Since the Oscars are tonight, here is a list of my 20 favourite movies of the year, more or less in order, best first:
The Zone of Interest
Poor Things
Perfect Days
Anatomy of a Fall
Killers of the Flower Moon
Bones and All
Godzilla Minus One
Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse
Beau is Afraid
Past Lives
Ferrari
Barbie
Oppenheimer
Skinamarink
When Evil Lurks
John Wick Chapter 4
Are You There God, It's Me Margaret
The Boy and the Heron
Maestro
The Iron Claw
The Killer
The Holdovers
May December
It was a pretty incredible film here. When I first saw Bones And All in February (and I think there's a chance it probably counts as a film from 2022, like Skinamarink, but whatever), I was almost certain it would be my favorite film of the year. Each of the films on this list is 10 out of 10 or 9.5 out of 10 for me. Without saying too much about the specific films, I also think it is significant that Zone Of Interest and Killers Of The Flower Moon came out in the same year. Same for Poor Things and Barbie. And Godzilla and Oppenheimer.
Perfect Days was an absolute revelation.
I'm pretty sure Oppenheimer will win best picture, although I wish it were Zone. I think it's a toss-up between Emma Stone and Lily Gladstone for best actress, and I think they both executed their roles to utter perfection. I think Emma Stone's degree of difficulty was a little higher. And Sandra Hüller and Carey Mulligan were also both absolutely incredible. I think Robert Downey Jr will probably win supporting actor, although I wish I thought it was going to be Ryan Gosling. I do think Gosling has a decent chance at it still. I really really hope Anatomy Of A Fall wins original screenplay. I expect Barbie to win adaptive screenplay and I'm happy with that. I don't have feelings about best actor or best supporting actress. I could see cinematography going to a number of genuinely beautifully shot films. The scores that had the strongest impact on me this year were Zone, Poor Things, and Killers.