A weekend list.
I have to start assembling my top 10 list for various different critics groups and polls I am a part of. I currently have a list of 14 worthy films. Have not yet seen “Licorice Pizza,” “The Lost Daughter,” “The Tragedy of Macbeth,” “Nightmare Alley,” “West Side Story,” “Cyrano” and “Being the Ricardos.”
Cue JB’s insistence that “Dune” absolutely belongs here.
In terms of quality and content, it’s definitely been a step up from last year, but I don’t think we’re at a sort of normalcy yet. Theatres have reopened and festivals have been happening in-person, but the pandemic rattled productions and delayed many titles. Cannes really helped the entire industry kickstart back up again, it truly was a euphoric experience to watch new movies by prominent filmmakers over there again.
I think I’ve figured out the 14 titles that could potentially crack my top 10, but it’s all relative and subject to change. So here goes:
The Power of the Dog (Jane Campion)
Red Rocket (Sean Baker)
Passing (Rebecca Hall)
Quo Vadis Aida (Jasmila Žbanić)
Bergman Island (Mia Hansen-Love)
Benedetta (Paul Verhoeven)
France (Bruno Dumont)
The Killing of Two Lovers (Robert Machoian)
Titane (Julia Ducournau)
Beginning (Dea Kulumbegashvili)
The Souvenir Part II (Joanna Hogg)
A Hero (Asghar Farhadi)
The Last Duel (Ridley Scott)
Close, but no dice:
Try Harder! (Debbie Lum)
White Lie (Yonah Lewis, Calvin Thomas)
PVT Chat (Ben Hozie)
Bad Trip (Kitao Sakurai)
The Disciple (Chaitanya Tamhane)
Luzzu (Alex Camilleri)
In The Same Breath (Nanfu Wang)
Noteworthy 2022 Releases:
Nitram (Justin Kurzel)
Sundown (Michel Franco)
Happening (Audrey Diwan)
Vortex (Gaspar Noe)
Petite Maman (Celine Sciamma)
Pleasure (Ninja Thyberg)
Human Factors (Ronny Trocker)