Top Films by Year
Top Films of 2020
Top Films of 2017
Top Films of 2015
Phoenix – 8.2
An intense psychological thriller, with both leads acting up a storm in a confined space, making us think and feel all at once and constantly. Reviewers cite a similarity to Hitchcock’s Vertigo, which I either don’t remember or didn’t see, but I felt an echo of Gaslight in the manipulative husband-wife relationship, or even Pygmalion, as Johnny tries to […]
Straight Outta Compton – 8
As far as I can tell, this captured the world of Gangsta Rap so well I feel I’m now an expert. I certainly learned a lot of new songs. I don’t think there was much original in the story of the friends from the ‘hood who rose through the power of their art, fighting the […]
Tangerine – 8
Yo, bitch, whatcha doin’ in my movie! Chasing Chester, not waiting for Godot, not waiting for anyone. Great characters and gritty streets – L.A. like you’ve never seen it, nor want to: “City of Stars Bail Bonds” being a typical background sign. All roads lead to Donut Time, and at the film’s climax all the […]
Inside Out – 5
To its credit, I was able to sit through the whole movie (having nowhere else to go), and it was clearly much better than all the animated trailers that preceded it (and I count Pan in that category). It was clever in concept – that is, positing five emotions as drivers of how we feel […]
Nobody From Nowhere (Un Illustre Inconnu) – 6
A very bizarre story, slightly more engaging than annoying, in which an undistinguished real estate agent tries out the personas of his clients. Perhaps it is intended as a meditation on identity: do clothes make the man, or will a wax mask do it, or the voice? Or do you have to take on his […]