2. “The Irishman”
After watching Martin Scorsese’s “The Irishman” at its New York City premiere, I knew how immense the whole thing was. I knew what I had witnessed was some-kind-of masterpiece. And yet, it felt cold and distant, a sort of eulogy to a bygone era. I now know that my initial emotional impressions were actually just confirming what the film was about. It’s titular protagonist, Frank Sheeran (Robert De Niro), is a depressing and underwhelming person who is undeserving of hoopla or admiration and who deserves unadorned grievous dismissal. At its climax, some cracks in his inhumanity finally threaten the psychopathic rationale he’s been carrying with him for close to four decades — however, it is too little too late for Sheeran. He’s left in his geriatric home, waiting for the Devil to claim his soul and drag his pathetic ass straight to Hell.
3. “Roma”
After the technological breakthrough of “Gravity,” Alfonso Cuaron decided to bring his camera back to his native country of Mexico to shoot a near-plotless black and white ode to the maid who raised him and his siblings. Yalitza Aparicio stars as Cleo, the woman who raised Cuaron back in the ’70s and who became a central part of his childhood, especially after his father abandoned the family for a mistress and his mother Sofia went into depression. The film is seen through the eyes of Sofia, as she navigates a Mexico stuffed with social unrest, and there are scenes that stay etched in your memory; that is what “Roma” is about, memory. It’s not interested in narrative constraints that come with a feature-length film, as much as by immaculately detailed moments, whether it’s an incredible reenactment of the 1971 Corpus Christi riots, pulse-pounding waves threatening children at sea, an earthquake in a hospital with rubble landing atop a baby’s bin, or an excruciating birth scene.
4. “Marriage story”
Featuring two of the best Performances seen in any Netflix original, this touching, compassionate study of a marriage breaking apart features career best turns from Scarlett Johansson and Adam Driver. The pair, along with Noah Baumbach’s screenplay will shatter you into a million pieces, put you back together, then shatter you again, all in one scene. Baumbach’s keen eye for the way people talk and act has always been there. No surprise then that his wise script is filled with his own unique brand of cinematic DNA, which has always been heavily-inspired by Woody Allen’s incisive New York dramedies. The intimate 35mm camerawork courtesy of Robbie Ryan is aided by a vast array of incredible performances throughout. It’s not just Driver and Johansson, but also Laura Dern, Alan Alda, and Ray Liotta who are all excellent in this. 5. “Mudbound” Dee Rees’ nuanced and layered look at post war racism in rural Mississippi garnered four Oscar nominations, including best supporting actress for Mary J Blige, while the films beautiful aesthetics saw Rachel Morrison become the first woman ever to be nominated for best cinematography. Jason Mitchell (“Straight Outta Compton”) and Carey Mulligan (“Promising Young Woman”) also shine here for a still underseen gem.
6. “Icarus”
“Icarus” is about an elaborate doping scheme involving the Russian government and its athletes. Many are crediting its director Bryan Fogel for stumbling onto the international scandal, while making the film, leading to the IOC banning Russia. The scandal was uncovered by accident by Fogel, who was following a Russian scientist for a doping documentary, but found out he had a much bigger story at hand. This is the kind of film where a twist happens in almost every frame and where a documentary filmmaker seems to have stumbled upon a goldmine of a narrative.
7. “The White Tiger”
“The White Tiger,” is the engrossing screen adaptation of Aravind Adiga’s bestselling novel about the rich and poor in modern India. This is a tale narrated by a Hindu driver for the rich, Balram (Adarsh Gourav), who recounts his own rags-to-riches story, tracing his start as a work slave in an impoverished town to being a major wheeler and dealer in the Indian crime world. The story of “The White Tiger” spans three decades and a merciless amount of plot strands. Clocking in at an ambitious 130 minutes in length and , aided by DP Paolo Carnera’s luscious colors, creating an immersive world filled with machiavellian allure.
8. “Happy as Lazzaro”
Alice Rohrwacher’s hypnotic, surreal and sensual “Happy As Lazzaro,” which won the Best Screenplay prize at Cannes, has moody atmosphere delivered through the mysteriously dreamy ambiguity of the narrative. The film, a sort of hybrid of Pasolini and Bresson, is a scathing indictment of the social problems in Italy as seen through the eyes of a — let’s be clear here — dim-witted Dostoyevskyan protagonist, a simple peasant returning to his life 20 years after his death. It takes a major detour in its second half, one which I will not reveal, but that’s when the film really gets going and becomes damn-near Bressonian.
9. “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.
10. “Da 5 Bloods”
Spike Lee, always the political firecracker, infused his latest film with snap-a-minute political undertones. Rewatching it has given form for a total reevaluation of Lee’s 24th feature-film. Instead of pointing out the flaws, I embraced them, just like I did with many of his great movies in the ’80s and ’90s. With Lee, you have to accept that any of his films won’t be perfect — there’s a messy passion that comes in all of them, including this one. In ‘Bloods,’ which clocks in at an epic 2 hours and 40 minutes, he splatters the screen with ambition as four emotionally damaged African-American vets return to Vietnam to recover the body of their fallen brother and to dig up the gold bars they buried during combat back in the day. Delroy Lindo is superb here as the MAGA-hat wearing ‘Blood,’ who seems to be partly-inspired and partly-hommaged by Humphrey Bogart’s Dobbs in “Treasure of the Sierra Madre.”
11. “The Ballad of Buster Scruggs”
With it now being well over two years since we had a new Coen brothers’ picture, their last effort just happens to be one of Netflix’s finest. Six tales of violence and mystery from the Old West, each dripping in Coen-ness and each engaging in their own way. Look out for Tim Blake Nelson and Zoe Kazan as standouts.
12. “Pieces of a Woman”
For 128 minutes, Vanessa Kirby has you hooked to her every move in Kornel Mundruczo’s film. As Martha, a high-powered executive who loses her child during a harrowing home birth, Kirby mesmerizes by showcasing the human frailty and devastation that happens when tragedy comes knocking at her door. Her acting tour-de-force reminded me of Gena Rowlands’ masterful work in John Cassavetes’ 1974 classic, “Woman Under the Influence.” Shot in one long 23-minute continuous take, the opening scene is a harrowing one to watch and sets up the stakes for the rest of the film, which flows magnificently well thanks to Mundruczo firm grasp of his narrative — his work here is a directorial high-wire act of the highest order.
13. “Dolemite is my Name”
Eddie Murphy’s portrayal of comedy, and rap pioneer Rudy Ray Moore, had many calling for this comeback to take him all the way to the Oscars. A joyful, vibrant celebration of black creativity and a film well worth donating two hours of your time to. “Dolemite is my Name” is also immensely funny, a hoot and a holler about a black man living in whitey America yearning to make a name for himself. Call this the blaxploitation version of “Ed Wood,” filled with the same deft comic touch.
14. “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.
15. “Beasts of No Nation”
Cary Fukunaga (“True Detective”) brought UzodinmaIweala’s novel to the screen for the film that was one of the streamers first big critical hits. Featuring a bold and frightening performance from Idris Elba, the films true star was child actor Abraham Attah as child soldier Agu. Well worth a first-time watch, or a revisit.
16. “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.
17. “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.
18. “13th”
Ava DuVernay’s shattering doc is an in-depth look at the U.S. incarceration system and specifically its targeting of African-Americans. A minority population pummeled, quite literally, for the better part of 150 years or, more precisely, after the signing of the 13th amendment to abolish slavery. DuVernay’s take-no-prisoners attitude as a filmmaker is the perfect match for a film that is sadly a very resonant record of our times. An indictment of a failed and corrupt amendment. This is where the term “systematic racism” derived from.
19. ”The Square”
Here is an essential documentary about the “Arab Spring”. Taking you from the very beginning of the 2011 Egyptian Revolution, which then leaked through the neighboring countries in the middle east, toppling leaders and regimes, as protestors risked their lives to build a new society of conscience. This earth shattering film stands as a valuable document of a historic time in the world, fueled by the desire to amass via social media, and one which, whether the viewer wants to believe it or not, could occur in just about any country
20. “The Trial of the Chicago 7”
Unmistakably Aaron Sorkin. “The Social Network” writer’s second film behind the camera is, if anything, complete immersion. A theatrical and compelling look at the uprising during the 1968 Democratic National Convention. Standout performances from Yahya Abdul-Mateen II and Sasha Baron-Cohen front a film that’s events and message resonate even louder in current times.
21. “Annihilation”
“Ex Machina” writer-director Alex Garland teamed up with Natalie Portman, Tessa Thompson, and Oscar Isaac amongst others for this mysterious, trippy, atmospheric expedition into a world where the laws of nature do not apply. Puzzling, compelling, and one that’s lingering questions stay with you long after you’ve finished watching it, and even after multiple re-watches.
22. “Okja”
Before “Parasite” Bong Joon Ho brought us this tale full of energy, passion, and warmth as young Mija fought to keep her best friend safe from the clutches of corporate evil. Bong is a visionary. What matters is the bond between Mija and Okja, which feels genuine and is the heart and soul of the movie. Also, the action sequences he stages don’t disappoint, filled with colors and a chaotic poppy punch. If that’s not enough, the film also features excellent turns from Paul Dano, Tilda Swinton, and Jake Gyllenhaal, the latter certifiably insane Dr. Johnny Wilcox, the host of an animal show that seems to be in panic mode due to a rating decline and sees Okja as his last great hope. You can tell Gyllenhaal was pumped for the role, which has him in short-shorts, a creepy mustache, some of the worst hair imaginable, and a cartoonish demeanor. It’s all damn-near over the top, but it works as you always look forward to his next on-screen appearance.
23. “The Two Popes”
This one is all about two acting legends. Anthony Hopkins as Pope Benedict XVI and Jonathan Pryce as his successor Pope Francis. The two engage in a verbal battle of religion, outlook, faith, and the future of the Catholic Church. Surprisingly funny in a lot of places, Fernando Meirelles’ direction adds a lot to Anthony McCarten’s Oscar-nominated script.
24. “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.
25. “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”
One of the more recent entries, And one sadly laden in tragedy. But with Chadwick Boseman’s final performance (now there forever to be reveled at on Netflix) came what is simply a masterclass in acting. His raw talent shines through like never before, every time he dances, moves, or breaks off into a gut-wrenching monologue you’re hanging off his every word. Viola Davis also shines as Mother of the Blues Ma Rainey, but this is Boseman’s hour, a swan song of passion and fire.
26. “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.
27. “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.
28. “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.
29. “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.
30. “Girl”
“From its very first moments, the beautifully controlled and artful “Girl” — the feature debut of young Belgian director Lukas Dhont — grips and takes hold. This deeply emphatic portrayal of a trans teen has an expressive camera that observes and listens, rather than forces you to succumb to emotions. The trajectory of the story’s protagonist, Lara, who is determined to become a ballet dancer despite feeling trapped in a body she doesn’t recognize, sounds a little exploitative on paper, but the end result is quite the opposite. Sensitively rendered cinema with a capital C, “Girl” features a lovely naturalism and attention to detail so delicately constructed characters feel like full flesh and blood.”
31. “The Meyerowitz Stories”
Before “Marriage Story” Noah Baumbach delivered one of his patented family dramas which if it wasn’t for “Uncut Gems” and “Punch Drunk Love,” would feature a career-best from Adam Sandler. This is first and foremost a story about family. It reminds you of “The Royal Tenenbaums” but done in a less controlled manner, with a more freewheelin’ spirit. The reunion of three estranged siblings, played by Sandler, Ben Stiller and Elizabeth Marvel, when their father Harvey (Dustin Hoffman) is victim of a stroke.
32. “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”
33. “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.
34. “El Camino”
This may not have been what some “Breaking Bad” fans expected, but it was never supposed to play like another episode of ‘Bad.’ What “El Camino” actually purports to be is a redemptive epilogue for Jesse Pinkman (indelibly played by Aaron Paul). Gilligan wanted to finish this story because not only was he infatuated with the New Mexican crime world he had created more than a decade ago, but, more importantly, because he believed Pinkman deserved his fate to be known. Gilligan manages to make a suspenseful, well-acted, moving, superbly shot and edited movie out of “El Camino”.
35. “American Factory”
This insightful doc focuses on the working-class Ohio town and the opening of a Chinese-owned auto-glass company that took over a GM plant that shut down. The factory is mixed with Chinese-born and American workers. The Chinese, who moved to Dayton for the company, are so used to working 12 hours a day, sometimes 7 days a week that they barely see their children more than a few times a year; whereas their American counterparts, work eight hours a day, 5 days a week. The Chinese bosses demand better and faster work from their American employees, but then work-related injuries start to pile up. To make matters worse, those who cannot keep up with the almost robotic-like Chinese work ethic get fired.
36. “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.
37. “The Laundromat”
The infamous Panama Papers are tackled by wizard director Steven Soderbergh in “The Laundromat,” a sprawling, multi-layered account of what exactly was exposed. Frequent Soderbergh collaborator Scott Z. Burns adapts Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist Jake Bernstein’s Secrecy World with the help of stalwart acting from Meryl Streep, Gary Oldman, Jeffrey Wright, and Antonio Banderas. The end result is a knotty but entertaining economics lesson, with the kind of risk-taking and playful storytelling that keeps our attention glued to the screen throughout an information-stacked 95 minutes. Oh, and Streep plays more than one character. That’s all I’ll say.
38. “The Devil All the Time”
Director Antonio Campos’ “The Devil All The Time”, a sprawling mosaic of religion, family, and DNA, is what one could describe as an “Appalachian noir.” It’s a tale filled with gougers, murderers, and losers — nobody wins in Campos’ weighty film and, set in an America on the brink of change, maybe that’s the point. Filled with more than a dozen characters, and slipping easily into the Southern Gothic realm, this is the kind of story that the late-great Jim Thompson may have written a long time ago. There are no subtleties here, just the message that religious hypocrisy lives on in America and that, no matter how hard you try, you can’t escape the DNA you are dealt with, the genetic coding that remains in your blood, from generation to generation
39. “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.
40. “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.”
41. “Fyre”
The term “clusterfuck” was invented for use when events such as the misbegotten Fyre Festival happen. Fyre was the brainchild of Billy McFarland and rapper Ja Rule. The thing about Chris Smith’s film doc is that you know how it’s going to end, so the lure of the doc is the how-they-got-there. There is no real mystery to it. It all ended in a surreal shitshow of hypocrisy and delirious money-grabbing chutzpah. However, it turns out that “Fyre” is a valuable document because it tries to recount every single blunder, step-by-step, which led to festival-goers being stranded on a grimy deserted island, with no food, no water and barely any shelter.
42. “High Flying Bird”
Far from just a sporting drama, Genre hopping king Steven Soderbergh brought us this slick flick set during a Pro Basketball Lockout. Andre Holland is superb as trailblazing agent Ray Burke. Soderbergh, adapting a screenplay written by playwright Tarell Alvin McCraney (he wrote the source material for Moonlight), shot “High Flying Bird” with an iPhone and even photographed it as its cinematographer under the pseudonym Peter Andrews.
43. “Mank”
Davis Fincher’s latest film and first since “Gone Girl” may well be his least accessible. Gary Oldman transforms into Citizen Kane screenwriter Herman Mankiewicz, but it’s Amanda Seyfried who steals the show as Marion Davies, with a performance so good it’s as if she belonged back in Hollywood’s golden age. Not as compelling as most would have hoped and I can see how people (including myself) could’ve been underwhelmed.
44. “Atlantics”
Mati Diop’s imaginative, genre subverting first feature, is a lot to take in at times, but when it’s on it is on, and Mama Sane’s lead performance is enough to keep you engaged and at points, dazzled. This is haunting cinema, which justifiably won the Grand Jury Prize at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival. We can’t wait to see what Diop does next.
45. “i’m thinking of ending things”
Writer/director Charlie Kauffman (“Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind”) creates a world studying regret, mourning, and loss, as Jessie Buckley (“Wild Rose”) stars as a young woman on a journey of self-reflection and discovery. This latest pseudo-intelctual jaunt from Kaufman can be seen as a sort of companion piece to his 2008 film ‘Synecdoche, New York’ but whether that’s a good or bad thing will depend entirely on the viewer. This is another formally daring, whimsical, and glacially-paced film from Kaufman. The passion behind this latest jaunt into the meta abyss feels, at times, too elusive for its own good, and this despite the excellent turns from its actors. A definite slow burn designed to make you think.
46. “The Other Side of the Wind”
Technically in production for nearly 50 years, this film within a film, and mockumentary style experimental project was reconstructed by producer Frank Marshall in 2014. Worth a watch simply to see the achievement of finally getting what would have been Orson Welles Hollywood comeback onto the screen.
47. “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.
48. “The Old Guard”
Netflix may well have found an action franchise with this Charlize Theron and Kiki Lane led tale of immortals. Slick action sequences, and heroes you absolutely want to spend more time with. I just hope their commitment to the Russo brother’s “The Grey Man” doesn’t put pay to a sequel that most would love to see, especially if Gina Prince-Bythewood back in the director’s chair.
49.. “Extraction”
One of Netflix’s most-watched of 2020. A full-on popcorn action flick that will leave the sound of bullets ringing in your ears and manages (just about) not to veer into the realm of Michael Bay. But the biggest reason to watch this is one thing and one thing only. Chris Hemsworth plays a mercenary called ‘Tyler Rake’ who at one point kills a man… with a Rake. Is that not what Cinema is all about?
50. Eurovision
Will Ferrell, for the first time in his career, plays a musician, and no, his angelic vocal performance in “Step Brothers” does not count. Directed by David Dobkin (“Wedding Crashers”), this zany comedy is the kind of sentimental feel-goodery we will gladly accept during these locked-down days of COVID. In a nutshell, this ridiculous comedy is about two small-town Icelandic singers (Ferrell and Rachel MacAdams) as they chase their pop star dreams at a famous European global music competition. It features a terrific, genuinely affecting performance by McAdams, who all but outshines her co-star in a role that’s filled with heart. Contribute Hire me
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