December 2022 at the Movies
December is always a busy time of year for any film lover. The wonderful pressures of the Top Ten consumes our every waking moment, haunting our dreams and cursing any moment of relaxation not spent forming the Top Ten. For what’s the point of watching films and consuming art if not to pit them against one another like gladiators, forced to death for our further entertainment? Some we watch knowing they have no chance, simply fodder for the lions. Others may battle valiantly only to be slain last minute by a screening of Weird: The Al Yankovic Story.
Due to the demands of the Top Ten, December was an incredibly stuffed month for me. I saw 25 movies in the month, some good, some bad, some great, and some that I’ve already forgotten. This month at the movies...
After Yang
In 2017 I was introduced to director Kogonada through his masterpiece of slow cinema Columbus, a delicate portrayal of the roles life gives us and the roles we choose to take. Five years later he’s returned with a further masterpiece of quiet contemplation with After Yang, a stunning sci-fi that simply asks us what identity means. What an easy question to answer! Colin Farrel wanders across the screen, a man simply trying to piece his family together after a loss. What that loss means for him and his family is constantly out of focus. With its delicate ideas of identity and reality, Kogonada once again quietly releases one of the best films of the decade.
Aftersun
Who doesn’t love an audacious debut? Following the memories of a weekend a burgeoning teenager had with her young father, Aftersun contemplates the myths one creates around their parents. We’ve all had moments with our parents that will stay with us forever that, for the parent, is never thought of again. Incidents that might make us question our relationship with our parents and our parents’ humanity, the unbearable humanity of those who were once much more. Here we repeat one weekend, desperately searching for reasons and clues for what is impossible to stop. A brilliant, hurt story of things we can’t change.
All Quiet on the Western Front
A brutal, unforgiving update to an all-time war classic, and probably the only film Netflix put out this year that’s actually worth one’s time, All Quiet on the Western Front does not shy away from true worldly horrors. While some more brutal acts one would find on the frontlines of century-old combat are left out (we all have Come and See if those particular tragedies are what we’re searching for) one can not fault the filmmakers for focusing on the war efforts. While cliches of the young optimist are well present, it doesn’t detract from the overall robustness of the hell on display. Dirty, awful, and uncompromising in its portrayal of an all too human evil.
Apollo 10 1/2
After over thirty years of filmmaking, it would be hard to hold it against a director if they became less and less personal throughout the years. It’s never easy to bare oneself to the entire world, and to do so continuously for decades burdens the soul in ways I will likely never understand. Yet Richard Linklater has been able to dive into his life and experiences and create truly wonderful slices of reality, each of his films like a warm bath, an echo of a familiar time. I didn’t grow up in Texas, never had to hit a TV hoping to get better reception, never dreamed of swimming among the stars, but with Apollo 10 1/2 even the most specific of childhood memories resonate deeply. Add in some wonderful animation and you have a film that elicits childhood wonder like no other from this year (or possibly the last decade).
Avatar: The Way of Water
After more than a decade we as a society can finally return to Pandora. A luscious, beautiful world, a planet with creatures and visions that are unmatched in cinema. How have we drifted so far from these high sci-fi concepts that this film can be viewed as groundbreaking? We have massive blockbusters that dominate the culture, but none bother to be as creative as whales but bigger. The Disneyfication of film visuals has robbed us of true effects wonder. James Cameron has returned to remind us what we’re missing. Sure the plot is basic, but broad strokes on a massive canvas can be forgiven. Plus we got space whales baby, and I’ll never be denied space whales again.
Boiling Point
I’ve worked in kitchens for over a decade which, yes, is the most depressing thing you’ll be reading in this edition (suck it, World War I) so Boiling Point hits a particular nerve for me. An incredible film technically, as it follows a head chef during a busy night in his new restaurant, and remarkably all takes place in one shot. While “one shot” cinema seems to be a relatively new craze which generally I could do without, here it is used so seamlessly and with exacting effect; you are here, with these people, on this night, and much like them you are not allowed an escape. An intense night out for anyone in the service industry (if you’re reading this I’m guessing that’s you).
Day Shift
One theme I find myself returning to in this newsletter is careers that could never capitalize on their momentum. Here we find another, as Oscar winner and host of game show Beat Shazam Jamie Foxx is left squandering his massive talent in mid-level Netflix fair. Day Shift is not a bad film, it’s just an unimpactful film, it’s a movie that never bothered to define itself. Jamie Foxx, Dave Franco, and Snoop Dogg as vampire hunters is an idea good enough to have got this made, but it’s not good enough to last almost two hours on that star power alone. Remember writers, you have to write something after the initial pitch!
Deep Water
Ben Affleck will always be at his best when he is being cucked. There’s just something very cucky about him, his square jaw and always-stoned eyes just cry out for someone else to sleep with his wife. If you agree with me, Deep Water will still leave you wanting. Despite being quite possibly the biggest cinematic cuck since William H. Macy in Boogie Nights (or whatever the last romantic comedy James Marsden was in) director Adrian Lyne is never able to wring out any true tension from the story. He is also unable to convince us that Arma de Armas would marry Ben Affleck.
Elvis
I don’t know much about the true story of Elvis Presley. I’ve never seen his films, rarely listen to his music, at one point mistook his “TCB” symbol as a possible right-wing tattoo. All that to say I don’t know if the sheer excess of this film would match his lifestyle. In fact, I don’t know if the excess of this film could match anyone’s lifestyle. This is a two-and-a-half-hour feature where the first hour feels like a trailer for the rest of the film you are going to watch. I can love excess, I can love boisterous displays of style. But I can’t love indulgence to the degree Elvis has taken it. Hastened with the normal cliches of the harried music biopic, there’s all flash and no substance here.
The Eternal Daughter
Joanna Hogg may be the most personal director working today, for better and worse. The worse, her last two features The Souvenir and The Souvenir Pt. 2, could at best be described as dull dives into quiet moments (note that critics absolutely adore these ones, so I’m on the outside looking in on these ones). The better is The Eternal Daughter, a ghost story where the ghost is explicitly Hogg’s relationship with her mother. Watching this felt like setting in on a disquieting therapy session, a tense, haunting display of the failings of a daughter. While this is another example of slow cinema that will not sit well with everyone, if you are chilled one night and have a cup of tea in hand, this film will ease into the mood dreamily.
I Want You Back
2022 will be remembered for a lot of things when it comes to film. An uptick in fantastic horror, the death of the current DC Universe, and, more under the radar, the return of the big-screen romantic comedy. Marry Me and Ticket to Paradise both brought audiences back into the cinema for something that wasn’t superhero related (sorry George Clooney), and I Want You Back is here to remind the streaming home audience just how fun these films can be when done right. Not breaking new ground, not rewriting the formula, but simply hitting those familiar beats hard and fast. Add in a wonderful performance by Jeny Slate (who at one point performs a genuinely moving rendition of Suddenly Seymour) and you have a film you won’t regret curling up on the couch to.
Jackass Forever
Perfect. It’s hard to achieve, yet we all have a tangible idea of what it means. The perfect day. The perfect weather. The perfect movie. Everyone has a vision of what these mean to them. If you were to ask me, this is the perfect Jackass film. Funnier, more painful, and more disgusting than all previous installments, with an added dash of melancholy. It’s a fun ride while it lasts, and with Jackass Forever our gluttons for punishment are more aware than ever that that ride will someday come to an end. Plus Spike Jonze puppets a penis, and there’s no way that won’t make me smile.
Jerry & Marge Go Large
The post-Breaking Bad career of Bryan Cranston is one of missteps and overreaches. The man who was best known for his comedic genius (yes, genius) on Malcolm in the Middle gets his Serious Actor arc only to end up floundering in lower-end prestige pieces. Trumbo! The Infiltrator! Last Flag Flying! Films that totally exist and have a place in the public consciousness. With Jerry & Marge Go Large Cranston tiptoes closer to where he should be (a wacky father who rollerskates) but is bogged down by the tropes of the True Story. While the film is nice, and it’s nice to see Cranston be funny again, it’s a good reminder that just because something is true it doesn’t mean it’s particularly interesting.
Leave No Trace
A truly devastating film, and one that quickly has become one of my favourites of all time. Father-daughter films are few and far between in Hollywood cinema, and the generosity given to that relationship by director Debra Granik is wonderful to see. A slow film about a man who is trying to do his best for the only person he cares about, and a daughter who is becoming aware that there’s only so much a father can give. Ben Foster gives a career-best (in a filmography of career-bests) and Thomasin McKenzie proves why she quickly became a Hollywood It Girl. Watch it, love it.
The Man from Toronto
I am going to do my best to be nice to Kevin Hart. The man knows what he is doing, and he does it well, and you can not hold that against him. The numbers speak for themselves: people love his schtick. How are why they love it I may never understand, but love it they do. If you like me tire quickly of his style of fast-talking, lovably dumb yet surprisingly arrogant fools, The Man from Toronto won’t offer any surprises. Even Woody Harrelson playing an assassin (something that he should be damn good at) can’t save this overly safe, overly predictable big-budget bore.
Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris
This year I was introduced to the term nicecore. It’s fairly self-explanatory: it features stories of nice people, doing nice things, and having nice outcomes. Think your Ted Lassos and your Parks and Rec. And while the saccharine sweet stylings of nicecore can definitely teeter on obnoxious, it holds merit in a film world that tends to value brooding heroes and ineffectual quips. When everyone else is in on the bit sometimes it’s good to see people whose main flaw is honesty. All that is to say that Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris is a damn nice film and I had a damn good time watching it.
The Polka King
Another in the “just because it’s true doesn’t mean it’s interesting” category, The Polka King is trying its darndest. An honestly brilliant Jack Black (then again when isn’t he) helps elevate this ho-him story into a fun film that was never going to rank among the greats. This film belongs to a category I call American Deception. We are set to get an American Deception film at least once a year until America falls into ruin and the Mole People finally rise. American Deception films always follow a set format; a nobody, a loser, stumbles across some sort of con or crime and rides that to the highest highs of American culture (having a big ol’ car and two fur coats) before the ultimate collapse of their enterprise. There is nothing inherently wrong with the American Deception film, but the format of following the con artists and brushing aside the victims quickly is wearing thin.
Ray and Raymond
Few things can be as annoying as wasted potential, and there are few films with more wasted potential from this last year than Ray and Raymond. Two estranged brothers reunite to bury their abusive father, only to discover the father’s final wish was that the brothers dig the grave themselves. A solid premise for a light melodrama, and with the brothers played by Ethan Hawke and Ewan McGregor, it’s truly a shame how bland this film is. A Hallmark movie without the silliness. A kitchen sink soap without the heartache. A film that leaves you with nothing to latch onto.
Salt
If you remember the advertisements for Salt when it first came out in 2010, then you know everything that is going to happen in this movie. There are no surprises, no twists or turns that you haven’t seen a hundred times before. A film more predictable than your morning commute, Salt doesn’t aim higher than a Sunday afternoon TNT matinee. But there is something admirable in this comfort, in predictability. If the greatest action films are the finest cut steak in the country, Salt is a ham sandwich. Steak is great, but sometimes all you need is a good ham and cheese.
Spiderhead
It’s always a little impressive when a director releases two films in one year. It’s all the more impressive when one of those films is one of the best of the year (Top Gun: Maverick) and one of them is on the complete opposite end of the spectrum (Spiderhead). So congratulations to Joseph Kosinski, for you have an incredible range! Spiderhead is an unmitigated mess, a film that wants to be a heady lo-fi film about the near future and also wants you to laugh at someone smearing shit on a wall. Turns out that only works when Michelle Yeoh is involved.
Stars at Noon
Claire Denis’ love/hate relationship with sex and sensuality is again on display in this political thriller. You would be hard-pressed to find a sexier film from the last year (with apologies to Chip n Dale: Rescue Rangers) and anyone complaining about the lack of sex scenes in modern filmmaking should already be well-versed in the works of Denis. Unfortunately, as anyone who has had desire overwhelm logic before already knows, sex is rarely satisfying by itself. With a lack of chemistry or dramatic stakes throughout most of its run, Stars at Noon fails to live up to its initial forceful opening.
Vengeance
Another directorial debut, this one from The Office alumni BJ Novak, in which he does an admirable job of making you forget that he is beloved by the most boring people on every dating app ever. A twisty comedy/thriller that (much like many audacious debuts) shoots for the stars but only hits the moon. Broad-stroke themes of healing a nation and what it means to be American hamper what could have been a very well-done fish-out-of-water thriller. But not all is lost, as many elements still work, and Novak is not too proud to make himself the punchline for most of the movie. An out-of-nowhere ending may turn people off but hey, it’s still the best thing the supporting cast of The Office has ever done (high praise).
Violent Night
I will never not be fascinated by a well-cast Santa. Any high-budget/theatrically released Christmas film will announce their Santa and illicit sheer delight from me. David Harbour? Kurt Russell? Ed Asner? Such obvious choices for the jolly old guy that still somehow surprise you with their perfection. Throw in some of the most cartoonish violence you’ll see on screen in 2022 and you’ve assured yourself a good time. While the Deadpoolization of action cinema has been truly awful for most films, the one aspect that can still delight is the absolute absurdity of the violence on display. If headshots as punchlines don’t work for you I highly doubt sledgehammers’ exploding heads would be any different, but I still urge you to lighten up. It’s the holidays!
Weird
Watching Weird so soon after sitting through the excess that is Elvis only proved to highlight the failures of that film and the successes of this one. The idea that an artist is important or grandiose in any way is skewered here, made laughable in the pompousness of their position. While Weird never makes it to the grand heights of Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story (I mean, what film can?) it is the best film that could be made about Weird Al, that I can confidently state.
Wendell & Wild
Henry Selick is a visual extraordinaire, and one of the most important animators in cinematic history. The Nightmare Before Christmas, James and the Giant Peach, and Coraline have cemented his place in the history books (Monkeybone is buried under that cement). So where does Wendell & Wild fall within such a prestigious filmography? If you’re coming in looking for some of if not the best stop motion animation you will find this year, you’ve hit the money. If you’re looking for a cohesive story that will surprise you and make any damn sense? That’ll be harder to come by. A messy story that wants to be five differen
t things at once (with screenwriting by Jordan Peele this shouldn’t come as a huge surprise) Selick is never fully able to wrangle the ideas.