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
- 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.
7. Living
Living was inspired by Kurosawa’s 1952 film, Ikiru (“To Live”). As an added tribute, director Oliver Hermanus and writer Kazuo Ishiguro keep the setting in the early Fifties, along with the plot from the 1952 original film virtually intact. This exercise in bureaucratic runaround involves three women determined to convert a neighborhood lot used as a dump into a playground for the local children. A very simple matter of a few forms ends up as a day wasted for Williams, a civil servant supervisor, and his staff. Eventually, however, the playground becomes the catalyst and central spine of the story. Williams has been imprisoned by futility at work and responsibilities at home. But in the wake of Williams’ adventures, including a May-and-September romance, kindly intentioned misfires, plainspoken wisdom from those he meets, all serve to rouse Williams from his indolence. He has an epiphany: to make a difference, or determined to go down swinging at the very least. And in the end, he does both. Inspired further by the dogged determination of the playground ladies, he joins with them–and inspires his staff to do likewise. Bring a hankie.
8. God’s Country
This movie is about an attempt to outrun grief and disillusionment and how it failed, as so often it does. Sandra Guidry (Thandiwe Newton) trades careers as an instructor at rural Montana college to escape the bitter experiences as a police officer in New Orleans in the wake of Katrina. Whether labeled a ‘fresh start,’ ‘geographical cure,’ or plain culture shock, the move left Sandra unequipped to handle the informalities of community life in the Rockies. Despite a serene beginning with breathtaking panorama, Sandra’s tragedy unfolds with a battle on two fronts. At home, she makes an effort to repair relations with her neighbors, brothers Nathan and Samuel (Joris Jarksy and Jefferson White, respectively) but as a cop, demanding concessions. At work, offering her brand of feminism in the form of advice to a young woman, though well intentioned, backfires. Deputy Wolf (Jeremy Bobb) and her boss, Arthur (Kai Lennox) tried to explain the different code of conduct in the Great Outdoors, but she stands now too firmly on higher social principle to concede anything herself. After a series of escalating stalemates, one foray involving a house fire, Sandra feels forced to take the law into her own hands. Superb performances all around. Based on “Winter’s Light” by James Lee Burke.
9. Leonor Will Never Die
If I was really backed up against the wall, this film would likely be my favorite. It has the remarkable distinction of seamless overlapping narratives that neither muddles nor fragments any of them. Sheila Francisco, under the guidance of writer/director Martika Ramirez Escobar, portrays Leonor in what can only be adequately described as an awesome performance as a workaday matron in a flowered smock that belies her former success as a screenwriter of action potboilers in the style of Jackie Chan. While trying to reignite that career by entering a screenwriting contest, she suffers a head injury that launches her into parallel worlds, all centered around her new screenplay. Despite all its wackiness, Leonor Will Never Die is much more than an excellent hybrid farce. This remarkable work explores existential themes that are both personal and professional, and how tightly the two intertwine. In retrospect one can appreciate how the creative drive can flourish even in poverty and revive one’s craft and artistry. It is not so much that Leonor herself will never die, but that the essence of her creativity and imagination remains alive and kicking, irrespective of her state of mind.
10. Benediction
Benediction is not a typical survey-style biopic that highlights milestones and eccentricities. Director Terence Davies doesn’t delve much into the dictates and decorum expected in English society in the decades during and after the war. This film concentrates on two particular aspects of the life of WW I poet Siegfried Sassoon. The first deals with his reactions to the war, both as a poet and a rebellious soldier. The second peers into his relationships in the post-war period, as a gay man and, later, as a husband and father. He wore many hats under the oppression of British decorum at that time. But he was protected to some degree from public scrutiny by his upper middle class standing. Benediction is not a film for those looking for the expansive drama of gay oppression of bygone days. It certainly addresses timely issues that we still have today, but the story is introspective, a personal point of view from inside out. On its own terms, this film is insightful, revealing in a determined and purposeful way common ground Davies sees between Siegfried Sassoon and himself. As a result, Sassoon’s attitude toward intimacy resonates candidly, visually framed in a lean, direct way that’s hard to forget. For his own part, Davies shows a very soldierly courage.
Honorable mentions include: Deadstream; Sharp Stick; Linoleum; X.
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