“Every great film should seem new every time you see it.”
– Roger Ebert, Film Critic
Best Comedy Film: Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery
Runners Up: Confess, Fletch, Triangle of Sadness
Best International Film: All Quiet On the Western Front
Runners Up: RRR, Decision to Leave
Best Animated Film: Marcel the Shell with Shoes On
Runner Up: Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio
Best Action Film: Everything Everywhere All at Once
Runners Up: Top Gun: Maverick, Avatar: The Way of Water
Best Horror/Sci-Fi Film: Barbarian
Runner Up: Prey
BEST MOVIES OF 2022
RUNNERS UP
- Triangle of Sadness
- The Woman King
- RRR
- Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio
- Cha Cha Real Smooth
- Marcel the Shell with Shoes On
- Women Talking
- Avatar: The Way of Water
- The Outfit
- Decision to Leave
- Apollo 10 1⁄2: A Space Age Childhood
- Babylon
- All Quiet on the Western Front
- Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery
- Barbarian
- Bones and All
TOP FIVE
#5: TOP GUN: MAVERICK
Our need for speed is insanely indulged with the calm, cool, and incomparable Tom Cruise as our captain. This illustrious legacy sequel flies laps around the cherished original, soaring to astonishing new heights that’ll leave you breathless. Nostalgia serves as an irresistible wingman, but director Joseph Kosinski and crew aim for something more substantial, and they pull it off masterfully. The aerial action is the showstopper, though Cruise isn’t one to be outdone. Rocking the old jacket and shades – he’s in top form on land and in the sky. Exhilarating, emotional, and entertaining to the max – it’s a thrill ride that’s rarely experienced on this level at the movies. A spectacular summer blockbuster for the ages.
#4: THE MENU
Using delicious, devilish ingredients of horror, dark humor, and thrills – director Mark Mylod and writers Seth Reiss and Will Tracy cook up a burning batch of class warfare, plating an unforgettable feast that’s to die for. Ralph Fiennes is as commanding as he’s ever been playing a master chef whose passion has been pummeled to a pulp. So for his customers’ last supper, he’s prepared his masterpiece. Anya Taylor-Joy is wonderful in her resistance, and watching her and Fiennes square off is an oversized treat. Another huge highlight is Hong Chau, the chef’s right-hand woman, who manages the guests as they eat less than they desire but more than they deserve. It’s a sublime satire (with an exuberant score by Colin Stetson) on the snooty foodie culture with plenty of incredulous flavor. Throughout each course, we’re licking our chops for what will be placed next on the table and the inspiration behind it. Never has a dish best served cold been so twisted yet tasty.
#3: EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE
Exploding with extraordinary creativity and style, this is an innovative, incomparable Daniels film that’s equally absurd and awe-inspiring. At the core of this lovely genre-bending, funny, and mind-blowing journey through a multiverse is true emotional depth. It’s a spectacular salute to the human condition. And there are so many great performances, but it doesn’t get any better than Michelle Yeoh. Trust me, nothing will prepare you for this outstanding original creation that only the madcap minds behind Swiss Army Man could bring into existence. Movie lovers are assuredly all the better for it.
#2: THE BATMAN
There’s no question that this is the best Batman flick since The Dark Knight.
Robert Pattinson is perfection as the young Caped Crusader, all dark, moody, and tied-up in torment. He’s been out on his vigilante venture for just a couple of years now, still working out some of the kinks. More crucially, he’s starting to believe his actions have no effect in turning Gotham into a safer place for its citizens. Scarred from the inside out and fueled by fear and anger, this Batman is in search of his purpose in co-writer/director Matt Reeves‘ extraordinary comic book epic that’s brilliantly masked as a gritty crime thriller. Batman is more of a hard-hitting detective than the superhero we’ve seen in movies before, and it’s a thrilling sight.
Right when we think we’ve seen it all from such iconic characters, Reeves gives fans something unprecedented and unbelievably exciting. The almost three hour runtime flies by because you’re categorically captivated by what has been assembled onscreen. First-rate performances, astonishing imagery, Michael Giacchino‘s spectacular score – this Dark Knight newbie is a true triumph.
#1: THE BANSHEES OF INISHERIN
Listen to “Ep. 120: The Banshees of Inisherin Review, and Colin Farrell” on Spreaker.Brandon Vick is a member of The Music City Film Critics’ Association and the Southeastern Film Critics Association, the resident film critic of the SoBros Network, and the star of The Vick’s Flicks Podcast. Follow him on Twitter @SirBrandonV and be sure to search #VicksFlicks for all of his latest movie reviews.
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