Thankfully after two long pandemic years, I made it to the theater a lot this year! I worry about the future of the movie theater industry but it’s hard to worry too much when I can go see such big screen spectacle as the films below.
Hopefully more of the studios will give their films a proper release in the future and get away from “direct to streaming”. Even Netflix’s Glass Onion got a one week run over Thanksgiving.
- The Fabelmans. Steven Spielberg’s autobiographical opus features a knockout performance from Michelle Williams and some of the most emotional and dynamic scenes of the year.
- Tár. Cate Blanchett plays the most nuanced and fully fleshed out character in film this year, as Todd Field expertly builds to a perfect ending.
- The Northman. I saw an online review call this movie “the kind of art the Vikings would create if you gave them a camera”. Robert Eggers knows how to pack his films with finely realized detail and unforgettable imagery.
- Glass Onion. There is no minute of this film that’s not fun. The kind of movie that if it had come out 20 years ago I would have watched it 600 times on cable.
- Prey. A Predator movie in my top 10? Believe it. This takes the franchise back 300 years and features a young Comanche woman taking on bears, Predators, and worst of all, the French. Astoundingly good action sequences.
- The Banshees of Inisherin. A strong sense of place and incredible acting buoy this Irish tale of a friendship gone sour.
- Top Gun: Maverick. Never leave your wingman.
- Avatar: The Way of Water. I get that it’s not for everyone – the three hour runtime, the cheesy script. But those underwater sequences, my god! I saw it in full IMAX 3D and can’t wait to go back.
- Kimi. This fun little thriller from Steven Soderbergh brings a lot of tension and also some great location filming right here in Seattle! I may be biased.
- Decision To Leave. The latest from Korean master Park Chan-Wook, this twisty tale of a policeman and the widow he’s investigating goes to some dark places. The cinematography is phenomenal, the kind of movie where that justifies the phrase “every frame a painting”.
Honorable Mentions: Jackass Forever, Babylon, Everything Everywhere All at Once, Confess Fletch, Three Thousand Years of Longing, Nope, Turning Red, Men, Emily the Criminal, Ambulance