🍿 Best Movies of the Year (so far) Vol. 1
Happy Thursday and welcome back to Smash Cut, the internet’s most consistently inconsistent movie newsletter! It’s July, which means two things. One, my birthday is coming up. Leo szn! And two, it’s time to talk about the best movies of the year so far.
2022 has been the first movie year since the pandemic began that we’ve seen some semblance of normalcy. However, many the movies on this list feel like they were born out of the societal, political, and ~*vibe*~ shifts we’ve experienced in the pandemic era resulting in an eclectic mix of faves.
Over the next three weeks, in no particular order, I’m going to share my 15 favorite movies of the year so far. Let me know your favorites by responding to this email! Maybe I’ll include it in a future edition (or maybe not, it is my newsletter after all). Have a great weekend. ❤️ Karl
Fire Island
For me to review Fire Island objectively is nearly impossible, because no movie has ever captured my lived experience quite as closely. However, isn’t that in itself the point of movies? To capture something familiar, dissect it and explain it back to you? Wait, maybe that’s therapy. But that’s what makes Fire Island great. What it lacks in polish the Andrew Ahn-directed rom-com makes up for in a well-observed deconstruction of the experience of Asian men in the gay community. In particular, the movie translates the feeling of being trapped in a glass box in the middle of a crowded party. Like you’re there. You’re seen, but not quite allowed to participate in it yet. Fire Island is far from perfect, but it makes up for its flaws with a big gay beating heart. See what happens when you let marginalized people tell their own stories?
Good Luck to You, Leo Grande
It’s a wonder that Good Luck to You, Leo Grande wasn’t adapted from a play because its very straightforward “one room, two people” concept would lend itself perfectly to the stage as it explores themes of loneliness, age, and sex. And while the conversations between retired schoolteacher Nancy Stokes (Emma Thompson) and her hired escort Leo Grande (Daryl McCormack) are indeed the centerpiece of the movie, the subtle ways that director Sophie Hyde captures the intimacy—both physical and emotional—between the two is what elevates it to one of the best movies of the year so far.
X
On its surface, X seems like a detailed and well-studied recreation of 70s exploitation B-movies and the Golden Age of the slasher genre, right down to the film grain. However, director Ti West does more than emulate—he chops and screws the genre’s formula. He adds his own darkly comedic tone to mine some real laughs between the carnage and presents us with a surprisingly complex pair of villains that turn what we know about slashers on its head. Nostalgic cinematography, an unsettling Carpenter-esque score, and deliciously camp performances—particularly from Brittany Snow, Mia Goth, and Martin Henderson—make X a gloriously bloody and entertaining throwback. Like Boogie Nights by way of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Read my full review here.
Kimi
There’s a scene in Kimi when protagonist Angela (Zoë Kravitz) puts her AirPods on to drown out the sounds of her Seattle loft—similarly to me watching the movie with my headphones to drown out the noise from my NYC apartment. When she put her right earbud in, my right headphone went quiet. When she put on the left, my left went silent. It’s a small detail, but one that was crucial to my viewing experience. That was the moment I knew that Kimi was something special. First of all, for its immersive quality. Second, unlike many movies made in the pandemic era, Kimi doesn’t shy away from living in that world. Actually, the pandemic helps drive the plot — a twist on the classic Rear Window-esque psychological thriller. Kimi grapples with many of today’s issues — information security, big tech, trauma, homelessness, civil unrest, pandemic anxiety — but it never overstays its welcome and never overstates its purpose. Soderbergh knows that this is a popcorn movie and it’s all the best for it. Read my full review here.
Marcel the Shell with Shoes On
Marcel the Shell with Shoes On is the latest entry in the “nicecore” movie genre. A group of movies that presupposes the world is inherently good. Before you roll your eyes, don’t let that lack of cynicism make you think it has nothing to say. If anything, Marcel tackles the biggest question any of us will face: why am I here? This is probably a good time to mention that Marcel (Jenny Slate) is a sentient shell with one eye and, as the name implies, a pair of shoes. However, director-writer Dean Fleischer-Camp uses a keen sense of magical realism to force us to look our own lives and existence from a bird’s eye view—or a tiny shell’s eye view. As Marcel faces change and loneliness in an increasingly shifting world, he teaches us that with perseverance, optimism, and a a good tennis ball we will be okay.
▶︎ Playing in theaters
📽 P.S. You can see every movie I’ve ever recommended right here.
🍅 I’m also a Tomatometer-approved critic on Rotten Tomatoes! You can find new movie reviews here and here.