Monday, June 26, 2017

Favorite/Best Films of the 21st Century So Far

After looking over the NY Times’s list of the 25 Best Films of the 21st Century to date, I starting think about what films would be on my list. It is tough. On one hand you have all your favorite movies, some are more objectively good and some are certainly not; and on the other hand, you have films that are great but not necessarily films you seek out to watch. I decided on a compromise. These are the films that I think are the best – but with my biases/loves built in, let run wild. I also included my favorite documentaries at the end. Ranking all these films is impossible (I narrowed it down to 103; 13 documentaries and 90 features). So, this list is organized by year for the features, followed by documentaries and finally my personal 25 favorites.

2000

American Psycho, directed by Mary Harron

2001

Amelie, directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet
Black Hawk Down, directed by Ridley Scott
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, directed by Peter Jackson
No Man’s Land, directed by Danis Tanovic
The Royal Tenenbaums, directed by Wes Anderson

2002

The Hours, directed by Stephen Daldry
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, directed by Peter Jackson
The Pianist, directed by Roman Polanski

2003

The Barbarian Invasions, directed by Denys Arcand
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, directed by Peter Jackson
Lost in Translation, directed by Sofia Coppola
Open Range, directed by Kevin Costner

2004

2046, directed by Kar Wai Wong
A Very Long Engagement, directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet
Downfall, directed by Oliver Hirschbiegel
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, directed by Alfonso Cuaron
Hotel Rwanda, directed by Terry George
House of Flying Daggers, directed by Yimou Zhang
The Life of Aquatic with Steve Zissou, directed by Wes Anderson
Million Dollar Baby, directed by Clint Eastwood
Sideways, directed by Alexander Payne
Spider-Man 2, directed by Sam Raimi
Tae Guk Gi: The Brotherhood of War, directed by Je-gyu Kang

2005

Batman Begins, directed by Christopher Nolan
The Beat that My Heart Skipped, directed by Jacques Audiard
Munich, directed by Steven Spielberg
Pride & Prejudice, directed by Joe Wright
Serenity, directed by Joss Whedon
The Squid and the Whale, directed by Noah Baumbach
Sophie Scholl: The Final Days, directed by Marc Rothemund

2006

Black Book, directed by Paul Verhoeven
Children of Men, directed by Alfonso Cuaron
Mission: Impossible III, directed by J.J. Abrams
Once, directed by John Carney
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest, directed by Gore Verbinski
The Prestige, directed by Christopher Nolan
The Road to Guantanamo, directed by Michael Winterbottom

2007

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, directed by Andrew Dominik
Atonement, directed by Joe Wright
The Darjeeling Limited, directed by Wes Anderson
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, directed by David Yates
No Country for Old Men, directed by the Coen Brothers
There Will Be Blood, directed by Paul Thomas Anderson
The Visitor, directed by Tom McCarthy

2008

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, directed by David Fincher
The Dark Knight, directed by Christopher Nolan
Forgetting Sarah Marshall, directed by Nicholas Stoller
Hunger, directed by Steve McQueen
Revolutionary Road, directed by Sam Mendes
Vicky Cristina Barcelona, directed by Woody Allen
WALL-E, directed by Andrew Stanton

2009

Inglourious Basterds, directed by Quentin Tarantino
Up, directed by Pete Docter

2010

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1, directed by David Yates
Inception, directed by Christopher Nolan
Never Let Me Go, directed by Mark Romanek
The Social Network, directed by David Fincher
True Grit, directed by the Coen Brothers

2011

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, directed by David Fincher
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2, directed by David Yates
Incendies, directed by Denis Villeneuve
Jane Eyre, directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga
Super 8, directed by J.J. Abrams

2012

The Avengers, directed by Joss Whedon
The Dark Knight Rises, directed by Christopher Nolan
Life of Pi, directed by Ang Lee
The Master, directed by Paul Thomas Anderson
Zero Dark Thirty, directed by Kathryn Bigelow

2013

12 Years a Slave, directed by Steve McQueen
Her, directed by Spike Jonze
Short Term 12, directed by Destin Cretton
The Wolf of Wall Street, directed by Martin Scorcese

2014

The Babadook, directed by Jennifer Kent
Gone Girl, directed by David Fincher
The Grand Budapest Hotel, directed by Wes Anderson
The Imitation Game, directed by Morten Tyldum
Interstellar, directed by Christopher Nolan

2015

Avengers: Age of Ultron, directed by Joss Whedon
Bridge of Spies, directed by Steven Spielberg
Brooklyn, directed by John Crowley
Carol, directed by Todd Haynes
Inside Out, directed by Peter Docter & Ronaldo Del Carmen
The Revenant, directed by Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu
Sicario, directed by Denis Villeneuve

2016

Arrival, directed by Denis Villeneuve
Hacksaw Ridge, directed by Mel Gibson
Hunt for the Wilderpeople, directed by Taika Waititi
Manchester by the Sea, directed by Kenneth Lonergan
Silence, directed by Martin Scorsese

Documentaries

The Fog of War: Eleven Lessons front the Life of Robert S. McNamara, directed by Errol Morris
Super Size Me, directed by Morgan Spurlock
Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room, directed by Alex Gibney
Why We Fight, directed by Eugene Jarecki
Man on Wire, directed by James Marsh
Inside Job, directed by Charles Ferguson
Magic & BirdL A Courtship of Rivals, directed by Ezra Edelman
The House I Live In, directed by Eugene Jarecki
The Imposter, directed by Bart Layton
Citizenfour, directed by Laura Poitras
13th, directed by Ava DuVernay
O.J.: Made in America, directed by Ezra Edelman
Five Came Back, directed by Laurent Bouzereau

My Personal Favorite 25

The Dark Knight Trilogy
Lost in Translation
Inception
Inglourious Basterds
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (the whole saga really)
Pride & Prejudice
Amelie
Spider-Man 2
Interstellar
The Prestige
Serenity
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
No Country for Old Men
The Lord of the Rings
Hunger
Zero Dark Thirty
Vicky Cristina Barcelona
The Darjeeling Limited
Atonement
The Royal Tenenbaums
There Will Be Blood
American Psycho
Gone Girl
The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou


My Personal Favorite 25 (Redux)
Within the NY Times rules of One Film per Director

The Dark Knight
Lost in Translation
Inglourious Basterds
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
Pride & Prejudice
Amelie
Spider-Man 2
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Serenity
No Country for Old Men
Hunger
Zero Dark Thirty
Vicky Cristina Barcelona
The Darjeeling Limited
There Will Be Blood
American Psycho
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
Forgetting Sarah Marshall
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
Life of Pi
The Hunt for the Wilderpeople
Arrival
Downfall
Her

Wednesday, January 18, 2017

LeapBackBlog 2016 Film Awards

2016 was a wonderful year for film, from fun blockbusters to innovative and engaging independent films. There were so many good films, performances and technical feats that many that I really liked did not make my top 25 in each category. I have put an “*” next to my personal favorite from each category.


Favorite 25 Films of 2016

Arrival, a sci-fi thriller directed by Denis Villeneuve
Captain America: Civil War, an action adventure directed by the Russo Brothers
Captain Fantastic, a comedy directed by Matt Ross
Certain Women, a character drama directed by Kelly Reichardt
The Conjuring 2, a period horror thriller directed by James Wan
Deadpool, an adventure comedy directed by Tim Miller
Everybody Wants Some!!, a comedy directed by Richard Linklater
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, a fantasy adventure directed by David Yates
Green Room, a thriller directed by Jeremy Saulnier
Hacksaw Ridge, a war drama directed by Mel Gibson
Hell or High Water, a modern western directed by David Mackenzie
Hunt for the Wilderpeople, a comedy directed by Taika Waititi*
The Jungle Book, a family adventure directed by Jon Favreau
Lion, a character drama directed by Garth Davis
The Lobster, a dystopian romance dramedy directed by Yorgos Lanthimos
Loving, a character drama/romance directed by Jeff Nichols
Manchester by the Sea, a character drama directed by Kenneth Lonergan
Moana, an animated family adventure directed by Ron Clements & John Musker
Moonlight, a character drama directed by Barry Jenkins
The Nice Guys, a mystery comedy directed by Shane Black
Pete’s Dragon, a family adventure directed by David Lowery
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, a sci-fi action adventure directed by Gareth Edwards
Silence, a period character drama directed by Martin Scorsese
Sully, a character drama directed by Clint Eastwood
The Witch, a period horror thriller directed by Robert Eggers


Favorite 25 Performances of 2016

Amy Adams, leading performance in Arrival
Casey Affleck, leading performance in Manchester by the Sea
Mahershala Ali, supporting performance in Moonlight
Jeff Bridges, supporting performance in Hell or High Water
Laura Dern, leading performance in Certain Women
Colin Farrell, leading performance in The Lobster*
Andrew Garfield, leading performance in Hacksaw Ridge
Andrew Garfield, leading performance in Silence
Greta Gerwig, supporting performance in 20th Century Women
Ryan Gosling, leading performance in The Nice Guys
Tom Hanks, leading performance in Sully
Naomie Harris, supporting performance in Moonlight
Nicole Kidman, supporting performance in Lion
Ruth Negga, leading performance in Loving
Sam Neill, supporting performance in Hunt for the Wilderpeople
Dev Patel, leading performance in Lion
Natalie Portman, leading performance in Jackie*
Daniel Radcliffe, leading performance in Swiss Army Man
Margot Robbie, leading performance in Suicide Squad
Michael Shannon, supporting performance in Nocturnal Animals
Octavia Spencer, supporting performance in Hidden Figures
Hailee Steinfeld, leading performance in The Edge of Seventeen
Emma Stone, leading performance in La La Land
Anya Taylor-Joy, leading performance in The Witch
Michelle Williams, supporting performance in Manchester by the Sea


Favorite 25 Artistic, Technical & Aesthetic Achievements of 2016

Volker Bertelmann & Dustin O’Halloran, composers of Lion
Jarin Blaschke, cinematographer of The Witch
Nicholas Britell, composer of Moonlight
Doug Chiang & Neil Lamont, production designers of Rouge One: A Star Wars Story
Stuart Craig, production designer of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
Robert Eggers, director of The Witch
Greig Fraser, cinematographer of Lion
Mel Gibson, director of Hacksaw Ridge
Christopher Glass & Abhijeet Mazumder, production designers of The Jungle Book
Barry Jenkins, director of Moonlight
Johann Johannsson, composer of Arrival*
Mark Korven, composer of The Witch
James Laxton, cinematographer of Moonlight
Mica Levi, composer of Jackie
Mark Mancia, Lin-Manuel Miranda & Opetaia Foa’i, composers of Moana
Seamus McGarvey, cinematographer of Nocturnal Animals
Rodrigo Pieto, cinematographer of Silence
Jeremy Saulnier, director of Green Room
Martin Scorsese, director of Silence
Shane Valentino, production designer of Nocturnal Animals
Patrice Vernette, production designer of Arrival*
Denis Villeneuve, director of Arrival*
Taika Waititi, director of Hunt for the Wilderpeople
David Wasco, production designer of La La Land
Bradford Young, cinematographer of Arrival*


10 Great Under-the-Radar Indie films and Documentaries that are Must-Sees

Don’t Think Twice, a dramedy directed by Mike Birbiglia
The Edge of Seventeen, a comedy directed by Kelly Fremon Craig
Jackie, a period character drama directed by Pablo Larrain
Love & Friendship, a period comedy directed by Whit Stillman
Midnight Special, a sci-fi drama directed by Jeff Nichols
Nocturnal Animals, a character drama/mystery directed by Tom Ford
O.J.: Made in America, a documentary directed by Ezra Edelman
Sing Street, a musical comedy directed by John Carney
Swiss Army Man, a comedy directed by Dan Kwan & Daniel Scheinert
13th, a documentary directed by Ava DuVernay


Good Films I Have Yet to See (that probably would have factored into the above lists)

Christine, a character drama directed by Antonio Campos
Elle, a character drama/thriller directed by Paul Verhoeven
Fences, a period character drama directed by Denzel Washington
The Handmaiden, a drama directed by Chan-wook Park
Paterson, a character drama directed by Jim Jarmusch