notes on: YEAR IN REVIEW [film]
MEDIUM: Film
MOVIES: 12
YEAR: 2022
At the beginning of 2022 I pledged to watch 365 movies. It was a formidable task and an intimidating number but at the same time I thought, a movie a day? That’s so easy. I was wrong as hell. Life got in the way, I fell in love with some TV shows, some books, with music, and writing and there all of a sudden just wasn’t enough hours in the day. It wasn’t easy at all but I made it to my goal just at the finish, with 64 movies in December, 4 of them coming on New Year’s Eve. Of the 365 different films I watched in 2022, 52 of them were released in 2022. Here are a few moments in those movies that I wanted to share with you.
Watching movies has been a communal action since the inception of cinema so I wanted to bring in an additional voice on what movies looked and felt like in 2022. Nicky is a film aficionado and enthusiast (especially not a critic) with a strong taste palette. She runs a movie page on Instagram (@nickycinema) that seeks to express her love for film and expand her interests throughout her found community online. Nicky introduced me to one of my favorite movies, The Royal Tenenbaums (2001), nearly a decade ago so it means a lot to me that she’s sharing some of her experiences with the big screen with an audience largely curated by me.
No further ado, here’s 2022 in film:
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Everything, Everywhere, All At Once by Daniel Kwan & Daniel Scheinert (2022)
I first saw the trailer for Everything, Everywhere, All At Once when I went to go see The Coen brothers’ Tragedy of Macbeth in December 2021. It immediately became my most anticipated film of 2022 and I was not disappointed. I saw it for the first time on IMAX at Lincoln Center on opening night and after the showing, the directors emerged from the crowd and answered a few questions from the audience. I can’t remember a single word they said, my mind was still blown and elsewhere. Holy shit, this may be my favorite movie of all time. The dialogue, story, acting, plot, comedy, direction, choreography, cinematography, special effects, and action were all being executed to the highest degree. This movie, about an aging Asian mother trying to save her laundromat from the IRS and her daughter from the nihilism of everything spoke to me more than any other movie I have ever seen. I cried three different times every time I saw this movie. It’s a special moment and changed my life forever. I’ve looked at life a lot differently since I watched it for the first time. Michelle Yeoh was fantastic, Ke Huy Quan was fantastic, Stephanie Hsu was fantastic. This movie had some legs on it too, as the weeks passed I saw how the brilliance of the film was passed on through word of mouth. It touched a lot of people in a real way, something that’s uncommon in cinema today. I’m running out of superlatives but this movie felt like me in the best possible way. [Najee]
FAVORITE LINE: So, even though you have broken my heart yet again, I wanted to say… in another life, I would have really liked doing laundry and taxes with you.
Banshees of Inisherin by Martin McDonagh (2022)
Martin McDonagh, writer and director of Banshees of Inisherin, rose to prominence as a playwright and his penchant for dialogue and grounded yet groundbreaking narratives is on full display here. And even then, the film lacks no scale. It’s beautiful and takes full advantage of the beautiful backdrop that his story is told against. Two men are lifelong friends and one day, one friend wakes up and no longer wants to be friends with the other. At first the premise seems silly. The film’s story begins immediately but as these very human characters examine their very human relationships and face even more human consequences, you’ll find yourself looking inwardly very soon. I didn’t cry but I didn’t not want to. I felt heavy after a while watching this, immobilized by something. I didn’t move for a few minutes. Amazing acting from all of the leads and the writing is beyond top notch. I promise you have no idea where this film is going from beginning to end. There’s no slowburn, just everything then nothing. Some relationships are like that, forever or flames. [Najee]
FAVORITE LINE: Or did you never used to be? Oh god, maybe you never used to be.
Decision to Leave by Park Chan-Wook (2022)
Decision to Leave is a psychological thriller from Park Chan-Wook of Korea about Hae-Joon, an insomniac veteran detective who was tasked with investigating the death of a man who fell from a mountaintop. The main suspect is the man’s younger wife, Seo-rae, who admits to having married him for his wealth rather than her love for him. The death appears to be a suicidal accident but some of Hae-Joon’s coworkers are not as certain as him. By the middle of his investigation, Hae-Joon isn't sure what he thinks and leads with his heart, not good for a detective. Hae-Joon falls in love with the Seo-rae and winds up following her down a road with unforeseen consequences. [Najee]
FAVORITE SCENE: I don’t necessarily have a favorite line but I love the scene when Seo-rae lures Hae-Joon to the top of the mountain. I don’t want to spoil anything, but it has haunted me for quite some time.
NOPE by Jordan Peele (2022)
NOPE was a lot of fun and it was beautiful. Peele is a master of suspense, like a modern-day Alfred Hitchcock (maybe a bit too early to say this but I don’t care). All of the performances were great but KeKe Palmer stole the show. Peele’s usual mix of sci-fi and horror elements with social commentary hits on some of the same levels as his previous two offerings but he also brings some of his points into new arenas. What are we supposed to see? What forces can we control? How far are we willing to go to capture spectacle? Can we tame nature? Shit goes absolutely bonkers in the third act in the best possible way. Come to mystery and chimpanzees, stay for KeKe Palmer doing an Akira slide. [Najee]
FAVORITE LINE: What’s a bad miracle?
BARDO, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths by Alejandro González Iñárritu (2022):
The moment my little sister finished this movie she called me to tell me about it. She didn't want to provide too much context, only that it was the perfect movie for me and that I'd love it. It didn't take more than 10 minutes into the movie for me to realize she was right. The movie follows a renowned Mexican journalist and filmmaker who returns to Mexico before accepting a prestigious award in the states. Throughout the film, he has several existential crises and interpersonal battles dealing with family, death, loss, and as IMDb describes, "a folly of his memories". This movie is directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu who is also famously known for Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) and The Revenant. As we watched the movie, my friends and I wondered whether or not the film was autobiographical and representative of his own life and hardships. Alejandro was also born and raised in Mexico, where the film takes place. Regardless of whether or not it was taken from his own life, the film altogether felt very personal. It's extremely meta and intricately layered with Mexican culture and history. It kind of reminded me of "Everything Everywhere All At Once", mainly because it left me with that full "all-encompassing" feeling. The word "bardo" apparently originated from Buddhist teachings and describes an intermediate state between death and rebirth and the way they capture this in-between is so beautiful! Absolutely in my top 10 for the year and definitely deserves at least 2 watches - the first watch is enough, but 2nd for good measure. [Nicky]
Glass Onion by Rian Johnson (2022)
Rian Johnson’s much-anticipated followup to Knives Out lived up to expectations and was a helluva lot of fun. Johnson has a knack for upending troupes within any genre he engages with, something that enraged a lot of fans when he tackled Star Wars: The Last Jedi, but it’s completely at home in the mystery genre. The cast of characters and archetypes are once again fully fleshed out and Daniel Craig’s performance at Benoit Blanc remains captivating. In a year of long-awaited original screenplay sequels, Avatar: The Way of The Water and Top Gun: Maverick, I think Glass Onion was the best one. [Najee]
FAVORITE LINE: It’s a dangerous thing to mistake speaking without thought with speaking the truth.
Wakanda Forever by Ryan Coogler (2022)
Wakanda Forever was the best superhero movie of 2022 and this was done despite all odds. After losing Chadwick Boseman, who portrayed the titular character in the Black Panther franchise, Coogler was tasked with finding where the world he built in 2018 would go next. He went with what felt real, the grief. He showed it on screen in many ways that broke me in the theater. The action was great, the story was great, and the movie has the best acting in Marvel movie history. Angela Bassett truly deserves an Oscar for her performance as Queen Ramonda. Tenoch Huerta’s portrayal of Namor is brilliant as well. Leticia Wright rose to the occasion in the most difficult circumstances. Everything in this movie felt earned. Healing isn't linear. This movie helped me find that clarity. RIP Chadwick Boseman. [Najee]
FAVORITE LINE: I am queen of the most powerful nation in the world and my entire family is gone! Have I not given everything!?
Pearl & X by Ti West (2022)
2022 was a strong year for horror films: Scream, Barbarian, Bones and All, Werewolf by Night, Fresh, Smile, etc. but I think these are arguably the two best.
A24, Mia Goth, and Ti West teamed up to put out two different sexual horror thrillers in 2022 with the third installment coming soon. X follows 70s porn stars trying to make a film on a remote farm while dealing with elderly serial killers while Pearl tells the origin of one of those serial killers. X seems to be more about the spectacle of murder and sex while Pearl is more of a character study. Mia Goth really shines in Pearl as Pearl, both in Pearl’s long monologue towards the end of the film and the painful tearful smile during the closing credits. I am most grateful that X didn’t film a sex scene between Kid Cudi and Jenna Ortega. [Najee]
FAVORITE LINE: No, I’m a star!
The Menu by Mark Mylod (2022)
I recommended this film for our family outing over Thanksgiving weekend and after we watched it, most of my family absolutely hated it. I on the other hand was completely enthralled by it. I’ve always loved narratives with elements of cooking imbued in it. The pacing is interesting and the plot structure being based on the menu shown in the film wasn’t predictable. The movie was funny and oddly terrifying at points. The drama and scale bubbled with each passing moment and it was gorgeous even in its violence. I didn’t feel like this movie was made by me but for me. [Najee]
FAVORITE LINE: You will eat less than you desire but more than you deserve.
Puss In Boots: The Last Wish by Joel Crawford (2022)
I was a big fan of most of the major animation projects that came out this year: Turning Red, The Bad Guys, Entergalactic, Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio, Strange World, Lightyear, Chip N’ Dale Rescue Rangers, The Bob’s Burgers Movie, and Wendell & Wild. But I was absolutely taken by surprise with how much I loved Puss In Boots: The Last Wish. It was hilarious, nostalgic, had great animation, a great art style, interesting characters, and intense action set pieces.
Puss In Boots coming to terms with his own mortality and overcoming fear when he had something to lose rather than nothing at all was an intensely personal story for me. All of the new characters were fun, especially Goldilocks and the Three Bears crime family.
FAVORITE SCENE: When Puss In Boots finally faces Death rather than running away had me ready to jump out of my seat.
Triangle of Sadness by Ruben Östlund: (2022)
This is one of the best movies I've watched this year. It's a harsh social commentary on the wealthy, youth, social media, attention, fashion, clout, aging, etc. The acting here is phenomenal, specifically, a scene with Woody Harrelson and Zlatko going back and forth discussing communism, capitalism, and socialism while reading some of their favorite quotes drunk on a multimillion-dollar boat. This movie is filled with several plot twists and redirects quite a few times, it felt like multiple acts to a play. I absolutely love the chemistry and character interactions throughout this movie. Everything felt extremely intentional yet so casually representative of society and our lives now. In addition to all the relatable shit and content, it's also genuinely hilarious with true LOL moments from start to finish in my opinion. On another, much sadder note, one of the main characters, Charlbi Dean Kirk actually died right before the movie was released. She was a huge highlight of the film for me so it was really sad to see her pass before what would have definitely been her big break. Truly a one-of-one film and worth watching. [Nicky]
Babylon by Damien Chazelle (2022)
Babylon is arguably the second best film made about loving and celebrating films released in 2022 (The Fabelmans by Steven Spielberg) but it was big as hell. And neither audiences nor critics were big fans of the film, it flopped critically and commercially. But I was a huge fan of it. The runtime is over three hours long but we are subjected to the rise and fall (and more falling) of many people as they try to adapt the integration of sound into motion pictures. The way time moves through the film is amazing and holy shit were the ~ 45 minutes of partying before the opening title card both engaging and disorienting.
The biggest issue of Babylon is that if you give over three hours of your life to a single film trying to make a single point, you better feel as though that point changed you in some way at its end. And I’m not sure many viewers got that feeling. As far as myself, I found myself writing in my notebook, Fuck I love movies, about an hour in. And yeah I do. I love movies. [Najee]
