December 31, 2022
With the quarantine protocols easing up in 2022, films made their way back into cinemas, although the best business was made by titles which promise a visual spectacle which is best seen on the big screen.
In November, the QCinema Film Festival was back face-to-face with a treasure trove of international films, several of which were each countries submissions to the Oscar Best International Film categories.
Like last year, there are is still so much cinematic content available on various international streaming sites like Netflix, HBO Go, Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, and MUBI.
Not included in this countdown were the 2021 films which were only shown here locally in 2022, notably "Spiderman: No Way Home." Also not included here were outstanding films, many of them favored to be nominated for Oscars, but have not been released in the country yet, either in cinemas or on any streaming sites (VPN not necessary). These include "The Fabelmans," "Tar," "Women Talking," "The Whale," "Babylon" and "Aftersun."
Like last year, I divided my yearend best-of-films list into three: English language and non-English foreign films in this post, and Filipino films in a separate post (LINK).
ENGLISH LANGUAGE FILMS
25. BLACK ADAM by Jaume Collet-Serra (My Full Review)
24. DC LEAGUE OF SUPER-PETS by Jared Stern (My Full Review)
23. THE BAD GUYS by Pierre Perifel (My Full Review)
22.THE BLACK PHONE by Scott Derrickson (My Full Review)
20. HUSTLE by Jeremiah Zagar (My Full Review)
19. THE WONDER by Sebastian Lelio (My Full Review)
18. THIRTEEN LIVES by Ron Howard (My Full Review)
17. SHE SAID by Maria Schrader (My Full Review)
16. TRIANGLE OF SADNESS by Ruben Östlund (My Full Review)
15. PUSS IN BOOTS: THE LAST WISH by Joel Crawford (My Full Review)
14. THE UNBEARABLE WEIGHT OF MASSIVE TALENT by Tom Gormickan (My Full Review)
13. VIOLENT NIGHT by Tommy Wirkola (My Full Review)
12. GLASS ONION: A KNIVES OUT MYSTERY by Rian Johnson (My Full Review)
11. THE BANSHEES OF INISHERIN by Martin O'Donagh (My Full Review)
The technical aspects of this alien thriller film was its best draw. The cinematography by the acclaimed Hoyte Van Hoytema ("Interstellar," "Dunkirk," "Tenet") was breathtaking in capturing the vast cloudy skies where the alien hid. The film editing by Nicolas Monsour ("Us") worked with the music of Michael Abels ("Get Out," "Us") effectively evoked a sense of danger, dread and excitement during the scenes with the alien.
Like they did in "Swiss Army Man" before, Daniels again attempts to take on the meaning of life in their own silly absurdist way. We face several forks everyday in our path of life, and the choices we make decide how our life would turn out. This existentialist concept of the Multiverse, chaotic as it may seem in this film, posits that there exist different versions of you living another version of life. The life you are living now may not be your best life at all.
The biggest innovation in this film was the technology for motion capture for underwater scenes, something that has never been done before. Cameron really went all the way in creating a CGI marine biosphere for these Na'vi creatures to interact with water creatures big and small, sacred and mystical. Seeing the callous ways humans invade and destroy such natural beauty and balance sent out a potent pro-environment message.
Director Sam Raimi returns from a 9-year break from film directing since "Oz the Great and Powerful" (2013) and he comes back strong. He told a complex fantasy story bringing characters into different universes with different versions of themselves in a way that engaged the audience and made sense. His expertise in the horror genre, from films like "The Evil Dead" (1981) and "Drag Me to Hell" (2009), fit right into the dark story.
The most memorable aspect of this film is its meticulously-crafted stop motion animation, a product of 15 years of work. It was amazing how it looked so effortless like this was a live action film with all those little body movements, hand gestures and facial expressions. The camera angles, editing, production design, the music and songs of Alexandre Desplat were all very expertly done. This looks like a sure win at the Oscars for Best Animated Feature Film.
Director Ryan Coogler's production design, costume design and hair and makeup teams outdid themselves in this sequel as they did not only designed Wakanda, but also Talokan. Namor's underwater kingdom Atlantis was given a decidedly Mesoamerican civilzation, from its architecture, costumes, language and culture. Marvel made this sequel a beautiful tribute to the memory of the late Chadwick Boseman, whose spirit still pervaded the film.
Director David Leitch brought in the same energy and humor from his previous film "Deadpool 2" (2018) here, with more characters to play around with and more blood to splatter around. This Tarantino-esque film had so much chaos in it, yet all this was skillfully calculated so precisely. A poisonous snake and number of A-list guest stars making surprise appearances added a lot more fun amidst the mayhem.
The best parts of this film are the breathtakingly-fast and exhilarating flying scenes, all said to be done without the benefit of computer-generated effects. We see Maverick flying an experimental Mach 10 jet, an F-18 Super Hornet and even a F-14 Tomcat (for a nice throwback to the first film). The superb cinematography and editing made it all look like Cruise was actually flying those planes.
This is the first film this year that is a clear contender during the awards season next year, including the Oscars. Aside from imminent acting nominations for Butler and Hanks, Baz Luhrmann's scintillating direction will likely be cited as well, along with technical nods for cinematography, film editing, costume design, hair and make-up, and most especially sound. Its wall of meticulously-edited sounds needs to be heard in a Dolby theater.
It has only been two years since millionaire Bruce Wayne began his vigilante mission against crime in Gotham City. That Halloween, a mystery man calling himself the Riddler began a series of murders of Gotham's Mayor, police commissioner and district attorney, all with a video sent to the news and a card with a riddle addressed to Batman. His next target was to be Bruce Wayne himself.
Director Matt Reeves was able to tell this complex story with multiple characters with engaging skill using cinematically-creative shots with excellent cinematography by Greig Fraser, production design by James Chinlund, and musical score by Michael Giacchino. The 3-hour running time may sound formidable, but this was worth every minute.
NON-ENGLISH LANGUAGE FILMS
10. CORSAGE by Marie Kreutzer (Austria) (My Full Review)
9. SAINT OMER by Alice Diop (France) (My Full Review)
8. NICE VIEW by Wen Muye (China) (My Full Review)
7. HUNT by Lee Jung-jae (South Korea) (My Full Review)
6. BARDO, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths by Alejandro G. Iñárritu (Mexico) (My Review)
The manner Mincan told his story was very intense, suffused with a constant feeling of claustrophobia whether in the darkness below deck or in the maze of containers on deck. This was achieved with all the extreme closeups by cinematographer George Chiper-Lillemark, enhanced by the film editing by Dragos Apetri. The heavy atmosphere of uncertain danger was further achieved with the suspenseful musical score of Marius Leftarache.
The film was a grand 3-hour-long affair full of over-the-top brutal action sequences that defied the laws of physics, filled with all sorts of complicated stunts and fiery explosions, and even a stampede of computer-generated wild animals. In true Indian film tradition, there were also colorful musical extravaganzas in the mix, with that joyously defiant Desi Naach dance showdown of our heroes against the snooty British guys as a glorious highlight.
This is Park Chan-wook's first film in five years which makes it a major event for South Korean and international film fans alike. Park's telling of this crime-mystery was very compelling, giving focus on an uncomfortable romance while everything else was left rather cloudy. We appreciate his innovative camera technique to capture the characters and scenery in a most aesthetic, riveting manner, even as it may not be at the level of his previous films.
This film starts with an impressive 10 minute-long tracking shot of a press conference disrupted by a Molotov cocktail, then followed Karim and his men violently clashing with the authorities. Midway, there was another long continuous shot of a bold police operation which ended badly, then followed young officer Jerome (Anthony Bajon) in its aftermath. These complicated tracking shots of choreographed crowd chaos showcased the camera skills of director Romain Gavras and his cinematographer Matias Boucard in their fullest grandeur.
Faithful to the spirit of the book, director and co-writer Edward Berger depicted the frontlines as a bleak place of mud and grime, a place of endless uncertainty and danger, where death can happen anytime. The main character Paul was one of those nameless young soldiers whose idealism was broken by the experience of actual battle. There was no impressive displays of heroism or bravery, these men just want to survive and go back home. Yet the winds of fate constantly changed right up to the end of the war.
The destructive violence and senseless tragedy in the battlefields were caught by the beautiful cinematography of James Friend, especially those magnificent long shots of soldiers marching, running and dying across the desolate landscape. The details of the widespread carnage, with the unique injuries of each dead soldier so meticulously recreated with make-up and prosthetics, were realistic and very difficult to look at. Its strong message about the absurdity, pointlessness and stupidity of war was loud and clear.
**********
Here are my yearend roundups for previous years:
My Yearend Roundup 2021 is posted HERE.
My Yearend Roundup 2020 is posted HERE.
My Yearend Roundup 2019 is posted HERE.
My Yearend Roundup 2018 is posted HERE.
My Yearend Roundup 2017 is posted HERE.
My Yearend Roundup 2016 is posted HERE.
My Yearend Roundup 2015 is posted HERE.
My Yearend Roundup 2014 is posted HERE.
My Yearend Roundup 2013 is posted HERE.
My Yearend Roundup 2012 is posted HERE.
No comments:
Post a Comment