2020, the worst year ever, has come to its culmination thus it is time for a "Top X" movie list. I saw 218 [77 more than last year] “new movies” (feature length movies seen this year that have come out in the past 18 months). I have needed the escape that film brings and it has truly been a tragedy that my beloved theaters have been mostly taken from me. The couch has become my theater seat and I have many more to be seen, but here is what I have thus far.
Movies that didn’t work for me but everyone else loved or were hyped up too much for what they delivered:
Shirley - 4+/5- - Rambling, gyrating, and grinding, I simply did not fully get it or like it.
The Assistant - 5+ - Another film I appreciated the overal craft but developed no connection to.
Hillbilly Elegy - 4 - Pre-release hype, but this one fell pretty flat.
The Booksellers - 6- I had heard this was one of the documentaries of the year, but when I watched it I just kind of got bored.
First Cow - 6 - Beautiful and Reichardt makes lovely films, but I just rarely connect to her work.
Da 5 Bloods -6 - A good film, but not amazing great.
Tenet - 6+/7- - The film to save theaters…. but it didn’t. Too much pressure was on this film and it couldn’t live up to the hype. It’s solid fun, but too cold and ambiguous.
Blindspot of the Year -
Rififi (1955), Persona (1966), Short Term 12 (2013), After Hours (1985), Possession (1981), Hypernormalisation (2016)
GEMS: Films that won’t make end of year list, but you search out and see: