Top 10 best movies 2022

Notes: Well, I didn't expect to be blown away like this. To be honest, it's not an easy movie, in fact, it turned out to be a very complex character study and I'm not sure if it really required almost 3 hours of running time. Indeed, it takes forever before the world of Lydia Tár starts to finally unravel and, while I was watching the damned thing, I thought it was rather frustrating that we didn't get more information about her past, her lies and her alleged abuses. The fact that so many elements were kept in the dark probably didn’t help. It's only afterwards that I understood that we saw this whole story only through her own perspective and, eventually, this approach was quite brilliant. Basically, to reach this position, she did many great things and a lot more that was probably not so great but, above all, she created her own bubble from which she (thought she) could control her own narrative. As a result, she constantly filtered everything that didn't fit in the character and story she had created. She did it so much at this point that it was not a wonder that she started to loose her grip on what was real or not but I guess that's something rather common with pathological liars. In a similar way, you don't see or hear what other people really thinks of her. Basically, it's a tale about how power corrupts people and the fact that it centers on a woman (a fact which has been criticized by some viewers) was really intriguing. Eventually, it was a fascinating character and, of course, Cate Blanchett delivered here a career-best performance.

Notes: I saw this movie in IMAX 3D and the damned thing was just visually so impressive. Seriously, some people might complain that it’s too long but I thought the time passed by really fast. What I enjoyed the most was probably the fact that James Cameron several times actually completely ignored the plot to focus instead on this fascinating world. It was also a great move to focus on a completely different Na'vi tribe living on the shores of some islands. Finally, the last thing that really worked was the fact that they didn’t focus only on Jake Sully but on his whole family instead. As a result, there was not really a main character but several characters in the spotlight and I was positively surprised by how complex they were portrayed. Indeed, as displayed in this movie, Jake Sully was still a charismatic leader but also an authoritarian jerk and Neytiri was still a fearless warrior but also apparently a rather psychotic mama bear. Still, in spite of what some reviewers might argue, I don't think this movie was such an improvement on its predecessor. Indeed, back then, the first installment was so mind-blowing above all because it was so much ahead of the game and, in my opinion, it had at least a 10 years lead on the rest of the competition. However, this movie, even if it was more than a decent sequel, didn’t feel like such a game-changer after all. Anyway, in my opinion, James Cameron still delivered here an amazing blockbuster spectacle.

Notes: To be honest, during the first hour, I was actually slightly worried. Indeed, after watching so many movies and TV-shows, usually in the super-hero genre, dealing with some multiverses, I wasn’t exactly thrilled by this indie feature tackling a similar concept. Sure, compared to the Marvel productions, the Daniels had to work with a seemingly microscopic budget and the movie was full of cute and/or weird little ideas. However, eventually, it still seemed to be yet another movie about some evil guy coming from some other multiverse threatening all living things which was pretty much exactly the same thing I already saw time and time again in other recent super-hero features. Fortunately, during the second half, it finally became obvious that it was actually something entirely different after all. Indeed, at some point, it became obvious that playing with multiverses was not actually the endgame after all, it was just a cool messy playground but, what this movie had and all the other multiverse-related productions missed (except for the Spider-Man animated features), was a really strong emotional core. Even though the bad guy was called Jobu Tupaki, it was actually Joy all along, the main’s character daughter, something everyone else in the movie seemed to forget, except Evelyn herself. As a result, it went beyond the usual fight between Good and Evil but it turned out to be actually a deep and profound reflection on how messy, chaotic and unpredictable life can be and about all the relationships we have along the way. Eventually, we make a 1000 of decisions on a daily basis and all these decisions seem and are meaningless on some level and, yet, each decision shapes who we are on the long term.

Notes: Right away, it reminded me of her girl I used to know back in France who was also born in South-Corea and was adopted as a baby. We always got along very well and I wonder if her journey to self-discovery was similar to what happened in this movie (it was probably not so messy though). On top of that, because I'm half-French and half-Dutch, I could easily identify with the main character, even if her struggle was so much heavier for her than it was for me. As a result, this whole tale of conflicted cultural identities deeply appealed to me and it was handled in such a subtle way. The fact that it was dealing with a complex and flawed character made the whole thing even more fascinating to behold. Park Ji-Min, who was not even an actress before this movie, should also be praised for her performance which was pretty much pitch-perfect. Eventually, the only aspect that slightly dragged down the whole thing was possibly the fact that the structure was quite chaotic. Indeed, the main character kept making some drastic decisions and it was sometimes a little bit difficult to keep track of what was actually going on in her life. On the other hand, this approach actually made sense as it actually displayed how confused she was most of the time. Eventually, you might wonder if she eventually managed to find some peace of mind at some point but there is a fair chance that she will always have to deal with her inner struggle some way or another.

Notes: It’s too bad that Netflix did provide only the version dubbed in Hindi instead of the original version in Telugu. Still, it turned out to be such a f*cking blast, I have seen around 7000 movies and I had never seen anything like this. Seriously, it was probably one of the craziest movies I have ever seen. Basically, they took so many different genres such as action, romance, comedy, drama, historical epic, patriotic propaganda,… and cranked up all these genres to the max and, even though it should have been a total disaster, it actually worked so well. On top of that, it featured some of the most exhilarating action scenes I have seen and, without ‘Avatar: The Way of Water’, it would have been hands-down visually the most impressive movie released in 2022. It also featured one of the most fascinating bromances. Eventually, I still think that there were a (few) dull moments. Above all, I didn’t care much for the half-baked romance between Bheem and Jenny and it was pretty obvious that this romance was added just so that Bheem could find Malli in a completely random way. In fact, since he knew that Malli had been abducted by the governor and his wife, I don’t understand why it was supposed to be so difficult to find Malli’s location. Still, it was some minor flaw and the whole thing was just so freaking entertaining.

Notes: Well, even if this movie won’t be for everyone, I really enjoyed the damned thing though. Indeed, it is dark, nihilistic and, above all, really funny. In fact, I was actually expecting something really over-the-top and absurdist but I was amazed by how realistic it turned out to be after all. Basically, the bottom line with this movie is that even though, after millions of years, the human-being has become the most advanced specie on Earth, we still make incredibly idiotic decisions on a daily basis. I think they focused on the rich and super-rich above all because it is even more frustrating and pathetic with them because they have access to endless resources but, most of the time, they don’t do anything worthwhile or interesting with these resources. However, as displayed in the 3rd act, the rest of the population is probably not much better after all. Indeed, as soon as Abigail took command of the operation on this (supposedly) deserted island, you could feel a general cheer in the movie theater. At that point, we all believed that she would do better than the rest but, unfortunately, as soon as she was on top of the hierarchy and had a powerful position, she started to take some questionable and even moronic decisions. In my opinion, it displayed that, well, humanity will probably always be doomed to make the same mistakes over and over again, no matter the circumstances. Eventually, I guess the only way to handle this rather ghastly conclusion is to keep your sense of humor.

Notes: The damned thing turned out to be so much more interesting than I expected. Obviously, there is the fact that there is a war in Ukraine right now, a war seemingly completely insane for anyone living outside Russia, which makes this movie even more topical. However this movie turned out to be above all a spellbinding thriller about the failed attempt to kill Navalny and how the guy discovered himself most of the conspiracy behind this murder attempt. I’m actually surprised that this incredible story didn’t get more media coverage at the time. I mean, I remember that they mentioned that Navalny probably got poisoned by the Russian secret services but the details provided in this movie were just flabbergasting and, at times, you wonder if Putin and his goons didn’t watch too many average spy thrillers. Concerning Navalny, I did appreciate that they didn’t display him as someone perfect but his dedication to this cause was really impressive and inspirational. I mean, most people after surviving such a murder attempt would definitely never go back to Russia (after all, there is always the possibility to fight the regime from abroad) but Navalny, instead, decided to go back there as soon as it was physically possible for him. Of course, he got arrested the minute he arrived there and you might wonder if we will ever see him ever again. If you combine these dramatic events with the current war in Ukraine, you get such a grim image of Russia and, especially, of Vladimir Putin.

Notes: To be honest, when I heard we were going to see this movie with my filmclub, I can't say I was really excited. I mean, I did like the title and the poster but I had never heard of it and it seemed to be another obscure and rather forgettable picture. Well, I was completely wrong, that's for sure. Since I'm half-French and half-Dutch myself, I'm always drawn towards such movies dealing with characters facing culture clashes and identity crisis and, in this movie, they really nailed it. What I enjoyed the most was how nuanced and complex the situation of this boy was displayed. Of course, as an outsider, his environment was certainly not welcoming but it went beyond that. Indeed, what defines you as an individual is not necessarily your genes, where you come from or where you grew up, it's actually a combination of all these elements but, as a kid, that's not something you want to be dealing with. As displayed in this movie, you just want to play with the other kids, you just want to be like everyone else, and the idea of being 'special' or 'different' is definitely the last thing you actually want to be. To be honest, I'm not sure if it was really needed to have the mother facing terminal cancer on top of everything. Indeed, there was so much going on already and it seemed to be added there only to make sure that her son could carry her on the top of this mountain, just like the Korean tale she told earlier during this movie. Fortunately, it wasn't a deal breaker and the whole thing was beautiful and quite emotional.

Notes: Once again, Pixar didn’t disappoint, that’s for sure and it is impressive how far ahead they are still in the overcrowded CGI animated features market. Sure, the damned thing looked amazing, I wouldn’t expect less from these guys, but it went so much deeper than that. Indeed, even though it might seem at first to be about a girl suddenly turning into a red panda, it was actually about puberty and it was really neat how well they tackled such a tricky subject. Indeed, after watching so many movies, I think I could count on a single hand all the movies which actually managed to do something interesting and/or believable on this topic. In this case, their biggest asset was the main character, Meilin, who was so convincing, so pitch-perfect, I think she was hands-down one of the best characters created by Pixar. I also loved her tight group of friends. Eventually, even though the whole thing was entertaining, they always took these characters and what they were going through seriously and the end-result was just spellbinding to behold. To be honest, I wish they made her struggle a little bit longer with her ‘curse’ and, eventually, she got it under control too fast in my opinion. Furthermore, I didn’t care much about the whole scheme of making money with her ability of becoming a red panda but these were some really minor flaws.

Notes: Even though I have a little voice constantly telling me I’m actually overrating these movies, I have to admit that I actually really enjoyed the damned thing though. First of all, for Daniel Craig, if he was ever scared to get stuck by James Bond like so many actors before him, well, he couldn’t have wished a better rebound than Benoit Blanc. Indeed, it is so obvious that Craig has such a blast with the character and I thought he was once again so damned entertaining (However, it is apparently not everyone’s cup of tea since my wife thought he was awful in ‘Knives Out’). Once again, they had also a all-star cast involved and they were all game. Of course, you could argue that they were all playing some really vapid and dislikeable characters so I can understand that if you didn’t care much about them. Concerning the story, I wonder if some viewers were actually capable of finding out what was actually going on early on. I certainly didn’t, I was expecting someone completely different to get killed and the damned thing was just so intricate but that’s what made this movie so entertaining. Anyway, at the end of the day, the conclusion, at least for me, was that, even if you become super successful and super rich in the process, it doesn’t automatically mean that you are super smart which was pretty awesome. Was it better than its predecessor? I don’t think so but it was definitely at the same level. The brilliant thing done by Rian Johnson was that there were so many similarities and, yet, both movies were still quite different.