The 2022 Danny’s

It’s Oscar Sunday! Based on last year’s television ratings, many people now treat this with a ¯\_(ツ)_/¯. The Academy has responded with sweeping changes that cheapen certain awards and filmmakers. They should have looked to the Danny’s for inspiration instead. We believe movies are still magic and that everything that goes into making them should be celebrated.

With that, it’s on to Best Picture, and it wasn’t a close call for me. Watching the delightful CODA made me happier than any other movie this year. Relative newcomer Emilia Jones stars as the only hearing member of a deaf family (CODA stands for Child of Deaf Adults). Marlee Matlin and the hilarious Troy Kotsur are her parents, who struggle with a failing fishing business and their teenage daughter’s growing independence. The film is filled with abundant heart and grace as the main character literally starts to find her voice. I am also a sucker for any version of Joni Mitchell’s Both Sides Now. (You can currently find CODA only on Apple TV+. Hopefully, that changes soon.)

Denis Villeneuve directed Arrival, my Top Film of the 2010s, but he has never won a Danny. Until now! He wins Best Director for Dune. Based on a novel written by a guy who was really into magic mushrooms, it’s an almost impossible story to tell on film. Villeneuve is the most visionary director working today and one of the few I would have trusted with this material. Visually stunning, the film also does the first half of the book I was obsessed with in 8^th Grade justice. I thank Sweet Baby Jesus that the box office was good enough that the second half will make it to the big screen. When you get done with Dune Mr. Villeneuve, Stephen King’s Dark Tower series is waiting for you! 🙂

My first Best Actor goes to Andrew Garfield for tick…tick…Boom! I was hesitant to watch this one as I wasn’t ready for another suffering artist trying to write his masterpiece story, but I’m glad I did. This movie pleasantly surprised me. Based on the autobiographical musical by Jonathan Larson, who would later write another little musical called Rent, the movie focuses less on suffering and more on desperately fighting to reach your potential. Equally driven and unsure, Garfield is beyond outstanding. And I had no idea he could sing!

My first Best Actress goes to Renate Reinsve for the Norwegian film The Worst Person in the World. She plays the title character who isn’t really as bad as all that. But she does make some questionable decisions as she tries to figure out who she is and what her life should be. At turns both comedic and tragic, Reinsve performance is a marvel as it traces her character’s journey from an undefined twenty-something to a slightly more sure of herself thirty-something. I also award the movie my Best Foreign Film, and even if movies with subtitles aren’t your thing, you should check it out.

My second Best Actress goes to Jessica Chastain for The Eyes of Tammy Faye. It must be an extreme challenge to take a well-known and iconic national joke like Tammy Faye Bakker and turn her story into something approaching compassion. Behind mountains of makeup, Chastain pulls it off. I kept thinking back to her badass character in Zero Dark Thirty, for which she won a 2013 Danny, and how great of an actress she is to play such completely different parts so very well.

My second Best Actor goes to Will Smith for King Richard. He completely transforms himself into the determined Richard Williams, who had a singular plan to guide his daughters, Venus and Serena, into becoming great tennis players and fully rounded human beings. Being African American and living in Compton made things an extreme challenge. Smith perfectly captures the struggles and successes along the way.

Best Screenplay goes to Kenneth Branagh for his autobiographical film Belfast. Both heartbreaking and uplifting, this tale of a boy growing up during the troubles in Northern Ireland in the late 1960s speaks powerfully to both the ideas of family and community. Deeply personal stories are somewhat out of vogue these days, and I wish more filmmakers dared to share similar visions from their own lives.

Best Scene (Nonfiction) goes to the final hour of Get Back, Peter Jackson’s epic documentary on the making of The Beatles’ Let It Be. The rooftop concert that the Fab Four (plus my favorite honorary Beatle, Billy Preston) staged is an iconic moment in history. If I had a time machine, I’d go back to one of the adjoining rooftops to take it in myself. Since that’s probably not going to happen, the fact this footage exists and was so lovingly restored is miracle enough.

Best Scene (Fiction) goes to the entire sequence in Licorice Pizza where the young protagonists deliver a waterbed to Hollywood bad boy (and Barbra Streisand’s then-boyfriend) Jon Peters. Bradley Cooper is a hoot as that particular asshole. Cooper Hoffman and Alana Haim are wonderful as well in Paul Thomas Anderson’s ode to his adolescence in the San Fernando Valley in the 1970s. A runaway truck, the Hollywood hills, and a classic Ferrari also play memorable roles in this bravura set-piece.

It was a fantastic year for animated movies. Three really stood out to me, so my Animated Films of the Year go to:

• The Mitchells vs. the Machines for its frenetic take on coming of age during a robot apocalypse
• Luca for its nostalgic look at a Vespa loving sea creature coming of age in 1950s Italy
• Encanto for its lively coming of age tale set in a magical part of Colombia where no one seems to want to talk about Bruno

Best Remake goes to Nightmare Alley, Guillermo Del Toro’s ravishing retelling of a mostly forgotten 1940s film about carnies, a conman, and consequences.

The Dan’s a Hypocrite Award goes to West Side Story. I just handed out an award for a remake, and now I will complain about a remake. Steven Spielberg’s version of this classic musical is both beautiful and vibrant. But did we really need a rehash of a previous Best Picture winner? No.

My Best Three-Hour Japanese Film About Driving Around in a Car, Anton Chekov’s Uncle Vanya, Avant-Garde Theater, Greif, Loss, and Redemption Award goes to Drive My Car. If you like any combination of these things, you’ll like this movie. I did.

Many categories won’t be presented live on the Oscar telecast this year. Sorry certain filmmakers, but your work isn’t significant enough for the big boy broadcast. Here at the Danny’s we disagree with that sentiment and want to specifically recognize these crucial contributors:

Best Editing: Hank Corwin, Don’t Look Up. The film wants to be a Dr. Strangelove for the 21^st Century. It fails at that pretty badly. But, in between a few chuckles, I kept noticing how skillfully the movie was edited. Good on you, Hank!

Best Production Design: Adam Stockhausen & Rena DeAngelo, West Side Story. I said my piece about Spielberg’s latest above, but I can’t deny that the movie looked spectacular. Gorgeous work, Adam and Rena!

Best Hair & Makeup: Linda Dowds, Stephanie Ingram & Justin Raleigh, The Eyes of Tammy Faye. When the main character of your movie is known for her hair and makeup, you better get it right. This trio more than did so. Great job, Linda, Stephanie & Justin!

Best Sound: Tod A. Maitland, Gary Rydstrom, Brian Chumney, Andy Nelson & Shawn Murphy, West Side Story. I am heaping awards onto a movie I complained about, but it really was a technical feast for the senses. My ears enjoyed your work, Tod, Gary, Brian, Andy, & Shawn!

Best Original Score: Hans Zimmer, Dune. A story as weird and epic as Dune needs a score to match. This is the fifth decade in which Zimmer has received an Oscar nomination in this category. Wow! I am honored to present him with his first Danny. Perfekte musik, Herr Zimmer!

Finally, here are some thoughts on other films from this year:

The Power of the Dog: The only Oscar Best Picture nominee I haven’t mentioned yet. Sam Elliott really seemed to hate this one. I didn’t. But I don’t get the big deal either. It’s not Best Picture material to me.

Spider-Man: No Way Home: Big-time tip of the cap to the filmmakers for (Spoiler Alert!) bringing together three Spider-Men and five previous villains into something refreshingly original. Since every other movie needs to be about a superhero these days, I’m glad one or two still try to be different.

The French Dispatch: If like me, you like Wes Anderson films, this is perhaps the most Wes Anderson-y of them all.

Pig: Nicolas Cage is fantastic as a former top chef who hasn’t taken a shower in a decade trying to get his truffle-hunting pig back.

Lamb: A disturbing offering from Iceland about a farming family and their unusual, you guessed it, lamb. I can’t say much more without giving anything away. It’s a bizarre movie, though. I can assure you of that.

Nobody: Bob Odenkirk is one of my favorite actors. He’s super fantastic on the underrated Better Call Saul (returning for its final season this April!). Seeing him in this action flick was a blast. The fact that his training for the movie probably saved his life when he suffered a heart attack last summer makes me appreciate it even more.

And ending on a movie saving someone’s life seems like the best way to bring this year’s edition of the Danny’s to a close. As always, thanks for reading!