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- DirectorJames CameronStarsSam WorthingtonZoe SaldanaSigourney WeaverA paraplegic Marine dispatched to the moon Pandora on a unique mission becomes torn between following his orders and protecting the world he feels is his home.It was a great year at the movies. Such diversity! French gangsters, raunchy comedies, intelligent action, big dramas: Un prophète (Audiard), The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (Fincher), In the Electric Mist (Tavernier), A Serious Man (The Coens), Star Trek (Abrams), The Hangover (Phillips), LOL (Laughing Out Loud) (Azuelos), (500) Days of Summer (Webb).
And that was only part of my Top 10 then – back in 2009, as you've certainly figured out!
I was thinking of that, because back then, out of nowhere, landed something nobody had ever seen: AVATAR, James Cameron’s fantasy-extravaganza, captured my No. 1 spot and garnered an incredible 2,7 billion Dollars at the box office.
Fast forward to 2022, the b.o. in dire need of another AVATAR-like hit. And who was out for the rescue? James Cameron, who else. And you know what? He handled the situation and landed a gargantuan success, all the more fascinating because of all the hurdles in his way.
Apart from the economics though, there’s something else: the quality of the film, and that’s what this 2022-in-review is trying to put into perspective.
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One more thing:
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Trying to separate movies & TV as good as possible, I’ve assembled FOUR entries with SIX lists:
1. The BEST movies AND TV together, with comments;
2. The WORST movies AND TV together, with (You're reading it right now.);
3. The Best & Worst movies
4. The Best & Worst TV-experiences
Here we go (* = TV):
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Seriously botched
=========== - DirectorJames CameronStarsSam WorthingtonZoe SaldanaSigourney WeaverJake Sully lives with his newfound family formed on the extrasolar moon Pandora. Once a familiar threat returns to finish what was previously started, Jake must work with Neytiri and the army of the Na'vi race to protect their home.For more than 30 years I have insisted that James Cameron’s ideas and scripts and dialogues were much better than the Naysayers were conceding. He was among my Top 5 directors all those years because even his one failure (TRUE LIES) had interesting aspects (marriage, interrogation). But then AVATAR 2 – or, as I like to say: AVATARAVATAR – opened; and I have to admit: The script is horrific, the dialogues are superficial, superfluous and dimwitted, the effects were less convincing (and magical) than 13 years ago and the story… well, don’t get me started. At a length of about three hours it felt as if Cameron had to trim down the film from 240 minutes to 190 – several transitions felt raw and hastily put together. Nothing smooth or elegant there.
Cameron’s fascination with water has become tiresome by now, and his self-referential citations from THE ABYSS, ALIENS, hell: even TITANIC, feel embarrassing and call for a double dose of yawning.
The only sequence that kept me on the edge was the one with the hunters, licensed to deal in this water game. But given the choice, I would rather see Cameron moving ahead with NEW material. Those who wanna see big-game-hunting would get a copy of Howard Hawks’s HATARI!
There’s just one reason why I’m glad that AVATARAVATAR has become a hit: It helped a lot of cinemas to survive. And it kept our hopes alive that people will not abandon the movies. - CreatorRobert LevineJonathan E. SteinbergStarsJeff BridgesJohn LithgowE.J. BonillaA retired CIA agent is hunted by both the agency he once worked for and his own nightmares, when an unknown man suddenly visits him after nearly three decades.Really lousy as a thriller and as a character piece, it sinks below Millennium-Film-levels in the final episodes.
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DISAPPOINTING
========== - DirectorDomee ShiStarsRosalie ChiangSandra OhAva MorseA thirteen-year-old girl named Mei Lee is torn between staying her mother's dutiful daughter and the changes of adolescence. And as if the challenges were not enough, whenever she gets overly excited she transforms into a giant red panda.TURNING RED *
Loud, stressful and not charming: I don’t like where Pixar is heading (apart from the one movie which made it to this year’s Top 10). It makes me wonder: Is this the same company that put out so many milestones in the 2000’s?
DR. STRANGE IN THE MULTIVERSE OF MADNESS
Sam Raimi’s EVIL-DEAD-antics don’t work well with this overwrought-Marvel-material.
MOONFALL
Yawn. Made me wanna see ID4 instead one more time.
THE CARD COUNTER
I couldn’t relate to the characters. And hasn’t Paul Schrader chosen this ending a bit too often by now?
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NOT MY CUP OF TEA
(at least for now)
============= - DirectorDaniel KwanDaniel ScheinertStarsMichelle YeohStephanie HsuJamie Lee CurtisA middle-aged Chinese immigrant is swept up into an insane adventure in which she alone can save existence by exploring other universes and connecting with the lives she could have led.If everything can happen everywhere all at once, nothing really matters anymore and nothing has weight. I think you need limits to really test main characters. (Take a look at the first MATRIX.)
THE LOST DAUGHTER
Surprisingly bland, it is closer to I’M THINKING OF ENDING THINGS than to Olivia Colman’s standard.
SMILE
No, there’s nothing really new in horrorland.
BONES & ALL
This one touched me, but seldom in a pleasant way. Mark Rylance was chilling, though, I’ll give you that.
DON’T WORRY, DARLING
I began to worry way too soon. And trick endings might cover up sloppy work – but not for long.
C’MON C’MON
I like Mike Mills and his approach to storytelling – but in this case it never got beyond the point of being neatly packaged.
THE NORTHMAN
Maybe it’s unfair, but the only way my wife and I could get through this clunker of a movie was by acting out loud in the theatre and pretending we were watching a comedy. Sorry, folks in Bruges, for misbehaving.
STONX *
A German series about financial cheats that is hurling “I wish I were a Scorsese movie” – and there’s only one Scorsese-movie I dislike more.
THE MAID *
The characters drove me bonkers in a bad way.
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2022 gone really sour:
============== - DirectorRyan CooglerStarsLetitia WrightLupita Nyong'oDanai GuriraThe people of Wakanda fight to protect their home from intervening world powers as they mourn the death of King T'Challa.AVATAR
Oh, did I say that already?
WAKANDA FOREVER
I didn’t care much for the first part – but the sequel was even less gripping
FREIBAD
Strained and strenuous, overeager to please
STASIKOMÖDIE
Strained and strenuous, overeager to please
BROS
Strained and strenuous, overeager to please
THE WATCHER *
Elegant but empty
MOON KNIGHT *
Totally uneven in its mood swings, this is neither funny nor serious. Is Marvel losing its touch?
PIECES OF HER *
Incoherent, almost a female version of THE OLD MAN
STRANGER THINGS *
#4 (with ONE exception!)
DAY SHIFT *
Can’t they leave vampires alone? - DirectorDavid Gordon GreenStarsJamie Lee CurtisAndi MatichakJames Jude CourtneyThe saga of Michael Myers and Laurie Strode comes to a spine-chilling climax in the final installment of this trilogy.It "Ends"... Oh, really? It would be about time. HALLOWEEN KILLS (Part No. 12) at least tried some new turf; HALLOWEEN ENDS (No. 13) was just mind-numbingly dim.
- DirectorAnika DeckerStarsMarco AlbrechtAlmila BagriacikPeri BaumeisterA dirty campaign forces movie star Marvin to flee from reporters and fans. Coincidentally, he immerses himself in the cosmos of the feminist/queer off-theatre 3000. Its boss Frieda is not at all enthusiastic about the superstar at first .Strained and strenuous, overeager to please.
It's sad to see Elias M'Barak wasting his talent. - StarsEwan McGregorMoses IngramVivien Lyra BlairJedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi must save young Leia after she is kidnapped, all the while being pursued by Imperial Inquisitors and his former Padawan now known as Darth Vader.Incredibly cheap-looking and dull, probably the worst thing related to the SW-saga so far.
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The Bottom of the Pits:
============== - CreatorBrian WatkinsStarsJosh BrolinTamara PodemskiImogen PootsA rancher fighting for his land and family discovers an unfathomable mystery at the edge of Wyoming's wilderness.Looked promising at the beginning (just look at the cast!), but then this pseudo-Lynch-outing quickly turned the corner and wound up being painfully off course in EVERY sense. Just as shocking: There will be a second season.