SCFZ

Starting up the SCFZ "Best of 2022" poll, where we poll our favourite films released last year:

- post a list of your favourite films from 2022
-- you can list no more than half of the 2022 films you have seen, up to a maximum of 10, except:
--- if you have seen between 40 and 59 feature films from last year: then you can list up to 11 films
--- if you have seen 60 or more feature films from last year: then you can list up to 12 films

The longer ballots are meant to give lesser-seen films (that only those who have seen a lot of 2022 movies might have seen) more of a chance.

- ranked ballots are *strongly* encouraged (if you aren't sure how to rank, maybe rank in reverse-order of letterboxd views, to give films less likely to get other votes more weight). Unless you tell me otherwise, I'll assume your ballot is ranked.
- scoring for ranked ballots will be on a 1-2-3-4-...-maximum scale (so a three-film ranked ballot will award 3, 2 and 1 points to the three films)
- unranked ballots will award the same total points as a ranked one would, but of course awarding an equal number of points to each film. So a ten-film unranked ballot, say, will award 5.5 points per film

- you can post a ballot now and edit it later - no need to let me know about changes unless you make changes on the day of the deadline. As usual, I post the results on Academy Award day, which is March 12 this year

deadline: March 10, 2023


I'll start the never-very-popular Academy Awards poll in a separate thread, nominations were announced today

i usually see a lot of bad new films during the year, then watch films that might be good after this poll starts up, so my list right now does not include many films i think are worthwhile, but it's fun to post anyway. i'll definitely be editing this a lot as i watch more, only one film from my current list might remain once i'm done. seen 60+ films from 2022 so far:

1. The Fabelmans (Steven Spielberg)
2. Triangle of Sadness (Ruben Ostlund)
3. EO (Jerzy Skolimowski)
4. Aftersun (Charlotte Wells)
5. Weird: The Al Yankovic Story (Eric Appel)
6. The Outfit (Graham Moore)
7. The Flying Sailor (Amanda Forbis/Wendy Tilby)
8. All Quiet on the Western Front (Edward Berger)
9. Tar (Todd Field)
10. The Whale (Darren Aronofsky)
11. Emily the Criminal (John Patton Ford)
12. Crush (Sammi Cohen)

feel like we've answered this question before in earlier polls, but how do we want to handle release dates for something like petite solange, which plays three european festivals in 2021 (so technically 2021 on imdb) but gets its wide release in france, us festival release (and shows up with subs on kg) in 2022?

yeah, that comes up every year and it's a tricky question. i generally leave it up to voters to decide what they want to consider eligible, but i think the best way to think about it is: if a film would have been seen enough to get votes in our poll last year, it probably shouldn't be considered for this poll too. but if a film maybe premiered in 2021, but none of us likely could have seen it before 2022, then it definitely belongs in our poll this year. and films from 2020 or earlier on imdb probably don't belong in this poll absent exceptional circumstances.

i'll link to our results from last year -- i'd find it strange if a film in our top 25 or so last year got votes again this year, probably unnecessary but i might make a rule excluding those films from this year's polling. some of the later films on the list last year might have only been seen by one person though, so they might be 2022 films for most of us:

https://letterboxd.com/fliptrotsky/list ... scfz-poll/

so far (have seen exactly 20 total) -

Petite Solange (Axelle Ropert)
Mahaan (Karthik Subbaraj)
The Novelists' Film (Hong Sang-Soo)
Natchathiram Nagargiradhu (Pa. Ranjith)
Ponniyin Selvan 1 (Mani Ratnam)
All That Breathes (Shaunak Sen)
Secret Name (Aurelia Georges)
Vikram (Lokesh Kanagaraj)
Jhund (Nagraj Manjule)
Bheeshma Parvam (Amal Neerad)

movie where i'm not sure if it would make the cut due to rules -
inu-oh

Just missing the cut -
Avatar: The Way of Water
Naane Varuvean
RRR
Detectives vs. Sleuth

TV Miniseries, would count if it's eligible -
The Heike Story

still a lot left to see, hope to get to at least a few more before the poll wraps. and hoping a handful of movies become available with subtitles (new rita azevedo gomes... etc)

Final list

Seen 56 films

1. Women Talking (Sarah Polley)
2. Utama (Alejandro Loayza Grisi)
3. The Forgiven (John Michael McDonagh)
4. Lucy and Desi (Amy Poehler)
5. Empire of Light (Sam Mendes)
6. Kimi (Steven Soderbergh)
7. Argentina, 1985 (Santiago Mitre)
8. Nothing Compares (Kathryn Ferguson)
9. The Batman (Matt Reeves)
10. Montana Story (David Siegel, Scott McGehee)
11. Italian Studies (Adam Leon)

A little early for me, but already have a very strong top 5:

1. Unrueh / Unrest (2022, Cyril Schäublin)
2. Pacifiction (2022, Albert Serra)
3. À vendredi, Robinson / See You Friday, Robinson (2022, Mitra Farahani)
4. Rimini (2022, Ulrich Seidl)
5. Syk pike / Sick of Myself (2022, Kristoffer Borgli)
6. Triangle of Sadness (2022, Ruben Östlund)
7. Athena (2022, Romain Gavras)
8. A human Position (2022, Anders Emblem)
9. Alcarràs (2022, Carla Simón)
10. Saint Omer (2022, Alice Diop)
11. Close (2022, Lukas Dhont)
12. Tár (2022, Todd Field)

Last updated: March 3rd

Note: I decided to follow the main IMDb dates rather than wide-release dates.

My watchlist:
https://www.imdb.com/list/ls505983622/

Sidenote: Films high on my watchlist I ended up not finding great: (still good)

Godland
Decision to Leave
Blonde
Utama
The Northman
Broker

missing many film festival but gonna see more before deadline for sure

thus far...

The 2nd Repatriation
The Novelist’s Film
Who’s Stopping Us
A Couple
Pacifiction
Nobody’s Hero
EO
Walk Up
Mr. Landsbergis
Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio
Topology of Sirens
The Fire Within: Requiem for Katia and Maurice Krafft

A lot of other stuff I wanna catch up on, but here's a few to start:

Seen 18
1. The Northman (Robert Eggers)
2. The Banshees of Inisherin (Martin McDonagh)
3. RRR (S.S. Rajamouli)
4. Unrueh / Unrest (Cyril Schäublin)
5. Triangle of Sadness (Ruben Östlund)
6. Heojil kyolshim / Decision to Leave (Park Chan-wook)
7. The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent (Tom Gormican)
8. Bodies Bodies Bodies (Halina Reijn)
9. Tár (Todd Field)
HM: The Menu (Mark Mylod)

Triangle of Sadness - Ruben Ostlund
Tar - Todd Field
Emily the Criminal - John Patton Ford
Unrest - Cyril Schaublin
X - Ti West
RMN - Cristian Mungiu
Walk Up - Hong Sang-Soo
The Menu - Mark Mylod
Deep End - Adrian Lyne
A Gaza Weekend - Basil Khalil

Seen three or four new films in 2022. One of them was excellent:

1. Liebesdings (Anika Decker, Germany 2022)

no votes for crimes of the future? i haven't seen enough but i'm gonna try to watch crimes and inisherin, maybe EO

Tar and EEAAO were decent - fabelmanns too. don't get the raves for judd hirsch. corniest part of the film

enjoyed RRR, vikram, NOPE, prey and adam curtis' TraumaZone ('appreciated' might be better here)

rischka wrote: ↑Fri Jan 27, 2023 4:22 pm no votes for crimes of the future?

I'd put Crimes of the Future as the most disappointing film of the year. Love Cronenberg and the cast, but it was a huge let down for me, unfortunately.

I am cautiously looking forward to Crimes of the Future if it helps rischka. Very high on my watchlist and will see it by the deadline.

On another note I'm really excited to see 2 more votes come in for Unrest!

EO i'm a sucker for animal pov lol

crimes of the future is a no from me. viggo looks like a sith lord. the very idea that people can control evolution is absurd so i guess no surprise people are trying -- banshees no and i haven't forgiven this director for the horrible three billboards. he's like a folksier tarantino. a cute donkey can't fix it

so my list would be like

EO
TAR
TraumaZone
aftersun
fabelmanns
RRR
NOPE
everything everywhere all at once (for michelle ♥)

i can't say if EO is a 'great' film, impossible to judge

Well, I'll list mine, but I might have missed out on seeing some of the favorites, like almost all of 'em.

Fast and Feel Love
Gangubai Kathiawadi
Tiga Janda Melawan Dunia/Three Widows Against the World
Let's Get Physical
Ben & Jody
Radhe Shyam
The Munsters
Bodyguard Seduction


Elvis and RRR just miss the self-imposed cut. Heh.

have seen just three so far. rrr was showstopping bromance, the batman was kinda neat postsuperneoheronoir, and the banshees of inisherin was just feckin needlessly gory silly allegory. partway thru elvis; seems pretty onthesurface thus far; have never enjoyed luhrmann's adhd artless direction, but it's not him at his worst, so i'll probs finish it. this was not a best of list, just notes shrugmeh

None of the films I saw that were released in 2022 I considered great.

These are the best I saw, and they were just "good" to "very good" and all deserving of a rewatch someday.


Stutz (Hill) documentary (the standout film I saw that was released in 2022)

The Novelist's Film (Hong)
Triangle of Sadness (Ostlund) in a cinema
Everything, Everywhere, All at Once (Kwan, Scheinert)
Elvis (Lurmann) in a cinema
Sidney (Hudlin) documentary
McEnroe (Douglas) documentary
Bones and All (Guadagnino) in a cinema

Only 8 so far.

Giving this a bump as the deadline is coming up. Have everyone been updating their lists? I just went through mine. I'm likely still behind everyone in 2022 viewings, but went heavy in February (still have many planned this month) and am nearing 100. Finally feel pretty confident that I have seen most of what I'm excited to see (with the exception of a few films like Burning Days and Scarlet that are still not available).

watched few stuff but none of them was good enough to update previous list and still waiting for theatrical release or screening of several anticipating movie(The Fabelmans gonna release later this month, for example..).. many missed 2022 stuff will be on next year's poll (maybe)?

gonna watch Trenque Lauquen this weekend and tidy up the list

Hey Flip, can we keep this poll open at least a few more months? Ideally, I think it should be kept open until December 2023 and then the next one, the "Best of 2023 Poll", should be kept open from January to December 2024, etc.

pabs wrote: ↑Sat Mar 04, 2023 4:10 am Hey Flip, can we keep this poll open at least a few more months? Ideally, I think it should be kept open until December 2023 and then the next one, the "Best of 2023 Poll", should be kept open from January to December 2024, etc.

i feel like this comes up every year -- the deadline for the end-of-year poll that i run is always going to be just before the academy awards. if you want to see what the results of a 'best of 2022' poll would look like in december, you can start a poll then, and i'll participate

Trenque Lauquen
The 2nd Repatriation
The Novelist’s Film
Who’s Stopping Us
A Couple
Pacifiction
EO
Nobody’s Hero
Walk Up
Mr. Landsbergis
Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio
Topology of Sirens

missed(maybe on 2023 poll?) : All the Beauty and the Bloodshed, Diary of a Fleeting Affair, No Bears, One Fine Morning, Showing Up, Small, Slow But Steady, Tales of the Purple House, The Fabelmans, etc...

in the first post, i said the deadline for this poll is today, but i'll extend it 24 hours -- the deadline is 6pm EDT on saturday march 11 (tomorrow). if anyone needs to update their ballot, please do so before then, and it would be great to get some new ballots too.

Athena (Romain Gavras)
Babylon (Damian Chazelle)
The Banshees of Inisherin (Martin McDonagh)
Bones and All (Luca Guadagnino)
Crimes of the Future (David Cronenberg)
The Eight Mountains (Charlotte Vandermeersch and Felix van Groeningen)
Everything Everywhere All At Once (Dan Kwan and Daniel Scheinert)
Men (Alex Garland)
The Quiet Girl (Colm Bairead)
Tar (Todd Field)

DT. wrote: ↑Sat Mar 11, 2023 6:27 am Athena (Romain Gavras)

thanks for the ballot! am i correct to assume that the ballot is not meant to be in order? (it's in alphabetical order, and the probability is astronomically low that your preferences and alphabetical order would match perfectly, but it's still possible so just wanted to be sure)

i have finished tabulating the ballots posted so far -- votes for 86 different films, so we can't quite make a top 100 yet. i'll still be able to include ballots (or edits) that are posted in the next few hours, and new ballots would be great! if you want to edit a ballot you posted already, please quote your old ballot in its entirety in a new post, then post your new ballot underneath, so i can see how your votes have changed (otherwise it's really hard for me to work out how to adjust the tally). thanks!

flip wrote: ↑Sun Mar 12, 2023 12:54 pm

DT. wrote: ↑Sat Mar 11, 2023 6:27 am Athena (Romain Gavras)

thanks for the ballot! am i correct to assume that the ballot is not meant to be in order?

Yes

Results - the top 86 films of 2022, according to SCFZ

1. Triangle of Sadness (Ruben Ostlund)

2. Tar (Todd Field)
3. Unrest (Cyril Schäublin)
4. The Novelists' Film (Hong Sang-Soo)
5. EO (Jerzy Skolimowski)
6. Pacifiction (Albert Serra)
7. The Fabelmans (Steven Spielberg)
8. Aftersun (Charlotte Wells)
9. The Banshees of Inisherin (Martin McDonagh)
10. Trenque Lauquen (Laura Citarella)

11. Athena (Romain Gavras)
12. Everything Everywhere All at Once (Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert)
13. The 2nd Repatriation (Kim Dong-won)
14. Women Talking (Sarah Polley)
15. Petite Solange (Axelle Ropert)
16. See You Friday, Robinson (Mitra Farahani)
17. Utama (Alejandro Loayza Grisi)
18. Emily the Criminal (John Patton Ford)
19. RRR (SS Rajamouli)
20. Who’s Stopping Us (Jonas Trueba)
21. Rimini (Ulrich Seidl)
22. Mahaan (Karthik Subbaraj)
23. The Forgiven (John Michael McDonagh)
24. The Northman (Robert Eggers)
25. A Couple (Frederick Wiseman)
26. Walk Up (Hong Sang-soo)
27. Fast and Feel Love (Nawapol Thamrongrattanarit)
28. Lucy and Desi (Amy Poehler)
29. Sick of Myself (Kristoffer Borgli)
30. Stutz (Jonah Hill)
31. Weird: The Al Yankovic Story (Eric Appel)
32. Natchathiram Nagargiradhu (Pa. Ranjith)
33. Gangubai Kathiawadi (Sanjay Leela Bhansali)
34. Empire of Light (Sam Mendes)
35. The Outfit (Graham Moore)
36. Bones and All (Luca Guadagnino)
37. Three Widows Against the World (Hyrul Anuar)
38. Russia 1985-1999: TraumaZone (Adam Curtis)
39. Ponniyin Selvan 1 (Mani Ratnam)
40. The Flying Sailor (Amanda Forbis/Wendy Tilby)
41. Kimi (Steven Soderbergh)
42. X (Ti West)
43. The Eight Mountains (Charlotte Vandermeersch and Felix van Groeningen)
44. The Quiet Girl (Colm Bairead)
45. Crimes of the Future (David Cronenberg)
46. Men (Alex Garland)
47. Babylon (Damian Chazelle)
48. Let's Get Physical (Robin Hays)
49. A Human Position (Anders Emblem)
50. Nobody’s Hero (Alain Guiraudie)
51. RMN (Cristian Mungiu)
52. All That Breathes (Shaunak Sen)
53. Argentina, 1985 (Santiago Mitre)
54. All Quiet on the Western Front (Edward Berger)
55. Secret Name (Aurelia Georges)
56. Ben and Jody (Angga Dwimas Sasongko)
57. Nothing Compares (Kathryn Ferguson)
58. Alcarràs (Carla Simón)
59. Decision to Leave (Park Chan-wook)
60. Elvis (Baz Luhrmann)
61. Mr Landsbergis (Sergei Loznitsa)
62. Sidney (Reginald Hudlin)
63. Radhe Shyam (Radha Krishna Kumar)
64. Saint Omer (Alice Diop)
65. Vikram (Lokesh Kanagaraj)
66. The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent (Tom Gormican)
67. The Whale (Darren Aronofsky)
68. The Menu (Mark Mylod)
69. The Batman (Matt Reeves)
70. McEnroe (Barney Douglas)
71. Jhund (Nagraj Manjule)
72. Montana Story (David Siegel, Scott McGehee)
73. The Munsters (Rob Zombie)
74. Close (Lukas Dhont)
75. Deep Water (Adrian Lyne)
76. Bodies Bodies Bodies (Halina Reijn)
77. Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio (Guillermo del Toro)
78. Nope (Jordan Peele)
79. Bodyguard Seduction (Lindsay Hartley)
80. A Gaza Weekend (Basil Khalil)
81. Topology of Sirens (Jonathan Davies)
82. Liebesdings (Anika Decker)
83. Italian Studies (Adam Leon)
84. Bheeshma Parvam (Amal Neerad)
85. Crush (Sammi Cohen)