10. “The Card Counter” (Paul Schrader)
Equally glorious in its placid contemplation as in its heavy metal-induced frenzy, Paul Schrader’s follow-up to his critically acclaimed “First Reformed” is yet another masterfully constructed examination of morality and trauma. Executive produced by Martin Scorsese, “The Card Counter” is an unsettling revenge thriller that exacerbates all of Schrader’s best traits, from its tight-knit script to the way in which the sharp black and whites of good and bad violently blend into discordant greys. Oscar Isaac gives one of his best performances to date as a tormented ex-military interrogator turned gambler, and the cast brings a pleasant surprise in the form of Tiffany Haddish as Isaac’s charming co-lead and Tye Sheridan as his cryptic protégé. Throw in an inspired mix of pristine production design and a spine-tingling score and you have a film that, when it’s good, it’s great, and when it’s great … it sizzles. – Rafa Sales Ross (Our review of “The Card Counter”)
9. “This Is Not A Burial, It’s a Resurrection” (Lemohang Jeremiah Mosese)
Lemohang Jeremiah Mosese’s “This Is Not A Burial, It’s a Resurrection” originally premiered as part of the Biennale College at the Venice Film Festival back in 2019, and is now Lesotho’s submission for the Oscar for Best International Feature Film. Starring the late Mary Twala Mhlongo, the magical realism of the story tells of her character’s quiet resilience when her only son dies in an accident, and a dam is to be built on the place of an ancient burial ground. The filmmaking is ceremonious in its own right; numerous scenes pronounce themselves with rich color and meticulous framing, while Mhlongo portrays a stoicism that looks beyond death. In how the film grapples with life, death, religion, and industry, it becomes a celebration, for on-screen talent that has since passed on, and for a writer/director gaining more visibility on the world cinema stage. – Nick Allen (Our review of “This Is Not A Burial, It’s A Resurrection”)
8. “Spencer” (Pablo Larraín)
Kristen Stewart wears the tragic mask of Princess Diana in “Spencer,” the latest psychological study from director Pablo Larraín. Introduced as a “fable based on a true tragedy,” the screenplay by Steven Knight imagines a captive Christmas in the life of the late Princess of Wales—the rigid schedule, the designated however lavish gowns, the sewed-up curtains that isolate her from the world while her husband nonetheless hides an affair. She only finds brief respite in a royal dresser named Maggie (Sally Hawkins) and spending time with her two sons, William and Harry. The story also highlights itself as a meditation on celebrity, with Stewart using her best performance yet to express the alienating nature of constantly being in the public eye. Jonny Greenwood’s score wraps itself around the whole film, its evocative, mournful strings showing how a formal string quartet can start to lose composure, how it can drag on; how a tender melody can lose its mind. – Nick Allen (Our review of “Spencer”)
7. “Pig” (Michael Sarnoski)
Nicolas Cage has taken on a wide range of jobs in the past, but we have rarely been able to see him play an artist. “Pig,” an audacious debut from writer/director Michael Sarnoski, casts Cage as a formerly renowned Portland chef who returns to the business after someone kidnaps his beloved pig that he uses for truffle hunting, causing him to retrace his connections (alongside Alex Wolff’s Amir, a naive restaurateur) and step back into a shady underworld that includes a fight club of people in the service industry. The story is paced with the careful burn of a talk-heavy Western, with Cage’s wise hero unleashing hard-worn wisdom on a ruthless, pig-stealing world that can still be brought to its knees by a perfect meal. “Pig” is a gritty ode to artistic integrity in spite of the lure of a big payday; when Cage sits across from a former collaborator and reflects on the chef’s earlier, lost ambitions of making meaningful food, it’s devastating and wise in a way that only makes sense coming from Cage. – Nick Allen (Our review of “Pig”)
6. “The French Dispatch” (Wes Anderson)
Another Wes Anderson release, another exhausting round of Aesthetics vs. Substance overlooking the deep vein of wounded emotionality that channels feeling into his ever-more-elaborate dioramas. In three stories bound together by the death of a once-august publication and its magnanimous founder, Anderson delivers a eulogy for a rapidly vanishing way of life, in which artists and eccentrics and reprobates were free to work unencumbered by concerns of money or societal acceptance. A painter creates a masterpiece that defies ownership; a pair of young revolutionaries fight for freedom and the right to feel each other up; two expatriates made collateral damage by the police share a moment of humanity. But they’re all looking for something worth defending in a world going to crap, even if this picturebook parody of Paris has been meticulously composed for maximum charm. You don’t find the town’s name of Ennui-sur-Blasé funny? Fine, but there’s no denying that this is a major work from a major auteur. – Charles Bramesco (Our review of “The French Dispatch)
