Here we are in 2022. The world is almost back to normal. Almost. In 2019, I saw half of my list on their first run, and so many more at the theater that I never mentioned. In 2020 and 2021, I saw nothing in the theater. This year's list has only two that I saw in the theater, and those are the only two I watched away from home at all. In 2020 Panther Pictures scrapped a long-developed production, but this year we produced it. Still, self-promotion, a constant in this business, remains difficult. A retrospective of our films, shown at the famous Fargo Theater, a national landmark, was sparcely attended. This industry can be extremely subjective. As for #TenBest lists:
Please also remember that my list is not merely a reflection of [the American film] industry. It is a reflection of myself within it. What has resonated with THIS PERSON this year? Professional critics may or may not like to pretend otherwise, but everything in this business, outside of "Could you see and hear what was happening on the screen?" is subjective. Honestly, I think that is why friends (or people without a lot of time) working in the same circles end up with the same movies on their [Best of] lists. All. The. Time."
-- Eric C Player, Ten Best Introduction, 2015
And so once again I present the world with my Top Ten list. A list that I hope will be just different enough to get you curious about the films you haven't heard of--the films different from those being nominated everywhere under the sun, while the critics say they never heard of them. Like every year, entries on the list are limited exclusively to American, English-speaking fare. Self-contained movies. No TV series, despite what Netflix, Hulu, and EVERYONE keeps pushing.
P.S. - A note on my style of film review, for new readers: I don't always give a film synopsis based on plot points. More often than not the review reflects how the film feels to me. And isn't cinema supposed to make us feel?
P.P.S. - I thought it was self-evident, but apparently not: Each film has a link to where you can watch it. Just click the title.
#PPLLCTenBest2022 #TenBest2022 #TenBest
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Pinocchio, Double-Dare You! Films, Directed by Guillermo del Toro
At first it's hard to feel like this movie was necessary. There are so many others, including a movie about Pinocchio going into outer space. But from the first frame of glorious stop-motion it's obvious this one's different. In the past I have lamented movies that give unnecessary back story instead of getting on with it, but now I see that context was something all other iterations of Pinocchio, even Disney's (1941) perfect one, were sorely lacking. Here we see how devastated Geppetto was by the death of a son long ago, and so can identify his motivations for wanting to create a marionette one. But in an interesting twist, it's also nearly a complete accident. The original idea he had, was for the puppet to be, at most, something for him to touch and grieve over. But the Blue Fairy took him seriously; he is just as shocked by what is happening as anyone, and (at first, like the townsfolk) wants nothing to do with the little wooden boy. That arc and so many other writerly touches in the story, make this one that you should watch, just maybe without the kids.
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Top Gun: Maverick, Paramount Pictures, Directed by Joseph Kosinski
I mean, Duh. But for further elaboration, here is a word-for-word cut and paste of a four-star Google review written in September 2022 by Welek Lee:
"Like any laid back nester whose watch list plates were already full three months ago when the biggest aviator cinema phenomena was terrifically manifested by four worldwide generations of alpha action movie fans as the highest-grossing film of 2022, those young at heart now mostly in their fifties and beyond know it's better late than never to savour every adrenaline rush and thrill at their home theatre reimagined piloting inside the cockpit of a super hornet — Cher would sure want a ride with either or both Tom Cruise and Val Kilmer exclusively in the name of her boyfriendology."
Hey man, that says it all.
Emily The Criminal, Roadside Attractions with Netflix Studios, Directed by John Patton Ford
The easy thing in this story would have been to have Emily be an innocent victim of circumstance, driven by desperation and student loans to get in over her head. And that's what the plot synopsis would lead you to believe too when you flip through the streaming menu. That is not this movie. Emily (Aubrey Plaza) is not a victim, except as a victim of her own worst impulses. She is a dark person trying to pretend to be a bright one. But every bright moment of opportunity she is given, she sabotages, including the opportunity to get a side hustle. She goes way beyond what even her original Fagen/handler intended, ruining his life too. One thing that the ending makes clear, despite all the tropical paradise tropes, is that she's not going to stop. She can't.
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Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, Netflix, Directed by Rian Johnson
Rian Johnson had a problem. It's always a problem trying to follow up an Academy Award nomination, not to mention all the other awards for which Knives Out was nominated and won. In 2020 he went from the pariah screenwriter who ruined The Last Jedi, To making a film that was hailed as the most fun you could have at the movies that year. Heck, it made my top 10 list. But following up from something like that is hard. And it's easy to fall back into old habits. The thing that ruined The Last Jedi, his inability to handle character shifts, has come back to bite him on the heel with this one. The first 2 hours are almost as tasty and fun as Knives Out was. Even despite the bland cinematography doing its best to ruin the Grecian countryside. But then in the last 20 minutes Rian loses sight of his characters (except of course for Benoit Blanc, whom you can't ruin because he's propped up by James Bond).
I used to work as a script doctor, and old habits die hard: I believe there are two things, two small changes Rian Johnson could have made that would tie the whole thing up quite nicely, and would be very satisfying. They had to do with a certain cocktail napkin and The character choices in relation to it. But as I say, only as they were handled in the last 20 minutes. He couldn't trust, or didn't understand (or didn't want to) the characters he'd given life. Kind of like The Last Jedi.
Despite that, for over 2 hours it was better than most movies that came out this year. So it makes the list. It also makes me want to watch See How They Run.
Bullet Train, Columbia Pictures, Directed by David Leitch
Bright and colorful and a lot of fun. Brad Pitt as the classic character trying to go straight but fate being unwilling to let him. Usually the protagonist has wandered through years of life condensed into a few hours of angst and backstory. Also usually played by Al Pacino.
This is The Godfather Part 3 crammed into the timeline of Dog Day Afternoon, paced like a Hong-Kong Kung Fu film, set in Japan through a cotton-candy filter. Every director seems to be cramming cameos into their projects this year like Linus' blanket into a backpack, but the ones here feel just right. Like Linus" blanket. And the ensemble players gel like the Peanuts gang. The twins, mass murderers for hire, had me legit (legit, right? That's what the kids are saying nowadays) crying for the bonds of sibling love that transcends all, and It was nice to see the gleeful psychopaths being played by women for a change. Sisters doing it for themselves. I couldn't resist finding Master Ugway's wisdom at the center of this bloody violent opera: One often finds his destiny on the road he takes to avoid it.
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The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, Searchlight Pictures, Directed by Tom Gormican
I should say more about this than I'm going to. Just, if you're a fan of Nicholas Cage in his "Ahh! The Bees!" phase, or his Leaving Las Vegas phase (and they're kinda the same thing), you'll enjoy this one. I mean I knew it was the cousin all along, but wow. Paddington 2 rocks.
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Fall, Lionsgate, Directed by Scott Mann
Pretend you're not up there. Try counting sheep. Every list needs a tense low budget thriller. Here's mine; enjoy it. Two women fighting for survival over something that has nothing to do with a man, and some very nice sunsets. I'd go in to more detail but you'll know everything you need to know with the trailer. By the way, The California Supreme Court recently ruled that bad or deceptive trailers qualify as false advertising, and as such the moviemakers can be sued.
You're on notice, Wonder Woman: 1984.
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Nope, Universal Pictures, Directed by Jordan Peele
One of the great movies about moviemaking, and of going to any length necessary to make your point and get the shot. All the tropes--vaudville, horses, horror, and aliens--packaged by the man who used to hide in trees when talking smack about his woman. Have I ever gone to the lengths these folks do, for my movies? Nope. Does that make me less of a filmmaker? I'll have to look into that. Check the clouds, and such.
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Weird: The Al Yankovich Story, ROKU Films, Directed by Eric Appel
Gleefully does exactly what every biopic ever did: tells it the way the subject remembers it, not the way it was.
"Al, your father and I have been talking, and we just think it's best that you stop being who you are and doing what you love."
Everything Everywhere All At Once, A24 Films, Directed by Daniel Kwan
Another masterfully constructed screenplay, and one that stays masterful all the way to the end. Also, the camera work, unlike in Glass Onion, keeps up. The opening was a hairy confusion of shots and lines and yet you knew exactly what was going on in the first 10 minutes. And then of course at 14 minutes everything changes. Over and over and over again.
For the record, I too choose to see the good side of things. Strategic and necessary. This is how I fight. Laundry and taxes. Thanks, Shortround and Crouching Tiger lady. You made me cry.
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And those are my picks for the best English (native or dubbed) movies of 2022. The only way to make your list better than mine would be to wrap it in bacon.
Gonna combine Razzies and Honorable Mentions this year. We'll call them the Also-Rans. And they are, without fanfare or photos:
1. Babylon - This one is a full-on Razzie. (And the link at the title is on purpose.) Having read the original "Hollywood Babylon" years ago, along with experiencing the immense spectacle of the 1923 Ten Commandments, I've wanted to see this time period really given a more abundant treatment (which, okay, was handled by The Great Gatsby spectacularly), but I imagined something that explored the social consequences of the hedonistic lifestyle of Hollywood, not the full frontal hedonism itself. It doesn't appeal to me in the least. (Important Side Note: There's something different about reading things than seeing them. Just ask Violet Bick.) I've never believed in the idea that you criticize a movie because it's not the one you wanted to make, but I'm sorry, if the "notices" are accurate, Fatty Arbuckle getting peed on is just not something I want to see. Would you?
2. Empire of Light. A definite Honorable Mention. I didn't add it to the list this year, for the same reason I never put Dunkirk on my list. I've had no chance to see it in a theater yet, and given the subject and cinematography it isn't a movie I want to judge except on the big screen. If anyone reading this is a local, it's currently playing at the Fargo theater, but I won't have an opportunity to see it until after the first of the year, when it will either be gone or too late for me to include an honest review here.
3. The Man From Toronto. Honorable Mention. Sure, it's been done a thousand times before, but who cares? It's stupid and fun. Like most Kevin Hart movies. It starts out good, then Woody Harrison brings his chops in to give this sociopathic comedy some depth, and it's great. Why isn't it on the main list? Why, because of Bullet Train, naturally.
4. Avatar, the Way of Water. So much Razzie I'm going to have to change my shirt.
5. Wakanda Forever. This was one of those two films I saw in the theater. That's how excited I was for it. Other people must have been too, because it's still in theaters. Another Honerable mention, though, because that's my way of memorializing Chadwick Boseman and what he brought to the Black Panther character. Plus, lets be honest, the special effects could have used another six months of tweaking. Releasing it this year was a cash grab.
6. Insert Disney+ Exclusive Content Here
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Eric C. Player is an independently poor filmmaker, and the president of Panther Pictures, LLC, in Fargo, North Dakota. He is a father, fan, storyteller, "Picker," Corvair driver, and Super8 camera fan. A graduate of BYU and Chapman University film schools, his films have played in theaters all across the United States, Europe, and Asia, and movies to which he was a contributing writer or producer are available on Netflix, Amazon, and Vimeo. He has written and produced film and video content for over twenty-five years, and has been writing Chapter-Fiction since the sixth grade. His 2007 production, Nothing But The Best, was an Official Selection of the 2010 Newport Beach Film Festival. His 2016 short, Moment of Anger, received multiple honors including Best Short and Best Director at the Road House International Short Film Festival in Santa Monica, California. his 2019 short The Fruit was an Official Selection at the Los Angeles Cinefest. He currently has two shorts in post-production and two feature scripts trying to work their way from spiral notebook to screenplay software. Eric Player on Imdb.
