Last January, “M3GAN” and “Cocaine Bear” were unleashed upon an unsuspecting world. In February, “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” was a Marvel wake up call. Trouble ahead.
The brilliant action-movie “John Wick: Chapter 4” rescued us from the fangs of “Renfield.” Modern day master of unease Ari Aster and his leading man Joaquin Phoenix faltered with “Beau Is Afraid,” although the film is a wonder. In May, “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” proved that Marvel fatigue was avoided if your writer-director was James Gunn. Netflix’s “The Mother” proved that people like watching Jennifer Lopez kick ass. The Disney magic disappeared with “The Little Mermaid,” the latest attempt to make a live-action version of a beloved Disney classic with Halle Bailey as Ariel. “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” and “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem” were not just two of the best animated films of the year, they were two of the best. Warner Bros. June release “The Flash” has become one of the biggest box-office bombs of all time.
Another June release Disney’s “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny” set off a second bomb at the box-office. The summer was saved by a thing called “Barbenheimer:” Warner Bros.’ “Barbie,” Greta Gerwig’s feminist comedy-musical based on the Mattel toy; and Universal’s “Oppenheimer,” a Christopher Nolan drama about the American scientist who became the father of the atomic bomb.
Agatha Christie’s Hercule Poirot returned in the form of Kenneth Branagh and his pet mustache in “A Haunting in Venice.” Critics and audiences were lukewarm. “The Exorcist: Believer” from director David Gordon Green, the sixth installment in the “Exorcist” franchise, featured Ellen Burstyn of the original 1973 film as Chris MacNeil. But she could not save the film from its mumbo-jumbo plot. “Taylor Swift: The Era’s Tour” proved that Swift can also pack movie theaters. Martin Scorsese’s “Killers of the Flower Moon,” a historical drama about the murders of members of the Osage Nation in Oklahoma in the 1920s, was peak film artistry in spite of its flaws. Sofia Coppola’s “Priscilla,” a film about the marriage of Elvis Presley and Priscilla Beaulieu, received positive reviews in spite of its blinkered view and dullness.
Alexander Payne’s comeback movie “The Holdovers” with a great Paul Giamatti and Da’Vine Joy Randolph is another of the year’s best. As it turns out, the Willy Wonka in the prequel “Wonka” with Timothee Chalamet (“Dune 2”) is a pretty bland fellow after sugarcoating the weirdness of Roald Dahl.
“Poor Things” – Yorgos Lanthimos proves himself to be the new James Whale by delivering a “Bride of Frankenstein” for our times. Emma Stone (“The Favourite”) plays Bella Baxter, a rebellious, sex-crazed mad scientist-created creature whose Victorian-era journey of self-discovery will include work in a Paris brothel.
“The Holdovers” – Alexander Payne’s best film since “Nebraska” (2013), “The Holdovers” is a novel-like comedy-drama set in a New England boarding school in December 1970 and features Payne veteran Giamatti (“Sideways”) and Randolph in triumphant turns as a difficult and demanding instructor and grieving school cook, respectively, stuck with supervising several misfit students over the Christmas holiday.
“Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” – Directed by Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers and Justin K. Thompson, this film is the most visually and sonically sumptuous movie experience of the year. Miles Morales is back as Spidey. In this sequel Miles aka Spidey will meet multiple versions of Spidey-Folk, including Peter B. Parker (Jake Johnson) on a mind-expanding journey through the you-know what.
“Anatomy of a Fall” – The great German actor Sandra Huller (“Toni Erdmann”) delivers a riveting, quicksilver performance as a successful writer and unfaithful wife accused of the murder of her husband. Will her half blind, preadolescent son incriminate her on the stand?
“Godland” – This little seen Icelandic co-production, written and directed by Hlynur Palmason (“A White, White Day”), is an adventure about a Danish priest (Elliott Crosset Hove) and photographer in the late 19th century, on a journey across Iceland together with older, antagonistic Icelander Ragnar (Ingvar Sigurosson of “A White, White Day”). If Ingmar Bergman had made a Western, this would be it.
“The Taste of Things” – Juliette Binoche and Benoit Magimel head a marvelous cast as middle-aged lovers, who also happen to be great chefs, in this period, food-filled spectacle about love and the sensual pleasures of haute cuisine. Director and co-writer Anh Hung Tran (“The Scent of Green Papaya”) was named best director at Cannes. Binoche and Magimel weave an enchanting, mouth-watering spell.
“Scrapper – Written and directed by Charlotte Regan,, making her feature debut, “Scrapper” is the story of a preadolescent girl named Georgie (an amazing Lola Campbell) who lives secretly alone in the council flat she once shared with her mother. At night, Georgie goes on adventures in her squalid neighborhood with her buddy Ali (Alin Uzun). When Georgie’s feckless father (Harris Dickinson) arrives on the scene, father and daughter must both figure out how to grow up.
“20 Days in Mariupol” – Directed by Mstyslav Chernov, making his feature debut, “20 Days in Mariupol” is a must-see, nerve-shattering descent into the hell on earth Vladimir Putin has inflicted on the Ukrainian people. The film follows two journalists on a life-threatening assignment showing the world what was happening on the ground in the early days of the war. Not for the faint of heart.
“Menus-Plaisirs – Les Troisgros” – Frederick Wiseman’s latest is a 4-hour look at the workings of an internationally-acclaimed three Michelin star restaurant outside Lyon, France, where a French family of gourmet cooks has worked its magic since 1930. I know it’s long. But it is utterly fascinating. Plus, I, too, wondered if Wiseman did it for the free food.
“The League” – Produced by Questlove, directed by Academy Award-nominee Sam Pollard (“4 Little Girls”), “The League” is a strikingly relevant examination of the “Negro League” of baseball teams that transformed America’s favorite sport in the 20th century and produced some of the greatest players in its history. The Negro League was also responsible in large part for integrating American baseball. Go Newark Eagles.
(Honorable Mention: “Emily,” “The Quiet Girl,” “The Eight Mountains,” “Little Richard: I Am Everything”,” “Asteroid City,” “Blue Jean,” “American Fiction,” “The Cow Who Sang a Song into the Future”,” “Blackberry,” “Radical,” “ Desperate Souls, Dark City and the Legend of Midnight Cowboy,” “Cassandro,” “Monster,” “Leo,” “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem,” “Napoleon,” “Beau Is Afraid,” “The Teachers’ Lounge,” “Killers of the Flower Moon,” “Fallen Leaves,” “Flora and Son”)