by Ryan Silberstein, Managing Editor, Red Herring

This is my favorite list to put together all year. I watched a ton of “new to me” movies in 2022, and so many of them brought me joy that it was hard to even narrow down to just 12. Follow me on Letterboxd to follow along throughout the year, but these dozen are the movies I wanted to highlight because they stuck with me or I think they should be discovered by others who haven’t seen them yet!

Sherlock, Jr. (dir. Buster Keaton, 1924)

I’ve spent a lot more time with Keaton contemporary Charlie Chaplin, but being able to see Keaton on the big screen was such a joy (and Dana Stevens was there to talk about her new Keaton book, Camera Man). I knew the premise of this film before seeing it, but it is so impressive to me that a film nearly a century old can be so laugh-out-loud funny. I can’t wait to do a deep dive on Buster and read Camera Man in 2023.

All That Jazz (dir. Bob Fosse, 1979)

A cinematic faith revival. So many directors and viewers forget about the power cinema has when it transcends the literal to tell an emotional-driven story. Including me. Something I am working on to be a better film watcher and writer is to embrace and find a way to express the ways in which a film works on our psychology and even our subconscious. Plot doesn’t matter when the images, cuts, music, and performances are assembled with the flair of a symphony. All That Jazz is indulgent and dark, a peek into the mind and ego of Bob Fosse, but it rarely comes off as pretentious and never sanctimonious. This one spoke directly to my soul.

Shadow of a Doubt (dir. Alfred Hitchcock, 1943)

I have a lot of Hitchcock blind spots still, but I was able to cross a few of those off my shame list in 2022. This one surprised me the most, as I had no idea what this was even about before it started filling the screen. A clear ancestor of Laura Palmer, this movie’s valedictorian teen is infatuated with her uncle who has arrived to a quiet town from the decay of the east. But does he bring evil with him or does he merely begin to draw the existing darkness on the edges of small town life to the surface?

Both Charlies–uncle and niece–are captivating characters played with aplomb by Joseph Cotten and Teresa Wright. Each of them are so expressive as they chase each other around this pearly burg. I could watch these two forever. Plus all of the doubles and mirroring and shadows make this for an amazing watch.

The Conversation/Apocalypse Now (dir. Francis Ford Coppola, 1974/1979)

I’ve also been working on filling in my blind spots in Coppola’s filmography. The Conversation is one I’d been wanting to see for a long time, and seeing it in a theater was a treat, especially for the amazing sound design. What surprised me was the way it handles masculinity, specifically, the way men want to be unknowable, because mystery is one aspect of strength. The way that men would rather observe the world, and take from it without giving back to it.

Apocalypse Now I was dreading, actually. I struggle with Viet Nam War stories, no matter the angle. It’s like some weird anti-Boomer block my brain has. But this movie floored me, as it delivers the most immaculately composed images and sounds. It is cinema as a force of nature, and the elliptical storytelling revels in the absolute absurdity of the unjust war it is depicting. I don’t understand why some people say this is a pro-war movie. A high point might be the Bunnies escaping the troops evoking the last chopper out of Saigon. It is such a subversive image and says so much about what this movie has to say about the American military.

Hard Rain (dir. Mikael Salomon, 1998)

I love action movies that are escalation machines. The circumstances the characters face get worse and worse as the movie goes on, and it takes a very simple premise in all kinds of surprising directions. Hard Rain plays like a wet, John Woo-inspired version of Tremors, with snappy dialogue, memorable characters, and non-stop complications.

Ricochet (dir. Russell Mulcahy, 1991)

This is maybe the most bonkers movie I have ever seen. I won’t even describe it. Just know that this was likely co-written, co-directed, an co-stars cocaine.

The Insider (dir. Michael Mann, 1999)

Even among Mann’s filmography, I feel that this one doesn’t get talked about enough. Which is a shame, because it might just be his masterpiece. Absolute perfect blend of performance, image, and story. Even though it’s based on true life, it does world building for its characters, filling in their lives and personalities with details that add to and enrich the overall story. And one of the best examples of showing how corporations are even more powerful and harder to fight than the government.

Ride the High Country (dir. Sam Peckinpah, 1962)

A brutal story that’s not really about the gold, but about men and how they dominate and terrorize everyone. A bit of a generational story, it keeps circling its main points until it ends with a visual representation of the death of honor. It’s a masterful ascent to a big swing of an ending, but the methodical way it builds is extremely gratifying.

Yellow Sky (dir. William A. Wellman, 1948)

The opening segment of this is astounding. It's stark, with the high contrast black and white photography emphasizing the barren nature of the desert that must be crossed. Once the group stumbles across the ghost town, the movie transforms into a sweatbox, with tensions rising consistently throughout until they explode. The resolution comes from a completely unexpected direction, but provides a relief after so much darkness.

Magnificent Obsession (dir. Douglas Sirk, 1954)

More and more I appreciate the way nature looks as captured on older 35mm film stock, that slightly washed out/overexposed look is just cozy and welcoming. Here it makes the whole picture look like it takes place inside postcards.This adds to the dreamlike quality of this earnest and saccharine melodrama. But I don’t mind a bit of corny now and then, and the ironies in this love the story, feel like if O. Henry, had he been an optimist. Also the most aggressively Aquinanian/Kantist movie I’ve ever seen from an ethics perspective!

Pieces (dir. Juan Piquer Simón, 1982)

As the tagline says, it’s exactly what you think it is…until it isn’t.

Maybe due to its dumb lead characters and inept cops, this is the best blend of the slasher and procedural I’ve seen so far. While the actual investigation is not exactly competent, the forms of the two plot structures work exceedingly well together here. Add in some odd non-sequiturs, a healthy dose of twists and turns, and you have a lean, mean, killing machine that loves to satiate violence impulses while rendering the id impotent. Plus that ending!

The Last of Sheila (dir. Herbert Ross, 1973)

I had been meaning to watch this for at least 4 years, if not longer. I was shocked to see the writing credits go to Anthony Perkins and Stephen Sondhiem! I enjoy dark movies that are still entertaining as hell to watch (if this list has a theme, that’s it), and The Last of Sheila seems to enjoy being playfully sharp. This is both witty and clever, but always chooses to bite hard at its satirical targets rather than shy away.