Movies of 2022 - My Summer Rundown (Part 1)

The Runners-up:

20.  DAY SHIFT – Neflix Originals continue to plug the cinematic gaps where needed with an array of impressive (frequently OTT fun) alternatives to big screen adventures, and this bonkers action horror throwback from the makers of the John Wick movies is a pedigree example of this particularly hardy breed.  Jamie Foxx is clearly having a blast chewing the scenery as Bub, the super-violent vampire hunter looking to get back into the good graces of the big-business Los Angeles hunters’ guild that kicked him out for being too overzealous.

19.  TOP GUN: MAVERICK – After a ton of Pandemic-based delays, the long-overdue sequel to Tony Scott’s heavyweight blockbuster popcorn magnet finally arrived to significant fanfare and great box office returns, and despite the inevitable anti-US war-machine grumblings it turned out to be well worth the wait. Tom Cruise steps back into the role that MADE HIS CAREER like he’s never been away as hotshot US Navy fighter ace Pete “Maverick” Mitchell returns to the elite fighter school to train a squadron of young pilots for a desperate secret mission.  Tron: Legacy and Oblivion director Joseph Kosinski delivers thrills and spectacle by the bucketload in a bona fide rollercoaster ride that EASILY does the original justice.

18.  VENGEANCE – I love it when a sneaky smart little indie comes out of nowhere to blow me away, and this deeply satirical black comedy is a DOOZY.  B.J. Novak (The Office) makes his writer-director debut while also starring as aspiring elitist New York podcaster Ben Manalowitz, who hits upon a potential scoop when he winds up in smalltown Texas to attend the funeral of one of his former random hook-ups only to discover her family, led by her big brother Ty (an on-fire Boyd Holbrook), are convinced she was murdered.

17.  MEN – In truth more of AN EXPERIENCE than a film, this twisted existential horror fantasy is one of those movie’s you’re probably only gonna want to watch ONCE, but it’s also definitely one of those movies you REALLY SHOULD see.  Ex-Machina and Annihilation writer-director Alex Garland has put together his most full-on balls-tripping madass feature to date with this fundamentally ODD film about Harper (Wild Rose’s Jessie Buckley), a deeply troubled new widow who’s vacationing alone in a quaint English country house, only to find herself terrorised by a succession of seemingly demonic men who all have the same face (the immensely talented Rory Kinnear delivering one of the best and most impressively varied turns I’ve ever seen him deliver).

16.  SAMARITAN – Overlord director Julius Avery has delivered another cracker with this gleefully inventive and explosively robust alternative take on a superhero movie in which Sylvester Stallone lands one of his most interesting and meaty roles IN AGES as the titular former superpowered crime fighter who finds himself dragged out of his long self-imposed social exile by twelve year-old fanboy Sam (Euphoria’s Javon Walton) when local aspiring crime-boss Cyrus (a typically mesmerising Pilou Asbæk) attempts to spur a citywide uprising.

15.  LIGHTYEAR – Disney/Pixar bring the high-powered origin story of Toy Story’s intergalactic hero Buzz Lightyear to the big screen in fine style in this all-action animated sci-fi treat that sees Chris Evans take on another iconic role after ending his tenure as Captain America with his usual enthusiastic, large-than-life aplomb.  Finding Dory director Angus MacLane delivers thrills, spills and deep belly-laughs as Buzz and a ragtag crew of less-than-prime Space Rangers (which includes a wonderfully game Taika Waititi) fight to save their world from the threat of Zurg …

14.  THE FORGIVEN – Masterful writer-director John Michael McDonaugh (The Guard, Calvary) delivers an emotionally charged and deeply resonant psychological slow-burn thriller adapted from Lawrence Osborne’s acclaimed novel.  Ralph Fiennes and Jessica Chastain both deliver spellbindingly complex performances as the souring upper class couple faced with a crushing moral quandary after accidentally running over a boy in the Moroccan desert on their way to a high society party held by Matt Smith’s idle rich socialite.

13.  BEAST – Idris Elba is at his usual charismatic-yet-vulnerable best as out-of-his-depth Dr Nate Samuels, the father of two wilful teenage girls who finds himself fighting to protect his family from a ferocious rogue lion while visiting old friend Martin (Sharlto Copley), a wildlife biologist working in the South African bush.  Director Baltasar Kormakur has made quite a career shepherding man-against-nature thrillers to the big screen (The Deep, Everest, Adrift), so he’s more than capable of delivering on the super-tense thrills required here.

12.  FIRESTARTER – The second big screen adaptation of one of Stephen King’s most criminally underrated novels may have tanked at the box office (then again, its simultaneous streaming release on Peacock can’t have helped) and been largely panned by critics, but I thought it was a rousing success.  Zac Efron is darkly charismatic as telepathic fugitive Andy McGee, determined to keep his troubled pre-teen pyrokinetic daughter Charlie (The Tomorrow War’s Ryan Keira Armstrong) out of the clutches of the clandestine government outfit looking to profit from her potentially devastating powers, with Keith Thomas (director of acclaimed indie horror The Vigil) bringing Halloween Kills writer Scott Teems’ tight, taut and rewardingly stripped-back script to compelling life.

11.  THE SEA BEAST – Neflix made an impressive stab at grabbing the animation crown for the summer with this wildly-inventive and thoroughly rewarding nautical family adventure fantasy set in a world where a whole society has grown up around the hunting of massive sea monsters.  The classic pirate cinema conventions are paid suitably rip-roaring tribute as we follow Karl Urban and Jared Harris’ salty buccaneers on their quest to bring down the fearsome Red Bluster, only to discover what they’ve been brought up believing could be very wrong indeed …

as a lesbian, i am a huge fan of the birds of prey film. as someone who can read, the birds of prey film is my enemy

Officially subscribing to the idea that Movie!Gabriel is writing letters to Movie!Nathalie from rich-people-prison

“Dear Nathalie, I’m about to share this earth shattering secret with you, but the guards here screen my mail, so I’ll have to keep it purposefully vague. I’m sure you’ll understand until we can talk in a few months <3”

*Mayura appears in the second movie*

“NATHALIE THAT ISN’T WHAT I MEANT!”

Savages (2012) dir. Oliver Stone

If you do art for Little Shop of Horrors, I think lee!Seymour would be adorable :3

when youre trying to get ready for an interview but your strange and unusual plant is demanding attention 🙄🙄

speaking of underrated historical figures you know who never gets featured in frev stuff ever?? augustin robespierre. i swear you could watch all the most popular frev movies and not even know maximilien robespierre HAD a brother. much less that that brother was at least somewhat important. didnt even merit an ALLUSION in the new napoleon movie even though it showed that bizarre version of thermidor. in lrf he is just physically not present when he should be. he might not have been the most notable politician but... that even the incredible courage and loyalty of his decision to share his brother's fate is so forgotten even in accounts that center his brother... it's a little heartbreaking to me

him.

(click for better quality)

Minor spoilers below for those who haven't watched it yet

Tell me this isn't how it went rn/j

Dying in the theaters when Floyd's attempt for sympathy/persuasion immediately backfired on him. I wanted his reaction to it so bad

worst tropes

men dating women in the same career/field as them an get silent/bitter because she's having a big moment/is more accomplished than him

men dating women in time-demanding careers and then are upset that their careers demand their time

men with podcasts

men dating independent/emotionally unavailable women and then are upset that they are independent/emotionally unavailable

men who can't drive

best tropes

friends to lovers

men who can drive

love on purpose, love that's intentional, love that's not rotten work because it's you

“At some point, Elvis and Dixie must have had a little spat, although I have no idea what it was about. Elvis would not sit in the car with us at the movie and left the drive-in unannounced. Gene, Dixie, and I later drove home and found Elvis sitting on Dixie’s front porch. He had hitch-hiked all the way back to South Memphis and was waiting on Dixie to get home…”

he was so young and so in love 😭 ♡

(excerpt and photos from ‘Unlocked: Memoir of Elvis’ first girlfriend’ by Dixie Locke Emmons”)

YOU’RE RIGHT, AMAZON

THIS “I FORGIVE YOU” AFTER BEING KISSED BY THE LOVE OF HIS IMMORTAL LIFE QUALIFIES AS VIOLENCE AND FOUL LANGUAGE

The Forgiven 2021 ‧ Drama/Mystery

it's not thursday yet i promise i did not miss wholesome wednesday this time so here's some idea doodles for a boom! au where tails leaves just like frontiers because who's gonna stop me i need my BROTHERS ANGST

antagonists do not need redemption arcs to be enjoyed and appreciated as characters, and so many people misconstrue what “redemption” actually looks like anyways. bcus they use the christian/catholic ideas of repentance and forgiveness (constant guilt & suffering, self-flagellation, if you arent forgiven then you cant be redeemed, etc etc)

If there is one movie that has completely changed my brain chemistry to the point of turning every truth I've ever known upside down and inside out it's the movie Arrival

I've just rewatched it (again) after a long time and oh boy how I missed the thrill of the process it sets up my god

Jessica Chastain and Christopher Abbott in The Forgiven