This year seemed to mark the end of a film era.
Has another exploded out of the box already?
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Is the franchise era over?
All this uncertainty raises a natural question: If franchises are dead, whats next?
Perhaps the best answer to what comes next is, simply, more chaos.
BilgeEbirisTop10Films
10.Anatomy of a Fall
10.
But it gains transcendence as it begins to question the very nature of truth.
ReadBilge Ebiris full review ofAnatomy of a Fall.
9.Asteroid City
9.
Maybe thats whyAsteroid Cityfeels like such a signature work.
Anderson doubles down on his style (how is that even possible at this point?)
Or maybe these are the same thing.
In the end, isnt that what great art does?
Read Bilge Ebirisfull review ofAsteroid Cityand Matt Zoller Seitzsrevealing tour of Wes Andersons office.
8.Passages
8.
InPassages, which might be his masterpiece, he fashions the most delectably ruinous of love triangles.
His destructive immaturity is captivating and relatable.
ReadAlison Willmores full review ofPassages.
7.Fallen Leaves
7.
The world has no place for the individual.
And yet here we still are, persisting and yearning and drinking and stewing and fumbling our way through.
6.Origin
6.
ReadBilge Ebiris full review ofOrigin.
5.About Dry Grasses
5.
4.Perfect Days
4.
But in some ways,Perfect Daysrepresents a culmination of the directors journey.
Wenderss restless, angst-ridden protagonists have always been searching for blissful oblivion.
These werent ambitious characters but rather people looking for a center.
All those road movies where were they headed?Perfect Daysprovides a kind of answer.
Theres no sense that this person needs to do more, no sense that his life is being wasted.
If anything, he is more aware of how lucky he is to be here than any of us.
Is this what happiness looks like?
ReadBilge Ebiris interview with Wim Wenders.
3.Ferrari
3.
ReadBilge Ebiris full review ofFerrari,interview with Michael Mann, andRachel Handlers report from the Venice Film Festival.
2.The Holdovers
2.
This also means that formally, the movie is fixated on the past the way Giamattis character is.
Nevertheless, growth is possible.
This is one of the directors greatest films.
ReadAlison Willmores full review ofThe HoldoversandMatthew Jacobss interview with DaVine Joy Randolph.
1.Oppenheimer
1.
ReadAlison Willmores full review ofOppenheimerandBilge Ebiris explanation of the ending with Christopher Nolan.
9.Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.
3
Read Bilge Ebiris fullreview ofGuardians of the Galaxy Vol.
3and Siddhant Adlakhasexplanation of the ending.
The film skips through space, capturing snapshots rather than trying to assemble anything resembling a story.
Read Alison Willmoresreview ofA Thousand and One.
ReadAlison Willmores full review ofReality.
ReadBilge Ebiris full review ofThe Zone of Interest.
ReadAlison Willmores full review ofThe Boy and the Heron.
Without ever verging on cloying, its a film about death that becomes a heartfelt celebration of life.
Its a heartbreaking turn, and the way its deployed onscreen makesMay Decemberthe years most complex and layered watch.
ReadBilge Ebiris full review onMay DecemberandMadeline Leung Colemans interview with Todd Haynes.
ReadAlison Willmores full review ofShowing Up.
We also saw Netflix starting to pull back on the mountains of money it throws toward film productions.
Many of us have been anticipating (maybe even hoping for) the end of the franchise era.
But now that it might be happening, what lies on the other side?
Some of those selections appear above in our Top 10 picks.
Below are more of the films (but not all) that stood out to them this year.
Dont expect much historical analysis or period accuracy or emotional nuance; this one works on your lizard brain.
In so many ways, though, this is Lily Gladstones movie.
She plays Mollie with a mix of standoffishness and exhausted hope.
When he tells Mollie he loves her, she believes him.
And so do we.
ReadBilge Ebiris full review ofKillers of the Flower MoonandAlison Willmores profile of Lily Gladstone.
The thieves here are not looking to get rich.
Three and a half years in jail, or 25 at the bank?
The plan is quite simple: Moran will confess to the robbery and get three years in prison.
Roman will hide the money in the meantime.
Afterward, the two men will have just enough to not have to work for a living.
But is such a goal, such a world, even possible?
Clocking in at 183 minutes, this is a movie of detours both narrative and formal.
Its a vision of a life unlived as impossible as it is intoxicating.B.E.
ReadBilge Ebiris full review ofThe Delinquents.
But what makes Demian Rugnas film so effective is not the gore (which is appropriately gross!)
But Pedro, the closest thing the film has to a hero, is anything but.
ReadAlison Wilmores full review ofThe Creator.
Serges family is immediately suspicious, but its clear theyve got their own designs on the mans wealth.
Everybody in this movie seems to be lying through their teeth.
In less sure hands, this could have resulted in annoyance.
But Marnier and his terrific cast know just how much to reveal and when.
They keep us delightfully unmoored.B.E.
ReadBilge Ebiris full review ofA Haunting in Venice.
So, what is it?
ReadBilge Ebiris full review ofEl Conde.
ReadAlison Willmores full review ofBottoms.
Everyone in the cast brings their A-game.
Issa Rae and Hari Nef are equal delights for some deranged line readings alone.
America Ferrera is the stealth MVP for her juicy monologue that extols the constrictions on women.
ReadAlison Willmores full review ofBarbieandAllison P. Davis essay about Greta Gerwigs films.
ReadAlison Willmores full review ofAfire.
Those familiar with the story will know where its all headed.
Others that would be most viewers, probably will wonder how these two lives will ultimately intersect.
But McGann doesnt really hide the nature of her story.
Its clear pretty early on that were watching something harrowing.
This is, ultimately, an elegant and deeply moving picture.
Its also a rather compelling metaphor for the actors well-publicized dedication to old-school action filmmaking and real-life stunt work.
Mangold may not have the young Steven Spielbergs musical flair for extravagant action choreography (who does?
No, its notRaiders of the Lost Ark; no movie is.
But its too entertaining to dismiss.
Read Bilge Ebirisfull review ofIndiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny.
WithScarlet, he works in a gentler register, though the ambition is still there.
Jean, played by a terrific Rosy McEwen in her first leading role, has painstakingly compartmentalized her existence.
Read Alison Willmores fullreview ofSpider-Man: Across the Spider-Verseand Richard Newbysexplanation of the cliff-hanger ending.
Its real-world mysteries eventually become existential ones, but the movie never stops sending chills up your spine.B.E.
Read Bilge Ebiris fullreview ofNight of the 12th.
I would happily watch several seasons of these three going at it.
Read Bilge Ebiris fullreview of BlackBerry.
As the Nazis chase him, our hero picks them off, sometimes individually and sometimes en masse.
So much so that it all starts to border on a philosophical treatise about survival and perseverance.
Read Bilge Ebiris fullreview ofSisu.
Quasi
Thecomedy troupe Broken Lizardmet at Colgate back in 1989 and never spiritually left college.
Thank God for that.
Broken Lizard is all of us.
Read Bilge Ebiris fullreview ofQuasiand a transcript ofVulture Festivals Broken Lizard panel.
Its a swoony, gorgeously animated movie that earns its sadness as well as its ecstatic bursts of hope.
Read Alison Willmoresfull review ofSuzumeand Rafael Motamayorsinterview with Makoto Shinkai.
Everyone at this table will be forgotten, he says, noting all the executives gathered around them.
Read Bilge Ebirisreview ofDungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves.
Its a history lesson on what the body can do onscreen its limits and its wonders.
Read Bilge Ebirisreview of The Lost King.
Theyre not actually siblings.
Theyre not even from the same country.
It also means that the film becomes ulcer-inducingly unbearable once things truly start to spin out of control.
Read Bilge Ebirisreview ofTori and Lokita.
Read Alison Willmoresreview ofWalk Up.
Read Alison Willmoresreview ofRye Lane.
Creed III
Congrats to Michael B. Jordan for turninga creaky boxing franchiseinto something deliciously closeto shonen anime.
Read Alison Willmoresreview of Creed III.
Everybody inOperation Fortune yes, even Guy Ritchie seems to be having fun.
Sometimes, thats all you need.
Read Bilge Ebirisreview of Operation Fortune.
Linoleum
Colin Wests gentle sci-fi comedy-drama plays likeInterstellarremade by Wes Anderson.
Its a moving film about time, ambition, aging, wormholes, and the all-consuming power of love.
Read Bilge Ebirisreview ofKnock at the Cabin.
She reminds us that beauty is often found in the mundane cadences of ordinary life.
Read Bilge Ebirisreview ofOne Fine Morning.
Plane
Plane.
Read Bilge Ebirisreview ofPlane.
Saint Omer
Alice Diops stunner of a film tucks a whole fraught universe into a courtroom drama.
Her debut performance is so piercing it makes the entire film move like a breathing poem.
Where do Freddies wounds begin?
Where does the pain of her torn identity end?
Read Angelica Jade Bastiensreview ofReturn to Seoul.
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