The Official Review Thread of 2022

[Okri]

Glass Onion is a lot of fun. While it doesn’t pack the emotional punch as its predecessor, it has one thing going for it that the first one didn’t: a zippy second act. I seem to be in the minority as liking Knives Out but finding the meat of the story a little dull in the middle. Glass Onion takes a moment to really get into gear but it never slows down after that. It plays some of the same games of Knives Out but with a different twist. And if none of the characters are as memorable as Marta (or Evans or Plummer), I thought they represented Johnson’s best foray into comedy so far. Usually his films are a little too tongue in cheek. This one is just an all out comedy and I think it fits him well. Really the only complaint that I have is in the end it really does feel like “A Knives Out Story.” There’s nothing as trenchant or unique as Marta‘s very just desserts besides the good time, but I’ll take it.

I liked it (and the first one and Johnson's films) a fair bit more than you but I tend to be a cheap date for a good sleight of hand. While the characters might not be as memorable in the first film, Monae's every inch a star and the film's 140 minutes whizz by and the funny line quotient is quite high (Derol's line reading during Peg's realization of just how stupid Birdie is was pitch perfect). Ending not quite as perfect as the first but still an amusing fuck you nonetheless.

[anonymous1980]

AFTERSUN
Cast: Paul Mescal, Frankie Corio, Celia Rowlson-Hall.
Dir: Charlotte Wells.

A woman reminisces about the time when she just turned 11 and her father took her on a vacation in Turkey. The film is deceptively simple. We see them hang out, we see what their relationship is like, we see vignettes of scenes typical of a vacation. But as we go along, we sort of feel like there's something going on underneath the sunny atmosphere. Apparently, semi-autobiographical and with a dream-and-memory like feel, writer-director Charlotte Wells created something absolutely beautiful that will both warm and break your heart. I'm going to be thinking a lot about this for a while. Paul Mescal and Frankie Corio both give great performances and this film heralds the arrival of another promising filmmaking voice. Yes, it is indeed one of the best films of the year.

Oscar Prospects: Deserves Picture, Director, Actor, Actress, Screenplay and Editing.

Grade: A.

GLASS ONION: A KNIVES OUT MYSTERY
Cast: Daniel Craig, Edward Norton, Janelle Monae, Kate Hudson, Kathryn Hahn, Leslie Odom Jr., Dave Bautista, Jessica Henwick, Madelyn Cline, Noah Segan, Jackie Hoffman, Dallas Roberts.
Dir: Rian Johnson.

Detective Benoit Blanc returns to solve a mystery involving a billionaire gathering his old friends on an island and, coincidentally, to play a murder mystery game. I deliberately avoided watching trailers beyond the first one so I have very little idea of the actual plot and story going in. And I'm glad I did because this is a joy to watch. I'm not sure if it's better than the first one but it's at least as good. The magic of this film is that a lot of the characters are as interesting as the mystery involved and they're brought to life by a game cast who seems to having a ball. I can see why Janelle Monae is the one getting the awards buzz but Edward Norton and Kate Hudson are fantastic as well. The film is still very funny and the mystery just as gripping and engaging. While I'd love to see Rian Johnson do something else, I wouldn't mind if he keeps churning these out every couple of years if they are always this top quality.

Oscar Prospects: Supporting Actress and Adapted Screenplay seem to be one people are predicting but I think it deserves Costume Design and Production Design as well.

Grade: A.

[anonymous1980]

And even at over three hours, the time seemed to fly by and I was almost never bored (it helped that I saw it on 4DX, haha).

What's the 4DX experience like?

It was alright. I joked afterwards, it would make dozing off or having to go to the bathroom in a 3+ hour film impossible because with lots of action scenes every few minutes, there's very little downtime. But while it wasn't unpleasant, it didn't add anything for me in the movie-going experience so I'm unlikely watch a film like this again anytime soon.

[Greg]

And even at over three hours, the time seemed to fly by and I was almost never bored (it helped that I saw it on 4DX, haha).

What's the 4DX experience like?

[anonymous1980]

AVATAR: THE WAY OF WATER
Cast: Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Stephen Lang, Sigourney Weaver, Kate Winslet, Cliff Curtis, Edie Falco, CCH Pounder, Jemaine Clement, Brendan Cowell, Joel David Moore, Dileep Rao, Giovanni Ribisi, Jamie Flatters, Britain Dalton, Jack Champion, Trinity Jo-Li Bliss, Bailey Bass, Filip Geljo.
Dir: James Cameron.

The long-anticipated sequel to the billion dollar 2009 film has Jake Sully raising a family with the N'avi and hostile humans return to finish what they started which cause Jake and his family to flee and join a water tribe. I have to say that I loved the original when it first came out (I gave it a high score and excellent review) and I was genuinely blown away by the visuals. It's diminishing returns over the years and now I took the plunge back in. I must say...I was not as blown away as I was when I saw the first one but I still enjoyed myself massively. It is still a visual feast and the action scenes are spectacular. No one can do them quite like James Cameron (although he seems to be quoting himself at this point). And even at over three hours, the time seemed to fly by and I was almost never bored (it helped that I saw it on 4DX, haha). So not quite the best of the year but a highly enjoyable popcorn movie.

Oscar Prospects: I personally wouldn't nominate it for Best Picture. But that Visual Effects Oscar should be in the bag.

Grade: B+

THE BANSHEES OF INISHERIN
Cast: Colin Farrell, Brendan Gleeson, Kerry Condon, Barry Keoghan.
Dir: Martin McDonagh.

In an island called Inisherin in 1920's Ireland, a man abruptly ends his friendship with another man and this causes both funny and tragic consequences. This is quite possibly my favorite film from writer-director Martin McDonagh and to put it quite simply, one of the best films of the year. Colin Farrell, Brendan Gleeson, Kerry Condon and Barry Keoghan all deliver awards-worthy performances whilst being supported by a colorful bunch of actors playing small supporting performances that actually leave an impression. The film is laugh-out-loud funny while at the same time being tragic and sad sometimes at the same scene but never missing a beat. Yes, I'd be very surprised if this manages NOT to end up on my finalized Top 10 films of 2022. Highly, highly recommended.

Oscar Prospects: Deserves nominations and wins across the board.

Grade: A.

[Big Magilla]

THE BANSHEES OF INISHERIN
Cast: Colin Farrell, Brendan Gleeson, Kerry Condon, Barry Keoghan, Gary Lydon, Pat Shortt, Sheila Flitton, Brid Ni Neachtain.
Dir: Martin McDonagh

The most consistent awards grabber of the year is a must-see film, a dark comedy that you have to rewind in your head if not immediately rewatch to get the significance of everything that happens. Several characters say they don't lie but that's not true, they all lie, mostly to themselves. Even the title, which seems not to have much significance, is said to be a lie by one of them, but it isn't. There are banshees in Inisherin. One is obvious, the other not so much.

I was a big fan of McDonagh's Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri which I thought was the best film of 2017. If this one is up there with The Fabelmans, Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio, and Triangle of Sadness among the best I've seen this year. It's certainly a smarter film than currently presumed Oscar frontrunner Everything Everywhere All at Once which, as I've said, only works if you see it as the story of a woman going mad, not as the story of a woman caught up in an ever-increasingly wild adventure.

Banshees takes place during the "troubles" in 1923 Ireland on an island off the coast of the mainland where its inhabitants are removed from the day-to-day fighting but not immune to it. Like all films set during that time in Ireland, sadness permeates the narrative even if it isn't centermost in the story. You get shades of everything from Juno and the Paycock to Ryan's Daughter with more than a little Au Hasard Balthazar thrown in for good measure.

The acting is first rate down to the smallest part with the four main actors all deserving of the many awards they are receiving. Colin Farrell has never been better. Brendan Gleeson has seldom been better. Barry Koeghan lives up to his early promise and no one will ever ask "who is that" again when Kerry Condon shows up in something.

Oscar Prospects: Best Picture, Direction, Original Screenplay, Actor (Farrell), Supporting Actor (Gleeson, Koeghan), Supporting Actress (Condon), Cinematography, Film Editing, Production Design.

Grade: A

[Big Magilla]

THE FABELMANS
Cast: Michelle Williams, Paul Dano, Gabriel LaBelle, Seth Rogen, Judd Hirsch, David Lynch, Keeley Karsten, Jeannie Berlin, Robin Bartlett.
Dir: Steven Spielberg (Josh McLaglen, Assistant Director)

Forget the naysayers. This is one of Spielberg's very best films, a real movie-movie. My only issue with the film is a technical one. In 1952, the standard TV was a console with a 17" screen, not those tiny early TVs as shown in the film.

The story flows along at a steady pace despite an occasional slow spot. The acting is first-rate across the board with Paul Dano and Judd Hirsch the standouts. Michelle Williams may have slightly more screen time than Dano as the showy mother but Dano as the quieter father has almost as much screen time. Either they're both leads or both supporting players. To call one a lead and the other a supporting player doesn't seem right to me.

The cameos by Judd Hirsch as Williams' minor show biz player uncle and David Lynch as John Ford toward the end of his career are both superb. Hirsch's performance is so spot-on I can't imagine him missing out on either a SAG nomination or an Oscar nod despite his lack of early showing at other awards.

The screenplay by Spielberg and Tony Kushner is excellent. Spielberg's direction is first-rate as is the second unit direction of Josh McLaglen, son of veteran director Andrew McLaglen and actress Veda Ann Borg, and grandson of Ford favorite Victor McLaglen.

Oscar prospects: Best Picture, Direction, Original Screenplay, Supporting Actor (Dano, Hirsch), Supporting Actress (Williams), Cinematography, Film Editing, Production Design, Sound, Score.

Grade: A

[Big Magilla]

GUILLERMO DEL TORO'S PINOCCHIO
Cast: Ewan McGregor, David Bradley, Gregory Mann, Cate Blanchett, Christoph Waltz, Tilda Swinton, Ron Perlman, Finn Wolfhard, Burn Gorman, John Turturro, Tim Blake Nelson (voices).
Dirs: Guillermo del Toro and Mark Gustafson.

This is director Guillermo del Toro's version of Carlo Collodi's tale of a wooden boy that comes to life. We've all seen the Disney version and the various other versions in various platforms that's been made over the decades. This one will remembered as one of the very best. For one thing, the stop-motion animation is simply awe-inspiring. Despite being a very familiar story for most people, Guillermo Del Toro and company made the story surprising and fresh by incorporating elements such as World War II era fascism and the concept of death, dying and mortality, making this version a little darker, a little more complex and all the more better (the ending in particular hits). What else is there to say? I loved this one. It's one of the best films of the year.

Oscar Prospects: Deserves Picture, Animated Feature, Adapted Screenplay, Production Design, Visual Effects, Score and Song.

Grade: A.

Totally agree, would only add that the voicework is among the best ever with McGregor, Bradley, Mann, and Swinton the standouts.

[anonymous1980]

PUSS IN BOOTS: THE LAST WISH
Cast: Antonio Banderas, Salma Hayek, Harvey Guillien, Florence Pugh, Olivia Colman, Ray Winstone, John Mulaney, Samson Kayo, Wagner Moura, Da'Vine Joy Randolph, Anthony Mendez (voices).
Dir: Joel Crawford

Puss in Boots finds out he is on the last of his nine lives and decides to go on a quest to find a wishing star that may help restore his nine lives so he can get his courage and mojo back. Puss in Boots and Antonio Banderas's voicing of him is my favorite character in the Shrek franchise. In fact, he is what made the second one watchable. His solo film is probably my favorite film of the Shrek universe...that is until this one. I know. It surprised me too. What at first glance looks like a disposable direct-to-streaming sequel is actually a beautifully animated feature that is firing in all cylinders. It is very funny. The pop culture references are actually clever. The voice work is stellar (I mean, Florence Pugh, Olivia Colman and Ray Winstone doing a take on Goldilocks and the Three Bears as a British family of criminals....that is just genius). And when it goes for heart and poignancy...even that works! Don't sleep on this one.

Oscar Prospects: Strong contender for Animated Feature. Original Song is a barn burner this year but it does have a good song in it too.

Grade: A-

GUILLERMO DEL TORO'S PINOCCHIO
Cast: Ewan McGregor, David Bradley, Gregory Mann, Cate Blanchett, Christoph Waltz, Tilda Swinton, Ron Perlman, Finn Wolfhard, Burn Gorman, John Turturro, Tim Blake Nelson (voices).
Dirs: Guillermo del Toro and Mark Gustafson.

This is director Guillermo del Toro's version of Carlo Collodi's tale of a wooden boy that comes to life. We've all seen the Disney version and the various other versions in various platforms that's been made over the decades. This one will remembered as one of the very best. For one thing, the stop-motion animation is simply awe-inspiring. Despite being a very familiar story for most people, Guillermo Del Toro and company made the story surprising and fresh by incorporating elements such as World War II era fascism and the concept of death, dying and mortality, making this version a little darker, a little more complex and all the more better (the ending in particular hits). What else is there to say? I loved this one. It's one of the best films of the year.

Oscar Prospects: Deserves Picture, Animated Feature, Adapted Screenplay, Production Design, Visual Effects, Score and Song.

Grade: A.

[Sabin]

I don’t know why it’s so low on RT. It’s one of my favorites this year and a lot of people I know feel the same.

[flipp525]

Yep, Magilla. Same page on Triangle of Sadness.

I told you guys that Dolly de Leon was going to be a contender when I saw this first. She’s already popping up in lots of places.

[Big Magilla]

TRIANGLE OF SADNESS
Cast: Harris Dickinson, Charlbi Dean, Woody Harrelson, Dolly de Leon, Zlatko Buric, Henrik Dorsin, Vicki Berlin.
Dir: Ruben Ostlund.

A young couple goes into a luxury yacht cruise where everything goes terribly wrong. This year's Palme d'Or winner is yet another sub-genre of the "eat the rich" black comedy that seems to be popular these days. This one is not at all subtle and delivers its message in the loudest, most obvious way possible and I can even understand why some people hate it. But I found it both highly enjoyable and more complex and nuanced than I thought it would be. This might be deemed blasphemous by some but there are times when I was reminded of the films of Luis Bunuel when I was watching this. The ensemble is great. Dolly de Leon is the standout. She is unforgettable in the third act and deserves some accolades and the acclaim. It's not quite among the best of the year but pretty close.

Oscar Prospects: I think there will be champions of this within the Academy. Picture, Director, Original Screenplay and Supporting Actress are all possibilities.

Grade: A-

Best film I've seen so far this year. Still have to see Banshees, TÁR, Women Talking, The Whale, and The Fabelmans as well as all of the year-end action films but this certainly beats Top Gun: Maverick and Everything Everywhere All at Once in my estimation.

[Big Magilla]

SHE SAID
Cast: Carey Mulligan, Zoe Kazan, Patricia Clarkson, Andre Braugher, Jennifer Ehle, Samantha Morton, Ashley Judd.
Dir: Maria Schrader.

The film tells the true story about how two New York Times reporters broke the story of Harvey Weinstein and the system abuse, assault and sexual harassment of women within the Hollywood system that lead to the #MeToo movement all over the world. Fun fact: I was the only person literally in the screening for this film. It's the first time that's ever happened to me, I believe. LOL. Anyway, as I was watching this, I was reminded of Spotlight and this film, I have to say, isn't quite as good as that film. But I do applaud the good intentions of this film and the performances of the cast are mostly great. I'm aware that apparently Carey Mulligan is fraudulently being pushed as a Supporting contender for this film which is too bad because I think it will overshadow the fact that Jennifer Ehle is the best actual supporting performance in this film. Overall, it's a very good but not quite great.

Oscar Prospects: It might sneak in Supporting Actress (should be for Ehle but likely for Mulligan, who's a co-lead) and Adapted Screenplay.

Grade: B.

Pretty much agree. Pushing Mulligan for Supporting Actress is the most egregious act of category fraud yet. I doubt anyone will fall for it. Loved Ehle and Morton but their roles are probably too small to be considered.

[dws1982]

Nowhere Special
One of those "what year is this?" movies that played a few Festivals in 2020, got a UK release in 2021, and has not gotten US distribution yet, but I really wish it would, because with the right distributor, this could've maybe gotten some traction for James Norton in a weird Best Actor race. He is so good. It's a small movie, and the premise is a difficult sell: some people are just not going to want to watch this kind of movie, and it's hard to argue with it. It would never be a hit in theaters in this environment, but I'm sad that some type of distributor didn't take a chance on it. Norton plays John, a single father to a young three or four year-old son named Michael. John works as a window-washer, and while they aren't rich and don't really seem to have much extra, it's a genuinely nice and loving family unit. The driver of the plot, introduced very matter-of-factly is that John only has a short time to live and because he has no family (he mentioned growing up in foster care) is now trying to find a family who will adopt Michael, all while trying to navigate the issue of how--or whether--to tell Michael about his terminal illness. Maybe it would just be better to let Michael go live with another family, with nothing from his former life, and eventually more-or-less forget his dad. John reasons, and you see where he's coming from, that the trauma of seeing dad die--the only person he knows, essentially, his whole world--would be much worse than just having them quietly disappear from each other's lives. John "interviews" several families with Michael, and even ones that are obviously not good fits are all portrayed in a very kind, generous way. There are no freaks, no people who look like potential abusers, and every indication that Michael could probably have a good life with any of these families. The social workers he deals with are decent people who are truly sensitive to the situation. It's a really nice movie with a very loving worldview; I wish there were ten more like this every year.

[anonymous1980]

VIOLENT NIGHT
Cast: David Harbour, John Leguizamo, Beverly D'Angelo, Alex Hassell, Alexis Louder, Leah Brady, Edi Patterson, Cam Gigandet, Alexander Elliot.
Dir: Tommy Wirkola.

A wealthy family is taken hostage by a gang of mercenaries after their vault full of money. It happens to be Christmas Eve and Santa hears the wish of the little girl in the family and is forced to take action. This film dares wonder, "What if Santa was a bad-ass action hero in a hard-R violent action-black comedy film?" And here it is. It largely works! This is mostly thanks to David Harbour's superb performance. He is really well-cast as an ass-kicking Santa Claus. He has the right balance of edginess and paternal warmth necessary for this particular role. There are some decent laughs and some gnarly kills here. It's a bit clunky and too long, sure. But those looking for something a little less syrupy for their holiday viewing will find this appropriately entertaining.

Oscar Prospects: None but I wouldn't mind David Harbour managing to get a Best Actor (Musical/Comedy) nomination at the Globes.

Grade: B.