The Rings Of Power
C H A P T E R L I N K S :
• BEST MOVIES: 2022
• BEST DOCUMENTARIES: 2022
• BEST TV: 2022
• BEST RESTORATION
• C R I T E R I O N
• This will often spotlight directors for special merit.
But Auteur Theory is a shoebox; films are a collaborative effort with everyone involved.
• Because of distribution hurdles during the pandemic, films made before 2022 have their date in italics.
B E S T
M O V I E S :
2 0 2 2
T H I N K
SMALL BODY
• CLARA SOLA (Costa Rica) 2021
The odd woman in the forest village may have inner power.
Living in poverty in the jungle, the fragile and alienated Clara begins sensing there is more to life. Can she find a way out of local limits for what she secretly desires?
Nathalie Álvarez Mesén’s film is gentle, honest, profoundly human, and quietly poetic.
Also read:
“One Hundred years Of Solitude” (1967), by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
• SMALL BODY (Italy) 2021
How far will a mother go to save the soul of her lost child?
In 1900, a young woman in a remote shore town has a crisis. The only solution is to chance everything on an odyssey across the outside lands.
Laura Semani’s film about migration and transmigration is meditative, surprising, and redemptive.
The classic anti-war novel.
Remarque’s 1929 novel shocked the world, a bestseller that exposed the true horrors of the hideous apocalypse of the first World War beyond the agitprop posters and jingoism tunes. Veterans felt vindicated, pacifists and universities canonized it, and killdogs hated it. The latter fascists promptly led us into World War II.
This German production spares nothing, staring right into hell unblinking: the used youth, the territorial pissings, the corrupt chessmasters, the mad leaders. “Forward, he cried from the rear/ And the front rank died.” Don’t turn away.
See also:
ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT (US, 1930), Renoir’s LE GRANDE ILLUSION (France, 1937), Kubrick’s PATHS OF GLORY (US, 1957), Weir’s GALLIPOLI (Australia, 1981)
TILL
• THE WOMAN KING
A fantasy retelling of the real African amazons.
For 200 years, into the 19th Century, armies of all-female warriors held sway in West Africa (and inspired all modern cultural amazons, from Wonder Woman to the Dora Milaje).
Offsetting colonialist narratives and complementing Kurosawa epics, Gina Prince-Bythewood and Dana Stevens’ fictional story creates a counter-myth for new campfire tales. An excellent cast and intense action are metronomed by a warm heart. And who doesn’t want to see Viola Davis kick all the ass?
See also:
SEVEN SAMURAI (Japan, 1954), BLACK PANTHER: Wakanda Forever (2022)
• TILL
The true story of how Emmett Till’s mother exposed the South’s murderous bigotry to the world.
Emmitt’s death in 1955 was the shocking turning point for the Civil Rights Movement. His distraught mother wouldn’t allow the truth to be covered up anymore, and tirelessly fought for justice using the media despite itself. Chinonye Chukwu’s film is arresting and Danielle Deadwyler’s performance is heartbreaking. You’ll cry, and that’s invaluable.
See also:
‘Eyes On The Prize: America’s Civil Rights Years 1954-1965’ (1987)
TAR
• CALL JANE
In 1968 Chicago, a female underground performs illegal abortions to save women’s lives.
Oppression 101: controlling reproduction means controlling women. ‘Keep them pregnant, keep them at home’. Slaver logic.
Though Birth Control was legalized in the US in 1960, abortion wasn’t until 1973. In that tumultuous gulf, female activists created a network of secret hostels to aid pregnant women who needed the medical help that the Patriarchy fiercely denied them. This fictional story directed by Phyllis Nagy is based on the real-life Jane Collective, framed cleverly through a conservative woman who comes to the movement by incremental degrees. The ever-great Sigourney Weaver as 'Jane' shines as the passionate heart of a wry story more timely and necessary than ever.
See also:
The supremely corrupt Supreme Court.
THE GLORIAS (2020), ‘Mrs. America’ (2020), HAPPENING (France, 2021)
• SHE SAID
The true story of how two New York Times reporters revealed Harvey Weinstein’s crimes.
Rich men think they can get away with any abuse.
But there are still vestiges of the Fourth Estate> left in this corporate century, and Megan Twohey and Jodi Kantor proved it. Directed by Maria Schrader, written by Rebecca Lenkiewicz, this taut journalism thriller exposing Harvey Weinstein and entrenched sexism in the film industry galvanizes the head and stirs the soul.
See also:
the Women’s March of 2017; the #MeToo movement
ALL THE PRESIDENT’S MEN (1976), THE POST (2017); HALF THE PICTURE (Doc, 2018)
• TAR
The famous symphony conductor is coming apart behind the scenes.
The chameleonic Cate Blanchett proves she’s the best yet again in Todd Field’s opus, an intricate psychological drama of formidable intelligence that builds like a stealth thriller. A thoughtful audit of its charismatic yet troubled lead that deeply interrogates character, status, outlooks, ambition, desire, motives, and ethics. No matter how you respond to those inquiries and where they lead, the film haunts you with its insights.
See also:
ALL ABOUT EVE (1950), JEANNE DIELMAN, 23 quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles (Belgium/France, 1975), BLACK SWAN (2010)
A ‘50s boy realizes he wants to be a filmmaker, while his family life begins to unravel.
Steven Spielberg reveals his secret origin story; how the magic of learning filmmaking gave him a sense of control as his parents started to fracture. Told softly, with caring empathy, it is as astute and frank as it is kind and funny.
Along the way, you pick up on the inspirations that led to hallmarks, themes, and techniques in his storied film canon.
See also:
CINEMA PARADISO (Italy, 1988), SUPER 8 (2011)
• ELVIS
Everybody, lets Rock!
No one does beautiful excess better than Baz Luhrmann, a theatrical stylist with no apologies or boundaries. His operatic collage of Elvis' exhilerating/incendiary life converts all sceptics into believers, a pulpit pound that expounds four on the floor, an inclusive metatext that desegregates, intersects, and illuminates. It is a mashup love letter to Rock 'n' Roll as spiritual liberation, a manifesto for communal creativity fueled by soulful connection, and a cautionary tale about the predators who destroy those. Austin Butler is truly mesmerizing as the king besieged without and within.
See also:
Watch in a double-feture with PRISCILLA (2023)
MURINA;
AFTERSUN
• THE LOST DAUGHTER 2021
On holiday, the professor is haunted by the past while menaced by the present.
As she observes the happenings at a Greek resort while reminiscing, things become less like they seem, turning inward at odd angles. What’s really going on here? Maggie Gyllenhaal’s directorial debut captures all of the nuanced ambiguity of Elena Ferrante’s book, brought out through Olivia Colman’s complex performance.
See also:
PURPLE NOON (France, 1960), ‘My Brilliant Friend’ (2018-)
• MURINA (Croatia) 2021
A teen sea diver might do anything to escape her island and her family.
Sick of her obnoxious father and the lonely outpost, she longs for the freedom of the monied tourists. Antoneta Alamat Kusijanović’s first effort is a fresh and nuanced character story that escalates with tense suspense.
See also:
BEFORE THE ROOSTER CROWS (Puerto Rico, 2016)
• AFTERSUN (UK/US)
The Scottish 11-year-old and her dad go on vacation at a Turkish resort.
Much more than meets the eye. Charlotte Wells’ feature debut flows like a sunny home movie with breezy interplay between the duo. But underneath, a whole shadow world of implications, foreshadowings, and memories prism your perception of what’s happening.
Paul Mescal (THE LOST DAUGHTER) is typically good, but newcomer Frankie Corio gives a natural performance so unaffected that it all seems real.
• THE QUIET GIRL (Ireland)
The miserable country girl opens up during a summer stay with relatives.
One of the best films of the year.
Lost in a loveless family and careless school, young Cait (the terrific Catherine Clinch) is adrift on everyone's neglect. With her aunt and uncle, she discovers what life and love can actually mean. This beautifully sensitive film, spoken in Irish, is as lovely as it is moving.
THE ETERNAL DAUGHTER;
THE NOVICE
• PETITE MAMAN (France) 2021
The other little girl in the forest her same age seems strangely familiar.
Written and directed by Céline Sciamma, this idyllic stroll through generational bonds is quiet and profound. After a loss, an 8-year-old girl explores the woods and discovers new perspectives on those she loves.
• THE ETERNAL DAUGHTER
A writer on holiday with her mother finds the hotel estate unsettling.
The story here is actually more of a mood, an atmospheric setting, a series of suggestions. Like a lantern in a maze, Tilda Swinton holds us spellbound weaving her dexterous skill and intuitive subtlety.
See also:
THE INNOCENTS (1961), THE HAUNTING (1963)
• THE NOVICE 2021
The driven rowing student may be destroying herself.
Sports films are always about the bonding and the win. Lauren Hadaway’s debut subverts this by telling something else unexpected and honest. How far is too far in pursuing a goal, in dealing with others, in qualifying achievement? Isabelle Fuhrman gives an intense performance.
PLEASURE
• LADY CHATTERLY’S LOVER
What is a life that has everything, except passion or love?
D.H. Lawrence’s 1928 book was banned for four decades worldwide, simply for being a romance that was honest about sex and using some of the words associated with it.> Beyond prudery, the ban intended to quell the idea of a woman stepping outside her station or having sexual agency.
Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre (THE MUSTANG) adapts this with a velvet grudge, directly embracing the story’s frank pleasure, free love, environmentalism, anti-classism, and pro-worker politics. (Hmmm, now what else did those censors have a problem with?)> Shot lovely, paced briskly, acted without shame.
See also:
WOMEN IN LOVE (England, 1969), THE LOVER (France/Vietnam, 1992)
• PLEASURE (Sweden/France/Netherlands) 2021
A Swedish woman’s dreams of porn industry stardom run headlong into the realities.
This is not a sexploitation picture, or a porn video. It’s a character study without censorship.
Director Ninja Thyberg and a film crew of mainly women follow the fictional aspiring star’s quest in quasi-documentary style. Perversely (ba-dump-bump), the actual porn industry participates on camera, with warts-and-all candor; real directors, agents, and stars demonstrate the pros and cons of the shoots and themselves with an abandon that’s almost oblivious. It’s an eye-opener, and stays in the mind well after.
See also:
HARDCORE (1979), KAMIKAZE HEARTS (1986), doc’ series ’Pornography: The Secret History Of Civilization’ (England, 2006), ‘The Deuce’ (2017-’19)
Also:
• THE NORTHMAN
The outcast prince vows revenge.
The Scandinavian legend of Amleth inspired Shakespeare’s “Hamlet”. Robert Eggers (THE WITCH, THE LIGHTHOUSE) goes full epic here with his take on it. BATMAN BEGINS with barbarians? JOHN WICK with swords? THE WITCH II with Anya Taylor-Joy? It’s an engaging eyeful, at least.
See also:
HAMLET (England, 1948), THE GREEN KNIGHT (England, 2021), HAMLET (US, 2021), DUNE Part One (France, 2021)
S M I L E
A radical director deliberately casts two lead actors who despise each other.
Flat-out hilarious. A bold/crazed director (the impish Penelope Cruz) rubs a method actor (Oscar Martinez) against a hunk star (Antonio Banderas) for firewood and ignites chaos. Curveballs, poignancy, and mayhem zag around every turn. The best by bounds.
• TRIANGLE OF SADNESS (Sweden/Germany/France/UK)
The rich go on a cruise that isn’t smooth sailing.
A bitter antidote that goes down like honey. Ruben Östlund’s social satire rolls deceptively easy, breezily setting up the dominoes of bedlam. A brutal takedown of the greedy, the callous, and the selfish that will keep you amused or cheering the whole way.
See also:
THE SQUARE (Sweden, 2017)
The misfit genius at the horrible school has a will of her own.
Roald Dahl’s acclaimed 1988 young adult book was adapted as the long-running stage musical (2010). The stage creators -director, writer, songwriter- return here translating it to the screen.
Imagine if Pink Floyd’s “The Wall” had been written by Syd Barrett instead, and staged by Tim Burton. This family-friendly romp loses no iota of Dahl’s outrageous wickedness, a stylish day-glo singalong with a brazenly Punk spirit. Its passionate defense of books and learning, of care and love, of kids and friends, and fierce blowback against those who would oppress these, is as jolting as it is great fun.
Unrecognizable in make-up, Emma Thompson roars as the villain with the same glorious abandon as her NANNY McPHEE films. The versatile Lashana Lynch (NO TIME TO DIE, THE WOMAN KING, CAPTAIN MARVEL) gifts us her voice. But the gale force here is newcomer Alisha Weir as Matilda, whose charm, singing, and pure ferocity ripple like the jet stream.
See also:
WILLY WONKA AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY (1971), JAMES AND THE GIANT PEACH (1996), FANTASTIC MR. FOX (2009)
• FIRE ISLAND
A gay rom-com on the famous vacation isle.
Writer and star Joel Kim Booster balances smart subtext with slapstick fun, lobbing zingers and insight about young friends navigating lust and love. Brightly cartoonish, deviously subversive, brazenly whacky, quietly sweet. Catch the boat.
See also:
PRIDE AND PREJUDICE (1940)
• THE BANSHEES OF INISHERIN (Ireland)
Two old friends fall out in a lacerating spiral.
The quarrel between two buddies in 1923 becomes a metaphor for the infighting that will eat up Ireland’s century.
Not so much a black comedy as a fun time that tilts bleak. The rollicking comedy aspects, particularly the first hour, are worth the whole trip. The drama bent takes a macabre turn that may test your journey. Brendan Gleeson and Colin Farrell are great, but Kerry Condon steals it from them as the sensible sister.
See also:
IN BRUJES (2008)
• DALILAND
The art world is a surreal place.
A fun romp through Salvador Dali’s ’70s bacchanalias, most effective in the character moments where Ben Kingsley really shines.
D R E A M
Her mundane life suddenly opens up to a multiplicity of possible lives.
The best ComedyDramaIndieFamilySciFiWushuFantasy+ of the year.
Why accept limits? This film shatters all false boundaries between characters, outlooks, sexuality, nationality, age, and genre. Like Evelyn (the ubiquitous Michelle Yeoh), you can be anything and enjoy everything. Many do, which is why this movie became an instant classic.
Trad critics will continue hewing to the mundane, touting safe films set in the bleak past or angsty suburbia or the office grind, often relevant solely for their suffocating classism, or their resigned banality, or for (the current go-to buzz phrase) “processing grief”. Beyond these unmindful restraints, the varied is still valid. In the real world, fluid minds embrace the full range of life and imagination and possibility.
Because life is every thing and not just one.
See also:
KUNG FU HUSTLE (China, 2004), ANOTHER EARTH (2011), DOCTOR STRANGE And The Multiverse Of Madness (2022)
His and her paths lead to a hacker underground disrupting the internet.
The best CyberpunkAfrofuturistPostgenderArthouseMusicalRomance of the year.
Rapper Saul Williams and playwright Anisia Uzeyman accord us this bounty, where conscripted miners rise up and become a hacker collective trying to liberate the world. Williams’ music, Uzeyman’s moody cinematography, and a vital cast create a low-budget, high-concept manifesto.
See also:
SPACE IS THE PLACE (1974), THE MATRIX (1999), PUMZI (Kenya short, 2009)
STRAWBERRY MANSION
• VESPER (Lithuania/ France/ Belgium)
In a classist dystopic future with food scarcity, she might have a chance at saving everyone.
Cast out from the stingy bubble cities, the poor forage the wild for survival, as teen Vesper tries to save her ailing father. Surreal, understated, dreamy, and beautifully shot (Feliksas Abrukauskas).
See also:
IO (2019)
• STRAWBERRY MANSION 2021
The tax-collector of dreams finds a special house he can’t quantify.
Like a jam session between Lewis Carroll and Philip K. Dick. Dreams on VHS, time slips, absurdist satire, fedoras. What, you want more?
• THREE THOUSAND YEARS OF LONGING
A literary scholar finds that fables may be true when she discovers a djinn in a bottle.
George Miller's first film since MAD MAX: FURY ROAD is a fine effort the crowd missed out on. A modern fable laced with ancient fables, lushly crafted with a global cast, and lit through by the chemistry between Tilda Swinton and Idris Elba.
• SOMETHING IN THE DIRT
Two neighbors try to make a documentary about the strange force in an apartment.
A psuedo-doc’, made by its stars, Justin Benson and Aaron Moorehead, where a pair of mismatched idlers try to exploit the inversion of physics taking over the living room. Deceptively smart and archly funny.
See also:
THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT (1999)
• BIGBUG
Suburban neighbors are locked in together by a rogue robot takeover.
The increasingly rare Jean-Pierre Jeunet (CITY OF LOST CHILDREN, AMELIE) returns and that should be enough for you. But this ‘Metal Hurlant/Heavy Metal’-style SciFi comedy, with its fabulous ’50s Futurism and adroit slapstick, is the bonus.
See also:
Tati’s MON ONCLE (France, 1958), Gilliam’s THE ZERO THEOREM (2013), ‘Humans’ (England, 2015)
N I G H T M A R E
An idyllic Space Age tract house community in the desert may be built on a terrible secret.
Olivia Wilde’s acerbic parable about domesticity, patriarchy, and capitalism keeps you guessing. Florence Pugh earned acclaim for her performance this year in THE WONDER, but in truth she is much more faceted here.
See also:
’Manhattan’ (2014-’16)
• THE INNOCENTS (Norway) 2021
During summer break, stray kids in the apartment complex start discovering strange abilities.
This film’s easy lightness constantly disarms you before things go alarming. (Look away during the cat sequence.) The genuine performances by the young children beguile you while the edge creeps in.
See also:
VILLAGE OF THE DAMNED (England, 1960), LORD OF THE FLIES (England, 1963), CARRIE (1976)
• PREY
A Comanche woman in 1719 takes on an alien invader.
This prequel is the only PREDATOR sequel that matters. It gains all that cred from the inspired focus on Native Americans in an earlier time. Amber Midthunder (‘Legion’) is so effective as the Comanche warrior that the film almost doesn’t need the alien aspect at all. (Unless it’s as a metaphor for colonialism).
See also:
PREDATOR (1987), A QUIET PLACE (2018)
Teen Inuit girls lead a stand against alien invaders in a remote icy outback.
Nyla Innuksuk’s feature debut is a winner, filmed in the farflung fjord of Pangnirtung with a cast of local amateurs who knock it out of the park. The location, cast, and situations are so rich and funny that there should be an ongoing TV series in the mode of ‘Reservation Dogs’ beyond this adventure.
[Stares at the camera.]
See also:
THE THING (1982), ‘Fortitude’ (2015-’18), ‘Reservation Dogs’ (2021-)
E N I G M A
KIMI
• DECISION TO LEAVE (S. Korea)
A homicide detective discovers that two unconnected cases have one mysterious woman in common.
Director Park Chan-wook (SNOWPIERCER) returns with an layered abstraction on VERTIGO (Invertigo?). Knowing this going in won’t keep you ahead of this stealthy interpolation of that beloved refrain. Tang Wei (LUST, CAUTION) is mesmerizing as the suspect, and Kim Ji-yong’s cinematography is startlingly inventive.
See also:
VERTIGO (1958), STAKEOUT (Japan, 1958), Park’s THE HANDMAIDEN (S. Korea, 2016), LONG DAY’S JOURNEY INTO NIGHT (China, 2018)
• GOD’S CROOKED LINES (Spain)
The woman in the mental institute claims to be uncovering a crime.
In post-Fascist 1979 Spain, a woman checks into an asylum. With direct purpose, she pursues her secret investigation of a recent death here. In another timeline, a mysterious murder happens. But what is really going on here, and where will it lead?
Bárbara Lennie captivates in this taut thriller, based on Luca de Tena’s acclaimed book.
See also:
GASLIGHT (1944), MEMENTO (2000)
• KIMI
A remote tech discovers recorded evidence of a murder.
Soderbergh’s abstraction of REAR WINDOW for the cyber age, cannily turning the gaze from other windows to the monitor screen that watches us. Zoe Kravitz (also heralded this year in THE BATMAN) is a shut-in suddenly caught up in a conspiracy that pushes her limits.
See also:
REAR WINDOW (1954), BODY DOUBLE (1984), Soderbergh’s SIDE EFFECTS (2013)
On the rich man’s island retreat, all of the guests become suspect.
Rian Johnson’s clever KNIVES OUT (2019) was just a warm-up for this ambitious, better sequel.
For starters, Daniel Craig’s detective is far more shaded and physical in this one, a comic riposte to his Bond. He’s clearly having a ball.
Wider, the intricate mystery is also one of the funniest comedies of the year. It’s a gleeful meta-text that roasts all forms of modern selfishness: odious tech messiahs, influencer vampires, alpha dawgs, corrupt politicos, classist stupidity, bougie excess, consumer addicts, foolish blowhards, and callous bigots. The primo cast is in on the joke and all excel, especially Janelle Monae. The result is a film so rich you have to see it multiple times to savor it all.
See also:
BAD TIMES AT THE EL ROYALE (2018), KNIVES OUT (2019)
➤ NO TIME TO DIE: How James Bond Advanced Beyond
• THE PALE BLUE EYE
There are terrible murders happening at West Point in 1830.
A haunted investigator (Christian Bale) probes a series of killings with aid from an eccentric cadet named Poe. Moody, twisting, stark, tense, the tale unfolds like a fever dream.
See also:
FROM HELL (2001), INSOMNIA (2002), ‘The Fall of The House Of Usher’ (2023)
• THE WONDER (Ireland)
In 1860s Ireland, a nurse is sent to discover why the country girl who never eats survives.
A spare tale in an austere landscape. The English nurse (Florence Pugh) navigates local distrust, loneliness, and terrible secrets in her pursuit. Her passion lights up this strange purgatory.
• ENOLA HOMES 2
Sherlock’s teen sister gets a foot in the game.
Based on Springer’s book series, Millie Bobby Brown ('Stranger Things') hits her stride with this funny, nimble sequel. Any Holmes story tends to be good, and any feminist twist on him is all for the better.
See also:
‘Sherlock’ (Series 4, 2017), ’Miss Sherlock’ (Japan, 2018)
EMILY THE CRIMINAL
• THE OUTFIT
A quiet suit-maker runs afoul of the mob in 1955 Chicago.
The Cutter from Saville Row just wants to go about his business. Sharp as shears, this shrewd mystery thriller is a must-see with an impeccable cast, particularly Mark Rylance in the lead and Johnny Flynn as the seething hood.
See also:
THE DROP (2014)
• EMILY THE CRIMINAL
A student overwhelmed by debt tries to save herself through crime.
Indentured servitude ends, but slavery doesn’t. Capitalism is the ultimate slaver system, and debt is our path to death.
This fleet film deftly calls out a corrupt nation that cripples students through education debt. Aubrey Plaza is at her best here, an anyone pushed into reflecting the corruption she is the victim of.
See also:
‘Breaking Bad’ (2008-’13), NIGHTCRAWLER (2014), WIDOWS (2018)
Higher education should be free, end all student debt.
• CATCH THE FAIR ONE
The boxer goes undercover to find her abducted sister.
Real life boxer Kali Reis co-wrote and stars in this thriller, uncovering the trafficking of Native American women into limbo. Spare as a short story, sober as a documentary, it defuses revenge flick cliches with its clear-eyed realism.
See also:
OLOTURE (Nigeria, 2019)
• AMSTERDAM
A (relatively) true story of 1930s international espionage.
This mystery comedy is a clever jigsaw puzzle with a stellar cast, always canny and enjoyable with welcome social bite (if a bit long).
Also:
• SEE HOW THEY RUN
Someone in the theatre’s murder mystery cast may be… a murderer!
This mild spoof is good for chuckles, especially with stand-out performances from an ardent Saoirse Ronan and campy David Oyelowo.
See also:
A SHOT IN THE DARK (1964), MURDER BY DEATH (1976), CLUE (1985)
G R A P H I C
I M A G E S
The Dark Knight Detective must outwit The Riddler to save the city.
In the early-’70s, writer Denny O’Neil and realist illustrator Neal Adams redefined Batman as the modern, edgy Dark Knight: a stiletto-eared night demon melting from the shadows to terrify the cruel, the greedy, and the lethal. The Shadow, James Bond, and Sherlock Holmes in one black gargoyle.
Matt Reeves is the canny synthesist that Zack Snyder will never be. If Christopher Nolan’s exemplary DARK KNIGHT trilogy captured all of O’Neil/Adams’ work except the film noir and mysticism, director Reeves floors the pedal with those aspects, wedding ‘70s New Hollywood noir to ’90s Grunge. The resulting incubus is spellbinding.
See also:
KLUTE (1971), THE GODFATHER (1972), ZODIAC (2007)
Also hear:
“Something In The Way” (1991), by Nirvana
• DOCTOR STRANGE In The Multiverse Of Madness
Will the sorcerer defend or destroy the girl who holds the key to the multiverse?
From cosmic sorcery to black magic. Director Sam Raimi (THE EVIL DEAD, SPIDER-MAN 2) tailors a horror movie, corded with a sci-fi dimensional odyssey.
Just as all ‘comic book movies’ or ’superhero films’ are actually separate genre styles from each other (e.g., demi-god, post-modern, film noir, mythology, Sci-Fi, fantasy, comedy, anime, spy, indie confessional, western, etc.), so this sequel is different from the first. For all of Raimi’s patented visual flair, attention should be focused on a strong story that really pushes the edge, with surprises and shocks at every turn, and a mosaic performance by Benedict Cumberbatch.
See also:
THE EVIL DEAD II (1987), ‘What If’ (Season 1, 2022), EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE (2022)
The Panther is dead, long live the new Panther.
Here’s a film “processing grief” that is genuine and brilliant.
Chadwick Boseman’s untimely death forced this sequel to face that harsh reality. The result is a layered and moving rumination on loss -in family, ethics, and belief in self- as good as any out there. Couple this with a staggering cultural collision -Afrofuturism vs. Mayan futurism, a social comment on how cultures work against each other instead of uniting against a common oppressor writ on an operatic scale. And then there is Letitia Wright ('Small Ax'), a superb actor stepping to the fore and taking the mantle. Undeniable.
★ Here’s the thing, critics. WAKANDA is a smart film with a poignant story and impeccable craft, while RRR (India) is an empty style-void that’s only notable for its silly excess. If you snub the first while overpraising the second, then you don’t know your bias from a hole in the ground.
A R T F L I X
The seafaring monster-hunters take on the wrong quarry.
Along with TREASURE ISLAND (1951), this immediately became my favorite pirate movie ever.
Point blank, it is richer in inspiration and soul in any 10 minutes than many of the dry dramas on most ’Year's Best’ lists put together. Trads may howl foul, but the facts are intact. After all, why should mundanity be the metric? A cornucopia always beats famine.
Here lies a bounty of riches. The craft is astonishing: a rich character story with crisp turns; a refreshingly global crew; exquisite art direction and design; and an infectiously adorable lead in little Maisie Brumble. C’mon, that name alone. This film is greatness from stem to stern.
Netflix Animation just gave Pixar and Disney a serious run for their cred. Hoist the flag.
Also read:
“Moby Dick” (1851), “Treasure Island” (1883)
See also:
TREASURE ISLAND (1951), MOANA (2016)
➤ THE CANON 1: 50 Books That Created Modern Pop Culture
Mei hits adolescence and turns into a big red monster beyond control.
The truly excellent Pixar movie of the year.
Wound tight in a traditional Chinese-American household, young Mei’s life unravels when her monthly visit starts, unleashing a big red fuzzy beast self. Domee Shi’s quickwit film is a pure blast, as sensitive as it is uproarious.
See also:
THE NAMESAKE (2007), ENCANTO (2021)
• LIGHTYEAR
The origin adventure of Buzz Lightyear.
To be clear, this isn’t a spin-off of the toy from TOY STORY, but instead the pretend ‘90s SciFi film’ from which the toy was derived. Despite lackluster response from folks, this is actually a very good movie, with many great moments. Time will bring them around.
See also:
the TOY STORY films, ‘Star Trek: Prodigy’ (2021-)
BELLE
• APOLLO 10 1/2:
A SPACE AGE CHILDHOOD
A Texas boy is chosen by NASA in 1969 to go to the moon secretly before Apollo 11.
Richard Linklater reveals his origin story, growing up in a Texas suburb directly connected to the Space Race. The moon launch framework is fun, but the real charm of the film is the candid and witty parade of anecdotes about his home life and the era.
See also:
A SCANNER DARKLY (2006), BOYHOOD (2014)
➤ 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY - Its Transcendent Influence on all Pop Culture
• BELLE (Japan)
A charming cyberpunk reboot of “Beauty And The Beast’”.
This lovely and well-crafted anime contrasts a normal boring life with a fantastical virtual life, forcing a young girl to question each. A positive empowerment tale, some sideways romance, nice songs, and mindtrip visuals.
See also:
Cocteau’s BEAUTY AND THE BEAST (France, 1946), WHISPER OF THE HEART (Japan, 1995), THE GIRL WHO LEAPT THROUGH TIME (Japan, 2006)
• INU-OH (Japan)
Centuries ago in feudal Japan, two outcasts challenge the system with music.
The latest Science SARU production, helmed by the iconoclastic Masaaki Yuasa, is everything great at once: an impressionistic legend told in varying art styles, from ink to wash to paint; an excellent Rock Opera (!) with great songs and theatric sequences; and a layered allegory protesting all oppressors who ostracize the different, from creativity to appearance to outlook. Hold up your fist and say, "We are here."
The puppet who wanted to be a boy.
Guillermo del Toro’s lifelong dream project, realized in stop-animation. This finely crafted version has gritty candor, a sterling voice cast, top-notch songs, and -set in the tyranny of Fascist Italy- some seriously relevant political punch against all forms of oppression.
See also:
PINOCCHIO (1940), JAMES AND THE GIANT PEACH (1996), THE BOXTROLLS (2014)
B E S T
D O C U M E N T A R I E S :
2 0 2 2
• IF THESE WALLS COULD SING
Mary McCartney's doc about the legendary Abbey Road Studios, with Paul, Ringo, and many more.
• MOONAGE DAYDREAM
B o w i e .
• LOUIS ARMSTRONG’S BLACK AND BLUES
The life story of the Jazz ambassador.
• ALL THE BEAUTY AND THE BLOODSHED
How photographer Nan Goldin exposed the rich family behind the opoid crisis.
• RIOTSVILLE, USA
In the '60s, the US Government trained soldiers in fake town sets to crush social dissent.
• FRAMING AGNES
A transgender history, with analysis and reenactments.
• THE LAST MOVIE STARS
The story of Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward.
• THE COME UP (TV series)
6 young creators try to make it in NYC.
B E S T
T V :
2 0 2 2
N E W S
• The Rachel Maddow Show
• LAST WEEK with John Oliver
• PBS NewsHour
• PBS FRONTLINE
• THE DAILY SHOW, with Trevor Noah ⇧
D R A M A
The finale.
If ‘Breaking Bad’ is THE GODFATHER, then ‘Better Call Saul’ is THE GODFATHER II; while the first is a linear crime drama, the second is a prequel/sequel simultaneously, telling a wider and deeper story in between those time contrasts about consequences and redemptions.
Where will reflection lead you? Note how Saul’s memories are often in dark rooms lit by available light from outside, a reverse chiaroscuro, a naturalist noir. Is he trying to illume insight from his past or find escape from the present through his recollections? The finale season is an unsparing mirror on that choice, sharply focused and bluntly realistic.
See also:
‘Breaking Bad’ (2008-’13), EL CAMINO (2019)
Anne Lister enacts grand plans to take over 1830s Halifax, Yorkshire.
The real-life Lister was a businesswoman who hid her secret sexual life in encrypted journals. Recently deciphered, they are interpreted in Sally Wainwright’s ('Happy Valley') shrewd dramedy series, holding a mirror to our current progress and lapses. Suranne Jones is completely mesmeric as the lead.
See also:
‘Tipping The Velvet’ (2002), CAROL (2005)
Can June escape the damage left inside her?
Must pain lead only to violence? To its estimable credit, the penultimate season of the series processes all of this unflinchingly, hearing the heart but heeding the head. June (Elisabeth Moss) grows deeper while the scope expands wider, setting the stage for the finale season.
Also read:
“The Handmaid’s Tale” (1985) and “The Testaments” (2019), by Margueriete Atwood
Are the crimes happening on a 1971 Navajo reservation connected?
Tony Hillerman wrote 18 popular mystery novels about Rez cops; three each about Leaphorn and then Chee, before the duo teamed up from the seventh onward.
This adaptation series combines them from the beginning, clashing and then bonding. It’s a solid show, if a tad basic at times. It’s truest value is in simply being there, showcasing the community, their traditions, their conflicts, their dislocation and struggle in a colonized wilderness. There should be a hundred shows in all genres about Native Americans, to make up for lost time and neglect, and this helps. The omnipresent Zahn McClarnon is reliably good, while Jessica Matten breaks out as the intuitive sergeant.
See also:
‘Frontline: The Spirit Of Crazy Horse’ (PBS, 1990), THUNDERHEART (1992), SIOUX CITY (1994)
• SHERWOOD 1
An English town divided by bitter history is fissured anew by two murders.
Set in Knottinghamshire, this modern procedural uses two killings (inspired by actual events) to examine an unjust past. The town still seethes over a fallout between Unions during the Miners Strike of 1984. While telling a gripping investigation, the series sheds light on the fascistic methods Thatcher had used to divide and conquer the working class. (The lawyer’s ‘Deep Throat’ informer scene in episode 4 nails it.) Playwright James Graham’s sharp series has an excellent cast, great heart, and fleet turns.
See also:
CASTLE IN THE SKY (Japan, 1986), THE BIG MAN (England, 1990), BILLY ELLIOTT (England, 2000), ’Happy Valley’ (2014-’23)
• SLOW HORSES 1 + 2
MI5’s house for outcast spies gets down and dirty.
Imagine if Harry Palmer from THE IPCRESS FILE (1967) became seedy and jaded after a long career. That’s the underlying premise here, adapted from Mick Herron’s espionage book series. Gary Oldman clearly relishes playing the caustic bastard Jackson Lamb, flipping quips like shurikens. Add to this zigzag cases, a misfit ensemble, and tight cinematography for the total win.
See also:
THE IPCRESS FILE (1967), ‘The Iprcess File’ (2022)
• RIDLEY ROAD
With Fascism on the rise in 1963 London, a young Jewish woman infiltrates the enemy.
A 4-episode fiction series set in the actual events of the time, when the hideous Colin Jordan began his neo-Nazi crusade. Director Lisa Mulcahy and writer Sarah Solemani adapt Jo Bloom’s book into a gripping thriller, helmed by impressive newcomer Agnes O’Casey as the brave lead.
See also:
‘The Hour’ (England, 2011-’12)
• THE IPCRESS FILE
A reimagining of the classic 1967 spy film.
Dovetailing with the new ‘Slow Horses’ series (above) comes a mini-series rethinking Len Deighton’s spy book. The show is keenly aware of the classic 1967 film version, winking at its low-angled shots and Barry’s haunting score, while expanding past it with nervy verve. Our favorite spy anti-hero ups the ante tackling a global conspiracy, capering into a finale with more twists than Chubby Checker.
See also:
THE IPCRESS FILE (1967), JFK (1991), 'Slow Horses’ (2022-)
GASLIT
• THE OFFER
The impossible and astonishing making of THE GODFATHER.
Mario Puzo’s unstoppable bestseller was never going to get made as a movie.
At every step, it was hindered by clueless corporate execs, a coked-out studio head, squabbling creators, erratic actors, budget crunch, puppet politicos, and the actual Mafia. Despite all this incessant lack of vision, producer Al Ruddy helped Coppola triumph with what many consider the finest American movie ever made. Don’t refuse this astounding trip.
See also:
THE GODFATHER (1972), THE GODFATHER II (1974)
• GASLIT
Margaret Mitchell knew about Watergate before anyone, but who would listen?
John Mitchell was the head of Nixon’s reelection committee (or CREEP) and authorized the 1972 Watergate break-in. After press leaks from his wife, he had her kidnapped.
This series is most valuable as a clear linear breakdown of how the break-in occurred and who was involved. (It’s less effective when it plays the burglars for laughs.) Julia Roberts and Sean Penn are strong leads, while Shea Whigham goes off as the psychotic G. Gordon Liddy.
See also:
Watch ALL THE PRESIDENT’S MEN (1976), and then MARK FELT (2017), and then this mini-series.
The story of the Sex Pistols, from guitarist Steve Jones’ perspective.
Based on Jones’ memoir, you might expect a skewed brag-and-slag.
Never mind that. Instead, writer Craig Pearce and director Danny Boyle (TRAINSPOTTING) tell the history of the Sex Pistols in six hours with unflinching honesty and uniform fairness. Jones owns up to his flaws and insecurities, abused homelife, criminal record, and band missteps while crediting everyone around him for their valuable acts, from McClaren to Westwood to Lydon to Jordan to Hynde. Punk is really about destroying all artifice and constraint, and the bracing honesty here is the punkest act possible.
Aiding this is the perfect craft: shot handheld, film-grain, square ratio like 1976; the diverse entourage and their eclectic music tastes; the actors actually performing the music, learning to play as they went; the uncanny cast likenesses of everyone from Don Letts to Siouxsie; and the political context of why it all matters, more than ever. Every minute of this works.
See also:
Temple’s THE FILTH AND THE FURY (doc, 2000), Letts’ PUNK: Attitude (doc, 2005)
Also read:
“England’s Dreaming” (1991), by Jon Savage
WE OWN THIS CITY
• SHINING GIRLS
An assault survivor finds the fabric of her life mysteriously changing around her.
Imagine watching ‘Mindhunter’ as it slowly turns into TIME AFTER TIME. In the best David Fincher-meets-Gillian Flynn style, this moody and well-crafted mystery grows more surreal and surprising as it goes.
A newspaper archivist (Elizabeth Moss) recovering from trauma discovers she has some connection to a recent murder, as her reality seems to be altering without explanation.
See also:
TIME AFTER TIME (1979), ZODIAC (2007)
• WE OWN THIS CITY
The true story of the corrupt Baltimore police.
Everyone wants a sequel to ‘The Wire’, which many feel is the best TV series ever made.
Writers George Pelecanos and David Simon come back with the closest thing to it examining the true story of a corrupt cop squad, a lens through which they expose the rampant corruption of the current Baltimore justice system.
This invaluable series indicts the U.S. Police State for what it is: bigots with war weaponry sanctioned by an unspoken civic mandate to oppress the citizens.
See also:
‘The Wire’ (2002-’08), 'The Shield’ (2002-’08)
D R E A M
• STAR TREK: Picard 2
To the alternate Past, and his past altered.
‘Picard’ is about second chances, and about facing harsh times to forge better ones. This fine season put his current crew to the test, while setting the stage for the return of his original crew.
See also:
‘Star Trek: Deep Space Nine’, “Past Tense” (S03/E11+12; 1997), ‘Star Trek: The Next Generation’, “Family” (S04/E02; 1990)
The adventures of the Enterprise before the Original Series.
Before Kirk, there was Captain Pike. 55 years in the making, we at last get to revel in the possibilities. The beauty of the show is how well it channels everything right about the Original Series (1966-’69), while amping that in ways we’ve never seen (a la ‘Discovery’). Bold.
See also:
‘Star Trek’, “The Menagerie” (S01/E11+12, 1967), ‘Star Trek: Discovery’, Season 2 (2019)
• THE ORVILLE: New Horizons
The parallel ‘Star Trek’ gets bigger and bolder.
Hopping from Fox to Hulu with a whopping new budget, the ‘Next Gen Lite’ dramedy made 80-minute mini-movies with hyper-ramped effects each episode. The strongest stories revolved around the new youth, Topa (Imani Pullum).
• OBI-WAN KENOBI
The hinge from the Prequel Trilogy to the Original Trilogy.
"She's just as important as he is." Stepping out of young Luke’s orbit, the Jedi looks after the Other.
What’s most impressive here is how well this mini-trilogy (6 hours) bridges the genocidal Episode III to the optimistic Episode IV: the brave choice of processing Kenobi’s debilitating PTSD from guilt; the fate of padewans; finally seeing young Leia on Alderaan; and all the subtle ways it ties up loose ends and continuity transitions.
Ewan MacGregor is shaded here in ways we haven’t seen before, from grief to paternal. The finale saber fight is shocking. And the delightful 10-year-old Leia (Vivien Lyra Blair) is the best best.
See also:
‘Star Wars: Rebels’, “Twilight Of The Apprentice” (S02/E21+22, 2016) and “Twin Suns” (S03/E20, 2017)
• ANDOR
The ambitious prequel to ROGUE ONE.
This is adroit you’re looking for.
STAR WARS needs to get out of mirroring itself by remembering its inspirations, goals, and possibilities. Here, a pre-prequel to the edgy prequel ROGUE ONE (2016) takes a sober ‘70s SciFi arthouse approach that bypasses nostalgia for mature intensity.
’Andor’ is a hyperjump advance, a tale of personal crisis within an espionage epic, which includes a heist, political conspiracy, class soap, prison break, and slave revolt. Shot like an art film, paced like a novel, felt like a nervous breakthrough. Profoundly humanist, vehemently anti-fascist, fragilely hopeful.
Catch up to the Revolution.
See also:
THE GUNS OF NAVARONE (1961), THE BATTLE OF ALGIERS (Italy/Algiers, 1966), MATEWAN (1987), AT PLAY IN THE FIELDS OF THE LORD (1991)
For a longer essay of this essential series, with many photos from cinema history, read:
➤ ANDOR, The New Revolution
• THE BOOK OF BOBA FETT
The twisty fate of Boba Fett after RETURN OF THE JEDI.
The entire point of STAR WARS is positive redemption. If ‘The Mandalorian’ is essentially the Ultimate Boba Fett Story every kid with Kenner figures hoped for, then the actual Fett show dares to do what they hadn’t considered. This is as gutsy as it is spiritually consistent. Thoroughly enjoyable, thus. Plus Ahsoka, Luke, and Krrsantan!
See also:
FOR A FEW DOLLARS MORE (Italy, 1965), A MAN CALLED HORSE (1970), QUADROPHENIA (1979), THEEB (Jordan, 2014)
• DOCTOR WHO Specials
3 Specials winding up the run by Jodie Whittaker.
The Whittaker cycle liberated this series.
All the constraints -male, white, limited regenerations, canon, conservative fans- are now shattered with the expansions and inclusiveness brought in by innovative showrunner Chris Chibnell (‘Broadchurch’).
The core of the Doctor is fluid change. No other run in the show’s history did more or better in honoring that. So yokels be damned, bring in all possibility. We want the world and we want it now.
Also read:
"Orlando" (1928), by Virginia Woolf
• RUSSIAN DOLL 2
Her history is a much bigger puzzle.
The first season was headtrip fun in a local tapeloop. The second goes for glory, an international time epic as ambitious as it is poignant. Natasha Lyonne, shuffling like 'Columbo' and grousing like Jackie Mason, is multiform.
See also:
GROUNDHOG DAY (1993), ‘Day Break’ (2006), ‘Awake (2012)
• WESTWORLD 4
Futureworld 2.2.
This all began with Michael Crichton’s original film WESTWORLD (1973), and the sequel FUTUREWORLD (1976).
The TV series rethought the first film in its first two seasons, and then the second in its next two. Across Season 3 and 4, Lisa Joy and Jonathan Nolan remade/remodeled it into Gibson and Wachowski cyberpunk, challenging our perceptions of life, sentience, otherness, and destiny. And of the series itself. Thank you.
• SEVERANCE 1
Can you really separate your work life from your real life?
Perhaps recent years have you suspecting that Capitalism is slavery.
A devious SpecFic, like ‘The Office’ overwritten by ‘Black Mirror’, where your work self and life self have no memory of each other. That’s a bad thing handled brilliantly here in an edge comedy brimming with dry surrealism, copious social satire, Kubrick-esque cinematography, and moments of unexpected tenderness. The sly cast includes canny turns by John Turturro, Patricia Arquette, and Christopher Walken.
See also:
‘Homecoming’ (2018-’20), ’Made For Love’ (2021-’22)
• THE LORD OF THE RINGS: The Rings Of Power 1
A new prequel about the original rise of Sauron.
The excellence of the LORD OF THE RINGS television series is on a new level so high that everything else is just a school play. Everything.
No other show or film can match it for its new standard of quality craft. It is an IMAX masterpiece on a medium far too small for it. It equals Jackson’s films and betters them, in scope and design and inclusion. And it does the most impossible task of all, crafting a rousing new story narrative from Tolkien’s academic addendums that perfectly complements his acclaimed books while liberating new possibilities.
The trolls lose and the world wins.
For a longer review of this excellent series, read:
➤ LORD OF THE RINGS: The Rings Of Power ⬤ The One Rules All
See also:
THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING (2001), THE TWO TOWERS (2002), THE RETURN OF THE KING (2003);
also, TOLKIEN (2019)
• HIS DARK MATERIALS 3
The finale of the trilogy.
HBO has adapted Pullman’s Fantasy book trilogy in three seasons. The finale, whether from the third book’s tone or the pandemic delays, is a notably somber stroll. The ‘dead’ world is a cheerless slog compared to the delightful ‘eden’ world, which is naturally the point.
This season’s strength is in how it maturely defies Fantasy codes; not everything works out perfectly, and there’s loss for every hard-won gain. And it’s an inverse rebuke to Lewis’ faith-based “Narnia” books; underling the series is one of the strongest refutations of fundamentalist religion ever aired, in favor of embracing a full life without repression.
See also:
LABYRINTH (1986), SPIRITED AWAY (Japan, 2001), THE LION, THE WITCH, AND THE WARDROBE (2005), del Toro’s PAN’S LABYRINTH (2006)
Also read:
“Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland” (1865), by Lewis Carroll
• STRANGER THINGS 4
Where did Eleven come from, and where will that lead her?
The first three seasons were just prelude. The Duffer Brothers mature up and go big: 72-minute episodes, character beats for the full cast, huge cinematic vistas, global breadth, and a palpable maturity. By exploring Eleven’s origin, they open it all up for the entire ensemble. Millie Bobby Brown and Sadie Sink shine this year.
See also:
ALTERED STATES (1981), SCANNERS (Canada, 1981)
Also play:
“Dungeons And Dragons” RPG; air guitar
• OUTLANDER 6
Will their new colony come apart from within?
My favorite screen romance continues its winning streak, turning romance novel conventions inside out with historical savvy and bracing shifts.
• INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE 1
An update on Anne Rice’s classic book.
The flaw in the 1976 book was that the 18th Century lead starts as a plantation owner. There’s no way to spin that now with all the toxic negatives entailed. This series wisely resituates Louis as a 1910s New Orleans African-American, a richly contextual decision that improves upon the original while amplifying it with new dimensions and extended span.
The other smart move, in the wake of the recent ‘American Gods’ fiasco, is their plan to directly adapt the book in two seasons and stop. Jacob Anderson (‘Game Of Thrones’) reveals his range as Louis, and Sam Reid was born to play the legendary Lestat.
Also read:
“Fevre Dream” (1982), by George R.R. Martin
• KINDRED 1
An update on Octavia Butler’s classic book.
Taking its cue from the ‘Handmaid’s Tale’ TV series, this adaption lateralizes the story outward with new material. This might irk purists, but the core story remains and the additions bring fuller possibilities.
Butler’s book, taught in colleges, is a damning indictment of slavery, and a wake-up call for inclusive fantasy that helped pave AfroFuturism. It raised many ramifications that this strong series does quite well expanding upon. Mallori Johnson is riveting as the young 2016 woman (instead of 1976) who, by some ancestral connection, keeps being pulled back to a hellish 1815 plantation.
(Also, props to the serious musichead choosing the soundtrack songs.)
See also:
‘Outlander’ (2014-), ‘The Underground Railroad’ (2021)
A N I M A T I O N
To boldly go like you've never been there before.
This trojan horse, pitched as an entry show into 'Trek' for young viewers, is sneaking in a whole lot more: STAR WARS energy, youthful shenanigans, refreshed outlook, an edgy arc with intense villains, a sequel to 'Star Trek: Voyager', and some of the most forward redesigns in TREK history. Anyone skipping the trip has missed the wildest ride.
• STAR TREK: Lower Decks 3
To boldly explode everything that’s gone before.
Siblings knock each other because they love each other. This comedy show spoofs everything that ever happened in ‘Star Trek’ -and things that should- because it’s a family affair. But anyone tuning in will enjoy the fun, fan or not.
(The key to doing humor on ‘Trek’ is smart absurdism, a la Douglas Adams, something that the frat yuks on ‘The Orville’ haven’t grasped.)
• STAR WARS: Tales Of The Jedi 1
An animated anthology leading into the Prequel Trilogy.
Two arcs, one following the path of Ahsoka from her birth to Coruscant, the other revealing the corruption of Count Dooku by Sidious. Special shout-out to the animators for designing the younger Count after Christopher Lee in DRACULA (1958)!
Can Alma save her family, in time?
Television’s most trippy adult animated show returns, moving from the father’s limbo to the mother’s secret history. It pulls the family together and makes the series even stronger. The genuinely moving character story spans from rural Mexico to Nazi-occupied Poland, and saves the cosmic blowout for last.
See also:
A WAKING LIFE (2001), INCEPTION (2010), ’Russian Doll’ Season 2 (2022)
H E R O E S
• MOON KNIGHT
The unstable champion of a dubious Egyptian god.
Moon Knight was one of Marvel Comics' ersatz Batmans, but more supernatural and schizoid. Taking cues from wise retcons in the comics, this series magnifies the Egyptian cultural dimensions while being sensitive to his apparent mental illness. Oscar Isaac, renowned for playing edge or jest well, has a field day navigating his characters.
New Jersey’s finest hero, by way of Pakistan.
Cool as SPIDER-VERSE! Woke as BLACK PANTHER! Bright as CAPTAIN MARVEL! It's... Ms. Marvel!
This is the hippest, happiest, heartfelt show on TV. It does everything at once and exactly right.
It’s as current as sockets on teen life, tech, and style; it’s a family show more layered than a rug store; it’s as funny as saying monkey in every sentence; it’s as wise as the wherefores; it’s got It and that’s that.
And it rivals BLACK PANTHER and SHANG CHI for inclusive cultural panorama. Spidey’s over in Queens, but has never had the range and realness of Jersey here, let alone its Pakistani diaspora. And then they go full-gamut dealing with The Partition of India in 1947 (!) like the ghost of David Lean. There’s nothing on the air that can compare.
Iman Vellani is a force for joy as Kamala Khan, the Ms. with the biz. Plus, the Illumin-Aunties, tube vids, comic convention, wedding gala highstepping, positive Islam, school heist, cartoon schemes, more. Marvelous.
See also:
SPIDER-MAN: Into The Spider-Verse (2018), ‘Doctor Who’, “Demons Of The Punjab” (S11/E06, 2018), CAPTAIN MARVEL (2019)
• SHE-HULK: Attorney At Law
Jennifer smash fourth wall!
In her second comic book series (1989), Jenn’ spoke directly to the reader -before Deadpool- taunting fanboys, sexism, and comics cliches.
We’re all tired of Online trolls with their scared harassment of female heroes. Before they could even start, this TV show roasts them like lava. Metatextual with a megaphone, Jenn’s whipsmart wit prosecutes sexist brats, toxic cyber-bullies, yuppie bros, blithering tabloid media, anti-creativity press hacks, and the consumer machine. It even goofs happily on the MCU itself. Tatiana Maslaney (‘Orphan Black’) is puckishly hilarious in a satire leaps ahead of rote network comedies.
• WEREWOLF BY NIGHT
What horror awaits the monster-hunters in the labyrinth?
Mark Giacchino, acclaimed for his film scores, directs this black and white Special homaging 1930s Universal horror films, all expressionist lighting and tense suspense (instead of today’s gory sadism).
After Congress conservatives murdered EC Comics in 1954>, horror series were banned in comics for two decades. But the Marvel supernatural heroes of the ‘70s are now reaching the screen, such as Blade and Morbius and the two-for-one here.
See also:
THE MOST DANGEROUS GAME (1932), THE BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN (1935), THE WOLF MAN (1941)
Neil Gaiman’s masterpiece translated to the screen.
The Holy Grail of comics, done precisely right and bettered.
Writer Alan Moore (“Watchmen”, “V For Vendetta”, “From Hell”) was the core of the ‘80s Comics Renaissance, when literate graphics bridged the comic stores to the book stores. His compatriot Neil Gaiman carried the torch into the ’90s, primarily through his 75-issue run of the mature comic “The Sandman” (1989-’96). Where Moore was the macro, Neil was the micro, writing chameleonic short stories that stealthily built up into epics.
Straights don’t know this, but every hip reader from the ’90s up does. The character Morpheus, and his sister Death, are legendary in circles from Goth to Grunge, Cosplay to Comic-Con. The collected graphic novels are bestsellers and shelf staples.
art by J.H. Williams III
see larger here
The intense pressure to adapt it to the screen properly has overwhelmed every attempt. Ironically, it was another show’s cautionary tale that ensured it. The TV adaptation of Gaiman’s “American Gods” novel had a brilliant first season, but the showrunner was foolishly fired over budget, and the series then spun its wheels till it dug its own grave, canceled without finishing. Meanwhile, the adaption of Gaiman’s “Good Omens” went over very well. The lesson was… do the material exactly and let Neil have total control of it.
Now we have the best done better. Exactly correctly, the new 'Sandman' TV series helmed by Gaiman adapts each issue in sequence, covering the first 17 issues in 11 episodes faithfully. The only changes are improvements, such as the wise move of inclusive casting. And what a cast: Tom Sturridge as Dream, Kirby Howell-Baptiste as Death, and Jenna Coleman as the flip on John Constantine. Plus easter eggs with more subtext than entire rival series. It’s perfect.
While amiable usurpers like ‘His Dark Materials’, ‘Cabinet Of Curiosities’, and ‘Stranger Things’ may get all the attention, this is better and always has been. Straights may sleep on it, but the rest of us are wide awake.
See also:
MIRRORMASK (2005), CORALINE (2009), ‘American Gods’, Season One only (2017)
4 newspaper delivery teens from 1988 are thrown together in a ricochet through time.
The indie series ‘Paper Girls’ (2015-’19) is one of the best comics of the century.
Writer Brian K. Vaughan (‘Lost’), artist Cliff Chiang, and colorist Matt Wilson crafted a complete novel across 30 issues. Its familiar suburban setting, clean graphics, and bold color slid the reader into an unguessable story unfolding on a monumental scale.
This screen adaption is damned impressive. It directly clones the initial issues with eerie perfection, from the girls’ casting and attitudes, to the contrasty night scenes, to the bold color washes across scenes. In the second half, it expands with new material about their future selves.
It got only one season before cancellation but it’s worth the trip anyway. Then read the entire, finished story.
Also read:
Vaughan and Staples’ ’Saga’ (2012-)
• THE UMBRELLA ACADEMY 3
The motley group meets their match… their replacements.
Starting out as ‘Watchmen meets Doom Patrol’, this show has evolved into something more uniquely itself. A heady cocktail of action, slapstick, doomsday, time trickery, sibling survivor-y, and cascades of surrealism.
Christmas, in spaaaaaaaaace!
Everyone was disappointed by ‘The STAR WARS Holiday Special’ (1978), except for its Boba Fett cartoon. This deliberately makes up for it. Hijinks with Kevin Bacon ensue. And Mantis (Pom Klementieff) again proves she’s the funniest Guardian of all.
Also:
• RAISING DION 2
The second and final season.
With greater ambition comes some shagginess. This amiable show about a Mom raising a powered son is a fun all-ages romp, usually best with its plentiful heart moments. They should have got three seasons, but the two are a cool ride.
C O M E D Y
The (other) sharpest comedian in 1960 has to reset her life.
Rachel Brosnahan and Alex Borstein are the best comedy duo on television, again.
Showrunner Amy Sherman-Palladino’s (‘The Gilmore Girls’) mantra seems to be, “Why do something good when you can do it double-excellent and elaborately?” It’s as if a Joan Rivers stand-up routine tumbled into a Gene Kelly musical. Take the first episode, “Rumble On The Wonder Wheel”, where -after a complicated one-take tour through an amusement park- the cast has a madcap public spat rotating in different ferris wheel cars.
And then there’s the burlesque extravaganzas, an FBI shakedown, a Bar Mitzvah inquisition, a stand-up death duel, the matchmaker mafia, and Lenny Bruce at the actual frickin’ Carnegie Hall. This show is the standard.
See also:
AN AMERICAN IN PARIS (1951), MY FAVORITE YEAR (1982)
RESERVATION DOGS;
GIRLS5EVA
• A LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN 1
With the men away in WWII, women took hold of the baseball fields.
The most haunting part of the classic 1992 comedy film was the road not taken; the brief scene when an African-American pitcher has to walk away from a team she can’t join. The All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (1943-’54) never integrated, despite the male majors doing so from 1947.
This excellent dramedy makes up for it. Co-creator and star Abbi Jacobson (‘Broad City’) brings in real history, exploring the lesbian empowerment within her team, while telling the parallel story of a female pitcher aiming for the Negro Leagues. The twin-killing play gives vital new meaning to the title. Abbi and D’Arcy Carden (‘The Good Place’) are great, and the pitcher Chanté Adams and her bestie Gbemisola Ikumelo are priceless.
• RESERVATION DOGS 2
4 teen friends on an Oklahoma reservation try to get beyond it.
This show’s worldbuilding has become so faceted that spin-offs for characters should be fast-tracked; i.e., the hard-partying Aunties; the Rap brothers on their banana bikes; the enigmatic Deer Lady. Showrunner Sterlin Harjo and his comedy collective friends are creating magic here.
• ONLY MURDERS IN THE BUILDING 2
How do you investigate a murder while you are the suspects?
On the case, Steve Martin, Martin Short, and Selena Gomez find everyone on their case. This fine season is bigger, twistier, and more meta.
• GIRLS5EVA 2
The reunited girl group struggles to make their comeback album.
The really funny aspect of this riotous send-up of the slick and ageist Pop industry is how the group and the songs are actually so much better than the real stuff. And MVP Renée Elise Goldsberry (also on ‘She-Hulk’) is the gold standard, folks. So what are you waiting 5?
(Moving from the hidden Peacock network to Netflix next season can only help this gem’s profile.)
• ABBOTT ELEMENTARY 1
An idealistic teacher starts at a challenging Philadelphia school.
Creator and star Quinta Brunson refreshes the mockumentary style with pluck, bite, and sass. She’s adorable, Lisa Ann Walter is tough, and Sheryl Lee Ralph is dignity.
Can the miser redeem her mistakes before it’s too late?
A 70-minute Holiday special, reinterpreting “A Christmas Carol”. The modern corporate exec thinks she knows the 3-Spirits schtick inside out (like you), but this scriptflip boomarangs around wild with metatext and mash-ups. Suranne Jones ('Gentleman Jack') is drolly perfect as the distaff Scrooge.
See also:
IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE (1946), SCROOGE (England, 1951), SCROOGED (1988)
Also:
• WEDNESDAY 1
Wednesday Addams is in the crosshairs of a mystery at her new monster school.
Very akin to the CW network formula style, this spin-off of ‘The Addams Family’ (from the creators of ’Smallville’) is generally good with breakout moments: its beguiling star, Jenna Ortega; her instantly iconic dance at the prom; and the comedy gold that electrifies the show when a certain relative shows up toward the end.
See also:
’The Addams Family’ (1964-’66)
• MURDERVILLE 1
Celebrity guests get the shakedown in an ad-libbed cop mystery show.
‘Arrested Development‘ was known for its cast’s spry ad-libs. Will Arnett throws his friends into an improvised mystery each episode, chucking havoc to trip them up. Kumail Nanjiani acquits himself pretty deftly.
B E S T
R E S T O R A T I O N
Classic Films are the timeless canon from which all movies expand. They are essential to be seen, and should be enjoyed at their best.
Here are some of the important film restorations of the past year.
• THE CABINET OF DR. CALIGARI (Germany, 1920) ⇧
Robert Wiene • 4k (Masters Of Cinema)
• CASABLANCA (1942) ⇧
Michael Curtiz • 4k (Warner Bros.)
• SHADOW OF A DOUBT (1943)
Alfred Hitchcock • 4k (Universal)
• DOUBLE INDEMNITY (1944)
Billy Wilder • 4k (Criterion)
• SINGIN’ IN THE RAIN (1952) ⇧
Gene Kelly + Stanley Donen • 4k (Warner Bros.)
• PATHS OF GLORY (1957)
Stanley Kubrick • 4k (Kino Lorber)
• THE TRIAL (1962)
Orson Welles • 4k (Studio Canal)
• LAWRENCE OF ARABIA (England, 1962) ⇧
David Lean • 4k (Sony Pictures)
• TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD (1962)
Robert Mulligan • 4k (Universal)
• A HARD DAY’S NIGHT (England, 1964) ⇧
Richard Lester • 4k (Criterion)
• FOR A FEW DOLLARS MORE (Italy, 1965)
Sergio Leone • 4k (Kino Lorber)
• IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT (1967)
Norman Jewison • 4k (Kino Lorber)
• “Santa Claus Is Coming To Town”
(TV, 1970)
Arthur Rankin/Jules Bass • 4k (Universal)
• SHAFT (1971) ⇧
Gordon Parks • 4k (Criterion)
• THE GODFATHER (1972)
Francis Ford Coppola • 4k (Paramount)
• THE GODFATHER II (1974) ⇧
Francis Ford Coppola • 4k (Paramount)
• COOLEY HIGH (1975)
Michael Schultz • 4k (Criterion)
• CARRIE (1976) ⇧
Brian De Palma • (Shout Factory)
• THE LAST WALTZ (1978)
Martin Scorsese • 4k (Criterion)
• RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK (1981)
Steven Spielberg • 4k (Paramount)
• STAR TREK II: The Wrath Of Khan (1982)
Nicholas Meyer • 4k (Paramount)
• POLTERGEIST (1982)
Tobe Hooper • 4k (Warner Bros.)
• Monty Python’s THE MEANING OF LIFE (England, 1983) ⇧
Terry Jones • 4k (Universal)
• WINGS OF DESIRE (Germany, 1987)
Wim Wenders • 4k (Curzon)
• THE LOVER (France/Vietnam, 1992) ⇧
Jean-Jacques Annaud • 4k (MPI Media Group)
• IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE (China, 2000) ⇧
Wong Kar-wai • 4k (Criterion)
• The INFERNAL AFFAIRS Trilogy
(Hong Kong, 2002, 2003)
Andrew Lau Wai-Keung + Alan Mak • 4k (Criterion)
• WALL-E (2008)
Andrew Stanton • 4k (Criterion)
• CORALINE (2009) ⇧
Henry Selick • 4k (Shout Factory)
C R I T E R I O N
THE THIRD MAN; RASHOMON;
ON THE WATERFRONT; THE CRANES ARE FLYING
Netflix is like the flashy dance club of streaming entertainment, but The Criterion Channel is for the deep cuts of real culture.
It needs to be said. Netflix and Amazon Prime and Hulu impress with their glossy New Now, and they do have many current gems, but they completely lack heritage classics. All width and no depth. That's all fun, but how long can you chew gum for supper? At some point, when you crave for a more well-rounded diet of substance that sustains your mind and soul, there's only one place to get serious about learning full-quality cinema... The Canon Of Great Films That Actually Matter.
MONTEREY POP; JEANNE DIELMAN;
THE MAN WHO FELL TO EARTH;
IN THE REALM OF THE SENSES
While other streaming sites are High School, The Criterion Channel is Oxford.
The Criterion Channel film-streaming site is the best cinema from around the world and every decade since film began, along with new indie films and acclaimed documentaries. Plus, Criterion is the vanguard in restoring great films to a precision standard of picture and sound that matches the present. Restored classics now look better than the day they were struck. If you've watched Mark Cousins' "The Story of Film: An Odyssey" documentary series as a primer >, this site is the true library to expand your enjoyment into the most essential film classics. Every fine film we appreciate now branches directly from the roots of these timeless works of cinematic art, whether it's a romance, period piece, character drama, guerilla handheld, Rock film, style fest, rebel indie, or avant garde. Get the whole picture.
Later for sugar, next for substance. Subscribe today.
TWIN PEAKS: Fire Walk With Me;
HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH;
PARIAH; BLUE IS THE WARMEST COLOR
(also explore: Fandor, Filmatique, Mubi, Turner Classic Movies, Kanopy, Filmhub, IndiePix, IndieFlix, Ovid, BFI Player (UK), OpenCulture)
© Tym Stevens
See also:
▶ Four Color Films, THE Comic Movies Review Site!
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