GREAT MOVIES OF 2015
GREAT MOVIES OF 2015 #12: In Jackson Heights (dir by Frederick Wiseman) In this blog post, we take a look at 12 great movies (in this programmer's opinion) of 2015. As a kind of science experiment, you might want to look at the pictures that won the awards in 2015 versus the ones we discuss here. You certainly may have a different take than we do. But 2015 proved that it's often the passage of time that's the real arbiter of the movies we come back to. First up is an amazing documentary made by Frederick Wiseman. IN JACKSON HEIGHTS spends its 190 minute runtime looking at one of the most diverse neighborhoods in the world: a community in the Queens Burrough of New York City where over 160 languages are spoken. Home to Muslims, Columbians, a thriving LGBTQ community, Jews, small business owners, etc, Jackson Heights in many ways represents a certain American ideal of cohesion, co-existence, and cross-cultural pollination. Wiseman (also the editor of his movies) adopts a simple but powerful structure of cutting from one location to another, introducing it with an outside establishing shot and the sounds of that street, then going inside the establishment. What makes IN JACKSON HEIGHTS so powerful is its hard scrabble optimism. Wiseman has often focused on the dysfunction of the American system (TITTICUT FOLLIES, WELFARE, etc) but here he shows how community can and should work if there's a foundation of mutual respect and "live and let live" ethos. Still, it's not pie in the sky. We hear harrowing stories of transgender discrimination, predatory real estate developers, senior citizen loneliness, and undocumented worker despair. But because these stories are often told by folks in support and civically engaged political action groups, the sense of community is always palpable. Anyway, this movie is well worth your time and available for free streaming (as are all Wiseman's movies) on kanopy.com If you have a library card, you're all set.
GREAT MOVIES OF 2015 #11: Tangerine (dir by Sean Baker, USA). Often shorthanded as "that movie shot entirely on an iphone", Tangerine is actually one of the decade's greatest movies because the fact that it was shot entirely on an iphone has nothing at all to do with the greatness of the movie. Powered by hurricane level 5 energetic performances by the core ensemble, the movie focuses on Christmas Eve day for two transgender prostitutes who cause and endure drama in Hollywood all along Santa Monica Boulevard. Director Sean Baker (who would knock it out of the park again with THE FLORIDA PROJECT) has a true empathy for his characters without ever shying away from the realities of their lifestyle. The movie also has a jaw dropping hilarious sense of humor. When we get to a climax centered at a Hollywood doughnut shop (that is now Trejo's Doughnut shop) between the long searched for pimp and the best friend prostitutes, it's miraculous that the movie is as sweet, Christmas-feeling, and warm hearted as it is.
GREAT MOVIES OF 2015 #10: The Tribe (dir by Myroslav Slaboshpytskyi, Ukraine) Actually released in late 2014 but coming stateside in 2015, THE TRIBE is an amazing Ukranian movie about deaf teenagers in which no dialogue is ever SPOKEN. The entire movie is signed without subtitles. Brace yourself because the movie is an often brutal watch broken up by scenes of incredible intimacy and emotion. It focuses on a gang within the school that uses crime, violence, prostitution, and intimidation to get what they want. But when a newcomer joins the group, he falls in love with one of the girls and sets in motion a chain of disruptive events. This is the kind of young person movie that some might find too shocking and brash. For this programmer, this is exactly the kind of shocking and brash cinematic tour de force we need more of. As I get older, paradoxically, I realize how important it is to continue to make "young person" movies that burn with a kind of irrepressible style, substance, and searching. If ever I feel myself slipping, all I have to do is watch THE TRIBE to remind me what real daring is all about.
GREAT MOVIES OF 2015 #9: Mad Max Fury Road (dir by George Miller). I thought of holding off on this one until we got to #1 but that felt cliched. This list isn't really a countdown. It's more a list of 12 great movies from 2015 period. So Fury Road can come whenever. And here it is. Now, with 5 years of retrospection in the rear view mirror, everyone talks about FURY ROAD like it was always a given it would be brilliant. That wasn't the case. Although we all hotly anticipated it, it was hard to know for sure if Tom Hardy could go full throttle like 1980's Mel Gibson, if Charlize Theron could balance the responsibilities of being the movie's damaged soul and kick-ass heroine , and if George Miller would be able to recapture the Mad Max magic he hadn't bottled for almost 30 years. The answer to all those questions is such a resounding yes that we really should take a moment to think about the miracle of this movie: it is now considered one of THE greatest action movies of all time. Of course on some level, the reason why is fairly straight forward: it's an action movie with real car stunts shot on location (in Africa) by a director who took the time in pre-production, production, and editing to craft a pulse pounder where CGI augments (rather than replaces) creative preparation. For anyone who's a movie maker, you come to the realization eventually that directing a great action movie requires the singular focus and precision of a watchmaker. And sometimes that focus/precision requires a mind-numbing dedication. When you watch FURY ROAD, you are watching a movie made by someone (Miller) who not only refused to cut corners but, in some ways, leaned into the challenge to be even more rigorous than he had been on THE ROAD WARRIOR or THUNDERDOME. When we get to scenes of acrobatic pole vaulting stunt people on fast moving cars/trucks and motorcycles REALLY leaping over oil tankers, we're in the realm of the insane and the genius. This movie is now THE BENCHMARK for great action. Who will take up the challenge to meet or surpass it?
GREAT MOVIES OF 2015 #8: What We Do In The Shadows (dir by Taika Waititi, Jemaine Clement; New Zealand) Now that the tsunami that is Taika Waititi has fully crashed on American shores, it's almost hard to remember that just 5 years ago movies like WHAT WE DO IN THE SHADOWS and THE HUNT FOR THE WILDERPEOPLE were huge surprise revelations from the Kiwi Wunderkind. The combination of very strange off kilter humor with tremendous sweetness was a dish that had never been served quite like this. WHAT WE DO IN THE SHADOWS shouldn't have worked as it combined two genres that were being run into the ground at the time: vampire movies and the mockumentary. But maybe that was the point? Miraculously Waititi and Clement turned in a hilarious movie about vampire roommates in New Zealand who are annoyed by their newest addition while they navigate chore sharing, hunting fresh victims, werewolves, and an upcoming ball. One of the most hilarious side characters is a regular mortal guy named Stu that the vampires keep around just because he's so cool and easy going. Turns out this is Waititi's actual childhood friend Stu who had no idea that he would end up being one of the main supporting characters. Probably one of the greatest comedies of the 21st century. If you're in need some big laughs right now, watch this movie stat!
GREAT MOVIES OF 2015 #7: Sicario (dir by Denis Villeneuve, written by Taylor Sheridan, USA) Directed by ridiculously talented Denis Villeneuve from a script by equally ridiculously talented Taylor Sheridan with a murderer's row of talent in the three main roles-Emily Blunt, Benecio Del Toro, and Josh Brolin-Sicario starts with a startling raid on a suburban home full of corpses and never stops. The movie does an amazing job at being both propulsively entertaining and shockingly topical. It follows an incredibly sharp yet, in many ways, naive FBI agent played by Blunt, as she is recruited to aid government agent Brolin and mysterious tagalong Del Toro on a series of missions to fight narco-terrorists on both sides the US's border with Mexico. The movie touches on our long history of using assassination as a tool of foreign policy (Sicario is a Mexican term for hitman) as well as the Pandora's box that the War on Terror opened up with our War on Drugs. What grabbed this programmer so much was the movie's clear eyed brutal assessment that there are aspects of the world where idealism plays no part and gets no quarter. We sense that Del Toro is an intelligent man who once believed in the ultimate power of the law like Blunt. But now he has learned, there are places the law can't get to. Because bad people with money can avoid, write, or distort the law. And the only language amoral people who only believe in power listen to is the language of violence and brutality.
GREAT MOVIES of 2015 #6: The Witch (dir by Robert Eggers, USA) 2015 saw at least two amazing horror movies which we'll be writing about back to back here. First up is Robert Eggers' stunning New England period piece about a family so religiously devoted they feel their 18th century puritan town is too hypocritical. So they move out to the New England wilderness. However, soon their crops are not doing well and then their baby is stolen by something in the woods. The movie does an amazing job of balancing true horror with the interesting subtext of how the family's eldest daughter Thomasin must deal with her own budding sexuality and independence amidst the family's extreme religiousity. But make no mistake. . .there's real horror here. There's something exhilarating when a movie dares to go big in its third act. Not big as in hundreds of extras but big as in daring to take on the nature and attraction of transcendent evil. One of the most unsettling movies of the past decade.
GREAT MOVIES OF 2015 #5: It Follows (dir by David Robert Mitchell, USA) Some kind of other-worldly shape shifting ghost or evil spirit hunts down the most recent person to have sex with an infected person. The only way to rid yourself of the spirit is to pass it on to someone else by having sex. This strangely effective conceit, like so much great horror, works both on the surface level of tension but also on the subterranean level of metaphor. When one enters the world of being sexually active, one is exposing oneself to a whole series of dangers: emotional vulnerability, STD's, pregnancy, heartbreak, you name it. And yet, we'd have it no other way (a truth the movie also acknowledges). This movie gets a kind of timeless 80's retro vibe (though the period is never specified) perfectly while at the same time coming up with ingenious devices to spike the terror punch bowl. The evil spirit appears to different people differently. It can be a horrific dead corpse or one's mother or father. And though it never "runs", it is relentless and never gives up hunting you. If you slow down and let it get you, your dead. Shot in Detroit, IT FOLLOWS is what great horror should be: both strangely captivating and deeply thoughtful.
GREAT MOVIES OF 2015 #4: Ex Machina (dir by Alex Garland, USA) Alex Garland has been carving out a corner in the too often neglected conceptual sci-fi corner of cinema for the past 5 years. EX MACHINA, his directorial debut, slyly hides its relatively small budget by putting all the money into the look, performances, and effects of the movie. . .but keeping it to one location and 4 characters. A designer in a prestigious tech company gets invited to spend a weekend with its billionaire genius owner in his isolated forest retreat. Almost immediately, he's asked to interact with AI the owner has been developing. Only its way past a program: this AI is a gorgeous though not yet fully completed woman robot. From there, the movie becomes a kind of gonzo sci-fi psychological thriller triangle where we're constantly kept guessing who really has the upper hand in the situation. Supposedly the billionaire owner wants to see if his AI female can seduce his employee even though she's CLEARLY A ROBOT MACHINE. But something more is going on. What Garland does extremely well is keep you off balance with where the story is going though when we get there its conclusion seems inevitable: the hallmark of great storytelling. The movie also does a commendable job exploring the ethical and moral dilemmas of "human like" AI. It's no fluke that the movie is as much about sexual politics as it is as technology. Really a masterclass in how to make a gripping movie economically.
GREAT MOVIES OF 2015 #3: Inside Out (dir by Pete Doctor) Pixar, for all the relative ups and downs, has put out one of the most admirable, impressive body of films of any studio in the last 30 years. While one might rightly quibble with the formula which becomes more perceptible by the sheer fact that the studio has to make 1-2 movies a year, it's like quibbling with the recipe for an In N Out double double burger here in Southern California. Basically this s@#t is delicious! Inside Out actually goes a little more high concept avant garde then most animated movies: the emotions inside a tween girl's mind turn out to be characters that have to work together in mission control. Of course puberty and adolescence screws everything up. The movie does a wildly impressive job of communicating a truth many of us need to embrace more: all emotions exist for a reason and we may have to run the gamut of them from time to time. What nobody can prepare you for (and what this programmer will not spoil) is an extended sequence with a special character that goes to an unbelievably emotional place. My (now) wife and I watched this movie with our 4 year old niece. While she sat between us enjoying the movie, my wife and I had to hide we were sobbing. Movies that genuinely get you to such emotional places are rare treasures.
GREAT MOVIES OF 2015 #2: Green Room (dir by Jeremy Saulnier) I remember reading Stephen King once saying that every now and then he just has to write a "balls to the wall" horror novel. I'm not sure what that phrase means and apologize ahead of time for its crassness. But I think I get it and I can't put it any other way. Director Jeremy Saulnier, hot off his incredible Coen Brothers-esque micro budget revenge movie BLUE RUIN, decided to make a "balls to the wall" horror movie. A down on their luck thrash band get a gig at a bar deep in the Northwest wildnerness: turns out its a skinhead Nazi bar. When they witness a murder in the green room (the waiting room for performers), they get locked in the room with the owners having every intention of killing and disposing of them quietly. The rest of the movie is them trying to figure out how to somehow stay alive and get out. There are a number of things you won't be ready for no matter how much you think you are. First, Patrick Stewart (yes Captain Picard Patrick Stewart) plays a well spoken calm white supremacist leader. Second, this movie is way violent. Like "Holy sh@t did that just happen" violent. Saulnier has the great talent for shocking you at key moments of top tension. But not in a pointlessly gratuitous way. In fact, as thrilling as GREEN ROOM is, it's also an elegy to normalcy: human beings are horrifically tribal and violent. Still. After ten thousand years of civilization.
GREAT MOVIES OF 2015 #1: Krisha (dir by Trey Edward Shults) Again, this list of 12 movies was not written as a countdown. Any of the movies on this list are pretty amazing. Still, it seems fitting to end with KRISHA, the microbudget debut film of Trey Edward Schults, who used his family and fictionalized its tensions, to create a portrait of a Thanksgiving day gone horribly horribly wrong. Krisha, the black sheep sister of a family, comes to attend dinner but also settle some scores. As things go from awkward to bad to jaw droppingly shocking, Schults employs an almost expressionistic horror tone to convey both Krisha's anguish and the family's exasperation with her. For anyone who thinks you need a million dollars and a high concept to make a movie that breaks through the noise, KRISHA is the strongest possible argument that what you really need is talent, a smart plan, a vision, and great performers. In fact, the whole movie works because of the mesmerizing central performance by Krisha Fairchild (yes, the movie is named after her real name). If A WOMAN UNDER THE INFLUENCE were a horror movie, this is what it would look like.
Written by Craig Hammill, Secret Movie Club Founder