the group and all give powerful performances.  Also starring is Frances McDormand who speaks volumes with her silence. Making up part of the group are Sheila McCarthy, Michele McLeod, and Kate Hallett.

       Most of the action takes place in the hayloft where the women meet but Ms. Polly opens things up with scenes of children playing in the fields, innocents unaware of what lurks in the underbelly of the colony. Its a powerful and absorbing film that will certainly spark debate.

Tar

 

    

      Written and directed by Todd Field, this new drama tracks the trajectory of a brilliant musical composer and conductor played by the brilliant Cate Blanchett. Ms. Blanchett is a marvel in one of the best roles of her career.

  

       As the film opens Lydia Tar is at the top of her profession. She is the first female conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic and preparing to record a live concert of Mahler's 5^th Symphony. We see her go about her days in a series of edited scenes, almost like individual vignettes, working with students, visiting her family, preparing for the concert, and taking a new cellist under her wing (with possible ulterior motives).  

       On the surface, Tar, while incredibly driven, seems a likeable character but we quickly discover her true self. She is arrogant, manipulative, and condescending to those around her, especially her often put-upon assistant, Francesca, played by Noemie Merlant. She thrives on transactional relationships, even with her wife and daughter.

      The film co-stars Nina Hoss as Sharon, Tar's wife, Julian Glover as Andris Davis, Mark Strong as Eliot Kaplan and Sophie Kauer as Olga Metkina, the gifted young cellist. How power corrupts is a central theme to this intense character study of a brilliant yet flawed individual and Ms. Blanchett is note perfect in an extraordinary performance.

Avatar: The Way of Water

      If there is one thing director James Cameron knows, it's how to film epic films in water.  After a thirteen-year drought, he has come roaring back with the first of multiple

sequels to Avatar. The new film has a three hour plus running time and much of it takes place in and around water. The time flies by though as we are treated to mind blowing visuals (especially in IMAX 3D, which is the best way to see this film) and considerable action.

     Returning to Pandora are Sam Worthington as Jake Sully and Zoe Saldana as Neytiri. Since the new film takes place years later, they now have a family of 2 sons, Neteyam and Lo'ak, an eight-year-old daughter, Tuk and an adopted teen daughter, Kiri. Sigourney Weaver, a human in the first film, is the voice of Kiri. Also living with them is "Spider", a human boy born on Pandora. They live peacefully in the forest, until, of course, humans come back to threaten their existence.

     The threatening humans are back to colonize Pandora for their own and leading the military ground forces is General Ardmore, played by Edie Falco (an interesting casting choice). The main villain, however, is once again Major Miles Quaritch played Stephen Lang, who, yes, died in the first film but has been resurrected as a recombinant avatar, embedded with Quaritch's memories. He is bigger, stronger and scarier.

     When Quaritch and his recombinant troops invade the forest, the Sully family is forced to leave and end up in an entirely different region of Pandora, taking refuge among the Metkayina reef people. Leading the Metkayina are Cliff Curtis and Kate Winslet. It's a fairly simple plot. Jake and his family learn to live with the reef clan and Quaritch wants him dead.

     The personality of the actors shines through the motion capture, makeup and special effects. Much of it is brand new technology that is remarkable. Seen in IMAX 3D, the film is an immersive experience.  The sights and sounds of the film are incredible. In addition to the beauty of Pandora's fauna and flora, the action scenes are thrilling. Mr. Cameron and his writing partners amp up the final battle to a new level of intensity. Of course, you have to buy into the science fiction element of the entire story and if you do, you will be greatly rewarded.

Bones And All

      And now for something completely different...a poignant love story that actually humanizes cannibalism. At first glance, Maron is a typical 18-year-old girl but she happens to harbor a terrible secret.  She has a craving for eating people. Her father protects her as they travel from town to town, but she eventually finds herself on the road alone in search of her birth mother. 

      As it turns out, she is part of a minority of "eaters". People who eventually must feed their craving for people. Maron's road trip leads her to meet various other "eaters" and in particular, Lee, with whom she begins a relationship. Maron is played by Taylor Russell and Lee is played by Timothee Chalamet. There is pure chemistry between the two. The love that develops between them is natural and palpable. 

      Co-starring is Andre Holland as Maron's father, Michael Stuhlbarg and David Gordon Green as an odd pairing of eaters (Mr. Green doesn't have the need to feed, just the desire), Jessica Harper as Maron's Grandmother, Chloe Sevigny as Maron's mother and the amazing Mark Rylance as "Sully", the first "eater" Maron meets and who plays a significant part in her story.

      The film is beautifully shot by Arseni Khachaturan and directed by Luca Guadagnino. The story flows in a poetic fashion that engages the audience. Of course, you are occasionally reminded that the characters are cannibals and there is plenty of bloodshed, but I would fall short of calling the film a horror movie. It's a very moving love story with a horror element.

The Whale

           Charlie is an obese shut-in who makes his living teaching an on-line college writing course.  He keeps his camera off so his students can't see his 600-pound frame. He is divorced and hasn't seen his teenage daughter played by Sadie Sink, in years. His male partner, Allan has passed and his only connection to the outside world is Allan's sister Liz, a nurse played by Hong Chau.

        The story is an emotional powder keg, filled with regret, guilt, longing, and compassion. Mr. Fraser is astonishing, conveying a wide range of emotions, while navigating the 300 pounds of prosthetics that keep him immobile for most of the film. Ms. Sink, fresh off the hit show "Stranger Things", plays a 17-year-old teenager filled with anger and rage at the father who abandoned her years ago.  She is a dynamo in the role.  The film also co-stars Ty Simpkins as a door-to door missionary taken with Charlie's situation and Samantha Morton in one powerful sequence as Charlie's ex-wife.

         This is a compelling drama that held my attention throughout. Mr. Fraser will certainly get an Academy Award nomination. And Hong Chau (so good in the "The Menu") may also end up with a best supporting nomination.  She grounds the film with her tough love and compassion for Charlie.

All Quiet on the Western Front

           A timeless classic that won the Academy Award in 1930, is remade once again as a Netflix exclusive. For the first time, it's an authentic German cast that endures the vivid horrors of World War I from the German point of view. The film stars Felix Kammerer as Paul Baumer, the idealist young recruit that marches off to war for the "glory of the Fatherland".

           Once he arrives in the trenches of the front, any idealism left is quickly replaced by fear and chaos with Paul just trying to survive. The film is grim and harrowing in its depiction of war. The realistic futility of two enemies entrenched in a battlefield that neither side can capture is remarkable. The camera doesn't shy away from brutal scenes of war and director Edward Berger easily makes the anti-war statement conveyed by the original novel.

           A change from the earlier versions, depicts a parallel subplot of German emissaries trying to come to terms with the French for an armistice that will end the war. Daniel Bruhl plays Matthias Erzberger, the German official leading the delegation. The film ends with a slight variation on the final scene but it's impact is just as powerful.

Empire of Light

     The new drama from writer/director Sam Mendes contains lots of ideas that while worthwhile, don't really work well enough to satisfy the story, leaving it rather bland.  What the film does contain though, is another outstanding performance from Olivia Coleman.

      Racism, sexual politics and harassment, mental illness, the power of movies, all play a part in this story of a lonely movie theater manager. 

      It's the 1980's and The Empire, once a regal crown of movie theaters with 4 screens is on the decay, holding on with just 2 screens and a small staff. Ms. Coleman plays Hillary, the house manager and Colin Firth plays Mr. Ellis the general manger. Ms. Coleman is brilliant as expected and Mr. Firth is surprising, playing quite a cad. Hillary goes about her daily routine added by medication until one day, a new usher, named Steven starts working at the theater.

       Steven is black and much younger than Hillary, yet a connection stirs within them, and they become romantically involved. Steven is played by a charming actor named Micheal Ward. The film also co-stars Toby Jones as Norman the projectionist and Tom Brooke as Neil, one of the other ushers.

       Race riots throughout England at the time, make an interracial relationship dangerous and working together doesn't make things easy as well so Hillary and Micheal do their best to keep their romance a secret.  It's the human touch that binds the story. The connections that make us whole that can have disastrous results when severed.

       While the story may not be as cohesive as Mr. Mendes intended, his direction is masterful and even The Empire itself, becomes a well-directed character. The theater is beautiful and Mr. Mendes explores every nook and cranny of the building with gorgeous cinematography. Buried in the human story at its core, Mr. Mendes also plays tribute to the power and beauty of cinema. The film "ends" multiple times and it could have been better served if Mr. Mendes reedited the final shot to be one seen earlier.

       This is a small intimate film that probably won't last long at the box office but if you're an Olivia Coleman fan, it's a must as she will most like garner another Academy Award nomination.

EO

       This is a remarkable new film co-written and directed by Jerzy Skolimowski. The film's lead is a donkey named EO, who after being separated from his circus trainer, Kasandra, embarks on a journey of trials and tribulations.  This is, in no way a "Disney" film but rather real life through the eyes of EO.

       The film has minimal dialog as EO moves through a series of various encounters with humans that takes him from Poland to Italy. Along the way, there is both cruelty and kindness. The film is heartbreaking in its' realism how people can treat animals. It also has an hallucinatory effect at times with unexplained elements.

       You can't help but fall in love with EO from the beginning. He has the most soulful and intelligent eyes (he's actually played by five different donkeys). The only human actor you may recognize is Isabelle Huppert in a surprising and odd cameo. 

       Mr. Skolimowski doesn't shy away from a happy ending, but EO's journey is memorable in so many ways, you will think of him long after the film ends.

The Wonder

    This new period drama on Netflix features a powerhouse performance from its lead, Florence Pugh. It is 1862 and Ms. Pugh stars as Mrs. Wright, a British nurse who is employed by a committee in a rural Irish village to observe a fasting young girl, who has miraculously survived without food for months.

    The film is slow but absorbing as questions of skepticism versus complete faith come into question. It argues that there is a danger in total belief. Anna, the young girl at the center of the story believes she is being fed "manna from heaven" and that's what's keeping her alive. Nurse Wright is a woman of science who believes the girl will die if she doesn't eat soon. The story becomes more complicated once Anna reveals the reason for her fast

    Co-starring as member of the "committee are Ciaran Hinds, Toby Jones, Brian F. O'Bryne and Dermot Crowley. Kila Lord Cassidy plays Anna and she is a wonderful young actress.  The film also costars Tom Burke as a journalist sent to write about the "miracle girl". Much of the film is focused on Anna and Nurse Wright who, at first, find themselves at odds but eventually grow close and that's when Anna tells her why she is fasting.

    While she was hired to just observe the girl, Nurse Wright refuses to stand by and let her die. Science versus religion takes center stage with Anna's life at stake.  It's a polarizing film that will open itself up for debate long after it ends. 

The Menu

      A very black comedy that satirizes pretentious rich "foodies" that starts off deliciously but halfway through goes completely off the rails.  It's a clever premise that loses its charm and complete believability once it descends into shock and awe. 

      It's a great cast, including Anya Taylor-Joy, Ralph Fiennes, Nicholas Hoult, John Leguizamo, Janet McTeer, Judith Light, Reed Birney, Hong Chau and Paul Adelstein. Unfortunately, as written, most if not all the characters are unlikeable and deserving of the eventual outcome. It reminded me of the hot TV show at the moment, "The White Lotus", set in a restaurant rather than a luxury hotel. Characters you don't necessarily like, but it still holds your attention.

     Mr. Fiennes is channeling his Nazi commandant from "Schindler's List" as the celebrity chef presiding over the luxurious dinner. He holds the cast and your attention even as things begin to unravel. Secrets are revealed and blood is spilled but unfortunately it all becomes totally ridiculous.

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