Friday, January 8, 2016

2015 - 40 Favorites And More...

These were the 40 films that made the strongest impression on me in 2015. In alphabetical order:

45 YEARS (Andrew Haigh)
ANOMALISA (Charlie Kaufman and Duke Johnson)
BLIND (Eskil Vogt)
BREATHE (Mélanie Laurent)
BY THE SEA (Angelina Jolie Pitt)
CAROL (Todd Haynes)
CLOUDS OF SILS MARIA (Olivier Assayas)
DER SAMURAI (Till Kleinert)
THE DIARY OF A TEENAGE GIRL (Marielle Heller)
DON’T THINK I’VE FORGOTTEN: CAMBODIA’S LOST ROCK AND ROLL (John Pirozzi)
DOPE (Rick Famuyiwa)
THE DUKE OF BURGUNDY (Peter Strickland)
EDEN (Mia Hansen-Løve)
THE FOOL (Yury Bykov)
THE FORBIDDEN ROOM (Guy Maddin and Evan Johnson)
GANGS OF WASSEYPUR (Anurag Kashyap; Made in 2012, released January 2015 in U.S.)
GIRLHOOD (Céline Sciamma)
HARD TO BE A GOD (Aleksei German)
HEART OF A DOG (Laurie Anderson)
IT FOLLOWS (David Robert Mitchell)
JAMES WHITE (Josh Mond)
JAUJA (Lisandro Alonso)

LA SAPIENZA (Eugène Green)
THE LOOK OF SILENCE (Joshua Oppenheimer)
LOST RIVER (Ryan Gosling)
LOST SOUL: THE DOOMED JOURNEY OF RICHARD STANLEY’S ISLAND OF DR. MOREAU (David Gregory)
LOVE (Gaspar Noé)

METALHEAD (Ragnar Bragason)
MISTRESS AMERICA (Noah Baumbach)
MUSTANG (Deniz Gamze Ergüven)
NED RIFLE (Hal Hartley)
THE NEW GIRLFRIEND (François Ozon)
A PIGEON SAT ON A BRANCH REFLECTING ON EXISTENCE (Roy Andersson)
SON OF SAUL (László Nemes)
SONGS FROM THE NORTH (Soon-Mi Yoo)
TIMBUKTU (Abderrahmane Sissako)
TU DORS NICOLE (Stéphane Lafleur)
UNFRIENDED (Levan Gabriadze)
WHITE GOD (Kornél Mundruczó)
WILD TALES (Damián Szifrón)



My favorite 10 films that haven't been released in the U.S. yet:
1. Cemetery Of Splendor (Apichatpong Weerasethakul)
2. Right Now, Wrong Then (Hong Sang-soo)
3. My Golden Days (Arnaud Desplechin)
4. No Home Movie (Chantal Akerman)
5. The Lobster (Yorgos Lanthimos)
6. De Palma (Noah Baumbach and Jake Paltrow)
7. Chevalier (Athina Rachel Tsangari)
8. In The Shadow Of Women (Philippe Garrel)
9. III (Pavel Khvaleev)
10. The Measure Of A Man (Stéphane Brizé)


DVD/Blu-Ray

Though classic Hollywood films are increasingly relegated to overpriced DVD-R status by major studios more focused on streaming content, we’re still living in very much a golden age for cult/fringe/foreign/genre films getting definitive editions on a regular basis.  These noteworthy releases offer real value for those of us who still collect physical media.

1.     DER FAN (Mondo Macabro)
2.     THE STRANGE CASE OF DR. JECKYLL AND MISS OSBOURNE (Arrow Films)
3.     SOME CALL IT LOVING (Etiquette Pictures)
4.     BLOOD AND BLACK LACE (Arrow Films)
5.     VIDEODROME/RABID (Arrow Films) & THE BROOD (The Criterion Collection)
6.     THE APU TRILOGY (The Criterion Collection)
7.     THE DECLINE OF WESTERN CIVILIZATION COLLECTION (Shout! Factory)
8.     MASSACRE MAFIA STYLE & GONE WITH THE POPE (Grindhouse Releasing)
9.     ANGST (Cult Epics)
10. THE ROY ANDERSSON COLLECTION (Artificial Eye)
11. EVERY MAN FOR HIMSELF (The Criterion Collection)
12. AXE/KIDNAPPED COED (Severin Films)
13. HARD TO BE A GOD (Arrow Films)
14. THE REFLECTING SKIN (Soda Pictures)
15. MIRACLE MILE (Kino Lorber)