Late last year, Talkhouse Film contributors and a select few friends of the site voted on their favorite theatrical releases of 2022; the aggregated results can be found here. Below are ballots from a selection of the filmmakers who took part in the voting process.
Vashti Anderson
1. Triangle of Sadness dir. Ruben Östlund
2. Bones and All dir. Luca Guadagnino
3. You Won’t Be Alone dir. Goran Stolevski
4. Elvis dir. Baz Luhrmann
5. Neptune Frost dir. Saul Williams, Anisia Uzeyman
6. Hit the Road dir. Panah Panahi
7. Nanny dir. Nikyatu Jusu
8. Hatching dir. Hanna Bergholm
9. The Woman King dir. Gina Prince-Bythewood
10. The Wonder dir. Sebastián Lelio
Notes
Themes this year were so strong, united with a surge in adventurous approaches to story. I’m walking away exhilarated and inspired.
Favorite Talkhouse Film piece of 2022:
All It Took Was a Brain Injury
Rodney Ascher
1. Adult Swim Yule Log AKA The Fireplace
2. X
3. Babylon
4. Moonage Daydream
5. Dual
6. Pearl
7. Riotsville USA
8. Timekeepers of Eternity
9. Kimi
10. We’re All Going to the Worlds Fair
Emily Bennett
1. Men
2. X
3. What Josiah Saw
4. You Resemble Me
5. Everything Everywhere All At Once
6. Resurrection
7. Nope
8. Watcher
9. We’re All Going to the World’s Fair
10. Barbarian
Notes
Highly polarizing, Men reestablishes Alex Garland as one of our greatest living filmmakers and screenwriters. Often misunderstood because of social media hot takes, Garland weaves an intricate tapestry that fully embraces the eternal feminine mystique and the struggle to understand it, even today. A masterpiece, beautifully wrought and acted, with a dizzying climax. The only movie I saw twice in the cinema this year.
Favorite Talkhouse Film piece of 2022:
Revisited: The Long Shadow of Las Vegas by Bryan Wizemann
Patrick Brice
1. TÁR (Field)
2. Nope (Peele)
3. Holy Spider (Abbasi)
4. Jackass Forever (Tremaine)
5. X (West)
6. Ted K (Stone)
7. RRR (Rajamouli)
8. Memoria (Weeresthakul)
9. We’re All Going to the World’s Fair (Schoenbrun)
10. Vortex (Noe)
Notes
For whatever reason, it felt right to only list features and I’d like to make special mention of the short documentary Long Line Of Ladies by Rayka Zehtabchi and Shaandiin Tome. It was the only film to bring me to tears this year that’s for sure.
Favorite Talkhouse Film piece of 2022:
I really enjoyed the Untitled Riley Stearns Ju-Jitsu Article, but not enough to get me to try out Ju-Jitsu.
Joe Dante
1. RRR
2. Del Toro’s Pinocchio
3. She Said
4. The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent
5. Three Thousand Years of Longing
6. TÁR
7. The Quiet Girl
8. Elvis
9. Don’t Worry Darling
10. Everything Everywhere All At Once
David Dastmalchian
1. Babylon
2. After Yang
3. Triangle of Sadness
4. The Banshees of Inisherin
5. Barbarian
6. Werewolf by Night
7. All Quiet on the Western Front
8. Everything Everywhere All At Once
9. Cha Cha Real Smooth
10. Mad God
Notes
Mad God is one of those achievements that I wish I could have experienced in the cinema. I am making that a goal of 2023; to organize a properly projected screening in L.A. or elsewhere.
Favorite Talkhouse Film piece of 2022:
Being Jason Vaughn, or How I Kickstarted My Career By Becoming My Own (Fake) Agent
Katherine Dieckmann
1. All the Beauty and the Bloodshed
2. EO
3. Saint Omer
4. Aftersun
5. All That Breathes
6. Everything Everywhere All At Once
7. The Eternal Daughter
8. The Woman King
9. Causeway
10. Vengeance is Mine (1984, revival at Film Forum)
Notes
Vengeance is Mine (1984), revived at Film Forum, was the revelation of the year for me. Michael Roemer’s 1984 study of an errant woman’s life at multiple crossroads is brilliantly enacted by Brooke Adams, whose eddying consciousness drives what passes for action (and sometimes the action is simply what’s happening on her face). As Wesley Morris noted in The New York Times, “The movie’s got a thrilling command of the sugar-free and a magnetic distrust of cliches.” Currently available only as a 35mm print, may this idiosyncratic gem stream in 2023.
Ferdinando Cito Filomarino
1. TÀR
2. Memoria
3. Licorice Pizza
4. All the Beauty and the Bloodshed
5. Saint Omer
6. EO
7. Ahed’s Knee
8. Decision to Leave
9. Armageddon Time
10. Crimes of the Future
Notes
Weird film year, so many memoirs all in a row. Meanwhile I fantasized about the Todd Field movies that never were. (Blood Meridian!)
Jeanie Finlay
1. Young Plato
2. The Rehearsal
3. All the Beauty and the Bloodshed
4. Petite Maman
5. Aftersun
6. Nothing Compares
7. Moonage Daydream
8. Swan Song
9. Memoria
10. Elvis / RRR
Notes
A few of the films I have chosen are about the lingering effect of memory, combined with love and longing. How characters mourn and yearn for people and times past. They delve deep and find pockets of tenderness in small, human moments. In 2022, it’s everything I wanted from a film.
Tom Gilroy
1. EO
2. Everything Everywhere All At Once
3. Neptune Frost
4. Triangle of Sadness
5. Memoria
6. Great Freedom
7. Women Talking
8. TÁR
9. Actual People
10. A Hero
Notes
EO will be a piece of me for the rest of my life.
Favorite Talkhouse Film piece of 2022:
Three Great Things: Lili Taylor, obviously edited down from its original title, The One Million Great Things About Lili Taylor.
Megan Griffiths
1. Aftersun
2. Everything Everywhere All At Once
3. The Banshees of Inisherin
4. The Fallout
5. Good Luck to You, Leo Grande
6. Triangle of Sadness
7. Nope
8. Close
9. The Eternal Daughter
10. Saint Omer
Notes
And why not? Some TV I loved in 2022: Bad Sisters, Get Back, Somebody Somewhere, The Rehearsal, Severance, Better Things (always), and Reservation Dogs (especially S2E9 “Offerings,” which officially made me a Paulina Alexis superfan)
Favorite Talkhouse Film piece of 2022:
Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar is the Reason I Will Find True Love or Die Alone
Chad Hartigan
1. Decision to Leave
2. Official Competition
3. Paris, 13th District
4. The Banshees of Inisherin
5. Catherine Called Birdy
6. Jackass Forever
7. Top Gun: Maverick
8. Fire of Love
9. Apollo 10 ½: A Space Age Childhood
10. Everything Everywhere All At Once
Gillian Wallace Horvat
1. Crimes of the Future
2. TÁR
3. Pleasure
4. Athena + “Making of Athena”
5. RRR
6. Cane Fire
7. Ambulance
8. The Innocents
9. Holy Spider
10. Nanny
Notes
Lots I didn’t see, but grateful for all the spectacle and unlikable female protagonists I did catch!
Jim Hosking
1. We’re All Going to the World’s Fair (Jane Schoenbrun)
2. Close (Lukas Dhont)
3. The Novelist’s Film (Hong Sang-soo)
4. Introduction (Hong Sang-soo)
5. Blonde (Andrew Dominik)
6. Bodies Bodies Bodies (Halina Reijn)
7. Sick of Myself (Kristoffer Borgli)
8. Vortex (Gaspar Noé)
9. Paris, 13th District (Jacques Audiard)
10. Living (Oliver Hermanus)
Notes
I found it hard to get to 10 films. I’ve seen quite a lot of films this year, but I just seemed to find it hard to really get a kick out of films at the moment. To the extent that I thought Living was about the most radical film i saw this year! It was so simple. I know it’s a remake. But just the simplicity. What a relief. Others on the list feel a bit obvious and I’m not even that excited about myself. But I tried to get to 10! The first half of Sick of Myself was really enjoyable. The blowjob in Blonde was the most awkward cinema moment for a while. Embarrassing. For a number of reasons. You could feel it. That made it at least feel like an experience. I found Close very moving, though aesthetically not quite my thing. But couldn’t fault the acting and the execution. We’re All Going to the World’s Fair was the film that I was most enchanted by. It goes its own way. Some really strong moments there. And a couple of Hong Sang-soo films, as always. They’re simply therapeutic.
Bruce LaBruce
1. Benediction
2. La Mif
3. Cerdita
4. You Are Not My Mother
5. TÁR
6. Vortex
7. Out of the Blue
8. Everything Everywhere All At Once
9. Triangle of Sadness
10. EAMI
Alison Star Locke
1. Barbarian
2. Bones and All
3. Glorious
4. Good Luck to You, Leo Grande
5. The Innocents (dir. Eskil Vogt)
6. Fresh
7. The Black Phone
8. A Wounded Fawn
9. Men
10. Everything Everywhere All At Once
Notes
I first watched Good Luck to You, Leo Grande the morning of the Roe vs. Wade reversal decision. It proved to be a soul tonic to watch a woman take control over her own body again, when I had only been hoping for a brief, coping mechanism. Thank you, Emma Thompson, Sophie Hyde & Katy Brand (and company)!
Favorite Talkhouse Film piece of 2022:
On Road Movies by Noah Segan – loved Blood Relatives
Karina Manashil
1. Everything Everywhere All at Once
2. TÁR
3. X
4. Pearl
5. Barbarian
6. Sr.
7. One Piece Film: Red Jujutsu
8. Kaisen 0: The Movie
9. Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero
10. Top Gun: Maverick
Notes
I just need a moment to celebrate the trio of anime film releases that took my heart!!! And a note that I have a lot still to see!
Favorite Talkhouse Film piece of 2022:
I was just so flattered to have my own piece included among the giants. Creating a piece about Opa that I can share with my kids as they get older means more than I can say. Thank you for bringing me into your fold!
Julia Marchese
1. Everything Everywhere All At Once
2. The Outfit
3. Elvis
4. Terrifier 2
5. RRR
6. X
7. Violent Night
8. TÁR
9. Bullet Train
10. Blood Relatives
Notes
Viva Cinema!
Favorite Talkhouse Film piece of 2022:
On Road Movies
James Marsh
1. Aftersun
2. Decision to Leave
3. All the Beauty and the Bloodshed
4. Holy Spider
5. Triangle of Sadness
6. Memoria
7. Nope
8. Fire of Love
9. The Menu
10. Titane
Favorite Talkhouse Film piece of 2022:
Role Models: Jonas Colstrup Remembers His Late Collaborator, Jóhann Jóhannsson
Ryan McGlade
1. The Fabelmans (Steven Spielberg)
2. TÁR (Todd Field)
3. Crimes of the Future (David Cronenberg)
4. Happer’s Comet (Tyler Taormina)
5. Funny Pages (Owen Kline)
6. The Cathedral (Ricky D’Ambrose)
7. Disney Channel’s Theme: A History Mystery (Kevin Perjurer)
8. Captain Ahab: The Story of Dave Stieb (Jon Bois)
9. Nope (Jordan Peele)
10. Elvis (Baz Luhrmann)
Notes
Still gotta see a bunch of movies from this year
Favorite Talkhouse Film piece of 2022:
Three Great Things: Peter Greenaway
Jim McKay
1. Memoria (Apichatpong Weerasethakul)
2. Drive My Car (Ryusuke Hamaguchi)
3. A Man of Integrity (Mohammad Raoulof)
4. Holy Spider (Ali Abbasi)
5. Playground (Laura Wandel)
6. When We Were Bullies (Jay Rosenblatt)
7. Vortex (Gaspar Noé)
8. The Mountains are a Dream that Call to Me (Cedric Cheung-Lau)
9. Lowndes County and the Road to Black Power (Geeta Gandbhir and Sam Pollard)
10. 32 Sounds (Sam Green)
Notes
I know a few came out in 2021, but I didn’t see them until 2022. My favorite film event of the year was Metrograph’s The Process: a Tribute to Robert and Irwin Young, where I saw Girlfriends; Harlan County, USA; Nothing But a Man; Wildrose; and others. I also saw numerous nights of Melissa Lyde’s roving programs, Alfreda’s Cinema, which always excite and inspire. Arthur Jafa’s akingdomcomethas and The White Album both blew my mind.
Lucky McKee
1. Men
2. Bones and All
3. Nope
4. Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery
5. Fresh
6. Deep Water
7. Crimes of the Future
8. Beavis and Butthead Do the Universe
9. Pinocchio (Del Toro)
10. Hustle
Notes
Men is not only my favorite film of 2022, it’s my favorite film in years.
Roberto Minervini
1. In the Mood for Love (2000) by Kar-wai Wong (DVD/VOD release)
2. Lost Highway (1997) by David Lynch (DVD/VOD release)
3. A Night of Knowing Nothing (2021) by Payal Kapadia (theatrical release)
4. Andrei Rublev (1966) by Andrei Tarkovsky (DVD/VOD release)
5. The Bitter Tears of Petra Von Kant (1972) by Rainer Werner Fassbinder (DVD/VOD release)
6. Sacco e Vanzetti (1971) by Giuliano Montaldo (DVD/VOD release)
7. Beware of a Holy Whore (1971) by Rainer Werner Fassbinder (DVD/VOD release)
8. All That Breathes (2022) by Shaunak Sen (theatrical release)
9. Bones and All (2022) by Luca Guadagnino (theatrical release)
10. Vortex (2021) by Gaspar Noé (VOD release)
Sarah Elizabeth Mintz
1. Triangle of Sadness
2. Everything Everywhere All at Once
3. Sharp Stick
4. Crimes of the Future
5. The Stars at Noon
6. Good Luck to You, Leo Grande
Notes
I have yet to see Aftersun, God’s Creatures, X, Pearl or Bones and All and hope to like them all… We can add those to the imaginary list.
Favorite Talkhouse Film piece of 2022:
Oh boy … I rather liked my own.
Adam Egypt Mortimer
1. RRR
2. Stars at Noon
3. Everything Everywhere All At Once
4. Crimes of the Future
5. Soft and Quiet
6. Moonage Daydream
7. Jackass Forever
8. Something in the Dirt
9. Dashcam
10. Decision to Leave
Crystal Moselle
1. You Resemble Me
2. Murina
3. Aftersun
4. The Inspection
5. Everything Everywhere All At Once
6. Beba
7. The Whale
8. The Bear (I know not a film but that shit is ❤️🔥)
9. The Landlord (a throwback but saw at WUTI presented by Janicza… this film is relevant right now)
10. A Mouthful of Petrol
Notes
You Resemble Me, my favorite film of the year was self distributed to over 100 theaters by a relentless filmmaker Dina Amer and her team. Showing the fact that we can in fact present our films in theaters if distributors say no.
Favorite Talkhouse Film piece of 2022:
I’m so happy you supported You Resemble Me.
Kent Osborne
1. Nope
2. Triangle of Sadness
3. All My Friends Hate Me
4. Barbarian
5. Everything Everywhere All At Once
6. Strawberry Mansion
7. Weird: The Al Yankovic Story
8. Marcel the Shell With Shoes On
9. Apollo 10 1/2: A Space Age Childhood
10. Confess, Fletch
Alex Ross Perry
1. Crimes of the Future
2. X
3. Woodlands Dark and Days Bewitched
4. Pearl
5. Speak No Evil
6. Actors
7. The Fablemans
8. White Noise
9. Jackass Forever
10. The Batman
Michael Pearce
1. TÁR
2. Close
3. EO
4. Top Gun: Maverick
5. Aftersun
6. The Stranger
7. Retrograde
8. Triangle of Sadness
9. The Good Nurse
10. The Fabelmans
James Ponsoldt
1. Everything Everywhere All At Once
2. Neptune Frost
3. RRR
4. Turning Red
5. Aftersun
6. The Woman King
7. EO
8. Nope
9. A Love Song
10. Nanny
Notes
RRR made me so giddy, so joyful in an 8-year-old-boy-on-his-birthday kind of way, and I’m embarrassed that I’ve only seen it at home (it feels semi-criminal). In 2023, I’m watching RRR on the big screen, baby!
Favorite Talkhouse Film piece of 2022:
Oneida Took the Metallica Masterclass So You Don’t Have To
Joel Potrykus
1. Barbarian
2. Everything Everywhere All At Once
3. X
4. Prey
5. Funny Pages
6. The Batman
7. Crimes of the Future
8. Marcel the Shell with Shoes On
9. Elvis
10. Nope
Notes
Pearl didn’t make my list but it has my favorite shot of the year.
Nicole Riegel
1. The Velvet Queen
2. Triangle of Sadness
3. TÁR
4. Watcher
5. Fire of Love
6. Lady Chatterly’s Lover
7. Official Competition
8. The Fabelmans
9. She Said
10. Pinocchio (Del Toro)
Leah Shore
1. Bros
2. Nope
3. Decision to Leave
4. Crimes of the Future
5. Triangle of Sadness
6. Jackass Forever
7. The Northman
8. Everything Everywhere At Once
9. Our Father the Devil
10. Avatar: The Way of Water
Notes
Please watch Bros; I cried. I also cried watching Avatar: The Way of Water and was genuinely surprised. Also, I have not seen a lot of 2022 films. Still need to see: Pearl, Pinocchio, TÁR, etc.
Favorite Talkhouse Film piece of 2022:
Every time I read a Talkhouse article I’m in love. 🙂
Chelsea Stardust
1. Violent Night
2. The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent
3. Fire of Love
4. Triangle of Sadness
5. Next Exit
6. Dinner in America
7. Watcher
8. Top Gun: Maverick
9. Moonage Daydream
10. Everything Everywhere All At Once
Notes
I would love to point out a few films that I would list as honorable mentions. First would be Baltimore filmmaker Chris LaMartina’s Out There Halloween Mega Tape, which is a sequel/follow-up to his film WNUF Halloween Special, which taps into ’80s (and ’90s with Mega Tape) nostalgia. LaMartina creates a fake network TV Halloween special, which even has fake commercials and is actually filmed on VHS to give it that authentic “recorded off of TV” feel. It’s incredibly unique and you feel like you’ve been transported back to childhood, watching something on an old VHS tape (for those old enough to have experienced that!). I also have to give praise to Marcel the Shell with Shoes On and Jackass Forever – both brought me such joy when I saw them in the theaters. Lastly, I wish Dan Trachtenberg’s Prey and David Bruckner’s Hellraiser would have had a proper theatrical release, especially because of the visual scope of those films. 2022 was a fabulous year for cinema and I can’t wait to see what 2023 brings!
Favorite Talkhouse Film piece of 2022:
Learn a Life Lesson or Two from John Waters and Raymond Antrobus
Travis Stevens
1. Master of Light (dir. Rosa Ruth Boesten)
2. RRR (dir. S. S. Rajamouli)
3. The Banshees of Inisherin (dir. Martin McDonagh)
4. Nothing Compares (dir. Kathryn Ferguson)
5. Pearl (dir. Ti West)
6. Earwig (dir. Lucile Hadžihalilović)
7. Saloum (dir. Jean Luc Herbulot)
8. The Menu (dir. Mark Mylod)
9. The Leech (dir. Eric Pennycoff)
10. Unidentified Objects (dir. Juan Felipe Zuleta)
Notes
2022 felt like an exceptional year for cinema. A return to theaters, an exchange of energy with strangers and a reminder to myself that there are still so many rooms in cinema left to explore. The audience’s roar for RRR, the cascade of punchlines in Banshees, the casting in The Menu, the stylistic and unique achievements of Saloum, The Leech, Unidentified Objects and Earwig, the righteous fury of Nothing Compares and the pursuit of beauty and control inside and out in Master of Light were all highlights of my year. But the most impactful cinematic experience I’ve had this year has come from reading Walter Chaw’s excellent and revelatory critical biography of filmmaker Walter Hill (A Walter Hill Film). Each chapter walks us through an approach to storytelling that is as clearheaded as it is profound, and presents a body of work whose iconic status threatens to overshadow the humanity that makes them so successful. It’s the most readable book on a filmmaker I’ve picked up, and offers the reader an invaluable new perspective on the films and filmmaker who has helped shaped modern cinema.
Sandi Tan
1. TÁR
2. Decision To Leave
3. The Eternal Daughter
4. Episode 6 of Fleishman Is In Trouble directed by Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini
5. The Batman
6. All episodes of The Deep End (doc mini series about a cult leader on Hulu) directed by Jon Kasbe
7. Good Night Oppy
8. Fire of Love
9. Bardo (needs another 20 min trimmed, but the parts that work are brilliant)
10. All other episodes of Fleishman Is In Trouble (directed by Springer Berman + Pulcini, Jonathan Dayton + Valerie Faris, Alice Wu) aside from the pilot
Notes
With good movies becoming increasingly difficult to finance, we’re seeing more and more good filmmakers working in TV. A show like Fleishman Is In Trouble, based on a hit novel and starring Jesse Eisenberg, reminds me of the best of indie film back in the golden age. Every episode (aside from the slightly clunky pilot) is beautifully crafted and jam-packed with great scenes. We have to expand our notion of “film” (and yes, indeed, include documentary!) in our sad era where making a low-budget horror pic seems to be the “safest” path. PS. I still need to see Aftersun!
Jessica M. Thompson
1. Everything Everywhere All At Once
2. TÁR
3. The Northman
4. Women Talking
5. Triangle of Sadness
6. The Banshees of Inisherin
7. The Fabelmans
8. Elvis
9. The Menu
10. Top Gun: Maverick
Notes
I couldn’t get enough of the chaos, absurdity and unbridled joy that is Everything Everywhere All At Once. And it broke my heart in two.
Stephen Winter
1. All The Beauty and the Bloodshed
2. Nope
3. Everything Everywhere All At Once
4. The Fablemans
5. The Beatles Get Back: The Rooftop Concert
6. Emergency
7. The Batman
8. All Quiet on the Western Front
9. Fire Island
10. Louis Armstrong’s Black & Blues
