As is the case, I posted the full list of my favorite films of the year on my personal blog. Here, I distilled that list down to these selections that I would be more likely to watch again.
10. PROBLEMISTA by Julio Torres - This is one of the best comedies of the year. Torres whose sense of humor is unlike any one else's in the world of cinema. He's a little absurdist. He's a little surreal. He's a little metaphorical. Torres provides a platform for himself to pursue his own personal issues regarding immigration, but the real platform is the one he gives to Tilda Swinton who plays the ultimate Karen. Her character is over-the-top and one you love to hate. It's an incredible balancing act, but Torres and Swinton make it work.
9. EGOIST by Daishi Matsunaga - Japanese cinema is doing what most mainstream American cinema does not and that's tell down-to-Earth and straightforward, domestic dramas. Japanese cinema that I've enjoyed has been from the likes of Hirokazu Koreeda, cinema free of melodrama and that is simple and genuine. This film is one such example and gives new meaning to "found family," or even Oedipus Complex.
8. THE LONG GAME by Julio Quintana - the filmmaker is a protégé of Terrence Malick. Quintana learned his filmmaking style from Malick during The Tree of Life (2011). Post that Best Picture nominee, some have not vibed with Malick's lack of narrative but more poetic form of filmmaking. Quintana's film doesn't lack narrative. It's as if Malick directed a 1950's Latino teen golf story, but Quintana doesn't devolve too far into poetics.
7. OUT OF DARKNESS by Andrew Cumming - I'm still impressed with the concept. It's basically a slasher flick set during the times of cavemen. It doesn't revel in the violence as a typical slasher would. It's about a group of people during the prehistoric era who land on foreign shores. Some might see it in the vein of Robert Eggers or similar elevated horror. What's great is that the film works even without the supernatural element. It could be considered a story of survival amidst a small but toxic patriarchal group.
6. ROB PEACE by Chiwetel Ejiojor - One of the most iconic films within African American cinema within the past 30 or 40 years is John Singleton's Boyz n the Hood (1991). This film reminded me of that Singleton classic. It's Boyz n the Hood for Millennials. It's also a perfect companion piece to two films that might bet Oscar nominations and be cemented in the annals of Black cinema from now on, that of Daughters (2024) and Sing Sing (2024), as all of them also deal with the relationships between incarcerated men and their children.
5. NICKEL BOYS by RaMell Ross - He's an Oscar-nominated documentarian who brings those same sensibilities to this adaptation of Colson Whitehead's Pulitzer Prize-winning book about a real-life school where abuses allegedly took place. What's remarkable is how Ross shot the film. Ross tells the story exclusively in first-person and exclusively from the character's point-of-view. It's bold and rare, but it's also not just a gimmick. It's purposeful to the storytelling, which essentially becomes a Black Lives Matter story.
4. THE SUBSTANCE by Coralie Fargeat - Many have said that this has been a really good year for horror. Some might argue that this film is a satire or some kind of comedy. There's humor here, bloody and disgusting horror. At the center is a knockout performance from Demi Moore who won the Golden Globe, which is as she stated her first-time getting an acting award. It's about an aging actress who feels disposable and doesn't feel beautiful anymore. Female, French filmmaker Fargeat crafts beautiful images, but she also doesn't skimp on bloody and gory images, veering into David Cronenberg or even Troma Entertainment.
3. LOVE LIES BLEEDING by Rose Glass - It's a sexy thriller starring Kristen Stewart in a dirty and grimy, lesbian bodybuilder romance that leads into the local New Mexico mafia. It has a lot of shocking twists and turns. It also builds to magical realism that one might not expect.
2. FEMME by Sam H. Freeman & Ng Choon Ping - This is another sexy thriller set in London, England. It stars Nathan Stewart-Jarrett as a Black drag queen who comes across a White supremacist, played by George MacKay. The two unlikely men cross paths and forever have their lives entangled due to some unfortunately decisions. Yet, it ultimately becomes a very powerful statement about identity and how it's not just one of them who is doing drag.
1. IO CAPITANO by Matteo Garrone - This was the official submission from Italy for Best International Feature at the 96th Academy Awards, meaning it was eligible for awards for 2023 films. Yet, this film didn't get released theatrically until 2024 and only on a limited basis. It lost in that category but in my opinion was the better choice. It's a moving and very emotional journey about a young immigrant who faces incredible and horrifying situations in order to make it across the desert and the sea. Its young actor, Seydou Sarr, gives an amazing performance and reminded me of a young Omar Sy.
