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Now, I’m not trying to say that the best and most engrossing stuff that I saw in 2022 came straight from the small tube, but I will say that I can’t think of many films that had the same highs as watching “The White Lotus,” “Better Call Saul,” “The Bear” and “Severance.” These we’re tightly-constructed and fascinating shows that, again, made the case for television as a primal art form to rival American movies....

‘Maverick’ has just surpassed “Titanic” as the seventh-highest grossing film of all-time. It’s an incredible feat, especially in a “post-pandemic” world. Unless a re-release of the film occurs, it will be comfortably positioned at #7 for the remainder of its run. Beyond that, the list of the top five domestic releases ever is mostly composed of films that have been released the 5 years or so, which alarmingly makes the case for inflation playing a major part in the highest-grossers list: “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” ($936 million)“Avengers: Endgame” ($853 million) “Spider-Man: No Way Home” ($804 million)“Avatar” ($760 million)“Black Panther” ($700 million)“Top Gun: Maverick” ($662 million) Of course, adjusted for inflation, “Titanic” actually made $1....

The Korean drama, not only won the night’s biggest prize, beating out favorite “1917”, but it also walked away with the most prizes on the night with four (ahead of “1917” with three). Not only did its four include categories it was favored for going into the night (Best International Feature, and Original Screenplay) but it also included the nights major upset, as Bong himself beat out seemingly overwhelming favorite Sam Mendes for the Best Director statue....

If you take a look at the individual ballots, some filmmakers who submitted their own personal top tens this year include Bela Tarr, Elegance Bratton, Davy Chou, Guy Maddin, Alex Ross Perry, and Paul Schrader. Tarr had an amusing note on his ballot: Meanwhile, here’s Paul Schrader’s list: Benediction (Terence Davies)The Cairo Conspiracy (Tarik Saleh)Bardo (Alejandro González Iñárritu)The Worst Person in the World (Joachim Trier)The Fabelmans (Steven Spielberg)All Quiet on Western Front (Edward Berger)The Whale (Darren Aronofsky)Aftersun (Charlotte Wells)Tár (Todd Field)...

The Quad lineup of films: Bonnie & Clyde, Blue In Love, The Fury, The Gauntlet, The Godfather, The Godfather Part II, Hannah and Her Sisters, Jaws, La Notte, Last Tango In Paris, Chloe in the Afternoon, Loving, Nashville, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Re-Animator, Richard Pryor Live In Concert, Shampoo, Shoot the Moon, Something Wild, The Story of Adele H, Taxi Driver, True Stories, The Warriors, Weekend, The Wild Bunch and Jackie Brown....

Not just cinephiles but the Cannes committee as well must be biting their fingernails in anticipation for tomorrow’s kickoff, as this latest edition of the festival, coming off an excellent but American-snubbing 2018 edition, will be kicking off with opening night film, Jim Jarmusch’s “The Dead Don’t Die.” Despite last years’ edition giving us “Burning,” “Cold War,” “BlackKklansman,” Shoplifters," it was equaled, maybe even surpassed, by an all-timer lineup at the Venice Film Festival....

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In the podcast, Tarantino cites “Ad Astra” when talking about how there is a right and wrong way to feel confused when watching a movie. Mentioning how “Dunkirk” can be confusing but works due to Nolan’s symphonic structure, Tarantino chides “Ad Astra” as a film that left him confused in a bad way. “In the whole second half of [‘Ad Astra’], I don’t know why anything is happening,” Tarantino said....

I liked Debicki a lot in “Widows,” it also happens that she is very easy on the eyes, but she has, more importantly, this galvanizing talent that I think could very much work in Nolan’s glossy cinematic world. Pattinson has come a long way from his “Twilight” days, he’s basically gone the full-on indie route since the last “Twilight” movie was released back in 2012. For the last seven years he’s tried to “prove” himself as an actor starring in stuff like “Good Time,” “High Life,” “The Lost City of Z,” and, not to mention, two David Cronenberg movies (“Cosmopolis,” “A Map to the Stars”) which might not have been greenlit without his participation....

Allen has been the subject of sexual assault allegations for close to three decades now. However, with the rise of #MeToo, these claims have come back with a vengeance. So much so that Allen has basically been been blacklisted in the industry and can no longer find work in the U.S.. In a new interview with THR, the Johansson says she, quite simply, doesn’t believe the allegations against Allen and that she firmly stands with Woody: “I love Woody,” she said....

I just came across this tweet from Derrickson (dated 12.18) — After being told by a fan that he is destined to become the Kubrick of this generation (what?!) Derickson replies, with humble humility, “Thank you, but that is patently not true. Nolan is on track to becoming the Kubrick of this generation.” Of course, Kubrick is Kubrick, but every generation is bound to ask this question. I wouldn’t choose Nolan, I’ve always seen Paul Thomas Anderson as the heir apparent....

The prestigious film magazine produced a list of the 50 best movies of the year. London-born Joanna Hogg’s ‘The Souvenir Part II” took top honors, followed closely by Celine Sciamma’s “Petite Maman” and Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s “Drive My Car.” You definitely won’t see Hogg’s film anywhere near French critics lists since that country hasn’t really adhered to Hogg’s cinema in any way shape or form. Notice the blatant absence on the Cahiers du Cinema list....

This according to Iger himself in his recently-released book, “The Ride of a Lifetime: Lessons Learned from 15 Years as CEO of the Walt Disney Company.” Iger writes in the novel (via Screen Rant), “When ‘Iron Man 2’ came out, Steve [Jobs] took his son to see it and called me the next day. ‘I took Reed to see ‘Iron Man 2′ last night,’ he said. ‘It sucked.’” I was also not a fan of “Iron Man 2” (it finished 19th out of 20 movies in my MCU rankings)....

Another double whammy happened in the NEXT section when Heidi Ewing’s passionate gay romance “I Carry You With Me” ended up winning the NEXT Audience and Jury Prize. An effervescent mood piece with incredible relevance, Wing had originally set her sights for the film to be a doc about its two subjects, but when she couldn’t complete it, she decided to tell her story through, mostly, fictitious lens. Set in Mexico, Wing tells the true story of aspiring chef Iván, hoping to land a spot in the kitchen while supporting the mother of his child, and Gerardo, a teacher who, unlike Iván, is not closeted about his homosexuality....

I sadly haven’t seen “The Fallout,” which just won the top prize. I’ll get to it soon enough. In fact, it seems to be the only major title I missed. As I was quarantining in Canada during the duration of the festival, many titles were Georestricted for U.S. viewing only. This led to my having to rely on publicists to send over private screening links so that I could stay updated with whatever I was missing....

“I Lost My Body” An existential mystery about a severed hand originally screened at Cannes and wound up getting a Best Animated Feature Oscar nod. French director Jérémy Clapin’s film is an adult-oriented and boldly original movie that uses flashbacks to slowly reveal the reasons why its main character ends up in a tragic accident where his hand gets severed. The hand ends up becoming a character of its own. Disembodied, it escapes from a medical lab’s refrigerator and spends the rest of the movie desperately trying to reunite with its owner....

“Barbarian” is still going strong at the box-office, having so far amassed $29 million domestically on a limp $4 million budget. Of course, the horror box-office champ this year has got to be Scott Derickson’s compulsively watchable “The Black Phone,” which made $90 million domestically on a $16 million budget. This coming week sees the release of Parker Finn’s generic, but nevertheless exciting “Smile,” another worthy addition to the 2022 horror cannon....

Fast forward to the present, and the newly named Best International Feature Film category arguably looks healthier than it’s ever been, with films from the likes of Colombia, France, Spain, and South Korea all looking to make waves next February. First up is “Snowpiercer’ director Bong Joon Ho and his Palme D’or winning thriller ‘Parasite’. Described in some corners as ‘A masterful dissection of social inequality’ (CineVue) and ‘furious and fiendish’ (IndieWire) Bong Joon Ho’s latest may very well follow on from last years couple in breaking out of the category and landing in the likes of Best Director and Best Picture....

Before I get into his latest ballsy/peculiar Best Picture predictions. We have to first acknowledge that there are 5 films practically locked for a nomination: “The Fabelmans,” “Everything Everywhere All At Once,” “The Banshees of Inisherin,” “Top Gun: Maverick,” and “TÁR.” Then there’s the films that, although not complete locks, will most likely get nominated: “Women Talking,” and “Elvis.” Unless almost ALL of the titles that remain to be seen exceed expectations, then these two will get in....