1. Carol, director: Todd Haynes
2. Mad Max Fury Road, director: George Miller
3. Hateful Eight, director: Quentin Tarantino
4. Son of Saul, director: László Nemes
5. Sicario, director: Denis Villeneuve
6. Room, director: Lenny Abrahamson
7. Anomalisa, director: Charlie Kaufman, Duke Johnson
8. Bridge of Spies, director: Steve Spielberg
9. Ex Machina, director: Alex Garland
10. Heaven Knows What, director: Safdie Bros
Honorable mentions: Queen of Earth, The End of the Tour, Inside Out, Spotlight, Creed, It Follows, The Martian, Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation, Tangerine, Eden, Mississippi Grind, The Diary of a Teenage Girl, Straight Outta Compton, Crimson Peak, The Big Short
Good lord this year was stacked! Super, super stacked! Every movie mentioned in my honorable mentions could've had an outside shot of making a top 10 any other year. And there's movies like "Crimson Peak" and "The Big Short" which kinda left me cold when I saw it, but now I regard them much more fondly and they deserve a re-watch.
"Carol" and "Mad Max Fury Road" is essentially a tie. If I was lame and actually made it a tie between those two movies, "Queen of Earth" would be at the 11th spot, but I've always ultimately sided with "Carol" at #1. Why not give the #1 spot to the greatest blockbuster-sized action film of the 21st century (yeah, I'm going there)? Honestly, I don't know, maybe I should. "Carol" could not be a more different film than "Fury Road" and I love that they're my #1 and #2 because they represent two wildly different types of movies that I enjoy. And yet, if one were to find similarities? It'd be the way both movies give care, and attention to detail, to their characters. The films largely let the visuals do that talking and are sumptuous visually. "Fury Road" with the desert scapes and dark blue skies. "Carol" with the obsessive attention-to-detail to 1950s New York. I'm a huge fan of "Far From Heaven", Todd Haynes's 2002 melodrama, a movie that is more upfront about its Sirkian influences. What I love about "Carol" is that, while the influences are there, the movie's style feels more assured. I'm not thinking as much about the influences, the style, look, mood, and feel of "Carol" just seduces me all on its own. Does all that make sense? I hope so. These are two of my favorite movies of the decade - no question.
"Hateful Eight" was originally in the 5 spot, but the way people responded to "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood" - as if "Hateful Eight" wasn't as good - made me bristle a little. Sure, "Hollywood" is more accessible, sweeter, and nostalgic. It's more of a feel-good movie. I love it. It's my #2 of 2019. Would've been an easy #1 if "Parasite" didn't rock my world. But I also love me some nihilistic, mean-spirited Question and "Hateful Eight" is all that and more. I first saw the roadshow version which had an intermission, and my god, that blew my mind. Having seen it a second time since then, I still marvel at the film. Featuring a cast of mostly QT regulars like Sam Jackson, Kurt Russell, Michael Madsen, Tim Roth, Bruce Dern and Walton Goggings. Then a newcomer to the QT-verse, Jennifer Jason-Leigh, who fits like a glove. It's three hours of people sizing each other up, then killing each other. Shot in 70mm inside a haberdashery. Honestly, just typing this out, I can't believe this movie exists and I'm thankful for it. I'm sad it wasn't as big of a hit as QT's last couple of movies, but it just makes me wanna embrace it more. One day, hopefully, others will come around.
"Son of Saul" and "Room" are two very difficult watches that I've been too much of a wuss to try and re-watch. Maybe that's why they've gotten knocked down a peg (they were originally #3 and #4 when I unveiled my 2015 in a podcast 4 years ago). They're both fantastic films and I'm sure they hold up well, but man they're also emotionally draining. It was alright in 2015 when the world and this country wasn't going through quite as much bullshit. Like, don't get me wrong, things were not peachy in 2015 either, but I think I was a lot more willing to re-watch a haunting Holocaust drama four years ago then I am now. Anyway, I'm rambling and getting off track. "Son of Saul" is a very powerful movie that's what makes it hard to revisit. The camerawork, which largely fixates on the protagonist's face, forces the viewer to imagine the horror that surrounds the man as opposed to seeing it on screen and possibly getting de-sensitized to it. Having seen quite a few movies set during the Holocaust, I was really struck by the unique approach "Son of Saul" took and the way it made me feel having to listen - but really being able to see - a concentration camp. And the story, how it's about a man's quest to bury his dead son - it's just a brutal movie to watch. But important and excellent and masterful too. The difficulty of watching "Room" has more to do with being trapped in this shack with Brie Larson and Jacob Tremblay and this awful life they've had to endure together. Then, when they're finally free, watching the mother suffer from PTSD, while the son is able to finally be a kid for the first time. Yeah, I cried 20 times when I saw this movie. Goddamn.
With "Sicario", Denis Villeneuve showed he was a director we all had to pay serious attention to, and we have ever since. I think of all the movies he's made during this amazing 2010s run, "Sicario" might be my favorite still. I love the way this movie unfolds. I love its cynicism. And my goodness, it's a gorgeous movie to look at, thanks to Roger Deakins. I love the way it slowly transitions from being Emily Blunt's movie to becoming the Benicio Del Toro show. It's so seamless. And yet, the fact that the movie kinda sorta leaves Blunt's character in the dust - that's exactly the point! She's in over her head because the war she's stepping into is complex and there is no clean way out, no matter what.
What I love about 2015 is how disparate all these movies are. The last four on my list "Anomalisa", "Bridge of Spies", "Ex Machina", and "Heaven Knows What" couldn't be more different than each other. Charlie Kaufman only made one movie in the 2010s and it's kinda been forgotten a little. Undeservedly so! "Anomalisa" is such a beautiful, unique, introspective film about a man grappling with the mundanity and boredom of his life. Everyone around him looks and talks exactly the same except for this one woman, Lisa. Could she be the one for him? Are they made for each other. The way the movie unfolds and where it leaves us is so profound and says a lot about our modern society and how we interact with each other. A truly remarkable film, made from stop-motion animation (in case someone reading this didn't know - and yes, I know, nobody reads this!)
"Bridge of Spies" is the closest thing to what I would call a mainstream, awardsy film on this list. Obviously, "Room" had a lot of awards attention, but "Bridge of Spies" is more the classic definition of that kind of movie. And you know what, I loved this movie. Steven Spielberg simply knows how to make these dramas. In fact, I prefer Spielberg dramas over his blockbusters these days. "The Post" panders a tad too much, "War Horse" is way too cloying and saccharine. But "Lincoln" and "Bridge of Spies" are just brilliant. The acting, the production design, the cinematography are all top notch. But "Bridge of Spies" is particularly special in the way it marries the Coen Brothers' writing with Spielberg's technical wizardry. Is it the most groundbreaking film in the world" No. But I wish more movies like this existed these days. I wish more movies were made this well.
"Ex Machina" is the assured, confident directorial debut from Alex Garland lead by three fantastic actors. Alicia Vikander became a star with this movie. We already knew Oscar Isaac was great by the time this movie came out. He kinda got sucked in to the Star Wars machine after "Ex Machina" - as did Domhnall Gleeson, but man I love the way they play off each other in this movie. Yes, Oscar Isaac overpowers Gleeson. Vikander overpowers Gleeson too! That's the point! He's in way over his head! Ok, I'm starting to repeat myself (see Sicario blurb up above). It's funny because, when talking about these movies, it's almost impossible not to talk about the conversations that surrounded those movies. It's almost as if those types of conversations where what made writing about movies less fun. Huh. Anyway, I'm getting tired. I started this at 11pm and it's 11:45pm and I'm fucking tired. "Ex Machina" is awesome and I haven't seen it in 5 years. I still love it very much and I think back on it fondly. I love the way it unfolds, I love the performances, I love the sleek production design. I just love it, alright?
I saw "Heaven Knows What" at the Arclight Hollywood in the summer of 2015. It was my rude introduction to the Safdie brothers and they now rule my life. I love their movies. They made some films before "Heaven Knows What", but for me, this is the movie where it all starts. The movie that made me fall in love with them. And while I'll probably return to "Good Time" and "Uncut Gems" more often than "Heaven Knows What" because HKW is a hard, hard watch about a woman battling a heroin addiction, it's also a great representation - stylistically of what was to come with these filmmakers. The brilliant use of no-name actors. The way a somewhat famous actor, Caleb Landry Jones, completely and utterly throws himself into his role. The way the music brings the whole film to a different level. It's such an immersive experience, which is exactly what makes HKW so difficult. This is not a world I wanna be immersed in! And yet HKW does it to me anyway and when it's all over, I feel like I need to take a shower. I love that about this movie.
Anyway, sorry for the rambling. I hope I made my cases clear. I'm rusty, guys. It's been years since I've written about movies in this manner. I should write a review of a recent movie just to see if I still got it (or maybe I never had it to begin with, we'll see).
Here's the movies from 2015 I never got around to seeing.
Green Room
The Invitation
Bone Tomahawk
Dope
Mustang
Sunset Song
Beasts of No Nation
Youth
Knight of Cups
A Bigger Splash
45 Years
Krisha
The Fits
Our Little Sister
Cemetery of Splendour
Right Now Wrong Then
Chi-Raq
Dheepan
So yes, I still have my work cut out for me, but good lord, I don't know how I'll be able to move the movies already on my list. Guess we'll see how it shakes out.
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