Ah, the Top 10 list.
Or, at least, that’s my criteria.
After all, what isthe bestfilm?
How would one even measure such a thing?
It’s so subjective.
Cinema is so wide and varied and wonderful.
Image via Paramount Pictures
That’s the best one"?
How couldTodd Haynes' stunning and evocative love storyCarolfail to make the list?
I mean have you seen that movie?
Image via 20th Century Fox
And how does one ignore the engulfing experience of seeing a newStar Warsfilm on the big screen again?
I don’t know.
The ones that prodded at some emotion or concept, that challenged or fulfilled me in some significant way.
Image via The Weinstein Company
ComparingSpotlighttoMad Max: Fury Roadis ridiculous.
But the internet loves ranked stuff, so there’s numbers next to these titles.
It doesn’t mean much.
Image via Warner Bros.
In truth, I love all the Top 6 equally.
Picture the numbers as dancing monkeys for all I care.
The point is that movies – these movies in particular – are fantastic, wonderful things.
Let’s celebrate them, shall we?)
The Big Short
Adam McKay’s first foray into dramatic filmmaking is a wild, raucous success.
Make no mistake, though,The Big Shortis still hilarious.
Image via Magnolia
While all that heartbreak and fury is packed into the film, McKay also wants to teach you something.
As Watney,Matt Damongives the kind of performance that reminds you why he’s a movie star.
He’s funny, charming as hell, and capable of expressing a lot with a little.
Image via Open Road Films
It’s also just damn thrilling filmmaking, and an unfortunate rarity in a number of ways.
What’s not to love?
A reminder of the value of staging – and hoo boy,The Hateful Eightis all about staging.
Image via Sony Pictures Classics
I consider myself a pretty genre-hardened individual, but the final act ofThe Hateful Eight is hardcore shit.
into the same arena is sublime cinema.
Creed
Rockywas never my Stallone of choice.
Image via Warner Bros.
The son of Rocky’s opponent-turned-friend Apollo Creed, Adonis is Coogler’s clever spin on the rags-to-riches story.
It’s that long life that makesCreedone of the most compelling and successful entries in the franchise.
EachRockyfilm is a product of its time; an anthropological relic of sorts.
The Final Girls
To put it bluntly, weepy movies aren’t my thing.
I don’t do kids with cancer.
I don’t do ailing spouses and mental illness and degenerative disease.
The crazy clever script fromM.A.
It is a touching mother-daughter story wrapped in the shroud of a meta-slasher comedy.
Tangerinecould have been all gimmick and no heart, but it’s free of cheap schlock.
Rodriguez and Taylor are electric and commanding as the film’s leads, and the movie is downright gorgeous.
Like a piece of high-end lingerie found floating in the gutter of Santa Monica boulevard.
It’s a bit raucous and occasionally ridiculous.
It’s a reminder of the importance and impact of good people doing hard work for the right cause.
It’s a reminder why society needs journalism and fearless truth-tellers.
And McCarthy does it all without of whiff of grandiosity.
Spotlightis a humble movie; never showy or ostentatious.
The cues are there, but McCarthy leaves the breathing room to let the audience reach their own conclusions.
These journalists aren’t self-destructive drunks, pompous dilettantes, or any stereotypical writer-types.
From then on, Minnie is pure insatiable hunger, as told to us through her confessional tapes.
Like all teenagers, she wants love and attention, but she also wants to fuck.
Powley takes Minnie through her tumultuous affairs and learning experiences with a remarkable empathy and honesty.
No one could predict thatFury Roadwould be the most cinematic experience of the year.
How do you choose what to celebrate?Junkie XL’s rousing score?John Seale’s gorgeous cinematography?
The you-have-to-be-crazy-to-try-that practical effects?
But if it is an incredible achievement in filmmaking, it is also just a face-melting good time.
My first viewing ofEx Machinaleft me cold.
The film seemed hard and unforgiving, and I felt alienated by the ending.
But it got under my skin.Wayunder.
Couldn’t shake it.
I couldn’t get my mind off the characters and their complex relationship dynamics.
Couldn’t stop pondering – What is the nature of gender?
What separates good men from great men?
Does it matter anyway when we’re all such fragile pieces of meat?
– You know, light stuff.
Ultimately,Ex Machinapulled off a remarkable and rare feat.
It caused a slight shift in my world view.
It altered my paradigm, just so.
And how to deliver one hell of a dance break.
