Superhero fatigue, Barbenheimer, and strong blockbuster hits are a few of the highlights in a year that provided highs and lows. I proudly went to the theaters roughly 20 times and indulged in streaming services. I will continue to watch some of the awards darlings over the next couple months and have my fair share of films I need to get around to. So as always, I can only award the films I’ve already seen. We’ll discuss my 5 personal favorite films of the year and award a few other categories. This could’ve easily expanded to a Top 10 list, so make sure to rent out a panic room to scream to your heart’s content over disagreeing with my list (spoiler, Killers of the Flower Moon and The Holdovers are two of my noticeable admissions of what I watched and just missed the cut).
Best Live Action
Superhero Film
Guardians of the
Galaxy Vol 3
Score: 8/10
If I had called this
best comic book adaptation, then Netflix’s The Killer would’ve been a
contender with some of the grittiest fights of the year and a … apologies here…
killer of a first 20 minutes. And you’ll likely see the foreshadowing here with
the intentional decision to categorize this for live action.
But with the caveats
out of the way, despite most Marvel and DC entries ranging from bottom to run
of the mill (still haven’t watched The Marvels but wouldn’t expect that
to make it anyways), the trilogy capper for now DC king James Gunn is a
genuinely great film. I felt like Ant-Man, Shazam 2, and even Blue
Beetle were more focused on character exposure than actually focusing on
delivering on every aspect of filmmaking. Whenever the Marvel logo crawls by
with its greatest hits collection of heroes and shots, it truly does
encapsulate a lot of the standout moments from the past decade and a half; whereas
every single action scene from the 3 movies listed above are all a blur of
mostly subpar green screen action. Guardians 3 not only delivered on
thoughtful action scenes, but it also kept its signature humor intact and gave
each hero a meaningful arc with Rocket of course having the biggest. This film
made me feel the emotions at its conclusions. I do not always feel the emotions.
Best Horror Film
Scream 6
Score: 7/10
Yes, I watched the
Youtubers turned directors’ film Talk to Me. That film had spirit and a
brisk pace, but I have entered a grumpy age of not enjoying watching dumb
youths make dumb decisions. Still an enjoyable film, but I don’t think it’s often
that the sixth installment in a franchise has this much steam remaining.
Keeping the same core characters from the previous film (minus a salary dispute
with the long franchise star Neve Campbell), the Scream films almost all
deliver a fun time of horror, trying to figure out who the killer is, and the
references to older slasher films. This was the most horror films I’ve ever watched
in a year, and Scream 6 is what I think back on the most.
Disappointment of the
Year
The Creator
Score: 6/10
I always like to
clarify this “award” because this isn’t a bad film. In fact, it has some of the
best visuals of the year. But an original sci-fi film from the Rogue One
director starring John David Washington could offer so much more. It hits all
the familiar beats whenever humans interact with androids, and there could’ve
been more style infused with the pretty shots.
This is also a
difficult category because I will typically research a film a bit before
handing my cash over to watch it in theaters. Movies are a time commitment too,
so I’m sure there’s plenty worse films that people have watched that are more
of a disappointment than this film, but I just likely haven’t seen them yet.
Don’t call me Blackbeard because I don’t shiver me timbers whenever someone
says hey, watch this film, it wasn’t great.
Honorable Mentions
The Boy and the Heron
Score: 8/10
Switching up my
format just slightly by getting all my honorable mentions out of the way before
flowing into the top 5. From Studio Ghibli The Boy and the Heron is as
beautiful and well scored as you always expect. There’s a real sense of wonder
and the standard mature themes present, but it does come at a small cost of not
feeling totally fulfilled after a first viewing. You can almost take that as a
positive to return for repeat viewings, but that’s for another time. The voice
acting is top notch, and I still find it hard to comprehend how Robert
Pattinson made his voice sound the way it does here.
John Wick: Chapter 4
Score: 8/10
This film continues
to deliver what fans of this series have loved from the previous films while
still finding new depth. To me it inches just a bit too close to the sun on
feeling like a video game, but it still further cemented the place in my heart
as one of the best action franchises in the 21st century.
Barbie
Score: 8/10
Not in the top 5? How
dare I. Sure, it’s plenty fun and is actually very well made despite its
silliness, but it’s not a perfect film. It feels like it took all the emotional
elements from The Lego Movie and hoped we wouldn’t notice after a pink
coat. And again, this is just my personal list. I fully intend to watch it
again in the near future, but it didn’t quite crack my top 5.
5. Past Lives
Score: 8/10
I like
quintuple-guessed myself on where to place this film. If you pay any attention
to the Golden Globes or Oscars, you will be hearing this film’s name multiple
times, and even though you can throw the critical darling label on it, I think
people sometimes forget that just because it wasn’t a big blockbuster hit doesn’t
mean this is a boring film. There’s really only 3 characters at play, and the
balance of where our emotional stakes lie with all 3 is so delicately
delivered. We start in South Korea where childhood crushes are separate after
one’s family moves to the US. We follow two more time periods where these
characters start to reconnect.
The best comparisons
in tone I’d say are Before Dawn and Lost in Translation where our
characters don’t talk about convenient plot points—they just talk to each other
and form naturalistic bonds we care about. Lost in Translation is always
a talking point of mine of one of my favorite films, and while that film allows
Bill Murray a little breathing room for comedic moments, don’t expect that same
quality from here. Not saying that’s a bad thing, but Past Lives keeps a
very muted tone. And while I repeatedly talk about “show, don’t tell” in films
with good vs bad writing, I do wish there was a few more big moments to land
some punches. With all that being said, there was no chance this film wasn’t
going to make my list. Not only is it a strong film through and through, I
personally related to the long distance aspects of making connections. This
film will stick with you.
4. Mission:
Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One
Score: 9/10
This film was technically
a big blockbuster, but it had to compete with some other juggernauts and was
considered to underperform due to its staggering budget. It’s also not without
a couple of flaws, but after I watched a BTS on the filmmaking, I happily paid
for that IMAX ticket (even if the seat didn’t recline—in this day and age??) to
yes, watch Tom Cruise drive a motorcycle off a cliff. Is this film on this list
solely for that stunt?
Wellllllllllll
No, actually, as I was
thinking back on it, sure it’s part of the trend of ballooning run times and
not completing a story in a single film, but it also is an entertaining film
all the way through. Cruise knows how to engage with an audience, and the film’s
score really enhances the tension in all of its sequences as our heroes
struggle with technology again ChatGPT.
3. Godzilla Minus One
Score: Ten Minus One
I did intend to give
a full-fledged review for this one, so I’ll keep my thoughts brief if I ever return
to it. This is not associated with Legendary’s Godzilla and Kong blockbuster
franchise. This is a Japanese film with a budget under $15 million. The best
way I can describe why this film is so good is because it’s a great film if you
take Godzilla out of it. That’s how good the post-WW2 love story is. But then
you tie the protagonist’s PTSD to an early encounter with Godzilla and how the
monster lingers over years of rebuilding, and boy oh boy does it work so well. And
to top it off, the Godzilla action is still really sweet.
Let me put this PSA
out there for all the producers reading: When you care about the characters,
the stakes in your action are automatically higher. Go watch this film.
Preferably subbed over dub if possible.
2. Spider-Man: Across
the Spider-Verse
Score: 10/10
I wanted to initially
hand out superhero and animated films of the year awards, but then I realized I’d
have to give each to this film which isn’t any fun. I can’t stress enough on
how many levels I think this film works. The dialogue is incredible and it’s transcendent
in its animation, but then you throw in thematic elements in the visuals and it’s
a reminder to me of how you can use film as a medium in ways that books and
theater can’t do. This could easily rise to the top spot if not for my pick
that won’t shock many.
Oppenheimer
Score:
10/10
One of
the best biopics ever made. This actually wasn’t a shoe-in for first place
because one of the criteria I was considering was rewatchability. This is
something that Christopher Nolan’s films has always excelled in with non-linear
storytelling, but it’s not as present here due to the heavy material. I do want
to rewatch this movie at some point, but I’m also not chomping at bits to do so
anytime soon. It’s a tough movie. But it keeps blockbuster elements and Nolan
putting in all his effort into thematic storytelling. I have long been a
Cillian Murphy fan, and after seeing more films from this year, I still firmly
believe he should win the Oscar—as should RDJ for supporting actor.
No comments:
Post a Comment