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I’m Baaaaaack….and Here’s My Top 50 of the Decade

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Hello all! It’s been nigh on four years since I last dropped some knowledge on you here at Reel News Daily. I went off and got a Master’s degree, new job and all that, but have still been rocking films from all over the world. I’m happy to be back in the fold here at Reel News Daily and look forward to contributing more this year. Don’t you feel lucky?

So, I figured my phoenix rising from the ashes post should be something that might start a little conversation – my Top 50 films of the last decade. There were so many great films to choose from, which made this list very difficult. After two days of whittling it down and moving films around, I feel confident with what I decided on. I’m sure I missed a few of your favorites, but this is my list so you’ll just have to deal with it.

Here we go:

50) Shoplifters (2018) dir. by Hirokazu Koreeda
49) Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018) dir. by Bob Perischetti, Peter Ramsey & Rodney Rothman
48) Gone Girl (2014) dir. by David Fincher
47) A Hidden Life (2019) dir. by Terrence Malick
46) Annihilation (2018) dir. by Alex Garland
45) Under the Skin (2013) dir. by Jonathan Glazer
44) Her (2013) dir. by Spike Jonze
43) The Favourite (2018) dir. by Yorgos Lanthimos
42) Take Shelter (2011) dir. by Jeff Nichols
41) Leviathan (2012) dir. by Lucien Castaing-Taylor & Verena Paravel
40) Upstream Color (2013) dir. by Shane Carruth
39) Death of Stalin (2017) dir. by Armando Iannucci
38) Columbus (2017) dir. Kogonada
37) Holy Motors (2012) dir. by Leos Carax
36) Shame (2011) dir. by Steve McQueen
35) Scott Pilgrim Vs. the World (2010) dir. by Edgar Wright
34) Midnight in Paris (2011) dir. by Woody Allen
33) Stories We Tell (2012) dir. by Sarah Polley
32) Cold War (2018) dir. by Pawel Pawlikowski
31) Mad Max: Fury Road (2015) dir. by George Miller
30) Inside Llewyn Davis (2013) dir. by Ethan & Joel Coen
29) The Look of Silence (2015) dir. by Joshua Oppenheimer
28) We Need to Talk About Kevin (2011) dir. by Lynne Ramsay
27) BlacKkKlansman (2018) dir. by Spike Lee
26) First Reformed (2017) dir. by Paul Schrader
25) Carol (2015) dir. by Todd Haynes
24) Winter’s Bone (2010) dir. by Debra Granik
23) Citizenfour (2014) dir. by Laura Poitras
22) Animal Kingdom (2010) dir. by David Michôd
21) A Separation (2011) dir. by Asgar Farhadi
20) Meek’s Cutoff (2010) dir. by Kelly Reichardt
19) La La Land (2016) dir. by Damien Chazelle
18) Phantom Thread (2018) dir. by Paul Thomas Anderson
17) The Lobster (2015) dir. by Yorgos Lanthimos
16) Calvary (2014) dir. by John Michael McDonagh
15) Best of Enemies: Buckley Vs. Vidal (2015) dir. by Robert Morgan & Morgan Neville
14) Looper (2012) dir. by Rian Johnson
13) Frances Ha (2013) dir. by Noah Baumbach
12) Beasts of the Southern Wild (2012) dir. by Benh Zeitlin
11) Lady Bird (2018) dir. by Greta Gerwig
10) A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night (2014) dir. by Ana Lily Amirpour
9) Moonlight (2016) dir. by Barry Jenkins
8) Only Lovers Left Alive (2013) dir. by Jim Jarmusch
7) Zero Dark Thirty (2012) dir. by Kathryn Bigelow
6) The Tree of Life (2014) dir. by Terrence Malick
5) You Were Never Really Here (2017) dir. by Lynne Ramsay
4) Ex Machina (2014) dir. by Alex Garland
3) Melancholia (2011) dir. by Lars Von Trier
2) The Act of Killing (2012) dir. by Joshua Oppenheimer

1) The Master (2012) dir. by Paul Thomas Anderson

So there you have it. It was a tough job, but I was happy to do it. Here are a few that nearly made the list: Everybody Wants Some!! (underrated Richard Linklater that more people should watch), Tomas Alfredson’s slow burn spy thriller Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and Paul Thomas Anderson’s hippie noir adaptation of Thomas Pynchon’s Inherent Vice. Admittedly, it was hard to weave many of the films from 2019 into the list as they’ll need to sit me a longer. I will say that Bong Joon Ho’s Parasite and Noah Baumbach’s Marriage Story nearly edged their way on.

Here’s to hoping that the next ten years brings as many great films as the last ten have.

8 New York Film Festival films you can see this year & 3 are coming to Netflix!

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Private Life
WILDLIFE, image credit_ Courtesy of IFC Films
BURNING, image credit_ Well Go USA Entertainment, still 2
AT ETERNITY'S GATE, image credit_ Lily Gavin
THE BALLAD OF BUSTER SCRUGGS
SHOPLIFTERS, Photo courtesy of Magnolia Pictures
THE FAVOURITE, image credit_ Yorgos Lanthimos (Emma Stone)
ROMA, courtesy of Carlos Somonte _ NETFLIX

The festival is officially over, but you’ll be able to see a few of the selections very soon!

Private Life
Country: USA
In Tamara Jenkins’s first film in ten years, Kathryn Hahn and Paul Giamatti are achingly real as Rachel and Richard, a middle-aged New York couple caught in the desperation, frustration, and exhaustion of trying to have a child, whether by fertility treatments or adoption or surrogate motherhood. They find a willing partner in Sadie (the formidable Kayli Carter), Richard’s niece by marriage, who happily agrees to donate her eggs, and the three of them build their own little outcast family in the process. Private Life is a wonder, by turns hilarious and harrowing (sometimes at once), and a very carefully observed portrait of middle-class Bohemian Manhattanites. With John Carroll Lynch and Molly Shannon.
Distributed by: Netflix WATCH NOW

Wildlife
Country: USA
In the impressive directorial debut from actor Paul Dano (There Will Be Blood), a carefully wrought adaptation of Richard Ford’s 1990 novel, a family comes apart one loosely stitched seam at a time. We are in the lonely expanses of the American west in the mid-’60s. An affable man (Jake Gyllenhaal), down on his luck, runs off to fight the wildfires raging in the mountains. His wife (Carey Mulligan) strikes out blindly in search of security and finds herself running amok. It is left to their young adolescent son Joe (Ed Oxenbould) to hold the center. Co-written by Zoe Kazan, Wildlife is made with a sensitivity and at a level of craft that are increasingly rare in movies.
Cannes Film Festival, Sundance Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival
Awards: Golden Camera – Cannes Film Festival (Nominee), Grand Jury Prize – Sundance Film Festival (Nominee), People’s Choice Award – Toronto International Film Festival (Nominee)
Distributed by: IFC Films 10/19/2018

Melissa says: I’ll see anything with Paul Dano because he always brings incredible sincerity to his characters. I’m very curious to see how that sincerity translates behind the camera.

Burning
Country: South Korea
Expanded from Haruki Murakami’s short story “Barn Burning,” the sixth feature from Korean master Lee Chang-dong, known best in the U.S. for such searing, emotional dramas as Secret Sunshine (NYFF45) and Poetry (NYFF48), begins by tracing a romantic triangle of sorts: Jongsu (Yoo Ah-in), an aspiring writer, becomes involved with a woman he knew from childhood, Haemi (Jun Jong-seo), who is about to embark on a trip to Africa. She returns some weeks later with a fellow Korean, the Gatsby-esque Ben (Steven Yeun), who has a mysterious source of income and a very unusual hobby. A tense, haunting multiple-character study, the film accumulates a series of unanswered questions and unspoken motivations to conjure a totalizing mood of uncertainty and quietly bends the contours of the thriller genre to brilliant effect.
Cannes Film Festival, Munich Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival
Awards: FIPRESCI Prize – Cannes Film Festival (Winner), Vulcain Prize for the Technical Artist – Cannes Film Festival (Winner), Palme d’Or – Cannes Film Festival (Nominee), ARRI/OSRAM Award – Munich Film Festival (Nominee), People’s Choice Award – Toronto International Film Festival (Nominee)
Distributed by: Well Go USA 10/26/2018

Melissa says: I’ve been continually impressed with South Korean cinema, so there’s no reason to think this will be anything less than amazing.

At Eternity’s Gate
North American Premiere
Country: USA, France
Julian Schnabel’s ravishingly tactile and luminous new film takes a fresh look at the last days of Vincent van Gogh, and in the process revivifies our sense of the artist as a living, feeling human being. Schnabel; his co-writers Jean-Claude Carrière and Louise Kugelberg, also the film’s editor; and cinematographer Benoît Delhomme strip everything down to essentials, fusing the sensual, the emotional, and the spiritual. And the pulsing heart of At Eternity’s Gate is Willem Dafoe’s shattering performance: his Vincent is at once lucid, mad, brilliant, helpless, defeated, and, finally, triumphant. With Oscar Isaac as Gauguin, Rupert Friend as Theo, Mathieu Amalric as Dr. Gachet, Emmanuelle Seigner as Madame Ginoux, and Mads Mikkelsen as The Priest.
Venice Film Festival
Awards: Best Film – Venice Film Festival (Nominee)
Distributed by: CBS Films 11/16/2018

Melissa says: If nothing less, Willem Dafoe will be worth watching.

The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
North American Premiere
Country: USA
Here’s something new from the Coen Brothers—an anthology of short films based on a fictional book of “western tales,” featuring Tim Blake Nelson as a murderous, white-hatted singing cowboy; James Franco as a bad luck bank-robber; Liam Neeson as the impresario of a traveling medicine show with increasingly diminishing returns, where they use the best equipment for travelling as the PNW backpack; Tom Waits as a die-hard gold prospector; Zoe Kazan and Bill Heck as two shy people who almost come together on the wagon trail; and Tyne Daly, Saul Rubinek, Brendan Gleeson, Chelcie Ross, and Jonjo O’Neill as a motley crew on a stagecoach to nowhere. Each story is distinct but unified by the thematic thread of mortality. As a whole movie experience, Buster Scruggs is wildly entertaining, and, like all Coen films, endlessly surprising.
Venice Film Festival
Awards: Best Film – Venice Film Festival (Nominee)
Distributed by: Netflix, Annapurna Production 11/16/2018

Melissa says: This trailer reminds me of the one for A Serious Man, so let’s hope it’s as good.

Shoplifters
Country: Japan
Hirokazu Kore-eda’s Cannes Palme d’Or winner is a heartrending glimpse into an often invisible segment of Japanese society: those struggling to stay afloat in the face of crushing poverty. On the margins of Tokyo, a most unusual “family”—a collection of societal castoffs united by their shared outsiderhood and fierce loyalty to one another—survives by petty stealing and grifting. When they welcome into their fold a young girl who’s been abused by her parents, they risk exposing themselves to the authorities and upending their tenuous, below-the-radar existence. The director’s latest masterful, richly observed human drama makes the quietly radical case that it is love—not blood—that defines a family.
Cannes Film FestivalMunich Film FestivalToronto International Film Festival
Awards: Palme d’Or – Cannes Film Festival (Winner), Best International Film – Munich Film Festival (Winner), People’s Choice Award – Toronto International Film Festival (Nominee)
Distributed by: Magnolia Pictures 11/23/2018

The Favourite
Country: USA, Ireland, UK
In Yorgos Lanthimos’s wildly intricate and very darkly funny new film, Sarah Churchill, the Duchess of Marlborough (Rachel Weisz), and her servant Abigail Hill (Emma Stone) engage in a sexually charged fight to the death for the body and soul of Queen Anne (Olivia Colman) at the height of the War of the Spanish Succession. This trio of truly brilliant performances is the dynamo that powers Lanthimos’s top-to-bottom reimagining of the costume epic, in which the visual pageantry of court life in 18th-century England becomes not just a lushly appointed backdrop but an ironically heightened counterpoint to the primal conflict unreeling behind closed doors.
Venice Film Festival
Awards: Best Film – Venice Film Festival (Nominee)
Distributed by: Fox Searchlight Pictures 11/23/2018

ROMA
Country: Mexico, USA
In Alfonso Cuarón’s autobiographically inspired film, set in Mexico City in the early ’70s, we are placed within the physical and emotional terrain of a middle-class family whose center is quietly and unassumingly held by its beloved live-in nanny and housekeeper (Yalitza Aparicio). The cast is uniformly magnificent, but the real star of ROMA is the world itself, fully present and vibrantly alive, from sudden life-changing events to the slightest shifts in mood and atmosphere. Cuarón tells us an epic story of everyday life while also gently sweeping us into a vast cinematic experience, in which time and space breathe and majestically unfold. Shot in breathtaking black and white and featuring a sound design that represents something new in the medium, ROMA is a truly visionary work.
Toronto International Film Festival, Venice Film Festival
Awards: People’s Choice Award – Toronto International Film Festival (Nominee), Best Film – Venice Film Festival (Nominee)
Distributed by: Netflix 12/14/2018

Melissa says: The director of Children of Men and Gravity, two incredibly cinematic creations, does a black and white family drama. Oh, I’m all in.

Review: Peter Anthony’s ‘The Man Who Saved the World” Is an Incredible Tribute to a Largely Unknown Hero

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man who saved the world - posterMost people think that the 80s were a carefree time where synthesizer infused music, really terrible clothes and fast food reigned. What many forget is that we were still well entrenched in the death rattles of the Cold War. There was a lot of tension between the Soviet Union and the United States. Between Ronald Reagan‘s ridiculous sabre-rattling and reckless rhetoric and the constant shuffling of General Secretaries of the Central Committee of the Communist Party in the Soviet Union (Brezhnev, Andropov and Chernenko all filled the role from November ’82 – March ’85), there was a lot of uncertainty and tensions were incredibly high and for many good reasons. When Nicholas Meyer‘s The Day After, which showed what the effects of nuclear war would be on American soil, aired on November 20, 1983, the conversation changed, at least for Americans who had only seen the after effects of the bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The film was incredibly graphic it scared the shit out of me and it still holds up incredibly well. But as that part of our history faded, the notion that a nuclear attack could happen also faded. And this is where the story of Stanislav Petrov comes in to play.

man who saved the world - petrov

On September 26, 1983, when Petrov, a Lt. Col in the Russian army and specifically the Soviet Air Defense was on duty, an alert sounded for an incoming missile from the United States. As the officer in charge, Petrov had to decide whether or not the threat was real or if it was a malfunction of the system. Literally, the fate of the world rested in his hands – he had to decide whether or not to launch a counter offensive that would essentially begin, and effectively end, World War III with the punch of one button. In his wisdom, and without visual confirmation from his staff from satellite imagery, Petrov to issue the order to launch Russia’s nuclear arsenal. But when not one, not two but four more missiles were picked up by the tracking system, the decision became increasingly more difficult not to launch. But Petrov held strong to his convictions that an unprovoked attack from the United States had not occurred and lucky for ALL of us, his assertions were correct. Had he gotten caught up in the moment like any number of other Russian officer hungry for American blood, no one would be reading this, let alone the name of Petrov, as the Earth would have ended on that day.

man who daved the world - costner

Director Peter Anthony‘s approach to telling this story is quite compelling. He bounces back and forth from narrative, biopic-style storytelling to documentary footage of Petrov fleshing out the whole of his story, every sad and lonely last detail. For a man who actually saved the world from total annihilation and destruction, Petrov was largely denied the rightful thanks he so deserved. He lost his rank after the incident because he didn’t follow protocol, his wife died and he fell into alcohol, all while being estranged from his family who showed him no love which is what led him into the army to begin with. This is a gut wrenching story but one of such incredible importance that I’m glad it was finally told.

man who saved the world - cronkite

In watching this film, I couldn’t help but to think of Sting‘s song, “Russians”  and the line “do the Russians love their children too?” The Russians were so demonized by Reagan and his administration (and many of them before it), that it is probably hard for some of them to swallow Petrov‘s story. Peters did such a magnificent job in telling it in a way that I believe honored Petrov but pulled no punches in showing him as he is and the situations that surrounded him, either through the fictional narrative flourishes or through the tough documentary segments. Just when you feel you might lose your faith in humanity, a story like this comes along and restores at least a little of it. Petrov is no doubt a hero and worthy of any and all accolades. Perhaps the toughest part about this story is that the fate of our existence can really come down to the decision of one person supplied with bad information. Whether that person can make the choice that Petrov did is an entirely different story. I, for one, am glad it was Petrov who was at the helm on September 26, 1983.

This film opened in New York this past weekend and hits theaters in LA this coming weekend. As we creep closer to the Oscar fare hitting big screens, there is still time to catch a film as wonderful as this. This a story that is almost too unreal to be real.

Get there, people.

Retro Review: Martha Coolidge’s ‘Real Genius’ Was Released 30 Years Ago Today and Remains one of the Great 80s Comedic Cinematic Treasures

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real genius poster

When most people think of Val Kilmer‘s greatest performance, they usually default to his portrayal of of Doc Holliday in the uneven Tombstone. Don’t get me wrong, his performance as the gunslinger is impressive, but to me he has never been and never will be finer than he was as Chris Knight in Martha Coolidge‘s incredibly humorous and wonderful Real Genius.

real genius - ice is niceReal Genius is centered at Pacific Tech (loosely based on CalTech) where under the direction of Dr. Jerry Hathaway (the always bastard-y William Atherton), geniuses hone their skills, bringing fortune on both them and Dr. Hathaway. The narrative focuses mostly on two characters: Knight, resident brainiac who is about to graduate, and his new protégé, Mitch Taylor (Gabriel Jarret), who happens to be a 15-year old and the first student ever admitted to Pacific Tech for the mid-Winter term.

real genius - mitchWhy was Mitch admitted to the university early, you ask? Well, it seems Dr. Hathaway is working in league with the military on a top secret project, one which employs a high-powered laser to vaporize single targets/people from outer space. Of course, the students aren’t privy to what Hathaway has been up to. When the military decides they need the project complete in 4 months, not 18, Hathaway brings in Mitch, his ace in the hole.

real genius - gangKnight doesn’t act like what most would expect from a genius. He is insubordinate, he is wild and all-together unpredictable. He and Mitch couldn’t be more opposite. A perfect example:

So it takes a while for them finally find a good footing, but they do and for the most part prosper. Like any good 80s movie, one villain isn’t enough. Not only do they have to deal with Hathaway, but also his toadie, Kent (Robert Prescott), who is jealous that Knight and Mitch get all of Hathaway’s attention despite the fact the he has done everything Hathaway has ever asked him to do. He’s the typical brown-nosing asshole that we all hated when we were in school.

real genius - kentIn keeping with a certain weirdness that crept over 80s teen comedies (a la Better Off Dead), this film wouldn’t be complete without the crazy genius recluse who lives in a closet, right? And that would be Lazlo Hollyfeld (the incredible Jon Gries), the gentle-souled former BMOC from Pacific Tech, who went underground after finding out that a product he invented was killing people. He also lives in Mitch and Chris’ closet. But never fear, he’s not some nut – he ends up being the last cog in the wheel that helps set everything straight in the end.

real genius - lazloWhen Kent sabotages the project finally tipping Knight over the edge, he has an epiphany and is able to solve the problem with the laser:

When Hollyfeld finds Knight, Mitch and their merry band of misfit geniuses including Jordan (Michelle Meyrink) and Ick (Mark Kamiyama) celebrating, and tells them what they’ve done, they band together to stop the military from testing the weapon all while exacting revenge on Kent and Hathaway.

Despite being every bit an 80s film, Real Genius was strangely prophetic. When you look at the Crossbow Project, which is the weapon that the guys build, it is basically a different version of the now famous and widely reviled drone program employed by our government and military. The Crossbow was undoubtedly born out of of Ronald Reagan‘s delusional Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) unveiled in 1983. So go figure, right?

This is one movie that I truly believe still stands tall given its age. The humor is as fresh and biting as when this film was released nearly 30 years ago (for the most part). Val Kilmer had just come off of a strong comedic performance in the Zucker Bros.’ Top Secret! and really shines in this film. From his delivery:

to his reactions:

to the offbeat:

…it’s just a a top notch performance. It’s a real shame he abandoned the more comedic roles and instead went for fare like Top Gun. Literally broke my heart when he was in that one.

And how can we ever forget probably the best line in the entire film delivered by Dr. Hathaway?:

PRICELESS and applicable on so many occasions in real life.

And like all 80s movies, the soundtrack is very important contributing immensely to the film. The usage of Tears for Fears’ “Everybody Wants to Rule the World” over the ending and credits is an absolutely perfect complement to the premise and the actions of Dr. Hathaway and the US government. Add to that the two incredible montages set to “I’m Falling” by The Comsat Angels and “Number One” by Chaz Jenkel and you have yet another example of the effective use of music to convey the feelings of the characters and add to the story. I just think that 80s movies had a better grasp of this concept. There was no equivalent of Rick Ross playing over a western like in Django Unchained and for the better.

While there are mediocre performances (Mitch?), the whole of the film is strong. Getting a rare glimpse inside the world of the young genius is quite fun and this film is positioned differently than other films like it from the same time, i.e. War Games and The Manhattan Project. While the pall of the Cold War is cast over the three of them, only Real Genius is able to make light of the situation and really empower the kids in the film. I tribute that to a great script from Neal Israel and Pat Proft (who co-wrote Tom Hanks’ Bachelor Party and Police Academy) and Peter Torokvei with really adept direction by Martha Coolidge. A winner on really every level. If you haven’t caught this one, do so at your leisure. It’s one that is not to be missed.

It’s a shame that this one has been relatively forgotten amidst so many of great 80s films. This one still resides at the top of my list.

Here’s the trailer: