2022 - A Year In Film.
New films or films I hadn’t seen before 2022.
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- DirectorJason ReitmanStarsCarrie CoonPaul RuddFinn WolfhardWhen a single mom and her two kids arrive in a small town, they begin to discover their connection to the original Ghostbusters and the secret legacy their grandfather left behind.4.2
A tired, tiresome, needless rehash/reboot made for x-kids and nostalgia hounds.
Firstly, the adults in the movie are horrible. Carrie Coons character is a dreadful human being from outset despite trying to anchor her troubling behaviour with trauma. Paul Rudd’s character is useless at best his sole job is to get YouTube up for the kids and make them watch adult movies.
Secondly, this is not a sequel, it is a remake. The whole second half of the movie is a winkathon; endlessly cramming remember-berries down your throat. How stupid do they think we are? This is the movie equivalent of a tummy tickle and nobody over 5 appreciates those. Don’t even mention the “return” of the original ghostbusters…so misjudged.
The stranger things-ification of everything continues as we get the grandchildren of Egon playing find the ghostbusters memorabilia. I like McKenna Grace’s character and her relationship with Podcast really works. Maybe they should’ve dropped the older brother as he is as awkward as he is listless.
This is disheartening. Fans can like the original, it’s ok for things to stay in the past. The best version of the ghostbusters lives in the minds of its fans. The filmmakers, no matter how close to the source they are, cannot touch or bottle that because it’s singular to each individual. So to remake the original and tell fans it’s what they want is troublesome. - DirectorDavid AyerStarsWill SmithJoel EdgertonNoomi RapaceA detective must work with an Orc to find a powerful wand before evil creatures do.4.4
A mildly entertaining retooled cop drama.
What happened to this movie? Why does the narrative turn into “End Of Witch”? This was so much more fun in the preliminary world building scenes. The parallels between race and the different mythical creatures was hammy but interesting. The movie is ultimately more interested in tired displays of grunting masculinity and recycling plot points. The film devolves into a cliched, steaming exposition dump. - DirectorMattson TomlinStarsChloë Grace MoretzAlgee SmithRaúl CastilloIn a post-apocalyptic world rocked by a violent android uprising, a young pregnant woman and her boyfriend desperately search for safety.4.1
A mostly benign and tensionless cliché fest.
This barely passes as entertainment. Moretz does her best as a pregnant woman on the run from psycho robots. Everything else is so by the numbers, so by committee, so trite and predictable it barely justifies its existence. There’s not a memorable sequence in the entire movie. This is safe film making at its boring worst. - DirectorDavid PriorStarsJames Badge DaleMarin IrelandSasha FrolovaOn the trail of a missing girl, an ex-cop comes across a secretive group attempting to summon a terrifying supernatural entity.6.5
A compelling and dread filled modern horror.
The empty man is anything but empty. Yes, it is candyman-lite for the first hour but there’s enough good ideas and philosophical discussions in the second half to make up for it. The scene in the Pontifex Institute in which we meet the enigmatic leader is a particular highlight - dripping with tension and intriguing ideas.
This is not perfect by any means but at least there’s enough substance and novelty to save it from the usual tsunami of shite. - DirectorJoe CarnahanStarsFrank GrilloMel GibsonNaomi WattsTrapped in a time loop that constantly repeats the day of his murder, a former special forces agent must unlock the mystery behind his untimely demise.6.3
Big, brash, clever-dumb fun.
Grillo is always watchable. At 1hr 40 it’s a tad flabby but never dull even when the dreaded exposition dump comes at the end of the third act. The premise is fun and the filmmakers have fun running back and forth through the carnage. Carnahan keeps the silliness to the forefront throughout and it never tries to engage on a much deeper level which, in a Nolanised age, is a delight.
The absent father plot line feels tired and tacked on and the “love” story is thin and unbelievable. It’s pure computer game, popcorn fun in the vein of crank etc al. - DirectorJoe CarnahanStarsGerard ButlerFrank GrilloAlexis LouderOn the run from a lethal assassin, a wily con artist devises a scheme to hide out inside a small-town police station-but when the hitman turns up at the precinct, an unsuspecting rookie cop finds herself caught in the crosshairs.6.1
A brash and fun rehashing of better cop actioneers.
Joe Carnahan has carved out a jagged niche for himself stuffed with hitman, big contracts, murky criminals, dodgy cops and loud, silly climaxes. Cop shop is fun. Cop shop is even more fun if you haven’t seen Assault on precinct 13 or Rio Bravo.
Grillo and Butler facing off was always going to be a riot but its Louder who steals the show with an engaging, badass performance as the (wo)man caught in the middle. Along with Wrath Of Man, this a good solid crime film. - DirectorRic Roman WaughStarsGerard ButlerMorena BaccarinRoger Dale FloydA family struggles for survival in the face of a cataclysmic natural disaster.5.1
The relative success of Greenland is rooted in Baccarin and Butler who are likeable in spite of the familiar and predictable plotting. - DirectorGeorge ClooneyStarsBen AffleckTye SheridanDaniel RanieriA boy growing up on Long Island seeks out father figures among the patrons at his uncle's bar.5.9/6.0
The tender bar is cliched and leisurely Sunday afternoon film making. In the age of social media, where every moment of a persons life can be telegraphed to the entire planet with the flick of a thumb, the coming of age drama seems more self indulgent and passé than ever. Does anyone but those actually or vicariously (in an artistic sense) involved really care? That’s not to say there haven’t been some recent notable exceptions; The Spectacular Now and Boyhood spring to mind immediately. Those movies come across as more sincere and earnest whereas The Tender Bar feels too filmy, flimsy and familiar to really be truly involving. The overall effect is that of a ghostly caress rather than a nostalgic embrace. - DirectorGavin O'ConnorStarsBen AffleckAnna KendrickJ.K. SimmonsAs a math savant uncooks the books for a new client, the Treasury Department closes in on his activities, and the body count starts to rise.4.5
Nothing on offer here is ever particularly believable. Affleck as a accountant, the autism plot, the Kung fu teacher/mercenary plot line and Anna Kendrick’s attempt at “straight” acting. Nothing here is bad per se, it just never really settles on a lane. Is this a pensive, brooding actioneer? Is it a corporate greed based drama? Is it a special ops, stolen person type thriller? The issue with all of these is that recently we have been swamped by better examples of each. The accountant is not bourne. The accountant is not the insider. The accountant is just another soulless retread with its existence predicated solely on the promise of a new shiny “shoot em up” franchise. - DirectorJ.C. ChandorStarsBen AffleckOscar IsaacCharlie HunnamLoyalties are tested when five friends and former special forces operatives reunite to take down a South American drug lord, unleashing a chain of unintended consequences.6.4
More of a modern (or neo) western than a war film. This largely successful due to a few high tension action scenes namely the main robbery. There’s a few really solid performances; Affleck in particular is angsty and believable. This is good hearty entertainment where morality is blurry but never lost to nihilism or soupy double crossing. - DirectorZack SnyderStarsHenry CavillBen AffleckGal GadotDetermined to ensure that Superman's ultimate sacrifice wasn't in vain, Bruce Wayne recruits a team of metahumans to protect the world from an approaching threat of catastrophic proportions.4.7
Over long, repetitive and shallow as a shower. This is surely the archetypal modern movie (making) experience; bloated, loud, cloaked, superficial and backed by a rabid pack of supporters whos vitriol and fervour inflates the whole sorry zeppelin with toxic winds of hot air. The troubled but ultimately “triumphant” story of the films production is now more important than the story of the movie itself. Any short coming can be explained by its numerous and fabled production woes. It is inseparable from the noise that surrounds it; making any truth or objectivity hard (impossible) to find.
The idea that more is always better is troublesome; and possibly indicative of the times we live in, in which everything is handed to us from a fibre optic cable. There is always a better way to tell a story granted, but I don’t think the better way is EVER to just make it 4hrs long.
Wonder Woman is still the most interesting thing about the whole universe and her introduction to this film is the highlight. - DirectorDavid AyerStarsBrad PittShia LaBeoufLogan LermanA grizzled tank commander makes tough decisions as he and his crew fight their way across Germany in April, 1945.6.4
Earthy, visceral and entertaining. Brad Pitt does some decent heavy lifting in this testosterone fuelled tank drama. It doesn’t all work; there’s some definite narrative issues and stagnant one note characters but this is solid movie making. It seems more interested in the making of dick swinging monster men than the redemption (religious or movie) of its characters who are “normal” men thrust into the horrors of war. - DirectorKevin LewisStarsNicolas CageEmily TostaBeth GrantA quiet drifter is tricked into a janitorial job at the now condemned Willy's Wonderland. The mundane tasks suddenly become an all-out fight for survival against wave after wave of demonic animatronics. Fists fly, kicks land, titans clash -- and only one side will make it out alive.3.2
Dull despite the fact that Nic Cage is always watchable. Here Cage is a mute part time diligent cleaner, part time ruthless puppet killing machine. This is never as knowingly cute, winking, post modern as it thinks it is - I would even go as far as to say that it’s completely humourless and unironic. It’s imitated whips and pans are the goriest thing about it. The deaths are listless and nasty and the whole thing sinks under the weight of trying to seem like it knows how terrible it is. I’m not sure how anyone can still write such a cliched, uninteresting, deplorable bunch of characters and expect anyone to care without ingesting lethal amounts of alcohol and/or narcotics. - DirectorAngelina JolieStarsJack O'ConnellMiyaviDomhnall GleesonAfter a near-fatal plane crash in WWII, Olympian Louis Zamperini spends a harrowing 47 days in a raft with two fellow crewmen before he's caught by the Japanese navy and sent to a prisoner-of-war camp.5.9/6.0
Largely uninvolving for the most part. Suffers from an superficial beauty which belies the story. The story itself is interesting, harrowing, challenging but I don’t think the film ever is. As war films go this one is in neutral, never particularly earthy or believable despite it’s obvious and doe-eyed, Oscar bating earnestness. - DirectorJames WanStarsAnnabelle WallisMaddie HassonGeorge YoungMadison is paralyzed by shocking visions of grisly murders, and her torment worsens as she discovers that these waking dreams are in fact terrifying realities.4.5
Malignant is fun for 45 minutes. At its best the movie feels like an old school Brian De Palma movie on crack. The filmmakers signposted the “twist” too openly but then again, De Palma did this with Dressed To Kill and Sisters. This heightens the cinematic experience as it becomes less of an intellectual “whodunnit” type exercise. The CGI is bothersome throughout and is yet another example of lazy filmmaking. The deaths and effects created in camera are much more effective. It is disappointing that the film devolves into John wick-lite style carnage with our “heroine” dispatching innocents with Freddy vs Jason style horror CGI kung fu. The filmmakers definitely never earn the emotional ending they try in the final act which leaves the whole experience feeling hollow, lazy, saccharine and wasted.
This film would’ve benefitted from being more trashy and leaning into some of its more cultured references but I don't think Wan can help himself; he is a shining example of everything wrong with filmmaking modernity as everything has to be handsome, colour corrected, cgi assisted and pristine. - DirectorSteven KostanskiStarsNita-Josée HannaOwen MyreMatthew NinaberAfter unearthing a gem that controls an evil monster looking to destroy the Universe, a young girl and her brother use it to make him do their bidding.4.4
As a slice of trashy b movie, sloppy joe movie making, this is ok. It’s never as extreme, kitsch or as funny as it thinks it is. Most of the practical effects work well enough although the real puppets are surely the actors. Never really justifies its existence. Never emotionally engaging despite obvious reference points and it’s preteen characters. A strangely distanced and hollow experience. - DirectorDrew GoddardStarsJeff BridgesCynthia ErivoDakota Johnson1969. Four strangers check in at the El Royale Hotel. The hotel is deserted, staffed by a single desk clerk. Some of the new guests' reasons for being there are less than innocent and some are not who they appear to be.5.9/6.0
Strange. Not as clever, witty or as involving as it thinks it is. It’s an interesting idea told deftly but at well over 2 hours the film is hamstrung by its blocky narrative structure. - DirectorNeill BlomkampStarsSharlto CopleyDev PatelHugh JackmanIn the near future, crime is patrolled by a mechanized police force. When one police droid, Chappie, is stolen and given new programming, he becomes the first robot with the ability to think and feel for himself.6.1
Fun. The use of die antwoord as themselves is confusing and distracting. The story telling is messy and cliched. The characterisation feels thin and like a first draft. There’s no real discernible arcs, no human characters to root for which makes for a strangely empty and nihilistic, faux emotional conclusion.
The movies opening and closing action sequences are great and it has some genuine moments of humour and emotion. - DirectorNeill BlomkampStarsCarly PopeChris William MartinMichael J RogersA young woman unleashes terrifying demons when supernatural forces at the root of a decades-old rift between mother and daughter are ruthlessly revealed.3.1
Dull, hackneyed, cliched and largely uninvolving. By the end it’s almost unthinkable that this is the same man who made District 9. Here Blomkamp abandons all novelty, ingenuity and narrative purpose for a rickety, out dated ghost train ride of tropes and stolen moments. - DirectorJulius AveryStarsJovan AdepoWyatt RussellMathilde OllivierA small group of American soldiers find horror behind enemy lines on the eve of D-Day.6.2
A tense and engrossing war/horror hybrid where the horrors of war are repackaged as a suped up zombified bloodbath. It’s a handsomely directed, well acted exercise in straddling tones and gear switches.
At its heart it’s the standard “against all odds mission” war movie but by using the Nazi’s experimentation as a gateway/excuse into the horror; the stakes are deepened and amplified. Much the like Neil Marshall’s The Descent, the real life horror is compounded with a bombastic, blood soaked “cinematic” or artificial terror.
It doesn’t always work; the film is overly familiar at times and the climax might feel a little rushed and messy for some. Also, once the first genre “shift” happens, it does become a tad predictable in spite of its broadening narrative and cinematic palette. The dominant strain here always had to be the war film as the stakes are ultimately rooted in history thus the film can only really end one way which lessens the impact of the films final blows. - DirectorAneesh ChagantyStarsJohn ChoDebra MessingJoseph LeeAfter his teenage daughter goes missing, a desperate father tries to find clues on her laptop.6.3
Involving and tense by its very nature; Searching is a fairly successful cinematic Epistolary novel.
Much like Rob Savage’s entertaining web cam chiller Host, Searching is a confident piece of techno horror. The filmic palette is surprisingly varied as we see video calls, Facebook pages, home movies and news footage to name but a few. The familiarity and ubiquity of the social media and technology on show and some of the inferred repercussions/dangers thereof create a nice extra layer to some fairly standard pulpy plotting. Thankfully, it’s not entirely humourless there are some surprisingly playful red herrings and alibis.
However, despite the films zip and modest intrigue, Searching is entirely predictable even down to its “twisty” denouement. There are signposted clues spattered about the first third of the movie which should give the keener viewer the right path to traverse.
It’s another example of grafting a shiny new “novel” body onto a tired and cliched genre. In the end, It’s not so much of a much needed breath of fresh air as a surprise text from an old friend. - DirectorDjordje KadijevicStarsDragan JovanovicBranka PujicAleksandar BercekSveto Mesto is based on a literary classic, Nikolai Gogol's 1835 short story, 'Viy'.6.5
Lacking some of the visual charm and inventiveness that made Viy (1967) so enjoyable, this reimagining of the Gogol story puts atmosphere and dark eroticism front and centre.
Loosely, A Holy Place follows the same plot as Viy but the main difference is the addition of several expository flashbacks which introduce some of the disturbing sexual elements and pad out the story.
This film is much straighter, more grounded and naturalistic than its predecessor. This “straightness” definitely aids the darker, more crueller moments - the penis stomping scene for example, is completely horrifying with its no-frills stylisations.
Without the “kitchen sink” visuals, I think this adaptation of the story comes off as slightly sour and po-faced (or should that be poe-faced?). There is a creepiness and skin crawling seediness to the proceedings for sure but I couldn’t being left slightly cold by the whole experience. - DirectorAlister GriersonStarsBen O'TooleMeg FraserCaroline CraigA man with a mysterious past flees the country to escape his own personal hell - only to arrive somewhere much, much worse.6.4
A constantly amusing and surprising little B movie.
Whilst the film may not have the visual frenzy or panache of Evil Dead 2 viewers are asked to take similar, whiplash-inducing, tonal shifts with gonzo action and witty (winky) one liners aplenty.
The flick has a likability that runs contrary to its rather disturbing plot and peripheral characters; this due largely to the assured central performance from Ben O’Toole.
There’s nothing particularly revelatory here, genre fans will note stylistic or tonal similarities to Why Don’t You Just Die! Or The Wolf Of Snow Hollow. However, there’s more than enough crazy action, pulpy plotting, post modernist references and sinister happenings to keep it interesting for 90 minutes. - DirectorCody CalahanStarsEvan MarshAmber GoldfarbAri MillenJoel, a caustic 1980s film critic for a national horror magazine, finds himself unwittingly trapped in a self-help group for serial killers. With no other choice, Joel attempts to blend in or risk becoming the next victim.4.9
Neither mocking nor exactly reverential, Cody Callahan’s Vicious Fun is an enjoyable enough hodgepodge of ideas and genre barfs.
Amber Goldfarb is badass as Buffy the—-excuse me—-Carrie, the killer of killers. Evan Marsh is perfectly passable as a Ryan Reynolds-lite, nerd next door type who unwittingly finds himself entangled with some extremely unsavoury characters.
At its best the film is a kitsch love letter to an over sampled, tired bygone era and at its worst it’s a campy, bloody mess. - DirectorCody CalahanStarsRJ MittePeter OuterbridgeAri MillenA drifter returns to his hometown bar during a snowstorm. To settle a debt, he tells a story involving mistaken identities, betrayals, and violence, taking a dark turn from the night's simple start.4.9
Cody Callahan’s The Oak Room briskly cycles through genre cliches as it’s stories within stories (films within films) structure struggles to hold its own weight.
The films opening “let me tell you a story” is intriguing enough but the rest of the film lacks the clarity, assuredness and pacing required to keep proceedings suitably interesting.
Some of the sections/stories are tense and well done; the hitchhiking sequence stands out in particular but it’s the films through line “story” that isn’t really ever handled with the nuance and intelligence required. The dialogue is spotty and has a forced, faux hyper realism to it that never really works. The pacing of the dialogue is less THE THING FROM ANOTHER WORLD (1951) and more bratty bickering pre-teens; feeling stunted and artificially reactionary.
The film is written by Peter Genoway and is based on his play of the same name. The film does indeed feel stagey at times; as Callahans no-frills approach is never intrusive or particularly cinematic enough to elevate the script. Perhaps this is another example of a story that belongs on the stage. Not every work of fiction works best on celluloid. Since it’s inception cinema has heralded itself as the ultimate medium but as adaptations of famous works constantly show us, cinema isn’t always capable of improving on or even capturing the essence of other mediums. Most of the time we are just treated to a Diet Coke, negative image, popcorn addled death by committee.