David E. McDonald’s Top 10 Films for 2022

David E McDonald’s Top 10 Films for 2022

I admit it right out of the gate: It was tough trying to choose 10 from the slate of remarkable films I’ve screened over the year. This has been a banner year for films, especially breakout works at festivals. I had to split more than a few hairs to narrow down to those ten. I found superb entries in every genre, many of them innovative hybrids that pushed the envelope, and a surprise here and there. Here are my picks for 2022, without ranking.

David E McDonald’s Top 10 Films for 2022

1. Pinocchio

Guillermo del Toro’s retelling of Carlo Collodi’s 1883 classic as a stop-action musical during Mussolini’s dictatorship. Del Toro takes about the same liberties with the story as others did, but his innovations regarding the characters are plenty remarkable and entertaining. These include the Blue Fairy, voiced by Tilda Swinton, Count Volpe (meaning ‘fox’) by Christoph Waltz, and Cate Blanchett giving voice his monkey assistant, Spazzatura (‘trash’) in place of the Cat. Pinocchio himself (Gregory Mann) comes to life already acting more or less like 10-year-olds we all know and love, gradually winning over the crotchety Geppetto (David Bradley). Sebastian the Cricket in this version (Ewan McGregor) is a sidelined schlimazel; he gets clobbered each time he tries to deliver a moral of the story. Alexandre Desplat composed the score and the brief and breezy songs, plus a couple of semi-sweet ballads.

2. Nope

This film is one of the surprises I referred to above. A UFO hidden in a cloud invades the horse ranch of the Haywoods, a generational family of Hollywood wranglers. Nope counts among the truly innovative science fiction films produced in the last decade, such as Cloud Atlas, Arrival and Annihilation. Peele manages to interweave fascinating, complementary subplots addressing different themes seamlessly, so the pacing is remarkably smooth. The scares are deftly handled, and the characters have depth, though they appear on the surface as stereotypes. Even better is the ambiguous treatment of the airborne entity, code named ‘Jean Jacket,’ so the surprises just keep on popping. With Daniel Kaluuya as the stoic OJ Jr., Keke Palmer as spitfire Emerald Haywood, Keith David as OJ Sr., Steven Yuen, Michael Wincott, Brandon Perea, and Terry Notary. Jordan Peele’s script is lean, his direction is sharp and stunning, and Nicholas Monsour’s editing is remarkably precise.

3. Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery

The second installment of Knives Out is not really a sequel. It’s even more like James Bond and less than Agatha Christie. Daniel Craig does a wonderful turn as Benoit Blanc, a hick yet urbane version of 007. Edward Norton plays the underhanded tech billionaire Miles Bron – Dr. No by way of Mark Zuckerberg – with a cohort of collaborators and hangers-on, among them: Kathryn Hahn as a politician; Leslie Odom Jr. as a scientist; Kate Hudson as a fashion guru; Dave Bautista as an activist. Bron invites them to an annual bash on his Greek island, plus two unexpected ones: Andi Brand (Janelle Monáe), the brains behind the success of all the others but cheated out of her share, and Benoit himself. This satire bolstered by rock-solid, whirlwind story structure, fine performances, gorgeous sets and CGI, against tropical island scenery. Personally, I’m more curious about the choice of Benoit’s name, pronounced ben wa (as in ‘ben wa balls’) than his sexual orientation.

4. Bros

This giddy, past-paced romance, satirizes gay stereotypes, memes, and tropes even as it gives all due respect. The story centers on candid podcast celebrity Bobby Lieber (Billy Eichner) and attorney Aaron Shepard (Luke Macfarlane). Bobby and Aaron both have work problems. Bobby is too busy with the opening of a new LGBTQ history museum, perfectly content to expedite his sexual needs through one night stands on Grindr. Aaron is simply bored at work, coasting along, suppressing a desire to become a chocolatier. They go through the awkward phase and negotiate fidelity and expectations in some hilarious scenes using trial and error. But through the banter and repartee, they make real progress until Bobby acts as tour guide of the City for Aaron’s suburban, right-of-center parents. When Bobby shares tidbits of intimate moments with Mom and Dad, this is a bridge too far for Aaron. But each facing their own insecurities and sharing them finally bridges the gulf. A tricky work to balance sentiment and sophistry to this relationship on the screen, and they strike a tenor of authenticity that has you rooting for them all the way through.

5. Emily the Criminal

The pace of this edgy, street-wise slice-of-life drama keeps viewers on their toes. The best thing about this film is that it presents Emily, played by Aubrey Plaza, in all her wage-slave glory, strengths, flaws, uncertainty, and audacity. In the first few minutes of the film, one can certainly sympathize with Emily’s frustration, whose past scrapes with the law constantly undermines her aspirations as a graphic artist. Right off the bat, she’s a hero we can relate to. Loaded down with college loan debt, we can appreciate the enormous risks she takes, feel her fear when she screws up, and celebrate her triumphs. Emily takes full advantage of the opportunities hidden among her challenges, not the least of which is the spark between her and her crime boss, Youcef (Theo Rossi) that flares up into romance, which never gets sentimental; Emily stays true to the character she’s become. Director John Patton Ford presents us with a straight-forward, absorbing tale, full of action and suspense with a remarkably talented team.

6. Till

This account of Emmett Till’s date with destiny begins in the crossfire between the assassination of civil rights activist Lamar Smith a week before Emmett’s arrival and the Montgomery Bus Boycott. The specifics of the inciting incident remain debatable even now, after so many revisions, retractions, and recantations of the events over the decades. Director Chinonye Chukwu penned the screenplay along with Michael Reilly and Keith Beauchamp, and represents decades of research. They scrupulously shaped the story, or so it appears, around as many agreed-upon facts as they could, and the plot is necessarily lean as a result. The teasingly slow pan to Emmett’s unrecognizable corpse after days in a river has a poignancy we don’t see often in films. The fresh-faced blond kid with the pop gun outside the courthouse during the trial has special power. Danielle Deadwyler as Mamie Till-Mobley truly makes this film all her own. Her fury at the injustice can be seen in her demands and confrontations throughout. This retelling is more about feelings than facts, and the emotional drive behind Mamie’s proactive and persistent efforts within the civil rights movement.