Mind, this is only 25 - 11; shall we begin?
25. Denial
Scr: David Hare
Cin: Haris Zambarloukos
Sixteen years ago, the very existence of the Holocaust was put on trial as part of a libel suit brought against historian Deborah Lipstadt by the controversial alt-historian David Irving, known as a Holocaust denier and Hitler apologist. A timely film, this, as I'm sure anyone who got into Facebook arguments about what's news and what's fake news can appreciate. We can take the resolution of this trial for granted, but the fact that it happened at all is proof that we should not. And besides all that, I thought it an engrossing, solid film - from the director of The Bodyguard, of all things!
24. The Neon Demon
Dir: Nicolas Winding Refn
Scr: Nicolas Winding Refn/Mary Laws/Polly Stenham, story by Refn
Cin: Natasha Braier
Absolutely bonkers, this fever dream of LA, but accurately captures the city's weirdly insidious beauty. Is it weird to literalize everything that people say about showbiz - "it's cutthroat", "they'll eat you alive", "no, like, there are literal Neon Demons"? Yes, and they commit, so good on them. The off-kilter performances from Jena Malone and Abbey Lee seal the deal.
23. The Dressmaker
Dir: Jocelyn Moorhouse
Scr: P.J. Hogan/Jocelyn Moorhouse, from the novel by Rosalie Ham
Cin: Donald McAlpine
Like a strange marriage of To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar and The Visit, an over-the-top, fabulously dark comedy with cross-dressing cops, slinky gowns, hunky Liam Hemsworth, and murder. I can see this becoming frequent viewing for wine nights with the girls.
22. Arrival
Dir: Denis Villeneuve
Scr: Eric Heisserer, from the short story "Story of Your Life" by Ted Chiang
Cin: Bradford Young
This is a movie about the complexity of language, and therefore the complexity of our connections and relationships with others: co-workers, parents, children, spouses, aliens, situations both political and personal. That much you know because Amy Adams tells you in the trailer. But I wasn't expecting it to also be a movie about making choices that you know will lead to pain...and deciding it's worth it. Beautiful (though Jeremy Renner is saddled with one howler of a line at the end).
21. Elle
Dir: Paul Verhoeven
Scr: David Birke, translated by Harold Manning, from the novel Oh... by Philippe Djian
Cin: Stéphane Fontaine
Two hours of Isabelle Huppert side-eyeing everyone in the room. Wearily jerking off a lover. Not bothering to hide her disdain for her family members. Plotting the seduction of her younger, married neighbor. And there's also rape and mass murder. And it's all hilarious. A great argument for what Nathaniel Rogers at The Film Experience called "the actress as auteur."
Entrants 20 - 11, after the jump....
