Ok have the day off today to take my MIL to a doctor's appointment and my wife is out of town for work so I need to finish my Top 25 New Watches of 2022.
10. Avatar The Way of Water (2022) If you stream this at home, then don't come back to me and call this a ridiculous ranking. I will never ever watch this at home. It's an experience- like a theme park ride. Watching it at home is like pulling up a Youtube video of someone riding the Millennium Force instead of going to Cedar Point. Most movie 3D is quite lame and seems like it was added after the fact to charge some extra money for tickets.
The Way of Water was clearly built around the 3D. It feels immersive and the 3 hour runtime fully pulls you into the world. Stand outs: The Tulkan (Avatar version of whales) are the heart of the movie but the real show piece here is the final hour long naval battle which is one of the greatest battle scenes ever filmed. James Cameron might be an amateur when it comes to dialogue but not many can film an action sequence like he can.
9. Top Gun Maverick (2022) I had a hard time separating this and
Avatar because they are so similar. Sequel to a super popular movie. Long awaited with concerns that they were actually too long awaited. Both smashed the box offices making a combined $3.5 billion and possibly marking an end to the dominance of Marvel. Both rely heavily on action, visuals and sound, best seen at the biggest and loudest presentation possible. Why I gave Top Gun the slight nod is that I think it will hold up to home viewing better. With a sense of humor and the shorter run time, it's just a more rewatchable movie. Stand outs: Cruise, Connelly, Teller and Powell were all really well cast. A ton of props to Kilmer for the brave appearance he made given his health. But we know the real stars here, the planes. Especially the F-18 Super Hornet.
8. The Right Stuff (1983) It doesn't have nearly the technical brilliance or thrills of
Maverick but the plot is a hell of a lot more interesting. Sure I enjoy and have nostalgia for Ice Man and Goose but
The Right Stuff has Chuck Yeager and John Glenn. What I think really makes this movie is that it manages to tell the big and the small. We get the overview of the development of the space program but the characters don't feel like archetypes or like chess pieces just being moved to get the plot from point A to point B. We get both a broad and intimate look at the lives of those who took America to space. I have a running list of movies every American should see, truly essential movies about America, and this is the most recent addition to the list. Stand outs: The casting of this incredible: Sam Shepard, Ed Harris, Dennis Quaid, Scott Glenn and Fred Ward all look perfect for their parts. They are of course good looking but don't look Hollywood and don't look from the 80s. It is such a believable group of American heroes circa 1955.
7. Vivre Sa Vie (1962) Few filmmakers were as influential as Jean-Luc Godard. His passing earlier this year marks a major loss for the movie world. Scorsese wrote a beautiful tribute to him,
"Perhaps Godard is Dead". I will let him describe what is so great about this episodic descent into prostitution:
"Vivre sa vie was a profound experience for many of us. I was amazed by scene after scene...t it was the full effect of the film was so illuminating. Nana was seen from so many different perspectives and studied so carefully and closely that it was like seeing a great portrait painted by a master right before our eyes."
Stand outs: The one and only Anna Karina. The camera loved few as much as it loved her and her unique energy.
6. Everything Everywhere All At Once (2022) My lists may have some recency bias. Getting to see these movies in a theater and with an excited audience adds so much. I do believe movies are meant to be communal. Every (well behaved) person that is added to the viewing party only increases the vitality and emotion of the movie itself. What is anything if you have no one to share it with? My viewing of this movie was at it's peak of internet buzz, the theater was busy and next to a couple of good friends, we laughed and held back tears with a hundred or so strangers. This felt so fun and so life affirming. I got home and gave my wife an extra long hug and kiss. It's rare for a movie to be this zany and still have so much heart. Loved how I felt walking out of this movie. Stand out: Sure Michelle Yeoh and Jamie Lee Curtis and the Daniels and Ke Huy Quan but I still can't get over the Racacoonie storyline.