You'll Hopefully Agree With My Top 10 Movies of The Year
10. Avatar: The Way of Water
Even if formulaic Avatar: The Way of Water is an experience that is every bit a part of filmmaking. We go to the cinema for many reasons. The grandest of all is when we want to be transported to another world. Whether it be a star destroyer chasing a rebel cruiser or submerging in the waters of Pandora. The Way of Water might not be as emotionally complex as The Banshees of Inisherin or even Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio, but it's a once-in-a-lifetime experience to see only on the big screen. F
9. Babylon
Babylon is The Great Gatsby if directed by someone far superior to Baz Luhrmann. Damien Chazelle's talent for spectacle holds no bounds in a three-plus-hour Hollywood epic about the sins of the industry. Featuring the rise and fall of three characters played by Brad Pitt, Margot Robbie, and Diego Calva, Babylon keeps you intoxicated from beginning to end thanks to Chazelle's continued affluence for music driving the picture.
8. All The Beauty And The Bloodshed
If the Sackler name sounds unfamiliar to you, you'll certainly remember it by the end of this film. All The Beauty and The Bloodshed chronicles the life of Nan Goldin, a sexually aware New York City photographer who used her body as a form of art that left many divisive. How Nan relates to the opioid epidemic leading to the Sackler family is a hypnotic trip that challenges sexual repression, wealth, and the artistic community.
7. The Banshees of Inisherin
Martin McDonagh provides a challenging synopsis. Are you Pádraic, or are you Calm? When Calm Doherty (Brendan Gleeson) breaks his relationship without notice to Pádraic Súilleabháin (Colin Farrell), Pádraic won't accept it. The reason Calm doesn't want to speak to Pádraic is simple; he's too dumb to be around. So the question is presented to the audience. Are we better than some people? Or are some of us the idiot? Although cruel in his actions, Calm reaches a certain age where one doesn't care if they hurt another's feelings if they speak their mind. Usually known for being over the top for his work, Martin McDonagh's The Banshees of Inesherin is a remarkable, uncharacteristically restrained, existentialist picture about human relationships.
6. Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio
What do Benito Mussolini and Pinocchio have in common? You can only find out if you watch Guillermo del Toro's take on Pinocchio. The classic Disney story is updated for a more mature audience. Pinocchio is one of the best stop-motion animation films since The Nightmare Befor Christmas. Relying more on emotion than stunning visuals Guillermo del Toro puts Disney's recent CGI vomit "live-action" version to shame. It will be hard to hold your tears during the film's final moments, which is a surprise since Pinocchio's story is universally recognizable .
5. The Fablemans
Tis the year filmmakers digress their life stories. What separates Steven Spielberg from the Sam Mendez and James Grays of the world is his heart. Often Spielberg is criticized for being sentimental. Many see his tug at heartstrings as blatant panders to the audience. But that's not true. Steven Spielberg may be sweet, but his films are far from shallow. Spielberg's films have a universality to them since they come from the soul of a man who sees the best in people. The Fablemans is Steven Spielberg's fable to his parents, that doesn’t romanticize his family. It's a heartfelt tale of people behaving their best when things in their lives turn for the worst.
4. Till
Till is a by-the-books sentimental Oscar contender that never cheapens its emotions to appeal to a large audience. Emmett Till's mutilation and murder is a horrifying event that should never go unnoticed from the pages of history. Danielle Deadwyler is required to display every range of emotion being Emmett's mother and does so with grace. Till comes down to the end having to work, or the film will fail. When the ending comes, it hits hard. The movie radiates with feeling when it decides to break from the constraints of a PG-13 rating, although it manages to earn one.
3. Women Talking
Once actor turned director, Sarah Polley constructs a masterful ensemble piece. A group of women in a remote Amish community faces a difficult list of choices. Do nothing. Stay and fight. Or leave. When the women of the isolated community are continually sexually abused by a monster, fighting against the rapist goes against the community's religion. So what do these women do?
A masterclass in editing and structure, Women Talking is an exhilarating, terrifying experience of sight and sound that stands above the standard ensembles since the film is about so much more than its star power. It's a gut punch of truth. Sexual abuse runs rampant, and the pleas of the abused often remain silent to a system that fails to do enough, whether in a religious community or the common workplace. Watch the movie for the acting, and stay during the credits to acknowledge the stunning from the editing room.
2. Everything Everywhere All At Once
The Daniels out multiverse Marvel. Everything Everywhere All At Once is a screwball comedy turned action movie, ending in drama. To categorize EEAAO wouldn't do it justice. The film shares multiple flavors of enjoyment. Underneath all its sausage fingers and kung fu is a rare message put to good use; having less is more. Dan Kuan and Daniel Scheinert don't settle on material wealth to solve the Wang family's problems. How Mrs. Wang (played wonderfully by Michelle Yeoh) learns her lesson about content is an electrifying and bitter-sweet experience that’s a feast for the eyes.
1. RRR
Bollywood is not to be ignored. The Netflix sensation should be seen with a large crowd who can cheer at every moment as there's plenty of crowd-worthy instances—ranging from one man fighting one hundred (where for once, not every actor is waiting for their cue to attack the star) to a man going toe to toe with a tiger and winning. RRR is a spectacle. Similar to Everything Everywhere All at Once, RRR combines film categories. It's an action film, a romance, and a musical. None of its styles conflict with one another, and the bromantic chemistry between N.T. Rama Rao Jr. and Ram Charan Teja are smile-inducing. With a mixture of multiple genres, S.S. Rajamouli constructs one of the best crowd-pleasers in years.
