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grigori77 · 4 years ago

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Summer 2020′s Movies - My Top Ten Favourite Films (Part 2)

10. BODY CAM – in the face of the current pandemic, viral outbreak cinema has become worryingly prescient lately, but as COVID led to civil unrest there were a couple of films in this summer that REALLY seemed to me to put their finger on the pulse of another particularly shitty zeitgeist. Admittedly this one highlights a problem that’s been around for a good while, but it came along at just the right time to gain particularly strong resonance, filtering its message into the most reliable form of allegorical social commentary – horror. The vengeful ghost trope has become pretty familiar over the past decade or so, but by marrying it with the corrupt cop thriller veteran horror screenwriter Nicholas McCarthy (The Pact) has given it a nice fresh spin, and the end result was, for me, a real winner. Mary J. Blige plays troubled LAPD cop Renee Lomito-Smith, back on the beat after an extended hiatus following a particularly harrowing incident, just as fellow officers from her own precinct begin to die violent deaths under mysterious circumstances, and the only clues are weird, haunting camera footage that only Renee and her new partner, rookie Danny Holledge (Paper Towns and Death Note’s Natt Wolff), manage to see before it inexplicable wipes itself. Something supernatural is stalking the City of Angels at night, and it’s got a serious grudge against local cops as the increasingly disturbing investigation slowly brings an act of horrific police brutality to light, until Renee no longer knows who in her department she can trust. This is one of the most insidious scare-fests I’ve enjoyed so far this year, sophomore director Malik Vitthal (Imperial Dreams) weaving an effective atmosphere of pregnant dread and wire-taut suspense while delivering some impressively hair-raising shocks (the stunning minimart sequence is the film’s undeniable highlight), while the ghostly threat is cleverly thought-out and skilfully brought to “life”. Blige delivers another top-drawer performance, giving Renee a winning combination of wounded fragility and steely resolve that makes for a particularly compelling hero, while Wolff invests Danny with skittish uncertainty and vulnerability in one of his strongest performances to date, and Dexter star David Zayas brings interesting moral complexity to the role of their put-upon superior, Sergeant Kesper. In these times of heightened social awareness, when the police’s star has become particularly tarnished as unnecessary force, racial profiling and cover-ups have become major hot-button topics, the power and relevance of this particular slice of horror cinema cannot be denied.

9. BLOOD QUANTUM – it certainly has been a great year for horror, and for most of the summer this was the genre leader, a compellingly fresh take on the zombie outbreak genre with a killer hook. Canadian writer-director Jeff Barnaby (Rhymes for Young Ghouls) has always clung close to his Native American roots, and he brings strong social relevance to the intriguing early 80s Canadian setting as a really nasty zombie virus wreaks havoc in the Red Crow Indian Reservation and its neighbouring town. It soon becomes clear, however, that members of the local tribe are immune to the infection, a revelation with far-reaching consequences as the outbreak rages unchecked and society begins to crumble. Barnaby pulls off some impressive world-building and creates a compellingly grungy post-apocalyptic vibe as the story progresses, while the zombies themselves are a visceral, scuzzy bunch, and there’s plenty of cracking set-pieces and suitably full-blooded kills to keep the gore-hounds happy, while the horror has real intelligence behind it, the script posing interesting questions and delivering some uncomfortable answers. The characters, meanwhile, are a well-drawn, complex bunch, no black-and-white saviours among them, any one of them capable of some pretty inhuman horrors when the chips are down, and the cast, an interesting mix of seasoned talent and unknowns, all excel in their roles – Michale Greyeyes (Fear the Walking Dead) and Forrest Goodluck (The Revenant) are the closest things the film has to real heroes, the former a fallible everyman as Traylor, the small-town sheriff who’s just trying to do right by his family, the latter unsure of himself as his son, put-upon teenage father-to-be Joseph; meanwhile, Olivia Scriven is tough but vulnerable as his pregnant white girlfriend Charlie, Stonehorse Lone Goeman is a grizzled badass as tough-as-nails tribal elder Gisigu, and Kiowa Gordon (probably best known for playing a werewolf in the Twilight movies) really goes to the dark side as Joseph’s delinquent half-brother Lysol, while there’s a memorably subtle turn from Dead Man’s Gary Farmer as unpredictable loner Moon. This is definitely one of the year’s darkest films – by and large playing the horror straight, it tightens the screws as the situation grows steadily worse, and almost makes a virtue of wallowing in its hopeless tone – but there’s a fatalistic charm to all the bleakness, even in the downbeat yet tentatively hopeful climax, while it’s hard to deny the ruthless efficiency of the violence on display. This certainly isn’t a horror movie for everyone, but those with a strong stomach and relatively hard heart will find much to enjoy here. Jeff Barnaby is definitely gonna be one to watch in the future …

8. PALM SPRINGS – the summer’s comedy highlight kind of snuck in under the radar, becoming something of an on-demand secret weapon with all the cinemas closed, and it definitely deserves its swiftly growing cult status. You certainly can’t possibly believe it’s the feature debut of director Max Barbakow, who shows the kind of sharp-witted, steady-handed control of his craft that’s usually the province of far more experienced talents … then again, much of the credit must surely go to seasoned TV comedy writer Andy Siara (Lodge 49), for whom this has been a real labour of love he’s been tending since his film student days. Certainly all that care, nurture and attention to detail is up there on the screen, the exceptional script singing its irresistible siren song from the start and providing fertile ground for its promising new director to spread his own creative wings. The premise may be instantly familiar – playing like a latter-day Saturday Night Live take on Groundhog Day (Siara admits it was a major influence), it follows the misadventures of Sarah (How I Met Your Mother’s Cristin Miliota), the black sheep maid of honour at her sweet little sister Tala’s (Riverdale’s Camila Mendes) wedding to seemingly perfect hunk Abe (Supergirl’s Superman, Tyler Hoechlin), as she finds herself repeating the same high-stress day over and over again after being trapped in a mysterious cosmic time-loop along with slacker misanthrope Nyles (Brooklyn Nine Nine megastar Andy Samberg), who’s been stuck in this same situation for MUCH longer – but in Barbakow and Siara’s hands it feels fresh and intriguing, and goes in some surprising new directions before the well-worn central premise can outstay its welcome. It certainly doesn’t hurt that the cast are uniformly excellent – Miliota is certainly the pounding emotional heart of the film, effortlessly lovable as she flounders against her lot, then learns to accept the unique possibilities it presents, before finally resolving to find a way out, while Samberg has rarely been THIS GOOD, truly endearing in his sardonic apathy as it becomes clear he’s been stuck like this for CENTURIES, and they make an enjoyably fiery couple with snipey chemistry to burn; meanwhile there’s top-notch support from Mendes and Hoechlin, The OC’s Peter Gallagher as Sarah and Tala’s straight-laced father, the ever-reliable Dale Dickey, a thoroughly adorable turn from Jena Freidman and, most notably, a full-blooded scene-stealing performance from the mighty J.K. Simmonds as Roy, Nyles’ nemesis, who he inadvertently trapped in the loop before Sarah and is, understandably, none too happy about it. This really is an absolute laugh-riot, today’s more post-modern sense of humour allowing the central pair (and their occasional enemy) to indulge in even more extreme consequence-free craziness than Bill Murray ever got away with back in the day, but like all the best comedies there’s also a strong emotional foundation under the humour, leading us to really care about these people and what happens to them, while the story throws moments of true heartfelt power at us, particularly in the deeply cathartic climax. Ultimately this was one of the summer’s biggest surprises, a solid gold gem that I can’t recommend enough.

7. THE LAST DAYS OF AMERICAN CRIME – the summer’s other heavyweight Zeitgeist fondler is a deeply satirical chunk of speculative dystopian sci-fi clearly intended as a cinematic indictment of Trump’s broken America, but it became far more potent and prescient in these … ahem … troubled times. Adapted by screenwriter Karl Gadjusek (Oblivion, Stranger Things, The King’s Man) from the graphic novel by Rick Remender and Greg Tocchini for underrated schlock-action cinema director Olivier Megaton (Transporter 3, Colombiana, the last two Taken films), this Netflix original feature seemed like a fun way to kill a cinema-deprived Saturday night in the middle of the Lockdown, but ultimately proved to have a lot more substance than expected. It’s powered by an intriguing premise – in a nearly lawless 2024, the US government is one week away from implementing a nationwide synaptic blocker signal called the API (American Peace Initiative) which will prevent the public from being able to commit any kind of crime – and focuses on a strikingly colourful bunch of outlaw antiheroes with an audacious agenda – prodigious Detroit bank robber Bricke (Édgar Ramiréz) is enlisted by Kevin Cash (Funny Games and Hannibal’s Michael Carmen Pitt), a wayward scion of local crime family the Dumois, and his hacker fiancée Shelby Dupree (Material Girl’s Anna Brewster) to pull off what’s destined to be the last great crime in American history, a daring raid on the night of the signal to steal over a billion dollars from the Motor City’s “money factory” and then escape across the border into Canada. From this deceptively simple premise a sprawling action epic was born, carried along by a razor sharp, twisty script and Megaton’s typically hyperbolic, showy auteur directing style and significant skill at crafting thrillingly explosive set-pieces, while the cast consistently deliver quality performances. Ramiréz has long been one of those actors I really love to watch, a gruff, quietly intense alpha male whose subtle understatement hides deep reserves of emotional intensity, while Dupree takes a character who could have been a thinly-drawn femme fetale and invests her with strong personal drive and steely resolve, and there’s strong support from Neil Blomkampf regulars Sharlto Copley and Brandon Auret as, respectively, emasculated beat cop Sawyer and brutal Mob enforcer Lonnie French, as well as a nearly unrecognisable Patrick Bergin as local kingpin (and Kevin’s father) Rossi Dumois; the film is roundly stolen, however, by Pitt, a phenomenal actor I’ve always thought we just don’t see enough of, here portraying a spectacularly sleazy, unpredictable force of nature who clearly has his own dark agenda, but whom we ultimately can’t help rooting for even as he stabs us in the back. This is a cracking film, a dark and dangerous thriller of rare style and compulsive verve that I happily consider to be Megaton’s best film to date BY FAR – needless to say it was a major hit for Netflix when it dropped, clearly resonating with its audience given what’s STILL going on in the real world, and while it may have been roundly panned in reviews I think, like some of the platform’s other more glossy Original hits (Bright springs to mind), it’s destined for a major critical reappraisal and inevitable cult status before too long …

6. HAMILTON – arriving just as Black Lives Matter reached fever-pitch levels, this feature presentation of the runaway Broadway musical smash-hit could not have been better timed. Shot over three nights during the show’s 2016 run with the original cast and cut together with specially created “setup shots”, it’s an immersive experience that at once puts you right in amongst the audience (at times almost a character themselves, never seen but DEFINITELY heard) but also lets you experience the action up close. And what action – it’s an incredible show, a thoroughly fascinating piece of work that reads like something very staid and proper on paper (an all-encompassing biographical account of the life and times of American Founding Father Alexander Hamilton) but, in execution, becomes something very different and EXTREMELY vital. The execution certainly couldn’t be further from the usual period biopic fare this kind of historical subject matter usually gets (although in the face of recent top-notch revisionist takes like Marie Antoinette, The Great and Tesla it’s not SO surprising), while the cast is not at all what you’d expect – with very few notable exceptions the cast is almost entirely people of colour, despite the fact that the real life individuals they’re playing were all very white indeed. That said, every single one of them is an absolute revelation – the show’s writer-composer Lin-Manuel Miranda (already riding high on the success of In the Heights) carries the central role of Hamilton with effortless charm and raw star power, Leslie Odom Jr. (Smash, Murder On the Orient Express) is duplicitously complex as his constant nemesis Aaron Burr, Christopher Jackson (In the Heights, Moana, Bull) oozes integrity and nobility as his mentor and friend George Washington, Phillipa Soo is sweet and classy as his wife Eliza while Renée Elise Goldsberry (The Immortal Life of Henrietta Jacks, Altered Carbon) is fiery and statuesque as her sister Angelica Schuyler (the one who got away), and Jonathan Groff (Mindhunter) consistently steals every scene he’s in as fiendish yet childish fan favourite King George III; ultimately, however, the show (and the film) belongs to veritable powerhouse Daveed Diggs (Blindspotting, TV’s Snowpiercer) in a spectacular duel role, starting subtly but gaining scene-stealing momentum as French Revolutionary Gilbert du Motier, the Marquis de Lafayette, before EXPLODING onto the stage in the second half as indomitable eventual American President Thomas Jefferson. Not having seen the stage show, I was taken completely by surprise by this, revelling in its revisionist genius and offbeat, quirky hip-hop charm, spellbound by the skilful ease with which is takes the sometimes quite dull historical fact and skews it into something consistently entertaining and absorbing, transported by the catchy earworm musical numbers and thoroughly tickled by the delightfully cheeky sense of humour strung throughout (at least when I wasn’t having my heart broken by moments of raw dramatic power). Altogether it’s a pretty unique cinematic experience I wish I could have actually gotten to see on the big screen, and one I’ve consistently recommended to all my friends, even the ones who don’t usually like musicals. As far as I’m concerned it doesn’t need a proper Les Misérables style screen adaptation – this is about as perfect a presentation as the show could possibly hope for.

5. SPUTNIK – the summer’s horror highlight (despite SERIOUSLY tough competition) is a guaranteed sleeper hit that I almost totally missed, stumbling across the trailer one day on YouTube and being completely bowled over by its potential, prompting me to hunt it down by any means necessary. The feature debut of Russian director Egor Abramenko, this first contact sci-fi chiller is about as far from E.T. as it’s possible to get, sharing some of the same DNA as Carpenter’s The Thing but proudly carving its own path with consummate skill and definitely signalling great things to come from its brand new helmer and relative unknown screenwriters Oleg Malovichko and Andrei Zolotarev. Oksana Akinshina (probably best known in the West for her powerful climactic cameo in The Bourne Supremacy) is the beating heart of the film as neurophysiologist Tatyana Yuryevna Klimova, brought in to aid in the investigation in the Russian wilderness circa 1983 after an orbital research mission goes horribly wrong. One of the cosmonauts dies horribly, while the other, Konstantin (The Duelist’s Pyotr Fyodorov) seems unharmed, but it quickly becomes clear that he’s now playing host to something decidedly extraterrestrial and potentially terrifying, and as Tatyana becomes more deeply embroiled in her assignment she comes to realise that her superiors, particularly mysterious Red Army project leader Colonel Semiradov (The PyraMMMid’s Fyodor Bondarchuk), have far darker plans for Konstantin and his new “friend” than she could ever imagine. This is about as dark, intense and nightmarish as this particular sub-genre gets, a magnificently icky body horror that slowly builds its tension as we’re gradually exposed to the various truths and the awful gravity of the situation slowly reveals itself, punctuated by skilfully executed shocks and some particularly horrifying moments when the evils inflicted by the humans in charge prove to be far worse than anything the alien can do, while the ridiculously talented writers have a field day pulling the rug out from under us again and again, never going for the obvious twist and keeping us guessing right to the devastating ending, while the beautifully crafted digital creature effects are nothing short of astonishing and thoroughly creepy. Akinshina dominates the film with her unbridled grace, vulnerability and integrity, the relationship that develops between Tatyana and Konstantin (Fyodorov delivering a beautifully understated turn belying deep inner turmoil) feeling realistically earned as it goes from tentatively wary to ultimately, tragically bittersweet, while Bondarchuk invests the Colonel with a subtly nuanced air of tarnished authority and restrained brutality that makes him one of my top screen villains for the year. Guaranteed to go down as one of 2020’s great sleeper hits, I can’t speak of this film highly enough – it’s a genuine revelation, an instant classic for whom I’ll sing its praises for the remainder of the year and beyond, and I wish utmost success to all the creative talents involved in the future. The Invisible Man still rules the roost in the year’s horror stakes, but this runs a VERY close second …

4. GREYHOUND – when the cinemas closed back in March, the fate of many of the major summer blockbusters we’d been looking forward to was thrown into terrible doubt. Some were pushed back to more amenable dates in the autumn or winter, others knocked back a whole year to fill summer slots for 2021, but more than a few simply dropped off the radar entirely with the terrible words “postponed until further notice” stamped on them, and I lamented them all, this one in particular. It hung in there longer than some, stubbornly holding onto its June release slot for as long as possible, but eventually it gave up the ghost too … but thanks to Apple TV+, not for long, ultimately releasing less than a month later than intended. Thankfully the final film was worth the fuss, a taut World War II suspense thriller that’s all killer, no filler – set during the infamous Battle of the Atlantic, it portrays the constant life-or-death struggle faced by the Allied warships assigned to escort the transport convoys as they crossed the ocean, defending their charges from German U-boats. Adapted from C.S. Forester’s famous 1955 novel The Good Shepherd by Tom Hanks and directed by Aaron Schneider (Get Low), the narrative focuses on the crew of the escort leader, American destroyer USS Fletcher, codenamed Greyhound, and in particular its captain, Commander Ernest Krause (Hanks), a career sailor serving his first command. As they cross “the Pit”, the most dangerous mid stretch of the journey where they spend days without air-cover, they find themselves shadowed by “the Wolf Pack”, a particularly cunning group of German subs that begin to pick away at the convoy’s stragglers. Faced with daunting odds, a dwindling supply of vital depth-charges and a ruthless, persistent enemy, Krause must make hard choices to bring his ships home safe … jumping into the thick of the action within the first ten minutes and maintaining that tension for the remainder of its trim 90-minute run, this is screen suspense par excellence, a sleek textbook example of how to craft a compelling big screen knuckle-whitener with zero fat and maximum reward, delivering a series of desperate naval scraps packed with hide-and-seek intensity, heart-in-mouth near-misses and fist-in-air cathartic payoffs by the bucket-load. Hanks is subtly magnificent, the calm centre of the narrative storm as a supposed newcomer to this battle arena who could have been BORN for it, bringing to mind the similarly unflappable turn he delivered in Captain Phillips and certainly not suffering by comparison; by and large he’s the focus point, but other crew members do make strong (if sometimes quite brief) impressions, particularly Stephen Graham as Krause’s reliably seasoned XO, Lt. Commander Charlie Cole, The Magnificent Seven’s Manuel Garcia-Rulfo and Just Mercy’s Rob Morgan, while Elisabeth Shue does a lot with a very small part in brief flashbacks as Krause’s fiancée Evelyn. Relentless, powerful, exhilarating and thoroughly unforgettable, this was one of the true action highlights of the summer, and one hell of a war flick. I’m so glad it made the cut for the season …

3. PROJECT POWER – with Marvel and DC pushing their tent-pole titles back into late autumn in the face of COVID, the usual superhero antics we’ve come to expect over the main blockbuster season were pretty thin on the ground, leading us to find our geeky fan thrills elsewhere. Unfortunately, pickings were frustratingly slim – Korean comic book actioner Gundala was entertaining but workmanlike, while Thor AU-take Mortal was underwhelming despite strong direction from Troll Hunter’s André Øvredal, and I’ve already made my feelings clear on the frustration of The New Mutants – thank the Gods, then, for Netflix, once again riding to the rescue with this enjoyably offbeat super-thriller, which takes an intriguing central premise and really runs with it. New designer drug Power has hit the streets of New Orleans, able to give anyone who takes it a superpower for five minutes … the only problem is, until you try it, you won’t know what your own unique talent is – for some, it could mean five minutes of invisibility, or insane levels of super-strength, but other powers can be potentially lethal, the really unlucky buggers just blowing up on the spot. Robin (The Hate U Give’s Dominique Fishback) is a teenage Power-pusher with dreams of becoming a rap star, dealing the pills so she can help her diabetic mum; Frank Shaver (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) is one of her customers, an NOPD detective who uses his power of near invulnerability to even the playing field when powered crims cause a disturbance. Their lives are turned upside down when Art (Jamie Foxx) arrives in town – he’s a seriously badass ex-soldier determined to hunt down the source of Power by any means necessary, and he’s not above tearing the Big Easy apart to do it. This is a fun, gleefully infectious rollercoaster that doesn’t take itself too seriously, revelling in the anarchic potential of its premise and crafting some suitably OTT effects-driven chaos brought to pleasingly visceral fruition by its skilfully inventive director, Ariel Schulman (Catfish, Nerve, Viral), while Mattson Tomlin (the screenwriter of next year’s incendiary DCEU headline act The Batman) takes his script in some very interesting directions and poses some fascinating questions about what Power’s TRULY capable of. Gordon-Levitt and Fishback are both brilliant, the latter particularly impressing in what’s sure to be a major breakthrough role for her, and the friendship their characters share is pretty adorable, while Foxx really is a force to be reckoned with, pretty chill even when he’s in deep shit but fully capable of turning into a bona fide killing machine at the flip of a switch, and there’s strong support from Westworld’s Rodrigo Santoro as Biggie, Power’s delightfully oily kingpin, Courtney B. Vance as Frank’s by-the-book superior, Captain Crane, Amy Landecker as Gardner, the morally bankrupt CIA spook responsible for the drug’s production, and Machine Gun Kelly as Newt, a Power dealer whose explosive pyrotechnic “gift” really isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Exciting, inventive, frequently amusing and infectiously likeable, this was some of the most uncomplicated “cinematic” fun I had this summer. Not bad for something which I’m sure was originally destined to become one of the season’s B-list features …

2. THE OLD GUARD – Netflix’s undisputable TOP OFFERING of the summer came damn close to bagging the whole season, and I can’t help thinking that even if some of the stiffer competition had still been present it may well have still finished this high. Gina Prince-Blythewood (Love & Basketball, the Secret Life of Bees) directs comics legend Greg Rucka’s adaptation of his own popular title with uncanny skill and laser-focused visual flair considering there’s nothing on her previous CV to suggest she’d be THIS good at mounting a stomping good ultraviolent action thriller, ushering in this thoroughly engrossing tale of four ancient, invulnerable immortal warriors – Andy AKA Andromache of Scythia (Charlize Theron), Booker AKA Sebastian de Livre (Matthias Schoenaerts), Joe AKA Yusuf Al-Kaysani (Wolf’s Marwan Kenzari) and Nicky AKA Niccolo di Ginova (Trust’s Luca Marinelli) – who’ve been around forever, hiring out their services as mercenaries for righteous causes while jealously guarding their identities for fear of horrific experimentation and exploitation should their true natures ever be discovered. Their anonymity is threatened, however, when they’re uncovered by former CIA operative James Copley (Chiwetel Ejiofor), working for the decidedly dodgy pharmaceutical conglomerate run by sociopathic billionaire Steven Merrick (Harry Melling, formerly Dudley in the Harry Potter movies), who want to capture these immortals so they can patent whatever it is that makes them keep on ticking … just as a fifth immortal, US Marine Nile Freeman (If Beale Street Could Talk’s KiKi Layne), awakens after being “killed” on deployment in Afghanistan. The supporting players are excellent, particularly Ejiofor, smart and driven but ultimately principled and deeply conflicted about what he’s doing, even if he does have the best of intentions, and Melling, the kind of loathsome, reptilian scumbag you just love to hate, but the film REALLY DOES belong to the Old Guard themselves – Schoenaerts is a master brooder, spot-on casting as the group’s relative newcomer, only immortal since the Napoleonic Wars but clearly one seriously old soul who’s already VERY tired of the lifestyle, while Joe and Nicky (who met on opposing sides of the Crusades) are simply ADORABLE, an unapologetically matter-of-fact gay couple who are sweet, sassy and incredibly kind, the absolute emotional heart of the film; it’s the ladies, however, that are most memorable here. Layne is exceptional, investing Nile with a steely intensity that puts her in good stead as her new existence threatens to overwhelm her and MORE THAN qualified to bust heads alongside her elders … but it’s ancient Greek warrior Andy who steals the film, Theron building on the astounding work she did in Atomic Blonde to prove, once and for all, that there’s no woman on Earth who looks better kicking arse than her (as Booker puts it, “that woman has forgotten more ways to kill than entire armies will ever learn”); in her hands, Andy truly is a goddess of death, tough as tungsten alloy and unflappable even in the face of hell itself, but underneath it all she hides a heart as big as any of her friends’. They’re an impossibly lovable bunch and you feel you could follow them on another TEN adventures like this one, which is just as well, because Prince-Blythewood and Rucka certainly put them through their paces here – the drama is high (but frequently laced with a gentle, knowing sense of humour, particularly whenever Joe and Nicky are onscreen), as are the stakes, and the frequent action sequences are top-notch, executed with rare skill and bone-crunching zest, but also ALWAYS in service to the story. Altogether this is an astounding film, a genuine victory for its makers and, it seems, for Netflix themselves – it’s become one of the platform’s biggest hits to date, earning well-deserved critical acclaim and great respect and genuine geek love from the fanbase at large. After this, a sequel is not only inevitable, it’s ESSENTIAL …

1. TENET – granted, the streaming platforms (particularly Netflix and Amazon) certainly did save our cinematic summer, but I’m still IMMEASURABLY glad that the season’s ultimate top-spot winner was one I got to experience on THE BIG SCREEN. You gotta hand it to Christopher Nolan, he sure hung in there, stubbornly determined that his latest cinematic masterpiece WOULD be released in cinemas in the summer (albeit ultimately landing JUST inside the line in the final week of August), and it was worth all the fuss because, for me, this was THE PERFECT MOVIE for me to get return to cinemas with. I mean, okay, in the end it WASN’T the FIRST new movie I saw after the reopening, that honour went to Unhinged, but THIS was my first real Saturday night out big screen EXPERIENCE since March. Needless to say, Nolan didn’t disappoint this time any more than he has on any of his consistently spectacular previous releases, delivering another twisted, mind-boggling headfuck of a full-blooded experiential sensory overload that comes perilously close to toppling his long-standing auteur-peak, Inception (itself second only by fractions to The Dark Knight as far as I’m concerned). To say much at all about the plot would give away major spoilers – personally I’d recommend just going in as cold as possible, indeed you really should just stop reading this right now and just GO SEE IT. Still with us? Okay … the VERY abridged version is that it’s about a secret war being waged between the present and the future by people capable of “inverting” time in substances, objects, people, whatever, into which the Protagonist (BlacKkKlansman’s John David Washington), an unnamed CIA agent, has been dispatched in order to prevent a potential coming apocalypse. Washington is once again on top form, crafting a robust and compelling morally complex heroic lead who’s just as comfortable negotiating the minefields of black market intrigue as he is breaking into places or dispatching heavies, Kenneth Branagh delivers one of his most interesting and memorable performances in years as brutal Russian oligarch Andrei Sator, a genuinely nasty piece of work who may be the year’s very best screen villain, Elizabeth Debicki (The Night Manager, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Widows) brings strength, poise and wounded integrity to the role of Sator’s estranged wife, Kat, and Aaron Taylor-Johnson gets to use his own accent for once as tough-as-nails British Intelligence officer Ives, while there are brief but consistently notable supporting turns and cameos from Martin Donovan, Yesterday’s HImesh Patel, Dirk Gently’s Fiona Dourif and, of course, Nolan’s good luck charm, Michael Caine. The cast’s biggest surprise, however, is Robert Pattinson, truly a revelation in what has to be, HANDS DOWN, his best role to date, Neil, the Protagonist’s mysterious handler – he’s by turns cheeky, slick, duplicitous and thoroughly badass, delivering an enjoyably multi-layered, chameleonic performance which proves what I’ve long maintained, that the former Twilight star is actually a fucking amazing actor, and on the basis of this, even without that amazing new teaser trailer making the rounds, I think the debate about whether or not he’s the right choice for the new Batman is now academic. As we’ve come to expect from Nolan, this is a TRUE tour-de-force experience, a visual masterpiece and an endlessly engrossing head-scratcher, Nolan’s screenplay bringing in some seriously big ideas and throwing us some major narrative knots and loopholes, constantly wrong-footing the viewer while also setting up truly revelatory payoffs from seemingly low-key, unimportant beginnings – this is a film you need to be awake and attentive for or you could miss something pretty vital. The action sequences are, as ever, second to none, some of the year’s very best set-pieces coming thick and fast and executed with some of the most accomplished skill in the business, while Nolan-regular cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema (Interstellar and Dunkirk, as well as the heady likes of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, SPECTRE and Ad Astra) once again shows he’s one of the best camera-wizards in the business today by delivering some truly mesmerising visuals. Notably, Nolan’s other regular collaborator, composer Hans Zimmer, is absent here (although he has good reason, currently working on his dream project, the fast-approaching screen adaptation of Dune), but Ludwig Göransson (best known for his regular collaborations with Ryan Coogler on the likes of Fruitvale Station, Creed and Black Panther, as well as truly awesome work on The Mandalorian) makes for a fine replacement, crafting an intriguingly internalised, post-modern musical landscape that thrums and pulses in time with the story and emotions of the characters rather than the action itself. Interestingly it’s on the subject of sound that some of the film’s rare detractions have been levelled, and I can see some of the points – the soundtrack mix is an all-encompassing thing, and there are times when the dialogue can be overwhelmed, but in Nolan’s defence as a film this is a heady, immersive experience, something you really need to concentrate on, so these potential flaws are easily forgiven. As a piece of filmmaking art, this is another flawless wonder from one of the true masters of the craft working in cinema today, but it’s art with palpable substance, a rewarding whole that really HAS TO BE experienced on the big screen. So put your snobbery at post-lockdown restrictions aside for the moment and get yourself down to your nearest cinema so you can experience it for yourself. You won’t be disappointed. Right now, this is my movie of the year, and with only one possible exception, I really don’t see that changing …

#movies 2020 #body cam #body cam (2020)#blood quantum #blood quantum movie #palm springs #palm springs movie #the last days of american crime #hamilton #hamilton movie #sputnik #sputnik movie #greyhound #greyhound movie #project power #the old guard #tenet #tenet movie #awesome sauce

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kuroopaisen · 4 years ago

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ROWAN DEAREST questions questions hmm you know i love imitheos, So i want to ask about its origins and why it's dear to you! basically a director's commentary if you haven't done one already! delete this ask if you have bc then it's like i'm a fake rowan stan :( i also want to know about your perfect comfort food! and, if you were to go on a trip with me, where would you go💙💙💙

okay first of all that third question is adorable, and i think i would choose japan or south korea :( i really want to visit either of those countries, especially during spring! i think it would be really fun to travel around and see all the gorgeous sights :( as for my comfort food, it’s homemade gnocchi! it takes a while to make, but it always makes me so happy.

eeee thank you for letting me ramble about imitheos,,, i’ll put this all under the cut because i don’t want to clog people’s dashes dslkdsfjlkj

so because i ran the survey about what people wanted to see from fantasy week, i picked a few that i felt would inspire me. mythology happened to be one of them. i wasn’t quite sure if i wanted to go full fantasy and make it much more traditional in that sense, but i changed my mind. my initial ideas were actually apollo with the oracle of delphine, or a cassandra-type figure! but, i felt that would remove oikawa too far from his canon self, so i wanted to do something that more naturally riffed off the oikawa tooru we know and love.

so when i was planning it out, i thought it would be interesting to play on his bitterness and anger. he’s got a lot of it, but it mainly comes out on the court. imagining an oikawa that never actually moved forward lead to the oikawa i wrote in imitheos.

of course, it’s not truly a canon-verse oikawa, because there’s the fantastical element of godly reincarnation. that fantastical element was inspired in part by american gods -- especially the part about relying on the belief of others. that concept really stuck with me when i first read the book, and i imagine it would be quite frustrating.

but most of all, i wanted to capture that strangeness between being a god and being very human -- which plays into why it’s so dear to me. i get to explore that existential ennui while still having the opportunity to instil the story with a sense of hope (even the longest winters must end, and spring will come). it might be a bit trite, but it’s the sort of story that i need to tell myself and that i want to share with others.

i don’t think i said anything that coherent, but i’ll stop now unless i ramble on too much kljdsldkj

thank you renren, i adore you :(

#ren 💫#rowan rambles #rowan replies #rowan’s sleepover #imitheos asks

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avelera · 5 years ago

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Hi! For the Director's Cut, how about "How to Accidentally Become a Jaeger Pilot in 10 Easy Steps"? Particularly the stick-fighting scene, (which I adore), but really any commentary on it would be awesome :)

Oiajsdoiasjd AAAAH, thank you I really adore that one too, it’s so fun!

OK, so, I’ve actually got stuff to say about the fight scene in "How to Accidentally Become a Jaeger Pilot in 10 Easy Steps“!

First of all, it’s the scene that made me want to write the fic in the first place and I plotted most of the fic while on the treadmill, where a lot of my more “active” story ideas come together. I think it was also after seeing a Tumblr post that broke down to something like, “Wouldn’t it be funny if Newt and Hermann actually became Jaeger pilots because Newt would hate that?”

I mean, obviously there are other takes on the character, I can easily see a version where Newt would be delighted to become a , but based on his (deleted scene) confrontation with Raleigh I’ve always personally headcanoned Newt as a bit anti-Jaeger pilot, seeing them as the manifestations of Earth’s instinct to “shoot first, ask questions later” that is constantly getting in the way of his work being, y’know, effective at finding some other way to solve this massive invasion Earth is going through!

So I thought, “Yeah, it would be funny. Y’know what would be even funnier? Newt and Hermann doing the stick fight battle.” And thus the fic was born.

After that, I got really excited to write it because IRL I’m a bit of a fight junkie, as they say in the LARPing world. Over the years I’ve done 1) boxing 2) kickboxing 3) historically accurate (as in, not for the stage) longsword choreography 4) full-contact (foam weapon) LARP combat 5) bujinkan ninjutsu 6) and olympic-style foil fencing. I’ve been itching to find a place in one of my fics to put some of this knowledge to the test without it coming off as preachy or overly technical, so such a fic would be the perfect opportunity!

It was a real delight to write Newt and Hermann getting their own version of Mako and Raleigh’s famous fight scene (albeit a comical version because Newt does nothing but scream and run around dodging). Such a fight is also possible in this fic because Hermann does not have the limp, with the conceit being that it’s more that he doesn’t have it yet and in fact avoids ever getting it as compared to the canon timeline. Another Jaeger pilot, Stefan, is briefly mentioned as being 60% compatible with Hermann and “built like a Mr. World contestant”. I envisioned him as the person who deliberately broke Hermann’s hip after they got paired together in a malicious effort to get a different partner. Newt joining the academy prevents that event from occurring in this timeline.

So, Hermann is at this point is a pretty lean, mean, twenty-six year old fighting machine with a lot to prove. He’s been dreaming his whole adult life about being a Jaeger pilot, so needless to say he’s pretty good at this whole stick-fighting thing. Hermann’s expertise and exacting nature allowed me to include discussions of a bunch of the forms and stances I learned from longsword choreography. Basically, Hermann is fighting in many of the descriptions in (ironically) the Medieval German-style longsword form, which bears some resemblance to kendo (there are only so many ways to hit someone with a longsword so the similarities between those very different styles is often, heh, striking).

One anecdote from the fight in the fic that I realy enjoyed including is, “What would be the score, out of five, between two fencing masters? 5 to 5? No, zero to zero. Because two masters would fight one another to a standstill without scoring a point.” This is a true story I was told by one of my teachers back when I was fencing. Like Newt in the fic, I guessed 5-5. But the fact it’s zero to zero got me thinking.

I went back and re-watched the Mako vs. Raleigh fight and developed a theory. Maybe scoring a point in that fight isn’t a sign of success, it’s a sign of a loss in the true aim of the fight. After all, the true goal of the match is to discover compatibility, not defeat your opponent.

If you and your opponent are well matched and compatible, neither of you should ever score on one another at all. Thus it is the length the fight goes without someone scoring on the other that would determine Drift compatibility. In essence, your high score is actually how many times you block or dodge one another, which indicates you anticipated the other’s movements. A hit or a successful strike, even against your opponent, indicates a failure and a lower score on your Drift compatibility rating.

Thus, in that fight, when Newt successfully dodges Hermann’s attacks for a half hour (btw, a truly insane length of time to be fighting, most Medieval duels lasted under five minutes), even when Hermann is a much more skilled duelist, they are still found to be insanely Drift compatible. After all, it would have been silly and out of character for Newt to be able to match Hermann when Hermann’s been practicing so hard and taking this so seriously, and while the Newt of this fic is a pacifist (there is a note that his bar fight earlier in the story is the first one he’s ever been in). But, because they’re so compatible, Newt is able to visualize Hermann’s movements before they happen and successfully avoid them even while in panic mode, and while having a screaming argument.

Because you absolutely cannot write these two without the screaming arguments, lol. Fight scenes have always been a classic place to mirror physical sparring with verbal sparring, and in a way it’s a send-up to GDT’s intention with the stick fight scene in the movie and how it mirrors Hermann and Newt’s verbal fights. Not only can these two have a perfect match in which no point is scored, they can also do so while name-calling one another and airing all their dirty relationship laundry for everyone in the Shatterdome to hear XD

It’s one of the scenes I’m most proud of writing so I had a lot of fun getting to babble about it, thank you so much!

#my writing #how to accidentally become a jaeger pilot in ten easy steps #newmann #pacific rim #chalkstardust

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roseisread · 6 years ago

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My Year in Movies: Favorite Non-2018 Feature Films (Part 3)

In case you missed it, check out part 1 and part 2! Now picking up where we left off...

28. My Cousin Vinny (1992, directed by Jonathan Lynn, country of origin: US)

I know, I know. I can’t believe it either. But I really hadn’t seen this one til just a few short months ago. Marisa Tomei is, of course, a megababe in it; and Joe Pesci wears the hell out of some ridiculous outfits as he portrays a very unconventional defense attorney trying to help his cousin and a friend beat a murder charge. I laughed and laughed and cheered and laughed some more. Best courtroom scenes I watched all year, (and I watched A Few Good Men this year so that’s saying something). If this is still a blind spot for you, or you just want to revisit it, you can rent it on Amazon for 99 cents right now.

27. After Hours (1985, directed by Martin Scorsese, country of origin: US)

Talk about things that escalate quickly: In this movie, Griffin Dunne’s character Paul meets a fellow book lover/manic pixie dream girl type (Rosanna Arquette). However, when he accepts her invitation for a late night rendezvous at her place, she quickly turns into a manic pixie nightmare girl. By morning, Paul finds himself a fugitive on suspicion of burglary, sex crimes, and murder in a neighborhood it’s safe to say he will never visit again. It’s a more heightened, comedic take on the classic “wrongfully accused” genre, and Dunne plays every note of desperation perfectly. You can watch this for free on Vudu, or rent on other streaming platforms.

26. The Big Clock (1948, directed by John Farrow, country of origin: US)

The Big Clock actually has a few things in common with the aforementioned After Hours--hardworking New York City guy agrees to drinks with possibly sketchy woman and winds up the prime suspect in a murder. The whole thing takes place over a 36-hour period, and as you might guess the Clock of the title is ticking. The cast is great--Ray Milland, Charles Laughton, Maureen O’Sullivan--and the film balances humor and suspense with ease. Fun fact, the movie is directed by John Farrow, father of Mia. The movie is available for online rental through Amazon, Vudu, and iTunes.

25. The Doll (1919, directed by Ernst Lubitsch, country of origin: Germany)

I adore Ernst Lubitsch, who directed The Shop Around The Corner, To Be or Not To Be, Trouble in Paradise, and Design for Living. Before his English-language talkies, however, he got his start in Germany with silent films like Die Puppe (The Doll). Starring the effervescent Ossi Oswalda (basically the silent era’s Greta Gerwig), this comic fantasy skewers romantic conventions.

Lancelot is a young prince who must marry in order to receive his inheritance; but he’s afraid of women (or possibly gay... it’s easy to read it that way). He buys what he think is a life-like doll to deceive his family and avoid marriage to a real girl; but little does he know Ossi is actually a real girl pretending to be a doll. It’s all very silly and over the top and winking, and also one of the most hilarious and charming rom-coms this side of the Hallmark channel. The physical comedy is outstanding, the social commentary is scathing, and Ossi is the hero we didn’t know we needed. There are a few versions floating around on YouTube or you can rent it for a few bucks on Amazon. I caught it on Filmstruck during a Lubitsch spotlight, and my life has never been the same.

24. Talk To Her (2002, directed by Pedro Almodovar, country of origin: Spain)

Pedro Almodovar can take the most seemingly absurd situation or plot contrivance and draw out something truly human and moving. He excels at shining a light on damaged but compelling characters, and doing everything with such style and panache that you let your guard down completely and before you know it you’re rooting for someone you ordinarily would scoff at from a distance. This movie’s story focuses on two comatose women and their caretakers, and delves into the limits of love and consent in fascinating, disturbing ways. I had no idea where this film was going but I was with it every second. Available for rent on most online platforms.

23. Crash (1996, directed by David Cronenberg, country of origin: Canada)

From the king of body horror, David Cronenberg, comes a movie about people who find eroticism where most people would find repulsion. Based on the controversial book by J.G. Ballard, this film follows a group of people who are aroused by car accidents and the injuries that result from metal and flesh colliding. It sounds macabre and at times it is, but under the surface are deeper themes that question what is considered “normal” versus “fetish” and why bodies that are whole and untarnished are worshiped while those that have distinguishing marks are tossed aside. There’s also certainly a critique of consumerism and cars as status symbols, and probably a lot more I missed on first viewing. Who better to portray a sexual deviant than James Spader? He’s joined by Holly Hunter, Elias Koteas (you’ll never think of Casey Jones the same way again), Deborah Kara Unger, and Rosanna Arquette. This is a tough one to track down--nowhere online right now, and it’s out of print on physical media; but if you see it at a thrift store or your local library, check it out.

22. The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920, directed by Robert Wiene, country of origin: Germany)

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari is one of those movies that gets referenced a lot but I still wasn’t sure exactly what to expect from this silent German Expressionist film. Sometimes watching such a revered classic can be a little daunting--will I like as much as I’m “supposed to”? Thankfully, I did. Basically all of goth culture could probably trace its lineage back to this weird, creepy, twisty film. The elaborate, off-kilter set design and mind-bending story got under my skin in the best way. I won’t say much about the plot--just watch it (on YouTube unofficially or rentable on various streaming services).

21. Duck Soup (1933, directed by Leo McCarey, country of origin: US)

My introduction to the Marx Brothers was A Night at the Opera, and I went gaga for their rapid-fire verbal gymnastics and their gonzo physical comedy. This film takes it to the next level and throws in some political satire for good measure. So many incredible, iconic routines; song and dance sequences; and dialogue that you have to watch at least 4 times to catch all the jokes. I’m officially a fan of the Marx Brothers after this. You can rent it on most streaming sources, but I’m guessing if you have a male relative over the age of 50 you could probably borrow it from their collection. It’s very popular with Dad/Uncle demographic, and I can see why.

20. They Live by Night (1948, directed by Nicholas Ray, country of origin: US)

Nicholas Ray is quickly becoming one of my all time favorite directors. Rebel Without a Cause, In a Lonely Place, Johnny Guitar, The Racket, and now They Live By Night--just stunning movies about troubled souls who don’t quite fit in with the rest of the world. This film lays the template for so many that would come after it: Young couple, good girl falls for bad boy, they go on the run from the law, love is not all you need.

When things are good, they’re really good and lead characters Keechie (Cathy O’Donnell) and Bowie (Farley Grainger) are rapturously crazy in love. But they also bicker believably when the past begins to bleed into the present, leading to one of my favorite exchanges in the film. Bowie confronts Keechie about her whereabouts, and when she informs him she’s been to the doctor “about the baby we’re gonna have,” he bursts out, “That’s all I need!” She fires back, “You don’t see me knittin’ anything, do ya?”

This is a Criterion film, so you may have to get it from the library or catch it on TCM until the Criterion streaming service launches later this spring. Either way, it’s a must-watch, especially if you love movies like Badlands and Bonnie and Clyde.

19. Paprika (2006, directed by Satoshi Kon, country of origin: Japan)

Look, I love Inception as much as the next person, but now that I’ve seen Paprika I must admit Christopher Nolan owes a major debt to Satoshi Kon for the way he portrays dreams and reality intersecting in uncanny ways. The difference is Satoshi Kon did it with much more weirdness and color and unsettling body horror. Don’t ask me to explain this movie, I’m not even 100% sure it can be unraveled all the way into a linear structure; but it is zany and wonderful in the best way. There’s no Tom Hardy but there is a girl who turns into a butterfly and a band of frogs and a creepy clown and a really fat guy who’s in love with the smart scientist lady... I’m telling you, you gotta see this thing. You can stream it for free on Crackle; otherwise it’s a $2.99 rental from Amazon and Vudu.

18. Good Time (2017, directed by the Safdie Brothers, country of origin: US)

If you missed this in 2017, PLEASE watch it now. Robert Pattinson gives his career best performance as a fast talking petty criminal trying to get his mentally handicapped brother out of jail after making him an accomplice to his own crimes. The soundtrack by Oneohtrix Point Never combined with the Safdie Brothers mesmerizing cinematography make for a hypnotic, propulsive viewing experience. Newcomer Taliah Webster delivers an excellent supporting performance as an unwitting sidekick partway through the film. Watch for free on Amazon Prime or rent on Vudu or YouTube.

17. Cleo From 5 to 7 (1962, directed by Agnes Varda, country of origin: France)

My first foray into the filmography of Agnes Varda, and I loved it. Cleo, a French pop singer, spends a couple hours trying to distract herself from anxiety and dread as she awaits the results of a biopsy. She buys a hat, plays with her kittens, and argues with her male collaborators over song choices.

Eventually she meets a stranger and they walk around Paris in a vignette that almost certainly influenced Richard Linklater’s entire milieu. Cleo mulls her possible fate and concludes “as long as I’m beautiful, I’m alive”--a notion Blondie would later reference in their tongue in cheek tune “Die Young, Stay Pretty.” But as much as she is fixated on her appearance, she finds herself struggling to be taken seriously by men who dismiss her because of her beauty.

Special shout out to Michel Legrand, who we learned today has left the mortal plane: He composed the lovely score for this film and also appears in it as Cleo’s pianist.

I watched this on the now-defunct Filmstruck, but it’s part of the Criterion Collection so your best bet is probably getting it from the library or waiting for it to show up when Criterion’s streaming service launches later this spring.

16. Happy Together (1997, directed by Wong Kar-Wai, country of origin: Hong Kong)

Wong Kar-Wai captures unfulfilled romantic longing on film better than just about anyone. If you’ve seen In the Mood for Love or Chungking Express you already know this. Happy Together turns the director’s eye once again toward people on a collision course of love, lust, and disfunction. Leslie Cheung (RIP) and Tony Leung portray a couple hoping their toxic relationship will hit the reset button with a change of scenery when they relocate from Hong Kong to Argentina. At times their passion manifests as tenderness, as in a moving dance sequence; other times, volatility erupts into violence. When one of them meets someone new, the possibility of a simpler, sweeter kind of love offers an alternative to the cycle of codependency and betrayal. This one is out of print right now on DVD, but check your local library or used movie store and you may get lucky.

15. La Dolce Vita (1960, directed by Federico Fellini, country of origin: Italy)

You’ve got sumptuous Italian vistas, Marcello Mastroianni being gorgeous, Anita Ekberg dancing in the fountain, and a bunch of hedonism that leads down a path of inevitable emptiness and/or destruction. Personally, I prefer this one to Fellini’s 8 1/2--it’s filled with so many scenes that could work as stand alone short films; and there’s more humor and exuberance here than in his better known, meta film experience. The 174 minute runtime may seem intimidating but for me it flew by. Available with Filmbox on Amazon right now, also part of the Criterion Collection.

14. Cooley High (1975, directed by Michael Schultz, country of origin: US)

If you’ve enjoyed movies like Dazed and Confused, American Graffiti, Boyz N the Hood, or even Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, you should really watch Cooley High. Filmed in Chicago, it follows a group of friends in high school as they skip class in favor of visiting the Lincoln Park zoo, recite poetry, go to parties, make out with girls, get into fights, and navigate the tenuous border between youth and adulthood. Full of laughs, heart, and clear-eyed realism in place of the occasional sentimentality that seeps into movies about “young folks,” this must-see of Black cinema influenced independent filmmakers like Spike Lee and Quentin Tarantino. You can rent it on Vudu, or pick up a physical copy on Blu-ray or DVD.

13. Poltergeist (1982, directed by Tobe Hooper, country of origin: US)

Out of all the major blindspots I caught up with in 2018, this is the one that both impressed me the most and made me wonder why it took me this long to see it. I think I just assumed that it would be super cheesy or super scary or somehow both? Needless to say, I was wrong. It’s a blast! Funny, scary (but in a way I loved), original, and one of the best portrayals of family I’ve seen on screen. I now plan to watch this at least once a year to celebrate Halloween the same way that I watch Independence Day on July 4th, Elf/Jingle All the Way/Christmas Vacation at Christmas, and Nightmare Before Christmas/Donnie Darko for Halloween. I’m sure that everyone else in the world has seen it, but if you by some chance have not, go watch it right now! It’s available for rent on YouTube, Amazon, and GooglePlay.

12. Arthur (1981, directed by Steve Gordon, country of origin: US)

This one really surprised me. I became vaguely aware of its existence around the release of the terribly reviewed Russell Brand version; but no idea what to expect when I impulsively clicked the “watch now” button on Filmstruck. At first, Dudley Moore came across as an obnoxious drunken boor, but as I kept watching I realized the levels to his character went much deeper than it seemed at first. John Gielgud immediately won me over as Arthur’s butler Hobson, who loves Arthur like a son despite his many shenanigans. Then Liza Minnelli shows up on screen and isn’t she cute as a button! If you only know her as Lucille II from Arrested Development, you really owe it to yourself to see her in her heyday. You might not think Buster is so crazy for embracing “our nausea.”

This movie became one of my favorite romantic comedies, in some ways a Cinderella story and in some ways a coming of age story and in most ways something wholly original. It’s a very special film, and deserves a wider audience among today’s movie fans. It’s a $1.99 rental on most platforms right now, so you have no excuse.

11. McCabe & Mrs. Miller (1971, directed by Robert Altman, country of origin: US)

I knocked out a few Altman films last year, and they were all good but this one was my favorite. I’m not always a fan of Westerns, but this one, which finds Julie Christie’s Madam teaming up with Warren Beatty’s Gambler to open a brothel, well, it’s different. I have a feeling Altman (and maybe his cast) watched Johnny Guitar, an earlier entry on my list, because this is another case in which a powerful woman with a mind for business upends the natural order of things (aka men being in charge).

The writing here is wonderful, especially the dialogue, which includes such gems as “You know how to square a circle? Shove a four by four up a mule’s ass!” but also some more gentle, sweet exchanges and voiceover. There are also some gorgeous shots in this film, unsurprising with cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond on board (who also shot Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Deliverance, and Blow Out just to name a few).

Watch it via rental on Amazon, GooglePlay, or iTunes.

Next up: The Top 10! Stay tuned!

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hayjeon · 6 years ago

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Cut Me Open Story Talk

Hiya guys!

For new readers, a story talk is sort of an author’s post-word thing/director’s cut sort of thing where I make some commentary about the fic! :)

For old readers, welcome back for a good ol’ story talk! It’s been a while since I did one of these, because it’s been such a long time since I’ve written a full fic that I enjoyed rip but nonetheless it’s so good to be back!

Warning, don’t read this before reading the fic, unless you want it to be spoiled :o

Whew! That was wild ride. It had a lot more drama than I intended it to have, but I needed the whole thing to arc in the way that it did to make everything wrap up nicely.

First of all, thank you to the honorable mentions: @katrina-noona who helped me and gave me a ton of advice and pointers! I love you so much, you’re honestly the reason I was even able to finish this monster lmao

+ the two anons who preferred to be kept anonymous, but were really honest to me about their marriage and divorce process! Thank you so much :)

Okay, let’s get to it!

I realized that I’d been writing a lot of...normal(?) fics. You know, the regular, enemies-to-lovers, or friends-with-benefits!aus, and nothing really...actually portraying the nitty gritty parts about relationships/love.

I mean, literally the last full fic that I wrote was with Seokjin and their love story is literally so digustingly perfect. I wanted to do something completely different than that. So I thought of this!

I had the chance to observe 3 years ago my own parents’ nasty divorce process. (btw they didn’t end up getting divorced) but it was so hard to see the two people you respect most always fighting like that and miscommunicating. I had to be the middle-man, and they were both talking to me, trying to make me take their side, and as a freshman, I was so overwhelmed and scared of doing something wrong. In addition to all the stresses to going to college 300 miles away from home, and a college with so many other smart people on top of that, and making new friends and new community and dealing with a ton of weight-gain, my life at home was falling apart at home too.

And so I learned very closely that love has a nasty side to it. Feelings are so fragile and they get hurt, no matter how strong the person. My mother is my role-model. She’s been through a lot, and I love her so much for it. And my dad too. They’re both so strong, but the divorce process hurt them so much, and it hurt me too. They’re fine now, and have come to accept their differences and live together in harmony, learning to forgive and communicate better. But that didn’t make the whole 3-year-old process any easier.

So instead of writing just another generic fall-in-love, live happily-ever-after kind of story, I decided to portray that in here. Yoongi and Y/N are perfect for each other. We can all see that.

But it doesn’t mean that their lives are perfect to a t. Instead, they go through real struggles, like issues with having children or dealing with mean mother in laws, incongruent schedules, being tired all the time, having to conceal some things, being afraid to acknowledge the truth....all of these things are real and raw things in a relationship that I felt important to integrate into Cut Me Open.

And I want to reiterate one important thing: this fic wrapped up nicely, obviously. But I was careful to mention that even though they made up, it wasn’t a generic happily ever after:

“Sure, to be fair, after you and Yoongi had resolved your issues and decided to cancel the divorce, you still had to try. Love didn’t come that easily. If it was easy, then it wouldn’t be true love.

You and Yoongi had to attend marriage counseling sessions, make an effort to start going on dates again, and had to have long talks in car rides home to resolve and sort out all the miscommunications. You had to give up some of your responsibilities as Chief so that it would be easier to focus on being Yoongi’s wife, and also designate some work for him. Yoongi had to give up a few surgeries so he’d have time to spend with you after work and dedicate some to share the responsibilities of chief.

The both of you had to make a sacrifice. But it was worth it.

True love, without sacrifice, you learned, meant nothing.”

I hope that this was made clear enough to you guys, that yes, they made up fairly easily compared to others, and this is just a fic that wraps it up nicely. But whether or not a marriage works or not, it all depends on the timing and honestly the extent of sacrifice a person is willing to make.

I have a friend who’s parents split up and now have their respective marriages with beautiful wonderful people, and are so much happier than if they had tried to force their first marriage to work. And I respect that and support that 100%. Sometimes, certain people are not the ones who you believe those sacrifices are worth. That’s why people go through divorces. It’s very real. But I believe there is someone out there that makes it feel worth it.

If that’s not even a significant other, but it’s actually a friend, a child, or even a future you, then go for it. It’s gonna be worth it.

And for some, I know that marriage is difficult, and sometimes it feels like one side isn’t sacrificing enough. In that case, I really truly strongly believe in 1) a strong support system of friends/family, and 2) outside help. Y/N and Yoongi both had these, a community of friends and family who helped them and they also were willing to go to counseling to help sort it out. This is totally okay. You have a support system, and it’s really actually okay to seek out help. It doesn’t mean you’re going to fail, it doesn’t mean you’re doing something wrong. It just means you’re willing to try.

And to wrap it up, I just want to reiterate that there are always two sides to a story. HAHA a bunch of ppl said things like they wanted to punch Yoongi or they hated Yoongi, and honestly same. I did kind of build him up to be a passive asshole in the first part, but as soon as you read part 2, I hope it closed all the frayed edges and made sense why Yoongi made the choices he did.

Communication is so important in any relationship. With a friend, with a child, with a spouse/sig.other, or even yourself. It’s so so so important and I hope this fic portrayed even a little bit of that to you :)

Again, thank you so much for reading Cut Me Open! I truly enjoyed writing this fic, and I’m so happy that it’s finished, although I wish I could’ve done a litlte better with the second part because it started going a little all over the place in my haste to finish it on time. T___T

But thank you guys for your support, and like always, please let me know what you thought! I absolutely adore your guys’ feedback and questions and commetnts, it’s the reason I continue to write <3

Good night,

Hay

PS. I made a timeline/outline for myself to reference while writing the fic because it jumps around everywhere, but if you guys want to see it, this is it!

#story talk #fics #writing #cut me open

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oopsabird · 6 years ago

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1; & 3, 5, 10 for take my heart &/so much like stars

1. Of the fics you’ve written, which is your favourite and why?

Of all of my fics, that award I think would have to go to “I have loved the stars too fondly” (my Hamlet fic). Partly because I’m exceptionally pleased with how the prose and story/visuals execution turned out (in the most recent edited edition, which I think was last spruced up in 2016), and partly because since Hamlet is public domain, it technically sits on a sort of par with The Lion King in terms of canon-ness (or at least that’s what I say to boost my own ego lol). Of my WW fics (completed ones), I like “And In The Morning” best - it executes exactly the imagery and mood I intended it to, and I like it so much that I actually frequently forget that the hug it adds to the airfield aftermath scene isn’t actually canon, despite me carrying it over to all my other fics (it happened off-screen and I will take that headcanon to my grave). gambit, that wonderful whumpy collection of historical anachronisms, medical bullshitting, and tropes, is a very close second there, purely because I designed it to be a collection of things I enjoy in fic so of course I love it.

3. Which part of [title] was hardest to write?

take my heart clean apart if it helps yours beat: Trying to convey exactly the physical positions and body language I was picturing in my head while maintaining prose and mood was probably the toughest. I tend to picture my fics like films in my head beforehand, complete with camera angles and cuts and mood lighting and a lot of minute physical/action detail, so trying to cram all that information into a sentence that still reads nicely and gets the intended feeling across is my most frequent struggle in writing. This was a fic that to me carried just as much of its mood and angst in things like the touch of a shoulder or the intonation of a word as it did in the prose, so it was tough, but I think I struck a pretty good balance.

so much like stars: I know the answer to this instantly, and you may know it too since I mention it in the end note of the fic: the undressing scene. Like, I basically worship Lindy Hemming for her costume design work in this movie and legitimately think she deserved to at least be nominated for an Oscar for it (product placement: the Wonder Woman Artbook is well worth its $50 price tag for the incredible insight into the crazy amount of craftmanship and work that went into making this movie. Must-have if you are fascinated by film-making and Wonder Woman. Hence why I have it.) All that being said, the (truly excellent) costumes for Sameer and Charlie have an INSANE amount of layers and pieces, and because I am a stickler for prop continuity I took it upon myself to keep track of each and every one. Except for a few I omitted because I knew nobody else is enough of a nerd about this movie to know the difference lol. It was a nightmare of my own making but in the end also a good writing exercise for managing prop pieces in a scene. But still. SO. MANY. JACKETS.

I really do go on in the rest of these answers, so please find them tucked under the cut!

5. Did you make an outline for [title], and if so did you stick to it?

I have what I would call a very ADHD writing technique, in which I will generally impulsively write the scenes I have visualized most clearly first, regardless of their place in the fic; then I spend possibly weeks jumping around and filling in the patches between scenes whenever inspiration strikes, generally working either from a vague “it will go like this overall” plan stored in my brain, or a placeholder in-text like “[they leave the bar and travel home. Charlie falls asleep in the cab]”. I almost always write my openings last, after having built the rest of the fic together bit-by-bit and now needing a way to segue the reader into it. That’s process is basically how I wrote both of these, except these were essentially written as a moment of hyperfocus rather than over a long period of time - each of them developed very quickly from initial idea to publication in a short period because I didn’t do literally anything else during that time (take my heart over a period of 12 hours, so much like stars over a period of three days). The only fic I have that really has a concretely written formal outline is The Big Fic (that mythological creature from my WIP list), and that’s because I’ve spent months actively workshopping the shit out of it and treating the damn thing like a novel (which is probably why finishing it escapes me).

10. What are some facts that readers may not know about [title]?

Ooooooo this is a delightful question, because as you can probably tell from my lengthy author’s notes on AO3, I looooove giving “director’s commentary” and spilling extra-textual info about my fics!

take my heart:

I don’t like that this is yet another WW fic I’ve done where Diana appears but doesn’t speak, but couldn’t (yet) find a way to give her even a passing line that didn’t feel shoehorned.

The choice to use present tense was made on a whim.

Though the fic doesn’t actually mention it explicitly (the one that I borrowed my own headcanon from does), the injury Charlie received to his shoulder and was put on leave for is that he “froze up” during their last mission and got shot (it was a graze), fell off his sniper perch and hit his head (a version of this incident is detailed in To Burn And Keep Quiet).

I worry that I write too many fics where Sameer is just a lens for processing Charlie’s trauma and emotional arcs in the text, and want to do more pieces that give Sami other plots and motivations and have him operating as a character more independently from his relationship to and feelings for Charlie.

Originally the idea was going to be Sami saying “I love you” knowing it will be forgotten in the morning, but then when I was writing it I was like “wait, I’ve thought of something worse! how delightful!”.

The “over breakfasts and newspapers” line is intended as a reference to Steve’s in-movie explanation to Diana of what people do when there are no wars to fight.

I decided to have it rain at one point because in the movie when Diana enters the pub with Steve the pavement is shown to be wet so I figure it must have been that kind of day, and also because it was raining all day while I wrote so I was really feeling it.

so much like stars:

I went to painstaking googling lengths to find a French-language song for the opening that was both period-accurate and suitable to the mood.

I actually omitted at least one costume piece: Sami wears these absurd-looking knit legwarmer-looking things over his boots and the bottom of his pants (these can be glimpsed in some scenes), and not only do they really look strange with just the suit (less so with all his coats and everything on), but I have no idea what they’re called and was sick of writing costume pieces, so I left them out knowing nobody else is enough of a nerd about it to notice.

I originally wanted to give this fic a fade-to-black/”soft focus” They Done Fucked romantic get-together conclusion (hence the setup with the windowless room, the creaky bed, the washbasin), but as the fic progressed I decided against it because it didn’t feel right for the tone/situation or the fact that that’s not my actual headcanon for how that night would’ve gone (and I was shooting for canon-compliant). An unfinished draft of that alternate ending does exist, but it’s not as of yet in any shape to be shown to anybody. Yet.

I worried while writing (still do, a bit) that this fic wouldn’t be liked/read by other fans because I know that the version of Charlie I have developed/analyzed out of my repeated close readings of the film and headcanons is a much more likable character than the impression of him you get after just one or two viewings of the film, so I worried that more casual/less obsessed fans reading this (and indeed, several of my other fics) wouldn’t be able to suspend their disbelief enough to accept me saying “yeah, Sameer is very in love with him. attacted to him, even.” without having been along for the ride on my entire crazy obsession with this movie and these characters. Luckily the way Sameer’s interactions with him in the film are acted and shot do the vast majority of the heavy lifting in-canon for this ship already, so readers are more likely to take “Sami is in love with Charlie, secretly” as read without me having to do too much extra stuff to back it up or make it plausible. “Charlie is in love with Sami” doesn’t require nearly as much work to “justify” because Sami is extremely handsome and charming and much of the fandom seems to adore him anyway, so its more like “yeah obviously, who WOULDN’T be in love with him in some way or another?”

I watched the entire “Night In Veld” set of scenes (through from Sami bringing Diana and Steve drinks to that wonderful Wondertrev fade-to-black scene) probably about 8+ times during the process of writing this fic, just to keep myself in the right frame of mind/mood; at this point I could recite it word-for-word.

Sami’s list of “Reasons Not To Tell Him” is pretty much my favourite part of the fic.

The “Sami wears undershirts with sleeves, Charlie wears sleeveless ones” distinction is my own little bit of costume design and also a headcanon that I carry through almost all of my fics.

I had a lot of trouble trying to balance my dedication to the principle “write non-English dialogue in the correct language” with “you can’t subtitle this, there is a LOT of French, and it needs to be comprehensible for an English audience”. What you see in the fic is my version of a happy medium, which I think works rather well.

Thank you for asking this!!!! And thank you to anybody who stuck it out to read this whole damn thing and indulge my infodumping!

#asks #long post #fanfic #charliexsameer #ww 2017

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dreamsofthescreen · 4 years ago

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Stanley Donen’s Marvel At Love - Two For The Road Review & Analysis

Albert Finney & Audrey Hepburn in ‘Two For The Road’

As far as romance goes, in the era of classics, we are given a idealised and soft edged view on a what love is or could be. Stanley Donen’s ‘Two For The Road’ appeals in it’s quirky and realistically sharp depiction of a marriage, as the beloved Audrey Hepburn and renowned film star Albert Finney ‘make something wonderful out of being alive’, as the trailer depicts. Driving cross country through France, we follow the unravelling of a decade long relationship, having us along for the ride & analysing the highs and lows of love. The simplicity of a love story with no certain grandeur is the greatest excitement, as room for interest is in the writing and expression of the story itself. A catalogue of successful retro arthouse, colour-blocked aesthetic films, Donen’s 1967 love story combined with Frederic Raphael’s blunt writing style delivers a versatile and greatly entertaining tale of love lost and found.

Joanna (Audrey Hepburn) and Mark (Albert Finney) have been married for a decade, and are now establishing their rocky connections. Travelling from London to the South Of France on a work trip related to Mark’s architectural career, they unpack the highs and lows of their relationship, reestablishing where they’re at now, and ultimately going back to how much they do need each other. Finney and Hepburn hitchhike, drive and fly around France, as we follow the couple in all their quirks, romantic moments and complications. The entire film is like a diary of their relationship, based on their travels in France throughout the years. Frederic Raphael’s award winning writing captures the moments that come with being in love, like striking grief and pure elation, set on the backdrop of the stunning French countryside. Their adventures have them repeatedly joking about Mark’s tendency to misplace his passport, finding themselves abandoned in the rain & having to sleep in a concrete cylinder on a moving truck, as well as Mark falling clumsily into a pool when trying to chase after Joanna.

Flashing back between Joanna and Mark’s early days of marriage, to their downfall that had them engaging in extramarital affairs, the grandeur and pathos of love that is portrayed was not usual for films at this time. Made in 1967, honest emotion like this was only starting to break out in cinema, as the Production Code (dictated what could be shown or said in film), was changing. For audiences, we are given insight into the pure joy and heartache in a couple that, despite their changing dynamics and hostility to one another, do still truly belong to each other. By combining a comedy with romance, drama and even some philosophical commentary, some may argue that this, along with the constant jump-cuts, is too much at once for a film. Yet I believe that it creates powerful interest, taking audiences on a journey that is tastefully stylish and does not overwhelm us too much.

Stanley Donen is not shy of success, having directed ‘Singin In The Rain’, ‘Charade’ and ‘Funny Face’, making ‘Two For The Road’ a rather less heard of film of his. His films were technicolored with soul and charm, almost seeming to follow a New Wave style. Once films started using colour, especially in the 1960s, it became one of the main assets, bringing great life and joy to a movie, Two For The Road doing just this. Though an American director, his works are never seeped in Hollywood-fakery or predictable cliche’s, as they seem to follow a more natural style, this honesty being so important to the depiction of a marriage like Joanna & Mark’s. The Los Angeles Times wrote on his directing style, stating that he ‘brought wit, style, heartache and joy to the movies’ and too asked, ‘What does pure joy look like on screen? Stanley Donen gave us no shortage of possible answers’. With the beautifully sweeping and romantic soundtrack by Henry Mancini and Donen utilising jump cuts between different time periods, ‘Two For The Road’ really does follow the art-nouveau, French New Wave style of cinema. This has Donen stray away from the typical process of an American director, ultimately saving the film from becoming a corny, glamourised love story. The pain, happiness and change is what makes this story so widely romantic, as it follows something so uniquely realistic.

This, along with Frederic Raphael’s lyrically raw and amusing writing creates an honest interpretation of a relationship that we can either relate to or know about, given the tenderness and change of a love barely standing. But Donen and Raphael don’t just have audiences follow Mark and Joanna. We are given an analytical look at their time together, delving into how they fall in love, what changes after getting married and having a child, time changing their dynamic. We see how a marriage turns sour, it’s charm wearing away as Finney and Hepburn are left with a child, and a love gone cold. The opening scene has Hepburn and Finney stylishly pulling up in their car, passing a wedding, Hepburn stating “They don’t look very happy”, to which Finney replies, “Why should they? They just got married”.

Of all of Audrey Hepburn’s doe-eyed, elegance-seeped roles that she is so well known and loved for, Stanley Donen shows her in a beautiful new light, her performance soaring. It can be argued that ‘Two For The Road’ is one of her strongest roles. As an avid Hepburn fan myself, it is the freedom that she is given within the character that adds edge and interest, as opposed to the doll-faced, girly performances of hers that are beautiful, but can be shallow. This was a real change for her, as she drops the classic black Givenchy dress for a colourful, more casual wardrobe. This only made me fall in love with her more, as she is involved in a comedic and rich performance, creating such layers to her, as well as really exuding her acting talents as she steps out of her comfort zone. This is also a more realistic Hepburn, as the role is even closer to herself as a person, as during filming she was going through the beginning of a divorce. You’d hope that this is what Donen had been meaning to succeed, by showing such a beloved icon in one of his films. Albert Finney was a match made in heaven for Hepburn in this film, as their chemistry is electric, making something so basic seem so wonderful or painful. As the trailer itself states, we watch ‘Audrey Hepburn and Albert Finney make something wonderful out of being alive’.

The way of taking what can be seen as a basic story and turning it into something so spectacularly beautiful and interesting is one of the most powerful aspects of film. This is what Two For The Road so greatly achieves, as from afar, Joanna and Mark’s relationship is seemingly regular, with no great glory or achievement involved. Yet it is the way in which the story of this marriage is executed that gives it all the glory. All shot on location, the trip we take with the couple may seem like a simple journey, yet the storytelling and execution of emotion through the writing and stylistic choices is something so outstanding. This road-trip certainly can be seen as a symbol of Mark and Joanna, the cars they drive being symbols of the adventure that is marriage. All features of the film are utilised to create a powerful story, the differing environments being a significant aspect, as they tie into the theme of change. The costuming too plays an important part in the emotive experience of audiences, as Joanna and Mark’s wardrobe moves from colourfully casual and free to professional and tight-fitting, representing how they’ve settled, after having married and had children.

Henry Mancini’s score is something that is so tear-jerking, moving audiences through the motions. Gleefully slow moving strings accompany the scene where Joanna professes her love for Mark early on, ditching her ride and humorously imitating a traffic signal, surprising Mark. He questions, “what happened to your slick friend in the Alfa Romeo?”, to which Joanna responds, “I told him I was in love with you, so he put me down”. These exuberantly happy moments are paramount in the story, as the simplicity and beauty of travel, food, romance and new meetings create interest. You can really say that not much happens throughout, but it is the collective moments that make it all the while. Moments like Hepburn’s bright red top on the background of a French food market on the day she met Mark and getting to know him, as they too discuss their values, ideas and past. Travel is such a wonderful pastime, bringing heart, experience and memories of a lifetime, as well as closeness and complications. This makes their journey such an interesting and beautiful facet, as it is a remarkable setting for stress and joy throughout. Moments like this they share, in an amusing scene where they drive in ‘the old MG’. Joanna wears a bright pink ensemble and announces her pregnancy, as her and Mark toast with a cup of coffee in the car, just before it sets fire & they spontaneously find a hotel to stay in after being isolated from their accident.

The contrast between the beginning of and later on in Mark & Joanna’s relationship is a clear indicator of their fading infatuation, though love is still there. Though always in France, always travelling together in a car, and staying in the same hotels over their decade spanning relationship, audiences can clearly see the difference in their attitude towards each other. Where there was enthusiastic adoration in their first stay at the luxurious hotel in France, years down the line, Mark draws up architectural plans, as Joanna utters ‘aren’t you coming to bed at all?’. What was once a fun-loving beach holiday, where Mark fought with and then proposed to Joanna, is now a dismal seaside lounge chair for them to sit in, as they vacation there years later, with almost nothing to say to one another. The bitterness that marriage can bring is noted very well in the monologues that Mark and Joanna deliver to each other. With Mark asking about their relationship, stating “is it worth it?”, Joanna responding with, “Yes it is worth it sometimes, only not now”, this being a strong summary of a long-lasting marriage. As arguments test their devotion to one another, the ending scene shows Joanna and Mark driving home from a party, discussing their place in their marriage. As Mark taunts Joanna with questions about what she might be doing having not been with him, he goes onto ask “What can’t I accept?”, to which Joanna replies, “That we’re a fixture, that we’re married. You go on about my leaving you, when I’m always still there. You sure you don’t want me to leave you?” Mark replies with, “Positive.”

Ranked at no. 57 on the American Film Institute’s 100 Years…100 Passions list, Donen’s ‘Two For The Road’ can be seen as one of the greatest and certainly strongest love stories in cinema that there is. A romantic marvel it is, due to all it’s ever-changing realism and depiction of what could be true love. Strangely very modern for it’s time and still very contemporary today, Donen’s work so artistically mixes comedy with romance and drama. Expertly executing these genres all at once, a message is sent to audiences on the beauty of love, even amongst all it’s painful change.

Stars Out Of Five: 4.5/5

visit at: dreamsofthescreen.com

#audreyhepburn #audrey #albertfinney #1960scinema #newwave #retrocinema #retrofilm #vintage #costumedesign #filmwriters #blogger #writersoftumblr #hepburn #1950s #henrymancini #review #analysis

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yougotcrit · 7 years ago

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Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017)

There’s no greater minefield to tread across than discussing a new Star Wars film, because the odds of me walking away from such a venture without some backlash from the internet is small.

Never tell me the odds.

But it really is a challenge to write about Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017) because I’m a Star Wars fan AND a critic. I want to look at the film objectively but I also want to gush over it. And when I look at the initial reactions between the critics and the fans, I see a gaping rift of either loving it or hating it, and I find myself loosely in the middle. I’ve probably spent more time collecting my thoughts on this film than any other, trying to figure out exactly if what I watched was good, but also if it truly qualified as a Star Wars film.

Ultimately the answer to both questions is a resounding, yes kinda. As far as the quality of Last Jedi goes, it’s a good movie with peaks and valleys; some jaw-dropping sequences and amazing moments that are separated by segments that were useless and, in one VERY specific moment, downright ridiculous. The film is plagued with some slow scenes that drag on too long, and the plot suffers from tangents that never accomplish anything. The film also attempts to tackle complicated social and political issues, like war profiteering, oddly enough. Being over two hours in length, The Last Jedi could probably have done without some of those inconsequential subplots and commentaries. And yet, the film’s lightsaber fights are some of the franchise’s best, and the space battles are just as gripping. Every Star Wars film adopts the idea of “The Force” and expands on it, setting new precedents and pushing its capabilities and limits, and The Last Jedi does so perhaps more than any other film, with some cool outcomes as a result.

Stylistically, the film differs vastly from its predecessors. Last Jedi makes extensive use of flashbacks, and the film is thematically darker, even more than Empire Strikes Back (1980). But director Rian Johnson, despite his efforts to set this latest iteration apart from the rest and subvert expectations, implemented several choices in the production which made it more like the older films than he may have intended. And unfortunately, I mean that in a George-Lucas’s-Prequels kind of way. Where J.J. Abrams took great lengths to rely on practical effects as much as possible for The Force Awakens (2015), Johnson put more emphasis on the CGI. Many of the creatures and aliens in the film were put there digitally, and, much like the CGI in the Prequels, they looked fake and uninteresting. And yet, for one character’s cameo appearance, practical effects were specifically used, so I found it odd that for everything else they went the other way. I will say this, though. Porgs, the little owl-penguin-type creatures that make their debut in the film so Disney can sell more toys, are unapologetically and cunningly adorable. Damn, those things are cute.

With The Last Jedi, we pick up exactly from where we left off with The Force Awakens, with Rey, Finn, Kylo Ren, Poe, Luke and Leia all where we last saw them, more or less. All the questions and theories that fans have been pondering on for the last two years were finally going to be answered. Sadly, if you were going into this movie looking for answers, you’re going to be mostly disappointed. While a few things are addressed and explained, for the most part, many of our queries were either ignored or forgotten. It’s a shame really. The Force Awakens, having left us with all these questions and possible outcomes, made for a good jumping off point for the next film. But director Rian Johnson focused on his priorities instead, and largely overlooked the previous orchestration in favor of pointing the story into a new direction. And I’m fine with where the story is now headed, but to completely tune out the many things we were looking forward to was short-sighted.

We do see some great acting and development by the film’s biggest three characters: Rey, Kylo Ren and Luke. Luke, in particular, made the biggest transformation since we last saw him speak in Return of the Jedi (1983). We finally understand his struggle since then and why he has come to this point in his life. It was nice to see Mark Hamill back in the role, but not as the happy-go-lucky Jedi we were all accustomed to. And Carrie Fisher’s final portrayal of General/Princess Leia Organa was a touching and tasteful farewell to the actress who passed last year. Though everyone else in the film is nearly negligible, running around having their own adventures which have no impact on the story. None more so than new character Rose, who is thrown into the mix if only to drive the irrelevant subplot she’s part of. She was sweet, but the character development she made and her impact on the characters around her was forced, and I’m not very sure if I cared for her. The appearance of Benicio Del Toro’s character was also a miss. I liked his portrayal, but the character himself was convenient and excessive. And if you were looking forward to Captain Phasma making a triumphant return and kicking all sorts of ass, you best just sit tight and keep waiting.

All in all, The Last Jedi is an ambitious film that wasn’t afraid to take risks, which I appreciate more than I can say. It’s by no means perfect, but with all the hype, how could it be? Everyone has their own expectations, and there’s no way the film could meet them all. If you manage to look past its flaws (and ignore the one really, really screwball moment), The Last Jedi is a competent addition to the Star Wars mythos, but I’ll be happier when J.J. Abrams takes the reins again. I feel he had a better grasp of what a Star Wars movie needs to be.

Star Wars: The Last Jedi,

You Got Crit

(Like what you read? Then Share! Or Like! Or Follow! Or leave a Comment! Didn’t like it? That’s cool too! I’d love to hear feedback! Thanks for reading!)

#star wars #the last jedi #mark hamill #carrie fisher #luke skywalker #rey #rian johnson #kylo ren #movie review #film critique #yougotcrit #porgs #daisy ridley #adam driver #Princess Leia #benicio del toro

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buckbarne · 8 years ago

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Here are some LGBT movies I’ve watched !!

Top picks (in alphabetical order)

Big Eden (2000) Gay artist Henry moves from NYC to small hometown to take care of sick grandfather. A really sweet, heartwarming story. Bonus points for no homophobia (!!) plot line & a gay native american man, Pike, who is adorable and crushes on Henry.

Brokeback Mountain (2005) Who hasn’t seen this? Two shepherds and their tumultuous love story over the years.

But I’m a Cheerleader (1999) Girl gets sent to a boot camp meant to alter her sexuality. Funny and aesthetic and really cheesy but worth the watch.

Carol (2015) A young woman in her 20s, Therese Belivet is a clerk working in a Manhattan department store and dreaming of a more fulfilling life when she meets Carol, an alluring woman trapped in a loveless, convenient marriage.

First Girl I Loved (2016) Girl falls in love with the most popular girl from her school. Bonus points for a nuanced and realistic portrayal of teenagers.

The Way He Looks (Hoje Eu Quero Voltar Sozinho, 2014) Brazilian coming-of-age drama about a blind boy who falls in love with his classmate. Based on a short film called “I don’t want to go back alone”, which you can find on youtube.

Holding The Man (2015) In the 1970s, two teen boys in Australia fight all obstacles thrown their way and refuse to renounce the love they feel for each other. Based on Australia’s “most famous gay biography”.

I Killed My Mother (J’ai Tué Ma Mère, 2009) Biographical drama. Directorial debut of Quebecois actor Xavier Dolan, which he also wrote, produced and starred in. My favourite film by him.

Kill Your Darlings (2013) Biographical drama/thriller. A murder in 1944 draws together the great poets of the beat generation. Peep Daniel Radcliffe and Dane DeHaan.

Laurence Anyways (2012) A drama that charts ten years in the relationship of a transgender woman’s relationship with her lover. Directed by Xavier Dolan.

Maurice (1987) The story of a gay man in the early 20th century. A really sweet film with bonus points for being a gay period drama that - spoilers - has a happy ending.

Moonlight (2016) (see title card) A chronicle of the childhood, adolescence and burgeoning adulthood of a young black man growing up in a rough neighborhood of Miami. First lgbt film (and film with all-black cast) to win Best Picture at the Academy Awards 2017.

Pride (2014) U.K. gay activists work to help miners during their lengthy strike of the National Union of Mineworkers in the summer of 1984. A truly feel-good movie every one should watch.

The Handmaiden (2016) A woman is hired as a handmaiden to a Japanese heiress, but secretly she is involved in a plot to defraud her. It’s been called a “South Korean Gothic Lesbian Revenge Thriller”. Just watch it. Trust me.

The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975) A cult-classic and must-watch. Need I say more?

Rest of movies in alphabetical order under cut, with some commentary by yrs truly (me. a gay.)

Italic = Light / funny. (*)=dark, tw needed probably.

This is a bit cluttery. Feel free to ask me about any of these if you want extra info!!

A single man (I mean... if ur feeling melodramatic.)

Blue is the warmest color (overrated)

Broderskab* (Danish. neo-Nazis)

Baisers cachés (”Hidden kisses” French tv-movie)

Breakfast with Scot (liked this one a lot)

Beautiful thing (nice)

C.R.A.Z.Y. (not actually very gay. a little confusing)

Christopher and His Kind (ww2. but nice)

Cloud Atlas (gay couple r a very small part of this honestly don’t bother)

Cuatro Lunas (mexican. bonus points for gays of color)

Dear white people (incl. a black gay man who’s like... almost the mc? it’s been a while since I watched this)

Dope (I didn’t really like this one that much. think it had a lesbian best friend)

Edge of Seventeen (the 1998 one)

El sexo de los angéles (spanish. kinda boring. m/m/f)

Freier Fall (german. kinda... interesting?)

Fucking Åmål (”show me love” swedish. watched this one as a tween. lesbians)

Floating Skyscrapers (polish. Meh)

Front cover (chinese gay men in new york. not a cliché)

GBF

Geography Club

Get Real

Gods And Monsters (not very gay in itself. ian mckellen is a +)

Happy together (hong kong. kinda dark but idk)

Les Amours imaginaires (”Heartbeats”. french canadian. By & starring my fave director Xavier Dolan but this is my least fave movie of his)

Howl (if you want a film about allen ginsberg - watch kill your darlings instead. this one was weird.)

Ha buah (Israeli/palestinian romance. clearly biased towards israel)

Hurricane Bianca (really funny. stars rupaul’s drag race alumnus Bianca del Rio)

Imagine me & you (classic lesbian movie. watch itttt)

I love you Phillip Morris (heartwarming in a weird way. quite funny)

I Am Michael (really fucked up this one)

Jongens (”boys”. Dutch. nice)

Just une question d’amour (french.)

Keep the lights on (american but mc is played by a danish actor)

Kawa (gay Maori mc!!!!!!!!! really nice)

Legend (really violent. not /that/ gay, but a nice movie)

Les Chansons d’amour (french. Musical!)

Lilting (quiet. heartbreaking)

Looking: the movie (watch this after you’ve watched s1-2 of HBO’s Looking. It serves as the finale)

Milk (who hasn’t seen this one?)

My Beautiful Laundrette (oldie. could’ve been much better)

My Brother The Devil (gay arab mc. not actually v gay in itself)

Naomi and Ely’s No Kiss List (depends on how you look at it)

Out in the dark* (israeli/palestinian romance. dark. does pinkwash israel)

Patrik 1,5 (Swedish)

Plata quemada (”Burnt money”. Argentine. Heartfelt)

Plan B (spanish-language movie. interesting fo sure)

Prayers for Bobby (saaaaaaaaaad.)

Paris 05:59: Théo & Hugo (aka “theo et hugo dans le meme bateau”. French. really nice. first 20 mins are explicit sex.)

Rent (musical.)

Shelter (heartwarming)

Soldier’s Girl* (trans mc)

Sommersturm (Dutch)

The Kids Are All Right (didn’t really like this one. has that “lesbian cheats on wife/gf with man” cliché)

Those people (really nice. sad though. realistic)

The Normal Heart (AIDS. Really, really sad.)

The skeleton twins (I think this was marketed as a light movie but it was actually pretty deep and sad??)

The Incredibly True Adventure of Two Girls in Love (so cute.)

The Wedding Banquet (ang lee’s other gay movie that wasn’t brokeback mountain. Loved it)

Tom a la ferme* (”tom at the farm”. dir. xavier dolan. daaaark)

Tom of Finland (finnish)

Weekend (overrated.)

Water Lilies (french. not very gay)

You should meet my son! (this one is rly cheesy but it’s also rly funny I watched it like 3 times in 2 days.)

Yves Saint Laurent (french. one of my faves ever even though it got bad reviews?)

Saint Laurent (they made 2 movies abt him the same yr. didn’t really like this one)

Quand on a 17 ans (”being 17″ French. Interracial couple. a different kind of movie)

BONUS: some documentaries :)))

L’amour fou

The times of Harvey milk

Elder (short doc) watch it on vimeo

Growing Up Coy

Matt Shephard is a friend of mine

Before Stonewall

After Stonewall

Paris is burning

Bridegroom

Movies you shouldn’t watch:

Stand (2014). weird and really bad

respire (breathe) not gay. some people liked it though

Elephant. not gay

Dream boy. so boring I could only watch like 20 mins

Private Romeo. boring unless u really like shakespeare

UPDATE: here’s a part 2 to this list!

#lgbt movies #lgbt movie recommendations #gay movies #lgbt films #filmbabes #mystuff #lgbt #1k

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curdinway-blog · 5 years ago

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Top 102 Movies of the 2010’s, According to a Crackpot

I’ve decided to try the impossible.

The seed for this idea came from Polygon. The site ran an article by which various staff members ranked their top ten movies for the decade. Naturally, that got me thinking about MY top ten films for the decade. Then I realized I hadn’t seen most Oscar winners, let alone enough movies to qualify to make a list. Then I realized I would have much, MUCH more than ten movies in my list.

Thus, I embarked on a madman’s dream. It involved crunching movie after movie after movie, then trying to hopelessly rank it on my list if I thought it was good enough. I missed my own deadline of New Year’s. Now, I am releasing this on my next deadline: The Oscars. Literally now, when they are already underway.

I hope you will read this list with some forgiveness in your hearts. Biting off more than you can chew doesn’t describe it. There are a whole host of movies I wanted to see before I made this list I haven’t gotten to and probably never will. There are many movies on this list I saw close to a decade ago and am trying to place in a ranking against pieces I just saw a few days ago. Oh, and I’m comparing across genres and types. What I’m trying to say is, this list is probably going to suck in a lot of ways.

With that being said, I really did try to rank the following to the very best of my ability. I racked my brains, racked them, and racked them again. Ultimately, I made my decisions from a whole host of criteria, ranging from everything from pacing, to various aspects of entertainment value, to complexity/themes, to cinematography. I tried to be objective as much as possible, but I also think that how much you like a movie should be considered a piece of criteria as well. After all, that’s primarily why we go to the movies; we want to have a good time. As such, expect to see a lot of science-fiction and animation of this list. In my defense, it was a great decade for each.

And now…without further ado…let me introduce…The Top 102 Films of the 2010’s, According to a Crackpot!

102. Live Die Repeat: Edge of Tomorrow

Starship Troopers meets Groundhog Day, Live Die Repeat is a well-executed mecha-battle movie with a wrinkle of time-travel tossed in for good measure.

101. Wreck-It Ralph: Ralph Breaks the Internet

It may not be as good as the original, but Wreck-It Ralph 2 makes the grade with some cunning swipes at internet culture, the world’s best worst Disney Princess song, and bittersweet revelations about what it means to be a true friend.

100. Mirai

Few films truly approach their story from a child’s perspective; but in tone, structuring, and imagination, Mirai lets us see again through young eyes. Director Mamoru Hosoda uses time travel as a vehicle for exploration of deeply personal familial relationships, and how they shape us into the people we become.

99. The Last Gold

The Last Gold is an unheralded little gem about a quartet of female US Olympic swimmers who found themselves competing in an impossibly frustrating and unfair situation; the 1976 Olympics. As East German swimmers swept podium after podium (with the aid of a systematic doping program), the US Women’s team faced intense public criticism, especially phenom Shirley Babashoff, who could have been the female Mark Spitz if not for the rampant cheating going on. Largely forgotten and regarded as a disappointment by the American public, The Last Gold illustrates the team as one worth remembering and dignifying; in particular, for their final, desperate effort at gold in the 4 x 100 m freestyle relay.

98. Mad Max: Fury Road

Pretty much nonstop surreal nutty action, Mad Max surely has some of the most creative and tricky stunts done in the past decade.

97. The Amazing Spiderman

Utterly forgotten in the wake of its more successful follow-ups (and predecessors, for that matter), The Amazing Spiderman is nonetheless a solid reboot of some well-worn material. The concept behind Spidey’s origin is well-thought out and original, and ties directly to an interesting villain who is more the victim of his own genius than the archetype evil megalomaniac.

96. Doctor Strange

Doctor Strange marks itself as unique among the various Marvel offerings by pondering nothing less than the meaning of life… and overloading us with psychedelic, Inception-esque imagery.

95. Concussion

Featuring a terrific and vocally unrecognizable Will Smith, Concussion asks not only some difficult questions about the country’s (and my own) favorite sport, but also some difficult questions about what it means to be an American.

94. The Big Sick

I’m not a big rom-com guy, but The Big Sick won me over by creating romantic tensions from realistic scenarios; in particular, the difficulties that arise from differences in race and religion. The film’s awkward sense of humor is well-incorporated, making this a funny movie as well as an intelligent one.

93. Bridesmaids

A funny movie about friendships and change (anchored by an excellently tragicomic Kristen Wiig), Bridesmaids showed the Judd Apatow formula could work on equal terms for the female sex.

92. 50/50

50/50 tackled the cancer movie with an unusual slant of good humor, and chased it down with heartfelt drama and good performances.

91. Hanna

In which a supergirl Saoirse Ronan (pre-fame and accolades) is honed into an assassin by her father so that she can kill a wicked, hammy CIA operative Cate Blanchett before the agency gets to her first. If you ever wanted to see a small girl beating thugs to death with her bare fists in the style of Jason Bourne, this one’s for you. Loads of fun, totally bananas, and dripping with cool.

90. Hunger Games

More or less a faithful adaptation of a literary bestseller, Hunger Games nonetheless deserves credit for doing the job right. The cinematics and ideas here are very nice for a teen blockbuster, and Jennifer Lawrence rightfully turned into a star for BEING Katniss Everdeen.

89. What We Do in the Shadows

Quirky, subversive, hilarious, and utterly “New Zealand”, What We Do in the Shadows made vampires and werewolves funny again…in a good way.

88. Icarus

An accidental documentary seemingly spurred on by fate, Icarus is about the creep of misinformation and deception into every aspect of our lives, even sports, by the unscrupulous and powerful.

87. Prometheus

A film I absolutely adored the first time around, but toned down my enthusiasm for with a more critical eye to detail. Nevertheless, Prometheus should be appreciated for its immense scale of ambition and huge open-ended philosophical questions; it should also be appreciated for throwing a veritable kitchen sink of full of campy horrors at its viewers, including a crazy autosurgery scene.

86. 10 Cloverfield Lane

10 Cloverfield Lane flies high on its simplicity. Three main actors, one small doomsday shelter, and loads of palm-sweating, stomach-clenching, double-guessing suspense. John Goodman, you so craaaaazy.

85. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

Give J.K. Rowling credit for not making this a cynical cash grab; the writing in Fantastic Beasts is actually delightful. There is a strong balance here between the sweet magical whimsy going on and some dark, brooding commentaries on American society. A strong cast of endearing characters rounds out a very robust entry in the Harry Potter series.

84. How to Train Your Dragon II

A very good sequel to a classic, HTTYD II still provides the acrobatic, dragon-flying goods, even as it steers us into a troubling, thought-provoking battle between might and right, fixed circumstances and free will.

83. The Big Short

While Inside Job will always remain the definitive work on the maddening 2008 financial collapse, The Big Short is a strong effort featuring intimate inside perspectives of the actual people who did the dynamiting. A slick sense of humor and a celebrity all-star team intent on ripping Wall Street a new one makes this film a winner.

82. Captain America: Civil War

Cap: Civil War is noteworthy in that it makes civilian collateral damage the primary fulcrum and conflict of a superhero movie. It is also a bit of a “mini-Avengers” that successfully incorporates some slam dunk additions to the team; then pits them against each other.

81. Get Out

One of the decade’s cleverest and most ambitious horror flicks, Get Out shows how the sum of a million little microaggressions equates to something very ugly indeed.

80. The Hateful Eight

A slow-burner as far as Tarantino films go, The Hateful Eight is an interesting social play interspersed with exaggerated violence and profanity; a commentary on how our nation was forged in the fires of overcoming racial and societal differences.

79. The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

Catching Fire does what all good sequels aim to do; take the appealing constructs of the original film and pump them up on steroids. Everything the Hunger Games did, Catching Fire does bigger, badder, and better.

78. Big Hero 6

A weeaboo’s dream, a great superhero flick, and a gentle meditation upon loss and healthy grieving, Big Hero 6 is a very entertaining film with a big heart and a wonderfully plush-looking buddy robot.

77. Mary and the Witch’s Flower

Mary and the Witch’s Flower is a Studio Ghibli flick, helmed by Studio Ghibli animators…under a non- Ghibli studio. Here are all the familiar beats we love as viewers; the weird, wonderful setting (a school of sorcery for talented children), abuses on the natural world wrought by technology and ambition, and a delightfully ordinary red-headed girl who must think on her feet and grow if she is to survive. Harry Potter crossed with Miyazaki…who could ever resist that?

76. Avengers: Infinity War

The key to Infinity War’s successes is Thanos. The Mad Titan had been waiting in the shadows for most of MCU’s run during the past decade; in Infinity War, we finally see him in the formidable flesh. At once terrifying and tragic, Thanos is the most iconic villain of the 2010’s; a villain finally worth pitting an entire squad of heroes against, and perhaps, more than a match for all of them. The film’s shocking ending and willingness to go to darker places makes this movie MCU’s The Empire Strikes Back.

75. Alien: Covenant

Man, did Covenant get a bad rap. Audience members branded its characters stupid, its monsters unscary, and its premise a letdown from Prometheus. They were wrong on every count. The characters of Covenant act as normal explorers should; not as we, in all of our omniscient wisdom, should advise them to. The monsters are absolutely bloodcurdling; truly nasty, unrelenting creatures which are content to flay their victims alive if they cannot kill them outright. And the story did not answer many of Prometheus’s big questions because it was simply better and more interesting than that. I posit the reason Covenant was such a flop is not any failure on its part, but rather a failure of audiences’ openmindedness and tolerance for the macabre. Alien: Covenant is the best Alien movie since at least Aliens; a pitch-black, bordering on nihilistic tale of bad things happening to good people. It is also a successful conglomeration of the various qualities of Alien, Aliens, and Prometheus, and a fascinating cross-examination of an android who is too human for his own (or anybody’s) good.

74. The Shape of Water

Amélie meets The Swamp Thing, The Shape of Water is an odd, intriguing romantic Cold War thriller that celebrates those members of society who are ostracized, marginalized, or cast aside.

73. ParaNorman

Funny, scary, and important, Paranorman is a spooky, kid-friendly take on tolerance and the price of ignorance.

72. Gasland

By all practical accounts, Gasland is horrifying. This is a film that shows the surreal consequences of free-for-all fracking; water that can be set on fire, air pollution that exceeds 100x the safe limit for some toxins around fracking wells, and literal poisoning of wildlife and residents via breathing, drinking, and skin absorption. While all of this content would make for a great documentary, it is banjo-pickin’, easy-going filmmaker Josh Fox who makes this film even better. His heartfelt personal accounts and willingness to stand aside and let the victims speak for themselves gives this documentary a warmth and decency usually missing from such explosive exposés.

71. Wreck-It Ralph

A hilarious mash-up of video games and memorable arcade characters, Wreck-It Ralph manages to stay clever, hip, and inventive the whole way, even as it plays expertly off audience nostalgia.

70. Green Book

Thanks in large part to its pair of terrific leads, Green Book manages to be an uproariously entertaining road trip buddy movie; even as it brings to light the racial problems which existed (and continue to exist) in America.

69. Scott Pilgrim vs The World

Possibly the most Millennial film ever made, Scott Pilgrim is a busy, delicious barrage of video games, garage bands, pop culture references, and comics. Intricately detailed and gut-bustingly funny, Scott Pilgrim’s supply of visual gags and uber-referential one-liners is practically (turns 8 sideways on fridge) infinite.

68. Captain America: The Winter Soldier

Winter Soldier is high-tier MCU. The electric superhero proceedings benefit from a deliciously twisty plot, and a surprising injection of sharp political commentary.

67. Dunkirk

One of the most viscerally intense PG-13 movies ever, Christopher Nolan’s war epic is a nightmarish tour-de-force that places viewers directly in enemy crosshairs. In typical Nolanian fashion, however, this is also high-brow, intellectually stimulating fare. There is not only the logistical puzzle at play of how to successfully evacuate 300,000 plus English soldiers from the French coast; Dunkirk understands warfare as a product of two extreme and opposite polarities of human nature. War cannot be waged without nasty, selfish streaks of human survival, as there will simply be no one left to fight it; neither can it be won without remarkable acts of courage and willing sacrifice.

66. Blackfish

Deeply troubling and disturbing, Blackfish shows what happens when you take the most intelligent and sensitive animals in the world besides us and confine them in a bathtub for their entire lives. A stirring call for respect for nature, and a long-running tally of SeaWorld’s sins, Blackfish is a must-see documentary.

65. Contagion

Contagion is one of the decade’s scariest films. After all, murdering mask-wearing lunatics and supernatural bumps in the night can be discounted as a trick behind the camera; but the boogeyman in Contagion almost assuredly exists, a nuke buried somewhere in the bosom of Mother Nature. If we blunder into it, God help us all. The film’s chilly, distant demeanor and scientific accuracy (Contagion gets bonus points for being the most scientifically accurate movie of all time) makes its depiction of a modern plague frighteningly plausible; its fixations on points of transfer are enough to convince anyone to wash their hands twice.

64. How to Train Your Dragon

One of the best movies to ever exit out the Dreamworks pipeline, HTTYD is an excellent parable about hate and jingoism, wrapped up in an exhilarating thrill ride that made us all want a Toothless of our own.

63. Restrepo

Restrepo is such a hard film to gauge. It doesn’t take aim at politics, or delve too deeply into the lives of its subjects; American soldiers in the Korangal Valley, Afghanistan. Restrepo is content to simply put us in their boots. Never has combat been so realistically brought to the American doorstep. In Restrepo, one can see the terror of death, the adrenaline hit of downing an enemy, the tomfoolery of kids messing around with one another in between bouts of fighting for their lives. This is the pure essence of modern war; in its DNA, one can see what so many directors of fiction have been trying to recapture in their work. Restrepo is a remarkable and dangerous accomplishment; an accomplishment that would eventually cost co-director Tim Hetherington his life while shooting a subsequent film in Libya.

62. Abominable

Dreamworks has been a rather lackluster studio in comparison to the rest of the industry. With that being said, it is more than capable of making great movies; and Abominable is right up there with the best the studio has ever made. This gorgeously made Asian-flavored film explores China as a meeting grounds of various philosophies; wealth and privilege versus working class, urban versus agrarian, East versus West, and how exploitation and cultural diffusion have reshaped life there. It is also simply a wonderful tale of an introverted girl who must travel to the Himalayas to deliver a magical yeti back to nature; and how that journey unlocks her ability to grieve and connect with others.

61. Winter’s Bone

Winter’s Bone is the movie that announced to the world that this Jennifer Lawrence person could act, I tell you h’what. This menacing coming-of-age journey through the Ozark drugscape shows the importance of family in such poor, isolated communities as something more than a cliché of hillbilly pride; it is actually a means to survival and redemption.

60. The Boy and the Beast

The Boy and the Beast can certainly be appreciated simply as a fantastical, colorful training/battle movie about an orphaned human boy and his cantankerous bear master. But it is as it dives deep into the complexity of the male mind that the film fascinates thematically and generates stirring emotional resonance. In particular, the film has something to say about the anger that can spur young men to violence, and the stabilizing force a mature male presence can have (but does not always have) on that anger. The benefits of fatherhood extend to father-figures as well, who become more emotionally aware and sensitive, and gain deeper meaning and fulfillment in their lives. Hosoda is truly one of the best directors working in animation today, and The Boy in the Beast is typically intelligent, thematically dense work from him.

59. The King’s Speech

A feel-good film done with classical style, The King’s Speech is an elegant, touching tale of friendship that will surely play well among lovers of The Royal Family.

58. The Artist

Thanks to rich visual storytelling and fantastic performances, this pre-talkie throwback hardly needs words to delight.

57. The Tale of Princess Kaguya

Isao Takahata’s final film The Tale of Princess Kaguya feels like a beautiful pastel picture book brought to life. At once a fable of ruinous greed, classism, and sexism, it is also a haunting soliloquy of love, nature, freedom, beauty, and death…all that makes life precious.

56. Kubo and the Two Strings

Kubo and the Two Strings makes me mad. Not because it is a bad film; far from it. I am angry because Kubo had everything going for it. It had big-name actors, it had effects which pushed stop-motion to its limits, it had a big marketing push in theaters to push viewership, it had great critical reviews. It was supposed to be Studio Laika’s crown jewel; the film that would win big at the box office and thrust the studio of perennial indie hits like Coraline and Paranorman into well-deserved limelight. And it was good. Like, really good!

Unfortunately, Kubo and the Two Strings flopped at the box office, for reasons I cannot imagine nor articulate in polite company. But it will get its due here; Kubo is a stop-motion masterpiece with rich, resonant themes and ground-breaking visual effects. It also has a rendition of “My Guitar Gently Weeps” on a Japanese samisen. So go see the damn thing.

55. The Wind Rises

We might be getting another Miyazaki film after all, but The Wind Rises was a fantastic send-off piece for anime’s most legendary director. This is a truly complex, mature film about the relation of beauty and art to woe and suffering, and a critical examination of the tunnel vision that often grips great artists.

54. Knives Out

A classic whodunit tweaked for the modern era, Knives Out balances its twisty mystery proceedings with some well-timed black humor and more than a few pokes at the wealthy elite.

53. Inside Job

A carefully researched and scathingly delivered incrimination of the greed that ruined a nation, Inside Job is one of the best documentaries of the era.

52. Hugo

A wondrous, Dickensian-tale of an orphan who lives in a Paris train station and discovers the secret of a mysterious automaton, Hugo is an intelligent, sensitive family picture and a touching love letter to early cinema.

51. Moonlight

Being different is hard, as I can say from firsthand experience. While I can hardly imagine what it is to be African-American or gay, let alone both at once, Moonlight offers some glimpse into that difficult reality. The film’s touching love story is a journey of self-acceptance and courage that is well worth seeing.

50. Tangled

Tangled was Disney’s announcement to the rest of the field that it was back, baby. After a period of shaky and poorly thought-out 3-D projects in the early 2000’s, Disney took a long, hard look at itself and identified what it did best, then brought out the best of those qualities in its witty, triumphant take on Rapunzel. Here are the songs, guffaws, villains, and magic we all love as fans, delivered perfectly into the next dimension.

49. Source Code

Groundhog Day via sci-fi thriller, Source Code is a clever, action-packed take on time travel, but also an emotionally investing take on what it means to live each day-and life-to the fullest.

48. Toy Story 4

Rarely has a sequel piece ever seemed as risky as Toy Story 4. The studio had its closing piece in Toy Story 3; a film I thought was respectable but not particularly interesting. But rather than let sleeping dogs lie, Pixar opted to throw that ending in the garbage…and pulled something far more bizarre and wonderful from the trash. Toy Story 4 is a wacky, existential riff that acknowledges the importance of family and responsibility in our lives, while simultaneously declaring that it is okay to value ourselves outside those traditional parameters.

47. Arrival

Arrival is hard science-fiction done exceedingly right. Depicting an extraterrestrial visitation across the globe, Arrival seems truly tangible in a way most alien films do not, down to the very form of its decidedly non-humanoid creatures. In vein of Contact or Interstellar, Arrival picks the brain and heartstrings with equal acumen, making it a lasting and valuable commodity to anyone’s sci-fi library.

46. Spiderman: Homecoming

Spiderman: Homecoming is the geekiest of Spiderpieces. This is the Spiderman where Spiderman is Go-Pro-ing himself before a big battle, or joining a quiz bowl team, or building a Lego Death Star with his nerdy confidante, complete with miniature Lego Palpatine. Light, refreshing, and utterly hilarious, Homecoming gets a lot of mileage out of Tom Holland’s awesome portrayal, and tells a simple, uncomplicated story that doesn’t impede the shenanigans.

45. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Pt. 2

Audiences were expecting a fireworks show for Deathly Hallows: Part II, and boy did they get one. A terrifically exciting heist sequence and a grand final battle made this the most epic and exciting entry in the Harry Potter canon. The culmination of carefully laid character arcs and sentimental links back to the series’ early days had fans smiling through their tears and punching their tickets to Platform 9 ¾ again and again. A splendidly satisfying sendoff.

44. Skyfall

Apparently, you can teach an old dog new tricks. Skyfall brought Bond into the new decade in style, modernizing and sharpening all its facets while remaining, yes, Bond. James Bond.

43. Argo

Argo is a rock-solid retelling of a tense CIA extraction op, hitched to the allure and wonder of good old-fashioned movie making.

42. Free Solo

Free Solo is a marvelous documentary, and I mean that quite literally. Marvel at the jaw-dropping heights depicted, marvel at the logistical challenges of filming a free climber without killing or distracting them (which would mean the same thing). But most of all, marvel at the huge cojones of subject Alex Honnold, as he attempts to climb the world’s largest rock wall; without the life-saving grace of a rope. As a thrill act, Free Solo is visceral and terrifying. But as a character study, it is equally fascinating. The same things which make Honnold such a one in a billion talent are the same things which cripple him emotionally and socially. Watching Honnold slowly start to conquer these own personal obstacles-even as he prepares for the physical obstacle of his life-is a truly satisfying experience.

41. The Lego Movie

Endlessly imaginative and hilariously subversive, The Lego Movie is not only a worthy standard-bearer of its iconic toy brand, but also a glorious celebration of creativity and free expression.

40. Snowpiercer

I’m gonna describe Snowpiercer using single word describers. Okay? Hilarious. Bloody. Ambitious. Tragic. Exhilarating. Revolutionary. F***ing insane. Okay, that last one was two words. How about amazing? Yeah. Amazing works. This dystopian satirical piece is a mad thrill ride on a runaway train through an environmentally wrecked world, and it is one of the craziest things I’ve ever loved in my life.

39. Moneyball

This movie is a sports genre gamechanger about a sports genre gamechanger; that is, the “Moneyball” strategy that forever changed the world of baseball evaluation. Watched purely on the terms of its baseball X’s and O’s, Moneyball succeeds. However, it is the tale of lovable loser Billy Beane, and the film’s assertion that winning comes second to loving yourself, that really turns this hit into a home run.

38. The Social Network

As eccentric and brilliant as its central genius, The Social Network depicts the synthesis of Facebook as an unflattering mirror for the site itself; that it is often driven by negative emotions of inadequacy, jealousy, and loneliness, and serves as a proxy for the real social interactions we require for fulfillment and happiness. Slickly edited, funny, and smart, this is one of the most iconic and generational films of the decade.

37. Gravity

The opening few minutes of Gravity is one of the most intense movie scenes not only of this decade, but of all time. From there, the tension just barely relents. Suspenseful and tightly-spun as a space survival story, Gravity is also a technical marvel which redefined zero-G cinema forever; and made us eternally thankful we are safely on the ground.

36. Beasts of the Southern Wild

Beasts of the Southern Wild is a ground-level view of poverty and climate change in the Mississippi River Delta region, seen through the eyes of a child. Quvenzhané Wallis brings her role to life with an incredible child performance, and lends this work a sense of deep intimacy and emotional resonance, even as it grasps at themes which are national to global in scale.

35. Incredibles 2

Incredibles 2 is one of Pixar’s best ever sequels. Here are the same witty, relatable family dynamics we fell in love with in Incredibles 1; but the superhero shenanigans have been one-upped and then some. In fact, Incredibles 2 has the best action sequences I have ever seen in a 3-D animated film. Add in a smart ideological battle between the current age’s (perhaps correct) cold cynicism and yesterday’s quixotic beliefs, and you have one of the best superhero movies ever, as well as a film that arguably beats out its OG.

34. Guardians of the Galaxy

I admit that from the film’s opening credits, where Chris Pratt canters across an alien planet to “Come and Get Your Love” and utilizes a scurrying lizard creature as his own personal microphone, that I was sold on Guardians of the Galaxy. This is one of those rare works like Shrek or Princess Bride that simultaneously skewers and elevates its genre; in this case, the old-timey B-movie science-fiction flick. A riotously funny movie that just doesn’t give a (expletive), Guardians of the Galaxy is also surprisingly poignant when it chooses to draw its eclectic bunch of outlaws into an impromptu family. This is absolutely one of the best films in the MCU.

33. Coco

A gorgeous, vibrant love letter to Mexico full of zesty music, Coco has some big things to say about art and its link to memory, and how exploitation can tarnish its beauty. Pixar has once again illustrated a remarkable ability to craft a world utterly original and believable in its own rich details and machinations; a world which sets a grand stage for its intimate story. It has also once again illustrated an ability to make us all cry our eyes out. Curse you, Pixar!

32. Her

The film that made a romance between an artificial intelligence and Joaquin Phoenix work somehow, Her is a thoughtful and sensitive film that expands our definition of love to encompass all levels of intimacy and circumstance. It is also, to my knowledge, the most gentle and hopeful AI movie ever made, and it deserves commendation for that.

31. Spotlight

Spotlight is a black hole. This film about the Boston Globe’s reporting on the Catholic Church’s coverup of child molestations by priests starts off slowly, then sucks you in more and more, gathering its mass until you are crushed under all the weight of deception, apathy, pain, and despair. I suppose this is also a strong allegory for the value of reporting or something like that, but frankly, I was too upset for most of the film’s duration to notice. As a lifelong Catholic, Spotlight made me feel utterly betrayed and angry; not only at the Church, but also at myself for sleeping at the wheel. This simply cannot happen again.

30. Citizenfour

Citizenfour qualifies as arguably the most important film of the decade. Laura Poitras’s documentary on government informant Edward Snowden is an intellectual horror flick; full of deserved paranoia, stunning overreaches of executive power, and spooky mirrors to the Orwellian nightmare of 1984. Citizenfour reveals how the alluring promise of the internet has betrayed us, and provided a means to the exponential surveillance of everyone in our supposedly free Western society.

29. Marvel’s The Avengers

Avengers seemed like a fantasy project when it was announced. How could anybody hope to make a movie about not one superhero, not two superheroes, but a whole team of them, without sacrificing narrative coherence, without losing sight of the big personalities at play? Joss Whedon proved such an all-star game could be possible, and somehow, work synergistically. This is one of the biggest popcorn movies ever, and it changed the expectations for superhero flicks towards bigger, grander, better. The success of Avengers also established MCU as the defining franchise of the 2010’s; and perhaps, beyond.

28. Inception

Inception’s script took Christopher Nolan 10 years to tweak, and watching the film you can believe it. This is a 3-D maze of a caper/heist movie, in which dreams form the substance of worlds stacked atop one another. It is a devilishly tricky exercise, but one that is done with the greatest precision and execution. Featuring impressive and trippy set-pieces, one of the generation’s best femme fatales, massively cerebral ideas, eerie atmosphere, and an insidious sense of ambiguity, Inception kept me awake for quite some time after I watched it at two in the morning.

27. Room

Focusing on a kidnapped mother and her young son Jack, who has only known captivity, Room could have been a very dark movie. Instead, it chooses to tack a different route; how do we survive trauma, both its initial effects and its aftermath, and triumph over it?

The film is sold by Brie Larson and Jacob Tremblay. Larson deservingly won an Oscar for her role; Tremblay’s performance is the best child performance I have ever seen. Together, they create a mother-son relationship that is utterly real and compelling. The film is also noteworthy for its camerawork, which is used very effectively to suggest changes in Jack’s worldview as he grows older.

26. Django Unchained

Brash, bold, and unapologetic, Django Unchained is a gloriously socially-conscious revenge fantasy. Featuring buckets of blood and Wild West shoot ‘em up gunfights against Klansmen and slave-holders, the film charts the course of a former slave on his way to rescue his sweetheart from the clutches of a diabolical slave owner.

25. Lincoln

Thanks to yet another star turn from acting legend Daniel Day-Lewis, Lincoln is a witty and warm biopic of one of our greatest presidents. It is also a glimmer of encouragement during the political gridlock and dysfunction of the early 2010’s. Rather than proving democracy does not work, Lincoln seems to argue, such issues are actually a sign of a functioning and healthy democracy. Our ability to disagree strongly with one another and come to imperfect compromises in order to solve our problems is our country’s greatest legacy. It was also the means to the passing of our noblest and most overdue piece of legislation: The 13th Amendment.

24. Won’t You Be My Neighbor?

Won’t You Be My Neighbor is, for me, the best documentary of the decade. Focusing on the extraordinary Mr. Fred Rogers, the film does a great job of humanizing Mr. Rogers; revealing his insecurities, relentless drive, and sly sense of humor (often through dream-like Daniel Tiger animated sequences) while demonstrating that yes, he really was that good of a person. As it progresses, the film grows increasingly melancholic and encompassing. The qualities Mr. Rogers stood for-namely, understanding, love, honesty, and respect-seem sorely lacking in today’s society. Even more distressingly, it would seem the saintly Rogers was beginning to have his own doubts about his life’s work as the cruelty and hate of the 21st century emerged in full on 9/11. Won’t You Be My Neighbor expresses human goodness as something fragile which must be fostered and prioritized by all of us if Mr. Rogers’ message is to mean something in our modern world.

23. Moana

Moana’s audiovisuals are off the charts amazing. The lush tropical landscapes and utterly lifelike oceans make this the most graphically impressive 3-D animated work I’ve ever seen. The soundtrack, partially composed by Lin-Manuel Miranda, stands as one of Disney’s best all time. But it is Moana herself, the titular princess, who stands as the film’s greatest game-changer. Realistically proportional, of Pacific Islander descent, and strong enough to carry a story without a love interest, Moana is a refreshingly modern character utterly in command of her own destiny. Add in a rich story steeped in Polynesian culture and veined with environmental undertones, and you get the new high bar for the Disney Princess Movie.

22. The Breadwinner

The Breadwinner is a testament that must be heard. Adapted by Cartoon Saloon from Deborah Ellis’s excellent book of the same name, the movie is a street-level account of Parvana, a young girl who goes undercover as a boy to feed her family in Taliban-era Afghanistan. The conditions portrayed are nearly unimaginable; imagine being a prisoner in your own home, only let out for reprieve under the supervision of a male guardian. Such was the reality of thousands of women and girls in Kabul as late as 2001. Cartoon Saloon drenches this film in a constant, lingering fear; at the same time, normalcy is depicted and triumphed. Siblings still squabble. Clothes are still washed, meals are still cooked and eaten, water is still fetched. Stories are still told. The Breadwinner is not just Parvana’s tale; it is the voice of the thousands who live in war-torn or oppressive societies worldwide, and yet still make their own brand of normalcy, still form expression and find joy. Their daily survival is an inspiration to us all; their story is to glimpse the resiliency and spark of the human spirit.

21. A Quiet Place

A Quiet Place is one of the most auspicious debuts I can remember. First time director John Krasinki makes his creature feature a masterwork of tension and clever sound editing, and crafts an indelible world where so much as a pin dropping puts everyone on pins and needles.

20. Inside Out

Pixar’s peek inside a child’s mind is a work of the utmost intelligence and sensitivity. Intuitive enough for even the youngest viewers to understand, yet nuanced enough to describe the transition of a human consciousness from child to adult with painful clarity, Inside Out is one of the studio’s very best features, and a strong defense of mental health and self-expression.

19. Your Name

For so long, director Makoto Shinkai was an exercise in frustration. 5 Centimeters Per Second was gorgeous. Garden of Words was the most visually stunning 2-D animation I had ever seen. And yet the writing was pedantic. The plot was tepid, the characters flat. I would watch these films, eye candy at its most pure and non-nutritional, and seethe that they were not better, that all that glorious potential was yet unrealized. And yet, I never stopped believing in the potential of Makoto Shinkai. One day, I reasoned, this guy was going to piece a story together with some semblance of care as he did his illustrations, and on that day something special would be born.

I saw Your Name just a short time ago. Of course it’s jaw-droppingly beautiful, that goes without saying. But here’s what else it is, folks: it’s funny. It’s heartwrenching. It’s suspenseful. It’s got plot twists. It’s got a story. And not just a good story, but a GREAT one.

I imagine watching this movie must be like watching your kid graduate high school. You forget all the mouthing off and dirty socks left all over the place and that fender bender with your new car, and just soak in the glow of that special moment you always believed would come. You couldn’t be happier. You couldn’t be prouder. And you know this is the beginning of something truly wonderful.

Congratulations, Mr. Shinkai. You did it, man.

18. Interstellar

The knock on Christopher Nolan was always that he had the heart of a robot and didn’t have strong female characters. Debate whether that is true of his other films, if you must; but not this one, because Interstellar is possibly the biggest tear-jerker in sci-fi history, and Jessica Chastain’s Murph is a bitter, brilliant centerpiece to it all. Interstellar stands tall as one of the best science-fiction films of the decade. It has strong, ambitious science wrapped in glorious visual effects, and is very quietly a solid piece of Americana, lovingly arrayed amidst America’s cornfields and dusty roads in a tribute to The Great Depression. Most of all, however, Interstellar is a wondrous joining of heart and intellect, a working theoretical thought experiment that demonstrates love is a force greater than gravity, space, time, or any other cosmic entity the universe may foist upon us.

17. The Force Awakens

While it is not number one on my list, perhaps no film brought me greater joy this decade than watching The Force Awakens during its Thursday night premiere. It was nothing less than the very Star Wars movie I had hoped and dreamed for as a kid. As a massively entertaining blockbuster surpassing huge expectations, Star Wars: The Force Awakens is terrific. As a perfect passing of torch from beloved old to promising new, it is an utter triumph.

16. Rogue One

Okay, is my bias showing yet?

Perhaps this is a bit steep for some people, but heck, when you are dealing with the second-best movie in one of Hollywood’s most beloved franchises, you have to give props where props are due. Rogue One is such a gamechanger for Star Wars. Its gritty, pulpy sense of realism seems peeled straight from a Star Wars comic book; its characters immediately strike as memorable, particularly K-2SO, who is like C-3PO if C-3PO got sent to prison and came back jacked. Rogue One also is important for its many departures from tradition. Many of the innovations credited to Episode VIII were done first-and done better-in this film. Rogue One is not afraid to show the rebellion in terms of moral gray; a shocking act shortly after the film’s opening establishes this and destroys the previous model of basic black and white good vs. evil. If Luke, Leia, and Han got to play the part of hero in A New Hope, then it was because there were elements in the Rebellion doing the dirty and morally-questionable grunt work shown here; Rogue One shows how the war was won.

Rogue One also introduces a few other themes riffed heavily by Episode VIII, including the idea that the Rebellion/Resistance is not a neat, idealistic counter to oppression but an uneasy conglomerate ravaged by internal conflict, and that force-sensitive people are not necessarily the product of hereditary chains of Jedi and Sith, but often sporadic and independent products of the Force. It is, on top of what it initiated, simply a well-paced and superbly-crafted piece of space opera. Rogue One has the best romance (besides Han and Leia) in Star Wars history, has hands-down THE BEST Vader scene ever filmed and another that is a classic in its own right, and has one heck of a villain in Director Krennic. Krennic is one of those mid-level bureaucrats that must have always existed for the Empire but which never received such deserved attention before; his position of weakness, coupled with burning ambition, makes him a hilariously pathetic figure, one you might begin to feel bad for were he not such a nasty piece of work. Even the soundtrack is great. Rogue One is a war film, and Michael Giacchino of Medal of Honor fame makes this sound like a war film, even though it also sounds very much like Star Wars. Ultimately, that’s what Rogue One is. It is a Star Wars film that manages to be a war film and everything else it wants to be terrifically well. To hell with it. I’m putting it this high. If you have a problem with Rogue One being the #16 movie on my list, you can go kiss a wampa’s backside.

15. Roma

Like its protagonist-a nanny to a wealthy family in 1970’s era Mexico-Roma is a film of marvelous patience and understated strength. Alfonso Cuarón’s otherworldly composition and autobiographical authenticity makes this movie a deeply complex take on class and gender, as well as a heartbreaking meditation on what it means to love and be part of a family.

14. Spiderman: Into the Spiderverse

Spiderverse was such a brilliant reimagination of what the superhero genre could be. Not only did it break convention by featuring an African-Hispanic-American kid as its protagonist; it prismed a classic Marvel character in danger of going stale into a delightful and zany spectrum. At once funny as hell and a poignant portrait of growing up as a minority in America, Spiderverse isn’t just the great animated Spiderman movie that nobody saw coming; it’s one of the best superhero movies ever made.

13. Baby Driver

Baby Driver is the coolest movie of the decade. The film centers around Baby, a gentle young getaway driver locked up in bad deals with bad hombres, motoring through traffic and criminal plots in an attempt to just get out and get his girl; but it is so much more than that. This is Tarantino, juiced up on Bullitt, playing in time to a nonstop eclectic jukebox. The dialogue is sharp and hilarious, the characters are all immediately memorable and lovable (even the baddies), and it should go without saying that the car chases are PHENOMENAL. This is entertainment on nitrous oxide.

12. Lady Bird

I did not go into Lady Bird expecting great things. Lady Bird is a family drama. I, for the record, do not like family dramas. But I liked this one. I liked this one a heck of a lot.

Lady Bird is told with so much humor and honesty about the mistakes we make as kids and parents. Struggles for independence and control, respectively, fuel furious arguments and alienation during the difficult period of adolescence. It is not until later that we gain the wisdom to understand why we fought and gain a richer understanding and appreciation of one another’s feelings. In Lady Bird, there is a key revelation regarding the girl and her mother that seems to unfold at the film’s close. It is a profound and emotionally resonant moment that brings the film around to a highly satisfying conclusion.

This movie is also one of the first “time capsule” pieces on the early 2000’s. As we grow older, I would expect more of these films to emerge, but as of right now Lady Bird is the only one that comes to mind. The film absolutely nails the sense of growing up in a troubled time; the Iraq War blares constantly on the news, full-time employment becomes a tenuous prospect no matter how qualified you are, and gay rights are still something very much in infancy. Lady Bird plays out its teenage struggles against this backdrop, showing how such crises were navigated, albeit painfully sometimes, and overcome. Few films have been so well-rounded, nuanced, and well-crafted this decade.

11. Song of the Sea

If you are unaware of the name Tomm Moore, it may be time to become acquainted, as the guy has been killing animation since he first stepped onto the scene with Secret of Kells in 2009. It is no exaggeration to call him the Irish Miyazaki; and Song of the Sea his Spirited Away. Like that film, there is a deeply human story to be told, but it is all dressed up in fantastical trappings. In Spirited Away, a girl struggling to grow up found herself working in a spirit bathhouse. Song of the Sea uses Irish mythology as a gateway to understand the deep and complicated love between siblings, and the necessity of expressing and sharing loss.

This is one of the most beautiful animated pictures this decade. Were the framed stills not hundreds of dollars on Cartoon Saloon’s website (yes, I’ve looked at them), I would probably own at least a few by now. The animation style is so distinctive and innately appealing, with gentle watercolors that soothe and invite the mind. The Celtic musical arrangements are similarly intricate, wonderful, and soothing. Together, story, art, and music come together, and work some deep and affecting magic on the soul. Song of the Sea should be regarded as one of the best animated films this decade.

10. Sicario

Sicario is an utterly bleak, magnificent film that truly depicts the drug war as it is; a chaotic maelstrom of murder, torture, and corruption, spinning and spinning with no end in sight. In such a storm, there is no moral high ground to claim, let alone hold. There is only power to control which direction the storm is heading next, whom it will chew up and devour in its path. And as for the powerless, the best they can hope for is to stay out of its way. Sicario is a sharp critique of American drug policy and a stark glimpse into the grim reality of cartels, packaged perfectly as an ultra-violent thriller.

9. Looper

It is hard to do a time travel story well. Managing plot threads makes plots a nightmare; it is a difficult juggling act merely to keep one’s head above water. That is what makes Looper so special. It is not only a cool-looking, cyberpunk-flavored noir that manages its logic very well; it also features great characters, and larger overarching themes of fate and redemption it advances via those same logistical acrobatics. Looper blew my mind the first time I saw it. It is easily one of the best time travel stories ever, and a sci-fi classic to boot.

8. Blade Runner 2049

It is going to ruffle some feathers to say this, but I think Blade Runner 2049 is even better than the original Blade Runner. While Ridley Scott’s dark, smoggy Los Angeles will always be iconic, Blade Runner 2049 had Roger Deakins behind the camera, and he took us to sections of our nightmarish future we had never been before. Patterns of solar farms set up outside of town to feed swathes of humanity. A post-apocalyptic landfill outside of town for the city’s forsaken. Best of all, a neon-orange radioactive Las Vegas. That seems to be the common theme of 2049. It has taken all the best features of Ridley’s classic and expanded them while trimming down the less successful elements. The defining theme of Blade Runner-what makes us human-is here expounded upon and taken to even deeper levels. And the film’s beautiful ending brings the franchise to a truly satisfying conclusion.

7. Zootopia

Zootopia feels like Disney’s final evolution. The cute critters from its primordial past have fully anthropomorphized, to the point that they must contend with some of the same societal ills as us; chief among them prejudice. Visually gorgeous, full of top-notch tongue-in-cheek gags, and the slickest, most concise cartoon buddy cop riff since at least Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Zootopia counts as one of the most finely crafted animated features I’ve ever seen. Its timely message, coupled with its fantastic quality and outreach potential to the young, makes it one of those rare movies that can change the world.

6. Ex Machina

Ex Machina is one of the most finely-tuned and lean films science-fiction has to offer. In the age of growing research into artificial intelligence, it is also vastly important. Many films have explored the issues associated with artificial intelligence, but few have so fully delved into the ethical quagmires which might arise. Creating new minds means accepting responsibility for the lives of welfare of other beings. Are we prepared to do such a thing? We, who are constantly waging war and victimizing one another? Also, if we are so morally limited, how can we avoid passing on negative traits to our digital children, who will be vastly more powerful and intelligent than us? What if they think differently than us? The possibility of misunderstandings would be catastrophic for both parties.

Ex Machina explores all of these issues with deep intelligence and building tension. This film is one of those beautifully ambiguous works I love so much that require you to pay attention and come to your own conclusions. The primary question in the film asked of the characters is the same one the film asks you: is Ava, the artificial intelligence in question, essentially human? For me, the question was left unanswered until the final, remarkable, tragic shot.

5. The Revenant

Bloody as hell and absolutely gorgeous, The Revenant is a deep plunge into our primal hearts, into the remarkable human invention of identity. At the most fundamental level, we are all the same species; we share the same roots, the same trunk. Yet by means of our human experiences, our courses of life and interactions with other humans, we draw deep fundamental lines between one another. These lines are powerful things. They are what we see ourselves as. We draw lines of genetic heritage; lines of cultures born into, or adopted. Lines brand certain people as friends, while others remain strange or alien. Sometimes, lines can even define people as something hostile; a new species which may destroy us if it is not destroyed in turn. And there are lines which describe the people we call our families; those whom we love and protect at the most fundamental level of our being.

The Revenant draws attention to the lines we draw as human beings; how they are as deeply ingrained to us as breathing or bleeding, for better, and for worse. Aided by director Alejandro Iñárritu’s magnificent direction, and anchored by Leonardo DiCaprio, who has never been better in his storied career, The Revenant is a deep, uncompromising gaze into our personal and national Heart of Darkness.

4. Zero Dark Thirty

Zero Dark Thirty became the unfortunate victim of warring politics. Right-wingers decried the portrayal of torture in the movie, while leftists criticized the movie’s account of torture supposedly supplying the correct information (Director Kathryn Bigelow acknowledged to Stephen Colbert her lead, being from the CIA, might be untrustworthy on that particular facet but she was operating with accuracy to her source). That is all a shame, because such criticism misses the point of the movie entirely. Zero Dark Thirty is made in the spirit of true and utter neutrality. There is no political axe to grind. There is no glorification in the act of Bin Laden’s death; in fact, the face of America’s most notorious terrorist is never shown. Zero Dark Thirty is a work of national recollection. It begins with a deeply painful call to authorities on 9/11, and does not end until Bin Laden’s assassination over 9 years later. In between, there is torture, bombings, false leads and frustrations, hours upon hours of poring over data and entries, and finally, that fateful, dangerous foray into Pakistan. We are reintroduced to each of our own actions through the eyes of Maya, the CIA agent who supposedly made the case that it was in fact Bin Laden hiding in Abbottabad. At the end of Zero Dark Thirty, the movie adds up that long tally of what we sacrificed in order to defeat our greatest enemy and posits a simple question: was it worth it? Each will have their own answer to that difficult and important question. This is one of those rare films that forces us to review our path as a nation, examine what we did right and what we did wrong, and adjust our trajectory accordingly. Zero Dark Thirty is an essential American masterpiece, crafted by a true and powerful auteur at the top of her game.

3. The Raid 2: Berandal

The Raid: Redemption was a revelation in what could be attempted in a martial arts movie. Its creators decided that wasn’t enough and upped the ante. What ensued was the madness of Berandal.

The stuntwork of Berandal has to be seen to be believed. Some participants were knocked out cold; it is amazing nobody was killed. It is doubtful something like this will ever (or should ever) be attempted again, so we may as well enjoy it. There are car chases, assassins affectionately known as “Bat Boy” and “Hammer Girl”, simply loads and loads of fantastic martial arts combat, and more. But in between all this ruckus, there is a compelling gangster story to be told, populated with fascinating characters. A son looking to take over and dangerously expand his father’s influence; a creepy rival leader who cheerfully pulls out razors for throat-slitting; a sad, old-timer assassin who confesses to his daughter that killing was the only way to provide for her; an informant, caught in the middle of the maelstrom and sweating out the possibility that he will be discovered and never make it back to his young family; and of course, Hammer Girl. She’s my favorite.

In The Raid: Redemption, character Mad Dog talked about the pulse. Berandal is that pulse, fully transposed into brutal, symbolic symphony, in which the façade of civilization and negotiations between thugs break down into savage, unbridled violence. This is the best action movie ever, and the Indonesian Godfather, all rolled into one.

2. Avengers: Endgame

No list of top films of the decade would be complete without Avengers: Endgame. It’s the biggest blockbuster in history; and for once, that title is deserved. Nothing like it had ever been attempted before; indeed, it may be hard to do ever again. Facing 1 in 14 million odds, the Russo brothers pulled off a miracle, wasting not a moment in a three hour movie that never feels long and completing the arcs of over a dozen beloved characters, en route to a final and wholly satisfying conclusion to the most ambitious film project ever attempted. If that wasn’t enough, there are more than enough in-jokes, clever riffs on past movies, and sensational action pieces to please even the most critical fan. Avengers: Endgame is the closest to pure catharsis you can feel, and without a doubt the best superhero movie ever made. I confess that I moved it back and forth between #1 and #2 on my list at least a few times; ultimately I left it at #2, with the compromise that even if it cannot be called the best movie of the decade, it will forever be known as THE film of the decade.

1. Wolf Children

Wolf Children is one of those movies you come across that can only be described as magical. As a simple tale of motherhood, it succeeds. As a complex allegory for race and adolescence, it works equally well. It can be shown to the young. It can be shown to the old. It can be shown to all in between. It is sublimely beautiful, patient, and paced. It is excellently scored. It has some of the most fully-realized characters ever depicted in animation. It is warm. It is gentle. It is funny. It is sad. It is life; in all its unpredictability, twists and turns, and wonder.

But I think the reason I truly love Wolf Children is because it engages with the two most difficult and important aspects of being a good, healthy, happy human; how do I love others, and how do I love myself? Wolf Children shows us a truly rapturous example. For being the most beautiful movie, both inside and out, I have seen this past decade, and for a whole host of other reasons, Wolf Children deserves to top this list. Truly, it is Alpha Wolf.

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