Continuing my look at the movies of 2022 that did not make my top ten list, today I’m going to focus on international films.
This will be a quick post because I haven’t seen nearly as many foreign language films as I’d like this year. That’s partly because the streamers have not made them as readily available as in previous years. In fact, three of the five movies nominated for the Best International Feature Film Academy Award currently have no U.S. distribution, in theaters or otherwise.
Attention, movie fans! We’ve reached that time of year when I turn the blog over to a celebration of the previous year in film, leading up to the Oscar ceremony on March 12.
Over the next five weeks I’ll write about my 2022 top ten, my favorite performances of the year, and my favorite use of music in last year’s films. But before I get any of that, I’ll spend this week writing quick blurbs about some of the other memorable movies I saw last year.
I’m kicking things off with a look at the horror movies of 2022. This is a genre perennially ignored by the Academy Awards, so I thought I’d give it some love out of the gate.
I haven’t featured a song from The Clash’s classic album London Calling since July of 2009, way back at Song of the Day #357. I guess the Random iTunes Fairy thought that was too long.
London Calling is indeed a great album, considered one of the best of all time by many critics. It has the urgency and directness of great punk music but the ear candy melodicism of pop radio. It’s not an album I revisit often but it’s one I always enjoy when I do.
‘Up the Hill Backwards’ is the second track, and fourth single, from David Bowie’s 1980 album Scary Monsters.
This was Bowie’s first album following his critically-praised but commercially-challenged Berlin trilogy, and it had a more mainstream sound than its predecessors. First single ‘Ashes to Ashes’ gave him his second #1 hit in the UK.
Yesterday I featured David Crosby, and today is dedicated to another music legend we lost in recent weeks: Jeff Beck.
The English guitarist is widely considered one of the greatest talents to ever strap on the instrument. Beck started his career in the mid-60s as a member of The Yardbirds (replacing Eric Clapton) and went on to have a solo career blending largely instrumental rock music with blues and jazz.
Meet Me In Montauk 