Top Films by Year
Top Films of 2025
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Top Films of 2017
Top Films of 2015
Up the Yangtze 6.5
This was one of those documentaries where you wonder, how did the filmmaker know to pick this person to cover, and then, how did the filmmaker get access to film this scene – in this case, when the personnel manager fires Jerry, the arrogant loner who is talented but doesn’t fit the Chinese team model. […]
Stop-Loss 6.5
Well intentioned, I’m told, but rather disappointing. I couldn’t figure out who was who for the first 20 minutes, then after that, nothing made much sense. The battle in Iraq was well filmed but made no tactical sense: why would this platoon of Marines follow a racing car of bad guys into their neighborhood street, […]
Paranoid Park 7
A remarkably consistent short story of a high school senior-age boy who, apparently, feels nothing and shows less. As a study in affectlessness it is superb. If you’re looking for a resolution, or most of the things one has come to expect in a movie in the way of plot, it leaves you hanging. Director […]
Duchesse of Langeais 7
Very stylish, very cinematic, very Balzac-ian – not that I know what that means. The characters were absurd, but serious and wore such beautiful clothes. The story was all about love. The languor was overwhelming. It was all so French. Gerard Depardieu’s son looked just as you would expect. I rather enjoyed it on its […]
The Kite Runner 8.5
A beautiful film made from a beautiful book. The characters were fully developed as real people, and the conflicts that arose, and drove the story, came from conflicting personalities running into each other. Amir was who he was, not a bad person, but because of his weakness he hurt another. The figure who held the […]