"The rare film that works no matter what you're looking for in it," according to our own J. Hurtado in his SXSW review earlier this year, Everything Everywhere All At Once has now been named Best Film of 2022 by the Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association (DFW Critics), of which I am a proud member.
As Mr. Hurtado wrote way back in March, "It's truly a feast, the kind that leaves you almost too stuffed to stand up from the table, but still reaching for that last bite. It's incredible." In the months since then, hundreds of movies have been released in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, which is quite representative as to which films open in movie theaters outside the major cinema centers of New York and Los Angeles, and my fellow local critics agreed on an action-adventure that is, yes, kinda mind-blowing in the complexity of its imagery and the audacity of its storytelling.
Colin Farrell was named Best Actor (The Banshees of Inisherin), Cate Blanchett was awarded Best Actress (Tar), Ke Huy Quan was named Best Supporting Actor (Everything Everywhere All At Once), and Kerry Condon won recognition as Best Supporting Actress (The Banshees of Inisherin).
As you might expect, Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert shared the Best Director prize for Everything Everywhere All At Once, while Decision to Leave won as Best Foreign Language Film, Good Night Oppy as Best Documentary, and Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio as Best Animated Film.
The wonderful EO, which I love, won the Russell Smith Award for "best low-budget or cutting-edge independent film." The complete list is below. And please note that Screen Anarchy will be publishing our own Top 10 on January 2, 2023.
SUMMARY OF AWARD WINNERS
2022 Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association
(Choices listed in order of votes received)
BEST PICTURE
Winner: EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE
Runners-up: THE BANSHEES OF INISHERIN (2); THE FABELMANS (3); TAR (4); TOP GUN: MAVERICK (5); WOMEN TALKING (6); THE WHALE (7); GUILLERMO DEL TORO'S PINOCCHIO (8); BABYLON (9); THE WOMAN KING (10)
BEST ACTOR
Winner: Colin Farrell, THE BANSHEES OF INISHERIN
Runners-up: Brendan Fraser, THE WHALE (2); Austin Butler, ELVIS (3); Bill Nighy, LIVING (4); Tom Cruise, TOP GUN: MAVERICK (5)
BEST ACTRESS
Winner: Cate Blanchett, TAR
Runners-up: Michelle Yeoh, EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE (2); Michelle Williams, THE FABELMANS (3); Danielle Deadwyler, TILL (4); Viola Davis, THE WOMAN KING (5)
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Winner: Ke Huy Quan, EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE
Runners-up: Brendan Gleeson, THE BANSHEES OF INISHERIN (2); Paul Dano, THE FABELMANS (3); Brian Tyree Henry, CAUSEWAY (4); Ben Whishaw, WOMEN TALKING (5)
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Winner: Kerry Condon, THE BANSHEES OF INISHERIN
Runners-up: Hong Chau, THE WHALE (2); Angela Bassett, BLACK PANTHER: WAKANDA FOREVER (3); Jessie Buckley, WOMEN TALKING (4); Janelle Monae, GLASS ONION (5)
BEST DIRECTOR
Winner: Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE
Runners-up: Steven Spielberg, THE FABELMANS (2); Todd Field, TAR (3); Martin McDonagh, THE BANSHEES OF INISHERIN (4); Sarah Polley, WOMEN TALKING (5)
BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
Winner: DECISION TO LEAVE
Runners-up: CLOSE (2); ARGENTINA 1985 (3); ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT (4); EO (5)
BEST DOCUMENTARY
Winner: GOOD NIGHT OPPY
Runners-up: ALL THAT BREATHES (2); FIRE OF LOVE (3); MOONAGE DAYDREAM (4); BAD AXE (5)
BEST ANIMATED FILM
Winner: GUILLERMO DEL TORO'S PINOCCHIO
Runner-up: MARCEL THE SHELL WITH SHOES ON
BEST SCREENPLAY
Winner: Martin McDonagh, THE BANSHEES OF INISHERIN
Runner-up: Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Winner: Russell Carpenter, AVATAR: THE WAY OF WATER
Runner-up: Greig Fraser, THE BATMAN (tie); Claudio Miranda, TOP GUN: MAVERICK (tie)
BEST MUSICAL SCORE
Winner: Alexandre Desplat, GUILLERMO DEL TORO'S PINOCCHIO
Runner-up: John Williams, THE FABELMANS
RUSSELL SMITH AWARD (best low-budget or cutting-edge independent film)
Winner: EO