01 February 2017

Best of 2016


"It used to go like that, and now it goes like this."
   -- Bob Dylan, introducing "I Don't Believe You" and going electric with The Band at Royal Albert Hall in London in 1966

I was confident throughout 2016 that the Chicago Cubs were going to the World Series -- hey, hey, no doubt about it -- and when I told a Los Angeles Dodgers fan during the playoffs to give up hope and get out of the way this year, he objected, being a scientist, on the grounds that the Cubs going to or winning the World Series would create a rip in the fabric of the time-space continuum and fundamentally alter life in the universe as we know it.

Whether he was at all serious or not (and depending on your reaction to the election results a week after the World Series was clinched), things changed in 2016. And it felt fundamental. How we go forward in this space will be addressed in a future essay. For now, we'll offer a brief assessment of an off-year at the movies and dive into our lists below of the favorites and a few duds. Nothing beyond our top three or five movies is likely to be revisited down the road in some best-of-the-decade list.  There were plenty of satisfying films to experience, but few big thrills at the cineplex.

One of those thrills was "A Bigger Splash." A friend and I walked out after it on a warm June night giddy from the experience of watching Tilda Swinton and Ralph Fiennes dueling it out as ex-lovers on an Italian island. Director Luca Guadagnino (reteaming with Swinton from "I Am Love") saturates the senses with gorgeous scenery, ripping humor, and a powerful story. It's a gift to those who are in love with love and with movies. Another Italian director, newcomer Piero Messina, had me literally on the edge of my seat with the mesmerizing slow burn of "L'Attesa" -- halfway through I wanted to jump up and go write about it -- but I eventually succumbed to guilt for allowing myself to be manipulated by Messina's unsettling male gaze at two women (a mother and a girlfriend) fighting over a dead man.

I was profoundly moved by Viggo Mortensen's performance as an unrepentant off-the-grid father stubbornly fighting for his kids after their mother's death ("Captain Fantastic"); by Kelly Reichardt's quiet masterpiece about three women coping with modern life ("Certain Women"); and by the mix of humor and pathos in "Manchester by the Sea." I loved the millennial energy of Matt Johnson and company as they followed up "The Dirties" with their found-footage lark about the Apollo space program.

Sonia Braga (in "Aquarius") and Sally Field (in "Hello, My Name Is Doris") brought nuance to the subject of older women exploring their sexuality. Meantime, kids made an impression, including the young cast of "Captain Fantastic"; "Royalty Hightower in "The Fits"; Alex Hibbert and Ashton Sanders in "Moonlight"; Markees Christmas in "Morris From America"; and Ange Dargent and Theophile Baquet in the delightful French film "Microbe and Gasoline."

I laughed the most watching "Doris," the bruising dark comedy "The Bronze," the Coen brothers' "Hail, Caesar," the gals in "Absolutely Fabulous," the guys in "Keanu," and, improbably, Russell Crowe and Ryan Gosling in "The Nice Guys." I caught up on 2015 releases that stuck with me a long time, and demanded repeat viewings, including the moody "Dear John" and the hilarious "Fort Tilden." I cringed watching Pee-wee Herman and Christopher Guest struggle to relive past glories.

It's time to turn the page on 2016, not the best of years, but somehow a liberating one. Those Cubs exorcised a lot of childhood ghosts, so I could grow up and grow lighter. The death of Muhammad Ali removed a layer of shelter above, shook up the world, and left me in charge of the future. But first, this quick recap of the past:

THE TOP FIFTEEN


 1. A Bigger Splash -- We left the theater in a bubble of bliss after this one. Old loves, young flesh, gorgeous beaches and a heavyweight bout between Tilda Swinton and Ralph Fiennes.
 2. Certain Women -- Three somber tales, barely intertwined, from the year's Best Director, the American master Kelly Reichardt.
 3. Captain Fantastic -- Viggo Mortensen leads a great cast of kids in this funny and heart-wrenching story of a father proudly defending the decision to raise his children off the grid.
 4. Operation Avalanche -- Not a false note in this highly entertaining imagining of young CIA operatives (and Stanley Kubrick wannabes) faking the moon landing.  Including Best Screenplay by Matt Johnson and Josh Boles.
 5. Manchester by the Sea -- Funny, heartbreaking, real.
 6. Aquarius -- The ache of nostalgia for old love affairs permeates this gorgeous slow burn of a protest film, anchored by a defiant Sonia Braga.
 7. Hello, My Name Is Doris -- Sally Field is always a delight, and she delivers more than just easy gags as a senior citizen crushing on a young co-worker.
 8. The Bronze -- More than a guilty pleasure; a wonderfully vulgar character study of a bitter, priapicly pony-tailed ex-gymnast. A fully realized satire from sitcom actress Melissa Rauch ("The Big Bang Theory").
 9. Blue Jay -- A small 80-minute masterpiece about a onetime teen couple reconnecting back in their hometown after 20 years
10. Dheepan -- Jacques Audiard gets back on his game with this harrowing tale of immigrants coping in France.
11. 20th Century Women -- Certain men will feel this one sharply in the solar plexus. An eerie Reagan-eve reverie about three women -- played beautifully by Annette Bening, Greta Gerwig and Elle Fanning -- preparing a teenage boy for manhood.
12. Louder Than Bombs -- None of the performances are particularly compelling (even Isabelle Huppert is quite subdued), but this tale of a father and two sons adrift and struggling after the death of their wife/mother nags at you a long time.
13. Microbe and Gasoline -- A wholesome and charming return to form for Michel Gondry.
14. Weiner/13th -- Two documentaries bursting with life and ideas -- a fascinating, rollicking profile of the infuriating Anthony Weiner, and Ava Duvernay's sharp indictment of the criminal justice system.
15. L'Attesa -- For the first hour, I thought this was the best film of the year; I still feel guilty for liking this gorgeous, sad drama seen through the male gaze of an Italian stylist. Still conflicted.

BONUS TRACKS

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We got a huge kick out of the 2015 release, Fort Tilden, an insightful comedy about a pair of aimless 25-year-olds meandering around New York for a day. The cross between "Girls" and "Beavis and Butt-head" is infused with the natural chemistry of its stars, Bridey Elliott and Clare McNulty

Other little gems from 2015: The gut punch of "Uncle John," the creepiness of "Entertainment," the joy of Francois Ozon's "The New Girlfriend," the thrill of "Creed," and the arresting beauty of the documentary "Racing Extinction." And then there was the release of the restored 1960 noir gem "Private Property."


JUST MISSED THE LIST

(The honorables get a mention)



MORE TOP DOCS






TOP PERFORMANCES





IT'S NOT YOU, IT'S ME

(Good films where we just didn't fully click)





GUILTY PLEASURES




THE OVER-THE-HILL GANG




COMING ATTRACTIONS

(Haven't caught these yet)

  • Paterson
  • Fences
  • Elle
  • Things to Come
  • Toni Erdmann
  • I Am Not Your Negro
  • Cameraperson

Stay tuned for reports on those last seven movies once I catch up on them -- and plenty more -- as we churn into 2017 in earnest and in an altered state ...
  
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1 comment:

Tamara said...

Great, great list. I especially love the love for "Keanu" and "The Nice Guys" -- two films for which we had extremely low expectations. We came away with real glee. Did you see "Swiss Army Man"? I have mixed feelings about it overall, as it's mostly a flick about fart jokes, but the friendship and cinematography are so lovely.

February 2, 2017 at 11:28 AM

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