Another Covid-screwed year at the movies, and until last Tuesday this was only going to be a Top 9 list. Still, thanks to the reopening of the Clairidge Theater in Montclair (kudos to Evelyn Colbert and the good people of Montclair Film), I was able to see some quality late-year releases on the big screen as the good Lord and Louis B. Mayer intended.
10) Ghostbusters: Afterlife This kinder, gentler Ghostbusters from Jason Reitman turned out to be a true family flick, and a really charming and well-made one at that. The pace and fun pick up as it goes along, and by the time some old friends arrive, I knew that bustin’ still makes me feel good.
9) The Summer of Soul Director Questlove shares amazing concert footage (I am still reeling from seeing the incredible duet by young Mavis Staples and old Mahalia Jackson) from the basically forgotten 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival — and helps place it in the historical context of inequality and unrest in the city streets.
8) The Sparks Brothers Persistence, cleverness, and wild creativity are Sparks’ hallmarks, lovingly captured in this detailed music documentary from Edgar Wright. And a rare example of a doc that is actually funny.
7) Flag Day Sean Penn does an excellent, artful job directing himself and his daughter Dylan (who provides a terrific lead performance). Based on a true story, it’s a compelling family saga in which a young woman slowly realizes her dad isn’t all that. Is she doomed to follow in his flawed footsteps… or can she reinvent herself?
6) The French Dispatch Wes Anderson goes the anthology route and gives us some slapstick, some animation, a little food for thought, lots of familiar faces and strong comedic performances (especially Jeffrey Wright and Timothée Chalamet), plus all those great little details we count on from Wes.
5) Nightmare Alley Guillermo del Toro combines his passions for classic movie tropes and freaks in this moody noir remake. Bradley Cooper is an everyman with a dark past who hooks up with an old-time carnival, then gets greedy for more. Willem Dafoe, Cate Blanchett, Toni Collette, David Strathairn, and Richard Jenkins help raise this well above a genre exercise.
4) Licorice Pizza Hands-down the most fun at the movies this year, courtesy of P.T. Anderson. Cooper Hoffman and Alana Haim both give breathless, star-making performances in a rollicking Once Upon a Time in Hollywood-lite adventure, with Sean Penn and Tom Waits along for the ride. Plots are for suckers!
3) West Side Story Steven Spielberg delivers a master class in filmmaking in this fresh, hyper-naturalistic retelling of the beloved musical. The singing, dancing, music, and cinematography crackle with urgency and excitement. And society’s fear/hatred of “the other” which runs parallel with the love story here is sadly more relevant than ever.
2) The Tragedy of MacBeth Joel Coen strips away anything extraneous — even brother Ethan — to present a stark, vital, beautifully shot, and faithful telling of Shakespeare’s pre-noir classic. Denzel Washington delivers a towering performance as MacBeth and Frances MacDormand deservedly shares the out-damned-spotlight.
1) Drive My Car I might not have guessed that a 3-hour Japanese film would be my favorite of the year. But, as one would hope of a film based on a Haruki Murakami short story, modern humanity is so sharply and unflinchingly observed here, and I stayed engrossed throughout. It’s an epic, intellectually challenging treatise on control, loss, and healing via sex, Russian theater, and, yes, cars.
Worst movie: Not horrible, but after such a long wait, the ho-hum 007 No Time To Die was a real letdown.
New releases I saw this year: 30 (including 3 films from 2020 not included in last year’s ratings)
My best-of lists from: 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017/16, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009
You can check out all my movie reviews by clicking here.
Jack Silbert, curator