The Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association is out with . I鈥檓 a voting member of the group, and so I鈥檓 sharing my personal list of the year鈥檚 best.
"" 鈥� Possibly the most Hitchcockian movie not made by the British master. Director Park Chan-wook鈥檚 story of a detective falling in and out of love with a woman who may or may not have killed her husband feels like 鈥淰ertigo鈥� for the 21st Century.
"" 鈥� Everyone in Damien Chazelle鈥檚 Hollywood epic comes to Tinsel Town to be a part of something bigger than themselves. And while they all experience dizzying highs, the real lesson is that the moviemaking machine chews up and spits out people at its discretion and without warning. Justin Hurwitz鈥檚 jazzy score is half the thrill. Chazelle talks more about the ideas he's exploring with Courtney Collins on .
"" 鈥� What a treat that the year鈥檚 oddest, most mind-bending film is also one of its biggest pleasures. The sprint through the multiverse and all the 'saving the world' talk is fun, but Michelle Yeoh鈥檚 performance as a woman assessing the lives she could鈥檝e lived while also trying to reconnect with the one she did keeps the story grounded in reality.
"" 鈥� You can鈥檛 tell the story of David Bowie鈥檚 artistic journey through a talking heads, 鈥淏ehind the Music鈥�-style doc. Fortunately, director Bret Morgen is up to the challenge as he mixes concert footage, Bowie voiceovers and what must add up to thousands of bits of video and abstract images to capture the creative spirit of one of the 20th century鈥檚 true visionaries.
"" 鈥� Oscar-winner Guillermo del Toro (鈥淭he Shape of Water鈥�) injects a timely vibe by setting his version against the backdrop of Mussolini鈥檚 fascist Italy. But the tale of a father trying to reconnect with his lost son is truly timeless, and the stop-motion animation lends a sense of having one foot in the past and another in the present.
"" 鈥� The 1930 adaptation of Erich Maria Remarque鈥檚 novel won a best-picture Oscar for its American cast and crew. Now, more than 90 years later, actual Germans get to tell their version of this story of young men signing up to fight in The Great War for the Fatherland. As in all versions, the scene of a young German solider attempting to kill his French counterpart only to then desperately attempt to save him tells you all you need to know about the incompatibility of war and humanity.
"" 鈥� Too often, comic-book movies are a two-hour slog to a climactic battle whose victory is never in doubt. Not here. Ryan Coogler has crafted a story in which the 鈥渂ad guys鈥� are justified in their opposition and our hero鈥檚 actions at the end also say something about her character. As in the original, the world building 鈥� this time under water and above 鈥� is stunning.
"" 鈥� It must be said: At 158 minutes, 鈥湴彰“�� is way (way) too long. But Cate Blanchett is captivating as ever 鈥� she learned to play the piano, conduct and speak German for the role (no biggie!). And there鈥檚 plenty to think about here when it comes to the long leash we allow for unethical geniuses.
"" 鈥� Carey Mulligan and Zoe Kazan capture the life of an ink-stained wretch in the digital age as "New York Times" reporters trying to crack the Harvey Weinstein story and kick off the #metoo era. As a reformed newspaperman myself, the antennae are always up for even the smallest inaccuracies in stories like this. What a pleasure when I couldn鈥檛 really find any.
"" 鈥� 鈥淭he Fablemans鈥� isn鈥檛 the kind of blockbuster that Steven Spielberg has built his career on. Rather, it鈥檚 a window into where all those aliens and archaeologists came from as the director takes us back to his formative years through this lightly fictionalized autobiography. Michelle Williams as the family matriarch and Judd Hirsch as a beloved uncle highlight a top-notch cast.
Honorable Mentions: "Till," "Emily the Criminal," "Top Gun: Maverick," "All that Breathes," "The Whale," "Pleasure"
