No need to drag this out: 2022 was a year and movies got released in it. Here’s my mini-Oscars for those movies.

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Brian Tyree Henry - Causeway as James Aucoin

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It’s a testament to Henry that James, the mechanic who befriends a returning veteran, is generally a monotonous man that overflows with emotion. When he reveals his darkest secrets, the root of his pain, we feel more drawn to him than a lesser actor would have let us be.

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Barry Keoghan - The Banshees of Inisherin as Dominic Kearney

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Hollywood has exploited mental illness or defects so frequently that portrayals often seem patronizing. Dominic provides a comic relief that, while necessary, must not cross the line into disingenuous. Keoghan revels in his character’s awkward charm, perfectly balancing his disabilities with an earnestness that makes Dominic a star showing.

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Rory Kinnear - Men as Geoffrey

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Kinnear assumes numerous, distinct identities in Men, all of whom must be equally menacing without seeming similar. It’s a role that requires him to run the gamut, and he rises to the occasion in every scene.

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Eddie Redmayne - The Good Nurse as Charles Cullen

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Serial killers are chilling by definition, so Redmayne must work past our desensitization to make an impact. He's strong throughout, but he's so disconcerting during Charles’ confession, when the film hinges on his performance.

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Ke Huy Quan - Everything Everywhere All At Once as Waymond Wang

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Quan’s story is the feel-good tale of awards season: not only has his career taken many turns, but his performance is first-rate. Waymond doesn’t get as many opportunities to shine as Joy or Evelyn, but Quan creates one of the most sympathetic, endearing supporting characters in a long time.

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There’s no far and away winner here; Kinnear’s versatility edges out the others.

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All Quiet on the Western Front - James Friend

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All Quiet on the Western Front reminds us of the importance of focus. Ours is always fixed to whatever degree necessary because Friend maximizes every shot to pound home the horror of war and the devastation of each loss. It’s also gorgeous to look at generally, which helps.

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Babylon - Linus Sandgren

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Babylon has very little going for it, but Sandgren’s a fantastic mood-setter. Cinematography serves many functions, one of which is lending a film (and oftentimes, a director) a unique visual style. Damien Chazelle doesn’t do much to repay Sandgren, but that doesn’t mean the work isn’t fantastic.

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The Batman - Greig Fraser

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Brooding is not difficult to convey from behind the lens, but Gotham finally looks like the city it never did before, something plucked straight from a comic book and given a gritty, urban spin.

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Empire of Light - Roger Deakins

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Deakins finally broke through the Oscar wall with Blade Runner 2049, and since then he’s routinely gotten the acclaim he deserves. Empire of Light doesn’t do his work justice, but it doesn’t detract from how beautifully he lights Hilary’s journey through anguish, self-acceptance, and resolve.

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Tár - Florian Hoffmeister

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‍Tár can’t afford to manipulate. Its perspective must always seem detached. It requires a chill and openness, almost like we’re left to color in the scenes depending on how we view what’s happening on screen without refusing to recognize the reality of the situation. Hoffmeister understood the complex assignment and nailed it.

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It's probably the safest choice in this category, but that doesn't make it the wrong choice. If images sear into your memory and evoke feelings upon reflection, the cinemtaographer did their job.

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All Quiet on the Western Front - Frank Petzold, Viktor Müller, Markus Frank & Kamil Jafar

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Countless war films have displayed the horror of combat, so impressing an audience takes a lot. All Quiet on the Western Front arrests us in its most brutal moments, reminding us of just how horrifying war can be, something films in its genre seemed incapable of doing after so many had done it before.

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Avatar: The Way of Water - Joe Letteri, Richard Baneham, Eric Saindon & Daniel Barrett

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James Cameron’s reliance on his film’s visual wizardry causes them to suffer from diminishing returns, but The Way of Water is a more polished, involving movie than its predecessor, thanks to fantastic effects that make Pandora feel more like a genuine world instead of a mock-up of an alien planet.

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The Batman - Dan Lemmon, Russell Earl, Anders Langlands & Dominic Tuohy

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It would seem rudimentary for the Academy to bestow an award like this on a superhero movie; the MCU has lit up the box office for 15 years running: how impressed can we be with a comic book come to life? Well, look at how The Batman masters the "simple" things, like the fiery chase down a Gotham street as the Caped Crusader hunts the elusive Penguin.

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RRR - Srinivas Mohan and Pete Draper

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RRR has enough to fill two summer blockbusters. The animal battle at the mansion? The nighttime battle in the forest? Taming the tiger in the jungle? The train sequence where the dynamic duo rescue a young boy? It’s a shame the Academy didn’t recognize a movie that did many familiar things with its own flair.

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Top Gun: Maverick - Ryan Tudhope, Seth Hill, Bryan Litson, & Scott R. Fisher

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Filmmakers often ask us to marvel at the idea of something despite lackluster execution. Such is not the case with Maverick’s incredible practical effects and visual flair, which created one of the best opening scenes in film history, not to mention a bevy of other groundbreaking aerial sequences.

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Yes, The Way of Water broke ground and then some, but Maverick is simply the more worthy product as a visual display. Too often do you watch and go, "I didn't know they could do that in a movie!" for it to not win.

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The Banshees of Inisherin - Mikkel E.G. Nielsen

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Banshees is begging to be poorly paced. The story ping-pongs the extremes of open landscapes and confined spaces and plays out with dialogue that, while as such with intent, is repetitive, so every leap in the story must hold our attention. The film’s end makes us ask ourselves questions and answer them, meaning we were with it the whole way.

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Causeway - Robert Frazen, Lucian Johnston

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All the right choices have to get made for a 90-minute movie to land. It shows restraint to cut everything that proves redundant or better as an idea. Causeway’s subject matter is easy to overdo; Frazen and Johnston did it justice.

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Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio - Ken Schretzmann, Holly Klein

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Pinocchio takes its protagonist on a long journey, a trying task in the editing room. Tack on the sweeping emotional arc as he develops a sense of self and the world around him, an attachment to family, friendship, and what makes someone human, and it layers the job even more.

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Tár - Monika Willi

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If the choice is to be deliberate, the editor becomes the most important part of the production. How does one make a story intent on slowly layering each idea not feel like a lifetime? Only the most skilled of the craft can answer that, but as an audience, we appreciate it.

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‍Top Gun: Maverick - Eddie Hamilton

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Arguably, the best scene in Top Gun: Maverick is when Maverick receives his assignment and goes to tell Penny at the bar. He whispers in her ear, cut to the beach, cue helipad. It’s quick, simple, but powerful, much like the rest of the movie.

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The well-edited but long movie is no stranger to Oscar glory, but it's for good reason. Stories that earn a massive runtime are always rewarding, and Willi kept us locked into the story.

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Angela Bassett - Black Panther: Wakanda Forever as Queen Ramonda

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Marvel movies are not known for their emotional resonance. Wakanda Forever is built on the memory of Chadwick Boseman; without Bassett, it would be a weak-willed tribute.

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Hong Chau - The Menu as Elsa

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We often forget that performances should get judged partially on how well they respect the film's ambitions. A wailing housewife in a tumultuous marriage packs a punch, but if a dark comedy wants to succeed, it needs straight-laced bite, which The Menu gets in spades thanks to Chau.

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Kerry Condon - The Banshees of Inisherin as Siobhán Súilleabháin

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In many ways, Condon is the film’s heartbeat. She doesn’t get the material of Farrell or Gleeson, but Siobhan’s sass and deep caring for Padraic inspires us to invest in him as much as anything Farrell brings to the table.

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Stephanie Hsu - Everything Everywhere All At Once as Joy Wang/Jobu Tupaki

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Hsu’s role is the meatier of the mother-daughter duo; Michelle Yeoh’s Evelyn anchors the film in terms of screentime, but Hsu's arc dominates the narrative momentum. She must navigate the film through spotty thematics, particularly when the ludicrous bagel becomes front and center. She isn’t quite enough to save those moments, but she gets close.

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Rachel Sennott - Bodies Bodies Bodies as Alice

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The Academy is notoriously anti-comedy, but comedy is just as tricky to master as drama, arguably more so. Sennott wows with Alice, a vapid podcast host with a deadbeat boyfriend and a penchant for melodrama. It’d be easy to overdo, but she steals the show without breaking the film’s tension.

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Queen Ramonda gets her moments, but we’ve seen the grieving parent a thousand times. Bassett freshens the archetype, and any resonance the film has is down to her.

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“Dosti” - RRR, Music by M.M. Keeravani, Lyrics by Sirivennela Seetharama Sastry

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“Dosti” has a tough task in legitimizing a friendship over a five-minute montage. All the corny clips of the two bonding along dirt highways or ascending a mountain of people help, but the music has to sell it. The rest of the film depends on buying into their bond, and “Dosti” was the perfect choice to earn our investment.

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“Hold My Hand” - Top: Gun Maverick, Music & Lyrics by BloodPop and Lady Gaga

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Top Gun: Maverick shouldn’t be a movie that can pull off a rousing ballad to play over the ending credits, but the movie earns the song as much as the song earns the movie. Oh yeah, and Lady Gaga can fucking blow.

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“Lift Me Up” - Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Music by Ryan Coogler, Rihanna, Tems, & Ludwig Göransson, Lyrics by Coogler and Tems

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“Lift Me Up” is a good song, if a tad basic. Rihanna’s vocals are the strength; it’s unfathomable when reflecting on “Pon de Replay” what she would become capable of vocally. It’s a fitting tribute to Chadwick Boseman, but does the song really fit the movie? It’s a tad jarring to hear at the end of Wakanda Forever. Should that matter? Who knows.

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“Naatu Naatu” - RRR, Music by M.M. Keeravani, Lyrics by Chandrabose

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Naatu Naatu is the odds-on favorite for the Oscar, but despite its undeniable charm and the magnificent accompanying dance sequence, it’s not even the best song in its own movie. It’s a banger, and deserves the nod, but it’s not the best original song of the year.

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You can listen to the other nominees and almost convince yourself "Hold My Hand" doesn't deserve it, but it does. It's a banger and a half, and a perfect conclusion to a fantastic movie.

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All Quiet on the Western Front - Hauschka

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All Quiet on the Western Front's plot and message are desperate to be haunting and devastating, so all one has to do is tack on some ambient noise disrupted by the occasional blare. Hauschka doesn’t rest on those laurels; he finds the subtle emotional notes that complement a movie that occasionally needs help.

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The Banshees of Inisherin - Carter Burwell

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Banshees relies on filling its landscapes with varying emotions as the broken friendship between Padraic and Colm slowly comes to a fiery head. Burwell is the film’s momentum and tempo, a commendable accomplishment considering the deliberate pacing.

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The Batman - Michael Giacchino

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The Batman aims clearly at a superhero film noir, and every film fanatic knows the key ingredients to a great noir (aside from, ya know, the story) are cinematography and music. The Batman owes much of its atmosphere to Giacchino, and considering the film is nearly three hours long, that’s no mean feat.

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RRR - M.M. Keeravani

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For those unfamiliar with Indian cinema, RRR is fascinating. If you’re a newcomer, it’s a feast for the… everything. Every scene feels like it’s meant to mean something while meaning nothing at all, which makes you feel it more deeply while also not, which is... satisfying? It’s an enjoyable shock to the system, thanks heavily to Keeravani’s music.

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Top Gun: Maverick - Harold Faltermeyer, Lady Gaga, & Hans Zimmer

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It’d be easy to dismiss Top Gun: Maverick’s score as a simple retread of the 80s megahit it succeeds. In reality, it ups the ante for its genre, using its nostalgic sound and interpolations of Lady Gaga’s “Hold My Hand” to create genuine emotional resonance, a rare feat for an action flick.

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It's the more artsy choice to go with Burwell, and there's no doubt that Banshees' mysticism is down to his genius. Still, Zimmer nailed Top Gun: Maverick, not only capturing the essence of the movie, but creating an album you want to revisit time and time again.

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The Banshees of Inisherin - Martin McDonagh

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Banshees is funny and clever, which is hard for any movie to pull off, regardless of how concerned it is with those two things. It also employs abstraction while being committal, a nearly impossible balancing act. A movie leaving the conclusions to us needs a fantastic screenplay, and McDonagh manages to never lecture his audience.

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Causeway - Ottessa Moshfegh, Luke Goebel, Elizabeth Sanders

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Causeway is commendable for its restraint. We’ve seen the toils of war plague veterans in films past, and the anguish is usually dialed up to the highest emotional decibel. Causeway finds the nuance in Lynsey’s struggle, creating a sincere, compelling drama.

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Marcel the Shell with Shoes On - Dean Fleischer Camp, Jenny Slate, & Nick Paley

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Is it enough that a movie is adorable while having genuine heart? A lot of films fall under that category, but few as well as Marcel, which does a fantastic job parsing out its humor and its wisdom, never overwhelming us with each or seeming desperate to convince us it has either.

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The Menu - Seth Reiss, Will Tracy

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Few movies can bounce between horror and dark comedy while sending a larger message about our culture. The Menu’s commentary doesn’t completely hit, but for all the modern movies trying to be more than a popcorn flick, it succeeds to an admirable degree.

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Top Gun: Maverick - Ehren Kruger, Eric Warren Singer, & Christopher McQuarrie

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‍Maverick’s story isn’t groundbreaking, but it’s told perfectly. It’s like someone worked the dialogue through a sieve, making every word count, giving every conversation just as high of stakes as the overarching narrative. It’s easy to fall into the traps of the era you’re evoking: Maverick transcends them.

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It can't get overstated how easily Marcel could've gone wrong. Although a shell, he's a child, and we've seen the precocious kid a million times. Marcel feels like a fresh take, not because of his physical nature, but because of his genuine cleverness and wit, which he employs well as the film imparts messages about loss, connection, and family.

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Cate Blanchett - Tár

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Cate Blanchett’s Lydia Tár is a woman perpetrating what often (justifiably) gets attributed to men. Tár’s viability depends on Blanchett’s ability to be subtly manipulative and indignant enough to justify Lydia's lack of accountability. It’s a tall task, and Blanchett rises to the occasion.

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Jennifer Lawrence - Causeway

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Performative talk show appearances and a seemingly-staged trip on the Oscars red carpet derailed the J-Law express midway through last decade. We nearly forgot that, with the proper material, she’s the premier talent of her generation. Lawrence makes Lynsey's struggle seem completely ordinary without losing the inherent sorrow that makes you care about her journey.

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Florence Pugh - The Wonder

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It’s remarkable how subtly Pugh’s roles vary but how different she makes each character feel. The Wonder is built entirely on atmosphere, so the mounting frustration of Pugh’s Nurse Lib must get subdued. Pugh masters that balancing act well enough that the film seems better than it ultimately becomes.

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Jenny Slate - Marcel the Shell with Shoes On as Marcel

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Marcel is a fascinating character conceptually, not because he is a shell, but because he is equal parts worldly and sheltered. The entire film banks on how much we buy into his being unaffected while wise and thoughtful; Slate takes a character that could be irritating and makes him the year’s most enjoyable protagonist.

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Michelle Yeoh - Everything Everywhere All At Once as Evelyn Wang

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EEAAO fever has stormed the awards circuit, but it would be false to say that’s all that powers Yeoh's Oscar hopes. Evelyn Wang undergoes a genuine arc but without wholly transforming. It’s a true-to-life evolution, contrasting the film’s wonky style, and Yeoh bridges the gap perfectly.

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It's one of Hollywood’s best crops of leading female performances in a long time, but Tár was going to live or die with Blanchett, and it’s a pitch perfect performance from start to finish.

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Austin Butler - Elvis as Elvis Presley

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Butler’s preening over embodying the King is annoying, but the transformation is still impressive. Many actors have “become” the character, but Butler hits a lot of powerful, subtle emotional notes.

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Colin Farrell - The Banshees of Inisherin as Pádraic Súilleabháin

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Astonishingly, Farrell has become a respected actor; prior generations know him as an early 2000s publicity magnet with a string of unimpressive movies (Daredevil, S.W.A.T., Alexander). Padraic is the premier display of his talent, filled with genuine anguish over the end of his closest friendship from the opening frames to the vengeful climax.

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Ralph Fiennes - The Menu as Chef Julian Slowik

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The Menu doesn’t quite live and die with Fiennes, but it needed a world-class actor to sell its concept. He’s tense, furious, subdued, and unrefined, sometimes all in the same scene. It’s a shame the Academy is against him; he deserves to take home a statuette one day.

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Brendan Fraser - The Whale as Charlie

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Fraser is the comeback kid, the ultimate feel-good story as a beloved 90s star who embodies our collective healing from the #MeToo movement. Charlie is a one-dimensional character, but sometimes the best performances occur when an actor stays inside the role and maximizes every opportunity it affords.

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Paul Mescal - Aftersun as Calum

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‍Aftersun accomplishes one thing: Calum’s depression, which it achieves only because of Mescal. It’s in every facial expression, every minor shift in mood, the inflection of his voice, the slow fade into solemn acceptance when his daughter details her emptiness and exhaustion. Watching him try to hold himself together while quietly falling apart is heartbreaking.

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Subtler work often produces a more rewarding experience, and Mescal masters the nuance of mental illness. It’s unlikely to earn him the win, but it should.

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Scott Derrickson - The Black Phone

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One’s appreciation of Derrickson depends predominantly on whether you like horror movies. If you feel we're oversaturated with garden variety flicks that fail to leave an impression, his creative flair with The Black Phone will satisfy. It may have been a better film if Gwen had been reworked, but The Black Phone is a rare horror movie that's worth both seeing and revisiting.

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Todd Field - Tár

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Ambition should only get commended if the resulting product is worthy. Field bites off a lot: not just thematically, positioning a woman at the center of a sex abuse scandal, but also by structuring his story so thoroughly, amassing a 158-minute runtime. Only a skilled director can justify every second; Tár proves a thoughtful reflection on a troubling reality from start to finish.

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Joseph Kosinski - Top Gun: Maverick

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Kosinski has been honing his craft since Tron: Legacy, and he finally displayed the full breadth of his talent with the summer’s biggest blockbuster. Maverick is much more than a high-flying action flick, and its pacing, heart, and supersonic brilliance is down to how well Kosinski conceptualized what he wanted his film to be.

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Steven Spielberg - The Fabelmans

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Spielberg has made so many iconic movies that we could never wholly reward his genius. A win for his autobiographical wrap-up may come close, and it wouldn’t feel undeserved. Sometimes it takes a deeply personal work to inspire a director to work out the chinks in the armor; The Fabelmans is the perfect blend of honesty, nostalgia, and contemplation, all without the cheese that defines Spielberg’s later works.

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Guillermo del Toro - Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio

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If you’re gonna use style, you must have substance. The only means to do that is to make said substance entwined with that style. Pinocchio’s design make his journey more tangible; our frustrations with him are just as palpable as the joy we feel as he matures into a hero. Any director who makes style feel like a necessity instead of a gimmick deserves recognition.

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Remember… Maverick wasn’t supposed to be good, let alone incredible. Sure, many will dismiss it as popcorn propaganda, but countless choices are nestled into Maverick that quicken the pace, layer the emotion, and make the action even more thrilling.

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‍The Banshees of Inisherin - Graham Broadbent, Pete Czernin, Martin McDonagh

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A biting screenplay and fine-tuned performances spark interest in a concept that is intriguing in concept and execution. If we take it as an allegory for the Irish Civil War, it’s serviceable. If we take it as a testament to the power of personal relationships, the nuance of growing with those we care for, and the struggle of reconciling what is with what could be, it’s much stronger.

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The Black Phone - Jason Blum, Scott Derrickson, and C. Robert Cargill

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The Black Phone exemplifies what talent accomplishes when given control. The Grabber's brutality and strong showings from the two young stars (Mason Thames, Madeline McGraw) elevate what could easily have been kitschy horror into something more substantial.

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Causeway - Jennifer Lawrence, Justine Ciarrocchi

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Causeway doesn’t break new ground, but something about its more matter-of-fact approach to its central character’s experiences on the homefront make her struggles more accessible. Tack on two fantastic performances from Jennifer Lawrence and Brian Tyree Henry, and you have a rewarding drama.

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The Fabelmans - Kristine Macosco Krieger, Steven Spielberg, Tony Kushner

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The Fablemans is a culmination of Spielberg's journey to reconcile his past. It’s not the final chapter in his career, but it feels like it should be. At last, he reduces the schmaltz, layers the emotional integrity, and makes a film that nails the complexity of an authentic family drama.

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‍Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio - Guillermo del Toro, Lisa Henson, Gary Ungar, Alex Bulkley, and Corey Campondonico

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Stop-motion animation is the sort of trap many directors fall into: exploring something visual that sacrifices depth. Alas, Guillermo del Toro uses the titular puppet’s design to make him just as easy to root against during his childish beginning as it is to root for him as he matures into a viable protagonist, crafting a story that blends magical elements with coming-of-age realism.

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Marcel the Shell with Shoes On - Elisabeth Holm, Andrew Goldman, Paul Mezey, Caroline Kaplan, Dean Fleischer Camp, Jenny Slate, Terry Leonard

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Few film protagonists capture us like Marcel, the capricious shell searching for his family. Director Dean Fleischer Camp masters the documentary style, always making us feel like Marcel being a part of our world is just as realistic as fantastical. It lets all the humor (smartly sprinkled throughout instead of being the film’s primary ambition) land, and the moments of love, sacrifice, and friendship resonate.

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The Menu - Adam McKay, Betsy Koch, Will Ferrell

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The Menu bites off more than it can chew, hence an ending where s'mores are the bane of culinary existence, but cheeseburgers are a-okay. Still, we can embrace criticism to appreciate how well a film handles a massive meal. Anya Taylor-Joy, Hong Chau, and Ralph Fiennes do a lot of lifting, but it never feels like heavy lifting. We get lots of small moments of characterization to appreciate, mostly because they never seem subtle. It’s what a movie like this should do: create an experience within its experience and use that to justify being bonkers (though, yes, it could’ve done with a little more restraint).

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RRR - D.V.V. Vanaya

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RRR is an ode to extravagance. It’s colorful, vibrant, violent, uplifting, whimsical, touching, comical, and… everything else. Such a movie could feel overwhelming, especially over 182 minutes. Amazingly, RRR is always worth our time. We need more films to embrace the ridiculous, let ordinary men perform extraordinary feats, bond intimately with friends, and emerge victorious.

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Tár - Todd Field, Alexandra Milchan, Scott Lambert

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#MeToo gets an intriguing spin in Todd Field’s drama about a world-renowned composer embroiled in scandal. It’s deliberate, constantly laying the groundwork for Lydia's subtle manipulation that allows us to comprehend the rationalizations abusers employ to perpetuate the cycle of abuse. You look at the 158-minute runtime and wonder how such a film could justify the investment, but sharp storytelling and Cate Blanchett erase such doubts immediately.

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Top Gun: Maverick - Tom Cruise, Christopher McQuarrie, David Ellison, and Jerry Bruckheimer

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The world let out a collective groan when it was announced that there would be a high-flying sequel to the 1986 megahit. It was fair; Hollywood has spent the last decade inundating us with piss-poor sequels and remakes, so a follow-up no one asked for to a movie people only love ironically seemed silly. Yet, it surprised us all, blending thrilling special effects and a nostalgic score with a well-executed story loaded with humor and heart.

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Maybe one day, the Academy will pony up the gold for a summer smash. If it happens, it won’t be now, but it should. Maverick is the pinnacle of blockbuster entertainment, and as far as 2022 movies go, it’s the best by a supersonic mile.

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So, there ya have it. In the first ever Canties, Top Gun: Maverick walks away with 5 awards out of 7 nominations. It's truly one of the best films ever made, and no r/TrueFilm devotee can claim otherwise. People will read this and scoff at a summer blockbuster dominating, but, ya know...

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'Til next year!