Films in 2021

THE INVESTIGATION: Released as a 6 part series but plays like one in-depth 4.5 hour movie. I gained more respect for actual real life detective work watching this than anything I’ve ever seen. Incredible series. Forward thinking, intelligent work executed with style and grace. Søren Malling as the man in charge of the case wears the world in his eyes, what a fantastic actor. Episode 3 alone is better than everything else I saw last year. Tobias Lindholm has never written or directed anything less than phenomenal. On HBO. 

PROCESSION: The best documentary this year is a heavy duty real life psychodrama that takes us deep into the souls of traumatized men and is one of the most insightful and revealing films about suffering/healing I have come across. Powerfully collaborative filmmaking led by Robert Greene. On Netflix. Abolish the Catholic Church now. 

THE NORTH WATER: Another "TV series" that was better than any movie this year. Andrew Haigh’s follow up to the severely underrated film Lean On Pete is a five hour masterstroke; an epic adventure of the finest mythic caliber imaginable. Jack O’Connell is phenomenal and Haigh is without a doubt the strongest talent in British cinema. 

DUNE: Saw once on the biggest screen possible (1.43 IMAX at Citywalk) and again at home. If "dreams are messages from the deep" Denis Villeneuve again lets us know anything is possible with the power of imagination. A vision of messianic prophecy resonating through spacetime. 

THE BEATLES GET BACK: Mind blowing deep dive into their creative process. Watching Paul get lost in writing music as everyone else stands around is mesmerizing. Yoko is the epitome of cool. Reaches a hysterical crescendo when the baby-faced chin-strapped bobby's show up. Interesting to watch in the context of the separate albums they were making outside of the film at the time (McCartney crafting his solo debut as John and Yoko release their freaked out experiments and Harrison's controversial Moog album). 

COLLECTIVE: This is the best kind of documentary: on the ground as it happens, no talking heads whatsoever, and serving as a record of extremely important work. In this case, of a Romanian news team uncovering and exposing enraging corruption. And the fire footage they suddenly hit you with near the beginning is as scary as anything I’ve ever seen. On Hulu.  

QUO VADIS, AIDA?: A UN Base in Srebrenica 1995 is the setting for this intense true story of displacement and massacre. A slow onset of panic builds to a harsh pinnacle of sorrow. On Hulu (for the most part I think Hulu chooses their foreign and art films well). 

LAST CHANCE U BASKETBALL: I found this 8 part documentary series on an east LA jr college team deeply inspirational; full of individual heartfelt human stories. Coach Mosley throws every form of logic, motivation and prayer possible at these kids to help them push their lives in the directions they are meant to be going. On Netflix. 

ANTEBELLUM: Went in knowing absolutely nothing about this and haven't heard anything about it since. Wild original filmmaking. Grapples with the legacy of slavery in a direct and artful way. I thought it would have been stronger without the twist/reveal. 

THE ALPINIST: Wonderful documentary about a fearlessly tapped-in psychedelic mountain climber literally doing the impossible in his own humble way. Whether tragically confused or deeply inspired - a soulful, thought provoking life is revealed. Inevitability hits hard, no matter what. On Netflix.

note

I was shook when I heard Kim Ki-duk died of Covid in December of 2020. Apparently he was in Riga, Latvia where he had moved to find financing for his films and presumably get away from the controversy in Korea. 

A few of my favorites of his:

Mobius

3 Iron

Spring Summer Fall Winter & Spring

Crocodile

Arirang

The Isle

The Bow

Pieta

One of the most far out, renegade, brilliant beyond genius visionaries cinema has ever seen has left the stage!

Best films of 2015

1. Son of Saul

Heavy immersion into death camp extermination realized with unprecedented vision by Laszlo Nemes, a first time filmmaker that studied under Bela Tarr. A brave, important exploration of the Sonderkommandos' hell on earth in 1944 Poland. I saw a 35mm presentation with Nemes in person and the man definitely knows what he is doing. Best film in years.


2. Sicario

Probably the best movie about drug wars ever made. The two double climaxes, especially the table scene, were truly thrilling. Immorality reigns supreme. Intense.


3. It Follows

A visionary nightmare in a timeless dream state. An amazing follow up from David Robert Mitchell after his incredible teenage study Myth of the American Sleepover. Brilliant, refreshing and genuinely scary.


4. Eden

An authentic, emotional portrayal of growing up with house music and probably the first film to take the culture seriously. Amazing soundtrack too of course.


5. Jimmy's Hall

Set within a lush Irish countryside, master filmmaker Ken Loach explores a 1939 land rights struggle that rings poingently true in today's climate. The summation on many of Loach's themes- the destructive nature of the church, workers rights and the power community- are all represented here. If this is truly the final film from Loach he has ended on a beautiful high note. Thank you Ken!


6. A War

Moral complexities haunt this timely and relevant film on the human cost of politics. Tobias Lindholm and Pilou Asbaek have done it again.

7. Ex Machina

Concise, intelligent sci-fi with fascinating ideas and a perfectly creepy vibe. Great sets and locations too. 

8. Anime Nere

Authentic Italian mafia story totally gripping from start to finish with the enormity of the film's power emerging in it's final frames.

9. Colt '45

Taut and bleak French crime film brilliantly directed by Fabrice Du Welz and shot by the great Benoit Debie.

10. One On One

The damaging mindlessness of following orders is dissected in modern master Kim Ki-Duk's latest no-budget treatise on spiritual violence.

Kim Ki-Duk's Moebius

Since the mid 90's, South Korean master Kim Ki-Duk has been making incredible films that range from unfathomably weird to unutterably beautiful. From his classic phantasmic golf saga 3-Iron to his majestic meditation on time Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... And Spring, they (mostly) all share a ruminant madness that defies categorization. As does his latest film Moebius. This low budget, dialog free, Buddhist penectomy-heavy familial gender study is uniquely transgressive and totally unprecedented in the history of cinema. Ki-Duk has really outdone himself here. On its most basic level it's about one kid's journey to inner-peace through the most dysfunctional family ever committed to celluloid. It is also a complex, involved portrait of sexuality and family. The film's take on pleasure & pain / love & violence / maternity & paternity is one that demands contemplation. Throughout, there's a thread of solemn religious overtones that somewhat perplexingly reshapes the thematic narrative.  It's also very funny at times. For the most part I found it disturbingly fascinating but the audience I saw it with laughed a lot. The actor that plays the teenager, Young Ju Seo, deserves an Oscar for his work. The close up shots of the crazy mother are particularly amazing. The most similar film of his to this is probably 2000's The Isle as that also dealt with some of the more taboo subjects he tackles along with a few similar themes. If you're easily offended you may want to avoid this film as it contains gang rape, incest, murder, mutilation and severed penises. If you're familiar with Ki-Duk's work or into weird stuff, you will probably love this hardcore piece of poetic insanity. Highly recommended & essential artistry.