Being a part of the global clan of pathologic list-makers, I feel compelled to enumerate the better films I watched during the first six months of the year.
There were only two rules. First, that the film should have been released between January 1st and June 30th. And second that it must have pleased me, turned something on within me, made me glad for cinema.
So, without much additional fanfare here be them films:
12. PILLION (streaming on HBO Max and Hulu) That this film exists at all is some kind of a miracle. Plunging happily into places that commercial cinema would dare not venture into, I like this movie most of all for its gumption. This is not for the squeamish.
11. I SWEAR (available for digital rental): Biopics are a dime a dozen. But there is something truthful, and bare and honest about this coming of age story about a kid growing up rural Scotland with the emergency of Tourette’s within him, at a time when few knew about the condition. Ultimately the film is a plea to meet the unknown, the hostile even, with kindness and understanding
10. MOTHER MARY (available for digital rental): This latest from David Lowery is film that should not work at all, but it does. A famous pop star (Anne Hathaway) reaches out to her costume designer friend (Micaela Cole) in a moment of crisis, triggering a psychological duel between the two. If you are tired of homogenized recycled fare, then this is your salve.
9. THE BRIDE (streaming on HBO Max and Hulu): A polarizing film derided by most becomes all the more dear to its supporters and I am one of those. Maggie Gyllenhaal re-imagines the Bride of Frankenstein as not a background player in her own story but as someone with steely self-possession. Give me glorious ambition even when it may not fully work.
8. OBSESSION (in theaters, still) : One could uncharitably reduce this film to a nominal horror-film but the script uses the premise – a man wishing that his secret crush loves him over anyone else in the world comes to realize the perils of his wish come horribly true – to comment on so much about the state of the world right now.
7. THE FURIOUS (available for digital rental): The best action film to get projected on a movie screen since THE RAID. Period. Come to be wowed beyond your dreams.
6. THE SHEEP DETECTIVES (streaming on Amazon Prime): I’d read the book this is based on, but even so hadn’t fully prepared for the joy, the delightful goofiness, and the wonderfully astute philosophical musings that can come from a film adaptation done gloriously right. Yes, this is about talking sheep trying to solve the murder of their flock shepherd. But it is so, so much more.
5. PROJECT HAIL MARY (streaming on Amazon Prime): A man (Ryan Gosling) wakes up as the only living person on an adrift spaceship; he has no memory and has to figure out his way back to planet Earth. Based on the Andy Weir novel and directed with impossible verve by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, this film accomplishes a funny, heartfelt journey to the screen of a book many had considered unfilmable.
4. ALL THAT’S LEFT OF YOU (available for digital rental). A searing, multi-generational saga of the burden of war, this film left me deeply rattled. Like the best international films, this film takes the experiences of a few to hum with universal truths. A beautifully realized film about the price of generational scars.
3. SEND HELP (streaming on Hulu): Celebrate all for Sam Raimi is back to regale us with his singular wit and outsized moviemaking skills. A smart but frumpy woman (Rachel McAdams) working in a company recently taken over by a loutish, unqualified man (Dylan O’Brien) sees their power dynamics change dramatically when they are the only two survivors from a plane has crashed into a remote island. Broad, unrelenting, and smart, this is a gem of a film.
2. THE DRAMA (available for digital rental): What can you find out about the person you are about to marry that may make you question walking down that aisle. A simple premise, with able leads in Zendaya and Robin Pattinson, this crackerjack script will lead viewers to endless what-would-you-do debates. No one will come out of this film without strong reactions. And isn’t that why we go to the movies.
1. THE INVITE (in theaters): The only film this year I watched a second time in the theaters to make sure I hadn’t been too liberal with my admiration upon first watch. Confirmed, this script is firing on all cylinders with some of the best acting of the year. And with assured direction by Olivia Wilde, this lithe film set almost entirely in a single apartment delivers on laughter (both the guffawing and the nervous kind), insight, and so much empathy. I irrationally love this film.
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