The Associated PressB次元官网网址� Film Writers Jake Coyle and Lindsey BahrB次元官网网址檚 picks for the best movies of 2022:
JAKE COYLE:
1. : Rarely does such a delicately crafted tale . Charlotte WellsB次元官网网址� breathtaking feature debut, starring newcomer Frankie Corio and Paul Mescal as an 11-year-old girl and her father on vacation in Turkey, is such a keenly observed accumulation of detail and feeling that you hardly notice the undertow of heartache that will, in the end, absolutely floor you.
2. : Though it was a hit in Japan, it was easy to miss Mamoru HosodaB次元官网网址檚 glorious anime back in January, when it arrived in North American theaters. ItB次元官网网址檚 a dazzling blend of B次元官网网址淏eauty and the Beast,B次元官网网址� a girlB次元官网网址檚 wrenching battle with grief and self-doubt, and possibly the best movie ever made about the Internet. ItB次元官网网址檚 a lot, maybe too much, but B次元官网网址淏别濒濒别B次元官网网址� reaches the most beautiful of climaxes.
3. : Martin McDonaghB次元官网网址檚 latest is a that throbs with existential conundrum. It plays out between a quizzical Colin Farrell, a doom-laden Brendan Gleeson, an exasperated Kerry Condon and a much-cherished donkey. What else could you possibly need?
4. : The Korean master Park Chan-wook , and the twisty noirish results are at turns delightful and devastating.
5. : Margaret BrownB次元官网网址檚 expansive, ruminative documentary reverberates with history and stories passed down through time. The central incident is the discovery in Mobile, Alabama, of the Clotilda, the to arrive on U.S. shores. But BrownB次元官网网址檚 roaming, wide-lens film is most powerful for the way it captures the community of Clotilda descendants B次元官网网址� a contemplative and compelling cast of characters B次元官网网址� as they weigh slaveryB次元官网网址檚 present-day legacy.
6. B次元官网网址淣o BearsB次元官网网址�: Jafar Panahi may be the most vital and courageous filmmaker in the world right now. The Iranian writer-director has been banned from making movies or traveling since he was arrested in 2010 for supporting protesters. Yet Panahi has, ingeniously, continued to find ways to make thoughtful, playful, defiant films that reflect his predicament while slyly capturing the Iranian society around him. B次元官网网址淣o Bears,B次元官网网址� which dramatizes Panahi making a film along the Turkish border, is one of his best. ItB次元官网网址檚 grown only more piercing since Panahi was jailed on a six-year prison sentence earlier this year. In one bleakly stirring moment, Panahi stands on a darkened borderland, contemplating fleeing.
7. and : In a movie world where spectacles often come with little within, both of these films were absolutely brimming with ideas and images. You could call the Daniel Kwan and Daniel ScheinertB次元官网网址檚 film and overstuffed. But their sheer cinematic abundance made them nourishing, vibrant exceptions. Much the same could be said of James CameronB次元官网网址檚 equally visionary B次元官网网址淎vatar: The Way of Water.B次元官网网址�
8. B次元官网网址� B次元官网网址�: Chadian filmmaker Mahamat-Saleh HarounB次元官网网址檚 film is one of the yearB次元官网网址檚 most tender mother-daughter portraits. Rihane Khali Alio and Achouackh Abakar Souleymane star in this extraordinarily vivid tale, set in the outskirts of present-day NB次元官网网址橠jamena, of abortion, motherhood and female solidarity.
9. : Steven SpielbergB次元官网网址檚 natural mode as a filmmaker might not be introspective. HeB次元官网网址檚 not historically been one to phone home. And while that awkwardness can sometimes be felt in his , there are many scenes here unlike anything heB次元官网网址檚 ever shot before, and among his very best.
10. B次元官网网址淜颈尘颈B次元官网网址�: A great benefit of the so-called B次元官网网址減andemic moviesB次元官网网址� is that they were made fast, loose and of-their-moment. This year, many filmmakers, maybe as a result of all that time shut-in, released inward-looking films. Often better were the ones that more directly dealt with the pandemic reality around us. Steven SoderberghB次元官网网址檚 starring Zo毛 Kravitz as an agoraphobic tech contractor deftly channeled the times into a riveting little pop gem.
Also: B次元官网网址淐ompartment No. 6,B次元官网网址� B次元官网网址淭illB次元官网网址�, B次元官网网址淥ne Fine Morning,B次元官网网址� B次元官网网址淭he Cathedral,B次元官网网址� B次元官网网址淭he Woman King,B次元官网网址� B次元官网网址淪aint Omer,B次元官网网址� B次元官网网址淎pollo 10 1/2B次元官网网址�, B次元官网网址淕lass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery,B次元官网网址� B次元官网网址淓mily the Criminal,B次元官网网址� B次元官网网址淏ones and AllB次元官网网址�
LINDSEY BAHR:
1. : Martin McDonaghB次元官网网址檚 film is a sharp, funny and utterly devastating work about the end of a friendship on a small Irish island. Colin Farrell uses his wonderful brows (and acting chops) to ensure ultimate heartbreak as his world and sense of self crumbles and rots. But itB次元官网网址檚 the ensemble, including Brendan Gleeson, Kerry Condon, Barry Keoghan and on down, who imbue this deceptively simple set-up with gravity and depth.
2. : Todd FieldB次元官网网址檚 brilliant, restless B次元官网网址淭谩谤B次元官网网址� reminded me how much I love movies (and tricked me into believing that I was some kind of scholar of classical music for a few hours). in bringing this flawed genius to life, challenging the audience to consider big questions about power, status and art. It is demanding but immensely rewarding cinema that is not easily defined, which is perhaps why audiences arenB次元官网网址檛 taking a chance on it in theaters (which is a mistake).
3. B次元官网网址� B次元官网网址�: Sarah PolleyB次元官网网址檚 film hasnB次元官网网址檛 even been released to the general public and itB次元官网网址檚 already considered B次元官网网址渄ivisive,B次元官网网址� which is one of the best reasons to seek it out. ArenB次元官网网址檛 you curious which side youB次元官网网址檒l be on? IB次元官网网址檓 one who was spellbound by her heady, spiritual vision of a group of abused women in an isolated religious colony questioning their reality and wondering if life could somehow be different than what they know.
4. : In a year full of autobiographical films from very famous names, it was the one from the unknown that made the biggest impression. You donB次元官网网址檛 have to know anything about Charlotte Wells to get wrapped up in B次元官网网址淎ftersun,B次元官网网址� an inspired and fully realized memory piece about an ordinary vacation some 20 years prior that will leave you in pieces (which is somehow possible even when the B次元官网网址淢acarenaB次元官网网址� is also stuck in your head).
5. B次元官网网址� B次元官网网址�: A young woman is on trial for the death of her 15-month-old daughter in this haunting French courtroom drama, a tremendous debut feature from documentarian , that upends your notions of what the genre can be in its examination of trauma, the immigrant experience and expectations of motherhood.
6. : This is the kind of romantic confection thatB次元官网网址檚 a bit of an outlier on a list like this, but thatB次元官网网址檚 why itB次元官网网址檚 here. Anthony FabianB次元官网网址檚 film about an English housecleaner and war widow (Lesley Manville) in the 1950s who saves up to Christian Dior gown is a balm B次元官网网址� heartwarming without being schlocky, reverential of high fashion artistry but critical of its exclusionary ways and just a supreme delight.
7. : Sorry B次元官网网址淭op Gun: Maverick,B次元官网网址� you were very entertaining too, but Steven SoderberghB次元官网网址檚 B次元官网网址淜颈尘颈B次元官网网址� was my favorite popcorn experience of the year B次元官网网址� a taut, paranoid thriller with a modern, Alexa/Siri-inspired spin on the overheard crime scenario of B次元官网网址淏low Up,B次元官网网址� with a sharp performance from Zoe Kravitz, who can even make an agoraphobic shut in extremely cool.
8. B次元官网网址� B次元官网网址�: There is rot beneath the punishingly beautiful, sun-soaked Adriatic setting of Croatian filmmaker Antoneta Alamat KusijanovicB次元官网网址檚 sublimely menacing debut feature about a 17-year-old girl who is starting to question the ingrained misogyny around her. The family dynamics are as rocky and dangerous as the picturesque backdrop.
9. B次元官网网址淐orsageB次元官网网址�: Beauty, waistlines, aging, celebrity, duty and desire haunt Empress Elisabeth of Austria in Marie KreutzerB次元官网网址檚 intricate and interpretive portrait of dynamic mind and soul thatB次元官网网址檚 been stifled by her position and myriad traumas. Vicky Krieps is perfect as the deliriously subversive B次元官网网址淪issi.B次元官网网址�
10. : The supermarket dance to LCD SoundsystemB次元官网网址檚 B次元官网网址淣ew Body RhumbaB次元官网网址� might not come until the very end of but there is a dazzling rhythm to the entire epic, from the controlled chaos of the overlapping dialogue to the hectic choreography of a family making breakfast. But maybe the most surprising thing is that behind all the wit, the style, the commentary on American society and the banal and the profound in the everyday, there is a real emotional weight too.
Also: B次元官网网址� B次元官网网址� B次元官网网址� ,B次元官网网址� B次元官网网址淎vatar: The Way of Water,B次元官网网址� B次元官网网址� ,B次元官网网址� B次元官网网址� ,B次元官网网址� B次元官网网址淓O,B次元官网网址� B次元官网网址� ,B次元官网网址� B次元官网网址� ,B次元官网网址� B次元官网网址� B次元官网网址�
B次元官网网址擩ake Coyle And Lindsey Bahr, The Associated Press
