This is a list of the best films of 2022. There are many like it, but this one is mine. It is very late, but pay it no mind. The film industry in 2022 felt like a massive and powerful response to the limitations of the COVID-lockdown era. One action film saved the box office industry in America, one Asian film transcended borders to infect us all with joy, great filmmakers put out exceptional entries in their ouevre, and multiple different versions of Pinocchio were released — but only one of the made a positive impact. Let’s have a look at the best films of 2022.
In October, Francesca Scorsese, whose father is the legendary Oscar-winning American filmmaker Martin Scorsese, posted a fun video on the social media application TikTok in which Martin Scorsese jokingly and playfully directs the family dog named ‘Oscar’ through an ‘audition’ for ‘a role.’ Explaining jokes defeats the purpose of the joke, but, for the purpose of this article, I should stress that the joke has nothing to do with the dog’s name — rather what is so funny and charming about the video is, first, the reveal that he’s talking to a dog, and, later, the family dog’s responses (or lack thereof) to his direction. I, and many others in the online film community, enjoyed the video quite a bit. Then, sometime thereafter, frequent Marvel collaborator and Avengers: Infinity War co-director Joe Russo posted a video response to Instagram, in which he said that he, too, has a Schnauzer as a pet, and then he makes note of the Scorsese family dog’s name before announcing that it’s ‘cute,’ but his dog’s name is Box Office.
Top Left: Mads Mikkelsen in Flickering Lights (Scanbox; Rolf Konow). – Top Right: Poul Bundgaard, Ove Sprogøe, and Morten Grunwald in the Olsen Gang-films (Nordisk Film). – Bottom Left: Mads Mikkelsen in Another Round (Nordisk Film). – Bottom Right: Nikolaj Lie Kaas and Fares Fares in the Department Q-films (Nordisk Film; Henrik Ohsten).
The Danish news agency Ritzau reports that Anders Thomas Jensen’s 2000s dark-comedy Flickering Lights (Danish title: Blinkende Lygter) was found to be Danes’ favorite Danish film ever made. The study was conducted by the data analytics firm YouGov for the Danish streaming service Nordisk Film+. A total of 1,529 Danes in the 18 to 79 age range participated in CAWI-interviews for the study, which has ultimately resulted in a top ten list that includes two film series (each counted as a single film). Interestingly, a total of nine films (including one of the film series) that were released have all come out in the last forty years, and, incredibly, a film released during the COVID-era placed second!
Inspired by Netflix’s hit sports docuseries Formula 1: Drive to Survive, Tour de France: Unchained (subtitled ‘Au cœur du peloton,’ meaning ‘in the heart of the peloton’ in French) is a sports docuseries that aims to give a detailed look behind-the-scenes of the most prestigious cycling race in the world and, supposedly, the world’s biggest annual sporting event, the Tour de France, i.e. a three-week cycling race (for Americans, made famous by Lance Armstrong) where numerous teams race around France until they reach Paris on the very last day. This, the first of hopefully multiple seasons of the show, follows the 109th edition of the Tour de France, which began in Copenhagen, Denmark in July of 2022, and had a Dane as one of the most prominent and high-profile riders in the entire race. The series takes you inside sporting director’s cars and team busses of several, but notably not all, of the 22 teams in the race.
James Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 3 has been released, Gunn has finished his trilogy, and his time at Marvel is seemingly in the rearview mirror whether we like it or not. Warner Bros. and DC made a good decision to allow him to guide the direction of a shared universe of films based on DC Comics, which was something I advocated for in my review of his excellent The Suicide Squad film. Although his first DC film as a director, Superman Legacy, is still a couple of years away, now is as good a time as any to have a look at what actors would be good fits for the most iconic characters in Clark Kent’s corner of the DC Universe. So, without further ado, let’s have a look at some casting ideas for the upcoming Superman: Legacy film.
(L-R) Josephine Park and Fanny Louise Bernth in THE NURSE — PHOTO: NETFLIX / Tommy Wildner.
As Netflix tries to churn out local content, we get to see several Danish Netflix originals. For example, a couple of months ago, Nicolas Winding Refn got to show off his style with his Danish series Copenhagen Cowboy, which I admittedly have yet to see, and, a while back, I recommended The Chestnut Man and called it the best Danish Netflix release at that time. Today I want to talk about the latest major Danish Netflix original, which I think is mostly solid. But it must be said that in moments it is genuinely tense and gripping.
Host Jimmy Kimmel is danced off the stage by dancers performing the ‘Naatu Naatu’ dance from RRR — PHOTO: Carlos Barria/Reuters.
We’ve now all had some time to sleep on and sit with the 95th Academy Awards ceremony, and, so, now feels like a good time to look back and assess what is supposed to be the biggest night in Hollywood. Jimmy Kimmel was back to be the host, all of the categories were back, and it never got physical like last year did. It was therefore meant to be a normal Oscars ceremony, but what does a normal Oscars ceremony look like in 2023, and how should we feel about this year’s list of winners? Well, I have thoughts.
It’s time. I’ve seen everything that I feel like I need to see before I can publish my best TV/streaming shows list for 2022. Today, I’ll list ten shows that I think were absolutely fantastic last year. You’ll find a lot of different shows on this list. Some of them are big franchise entries, but there are also new favorites and an experimental show that I was obsessed with last year. So, without further ado, let’s get to it. Counting down from ten to one, these are the best television shows of 2022.
Delphine Seyrig in Chantal Akerman’s Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles — PHOTO: Janus Films / Akerman, 1975.
Every ten years since 1952, Sight & Sound has polled film professionals (critics and filmmakers alike) on what the greatest films of all time are. In 1992, they split up the filmmakers and critics into separate lists, which has allowed for a great number of films to be celebrated every ten years. The 2022 lists have just been released. Prior to the new lists, only the following films had been placed at number one: Bicycle Thieves, Citizen Kane, Vertigo, and Tokyo Story. Well, for 2022, none of those films landed at no. 1 in either the directors’ or the critics’ polls. Here are my thoughts.
Jamie Lee Curtis’ Laurie Strode eventually goes toe-to-toe with Michael Myers one last time in David Gordon Green’s HALLOWEEN ENDS — PHOTO: Universal Pictures.
Directed by David Gordon Green — Screenplay by Paul Brad Logan, Chris Bernier, Danny McBride, and David Gordon Green.
Do bankable film franchises really end? These days it really doesn’t feel like it. Horror franchises, like other genre franchises, can be brought back to life again and again and again. Heck, these days reboots can just ignore several films that came before and chose to only acknowledge one or two films in the franchise, and audiences will still accept it. So, well, regardless of what happens in this film, does anyone truly believe that Halloween will really end? This skepticism is coming from a guy who thought this franchise probably should’ve ended with Steve Miner’s Halloween H20, which I liked. Honestly, I would’ve been fine with them ending it after the 2018 reboot.
Because let’s be honest, this — 2018, Halloween Kills, and this film — shouldn’t have been a trilogy. It should’ve just been that one ‘Jamie Lee Curtis as Laurie Strode a la Sarah Connor’ film to end the franchise with a bad-ass one-on-one confrontation. But then some higher-up probably wanted more, and so we got a pretty awful and aimless middle part, in Halloween Kills, and now, with Halloween Ends, a really messy conclusion that both wants to live up to the promise of the 2018 film and try something new. It doesn’t completely work, but I admire the attempt.
I'm Jeffrey Rex 