1. Moonlight (director: Barry Jenkins)
2. Silence (director: Martin Scorsese)
3. 20th Century Women (director: Mike Mills)
4. Manchester-by-the-Sea (director: Kenneth Lonergan)
5. The Lobster (director: Yorgos Lanthimos)
6. The Neon Demon (director: Nicolas Winding Refn)
7. Arrival (director: Denis Villenueve)
8. Don't Think Twice (director: Mike Birbiglia)
9. Jackie (director: Pablo Larrain)
10. Hell or High Water (director: David Mackenzie)
This is a good batch of movies here. I feel like 2013-2016 was a loaded period for film. Some movies that came close to making the list are Jeff Nichols's "Loving" - a beautiful, understated drama, "Hunt for the Wilderpeople" - Taika Waititi's New Zealand adventure dramedy, and "La La Land" from Damien Chazelle. Yes, I liked "La La Land" just fine and that's ok! Or at least that's what I tell myself.
None of those movies are a match for the ones on my list though. "Moonlight" is one of my favorites of the decade and the last half hour is cinematic perfection to me. I mentioned it when talking about "If Beale Street Could Talk" but Barry Jenkins just has such a knack for blending mood, tone, cinematography, performances, and music in such a way where it's all working in perfect harmony. Truly transcendent stuff.
"Silence" is really an astounding work. Is it a great hang? Maybe not. Of his last three movies, "Silence" is the Scorsese movie you know that's best for you, but you're gonna return to "Irishman" and "Wolf of Wall Street" more often. But man, what a run of epics this man has churned out these last 7 years. "Silence" is a beautifully rendered work, rich with meaning.... I haven't seen it in three years, I'm sorry for speaking in broad terms. It's a movie that's begging to be re-watched by me because when I think back on it, I hold it with such high regard. The only thing I hold against it is that there's an alternate universe where Daniel Day-Lewis, Benicio Del Toro, and Javier Bardem played the leads. Neeson/Adam Driver/Andrew Garfield is a wonderful consolation prize... but it is a consolation prize.
Rounding out my top five are two beautifully made dramas, one a bit lighter than the other. "20th Century Women" is a deeply personal film laced with emotion and nostalgia. Mike Mills just pouring his heart and soul into that thing. By that token, Kenneth Lonergan was no slouch with "Manchester-by-the-Sea". It definitely deals with some heavy stuff, but it's so neatly-layered and textured and features fantastic performances all around. "The Lobster" comes from the demented mind of Yorgos Lanthimos. Very funny, very bizarre, but also thematically rich and the story unfolds in such a skillful manner.
The last five films on my list features the very divisive, not-for-the-faint-of-heart "Neon Demon", one of my favorite sci-fi films of the decade in "Arrival", the very underrated "Don't Think Twice" which makes me thirst for more Mike Birbiglia movies. I love your stand-up but you got some screenwriting skills and we need more down-to-earth, grounded comedies like this. One that's actually funny, like "Don't Think Twice" is. "Jackie" is a nearly claustrophobic day-in-the-life biopic from Pablo Larrain and Natalie Portman fits like a glove as the title character. Lastly, "Hell or High Water" is a wonderfully made neo-western that moves at its own pace but delivers the goods and is tense throughout its runtime. It also has Jeff Bridges sporting a thick Texas accent. The thicker the accent Jeff Bridges throws out there, the more I like it - that's my general rule for any movie with Jeff Bridges.
So yeah, while I haven't seen most of these more than once, this feels like a much more solid list than 2017's. Here's a list of movies from 2016 that I never got around to...
Handmaiden
Paterson
Personal Shopper
Fences
Elle
Free Fire
Toni Erdmann
Love Witch
The Salesman
The Light Between Oceans
Christine
Julieta
Birth of a Nation
A Quiet Passion
Graduation
The Wailing
Kate Plays Christine
I definitely slacked on foreign films from this year. I gotta fix that. Anyway it's late. Time for bed.
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