So finally I find myself at the end of my countdown faced with my favorite film of the year: La La Land. I’ve already said that one through three could be interchanged on any respectable critic’s list. For me, though, no other movie gave me that high-off-movies buzz like La La Land, Damien Chazelle’s magical L.A. musical. All of the awards season records it’s racking up is tempting many to label it as overrated, but I won’t be budging. Yes, a jazz pianist (Ryan Gosling) and a struggling actress (Emma Stone) bonding over failure and finding love is not the most original story of all time, but Chazelle’s virtuoso direction combined with the truly inspired soundtrack - not just “movie good,” but actual good songs - make this instant classic that deserves every single accalade it is given. Similar to Adele’s music, this is truly inclusive art that any demographic can sink themselves into. All this, and I haven’t even mentioned the ending that both nods to the genre’s past and stands alone. This is the kind of movie that will remind you why you watch movies in the first place.
#1. La La Land
So finally I find myself at the end of my countdown faced with my favorite film of the year: La La Land. I’ve already said that one through three could be interchanged on any respectable critic’s list. For me, though, no other movie gave me that high-off-movies buzz like La La Land, Damien Chazelle’s magical L.A. musical. All of the awards season records it’s racking up is tempting many to label it as overrated, but I won’t be budging. Yes, a jazz pianist (Ryan Gosling) and a struggling actress (Emma Stone) bonding over failure and finding love is not the most original story of all time, but Chazelle’s virtuoso direction combined with the truly inspired soundtrack - not just “movie good,” but actual good songs - make this instant classic that deserves every single accalade it is given. Similar to Adele’s music, this is truly inclusive art that any demographic can sink themselves into. All this, and I haven’t even mentioned the ending that both nods to the genre’s past and stands alone. This is the kind of movie that will remind you why you watch movies in the first place.
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#2. Moonlight
Categorizing Moonlight as a black reading of Boyhood would be to disregard and discount its emotional power and resonance, its career-best performances, and its social importance on the topics of black manhood and homosexuality. Moonlight, writer/director Barry Jenkins’ adaptation of Tarell Alvin McCraney’s play, follows Chiron as he figures out his identity through three brief snapshots. Alex R. Hibbert plays Chiron as a withdrawn nine-year-old coming into contact with hateful language for the first time. Ashton Sanders plays him as a teenager, on the brink of an extremely dark place after years of bullying and societal oppression. Finally, we have Trevante Rhodes as Chiron as a man, a drug dealer, who has learned to live a lie. None of these three actors stand out; they are equally incredible and of one person, despite their physical differences. If there is one actor who stands above the rest, it’s Mahershala Ali’s Juan, a local drug dealer who takes a young Chiron under his wing and gives him a male role model to admire. Moonlight makes zero false moves. Every scene, every moment, contributes to the film’s astounding impact. #3. Manchester by the Sea
Numbers 1-3 on my list could be set in any order and a convincing argument could be made as to why that order is correct. Check out an critics best-of list and the top three are likely to be the same. With that said, having Kenneth Lonergan’s emotional powerhouse Manchester by the Sea in no way weakens it stance as one of the best movies of the decade. This is not a film of manipulative monologues, easy way outs, or even satisfying endings (in the traditional sense). This is a 137 minute slice of real life. Emotions cut deep and you feel them as deeply as the characters. Casey Affleck, in the role of his life, inherits guardianship of his late brother’s teenage son, a job Affleck’s Lee Chandler is by no means prepared for. Why is he so ill prepared? I’m going to let you see the movie to figure that one out. Manchester has one major surprise, aside from the riveting emotional drama, and that is the humor. How can the year’s saddest film also be its funniest? It’s possible, right here in Manchester by the Sea. #4. Everybody Wants Some!!
Everybody Wants Some!!, Richard Linklater’s “spiritual sequel” to Dazed and Confused, might be his most unassuming film yet. Even I, someone who claims Linklater as one of his favorite director, initially didn’t see it as the masterpiece it is. Stop comparing it to its “spiritual” predecessor if that helps you. Watch the film twice, three times. With each subsequent viewing, these Texan jocks, obsessed with the prospects of good time and beautiful women, become funnier and more soulful. They become, surprisingly, inclusive and loving. How could a movie about baseball players trying to get laid at college become one of the most, if not the most, inclusive film of the year? Well, that’s just how Linklater tells stories. The rioutous cast is led by Blake Jenner (Glee, The Edge of Seventeen), the to-be-expected Linklater surrogate, but some of his teammates easily steal the show. Namely, Glen Powell (Hidden Figures) and Wyatt Russell (son of Kurt) are the films McConaughey’s - if we’re keeping with the Dazed and Confused comparisons. I would suggest you abandon those comparisons. This isn’t supposed to be that film or the slightly more introspective Boyhood. This is a beast unto itself, a good time for all. #5. Silence
Blame it on the lack of a strong promotional campaign and a last-quarter release date that seemed to come and go quietly, but we have not talked about Martin Scorsese’s Silence nearly enough. Based on Shûsaku Endô’s classic novel of the same name, the film follows two Jesuit priests (Andrew Garfield and Adam Driver, both remarkable) who travel to 17th century Japan in search of a mentor (Liam Neeson) who has gone missing. Has he apostatized? Married a Buddhist? Been murdered by the oppressive, anti-Christian government? Usually, films that hew this close to the source material are choked by it. What makes Silence work so well is that it the novel’s exploration of Christian devotion and doubt are mined from the same source Scorsese has been returning to his whole career. There is virtually no score, nor is there virtuoso camerawork. Firework monologues are similarly absent. All of Scorsese’s hallmarks are missing; this is a legendary director stripped of all frilly artifice. What the viewer is left with is the raw nerve so many Christians seem fit to ignore as a part of their faith: doubt, the brief moment after a prayer when you’re met with silence. #6. Arrival
Yesterday I mentioned Sicario, in that it was written by Taylor Sheridan, but the director of that 2015 film almost immediately followed up with a project containing deeper emotions, a broader scope, and more sensual spectacle. Aliens arrive on Earth, make no action whatsoever, and a linguistic professor is tasked with communicating with them. Already you’re thinking, “Well, I certainly I have never seen anything like this.” And that does not even take into consideration where the film goes from there. Arrival may hold the sixth position on my list, but it contains the single most satisfying conclusion of the year. It has a twist feel to it, but it’s the emotional impact it has not he viewer that is notable. However the ending makes you feel about the films central character, played by a criminally under-appreciated performance by Amy Adams (looking at you Academy), one thing is guaranteed: you will be impacted and you will leave the theater a little different than you entered it. #7. Hell or High Water
David Mackenzie’s Hell or High Water, about two poverty stricken Texans who rob banks to pay off their debts, has more to boast about than pretty much any film this year. There’s the earthy, yet elevated control of the director, who first appeared on the scene after he helmed the exceptional prison family drama Starred Up. We also have the performances that accomplish so many things: Chris Pine shocks us all with his emotional range, Ben Foster proves yet again how great he is, and Jeff Bridges adds yet another Oscar-nomination, well deserved. All of this, and yet there is one other aspect that really makes this film the instant classic that it is: Taylor Sheridan’s script. Sheridan, a character actor who has appeared on shows like Sons of Anarchy, blew everyone away with his 2015 script for Sicario. Hell or High Water takes that initial excitement and firmly presents its scribe as a talent to look out for. His words are plain spoken, yet epic, almost Biblical. The things these characters say sound instantly familiar, as if you have heard them in another famous film. You haven’t. You have never seen anything this homespun and universal. #8. Jackie
Entering the ever-growing list of Most Unconventional Biopics Ever, Jackie joins rank with I’m Not There, The End of the Tour, and Steve Jobs. If moody, atmospheric character pieces aren’t your cup of tea, you’re better off sticking to Jackie’s wikipedia page. Pablo Larraín, working in English for the first time, reportedly refused to direct the film unless Natalie Portman agreed to star as the titular first lady. Smart move #1. Portman is as dedicated and committed to this ballsy film as Larraín is. Not unlike Bryan Cranston’s portrayal of LBJ, Portman’s performance has a way of tricking you, if you surrender yourself to the film, into forgetting her famous face is even onscreen. What you see is Jackie Kennedy, from the physical mannerisms to her distinctive speaking rhythms to the way she holds herself. This is acting of the absolute highest caliber. Nowhere this year was there a better leading female performance. Another best-of accolade Jackie boasts? That would be the score from Mica Levi. You’ve never heard anything like it. You won’t be able to picture the film with any other soundtrack. Unforgettable. #9. The Witch
Robert Eggers premiered earlier in 2016 than any other film on the list and has not once left my top 10 list as the year progressed. Few films have that kind of staying power, much less modern horror films. I have wondered what gives The Witch its staying power. Could credit be given to the meticulous 17th century detail that Eggers famously insisted on? Maybe it was his resistance to the scare-a-minute format that plagues most horror movies today. It very well could have nothing to do with the genre at all. Anya Taylor-Joy, in a breakout role, was captivating from beginning to end, to that breathtaking end. That is not hyperbole. I literally had to remind myself to breath after the film’s final scene, featuring a young puritan girl in a room with a possibly-possessed goat named Black Phillip. A foreshadowing of the paranoia that would sweep the northeast, resulting in the Salem witch trials? Who’s to say? #10. Fences
Stage-to-screen adaptations are more common than you might think. If you are not already familiar with the work, you may not realize what you are seeing. One of the main reasons this is the case is because film directors and screenwriters oftentimes take their own artistic liberties with the source text. Many stage plays take place in one location; Hollywood often expands the scope of settings. They often dumb down some of the more emotional complex themes to make them more easily digestible. They add humor where it is not needed to keep modern audiences awake. Etc. Etc. Fences might be the most pure, unadulterated stage-to-screen adaptation ever produced. Denzel Washington uses the August Wilson’s original script as his script, crediting him for his work - Wilson, who won a Pulitzer for this work, is now nominated for an Oscar. Denzel does expand the setting outside of his backyard, but the yard is still the predominated location. The cast is tight and give off the impression that they have this material in their bones. That especially goes to Viola Davis and Washington. Both actors are acclaimed award winners who never disappoint, even when they’re in disappointing projects. This is something else entirely, a career peak for both performers. |
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January 2016
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