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 20 best films screened, so far (in no particular order):
Crimes of the Future, Happening, Triangle of Sadness, Vortex, Watcher, Funny Pages, Apollo 10 1/2, Sundown, Armageddon Time, De Humanis Corpis Fabrica, Nitram, Kimi, God’s Country, Elvis, Fire of Love, Navalny, Aftersun, Resurrection, The Black Phone, Human Factors
There are also quite a few films seen at Sundance and Cannes that still don’t have a 2022 release date, and they have not been included on my list. Albert Serra’s “Pacifiction” is definitely one of them, ditto Alexandru Belc’s “Metronom.”
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.