Yeah I fully agree. Fuck it if you want to circle jerk and give Spielberg best director fine. But Everything should clearly win best picture
Here is a small write-up on some of my favorite movie watches this year. I mostly see older stuff (I don’t think this list will help me beat the “old” allegations !) but there’s a few new releases too.
New releases
Armageddon time
Don’t think this has been discussed here ? James Gray makes a movie about his childhood as a Jewish kid in 80s NYC, growing up and becoming aware of the problematics aspects of society (mostly racism), and having to figure out how to position himself in the world. Despite its simplicity, I thought this mangaed to hit some rather subtle notes, and worked very well on me. This is in part due to the impeccable cast (Hopkins, Hathaway, Jeremy Strong, and the kid is great as well). On the surface this may look like Oscar bait but this is imo much better than the usual films in this category. (I’ll admit to some pro-Gray bias as his interviews make him seem very likable, and I’ve liked all of his movies so far).
Pacifiction
Slightly inappropriate for here as this is a French language movie directed by a Spaniard (Serra), set in the French Pacific island of Tahiti. This follows the local police chief as he’s trying to figure out whether or not there’s some kind of conspiracy going on behind his back. 3 hours with little plot and even less plot resolution, this is purely about the vibes of seeing someone going in circles and losing his mind among some beautiful scenery (was shot during lockdown so no tourists). And even though this is an arthouse film it has a scene which is more spectacular than most blockbusters. Highly recommend if you can catch a theater showing and want to try something different.
Other high notes :
Wheel of fortune and fantasy
Top gun maverick
Older movies
Last year at Marienbad (Resnais 1961)
This one has a reputation as an impenetrable pretentious “puzzle film” so I was fully prepared to be bored. Instead I was hit emotionally for the whole runtime and this was my favorite film of the year. This is more or less a conversation between a man and woman (who may or may not have a shared past and be former lovers), taking place in a high-end hotel, narrated in a circular dream-like style. I feel like this is basically the template for the best Lynch movies (except of course with Americana replaced by European bourgeoisie), so if you like Lost Highway or Mullholland Drive and want to see a similar narration I cannot recommend this highly enough.
A.I. (Spielberg 2001)
So glad I waited 20 years to watch this. Perfect example of how whether you appreciate a movie depends on where you are in life, as I’m pretty sure that as a teenager I would have rolled my eyes at the cheesiness of it, but now that I’m older and a father, I’m more or less fully on board with the Spielbergian family sentimality here. For those who don’t know, this is the story of a robot child with feelings (Haley Joel Osment) who would like to become human so he can live with his mommy (
) Not a “perfect movie” by any means as it is clunky in many aspects (including some ugly early 2000s color filters), but if you can disregard those it feels like a clear masterpiece, one of the saddest films ever and one of Spielberg’s best. (I think he is a director I will enjoy more and more as I grow older. I also rewatched and loved War of the worlds 2005 which I didn’t like at the time).
The warriors (Hill 1979)
This follows a street gang in New York trying to make it home through hostile territory over one night. This has the usual theme of the 70s-80s of NYC as a crime-ridden place but does not go for realism (at least afaik lol), as the gangs are all cartoon-ish, each having their separate uniforms and gimmicks (some are dressed in baseball attire and fight with bats, other are riding on roller skates, etc). The action scenes are a bit dated but the overall style is just too fun to not love it.
Other favorites :
Dragged across concrete (Zahler 2018)
Clueless (Heckerling 95)
The age of innocence (Scorsese 93)
One from the heart (Coppola 82)
Dawn of the dead (Romero 78) (and also Day of the dead)
The last picture show (Bogdanovich 71)
(plus a bunch of French ones of course :) )
Most memorable shot
Of course this one goes to a horror movie, the 2016 Blake Lively shark attack The shallows. Not a great movie by any means, but has some cool visual tricks and is nicely efficient with its 80 mins runtime, so makes for a pretty fun watch. And the shot below, just before the first attack, is incredible and one that’s been on my mind many times since seeing it.
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I still 100% seriously think Mia Goth deserves a nomination for Pearl. I know movies like that never win Oscars, but her performance was truly great.
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This was one of the movies an old English teacher friend (John Cole from 22) convinced me to watch and it blew my mind. I wrote a paper on it I guess about a decade or so ago for a film history class when I went back to get my masters in my later twenties.
http://www.amazon.com/LAnnée-dernière-Marienbad-Last-Classics/dp/0851708218
That’s a good list you coyly aged person!
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I really hope Ke Huy Quan wins for Everything Everywhere. As much as I loved Yeoh’s performance, his was the one that hit me the hardest. Him going back and forth between sweet, sad, husband to badass Alphaverse Waymond and then to the debonair, melancholy version of himself in the Evelyn action star universe is just wonderful.
https://twitter.com/ladytuono/status/1608182781577949184
This movie should win every conceivable award.
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Sadly I bet it wins very little.
Finally saw glass onion, it was… ok? I found the first act way to herky jerky trying to get all the pieces set up, and generally trying to hard too be clever in too many places. Worthwhile but not as good as knives out imo.
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I loved Yeoh in EEAOO and would be happy for a win, but Blanchet was fucking great in Tar and in a vacuum I would pick Blanchet this year.
Let’s go Brendan! 
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Have you seen the thriller Grand Piano (2013) by Spanish director Eugenio Mira? One of Damien’s earliest movies as a screenwriter. Produced by Elijah Wood’s horror movie studio. Really shows off Chazelle’s unique relationship with music as a storyteller.
Todd Gilchrist, a senior editor for Variety, wrote back in 2013 for IndieWire that Grand Piano is “probably the best Brian De Palma movie he never made.”
There are few modern examples of music being truly integrated into storytelling, certainly as well as this film does, and even without an appreciation for classical composition, there’s much to admire about its use and effectiveness.
This was also Alex Winter’s first non-cameo role since Freaked, Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey, and a bizarre short film he made for the Playboy channel.
Damien Chazelle was meanwhile screening the short film that would become the feature Whiplash.
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Wowwwwwwww
Everything we know about the academy indicates they will not be able to resist a movie about movies.
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Everywhere… was pretty great, but imo it was at least 15 mins too long and too cheesy at the end.
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Watched The Handmaiden a couple of days ago, would recommend, 5/6. Same director as Oldboy, which counts for a lot in my book.
Set in 1930s Korea, it centers around Sookee who’s the new handmaiden to the Japanese wife of a…very eccentric collector mostly of literature. Gives insight into the relationship between Japan and Korea, nobility or close to it in Korea and has a fairly original plot that feels like a breath of fresh air when you mostly watch Western movies and TV shows.
It’s fairly erotic in some places, fair warning if you should find yourself watching it with your mom or the like.
For those who have seen it,
LOL at the gigantic octopus kept in a giant tank in the cellar of the crazy old collector. We see it for like 2-3 secs in the background and that’s it. You suddenly understand that the Hentai influences in some of his books might not be entirely fantasy…
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And Jimmy Kimmel is hosting again this year!
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That’s a silly movie right there. Watched it recently so I could listen to the How Did This Get Made? episode on it.
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New Matilda on Netflix is pretty good
I have seen the dance sequence in TikTok like a million times!
No way! I haven’t listened to those guys in a while. I’ll check out the episode. I think this is an amazing movie but will appreciate their commentary anyway. Their early early early episode on Superman III used to get a replay from me a few times a year.