Puss in Boots: The Last Wish (2022)

Tags

Action, Animation, Comedy, Dreamworks, Family, Fantasy

Why waste your youth on worry?
Why brood on doubt and death?
When in your prime,
You have the time
To not count every breath.

It’s normal to be stupid,
Or so the stupid say.
The less you heed,
The less you need
To care about each day.

But age, regret, or wisdom
Eventually take hold
To some degree.
Stupidity
Dies out before it’s old.

It’s up to each what value
Upon their life is placed.
But when the fun
And games are done,
Don’t let it be a waste.
_____________________________

MPA rating: PG

I would not have expected one of my favorite films from last year to be a sequel separated from its franchise by eleven years, from a studio I thought I had stopped caring about. In 2022, DreamWorks Animation delivered two of their strongest films in recent years, first with The Bad Guys and then with the long-neglected sequel Puss in Boots: The Last Wish. Both clearly took inspiration from Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse in their dynamic, painterly animation style merging 2D and 3D, but Puss in Boots also managed to integrate it with the existing style of Shrek, to masterly effect. You may have heard others singing this film’s praises in recent months, and yep, I’m one of them.

The first Puss in Boots film was a fun standalone adventure, a spin-off of the Shrek universe focusing on Antonio Banderas’ fan-favorite character Puss in Boots, the dashing outlaw/legend of the fairy tale world. Whereas that was an origin story, The Last Wish focuses on the latter days of Puss’s illustrious career, after he’s frittered away eight of his nine lives and has grown complacent laughing in the face of death. When a mysterious wolf proves to be too much for him, the feline swordsman feels he has no choice but to retire. Yet the promise of a wish sends him rushing to find a fallen star, alongside his old flame Kitty Softpaws (Salma Hayek Pinault), an incessantly friendly dog (Harvey Guillén), and a collection of more cutthroat wish-seekers.

Puss in Boots can seem like the kind of character better suited for a sidekick role, his self-aggrandizing personality most appealing in small doses. Yet The Last Wish uses that to its advantage in making the preservation of that façade Puss’s driving goal while simultaneously poking holes in it through the other characters. Kitty is the only returning character from the prior film, and she represents what Puss has given up for the sake of his ego. And Guillén’s nameless mutt, nicknamed Perrito, is the kind of character that promises to be annoying yet is infectiously nice enough to win anyone over, even his begrudging feline comrades who aren’t used to unbridled sincerity.

The villains are a special highlight, an entertaining mix of characters and motivations, from Big Jack Horner (John Mulaney) as the straight evil mastermind to Goldilocks (Florence Pugh) and the Three Bears (Ray Winstone, Olivia Colman, and Samson Kayo) as a Cockney crime family with more sympathetic edges. And then there’s the Wolf (Wagner Moura), one of the best animated antagonists in recent memory, who has such an effectively chilling presence that it’s no wonder the ever fearless Puss in Boots quakes at his stark whistle. All these characters clashing periodically on the way to a shared goal may seem overly frenetic at times, but their distinct motives and the way they bounce off each other make for a highly enjoyable quest, kept unpredictable by genius creative touches like a map that changes the terrain depending on who holds it open.

Puss in Boots: The Last Wish is a triumphant return for the long-dormant Shrek universe. It excels in that rare balance of light entertainment for kids and subtler serious themes for adults, such as the looming specter of mortality or the easily missed value of a found family. Banderas steps into the role with panache, like he never left it; Mulaney sounds like he’s having a blast hamming it up as a power-hungry villain; and Guillén brings a perfect adorability to Perrito, who is the true heart of the film. And the beautifully rendered action is top notch, using the Spider-Verse similarities to its own stylistic advantage rather than just being a copycat.

I distinctly remember watching Shrek 2 as a kid because my mom surprised me with a visit to the movies after school, and it just happened to be a great one. Somehow, I got the feeling that some kid today is going to look back on Puss in Boots: The Last Wish with the same fondness. As much as Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio deserved its accolades, I really wish that it hadn’t overshadowed DreamWorks’ best film in years. But, as this movie testifies, there are more important things than wishes anyway.

Best line (showing great comedic interactions):
(Goldilocks) “I thought you were on a spiritual retreat.”
(Kitty Softpaws) “Namaste.”
(Goldilocks) “And you’re supposed to be dead!”
(Puss) “I got better.”

Rank: List-Worthy

© 2023 S.G. Liput
784 Followers and Counting

My 2023 Blindspot Picks

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Lists

It’s that time once again, when I look through the long list of intriguing or recommended films I’ve been putting off watching and select twelve for the year ahead. My seventh year of this Blindspot series may be starting a little late, but I am determined this time to finish all of these movies before 2023 is over. It helps that I don’t have a trilogy like last year.

As with every Blindspot selection, I’ve tried to combine a mixture of various years and genres. I can blame my own project of writing a musical for why I’ve included three musical films on the list, but they all promise to be quite different. (Believe me, I was tempted to include more.) In addition, we have an old Italian classic, sci-fi both absurdist and epic, a horror favorite, a romantic sports comedy, a star-studded ensemble piece, and one of the last Studio Ghibli films I have yet to see. Time will tell if any of these movies end up being new favorites, but I can’t wait to find out.

In alphabetical order, my Blindspot picks for 2023 are:

8½ (1963)

Brazil (1985)

The Fifth Element (1997)

The Fountain (2006)

Jerry Maguire (1996)

London Road (2015)

Ship of Fools (1965)

Sunset Boulevard (1950)

The Tale of the Princess Kaguya (2014)

The Thing (1982)

The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964)

The Wiz (1978)

2022 Blindspot Ranking

Tags

Lists

I’m thrilled to have finally finished my sixth year of this Blindspot series, even if this collection of cinema ended up spilling over into 2023. Overall, I think it was a largely positive year, with all twelve films being worth the watch and the top two being new entries for my Top 365 List. Going in, I never would have guessed this worst-to-best ranking, so it’s proof that a good Blindspot list should always have surprises. Now to pick out a new list for 2023…

12. The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)

Campy but perverse horror musical with some solid tunes propping up an incoherent story

11. The Road Home (1999)

Slow but nostalgic tale of rural young love under Chinese Communist rule

10. Apu Trilogy (1955, 1956, 1959)

Classic Indian saga of Apu growing from a poor boy to young scholar to a father; not the most entertaining but artistically important

9. The Frighteners (1996)

Enjoyable Peter Jackson horror comedy with a muddled tone and impressive-for-the-time effects

8. Grand Canyon (1991)

Poignant ensemble of city dwellers facing crossroads in their lives; tries a bit too hard to be meaningful

7. Murder by Death (1976)

Silly pastiche of mystery novel tropes and characters with a splendid ensemble cast

6. Better Off Dead (1985)

Scattershot dark comedy that thrives on its 1980s-ness and John Cusack as a likable slacker with a death wish

5. Shutter Island (2010)

Ominous psychological thriller with DiCaprio in fine form and a predictably unpredictable plot

4. Chef (2014)

Feel-good culinary saga of Jon Favreau’s chef-turned-food-truck-operator finding the perfect outlet for his passions

3. Children of Men (2006)

Gripping dystopian thriller with piercing social commentary and brilliant direction from Alfonso Cuarón

2. Short Term 12 (2013)

Deeply personal, insightful, and well-acted glimpse into the shattered lives of troubled youth in need of trust and connection

1. National Velvet (1944)

All-time classic about an English country girl and the horse she believes in, bolstered by a family who believes in her

2022 Blindspot Pick #12: Children of Men (2006)

Tags

Action, Drama, Sci-fi, Thriller

While most of us were waiting for a whimper or a bang,
The world we knew withdrew instead of ending.
We thought that we would certainly bounce back or boomerang,
And still we watch and wait, uncomprehending.

No more are teens or children even deemed a demographic,
For all are grown with none to take their place.
No crying babies anymore, no more school zone traffic,
And no descendants for a dying race.

It’s funny how the future’s so dependent on the youth
Who’ll live it out and screw it up anew.
Without them, it’s the present that becomes the only truth,
No benefit of retrospect for you.
_____________________________

MPA rating: R (for violence, language, and a childbirth scene)

At long last, we are here at the end of last year’s Blindspots! It’s been like pulling teeth for some reason getting to these overdue reviews, but hopefully I can pick up the pace with new material for the year. Luckily, I ended this 2022 series with a winner. Based on the P.D. James novel, Children of Men is the scariest kind of dystopia, one that feels all too possible within its speculative what-if scenario. Even aspects that may have seemed less immediate in 2006 have taken on an uncomfortable prescience now, from the chaos of illegal immigration to government-sanctioned self-euthanasia.

Instead of some distant nuclear war or technological breakthrough, this world’s disaster is the slow and quiet death of infertility. Since 2009, women can no longer get pregnant, and now in 2027, children are a thing of the past, with hope being further corroded by England’s brutally suppressed influx of refugees. Bureaucrat Theo Faron (Clive Owen) sees little he can do in the face of the crisis until he is drawn into the effort of his activist ex-wife (Julianne Moore) to get a somehow pregnant refugee named Kee (Clare-Hope Ashitey) to safety.

Director Alfonso Cuaron outdid himself in making Children of Men a gripping and visceral experience. I was bordering on bored during the first twenty minutes, as the extreme despair of Theo’s London is presented, a world fumbling through a tunnel with no light at the end. Yet once the main quest of the plot is established, ferrying Kee out of England to a mysterious organization called the Human Project, it becomes a breathless chase as Theo and his allies must outmaneuver insurgents and government obstacles. Even the less bombastic moments have a suspenseful edge to them, like a “car chase” in which a stalling car rolls downhill with runners in close pursuit. (That actually sounds strangely comical written down, but it’s thrilling in context.) While it was nice seeing the likes of Chiwetel Ejiofor and Michael Caine, the performances don’t stand out as much as the technical excellence around them, but they build on the plot’s subtext as a modern Nativity story, with Owen’s everyman helping Ashitey’s Marian figure through dangers on all sides.

As I’ve mentioned many times before, I’m a sucker for long scenes with no (or hidden) cuts, which happen to be Cuaron’s specialty. I was familiar with a scene in which a car is assailed by an armed mob, which required an impressive camera rig to swing around the inside of a car with five people in it, but even more impressive was an over-six-minute shot in which Theo weaves through an urban warzone, into and out of a building under heavy fire. It’s hard for anything to top the feature length of 1917, but the sheer audacity of staging and shooting such a sequence has my immense respect and admiration.

Of course, I would have preferred it without the cursing and two brief scenes of nudity, but Children of Men deserves its critical acclaim. I’m honestly surprised that it wasn’t deemed worthy of Oscar nominations for Best Picture or Best Director (it did get a nod for Cinematography and Adapted Screenplay), but it’s not the first time the Academy snubbed a deserving film. I read that the film’s ending was intentionally left open-ended to allow for hope or despair depending on the viewer, and I’m rather glad that I found it hopeful, if bittersweet. It’s not always easy finding that light at the end of the tunnel, but it’s there.

Best line: (Michael Caine’s Jasper) “Everything is a mythical, cosmic battle between faith and chance.”

Rank:  List Runner-Up (close to List-Worthy)

© 2023 S.G. Liput
784 Followers and Counting

2022 Blindspot Pick #11: Grand Canyon (1991)

Tags

Drama

For every moment of suffering,
For every moment of joy,
For every up or down you face,
Another’s felt it in your place.
Another’s felt that same heartache,
That grateful twinge, that give and take,
And you can trust you’re not alone
In every feeling you can’t shake.

Perhaps they’re a hemisphere distant,
Perhaps they are right down the street,
Perhaps you’ve met and couldn’t tell
How similar the parallel
Between the feelings that you share,
The craving dream, the silent prayer.
Perhaps you both look nothing alike,
But what you share is always there.
_________________________

MPA rating: R (mainly for language and brief nudity)

One of fellow blogger MovieRob’s favorite films (thanks for the recommendation), Grand Canyon is the kind of film I usually like, a wide-reaching glimpse into the lives of diverse people and how their individual stories intersect. This sort of ensemble picture can have varying levels of prestige, from the holiday charm of Love Actually to the sober drama of Yi Yi, but it can also go wildly wrong if too many of the stories themselves are uninteresting or off-putting, as with last year’s disappointing Blindspot Short Cuts. Thankfully, Grand Canyon is on the positive side of that spectrum, though there’s a distinct feeling that it’s trying too hard to hammer home its themes.

Advertised as a spiritual successor to writer-director Lawrence Kasdan’s The Big Chill (one of my VC’s favorite movies), the film’s main dynamic is sparked when lawyer Mack (Kevin Kline) narrowly escapes being mugged thanks to the cool-headed tow truck driver Simon (Danny Glover), after which Mack goes out of his way to befriend Simon and help him and his family. Alongside this plot are parallel threads about Mack’s wife (Mary McDonnell) wanting to adopt an abandoned baby she finds and his movie producer friend Davis (Steve Martin) second-guessing the violent content of his films after he is injured in a shooting. Add in the likes of Alfre Woodard, Mary-Louise Parker, and Jeremy Sisto, and you have an outstanding ensemble cast on hand.

On a purely narrative level, Grand Canyon deals with how people react to unexpected changes in their life – a near-death experience, a mid-life crisis, a change in scenery, the blossoming or ending of a love affair. In these aspects, the film excels in its realistic portrayal of different responses. Mack’s scare causes him to reach out and look further in the strata of Los Angeles society than he has before, even if he can’t shake some cluelessness of how his actions affect others. On the other hand, Davis’s change in perspective is short-lived, merely informing his decision to keep up his old habits. The film doesn’t end up giving complete closure to all these disparate threads (the storylines of Parker’s adulterous secretary and Simon’s gang-influenced nephew are dropped without a final resolution), but it is only a snapshot of these turning points, one that captures their dreams and anxieties in a world just as chaotic as it is thirty-two years later.

One can tell the effort that went into Kasdan’s Oscar-nominated screenplay, which is replete with insightful discussions about control and meaning and miracles and existence. And while these are laudable topics, I couldn’t help but think that normal people don’t talk about these universal concepts as casually as they do in this movie. While I appreciated the existential concerns raised (albeit without any religious dimension), the eloquence of it also kept reminding me that this is a script being delivered, quite well of course but not convincingly enough to completely connect with these characters. That could be my own personal gripe that wouldn’t bother other viewers, but it keeps Grand Canyon from being a new favorite ensemble flick. Still, as thoughtful all-star dramas go, it’s a well-made and perceptive piece that uses its particular time and place to ask timeless questions.

Best line: (Davis, to Mack) “That’s part of your problem, you know, you haven’t seen enough movies. All of life’s riddles are answered in the movies.”

Rank: List Runner-Up

© 2023 S.G. Liput
784 Followers and Counting

2022 Blindspot Pick #10: The Frighteners (1996)

Tags

Comedy, Fantasy, Horror, Thriller

If ghosts are really dead and well
And haunting us instead of hell
Or heaven, then it’s fair to ponder
What they’re up to when they wander.

Could it be their lifeless heads
Are in our bathrooms, in our beds,
Next to us when we’re alone
To judge us and what’s on our phone?

Could it be they find their fun
In terrifying everyone?
Just float a chair or whisper “boo,”
And while you scream, they laugh at you.

Or maybe they just do their schtick
Because the dead resent the quick
And all the things they can’t enjoy
And so endeavor to annoy?

Or maybe phantoms leave a trail
Of fear to flout the coffin nail,
To prove to us as well as them
That they exist by their mayhem.

It must be hard to be a ghoul.
To be invisible is cruel.
So next time you are all alone,
Turn to the ghost you might have known
And dare to share a friendly word,
Perhaps their first since being interred.
And if they don’t scare you away,
Just know you might have made their day.
_______________________

MPA rating:  R (for violence, mostly PG-13-level except for one scene)

Yep, I’m still here catching up on my 2022 Blindspots, but I have officially seen them all! So now it’s just getting the reviews out. Though I had intended it for last Halloween, next up is a little horror film with some unlikely bedfellows in director Peter Jackson before he hit the big time with Lord of the Rings and Michael J. Fox in his last starring role, shortly before announcing his Parkinson’s diagnosis. Between Jackson’s penchant for horror comedy (much toned down here) and Fox’s natural charisma, the two proved to be a good mix, finding both humor and pathos in a tale of a con artist who can see dead people and must battle a murderous phantom only he can see.

Fox plays Frank Bannister, a self-proclaimed banisher of ghosts, who gets help in faking the hauntings in a small American town (actually Jackson’s native New Zealand) from his spectral collaborators (Chi McBride, Jim Fyfe, and John Astin). He alone can see ghosts ever since a near-death experience, and after a run-in with a boorish jock (Peter Dobson) and his kinder wife (Trini Alvarado), Frank endeavors to stop a series of sudden random deaths that seem to be caused by the Grim Reaper.

After he’d earned a name through several strictly Kiwi projects of varying taste, The Frighteners was Jackson’s first Hollywood movie, and its mishmash of genres adds to it feeling like a turning-point film, the work of someone still perfecting their talent for mainstream audiences. Despite the twisty plot and colorful performances, it seemed to me that the real intended star was the special effects provided by Weta Digital (now Weta FX) to bring the ghosts to life, particularly the villain whose shape is often seen moving underneath solid surfaces like walls. By today’s standards, those all-CGI moments now have an inescapably dated and unreal look to them, but I can imagine they were a wonder in the mid-1990s.

While Fox’s natural likeability overshadows that of his character, he nails the dramatic moments and the interactions with characters that are not actually there, since all the ghost scenes were shot twice, with and without the ghosts present. As for the antagonists, while the shadowy reaper is a formidable threat, Jeffrey Combs is a scene-stealer as Miles Dammers, the intense FBI agent trying to tie Frank to the killings. Combs was clearly channeling a neurotic Jim Carrey and is a primary source of the film’s humor, which can be hit-and-miss.

Most of the film’s mixed reviews seem to consider it “tonally uneven,” which is true, never going for full-on belly laughs or deep-seated horror. The ending especially forgoes any of the light-hearted campiness in order to make events feel as hopeless as possible for the heroes while also overdoing explanatory flashbacks. Other issues include the rather shallow romance and the fact that the harrowing opening scene doesn’t make much sense in retrospect.

I don’t mean to sound overly negative; I very much enjoyed The Frighteners and actually watched it twice. It’s not high art nor an outright dud, so it’s hard to figure out in which bucket of appreciation to place it. But it’s an entertaining amalgam of influences that deserves its cult following, and I’m grateful that it served as a stepping stone for Jackson and Weta toward The Lord of the Rings trilogy. Besides, you can’t go wrong ending a movie with “(Don’t Fear) the Reaper.”

Best line: (Frank) “You are SUCH an a**hole.”
(Dammers, unhinged) “Yes, I am. I’m an a**hole… with an Uzi.”

Rank:  List Runner-Up

© 2023 S.G. Liput
784 Followers and Counting

2022 Blindspot Pick #9: The Apu Trilogy (1955, 1956, 1959)

Tags

Classics, Drama, Romance

I grew up in a jungle,
Where the canopies were dense,
Where I could play the warrior
To whom imagined foes defer,
Where time was slow yet fleeting,
A parade of precedents.

I moved then to a jungle,
Not of leaves but weathered stone.
I learned the world was wide and far
And much more fun than parents are.
And every story led me toward
A story of my own.

My mind became a jungle
As the years were filled with noise.
Though grief was vying for the lead,
A stronger love became my creed,
The kind that builds on fate fulfilled
And makes men out of boys.
____________________

MPA rating: Not Rated (nothing really objectionable, though at least PG for the serious subject matter)

So I didn’t fit in all my 2022 Blindspots into last year. It happens, and I’ll just have to aim for better this year. First, though, it’s time to wrap up the old ones, starting with a pick that was perhaps overly ambitious for my slow viewing schedule. Instead of just one film, I made one of my picks a trilogy so that I could introduce myself to the work of acclaimed Indian director Satyajit Ray. Based upon the novels of Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay and boasting a score by Ravi Shankar, the Apu Trilogy is made up of three black-and-white films following the life of a poor Bengali boy named Apu: Pather Panchali (or Song of the Little Road), Aparajito (or The Unvanquished), and Apur Sansar (or The World of Apu). All three are considered landmark films in Indian cinema, earning international esteem and influencing many filmmakers in the decades since.

First up is 1955’s Pather Panchali, Ray’s debut film focusing on Apu’s childhood in the rural forests of Bengal in the 1910s. More than any of the sequels, the first film is focused on the visuals, with an unhurried pace to allow viewers to consider the episodic life of the Roy family, a poor life of sweeping dirt floors and brushing their teeth with a finger but not without its moments of joy and wonder. A more commercial film would have provided some kind of narration, with Apu (Subir Banerjee) reminiscing about his harried mother (Karuna Banerjee), traveling father (Kanu Banerjee), and impish sister Durga (Runki Banerjee and later Uma Dasgupta; no actual relation between the four Banerjees, by the way). Instead, the movie shows rather than tells, reflecting the fact that it was filmed based on storyboards rather than a script, and it boasts several striking images in its picture of agrarian poverty, from the reflection of shadows in a pond as Apu and Durga follow a sweets peddler or the appearance of a train chugging through windswept fields of tall grass, the only sign that this story is set in a modern era.

Despite a behind-the-scenes featurette’s assertion that Pather Panchali is Durga’s film in the trilogy, I thought it belonged more to the mother Sarbajaya. While she doesn’t always come off as likable, even nagging an elderly houseguest until the old woman leaves, Sarbajaya bears the heaviest burden of the family. She deals with the objections over Durga’s stealing from neighbors, the loneliness when her husband is away earning money as a Brahmin priest, and the financial worries when he disappears for months at a time. Her actress has especially expressive eyes that do wonders with the mostly minimalist dialogue. Still, the rambling pacing of Pather Panchali is admittedly tedious at times and ultimately telling a sparse and sad story of poverty. Yet, even if it was meant as a standalone film, I see it as necessary groundwork for the story to come.

The second film is 1956’s Aparajito, which I enjoyed more than the first simply because more happened, but somehow I think it’s my favorite of the three. After the heartache of the first film, young Apu (Pinaki Sengupta) and his family have moved to the city of Benares (now Varanasi), leaving behind bamboo forests and sweeping dirt floors in favor of crowded riverside ghats and sweeping stone floors. While Apu’s father finds more work in the city, it doesn’t take long for more tragedy to strike, forcing another move to stay with a rural relative. There, Apu finally has the opportunity to attend school and awakens a love of learning that eventually sends him off to college in Kolkata, stepping into a more modern world of books and electricity.

Whereas Pather Panchali seemed largely observational, Aparajito felt like a more personal film, particularly focusing on the relationship between Apu and his mother. Apu didn’t have much agency before since he was a wide-eyed child, but comes into his own as a character once he makes the choice to attend school, thanks to the support of the long-suffering Sarbajaya. Like so many adolescents growing up, the older Apu (Smaran Ghosal) is drawn toward the bustling college life instead of his provincial past, and even his moments of sweetness with his mother have a tinge of disinterest on his part. I’m a sucker for a sacrificial mom story, and this is the kind of regretful tale that made me want to hug mine.

Rounding out the trilogy is 1959’s Apur Sansar, focusing on Apu as an adult (Soumitra Chatterjee). Now on his own, he’s a starving artist working on a novel and tutoring on the side, too overqualified for manual labor. When he is invited to a country wedding, a trick of fate and odd local customs result in him marrying the bride, which is a shock to both him and the lovely Aparna (Sharmila Tagore, who somehow looks and acts older than her mere fourteen years). Despite being strangers, a sweet romance gradually blossoms between the two, and Apu must come to terms with his role as husband and then father, as well as the trail of tragedy and grief that has followed him throughout his life.

It seems that most critics consider Apur Sansar the most complete and professional work in the trilogy, and it does feel like the most self-contained, as well as the most satisfying. Ray (or perhaps the author of the source material) is actually quite ruthless with his characters, so by the end, it’s gratifying whenever Apu has a bit of happiness. It helps too that Chatterjee is an outstanding actor, able to evoke his thoughts with only a look, such as a moment in bed where he seems struck by the fact that he is really married. (May he rest in peace, since he died just a couple years ago due to COVID.) I also liked how Apu and Aparna go out to the movies at one point to watch a rather hokey mythological epic, which both recalled a similar play Apu saw in the first film and highlighted how different Ray’s more grounded films were from what came before.

There actually isn’t much continuity between the three films, and any of them could be watched in isolation. Yet they do build upon each other in subtle ways, as when the Apu in Aparajito excels in class due to the home lessons his father gave him in Pather Panchali, or the chuckle-worthy scene in Apur Sansar where Apu’s friend describes the rural lifestyle of his cousins that so closely mirrors Apu’s own upbringing. There are a wealth of more subtle details and creative choices that a non-critic like me may not catch, so I found it even more rewarding to watch behind-the-scenes features about Ray’s artistry, such as the symbolic use of trains as harbingers of death throughout the films.

Now that I’ve watched these certified classics, I can see why they are so well-respected, and I now view Satyajit Ray as an Indian counterpart to Akira Kurosawa in Japan, telling detailed, culturally authentic stories that resonate beyond their specific country or setting. At the same time, I’ll be honest and say these are definitely what I call “critic movies”; perhaps in decades past, they might have had popular appeal, especially in India, but they are designed more to tell a slow and personal story rather than entertain. They are not the kind of movies one watches casually and thus probably not ones I’ll ever see again.

But as works of cinematic art representing the highs and lows of Apu’s life, they do live up to their reputation, provided one has the patience for them. Considering both Chatterjee and Tagore had long and successful careers after Apur Sansar, I’m now curious to see more of their work, not to mention that of director Ray. And I am very grateful for the Criterion Collection’s dedication to preserving all three films, the originals of which were burned in a fire and required great pains to restore. These are nuanced and significant entries in the history of international cinema, and even if they seem mundane by modern standards, I’m glad to have seen them.

Best lines: (schoolmaster, to Apu in Aparajito) “If you don’t read books like these, you can’t broaden your mind. We may live in a remote corner of Bengal, but that doesn’t mean that our outlook should be narrow.”

and

(Apu in Apur Sansar, commenting on Aparna going to her parents for a while) “But I will get some work done on my novel. I haven’t written a line since we were married.”   (Aparna) “Is that my fault?”   (Apu) “It’s to your credit. You know how much my novel means to me. You mean much more.”

Rank for all three: Honorable Mention

© 2023 S.G. Liput
784 Followers and Counting

THE LIST (2023 Update)

Tags

Lists

It’s time once again for the official update of THE LIST, my personal top 365 list of favorite movies. I always come back to this list because it’s what started this blog in the first place, with my first year being a countdown of the original Top 365 films. This is now the ninth annual revision, which blows my mind, and there have been quite a few additions and removals over the years, as well as exceptions to group film series and similar films together. Now I’ve added the latest thirteen films seen during 2022 (in bold in the list below), including classics, modern blockbusters, and two Blindspots, which I covered in my previous blogiversary post. Nothing quite cracked the top 100, but it’s still a pretty good showing for these new additions.

As I always reiterate, this is a list of personal favorites that will no doubt clash with other opinions and best-of lists, and there’s plenty of room for it to change in the future. As it is, there was some significant shuffling of the order in some cases, and it was mainly films that I haven’t seen in a while that suffered a fall. The biggest boost went to Scrooged, rising from #342 to #249, thanks to a recent viewing and my decision to pair it with Spirited. Other gainers include Arrival, Galaxy Quest, and Altantis: The Lost Empire. On the other hand, Superman and The Ultimate Gift were demoted a bit, while the biggest loser was Captain Phillips, falling from #255 right off the list entirely; like Dunkirk last year, it’s still a great film, just not the most rewatchable.

The hardest part of these updates is choosing which films lose their place on the list, which pains me when they are still films I love. But the old must make way for the new, and this year’s losses include The Majestic, Captain Phillips, News of the World, Baby Boom, The Last Days (or Los Ultimos Días), Judas and the Black Messiah, Coma, The Nativity Story, and the trilogy of Thor, Thor: The Dark World, and Thor: Ragnarok. The last ones were a surprise, since I like the Thor films more than most, but last year’s Love and Thunder left enough of a bad taste in my mouth that I’ve replaced the god of thunder with Black Panther, whose sequel raised my opinion of the original. I still enjoy and recommend these eleven cut films and consider them favorites nonetheless.

I had thought last year would offer me more time for writing and reviewing, but, between working on my musical and bouts of writer’s block, that wasn’t the case. As much as I would like to increase output, I’m content to keep the schedule loose, so I don’t get tired of blogging, as many other bloggers have in recent years. This is meant to be a fun outlet, right? Anyway, there are still plenty of movies and reviews I have in the works, and lots of promising new releases in the year ahead. So once again, I thank all who read, like, comment, follow, and generally join me in my love of film and poetry. I wish a happy 2023 to all of you and many great movie experiences to come!

1.  The Lord of the Rings Trilogy (2001, 2002, 2003)

2.  Mr. Holland’s Opus (1995)

3.  Forrest Gump (1994)

4.  It’s a Wonderful Life (1946)

5.  The Sound of Music (1965)

6.  Star Wars Trilogy (1977, 1980, 1983)

7.  Finding Nemo (2003) and Finding Dory (2016)

8.  Titanic (1997)

9.  Toy Story Series (1995, 1999, 2010, 2019)

10.  Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)

11.  The Princess Bride (1987)

12.  Beauty and the Beast (1991)

13.  Groundhog Day (1993)

14.  The Shawshank Redemption (1994)

15.  The Prince of Egypt (1998)

16.  You’ve Got Mail (1998)

17.  The Wizard of Oz (1939)

18.  The Avengers (2012), Captain America: Civil War (2016), Infinity War (2018), and Endgame (2019)

19.  Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)

20.  War Horse (2011)

21.  The Incredibles (2004) and The Incredibles 2 (2018)

22.  Cast Away (2000)

23.  Heart and Souls (1993)

24.  Pirates of the Caribbean (2003, 2006, 2007) and Dead Men Tell No Tales (2017)

25.  Tarzan (1999)

26.  Les Miserables (2012)

27.  Ben-Hur (1959)

28.  Elizabethtown (2005)

29.  Star Trek (2009)

30.  The Chronicles of Narnia (2005, 2008, 2010)

31.  The Mummy (1999) and The Mummy Returns (2001)

32.  Driving Miss Daisy (1989)

33.  Oliver! (1968)

34.  Whisper of the Heart (1995)

35.  Spider-Man Trilogy (2002, 2004, 2007)

36.  The Five People You Meet in Heaven (2004)

37.  Doctor Zhivago (1965)

38.  Babe (1995)

39.  The Blues Brothers (1980)

40.  Jurassic Park (1993)

41.  84 Charing Cross Road (1987)

42.  National Treasure (2004) and National Treasure: Book of Secrets (2007)

43.  Ratatouille (2007)

44.  The Fugitive (1993)

45.  True Grit (1969, 2010)

46.  Evita (1996)

47.  The Lion King (1994)

48.  Inception (2010)

49.  When Harry Met Sally… (1989)

50.  The Family Man (2000)

51.  Chariots of Fire (1981)

52.  Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015), The Last Jedi (2017) and The Rise of Skywalker (2019)

53.  Lilies of the Field (1963)

54.  Life of Pi (2012)

55.  Mary Poppins (1964)

56.  Star Trek: First Contact (1996)

57.  Glory (1989)

58.  Singin’ in the Rain (1952)

59.  The Sixth Sense (1999)

60.  Back to the Future Trilogy (1985, 1989, 1990)

61.  Aliens (1986)

62.  Life Is Beautiful (1997)

63.  Sherlock Holmes (2009) and Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (2011)

64.  The Phantom of the Opera (2004)

65.  Awakenings (1990)

66.  Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971)

67.  Paulie (1998)

68.  Home Alone (1990) and Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992)

69.  The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996)

70.  Big (1988)

71.  Jumanji (1995)

72.  Somewhere in Time (1980)

73.  Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982)

74.  A Christmas Story (1983)

75.  Speed (1994)

76.  Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1986)

77.  Little Women (1994, 2019)

78.  1776 (1972)

79.  High School Musical Trilogy (2006, 2007, 2008)

80.  Wit (2001)

81.  Serenity (2005)

82.  Miracle on 34^th Street (1947)

83.  Gone with the Wind (1939)

84.  Aladdin (1992)

85.  The Greatest Showman (2017)

86.  Saints and Soldiers (2003)

87.  La La Land (2016)

88.  Fantasia (1940)

89.  Shadowlands (1993)

90.  Hook (1991)

91.  Young Frankenstein (1974)

92.  The Truman Show (1998)

93.  The Ten Commandments (1956)

94.  Star Wars Prequel Trilogy (1999, 2002, 2005)

95.  October Sky (1999)

96.  Saving Mr. Banks (2013)

97.  Holes (2003)

98.  The Martian (2015)

99.  The Pursuit of Happyness (2006)

100.  About Time (2013)

101.  Mr. Church (2016)

102.  Taking Chance (2009)

103.  Signs (2002)

104.  Star Trek: Generations (1994)

105.  Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991)

106.  The Santa Clause (1994)

107.  Starman (1984)

108.  The Passion of the Christ (2004)

109.  Train to Busan (2016)

110.  1917 (2019)

111.  Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), Far from Home (2019), and No Way Home (2021)

112.  Brother Bear (2003)

113.  Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022)

114.  WALL-E (2008)

115.  The Green Mile (1999)

116.  On Golden Pond (1981)

117.  Air Force One (1997)

118.  Captain America: The First Avenger (2011) and Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2013)

119.  Shrek 2 (2004)

120.  The Mitchells vs. the Machines (2021)

121.  Star Trek into Darkness (2013) and Star Trek Beyond (2016)

122.  Big Hero 6 (2014)

123.  To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)

124.  The Matrix (1999)

125.  The Right Stuff (1983)

126.  Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)

127.  Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016)

128.  Shuffle (2011)

129.  The Mask of Zorro (1998) and The Legend of Zorro (2005)

130.  The Color Purple (1985)

131.  Jesus Christ Superstar (1973)

132.  Cyrano (2021)

133.  Shrek (2001)

134.  The King’s Speech (2010)

135.  X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014)

136.  My Fair Lady (1964)

137.  Iron Man Trilogy (2008, 2010, 2013)

138.  The Hunger Games series (2012, 2013, 2014, 2015)

139.  Men in Black Trilogy (1997, 2002, 2012)

140.  The Music Man (1962)

141.  Ghostbusters Trilogy (1984, 1989, 2021)

142.  Ready Player One (2018)

143.  Yentl (1983)

144.  The Blind Side (2009)

145.  Regarding Henry (1991)

146.  Alien (1979)

147.  Top Gun: Maverick (2022)

148.  The Polar Express (2004)

149.  Sleepless in Seattle (1993)

150.  Julie and Julia (2009)

151.  Airplane! (1980)

152.  Castle in the Sky (1986)

153.  Tick, Tick… Boom! (2021)

154.  Secondhand Lions (2003)

155.  Grave of the Fireflies (1988)

156.  Mrs. Doubtfire (1993)

157.  National Velvet (1944)

158.  Darkest Hour (2017)

159.  A Christmas Carol (any version)

160.  E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982)

161.  The Little Mermaid (1989)

162.  Die Hard trilogy (1988, 1990, 1995)

163. Soul (2020)

164.  Source Code (2011)

165.  Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018)

166.  Gattaca (1997)

167.  Planet of the Apes Trilogy (2011, 2014, 2017)

168.  Inside Out (2015)

169.  Hacksaw Ridge (2016)

170.  Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986)

171.  Overboard (1987)

172.  Cinderella (1950) / Cinderella (2015)

173.  A League of Their Own (1992)

174.  The Homecoming: A Christmas Story (1971)

175.  Tangled (2010)

176.  Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1984)

177.  Zootopia (2016)

178.  The Untouchables (1987)

179.  Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron (2002)

180.  Treasure Planet (2002)

181.  Ella Enchanted (2004)

182.  Splash (1984)

183.  Monsters, Inc. (2001) and Monsters University (2013)

184.  Children Who Chase Lost Voices (2011)

185.  How to Train Your Dragon (2010)

186.  Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) and Vol. 2 (2017)

187.  Maquia: When the Promised Flower Blooms (2018)

188.  Mission: Impossible III (2006), Ghost Protocol (2011), Rogue Nation (2015), and Fallout (2018)

189.  Selma (2014)

190.  Doc Hollywood (1991)

191.  Knives Out (2019) and Glass Onion (2022)

192.  Extraordinary Measures (2010)

193.  The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman (1974)

194.  Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968)

195.  Enchanted (2007)

196.  Up (2009)

197.  What’s Up, Doc? (1972)

198.  Ant-Man (2015) and Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018)

199.  Wolf Children (2012)

200.  Jojo Rabbit (2019)

201.  Your Name (2016)

202.  Wolfwalkers (2020)

203.  Pocahontas (1995)

204.  Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure (1989)

205.  Rudy (1993)

206.  Mulan (1998)

207.  Hidden Figures (2016)

208.  As Good As It Gets (1997)

209.  Coal Miner’s Daughter (1980)

210.  King of Thorn (2010)

211.  In the Heights (2021)

212.  Les Miserables (1998)

213.  Spaceballs (1987)

214.  My Left Foot (1989)

215.  The Way (2010)

216.  The Prestige (2006)

217.  Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close (2011)

218.  Blinded by the Light (2019)

219.  Labyrinth of Lies (2014)

220.  The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008)

221.  Wreck-It Ralph (2012) and Ralph Breaks the Internet (2018)

222.  Saving Private Ryan (1998) / The Longest Day (1962)

223.  To Sir, with Love (1967)

224.  Frozen (2013) and Frozen II (2019)

225.  The Dark Knight Trilogy (2005, 2008, 2012)

226.  Harriet (2019)

227.  The Father (2020)

228.  United 93 (2006)

229.  Joyeux Noël (2005)

230.  Woman in Gold (2015)

231.  Twister (1996)

232.  Foul Play (1978)

233.  Coco (2017)

234.  Funny Girl (1968)

235.  Rocky (1976), Rocky II (1979), Rocky III (1982), Rocky IV (1985), and Creed (2015)

236.  Hello, Dolly! (1969)

237.  Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984)

238.  Weathering with You (2019)

239.  Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021)

240.  April and the Extraordinary World (2015) / Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow (2004)

241.  Déjà Vu (2006)

242.  Out of Africa (1985)

243.  Kramer vs. Kramer (1979)

244.  The Hobbit Trilogy (2012, 2013, 2014)

245.  Adventures in Babysitting (1987)

246.  Hoosiers (1986)

247.  The Great Escape (1963)

248.  Arrival (2016)

249.  Scrooged (1988) and Spirited (2022)

250.  The Naked Gun (1988)

251.  Jumpin’ Jack Flash (1986)

252.  Philadelphia (1993)

253.  Raising Arizona (1987)

254. The Jerk (1979)

255.  Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)

256.  Ghost (1990)

257.  Misery (1990)

258.  School of Rock (2003)

259.  42 (2013)

260.  Daniel Craig Bond films – Casino Royale (2006), Quantum of Solace (2008), Skyfall (2012), Spectre (2015), and No Time to Die (2021)

261.  Gravity (2013)

262.  Vantage Point (2008)

263.  Peter Pan (1953)

264.  The Terminal (2004)

265.  Eddie the Eagle (2016)

266.  Soul Man (1986)

267.  Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000)

268.  Jane Eyre (1970)

269.  Phineas and Ferb the Movie: Across the 2^nd Dimension (2011)

270.  The Poseidon Adventure (1972)

271.  The Girl Who Leapt through Time (2006)

272.  Mad Max: Fury Road (2015) and Waterworld (1995)

273.  Ride Your Wave (2019)

274.  Cloud Atlas (2012)

275.  Anastasia (1997)

276.  Violet Evergarden: The Movie (2020)

277.  Short Term 12 (2013)

278.  X-Men (2000) and X2: X-Men United (2003)

279.  Green Book (2018)

280.  Surrogates (2009)

281.  Lethal Weapon 2 (1989)

282.  WarGames (1983)

283.  Hidden (2015) and A Quiet Place (2018) and Part II (2021)

284.  Cars (2006) and Cars 3 (2017)

285.  My Girl (1991)

286.  Memphis Belle (1990)

287.  Dances with Wolves (1990)

288.  The Terminator (1984)

289.  The Ghost and Mrs. Muir (1947)

290.  The Castle of Cagliostro (1979)

291.  Casablanca (1942)

292.  Rain Man (1988) and Dominick and Eugene (1988)

293.  One Cut of the Dead (2017)

294.  Pinocchio (1940) and Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio (2022)

295.  City Slickers (1991)

296.  The Hundred-Foot Journey (2014)

297.  Patema Inverted (2013)

298.  Forget Paris (1995)

299.  A Silent Voice (2016) / Hear Me (2009)

300.  Doctor Strange (2016)

301.  Akeelah and the Bee (2006)

302.  Murphy’s Romance (1985)

303.  Shenandoah (1965)

304.  The Red Violin (1999)

305.  A View to a Kill (1985)

306.  Wonder Woman (2017)

307.  Con Air (1997)

308.  Unbreakable (2000)

309.  Galaxy Quest (1999)

310.  Sister Act (1992)

311.  Something the Lord Made (2004)

312.  The Way Back (2010)

313.  Chronesthesia (or Love and Time Travel) (2016)

314.  Superman (1978) and Superman II (1980)

315.  Shazam (2019)

316.  Annie (1999)

317.  The Elephant Man (1980)

318.  The Ultimate Gift (2006)

319.  Mean Girls (2004)

320.  The River Wild (1994)

321.  A Beautiful Mind (2001)

322.  Finding Forrester (2000)

323. The Big Year (2011)

324.  Starter for 10 (2006)

325.  Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas (2003)

326.  Dave (1993)

327.  Atlantis: The Lost Empire (2001)

328.  The Pianist (2002)

329.  Wayne’s World (1992)

330.  Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991)

331.  The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya (2010)

332.  Steel Magnolias (1989)

333.  Encanto (2021)

334.  Searching (2018)

335.  Dancer in the Dark (2000)

336.  Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018)

337.  Please Stand By (2018)

338.  Kubo and the Two Strings (2016)

339.  Music and Lyrics (2007)

340.  The Abyss (1989)

341.  The Breakfast Club (1985)

342.  Places in the Heart (1984)

343.  Chicken Run (2000)

344.  Black Panther (2018) and Wakanda Forever (2022)

345.  Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey (1993)

346.  Klaus (2019)

347.  In Time (2011)

348.  The Emperor’s New Groove (2000)

349.  The Spiderwick Chronicles (2008)

350.  Swiss Family Robinson (1960)

351.  A Monster Calls (2016)

352.  Wuthering Heights (1970)

353.  Trading Places (1983)

354.  Ordinary People (1980) and Rabbit Hole (2010)

355.  Fiddler on the Roof (1971)

356.  Sneakers (1992)

357.  Remember the Titans (2000)

358.  Seven Samurai (1954) / The Magnificent Seven (1960/2016)

359.  Citizen Kane (1941)

360.  Psycho (1960)

361.  Hercules (1997)

362.  A Chorus Line (1985)

363.  The Conjuring (2013) and The Conjuring 2 (2016)

364.  The Great Mouse Detective (1986)

365.  Joseph: King of Dreams (2000)

My 9th Blogiversary and 2022 List Additions

Tags

Lists

Where has 2022 gone? It seems like the last year was even shorter than the previous one. Perhaps the pandemic initiated some kind of temporal contraction, causing time to pass faster even when we’re not having fun. Or maybe I’m just getting older. Either way, it’s been an enjoyable year nonetheless, allowing me to settle into my software position and take on more of a leadership role. In addition, the absence of school allowed me to finally start on a new project that I might as well announce here: I’m working on a musical! At least, I’m writing the lyrics while a friend of mine does the music. It’s still developing and is based on the work of one of my favorite poets, so I look forward to when we’re ready to share it with the world. I’ll certainly be posting on this blog for any musical lovers like me out there.

Unfortunately, working on that meant that I drifted away from blogging for much of the year. I was surprised at how few posts I’d done in 2022, but I still managed to find enough new favorite films for my annual Top Twelve list (plus one). They’ll be added to THE LIST of my top 365 movies soon enough. Interestingly, none of 2021’s Best Picture nominees made the cut, though some came close, and instead this list of the best films I saw in the last year is an eclectic mix of new and old.

Before we get to the main list, I feel it’s only right to give a nod to some worthy movies viewed in the last year that I wish I could add if only it didn’t mean bumping off others I love more. Among these quality List Runners-Up, I’d recommend CODA, Belfast, Werewolves Within, Walk the Line, West Side Story (2021), Nope, Chef, King Richard, Better Off Dead, See How They Run, Avatar: The Way of Water, The Bad Guys, and Father Stu (which had been List-Worthy but got edged out by the others below). Just as I mentioned the stage recording of Hamilton last year, I’ll also give a shout-out to the filmed version of Come From Away, which would probably top this list if only I could count it as a “movie.” Somehow, filmed stage performances just feel like they’re in a separate category, but I still would encourage everyone to go watch it.

Please let me know what your favorite films of the last year were. I’m sure there are plenty I missed, for which I’ll have to play catch up, as usual. Without further ado, time to get to my Top Twelve!

12. A Chorus Line (1985)

Part of writing a musical has been getting acquainted with the multitude of musicals I had never sought out before, including this game-changing meta narrative based on the 1975 hit show. Featuring an ensemble of mostly unfamiliar faces, it’s a glimpse into the joys and struggles of theater performers trying to stand out enough to be worthy of a simple chorus line. While many considered it a failure compared to its acclaimed stage version, I have nothing to compare it to and so found the film to be an excellent peek into why dancers do what they do.

11. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022)

Everyone loved the first Black Panther, while I liked it but didn’t feel the same passion others did. However, my opinion has grown with further watches and the sad passing of Chadwick Boseman, and this sequel furthers my admiration for this corner of the MCU. Wakanda Forever may be a bit overstuffed, but it’s an exciting and poignant sequel to a hard-to-follow blockbuster.

10. The Pianist (2002)

There is no shortage of Holocaust movies, but some just hit harder than others. Following the increasingly desperate life of pianist Wladyslaw Szpilman, this film showed the heartache and upheaval of World War II Poland, revealing the daily strain of survival even outside the concentration camps. Standing above the stigma of its director, The Pianist is a historic must-see and gave Adrian Brody the role of a lifetime.

9. Short Term 12 (2013)

This year had some especially strong Blindspots, and Short Term 12 was one of the best. This low-key drama about a group home for troubled teens boasted bravura performances from its young cast of soon-to-be stars and a wonderfully nuanced screenplay that should have won an Oscar. Painful and beautiful in equal measure, it’s an affecting portrait of trauma being gradually overcome.

8. Spirited (2022)

I’m not the biggest fan of Will Ferrell or Ryan Reynolds, so I was dubious about them starring in this modern riff on Scrooged. But the fact it was a Pasek and Paul musical gave me hope. I was relieved then that this high-energy Christmas Carol update is a toe-tapping joy and a likely Christmas classic, in my house at least.  

7. Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (2022)

Knives Out was a tough act to follow, but writer-director Rian Johnson managed to create a worthy successor in Glass Onion. With its trenchant wit aimed at many modern targets from out-of-touch billionaires to two-faced politicians, this second Benoit Blanc outing is fast-paced entertainment that once again proves the mystery genre is far from dead.

6. Wolfwalkers (2020)

When I finally bit the bullet and signed up for Apple TV+, Wolfwalkers was one of the first of its exclusives I sought out. Cartoon Saloon’s best film to date, this animated tale steeped in Irish folklore treads some familiar ground plot-wise but more than makes up for it with stunning animation and sincere heart. And a well-chosen Aurora song doesn’t hurt.

5. Gattaca (1997)

Although I opted to not make Gattaca one of my Blindspots in 2022, I ended up watching it anyway and was floored by its profound dive into a dystopia where genetics determine exactly how far society allows one to go. Choosing thought-provoking themes over sci-fi action, it serves as a prescient warning that will certainly become even more timely in the future.

4. National Velvet (1944)

I had low expectations for this oldest of my Blindspots, but it ended up being my favorite of them all. A genuine classic of the highest order, National Velvet is a near-perfect family film, with a very young Elizabeth Taylor winning over everyone around her with her passion for her beloved horse, including me.

3. Top Gun: Maverick (2022)

Since I was never that enamored of the first Top Gun, this long-awaited sequel continued the trend of surpassing expectations. A summer blockbuster through and through, Tom Cruise’s return to the cockpit added expected thrills and unforeseen depth to his role as the titular hotshot. It was the rare exciting and satisfying follow-up that managed to blow past the original.

2. Cyrano (2021)

What is this, the third musical on the list? Largely ignored in the last awards season, Peter Dinklage’s turn as Cyrano de Bergerac deserved better, considering its brilliant acting and sumptuous staging. A far more understated musical than others, its soundtrack was as intoxicating as Cyrano’s romantic banter, and I kept coming back to songs like “Every Letter” and “I Want More.” I wish Hollywood would make more like this.

1. Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022)

While Dr. Strange’s foray into the multiverse may have been disappointing, the adventures of Shang-Chi’s aunt seemed to win over everyone who saw it. This madcap fever dream of a film gave Michelle Yeoh and Ke Huy Quan their best roles in years and felt like a new milestone of creativity that few other films could match. As I stated in my review, much of Everything Everywhere All at Once doesn’t really jive with my Christian worldview, but its endorsement of kindness and connection in the midst of chaos still rings true. It remains the funniest, weirdest, and most original film I saw all year, so it had to snag the top spot.

And the thirteenth list addition that still deserves a mention:

Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio (2022)

And that’s another blog year in the books. As always, here are my own unofficial awards for the List-Worthy films:

Best opening scene:  A Chorus Line

Best final scene:  Spirited

Coolest scene:  Everything Everywhere All at Once

Biggest emotional impact:  Short Term 12

Oldest film:  National Velvet (1944)

Most recent film:  Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (2022)

Longest film:  Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (161 minutes)

Shortest film:  Short Term 12 (96 minutes)

Best soundtrack:  Cyrano (though some more listens to Spirited may be in order)

Best score:  Gattaca

Best special effects:  Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

Most mind-bending: Everything Everywhere All at Once

Most family-friendly:  National Velvet

Most mature:  The Pianist

Funniest:  Everything Everywhere All at Once

Best VC Pick:  Three Men and a Baby (also the only one this year)

Best male performance:  TIE: Adrian Brody in The Pianist and Peter Dinklage in Cyrano

Best female performance:  Brie Larson in Short Term 12

Personal favorite poem written: Werewolves Within

Most represented year: 2022, with six films

Thank you to everyone who has read, liked, and commented on this blog over the last nine years. It’s been a wild ride, but even if it slows, I hope to keep it going for years to come! My updated Top 365 LIST will come out in the next few days, and I still have some 2022 Blindspot posts to finish as well, plus reviews for some of the films in this list, but then I’m on to a new year of movies and poetry. Thanks again to all, and I hope everyone has a very Happy New Year!

To end things off, here’s a cinematic montage for the films of 2022. Years are usually better in retrospect, aren’t they?

2022 Blindspot Pick #8: Shutter Island (2010)

Tags

Drama, Mystery, Thriller

The mind has many corners in its many-wrinkled maze,
To hide from heavy burdens that it cannot hope to raise.
The layers of its labyrinth stretch to depths we cannot guess,
And how deeply we flee depends upon our yesterdays.

While most of us can cope with just the top tiers meant for stress,
The world at its most wicked makes us seek a dark recess.
And if we lose our way, the dark that darkness drove us to
May keep us from escaping our escaping in excess.
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MPA rating: R (for violence, language, and brief nudity)

A Merry belated Christmas to all! I may have given up on reviewing all my 2022 Blindspots before the end of the year, but I think I can at least watch them all before year’s end. The reviews will catch up in good time. To be honest, I haven’t seen many Martin Scorsese movies, so I figured I should address that by starting with the one that seemed to have the most intrigue to it. Based on Dennis Lehane’s novel, Shutter Island is a psychological thriller that thrives on its foreboding atmosphere and strong performances, even if it ends up feeling like a mid-tier M. Night Shyamalan plot.

Leonardo DiCaprio delivers an intense performance as U.S. Marshal Teddy Daniels, who arrives with his new partner Chuck (Mark Ruffalo) to the titular island’s Ashecliffe Hospital for the criminally insane to investigate a recently escaped prisoner/patient. Despite requesting their help, the hospital’s head psychiatrist Dr. Cawley (Ben Kingsley) is hesitant to divulge certain information to the marshals, even as a hurricane moves in to wreak havoc on the island. As Daniels becomes more and more haunted by his own past traumas, he begins to question reality and what kind of conspiracy he has come to confront.

It’s a bit surprising that, despite its acclaimed director and star, Shutter Island failed to generate any awards nominations, aside from a National Board of Review nod. Whether you connect with the story or not, there’s no denying the skill with which it was made: the dingy lighting, the ominous cinematography, the subtle performances. Inception was easily DiCaprio’s better puzzle-box film that year, but it’s still interesting that this film couldn’t snag a single nomination.

I was rather shocked while admiring an especially poignant portion of the musical score as I realized that I had heard it before in another film: “On the Nature of Daylight” by Max Richter added the same emotional gut punch to the ending of Arrival (far more effectively, in my opinion) and other films and TV shows besides. I didn’t realize till afterward that this track was not original to either film or that the entire soundtrack of Shutter Island comprised pre-released classical music.

Perhaps it didn’t help that I had some idea of what the film’s key twist would be. I credit the screenplay for still keeping me guessing and wondering if I was right or not, but yes, I was right. Not to say the film’s reveal wasn’t still effective and heartbreaking, but it didn’t have the same punch as something completely unforeseen. Overall, Shutter Island reminded me a bit of Nightmare Alley in its masterfully composed story and dark setting that I appreciated without being truly drawn into, probably because of its ending clearly designed to foster thoughtfulness in the audience rather than satisfaction. But it’s still an excellent genre piece ripe for theorizing that will no doubt reward further rewatches, which could perhaps raise my opinion of it even more.

Best lines: (Rachel Solando) “People tell the world you’re crazy, and all your protests to the contrary just confirm what they’re saying.”
(Teddy) “I’m not following you, I’m sorry.”
(Rachel) “Once you’re declared insane, then anything you do is called part of that insanity. Reasonable protests are denial, valid fears paranoia…”
(Teddy) “Survival instincts are defense mechanisms.”
(Rachel) “You’re smarter than you look, Marshal. That’s probably not a good thing.”

Rank: List Runner-Up

© 2022 S.G. Liput
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