I trust most readers of this site have already seen the results of our mid-year critics poll. Unsurprusingly, Daniel Scheinert and Daniel Kwan’s “Everything Everywhere All At Once” topped the poll.
You won’t find that film, nor Top Gun: Maverick (#3) on my best of 2022 list. Au contraire, I find that the more the quality of studio filmmaking diminishes, now on a yearly basis, the more foreign-language cinema takes over as the very best film has to offer.
Hollywood is in very dire straits right now, if the most critically-acclaimed major studio flick released is a sequel to “Top Gun” then we’re in trouble. Even worse, the fact that it’s being touted as an Oscar contender only shows you how bad things are right now.
The 10 best films screened, so far (in no particular order):
Audrey Diwan’s “Happening,” Gaspar Noe’s “Vortex,” David Cronenberg’s “Crimes of the Future,” Justin Kurzel’s “Nitram,” Richard Linklater’s “Apollo 10 1/2,” Michel Franco’s “Sundown,” Steven Soderbergh’s “Kimi,” and Chloe Okuno’s “Watcher,” Daniel Roher’s “Navalny,” and Sara Dosa’s “Fire of Love”
No disrespect to two films: Scott Derickson’s “The Black Phone” and Baz Luhrmann’s “Elvis,” both of which have been the best major studio releases I have seen this year.
The best films screened but not yet released (no order):
Ruben Ostlund’s “Triangle of Sadness”, Owen Kline’s “Funny Pages”, James Gray’s “Armageddon Time”, Paravel/Castaing-Taylor’s “De Humanis Corpis Fabrica”, Charlotte Wells’ “Aftersun”, The Dardennes’ “Tori et Lokita,” Julian Higgins’ “God’s Country”, Andrew Semans’ “Resurrection,” Alexandru Belc’s “Metronom,” Albert Serra’s “Pacification”
I’m now wondering what the community of readers here would choose as their best films of the mid-year. It’s time for you to chime in.
Netflix and Skydance Animation have also called it quits. The two sides announced Monday that they're ending the animated film deal struck back in 2023, framing it as a mutual decision.