Posted on 07/05/2022 8:26:50 PM PDT by sphinx
Despite the fact that both the pandemic and uncertainty around moviegoing continue, 2022 has already been a solid year for cinema. At the midway point, one obvious trend from our best-of list is the absence of big-budget tentpoles: The Batman and Downtown Abbey: A New Era weren’t quite well-received enough to warrant inclusion, and the less said about Jurassic World: Dominion, the better. Top Gun: Maverick, however, is more than just a commercial success story, so don’t give up on studio pictures just yet.
What instead dominates this list are indie distributors—thoughtful, modest fare with ambitious emotional reach. As far as scorecards go, it’s hard to beat A24: All five of the studio’s features released in 2022 are among The A.V. Club’s favorites. Read on for our chronological round-up of the best-reviewed films of the year so far.
(Excerpt) Read more at avclub.com ...
His movies are like all those style movies
They take a page from Valhalla Rising
Which was revolutionary
Northman was too textured
It’s overwhelming
They focus on that and leave plot and character development thin and loose
Valhalla Rising
A small fast cheap movie with Mads Mikelson who I adore
He chews scenery
The demographic for this series is probably older, middle aged, viewers. People who are very likely to tune out because of one of the characters turns lesbian.
My wife and I were wondering and were suspicious. We were kind of expecting it since it seems to be the thing to do with modern TV series... for shock value, introduce a lesbian relationship during season 2.
He art had only been in the one apartment--how did the dealer know about it? I figured it was just an easy ploy to introduce exactly what happened.
P.S. Lost City wasn't on any of the lists I linked, but it does show up on a number of "best of 2022" lists from other sources. It has become a habit for me to glance at these lists reflexively when I come across them. It only takes a minute or two to scan a list, and only a bit longer if I read the descriptions and watch a couple of trailers.
Lost City shows up on the lists that are oriented more towards the big studio tentpoles, which tend to be the films that get serious promotion and wide theatrical releases. If a list has a lot of the spandex and action films, it probably includes Lost City. It also shows up on lists that are driven by box office appeal and user scores. Sure it's a silly, escapist genre film. And there's nothing wrong with that. I enjoyed it.
It stands out to me as a film that looks like everyone involved had an absolute blast while making it. Maybe that wasn't the case in real life, but it comes across as a movie where the director walked in the first day and said, "Let's have fun doing this." It's a bunch of A-list stars acting silly and selling it.
Too bad. It was a fun series. But there are plenty of other shows. Some are free, too.
Murder in the Building was on my watchlist...until I read your comment. [deleted] Thanks.
I couldn’t agree more. Almost unwatchable.
It might have been good, but the constant camera shaking made me wanna hurl.
Thank you for reminding me...I’m two episodes behind. Great series.
So Sandra Bullock was able to do her own version of “Romancing the Stone”. Cool, I probably should see it.
Christian themed, free, legal to watch. Copied bookmarks. Not listed at all based upon quality, nor are all equally offering edification (versus mere entertainment) and are offered that they may offer edification, when too tired to be productive. Use own spiritual discernment. I would say https://tubitv.com/movies/445085/time_changer is tops, while https://tubitv.com/movies/530097/to-end-all-wars?start=true is a good historical war movie. Also at top: https://tubitv.com/movies/502780/the-ride-1997?start=true
https://tubitv.com/movies/448281/amazing-love-the-story-of-hosea?start=true
https://tubitv.com/movies/314510/wwjd-ii-the-woodcarver
https://tubitv.com/movies/581011/the-crossing?start=true .
Not all are still available. Removed tracked=1 at end if they do not play. Ignore the rest on Tubitv.
https://tubitv.com/movies/378794/rogue_saints
https://tubitv.com/movies/466008/coming_home?tracked=1
https://tubitv.com/movies/458414/confessions_of_a_prodigal_son?tracked=1
https://tubitv.com/movies/464182/unexpected_places?tracked=1
https://tubitv.com/movies/464177/seven_deadly_words?tracked=1
https://tubitv.com/movies/417559/chasing_grace?tracked=1
https://tubitv.com/movies/466300/sound_of_the_spirit_the?tracked=1
https://tubitv.com/movies/401319/chasing_the_star?tracked=1
https://tubitv.com/movies/468388/in_gods_country?tracked=1
https://tubitv.com/movies/448281/amazing_love
https://tubitv.com/movies/314510/wwjd_ii_the_woodcarver?tracked=1
https://tubitv.com/movies/314509/wwjd_the_journey_continues?tracked=1
https://tubitv.com/movies/445097/badge_of_faith?tracked=1
https://tubitv.com/movies/465473/the_perfect_stranger?tracked=1
https://tubitv.com/movies/445085/time_changer
https://tubitv.com/movies/464180/daniels_lot?tracked=1
https://tubitv.com/movies/467477/cross_in_the_road?tracked=1
https://tubitv.com/movies/465476/second_glance?tracked=1
https://tubitv.com/movies/468383/amish_grace
https://tubitv.com/movies/466733/the_animated_bible_series_the_creation?tracked=1
https://tubitv.com/movies/372434/letters_to_god?tracked=1
https://tubitv.com/movies/436689/gods_compass?tracked=1
https://tubitv.com/movies/445085/time_changer
https://www.speedtest.net/result/8476049103#
https://tubitv.com/search/prayer%20
https://tubitv.com/movies/445091/me_and_you_us_forever?tracked=1
https://tubitv.com/movies/436689/gods_compass?tracked=1
https://tubitv.com/movies/454208/nothing_without_god?tracked=1
https://tubitv.com/movies/470755/set_free?tracked=1
https://tubitv.com/series/1528/holy_war?tracked=1
https://tubitv.com/movies/315044/the_way_home
https://tubitv.com/movies/462763/sometimes_the_good_kill?tracked=1
https://tubitv.com/movies/311958/israel_and_the_bomb?tracked=1
https://tubitv.com/movies/458879/gods_miracles
https://tubitv.com/movies/466287/unexpected_places
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/bloggers/3802994/posts?page=24#24
https://tubitv.com/movies/466735/tortured_for_christ
https://tubitv.com/movies/502798/flying_blind?tracked=1
https://tubitv.com/movies/502768/for_petes_sake
https://tubitv.com/movies/454482/the_secrets_of_jonathan_sperry
https://tubitv.com/movies/484954/season_of_miracles
https://tubitv.com/movies/487957/the_couple
https://tubitv.com/movies/465472/mountain_top
https://tubitv.com/movies/484984/closer_to_god_jessicas_journey
https://tubitv.com/movies/382997/uss_indianapolis_the_legacy?autoplay=true
https://tubitv.com/movies/468864/the_freedom_of_silence
https://tubitv.com/movies/446855/the_custodian
https://tubitv.com/movies/466308/the_messengers_box
https://tubitv.com/movies/507867/the_pilgrims_progress?start=true
https://tubitv.com/movies/543219/gods_outlaw?start=true
https://tubitv.com/movies/495597/for_loves_sake?start=true
https://tubitv.com/movies/532181/pamelas_prayer?start=true
https://tubitv.com/movies/525189/behind_the_sun
https://tubitv.com/movies/520215/billy-graham-an-extraordinary-journey
https://tubitv.com/movies/498496/free-indeed-the-phil-thatcher-story
https://tubitv.com/movies/560227/russ-taff-i-still-believe?autoplay=true
https://tubitv.com/movies/502774/cry-from-the-mountain
https://tubitv.com/movies/548610/second-chance
https://tubitv.com/movies/502756/come-the-morning
https://tubitv.com/movies/525187/alison-s-choice?start=true
https://tubitv.com/movies/461286/loving-the-bad-man
https://tubitv.com/movies/514186/a-box-of-faith?startPos=389
https://tubitv.com/movies/507866/newton-s-grace?start=true
https://tubitv.com/movies/517862/sheffey?start=true
https://tubitv.com/movies/526575/the-fanny-crosby-story?start=true
https://tubitv.com/movies/566537/different-drummers?start=true
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWhCVykRa2tgmziv5PNgkJA
https://tubitv.com/movies/506708/49th-parallel
https://tubitv.com/movies/502778/joni?autoplay=true
https://tubitv.com/movies/468489/the-rescue-of-jessica-mcclure?start=true
https://tubitv.com/tv-shows/466716/s01-e01-journey-into-the-unknown?autoplay=true
https://tubitv.com/movies/605781/found?start=true
https://tubitv.com/search/The%20Torchlighters
https://tubitv.com/movies/578335/fanny-crosby-the-musical
https://tubitv.com/movies/576913/unplanned
https://tubitv.com/movies/639634/hoovey
https://tubitv.com/movies/560465/end-of-the-spear
https://tubitv.com/movies/547711/candle-in-the-dark
https://tubitv.com/movies/436689/god-s-compass?autoplay=true
https://tubitv.com/movies/654031/the-healing
https://tubitv.com/movies/555515/born-to-win?start=true
https://tubitv.com/movies/653973/heaven-s-heroes?autoplay=true
https://tubitv.com/movies/670339/i-believe?autoplay=true
https://tubitv.com/movies/553983/beware-of-angels?autoplay=true
Reasons I chose those two:
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood was about the Manson murders. Long ago, when I was young, a dentist I was dating had wonderful red curly hair. He went to celebrity barber, Jay Sebring, who invited him to a party with “real movie stars.” He came over and invited me. I felt as if 15 guys with a battering ram had hit me in the gut. And I shouted, “NO!” He said of course we won’t go. Jay was killed that night and we might have been too. So, I decided to see the “sendup.” Laughed a lot. My daughter and son-in-law saw it the same night in a different town, said the whole theater was LTAO.
JoJo Rabbit was about WW2. I’m old enough to remember that war. In fact, I was 5 , and at Sunday afternoon dinner with my parents at a neighbor’s house. I finished early and went into the living room, where radio was on. A few minutes later, “This program is interrupted” and there was Roosevelt announcing war. I told my parents. It was an amazing, unforgettable moment. So a movie about a little kid involved in that war really appealed to me. Went with a friend who was not old enough to remember it and she had ZERO clue what the civilian population went through. Thought movie was lightweight and funny. I had to explain to her how serious it was for the civilian population.
PBS has old movies on most Saturday nights, and I watch many of them. Email info to friends who might enjoy them too. Lots of us, both liberals and conservatives, are disgusted with new movies. And the “actors” who don’t know how to act, they’re just “personalities” in expensive clothes.
And of course, theaters were locked down for a long time.
So how do you pick new movies?
I finally got around to watching “The Hunt” and enjoyed it, though very violent. Otherwise I have watched mostly older stuff.
Maybe not the best movie, but the most important...
2000 Mules
One of the great shows in recent years — it’s edging Breaking Bad now on multiple viewings for me — is Boardwalk Empire. This show really captures the 1920s, a period that is now 100 years ago! As historical dramas go, they have some modern conveniences that are hard to believe are that old. Costuming is amazing. The story throughout the series is captivating. Steve Buscemi is stunning as Nucky Thompson, and every character is perfectly cast. I absolutely love the history, and while they do stray a bit for dramatic purposes, it manages to stay on target with actual events.
A lot of folks are critical of the final season. I agree that it ended a bit too fast. There should have been another season between four and five, but even with that, the final season ties the first four seasons together. The casting of the younger versions of the characters is nothing short of amazing, and the young man who played Nucky Thompson in his 20’s — Marc Pickering — should have won an Emmy. He was absolutely fantastic.
Boardwalk Empire is also a sad tribute to a lost major talent, Michael Kenneth Williams, a man who died WAY too young and still had so much to offer.
Definitely one to put on your bucket list set of shows. It’s on HBO Max.
Whenever I hear the liberal argument for greater representation in films, TV, etc., because "it reflects modern reality," I ask: whose reality? Yours? Mine?
I ride public transport to work and therefore sit among all kinds of people. Usually I treat everyone with courtesy. But does that mean I have to befriend them all? At the most my interactions will be superficially necessary (e.g. shopping, asking for directions, saying "Excuse me"). I'm just as marginal to them as they are to me.
A sixth of the world's population may be Chinese, but how relevant is that to a Latina growing up in Spanish Harlem? Is she required to have a Chinese best friend? No, only whites. It's OK for her to mingle in a predominantly Hispanic environment, because . . . well, you know. She's Latina. But if a white person interacts mainly with white family and friends, he or she (especially he) is racist.
The so-called representation in the media is not only simplistic, it's distorted.
Unfortunately, the last (current-at-the-time) movie I went to was Godfather I...
Watched II & III on TV...
Maybe in 5-6 years some of the 2022 movies will be on TV and I can post some comments then...
However, love this thread...😁
I’ll throw in a couple I’ve watched on Netflix recently. “Operation Mincemeat” and “The Forgotten Battle”. Both WW2 films. Only a little bit of woke in Mincemeat. Also recently watched “The Offer” about the making of The Godfather on Paramount Plus. It was an excellent show set in the Seventies with zero wokeness.
I agree entirely when the diverse casting is arbitrary and obviously artificial, mandated by the DEI commissars and designed to meet quota targets. When it is natural to the story and setting, it’s fine. One of the arts of screenwriting is to bend the story in such a way that minority characters — and remember, “minorities” will include whites before long — are present in naturalistic ways. The writers and casting directors can pull this off if they’re good. Or bungle it if they’re wokebots.
After Yang and Montana Story both have some interesting casting choices, but in both cases — at least to me — the diversity feels natural and unforced. The instance that stands out most obviously is “Ace” in Montana Story, a hospice nurse who is an immigrant from Kenya. (He goes by “Ace” because no one in Montana can pronounce his real name. ) Some reviews complain that he’s out of place. He doesn’t feel that way to me — but of course, when I go to see a doctor here in Washington, D.C., most of the medical staff is foreign. (Disproportinately from India but a lot of East Asians as well. I think the American kids today are mostly doing grievance studies, not STEM disciplines where they actually have to study hard.)
So how does a guy like Ace wind up in Montana? Well, you may remember the 1990’s tv show Northern Exposure, which is built around a wisecracking, hopelessly neurotic, young Jewish guy named Joel Fleischman, fresh out of medical school, who had committed to a period of service in Alaska after graduation in return for grant support for his med school tuition. Ace’s backstory is not sketched in detail, but I immediately saw him as another Joel Fleischman type.
I’ve never worked in rural health care, but I have done some work in adjacent fields. Many northern tier counties have been losing population for 60 years. The small towns are hollowing out. A few of the college educated young people will return to teach school or take over the family business or ranch, but most pursue better opportunities in the cities. Just keeping the rural schools open and staffed is hard. Healthcare systems are chronically short staffed. So they recruit. And recruit. And recruit. Immigrants? Heck yeah, bring ‘em on. Ace would have been a smart young kid from Kenya who came to the U.S. (legally) to finish his education, who took financial assistance where he could find it, and who jumped at the opportunity when he was offered a job, both to finance his schooling and probably as part of his path to citizenship. Unusual? Not at all.
But then again, I haven’t had an American born primary care physician in 40 years, and that’s in a big city.
And aside from Ace ... well, did you know there are Native Americans living in Montana? And they dress and act pretty much like everyone else? And most of them don’t live on reservations? And they work regular jobs like everyone else? And they’re often lifelong friends of the Anglo kids they grew up with? In the movie, they’re just there. Nothing is forced; it’s as natural as a suburban setting in which one neighbor is named Gyros Souvlaki and another is named Jerry Wienerschnitzel. Americans all. And nobody notices or cares. That’s how to do diversity right.
Mukki is another story. He’s a reservation guy. But they’re there as well in real life.
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