Best Films of 2016

2016 was a great year for films.  Usually I am able to narrow things down to a top 10 or at most a top 15.  This year I have a top 27 because I saw that many genuinely great movies this year.  There's also a movie on this list technically released in 2015 and that's because I didn't see it until early 2016 so it didn't make last years list and I think it deserves a mention.

Movies have become an important aspect of my life - they are a way for me to process feelings, learn and understand more about other people, become educated on topics unfamiliar to my every day lived experience, and they help me manage and recognize difficult emotions.


1.

The Revenant - Director Alejandro González Iñárritu

I found this to be breathtakingly beautiful.  I could almost feel the cold air filling up my lungs.  Brutal and intense, Leonardo DiCaprio does an excellent job here, as is often the case with Mr. DiCaprio.  The story follows frontiersman Hugh Glass is a roughly based on some actual events.  The soundtrack and cinematography are excellent.  It's an intense film and I saw it more than once because I found the experience to be that worthy.  It's a story about grief, anger, tenacity, and the harsh realities of mother nature.  The experience in all can be rather transcendent. 

2.

The Witch - Director Robert Eggers

Visually Compelling and spare in details, the film is set in puritanical New England cica 1630.   It utilizes a sort of nerve wracking tension that builds horrifically throughout the film.  The screen itself is quite dark and the tension never really lets up.  Every once in a while I really enjoy being scared on the level of a sort of abject terror.  Embedded within this terror is interesting exploration of religious fervor and suspicions that exists within a small community.  Family loyalties are also explored and tested.  If you don't like scary movies, you'll hate this, but otherwise I highly recommend it. 


3.

Creative Control - Benjamin Dickinson

 

It's pretty likely you didn't hear about this one.  Creative Control is hard to describe, but delves into the ability to create our own virtual worlds.  To a certain extent we already live in this world.  My twitter feed is not your twitter feed, my google ad suggestions are not your google ad suggestions.  My facebook feed reflects only to a certain extent the thoughts and status of my friends, but more often reveals my interests in the way of the news, the ads, the content and the suggestions that more closely align with a reflection of myself.  Creative control takes this a step further when it looks at the ability to create a virtual reality peopled with people who live IRL (In real life) but who may appear differently in our virtual world.  I enjoyed that this was black and white with some occasional color for emphasis.  I like movies that explore new ideas.    

4.   Demolition - Jean-Marc Vallée

The main message here is that there is some beauty and maybe even redemption in a total breakdown.  I feel like this film really did not get the credit it deserves.  Gyllenhaal is a great as ever and the movie is smartly done and I thought had a really great message.  Following the death of his wife Gyllenhaal has to figure out what matters and in order to do so he has to kind of destroy everything and start from scratch.  I found it very refreshing, often funny, and touching.



5.  The Invitation -  Karyn Kusama

 

So I really liked this - it is more of a thriller and I enjoy a well made thriller.  This movie started my crush on my new boyfriend Logan Marshall Green who I think makes a cuter and more cali version of Tom Hardy (who I first noticed last year in Madame Bovary).  The premise is the main character and his girlfriend are invited to dinner party being held by his ex wife and her new partner.  The invitation is accepted but perhaps suspicious though we aren't really sure initially what is going on and maybe Logan Marshall Green is just being paranoid.  That's all I'm going to say so that I don't spoil it.  This was another movie that flew under the radar because it was independent and didn't get wide distribution (thank goodness for living in the Phoenix area that we are large enough to get some of these more obscure titles in the theatres).  Check it out I think you'll dig it if you like an interesting premise and a sort of edge of your seat experience.  (also again, Logan Marshall Green, he's adorable and you'll thank me later for making you aware of his cuteness.) 

6.   The First Monday in May - Andrew Rossi 

You guys this was stunning.  Every year the Metropolitan Museum of Art does the Met Gala and this is both a fundraiser and an exhibition that goes along with it which is themed - the year that this was filmed the theme was "China: Through the Looking Glass".  It is gorgeous feast for the eyes of the exploration of Chines influence on art and fashion through the ages.  I've seen this 3 times now and I actually purchased the movie on my Apple Itunes because it's that good.  I can't say enough good things about this.  This is why fashion should be considered an art form - I really believe for anyone who has ever questioned that premise, this movie should put that to rest.  

7.  A Bigger Splash - Luca Guadagnino

One day I was randomly looking for a french movie I saw a long time ago and perusing netflix to see if I could find it and some old french film popped up and I actually watched it and it was kind of weird but also kind of great.  Then this year I went to this movie and part way through I was like "oh hey wait a minute, I've seen this before" - which was because the old French movie I saw was "La Piscine" (1969) and it is the older version of this movie.  If you don't like meandering foreign films where you aren't quite sure what the point is going to be - then this probably isn't meant for you.  But if you DO dig those sorts of things, this is great.   Basically a character study in what happens when you place 4 people together in on a sun drenched island and sort of watch what kind of chemical reaction you can create out of it.  This also made me absolutely fall in love with the island of Pantelleria.  I'm so keen on visiting either the Italian or Spanish islands which I think have this great sort of volcanic beauty.  The movie is a bit of a meandering journey but I really liked the ride.  

8.  Sing Street - John Carney 

An adorable throw back to the 80s movie that reminds me of everything we loved about 80s romance like Pretty in Pink.  That's really all you need to know.  Trust me you'll love it.  Boy meets girl, boy has big dreams, girl has big dreams, hopeful and cute with heart.  

9.  King Jack - Felix Thompson 

This was quite a great little movie.  A coming of age story about a kid who lives in less than ideal circumstances, who is being bullied, but who himself is probably headed for a stint in juvie if he doesn't make some changes.  A story about what a kids world looks like when money is tight and parental supervision is lacking.  There's a lot of heart here and a lot of honesty.  The lead actor is great and it all seems totally authentic.  Ultimately hopeful, it sort of hit me in the feels and lingered.  

10.  Holy Hell - Will Allen 

This is a very thorough documentary because one of the members of the cult it is about began filming while being a participant in the movement beginning in 1985.  The movement was called Buddhafield.  It was a spiritual movement and it still exists in some form today.  The fascinating thing about this was to try to understand the hold the movement had on its participants which was quite strong.  In the beginning everything seemed like rainbows and unicorns but later, it seemed to take a darker turn.  Its hard to describe, you sort of have to watch it to really get a feel for what is going on here.  My daughter and I have discussed this movie several times and it is genuinely one of the more fascinating documentaries I saw this year.



11.  Keanu - Peter Atencio

 

This was the funniest movie I saw this year.  These guys were hilarious.  I loved the whole silly premise which was too nice dudes who stumble into pretending to be gangsters just to get their cat Keanu back who happens to have been taken by said a local gang.  It's a ridiculous premise and it worked wonderfully well at making everything that happens in this movie seem totally plausible in the least plausible way which gives you permission to laugh at everything.  

12.  Hell or High Water -  David Mackenzie  

Besides the fact that Chris Pine is a thing of beauty, this movie has a lot to offer.  This is a well paced tale of two men on the wrong side of the law for what appear to perhaps be the right reasons, although we aren't exactly sure.  You find yourself not being certain if we are rooting for the good guys or the bad guys or both.  Jeff Bridges superbly portrays an older sheriff here but all the acting is great all the way around. 

13.  Other People -  Chris Kelly

Molly Shannon does such a great job here as a woman dying of cancer.  The whole premise of this movie - a woman dying of cancer, makes it sound like something you'd rather avoid because who wants to be all depressed about that right?  But I loved how this movie explored what it means to really live and then die the right way, and how we can make sure we are living a life that is honest.  It's a tear jerker for sure, but in a way that stuck with me and made me feel better for having watched it.  There are some great humorous moments in this too that reminded me a lot of the ways in which families are complex things and sometimes the source of our greatest happiness and are greatest pains. 

14.  Miss Stevens - Julia Hart

Miss Stevens is about a group of high school students who go on a weekend trip with their teacher for a drama competition (similar to speech competitions for those familiar).  And even though the movie is sort of about that, what the movie is really about is a teacher who is only a biscuit older than her students and how anyone who spends some significant time around teens realizes we never really grow so old that we don't fundamentally relate to being a teenager still.  And teens aren't really so young that they can't understand what it means to be a grown up.  And there's a lot of fuzzy territory there in between.  This one was quiet and I really enjoyed the fact that I never totally knew where the plot was going and it had layers and layers of meaning and goodness that I just completely absorbed like a dose of the best medicine money could buy.

15.  City of Gold - Laura Gabbert

This is a documentary about a man's love affair with food.  It is beautiful.  And it is a delicious portrayal of everything that is awesome about the Los Angeles melting pot of neighborhoods and the culinary surprises that result.  I should buy this movie so that I can watch it again before I go to Los Angeles next time because it is chock full of wonderful information on where to get all the best LA has to offer.  My kids and I watched this together and fully enjoyed and savored every morsel of this film.  :)

16.  American Honey - Andrea Arnold

These kids who sell magazine subscriptions show up my door time and time again and I have never believed their B.S. and have often called them out on it.  This movie will do nothing to change the way I react to them when they show up - I'm still not going to buy their magazine subscriptions, however, it will make me remember their humanity a little bit more.  I know these kids.  These kids are kids who sit in my counseling office from time to time.  These kids are the forgotten kids.  The kids who dropped out of school because no one cared.  Who slipped through all the cracks all the way down to the very bottom and still no one really notices or cares.  And they will mostly continue to survive because at the end of the day, you almost can't really break these kids, that's how much resilience that have.  Sad but poetic.  I loved so many things about this very raw movie.  I saw the previews for this film with some friends and one of my friends remarked "that looks horribly depressing" but I had been sitting there watching the same preview thinking "man, I really have to see that movie".  It did not disappoint.  It was brilliant.  Cinematic and acting wise this film was one of the very best I saw all year.

17.  Blue Jay -  Alexandre Lehmann

 

The acting here is so good.  This movie is this quiet little story of two old high school sweethearts who run into each other in the grocery store in their hometown.  They haven't seen each other in years and we aren't really sure what to expect.  The movie unfolds in this slow dance between the two of them and gradually reveals bits of important information that helps explain why they broke up and why the feelings between the two of them appear to be so strong.  I really enjoyed this but it did make me SOB at some points.  So if you really hate crying, skip this.  But I'm glad I didn't skip it because I thought it was absolutely beautiful. 

18.  Moonlight - Barry Jenkins 

This was hands down my favorite movie this year.  It was just so beautiful.  The story is told in three parts like a symphony or a play, the film itself is gorgeous, and the story touches on themes of race, poverty, sexuality, and isolation.  The story is a very unique one and to some extent defies simple description.  The director uses a lot of metaphor and symbolism and it gave the movie a depth that allowed me to see it twice while still wishing to watch it again.  A movie like this proves what potential movies have to give us insight and meaning.  Truly a piece if art. 

19.  The Handmaid - Chan-wook Park 

This movie was just flat out gorgeous.  The story was interesting with tricky plot twists and kept me totally engaged, but even if the story had been awful, the images on the screen and set direction would still have been worth watching.  

20.  Noctural Animals - Tom Ford 

So the last movie Tom Ford directed was "A Single Man" and it was a beautiful and sad experience to watch, but in a good way.  This story and the tone is a little different, but I enjoyed it very much.  A Single Man felt more quiet and contemplative whereas this movie is more in the vein of a thriller.   As always, Tom Ford dazzles with interesting imagery and an eye for incredible detail.  

21.  Arrival - Dennis Villeneuve

Two Amy Adams movies in a row here.  What I loved about this is I don't even particularly like alien type movies and I found this one so unique and great.  The message of this movie above all else was very heartening and uplifting.  Amy Adams does a great job and this movie has a beauty that I really enjoyed as well.  Even if you're normally not much interested in an "alien" film, I recommend you give this a shot.  

22.  The Lobster - Yorgos Lanthimos 

You guys this was weird and good.  I saw it more than once because I really wanted to totally understand all aspects of this and I felt I missed some things the first time.  The premise of this movie is that being single is totally unacceptable.  You MUST have a partner. If not, you probably shouldn't live as a human and should be an animal instead.  The total weirdness of this is just too difficult to explain but it makes some very funny criticism of the culture of dating/marriage and placing such a high premium on being with someone.  It seems to equally criticize those who think being in a relationship is a waste of time or anathema to having a fulfilling and important life.  I guarantee this movie won't bore you.  

23. Jackie - Pablo Larrain

This was such a powerful film.  First of all, Natalie Portman does an amazing portrayal of Jackie Kennedy.  Secondly, the focus on the timing between the assassination of President Kennedy and the funeral and Jackie's hyper focus on the optics of it all is a fascinating way to approach this topic.  This movie helped to contextualize so much about the Kennedy legacy and to really put myself in Jackie's shoes.  I thought it was amazing.  

24.  La La Land - Damien Chazelle 

This was crazy good.  I loved everything about it.  Ryan Gosling continues to be the best boyfriend anyone could ever have.  I loved the chemistry between him and Emma Stone.  The songs from this movie have been stuck in my head every since I saw it.  No one really makes musicals like this anymore and the director figured out a way to do it and pay homage to musicals of old while still keeping it fresh.  That's tricky but it worked out wonderfully well.


25.  Manchester by the Sea - Kenneth Longergan

You guys this is really sad.  But SO good.  Casey Affleck does an amazing job.  It's heartwarming and not totally depressing in every single way - but fair warning, it is FAIRLY depressing.  One of the people I attended this with was pretty much clinically upset afterwards.  Still one of the best movies of the year.

26.  Elle - Paul Verhoeven

This is the same director  did Basic Instinct - and this film has a similar darkness.  This was a completely new take on a sort of old idea - the idea of how sexual assault may impact a powerful woman.  Some aspects of this I never saw coming and I found it fascinating how the director played around with this theme.  I love a good french film.  Isabelle Huppert is a great actress and really makes this film work.

27.  Lion - Garth Davis

This was a gorgeous movie with so much heart.  Based on a true story of a boy in India who became lost and eventually finds his family many years later.  That premise sounded like a thin one to create an entire feature film around but believe me, this is a movie that will engage you from beginning to end.



I know! 27 movies!  That I gave 5 stars each to this year.  It's a crazy amount.  Also that seems like a lot of movies to see!  But I do love movies you guys.  There's almost nothing I would rather do on the weekend than see a movie if I can.  I also lucked out this year with many gifted movie tickets and that made my movie watching a lot more doable.

There are a few movies that I wanted to see in 2016 that I wasn't able to see too so I am hoping to catch up on some of those soon.  20th Century Women doesn't start here for a couple more weeks and I think it looks excellent based on the trailers.  Here's to more great films in 2017.

Films I loved in 2015

I always enjoy rounding up my recommendations for films for the current year.  I keep track of movies as I see them during the year and I jot down a few thoughts and give them a star rating out of 5.  These are all movies that received a 5 star from me.  As usual, these are the best of the films I saw - I am sure there are other great movies out there but I might not have seen them.  In no particular order

1.  Mommy By Xavier Dolan 

This film was about the intensity of the love between a mother and her son.  What I loved was two-fold.  First off I loved the telling of the intensity of this relationship because the son is very challenging and obviously has some mental health challenges that make parenting particularly taxing.  At the same time you have the sense that mom hasn't always known how to be the best mom either.  Though explosive at times, the underlying emotion here is devotion between the two of them.  I also loved how this was shot on a square format.  There were some camera techniques that were very unique and I thought really added to the overall feeling of the movie.  

French w/ subtitles, this one got a 90% rating on rotten tomatoes. 

2.  While We're Young by Noah Baumbauch

If you're over the age of about 39 you know someone who is desperately trying to stay young.  And failing.  Because if you're trying too hard to stay young, I guarantee it's not working. If you know that person (and maybe even if you are that person) this movie is just the thing to both confirm how ridiculous it is to try to stay youthful and relevant, while at the same time perhaps reminding you youth is really mind over matter anyway.  The young all just want to be established and successful and the old just want to be young again.  It's a silly existential dance we do when we try to circumvent the natural progression of life and stay transfixed in time we no longer belong to.  But don't let the seriousness of that description I just penned dissuade you - this is actually really funny.  There are some hilarious comparisons between the newer generation of hipster and the aging gen x adults who grapple to understand why a VCR would be somehow trendier than digital and trying to remember why we gave up vinyl music albums in the first place if they were so dang cool.  This hit home for me too because there is a scene where the desperate to be cool Ben Stiller and Noami Watts decide to try Ayahuasca in hopes the hallucinogen will bring them to some deep and profound point that will erase the angst of aging and renew their youthful outlook while giving them buckets of meaning.  If you know anything about Ayahuasca you know it usually brings buckets of puke along with it's insight.  This hit home for me because I recently had a long conversation with a 40 something who bought a trip to South America specifically to go try Ayahuasca in the hopes of finding her purpose in life.  I really think she's just having a mid life crisis and I wanted to prescribe she go watch this film instead.  I think you'll enjoy this no matter your age and no matter how cool you're trying to be (or not).  

Rotten Tomatoes - 86%

3. Dior and I by Frederic Tcheng 

This film is an absolute dream.  Later, I had to buy this on digital so I can watch it whenever I want.  Seeing the inspiring creative process of Dior's Raf Simons (who sadly, just left Dior a few weeks ago) is nothing short of miraculous. Watching the process of creating the couture gowns and all the hand stitching was just incredible.  The amount of work that goes into a collection and a show is just astounding.  I can't really recommend this enough.  

This one is in french a fair amount of time  but not always - partially english. Rotten Tomatoes 81% 

4.  Kurt Cobain - Montage of Heck by Brett Morgen 

Okay look pretty much everyone who knows me knows that I love Kurt Cobain so maybe I'm a little biased on this movie.  But I think even if you don't like Cobain this is still entertaining, informative, and an enjoyable ride.  The documentary takes an intimate look at Cobain using footage never before seen and augmenting the movie with his artwork in ways that are both provocative and give context and meaning to who Cobain was.  For me it was poignant, profound and heartrending.  

97% on Rotten Tomatoes

[if you want to really go down a Cobain rabbit hole, follow this up with the way more non-mainstream view of the Kurt and Courtney story on Netflix and watch "Soaked in Bleach"]

5.  Diary of a Teenage Girl - by Marielle Heller 

This film, in spite of being a somewhat disturbing subject matter on it's face, really hit a an interesting balance between tackling a difficult topic and keeping it non-exploitative.  To simplify a complex topic the movie is about a coming of age for our teenage protagonist Minnie.  But that coming of age is fraught with the difficulties of a mother who parties too much and pays little to no attention to what is going on with her daughter.  That daughter's first real boyfriend is also her mother's boyfriend.  You sort of want to hate Alexander Skarsgard for taking advantage of a teenage girl and you feel compelled to consider him a predator or a pedophile, but you also realize it's more complicated than that for Minnie.  There are no simple emotions or situations here and the film is set in the midst of San Francisco during the post free love age that pretty much confused everything for everyone.  High moral ground you won't really find here.  But what you will find is a portrayal of everything that is both awesome and horrible about being a teenage girl.  The setting of the 70s was so spot on where some films get it wrong, this is really what the 70s looked like.  

Rotten Tomatoes 94%

6.  Far From the Madding Crowd -  Thomas Vinterberg

Based on Thomas Hardy's original book - the melodrama of some of these old stories is both kind of funny and refreshing.  This movie is as romantic as it gets.  I loved Carry Mulligan and Matthias Schoenaerts chemistry in this movie.  What can I say?  This movie is about star-crossed love at it's best, improbable and perfect.   Enjoy it for what it is.  

Rotten Tomatoes 86%

7. Crimson Peak  - Guillermo Del Toro

Sometimes you just want a good old fashioned gothic style ghost story and this one really worked for me.  Del Toro is a dude with a huge imagination and I thought this film really captured all the elements of a perfect ghost story.  The film is also beautiful and the attention to detail with the sets and costumes is excellent.  

Rotten Tomatoes 69%

By the Sea - Angelina Jolie 

Okay hear me out on this one.  Do not go if you don't like slow movies, movies with very little plot, subtle subtext, or long shots that linger on stylistic elements.  DO see this if you like any of those things, and additionally love little sea villages, gorgeous clothes, beautiful rooms, languid shots, subdued plot, pretty people, and general moodiness.  This is right up my alley, but I'm fully aware I am in the minority about these sorts of things.  There's also some kinda deep stuff about voyeurism and obsession with other people's lives which feels particularly interesting coming from Angelina.  Whatever else can be said about this I think there is no doubt Angelina meant to make a film that felt more like something created in the mid to early 70s.  A beautiful film that gets all the right shots and that is totally accomplished here.  

32% Rotten Tomatoes (see, no one liked it except me)

The Intern - Nancy Myers

First off, Nancy Myers is my feel good guru.  This movie was just sweet as all get-out.  How rare is it that a movie explores a friendship between a man and a woman and it REALLY is just about friendship. Sometimes I like to just sit on the couch and escape from the world with a good Nancy Myers movie and this is one I'll probably buy for that purpose.  There's also, as usual with Nancy, some scrummy interiors to drool over and the main action of the movie is a JCREW-like office in New York that is also visually lovely (and a dream work place environment).

Rotten Tomatoes - 61%

The Second Mother - Anna Muylaert

This is as foreign film that explores the complexities of a classist society.  Set in Brazil, the film is about the relationship between a maid and the household family members she has been employed with for a long time.  Her relationship with the son of the household is more like that of mother and son rather than an employee.  There are other complications with relationships between family members as well including difficulties with her own daughter.  It sounds overly dramatic and there is some drama, but it is also very funny at times, and heartfelt.  I really liked the overall message of the film and I thought it was very well made.  

Portuguese with English subtitles - Rotten Tomatoes LOVED this with 96%

Love & Mercy - Bill Pohlad 

This was super excellent and not just because I think my boyfriend John Cusack did a great job of portraying Brian Wilson.  Probably one of the best biographical movies I've ever seen it really helps give context to all of the weird Beach Boys/Brian Wilson drama we've heard about over the years.  It also shows what a genius Wilson is and really helps him get his own story out there when for many years other people tried to control his story and give their own versions that were inaccurate. It's a sweet love story to boot and will make you fall in love with Beach Boys music all over again.  Both Cusack and Paul Dano do an excellent acting job here. 

Rotten Tomatoes totally loved this with a 90% approval rating

Iris - Albert Maysles

LOVED this.  Iris Apfel is a national treasure.  If you don't know who she is or why she's pretty much the most awesome senior fashionista in existence, run out and rent this right away.  You'll fall in love with her immediately.  I can only HOPE to be 1/10th as cool as this lady is when I'm old.  

Rotten Tomatoes agrees she's super awesome with 98% really you can't get a higher rating than that!

 Animals - Colin Schiffli

This is one probably not that many people saw.  If you're interested in a story about the toll of addiction, this is a really good one.  Realistically providing insight into how addiction both humanizes and dehumanizes a person at the same time.  The movie is both empathetic towards their heroin addiction, and yet ultimately not overly sympathetic.  Which is a difficult and nice balance to strike.  A lot of times movies about addiction sort of feel like they get it wrong, but I felt like this one really got it right.  Beautifully filmed as well.  If you're not into a movie about two drug addicts and their struggle to survive, I understand.  But if its a topic you find remotely interesting and you like good filmmaking, this one is good.  

Rotten Tomatoes -  84% 

Lastly here are honorable mentions - movies I really liked this year but didn't make my cut for top 10-15.  All are movies i enjoyed and you might like as well - some are more mainstream and therefore didn't make my cut to review them because it's likely you already heard PLENTY about them (Inside Out, I'm looking at you)

Inside Out 

Brooklyn

Straight Out of Compton

The Gift

Trainwreck

Me, Earl & The Dying Girl

The Overnight

I'll See You In My Dreams

The Big Short

An Irrational Man

AND as a bonus - I asked all of my girlfriends what movies they enjoyed most this year and I got these which I neglected list myself: 

The Martian

Still Alice

Infinitely Polar Bear 

Home

Bridge of Spies

Big Hero 6

Anything you loved that I didn't mention? Checking out the list above should keep you busy for a while.  

Movies I Dug in 2014

In no discernible or important order whatsoever, here is my annual list of movies that I really dug and you maybe will dig too.

 I've not seen every movie that I wanted in 2014 so some will have to wait until Netflix or Itunes.  Which means the list is not comprehensive and you may have seen something amazing that I missed. I keep a running list of movies I intend to catch up on some day, but there are always more than I can possibly keep on top of.

These are the movies I saw this year that I considered the best of 2014 which ended up being a "top 14" list. 

For whatever reason this year I included where I saw it and if I was alone or not because, I don't know, somehow it seems like that might provide context that may or may not matter. 

 

1.  Adult World 

This move is one of those "if you blinked you missed it" - most theatres never carried it and the release was not wide, even I watched it on Itunes because I missed it the one week it was in the theatres here in Phoenix.  And every one knows John Cusack is my jam and so you'll automatically be suspicious of this pick and think it's all due to my Cusack near-obsession.  But you'd be wrong!  I have long ago abandoned the notion that a movie is automatically good just because it has Cusack in it (and recently I am sad to report there have been a spate of disappointing movies from our Dear John) but this movie is the exception to all of that and I genuinely liked it very much.  Emma Stone is a young poet who is slightly deluded about the path to success and John C. plays an aging punk poet named Rat who disabuses her of her deluded notions.  I read somewhere that John's character may be an alternate version of Lloyd Dobler had Lloyd grown up to realize his optimism was badly misplaced and gone the route of curmudgeonly misanthrope instead.  (If you aren't a huge fan of "Say Anything" you have no idea what I'm talking about right now.  If you've never seen "Say Anything" you might as well quit reading the rest of this blog post and RUN to the nearest Apple TV or Amazon Prime and rent that movie immediately so that you can get your life back on track since clearly, something is terribly amiss and in need of fixing).  Anyway, don't get too excited this isn't on the level of Say Anything.  But it is great work by Cusack and a subversive comedy that I found very cute and fun. Rotten Tomatoes gave it a 54% which is not great, but I think it's a solid little movie you should try out for size.

 

2.  Million Dollar Arm 

This is a move that honestly I probably never would have seen except I was going to the movies with a friend to the Harkins at Tempe Marketplace and we couldn't sort of agree on anything and I just finally suggested this because I think Jon Hamm is cute and figured I could live through any movie where Jon would be featured prominently on the silver screen and I could just ignore the hum of whatever nonsense was wrecking the rest of the film.  But geez, I was totally wrong and honestly this was one of those cute feel good movies that somehow manages to get the cute and the feel good all in the right proportions and you kind of stumble on to this thing that warms your heart when you think your heart is all frozen over and unwarmable.  Basically Hamm's character goes to India to recruit baseball players from cricket players and hijinks ensue which sounds kinda dumb (hence my initial hesitation) but ends up being a really sweet story (based on a true story, which always helps in my opinion) and Hamm is adorable and Lake Bell is also in this and I really think she is  awesome and really I only have good things to say about this movie.  It's also totally clean and PG too so if you have kiddos and you're looking for a "family movie" this is a good one.  Rotten tomatoes gave it a 61% but the user score was higher at 70%.

 

3.  Land Ho

Basically Land Ho proves that I didn't only go to movies based on cute guys being in them cause these guys are pretty old and clearly I didn't go just because there was someone in the film I had a crush on (which I am now worried you'll think due to film #1 and #2 on my list both having actors I think are pretty dreamy).  My 17 year old daughter and I saw this at Harkins Camelview and gosh darn it if I don't love that art house theatre with all my heart.  You know, it's not that easy to talk a 17 year old into going to a film about 2 old dudes who travel to Iceland, but she's a good sport.  She really liked this movie and so did I.  It's more or a less a contemplation on aging and getting the most out of life at any age.  Iceland is beautiful and this made me want to go there on vacation and there was just a lot to love about this.  And honestly one of these dudes did seem pretty cute to me by the end of the movie, making me question a lot of prejudices I have about older men.  So many movies are about people in their 20s or 30s and it is really nice once in a while to remind people about lives lived beyond what might consider ones "prime".  The critics liked this with an 80% rotten tomatoes score, but the public was less enthusiastic at 56%.  I attribute that to this being a movie where nothing is blown up, there are no car chases and many people may accuse it of being "a movie where nothing happens".  And they would be totally wrong about that because in my opinion, quite a lot happens and especially, if you're keen on this sort of thing, something might happen to you internally while you watch, which in my opinion is the best kind of movie. 

 

4.  Finding Vivian Maier

This one we also saw at Camelview 5 and actually my 17 year old was the one who really wanted to go to this.  It's a documentary about a nanny who was secretly an incredible photographer.  She captured some amazing images on film but the photos were not discovered until somewhat recently.  The story is mostly about the photography, but also sort of the mystery of who Vivian was, and not only who people thought she was - but who she really was, which almost no one really was aware of while she was alive.  It made me think a lot about the lives we sometimes live in private and how often we really don't feel known or understood by others and what it all means.  I think you'd have to be pretty immune to the beauty of photography not to enjoy this film.   Pretty much everyone loved this with a 94% rotten tomatoes critic score and a 89% user score.

5.  The Grand Budapest Hotel 

This film is the typical stuff you expect from Wes Anderson.  Goofy, Eccentric, and a "Wild Ride" all come to mind.  An old fashioned "farce" of sorts.  Anderson's films always have that kind of dreamy, "this only makes sense because I'm asleep" thing going for them.  The intricate sets and costumes and set ups are so delicious in Grand Budapest, I think it's one of his best films.  If you DON'T like Wes Anderson films, I still think you might like this one.  Give it a try.  My daughter and I saw this at Camelview 5 and later bought it on Itunes as well.  Most everyone loved this too with a 92% critic score on rotten tomatoes and an 86% user score.

 

6.  The One I Love 

This was a surprisingly awesome film.   And impossible to describe.  Like I don't know what to say.  Weird, quirky, magical, odd, subversive.  Like if you took a relationship and held it up to a fun-house mirror as a means of marriage therapy. My daughter and I saw this at Shea 14 and she really loved it too.  It's funny and romantic in a very unconventional way and it definitely poses new questions about relationships that might make you think about surprising and complex questions and "what does it all mean".  Rotten tomatoes critic score of 80% and user score of 79%; I did hear someone who left the theatre at the same time as us say "I honestly don't know how I feel about what I just saw, I have so many questions!".  It is a great movie to discuss with other people afterwards. 

 

7.  Palo Alto 

This might be the favorite of this whole list.  Although I wanted my daughter to see this with me, I ended up attending alone at Camelview 5.  It was just such a great portrayal of teens and weird suburban/urban angst and poor parenting practices so common today.  You get the sense in this film that parents only exist on the periphery, if at all, and everything feels precariously tilting towards a dangerous collision for these teens as a result.   Gia Coppola proves herself to be a worthy embodiment of the family name.   The acting here is great, you do actually feel like you're just watching these teens in their natural habitat and Emma Roberts is very good and Jack Kilmer (son of Val) is excellent.  This film also has the best soundtrack of any all year and if I only saw it for the exposure to new music it would have still been worth it, but luckily the film itself is really great.  73% rotten tomatoes score but only 53% users score which I largely attribute to people who had different expectations for what type of movie it would be.  Again, many complaints by users that it was "slow".  This in my opinion was the genius of the film.  Didn't weeks and days go by agonizingly slow when you were a teen? Didn't it almost feel like you literally had to kill time to get it to move?  You really feel very much compassion for the teenagers in this film even if some of them are kind of awful to each other, because clearly the adults in their lives aren't offering them much help navigating this tricky territory. 

 

8.  The Lunch Box 

My daughter and I saw this together at Camelview 5 and it was a great feel good romance.  Set in India the premise was simple yet effective.  You're never quite sure if things will work out or not all the way up until the very end and I like it when movies are not predictable and leave room for some ambiguity.  If you are looking for a cute film that won't challenge you too much but might be a little different from the norm (it's a foreign film set in India) then I think you'll really like this one.  96% on rotten tomatoes for critic score and 87% for users. 

 

9.  Boyhood 

This film really doesn't need my recommendation, lots of people loved this and it has gotten a ton of press for being shot over the course of 12 years.  But you really can't say enough what a marvelous trick that is to watch characters age on film over more than a decade.  The story is compelling and I thoroughly enjoyed this.  I also saw this with my teenage daughter at Camelview 5.  I saw a lot more movies with her this year than I usually do - probably because she has gotten old enough to appreciate the same types of films I do.  She really likes this since it is about a kid growing up and becoming who they are meant to be.  Watching the boy change and grow is interesting but I found myself immersed in watching the adults change as the children grow.  Sometimes we fail to realize how much raising children and watching them grow changes us too. 99% critic score on rotten tomatoes and 89% user score.

 

10.  The Skeleton Twins 

I had kinda high expectations for this film and although it was less funny than I imagined it would be, it was also more poignant than I expected.  Sometimes it was actually really funny, but overall the tone of this is much more serious than you might think and I actually think that's it's strength.  Bill Hader plays the gay twin brother of Kristen Wiig and they have not seen each other in a long time.  The movie opens with each of them attempting suicide and it becomes more clear as the movie progresses why they didn't speak for 10 years and why each of them has some fairly serious mental health issues.  Besides dealing very compassionately with some issues of depression and family complications as well as providing some good comic relief sprinkled through out, I also love this because it shows this really special and great relationship between a brother and sister - that's kind of the love story here, sibling love, which is not something that gets touched on much in movies except in a very tangential way.  Here is plays the starring role in the films heart and for that, I really loved it.  I think it also delved into some issues regarding humanizing some pretty interesting human frailties that I also really appreciated.  I saw it alone at Scottsdale Cine Capri and I also now own this movie in my Itunes collection.  Critics and users also pretty well like this too with 87% and 77% respectively. 

 

11.  Only Lovers Left Alive 

This I saw with one of my oldest friends at Camelview 5 and immediately upon the opening of the film I knew I was really going to dig it because the open was so unique I've never seen anything like it done as effectively before.  Immediately you are drawn into this weird world of vampires that is totally different from any way you've seen them portrayed before and not only that, the director manages to make us feel that we are on some kind of weird drug trip right from the get go.  I mean, that's a neat trick don't you think?  I have not seen this on the small screen so I don't know if the feeling of being drugged works as well if you are watching it at home.  The entire movie you feel like you're in this really interesting world and even if you could argue that not much happens (and for reals, that is a good argument you could make I suppose compared to pretty much any other vampire movie you've ever seen) I feel like this vampire movie packs more philosophical punch than any other I've ever seen.  It's beautifully shot and completely worth a look even if you generally shy away from vampire films.  The critics gave it an 85% and the users a 79%. 

 

12.  This Is Where I Leave You

This movie I had super low expectations for because it really did not get great reviews but I went anyway with my daughter to Shea 14 because as I recall we were bored and there weren't that many options.  I suspected with Jason Bateman in it I'd at least have a laugh or two ( I dig that man and he always can make me laugh) but then I ended up being pretty surprised by how well done the movie was and how much I really liked it.  I had never read the book so I don't know if that would have changed my opinion or not but I just thought it was way better than it was given credit for.  It's basically about all the complicated ways we interact with our families and in our relationships, it's about regret and embracing our lives in ways that make the best of what is.  It's kind of about how painful it is to try to grow up to become who we're meant to be and how we sometimes take a lot of side roads before we get there.  We make compromises and we learn to be okay with them - or maybe we don't.  Basically the premise of this movie is life is messy.  But also kinda funny if you look at it the right way.  The critics really didn't dig this and gave it a 42% but the users took more kindly to it with a 62%.  Make of that what you will, maybe I'm just a big fan of Jason Bateman, Tina Fey and Adam Driver but I think you might like this.  The critics mostly seemed to criticize that it was too sweet.  I don't know, I like a little sweet with my bitter once in a while.

 

13. Whiplash

I saw this alone at Shea 14 and I really dug it.  It's intense and it is about a drummer who is in a special ensemble in a prestigious music school.  His musical director is a fanatic who borders on being abusive and then crosses the line into abuse many times during the film.  The movie makes us ask questions about what it means to be successful, where pressure to succeed crosses over into something unhelpful and what does it take to truly become a musical genius or to be "the best".  The movie takes a few twists and turns and ends up being somewhat surprising even though the majority of this movie is literally watching someone drum their guts out.  I don't even feel particularly interested in musicians or drummers and I still found this really fascinating and great. The critics loved this and gave it a 96% and the users whole heartedly agreed.

14. Wild 

I saw this at Camelview 5 with my daughter.  She and I both really liked it.  In fact, it's right up there with my favorites for the year and I think the reason why is it felt personally meaningful to me.  Basically its based on a true story where a woman hikes all the way from Mexico/California border to the Canadian/Washington state border.  She is fighting some personal demons and she learns a lot about her self in the process.  I think if you can allow the film to sort of wash over you there's a lot you can learn about yourself here too regardless of what your personal challenges might be (she's kicking heroin and mourning the loss of her mother and her marriage - your tragedy does not need to be nearly that extreme).  We all travel our own journeys and hopefully those journey's do something similar for us where we learn self-acceptance and test our mettle.  If this is something you've experienced or are going through now, I think you'll really like this.  The critics mostly liked it too, giving it a 92% and the users gave it an 81%.  

 

15. Under The Skin 

This I saw with a friend at Camelview 5.  I almost didn't put it on the list because it is so fricking weird and I just...well, this movie took me days and weeks to process what I felt about it.  But the thing is, it really stuck.  Like I actually thought about this movie a lot.  This is one of those movies that made me go do a whole google search afterwards to figure out what it all meant and to see if my conclusions were even correct or at least in the right general train of thought.  Just know, this whole deal is totally bizarre and you really will not know what in the heck you are watching and you'll feel completely off balance by the whole thing.  BUT, you sure as heck aren't going to be bored and if this doesn't give you something to chew on I don't know what on earth would.  So I highly recommend it, but also offer you extreme caution that it won't be anything you expect.  I'm not going to try to explain the actual plot because it will ruin it.  The critics pretty well dug it at 86% but the general public came away pretty confused with a 52%.  Not surprising.  But you know yourself well enough - do you like stuff that is sort of weird and subversive and not obvious and will make you work to think and figure out what is going on?  then you'll love it.  If you don't have that sense of adventure about your film choices - go ahead and skip this one! 

And here are a few more that I almost included: 

Calvary 

Chef

Begin Again 

Enemy