“I Lost My Body”
An existential mystery about a severed hand originally screened at Cannes and wound up getting a Best Animated Feature Oscar nod. French director Jérémy Clapin’s film is an adult-oriented and boldly original movie that uses flashbacks to slowly reveal the reasons why its main character ends up in a tragic accident where his hand gets severed. The hand ends up becoming a character of its own. Disembodied, it escapes from a medical lab’s refrigerator and spends the rest of the movie desperately trying to reunite with its owner. It’s much more touching than it sounds. Only the french can pull something like this off with the kind of bravado and sensuality needed.
“Tramps”
Adam Leon’s “Tramps” was a buried indie treasure stacked inside the 2016 TIFF lineup, only to then get even more buried by a barely promoted Netflix pickup and release. Leon’s first film, Gimme the Loot,” was part of the Cannes Un Certain Regard selection in 2012 and the writer-director has built a cult following in France, whereas in the U.S. he is still relatively unknown. That could potentially change in the coming years as more and more people stumble upon “Tramps,” a romance about two young criminals, on their Netflix account. It has to happen, Leon is a major talent waiting to spring.
“The Kindergarten Teacher”
Sara Colangelo’s remake of the Israeli film “The Kindergarten Teacher” is a fascinating character study that features an awards-worthy lead performance. Maggie Gyllenhaal is a Staten Island early-childhood educator who starts obsessing over a gifted student, which leads to problems too good to reveal in this capsule. Sara Colangelo’s American remake of the similarly-titled Israeli drama maintains its own unique identity. However, the movie belongs to Gyllenhaal, who keeps playing with our heads throughout the film. The fact that she maintains the sympathetic nature of her character makes this brilliant film all the more mysterious.
“I Don’t Feel at Home in this World Anymore”
Actor-turned-director Macon Blair takes quite a bit from his pal Jeremy Saulnier’s visceral style of filmmaking for his feature directing debut. Melanie Lynskey and Elijah Wood make a formidable team in this tale set in a generation that is further dissolving into complete and utter narcissism. Her character’s home is broken into and her personal belongings, including stuff her grandma gave her before she passed, stolen. Wood is the weirdo neighbor she teams up with to find the “asshole” that committed the crime. Engrossing, comic, frightening, isolated, and filled with dread, the film is a brilliant dissection of the current state in America. Blair is clearly influenced by David Lynch’s “Blue Velvet,” which depicted a dark underbelly of Americana that this film seems to embrace wholeheartedly.
“Jim and Andy”
Back in 1999, Jim Carrey was chosen to play Andy Kaufman in the major Hollywood biopic, “Man on the Moon.” This doc is built around 20 hours of camcorder footage of Carrey on the set. You thank the cinematic heavens it was placed in a vault by Universal Pictures because this extraordinary doc captures the ordeals that come in an artist finding his or herself through extreme measures. It turns out, during the shoot of the film, Carey never left character, he was always Andy Kaufman, whether the camera was shooting or not, much to the chagrin, and tolerance, of the cast/crew.
“Paddleton”
The fact that Alex Lehmann’s film concerns two friends, one of which has just been told he’s dying of cancer, could make you run scared from the sob-fest that is about to happen, but “Paddleton” isn’t a “Love Story” or a “Terms of Endearment,” rather it’s a film that is incredibly light on its feet with humor and heartbreak. Michael (Mark Duplass) is terminally ill, but decides that he wants to end his life on his own terms before the inevitable suffering begins. That means no chemo, no sick pills, just a medically legal suicide. He needs upstairs neighbor and best friend Andy (Ray Romano) to help him out, these guys are inseparable, chilling at the apartment by watching old kung-fu movies, or playing paddleton outdoors, a game they invented which involves a paddle and hitting a ball against a factory wall. The mix of comedy and drama is well-mixed and the payoff is beautifully rendered.
“Cam”
Daniel Goldhaber‘s film felt like a great, un-aired episode of Netflix’s acclaimed anthology series “Black Mirror.” Set against the backdrop of online sex work, “Cam” grips you and doesn’t let go from its very opening scene, as you are thrust into the world of young women who host sexually explicit shows online. More specifically, Goldhaber is interested in the psyche of Alice, the intriguing lead character, whose identity, which she has meticulously built up over the years, is threatened by an outside force. The result is a mysterious dive into the unknown, a dreamy and surreal take on social networking that will make you think twice about not just webcamming, but what someone’s identity, might really mean online.
“Win it All”
“Win It All” is a worthy new addition to Joe Swanberg cannon. It is a straightforward character study about a compulsive gambler (Jake Johnson) trying to get his life back on track. The film features not only the best performance Johnson has ever given, but more proof that Swanberg, who usually uses a ton of improv in his movies, can even make solid indie movies that rely more on the scripted than on-the-spot creative thinking. Unlike their last two films, Johnson and Swanberg knew what story they wanted to tell, and used a three-act structure that was highly influenced by the maverick Hollywood cinema of the 1970s. The influence of Robert Altman’s “California Split” is all over this movie.
“Triple Frontier”
Former elite soldiers go on an Expendables-like heist in J.C. Chandor’s (“All Is Lost,” “A Most Violent Year”) indelibly exciting and pulse-pounding film. Written by journalist turned screenwriter Mark Boal of “The Hurt Locker” and “Zero Dark Thirty” fame, Oscar Isaac’s Santiago reconnects with his former Special Ops buddies hoping they will join him on a high-paying, very illegal legal operation in South America, the film eventually turns into a cautionary tale about greed, very much akin to past classics “Treasure of the Sierra Madre” and “Wages of Fear.” It’s an epic and visceral adventure, the kind of action movie that feels like it is part of a bygone Hollywood era, one in which smartly-delivered action spectacles used to be the norm.
“The Polka King”
In 2004, a Polish immigrant by the name of Jan Lewan was arrested for being the mastermind behind a multi-million dollar Ponzi scheme. His was a story so bizarre that someone thought it was a good idea to cast Jack Black as Lewan in a film version. The result is a masterstroke of casting. The dubious comedian/musician sinks his chops into the role of the unusually always joyous Lewan. There’s backstabbing, murder, money-laundering and, did I mention, polka? Jenny Slate is great as Jan’s homegrown beauty-queen wife and Jason Schwartzman hilariously deadpan as the right-hand man. It’s all as outrageous as it sounds, but it works, boy oh boy does it ever gloriously work. It plays almost as a spiritual sequel to Black/Linklater’s “Bernie”
“Private Life”
Tamara Jenkins’ film gets the details right. It zeroes in on a married couple (played by Katherine Hahn and Paul Giamatti) coping with a neverending infertility struggle and the collapse of their marriage, as they navigate through the world of adoption and assisted reproduction. It features indelibly pertinent performances from Hahn, Giamatti, and newcomer Kayli Carter, the latter plays the married couple’s niece who agrees to be their egg donor. The New York City apartment all three share in the film, as they navigate in and out going to endless doctor’s appointments, feels very much like a character of its own. It’s in this closed claustrophobic atmosphere that the film manages to squeeze out the inner-kept emotional trauma of the characters.
“Horse Girl”
Written by Baena, “Horse Girl” stars Alison Brie as Sarah, an arts and crafts store employee who may be slowly, but surely losing her own grasp of reality. Brie delivers some of her finest work as the complex, fragile, and, potentially, delusional Sarah. In the first few minutes, you wouldn’t think Sarah is just a mere brain switch away from the looney bin. The deceptively simple way that Baena builds up his movie could have you thinking it’ll be another observational low-key, character-driven indie, but that, “Horse Girl” isn’t.
“Before I Wake”
Usually, the term YA (Young Adult) gets a bad rap from filmgoers, but “Before I Fall” draws on various film influences and makes them seem fresh. Based on Lauren Oliver’s book of the same name, “Before I Fall” tells the story of Samantha Kingston (Zoey Deutch), a popular and beautiful high-school girl completely oblivious to the good fortunes she has in her life. It all comes crashing down on February 12th, which happens to be her last day on earth. The fact that she is stuck reliving that day over and over again makes Sam reassess every single person in her life. It sounds like a cliché-filled romp waiting to happen, but Russo-Young and her DP Michael Fimognari conjure up a world of dread, where nothing is as it seems and everything starts to happen unexpectedly.
“Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil, and Vile”
A Ted Bundy biopic. In “Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil, and Vile,” director Joe Berlinger decides to turn his camera towards the “charismatic killer” and the way evil can easily be shaded by charm. This is a character study about a charming and intelligent guy who exhibited kindness to women and children alike but also happened to be a murderer. Who else but Zac Efron to play Bundy, an actor known for his rugged good looks, nice-guy persona, and overall chill demeanor. It’s a stroke of perceptively brilliant casting.”
“Apostle”
Gareth Evans delivers another one of his ultra-violent bloodthirsty feasts. Following Dan Stevens’ escapade to rescue his kidnapped sister, he finds himself embroiled in the dealings of a mysterious cult on an isolated island, led by (the ultra-scary) Michael Sheen.
“Hold the Dark”
If you haven’t seen any films by filmmaker Jeremy Saulnier(“Green Room” “Blue Ruin”), then you’re missing out. He’s one of the very best up-and-coming directors around. Saulnier’s latest venture into the dark abyss, “Hold the Dark,” follows a wolf expert that travels to a small Alaskan village to investigate the disappearances of three children, who may or may not have been killed by wolves. The retired naturalist and wolf expert, Russell Cole, is played Jeffrey Wright as he journeys to the very edge of civilization to find answers. Medora Slone (Riley Keough), a young mother whose son was one of three children killed by a pack of wolves, has called for his help. Saulnier continues his knack for visceral violence, you feel every gunshot wound, every stabbing of the knife, every punch, with the director inserting a kind of magical surrealism into the world being created.
“To the Bone”
A young woman, dealing with anorexia, meets an unconventional doctor who challenges her to face her condition and embrace life. In this warm character study, the journey is the destination as our protagonist’s healing experience is handled with care and personal touches by writer-director Marti Noxon. It’s the kind of empathetic work that could have easily veered into Lifetime-esque tropes but is filled with humanity, humor, and deep-rooted experience in the subject matter. Noxon’s early-life experience with an eating disorder has shaped her debut into one of the most personally conceived ones in quite some time. It helps that she ends up getting top-notch performances out of Lily Collins and Keanu Reeves. Contribute Hire me
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