MY HONORS FOR THE FILMS SEEN BETWEEN JAN 1ST AND DECEMBER 31ST 2022

2022 was an exceptional year by any standards, even if some of the films which I have  'honored'  were actually released in 2021, (living as I do here in the north of Ireland seeing 'new' films during the year of their initial release isn't always easy), and were seen very early in the year. Indeed, nothing by an actor or an actress eclipsed the performances of Simon Rex and Penelope Cruz, (though a few came close), testament as to just how good they were.

It was also a year of great debuts. Some of the best films of the year were first features by their directors and it was also another great year for films directed by women. Great films directed by women were once something of a rarity; now there seems to be one almost every week or two. Of course, my views will be at odds with the views of many and I doubt if the Academy would agree with me on most of my choices. While I loved the sheer bravado of a film like "Top Gun; Maverick" I am still mystified by the success of "Everything Everywhere All at Once".  Here, then, are my Honors for the past year.

Best Film from Any Source:  AFTERSUN (Charlotte Wells, UK)
Best American Film:  LICORICE PIZZA (Paul Thomas Anderson)
Best Film Not in English:  HIT THE ROAD (Panah Panahi, Iran)

Best Director:  PANAH PANAHI for HIT THE ROAD (runner-up: Charlotte Wells for Aftersun)
Best Actor:  SIMON REX for RED ROCKET  (runner-up: Paul Mescal for Aftersun)
Best Actress:  PENELOPE CRUZ for PARALLEL MOTHERS  (runner-up: Ana De Armas for Blonde)
Best Supporting Actor:  BARRY KEOGH for THE BANSHEES OF INISHERIN  (runner-up: Mark Rylance for Bones and All)
Best Supporting Actress:  MARTHA PLIMPTON for MASS  (runner-up: Ann Dowd for Mass)

Best Original Screenplay:  MARTIN MCDONAGH for THE BANSHEES OF INISHERIN  (runner-up: Pedro Almodovar for Parallel Mothers)
Best Adapted Screenplay:  ANDREW DOMINIK for BLONDE  (runner-up: Kogonada for AFTER YANG)

Best Cinematography:  Chayse Irvin for BLONDE  (runner-up: Benjamin Loeb for AFTER YANG)
Best Art Direction:  Tamara Deverell and Brandt Gordon for NIGHTMARE ALLEY
Best Costume Design:  n/a
Best Film Editing:  Jonathan Redmond and Matt Villa for ELVIS
Best Sound:  TOP GUN; MAVERICK
Best Special Effects:  TOP GUN; MAVERICK.
Best Music Score:  Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross for BONES AND ALL  

Most Promising Director:  CHARLOTTE WELLS for AFTERSUN  (runner-up: Panah Panahi for Hit the Road)
Most Promising Actor:  PAUL MESCAL for AFTERSUN  (runner-up: Gabriel LaBelle for The Fabelmans)
Most Promising Actress:  TAYLOR RUSSELL for BONES AND ALL  (runner-up: Frankie Corio for Aftersun)

Best Comedy:  LICORICE PIZZA (Paul Thomas Anderson)
Best Thriller:  DECISION TO LEAVE (Park Chan-wook)
Best Musical:  ELVIS (Baz Luhrmann)
Best Western:  THE DROVER'S WIFE (Leah Purcell)
Best Horror Film:  BONES AND ALL (Luca Guadagnino)
Best Documentary:  SUMMER OF SOUL  (Questlove)
Best Animated Film:  ENCANTO  (Jared Bush, Byron Howard and Charise Castro Smith)
Best Action Film:  TOP GUN: MAVERICK  (Joseph Kosinski)
Best 'Entertainment':  GLASS ONION; A KNIVES OUT MYSTERY  (Rian Johnson)

Most Overrated Films:  EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE (Dan Kwan and Daniel Scheinert) and PINOCCHIO (Guillermo del Toro and Mark Gustafson)
Most Underrated Film:  BLONDE  (Andrew Dominik)
Most Disappointing Film:  IL BUCO  (Michelangelo Frammartino)
Best Classics Seen for the First Time:  AFTER LIFE (Hirokazu Koreeda), THE ASCENT (Larisa Shepitko), I FIDANZATI (Ermanno Olmi) and YI YI  (Edward Yang)
Best Classics Seen Again:  L'ATALANTE (Jean Vigo), THE BATTLE OF ALGIERS (Gillo Pontecorvo), THE MAGNIFICENT AMBERSONS (Orson Welles), LES QUATRES CENT COUPS (Francois Truffaut), RIFIFI (Jules Dassin), SAINT JACK (Peter Bogdanovitch) and TOUCH OF EVIL (Orson Welles)
and seeing we are still in the Christmas season 3 Turkeys:  AMSTERDAM (David O. Russell), DON'T WORRY, DARLING (Olivia Wilde) and MEMORY (Martin Campbell).

MY 15 BEST FILMS SEEN BETWEEN JANUARY 1ST AND DECEMBER 31ST 2022

1)  AFTERSUN  (Charlotte Wells)
2)  THE BANSHEES OF INISHERIN  (Martin McDonagh)
3)  HIT THE ROAD  (Panah Panahi)
4)  PARALLEL MOTHERS (Pedro Almodovar)  
5)  THE SOUVENIR PART TWO  (Joanna Hogg)
6)  THE QUIET GIRL  (Colm Bairead)
7)  LICORICE PIZZA  (Paul Thomas Anderson)  
8)  WHEEL OF FORTUNE AND FANTASY  (Ryusuke Hamaguchi)
9)  AFTER YANG  (Kogonada)
10) THE FABELMANS  (Steven Spielberg)
11) DRIVE MY CAR  (Ryusuke Hamaguchi)
12) DECISION TO LEAVE (Park Chan-wook)
13) AMERICAN UTOPIA (Spike Lee)
14) BLONDE  (Andrew Dominik)
15) ALI & AVA  (Clio Barnard)