'Top Gun: Maverick' to 'TÁR': Favorite films of 2022
The Patriot Ledger's film writers Dana Barbuto and Al Alexander have made their picks for the best films of the year. Tom Cruise's return to the sky in "Top Gun: Maverick" leads Barbuto's list while Martin McDonagh's friendship parable “The Banshees of Inisherin" tops Alexander's 10 best. Todd Field’s sure-to-be Oscar-nominated drama "TÁR" and the harrowing abortion drama "Happening" found a spot on both writers' lists. Read on for our year-end wrap-up that includes more than 40 film titles and how to watch them all.
DANA BARBUTO
'Top Gun: Maverick'
I didn't realize it, but I had a repeat “need for speed.” And, what a flight! “Maverick” soars from the get-go, never coming down. Retaining the look and feel of its 36-year-old predecessor, the sequel raised the stakes and took the emotions even higher. Tom Cruise doesn’t miss a beat as the older, wiser, but still reckless U.S. Navy flier, Capt. Pete “Maverick” Mitchell. And a reunion with his old frenemy, “Ice Man” (Val Kilmer), delivers the gut punch in what proves a perfect blend of heart and nostalgia.
How to watch: Dec. 22 on Paramount+ or video on demand rental
Pair with: “Devotion,” in theaters, including Plimoth Cinema; Netflix later
Cruise into the danger zone:'Top Gun: Maverick' soars with heart, nostalgia and action
'Women Talking'
Sarah Polley’s fact-based drama about the aftermath of dozens of sexual assaults at a Bolivian Mennonite community is one of the most powerful films of the year. And it’s brought to life by a superb acting ensemble featuring Rooney Mara, Claire Foy, Jessie Buckley, Frances McDormand, Judith Ivey and Emily Mitchell. The women struggle to find the language to talk about what happened to them, but they find a way, and their words are messy, wrenching and, most of all, urgent.
How to watch: In theaters Jan. 6
Pair with: “She Said,” video on demand rental
'TÁR'
Mesmerizing, towering, bravura, commanding … all the hyperbole in the world can’t do justice to Cate Blanchett’s pitch-perfect portrayal of a world-famous conductor falling from grace in Todd Field’s #MeToo drama. Field cleverly flips the script on the usual sexual misconduct scenario and, in turn, hits all the right notes.
How to watch: Video on-demand rental
Pairs with: “Benediction,” Hulu
'Tour-de-force': Cate Blanchett faces the music as a disgraced conductor in 'Tár'
'Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery'
Daniel Craig is back as the chicken-fried Hercule Poirot-esque detective Benoit Blanc, investigating a murder-themed party that turns deadly for real. The twists and turns are loads of fun, but Janelle Monáe steals the show.
How to watch: Dec. 23 on Netflix
Pair with: “Amsterdam” and “See How they Run,” both on HBO Max
'The Menu'
In Mark Mylod’s eat-the-rich satire, Ralph Fiennes plays a sadistic chef bent on serving the 1% (Nicholas Hoult, Judith Light, Janet McTeer) their just desserts. When Anya Taylor-Joy, who plays Margot from “Brockton, Massachusetts,” calls BS on the culinarian’s dinner plans, the meal goes up in smoke.
How to watch: In theaters and Jan. 3 on HBO Max
Pair with: “Triangle of Sadness,” video on demand rental
'Glass Onion': Daniel Craig's 'Knives Out' sequel is a 'sharp-witted' murder-mystery
'Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris'
In Anthony Fabian’s crowd-pleaser, Lesley Manville plays a widowed cleaning lady who splurges on a trip to France to buy a couture Dior dress. It’s a valentine to fashionistas, but accessorized with emotional heft and bedazzled in social commentary. Manville (“Phantom Thread”), as always, wears it well.
How to watch: Peacock or via video on demand rental
Pair with: “Downton Abbey: A New Era,” Prime Video
The wonderful world of 'Downton':The wonderful world of 'Downton': Crawley family takes a French escape in 'A New Era'
'Living'
Bill Nighy, the fan favorite from “Love, Actually,” summons an affecting performance in Oliver Hermanus’ remake of the Akira Kurosawa masterpiece “Ikiru,” which is available to stream on HBO Max. Nighy, who sings here too, plays a terminally ill widower making a last-ditch effort to turn an ordinary life into an extraordinary one. Aimee Lou Wood is a charmer in support.
How to watch: In theaters Jan. 13
Pair with: "The Outfit,” Prime Video
'Corsage'
Vicky Krieps stages a valiant fight for older women as Empress Elisabeth of Austria in Marie Kreutzer’s period drama that just landed on the Oscars short list. “Sisi” is a 40-year-old royal who refuses to fade into the background of a patriarchal society that values youth over beauty, experience and wisdom. She does not go away quietly, no matter how tight the corset. Krieps is brilliant. There’s a reason she won the best actress award at Cannes.
How to watch: Jan. 6 in Boston theaters, later in the suburbs
Pair with: “Hold Me Tight,” video on demand rental
'Banshees of Inisherin'
Martin McDonagh’s Irish fable about a bromance gone bad is full of heart, humor and a beloved donkey. It also sports a never-better Colin Farrell in the second of two (“After Yang”) excellent performances in 2022. As Farrell’s beleaguered sister, Kerry Condon plays the only sane character in an ensemble featuring fellow Oscar shoo-ins Brendan Gleeson and Barry Keogh.
How to watch: In theaters and HBO Max
Pair with: “The Quiet Girl,” local release and streaming to be announced
'Happening'
Some movies you just can’t shake. Audrey Diwan’s masterful story of an expectant teen is one of them. Set in 1963 France, the story follows Anne (Anamaria Vartolomei), a standout literature student seeking an abortion when it was still illegal to do so. The movie is a haunting reminder of the lonely, dangerous situations women faced before Roe v. Wade. Coincidentally, "Happening" was released in the U.S. the same week the U.S. Supreme Court overturned that landmark decision, making Diwan’s message even more urgent.
How to watch: AMC+ or video on demand rental
Pair with: “Call Jane,” video on demand rental
'Aftersun' and the next 10 favorites
“Aftersun,” limited theaters, available to buy on demand
“Good Luck to You Leo Grande,” Hulu
“Emily the Criminal,” Netflix
“The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent,” Starz
“Babylon,” in theaters Dec. 23
“The Inspection,” video on demand rental
“Till,” available to purchase via video on demand
“The Son,” in theaters Jan. 20
“Bros.,” Peacock
The King: Austin Butler shakes, rattles and rolls in Baz Luhrmann's 'Elvis' biopic
'RRR' and more foreign favorites
“RRR,” Netflix
“Broker,” in theaters Jan. 6
“Athena,” Netflix
“Holy Spider,” in theaters
“Decision to Leave”, MUBI
'My Old School' and more documentaries
“My Old School,” Hulu
“Young Plato,” Prime Video
“Navalny,” HBO Max
“Goodnight, Oppy,” Prime Video
“Fire of Love,” Prime Video
'Blonde' and others I could have done without
“Blonde,” Netflix
“Deep Water,” Hulu
“Me Time,” Netflix
“Flux Gourmet,” video on demand rental
AL ALEXANDER
Except for blockbusters and animated films, 2022 was generally a down year at the cinema. But I think these 10 movies stood out:
'The Banshees of Inisherin'
In reuniting his “In Bruges” stars, Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson, writer-director Martin McDonagh proves lightning can, indeed, strike twice. The trio travels quite nicely from Belgium to a quaint island just off the Irish coast to play out McDonagh's allegorical treatise on the troubling phenomenon of neighbor irrationally turning on neighbor the world over. McDonagh makes it sting, perfectly melding humor and violence to make his point that in war, there are no winners, just wasted aggression that inevitably leads to death. Bloody brilliant, I say.
How to watch: HBO Max
Review:Colin Farrell, Brendan Gleeson are feuding friends in 'The Banshees of Inisherin'
'TÁR'
Cate Blanchett is music to the ears as a virtuoso symphony conductor whose conduct off the podium strikes a dramatic chord in writer-director Todd Field’s opus on the power dynamics at work when a person of authority coaxes sexual favors from an underling. It demonstrates that women can be just as culpable as men in the #MeToo era, while also questioning the moral implications of cancel culture, a phenomenon in which the artist can no longer be separated from the art. Bravo!
How to watch: Video on-demand rental
'RRR'
It’s safe to say you’ve never seen anything like S.S. Rajamouli’s genre-jumping mash-up about two best friends (N.T. Rama Rao Jr. and Ram Charan) turned enemies in their desperate fight for India’s emancipation from British imperialism. Rajamouli and writer Sai Madhav Burra throw everything at you, from gravity-defying martial arts feats to elaborately choreographed Bollywood song-and-dance numbers to affecting social commentary. And they stage it all within the confines of a simple melodrama about “white devils” holding sway over a nation of enslaved Hindus. It is at once sardonically funny, romantic, exhilarating, ultra-violent and long (187 minutes). But it captivated me like no other film this year.
How to watch: Netflix
See or skip?'Apollo 10 1/2,' 'RRR' and more streaming gems
'Happening'
Writer-director Audrey Diwan daringly lends her support to a woman’s right to choose via her haunting tale of Anne (Anamaria Vartolomei), a Parisian college student whose unexpected pregnancy in 1963 threatens to derail her dream of a literary career. Diwan uses Anne to depict the hopelessness and loneliness experienced by a woman desperately going it alone against family, the government and the church. It took on even more relevance after the overturning of Roe v. Wade, potentially reinstating illegal, back-alley abortions that force young women like Anne to choose between the penitentiary or the “prison” of unwanted motherhood.
How to watch: AMC+ or video on demand rental
Review:'Happening' is harrowing, timely abortion drama
'Decision to Leave'
Writer-director Park Chan-wook’s sumptuously adorned neo-noir love story is dizzying enough to trigger “Vertigo.” All the Hitchcockian ingredients are here: the obsessive detective, the gorgeous femme fatale, the haute couture threads, crashing waves, the acrophobia … I could go on and on. But the most Hitchcockian element is Park’s mastery over his audience. He knows how to entice and manipulate, drawing you in with seductive visuals and immersing you in a cockeyed romance you know isn’t going to end well. It’s sexy, thrilling and brimming with gallows humor. It also features a pair of combustible leads in Tang Wei and Park Hae-il who smolder as the forbidden lovers tangled in a web of murder and deceit.
How to watch: MUBI
Review: 'Decision to Leave' is a 'seductive' neo-noir love story
'Apollo 10½: A Space Age Childhood'
This animated wonder from Richard Linklater is a must-see for baby boomers who remember The Monkees, moon landings and Jell-O molds. In drawing on his own childhood growing up in suburban Houston, Linklater delivers nostalgia to the max through the eyes of Stan (voice of Milo Coy), a precocious 12-year-old who imagines himself tapped to head a top-secret test run to the lunar surface ‒ before Apollo 11. But the chief allure is fondly reliving a host of cultural touchstones (hippies, every product containing the name “Astro,” TV test patterns) without glossing over the ugliness of Vietnam and racial injustice. True to the era, it’s groovy.
How to watch: Netflix
Review:'Apollo 10 1/2' full of heart, nostalgia
'Marcel the Shell with Shoes On'
Milton native Jenny Slate and her former partner, director Dean Fleischer-Camp, offer a certified charmer with their offbeat animated tale of a chatty, one-eyed, inch-tall shell sporting a nifty pair of shoes. Living with his granny and a speck of lint for a pet, we watch in wonder as tiny Marcel (Slate, in an adorably childlike voice) gains a worldwide following via YouTube. Was that really Lesley Stahl interviewing him on “60 Minutes”? You bet! And does that make Marcel a bit of a shell-out ... er, sell-out? Probably, but who cares when the little guy is so darn cute?
How to watch: Video on demand rental
'Marcel' review:Milton's Jenny Slate voices tiny hero with a huge heart
'Emily the Criminal'
First-time writer-director John Patton Ford fashions a timely movie in an era when millions of young people are dealing with the double whammy of student-loan debt and an exploitative gig economy. In essence, Ford is demolishing institutions and taking names, spotlighting a career-best turn by Aubrey Plaza to depict a sympathetic Robin Hood who steals from the rich and gives to herself. Are things so bad that jail time becomes an acceptable risk? Ford not only responds in the affirmative but also unloads on every boss who has the gall to demand excellence from a barely compensated employee. There ought to be a law.
How to watch: Netflix
Review:'Emily the Criminal' is a smart, suspenseful crime drama
'Fire of Love'
Rarely has passion burned as hot as the love between volcanologists Katia and Maurice Krafft. The jocular Maurice liked to quip that he and Katia were like the volcanoes they gravitated toward on a moment’s notice: volatile, unpredictable and as fluid as the scorching lava metaphorically flowing through their veins. It was a romance like no other. And now, 31 years after they left the Earth they so cherished, documentarian Sara Dosa provides a proper send-off, accompanied by awe-inspiring footage, shot by the Kraffts, placing you directly inside several red-hot eruptions. It’s not just a movie, but an experience, taking you to the edge of nature’s fiercest force to observe an even more fiery romance.
How to watch: Prime Video
Review:Documentary 'Fire of Love' is a lava-fueled romance you have to see to believe
'Girl Picture'
There’s nothing particularly groundbreaking about Alli Haapasalo’s adolescent coming-of-age dramedy. But the candidness with which she confronts issues of sex, ambition and friendship seem revolutionary. It is the epitome of a crowd-pleaser, drawing you into the ever-evolving lives of three female besties as they clumsily navigate the complicated path toward sexual enlightenment. The focus is on passion, but it also perfectly captures the importance of friendship in absorbing lessons that will last a lifetime.
How to watch: Video on demand rental
Review:Movie: Sundance hit 'Girl Picture' is a frank and funny coming-of-age dramedy
'Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio' among the next 10 favorites
“Close,” in theaters Jan. 27
“Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio,” Netflix
“My Old School,” Hulu
“Broker,” in theaters Jan. 6
“Puss in Boots: The Last Wish,” in theaters Dec. 23
“Corsage,” Jan. 6 in Boston theaters, later in the suburbs
Humor, action, charm: 'Puss in Boots: The Last Wish' is the cat's meow
This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: Top Gun: Maverick Banshees of Inisherin Tár among 2022 best films
