The Dark Room
Two legally blind cinephiles discuss movies and the wonders of entertainment while giving listeners a better understanding of how people with low vision experience the world.
The Dark Room
Ep. 2: 2022 in Review/Top 10
Alex and Lee discuss their favorite movies of 2022 and how expectations and audio description impacted their experience.
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Lee Pugsley
Hey what's up everyone, welcome back to the dark room where to blinds cinephiles illuminate decided. I'm once again Lee Pugsley.
Alex Howard
I'm Alex Howard.
Lee Pugsley
And this is a podcast hosted by two legally blind guys for film lovers of all abilities. And we're back with our second episode, Alex.
Alex Howard
Yeah, I'm excited to, uh we’re doing our 2022 In review, right?
Lee Pugsley
Yeah we are going to just kind of give our thoughts and commentary on the 2022 year in film, we figured this would be a good time. It's the beginning of the year before we started looking ahead to everything in 2023. We just wanted to reflect on 2022. So I'll pass the ball to you, Alex. I'm curious to know what are your reflections generally on the 2022 year, I know that we're going to be getting to our top 10 lists later in the episode.
Alex Howard
So I think 22 was a great year for horror. First of all, we got a screen movie, we got a Texas Chainsaw movie, we got a Halloween movie, we got a Predator movie, and a Hellraiser movie. Plus some like cool originals, like x and Pearl and fresh and barbarian and that kind of stuff. So yeah, it was a really, really good year for horror, which is cool, because I feel like, lately, there hasn't been like as good of horror coming out. So it's cool.
Lee Pugsley
Yeah, it's kind of fun. As we talked about, on our first episode, that you're very much a fan of the horror genre, which is like your go to genre. And I'm a big fan of the movie musical genre. So in 2021, I got my genre to produce a lot of good content. And that was kind of like the year of movie musicals. But yeah, 2022 is definitely the year for horror movies in a very big way.
Alex Howard
Yeah. And I think in addition to that, I mean, it seems like the box office is finally coming back. They say Top Gun saved the movies. And now avatar made more than Top Gun. So Top Gun was the one I think that really brought out the older crowd, though. So it was it was definitely a great year for movie theaters in general.
Lee Pugsley
Yeah. Which makes me really happy to see because, you know, it was a little worrisome for a while but it looks like we're, you know, slowly getting back to some semblance of normalcy, even though there are some things that, you know, we'll never fully go back to.
Alex Howard
Yeah, I think another thing that was strange about 2022 was the awards movies. The chatter at the beginning of the year was like, Empire of light, Alejandro Inuritu, Marilyn Monroe movie, blonde, by the end of the years, like those three, especially have kind of fallen off the conversation. So I feel like some of the expectations, we're going to talk about expectations, too. But like, expectations, especially for awards movies, didn't pan out the way people thought at the beginning.
Lee Pugsley
Yeah, it's really interesting, because and just generally, for me, I would say that 2022 did produce very high quality films. But overall, for me, personally, it just seemed like a little bit of a weaker year. And that's taking away no credit from the good work that was being done in this past year.
Alex Howard
I would actually agree with you. I liked a lot of movies in 2022 There were a lot of movies that I absolutely loved. You know, like usually my top 10 of the year, I'm like, oh, I want to buy all of these movies. This year. I'm like, I'd buy like five or six of these movies, but like, you know, it there weren't as many gems as there were I think in other years, but the gems there were were awesome.
Lee Pugsley
Yeah, 100% agreed. And I feel the same way. Like when I was coming up with my top 10 list for 2022 It was not as easy as other years just because there were not as many movies that just like naturally jumped out to me right away. That was unquestionably one of the best films of the year in my mind.
Alex Howard
I completely agree. I think if we want to talk about epectations before we get into the 2022 is my most anticipated movie of the year last year was the Batman and I I was so high on that and the trailer was so good. And then I went and like it was good. And I really liked it I didn't like it love it as much as other people do. I think mostly because we get into the vision thing again it was a darker lit movie and there were a lot of like the Batmobile scene there were a lot of scenes that were very very dark lit like lighting wise not like I mean also tone but a lighting wise it was very dark and I have hoped that the next one will be a little lighter because last seen the movie is a little lighter. So I think you know they're kind of doing the you know, the night is darkest before the dawn kind of thing. So at Uh, that that will be cool. But I loved Robert Pattinson as Batman. But I think also going in my expectations were like, maybe not Dark Knight level. But almost there. I mean, this is going to be you know if David Fincher made a Batman movie. And it was and just wish I could see more of it. So I was a little disappointed in that respect. And say, I'm a Top Gun, like people were saying. Top Gun was like, the best thing since sliced bread, which, I mean, I thought it was good, but I didn't think it was anything you know, like, groundbreaking. So I, that one didn't make my top 10 either, which people were surprised about. But I think once again, you know, it's all about the expectations you have going in and most disappointing movie for me 100% was Halloween ends, because I've which I know is a very polarizing horror movie. It's almost like the last Jedi of the Halloween franchise where you either love it or hate it. I have some friends that love it. And some friends like me that absolutely despise it. So very polarizing one. But what about you lee? Are there any that you had high expectations for them? Maybe you didn't meet them or exceeded them?
Lee Pugsley
Yeah, I so it's interesting, because my expectations for movies have changed over time, where I used to very heavily let the critical Rotten Tomato score dictate my expectations going into movies over the years. So I've realized that just because a movie gets a high credit score, like you know, just because a movie gets a 90% on Rotten Tomatoes, does not mean that I'm going to think it's a 90% Because most of most of the time, I don't, sometimes I'm in agreement with the critics, but oftentimes, I'm a little lower than the critics on a fair amount of movies. So I usually now go with like audience scores, their audience, word of mouth over critic scores. And I also try to keep my expectations tempered, to not expect too much. And then if I get more than I bargained for in a positive way, it's like a pleasant surprise. But when it comes to disappointing movies, one movie that I was really looking forward to this year was Thor love and thunder. Just because I was such a big fan of Thor Ragnarok. I love the humor in it. I love the pacing of it. I loved pretty much everything about that movie, I think it's in my top five favorite Marvel movies of all time. And this newest Thor movie, just in almost every area just fell short. Like it was overly long for the plot that they had. I felt like there wasn't as much character development as there could have been they underutilized Christian Bale, there are so many things about that movie that I was disappointed by. And then Amsterdam was another movie, I'm a big David O Russell fan, generally speaking. And Amsterdam had such a good cast, but it was just a chaotic mess to me and just hard to follow and just meandered a lot. It was definitely a good example of style over substance. And in terms of 2022, I would say that there were a fair amount of disappointments. This past year, like Dr. Strange in the multiverse of madness. I wasn't huge on that movie. I wanted to like it more what other Marvel movies came out this year.
Alex Howard
Real quick about Thor love and thunder. That was my most anticipated Marvel movie of last year. And I would agree it was extremely disappointing because I loved Ragnarok. So I was a little surprised at that. And expectations actually played a funny part. And Doctor strange for me too, because I saw that late because I had my workplace injury. So I didn't go to the movies for like, all of April. And then I finally was like, You know what, I think I'm good. And I had already heard like, Oh, it's okay, it's not as good as we thought it was gonna be. And then I went and I was like, This is great. Like, I think I had a better time because I had lower expectations. And I had such a blast with that movie. It's weird how most people kind of were like, Oh, it's fine. And you know, I went in and he was gonna be fine and I loved it. But yeah, it was Dr. Strange Thor and then Black Panther Wakanda forever.
Lee Pugsley
Oh, yeah. Black Panther Wakanda forever held up pretty well. I did have reasonably high expectations for that. And I was pleased with the results. Another movie though, speaking of expectations that expectations probably worked in my favor was Top Gun Maverick. I went in with very moderate expectations for that movie, because the first movie is classic. It has its place in film history and action movies and the Tom and the Tom Cruise catalog. But they're, you know, it's cheesy in certain parts and there are definitely flaws with it. So I didn't really act expect much from Top Gun Maverick. And it was one of the most satisfying and enjoyable theatrical experiences that I had all year. And part of that could have also been once again, because my expectations were not high for it. They were just moderate.
Alex Howard
Yeah, I definitely enjoyed myself in that movie. And I really liked that they, they didn't go with the requel tropes of if you want to call it a recall, or you know, like, a legacy sequel. They didn't do the The Force Awakens formula. And I was actually pleasantly surprised with avatar. Also, I think, once again, I didn't make my top 10 But I was like, wow, I because I do not like the first one. I think it's FernGully or Pocahontas, with wolves, all of those combined. And so I thought the story was very unoriginal and the first one, especially compared to like James Cameron, who I mean, had a big impact on us with Titanic continue to but I mean, aliens and all of that. So I was like, okay, he does sequels. Well, so let's see what he does. Because they're not going to do Pocahontas 2 journey to a new world. And avatar 2
Lee Pugsley
that'd be funny. If they did.
Alex Howard
Yeah. And so yeah, I really, really enjoyed the second avatar, the story was really, really cool. And the 3d was awesome. It was it. That movie is gorgeous. And like, you know, I mean, honestly, we're not going to go into spoilers here. But I am definitely more excited for more sequels to that now than I was for this one.
Lee Pugsley
So yeah, I understand why you liked the avatar sequel. And I liked it too, on a note of interest. And for those that are just tuning in this week for the first time. As we mentioned, in our intro, Alex and me are both low vision. And we experienced movies, visually in different ways. Also, with the help of audio description, which is a narrative track that narrates the action of the movie when there is no dialogue. But going back to my visual impairment, and the way that it affected my enjoyment of Avatar, both the first one and the second one, I've realized that, with my eyesight being what it is right now, I don't really pick up on 3d, it doesn't work for me. So I realized that I'm losing a significant component of what James Cameron intends for the avatar audiences is the 3d is the visual appeal of it. And there are some things I can see I can pick up on the cinematography and certain shots and certain production design elements. But because I missed the three D in that movie, it was just I mean, it was a good movie well made, but it was just okay for me. Yeah, I
Alex Howard
I completely understand that I I was actually a little shocked that the 3d so worked for me I am fully expecting in the next 10 years or so that 3d will not work for me and honestly, usually in movies, it doesn't. But I think James Cameron shoots it in a way where it's, you can definitely tell a difference. And so I think that's why it does work better for me, but especially in 3d because you need to use both eyes. And so one of my eyes is worse than the other one. So it does 3d is not my go to I will only really do 3d for Avatar, or, you know, some kind of James Cameron rerelease like Titanic or something, but usually I will skip the 3d.
Lee Pugsley
Yeah, no, I totally get that and I only have vision in one eye. So you know if 3d is meant for two eyes, I'm already at a disadvantage going into that. Yeah, I sequel that was disappointing. drastic world dominion. I knew that was meant to be one of those legacy franchise sequels, they brought back some of the original cast members. But man, that movie was such a bust to me.
Alex Howard
So I agree. But I actually I thought it was a huge step forward from fallen kingdom, which they spent a whole Jurassic movie on a boat. Like what do you do and guys having locusts are, you know, be a big deal in Dominion? is like, Isn't this supposed to be about dinosaurs? Like, but I I agree, it was definitely disappointing movie. But I also had a lot more fun with that one than I did. Fallen kingdom for sure.
Lee Pugsley
So I will say that dominion was a step up from fallen kingdom. But I wouldn't call it a huge step up. I would call it a very minor baby step up, at least for me. I wanted to enjoy that movie, but I wish they would just do these Jurassic movies like Godzilla, where it's like, no one cares about the human plots just give us the dinosaurs and the Jurassic movies and the Godzilla movies. We just want to see Godzilla and King Kong and other creatures fight. Just give us that and I'll be content.
Alex Howard
Yeah, I also feel like it's getting a little formulaic, but towards the end, they had the big dinosaur fight because they need to have a big dinosaur fight because it's the Jurassic World movie. So I feel like they need to figure out a plot. I mean, I don't know how many times you can have dinosaurs escape at theme park, but there's so much more you can do with it. And I know, initial I haven't seen Jurassic Park two or three. So but I know with those, they were also selling oh, we're gonna have dinosaurs in the real world. And they were selling that with this one too. And that's not what happened. So, or not, not as much as I would have hoped that it would, at least because you think you would think oh, they're, you know, buy the Eiffel Tower, all these landmark, you know, icons, I think they're on one continent or a very small portion of land. So I think that's how you go. That's how you do it. And I also want that with the Jumanji three like, when are we getting that because, you know, the end of next level? They teased the next Jumanji was going to be on the world. So I thought that was really cool, too.
Lee Pugsley
Are we getting a Jumanji 3? Has that been announced.
Alex Howard
I hope so. Because those are fun. I
Lee Pugsley
really hope so as well.
Alex Howard
I was in such a bad mood when I and then Jay, my old roommate is named Jamie. We had a podcast too. He took me to see the first one. And I was I was not expecting that to be good. And it was so much fun.
Lee Pugsley
Yeah, that was such a pleasant surprise. I really had speaking of expectations, I had such low expectations for that movie. And man was I pleasantly surprised.
Alex Howard
Yeah, and I think we'll probably get into our top 10 here but like, my favorite movies of every year like we all have our most anticipated movies, all of that. But my favorite ones are the ones that I didn't even know was coming in you know, you go to the movie. My one this year that I use was x had no idea really what to expect it's a brand new horror thing from A24 so it could be really artsy and weird or could be what we got, which was you know, there's some art but then there's also some great horror stuff in there. So I love the little nuggets of things that you're like you don't expect to be coming down the pipe but it does and it's awesome. Same with everything ever once that movie. I don't think anyone really knew that was coming in at the beginning of last year.
Lee Pugsley
No, that movie literally came out of nowhere. But yeah, let's move on to our top 10 lists but first of all, let's start out quickly with if you have any honorable mentions that almost made your top 10 but didn't quite get there.
Alex Howard
My first honorable mention is Jackass forever which you and I saw together and it was so much that theater was so much fun and it was just laughing for like two hours especially after you know 2021 was kind of a slow year for movies and I feel like the come out with that in February kind of near the beginning was awesome.
Lee Pugsley
Yeah I’m glad that you liked that movie because I thought it was entertaining for the moment but it was probably lower in my rankings. So I think we probably like you know have differences of opinion there which is totally cool. But I enjoyed the experience of going with you and Jamie
Alex Howard
Yeah. Oh and if you're thinking about trying out audio description you're not sure where to start. If you want to laugh the audio description track on the Jackass movies it is hilarious
Lee Pugsley
It is really entertaining I highly recommend it
Alex Howard
and then also on if you're on Paramount plus which is where it is on Netflix. I think they do jackass 4.5 which is like the behind the scenes the sense that they didn't show in the movie and that also as ad and then screen is on my I think screen was the best legacy or legacy sequel from last year. It was so much fun. Just I mean I have a big soft spot for the screen franchise. I think the first scream is like one of my favorite films ever Josh Hall real smooth which we'll talk about on your list is on my honorable mentions the fable mins watcher, which is another horror movie from IFC.
Lee Pugsley
I used to watch that movie I haven't. Oh, wow. Yeah, it is.
Alex Howard
Yeah, it's, it's really cool. It's definitely one of the smaller ones fresh, which I know we both really liked and rows, which fresh is a Hulu movie that was bought from Sundance. That's a very unique kind of niche horror movie to
Lee Pugsley
write. Probably not for everyone just to be clear, but really engaging movie.
Alex Howard
Yeah. And then bros which I bros deserve more attention than it got for sure. I thought that movie was hilarious. I think my favorite comedies of the year were Jackass forever bros. And then the lost city was also really like surprisingly charming movie.
Lee Pugsley
I love the lost city that was such a fun movie.
Alex Howard
So yeah, those are my honorable mentions. Do you have any?
Lee Pugsley
The menu which was one of those pleasantly surprising movies that I didn't think worked very good based on the preview. And it was a delightful experience. Then the woman King, which was one of those like epic movies that we don't really get any more that historical epic and I really think that Viola Davis Leticia right, and the whole cast actually did a fantastic job. Wonderful production design, very empowering story. Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio thought they really handled The story of Pinocchio in a fresh way that we haven't seen that had a lot of heart but also a lot of humanity exploring themes of mortality and time.
Alex Howard
Okay, I would like to ask you a question about Pinocchio.
Lee Pugsley
Yes.
Alex Howard
I watched it. i The first 20 minutes I thought was awesome. I haven't seen an adaptation of Pinocchio in a long, long time, probably since I was a kid. I thought Pinocchio was really annoying as a character. I was like, is he liked this and everything? Or is like, I don't know why I just I found I was like, Dude, you're disobeying Geppetto. I was kind of done with his like just do what your dad says, so you won't hurt yourself? Pretty much.
Lee Pugsley
I can understand that point. And to answer your question and other versions of Pinocchio, he definitely has that kind of like, disobedient naive stupidity, I guess that was, you know, for lack of a better term, you know, or just that like, boyish ignorance. That is very much a characteristic of Pinocchio. And I can totally see why anyone would find that a little annoying or just like do get with a picture.
Alex Howard
Yeah, I think that's that's the only reason why it's not. I mean, I would say my favorite animated movie there was Marcel the Shell shoes on but which
Lee Pugsley
that's one of the only ones I did not see this past year that I want to get around to that. But yeah, with Guillermo del Toro Pinocchio, I thought that the animation was really, you know, really beautiful without the color palette, which he always does a really good job with color palettes go Del Toro. Interestingly enough, my least favorite part of that movie was the songs. Because
Alex Howard
the songs were like 30 seconds when I was like, they were singing the songs on the rover. I was like, sounded like it was half a song.
Lee Pugsley
Exactly. That's why it's like they weren't really needed to advance the story, which is funny coming from me, because I'm all about like, you know, musical movies and putting songs and movies. But yeah, I could have done without that. Then my other honorable mention. Other two are, she said and the whale, which I thought that she said, you know, wasn't quite as good a spotlight, but it still shed light on a subject that matters. And I thought they did it in a compelling way. And with the whale, Brendan Fraser did a very good job in his performance. Sadie sink also did a good job. Hong Chow was fantastic. And I don't know I felt a level of empathy for his for all of the characters that are just broken people trying to figure out life. And I realized that that movie did not hit with everyone. And, you know, I have no defense against anyone that didn't connect
Alex Howard
with it. She said was good. I liked the post better. I think also. What do you think of that compared to the post?
Lee Pugsley
I was actually underwhelmed by the post. And that may have been a movie that I had too much expectation for because you have Spielberg was Tom Hanks was that right?
Alex Howard
Actually, I don't even remember Meryl Streep was in that.
Lee Pugsley
Yeah. And I believe Tom Hanks wasn't that. But just with the cast and the director. I expected more from it. And it was just kind of like lackluster to me. Not bad. Just forgettable.
Alex Howard
Yeah, that that makes sense. And then yeah, I mean, I thought she said was good. But I think my struggle was she said, it's another eyesight thing was the there were so many women. And then I had to keep track of who was who and what was what, and so that even with the audio description, it got a little difficult because, I mean, I know you're better at remembering names than I am. Because you're used to being an actor. So you have to, you know, memorize lines and everything. So for me when there's like, you know, Julian and Caitlin, and I'm like, Wait, which one is which?
Lee Pugsley
That's a fair point. Let's now go into like your top 10.
Alex Howard
So my number 10 is bones and all which I went back and forth on this forever. I was back and forth between bones and all and Fablemans, I think bones and all made it because it does. It's several different kinds of movie together. It's a roadtrip movie. It's a horror movie, and it's a romance. And it's really hard to blend those things. But I feel like when it wanted to be horror, it was horrific, like to the max and then they could tone it down. They could do the road trip thing, and then they could tone that down and they could do the romance fine. I think those three things together were done very, very well. And the ending of it, which we won't go into spoilers, but the last, like 20 minutes, I thought was really good. And I did not expect that at all. So that's why it's my number 10.
Lee Pugsley
And it's like, I would also throw in there coming of age story. And then I agree with everything you said about it, the rich genre blends and everything. And I think just there's themes that if you can get past the subject matter which I realize not everyone won't be able to. But if you can get past the subject matter, there's themes of acceptance, belonging, fighting with our own demons of having an idea of the person we want to be, but not knowing how to be it, you know, struggling with that.
Alex Howard
Yeah, that goes back to, you know, bad eyesight and everything, too, I think, at least for me, I wonder that sometimes too. Number nine for me is the woman King, which like you mentioned, it was a great like epic. We haven't gotten a movie like that in a while, I would say weirdly, the closest thing to that was the last duel last year. But the woman king I thought was great. And I thought shed light on, you know, women fighting, which we don't really women, as soldiers, we don't get to see that very often. And my number eight was fire of love, which I saw in the theater, with my girlfriend, and she had to read me the subtitles, because the audio description wasn't working. There was no description track in the theater now as audio description on Disney plus, which is awesome. But the visuals are amazing. If you don't know what fire of love is, it is a documentary about a couple. And they don't speak English. I don't know what they Swedish. I don't know what language they speak. But the subtitles are obviously the thing that was hard for me. But they study volcanoes. And that's how they fell in love. And the it's gorgeous, all the shots of volcanoes and you learn a lot about them. And you realize they're the reason why we have the volcano warning system that we do now. So I thought that was a really informative and really beautiful documentary,
Lee Pugsley
I need to comment on some of your movie. The other movies you mentioned, I do need to see fire of love. I can't comment on that at all, because I have not seen it. But now that it's on Disney plus with audio description, I definitely will be checking that out. The premise sounds fascinating to me. And then women King, I know I touched on that already. But that was one of those movies, too. That kind of came out of nowhere, I would say as well, that I really didn't know much about writing that was coming out until it was here. And I'm like, What is this? And yeah, it was great.
Alex Howard
Yeah, and I think the performances in that were really great, too. And I'm glad that I think it's a word shatter is going down a little bit. But I'm glad we're still talking about it.
Lee Pugsley
I totally agree. I'll move on to my bottom three, number 10 Is All Quiet on the Western Front. I think it does an excellent job of depicting the brutality of the war, it doesn't reinvent the wheel, but it does it in a way that is just stunning to look at. And technically immersive on every level, from you know, the sound to the score, to the editing, just everything about that movie is really, really well done. And I think you had mentioned that that rivals 1917 in certain ways, and I could definitely see that. Also, this is one of those times where audio description for international films is very nice to have. Because it's in German, and it's all subtitled. So the audio description on Netflix, they were able to the audio describer was able to read the subtitles to us as well as describing the action, which was extremely helpful. And number nine is tar. For some people, they would find that movie a very slow burn. But for me, because I love music, I found it very fascinating to just kind of dive into the mind of this. I don't even want to call her a prodigy but just you know, this like, very accomplished musician and the way that they talk about music, especially in her first 20 minute Monell Basically, first 20 minutes of teaching a class was just something I really connected to. And I think it brings up a lot of interesting themes of power and ego and how that can affect someone, as well as kind of touching on Kancil culture a little bit. And then my number eight is Cha Cha real smooth. One of those movies that kind of came out of nowhere, and was just a very, like, small, I guess, like small, independent sort of film. But really, I
Alex Howard
think it won the Jury Prize at Sundance. Oh, it did. Yeah,
Lee Pugsley
Okay, nice. But it was just such a relatable and sweet film about just figuring out life after college.
Alex Howard
Yeah, I completely agree with all of those. I think tar was really good. I think I just had a little issue with the ending. But, uh, Cate Blanchett is next level in that one. Like, I think she's the best performance of the year, hands down. And you're right, like the first 20 minutes, literally a monologue like I think it's an interview with her. And then she's teaching a class and she's just talking for 20 minutes straight and you're just mesmerized by it. It's great. Cha Cha real smooth. Yeah, it's another one that I really I feel like we both kind of sympathize with the main character and trying to find himself and all of that. And funny enough All Quiet on the Western Front is on my next three.
Lee:
very cool we'll we'll I'll let you touch on that more when you get to it yeah so Alex um now why don't you go through your number seven through five spots
Alex:
so my number seven is actually X which was directed by TI West for A24 and I know a lot of people hate on this movie but I think it stuck with me mostly because it was a surprise there's a lot of Texas Chainsaw Massacre in there there's a lot of psycho psycho is one of my favorite movies a lot of parallels to those and then it also had a sequel to see your Pearl which I mean if the Oscars would appreciate horror more I think she should run up for best actors but that's a whole other topic but X I think I liked a little bit better than Pearl and I I love the the kind of the different kind of horror movie that it is and it pays homage to those other Classics do you have any thoughts on X?
Lee:
I mean I haven't seen it but I really do want to see it and I yeah I want to see X and I want to see Pearl for some reason Pearl seems more interesting to me because of the whole Technicolor type of thing
Alex:
Pearl is definitely more of a crowd pleaser I guess you could say because X is literally about them shooting a porno so it's a little you know risque obviously and Pearl is yeah the Technicolor side of things and then MaXXXine which is coming out hopefully in 2023 would be the third one and it's more like in the 90s with video cameras and that kind of stuff
Lee:
very cool
Alex:
um my number six is Emily the Criminal which is another smaller movie with a great performance by Aubry Plaza that came out of nowhere and I don't know there's always one of those movies every year it's like September August release that it's not going to be an awards Contender but it's it just sticks with me and Emily the criminal was that for me this year I thought it was just a really solid you know storytelling intense and I really really liked it
Lee:
yeah it was a very pleasantly surprising movie I just saw it one day playing in theaters and I'm like what is this random movie and I do like Aubry Plaza and I think that this is probably her best performance to date in Emily the criminal
Alex:
I would completely agree with that um and I know she did get nominated for a spirit award so that was really cool to see and Mia got it actually for Pearl so that was really cool to see that both of them got a little bit of awards love yeah that's that's very cool um I was very happy to see both of their names on the nomination list for the spirit Awards and then my number five was All Quiet on the Western Front which I know we talked about some but I was hesitant to watch this because I think I watched it a couple months after it came out because I knew it was so long and it was a remake and it was a Netflix movie and so I was a little hesitant and I think it Rivals 1917 even in like 1917 summer cinematography was great and it was beautiful but I think that paved the way for Quiet on the Western Front combining cinematography of that with the brutality of saving Private Ryan for World War one I just thought it was it was great and they definitely told a different perspective from the German side of things
Lee:
yeah I think that all quiet works really well as a companion piece to 1917 because you see different sides of what's going on in World War One and I think that all quiet definitely depicts the brutality of War in a more visceral way than 1917 does but I do think that 1917 probably has a better character development or I felt more connected to the characters probably because there's less of them and you're following one character's journey through that whole film but I feel you on everything you just said and I actually have the same reservations that you did about all quiet to begin with but yeah I'm glad that you enjoyed it and it made it so high on your list too
Alex:
yeah and I think another reason why it might have been hard for you and I it was once again a bunch of white guys and I I had trouble in the beginning you know when they're in the bigger group determining which character was which character and when something would happen I'd be like wait was that this guy or this guy especially with you know the Germans so they have more foreign sounding names so I my eyesight definitely played a part in the confusion a little bit in the beginning and I don't know if that was the same for you
Lee:
so um this is actually a good point to talk on with characters this is probably due to my background with acting and directing it's really easy for me to pick up on character names even if they're kind of like weird or like you know foreign names that I'm not used to and with the audio description because it repeats the names multiple times even if there's like quite a bunch of characters it's easy for me to follow and I know that you have said that it can take you a while to adjust to who's who in terms of characters
Alex:
yeah I think I definitely have trouble keeping track of even when it comes to something like Avatar where he has four kids and they're all blue and I'm like no idea but yeah I definitely have a lot of trouble with that and I think you are better at that because you're used to the directing and you know scripts and you're really good at memorizing so I feel like that is an advantage for you as well but yeah what are your uh seven through five on your top ten for 2022?
Lee:
so number seven is bones and all and I know we've kind of already talked about that earlier in depth but that's my number seven number six which we haven't talked about yet is banshees of inner Sharon I think that it might possibly be Martin mcdonough's most refined work I found it to be very poetic and uh beautiful cinematography beautiful score and wonderful performances from Brendan Gleason and Colin Farrell but what I thought was most interesting about it is and this isn't really for those of you who haven't seen the movie this isn't really a spoiler it's kind of in the plot synopsis that it's kind of about the unraveling of a platonic friendship usually when you see movies that deal with the unraveling of a relationship it's usually a romantic relationship so I thought this was kind of a refreshing change and you know I think that a lot of us can probably relate to the idea of loss of a friendship whether it's from just a relationship gone bad due to drama or you know just drifting apart and just kind of the feelings of loss that go with that and so I think that's one of the things that I really appreciated about the film as well as the script being very well written and having some very dark yet um comedic bits of humor
Alex:
those are some good points I'm yeah I I don't know why it didn't hit me like it did a lot of other people it seems like almost everyone else I guess I went in I Love In Bruges it's one of my favorites and so I was expecting that and I don't know why this didn't meet those expectations like we were talking about before I mean I think it is a much simpler uh movie than In Bruges I think you know Bruce is about two assassins and this is just about two friends living on a remote Irish Island so I think it was kind of more toned down than that one is but I mean I would even say this is my least favorite of his movies but I I really I don't understand the I I get the script the dialogue was great but all of the accolades that it is getting you know winning the Golden Globe and everything I was like very surprised that I I guess the the humor is like it's dark but it's like real dark do at times but I'm glad that I spoke to you like that that's interesting
Lee:
it is really interesting that this film has been getting as many accolades as it has because I honestly didn't expect that either I think it's deserving but it's just I wonder if it's because the subject matter of loss of friendship is so Universal that many people can relate to it and that's what resonates with um the voters and viewers and you know once again I don't know for sure I'm I don't make that assumption I'm just kind of like you know riffing right now and spec and speculation of what that could be but moving on then to my number five is the fablemans and this is one of those movies that I didn't initially love I thought it was I walked away from it thinking you know it's okay and it was good but the more I thought about it the more I think I really have come to appreciate it I thought that it was well acted I think that you know you have Steven Spielberg at the helm of directing it's going to be a very well directed film and I will say I did expect it to be more leaning into the magic of filmmaking and the Artistry of filmmaking and while the passion for filmmaking was there I think it was more of a coming-of-age story about um this young man's Journey in finding his passion and it very much is just that you know even if it didn't have anything film related into it it would work as a coming-of-age story very well
Alex:
yeah um I'm I'm actually surprised this is so high on your list that's really cool I know we saw this together at the we ubered down to the Grove which when it first came out it was only playing in like four theaters in the country so you and I ubered over to see it that's really cool the more you thought about it the more it resonated with you I feel like I definitely can appreciate it but I I don't think it spoke to me on a level that it does for a lot of other people I think just the kind of movie it is Slice of Life movies are sort of hard for me to get into like Almost Famous like that kind of thing I don't find as interesting as some other ways of telling stories but I love the last the the last scene
LeeL
yes I yeah yeah I know what you're talking about yes and for those of you who haven't seen it once you watch it you'll totally get it it's but I agree and even the LA the very last moment of the last scene is such a brilliant way to end that film you know
Alex:
yeah I I completely agree and I do while it didn't hit me like it did other people I did I do really like it and I do completely understand all of the attention than it's getting
Lee:
now one of the things that I'm curious to know your take on is if this movie wasn't semi a semi-autobiographical portrait of Steven Spielberg's childhood growing up would you find it as interesting and do you think that people in general would be as drawn to it?
Alex:
that's a great Point um I don't know because I did find myself during the movie thinking like oh you know that's where he got this or that's where he got that and you know knowing Steven Spielberg's Jewish and I think that's where I really related to it some of the Judaism stuff since I'm Jewish too I took away from that there were two movies this year where I they celebrated Hanukkah and I was like wow I never see this in movies The other one was Armageddon time but yeah I know I don't know that it would be as interesting because we do know where he ended up so you know I I think it really shows it almost finishes the story itself knowing his where his career went whereas if it wasn't based on anything we would just you know it would end and we'd be like well did he succeed or not
Lee:
totally and I feel like if this was just a fictional Slice of Life a coming-of-age drama that it would very much be in the vein of Armageddon time this may be a more polished version of that which I liked Armageddon times but I feel like the Fable men's in our we're getting time are both kind of in the same made from the same fabric you know
Alex:
yeah definitely
Lee:
so yeah so then what are your fourth third and second place?
Alex:
so my number four is till which is another one I was very hesitant to go see I was like not very interested in that was going to be a by the books you know biography of a historical event and so I I think I went like one of the last show times it was playing at AMC um and I was really Blown Away by it it was really really good and I think like Danielle Detwiler was amazing in it and I I don't know it's one of those ones that's hard to watch because I am it till the way he died was very brutal and while you don't it the movie was meant to you know show people the reality of racism and so the movie is hard to watch but it's it's meant to be you know racism isn't easy to swallow and I really really liked how powerful the movie was
Lee:
yeah I'm glad that it resonated for you I would say for me I liked the movie mainly because of Danielle detwiler's performance I think that she's the heart and soul of that movie and she carried that movie but if I'm being honest I kind of felt it was a little a little bit paint by numbers or a little bit more of kind of like what you would expect from a movie like that and that's fine too that you don't need to reinvent the wheel if the wheel already you know operates on its own in a good way but yeah I guess because of that reason it just kind of didn't it was just kind of like you know that was good and that performance by Danielle was phenomenal and I do think it is an important story that was worth telling so I am glad that um Emmett Till's story is out there
Alex:
yeah and I I mean I'm kind of ashamed to admit I didn't know about this story before the movie like when the when I found out about the movie I was like okay and I had heard you know the basics of the story I I hit the wire again I had heard the basics of the story before I went to see it but I didn't know about the event before this oh
Lee:
yeah I didn't know about the event either uh so it was very enlightening as well
Alex:
yeah and then my number my number three was Glass Onion I loved nasao it was Pro I think it must have been either one or two for me the year came out um so I was like can he do it again like I expect him to do it again but I wasn't too sure if he could and oh man I loved that you know and and knives out it was more okay we saw the crime happen so it's not really a murder mystery but like you know we we didn't have all the pieces in at the beginning and this was the same way like it was almost like we were waiting for the crime to occur and then you know the twist happens and it just turns the whole movie on its head and once again he like reinvented the murder mystery genre and I loved that
Lee:
yeah so it's interesting for me because I was super excited about Glass Onion and I like you I loved the first Knives Out movie and in 2019 it was easily my top five films of the year and so I had high expectation going into glass onion and unfortunately I was a little let down that being said I had a good time with it and you know there were some fun moments in it but I thought that the first movie uh was tighter in its pacing in its writing and even probably in its directing but I think what may be connected with me more about the first movie is kind of like going back to what you were saying about sometimes The Slice of Life Family dramas can be a little harder for you to get into for me I love the fan The Slice of Life family drama and it wasn't necessarily like Slice of Life but there was enough family drama and enough like family relationships and connections so I loved how the whole family in that movie was connected to one another wherein you know Glass Onion you just have these random people that if there wasn't some common Bond holding them together and they needed each other for something I don't think they would be friends so I just seemed a little more the relationship seemed a little more disconnected to me in this movie but I also am willing to admit that maybe I need to go and watch it again too and I might get more out of it the second time around
Alex:
that's true and that's totally understandable that yeah I feel like they were only friends because they needed the guy's money and not because they were blood related like in the last one I'm so excited for the third one and I actually just watched um poker face last night the new Ryan Johnson show on peacock
Lee:
oh yeah how's that?
Alex:
it's good I I wasn't sure halfway through I was like wait we know she can you know because the story of Poker faces she can tell when people people are lying and so I was like wait people are talking to her and I know they're gonna come back and just be like I knew you were lying here and here and here and I'm like I don't see what the twist is and once again he puts the twist in where you don't expect it and you're like okay like I get what this is now it's really cool
Lee:
I definitely need to check that out would you say to you that it's more of like a comedy or a drama?
Alex:
I feel like it's almost it's kind of both like it's kind of like knives out where the characters are comedies of themselves but they're not really saying anything funny like the dialogue's not funny it's like the way they're acting in the atmosphere is a little funny but the it's definitely a little more drama too because I mean it is a murder mystery so
Lee:
I see I see yeah I definitely need to check that out
Alex:
my number two film of 2022 is women talking because I was so surprised at how much I love this movie and I know you saw it before I did and you were like this is my new you know I love this and I that really raised my expectations I was like like we'll see like I don't know there's been a lot of disappointments this year yeah it's so good I think this until are the two my two most important movies of the year the premise of the movie is it's literally women talking there's in a barn saying they're tired of being assaulted or harassed and taken advantage of and you know should they leave or should they stay in this colony and that's the entire movie and it is riveting like the dialogue and the debate and I think it's so relevant to today's society it the performances it's just so good
Lee Pugsley
yeah it really is a fantastic movie and I wish that more people were talking about women talking because they should be it's one of those movies that when I first heard about it I was just kind of like this doesn't sound overly interesting to me at all and I was very wrong even from like the first five minutes I was compelled right away by the premise but also by the performances and how everything was set up and I think that it is very well directed for being set in a barn I think that Sarah Polly, Sarah Pally is not the director?
Alex Howard
yes
Lee Pugaley
I think that Sarah Paulie finds a way to make it cinematic still because you have some exterior shots or flashbacks or whatever so it still feels very cinematic because it could easily feel like you're just watching a play but it doesn't feel that way and I think that the editing was really tight with it I also think that the themes of explorers of faith and what does it mean to hold to your faith in the midst of adversity as well as what does it mean to be obedient and exploring the issues of masculinity and Parenthood I think that there's so many different important themes that are relatable to so many people that it touches on and I'm I'm really glad that you liked it
Alex Howard
yeah it I think you're right more people need to be um talking about this movie but I think we should talk about your next three on your list
Lee Pugsley
okay let's do it number four on my list is the Northman a movie that I feel like most people forgot about halfway through the year since it came out earlier in the year but I don't know I just found it to be very riveting it doesn't do anything to break the mold of any kind of period epic or Revenge story but I just thought that it was really well acted I thought the action sequences were really exciting I thought that the colored palette that was used was um really vibrant and maybe because of the visual impairment I tend to gravitate towards things that are very vibrant and all around I thought the performances were really good and I was totally on board for the whole movie I think that the cinematography in it was gorgeous I think that the music in it was effectively used and once again it's not breaking new ground it's just a movie that all the elements of filmmaking were done extremely well and made it very engaging for me
Alex Howard
that's awesome that you loved it so much I I definitely liked it but I think it I think it's especially telling that you liked it so much that it made your top 10 because I think for me the hardest part was the visuals because it's a very visual movie and you know obviously Robert Eggers who did Lighthouse and the witch and he was doing a viking movie which is awesome you expect it to be that visual but um I think since I felt like I couldn't appreciate the visuals as much as most people that's why it didn't speak to me but that's great that it connected with you so much
Lee Pugsley
yes interesting because didn't you say to you that like when you saw it and I it's been a while since I've watched this movie so maybe I just was so enamored with it that I discounted the dark scenes but didn't you mention that there were a lot of like darker scenes that you that were hard for you to follow y
Alex Howard
eah I think there were a couple things at night that were extremely dark
Lee Pugsley
because I vaguely remember that now but for whatever reason it didn't like stifle my enjoyment of the film and I'll be honest to you it's probably not even Robert Edgar's best film it just somehow surprisingly made it in there when I was like going through my top 10 list and like looking through all the movies I saw in 2022 I was just like oh wow this movie is higher up than I thought it would be
Alex Howard
yeah I'm very excited for his take on uh Nosferatu I think that's right up his wheelhouse so I'm very excited to see what he does with that
Lee Pugsley
oh yeah I'm super excited for that okay so then number three is probably the least divisive movie of the year and one of the most successful movies of last year and that is top gun Maverick I thought that it was such a great theatrical experience you know it's just such an immersive soundscape some really wonderful aerial sequences with the planes and everything and I felt like I like the first Top Gun movie it has a place but it's very much a product of its time but I felt like they kept the spirit of the first movie and added more depth to the characters and just made a really engaging script as well
Alex Howard
yeah I completely agree I think it was so much fun and I thought um I don't think it made my top 10 just because I don't I felt like it was a very like it was fun and it was great but it didn't hit my emotions as much as I would have hoped but I think as we talked about before it was great and it broke the mold for legacy sequels
Lee Pugsley
yeah I mean this is honestly how a legacy sequel should be done and to your point it's proof that Legacy sequels can be done very well granted they usually aren't and that my expectations for this movie were mid-tier I would say not like super hot but I was pleasantly surprised
Alex Howard
and hats off to Paramount for sticking with that uh theatrical release because this is supposed to come out in 2020 and they get pushing it and pushing it and pushing it because they're like this needs to be in theaters so good for them
Lee Pugsley
good for them indeed I'm so glad they did that because I think you really would lose something not seeing the movie in theaters and just watching it you know on your laptop or your TV at home that that movie was meant to be seen in theaters and then my number two which I know that you really like this movie a lot as well is everything everywhere all at once and as we had mentioned earlier that's kind of a movie that just came out of nowhere I had no clue what it was when it came out I maybe saw one preview for it but it didn't really speak with me as anything that would be that memorable and it was brilliant on so many levels I mean you're just blending together like all these genres like you have Adventure you have action you have comedy you have drama you just like and then you have kind of like absurd you know some of the Absurd elements too and you just blend all these things together and none of it really should work nearly as well as it does yet somehow it manages to pull it off and it manages to tuck out your heartstrings in different ways and to be a very thought-provoking and introspective movies in some ways with tight editing really sharp cinematography and all around a fantastic acting ensemble
Alex Howard
yeah I I complete I have so much to say hello I I completely agree with you um I think I mean we can just move into my number one because my number one is everything everywhere all at once so we can just keep the conversation going
Lee Pugsley
yo let's do it
Alex Howard
um I think it's weird so I had a weird relationship with this movie so I went when it was in theaters the first time and I did not like it because my audio description was not working for the first 20 minutes and they speak a lot is it Chinese they're speaking right ?
Lee Pugsley
yes
Alex Howard
yeah well they're speaking another language for a good portion of the movie and so I can't read the subtitles by the time they get the audio description working it's when they're changing universes and so I didn't really get to see the change in the characters at with the full effect so then a few weeks ago I went back and watched it again it's on Showtime right now with audio description if anyone wants to watch it for for free if you have Showtime with audio description um and it blew me away it really stuck with me that time I totally get the hype I was kind of bound by I think bad-mouthing it a lot of the Year saying like I I don't know what the hype is about I totally get it it is great I think it's literally a film about kindness like the monologue from Ke Hoy Quan about you know just be kind it really speaks to me because I feel like I've been through a lot with my medical stuff and everything else you know feeling different and my my uh solution to the world is instead of being Sinister be kind and I feel like a lot of times like me looked at as a weakness and he shows in the movie that it's actually a strength it just spoke to me on so many levels actually we watched it again with my parents over the weekend and it's funny because I think this movie speaks more to people our age and younger and not so much to the older generation because my parents weren't huge fans I think it is a crazy movie like watching it I'm like how does someone read the script and say oh yeah I'll make this movie because it is it combines so many ideas and it is rather overwhelming but it works and it works so well and I actually cried the third time when I saw it because you know it's kind of a mother-daughter relationship and I was watching it with my mom so I teared up at the end with all that but yeah I really really really love this movie
Lee Pugsley
I feel you on all of that that you were saying and it's one of those movies that sticks with you it's not a movie that you're gonna walk away from and forget even if you didn't like it there are still images or certain moments in that movie that you're gonna remember and yeah to your point about the script and about someone reading the script and being like let's make this movie once again on paper there's so many things about this movie that just seemed like they've been convoluted and an absolute mess and somehow they pulled it off and one of those Innovative films that we've had in quite a while I would say
Alex Howard
I also have a statement that I want to get your thoughts on so I would say this is the worst movie to watch without audio description having loved it you know and knowing what I couldn't watch it without audio description with my parents when we watched it so I had to sit there and towards the end when my favorite Parts happen with the kindness monologue and all that I just asked my mom to read the subtitles because I was like I want to experience this now and I kind of filled in the rest with all the fast cutting action and all the subtitles I just kind of was like oh I've seen it so I was filling it in for myself but with other movies that I've loved in the past like Joker or promising young woman or you know once I see it I can watch it again without audio description and get a pretty similar feelings because I've seen it before but with everything everywhere it's very hard to enjoy it for me without the ad
Lee Puglsey
yeah I think that that's a very fair point and I understand the first time you saw the movie when the audio description wasn't working for the first 20 minutes or half hour why you wouldn't like it because it sets up so much in that time and so many things happen setting up the whole like Multiverse concept that you're already gonna be so confused if you haven't been able to follow what's been happening from the very beginning and I agree with you that if I've seen a movie with audio description once I don't need audio description a second time usually but for a movie like everything everywhere all at once I do need it again because of the subtitles and because there's so many like location changes so quickly and so many action sequences and everything that the audio description is really helpful and I would be very lost without it for this movie Bridget in particular
Alex Howard
yeah
Lee Pugsley
moving on to my number one we already talked about this but it's women talking and that is my favorite film of the year of 2022 and I don't really have much more to say about it other than I love this movie and I think that it's possibly the best screenplay of the year one of the best acting ensembles of the year one of the best directed films of the year and I could just go on and on and on about it um but like I said we already did mention it so
Alex Howard
that is one movie I think you could watch again without audio description correct
Lee Pugsley
oh easily well what I saw women talking the audio description in my AMC Theater wasn't working so I had to go out to the front and have them change it out and they told me that you know they would bring it to my seat so I watched probably the first 20 minutes of it without audio description but because it's so dialogue heavy it was fine audio description did kind of help me distinguish characters and character names and all that but if worst case scenario audio description never worked for me in the theater for that movie I still would have been okay and I felt like I would have been able to follow the whole picture of it well uh that concludes our 2022 year in review
Alex Howard
yeah thanks for joining us for this and we will be back soon if you want to email us with any questions about movies any questions about audio description or our vision or anything you want us to talk about our email is darkroom filmcast@gmail.com and if you would subscribe five star rating that'd be great
Lee pugsley
thank you guys so much for joining us for our second podcast episode and there's gonna be more good things to come so until next time we will see you back here in the dark room go enjoy some movies [Music]
