The best movie lists are fun to come up with because you go back and reconnect with everything you saw. They are also exhausting because you can’t include everything you want and have to sacrifice mercilessly. You can read my results below, but first a couple of updates to prepare you for them.
THE WHALE: You might imagine that visiting a deathly obese man in his tiny apartment and listening to him go on and on wouldn’t be much fun. Maybe not, but Brendan Fraser makes it compelling and moving. He is sitting there with his huge belly, fat arms and swollen face, barely able to move and very aware that the pizza he has delivered every day and the chocolates he keeps in a drawer are not recommended. But he continues anyway.
This story originated as a play, and the movie hardly makes up for that. It’s one room, four people come and visit you and you’re totally engaged. The writing and all the acting are very good. One is from Hong Chau, who plays a nurse who takes care of him and warns him that his blood pressure is through the roof and will kill him. Another is of Ty Simpkins as a missionary guy who wants him to accept Jesus Christ as savior. Third, there’s Sadie Sink as a teenage daughter who’s equally smug and angry at him. His wife (Samantha Morton) also makes a brief appearance. Gradually interconnections between these people are revealed, some unnecessary and quite artistic. He’s a creative writing teacher (via Zoom) and what does he order essays on? Moby Dick of course. There is pain and a gay angle to his own story. What holds all of this together is Fraser’s wonderful performance. He effortlessly transitions from pouting, fearful, assertive, smiling, and happy and back again. He should be rewarded. So should Darren Aronofsky, the director. (In theaters) 4 of 5
SHE SAID: It came without fanfare and has already moved quite well in most of Canada. It has been suggested that the studio that made it didn’t think there would be much of an audience for it. But for anyone interested in how journalism is conducted, this is a must-see. Also for anyone following the growth of the me too movement’s fight against sexual abuse. This shows how The New York Times exposed Harvey Weinstein. (He has just been convicted a second time and has years in jail ahead of him.)
Carey Mulligan stars as Megan Twohey and Zoe Kazan as Jodi Kantor, the two young reporters who followed rumors about Weinstein that many in the movie industry knew about but didn’t talk about publicly. Patricia Clarkson and Andre Braugher play the editors of the NYT. The film details their investigation, the frequent meetings they have to find out what they have and what else they need. Reporters make quick visits to witnesses or victims, listen to graphic accounts of what Weinstein did, and then work on the even more difficult part: getting any of them to speak up officially. Actress Ashley Judd is one of them and appears as herself. The script clearly conveys how the victims felt and how the legal system worked against them. This is an important movie. Keep an eye out, maybe still in some theaters now, and streaming eventually. 4 ½ of 5
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THE BEST OF 2022: I knew this was a very good year for movies, but looking back and seeing what I reviewed surprised me. Maybe it’s true: chaos inspires art. There were so many candidates for a top 10 list that I had to pick wildly. Before that, I grouped some titles into categories, like this:
There were some very good movies about protecting the natural world, including The territory (Brazil), The Guardians of Kablona (Canada), Costa Brava, Lebanon (yes, that country) and of course Avatar 2 (on a science fiction moon).
Race relations in the US was a big topic. My two favorites were Emergency (disguised as a teen comedy) and Descendant (a forgotten story from the last days of slavery but with contemporary impact).
Immigration, legal or not, was detailed in two very strong movies. riceboy sleepsFrom Vancouver actor Anthony Shim, it’s about trying to fit in here and revisit your culture on a return trip to Korea. Fleeuses animation to tell a harrowing and hitherto hidden story about one man’s experience with human traffickers.
Two films about China are especially notable. Ascension is a documentary that gives a clear and very close vision of the cultural changes that are taking place. Hint: It’s all about money and status claims, not COVID, which predates it. eternal spring is a bit of history about the night some Falun Gong fanatics hijacked a state television service to spread the message that their movement is good, not bad. The film is Canada’s submission to the Academy Awards.
Consolidation was still not enough. My top 10 is still 12. They are in alphabetical order.
ALL CALM ON THE WEST FRONT:
The classic anti-war novel was turned into an Oscar-winning film in 1932 and now, in its first German-language version, it powers it all: the dark and terrifying times in the trenches and the lies the young recruits were told war is glorious.
AVATAR THE PATH OF WATER:
I found the story and characterizations disappointing, but the theme of environmental stewardship encouraging and the visual creativity amazing. Also a bit of Canadian pride: James Cameron’s movie has already grossed $1 billion, though he says it will need to earn twice as much to break even. Staggering numbers.
THE BANSHES OF INISHERIN:
Excellent acting by Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson and Martin McDonagh’s sharp, cheap direction and screenplay make for a highly entertaining and initially funny film about the breakup of a friendship.
elvis:
As a fan, I was wary of what Baz Luhrman could do with this yet another biography of the king. Well, it’s splendid, frantic at times, perfectly capturing his stage presence (in Austin Butler’s performance) and the control Colonel Tom Parker (Tom Hanks) had over him. He’s not the whole story, but powerful nonetheless.
SO: A donkey travels through the countryside and meets the worst and the best of humanity. Seeing him is absolutely seductive, because of the cunning he shows and because of what he finds. However, soccer players should be careful. They don’t come out well.
EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE AT ONCE:
We all want intelligence and imagination in movies. Get ready for a lot of both in this one. Michelle Yeoh plays a laundromat owner who tangles with a tax official (Jamie Lee Curtis) and is left adrift imagining how her life could have been different: chef, movie star, opera singer, wrestler of kung fu, talking rock, world-saving eminence in the multiverse. There is no chance to get bored. sacred spider
HOLY SPIDER: One of two very good representations this year of the work of journalists (She said is the second). This is a true story from Iran, where about 20 years ago a man was killing prostitutes thinking that he was doing Allah’s work to clean up the streets. A reporter does what the police couldn’t: find him. We see her work and the details are chilling.
MARCEL THE SHELL: Wit again and a very moving story. He is a mollusk who was separated from his family when his house was turned into an airbnb. His grandmother (voiced by Isabella Rossellini) and Leslie Stahl from TV’s 60 minutes both help. The film is playful, whimsical and sincere.
NO BEARS: Iranian Jafar Panahi is currently in jail because he kept making movies when he was banned. This is one of his best. It’s partly about making movies in secret and mostly about small-town attitudes, even superstitions, that he encounters in a town he visits to do his job. He becomes increasingly entangled in a local dispute, border and smuggler suspicions and more. Fun but nervous stuff too.
SHE SAID: The New York Times exposes Harvey Weinstein. (see previous review)
TAR:
Cate Blanchett gives a powerful performance as a symphony conductor whose rise in the usually male profession is threatened. That’s thanks to her personal way of working and a scandal from her past. Those two current concerns, female advancement and cancel culture, are vividly played out in this captivating film.
THE WHALE: Brendan Fraser also gives a powerful performance. He plays a deathly obese man and you come to believe his situation. (See previous review)