FLICKS THAT CLICKED

UNVEILING THE INAUGURAL ASSOCIATED PRESS LIST RANKING 2022 MOVIES Original films lead the tallies in survey

Fiercely original films, femalefocused stories and theatricalfirst releases had the clear edge in The Associated Press’ inaugural Top 25 Movies list, which was topped by Searchlight Pictures’ “The Banshees of Inisherin.”

In a cinematic landscape where it often seems that only franchise films have a shot at traditional box-office success, the top five films on the AP’s list were all original — and most did find robust audiences in theaters, despite the fact that moviegoing has yet to return to pre-pandemic levels.

Writer-director Martin McDonagh’s dark comedy about feuding friends in Ireland has been a clear favorite of critics’ groups and industry voting bodies since its decorated debut at the Venice Film Festival in September. The movie starring Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson continues to find new audiences now that it’s available on streaming platforms.

Second place went to the year’s Cinderella story, Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert’s anarchic, multiversehopping “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” an A24 release starring Michelle Yeoh and Ke Huy Quan that became a word-ofmouth sensation.

Focus Features’ “Tar,” Todd Field’s challenging classical music drama with Cate Blanchett, placed third. It’s the only film in the top five that has struggled at the box office. Although the top three may sound like many critics’ lists, things took a representative, crowd-pleasing turn with the next several films. Jordan Peele’s movie thriller sendup “Nope” snagged fourth place, and Gina Prince-Bythewood’s throwback action epic “The Woman King” rounded out the top five. Both are major studio films (Universal and Sony, respectively) from Black directors with Black actors in the lead.

The list also included the biggest blockbusters of the year, “Top Gun: Maverick” (No. 7) and “Avatar: The Way of Water” (No. 16, tied); big-studio releases such as Steven Spielberg’s semi-autobiographical “The Fabelmans” (No. 8) and Baz Luhrmann’s “Elvis” (No. 14); and myriad international films such as the Telugu-language musical epic “RRR,” prominently featured at No. 6.

Netflix did break into the top 10 with a crowd-pleaser of its own: Rian Johnson’s starry, comedic whodunit “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery.”