Best Movies of 2022

TGC (The Gospel Coaltion, U.S. edition) ^ | December 27, 2022 | Brett McCracken

[sphinx]

Are movies still relevant? ... Even as Hollywood rebounds a bit at the box office (up 21 percent in 2022), critics rightly observe that innovation is suffering. Sequels, reboots, and franchises rule the day and artsy “prestige films” can’t find audiences. Part of the problem: audiences have a growing (and justifiable) sense that Hollywood is increasingly less interested in entertaining them than in force-feeding them progressive ideals.

As I put together my list, I focused on films that didn’t pit entertainment against artistry or confuse the difference between having something to say and telling audiences what to think. The best movies captivate audiences because they’re artistically excellent. And the best movies provoke audiences to wrestle with ideas rather than be bludgeoned with arguments.

As a reminder, don’t take my commendations as wholesale endorsements of the content. Just because I loved a film doesn’t mean I loved everything in it, and a “best” movie doesn’t mean an appropriate movie for all audiences. Though the films highlighted below are all in some way edifying—depicting goodness, truth, or beauty in ways Christian viewers can celebrate—a few are rated R and should especially be viewed with caution and discernment.

[7thson]

And thank you for your service.

[sphinx]

Elvis was certainly worth seeing, though I don't know if the Gospel Coalition would agree.

Elvis makes the "TGC list" as an honorable mention. The honorable mentions are named but not reviewed in the piece I linked, but TGC did run an extended review, also by Brett McCracken, last July:

Time Goes By: ‘Elvis’ and Eternity

Brett McCracken is identified as TGC's communications director and senior editor. He seems to be the de facto movie critic, at least at this time. Most publications give their book, movie and music reviewers a pretty long leash. That said, I wouldn't consider this piece as a formal TGC seal of approval; it's one reviewer's opinion, written last December when hundreds of reviewers of all stripes were churning out their end of the year pieces. I only saw it two days ago because it was picked up by Rotten Tomatoes, which I find useful mainly as a convenient review aggregator; it turned up on the page of a movie in which I have enough of a continuing interest to track.

Anyhow, the quibble aside, reviewing is an art. I've not seen Elvis (I tend to dislike biopics) and have no idea if I would review the film in the same way. On first read, however, and not having seen the film, McCracken seems to be digging pretty deep to uncover the Christian themes embedded in the story, but he makes a strong argument that they're there if you look for them. This is perfectly fair ground for movie (and book) reviewers to explore. Whatever their personal politics, honest storytellers dealing with serious issues will want to write truth, and that will drive them in the right direction.

If filmmakers aspire to write truth, they will at least surface issues and choices that give conservatives our innings -- and I'm happy enough with movies that leave ground for a fair debate. If they don't care about writing truth, they are just hacks churning out party line propaganda or fantasy wish fulfillment. That's the real fault line: filmmakers who want to deal seriously with serious issues vs. the fantasy fiction crowd.

[sphinx]

My personal experience of Ireland is limited to the Dublin airport, where we were connecting on a flight to London. They lost our luggage. %(&$^() leprechauns. I am willing, however, to give Ireland a second chance. It's on my bucket list. Our luggage finally caught up to us in London a few hours before we left for Paris.

If you watch any more of the films on Brett McCracken's "Best Moview of 2022" list, let me know what you think. He picks some good ones -- but the particular films aside, his discussion could be a mission statement for the movie ping list. That's what caught my eye. He is actively looking for our kinds of movies. The initial threshold is artistic excellence. But then:

... [T]he best movies provoke audiences to wrestle with ideas rather than be bludgeoned with arguments .... [D]on’t take my commendations as wholesale endorsements of the content. Just because I loved a film doesn’t mean I loved everything in it, and a “best” movie doesn’t mean an appropriate movie for all audiences .... [T]he films highlighted below are all in some way edifying—depicting goodness, truth, or beauty in ways Christian viewers can celebrate ....

Couldn't have said it better myself. He is very self-conscious about his selection criteria, and he gives serious and well-considered reasons for drawing out the themes he identifies. First rate critic. I'll watch for him from now on.

[Albion Wilde]

That’s unfortunate about your luggage.

I was prepared to like Ireland, but found myself blown away by it. Some aspects of natural settings just defy description until you are looking at them, whereupon they continue to defy description.

Of course, this was some years ago. I was tongue-lashed by an innkeeper in Kells about what a horrible man President Dubya was, on and on, as if it were my personal responsibility to amend the situation. I assured her that the moment I returned to the U.S., I would march right over to the White House and let him know how she felt — LOL! It’s such a small island, many of the people there (and in Europe in general, IMO) cannot imagine how large our country is, and how remote our leaders are. (Even more so today.)

Since then, EU has infested Ireland with “workers” and “refugees” from Eastern Europe and the Middle East, and Soros has worked hard to change the culture, very much for the worse.