I saw Everything Everywhere All at Once back in May and it's been at the top of my favorite films of 2022 list ever since. The film is directed by the directing duo known as Daniels. They previously directed the equally unique film, Swiss Army Man.

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To try and explain the plot of Everything Everywhere All at Once would be doing the film a disservice. It's such a unique, odd film, but it's also packed with so much heart. The title of the film really is the best way to describe it. It's literally everything all at once. I can imagine a lot of people watching this one and at times wondering what they got themselves into, but I promise the payoff will be worth it.

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This is one of those films that really stuck with me after leaving the theater. Even months later, I'm still thinking of certain themes from the film. If you're looking for something wildly different, give Everything Everywhere All at Once a shot.

Fresh was easily my favorite film from Sundance 2022. If you knew nothing going into the film, then you would have thought you were getting a cute romantic comedy. Fresh actually leans into that by not putting up the opening title until the film "changes" from a cute rom-com to something much darker.

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Fresh is elevated by its two lead performances. Daisy Edgar-Jones is one of the most exciting young actresses working today and I can't wait to see where her career goes. She's just fantastic here and the film does a great job of making you root for her.

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Sebastian Stan gives the other great performance and man is it a bonkers one! I don't want to give much more away because people should really check this one out. It's streaming on Hulu.

Decision to Leave is the most recent film I've seen, so I'm still processing it, but I think it might be brilliant.

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The film is directed by legendary Korean director Park Chan-wook, whose previous film The Handmaiden I consider a masterpiece.

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Decision to Leave is a densely packed film that features so many layers. There's just no way I was able to pick up on everything after just one viewing.

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The film is a neo-noir that centers around a detective investigating a man's death in the mountains. He soon falls in love with the dead man's wife, who also happens to be the primary suspect.

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Decision to Leave might just be one of the more beautifully complicated romance films I've ever seen.

2022 was full of pleasant surprises and nothing was more unexpected than The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent.

 

Nicolas Cage plays himself, I know, I know, but it just works, trust me on this. Anyway, the film really leans into cliches we know about Cage as a person and actor. He doesn't mind poking fun at himself, which is really refreshing. The film also skewers actors in general, which is a lot of fun.

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Cage gets invited to the villa of a superfan and finds himself in the middle of a CIA investigation. The film has a lot of heart and the onscreen chemistry between Cage and Pedro Pascal is just fantastic. Do yourself a favor and give it a chance.

Pearl is the prequel to Ti West's other horror film that was released in 2022, X. Where X is paying homage to 70s slasher flicks like Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Pearl is telling a much deeper, personal story.

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Set during the 1918 influenza pandemic, a young woman battles the drudgery of everyday life, isolation, and loneliness on her parent's farm.

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The standout of the film is Mia Goth, who plays Pearl. She's a young woman on the edge of madness. There's just something off about her and you can tell early on it's just going to take one spark to make things go sideways.

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The highlight of the film is a nearly 7-minute monologue by Goth where the camera never leaves her face. It's absolutely captivating.

Director Jane Campion has crafted a methodically brilliant film about toxic male masculinity. Power of the Dog features some of the most beautiful cinematography I've seen in years. You can put some of the wide landscape shots up against any we've ever seen in the Western genre.

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Benedict Cumberbatch gives one of the best performances of the year as a truly loathsome person. The mental abuse he unleashes is sometimes hard to watch. Despite his hard exterior, there's something else lurking beneath.

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Perhaps the standout of the film is Kodi Smit-McPhee, who gives a very measured performance as a gentle young man, but like Cumberbatch's character, there's more than meets the eye here.

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The cast is rounded out by real-life married couple Jesse Plemons and Kirsten Dunst. The Power of the Dog is the kind of film that begs to be viewed twice.

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Jurassic Park, Back to the Future, Pulp Fiction. These are just a few of the films that I consider perfect. Top Gun: Maverick can now be added to that list.

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After seeing the film multiple times, there's not a scene I would trim or a line of dialogue I would change. In 2021, audiences came back to movie theaters, but it wasn't until Top Gun: Maverick was released that we truly saw people come out to the movies in masses.

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There's a reason for that. Top Gun: Maverick is everything a blockbuster film should be and first and foremost, it needs to be seen in a theater. There are many reasons why Maverick is a great film and why it will nab a Best Picture nomination at this year's Oscars, but the main reason is Tom Cruise. He's the greatest action star of all time and he might just be the last of his kind. There's not another actor who is more dedicated to his craft than Cruise. He truly loves the Top Gun franchise and it shows in every frame.

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Top Gun: Maverick should be the poster child on how to breathe life into a long-dormant franchise. I didn't grow up loving the original, Iron Eagle was my 80's fighter jet film of choice, but there are a lot of people who hold the original near and dear to their hearts. It might not be easy to admit, but I can guarantee you that even those folks who loved the original will tell you that Top Gun: Maverick is the superior film in every way possible.

Speak No Evil is another Sundance favorite of mine and it's a shame it hasn't gotten more attention. It dropped on streaming services with very little fanfare. That's too bad because it's a great little thriller/horror film.

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That being said, unlike most of the films on my list, I cannot recommend it to most people. It's an absolutely brutal film with one of the more bleak endings you will ever see.

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The plot of the film is one a lot of people can relate to I'm sure. Two families meet while on vacation and really hit it off. They keep in touch after the vacation ends and one family invites the other to stay for the weekend at their cabin. The weekend slowly starts unraveling as things go from general unpleasantness to something much more sinister.

Bullet Train was one of the more unexpectedly entertaining films I saw this year. It kind of snuck up on me. The film is directed by David Leitch, who directed Atomic Blonde and Deadpool 2, so you know the man knows action.

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Bullet Train features a super fun cast anchored by a really great performance by Brad Pitt. He, along with the entire ensemble is really funny.

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The action is top-notch, the film is really stylish and the plot takes so many twists and turns that it never lags. Mix in the fact that I love train films and this was an easy choice for my Best of 2022 list.

THIS is how you do a sequel. The last film in the Predator franchise was downright dreadful. In general, so many franchises like Alien, Terminator, and Predator continue to do the same exact thing. It's nice to know someone sat down and tried to do something different.

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The crazy thing is, the twist for the Predator franchise is pretty simple. "Let's put Predator in the early American frontier." Brilliant!

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Naru, played by newcomer Amber Midthunder, must fend off this unstoppable alien warrior without the benefits of advanced technology. The film just worked. My only disappointment was not being able to see this on the big screen.

Emily the Criminal is the one 2022 Sundance film that slipped by me.

 

Emily is played by Aubrey Plaza, who gives the best performance of her career as a woman who is just trying to make ends meet but finds it increasingly difficult to find a well-paying job with her history of a criminal record.

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Soon, Emily gets involved in a credit card scam that pulls her into the criminal underworld of LA. Things spiral out of control from there. Emily the Criminal takes a look at our system and how difficult it is for people with a criminal record to get ahead, ultimately leading back to a cycle of crime.

The Banshees of Inisherin is directed by Martin McDonagh, whose previous film was the Oscar nominated Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri. Banshees reunites Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson from my favorite McDonagh film, In Bruges.

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The Banshees of Inisherin has a simple plot on the surface, but it's also the beauty of the film. Colm, played by Gleeson, wakes up one morning and decides he doesn't want to be friends with Padraic anymore, played by Farrell. The reason for the friendship ending and its ramifications is where the film really shines.

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The biggest surprise for me was how funny the film was. Colin Farrell gives the best performance of his career, but the entire cast is fantastic. Brendan Gleeson is always good, but Barry Keoghan and Kerry Condon were equally as strong. Easily the best ensemble cast of the year for me.

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The Banshees of Inisherin is about friendship and the pitfalls of changing who you are for another person.

In 2019, director Rian Johnson did the impossible, he wrote and directed Knives Out, a film that wasn't based on a property, didn't have any superheroes in it or furiously fast cars, and the film made over 300 million dollars worldwide.

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After leaving the theater, I remember saying that I would sign up for 3 more of those. Well, Netflix agreed, they purchased the rights to multiple films in the franchise. The first up is Glass onion, which was some of the most fun I've had in a theater in a long time.

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Daniel Craig's character of Benoit Blanc is one of my favorite movie characters right now. It's a testament to Craig as an actor that he can go from James Bond to Benoit Blanc.

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Like the first film, Glass Onion is packed with a great cast, highlighted by one of my favorite actors, Edward Norton. That being said, it might just be Kate Hudson who steals the film.

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Both Knives Out films are so cleverly written. The mystery keeps you guessing even if you start to figure it out. I think I still prefer the original film, but both films will make for a fantastic double feature. The Knives Out franchise might be my favorite franchise right now and I can't wait to see what Johnson does next.

I don't get all the hate for Don't Worry Darling. Do I adore everything that Florence Pugh does? Yes, but that's not the point. Don't Worry Darling is way better than most people are giving it credit for.

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The film is actor/director Olivia Wilde's follow-up to her 2019 debut Booksmart. The two films could not be any more different.

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Don't Worry Darling centers around a 1950s housewife living with her husband in a utopian experimental community where something just seems off. I was captivated from start to finish, mainly because of Pugh and a fine performance from Chris Pine, but also because the film really keeps you guessing. There are themes of archaic gender roles and suburban boredom mixed in as well.

Back-to-back films on my list that highlight my issue with streaming services. Stuff just gets buried.

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Florence is at it again as a nurse in the 1850s who is sent to a tiny village in the Irish countryside to investigate the medical anomaly of a young girl who has survived without food for months.

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The film is destined to divide as it debates the question of science versus faith. I don't want to give away much more than that. You can check it out on Netflix.

Breaking is the 4th and final Sundance 2022 film to make my list. The original title was 892, but once the film got purchased, the geniuses at the studio decided to give it the super generic name Breaking, ensuring that nobody would ever watch it.

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Anyway, Breaking tells the true story of a Marine war veteran who holds up a bank for just $892 (hence the original title, so frustrating), which is the amount the VA incorrectly took from his disability check. His main objective was to get the attention of the media after getting the run around from the VA to get his money back.

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It's very fitting that I have this film right after Emily the Criminal. Both films touch upon broken parts of our system. It's a truly heartbreaking story.