Okja (2017)

Last year, when we were polling readers and critics in order to make a new Pantheon of great directors, I really wrestled with whether or not to include Bong Joon-Ho on my own list. The decision to omit him is something that I think of often. Were I to be making my list today, after seeing Okja, I would absolutely drop Alexander Payne to make room for Bong.

Nobody out there today handles tone as deftly as Bong Joon-Ho. He can swing from tender, to crass, to horrifying, and back to tender all within the same scene. And it all feels like a unified whole. The current slate of Marvel and Star Wars films long to be this emotionally diverse. Hopefully Okja is a big enough hit to make someone who actually gives a damn about theatrical distribution put up the money for his next film. Bong's imagination is too large for the small screen.

Kong: Skull Island (2017)

Lots of people take to criticizing filmmakers like Michael Bay and Zack Snyder for being "style without substance", but that's not really accurate. These films do have substance, it's just reprehensible substance that perpetuates a dangerous/delusional worldview. To demonize a prodigious use of imagery because of these guys is cinematic guilt by association. Thankfully, Kong came along to show us that there is another way.

Using the form of a Michael Bay film as well as Zack Snyder's preferred cinematographer, Jordan Vogt-Roberts is able to slyly subvert the Breitbart talking-points that usually accompany such spectacle, in favor of a more compassionate worldview. It isn't necessarily a "woke" film, but it is a wild popcorn flick that can be enjoyed without the guilt. The time has finally come for a baggage-less monster romp where someone dons a gas mask while wielding a samurai sword. Thank you, Kong.

Time Bandits (1981)

As much as I've enjoyed a number of Terry Gilliam's films for grown-ups, this rewatch of Time Bandits has be convinced that his true calling is making imaginative films for children. The slapstick comedy, manic pacing, and Fellini-esque visuals are perfect for getting and keeping a child's attention. This film in particular is also just dangerous enough to entertain adults while simultaneously fooling kids into thinking that they're getting away with something. Even Gilliam's messages, which are a bit too simplistic to be taken seriously by intellectuals, are just deep enough to be considered profound by your son or daughter. Of course these films also tend to be a touch overlong, but that's just a tiny quibble compared to the large-scale pleasures at play. It's a shame that J.K. Rowling wasn't able to get him to direct one of the Potter films like she wanted.

Swiss Army Man (2016)

Going in, I assumed that this was going to be  a film about making due with what you have and how desperation can lead you to questionable decisions. I expected an unintended parable for how the Republican Party is currently lashing themselves to the putrid corpse that is Donald Trump. And while I guess that reading could still stand, there's more to it. It's also a Ferris Bueller/Cameron Frye or Tyler Durden/Jack story about having someone to push you out of your comfort zone. It's also a story about farting. And about admitting that you are the one who farted. Just as Daniel Radcliffe's corpse was able to become whatever Paul Dano needed in the moment (be it jet ski or confessor) this film can also be a multitude of things. Why does it have to be just one? Though it never quite worked for me on an emotional level, I was absolutely impressed by how much mileage Daniels were able to get out of a simple premise. They squeezed out all that they possibly could.

Kubo and the Two Strings (2016)

Dead parents are so omnipresent in animation that it has become a cliché. It's a quick way to make you empathize with the protagonist while also presenting more opportunities to place that protagonist in harm's way. They have nobody to protect them and must therefore rise to the occasion and save themselves.

While Laika has mostly avoided this trope, death is still very much a presence in all of their work. It is most notable in Kubo and ParaNorman, but that morose atmosphere really hangs over all of their films. The closest cinematic parallel I can find is in the run of death-obsessed, horror films that Val Lewton produced for RKO in the 40's. Though Laika's films aren't so cynical as to subscribe to Lewton's sentiment that, "death is good." they are much more honest about grief, the various forms it can take, and the way we all live with it.

I know audiences didn't turn out for Kubo, but I'm optimistic that this will be the year that The Academy finally sees fit to honor this plucky, little studio for what I see as their masterpiece. This is the film where everything they do best comes together in the most satisfying way. It's a real bright-spot in a rather mediocre summer. Don't be scared off by all the crappy family film trailers that play before it.

Back to the Future (1985)

During my final year of film school, I had a screenwriting professor whose screenwriting experience was limited to the fact that he had been close friends with Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale back in the I Wanna Hold Your Hand days. As such, all of his screenwriting advice began, “Well Bob and Bob always said...” Despite the second-hand nature of this method, it not only imparted some good screenwriting wisdom, but also taught me to appreciate how good, “The Bobs” were at constructing screenplays. Everything is set up so effectively and paid off in just the right way. The screenplay for Back to the Future is almost mathematical in its precision, yet it doesn't feel like homework. That's why even though I’ve seen this movie a million times and know all the storytelling tricks, it still works. In fact, I think I appreciate it now more than ever. Not only am I excited by the story, but by the storytelling as well. How did this lose Best Original Screenplay to Witness? 

Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)

Vin Diesel got a lot of attention last month when he made the following statement in regards to his film Furious 7:

“It will probably win best picture at the Oscars, unless the Oscars don’t want to be relevant ever.”

As much as I enjoyed Furious 7, I don't expect to see it taking home any golden statues next year. But Vin does make a good point. If audiences and even critics can take a blockbuster seriously, why can't The Academy? Pop cinema can be art!

Nominating a blockbuster is not unheard of. The two biggest in recent memory are District 9 and Avatar. So why not Furious 7? Because with a current Rotten Tomato score of 98%, Mad Max: Fury Road leaves Furious 7's 83% in the dust. If any film deserves to represent pop cinema at the Dolby Theater in 2016, it's George Miller's gonzo, chase masterpiece.

That rating is no fluke. The movie has the goods. It's a compelling story, well told, with an important social message. Proof positive that popcorn filmmaking can also handle weighty issues without sacrificing entertainment value. If anything, it's more of an achievement than simply making some "issue picture". "Spoon full of sugar" and all that. It probably won't win a Best Picture, but it absolutely deserves to be in the running...if the Oscars want to be relevant ever.

On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969)

Released in December of 1969, this movie is quite literally the last hurrah for the cinematic 1960's. The turn this film takes in it's final moments is a real sucker punch. Nothing in the rest of its run-time prepares you for it. Sure it's a different guy playing Bond, but other than that it's business as usual. The costumes, the sets, the colors, etc. are all precisely what you've seen before. And then, suddenly, the carefree, technicolor aesthetic that began with films like Dr. No, The Pink Panther and Charade gets itself a real and palpable body count. Somehow the increasing darkness of the outside world found its way into escapist entertainment. People wanted to forget things like Charles Manson and Altamont, but all this movie gave them was a grim reminder that truly nobody is safe. Though producers tried to sort of un-ring that bell by getting Sean Connery to return two years later in Diamonds are Forever, there was really no going back. The cinematic 1960's died on country road somewhere in Portugal.

Interstellar (2014)

While the ending did get a little bit too M. Night Shyamalan for my tastes...overall I dug this movie. I dug what it has to say about humanity and our innate desire to explore and push further. I liked what it had to say about the importance of science and of education. I also liked what it had to say on a sub-textual level about the fight to save celluloid from oblivion and the sorrow Christopher Nolan must feel every time he leaves his kids behind to go on a shoot that runs over schedule. I like that it allowed Nolan to continue to experiment with time in a way that only cinema can do. Getting to see this in 70mm IMAX was also something marvelous to behold. Oh and did I mention the score yet? Organs! There is a lot to like here. You can quibble about a lot of little things, but they're just that: little things. I'm not saying this film is any sort of masterpiece, but if the best you can do is nitpick a film, it can't be truly bad.

Hugo (2011)

I love it when a master filmmaker takes on a maligned genre. And what genre is more maligned than that of the "family film" with its well-worn conventions and sappy sentimentality? Thankfully we have Martin Scorsese steering this ship and any time things begin to approach conventionality, Marty is there to take us in a different direction. Like a great Pixar film this has something for the young and something for the old. For the young there's mystery, adventure and funny animals. For the adults there's the story of an old man who has lost his spark and finds it again. It's a continuous back and forth that keeps things interesting for both audiences. But most importantly this film serves as a means by which to unite both the young and the old in a shared love of early cinema and the importance of preserving it. It uses the latest technologies to make new audiences feel the same excitement for cinema that audiences felt at the medium's inception. This is the perfect film for a cinephile parent to raise their child on.  I wouldn't be surprised if this film is one day credited as having launching numerous careers.

Inception (2010)

Filmmakers have been obsessed with magicians and con artists since forever. Directors ranging from Orson Welles to David Mamet have remarked that they feel a sort of kinship with these various "professionals" who make a living by "putting one over" on an audience/mark. And in the end, that's what film is: a large, elaborate trick intended to make someone feel something without noticing all the moving parts that go into it. You're casting a spell over an audience and allowing them to share in a collective dream while also lightening their wallets the price of a ticket. The subtlest misstep and jig is up, the illusion is pierced.

Does Cobb's totem keep spinning or does it tip over? The mere fact that you care is really all that matters. It means that you have bought into the dream. The mission was a success.

Sorcerer (1977)

With all due respect to Spike Lee, his Oldboy was nothing but a piss-poor facsimile of the original. It's never a good sign when the filmmaker has to point out all the subtle ways that they diverted from the source material. William Friedkin's Sorcerer on the other hand, is what a remake is supposed to look like. Other than the image of a woman on her knees washing the floor, hardly any visual cues from The Wages of Fear were carried over to this re-imagining. While Clouzot was content to simply make an intimate film about greed and desperation, Friedkin saw fit to open things up and add geopolitical implications on top of everything. To use music as an analogue, this is akin to when Issac Hayes took the wonderful three minute pop song "Walk on By" and turned it into an awesome twelve minute funk epic. And through some sort of cinematic alchemy, Friedkin was able to do all of this in a shorter run-time than the original! The resultant film is a compact yet epic adventure story filled with tension that also packs a bite.

The Fall (2006)

Little Alexandria (Catinca Untaru) is recovering from a broken arm in a hospital where she befriends Roy (Lee Pace), a stuntman suffering from paralysis. He tells her an elaborate story about five men on a grand quest, and uses her trust to persuade her to find morphine for him.

When I first saw this film, it grabbed my attention from the very beginning: a silent film stunt played in slow motion, set to Beethoven's 7th symphony. It was so arresting. Visually, this film is stunning. STUNNING. From the landscapes to the costumes, I can't think of a film that took my breath away from the visuals alone more than this one. It's poetry for your eyes. Filming took place in 28 different countries over the course of four years, and it has the same surreal global quality as Baraka or Samsara, for example, with a touch more fantasy. It's absolutely gorgeous. 

The little girl who plays Alexandria gives this film such spirit and heart. This was her first credited role and she's so natural, and she has such good chemistry with Lee Pace. The entire film is a feat of movie-making magic in its purest form. It's sweet, it's sad, it's exquisitely told, and I can't recommend it enough.

Give this one a go if your life has been feeling, well, a bit too real lately.  It's definitely worth a watch.

The Goonies (1985)

With the scheduled foreclosure and demolition of their town imminent, a scrappy group of kids band together and go in search of lost pirate treasure with some very bad people hot on their trail.

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Why can't movies for kids be this awesome any more? More specifically: Why can't they be this scary anymore? I'm inclined to blame political correctness, but that would make me sound like Rush Limbaugh and we of course can't have that. But seriously! It's important for kids to be scared and the only way to do that is by putting young characters in real danger like this film does. Sure there's elements that defy the laws of physics/reality (ie: all of Data's inventions) but even when he's dangling from chattering teeth, there are still real jagged spikes down there waiting to kill him. Even when they cut out the dirty stuff to show it on the Disney Channel, they re-inserted the Octopus scene! More danger! Outside of awesome exceptions like ParaNorman, this would not fly today. Some of my fondest childhood memories are connected to things I was afraid of and it's sad to think that the children of tomorrow are being deprived of this. They're also being deprived of dirty/naughty stuff, but that's another rant all together...

Danger: Diabolik (1968)

Billionaire thief Diabolik (John Philip Law) continuously outwits the authorities in an increasingly elaborate series of outlandish heists and getaways.

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I seriously don't understand why this film was selected for the 1999 series finale of Mystery Science Theater 3000. While it may not be "art", it sure as shit isn't Manos: The Hands of Fate. Mario Bava and his crew had no aspirations beyond making a fun comic book movie - and boy were they successful! This film was somehow  able to perfectly integrate the decadent Bond/Batman aesthetics of the day with the anti-authoritarian tendencies of the burgeoning youth movement. Something for the grownups, something for the kids. How was this film not a huge hit? How did it not spawn countless sequels? Well at least we got the Beastie Boys' Body Movin' music video out of the deal. I'll take that any day over this teaser for an upcoming Diabolik TV show on Italian television. Steven Soderbergh seriously needs to postpone his retirement and make a worthy successor to this little masterpiece! You know he could totally do it!

Moonrise Kingdom (2012)

When two young kids (Jared Gilman and Kara Hayward) run away together, the whole island of New Penzance is thrown into a tizzy.

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Moonrise Kingdom is a beautiful composite of Wes Anderson's entire career both thematically and aesthetically. It's like a thesis film of sorts. Kids, animals, tracking shots, meticulous design, parental damage, love, pop music, saturated colors, restrained emotion, montages, written correspondence, awkward sexuality, rebellion, narration etc. all come together in a beautiful whole. Even his experience making The Fantastic Mr. Fox comes to bear with a more effective inclusion of animation than that of The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou. If you're one of those cold-hearted people that hates Wes Anderson, this film will not change your opinion. But then again that's your loss. Sure his range as a director is insanely narrow, but I like that. There's comfort in that. Personally, I don't ever want to see a Wes Anderson film that looks like anything other than a Wes Anderson film.

"I like stories with magic powers in them. Either in kingdoms on Earth or on foreign planets. Usually I prefer a girl hero, but not always."

The Adventures of Tintin (2011)

Young journalist Tintin (Jamie Bell) finds himself sucked into a perilous adventure after he purchases a model ship that holds a secret. He meets the lovable drunk Captain Haddock (Andy Serkis) and together (with Tintin's awesome dog Snowy) they set off to uncover the mystery.

The first time I tried to watch this movie, it was in the theater and this kid behind me kept kicking my seat and yelling "ESTE TINTIN MOMMY ESTE TINTIN!" Nevertheless, I enjoyed it immensely. (By the way, cinema-goers, TRAIN YOUR DAMN KIDS.) We just got the Blu-ray and I enjoyed the second viewing just as much. This movie has ADVENTURE. It's been a very long time since I could honestly say that about a movie. It's what the 4th Indiana Jones should have been. John Williams was a perfect choice to compose the original score (and yeah, I'm kind of a John Williams fangirl) and with all of the amazing music, exotic locations and action scenes combined with comedy, it totally reminded me of the thrill I get from Spielberg's earlier films.

Also, yay motion-capture! I love that they were able to capture the look of the characters from the original Hergé drawings. Tintin needs that hair, Haddock needs that nose, Thomson and Thompson need to look almost exactly the same. It's amazing how far we've come with this technology...by far the best use of it I've seen.

So if your life is feeling a little yawns-ville, go on an adventure with Tintin and wake up!