February 10, 2023
Earlier this week, I was listening to an interview with M. Night Shyamalan discussing his new film Knock at the Cabin, which is very good. A compelling thriller with a great performance by Dave Bautista in the lead role. Shyamalan was asked by the podcast host to share his thoughts about the current movie environment, specifically the ongoing theater vs. streaming battle. Shyamalan’s pictures have all premiered in theaters, but he also made a television show for Apple TV+. He noted that in the last few years, we had two forces pushing on the theatrical model. The first was the business incentive to utilize the technology of streaming to make more content available to viewers at home. The second was the pandemic, which forced theaters to close for several months, upended the movie production model for two (plus) years, with some sense of normalcy now emerging.
He finished by saying that despite these forces at work, theaters are still going strong. Yes, there have been more theater closures than we would like, especially in the small arthouse world, but the box office in 2022 was much better than the doldrums of 2020 and 2021, albeit still short of 2019 levels. When I share my 2023 movie preview in a few weeks, I think it’s going to be clear that we will continue to see things get back to normal. That’s not to say that there isn’t a place for direct-to-streaming movies. I think the studios that will be most successful will figure out which films need to go to theaters for an extended period of time, which ones should go to theaters for a short window followed by a quick home rental release and a debut on streaming, or which ones should go straight to streaming. Some studios have already figured this out, and some are still living in the past.
As I was finalizing my list of favorite movies of 2022, I had this realization that my top ten films were all ones that I saw in theaters. I saw four of those at the Philadelphia Film Festival in a large sold-out theater and my favorite movie was in a sold-out preview screening. It was so compelling that I swear nobody got up from their seats during the entire runtime of the picture.
Now, it helps that my top ten movies are all great (in this person’s opinion – I’m sure there are people reading who would find TÁR too slow, or Babylon too obnoxious), but what makes the theatergoing experience so wonderful is that there are no distractions. Shyamalan also talked about this in his interview. Without the distraction of a second screen (scrolling on your phone), you are immersed in the storytelling on the screen. Not just listening to the dialogue while looking at your phone – you are admiring the visual choices of the director, the facial expressions of the actors, the action sequences, the color choices, the beautiful landscapes. It goes on and on.
In interviews promoting Avatar: The Way of Water, James Cameron expressed his love of seeing movies in theaters and why it means so much to him, with this quote “When we go to the movies we make a deal with ourselves to have undivided attention for a couple of hours. It’s about immersing yourself…choosing to commit to that ahead of time.” As much as I love the convenience of watching a film from my couch, it doesn’t match the experience of sitting in the theater, being riveted by watching a movie unfold, wondering what’s going to happen next.
OK, let’s move on to my top five films of 2022. If you missed last week’s post, you can read it here.
#5 – The Banshees of Inisherin
Why do friendships end? Sometimes people drift apart and there isn’t a defined end to their relationship. Sometimes there is a massive fight that causes a breakup. And sometimes it’s a mystery. The person who you were closer to than almost anyone else in the world just stops responding to you, and suddenly you are on an island. Such is the dilemma for poor Pádraic, a simple man living with his sister Siobhán on a small island off the coast of Ireland in the early 1920s in The Banshees of Inisherin.
Pádraic loves his animals, particularly his sweet donkey Jenny, hanging out with his buddy Dominic, the village idiot, and meeting his best friend Colm at the pub every day for a pint (or two or three). Then one day Colm tells him to stay away from him and that he doesn’t want to be friends with him anymore. Pádraic is baffled – what did he do wrong? Only after pressing Colm for an answer does he discover that his friend finds him dull and thinks life is too short to waste on mindless chatter when he can be creating something to be remembered by, specifically music he is writing on his fiddle.
Writer-director Martin McDonagh has created a wonderful dark comedy that skews more “comedy” in the first half and “dark” in the second half, particularly when Pádraic refuses to listen to Colm’s demands that he be left alone. In fact, the drastic actions Colm takes border on the absurd, with the film becoming more of a fable than a realistic story about two friends who drift apart. It’s also not a coincidence that while the two men are feuding, there is a civil war on the mainland, a conflict that parallels two parties who were once close to each other seeing a disagreement escalate into a violent conflict.
In addition to writing the wonderful script, McDonagh shot on location in Ireland and the landscapes are absolutely stunning. The film features a superb score by Carter Burwell, who conducted a very interesting Q&A following the screening I saw in Philadelphia. The man has an incredible resume, including almost every picture made by the Coen brothers. Needless to say, this is a movie that will take you back in time to Ireland in the 1920s while watching it.
The last stroke of genius in McDonagh’s film was his casting decisions. He reunited with Colin Farrell (as Pádraic) and Brendan Gleeson (as Colm) who starred in his clever 2008 comedy In Bruges, to portray the two friends. It’s obvious from the beginning why he chose these two actors, because they have wonderful chemistry on screen and they play the dark humor perfectly. You will never get tired of anyone saying the word “feckin” no matter how many times you hear it. The other two standouts in the cast are Kerry Condon as Siobhán, who longs to get out of the small village, and Barry Keoghan playing the dimwitted friend of Pádraic, who also has a crush on his friend’s sister. It’s not a surprise that all four actors received Oscar nominations for their performances. I’ll share more of my thoughts on their chances in my upcoming Oscar preview, but suffice it to say, they better give Farrell the feckin’ Oscar. The Banshees of Inisherin is now streaming on HBO Max.
#4 – Women Talking
Every year there are movies I struggle to see. It’s not about having the time. I’m fortunate that I have the time in my schedule for my second favorite hobby (after torturing myself on the golf course). No, the problem is actually finding a way to see the movie. I was trading messages on Facebook recently with a high-school friend who couldn’t figure out where to watch The Whale. Despite months of Oscar buzz for Brendan Fraser, the film was still only playing in a small number of theaters in the middle of January. I was reminded of three years ago when I desperately wanted to see 1917 and it was only playing in a few cities. Playing in over 3,000 theaters that weekend? Fucking Cats. No, I didn’t partake in that one.
I really don’t understand why studios do a slow rollout schedule over several weeks for their marquee movies. You read that a film is opening on a certain date, only to find out it’s only playing in four theaters in New York and Los Angeles. Meanwhile it takes six weeks to show up in your local theater. That’s why I loved what Paramount did with Babylon – over three thousand theaters Christmas weekend. Now, that didn’t translate to a big box-office, but at least people could find the movie.
Another strategy that works is the quick transition to home rental and/or streaming. The Banshees of Inisherin had a wide theatrical release in mid-October. It didn’t make a ton of money, but it received strong critical reviews and built momentum towards the awards season. In mid-December, the film became available on HBO Max and home rental, just in time for the holidays. Guess what people did? They watched it from home and loved it and Banshees is now one of the frontrunners for Best Picture.
In contrast, the home release strategy for The Woman King was a big miscalculation by Sony Pictures. The film received strong reviews and had a successful box-office run when it was released in September. It’s a wonderful action movie with a compelling story, featuring an excellent performance by Viola Davis. Seemed like a perfect movie to get into people’s homes late in the year, build some awards buzz, and get some Oscar nominations, right? Nope. The film is only now premiering on Netflix next week and was shut out at the Oscars. Now, to be fair, voters don’t have to wait for something on Netflix to see it. They have access to an online portal where all of the films are available to watch from home, well in advance of the voting windows. But for some reason, The Woman King didn’t resonate with voters and despite two nominations for Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay, my next movie should have received more attention from the Academy.
I was fortunate to see Women Talking in October at the Philadelphia Film Festival and it was one of the more emotional pictures I saw all year. Despite strong early critical reviews, the studio behind the movie got spooked by Avatar: The Way of Water and moved its release date from early December to late December, and only went wide with it in mid-January. It’s a real shame, because more people should have seen this movie and perhaps they will when it gets to home release.
Women Talking is based on a novel inspired by real events that occurred in Eastern Europe several years ago. The film portrays a community of Mennonite women who have decided to take action against the men who have been sexually assaulting them for years. They are drugged and assaulted in the middle of the night and after years of abuse, they have had enough. They gather together to decide whether they should leave or stay and fight. They struggle with wanting a better life, but leaving behind the community they have known their whole lives, including their close friends who refuse to leave.
On the surface, this might seem like one of these “Covid productions” where people are just sitting around in one location talking to each other. But the script by director Sarah Polley, and the contrasting performances by the lead actresses make this a compelling story. I was also struck with the way Polley’s filming technique presented a dark color palette, reflecting the tone of the subject matter. Additionally, the film’s score is brilliant in its simplicity, featuring melodies that are at times haunting, but also hopeful. The fact that Hildur Guðnadóttir didn’t receive an Oscar nomination for her score is one of the many oversights the Academy had when it came to this movie. Speaking of which…
At the center of Women Talking are three characters played by Rooney Mara, Claire Foy, and Jessie Buckley. They debate the pros and cons of staying or leaving and what they can actually change if they stay. They are all in different life situations, which are amplified when the conversations include the generation older than them, and when considering the young girls of the community. While a decision may be simple on paper, the women are deeply devout in their faith, and debate how they could build a new community on their own. Most of them don’t read or write and have little confidence they could survive outside of the world they have known their whole lives.
The cast of Women Talking featured a strong lineup of some of the best actresses working today. On the one hand, I can understand how it might have been hard for the Academy to settle on one or two who should have received a nomination. On the other hand, this film is the best example of why the Academy needs a Best Acting Ensemble award to honor brilliant performances like we saw here. The subject matter of Women Talking can be a little difficult at times, but the story is a powerful one of courage and bravery by a strong group of people in the most difficult situation imaginable. I highly recommend this one. Women Talking is now playing in theaters and should be available to rent at home soon, followed by a streaming release on Amazon Prime Video.
#3 – The Fabelmans
During the 1994 award season campaign for Schindler’s List, Steven Spielberg noted that he always wanted to make a film about the Holocaust, but he felt like he needed to be an accomplished director before he could tackle such an important topic. By the early 1990s, he had demonstrated that he could bring any type of story to the big screen and be successful, so he set off to make the film that finally brought him his overdue Oscar recognition. 1993 also saw the release of Jurassic Park, perhaps the greatest demonstration of filmmaking prowess by any director in one year.
Over the years, Spielberg has shared details of his childhood growing up in Arizona and California, including the devastating impact his parents’ divorce had on him as a child. And while he never really made a pure “family drama,” the themes of parenthood and divorce are sprinkled throughout his filmography, notably Close Encounters of the Third Kind, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, Minority Report, and War of the Worlds. Much like his experience with his Jewish faith and making Schindler’s List, Spielberg always knew he wanted to tell the story of his family, but didn’t feel like he could do it while his parents were still alive. With their passing in the last few years, he finally felt comfortable bringing their story to the big screen.
The Fabelmans is centered on a family living in New Jersey whose oldest son Sammy is the stand-in for Spielberg. We open with his parents (Paul Dano and Michelle Williams in wonderful performances) taking him to see The Greatest Show on Earth in the theater. Young Sammy is amazed at what he sees on the big screen and attempts to recreate the film’s extravagant train crash at home with his new toy train set. It sets off an obsession with making home movies featuring his younger sisters and neighborhood friends. We quickly jump to Sammy’s teenage years after the family has moved to Arizona for his father’s new job. Along for the ride is family friend Bennie, played by Seth Rogen.
As Sammy’s love of film expands, we start to see the cracks in the foundation of his parents’ marriage. He immerses himself in his movie projects (which his Dad keeps calling a “hobby”) to help shelter him from the deterioration in his home life. Gabriel LaBelle is excellent as Sammy and it’s hard to imagine the pressure he must have felt knowing that he was portraying one of the most successful directors of all time in front of said director. I found his performance wholesome without being schmaltzy and that kind of sums up my opinion about this movie. I did worry a little bit that The Fabelmans would fall into the same trap that Belfast (which I hated) did a year ago. But that wasn’t the case for me.
The Fabelmans was marketed as a look at how Spielberg developed his love of film, and there are certain elements of that theme throughout the picture. It’s fun watching him shoot war movies with his friends, or figuring out how to make gunfire “pop” off the screen by poking holes in the film. But this is primarily a family drama, and at times, a difficult one. The scene where the parents tell the kids about the divorce is heartbreaking, and this is coming from someone who is NOT a child of divorce. The film’s runtime is a little long (2 ½ hours) and I wonder if the high-school section could have been trimmed down a bit. Clearly, Spielberg wanted to highlight the anti-Semitism he experienced at that time in his life, and how he channeled his anger into his filmmaking. That being said, the actress who played his high-school girlfriend (Chloe East) was an absolute delight in every one of her scenes. All in all, I was very impressed with The Fabelmans as a wonderful coming-of-age story from one of our greatest storytellers. Now that Spielberg has delivered his most personal film yet, I’m very interested to see what he does next. The Fabelmans is now available to rent on demand and should be streaming on Peacock in the coming weeks.
#2 – Nope
It seems only appropriate to move from a Spielberg movie to one that clearly was inspired by his films. The premise and details surrounding Jordan Peele’s Nope were few and far between when we first heard of it. All that we knew was that it was some sort of science-fiction horror movie in a Western setting and Daniel Kaluuya would be reuniting with the director for the first time since Get Out, the film that won Peele an Academy Award for his screenplay. Once the first trailers started appearing, we knew there was something special coming. For some reason, the Academy ignored what I consider to be a fantastic movie, and it received no Oscar nominations.
At the center of Nope are siblings OJ and Em, played by Kaluuya and Keke Palmer, living on their family’s horse ranch, where they train horses for television and movie productions. The business has been in their family for generations, with their ancestor being one of the first Black actors in Hollywood. But they point out that as minorities, their family has been marginalized over the years and the business has suffered because of it. Early in the film, OJ takes over the business from his father, who died a mysterious death after being hit by debris falling from the sky. OJ starts to notice strange objects in the sky and starts to wonder if what he is seeing has anything to do with his father’s death. The more OJ and Em study what they are seeing, the more they realize that they are dealing with something supernatural, extra-terrestrial, or both. Rounding out the cast is Steven Yeun as Jupe, owner of a local theme park that promises visitors a glimpse at the creature in the sky. As a child actor, Jupe witnessed a horrific attack on the set of his television show, which brought him both fame and infamy.
On the surface, Nope may seem like another “creature horror” or “alien” movie, but there is more at play with the themes that Peele is exploring. Normally, when people see scary monsters, they want to get the hell out of Dodge. But OJ and Em see an opportunity to capitalize on their situation. If they can film the creature, maybe they can sell the footage and gain some fame and fortune of their own. OJ quickly realizes that by looking at the creature, you are in more danger than if you just look away. In this way, Peele is commenting on our inability to look away from things that fascinate us every day (like the cellphone you may be reading this on), as well as the fascination with getting noticed online that OJ and Em’s generation seem to obsess over. Jupe exploits the benefits of his fame from a tragedy by running his theme park, pushing the limits with the creature to make an extra buck wherever he can.
In early reviews, critics noted the inspiration of Spielberg on Peele’s film, and you might think the obvious choice here is Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Aliens in the sky, right? Actually, a more apt comparison is Jaws. A large beast terrorizing a small town and being chased by those who are hunting it. Of course, Brody, Hooper and Quint were trying to kill the damn shark, while OJ and Em are trying to get it on film to make some money.
Nope is the kind of movie that works on so many levels. The two main actors are outstanding – Kaluuya displays a quiet demeanor with a little bit of dry humor, contrasting with Palmer’s hysterical mannerisms that will crack you up. Peele’s mastery of the horror and suspense is on full display, with some subtle moments and some that are downright terrifying (but they are fleeting – this is not a gory scarefest horror kind of movie.) Choosing to film Nope on location in the California desert put brilliant vistas on display throughout most of the movie. The views are stunning and the fact that this picture didn’t receive an Oscar nomination for its cinematography is baffling to me. Lastly, the story is compelling. It not only delivers the frights you would expect in a Jordan Peele film. It makes you think about the power of family and how we’ve changed as a society in the last hundred years in terms of race, capitalism, and interactions with each other. A true classic from a master filmmaker. Nope is now streaming on Peacock.
#1 – Top Gun: Maverick
At the end of 2021, I was trying to figure out my final top ten list and I was wondering if CODA was still my favorite, a spot that it held since I watched it in January of that year during the Sundance Film Festival. Just a reminder that I was driving the CODA train before everyone else jumped on board. Anyway, I rewatched it again around Christmas, it wrecked me (again), and I left it at #1. Of course, a few months later, CODA went on to win Best Picture.
Why am I bringing this up? Well, back in May of last year when I got home from the IMAX theater where I was blown away by Top Gun: Maverick, I put it at my #1 spot, where it sat all year. And despite all of the wonderful films I saw over the next seven months, nothing could knock it off the perch. But once again, as the year was winding down, I found myself tinkering with my top ten list. And when we fired up Top Gun: Maverick on New Year’s Eve (we don’t live the most exciting lives), there was no doubt that this was my favorite movie of 2022.
When theaters shut down in March of 2020 and it seemed like they might never open up again, there was a migration of films to streaming services. Companies just shrugged their shoulders and figured it was better to put it online than to keep it sitting on a shelf. Paramount Pictures took one of their Oscar contenders (The Trial of the Chicago 7) and sold it to Netflix, who put it on their service and saw it receive six nominations. But Paramount took a different approach with Top Gun: Maverick. Despite the film being completed, the studio decided (with a recommendation / demand from Tom Cruise) to wait it out. In interviews, one of the movie’s stars, Jon Hamm, advised eager fans to be patient, noting that the film needed to be seen in theaters and audiences would be thrilled to see it on the big screen. Cruise even spoke with leaders in the theatrical industry and said “Hang in there – we’ve got Top Gun: Maverick and the next Mission: Impossible movie coming. We’ll help save movie theaters.” After $1.5 billion at the global box office, Cruise was right.
More than thirty years after the original film’s release, we once again find Pete “Maverick” Mitchell as the renegade outcast. He’s always had a problem with authority and in the opening sequence of Top Gun: Maverick, he ignores orders and continues flying a secret jet to a new speed record. Despite the insubordinate behavior, Maverick is ordered back to Top Gun to train an elite group of pilots for a dangerous mission. His old adversary (now good friend) Iceman is the one who recruited him. He knows that despite Maverick’s lack of discipline, he’s the best man for the job. One of the pilots to be trained is the son of his old wingman Goose, who died in the first film. Miles Teller plays Rooster, who is upset that Maverick has gotten in the way of his career goals. When the training starts and Maverick starts torturing the pilots, the fun really begins.
In addition to a great performance from Cruise – let’s face it, the man is a damn movie star and knows how to be one – we have a strong supporting cast. Val Kilmer returns in a small role as Iceman, suffering from cancer, Hamm plays the Top Gun bureaucrat who won’t stand for Maverick’s bullshit, and Jennifer Connelly plays an old friend from Maverick’s past who becomes a love interest. But the beauty in the cast is the lineup director Joseph Kosinski assembled for the fighter pilots in training. Playing foil to Rooster is Glen Powell as Hangman and the other members of the squad have a good combination of humor and determination as the best alumni of the fighter school. The comradery is on full-display when they are giving each other shit or playing Dogfight Football. Don’t worry about understanding the rules for that game – I don’t think there are any rules. I’m convinced that scene was put into the movie for two reasons – a nostalgia-infused callback to the volleyball scene in the first picture, and an excuse to show Cruise running. It’s probably a contractual obligation at this point that he has to be running in every one of his films. Speaking of which, the next Mission: Impossible movie looks fabulous.
It may seem obvious now that Top Gun: Maverick would be a monster hit, but it’s easy to forget just how wrong this could have gone. While the first film was a massive box-office success, it was released in 1986 and let’s be honest – the cheese factor on that one is incredibly high. Rewatching it now, there are some real cringe-worthy moments. Let’s just mention the You’ve Lost That Loving Feeling and beach volleyball scenes and leave it at that. Anyway, there was a chance that the sequel could be corny, silly, and fall flat, despite having Cruise back in the pilot seat. You can quibble with the plot similarities with the original movie, some cheesiness (the Great Balls of Fire scene / flashback for instance), if the storyline with Penny works (I think it did – Jennifer Connelly was great), or if the film turns into a Mission: Impossible movie for the last twenty minutes, but those are minor nitpicks. The nostalgia hits all the right notes throughout the movie without being cheesy, but the overriding factor that makes Top Gun: Maverick work is the incredible action sequences created and filmed by Kosinski and his team.
Over the last ten years, we have become used to “special effects” being a bunch of people standing around a soundstage in front of a green screen with CGI animation inserted after the fact. After so many superhero movies employing this tactic, it gets old. What makes Top Gun: Maverick work so well is that the flying scenes are (for the most part) actually filmed sequences. Real Navy pilots flew the jets and the actors were in the back seat, acting out their scenes in front of cameras in the cockpit. The actors had to go through months of boot camp training, with Cruise leading the way. Kosinski assembled hundreds of hours of footage to assemble the flying sequences, coupled with CGI that doesn’t look shitty – it looks like we are actually watching pilots putting their lives on the line to achieve their mission. Kosinski created sequences that are downright riveting, particularly when Maverick is demonstrating how to achieve the mission, or when the teams go into enemy territory to destroy their target.
As I look back on 2022, one of the most memorable experiences I had was in that IMAX theater in late May seeing a rollicking good action movie that worked on so many levels. At the end, I remember saying, “I can’t believe they pulled that off!” I can almost guarantee that Top Gun: Maverick will be the 2022 movie I rewatch the most over the years and for those reasons, it’s the perfect choice for my favorite film of the year. Top Gun: Maverick is now streaming on Paramount+.
That’s all for this week. I hope you enjoyed my look at the year in film over the last few weeks. If you want to find where to watch any of the movies I cover in this blog, you can check out my Film Index here. And if you are a glutton for punishment, you can see my top 100 films of 2022 here. I’ll be back next week with my preview of the Oscars. Thanks for reading and if you’d like to be notified of future posts, you can subscribe below.