It's been a good year for movies, and this is a pretty strong Best Picture lineup. There are titles I think are missing, but no obvious clunkers, as there have been in years past. From best to least best, here are the Best Picture nominees of 2022, ranked.
Power of the Dog - I could nitpick this to pieces, but it wouldn't change that Jane Campion's western about the myths of masculinity is easily one of the best films of the year. I like that it defies easy categorization and it doesn't give up its secrets easily, almost demanding to be rewatched and discussed to pin down each of the slippery parties involved. Most of all, I like that it gives four excellent character actors the chance to play characters - ones that will stay with me for a while.
West Side Story - He actually did it. Steven Spielberg got the gang back together and remade one of the most beloved screen musicals of all time. What's more he successfully updated and reworked it for the 2020s, resulting in a more nuanced, more insightful, and more emotionally resonant version of the musical. In the process, he's made one of his best pieces of cinema in years, full of youthful energy and vigor, with just the right amount of love for the original too.
Licorice Pizza - This is the kind of movie that I typically want nothing to do with. It's full of problematic characters in a problematic era that too many filmmakers have whitewashed in the name of nostalgia. Paul Thomas Anderson, however, embraces all the awkwardness and ungainliness of the '70s, portraying everybody as needing to grow up in some capacity, and accepting their fallibility with good humor. Nobody - including our heroes - gets away unscathed.
Dune - The biggest problem with this film is that it's incomplete. Villeneuve's talent at orchestrating spectacle is impeccable, and he's assembled a truly dazzling array of talent both onscreen and behind the camera. However, for everything that it manages to accomplish, I can't help feeling like I still haven't seen the full picture of what "Dune" is. So far so good, but as much as I appreciate everything that went into this film, I'm not comfortable slotting it higher than this.
Nightmare Alley - This is Guillermo Del Toro in a more subdued gear, remaking a classic film noir about a Depression era con man. I really appreciate Bradley Cooper here, creating a more well-rounded monster than Tyrone Power in the original version. The film always seems to be on the verge of becoming a splashier genre picture, which is a little frustrating considering what we know Del Toro is capable of. Still, I like that this is exactly the film Del Toro set out to make.
King Richard - It's hard to make a good sports film these days, and the secret of "King Richard" is really that it's a film about the Black Struggle. I feel like "Minari" did a lot of similar material better last year, but Will Smith hasn't been this good in a long time, and frankly may never be this good again. And I just love that the big finale is built around negotiations for a sneaker deal - a totally cynical and realistic depiction of what success in sport really means.
Drive My Car - I just don't understand it. Ryusuke Hamaguchi has made a three hour melodrama about a theater director processing his wife's death and infidelity, and it's taken the world by storm. I find the film effective, if honestly a little boring, but there's nothing here that accounts for the outsized amount of praise that's been heaped on it. Is it the Chekhov? Is it the Murakami? Is it everybody in Hollywood identifying with the pretentious main character?
Don't Look Up - I think I like this better than most, because I'm more appreciative of Adam McKay's efforts to dramatize the frustration of being the voice of reason and responsible activism in a world that doesn't value it. I like "Don't Look Up" better when it's being sincere, and sympathizing with its heroes instead of trying to lampoon its ridiculous villains. As satire it's not great, but its anti-Trumpian messages are delivered in an entertaining way.
Belfast - It's hard to be critical about someone's passion project, and Kenneth Branagh is finally creating something original that's clearly near and dear to his heart, but this one just wasn't for me. For an earnest child's eye view of the Troubles, this just strikes me as way too sentimentalized and oddly romanticized. The cast is stellar and deserves all the kudos they've gotten, but too often "Belfast" feels like a parody of the movie that it's trying to be.
CODA - Finally, I think "CODA" is a charming movie, but half of it is your typical high school love story and rising star story that doesn't even try to mesh tonally or visually with the other, much stronger half, about the heroine's hardscrabble life in a fishing town. It's absolutely a great watch for the right audience, and I'm glad it's getting all this attention, but when I look at some of the titles in the running that didn't get a slot, "CODA" is the first one I'd drop.
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