2018

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2018 is done, so let us look at this year’s "Top 10"movie list. I saw 98 [1 more than last year] “new movies” (feature length movies seen this year that have come out in the past 18 months), but I am still in the process of watching more and more. Prestige/award show time of the year.

Favorite Feature Films of 2018 (that I have seen thus far/awards nominees from last year excluded):

1. A Star Is Born - 8/10

2. Paddington 2 - 8/10

3. The Rider - 8/10

4. You Were Never Really Here - 8-/10

5. Black Panther - 8-/10

6. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse - 7+/8-/10

7. Eighth Grade - 8-/10

8. The Favourite - 7+/10

9. Avengers: Infintiy War 7/10

10. Isle of Dogs - 7-/10

Honorable Mentions:

Widows– 7-/10

Roma – 7-/10

First Man – 7/10


TOP 3 DOCUMENTARIES (that I was able to catch up with)

1. Won’t You Be My Neighbor? - 8+/9-/10

2. Minding the Gap - 8/10

3. Free Solo - 7/10




Worst of the Year:

47 Meters Down - 2+/10

Bright- 3-/10

Cloverfield Paradox - 3+/10

The Predator - 3+/10

Venom - 3+/10

Pacific Rim: Uprising - 3+/10



Movies that didn’t work for me but everyone else loved:

Roma - I liked it but did not love it. It is good, but I don’t quite get the intense adoration for it.

Sorry To Bother You - I appreciated a lot of what it was doing, but it went way off the rails. A mix of great film and mediocre film.

Halloween (2018) - I feel like this film got so much love for just not being a terrible sequel. It was a fine flick, but was over-hyped, overpraised and left a lot on the table.

Crazy Rich Asians - Good, and I very much appreciate what it meant in an uber white Hollywood system, but it wasn’t that good.

Blindspot - Best Film l Finally Caught Up With and Was Blown Away By

Come and See (1985) - 8-/10 - Unforgiving and soul tearing are Come and See’s stock and trade. A truly remarkable film and worth seeking out.


Films that won’t make end of year list, but you should check out:

Mandy - Trippy and wild cult film-making. A visual delight and properly gonzo.

Leave No Trace - A beautiful and quiet small drama about a father and daughter.

Searching - Inventive and well-realized murder mystery/thriller.

Apostle - More style than substance, but the creep and the skill are there to be relished in.

The Night Comes For Us - Top notch action and intensity, as one might expect from some of The Raid crew.

There were many films that I just wasn’t able to consume. Perhaps I wasn’t putting forth the effort, but I didn’t make it to a single film festival, am not a professional critic, and don’t live in a major metropolitan market, so I missed some films. I usually will get to them eventually… :

Burning, Shoplifters, Vice, The Wife, Support the Girls, Let the Corpses Tan, Cold War, Can You Ever Forgive Me?, Three Identical Strangers, Blindspotting, Capernaum, Destroyer, Mary Queen of Scots, Beautiful Boy, Dawson City: Frozen Time, The Tale, among many many others…



2016

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*****Originaly Posted on 12/22/2016*****

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2016

Best of...



Near end of the year movie list (obviously, still very much in progress)

Favorite Feature Films of 2016 (that I have seen thus far):

1. MOONLIGHT – 9/10
2. GREEN ROOM – 8/10
3. HANDMAIDEN – 8/10
4. KRISHA – 8/10
5. ARRIVAL – 8/10
6. KUBO AND THE TWO-STRINGS – 8/10
7. SING STREET – 7/10
8. HUNT FOR THE WILDERPEOPLE – 7/10
9. EVERYBODY WANTS SOME – 7/10
10. THE WITCH – 7/10

Honorable Mentions:
MANCHESTER BY THE SEA – 8/10
ELLE – 7/10
THE FITS – 7/10
MIDNIGHT SPECIAL – 7/10

Favorite Documentaries of 2016:
(pseudo disallowed – is this even really a movie?) OJ: MADE IN AMERICA – 9/10
13TH – 8/10
WEINER – 8/10
TICKLED – 7/10
TOWER – 7/10
Witness – 7/10

Worst of the Year:
POINT BREAK – 2/10
INDEPENDENCE DAY – 2/10

Most Disappointing:
Batman v Superman – 3/10
Knight of Cups – 4/10

A sampling of ones I couldn’t/didn’t get to yet that might have what it takes (bold and rated [later] would definitely be in contention):
Personal Shopper, Lion, La La Land (8/10), Silence, Founder, 20th Century Women, Jackie, Light Between Oceans, It’s Only the End of the World, Patterson, Loving, Toni Erdmann (7+/8-/10), Raw, All This Panic, I, Daniel Blake (8-/10), American Honey, Fences, A Bigger Splash, Cameraperson, among many many others…

2015

*****Original Post on 12/10/2015. Updated on 2/28/2016*****

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2015

Best of..


Best Feature Films of 2015:

1. Room (2015) 9/10
2. Mad Max: Fury Road (2015) 8/10
3. The Revenant (2015) 8/10
4. The Duke of Burgundy (2014) 8/10
5. Phoenix (2014) 8/10
5. Spotlight (2015) 8/10
6. Big Short (2015) 8/10
7. Carol (8/10)
8. Son of Saul (2015)
9. Anomalisa (2015) 8/10
10. Clouds of Sils Maria (2014) 7/10

Best Documentaries of 2015:
Look of Silence (2015) 9/10
Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief (2015 Documentary) 8/10
Cobain: Montage of Heck (2015 Documentary) 8/10
Amy (2015 Documentary) 7/10
Best of Enemies (2015 Documentary) 7/10
Red Army (2014 Documentary) 7/10
Winter On Fire (2015 Documentary) 7/10

Previous in-list:
7. The Assassin (2015) 7/10
8. Sicario (2015) 7/10
9. The Tribe (2014) 7/10
10. Ex Machina (2015) 7/10

The Close Contenders (no particular order):
45 Years (2015) 7/10
Shaun the Sheep (7/10)
Steve Jobs (2015) 7/10
Tangerine (2015) 7/10
The Martian (2015) 7/10
Inside Out (2015) 7/10
Mississippi Grind (2015) 7/10
Slow West (2015) 7/10
The End of the Tour (2015) 7/10
Goodnight Mommy (2014) 7/10
Song of the Sea (2014) 7/10
Mommy (2014) 7/10
It Follows (2014) 7/10
A Hard Day (2014) 7/10

Worst of the Year:
Outcast (2014) 2/10

Most Disappointing:
Black Hat (2015) 3/10
Spectre (2015) 4/10
Crimson Peak (2015) 4/10
Jupiter Ascending (2015) 3/10

Sampling of ones I couldn’t/didn’t get to yet that might have what it takes (THE ONES I HAVE SEEN SO FAR GOT GRADES):
SON OF SAUL - 8/10
CREED -6/10
CAROL - 8/10
BROOKLYN - 7/10
DIARY OF A TEENAGE GIRL
ANOMALISA - 8/10
LOOK OF SILENCE -9/10
CHI-RAQ
REVENANT - 8/10
HATEFUL 8 - 6/10
HARD TO BE A GOD (begun, but I need to finish)
WHITE GOD
EDEN
ME, EARL, AND THE DYING GIRL
WILD TALES
THE BIG SHORT - 8/10

2014

****** Originally Posted 1/23/15*****

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2014

Best of...

A few people have asked so, JAKE'S BEST MOVIES OF THE YEAR (that I have seen, so far):

1. Boyhood
2. Grand Budapest Hotel
3. Locke
4. Under the Skin
5. Only Lovers Left Alive
6. Gone Girl
7. Ida
8. Birdman
9. Whiplash
10. Selma

Just missed out:
American Sniper
Skeleton Twins
Trip to Italy
Captain America: Winter Soldier

Reserving Judgment b/c I haven't seen these yet:
Foxcatcher
Nightcrawler
Inherent Vice
Force Majeure
Theory of Everything

Biggest Surprise:
John Wick (actually, for what it is, not that bad... Ridiculous, but enjoyable and different)

Worst Movie (that I remember):
Alien Abduction

Good, but people need to get off its jock:
Guardians of the Galaxy

Not good, and people really need to get off its jock:
Lego Movie

Biggest Disappointment:
Interstellar