Every year, I keep a running list of the best movies I’ve seen this year. By the end of the year, I usually end up with a Top Ten and another 5-15 mentions. Here’s last year’s list.
To get on my year-end list, a movie has to be one that thrills me while I’m watching it and one that I’m still thinking about a couple of days later.
Leave No Trace: his demons, not hers. Leave No Trace is Debra Granik’s first narrative feature since her 2010 Winter’s Bone (which I had rated as the best film of that year). Leave No Trace is a brilliant coming of age film that stars Ben Foster and Thomasin McKenzie as a dad-daughter team who challenge conventional thinking about homelessness and healthy parenting. Winter’s Bone launched the career of Jennifer Lawrence, and Leave No Trace might do the same for newcomer McKenzie. Leave No Trace may be streamed from Amazon, iTunes, Vudu, YouTube and Google Play.
Roma: exquisite portrait of two enduring women. This is the masterpiece of Oscar-winning filmmaker Alfonso Cuarón (Gravity, Children of Men and Y Tu Mama Tambien). Roma is a deeply personal and individual story, but one which is universal – that of women carrying on without the support of (and even despite) the men in their lives.
The Rider: a life’s passion is threatened. A young man’s rodeo injury threatens to keep him from his passions. Filmed in South Dakota with non-professional actors, The Rider is emotionally powerful and genuine – and not a bit corny. It’s also visually beautiful. You can stream it on Amazon, iTunes, Vudu, YouTube and Google Play.
Shoplifters: The closest families are chosen. This is a witty, and finally heartbreaking, look at a family that lives on the margins – and then is revealed to be not what it seems.
The Other Side of the Wind: Welles’ brilliance from beyond the grave. This brilliant film, finished thirty-three years after Orson Welles’ death, is Welles’ unsparing glimpse into his own personality – with a surreal film-within-the-film to boot. Available to stream, along with its two companion documentaries, on Netflix.
A Star Is Born: Bradley Cooper’s triumph. Lady Gaga illuminates Bradley Cooper’s triumphant A Star Is Born. Don’t bring a hankie – bring a whole friggin’ box of Kleenex.
Green Book: Vivid portraits of two rich and complex characters, two guys who underestimate each other at first. So much more than an odd couple story, a road movie or a civil rights historical drama. Superb performances by Viggo Mortensen and Mahershala Ali.
Burning: hypnotically compelling. This 2 hour, 28 minute slow burn begins as a character study, evolves into a romance and then a mystery, and finally packs a powerful punch with a thriller climax. It’s a superb achievement for director and co-writer Chang-dong Lee. You can stream Burning from Netflix, Amazon, iTunes and Vudu.
The Death of Stalin: gallows humor from the highest of scaffolds. The Death of Stalin is a savagely funny movie from writer-director Armando Ianucci (Veep, In the Loop), a master of mocking the ambition, venality and flattery of those reaching for power. In The Death of Stalin, he adds terror to his quiver of motivations, and the result is darkly hilarious. You can stream it on Amazon, iTunes, Vudu, YouTube and Google Play.
Beast: finally unleashed … and untethered. Beast is a romance, a psychological thriller and a serial killer procedural. But it’s Jessie Buckley’s performance and Michael Pearce’s story that should bring you to see Beast. It’s a heckuva ride. You can stream it on Amazon, iTunes, Vudu, YouTube and Google Play.
Custody: the searing essence of domestic violence. In his searing French thriller Custody, writer-director Xavier Legrand paints the most elemental and realistic depiction of domestic violence that I’ve seen. Extraordinary performances by Denis Ménochet and child actor Thomas Gioria. Custody can be streamed from Amazon, iTunes, Vudu, YouTube and Google Play.
BlacKkKlansman: funny and razor sharp. Spike Lee takes the stranger-than-fiction story of Ron Stallworth – a real African-American rookie cop in who infiltrated the local Ku Klux Klan in the 1970s – and soars.
Monrovia, Indiana: not much happens, except life itself. Master documentarian Frederic Wiseman peels back our prejudices and reveals the humanity and beauty – even in Fly-over America. Surprisingly mesmerizing.
Three Identical Strangers: a Feel Good until we peel back the onion. This documentary tells of an astonishing family discovery which is revealed to have a disturbing basis in human experimentation. It can be streamed from Amazon, iTunes, Vudu, YouTube and Google Play.
Quality Problems: a screwball comedy for the sandwich generation. My favorite film from last year’s Cinequest has been released on video this year. This delightful indie is a screwball comedy for the sandwich generation. You can stream it on Amazon, iTunes, Vudu, YouTube and Google Play.
Outside In: she finds herself finally ready. Edie Falco’s performance is stunning in this fine Lynn Shelton drama about a man returning to his community after 20 years in prison. Outside In is an acting showcase for Falco, Kaitlin Dever (Justified) and Jay Duplass (Transparent). Streaming on Netflix.
I try not to tease you with movies that you can’t find, but I need to acknowledge the best film from this year’s Cinequest, Bikini Moon. It appeared in a very few US theaters in October, and I will let you know if it becomes available on video.
Also screened at Cinequest, the Czech coming of age film Barefoot is one of the year’s best. Director Jan Sverák won an Oscar for Kolya, and Barefoot is better. Hopefully, it will get US theatrical distribution – or at least a VOD release.