It’s that time again. Which movie has earned the Movies Up Close top prize of 2022? This year, I’ll put the rankings up front and follow with commentary.
10. Don’t Look Up (Full review)
9. CODA (Full review)
8. King Richard (Full review)
7. Dune (Full review)
6. West Side Story (Full review)
5. Belfast (Full review)
4. Licorice Pizza (Full review)
3. The Power of the Dog (Full review)
2. Nightmare Alley (Full review)
1. Drive My Car (Full review)
This was a good year for movies—better than last year, even though on reflection I gave good reviews to five of this year’s ten nominees, compared to five of eight last year. Maybe I’m just getting harsher with my evaluations. But I should also note that perhaps my favorite film of the year, Wes Anderson’s The French Dispatch, wasn’t nominated, an unjustifiable omission given the inclusion of the likes of Don’t Look Up.
The buzz right now is that CODA is going to win Best Picture. This would be highly undeserved but consistent with the Academy’s choices from the past few years, which have almost always run heavily counter to my own. The last rightful winner of the award was Moonlight in 2017, and I’m beginning to wonder whether a film of that level of artistry will ever again be recognized by the Academy.
This year’s Moonlight is Drive My Car, but it hasn’t generated any serious buzz for winning; its champions seem thrilled that it was even nominated. Previously, the favorite for the award had been the reasonably deserving The Power of the Dog, but some critics apparently soured on it when actor Sam Elliot called it “a piece of shit” and complained that it wasn’t a true Western, which is, of course, the point of the movie. That his tirade seems to have swayed critics only shows how ridiculous this process can be.
The top four movies on this list, along with The French Dispatch, constitute five strong recommendations that I would make to anyone who enjoys movies. It’s good to be back at the theater—happy viewing!
–Jim Andersen
For more movie rankings, check out last year’s list.