As 2022 comes to a close, I've gone through the 65 movies reviewed this year and settled my 10 favorites.
There were plenty of highlights and lowlights this year with it being a particularly good year for horror films which always makes me happy.
Top Gun: Maverick and Avatar: The Way of Water delivered the goods in terms of onscreen spectacle, even if they didn't nail the story, something sorely needed after the last few years.
So, without further ado below are my 10 favorite films of 2022 in no particular order.
This list isn't necessarily based on my original grades.
X
There have been plenty of horror films that have tried to replicate the look and feel of Tobe Hooper's original Texas Chainsaw Massacre but never quite hitting the mark. Ti West pulled off a fun surprise with X which captured the grimy violence paired with a dark sense of humor. Its final act aims to make you squirm and it does so in spades.
The superhero genre has brought the concept of the multiverse to the masses but Everything Everywhere All At Once manages to nail the concept while delivering an emotionally poignant story which grounds the overall story.
Robert Eggers The Northman is visually mesmerizing from start to finish. Its story plays like a blend of Gladiator and Excalibur stacked with a excellent performances across the board.
Avatar: The Way of Water is far from a perfect film, but you can't deny the technical and visual achievements James Cameron delivered on screen. Its story never reaches those heights, but the visuals alone make it one of the more memorable big screen experiences of the year.
Alex Garland's Men isn't an easy film to digest especially as it gets more bizarre and headier in its final act. It’s the type of film that stays with you whether you loved or hated it due to searing imaginary and stellar performances from its two leads.
Martin McDonagh's films tend to be as darkly funny as they are pensive and deep. The Banshees of Inisherin reteams him with Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson for the first time since In Bruges. The result is an immensely watchable film that's as funny, sad and meaningful as their previous collaboration.
By this point in time, another Elvis biopic seems like beating a dead horse into the ground, but Baz Luhrmann's name was enough to get me intrigued. His exuberant, kinetic style paired with a career making performance from Austin Butler elevate the film making it feel more like a fantasy than reality.
For me, Jordan Peele's first two films were overpraised for my taste. I enjoyed them but can't say either one really blew me away. I expected more of the same with Nope and was genuinely taken aback at how much I enjoyed his twisty, genre bending film. Peele keeps you off balance by toying with your expectations throughout and once the reveal occurs you are either all in or rolling your eyes. Needless to say, I was in the first camp.
Sometimes you run across something unexpected and original like Marcel the Shell with Shoes. Its stop motion star is charming and lovable, but the story's arch is surprisingly profound, moving and heartfelt.
When I heard that Ti West and Mia Goth had written and shot a prequel to X I thought it was interesting but figured it would be a nice companion piece at best. I was utterly unprepared for the visual flair and overall craftmanship they both delivered on screen. This film is its own living breathing entity, a distinct and separate creation which more than stands on its own. Mia Goth double role in X was impressive but with Pearl she exceeds it in everyway, capped off with a monologue for the ages.
My dear reader(s), this weekend I finally had the opportunity to catch up with Baz Luhrmann's Elvis (2022).
Spoiler level here will be mild, nothing you wouldn't know from the trailers.
The very stylized life and times of the King of Rock n' Roll.
So...I didn't set out to compare Elvis to my beloved Rocketman, but almost instantly the comparisons started making themselves. I'm reasonably certain the comparison isn't why I wasn't head over heels for Elvis, but...full and fair disclosure and all.
Elvis plays like a fantasy, even though it seems largely true to life. That probably can be chalked up to Luhrmann's flashy style and the King's bigger-than-life persona, but it immediately gives the film a brassy feel that was a bit jarring sometimes.
Austin Butler aces the dramatic scenes and proves an able Elvis impersonator during musical sequences, even if he's missing the spark that makes the King the King. The always reliable Tom Hanks is rightly unsympathetic as Col. Tom Parker to Butler's Elvis. While the story is told from Parker's point of view, he's never painted its hero. Costumes, hair, and makeup are beautifully done, but the story never quite earns its bloated runtime.
Orson Welles once said, "If you want a happy ending, that depends, of course, on where you stop your story." While Rocketman had the benefit of wrapping up its fantastical tale with Sir Elton enjoying personal and professional success, perhaps it was always going to work against Elvis that we know the story doesn't have a happy ending. Perhaps my expectations for the movie were just too high. Or perhaps no telling could have done this magical human justice. Whatever the reason, this movie definitely fell flatter for me than it seemed to for most.
Elvis clocks in at 159 minutes and is rated PG13 for "substance abuse, strong language, suggestive material, and smoking."
While Elvis the movie never quite matches the glory of Elvis the legend, it's an entertaining enough film featuring some great performances and magnificent costumes.
From his rise to fame to his unprecedented superstardom, rock 'n' roll icon Elvis Presley maintains a complicated relationship with his enigmatic manager, Colonel Tom Parker, over the course of 20 years. Central to Presley's journey and happiness is one of the most influential people in his life -- Priscilla.
Director: Baz Luhrmann
Cast: Austin Butler, Tom Hanks, Helen Thomson, Richard Roxburgh, Olivia DeJonge, Luke Bracey, Natasha Bassett, David Wenham, Kelvin Harrison Jr., Xavier Samuel, and Kodi Smit-McPhee
Release Date: June 24, 2022
Genre: Biography, Drama, Music
Rated PG-13 for substance abuse, strong language, suggestive material and smoking
Runtime: 2h 39m
Review:
Baz Luhrmann's Elvis is a frenetic carnival ride of a biopic that shakes up the formula enough to make the genre feel fresh. Luhrmann's garish style is perfectly suited for Elvis, something that shines through during the film's energetic and meticulously crafted stage sequences. These moments pulsate with an engaging sense of verve that's hard to resist. The opening introduction is masterfully played as Luhrmann slowly reveals the fresh faced star in the form of an electric Austin Butler. Butler simply dissolves into the role, capturing the soulfulness and playfulness of his real life counter part. Its a fascinating turn for multiple reasons especially since Elvis' persona has been parodied and mimicked excessively by now but he manages to play him with a tangible sense of humanity in the film's quieter moments. The film uses Colonel Tom Parker deathbed memories as the film’s framing device but it keeps the audience at arm’s length from Elvis’ state of mind especially in his later days which seems like a missed opportunity. Tom Hanks, under heavy make up, plays Parker like a carnival conman opportunist who latches onto Elvis. Its a solid performance but you get the sense that Hanks is limited by the prosthetics and cartoonish accent leaving the character as more of a caricature than a fully formed person. That being said, Hanks and Butler do share some strong sequences together where the script lays bare how the conman kept his grips on the star. Baz Luhrmann and Jeremy Doner penned the script and its less interested with factual accuracy than it is in capturing those singular moments in his life. It smartly engages on the issues of musical appropriation never shying away from pointing out where Elvis' inspiration came from. It would have been easy to gloss over that and focus solely on the spectacle which Luhrmann still does in spades. There is a sense that Baz cares deeply about his central subject even though he still can't help himself and over indulge in his showmanship, particularly in the final act where attrition starts to dull the effect, but he still manages to deliver a Elvis biopic that will leave plenty of people happy.
