My last list was a pretty even mix of blockbusters and independent films- this one, not so much. For those whose tastes run more in the direction of big-budget action extravaganzas, I direct you towards Part One of the list. Mind you, it's not because I think less of blockbusters, per se, it's just that I think less of blockbusters in the long term.
For the upper regions of this list, I tried to pick movies that really stuck with me, that I kept thinking about long after they were over- it just so happens that only one blockbuster made the grade, and I'll bet you can probably guess which one. That said, I also wanted to show some love to movies that might otherwise get looked over.
Mind you, I'm not saying my list is all that special. You'll probably see movies you've at least heard about, if not seen. But hopefully, some of you will read about at least one that you might not have considered watching before and give it a whirl based on my list. I couldn't ask for more, nor do I expect it. I just tried to pick movies that had a personal impact on me. Let's get started!
13. Tully
While this one was relatively well-received by critics, I didn't see it crop up much on anyone's end-of-the-year list, so I thought I'd give it some love here. Perhaps it was because it was released early in the year and got lost in the shuffle, but whatever the case, it features an Oscar-worthy turn by star Charlize Theron, and shows that writer Diablo Cody and director Jason Reitman are at their best when working together. (See Juno and Young Adult- and Reitman also co-produced the criminally underrated Jennifer's Body, which Cody wrote.)
Theron plays an expectant mother that is already the mom to two other kids, one of which has an unnamed developmental disorder. As you might expect, it's a lot to handle especially with her husband often out of town on business, so her brother recommends she get a so-called "night nanny" to help out with things. Basically, it's someone who comes in to sit with the baby and clean up the house and the like to alleviate some of the stress that comes along with being the mom of several kids.
The titular Tully, played winningly by a charming Mackenzie Davis, does indeed prove to be a godsend, but also comes with some quirks of her own, not the least of which is talking mom into going out for a drunken night on the town- or offering to "help out" in other areas of her life... including the bedroom. As you might guess, this proves to be a bit problematic in its own right.
I won't say anymore, except to say there's a big twist involved and that it was pretty divisive. Indeed, in the perfect example of why some people, myself included, are often driven up the wall by liberal outrage- and I say that as a liberal myself- one reviewer, who hadn't even seen the film, did a scathing review of what she perceived to be a clueless portrayal of postpartum depression, to say nothing of nannies, clearly seeing the film as the equivalent of one of those Lifetime movies about evil nannies seducing the husband and wrecking a marriage.
It's not that. To add insult to injury, after someone filled the would-be critic in on what was really going on, she then railed against the film AGAIN to bitch about Hollywood's portrayal of mental illness. Once again, I remind you, she HADN'T EVEN SEEN THE FILM. (Beware of spoilers, if you haven't seen it, but you can read said review here.)
And this is why the conservatives hate us- and TBH, I actually get it, in cases like this, where someone has a burst of faux outrage and they don't even know what the fuck they're talking about. (Some did rightfully call her out in the comment section, thank God, but not nearly enough, IMHO.)
Well, forget all that and see the movie and decide for yourself. I thought it was extremely well-done, and I might add that writer Diablo Cody is a mother who suffered from postpartum depression herself- hence the subject matter at hand- something which the reviewer I mentioned was clearly unaware of, as she just assumed it was typical Hollywood BS. It's not.
12. The Favourite
Occupying the slot held by last year's excellent Lady Macbeth is this warped tale from the completely bonkers director Yorgos Lanthimos, who previously gave us the likes of Dogtooth and The Lobster, both of which were miraculously nominated for an Oscar, as was this film. Alas, it only ended up winning one, but it was well-deserved, for Olivia Colman's stellar performance as Queen Anne- which shocked everyone, as Glenn Close was expected to be a shoe-in for the award this year.
The film revolves around the palace intrigue surrounding Queen Anne, with an emphasis on the competition between two women, Abigail and Sarah (Emma Stone and Rachel Weisz, both of whom were also nominated for Oscars) for Anne's affections, and the depths to which they are willing to go to secure it at all costs. But at what price?
The answer is far more warped than I expect a lot of viewers thought it would be going in, with such a prestige cast at hand- but not to those familiar with the wacky ways of Lanthimos. If anything, this is a nice way in to his other work for those who are unfamiliar. Hopefully, it will lead to more success coming his way in his future endeavors, which potentially include a sequel to this film.
Fair warning, though- you might not want to watch this one with your parents, or if you're a die-hard animal lover. Not that Lanthimos isn't, mind you- note that animals also play a significant (if more symbolic) role in his Dogtooth, The Lobster and The Killing of a Sacred Deer. Interestingly, though, this was the first film that the director didn't at least co-write. (Deborah Davis and Tony McNamara did the honors, garnering themselves an Oscar nomination in the process.)
Be that as it may, the film is definitely in keeping with the rest of his output, which is good news for fans. It also functions as an interesting feminist statement- namely, that women can be just as petty and underhanded as men- more so, even. I'm all for more well-rounded portrayals of women in film, so I loved it.
What astonishes me is that someone who so consistently goes out of his way to do such weird films keeps getting so much critical acclaim, to say nothing of all the awards love. Maybe an Oscar win for David Lynch isn't so out of the question after all, if this sort of thing is becoming more commercially accepted.
11. Hereditary
My favorite straight-forward horror film of the year- I qualify that because of another, less straight-forward movie on this list (see #5)- Hereditary features what is clearly one of the best performances of the year in Toni Collette's turn as Annie, the matriarch of a family that would seem to be cursed by... something. The less you know going in, the better.
But just to give a rough overview, the film revolves around a family that is rocked by the death of Annie's mother- not so much by her actual death, which somewhat comes as a relief to Annie, but the repercussions of it. Because, you see, no sooner does she die than weird stuff begins to happen. Is she haunting the family from beyond the grave? Or is it something even more sinister? I'll leave it to you to find out.
Suffice it to say that, despite the film nicking quite a bit from other films (notably the entire Paranormal Activity series- although, points for condensing it into one singular movie), this marks an auspicious directorial debut for filmmaker Ari Aster that bodes well for his future. It also made $79 million on a $9 million dollar budget, indie production company A24's biggest hit to date, so it was a huge commercial hit to boot, proving yet again that horror remains one of independent film's wisest investments.
But really, Collette, who should have been an Oscar contender for her riveting work here, is alone worth seeing it for, not matter what you think about the general plot. Some thought the twists at the end were a let-down, or that they didn't entirely add up, but making sense of things wasn't a problem for me- you just have to pay attention. As such, this is definitely a film that lends itself to multiple viewings- always a plus when it comes to any movies, IMHO.
Whatever the case, it was far and away the best horror film of the year, I thought, thanks to a great cast, excellent direction and writing (Aster did both), some great twists and a general atmosphere of dread and disquiet that few were able to match this year- although one could certainly make a case for Netflix's The Haunting of Hill House- but that's a series, not a movie. As far as the big screen is concerned, though, this was clearly the scariest horror had to offer this year- that I saw, anyway.
10. Black Panther
Far and away the best superhero flick of the year, the only such film to crack my Top Ten is this one, which garners points not just for its importance in the pantheon of comic-book films for being the first to feature a primarily African-American cast (and no, I'm not forgetting Blade and Spawn- but they were more anti-heroes than actual heroes), but for just being plain great. Hell, even my mom saw this one, and she doesn't tend to like this sort of thing at all.
The difference isn't just the cast, though- it's the quality of the writing. For once, we have a villain (excellently portrayed by Michael B. Jordan) that is imminently relatable, and has an actual good reason for doing what he does, even if his methods are questionable. Granted, so did Avengers: Infinity War, but one can only relate so much to a giant alien creature, lol.
Indeed, all the characters are pretty interesting, even the supporting ones, not the least of which were the women, who often were even more compelling than the Black Panther himself, though star Chadwick Boseman is nothing if not charismatic on the whole. Still, it's tough competing with the likes of Lupita Nyong'o, Danai Gurira and Letitia Wright, all of whom were awesome in their own right- not to mention totally kicking ass throughout the film.
The end result isn't just the best superhero film of the year, it's one of the all-time best, period, IMHO. And that, mind you, isn't just because it features a primarily black cast, and the importance that entails- it's just a good film, regardless, that happens to have a mostly African-American cast.
As such, it was the first ever comic-book film to garner a nomination for Best Picture at the Oscars, and it earned seven nominations in all (another first), of which it won three technical awards. If you haven't seen it by now, what are you waiting for?
9. The Miseducation of Cameron Post
In this riveting film, based on the Y/A novel of the same name, actress Chloë Grace Moretz once again proves why she's one of the finest actresses of her generation- and why she should probably stay away from all those cheesy big-budget blockbuster type movies, a la The 5th Wave or even The Equalizer (though I didn't mind that one, and at least she got to do a nifty Russian accent).
Here, she plays the titular Cameron Post, a young lesbian caught in the act by her boyfriend making out with her best friend at the prom, who promptly narcs on her, resulting in Cameron getting sent to one of those religious "conversion therapy" camps, where they try to "pray the gay away." Though we've come a long way since the early 90's period in which this is set, sadly, only 15 states have outright outlawed the practice on minors, making this still all too relevant today.
Indeed, as you might have heard there's currently a proponent of it lurking in the White House, Vice President Mike Pence, who is no doubt the one who has pointed #notmypresident in the direction of stuff like transgender bans in the military and the like. The fact that Pence would become President if you know who is impeached or resigns or whatever is the only thing that gives me pause about that happening. Better maybe to vote that asshole out of office come 2020- though the damage he might do in the meantime is alarming in and of itself, to be sure.
Anyway, lest you think this film is a preachy depress-fest, let it be known it actually has more of a Looking for Alaska-type vibe, which is to say, it's actually kind of fun, almost in spite of the heavy subject matter. Most of the kids there are wise to the fact that a lot of this stuff is pointless, and as such, aren't above wise-cracking about it, or making their own fun in a joyless place.
One "camper," played by up-and-coming actress Sasha Lane (of American Honey fame), grows her own weed on the premises, for instance, so there's some choice stoner talk, and you better believe there's a sing-a-long to 4 Non-Blonde's epic "What's Up?"- at least before the camp counselor (Jennifer Ehle, of the 50 Shades trilogy) inevitably comes along to suck the fun out of the room.
Yep, no "secular" music is allowed on the premises- especially that performed by a known lesbian offender, lol. (The Breeders, unsurprisingly, also prove to be a big no-go, which is kind of amusingly ironic.) To be fair, though, I did enjoy the grunge-flavored Christian rock group that played in concert at one point in the film, which isn't as horrific as it sounds.
Anyway, the point is, though the film does obviously deal with some heavy subject matter, it doesn't mean that it forgets to show the viewer a good time while addressing some still very relevant issues we should all be aware of and trying actively to do something about, if at all possible. It's also impeccably acted, beautifully-shot and ends on a reasonably hopeful note, for whatever that's worth. Either way, the film was criminally under-seen last year and deserves better, so onto my Top Ten it goes.
8. Assassination Nation
And now for something completely different! If there was one movie of the last few years that perfectly captures the completely bonkers sociopolitical climate we're currently living in, it's this one, in which a suburban community goes from zero to bat-shit crazy practically overnight.
It all begins when an anonymous hacker sends someone a file about the mayor, filled to the brim with all of his deepest, darkest secrets. The teen promptly sends the files to everyone he can think of, and in no time the scandal is all over town, with people demanding the mayor's resignation. They get it, and then some.
The hacker's next target is the principal, who, as it turns out, is squeaky clean, but SJW-types take offense to innocuous pictures of the principal's toddler daughter in the tub, labeling him a pedophile- charges which he vehemently denies, and unlike the Mayor, opts to fight. It is amongst this politically charged climate that the hacker then leaks a massive dump of files on a good half of the town.
As you might expect, complete chaos ensues. Friends turn on one another, couples break up, some turn violent against the people who wronged them. In addition, a virtual lynch mob assembles to search for the hacker and, if not bring them to justice, then outright kill them. The chief suspects include a small clique of teen girls that are thick as thieves, and who the hacker may have intentionally framed for the crime.
As you might guess, things don't end well for everyone, and the ending itself is pretty open- one assumes on purpose, because, just as we don't know what the future holds for us right about now, neither can we say for sure how things will end for this town- though we do eventually find out who the real culprit of the hacking is, and it's a doozy of a twist that brings to mind the ending of the original Scream: "It's the Millennium- motives are incidental."
The talented cast includes Odessa Young, Suki Waterhouse, Abra and transgender actress Hari Nef as the main foursome at the heart of the movie; Bella Thorne and Maude Apatow as bitchy cheerleader types; and, as the various adults in town, Joel McHale as a dirty dad on the down-low in a teen's DMs, Anika Noni Rose as the fierce den mother to a group of cam girls, and Jennifer Morrison, Rami Malek, Katheryn Erbe and everyone's fave crazy clown, Bill Skarsgård as various denizens of the town.
This nutty flick plays like Greg Araki directing The Purge from a script by Harmony Korine, and I do mean that as a compliment. It's destined to be a cult classic, to say nothing of prescient if things keep going in the direction they have been for some time. Hate crimes are through the roof, shootings have never been so common, and the country hasn't been this divided since the Vietnam era.
Honestly, we're all just one random info dump from going as crazy as everyone in this movie, what with so much of our personal info out there for everyone to find and exploit, and I don't even think we need a specific person to blame. As in this movie, anyone would do in the clutch, which is a scary thought.
Thankfully, we're not quite there yet, but in this current heightened climate, things could go sideways at any given time, if one more big thing goes down to push people over the edge. Hell, if anything, I'm shocked that people haven't en masse turned on the 1% by now, but a new Civil War isn't out of the question, either. Count your blessings, America, because it could happen. This movie shows one potential outcome for that, and, as such, it makes my Top Ten, scary though it might be.
7. Won't You Be My Neighbor?
On the opposite end of the spectrum, we have the movie equivalent of "Why can't we all just get along?", chronicling the rise and fall of Fred Rogers, better known as the host of the long-running "Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood." Already the highest-grossing biographical documentary of all time, the hugely successful film served as a potent reminder of the way things used to be, when we were all a bit kinder to one another.
At the same time, it also tells the tale of a gifted minister with a vision of creating a television show that didn't talk down to kids, but dealt with adult matters in a way that everyone could understand- even if those matters were darker than a total eclipse of the sun. Keep in mind that Mr. Rogers started his show in the late 60's, another time of great upheaval and strife in America, filled to the brim with murder, mayhem, war and social uprisings.
As such, he dealt head-on with assassinations, death and disorder and even racism in his own particular way. In one scene that's almost hard to wrap your head around today, Rogers causes a stir by washing his feet in the same water as a black man, which was apparently a big no-no back in the day. But by doing something that seems like nothing to most of us these days, he was able to bridge the gap between races in a way that quite literally put his best foot forward to that end.
On the other hand, we also see Rogers struggle to rectify his faith with the fact that a member of his cast- the very same African-American I just mentioned, in fact- was a gay man. Though unhappy about it at first, he eventually came to support the man, coming to terms with it in a way that others (particularly those affiliated with religion) wouldn't for years to come- and some still haven't, sad to say.
Long before Ellen, Mr. Rogers' credo was for people to "be kind to one another" and he certainly practiced what he preached, often to his own detriment at times. We could certainly use more like him these days, that's for sure. Watching his earnest attempts to reach children is a real eye-opener, least of all in a world in which many have thrown up their hands and stopped trying.
On a more personal note, I saw this with my mother, who told me of how I used to religiously watch the show as a kid, something I had no remembrance of at all. According to her, amusingly enough, my father didn't approve, suspecting that, ironically enough, Mr. Rogers was, as they still say down South, "a little light in the loafers," lol. 😂
Anyway, as I watched this, a lot of childhood memories came flooding back- some happy, some sad- and by the end of it, I was a bit of a mess, TBH. I can only imagine how some of the older viewers felt about it, who probably had Mr. Rogers explain some of the worst events of their lives as kids, be it the assassination of Robert Kennedy, the divorce of their parents (I myself am a child of divorce), the Challenger disaster or even death in a more general sense. That's some pretty heavy-duty stuff for a kids' show.
On a side note, if you haven't seen it, the Showtime series Kidding, which might well be the best thing comedic actor Jim Carrey ever did, does a spot-on re-imagining of the Mr. Rogers show, likewise dealing with some heavy issues, only through a modern lens, which means dealing head-on with drugs, sex and death, albeit in a more tongue-in-cheek manner.
As was the case for Mr. Rogers, no doubt, his supporters, including his father, often balk at Carrey's character dealing with such things on a kids show, but it doesn't stop him from trying. Check it out, by all means- it's a great show and it's interesting to see how the show filters some of the things in this movie through a more fictional lens.
6. Eighth Grade
Keeping with the kids theme, this film deftly deals with the effect social media has on the younger generation, and the right and wrong ways to deal with it. People talk a lot about representation these days, and to a certain degree, I agree it's important. However, in this case, we have a twenty-something white comedian-turned-writer/director writing about something one would think would be a potential disaster: the inner workings of a middle school female tween on the verge of graduating and entering high school.
But, instead, it's just fantastic, and it just goes to show that sometimes writing what you know can be universal, even if it seems like something that should be completely outside of one's wheelhouse. Besides, last I checked, there weren't a lot of eight graders writing and directing movies, male or female, so... yeah, I think we should let this one slide, because, boy, does filmmaker Bo Burnham absolutely nail it. Sometimes it's important to just let people write about whatever they want to, even if it seems like something they normally wouldn't know a damn thing about.
Helping Burnham achieve his vision immeasurably is star Elsie Fisher, in a fearless, pimples-and-all performance in which she goes for broke as a "normal" tween that has a lot to offer the world, but doesn't quite know how to go about doing it. As an outlet, she does an online vlog, in which she imparts her wisdom to the world about fitting in and the like, in spite of the fact that she herself doesn't. If that doesn't sum up the upcoming generation, Gen Z (or whatever), I don't know what does.
Think about it: as one older teen deftly points out in the film, this upcoming generation has never known a world without social media, and that can't help but adversely affect a person, placing worries on their plates that older generations never had to worry about. I can't express enough how grateful I am to have not been in high school, much less middle school, once internet culture and social media became prevalent. I shudder to think how much worse these kids have it these days.
I mean, it's readily apparent in this movie. Mean girls in training are already present, even in middle school. Tween boys seek out blow jobs and nude pics from fellow students. Schools have drills to prepare kids in the event of a school shooting, and it's such a commonplace thing that it doesn't even phase the main character when it comes to flirting with a classmate. Let that sink in for a minute.
We did have locker searches back when I was in high school (mostly for drugs or knives or the like, not guns), and I do remember those body scan things at the entrances starting to come in, post-Columbine- but school shooting drills? Yikes. I can't express how sad it is that kids have to deal with this sort of thing- or that adults don't do a damn thing about it, to the point that the kids themselves had to, i.e. Parkland.
On the other hand, it's nice to see some things never change: hella awkward pool parties, bad flirting, wonky first dates, nosy parents, wearing "D.A.R.E." t-shirts ironically, iffy games of "Truth or Dare?"... the list goes on. Speaking of parents, boy, did I feel for the dad in this movie, expertly played for maximum discomfort by Josh Hamilton.
Imagine trying to manage the pitfalls of single fatherhood (or even single motherhood) in this day and age, and you can see what a handful that could be. The scene where he has a heart-to-heart with his daughter towards the end hit me right in the feels, let me tell you, and I'm not even a father myself.
Both Fisher and Hamilton should have been contenders for more awards show love, to say nothing of Burnham, but alas, Oscar overlooked this one entirely. However, Fisher did garner a Golden Globe nod, and Burnham won both a Writers' Guild Award and a Directors' Guild award for Best Original Screenplay and Outstanding First Feature, respectively, so that's something, at least. Trust me, all of them are worth keeping an eye on in the future.
Until then, I can't recommend this one enough, and it should be required viewing for tweens and teens going through this sort of thing, if anything, just to show them they're certainly not alone in feeling alone and awkward. We all feel that way at some point, whether we want to admit it or not. For that reason, Eighth Grade makes the grade and then some.
5. Mandy
In terms of sheer, unbridled audacity, no movie came close to the out-and-out insanity of Mandy, the second film on my list to feature Nicolas Cage at his crazy best. It helps that the plot-line was made for his particular gifts: when a logger's fantasy artist girlfriend is kidnapped and later murdered by the leader of a crazed, acid-driven cult in the early 80's, he sets out on a quest for revenge towards those responsible.
Sounds like a standard Death Wish-style revenge flick, right? Well, I can assure you it isn't. For one thing, the whole thing is shot in a trance-inducing manner that makes the viewer feel like they're the one on a wild bad acid trip. Psychedelic visuals and music abound, and Jeremiah Sand, expertly played by Linus Roache, manages to be both hypnotic and pathetic, as a Manson-like cult leader that the titular Mandy (criminally underrated Andrea Riseborough, making the most of a limited role) sees right through, even drugged out of her gourd.
The entire film feels completely off-center: I've never seen anything quite like it. It's as if a hippie era David Lynch decided to remake Straw Dogs on LSD using Dario Argento's cinematographer circa Suspiria. Primary colors abound, with an emphasis on red- the color of blood, of which a lot is spilled, once Cage's character's (himself named Red) rampage begins in earnest. Wait until you see the so-called Black Skulls, who are like the Cenobites from Hellraiser reconfigured as the Sons of Anarchy.
The whole thing is nuts, from start to finish, opening with- what else?- a highlighted King Crimson tune as the camera sweeps over the forests, featuring old-school Panavision anamorphic filming techniques to give the film that seriously 70's vibe throughout, with oft-bizarre visuals and lighting that make the film feel like it was set in a mythical world like something out of one of Mandy's pictures or fantasy novels- it's as if the art painted on the side of a van came to life.
This is a world some viewers will want to get lost in time and again, even if they wouldn't touch it with a ten-foot-pole IRL. This isn't a movie, it's an experience. And what a long, strange trip it is. At over two hours, it's a bit overwhelming, but at the same time, I'm not sure I'd change a thing. It all feels just right to me.
Greek filmmaker Panos Cosmatos (of Beyond the Black Rainbow notoriety), not unlike fellow Greek filmmaker Yorgos Lanthimos, has a knack for creating films that feel like their set in their own given world which doesn't exist, but feels like it could, even if it's only in dreams- or nightmares, in this case. Only his second film overall, let's hope we don't have to wait the better part of a decade again for another one. Whatever the case, Mandy was well-worth the wait, that's for sure.
4. First Reformed
Another film which often feels like it was set in an alternate reality, especially towards the end, this remarkable return-to-form from national treasure Paul Schrader may well be his best offering since Taxi Driver, the classic Martin Scorsese cult flick he wrote way back in the mid-70's- or at the very least his controversial Biblical flick, The Last Temptation of Christ, two films this one has a lot in common with, thematically.
Ethan Hawke, who really should have gotten an Oscar nod for Best Actor, gives a career-best performance as a minister questioning his faith after meeting a parishioner (Philip Ettinger) that opens his eyes to climate change and his radical plans to do something about it. In addition, the young man is expecting a baby with his wife (Amanda Seyfried, in an excellent turn), and frets about bringing a child into a world destined to die, as he sees it.
The wife seeks Reverend Toller's help in talking her husband down from the metaphorical ledge, but, after a long talk, he begins to wonder if the man doesn't have a point. After tragedy strikes, Toller does a deep dive into the things the man was talking about and begins to despair his own damn self, a matter not helped by recurring stomach pains he suspects may be cancer and the fact that his own son, who he encouraged to enlist in the military, was killed in the Iraq War, which he blames himself for, resulting in his hitting the bottle hard.
As Toller begins to spiral out of control, he starts to contemplate joining the man's radical-environmentalist crusade and actually doing something about it, especially after he finds out one of the church's biggest supporters is also an industrialist responsible for some of the sorts of things the man was railing against. Will he do something radical his own damned self? Or will others help to steer him in the right direction? - if there is one, that is.
This thoughtful meditation on modern times, particularly as it relates to the way we're treating Mother Earth, is as timely as it comes, whether you choose to believe in climate change or not. Although, I have a hard time believing that anyone would be a CC-denier, what with all the evidence at hand. And yet there are- indeed, quite a few, not the least among them the current occupant of the White House, who thinks it's a hoax because it still gets cold in the winter and hot in the summer. 😒
Anyway, this is an engrossing drama that will knock some people for a loop, and probably leave others cold, I suppose, especially with that mental ending. But I thought it was pretty great, and certainly thought-provoking. I can certainly relate to having my doubts about bringing a child into the world as it currently exists- it's one of the main reasons I've been hesitant to go there myself. So, this one definitely hit close to home for me, personally.
But regardless of all that, see it for the top-notch writing an acting, with Hawke a stand-out and a solid dramatic turn from none other than Cedric the Entertainer, aka Cedric Kyles. It's easily one of the best things Schrader has ever done, and he did receive an Oscar nod for Best Original Screenplay for his efforts for whatever that's worth, though he didn't win. Either way, it one of those movies I couldn't stop thinking about, long after it was over, and is definitely worth seeing, especially for those of you who care about the environment- which, let's face it, we all should.
3. Bad Times at the El Royale
One a lot of critics and audiences alike slept on this year, Bad Times is one of the best post-Tarantino action-drama-mysteries I've seen in many a moon, but I didn't hear hardly anyone extolling its virtues at the end of the year, even though it got decent reviews overall.
Granted, movies of this type can easily go off the rails if not carefully plotted, but writer-director Drew Goddard- best-known for another underrated cult classic, The Cabin in the Woods, as well as for writing Cloverfield- does a bang-up job of dotting his i's and crossing his t's in this twisty flick that finds a disparate group of unlucky individuals in the same hotel at the wrong time, just as a whole lot of shit is about to hit the fan all-around.
The cast is exemplary, including Jeff Bridges as a shady priest, Jon Hamm as an even shadier salesman, a soul singer played by the talented Broadway actress Cynthia Erivo (who does her own impressive singing and did it live on set!) and God help us all, a hippie played by the normally 50 Shades of awful Dakota Johnson. Here, she's not so bad, but then, not that much is required of her, as you will see, if you haven't already.
Needless to say, everyone concerned has something to hide, and it eventually all comes out, not in the least after a final guest shows up: a cult leader played by, of all people, Chris Hemsworth. Yep, Thor plays a self-involved cult leader in this movie. Who doesn't want to see that? (It should be said that he's a damn sight more charismatic than the one in Mandy, though both are equally ugly on the inside in a Manson-esque way.)
This one kept me guessing every step of the way, and the pay-off really delivered. As with QT's Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction, we see a lot of events from multiple viewpoints, getting a little more information with each character's POV each time, until the entire story fully presents itself and it all comes crashing down in the exciting finale.
It's also worth mentioning, what with all the films that have an open-ending this past year- including many of the films on this list- that this one has a concrete, thoroughly satisfying one for those who prefer their endings wrapped up in a nice bow. I was personally entirely satisfied with it all around, and it's definitely a film I can see myself coming back to time and again, especially now that I know how everything fits together. Hopefully, you'll feel the same.
2. Leave No Trace
Literally the last film I watched for this list, it's also one of the best, thanks to knockout performances from co-leads Ben Foster (Hell or High Water) and relative newcomer Thomasin McKenzie (The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies), as a father and daughter living off the grid in Portland, Oregon. An Iraq War vet suffering from PTSD, Foster's Will can't abide by society's rules, man. Or maybe he just isn't able to, feeling boxed in by four walls.
As such, he and daughter, Tom, live in a tent, elaborately hidden away in a public park. Alas, despite their best efforts, they're eventually found out and rounded up by authorities who take them into custody. After determining that it would be too traumatic to separate the two, Social Services instead places them in a home on a Christmas tree farm and sets Will up with a job, telling them they can remain together so long as Will obeys the rules and does as he's told.
As you might guess, that doesn't go over great with Will, who is used to providing for himself and his daughter without anyone's help and resents being given handouts, even going so far as to sell his meds to get money for food and supplies. In forgoing said meds, though, Will suffers from night terrors that make it tough for him to be indoors for long. It's perhaps inevitable, then, that he later makes a break for it, daughter in tow, just as she's getting used to a more "normal" lifestyle.
But is it too late? Now that she's had a taste of normalcy, will the teen Tom start to resent her father and long for that sort of life again? When tragedy strikes, she has to make a choice to that end, and it's one both she and her father will have to live with, like it or not.
While a bit slow-moving at times, I'd be hard-pressed to tell you what should have been cut from this beautiful film. Like many movies on this list, it creates its own world and submerges us in it, putting us in the shoes of the main protagonists and making us wonder what we'd do in such a situation. The location shooting is gorgeous, and the forests here are, in their own way, just as beautiful and foreboding as the ones in Mandy, but much more grounded in realism than that film.
However, the real draw here is the central performances from Foster and McKenzie, who both make you see why the two stick together against all odds, and why they may also be drifting apart at the same time. McKenzie in particular is absolutely riveting, in what may be the single best performance of the year, which was criminally underrepresented during awards season, though she did win Breakthrough Performance at the National Board of Review, with the film itself landing in their Top Ten Independent Films list- a position it also served on many critics' end-of-the-year lists, topping a few.
Of all the films on this list, this is the one I might recommend the most to everyone, as a lot of the others are more acquired tastes. I suppose one could say this about this film as well, but I found it moving and wonderful, and beautifully done all around. I can't recommend this one enough, let me tell you.
1. BlacKkKlansman
The top position for me handily goes to this film, Spike Lee's best in many a moon, and one of his best, period. It doesn't get much timelier than this one, which is based on a remarkable true story that fellow filmmaker Jordan Peele (who also produced) brought to Lee's attention, thinking it would be perfect for him.
Indeed, it is, and Lee finally landed a long-deserved Oscar for his efforts here. In a perfect world, it would have won Best Picture, instead of what I suspect is the decidedly softer-to-take Green Book, but at the same time, I can't say I'm surprised, either.
A film like the latter is par for the course for the Oscars- though, at the very least, you can rightly say that last month's ceremony finally shed the whole #OscarsSoWhite moniker with all the diverse cultures represented, to say nothing of awarding so many deserving ladies to boot.
Never mind all that, though. The Oscars are notorious for getting things wrong a lot of the time. The truly important thing here is the deft, oftentimes laugh-out-loud funny way Lee tackles the subject matter, while at the same time wholly giving it the gravitas it truly deserves.
Peele rightfully handed this one over to someone with a bit more experience- few can walk the line between drama and dark comedy as adeptly as Lee does here. He fully gets that a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down, as it were.
The improbable story, which definitely sounds like something that only could happen in the movies, is remarkably based on a true story, about a black man in the 70's that managed to infiltrate the Ku Klux Klan via a local chapter in Colorado, where he had become the first black police officer there. Pretending to be a white man over the phone, he sets up a cover story, getting a fellow officer, who is white, to act as the persona he invented IRL.
The unlikely gambit actually works and eventually the officer, Ron Stallworth (John David Washington, son of Lee regular Denzel) begins communicating with no less than David Duke (Topher Grace, a long way from That 70's Show), the then Grand Wizard of the KKK, as his stand-in, Flip (Adam Driver, Oscar nominated for his turn here) gets in deep with the local chapter, getting wind of an impending attack on a civil rights rally. The two team up to stop it, all the while their cover is in peril of being blown.
The film is a rich exploration of race relations in the 70's era, and how the more things change, the more they stay the same- a point driven home by the film's epilogue, in which you know who is shown extolling the virtues of people on "both sides" of the more recent attack in Charlottesville, VA, strengthening his primarily white base in the process, much to supporter David Duke's enthusiasm.
As Duke hints in the film, the future KKK members will hide in plain sight, taking up the mantle of politics as a cover. Mission accomplished, obviously. It's alarming how blatant this sort of thing has become under President Voldemort, with most racists not even bothering to hide themselves anymore. Why bother with a hood, when damn near the entire Republican party is your cover?
Future generations are sure to count this current chapter in history as being just as vile as any in our past, sad to say, from the blatantly racist phone calls made by "concerned citizens" on black people just doing normal stuff, to the even worse practice of separating parents from their kids at the border and locking them up in cages like animals. It's vile, and the people that know better aren't going to forget the role the government played in all this on down the line, mark my words.
It's like Cohen said at his public hearing recently: "I've been where you are now, and trust me, it isn't going to end well for you." He might be a habitual liar, but on that count, I do think he knew of what he spoke, and I suspect the Republican party are going to be held to account for it sooner than later. One can only hope.
In the meantime, there's a movie like this one, which encourages us to recognize evil when we see it, while remaining able to laugh at how ignorant and stupid it can be sometimes, in spite of how evil it is.
It's a shame that the Academy didn't recognize it more than they did, but while they're patting themselves on the back over Green Book's version of the truth, at least we can take comfort in the fact that Lee offered up a more unvarnished version.
For that reason, and plenty more where that came from, it tops my list. You'd be hard-pressed to find a more engaging example of where we stand as a nation than this one, or that is as sobering as it is entertaining, and that's why, for me, this was the best of the best.
Well, that about does it for my list. Hope you enjoy it, and be sure to keep an eye out for one last installment, in which I tackle the worst of the year, as well as the best of the worst. (You'll see soon enough.) As ever, thanks for reading! 😃
No comments:
Post a Comment