Even as I limit myself to 35 films (which is still
ridiculously high), I have to note there are films I should include – but won’t
(and this doesn’t even include docs or animated film, which have their own
lists). So a few films I still didn’t have room for but quite like include: Cold War (Pawel Pawlikowski), First Man
(Damien Chazelle), The Guilty (Gustav Moller), Halloween (David Gordon Green), Lean
on Pete (Andrew Haigh), Private Life (Tamara Jenkins), A Quiet Place (John
Krasinki), The Rider (Chloe Zhao) and The
Wild Pear Tree (Nuri Bilge Ceylon). This truly was a year with an
embarrassment of riches. Here’s the films ranked 35-20.
35.
Unsane (Steven Soderbergh)
One of the most underrated films of the year – and
of Steven Soderbergh’s career – Unsane continues Soderbergh’s long history of
experimentation. Here, he shoots the film on an iPhone – but that doesn’t
affect its scope or its scale. Claire Foy gives her best cinematic performance
of the year as a young bank executive, feeling stressed, who goes to see a
shrink and ends up being committed for reasons she cannot understand. From
there, the film spins into a paranoid thriller. The blue room sequence really is
one of the best of the year – and should have become legendary. I am happy to
have Soderbergh back.
34.
Zama (Lucrecia Martel)
One of the year’s most challenging features, was Argentinian
director Martel’s strange, surreal, deadpan comedy of colonialism about a
mid-level government bureaucrat, stationed at a remote outpost, who continually
thinks he is going to get transferred to Buenos Aires, and of course, never
does. Martel, who has carved out a very specific place for herself in world
cinema with films like The Holy Girl and The Headless Woman, has made her most
ambitious film to date her – a kind of fever dream with a constant buzzing
soundtrack that disorients, and featuring a great performance by Daniel Gimenez
Cacho as a man trapped in a horrible cycle of his own making.
33.
Can You Ever Forgive Me? (Marielle Heller)
Can You Ever Forgive Me is a subtle, funny film
about people on the edges of the literary world who are trying really hard just
to survive. It stars Melissa McCarthy in what is probably her best performance.
She plays Lee Israel, a biographer of interesting people, who writes great
books that nobody reads, and makes ends meet as a copyeditor – although she
hates that. She stumbles into forgery when she starts to sell faked letters
from famous authors – enlisting her only friend (a great Richard E. Grant) in
on her scam. Director Marielle Heller, whose debut was the wonderful The Diary
of a Teenage Girl, was another low-key period piece, here recreates the dirty
New York of the early 1990s, to create a quietly moving film about a couple of
misanthropes, that you cannot help but like and feel empathy for.
32.
Wildlife (Paul Dano)
Paul Dano’s debut film is a sensitive period piece,
based on the great Richard Ford novel, about a family coming apart at the seams
– all told from the point-of-view of the teenage son, who cannot hold his
parents together no matter how much he wants to. Set in Montana, the movie is
about this family, who have just moved (again) and the father has just lost his
job (again) – when the father (Jake Gyllenhaal) decides to go fight a wildfire,
and leave his family for weeks or months – much to the chagrin of his wife (Carey
Mulligan) – who kind of loses it when her husband leaves. She is a woman,
trapped in a place she doesn’t know, with zero prospects, not a lot of money,
and a teenage son she leans on too much (and doesn’t even try to hide her
behavior from). The performances are great – sensitive and subtle – and the
direction by Dano is also wonderful. The screenplay (that Dano co-wrote with
Zoe Kazan) doesn’t judge the characters, nor poke or prod the audience. Dano
has always been a fine actor – now he’s set to become a fine director as well.
31.
Tully (Jason Reitman)
It’s been a tough few years for Reitman – who made
increasingly good films for his first four efforts (Thank You for Smoking,
Juno, Up in the Air and Young Adult) and then hit a few stumbling blocks with
Labor Day and Men, Women & Children (the other film he made after Tully,
The Front Runner, is okay – so perhaps the comeback isn’t complete). But Tully
is one of Reitman’s very best – taking a great screenplay by Diablo Cody (Juno,
Young Adult) and making a film that may be difficult to watch – but that’s only
because it hits so close to home. Charlize Theron is terrific in the lead role
– once a New York corporate woman, now a suburban housewife, pushing 40, with
an unexpected baby just arrived, and slowly going crazy – until the godsend,
Tully (Mackenzie Davis) arrives to take care of everything. Any parent will
recognize so much of what happens in Tully (mothers more so), and perhaps
that’s why it didn’t make more at the box office (who wants to find a
babysitter to go see a movie about your life – and if you aren’t a parent, why
would you want to see it). But Tully is a film that I have no doubt with be
remembered for years to come – it’s one of the most honest portrayals of
motherhood – and the scariest one outside of horror films.
30.
The Death of Stalin (Armando Iannucci)
The Death of Stalin is a comedy about the aftermath
of the Soviet dictators’ death from the Iannucci, writer/director of In the
Loop and creator of Veep. He knows this territory well – the corridors of
power, and how ridiculous it can all be – and he doesn’t hold back here,
allowing his cast (none of whom is even trying to do a Russian accent – and
we’re all lucky for that) to look ridiculous throughout. And yet, he also
allows the violence in the film to play out as well – so that those laughs get
caught in your throat – and hurt. The people here are vile and ruthless – some
of them are idiots, but some of them are extremely smart. The acting is
universally superb – especially Steven Buscemi and Simon Russell Beale. A
great, dark comedy.
29.
Vox Lux (Brady Corbet)
I feel bad that Brady Corbet’s Vox Lux has
seemingly gotten lost in the year end shuffle this year (really, they should
have held onto it and released it in the spring – the film is too strange to
ever be an awards player) because it really is a fascinating film – that love
it or hate it, you won’t forget it. In the aftermath of a school shooting
Celeste (Raffey Cassidy – confirming her talent we all saw in The Killing of a
Sacred Deer last year) becomes a teenage pop sensation – flash forward 20
years, and he’s now Natalie Portman, still a huge star, with a teenage daughter
of her own. Corbet (making a big leap from his debut film, The Childhood of a
Leader) tries to make all sorts of strange connections between celebrity and violence
and sex and depression, etc. – and does so in intriguing, troubling ways.
Portman is the standout performance here – turning it up to 11, and going all
in on every aspect of her performance. I’m still not sure what it all meant –
but I know I’m going to keep coming back to this troubling, ambitious film.
28.
Revenge (Coralie Fargeat)
The rape/revenge horror film has certainly had some
good entries in it before (Wes Craven’s The Last House on the Left comes to
mind), but more often than not, it’s been used to titillate and exploit, not
explore the deeper, darker subjects it brings up. Coralie Fargeat’s debut film
Revenge then acts as a corrective for that. The rape in the film is ugly and vile
– as it should be – and while she doesn’t hold back on the blood as the film
enters the revenge phase (hell, the finale is probably the bloodiest thing I’ve
seen all year) – it’s also not there for just thrills and exploitation. Fargeat
takes the genre seriously, while still letting it be a bloody and violent genre
experiment as well. I can only hope a long career follows for her – where she
continues to explore the genre.
27.
Game Night (John Francis Daly & Jonathan Goldstein)
The best mainstream comedy to come out of Hollywood
is a long time, Game Night is a hilarious film about a trio of couple who get
together for what they think is a board game night, but quickly spins wildly
out of control into kidnapping and violence. Jason Bateman and Rachel McAdams
are perfectly paired with each – McAdams in particular is brilliant – as the
hyper competitive couple at the core, but everyone in the film does a great job
(no one more so than Jesse Plemons, who has one of my absolute favorite line
readings, well, ever, in the film). Making comedies like this that hit as
consistently as this one does, and has real lasting power (I’ve seen it more
than once – it works every time) is hard. This is one of those comedy classics
that will be remembered for years.
26.
Black Panther (Ryan Coogler)
Black Panther is about as good as MCU films can
get. Yes, the whole thing is still on rails in terms of its storytelling – its
obligation to be a part of a larger universe, and setup what comes next – but
what makes it so interesting is what Coogler and company are able to do within
that framework. It gives the MCU its best villain to date in Michael B.
Jordan’s Killmonger – because he’s really the first one who you can truly
understand his motivations, and is recognizably human. It also does the best
job of any Marvel film at world building – making Wakanda into its own, unique
place – a mishmash of African cultures, so foreign to the generic Marvel
setting that is the backdrop of most of their films. It also allows Coogler to
continue to address issues that have driven him in previous films Fruitvale
Station and Creed. Yes, this is still a Marvel film – and everything, both good
and bad, that implies – but it’s as good as these films can get – and works by
itself a superior, blockbuster filmmaking.
25.
Blindspotting (Carlos Lopez Estrada)
Daveed Diggs and Rafael Casal are childhood friends
from Oakland, who co-write and co-star in this film about their hometown, and
its increasing gentrification. The issues both of them face – one is black, and
one is white – are different to be sure, and they handle things in exactly the
opposite ways. Both performances are excellent – but the screenplay is really
the star here, a strange mixture of verse that required performers like Diggs
and Casal, to deliver it properly. The ending of the film is one of the most
controversial of the year – with some not thinking it works at all, but I think
works brilliantly – we know the ending we were expecting, and that wasn’t it.
It was better. A film that flew under the radar a little all year, but really
deserves a big audience.
24.
Support the Girls (Andrew Bujalski)
Support the Girls is one of those small, quiet
indies that you see and enjoy – but then surprises you by how often you think
about the film, its characters, and what is has to say about America. This is
not a bombastic film in any way, shape or form – but it is quietly insightful
and profound. Regina Hall gives one of the great performances of the year as
the manager of a Hooters-like restaurant, who runs the place with
professionalism and kindness for all of her girls – but also the customers, the
kitchen staff, everyone – even as her life falls apart outside and inside of
her job., Haley Lu Richardson once again shows why she is a superstar in the
making with an excellent supporting turn. I’m been mixed of Bujalski in the
past – one of the founders of mumblecore has, I think been too low-key at
times, but here he nails it – especially the cathartic ending.
23.
A Star Is Born (Bradley Cooper)
The fact that it has been years since we’ve seen a
big, Hollywood epic, musical romance like A Star is Born on the big screen just
goes to show how special Bradley Cooper’s debut film as a director really is.
He nails the celebrity aspect of the film – without going to the really dark,
cynical places (you want Vox Lux is you want that film) – and figures out how
to make the male half of this duo as relatable and sympathetic as the female
character has always been. He was also smart enough to cast Lady Gaga in the
lead role, allowing her to strip off the makeup to show a vulnerable person
underneath. The filmmaking is also intimate, while retaining the bigness the
film needs. Yes, the first half of the film is far superior to the second half
– which is really on rails – but even as the film progresses, there are so many
moments that work its hard to complain. You could say the film is big screen
cheese, and you’d be partly right – but it’s done so well, do you really want
to complain?
22.
Shoplifters (Hirokazu Kore-eda)
If Shoplifters isn’t the best film by Japanese
filmmaker Hirokazu Kore-eda, it’s very close. His Palme d’or winning film is
quietly devastating, slowly building its emotional impact simply by sitting
back and observing this under-privileged Japanese family, really on the fringes
of society. Each of the characters has their own arc – their own money making
scheme as it were, so it’s fascinating to watch them as they go off on their
own, and then come back together and interact with each other. Hirokazu has
always been at his best when depicting class in Japanese society – and those
who have been left behind. Here, he complicates things a little – showing us a
family that is genuinely loving and supportive of each other, and at the same
time have done things that are objectively wrong, even if for the right
reasons. This is the type of seemingly simple film that simply grows and grows
in your mind over time.
21.
Thoroughbreds (Cory Finley)
One of the underseen highlights of the year, was
Cory Finley’s debut film about a pair of teenage girls plotting murder. Olivia
Cooke is the more outwardly disturbed of the two girls – already awaiting
sentencing for a disturbing crime – who reconnects with her seemingly perfect
old friend, Anya Taylor-Joy – only to discover that she may be dealing with a
whole different level of psychopathology. The film is at its best as the pair
of girl’s needle each other, feel each other out for just how far things can be
pushed until it’s too far, and things need to snap back into place. Finely is a
playwright making his directorial debut here – but unlike most playwrights
turned directors, this movie isn’t all about the dialogue – Finely does great
things with the silence in the movie, especially in the most memorable pieces of
violence, all of which happens off-screen. It also features two excellent lead
performances by talented young actresses, and a final wonderful turn by the
late, great Anton Yelchin, as a guy who thinks he’s smarter than the two girls,
and has no idea what he’s in for. Check this one out – far too few people did.
No comments:
Post a Comment