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I'm going to limit my rankings to 2023 releases to make it more current. 10. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3  An MCU movie in my top ten?? To be fair, Ant-Man Quantumania is easily the worst of the year. Perfectly balanced. Vol. 3 is a lot more like Vol. 1 (complimentary) than Vol. 2 (derogatory). Something that's been lacking in Marvel's foray into space is interesting sci-fi production and character design. They finally understood the assignment here. The settings are interesting, I loved the biological cosmic office. The aliens look memorable and weird. And the body horror is kinda nasty!! Nebula continues to be the best character to grace the MCU. Rocket Raccoon's character arc was fantastic. The "I bet we were fun" moment between Gamora and Peter destroyed me. This movie felt like the last vestiges of investment I have in the old guard of Marvel and it was a liberating ending—I mean, it literally ends in a Florence + The Machine needledrop. I don't think I need to see a new Guardians movie starring a child in a Sia wig, I'm satisfied. 9. Elemental  I think I’m a Pixar apologist at this point. Most people think they’ve fallen off in the past 5 years but I liked Toy Story 4, Soul, Turning Red, and Luca is honestly one of my faves. (We’re going to pretend Onward never happened and I haven’t seen Lightyear). When I finally got around to (apprehensively) watch Elemental I was kind of annoyed. The slander campaign worked on me, this is a great movie! It was so tinder and hearthwarming. The weakest part was the relationship plot. I think they even managed to include a cheesy "our chemistries don't mix!" line. This story all happening over the course of a week makes it seem like weird love bombing behaviour. That being said, they did have cute banter. I wasn't expecting the extra world-building and that's where this movie gets interesting. Fire being segregated immigrants, the city infrastructure affirming water privilege, etc are all allegories I liked. Adapting a story about a child inheriting a parent's job isn't seen often and I thought Pixar handled that beautifully. 8. Past Lives  “This is where I ended up.” “Okay.” Thought this movie wasn’t going to hit me the same way as it did everybody else until I was hunched over the kitchen sink, eating Cheez Whiz, and crying 5 minutes after it ended. 7. Falcon Lake  A coming of age ghost story in lakeside Québec captured on dreamy film with a soundtrack set to summery cicadas? This movie was made for me! (I’m one of the 3 people who have seen this) 6. May December  Darkly camp and has the funniest ending since TAR last year. Personally I’m thrilled that we’re living in an era where actors fresh out of their Riverdale contract can out-act legends like Natalie Portman and Julianne Moore. 5. Skinamarink  Skinamarink spawned the most controversial horror movie discourse I’ve ever seen. You either love it or hate it, and if you love it you need to justify why. Well I loved it and I’ll tell you why. Skinamarink best depicted a childhood experience that I’ve never seen done before. Did you ever wake up in your childhood bedroom in the middle of the night, knowing instantly that you’re the only one awake in the house? You look at the popcorn ceiling and see fuzzy vibrations. Are they spiders or a trick of the eye? Suddenly the house creeks. Is there someone in the hallway? You think you see a shadow move below your bedroom door crack and you cover your face with your bedsheets. That feeling is what Skinamarink captures. Sure, it has a lot of camera shots at random ceilings and walls but it’s the unpredictability of your mind trying to predict what comes next that makes the experience. I love horror movies but they don’t really scare me much anymore. This was terrifying. The sound design is truly one of the best of the year and had me feeling sick to my stomach. Skinamarink had me hiding behind my sheets again. 4. No Hard Feelings  Maybe it’s the comedy genre dark ages we are in right now but Jennifer Lawrence is an incredible physical comedian. You put her in a chinese finger trap and expect me not to cry laughing? 3. Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé  This was my favourite concert experience I’ve been to so far and I got to experience it all again. I left with more questions than answers regarding ~the visuals~ of Act I but it's a loving spectacle all the same. Give the editors a Christmas bonus for putting this together so quickly and ESPECIALLY for that Alien Superstar fakeout. 2. The Holdovers  Watching horror movies during October is a yearly tradition but I don't share the same excitement for Christmas movies. I just watch Christmas Vacation and The Grinch and repeat for years forever and ever. Every new release feels more and more disposable, but we were blessed this year. God I love a movie where two assholes become slightly less rear end in a top hat-ish and respect each other’s game. If this is an awards season contender and there’s any justice then I hope Paul Giamatti and Da’Vine Joy Randolph clean up trophies and the academy rightfully nominates Dominic Sessa. Happy New Year! 1. Godzilla Minus One  Imagine being Christopher Nolan watching this and realizing your biopic about the atom bomb inventor only has the 2nd best nuclear explosion of the year. It really cannot be emphasized how good Minus One looks for this cheap, I just know those VFX artists were overworked to hell and back. I like that they tried to do new things with a pure evil Godzilla and compressing/decompressing him to kill him. The relationship dynamics with Shikishima are pretty endearing and that in itself makes it top percentile of human plots in Godzilla. Like, an American take would have the next door neighbour be a vicious drunk and get killed off violently. Here everybody has flaws but are working on being better to survive. I’m a kaiju movie thread regular but that makes me more critical when it comes to Godzilla—only positive things to say about my number one.
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Dec 31, 2023 20:24
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Unfortunately, my 2023 didn't let me check out too many new releases. I've simply been working too much. I wouldn't be able to put together a list of 2023 releases if I tried. Though I still managed to have a semi-regular movie night with friends which meant I watched a lot of trash with a fair number of rewatches. A few movies like Xtro or Escape from the Bronx have stuck with me, but I can't include them in this list without making it a dumb gimmick. This is a real attempt at a list for the year, but it's going to be an odd one. All of these are first time watches from 2023, otherwise I'd just be slamming Sorcerer into the #1 spot and calling it a day. Honorable Mention: Nemesis (Albert Pyun, 1992) I don't even know how to classify this one. The acting isn't great, the plot makes no sense, and the majority of it is set in Indonesia without a single Indonesian in the film. But there are some wild-rear end action scenes that make up for everything wrong with it. There's some real looney tunes-rear end poo poo here. I'm never going to forget the big shootout in the hotel. 10. The Venture Bros.: Radiant Is the Blood of the Baboon Heart (Christopher McCulloch, 2023) A solid finale to an excellent show. I had been watching the Venture Brothers since way back when the show first started so it was nice to see it get an actual ending rather than unceremoniously killed off on a cliffhanger. It hits all the right notes and ends in a way where the creators can revisit the show if they ever get another chance. The only reason it didn't make it higher on my list is because of how obvious it was that this was a full season cut down to fit a 90 minute movie. It wasn't that it felt rushed, I just know how many little character moments were missing. 9. Logan Lucky (Steven Soderbergh, 2017) I've been meaning to get around to this for a few years. It's a fun heist movie. Daniel Craig is doing a ridiculous Southern accent and everyone else is on point. No one's glamorous in this and there are no dumb gadgets outside of maybe one improvised explosive. 8. Pinocchio (Guillermo del Toro, 2022) A beautiful reimagining, it genuinely got to me by the end. The main musical number put me off at first, but the movie really won me over. The setting worked well. The animation was gorgeous. Also, credit to Cate Blanchett for her role as Spazzatura. 7. Lifeforce (Tobe Hooper, 1985) Just a loving wild movie. It's dumb as hell and I don't care. 6. Police Story 1, 2, and 3 (Jackie Chan and Chi-Hwa Chen, 1985) (Jackie Chan, 1988) (Stanley Tong, 1992) Ranking these as one film because otherwise they'd crowd the list. There is simply no one shooting action scenes like this anymore. Some truly inventive fight choreography and great reminders of how good Jackie Chan was in his heyday. 2 is my least favorite of the three, but it still has the superb playground fight. 5. Knightriders (George Romero, 1981) I went in expecting something much goofier based on the poster. It's a quiet film with a slow pace and I enjoyed the fact that there's no real villain within the jousting troupe. It's the outside forces acting on them that are causing conflict. Yeah, it's one big Arthurian pastiche, but it works. Shoutout to Stephen King for his role of Hoagie Man. 4. The People Under the Stairs (Wes Craven, 1991) Everett McGill and Wendy Robie absolutely steal the loving show in this one. They are amazingly unhinged villains and the movie gets more and more ridiculous as you see more of them. I knew a little about this film going into it, but I didn't know about how madcap it gets. 3. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (Shane Black, 2005) and The Nice Guys (Shane Black, 2016) Ranking these together because I can. I've always liked Shane Black's films and these two are both excellent examples of his work. Robert Downey Jr. and Michelle Monaghan are great leads and so are Ryan Gosling and Russell Crowe. I think The Nice Guys might be the better of the two, but not by much. 2. Crimes of the Future (David Cronenberg, 2022) Loved this one. Cronenberg has created a depressing future of nothing but collapse - socially, environmentally, and even biologically - that is very relevant to the modern day. Kristen Stewart plays a delightful weirdo. Definitely the standout performance though she doesn't get that much screen time. Then there's that ridiculous zipper scene. I want a breakfaster chair of my own. 1. Avatar: The Way of Water (James Cameron, 2022) Yeah, I'm going with this. One of the only Late 2022/Early 2023 releases I actually got to see in theaters and I went twice. Back when I had the time. It has some problems - it drags a little in the middle, the big finale could've used a scene or two to show where the water tribe went, etc. Otherwise, fantastic. I'm kind of a recent convert to the Avatar series, I saw the first film in theaters and didn't revisit it until 2021. After so many years of bland action films it won me over. And the effects from 2009 were better than most modern movies coming out. However, its sequel makes it look its age. The CGI in this is as close to perfect as we're going to get (until the next one) and Cameron fills this movie with great creatures, mechs, boats, etc. We don't get many of these big, earnest, bombastic action movies anymore. I am genuinely looking forward to the third.
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Dec 31, 2023 20:25
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Here’s my list for 2023 films I saw: 10. Godzilla Minus One- Big G is truly monstrous here again. It’s a very anime style film, but those Godzilla moments are truly scary. Also it has a human story with relatable and emotional characters again. 9. BlackBerry: there’s a lot of movies this year celebrating corporate achievements like Nike or Tetris. This is the only one about it all falling apart and the only one with Glen Howerton yelling for an hour. 8. John Wick Chapter 4 fun stuff. It’s just phenomenal action set piece one after another and a nice ending for the series. 7. Poor ThingsI love how weird this was and it’s probably the funniest movie I saw this year. It gets a little repetitive for me, but weird stuff like this is always appreciated. 6. How to Blow Up a Pipeline- it’s a heist movie about climate change and well blowing up a pipeline. Really well done how it creates tension and makes you feel the act of self defense. 5. Asteroid City- this is such a dense film but I like how wild it gets with all its choices and just goes for it with the over the top design. It’s a nice quirky film on grief and moving on. 4. Killers of the Flower Moon- incredibly crafted American tale of greed and treachery. That long run time just flew by for me and some of those scenes have just stuck with me since. 3. The Boy and the Heron- Miyazaki just crushes it as always in this beautifully animated and weird contemplative film about how to live and keep going in the face of tragedy. I probably wrote the most about this one in my Letterboxd. I’m not sure where it lines up in my Miyazaki rankings but I look forward to seeing it again. 2. Oppenheimer- I saw this one twice in theaters which is rare for me now. The editing and direction are just perfection and really sell the often confusing and conflicting thoughts of Oppenheimer. We need more cool scientist films like this. 1. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse- the opening 20 minutes were probably my most “holy poo poo wow” moments in a theater this year and then it just kept going. It’s the most impressive and interesting animation I have seen in a long time, and while it does use this to create some awe inspiring action that other comic book films wish they could achieve, the movie is also not afraid to slow down and have quiet character moments with Gwen and Miles mom and others. Here are some others that were important to me this year. My dog of 10 years suddenly died and these are the ones that connected to my grief. a. Departuresa wonderful film about how love for our departed ones lets us connect to them still in death. Plus it has a Joe Hisaishi cello score. b. Three Colors Blue this is one of the best looking films I’ve ever seen. It’s an interesting contrast to Departures in that here it’s about finding new life after the loved ones have passed. c. Inland Empire- this was one of those unexpected powers of cinema and art. There is a scene where a lady is dying and a homeless person finds the dying lady on the street. The homeless woman holds a lighter in front of the dying lady’s eyes to help her have peace as she passes on. I watched the life leave my dog’s eyes and hoped he felt the same level of peace as shown in the movie. Films are a great gift. checkplease fucked around with this message at 00:23 on Jan 1, 2024 |
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Dec 31, 2023 20:53
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20. Hardcore (1979, dir. Paul Schrader) One father's quest to rescue his daughter from sexuality. Occasionally cringe, and probably the ironic and accidental inspiration for the Taken series lol 19. Bottoms (2023, dir. Emma Seligman)  You know what, this was a fun film. I had fun. Maybe a minor cult film in the making. 18. The Pass (1988, dir. Vladimir Tarasov)  Gorgeous piece animation (30 minutes), allegory about intergenerational listlessness/disillusionment during the waning days of the Soviet political apparatus, told as a bizarre sci-fi tale of space travelers and subsequently their children who are stranded on a barren and hostile world. 17. Tetsuo: The Iron Man (1989, dir. Shinya Tsukamoto)  Everyone's favorite Japanese treatise on virility. 16. Daddy Longlegs (2009, dir. Josh and Benny Safdie)  An anxiety inducing film about a father who works as a film projectionist and has more heart than sense when it comes to parenting. 15. Change of Sex (1976, dir. Vincente Aranda)  Groundbreaking Spanish drama about gender reassignment, photography by Nestor Almendros, and a prominent debut cameo by trans actress Bibi Andersen. 14. Barry Lyndon (1975, dir. Stanley Kubrick)  Every frame is truly a painting in Kubrick's macabre depiction of 18th Century life and royalty. 13. Shooting Range (1979, dir. Vladimir Tarasov)  One of the most scathing and powerfully succinct denunciations of American capitalism ever produced, unforgettable shortform (20 minutes) Soviet animation. 12. The Power of the Dog (2021, dir Jane Campion)  The best work from Campion in decades, continually engaging and surprising revisionist western. 11. In the Shadow of the Blue Rascal (1978, dir. Pierre Clementi)  Hypnotic, allegorical dance with the political underground during 1968, by French anarchist and iconoclast Pierre Clémenti, best known for collaborations with Bunuel. - 10. The Devil's Cleavage (1973, dir. George Kuchar)  One of the more notable feature-lengths from the daddies of camp, the Kuchar Brothers. Consistently hilarious, beautiful, and 'out there.' 09. Jeanne Dielman, 23, quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles (1975, dir. Chantal Akerman)  My mother referred to this film as "the dreams of womanhood, foreclosed upon". 08. The Deer (1974, dir. Masud Kimiai)  Iranian revolutionary drama that predates the overthrow of the Shah by several years, deeply affecting filmmaking and performances. Long suppressed. 07. The Spook Who Sat By The Door (1973, dir. Ivan Dixon)  Real legit black revolutionary American filmmaking disguised as blacksploitation and immediately suppressed by the FBI before release. Wild poo poo and utterly unique. 06. The Very Late Afternoon of the Faun (1983, dir. Vera Chitylova)  Fantastic, deeply comedic mid-career turn for Chitylova (Daisies) after the thaw of her industry blacklisting, a teardown of male chauvinism and hypocrisy. 05. Throw Away Your Books, Rally In The Streets (1971, dir. Shuji Terayama)  Marvelous experimental protest film directed by the young Terayama, poet, playwright, and Japanese leftist countercultural icon. 04. The Witch In Love (1966, dir. Damiano Damiani)  Cruelly ignored Italian genre-blend horror love story features absolutely unmissable performances from Rosanna Schiaffino and Sarah Ferrati, and a memorable shock ending. 03. Female Prisoner 701: Scorpion (1972, dir. Shunya Ito)  The most iconic death-stare in cinema, Meiko Kaji shatters the preconceptions of the Pink genre in Ito's violent debut thriller. The sequel would go further into feminist icon territory before the series regressed once and for all into violent misogynist reaction. 02. The Boy Friend (1971, dir. Ken Russell)  My favorite director, and pretty much the only musical I actually enjoy watching, so I suppose this is a re-watch. Astonishing production design and choreography serve a metatextual yet old-timey story of falling in love while doing what you love. This ode to Busby Berkeley productions was made during a period when the American musical was relatively out of style, and contemporaneously with another all time great feature by Russell, The Devils, which is absolutely insane to me. 01. Allegro Non Troppo (1976, dir. Bruno Bozzetto)  The 85 minute uncut version of Bozzetto's beautiful sendup of Fantasia is quite possibly the most affecting piece of animation I've seen in my life. BeanpolePeckerwood fucked around with this message at 23:29 on Dec 31, 2023 |
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Dec 31, 2023 23:20
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Very cool list
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Dec 31, 2023 23:28
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this is a cool thread. i hope we do it again next year and more people participate
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Dec 31, 2023 23:40
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Definitely should become an annual thing
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Dec 31, 2023 23:41
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drat BP that’s a cool list although I personally did not vibe with Throw Away Your Books
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Jan 1, 2024 00:06
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Gaius Marius posted:2.Miami Vice You obviously wrote more about Heat but it's cool to see Miami Vice get some love. My favorite of his films. That smash cut opener on the theatrical version  I also want to take a moment and recognize that Arrow stepped up and released a blu ray of Blackhat that includes the Director's Cut with scenes now in their proper order. I like that one, too. Gaius Marius posted:4.Carol God, you're right, this actually might be one of the all time christmas movies. I hadn't even considered it.
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Jan 1, 2024 00:12
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Escobarbarian posted:drat BP that’s a cool list although I personally did not vibe with Throw Away Your Books It's a hard watch, super erratic. I think I was a bit alienated by it, too, until the end credits with the live personal camera shots of each crew member involved in the production. That right there really sold the theme and brought it all home for me somehow, and really there's not a whole lot like it in the Japanese canon, especially in the last few decades.
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Jan 1, 2024 00:16
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Alright, here's my list. An asterisk for things I saw at the movies. Honourable Improved Rewatches: The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001) The Departed (2006) Evil Dead II (1987) The Fog (1980) Honourable First Watches: The Banshees of Inisherin (2022) * Muriel's Wedding (1994) Clearcut (1991) Paterson (2016) The Crazies (1973) F for Fake (1973) Little Murders (1971) Dirty Dancing (1987) A Nightmare On Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987) Chaos visualized in mere seconds, demonstrated by a room full of cats and several props (2023) The Real List: 10. Donnie Darko (2001, or arguably 2004 since it was the DC) Man, this would have taken over my brain for a couple years if I'd seen it as a teenager. In any case, it was excellent. The domestic drama meshed perfectly with the cosmic stakes. There's a feeling I sometimes get while dreaming, that something terrible is going to happen and I need to figure out how to stop it, and this movie just encapsulates it perfectly. 9. Her (2013) A lonely man falls in love with his talking phone. Just a very good movie. Relieving to see something set in the future and not vaguely dismal. Rides the line between allegory and straight-up sci-fi. Beautiful atmosphere. 8. Stop Making Sense (1984) * A band subconsciously realises they're at their creative peak, and manages to preserve a piece of that feeling in amber forever. A great time, and I was glad to be able to experience it, even distantly. 7. Pearl (2022) * Magnetic; one of the most sympathetic monsters I've seen in a while. The climactic scene has this funny dynamic where Pearl's pouring her heart out, and it's catharsis for her (and the audience), but slowly-unfolding horror for her friend as it all becomes clear how not right she is. Quite a few people in the horror thread mentioned how it tapped into how they felt coming out of lockdown, an angle I missed, so I'll need to give it a rewatch. 6. Across the Spider-Verse (2023) *, twice This movie suffers from uneven pacing and an unsatisfying conclusion; everyone I've ever talked to about it mentioned people in their theatre reacting with disgust at the ending. It's also better than the original in every other way, and is maybe the best super-hero movie of the century so far. Just a delight to look at, jumping effortlessly between art styles, packed with detail yet always so clear. 5. Godzilla Minus One (2023) * Kind of a soft remake of the original; the big guy shows up in a still-recovering Tokyo, and people have to figure out how to deal with him. Unusually human-focused, and I mean that as a compliment. I've noticed this weird trend where American action movies and video-games have slowly warmed up to suicide-attacks, so I really enjoyed seeing something that puts some thought into the question. Here, failed kamikaze pilot Koichi is torn between his guilt-driven urge to sacrifice himself, and his desire to live and have a family. I genuinely thought he was going to kill himself until I saw the parachute. God, I was so disappointed in the movie up until that moment. What a lovely swerve. Obvious in hindsight, like all the good ones. 2024 is the year in which I go back and actually watch some of the original Godzillas. 4. The Wicker Man (1973) A hapless cop attempts to lay down the law in a British island pagan commune. I watched this for the October marathon, and it was a highlight. It's just so bright and cheery, and he's such a grouch, unable to perceive the noose til it's pulled tight. It's a reversal of the usual formula; the final guy - who is a virgin, and pointedly refuses to have sex in an early scene - relentlessly seeks danger, certain that his job and natural authority will protect him. Just a lot of fun. 3. Killers of the Flower Moon (2023) * Marty and a couple of his favourites have a story to tell and they knock it out of the park. It's tight and it's sharp and it looks good and the characters feel like people. Mostly awful people, but still. Simultaneously about a series of murders, and about the act of turning such an event into entertainment. I hope Scorsese has a few more left in him, but this would be a good capstone, a look back on his not-quite-series of movies about historical American bastards. What sticks with me the most are the quiet parts, just inhabiting this place and these people's lives - it doesn't have to be plot to be interesting, and worthwhile. 2. Tár (2022) * A conductor's life unravels. Thoughtful; spacious; relies on the performers' subtleties, and they're all up to the task. Whenever I see a movie concerned with a specific artform like this, I spend a couple weeks wondering if I could get into it. God, Paterson had me considering becoming a Poetry Guy. Tár herself is just so interesting; poised and precise, perfectly-credentialled, who has carefully built up this life where she has everything she wants, with a minimum of risk. There's something nicely old-fashioned about the flick. Like it's very much about Me Too and the present moment, but it doesn't feel like the writer mainlines Twitter 15 hours a day; it's just a regular, great movie. 1. Locke (2012) Tom Hardy in a car talking for 90 minutes. I was in the perfect mood for this movie, about a guy whose principles compel him to do something extremely stupid, and who is trying to get everyone to see it from his point of view through sheer force of will, and God, I wanted it to work out for him. Like the anti-Tár, in a way; he's deliberately allowing this scandal to screw up his life, driving towards it for hours and hours, refusing to turn back no matter how many opportunities he gets. What can I say, it spoke to me. Kazzah fucked around with this message at 04:49 on Jan 1, 2024 |
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Jan 1, 2024 04:46
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love seeing tar close to the top of a list. and i remember seeing locke at a small theater in new york when it first released and being really drawn into the drama of it. i haven't seen it since, but i should definitely change that. also i did see donnie darko as a teenager (like most goons here) and it certainly did blow my mind thinking it was the deepest craziest poo poo ever lol. whole adolescent personalities have been built around that movie.
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Jan 1, 2024 05:22
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come out and face me cine-d cowards. you have 2 hours to post your lists 
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Jan 1, 2024 07:06
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It was a hell of a year for me and movies, and it was super difficult to narrow down my list to just ten. This order is roughly correct but if I think about it more I'll probably second-guess myself so I'm getting it out there and just saying that all ten of these have become some of my favorites of all time. In reverse order... 10. Linda Linda Linda (2005)  A movie that understands the sheer exuberant joy of youth. Nobuhiro Yamashita's gentle-yet-exhilarating coming-of-age story about a group of high school girls who start a band may appear simple on the surface, but it perfectly captures a moment in time where as teenagers something as small as the desire to perform at a school talent show can seem like life or death. It is a series of snapshots of youthful friendship, awkwardness, and drama, a story told not through major beats but through quiet, intimate moments, the little things we remember as we grow older. It's really wonderful. 9. Harakiri (1962)  Letterboxd's number one movie and for good reason - it's the movie that does everything and it does it perfectly. It tells a slow story that will leave you gripped as each new wrinkle unfolds, and it pays off with action that movies afterwards are all trying to top to this day. I was absolutely enraptured throughout. It has drama, comedic elements, action, and a powerful and moving story about those left behind by the elites and society's old-fashioned ideals about "honor". 8. The Cook, The Thief, His Wife, and Her Lover (1989)  Viciously disgusting and spectacularly beautiful in equal measure, the hypnotic music and scene-to-scene costume changes mixed with the excess present in every set make it unforgettable, and that's before one of the best endings I've ever seen. It's also got one of the late Michael Gambon's most enthralling performances. 7. Almost Famous (2000)  The Bootleg Cut is three hours long and even after it was done I only wanted more. This movie understands young heartache and the life of being swept up in a whirlwind of celebrity - or, well, Almost-Celebrity. It unfolds slowly and tells a story of finding independence and your voice in a world full of people who lift you up while you do, and it does it through contemplative and maddeningly charming vignettes and with some great music along the way. A movie of endless possibility. I should watch the theatrical cut some day but I don't regret watching the extended version. 6. Stop Making Sense (1984)  I can't get over the thrill this movie has at its own existence. It's a marvel, a concert film that is just happy to be alive, a band that can't believe they're able to do what they do, a supersonic shot of adrenaline. Demme subtly uses the footage to introduce us to every member of the band & tells a story about David Byrne's love of his art. It screams joy from the rooftops. Also, I knew about David Byrne's big suit but I was not prepared for it to be THAT big. 5. Bottoms (2023)  In a year where I watched some great comedies, this one reigned supreme. Rachel Sennot is the funniest actress today and Ayo isn't far behind. They're such lovable losers & the set design and gags every minute mixed with sharp-as-a-whip queer camp had me howling. The black comedy is on point and the energy is palpable. One of my favorite theater experiences ever. 4. The Matrix (1999)  More than a technical marvel, more than an utter revelation in special effects, The Matrix really is the powerful trans allegory everyone suggests it is. It's a movie about how difficult it is to be yourself, but how worth it it really is. Pretty funny how the popular perception of The Matrix is almost all due to Reloaded. I'll never forget the feelings "My name is Neo." made me feel. God drat I love the Wachowskis. 3. One Cut Of The Dead (2017)  A movie that loves movies. It's best experienced blind, but it delivered both on its premise and on another level that I've wanted a movie to give me for a long time. You will watch this movie and hoot and holler. It's absolutely invigorating and so unabashedly pro-art. "Low" art is truly the best. This is why I love horror movies. 2. American Graffiti (1973)  I can't stop thinking about how this movie takes place over the course of a single night. At some point while watching I realized how special this movie was, how single moments in our youth can still dig into us years later, how little we really know about the future and what light and what darkness waits for us just around the corner. I sobbed my eyes out at a scene that wasn't particularly tragic because the overwhelming melancholy present underneath the neon lights, fast cars, and music cut deep. This George Lucas guy might be going places! 1. Titane (2021)  I haven't been able to get this movie out of my head since watching it. It claws inside my heart and begs to be seen. It's grotesquely gory and yet so powerfully evocative and symbolic, twisting sex and gender and life, death, and love into a terrifying and beautiful relentless shocker. The ending made me cry. No other movie this year made me feel quite as alive as this one, and the competition was stiff. If you want to see my full top 50 of the year I have a Letterboxd list. Like I say, tough year full of great art, but this feels right. Erin M. Fiasco fucked around with this message at 07:46 on Jan 1, 2024 |
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Jan 1, 2024 07:28
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BeanpolePeckerwood posted:come out and face me cine-d cowards. you have 2 hours to post your lists more lists more lists!
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Jan 1, 2024 07:41
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75 mins left 
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Jan 1, 2024 07:45
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Erin M. Fiasco posted:
i watched this for the first time this year not really sure what to expect and just knowing that it's supposed to be nuts. idk if any other movie ever made me feel so many different conflicting and evolving thoughts as this movie ever has. for a while i was convinced that i hated it. then i was confused and intrigued. then just confused. and only until after it was over did i spend time thinking about it and realizing that i actually enjoyed it. i'll def need to sit down with it again at some point to re-absorb it all. BeanpolePeckerwood posted:75 mins left part of me feels foolish to make the deadline the same as the video games thread, but i really just didn't know what other cutoff would be appropriate. i'm also now realizing that if i want to count down results tomorrow i'm competing with what i can only imagine is one of, if not the, most trafficked thread on the forums? 
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Jan 1, 2024 07:53
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ShoogaSlim posted:part of me feels foolish to make the deadline the same as the video games thread, but i really just didn't know what other cutoff would be appropriate. i'm also now realizing that if i want to count down results tomorrow i'm competing with what i can only imagine is one of, if not the, most trafficked thread on the forums? GOTY countdown aint happening tomorrow
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Jan 1, 2024 09:12
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BeanpolePeckerwood posted:GOTY countdown aint happening tomorrow oh poo poo for some reason i thought it happened the day after submissions close, but using more than half a brain cell now makes me realize that would be an insane turnaround time from tallying everything and super unrealistic
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Jan 1, 2024 09:30
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GOTY thread countdown probably won’t be til the 13th apparently
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Jan 1, 2024 09:48
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Erin M. Fiasco posted:It was a hell of a year for me and movies, and it was super difficult to narrow down my list to just ten. This order is roughly correct but if I think about it more I'll probably second-guess myself so I'm getting it out there and just saying that all ten of these have become some of my favorites of all time. In reverse order...
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Jan 1, 2024 12:45
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Gaius Marius posted:Is the soundtrack by The Blue Hearts? Love those guys, it was a horrible day when they got taken off Spotify. Shout-out Kaiji for exposing a lot of filthy gaijin like myself to their music. Songs by the Blue Hearts, including the song the movie is named after, are heavily featured as a plot point and on the soundtrack, yeah. The girls form a cover band to play them at the school festival.
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Jan 1, 2024 14:16
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alright i put out a last minute feeler for late submissions in the letterboxd thread and got no bites. henry rollins wrote something about not being upset about playing a show that not many people turned up for and instead playing your guts out to the people that bothered to show up at all. i'm gonna go get some coffee and then start posting results in about an hour or so.
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Jan 1, 2024 20:00
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gently caress the haters, start throwing some chairs
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Jan 1, 2024 21:15
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alright, friends. i will post the top 15 movies with some images and quotes from goons who voted for them. but first, some probably-not-that-interesting stats! 26 Participants/lists 146 Total unique movies Some stats about years code:
ShoogaSlim fucked around with this message at 00:33 on Jan 2, 2024 |
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Jan 1, 2024 21:55
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ShoogaSlim posted:it lets you sit with your thoughts and feelings about what unfolded and what will unfold even as the credits roll. it's a masterpiece. Escobarbarian posted:this managed to have the most intense and stirring ending of the year, and one nobody who watches it will soon forget. A masterpiece.  15. The Zone of Interest (2023) dir. Jonathan Glazer 3 lists - 20 points
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Jan 1, 2024 22:02
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raven77 posted:amazing car chases and gun fights Heavy Metal posted:What an action epic, so awesome. Escobarbarian posted:Did y’all not see this poo poo?? checkplease posted:just phenomenal action set piece one after another  14. John Wick: Chapter 4 (2023) dir. Chad Stahelski 4 lists - 23 points
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Jan 1, 2024 22:11
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I stuck to 2023 films because it’s honestly harder to keep track of when I saw an older film for the first time, and in general I guess I just don’t group them with the new stuff. It’s more like “ah, finally saw Picnic at Hanging Rock, yeah that’s great.”
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Jan 1, 2024 22:14
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Kangra posted:Perhaps the best-constructed film I saw this year saladscooper posted:there's so much more to it than its premise Heavy_D posted:The great accomplishment of the film through its script and performances is to never tip its hand to what that truth is.  13. Anatomy of a Fall (2023) dir. Justine Triet 4 lists - 27 points
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Jan 1, 2024 22:16
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we goin
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Jan 1, 2024 22:20
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Maxwell Lord posted:I stuck to 2023 films because it’s honestly harder to keep track of when I saw an older film for the first time, and in general I guess I just don’t group them with the new stuff. It’s more like “ah, finally saw Picnic at Hanging Rock, yeah that’s great.” I keep a basic rtf of what I've seen in a calendar year but that's about it, or I post in the Rate The Latest Film You've Seen thread, a useful resource
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Jan 1, 2024 22:22
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DMCrimson posted:Triple-A action movies costing hundreds of millions of dollars can't approach the level of tension and stakes within this low-budget movie. checkplease posted:Really well done how it creates tension and makes you feel the act of self defense. Nightmare Cinema posted:A tense, radical work that scratches the ski mask and shotgun itch. Heavy_D posted:Incredibly tense film of climate activism in the template of a heist. josh04 posted:Anyone with any kind of knowledge of activist groups can imagine from there the sorts of things that go wrong, but the true radical optimism of the film is in what it imagines could go right.  12. How to Blow Up a Pipeline (2023) dir. Daniel Goldhaber 6 lists - 28 points
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Jan 1, 2024 22:24
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some terries itt
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Jan 1, 2024 22:28
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ShoogaSlim posted:a brilliant achievement of filmmaking that is centered directly on characters and setting without the need for flashy anything Shneak posted:I love a movie where two assholes become slightly less rear end in a top hat-ish and respect each other’s game surf rock posted:Instant addition to the Christmas movie canon Nightmare Cinema posted:A Christmas classic that feels like it's been around for 50 years.  11. The Holdovers (2023) dir. Alexander Payne 4 lists - 29 points
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Jan 1, 2024 22:30
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I usually spend the last two weeks of the year at the coast, without games and without much say in what movies get watched. These best-of threads are brutal on my to-do lists.
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Jan 1, 2024 22:31
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TOP TENsaladscooper posted:it features potentially my favorite joke of the year Escobarbarian posted:It’s such a devastating look at generational trauma, loss of innocence, arrested development, and repression surf rock posted:An uncomfortable film with some world-class performances. Gaius Marius posted:An incredible work that uses the camp and comedy to back door in themes and messages that are still incredibly difficult to talk about in modern society. MacheteZombie posted:It has some great comedic beats helped by the overly dramatic music, but it all plays into how gross the abusive relationship dynamics are. Shneak posted:I’m thrilled that we’re living in an era where actors fresh out of their Riverdale contract can out-act legends like Natalie Portman and Julianne Moore.  10. May December (2023) dir. Todd Haynes 6 lists - 34 points
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Jan 1, 2024 22:35
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I saw Poor Things the other day. Didn't rank it but I had fun. Lanthimos is good poo poo. unrelated obv
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Jan 1, 2024 22:36
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letterboxd has been a godsend for a movie enthusiast and stats nerd like me. it has a csv import feature that was magic for my already existing spreadsheet of movies i was logging over the last like decade+ of movies
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Jan 1, 2024 22:39
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surf rock posted:the beginning was literally perfect DMCrimson posted:No movie this year generated more conversation Maxwell Lord posted:Consistently inventive, imaginative, and funny ShoogaSlim posted:this movie basically just shouldn't exist and shouldn't be as good as it is Kangra posted:an unexpectedly creative movie about a popular toy raven77 posted:Ken's discovery of the patriarchy was hilarious  9. Barbie (2023) dir. Greta Gerwig 6 lists - 36 points
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Jan 1, 2024 22:41
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| # ? Apr 28, 2024 18:05 |
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ShoogaSlim posted:letterboxd has been a godsend for a movie enthusiast and stats nerd like me. it has a csv import feature that was magic for my already existing spreadsheet of movies i was logging over the last like decade+ of movies i've considered it, but also i just like posting here because i am extremely fail
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Jan 1, 2024 22:41
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