The two best meta-movies of the year, Jordan Peele’s “Nope” and Jafar Panahi’s “No Bears,” accentuate the negative in their titles, and take tough, contrarian stands against gauzy clichés about the magic of movies and the power of imagination. They remind us that magic is always the product of hard, unglamorous work, and that power is never innocent. I don’t think Canby and Godard were entirely right (feel free to discuss among yourselves), but after nearly four decades and innumerable interchangeable franchise sequels, it’s clear they weren’t entirely wrong. Yet, all these years later — and even as the industry struggles through yet another of its interminable crises — I am again heartened by all of the good and great movies that continue to be released. I have, many of them, this and every year, but if I can’t tempt you with one of my favorites of 2022, I suggest you watch a film or two by Godard. OK, it almost hurts to admit that this movie over-delivered on what most people expected from it.
Zombie movies and TV shows are everywhere now, but that wasn’t the case in 1968 when Night of the Living Dead dropped into theaters (and dropped jaws everywhere). FIlmed in stark black and white, it’s an intense thriller with more on its mind than just bloodshed. Once the terror starts, which is shockingly immediate (like, seconds in), it does not relent.
A crime thriller that moves at the glacial pace of a long, drawn-out Minnesota accent, Fargo has at its heart (in every sense of the term) the unforgettable character of Marge Gunderson. Brought to life by Frances McDormand, Marge, the ultimate feminist hero, is sweet and honest (and heavily pregnant), but also a hell of a great cop. Her adventure moves at her own speed, and along the way, there are thrills and laughs. A tale of mistaken identity, North by Northwest is about an advertising executive pursued across the United States by a mysterious organization who believes he is trying to thwart their sinister plans. The adventure unfolds with style, a mix of suspense and wry humor, all of which star Cary Grant delivers flawlessly. It’s known for the iconic “crop duster” chase scene, but the movie is a blast from start to finish—one of director Alfred Hitchcock’s finest.
- While it’s set during World War I, its lessons about the horrors and futility of war couldn’t be more timely—or needed.
- The sound of chopping wood and cocking pistol hammers are incessant in The Killing of Two Lovers–jarring and ominous sonic punctuations that do much to fortify the roiling suspense of writer/director/editor Robert Machoian’s tormented domestic drama.
- Daniel Kaluuya and Keke Palmer star as OJ and Em Haywood, siblings who—with their father Otis (Keith David)—provide and train horses for film and TV productions.
- A lot of directors have stylistic quirks, and Steven Spielberg’s is that he loves to show you characters reacting to something before he shows you what they’re reacting to (go back and watch any of his movies, you’ll see it).
- Simmons is dynamic and menacing and instantly iconic, and Teller more than keeps up with him.
This scary movie isn’t for the squeamish, but the mix of paranoia and claustrophobia create almost unbearable tension…and the “who has it/who doesn’t” part resonates even more these days. Set in the early 1900s, Daughters of the Dust is about the Gullah—a community of African-Americans who lived on the sea islands off the coast of Georgia and South Carolina—and tells a multi-generational tale that carries some heavy themes. Director Julie Dash chooses to tell the story with a novel-like feel—you get absorbed in the visuals and the haunting tone and the story just seems to flow from event to event as you come along for the ride. A bandit attacks a young bride and her samurai husband, and the recap of the event is told and retold from different perspectives throughout the movie. I created an important storytelling innovation and one that would inspire the term “Rashomon-like” for any of the hundreds of movies after it that borrowed the same technique.
Sparks’ madcap trajectory resembles that of a rollercoaster (apt, given their participation in 1977’s Rollercoaster), and Wright’s film is a celebration of the enduring vitality of their unique art. The sound of chopping wood and cocking pistol hammers are incessant in The Killing of Two Lovers–jarring and ominous sonic punctuations that do much to fortify the roiling suspense of writer/director/editor Robert Machoian’s tormented domestic drama. Opening with the sight of David pointing a gun at his wife and her lover in bed, the film proceeds to detail its protagonist’s efforts to mend his marriage while coping with the barely suppressed killing rage ignited by his circumstances. Maggie Gyllenhaal has become a canny chronicler of parental dissatisfaction, and following formidable turns in Sherrybaby, The Kindergarten Teacher and HBO’s The Deuce, she again tackles that topic with her directorial debut The Lost Daughter, an adaptation of Elene Ferrante’s novel of the same name.
With standout performances by Clive Owen, Julianne Moore, and Chiwetel Ejiofor, this story of a man tasked with escorting the last (possibly) fertile woman in a world that has been reproductively barren for years to a vague safe haven is harrowing, but uttering gripping. Part of director Edgar Wright’s “Cornetto Trilogy” (named after a popular UK brand of ice cream that makes an appearance in all three movies), Hot Fuzz is about an urban supercop (Simon Pegg) who is forced to relocate https://bestindianews.com/ to a sleepy country village. He’s an abrasive fish out of water until he uncovers a possible murder plot. Hilariously spoofing cop and action movie cliches, Hot Fuzz has endlessly quotable lines and some of the best sight gags and physical comic timing you’ve ever seen. It’s also packed with great British character actors clearly having the times of their lives—most notably, former James Bond Timothy Dalton, who steals the movie as the village’s wealthiest (and shadiest) man.
This movie was not fully appreciated in its time, but has been imitated and “paid homage to” by almost every sci-fi movie since. Set in a futuristic Los Angeles that is grimy and pelted with seemingly endless rain, Blade Runner is about an ex-cop who has to track down four missing “Replicants” (humanoid robots made for labor in hostile environments) who have gone on the run. It’s slow paced but filled with such intricate stylistic details that you’ll want to linger on every scene. One of the reasons it’s aged so well is that it always felt out of time—part ’40s film noir mystery, part ’80s sci-fi (the Vangelis score is a highlight, though), and part dispatch from the future. The “two buddies go on a road trip” concept has been source material for movies for a long, long time.
A woman who loses everything during the Great Recession (Frances McDormand) embarks on a nomadic existence across the United States and meets a host of colorful and tragic characters. Director Chloe Zhao populates the movie with real-life transients rather than actors, but it’s McDormand who is the anchor for the whole experience. A lonely high school English teacher (Robin Williams) with dashed hopes of becoming a novelist struggles with his job and single-parenting his obnoxious, sleazeball teenage son.
But some movies deserve a spot simply for being so boldly (borderline insanely) unlike anything else ever made before or since, that you just have to throw up your hands and accept them as vital and important. The Rocky Horror Picture Show is chaotic, amateurish, and nonsensical, but also has great songs and the kind of go-for-broke performances (especially from Tim Curry as the legendary Frank N. Furter) that you just have to stand up and applaud. A musical tribute to classic horror and sci-fi, it’s raunchy and strange and just really has to be seen to be believed.