6. “The Love Witch”
Film is a collaborative medium, but Anna Biller took the idea of the “auteur” to a new level with her artisan, handcrafted, miraculous “The Love Witch” — a radically fresh feminist manifesto wrapped up in the sumptuous design of a groovy late-’60s occult exploitation picture. As you’ve probably heard by now, Biller didn’t just write and direct, she did the costume, set, and make-up design, composed songs, made props, and generally poured all of herself into the film. Her classical-Hollywood love, art-school training and knowledge of feminist theory and history mingle to create a new level of singularity of vision. With Samantha Robinson giving one of the year’s most fun and surprising performances, “The Love Witch” is a cult classic out of the gate, but it’s so much more than that, too.
7. “A Bigger Splash”
It’s not often that a movie from May sticks in your head until the end of the year, but not many movies are as brash and excellent as Luca Guadagnino’s “A Bigger Splash.” It helps that Tilda Swinton and Ralph Fiennes are in it, of course — with Fiennes giving one of his most wild, and wildly entertaining, performances of his career, and Swinton playing the role she was put on this Earth to play, a Bowie-esque rock star. It’s a mysterious, dark, sun-drenched luxury vacation of unexpected twists, turns, and Rolling Stones tunes.
8. “Jackie”
It’s Natalie Portman’s performance in “Jackie” — her spooky channeling of the former First Lady, from her eyes to the set of her mouth to that accent — working beautifully in concert with the other elements of Pablo Larraín’s film (the aspect ratio and subtle format changes, Mica Levi’s ululating score, the costume design and supporting performances) that make everything sing together. It’s a period piece about the construction and symbolization of media images that couldn’t feel more politically relevant.
9. “Toni Erdmann”
While watching Maren Ade’s “Toni Erdmann,” you can’t help but think that there’s no reason why this film — a nearly three-hour comedy about a father embarrassing his daughter — works so well, but it just does, and I wouldn’t cut a thing. The film works on two levels: as a cutting social commentary on the evil banality of private corporatization and its culture, and as a touching father-daughter tale about embracing your own weirdness and bringing a little bit of silly into an otherwise dreary world. The Easter-party-singing scene might be getting all the shine, but the the birthday-brunch sequence and its coda is one of the most remarkable bits of cinema this year, anchored by Sandra Hüller’s incredible performance, which is somehow both nonchalant and deeply layered.
10. “Paterson”
There’s such a wonderful familiarity to Jim Jarmusch’s “Paterson.” As soon as the film starts, it feels so distinctly Jarmuschian that you feel taken care of, that in the hands of this director, this quotidian exploration of a poet-bus driver’s life will reveal something beautifully profound. And it does. Adam Driver could not be a more Jarmuschian actor too, with his long-faced, oddball beauty and taciturn performance. Again, in describing this film, it feels like it shouldn’t work, but it ends up a poignant, funny, microscopic examination of life, each day beautifully building toward the conclusion of finding contentment — and poetry — in your surroundings, no matter how mundane.
I couldn’t help but include ten more films that I loved this year, so see below for their honorable mention shout-outs and rankings.
11.“The Handmaiden”
12. “Captain Fantastic”
13. “Sing Street”
14.“Green Room”
15. “Other People”
16. “White Girl”
17. “The Invitation”
18. “Certain Women”
19. “The Conjuring 2”
20. “10 Cloverfield Lane”