The 2022 Movies Are Movieing
It's my birthday. The movies are great. Let's keep it going.
I love lists.
At the end of every calendar year—2022’s version will be the fifth iteration—I put together a list ranking every new movie I’ve seen over the last 365 or so days. It’s one of my favorite things to do, even if it’s a beast to put together.
As someone who isn’t very good at procrastinating, I start the ordering almost immediately. I see a movie in the first few days of January and … BAM, it’s number one. And then I see a second new movie, and we’ve got ourselves some thinkin’ to do.
At the time of writing this, I have seen 75 new releases from the current year, which is somehow both way too many and not nearly enough. There has been (as there always is) utter trash throughout from The 355 which I saw in mid-January to Luckiest Girl Alive, which I watched just last week. BUT, and this is important, there have been so, so, so many great movies.
Over the past week, I’ve seen three movies that have entered my Top Ten for the year that are somewhere between great to transcendent: Women Talking, The Banshees of Inisherin and TÁR. We’ll be getting back to TÁR in a few.
All three feature actors at the top of their games from Cate Blanchett as the titular Lydia Tár to Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson bantering in Inisherin to Jessie Buckley, Claire Foy, Rooney Mara and many many more as the women talking. The directing is just as phenomenal as Todd Field, Martin McDonagh and Sarah Polley shoot with a purpose, and they use vital scores, stunning cinematography and tremendous scripts to great effect.
Everything I read and hear and watch states that movies are in a dire place, which isn’t not true. Cookie-cutter blockbusters frequently eclipse more interesting fare and the Netflixification of the industry, which centers on shoddier projects that look and feel bland and manufactured, keep getting made. However, there hasn’t been as much interesting stuff coming out in the same year in a long, long time.
Along with the three aforementioned movies, we’ve had compelling foreign movies like The Worst Person in the World, Official Competition and Happening or captivating indie projects like Everything Everywhere All at Once, Dual or Marcel the Shell with Shoes On and even thoughtful big-budget items like Nope, The Batman and The Northman. Top Gun: Maverick actually had some thought put into it. Horror films are in a better place with fun thrillers like Barbarian and Smile. Even the movies that didn’t totally work for me like White Noise or Ambulance were entertaining as hell and clearly came from a place of love and a want to try something new.
Usually, I’m pessimistic about where the art form is going, but this year already rivals 2019’s deep crop, and we still have a few months left. Things are good in the movie-world for once, and I’m looking forward to releasing my list with (hopefully) a few new entries cracking into the top section.
Let’s Talk About TÁR
The first I heard about TÁR was on a movie podcast at the end of last year looking forward to the 2022 slate. All we knew was that it was a Todd Field movie after a long hiatus starring Cate Blanchett; and I think we also knew that it centered on a conductor of some kind.
Weird segue here but I had (and still have) a plan to write about Under the Silver Lake, which has only grown in my estimation over the years. Although I wouldn’t go so far as to call it one of the best movies of the 21st century, I would definitely consider it on and atop the list of most 21st-century movies. The themes it centers around from millennial angst to obsessive sub-cultures to loneliness leading to fanaticism have only exacerbated since its 2019 release date.
TÁR is a better movie than Under the Silver Lake, but it’s similar in its 21st-century-ness and desire to crack the code of our modern landscape. It’s so in the moment that it makes other films trying to make a statement look insincere and silly. It has a lot to say about our current social and digital landscape without ever overplaying its hand and choosing a definitive side. It looks at auteur theory, whether you can separate the art from the artist, what it means to succeed and the politics around cancel culture with such deftness. There’s a lot there, but TÁR is also blisteringly funny and constantly tense. This might sound haughty but Blanchett grounds these lofty goals with such a mastery of her craft that it should be illegal.
As Harry Styles might say, “It feels like a real, like, you know, 'go to the theater' film movie.”
Every single aspect—incisive script, brilliant sound design and expert filmmaking—makes this one of the best movies of the year. I could write an entire thesis on this movie, and that’s one of the things that makes it so exciting. It has real stakes and walks a tightrope from start to finish.
I’ll stay away from spoilers as I don’t think many people have seen this one yet since it’s in limited release, but you should definitely check it out when you have a chance. It’s one of the few movies over the last few years that deserves its near three-hour-long run-time.
I can’t wait to see it again.