95th Academy Award Predictions

 It's that time of year again! After all the campaigning, the snubs, the politics, it's time to open the envelopes and see what will take home the gold. Below are my predictions for this year's Oscars:

Best Picture
Everything Everywhere All At Once

Best Director

Everything Everywhere All At Once

Best Actor

Austin Butler, Elvis

Best Actress

Michelle Yeoh, Everything Everywhere All At Once

Best Supporting Actor

Ke Huy Quan, Everything Everywhere All At Once

Best Supporting Actress

Kerry Condon, The Banshees of Inisherin

Best Adapted Screenplay

Women Talking

Best Original Screenplay

Everything Everywhere All At Once

Best Animated Film

Guillermo Del Toro's Pinocchio

Cinematography

All Quiet on the Western Front

Costume Design

Elvis

Documentary Feature

Navalny

Documentary Short Film

Haulout

Film Editing

Top Gun: Maverick

International Feature Film

All Quiet on the Western Front

Makeup and Hairstyling

The Whale

Original Score

Babylon

Original Song

"Naatu Naatu"

Production Design

Babylon

Animated Short Film

The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse

Live Action Short Film

An Irish Goodbye

Sound

Top Gun: Maverick

Visual Effects

Avatar: The Way of Water

Top 10 of 2022

Every year feels like a reckoning for cinema; ever since the COVID pandemic shuttered theaters and cratered the box office, we've wondered how long the theater-going experience will last. In 2020 the highest-grossing film of the year became Bad Boys For Life, a film released in January of that year and one that had the most time to generate some box office. That film only grossed $260 million domestically, and the top 10 highest-grossing releases of 2020 didn't even crack $1 billion domestically combined. In 2021, the box office made a significant return with several high-profile releases, although only Spider-Man: No Way Home made important money (over $500 million domestically).

In 2022, the box office was back in a huge way. Though the year started with the omicron variant of COVID, which continued to keep people at home (save for Spider-Man), it ended with eight movies grossing $300 million or more, and two above $500 million. Movies are back, in a big way, and some of the highest-grossing films were also really good (something of a rarity). There's still a dearth of box office receipts for indie movies, but even still we had small successes like Everything, Everywhere All At Once. Still, it was an encouraging year and a really good one to boot. So without further ado, here are my top 10 movies of 2022.

10. The Fabelmans, PG-13, 151 min.

Steven Spielberg is probably one of the only filmmakers who could make a biography about himself and not only make it one of the most touching films of his career but also one of his most cynical. The Fabelmans stand in for Spielberg, with Michelle Williams and Paul Dano playing the parents (Mitzi and Burt Fabelman). The names may be changed and the details embellished, but if you know anything about Spielberg's life from his numerous interviews then you'll recognize a lot of beats here, from the train set he filmed as a little kid, the movies he made with his friends the numerous moves his family made across the country. The Fabelmans has been accused of being another insipid love letter to cinema, but I think it's so much more than that. The slow dissolution of the Fabelman's marriage is a key central element of the film, and for large swaths of the story, Sammy Fabelman (the Steven surrogate, played by Gabriel LaBelle) isn't interested in making movies. Spielberg made the biopic about his life before anyone else could, and I think it's a wonderful gift to have this chronicle of the early life of one of the most brilliant filmmakers to ever grace Hollywood.

9. Good Luck to You, Leo Grande, R, 97 min.

In the past year or two, we've got what I call "pandemic movies", films that were clearly filmed because the cast size was small, and the setting was limited to a few locations. Good Luck to You, Leo Grande is one of the best of those films, largely carried by two stellar performances from Emma Thompson and Daryl McCormack. Thompson plays Nancy Stokes, an older woman whose husband has recently died, and who has never experienced sexual satisfaction in the bedroom. Enter Leo Grande (McCormack), a prostitute she has hired to fulfill those sexual desires. It's a tender, moving film that explores sexual repression, and celebrates a subject many of us find taboo and hard to confront. Director Sophie Hyde keeps the single setting of the hotel engaging and helps make what could feel like a boring, one note film fascinating and memorable.

8. Moonage Daydream, PG-13, 135 min.

David Bowie is a bit of an enigmatic figure, a person who morphed through his career into different personas. Writer/director Brett Morgen has created a fascinating and wonderfully weird documentary about Bowie's life, one that is as unconventional as the subject himself. Told with a blast of sound and images, the film carries us through Bowie's life with no assistance from a narrator or on screen text. Morgen instead utilizes an extensive archive of footage of Bowie to construct the story of his life, a fever dream feature length music video that carries you along a euphoric wave. Bowie was singular artist who made his mark on 20th century pop culture, and Moonage Daydream is a project worthy of his genius.

7. Top Gun: Maverick, PG-13, 130 min.

Never in my wildest dreams could I have imagined the Top Gun sequel being one of my ten favorite movies of the year. Yet director Joseph Kosinski, the writers (including Christopher McQuarrie, who helms the Mission: Impossible franchise) and Tom Cruise have delivered a terrifically entertaining movie, a film that thrills and delights. Cruise retuns as Maverick, an ace fighter pilot who never quite moved up the ranks of the military (by his own choice). He's recruited back to Top Gun, the naval academy where the top fighter pilots are trained, to spearhead a dangerous mission into enemy territory, and confront Rooster (Miles Teller), the son of his partner Goose who perished in the first film. Maverick succeeds where so many of these other blockbuster fall short by creating and establishing real stakes: the mission is laid out clearly and when the climactic scene comes, the audience knows exactly what needs to be carried out for success. Claudio Miranda's cinematography is top notch, capturing the actors in real cockpits (including Cruise flying himself) that heightens and adds weight to the action. It's an all-around thrilling movie that reminds us why we go to films in the first place, and defied expectations to be one of the biggest movies of 2022.

6. Tár, R, 158 min.

The powerhouse performance of the year goes to Cate Blanchett as Lydia Tár, a maestro for the Berlin Philharmonic deep in preparing a performance of a classical piece of music. Blanchett carries with her all the swagger and charisma of someone at the top of the field, so self assured by their own genius that they view everyone else with disdain, and manipulate others seeking their approval. Todd Field writes and directs this very long movie, although nothing feels extraneous; it starts as a character piece but slowly reveals the film's true intention, to watch this titan of the arts fall spectacularly. Carefully seeded scenes throughout feel superfluous at first, but later come back in surprising and fascinating ways. There's also some incredibly staged scenes, including a long oner at Julliard where Tár slowly but viciously takes down a student for rejecting Bach on the basis that he's a white man with a problematic history. Tár is one of those films that feel like it's recommended based solely on a strong lead performance, but there is plenty more to admire here in one of the year's most finely crafted movies.

5. Everything Everywhere All At Once, R, 139 min.

If there's one film that had a titanic impact on the online film community this year, it was Everything Everywhere All At Once. Directed by Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert (collectively known as the Daniels), EEAAO is a sci-fi comedy spectacle about Evelyn (Michelle Yeoh), the owner of a laundromat in a dead end life who finds out she is the key to saving the universe. Ke Huy Quan plays Waymond, her husband, who in one universe is a hapless sap and in another is a fighting master. The film strives to live up to it's title and succeeds in many ways; it's a big movie that is about everything everywhere all at once. While I must confess I did not love the movie as much as many others, I do still admire greatly, and had a blast watching it in theaters with a big crowd. There are few filmmakers out there like the Daniels, who's previous work includes Swiss Army Man (the Daniel Radcliffe farting corpse movie) and the music video for Turn Down For What, and they've proven they can balance absurd and heartfelt tones. It's an admirable movie that is the most nominated film at the Oscars this year (something no one would've predicted from the first trailer), and will be a movie that inspires the next generation of filmmakers.

4. The Banshees of Inisherin, R, 114 min.

Martin McDonaugh reunites with Colin Farrell and Breendan Gleeson, who all made the 2008 hitman dark comedy In Bruges together, for a much quieter tale of a friendship lost. Set 100 years ago an a fictional island in Ireland, Banshees begins on the day that Colm (Gleeson) decides he no longer wants to be Pádraic's (Farrell) friend anymore, for no reason other then he doesn't want to. It's quietly devasting film, as Pádraic reckons with this new situation on an island where everyone knows each other and there's little do as there is. McDonaugh's script is filled with sharp barbs and unexpected gags, while examining the friendship these two once shared. The cast is rounded out by Kerry Condon and Barry Keoghan, and all four actors have received oscar nominations for their work. It's an unexpected film from a director known for making twisty crime films, but he tackls the subject matter brilliantly, in one of the funniest and saddest films of the year.

3. Nope, R, 130 min.

Jordan Peele is one of the few filmmakers working today that can open a film on his name alone. Get Out and Us are both different yet fascinating works of horror, and with Nope, Peele broaden his scope to an epic alien adventure that is his most ambitious project yet. Set in the rolling hills of Agua Dulce, a town on the outskirts of Los Angeles, the film is about a brother and sister who own and operate a Hollywood horse ranch (Daniel Kaluuya and Keke Palmer, both wonderful). They begin noticing strange events, including a cloud that doesn't move, and electricity vanishing and returning for no reason. Peele's film is exploring a lot, including a subplot involving Steven Yeun as a former child star who experienced a traumatic event on a sitcom. The film is an indictment of Hollywood and how easily it can exploit and regurgitate people from its system; it's also an alien epic that goes to unexpected places, and comes close to being Peele's best work yet. If nothing else, Jordan Peele has proven he has a lot of ideas and is a director I will flock to for any movie he dreams up.

2. Women Talking, PG-13, 104 min.

As far as literal film titles go, you don't get any more direct than Women Talking which is, yes, about women talking. Based on real events, the film is set in a Mennonite community in the early 2010s, where several men have been arrested for raping the women. While the other men head to bail them out, the women must decide whether they will stay in the community and face more abuse, or flee into a world they know nothing about. Sarah Polley's wonderful film is expertly directed, navigating us through several characters feelings and motivations around the topic. For the one hand, staying means they will have their community but will continue to be abused; leaving they will be free but are uneducated and do not know how to face the world. Claire Foy, Rooney Mara, and Jessie Buckley are just a few actors that round out an impressive cast. Ben Whishaw stars as the only man we see in the movie (the rest are obscured in shadow), the one seemingly decent man in the community. It's not always an easy sit but it's a terrific film and one of the best of the year.

1. RRR, NR, 187 min.

If Everything Everywhere All At Once was film Twitter's favorite film of 2022, RRR was a very close second. Opening in limited release in the US, the film slowly gained a groundwell of support until it dropped on Netflix and exploded in popularity. It's the most movie movie I've ever seen, an epic story of two friends secretly at odds with each other. The title refers the director and stars of the movie, S. S. Rajamouli, N.T. Rama Rao Jr., and Ram Charan Teja, but has been retrofitted to mean something different in any language (in English it stands for Rise, Roar, Revolt). I love this movie because it's just a big, giant spectacle that also establishes and develops its central characters well, and contains some of the most insane action I've ever seen. The film starts with one of our heroes taking on thousands of people on his own, and the other battling a tiger mano a mano. From there it only gets better, including a title drop 45 minutes into the movie that will make you fist pump the air. I rarely get so wrapped up and excited about something, but RRR represents, to me, what makes movies special. It's a big spectacle that continues to enthrall and surprise during it's runtime, three hours that fly right by. I hope for a 4K release soon, as the version that is on Netflix is a Hindi dub (the film's original language is Telugu and is actually a Tollywood movie, not a Bollywood film). Regardless, if you haven't heard of this film go in blind, and if you've had reservations seek it out now. It's a fantastic blockbuster and reminder of why we go to the movies.

The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948)

 75 years later, The Treasure of the Sierra Madre remains a stark example of the boundaries Hollywood was able to push in the golden age of cinema. Many people may think of old black-and-white movies from the 40s as lacking any teeth, of being reasonably chaste or easy-going films where the good guys win, and the bad guys get theirs.

But 1940s Hollywood, especially post-WWII Hollywood, was particularly cynical, and that was reflected in the films made in the wake of the great conflict. Eventually, optimism would win over in the 50s (before naturalism wormed its way into the movies of the late 60s and 70s), but out of that cynicism, we got the terrific The Treasure of the Sierra Madre.

Humphrey Bogart stars as Fred C. Dobbs, an American wandering through Mexico in the 1920s, begging other Americans for spare change to get by. He's tipped off at the potential of gold in the nearby mountains and sets out with two other estranged Americans, Curtin (Tim Holt) and Howard (Walter Huston), to go prospecting. Along the way they encounter bandits, other enterprising Americans with a nose for gold, and of course the envy and suspicion that builds when the treasure is finally found.

Directed by John Huston (The African Queen, Key Largo), the film contains a remarkable amount of plot packed into a tight two-hour running time. There's a certain economy to the storytelling that is remarkable, and you get a good sense of who everyone is pretty quickly. It's also a film that doesn't pull any punches; Bogart is wonderful as Dobbs, a man who is friendly enough but demonstrates a deep mistrust of everyone, and as their gold stock slowly grows he gets more and more greedy, hoarding his share and suspecting his companions of ill intent. It's a standout performance by Bogart that proves he really was one of Hollywood's greatest stars.

The Treasure of the Sierra Madre is one of those films that truly is timeless. The story of man's greed and hunger for more never ages, and the performances and filmmaking are some of the finest of the decade. It's remarkable Warner Bros took a chance on such a dark film with few redeeming characters. I had seen the film many years ago and had forgotten just how great this was, but it really is one of the best Hollywood films of the 1940s.

Jeanne Dielman, 23, quai du commerce, 1080 Bruxelles (1975)

No recent review of Jeanne Dielman can begin without acknowledging the elephant in the room; we've all arrived here because of BFI's latest Sight & Sound poll, a once-in-a-decade exercise where esteemed film critics are invited to send in their personal top 10s, and the results are tabulated into a list of 100 films meant to represent the greatest of all time. In the past, The Bicycle Thieves, Citizen Kane, and Vertigo have all topped the list. In 2022, Jeanne Dielman stunned everyone by becoming crowned the new, eponymous "Greatest Movie of All Time."

As it happened, Jeanne Dielman was next on my queue of movies to watch, and I was well aware of its reputation. Jeanne Dielman is a long, boring movie. That's not a derogatory remark, simply a statement of fact that few would disagree with. It's a 201-minute exercise in presenting the minutiae and everyday mundanity of a housewife. Jeanne Dielman (Delphine Seyrig) goes about her day, cleaning, cooking, and occasionally prostituting herself to support her plain life with her son, who only appears briefly for dinner. Told over three days, director Chantal Akerman stages the film with long, unbroken takes as we watch Jeanne do menial tasks, like peeling potatoes, taking a bath, or watching a pot of coffee brew.

While the film is boring by definition, there's a certain hypnotic fascination that develops watching these routine tasks carried out. For a film as long as The Return of the King there's so little that actually happens, but that's the statement Akerman is making. Before smartphones and streaming services, a housewife had little to do in their daily life and was consigned to keeping the house while their husbands and offspring went out and explored the world.

The film's status as the greatest of all time in many ways will draw a lot of criticism from those that come to it blindly, not knowing what they are in for. It's a challenging film that I watched over a few days, as watching it all at once would probably feel like an interminable experience. But it's also a fairly audacious, bold piece of filmmaking. In the final two shots of the film, Jeanne finally does something unexpected and shocking, an action that normally wouldn't shock were it not for the proceeding three hours where it felt like almost nothing happened. When she drops a potato late in the film it's almost an upsetting moment, as it breaks the hypnotic flow of the routine.

We come to films for many different reasons, to be entertained and transported to other places. But we also look for reflections of ourselves or lives lived we could never imagine. I can't really recommend Jeanne Dielman because I know for most people it will be a struggle to sit through, but if you do choose to view it, be ready to surrender to the film's languid pace and structure. It's a film I probably won't find myself revisiting anytime soon, but I'm glad I experienced it at least once.

Top 10 of 2021

For movies, 2021 will be a year looked over and examined for how the distribution model, and access to films, truly changed. Whereas 2020 studios were forced to change their release model because there wasn't another option, 2021 saw several different experiments, from the shortening of the theatrical window (45 days now I believe until those new releases are available VOD) to Warner Bros.' fairly bold and wild decision to release their full slate both in theaters and on their HBO Max platform on the same day (the movies were only available streaming for 30 days). Disney tested their "Premiere Access" tier, where their movies were released simultaneously in theaters and on Disney+ for $30, although by September they dropped the experiment, with Shang-Chi becoming the first big Disney release exclusively in theaters. This led to Scarlett Johansson suing Disney over her contract for Black Widow (a Premiere Access release), claiming she lost millions because Disney wouldn't pay her from the streaming revenue.

Even bigger, of course, was that theaters reopened. I know in a lot of the US theaters were back open in limited capacities in 2020, but where I primarily reside in Los Angeles, theaters closed in March 2020 and didn't reopen until a full year later. The fallout in LA was widely felt too; beloved theater chain Arclight announced they would be going out of business and closing all locations nationwide (though primarily in Southern California, they had begun expanding in markets such as Chicago). This was a devastating blow, as Arclight was often seen as the premiere theater experience, where you could be sure to have a respectful audience and was often where the hottest limited releases would begin their runs, not to mention the Arclight Hollywood shared it's site with the historic Cinerama Dome (I'm sure someone will reopen the Dome before long). The major chains for the most part survived by the skin of their teeth and perhaps a bankruptcy filing or two, and AMC and Regal have begun taking over the empty theaters left behind by Arclight.

Returning to the theater was amazing; the last film I saw was Corpus Christi in February 2020; I returned by seeing Spiral on May 2021, and proceeded with three days in a row of movies, including a rerelease of Top Gun in Dolby, and Bob Odenkirk's John Wick-like Nobody. Since then I have seen dozens of movies on the big screen and while yes, home theaters are getting better and better, there's still something essential about going to a theater and totally disconnecting from the world for a few hours to get lost in a new film. In the digital age it's hard for my mind not to wander to my phone when watching something at home; in a theater, my proclivities for social respect demand that I focus, pay attention, and engage with the movie. I'm not disciplined enough to carry that to my home viewing experience.

Access to movies is greater than ever, too. Sundance 2022 just wrapped and for a fee, you could view the hottest festival titles on streaming, rather than being forced to fly out to the frozen tundra of Park City, UT and pay for expensive shuttles, lodging, and dining. Netflix, Amazon, Apple TV+, and others all made a variety of interesting movies, and if you missed that indie in theaters, it was available at home soon after.

All that to say, I've seen my fair share of movies from 2021, and even though I haven't seen everything (Drive My Car being the most notable example), I self impose a deadline of February 1st to release my top 10. Because it's my list, I set my own rules: there are films on here that were nominated in last year's Oscars, but because the Oscars extended the eligibility window from January 2020 to February 2021, it means that some 2021 releases were considered for the 2020 Oscars. I am but a humble plebeian who does not get special access to things, and so was unable to see these movies until well after my own cutoff for my 2020 list. Loosely, I follow the USA release calendar for movies, and use that as my guide. So, enough rambling! Without further ado, here is my top 10 of 2021.

10. Dune, 155 min. PG-13

Denis Villeneueve's much anticipated big screen adaptation of Frank Herbert's classic sci-fi epic was a huge success, translating the dense, layered mythology of Herbert's prose to a fairly digestable format. The story of Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet) and his families trials taking over the sand planet Arrakis (the Dune of the title), Dune is a juggling act that builds far-off worlds with great effect. The grand desert vistas are incredible, and the visual effects are so good that you believe these are real places. Rounded out by a stellar cast that includes Oscar Isaac, Rebecca Ferguson, and Zendaya, and you have Part One of what will hopefully prove to be an epic two-part film.

9. The French Dispatch, 107 min. R

Wes Anderson is fast becoming one of my favorite filmmakers working today; he's honed such a sharp and distinctive style that bothers some and enthralls other. The pinnacle of his work was The Grand Budapest Hotel, and while The French Dispatch doesn't quite match up to that film, it's still a wonder to behold. We almost take for granted now the amount of detail that goes into any one shot of Anderson's movies, and this one is bursting at the seams with expressive camera movements and production design. Anderson may have a finely honed aesthetic, but it's one that's taken him decades to perfect and to seem his talents on full display here is truly a sight to behold.

8. Nomadland, 107 min. R

The Oscar winner for Best Picture of 2020 had an official release of February 2021 in the USA, and so it fits right into my Top 10 of 2021 nicely at number 8. Chloe Zhao's contemplative piece on the Americans who move from place to place freely, never having a home, is a beautiful and haunting film. Frances McDormand's Oscar-winning performance is top-notch, and the casting of real Nomads adds an extra layer of authenticity to the film's aesthetic. It's a quiet movie that asks you to stop and appreciate the world we live in, one that is so consumed by work and the capitalist drive to succeed and come out on top. Though Zhao seems to have stumbled with her Marvel film Eternals (I didn't see it but the overall reception was mediocre) I am still very excited for what she does next with her big Marvel paycheck.

7. The Power of the Dog, 126 min. R

Jane Campion's Western epic, an adaptation of a 1967 by Thomas Savage, is a strange tale of ranchers and forbidden love. Starring Benedict Cumberbatch, Kirsten Dunst, and Jesse Plemons, the film boasts a rich cast, and a plot that is not always straightforward. Most of the time we are living in this time and this place with these characters, and Campion's sure hand guides us through this strange and sad tale. It may seem like a bit of slog but it's a great experience and one I won't soon forget.

6. CODA, 111 min. PG-13

Sundance's indie darling is a sweet, moving tale of the Rossi's, a mostly deaf family save their youngest daughter, Ruby (Emilia Jones). She is in her senior year of High School and is ready to break free of her families fishing business, but her family has become used to her hearing abilities and put undue pressure on her to stick with the family. It's a pretty clichéd tale, but director Sian Heder handles the affair with a sure hand and keeps the film from teetering into Lifetime-level fair. It's a tricky act, and several eccentric characters threaten to tip the scales too far to cloying, manipulative story beats, but overall the clichés work and what you get is a powerful, moving tale that delivers the waterworks.

5. The Father, 97 min. PG-13

The Father is probably most notable at this point for being the film that upset the Best Actor Oscar at the ceremony in April 2021; Chadwick Boseman was expected to pull of a posthumous win and the category was moved to be last, a risky decision that proved unwise when Anthony Hopkins won instead for his performance in The Father (not to mention the show just ending because Hopkins was asleep in the U.K.). But what shouldn't be overlooked is just how great this film is; directed by Florian Zeller and based on his own play, the film is a harrowing look at dementia's effect on the mind. Hopkins plays, appropriately, a character named Anthony and Olivia Coleman is his daughter Anne. He lives in a big apartment in London, but the film cleverly blends the days together, as people's faces change on a dime, and events repeat or take on a new perspective. You're never sure what is real and what isn't, and the film culminates in a scene so utterly heart wrenching and devastating that it will tear you down. It's a sad and scary film, a look at a disease that comes for many of us and has no happy resolution.

4. Flee, 89 min. PG-13

Animated documentaries are a fairly unique genre; the only one that comes immediately to mind is Waltz With Bashir, a 2008 film about recollections of the 1982 invasion of Lebanon. Flee focuses on one man's tale of escaping first Afghanistan in the 80s and then Russia in the early 90s. A refugee, Amin recalls his story in vivid detail, and animation is used to bring to life his memories. This serves a few functions; for one, it gives us a look at the setting and conditions of the story in a unique way that staged, live action recreations often fail out; for another, the subjects need to remain anonymous since they were smuggled into their respective countries under false pretenses, and rather than have Amin be shrouded in shadow we still get to see a facsimile of him and his family. It's an essential tale, and one that offers a key look at why many migrants escape from one country for another; they aren't simply looking to take your job, they are also looking for a better life for themselves.

3. The Green Knight, 130 min. R

David Lowery's fascinating retelling of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is a sumptuous visual feast, a film bursting at the seams with impressive imagery. Dev Patel stars as Gawain, who takes up the Green Knight's (Ralph Ineson) offer to land on a blow on him in exchange for the same blow to befall Gawain in one year. Gawain beheads the Green Knight, and is shocked when, still alive, he carries his head out and declares he will await him in one year. Much of the film follows Gawain and his treks through several fantasy adventures to his fate. What Lowery pulls off is a beautiful fable engrossed me from start to finish. The climax of this film is spectacular, and when it was all over I wanted to start the film over again.

2. Licorice Pizza, 133 min. R

Paul Thomas Anderson has had quite the career, releasing a series of films from Magnolia, to There Will Be Blood, to The Master that many would rank as some of the best of their decades. With Licorice Pizza, Anderson slows down a bit from his recent films to create a film that is more of a hangout movie, about a light flirtation between 25-year-old Alana (Alana Haim) and 15-year-old Gary (Cooper Hoffman, son of the late Phillip Seymour). The light plot follows a series of vignettes, where Gary first starts a water bed business and then a pinball store, while Alana tries to find her footing and direction in life (her family is played by her real family). Both Haim and Hoffman are wonderful, and Anderson recreates the San Fernando Valley of his youth, breathing life into a more subdued side of the 70s.

1. Quo Vadis, Aida?, 101 min. Unrated

I know little about the Bosnian War of the mid-90s, so when I turned this on I was floored by the harrowing tale the end of the conflict, as Serbian militants invade the small town of Srebenica and the residents flee to a UN safehold for extradition. Jasna Djuricic is electrifying as Aida, a translator from the local village working with the UN in the conflict, continually using her leverage to try and get her family to safety. The film is tense and shocking, based on the genocide that took place that happened not even 30 years ago. It's a sad film and not an easy one to digest, but Jasmila Zbanic directs the proceedings with a natural tension, lingering from afar on horrible events as an observer who would love to intervene but can't.

Other notable mentions

Sometimes I like to bring up a few other random films not released in 2021 that I saw for the first time and enjoyed. One was the 1921 silent film Destiny, directed by Fritz Lang, about two lovers who encounter death and must try to reunite through three tableaus set in different locales. While the way the film represents different countries is problematic, the storytelling and skill on display by Lang and company is impressive for this 100-year-old movie, and was a surprise gem.

Of course, no 2021 media retrospective is complete without mentioning the Netflix sensation Squid Game. I don't consider TV shows and miniseries for my top 10 as a rule, but season 1 of the show as incredible and it was amazing to see an international show become one of the biggest, most talked about events of the year.

Finally, I watched Ingmar Bergman's epic Fanny & Alexander, both the TV and theatrical versions. It's an impressive work and a fascinating film, although in both versions I felt the Christmas stuff went on way too long. When it really gets going, though, it's the master at his most refined and best, and I'm glad I finally saw it. I purchased the Criterion box set about 10 years ago and it sat on my shelf intimidating me with it's massive runtime (the theatrical cut is 3 hours and the TV version is over 5).

Stinkers

And of course, I saw plenty of films I did not like.

Halloween Kills was the direct follow-up to 2018's Halloween, a direct sequel to the 1978 classic. While 2018's Halloween managed to be a good sequel and follow-up, this film is just plain stupid. It brings back a whole host of characters that you don't even remember from the original, and features some plain dumb characters. I do hope the forthcoming Halloween Ends is true to its name, but I'm not holding my breath.

Space Jam: A New Legacy was never going to be good, but boy was this one even worse than imaginable. Lebron James is fine, but the film devolves into an IP orgy as several Warner Bros characters cheered from the sidelines of the big game. It's a crass, low, soulless film that can't even get the Looney Tunes right.

And finally, Thunder Force, the worst film I saw released in 2021, starring Melissa McCarthy and Octavia Spencer. Whenever McCarthy is paired with her husband Ben Falcone the result is terrible; he doesn't restrain her and he's a lazy director. The movie low budget with no charm, and the only amusing gag is Jason Bateman's lobster claws. It's a dumb movie that's poorly written, directed, and acted, and I dearly hope McCarthy stops working with her husband.

Spiral (2021)

 What a glorious thing to be back at the theaters! 442 days have passed since I last ventured to the silver screen to see Corpus Christi, at the time blissfully unaware this would be my final theatrical experience in 2020. Now we are back, cinemas are reopening, and I'm ready to consume whatever Hollywood has to offer.

That Spiral, a Saw sequel, is my first movie back is a more random choice than anything. I've only seen the first Saw movie and have not indulged in any of the other several entries in the franchise. Like other gimmicky horror films like Final Destination, you get the premise with one film, and only really come back to see the more people put through torture by insanely complicated devices.

Spiral certainly delivers on the torture porn. This movie has a surprisingly stacked cast with Chris Rock, Max Minghella, and Samuel L. Jackson making up the main roles. They all play cops of the South Metro PD, and a disciple of the killer Jigsaw from the original films has decided it's time to make a political statement by killing "only those cops" that deserve it.

Chris Rock plays Det. Zeke Banks, a cop who ratted out a fellow officer many years ago and is still paying the price within his precinct. Tasked with showing rookie William (Minghella) the ropes, Zeke tracks down the various clues the new killer, who wears a pig mask, leaves. Meanwhile, cops who committed various sins from lying on the witness stand to covering up police brutality meet a grisly demise.

The film has a surprising amount of backstory to dole out; the movie has no time to establish Zeke's relationships with his peers, so we get fed bits of information in heavy-handed flashbacks that tend to overwhelm more than anything. The film is a refreshingly fleet 93 minutes, but it packs in a lot of story in its runtime and can't help but feel a little overstuffed at times.

Not to mention the theme of police brutality, always a rough subject has taken on more meaning than ever. Spiral is one of those films delayed by the pandemic, originally slated for a May 2020 release; it almost coincided with the murder of George Floyd and subsequent protests that broke out across the nation. There has been a lot of ill-will towards the police, so your mileage may vary on seeing them torn apart on screen for their injustices.

Me, I just find the whole film pretty hokey. It has a predictable twist, and the traps are conceived in such a way as to make the victims think there is a chance at escape when there really isn't. You just watch someone scream as their tongue is ripped from their mouth or fingers detached from their hand. It's very unpleasant, and it doesn't really matter what sins the victim perpetrated.

Chris Rock gives it his all, and Sam Jackson is, well, Sam Jackson. If Saw is your sort of thing I think this will satisfy; it's certainly grislier than the film that kicked the whole series off, but I'm not sure how it compares to the other films in the series. This stuff really isn't my cup of tea, but damn was it nice to be back in a theater again.

Top 10 of 2020

 It goes without saying that 2020 was a hell of a year. With a virus that changed our way of life, I've had to re-evaluate what counts as a "movie" and what doesn't. The clear delineation between streaming and theatrical was further blurred, as movie theaters in the Los Angeles area have remained closed since March. What follows is my list of the top 10 movies, regardless of the platform of release. I should also note I haven't been able to see certain notable releases yet (Nomadland and Minari key among them) since they have not been made available on VOD yet, and so I will count those movies as 2021 releases.

10. Color Out of Space, 111 min. Unrated

Who doesn't love Nicolas Cage going full, well, Cage? The actor who has transcended stardom into memehood has actually turned out a couple of good indie horror flicks recently (see: Mandy for a stellar example of Cage fully unhinged). Color Out of Space, adapted from the H.P. Lovecraft story, is about a family living in the woods who have an unexpected encounter with a force of extra-terrestrial origins. What follows is a wild ride full of some true horrors, and is a film that actually left me shaking, a feat few horror films achieve. A lot of this has to do with director Richard Stanley, who was famously fired from directing a version of The Island of Dr. Moreau, breaking free of director's jail. While some performances are rocky, the sense of terror and discovery is exhilarating, and the result is a film I still haven't' forgotten.

9. Promising Young Woman, 113 min. R

Emerald Fennell's directorial debut is an inciting take on rape culture, how it permeates our society and excuses men for their decisions that have a lasting, psychological impact on their victims. Carey Mulligan is fantastic as a female-predator who pretends to be helpless and drunk before a gentleman swoops in to escort her home. More often than not, the gentleman begins taking advantage of her, until she drops the act and confronts the man on his perverted actions (usually followed by profuse pleas of "sorry"). In a brilliant bit of casting, male comedians who are usually perceived as friendly are thrown into these roles, further revealing that you can never fully trust someone. Fennell is a confident director and infuses Promising Young Woman with a fantastic style, down to the soundtrack that includes a fantastic, hair-raising rendition of Britney Spears' Toxic. The plot wraps up a little too neatly, but overall it is satisfying to watch Mulligan serve everyone their just desserts.

8. Da 5 Bloods, 154 min. R

Spike Lee is a fascinating, if frustrating, filmmaker. He seems to have found his foothold again with his most recent films, and Da 5 Bloods is a captivating experience. Four Vietnam veterans return to the country to retrieve a stash of gold they left behind on their last tour together, and to reclaim the body of the troop's leader (played by Chadwick Boseman). A terrific cast that includes two The Wire alumnus (Clarke Peters and Isiah Whitlock Jr.) and a standout performance by Delroy Lindo, Lee's war epic isn't always focused, and there are some notably cheesy subplots. But Lee is a master of suspense and always delivers a thrilling ride that doesn't disappoint.

7. Sound of Metal, 120 min. R

For any of us blessed with our senses, you sometimes wonder if you had to lose one (sight, sound, speech) which one would you choose? Sound of Metal chronicles one drummer's experience (Riz Ahmed) as his hearing rapidly deteriorates. A touring duo with his girlfriend (Olivia Cooke) on lead guitar and vocals, Ahmed's character, Ruben, becomes obsessed with raising enough money to pay for cochlear implants to restore his hearing. It's a more subdued film, and there are some truly heartbreaking, moving moments here, including a downright devastating, yet perfect, ending. The debut of director Darius Marder adds another creative to the list of emerging, young talent to watch.

6. David Byrne's American Utopia, 105 min. TV-14

Now here's a film that definitely blurs the line between streaming and theatrical. It's a filmed version of a broadway production, yet because it is directed by Spike Lee (making his second appearance on this list!) it feels far more cinematic than the other big filmed production released in 2020, Hamilton. I enjoyed the hell out of Hamilton but that felt much more like a "filmed play", whereas American Utopia draws you into David Byrne's abstract style and gives you an experience unlike any other film this year. I'm not a big Talking Heads fan (I know their hits) but I was still engrossed by the various songs and staging. Maybe it's because I'm so starved for live entertainment, but I enjoyed this and would recommend it to anyone (it's streaming on HBO/HBO Max). 

5. Soul, 100 min. PG

Pretty much the only person keeping Pixar's output to high quality is Pete Docter; the man seriously needs to be included on any list of great directors, because his work with Pixar is consistently terrific. Soul is very reminiscent of Inside Out, although this time we get a personification of the ethereal plane. Jamie Foxx is Joe Gardner, an aspiring musician who tragically dies on the day he finally gets his big break. Sent to the afterlife, he escapes the big glow in the sky and ends up in the "before-life", where souls are assigned various attributes before heading to earth. Soul is rather plotty (my summary covers maybe the first twenty minutes of the movie and doesn't even mention Tina Fey's character), but once again Docter conceives of a fantasy world and brings abstract ideas to life. Co-director Kemp Powers should also be commended for the texture and authenticity he brings to Joe Gardner's New York life, and the score, divided between Jon Batiste for the real world segments and Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross for the spirit world, is stellar. It doesn't quite hit me in the same way Inside Out did, but it's still a fantastic piece all the same.

4. Never Rarely Sometimes Always, 101 min. PG-13

Sometimes a film delivers a gut-punch of a sequence that elevates the rest of the movie. Never Rarely Sometimes Always is a terrific drama about a pregnant teen girl who must travel from her hometown in Pennsylvania to New York to get an abortion. Accompanied only by her friend and meager funds, the film is a harrowing account of her trials and the hurdles one must encounter in the abortion process. But what really hits home is a sustained shot in the middle of the film; the main character, Autumn (Sidney Flanigan) must answer a series of questions from a caseworker. Slowly, the true nature of sexual abuse she's suffered at the hands of many (including family members) is revealed, and Flanigan's performance is astounding as you slowly watch her guarded walls crumble. It's a well-earned sequence, a moment the film has been building too, and it's executed with absolute perfection.

3. Boys State, 109 min. PG-13

I never thought I'd enjoy a documentary about a group of teenage boys recreating representative democracy over one chaotic week. Directors Amanda McBaine and Jesse Moss have pulled off a remarkable feat, with a documentary so well shot that it feels like a real movie rather than a doc. Combine this with a cast of charismatic young men and you've got the recipe for one of the best films of the year. The doc says a lot about our government and just how low some people are willing to stoop to maintain their level of control. There are some very dishonorable tactics employed by the boys throughout, but the doc is so well edited that you are engrossed the entire time. Can't wait to see what this team of filmmakers brings us next!

2. Portrait of a Lady on Fire, 122 min. R

Now, normally this is a film I wouldn't have qualified as a 2020 release, as it did have a one-week theatrical run in LA in 2019, before its official US release on February 2020. But, since we are breaking all the rules, I figured this one was too good NOT to include this year since it missed out on my best of 2019 list. Sumptuously photographed, this film is damn near a masterpiece and was one of my final theatrical experiences before everything shut down (Corpus Christi is the last film I officially saw in theaters). Céline Sciamma's tale of a painter, the woman she falls for while completing a commissioned portrait of, is romantic and captivating. It's a story I was sad to see ending and is a film I look forward to revisiting soon.

1. I'm Thinking of Ending Things, 134 min. R

Netflix's habit of giving auteur directors a blank check is both a blessing and a curse; Alfonso Cuaron's Roma and Martin Scorsese's The Irishman were both bloated epics that could've done with some outside influence (The Irishman was still one of my 10 favorites of 2019). But sometimes when you get a writer-director like Charlie Kaufman, taking the reins off can have fascinating results. An adaptation of a slim novel (a rare occurrence for Kaufman, whose other famous adaptation morphed to include him in the movie), I'm Thinking of Ending Things takes place over one very long day as a young woman (Jessie Buckley) meets her boyfriend's family (Jesse Plemons as the boyfriend, Toni Colette & David Thewlis as the parents). Soon, though, it's apparent that what is happening may not be taking place in reality (Kaufman is a big fan of films that explore the mind, sometimes quite literally). To me this is Kaufman at his most assured as a director; while Synecdoche, New York (2008) is a fascinating film, stylistically it lacks what other directors brought to his scripts. But here is a fully realized vision, a perpetual fever dream that sucks you in. I will admit I had no idea what it meant at the end (I had to read a Vanity Fair article to understand it), but I enjoyed the journey and found myself pondering the movie long afterward (in a rarity for me, I even read the book it was based on). It's by no means perfect (knowing the book helps you understand the plot more, and you'll be very lost if you don't know Oklahoma! or who Pauline Kael is), but it's the film that resonated with me the most and took me on the wildest ride.

Other notable mentions:

Best Films I saw not from 2020

Of course, I saw many other films this year, and I'd like to highlight a few that really stuck out to me that was not a "2020 release." First was Fires on the Plain, Kon Ichikawa's harrowing tale of Japanese soldiers at the end of WWII, abandoned in the jungles of the South Pacific as forces withdrew from the island. It's a horrifying film, and I never thought a film from 1959 could make me feel so sick.

I also saw David Cronenberg's The Fly, another gross-out horror film, although this one fascinated me more than it repulsed me. Jeff Goldblum stars as the scientist who discovers teleportation, and the horror show that ensues when a fly gets into his telepod with him. Delightfully gruesome, this film was made in the 80s when practical effects were at their best before CGI began to overtake and dominate the medium. There are some great, gruesome makeup effects here, making The Fly one of the best movies I saw all year.

Finally, this was the year I finally got around to watching The Up Series. I had seen the first two entries years ago but was intimated by the sheer volume of films to get through. However, I'm happy I did, as the result is one of the most fascinating documentary experiments ever. Not every entry is a hit (I personally think they get really good at 42 Up), but watching these people grow and change is stunning and somewhat horrifying. By the time you get to 56 Up, you are watching someone age decades over the span of a few short edits. The director of the series, Michael Apted, very recently passed, and the 9th entry, 63 Up, was released around a year ago (I still haven't seen it as it has not been made easily available via disc or streaming). It may very well be the final entry (although I'd love them to make a 70 Up is a final hurrah), and I look forward to finishing it.

Stinkers

And of course, I saw plenty of crap this year as well. Let's start with Dolittle, starring Robert Downey, Jr. and a cast of famous voice actors. Downey is affecting a most peculiar accent, and the bizarre plot has Dolittle and the animals venturing across the ocean to stop a dragon or something. The gags are bizarre, the CGI animals are terrible, and Downey is seriously out of place.

Also terrible was The Devil All the Time, a slog of a Netflix film starring Tom Holland and a host of talented people. It was a miserable story that had no redeeming qualities to it, and I hated watching it. Don't waste your time.

Finally, Tenet. While not terrible, it was definitely a letdown. Christopher Nolan has his weaknesses, and it feels like this film was all of those things brought to the forefront. Nolan gets so wrapped in his inverted time gimmick that he fails to build a cohesive story or characters that we care about. Like all Nolan films "stuff just happens" but that has never been truer than this film. There are some cool sequences and the score is great (although it is loud), but the script is terrible and to top it all off, Nolan should never be allowed to supervise another sound mix again.