Consumption: 2022
Just another hellish moment from HOUSE (HAUSU)
Here it is again: everything I watched in a year, and my totally correct opinions on same!
Of the 2022 releases I saw, EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE was memorable for managing to be both heartwarming and anarchically weird. Surprised and happy to see all the Oscar nom love for it. Todd Field’s TÁR is the one I’m still thinking about, months later. Need to rewatch soon.
Most of the features I watched were older, picks for my film review group “Yelling About Movies.” Every week, one of us chooses two features. Sunday night, we all meet on Zoom. It gets recorded. My buddy Skot edits. Over the course of a year, hours and hours of six slightly(?)-inebriated guys jawing about films gets uploaded on YouTube and that’s the link right there, if for some reason that sounds appealing to you.
Of the films I screened on video, there were many I enjoyed, but these were real standouts:
THE BATTLE OF ALGIERS—A classic, and deservedly so.
SPRING BREAKERS—A trip into another dimension called Florida.
L’AVVENTURA—Antonioni’s masterpiece, booed at Cannes in 1960 and still challenging. Gorgeous ennui.
THE CONVERSATION—Perfect fucking movie.
SIGNS OF LIFE (LEBENSZEICHEN)—Werner Herzog’s first feature. A delicate poem of a film, absurd, austere, and beautiful.
MY WINNIPEG—To me, a filmmaker, this was an important & needed reminder of how free and fun the craft can be.
IDA—A beautiful, understated story about excavating the past. Gorgeous black-and-white cinematography.
A GIRL WALKS HOME ALONE AT NIGHT—The best Iranian vampire Western ever made.
On the series television front, favorites at our house included Severance, Fleishman is in Trouble, and of course, the amazing Andor. I did not know a Star Wars show was allowed to be this good. Will the Star Trek franchise ever rouse itself from it torpor and give us something this smart?
Linked titles take you to the Yelling About Movies discussion, or more info on the film.
MOVIES ON THE BIG SCREEN
West Side Story • 2021, Steven Spielberg
The Batman • 2022, Matt Reeves
Everything Everywhere All At Once • 2022, Daniel Kwan, Daniel Scheinert
Dear Zoe • 2022, Gren Wells
Thor: Love and Thunder • 2022, Taika Waititi
3000 Years of Longing • 2022, George Miller
The Banshees of Inisheren • 2022, Martin McDonagh
Tár • 2022, Todd Fields
MOVIES ON THE SMALL SCREEN
The Swimmer • 1968, Frank Perry
Underwater • 2020, William Eubank
The Long Goodbye • 1973, Robert Altman
Days of Heaven • 1978, Terrence Malick
The Best Years of Our Lives • 1946, William Wyler
Swimming With Men • 2018, Oliver Parker
The Power of the Dog • 2021, Jane Campion
The Tragedy of Macbeth • 2021, Ethan Coen
The Last Duel • 2021, Ridley Scott
Spartan • 2004, David Mamet
Heist • 2001, David Mamet
The Age of Adaline • 2015, Lee Toland Krieger
L’Avventura • 1960, Michelangelo Antonioni
tick, tick…BOOM! • 2021, Lin-Manuel Miranda
Belfast • 2021, Kenneth Branagh
Spencer • 2021, Pablo Larraín
Struggle: The Life and Lost Art of Szukalski • 2018, Ireneusz Dobrowolski
My Man Godfrey • 1936, Greory La Cava
The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (Les Parapluies de Cherbourg) • 1964, Jacques Demy
Conspiracy • 2001, Frank Pierson
Anthropoid • 2016, Sean Ellis
Drive My Car • 2021, Ryusuke Hamaguchi
House of Gucci • 2021, Ridley Scott
Waves • 2019, Trey Edward Shults
Pusher • 1996, Nicholas Winding Refn
Hangmen Also Die! • 1943, Fritz Lang
Betty Blue • 1986, Jean-Jacques Bieneix
Scarecrow • 1973, Jerry Schatzberg
We Need To Talk About Kevin • 2011, Lynn Ramsay
Titan A.E. • 2000, Don Bluth & Gary Goldman
Any Given Sunday • 1999, Oliver Stone
Auto Focus • 2002, Paul Schrader
House • 1977, Nobuhiku Obayashi
Closely Watched Trains (Ostre sledované vlaky) • 1966, Jiri Menzel
The Cremator (Spalovac mrtvol) • 1969, Juraj Herz
Benedetta • 2021, Paul Verhoeven
Wild Tales (Relatos salvajes) • 2014, Damián Szifron
Killing Them Softly • 2012, Andrew Dominik
Get Carter • 1971, Mike Hodges
Into the Night • 1985, John Landis
O Lucky Man! • 1973, Lindsay Anderson
Spring Breakers • 2012, Harmony Korine
My Winnipeg • 2007, Guy Maddin
Sputnik • 2020, Egor Abramenko
Assassination Nation • 2018, Sam Levinson
Thoroughbreds • 2017, Cory Finley
Dr. Strange in the Multiverse of Madness • 2022, Sam Raimi
The Last Detail • 1973, Hal Ashby
Night Moves • 1975, Arthur Penn
Europa (aka Zentropa) • 1991, Lars von Trier
The Worst Person in the World • 2021, Joachim Trier
Tender Mercies • 1983, Bruce Beresford
Europa, Europa • 1990, Agnieska Holland
Lightyear • 2022, Angus MacLane
Le Samourai • 1967, Jean-Pierre Melville
Tusk • 2014, Kevin Smith
Chungking Express • 1994, Wong Kar-wai
Strangers on a Train • 1951, Alfred Hitchcock
Fallen Angels • 1995, Wong Kar-wai
Cold in July • 2014, Jim Mickle
Thief • 1981, Michael Mann
The Talented Mr. Ripley • 1999, Anthony Minghella
Put Blood in the Music • 1989, Charles Atlas
Train to Busan • 2016, Sang-ho Yeon
Saint Maud • 2019, Rose Glass
Ikarie XB 1 • 1963, Jindřich Polák
Seven Beauties • 1975, Lina Wertmüller
Signs of Life • 1968, Werner Herzog
The Stepfather • 1987, Joseph Ruben
Near Dark • 1987, Kathryn Bigelow
A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night • 2014, Ana Lily Amirpour
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly • 2007, Julien Schnabel
Ida • 2013, Pawel Pawlikowski
Resolution • 2012, Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead
Richard III • 1995, Richard Loncraine
Z • 1969, D. Costa-Gavras
The Battle of Algiers • 1966, D. Gillo Pontecorvo
Shirkers • 2018, Sandi Tan
High and Low • 1958, Akira Kurosawa
Cha Cha Real Smooth • 2022, Cooper Raiff
The Awful Truth • 1937, Leo McCarey
The Boy Downstairs • 2017, Sophie Brooks
Twentieth Century • 1934, Howard Hawks
Glass Onion • 2022, Rian Johnson
Strange World • 2022, Don Hall
SR. • 2022, Chris Smith
REWATCHES
Dirty Dancing • 1987, Emile Ardolino
Moulin Rouge! • 2001, Baz Lurhmann
Picnic at Hanging Rock • 1975, Peter Weir
That’s Life! • 1986, Blake Edwards
Network • 1978, Sidney Lumet
Struggle: The Life and Lost Art of Szukalski • 2018, Ireneusz Dobrowolski
Seconds • 1966, John Frankenheimer
Cop Land • 1997, James Mangold
Where the Wild Things Are • 2009, Spike Jonze
A.I. Artificial Intelligence • 2001, Steven Spielberg
After Hours • 1981, Martin Scorsese
Apollo 11 • 2019, Todd Douglas Miller
First Man • 2018, Damien Chazelle
The Conversation • 1974, Francis Ford Coppola
Arachnophobia • 1990, Frank Marshall
Repo Man • 1984, Alex Cox
Day For Night • 1963, Francois Truffaut
All of Me • 1984, Carl Reiner
The Emperor’s New Groove • 2000, Mark Dindal
TELEVISION
The Great
And Just Like That…
Wolf Like Me
Severance
Better Things
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
The Bear
Raised By Wolves
Irma Vep
She-Hulk
Andor (yay!)
Fleishman Is in Trouble
The Crown
Star Trek: Lower Decks
The White Lotus
The Last Movie Stars
BOOKS
Victory Point – Owen Pomery (graphic novel)
A Fire Story – Brian Fies (graphic novel)
The Pritcher Mass – Gordon R. Dickson
*a footnote!
Random Blood Polka 