February 3, 2023
The award season for the best movies of 2022 is still winding down, with upcoming ceremonies honoring producers, directors, writers, and actors in the next few weeks, leading up to the Oscar ceremony on March 12th. If you’re thinking that this is a long, drawn-out process, you’re right. But for some reason, it’s the calendar we have this year. I’ll share a full Oscar preview in a few weeks, including some background on the wild story behind Andrea Riseborough’s highly unlikely nomination for Best Actress. But for now, I’m going to share part one of my ten favorite films of 2022. If you missed my previous coverage of the year that was, you can read them here, here, and here. OK, let’s jump in.
#10 – She Said
Every year, there are movies that look great on paper, but are massive failures in execution, box office, or both. In 2022, you can look no further than David O. Russell’s Amsterdam, which was a disaster, despite a high-profile cast and an interesting premise. Sometimes, you actually need a coherent script for a movie to work – who would’ve thought? And usually, you can see it coming from a mile away. But with the first film on my list, I was stunned how poorly it did at the box office.
When I covered my most anticipated films of 2022, She Said made the short list, as I have a fondness for journalism movies, as I wrote about here. Maria Schrader directs this story of the two reporters from The New York Times who helped expose the sexual assault crimes of Harvey Weinstein in 2017. Carey Mulligan and Zoe Kazan are excellent as reporters Megan Twohey and Jodi Kantor navigating the powerful world of Hollywood, while trying to find the victims and convince them to tell their story on the record. As they get closer and closer to the inner circles of Hollywood power, they learn not only how horrific Weinstein’s actions were, they discover how his misdeeds were brushed away and allowed by those around him.
With the two lead actresses convincingly portraying the grind of getting to the bottom of the story, we see just how difficult it can be to get a story across the finish line, and also how their personal lives impacted how effective they could be doing their job. The film also features Patricia Clarkson and Andre Braugher in very good performances as the reporters’ supervisors at the Times, and Samantha Morton in a phenomenal (albeit brief) sequence as one of the victims.
You can probably tell that I liked She Said a lot and was confused by why it was such a massive disappointment at the box office. It was touted as a potential Oscar contender and received strong critical reviews following its premiere at the New York Film Festival. There was talk that this could be 2022’s Spotlight (admittedly a better movie, in my opinion). But She Said was trounced in its opening weekend, finishing in sixth place, generating only $3 million. In total, it made less than $6 million domestically (which is awful for a studio picture released in a lot of theaters) and was considered one of the box-office flops of 2022. The working theory is that audiences were worn out by the Weinstein story, felt they knew enough and would rather go see The Menu or Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. Perhaps if this movie was released ten years from now, it would have done better, but I’m glad I saw this compelling story in 2022. She Said is now streaming on Peacock.
#9 – Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery
You know who is having a good run right now? Rian Johnson. Let’s recap the last five years. In 2017, he wrote and directed The Last Jedi, one of the more divisive films in the Star Wars franchise. I loved it, but diehard fans thought it did a disservice to the franchise’s legacy – hence the discourse. Although he may dip his toes back into the Star Wars universe at some point, he moved on to write and direct Knives Out, receiving an Oscar nomination for his screenplay. The film starred Daniel Craig, winding down his tenure as James Bond, as Southern detective Benoit Blanc solving a murder mystery. Johnson’s inspiration for Knives Out included the novels of Agatha Christie, and he was open to do more films as stand-alone stories, not necessarily direct sequels. Enter Netflix, who plunked down over $400 million for two more movies, the first of which was released last year.
I was fortunate to see Glass Onion at the Philadelphia Film Festival, which included an introduction by Johnson and a Q&A following the screening. It’s a shame Glass Onion didn’t receive a long theatrical run as it’s a perfect movie to see in a crowded theater. Netflix doesn’t do theatrical releases, but at Johnson’s insistence, the film had a one week run in a few hundred theaters in late November. Johnson is hopeful that the next installment gets a longer run, but time will tell if Netflix obliges. One more thing – Johnson also created Poker Face, a new “mystery of the week” television series that just premiered on Peacock. I’ve only watched the first episode, but I liked it a lot, so that’s another recommendation for you.
Anyway, onto Glass Onion. The premise of this film is a tech billionaire (played by Edward Norton and not based on Elon Musk, in case you were wondering – Johnson has confirmed it) who invites his group of close friends to his private island for a weekend getaway and a murder mystery game. Enter Craig as Blanc, who also received an invitation, but is he supposed to be there? The group of friends include Kathryn Hahn, Dave Bautista, Janelle Monáe, Leslie Odom Jr. and Kate Hudson. They are all going through various career crises and have relied on Norton’s character to help them out. As the evening unfolds, we learn more about the group’s history together, potential motives for a crime, and what Norton’s character has planned. Of course with Blanc in attendance, things get a little….complicated.
It’s best to not get into too much detail on what happens next – it is a mystery, after all. The cast is very good, the twists and turns are fun, and Johnson does a nice job of not making this a linear mystery, much like he did with Knives Out. He took a genre that has been around for decades, and gave it his own kind of twist once again. One minor nitpick is that it’s kind of hard to believe that this diverse set of people would actually be close friends. There is a flashback scene that makes this even more obvious, although there is a great Easter egg in that scene. Given the strange character Norton was playing, he showed up to set for the flashback scene dressed like Tom Cruise’s character from Magnolia, including the wild haircut. Johnson loved the decision and kept it in the film. If you are looking for a nice, charming, laid-back comedy that is the perfect popcorn movie to watch on a Friday night, you can watch Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery on Netflix.
#8 – TÁR
The next film on my list is not what I would consider a laid-back comedy – in fact, it’s quite the opposite, but it’s one of the more impressive movies of the year. There are many times I disagree with the Academy’s Oscar nominations, but I have no problem with the six nods given to writer-director Todd Field’s TÁR, a masterpiece that will resonate for many years to come.
Field has been in the movie business for over thirty years, having started as an actor. He worked on some successful films and while his experiences didn’t make him a household name as an actor, he learned from some of the most talented directors of all time. Those lessons proved valuable as he shifted his career to writing and directing. His first two films – In the Bedroom and Little Children – were both excellent dramas that earned him Academy Award nominations. After sixteen years without a directorial credit to his name, TÁR debuted last year to euphoric reviews.
The film is the story of Lydia Tár, an award-winning conductor who undergoes a massive fall from grace. Lydia is on top of her world when we meet her, becoming the first woman conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic, preparing for a live recording of a legendary symphony. As the film unfolds, we learn more about her brilliance, her knowledge of classical music, her command over her orchestra, her family (wife Sharon and their daughter Petra), and most importantly, her narcissism. Lydia has gotten so used to being the brilliant, best in the world conductor, that she has come to believe she can do no wrong. As she prepares for her crowning achievement, we witness how she treats people, what she has done in the past, and how she has used her power to take advantage of everyone around her. Through Field’s master storytelling, we are able to dissect just how despicable a person she really is, even if her actions are subtle in tone, and we only learn about some of them after they happened offscreen.
It would be too simplistic to say this is a movie about “cancel culture.” Yes, there are scenes where social media is used to depict Lydia’s actions and behavior that helps lead to her downfall. No, this is a more important character study of how power can corrupt the most talented people in their field. And what Field did in creating this character was genius. We are so used to seeing old white men abusing their power with younger women who work for them. By creating his character as a gay woman, he challenges our stereotypical way of thinking right from the beginning. Although I know nothing about the world of classical music, I was still able to appreciate the power dynamic on display – after all, it is not unique to the world and characters that Field built in TÁR. Over the course of the film, we come to debate questions we have asked ourselves many times over the last several years – Can you separate the art from the artist? Does an artist’s actions impact our opinion of their work and should it? It’s not a coincidence that Tár is an anagram for two other words that are apropos for the character of Lydia Tar.
I’ve covered this entire summary without discussing the incredible performance of Cate Blanchett as Lydia, in a role that Field wrote with the actress in mind. He has said that if she couldn’t play the part, he might not have made the movie. She embodies every aspect of Lydia’s character in a fierce performance that will likely lead to her third Oscar in a few weeks.
Now, a few words of advice for watching Tár. First of all, it’s relatively long – two hours and forty minutes, to be exact. And this is a slowly developing character study – it’s more of a psychological thriller than anything else, but not in a scary way. It’s a film that wants to challenge the viewer to think about Lydia the person, and how you feel about her actions and behaviors. There are no simple answers, but that’s kind of the point. This may be a film that you admire more than love, but it’s definitely worth the investment of time to watch a brilliant director, screenwriter, and actress show off their talents. TÁR is now streaming on Peacock.
#7 – Babylon
When the early reviews started rolling in before Babylon opened two days before Christmas, I started worrying about one of my more anticipated films of 2022. After all, this is a look at the early days of Hollywood from Damien Chazelle, the accomplished director who made Whiplash and won an Oscar for directing my beloved La La Land. The cast is a who’s who of big-time stars. It has to be great, right? But those early reviews described Babylon as too long, excessive, obnoxious, vulgar, disgusting, and self-indulgent. This is not a love letter to the transformational decade when movies transitioned from silent pictures to “talkies” a la Singin in the Rain, although that film is featured figuratively and literally throughout Babylon. No, this is a poison pen letter that Chazelle crafted about that time period, highlighting the indulgence, debauchery, and cruelness of an industry that chewed people up and spit them out. An industry in which the “little people” in the chain of command are shit on by the power players – a theme that is literally depicted in the opening scene involving an elephant. Consider yourself warned – it’s pretty gross.
After that brief sequence, we transition to an extravagant party at a studio executive’s house that serves as the opening set piece, setting the tone for what’s to come. The party features anything and everything the twisted part of someone’s brain can think of, depicting the excessiveness of this era in a way that keeps turning the volume up, challenging the viewer if they can take it. In fact, it would not surprise me to learn that some people shut off Babylon as “not for them” before the film’s title card finally appears thirty minutes into the runtime. One additional highlight from the party sequence is Justin Hurwitz’s lively score, which serves as a perfect complement to Chazelle’s visual onslaught.
It’s clear from my positioning of Babylon in my top ten list that I liked this movie a lot, but it’s not perfect. I did find some sequences too much (even for me), but you can still find humor in grossness. And there are a number of funny scenes in this film, it’s just a different kind of humor. There’s a reason that people have compared the tone of Babylon to The Wolf of Wall Street in their reviews. I was able to look past the parts I didn’t like to see the pure genius in Chazelle’s story and filmmaking technique. There were certain scenes that I think are some of the most impressive sequences I’ve ever seen on the big screen. And for that, I give him a ton of credit for taking a big swing, even if it doesn’t always connect in a perfect way.
At the center of Babylon are Nellie and Manny, played by Margot Robbie and Diego Calva, two twenty-somethings with big aspirations to be a part of the movie-making magic of Hollywood. They meet at the depraved party, share their dreams (while indulging in some cocaine, naturally) and Manny falls in love. Nellie has declared that even though she hasn’t caught her big break yet, she is already a star – either you are a star or you’re not, and she is clearly a star. They both stumble into a lucky break at the party – she is offered a bit part in a picture the next day (to fill in for an actress who overdosed at the party, naturally) and he meets movie star Jack Conrad (played by Brad Pitt) who offers Manny a role as his assistant on location the next day.
The ”first day on set” sequence is truly a highlight of the film for me. Nellie has never worked on a movie before and she has no idea what to do. She enters the Kinoscope Studio set and is quickly thrust into a scene where she has to dance and flirt with a group of drunks in a bar. She makes the most of her scene, where she is guided by her director, played by Chazelle’s wife Olivia Hamilton, who also co-produced the film. The production team quickly realizes Nellie has talent and she soon becomes the “it girl” of Hollywood. Meanwhile, Manny follows Jack to the location of a sweeping war picture, directed by a lunatic German director, played by Spike Jonze in an iconic performance. Here we really see Chazelle’s talents on display as he shows us just how films were really made in the 1920s and there are some hysterical sequences that follow, as we bounce back and forth between Nellie and Manny’s first day on set.
After their big break, Nellie and Manny quickly rise up through the ranks of the Hollywood system, but their rise is not without problems. Nellie’s erratic behavior and drug problems cause her to lose appeal to those around her, and her acting chops are tested when the silent era ends. Now she has to act with sound and her first test is depicted in a brilliant scene where the entire production team struggles to film one scene that takes up only one minute of screen time. Over and over again, something ruins the take and they have to start from the top. This problem was depicted in Singin’ in the Rain, but much like every other comparison to that film, the version in Babylon is on steroids, cocaine and probably some other degenerate narcotics. It’s downright hysterical.
Throughout Babylon, we start to see that what worked in the silent era won’t work in the talkie era, and that is primarily seen through the eyes of Pitt’s character. We’ve always known he was a great actor, but I found this performance by Pitt particularly impressive. He does the comedy of the debauchery to no one’s surprise, but his realization that the glory days of Hollywood may be over, and his best days are behind him are played out in a beautiful poignancy. There is one scene, in particular, where a gossip columnist (Jean Smart, in a wonderful performance) lays out what is coming and that it really is the end of the line. Chazelle also included two supporting characters – a singer and trumpet player – who were marginalized for different reasons. Parts of their story were compelling and the performances by the actors (Li Jun Li and Jovan Adepo) were excellent, but the payoff of the storyline didn’t have a great impact on me because I think their characters were underdeveloped in the earlier parts of the movie.
One last comment about the storyline. When Nellie’s gambling problems put her in danger with a mobster, Manny tries to rescue her, leading to a bizarre and unhinged sequence featuring Tobey Maguire playing against type as the mobster. The sequence is too long, especially when we are already pushing three hours at this point, but I kind of admire Chazelle’s ambition to make the viewer uncomfortable watching it. It’s almost like the “cocaine deal” scene at the end of Boogie Nights, but if it was directed by David Lynch while high on….well, cocaine. It’s truly crazy and culminates with a pitch-perfect “What the fuck?!?!?!” from Maguire in reaction to a shocking moment – a phrase that easily summarizes our feelings about the whole sequence. That’s not the end of the movie though – I won’t spoil what happens afterwards, except to say that the epilogue of the film was a bold choice by Chazelle and one that I liked a lot.
The early reviews probably impacted Babylon’s performance at the box-office, which was not good. It had a disappointing opening weekend, and soft numbers throughout the holiday season. You’d think Paramount would regret giving Chazelle $80 million to make Babylon, along with “final cut” which led to a 3 hour 9 minute runtime. But they must have seen the genius in the parts that worked, because they just signed him to a multi-year “first look” deal, which gives them the first option to finance his films. Babylon truly does feel like Chazelle intended to put everything he loves about movies and hates about the movie system into one film, creating what is easily the most divisive picture in my top ten list this year. One of the first reviews I read about Babylon described it as the film Chazelle made as if he was told he could only make one more movie for the rest of his life, so he put everything he had into it. I think that’s a great way to summarize a film that I think will become a cult classic for years to come, and I’m certainly glad that Chazelle has many years left to bring his talents to the big screen. Babylon is now available to rent on demand and should be streaming on Paramount+ in the next few months.
#6 – Decision to Leave
Welp, I was wrong about this one. Hold on, let me clarify something. When I first saw Decision to Leave at the Philadelphia Film Festival, I was blown away by the story, the mystery, the romance, and the sheer beauty of the movie. I thought for sure that it would be in the running for Best International Film at the Academy Awards, but it wasn’t even nominated. Oh well, it doesn’t diminish the quality of this incredible picture.
Director Park Chan-wook crafted this story of a detective investigating a mysterious death and falling for the widow of the deceased. Hae-Jun is an insomniac who loves to take the overnight stakeout shifts because he can’t sleep – why not get some work done? He has an apartment in the city and only sees his wife on the weekends. When he is called to the scene of a dead man at the base of a mountain he was climbing, he begins to investigate if there was any foul play. His partner is convinced that the wife (Seo-rae, played by Tang Wei in one of the year’s best performances) is involved, but Hae-Jun just can’t see it. Nevertheless, he begins a stakeout to keep an eye on her from across the street. As he gets to know her, he begins to have feelings for her, and she reciprocates. But are her feelings genuine? Or does she have an ulterior motive?
I don’t want to share anymore of the plot details, in case you decide to check this out (which I obviously recommend). But a few more comments on the work of Park Chan-wook, who also co-wrote the screenplay. There are some obvious influences on Decision to Leave, including the works of Alfred Hitchcock, particularly Vertigo. The story is crafted in such a way that you are constantly asking yourself what to believe. Part of that feeling is driven by the way he filmed some sequences. He creates almost a dreamlike feeling during some scenes where we see Hae-Jun and Seo-rae interacting. The way he cut the film by seamlessly transitioning from an imagined interaction to reality was truly incredible. Speaking of which, the landscapes and colors of Park Chan-wook’s production design choices were impeccable. This is also one of the best uses of technology in a film that I’ve ever seen. The way he demonstrates the main characters’ communication via text and through a voice translator (the movie takes place in Korea and Seo-rae is Chinese and struggles with Korean at times) enhances the story a great deal.
One piece of advice for watching Decision to Leave. This is a meticulously told mystery that rewards your full attention, so it’s best to leave the phone down to allow you to fully immerse yourself in the movie. Also, it’s in Korean and Chinese, so you’ll need to read the subtitles – an even better reason to put the phone down. And if you’re reluctant to watch a subtitled film, I’ll remind you of a line from Bong Joon-ho’s acceptance speech when he won the Best Picture Oscar for his masterpiece Parasite. “Once you overcome the one-inch tall barrier of subtitles, you will be introduced to so many more amazing films.” Decision to Leave is now available to rent on demand or watch on the streaming service Mubi.
That’s all for this week. I’ll be back next week with part two of my ten favorite movies of 2022. If you’d like to find where to watch any of the films I write about, you can go to JustWatch.com and search for it there or check out my Film Index here. Thanks for reading and if you’d like to be notified of future posts, you can subscribe below.