Oscar season is upon us. So, naturally I have been thinking about the movies that left an impact on me in 2022 and how they stack up against one another. Even among the many monotonous releases lacking any sort of originality or innovation (yes, Marvel, I’m looking at you) there were many movies that stood out to me, restoring my faith the in the direction cinema is headed. So, here is my personal Top 5 movies released in 2022.
5. Babylon
Perhaps the most surprising entry to round out my top 5. At the beginning of the year this was easily my most anticipated film of 2022. Chazelle? Pitt? Robbie? TOBEY!? Where could this go wrong? I was surprised when the reviews started coming out and the general consensus on this was “meh.” I did not feel underwhelmed or disappointed walking out of the theater. Chazelle’s depiction of Hollywood and old filmmaking is stunning. I enjoyed each character’s own arcs and following their journey. This represents what I love about movies. There was technical perfection accompanied with a good story. Although there are seemingly many things Chazelle wanted to say, in the end he reminds me that movies are important. He took some ambitious risks and went all out to make the movie he wanted. Sign me up for whatever Chazelle has coming next.
4. Top Gun: Maverick
I mean…what can I say, really? This was THE movie of the summer and feels like this has unanimous approval from audiences everywhere. I saw this front row IMAX and my seat was shaking every time a jet was flying. Cruise filled every scene of the movie with pure adrenaline. I also want to acknowledge that while this did play off plenty of nostalgia from the original, it had its own flare and merit. Honestly, if you’ve never seen the first, I don’t think it would take away too much from your viewing experience. The supporting cast of flyers were excellent in adding enough both emotionally and comically for the audience to buy in and create some tension in scenes of life or death. I rewatched this on an airplane later in the Fall and, while of course I still loved it, I am even more grateful I was able to sit up close on the big screen. Unforgettable experience.
3. Tar
I didn’t know much about this going into my viewing experience, which I think really added to how I watched this and moved through the story. This was far more psychological than I had anticipated, in a pleasant way. Issues continually presented themselves from start to finish and I was on the edge of my seat the whole time to see how they’d be resolved. Cate Blanchett was jaw-droppingly good and deserves the Oscar likely coming her way. She dominated the screen. I really appreciated the tone that was set by Director Todd Fields. It stayed consistent and never really let the audience feel relaxed. Although many questions were posed from the film, Fields did not provide answers. Instead, we got to come to our own conclusions and form our own opinions. I always appreciate that in a movie. It has been fun to have my own interpretations of scenes, then go online and see how differently others have taken certain meanings to be. That’s how a movie should be.
2. The Batman
I’m not usually one to get excited for the trailer of a movie to drop, but I was counting down the days back in 2020 for just the smallest glimpse of what the new Batman was going to be like. I knew as soon as I saw Robert Pattinson beat some clown-faced thug to a pulp in the first trailer released for this film that I was all in. Matt Reeves was masterful in creating the first Gotham that really felt like the hellhole, crime-ridden city it’s chalked up to be. I also appreciate that we didn’t get another origin story where a young Bruce falls in a cave filled with bats and where Martha Wayne gets shot as her pearls spill on the wet sidewalk. After all the Batman movies we’ve had over the years, Reeves managed to give us a fresh take on the Caped Crusader. A younger, more inexperienced and confused Bruce Wayne who hasn’t yet figured out the billionaire playboy shtick is interesting and makes sense. The dark and grimy criminal underworld was fun to explore and meet the characters pulling the strings of Gotham’s politics and crime. How this didn’t get more Oscar nods I’ll never understand.
1. The Banshees of Inisherin
It’s hard to articulate what exactly I look for every time I go out to the movies, but my experience watching Martin McDonagh’s latest masterpiece was exactly it. It’s rarely enough for a comedy, or a dark comedy in this case, to simply garner a handful of laughs from the audience in order to reach any level of acclaim. While McDonagh’s dialogue was filled with sincere smiles, it was also rich with deep, interesting questions for the audience to wrestle with over the course if its hour and fifty-four-minute run time. Few movies from last year, or any year really, evoked as much sympathy as Farrell’s and Keoghan’s. Four scenes in particular left me pondering my own friendships, how I treat others, and my own legacy I hope to leave behind one day. Is a legacy of only kindness a worthy one? Farrell and Gleason were flawless and backed up by a stellar supporting cast. With a beautiful backdrop on the shores of Inisherin, Banshees tops my list as the best movie I saw in 2022.
I hope if you haven’t seen any of the movies above, you’ll be more willing now to give them a shot. Each of these brings something different to the table, both stylistically and tonally. 2022 was a great year for movies, and I can’t wait to go back and see what I missed.
HONORABLE MENTIONS: All Quiet on the Western Front, Causeway, The Whale, The Stranger, The Wonder, The Northman, Everything Everywhere All at Once
